Baby sitter grandma

I too am wanting to know if April/May cruises have any enhanced protocols.  I realize protocols can change quickly but it would be reassuring if you knew ahead anticipated protocols at time of booking.

Our booked and paid for cruise in mid April still has not shown protocols  on the HAL website.

Baby sitter Grandma

I was told by a top food service person that it was a change in policy from the top. They are no longer concerned about the first 72 hours. So this was payback. I was told by another employee that the Eurodam had the same problem at about the same time or the previous leg. We kept finding them at the same ports. Maybe 3 or 4 times.

 

So we need to beat up on CCL to go back to the 72 hour period, for our good. My wife was down for 6 days out of 27.

I agree. Both my DH and I have been ill since leaving the ship in Tampa. We did not have Noro symptoms but we experienced on our last sea day a dry cough and sore throat. By the time we got home we were not feeling well at all. Sinus, headache and cruise cough. We now both are still under the weather and have not returned to our daily activities at all.

I feel the staff were very diligent in their efforts to sanitize everything however so many passengers were coughing in all venues especially the Crow's Nest and Ocean Bar. I feel there should always be 72 hours of no touch in Lido at the beginning of the cruise. We mostly stayed clear of the Lido for the last 12 days of the cruise. We used room service for breakfast and we still got ill. Just very thankful we did not have noro symptoms. Yes, we washed our hands as instructed as well at all times. Not a nice way to end a wonderful cruise.

Would you be able to post a picture of your suites. We are in suite 10004 for our next cruise and I am really interested in seeing a picture of them. I know the balcony is very small with only one outside chair.

 

For another part -last 15 days of our cruise we are in 8038 SIgnature suite. We have been in a signature suite before but would like to see the updates made on Oosterdam with these suites.

I called ship services two days ago to pre order unlimited laundry for our European cruise in October/November. I was told that HAL is no longer pre booking unlimited laundry for European cruises except when you are onboard. I asked why, and was told that those who have already booked at $7 per day for a European cruise would be billed the additional cost when onboard. I suggested to rep that this might not be received well but there was no reply. I followed up with another call and was told the same information by another rep who checked into it before replying to me. The only way you can receive unlimited laundry or laundry by the bag on a European cruise is to wait till you are onboard to order it. Our cruise starts October 21 - November 18. I guess the only way to cover the cost of unlimited laundry prior to boarding would be to buy OBC ahead of time and then must order it on the first day of the cruise when you give them your laundry. The rep did say that there should be a mention of this coming soon to the web site. The rep could not confirm cost per day but indicated eith $9-$10 per day.

I have always wished that one day I would go on a world cruise. In reality I knew it was not affordable for me. But because of your writings I feel my wish has come true. I thank you for that and appreciate your work and expense to bring your adventure to life for so many. Welcome home.

For our Noember 2015 cruise on Eurodam I pre ordeed unlimited laundry for 15 days. I was told that in order to have my DH suite and dress pants cleaned and pressed i would have to purchase the dryclean pkg separately. I was told the price for drycleaning and pressing a suite was approximately $20 each time it was sent out. I would not pay for the dryclean and pressing pkg again. If your dress clothes requires drycleaning and pressing they will bill you accordingly. I know, because even though I prepaid for this service As well as unlimited laundry I was billed for suit cleaning and prssing separately which rquired a visit to front desk to rectify. All other items sent for cleaning came back nicely cleaned and pressed when required. Just my experience.

I think it looks lovely. It is clean, calm and relaxing looking. I love the colors, i love where the TV is and it has more than enough space for storage for us. It is a wonderful enhancement to the worn looking Neptune suites I have stayed in for the last few years.

Cannot wait to experience it! Our next cruise is Fall 2016 and we are in a Signature Suite. Wish it was the Neptune Suite.

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for the super quick responses!

 

Huh, interesting.

 

They offered it to me at 2,000 USD PP. We just took an upgrade for the Neptune suite and a day later got this. Tough decision. So tempting. I would have 100% took it with the new deck plan. Would be nice to essentially have a separate bedroom for the kids.

We were in a Neptune suite for one week and the Pinnacle suite for week two on the Niew Amsterdsm. We decided that we enjoyed the Neptune suite better. Bed was nicer...not as hard, rattling noises was less in Neptune suite, frig made a terrible noise all nite that never got fixed, and pax were always looking at our balcony while in Pinnacle suite. I felt on display. The seperate bedroom is very nice but not nice enough to make us pay extra monies for pinnacle suite. We did not use the hot tub....we enjoyed the thera pool area more. Just my comments.....but it was nice to cross it off our bucket list.

