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Max Circus

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    CPAP on a cruise

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    On my 7/10 Koningsdam sailing I ordered distilled water. I received an enormous jug - probably 4 gallons. Seemed like it may have been made onboard based on the jug style. More than I could use over two months. ;-) It cost $4. Different than Carnival where I received a normal gallon jug of Crystal distilled water.

     

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    Koningsdam Ship tour

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Thanks for the info Max Circus!

    We will try our luck once on the ship. Would love to do this tour, but don't want to get my hopes up too much in case it's not available.

    You're welcome!! I had read during my research for the cruise that they have the tour based on demand. No idea if that is true. And Ifeel so how many people need to sign up. I would go to Guest Services on Day 1 and tell them you are interested. They'll contact you via phone when it is confirmed.

     

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    Koningsdam Ship tour

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Max Circus - where/how did you book this tour?

     

    We're sailing on Koningsdam in September. I emailed HAL Enquiries about a month ago asking about 'Behind the Scenes' tour, and they said they don't offer it!

    We booked with the concierge in the Neptune Lounge. The tour on Koningsdam for the 7/10 sailing included the engine control room, engine rooms, garbage room, provisioning storage room, bridge tour, safety center and laundry. And I may be forgetting a few places. We also had an hour with the hotel director at the end of the tour on day 2. Wonderful tour and a great value for the $150/person.

     

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    Why did Ms. Koningsdam get so many bad reviews? How is the dance venue on this ship?

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    We were on Koningsdam July 10th. Speciality dining was fabulous. Definitely check out Sel De Mer and Dean Librije (pop up in Pinnacle). Main dining room was a nightmare. We gave up on night two getting a table (we had anytime). There simply aren't enough cabins for all the crew they need to manage all the venues. We spoke at length with both the marketing manager and hotel director and they don't seem to know what they will do. Hard to recommend this ship even though the speciality dining and service was exceptional.

     

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    Koningsdam Ship tour

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Just off the Koningsdam and we did the ship tour. You go to the engine control room AND the engine room. In fact many areas of the engine room. Fantastic tour done over two days. Well worth the $150/person.

     

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    Koningsdam Elite Beverage Package?

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    I was reading a post that mentioned something called the Elite Beverage Package as something being offered on Koningsdam. We received the regular beverage package as part of a promo. I don't see any upgrades mentioned on HAL website. Does anyone have any details on whether this is a real thing? If so, wondering if you can upgrade.

     

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    Just back from KONINGSDAM Premier Voyage

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    I have never seen it offered as an excursion or prebookable cruiseship activity & doubt it ever would be.

     

    On previous HAL ships, I have seen the ships "Behind the Scenes" tour offered as a special option for purchase as a "special event offering" on a future daily schedule.

     

    This was NOT the case this voyage on K.

     

    It was the very first request I made of the Concierge after embarkation. He said there were 8 other requests made ahead of us... and that was just from the Neptune suites. (I have no idea how many requests had been made at front desk).

    No specifics were made available until midweek after repeated requests... and no advertising for a ships tour on this voyage were ever offered. (But again, most of us had toured other ships previously and made our requests early enough for them to already have a wait list). We were stalled & told the tour option had still not been decided on... (this is a work in progress & frankly, they don't want to emphasize all this involves).

    On Wednesday, (day 5) we were finally told there WOULD be a tour, split between our final 2 days if enough people still chose to pay to participate.

    There was a minimum of 6 participants required.

    Most guests had withdrawn their request for 2 reasons:

    Day 1: was on sea day (but conflicted with other offerings)

    Day 2: occurred while ship was in port. We had to assemble 3:30 for a day we were not due back on board until 5:30. We were told it is a security issue & not alterable. Exploration of the bridge & other areas could only be made available to us at that time.

    Two guests participating in HAL tours missed day 2's tour. One joined us afterwards for Q&A with hotel director Stan. We altered our land tour & due to traffic- just made it back panting from the sprint! :eek:

    It was very interesting and as far as Behind the Scenes Tours go- I rather liked that they were still in final set up mode and I could see a bit of what was involved.

    So- if you want to go on a behind the scenes tour- ASK... if it doesn't occur, at least you tried. And if it does- you are already on the list for the option. We only ended up with 6 participating. I am not sure how many HAL hoped for... (or how many cruisers really wished they knew it existed as an offering!)- but for us it was a great number.

    Thank you for those details. Very helpful.

     

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    Passport Question

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    This is interesting. Would this imply you should get a new passport every 6 months?!

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

    No since those are the requirements for passport application - not passport validation. Since a passport is good for 10 years in the US (at least for adults) there is already precedent for changes to hair, weight and other features. My passport photo from 2004 showed me with a mostly full head of hair. That changed by the time it needed to be renewed and there was never any questions. And I went many places: China, Australia and Turkey.

     

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    Global Entry System

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Was the Tampa Airport the only place in this area for the interview? And how long after your interview in Orlando did you receive approval?

    We only checked Tampa and Orlando. There is a Global Entry website that has other locations so there may be some other airports. We were approved the same day we had our interviews in Orlando. We received the information in the mail within a couple of weeks.

     

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    Global Entry System

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    We have had Global Entry for almost a year and now wonder why we didn't do it sooner. I think know it is $100 for five years. It's worth it for the PreCheck privileges alone. But the Global Entry itself saved us at least an hour wait when we came back from a Jamaica vacation last year.

     

    One tip is that once you get it, register with each airline you use or plan to use. Most of them have a profile you set up online where you enter the frequent traveller number.

     

    I agree each airport has much different wait times. Here in Tampa the wait was about two months. But we looked at Orlando and could get one within a week. So we made an appointment and stopped by on our way to Universal Studios.

     

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    Advice to New HAL Cruiser

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    I just like to plan. It's not my fault, the Army taught me to be a compulsive planner. I can't help it. It's called Retired Military Compulsive Planner's Disorder (RMCPD). There is no known cure although research has shown that wine can give temporary relief. We will be bringing five or six bottles aboard. (I know about corkage fees.)

     

    Seriously, I'm retired and planning for cruises is a great way to pass the time. I do come up with lists of potential things to do but these lists are just a convenient way to suggest things we might want to do. We hardly ever do more than a few. The lists ensure that we know what are options are. We are not bound by them.

     

    BTW, any restaurants you might suggest in San Juan?

    San Juan has some great tapas places. My favorite is Toro Salao. Get outside seating if the weather warrants. We went there with a large group (12 of us) and ordered one of everything on the menu. The white sangria is excellent. We also tried the red which wasn't quite as tasty but still good.

     

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