If you felt that it was worth it to you, thats all that matters!

Thank you DaveOKC. We did enjoy the amenties pkg and it was for us a very nice gift to give to each other for our anniversary. The truffles were delivered before dinner to us at our request so that when we invited guests back later in evening to enjoy our balcony with us we had lovely sweet treats to offer along with a drink. They were always delivered as requested on time and with a smile! In fact, the candy man as my DH called him became our favourite person on that cruise. We also shared them with those we met while on the cruise. A good memory for us...

We had this pkg for our last cruise. We used everything that was listed. It was presented to us in a folder in our suite upon embarkation. I believe it included two $50 beverage cards ..one for each of us...but i may be mistaken. The flowers in our suite were lovely and the truffles were very nice to receive each evening prior to our dinner time. We enjoyed the

Thera pool every day...sometimes twice a day and the beverage set up was exactly what we ordered on the first day of embarkation. We felt we got value for our money. It was our anniversary gift to each other. We were celebrating our 47th anniversary.

We stayed at the resort in January 2015. We loved it! It is a nice way to relax before taking a cruise.

We too were on a b2b Niew Amsterdam January 2015. we too did not buy a future cruise cedit like we usually do. We too are 3 star Mariners...almost 4 star. We found service as you described it on your cruise. We waited for service many times. We did receive great service in the MDR. The Pinnacle service seemed disorganized and our reservations were changed one of the days because of a booking error on the evening we were to dine there. We were in a Neptune suite and our room stewards were ok but seemed to be always in a rush and behind time. We were very disappointed that no entertainment in the Crows Nest later in the evening.

It is wonderful. We had the Pinnacle suite on the Niew Amsterdam in January. A nice addition to the way you cruise. For us, it was on our bucket list! We have now experienced all the various cabin/suite categories HAL has to offer. The next tick on the bucket list is to experience every HAL ship. Hope we accomplish this tick off our bucket list one day.

DH is very handy. No problems for us with the drapes or TV or lights!

Thanks very much for your reply and reassurance, would hate to be overlooked on all sides, but hey oh, really looking forward to being on her in a few days.

Your welcome. We were on the Niew Amsterdam just two weeks ago Jan 4-18th. It did at that time have two lounge chairs on it and the verandah cabin that we were able to view on disembarkation day looked nice as well. I think,you will be very happy. Beautiful breezes on our cruise and big ..big...skies in the evening. Maybe they provide the oungers as requested.

We had the opportunity to be in the Pinnacle Suite for one week of our cruise so now I can say that we have experienced all varieties of cabins HAL has to offer. You will love the Niew Amsterdam.

I finally got my cabin assignment, and this cabin is located near the forward elevators, with a handicapped VD on one side and an oceanview on the other. When I looked at the deck plan, the cabin itself looks like it's set a little farther back than some others and the balcony looks to be a bit deeper than the corresponding VDs on that deck.

 

Is this correct? Has anyone ever stayed in either this cabin or the corresponding one on the starboard side? I assume the configuration is the same on the Eurodam, so if anyone has experience with these cabins on either ship, I'd love some feedback. Two pluses -- I'll be close to the elevators both near the piano bar and the Crow's Nest!

No need to worry re exposure to onlookers. We were in a suite on deck 7 above this room and we waved to the pax that were on your balcony. Only time we saw them is when they stood right at the railing. Extra long balcony and they already had two loungers on them. We could not see them sitting on loungers unless we looked directly down and saw only legs. For privacy you just needed to push lounger closer to patio door. Went down to see this cabin/balcony when cleaning was being done on our ldisembsrkation day and would book this suite for sure. We like to have a lounger on our balcony and this balcony allowed for that plus table and chair nicely.

We have enjoyed your review very much. It is the first thing we read in the morning along with our coffee. Because of your unique writing talent we feel so prepared for our upcoming cruise on Jan 4 on the Niew Amsterdam b2b and look forward to trying out new ways to enjoy some of the very nice amenties on the cruise ship. We were not able to secure a cabanna...they are sold out, however we will try to rent for a day.. so we can enjoy the cabanna feeling. If not for your review i would not have even thought anymore about renting one. We will make a point of visiting all avenues of entertainment and we look forward to dining in thr PG and ordering the Chocolate ball for sure! We have booked all dinning venues as well. We wil go to the Mariners luncheon and have breakfast in the MDR. We are 3 star mariners but really now realize we have not done all the things available to us to do. Hey...I may even try a Wang..wang....I always stick to wine or Crown Royale and coke with lemon! This is our retirement cruise.....we are so excited......so thankyou and keep writing....you are talented.

Once HAL said "no". In response to my questioning this, the Mariner Society said "yes". So we have always gotten both.

 

TA sometimes says she will have to ask, but it has not been a problem.

Has this,been when you have booked a cruise on the ship,or,when you have purchased a future cruise deposit on thee ship and then gone home and within 60 days telephoned HAL or your TA and booked a cruise.l

I have never had breakfast in MDR either. I'm lucky if I ever make it to the Lido on time, especially on sea days. Are you looking forward to our cruise as much I am, especially after the great blogs about the NA?

Yes I am. I am counting the sleeps! I too am following The blog on the Niew Amsterdam and enjoying it so much. With all,the snow we have received since yesterday swimming in the ocean at HMC sounds heavenly. I so want to to try the chocolate Ball! For this upcoming cruise I plan to enjoy breakfast in the MDR at least twice!

See a sunrise. Something about the motion of the ocean, or those HAL mattresses, that keep my usual insomnia at bay. Sleeping 10 hours a night is a luxury for me. I have, however, never missed a sunset on a Caribbean cruise.

I have always wanted to have breakfast in the MDR. I just always forget about it. I order coffee and bagel early, watch the sunrise and then go to Lido or Neptune Lounge if we are in a Neptune suite. Our next cruise which is b2b NA Jan 4 2015 I plan to have breakfast in MDR at least once.

For us we booked our cruise on board the ship. When we got home we received email for ZPM promo. Because we booked already on board we were not eligible for the ZPM. We were told by our TA that if we had just purchased a future cruise deposit and then booked when we got home we would have been eligible for both. I also confirmed this with HAL.

You only qualify for ZPM if you book a future cruise deposit not a definite cruise while onboard. What got me was that I am a 3 star Mariner and did not know this! I have a lot of learning to do.

I think I should have said a future cruise credite not deposit. still learning!

So we bought future cruise deposites with board credits and when we booked our next cruise we got the obc, but when I mentioned that we are also booking our cruise within 60 of returning home we should get obc with zpm or zpn our PCC said we only got one. Did anyone get both, future cruise credit for booking on board and the credits for booking within 60 days?

For us we booked our cruise on board the ship. When we got home we received email for ZPM promo. Because we booked already on board we were not eligible for the ZPM. We were told by our TA that if we had just purchased a future cruise deposit and then booked when we got home we would have been eligible for both. I also confirmed this with HAL.

You only qualify for ZPM if you book a future cruise deposit not a definite cruise while onboard. What got me was that I am a 3 star Mariner and did not know this! I have a lot of learning to do.

We have booked 7033 and 7037. Will the balconies have lounge chairs and if not can we ask for some. Thanks for your help

I have just looked on Halfacts.com,and suite 7033 is on this site. There are two loungers and a small round side table and two chairs as well as a table which looks like two or four chairs which you would dine at on your balcony.

We have booked 7033 and 7037. Will the balconies have lounge chairs and if not can we ask for some. Thanks for your help

Yes, they will have lounge chairs and I believe a table with two chairs. To confirm this go on Halfacts.com and look at any of the Niew Amsterdam pictures of Suites of numbers close to yours. They will show the balconies on most all of the suites.

There is always a chance that your balcony furniture has been changed but I am sure they will get the furniture that you require if possible.

I would chose suite 7037. Pretty close to Neptune Lounge but not opposite it. Inside suites opposite so quiet. Rotterdam deck close to spa and Thers Pool area. Nice balcony.

I wish HAL would consider giving a cruise option like this to those who spend monies on all the lovely Amenties such as wine pkgs., suite amenties pkgs., wine tasting pkgs, cellar master dinner, L'Cirque, speciality dinners and wine or liquor set ups in your cabin. These are entertainment items as well that bring monies to HAL. If you spend a certain amount of monies in casino or on the cruise why do the casino passengers benefit only.

I do not go into the casino...too spokey for me....so I may be not understanding the logic.