SLOTheta

I am taking a 7 day cruise to Alaska and in the Navigator app, for Itinerary, it shows “dressy” for 2 of the nights on our cruise. My guess is that these are the Gala nights. We booked the Pinnacle grill for one of the non-gala nights 

13 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

This is what is super annoying.  Some people get it the same day, others wait forever.  Kind of a problem when the cruise is coming up quickly like yours.  It should be first come, first serve.  Glad you were able to get it applied in time.

I agree. I’ve had no issue the last 4 cruises, all came back fairly fast. But, this is our first after Covid. 
 

I already used part of it by pre-buying unlimited laundry! 

Thank you for your wonderful review. We started cruising 7 years ago when I was in my 30s, and have been hooked ever since. We’ve only been on HAL and wouldn’t want to switch. We leave for Alaska from Seattle next Sunday and can’t wait. 
 

The one upside of your gambling is that you’ll start to receive awesome casino cruise deals, we are in a Veranda with the HIA and prepaid grat, mid ship and it was $1600/pp with the casino rate. We often get offers for free cruises. We are waiting for a free/way reduced cruise deal for Mexico over Christmas. We took one in 2019 right before Covid and it was amazing. 

On 6/24/2022 at 10:42 AM, bluesplayer said:

I faxed in my shareholder benefit Monday.  I booked through the big box travel agent.  Any way to find out if this has been posted?  I have not heard anything.  Much thanks for any advice.

My cruise is next week and I faxed and emailed my information a month ago. It didn’t show up. Yesterday, I called the World Reservation number listed for Holland America on the Shareholder information PDF

The phone number is: 1 (800) 522-3399

I waited on hold for about 20 mins and reached an agent who was able to manually add my OBC to my booking. I received a confirmation of the $100 OBC in my email about 10 minutes later. 
 

I would give them a call and have it added. 

1 hour ago, kickboxrca said:

That's interesting as they seem to be available when I click on it now - wonder if either the website was being glitchy, or if they pulled them while they were working on some potential upgrade/upsells ...

 

I sure hope so! The July 10th (the link I provided) is wide open, but the July 3rd is unavailable 

Hello! It feels great to have a cruise booked since COVID, for next week. I’m traveling with 20 of my friends of family. I wanted to see what rooms were left on the ship, I checked the other day and there were plenty available. Today, I see that all room types are unavailable. Is that a bad sign? I highly doubt every room is sold out!

We are sailing RT from Seattle on 7/3 on the Westerdam. The 7/10 (our return date) is available 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/A2E07E/W243.html

I booked an Alaska 7 day cruise out of last year that was a casino rate. It was only a few hundred less than regular rate, but had prepaid gratuities along with the Have it All perks. We leave on July 3rd. I started receiving Preferred Limited upgrade specials a few weeks ago. But, my family is cruising for the first time and we have 5 rooms all next to each other. I felt guilty taking the deal. I’m staying in the spot we have. Next time, we will take the offer if we weren’t all together. For $700 for a Neptune, it was very hard to pass up. Our friends in our group of 20, who aren’t traveling with their family, took the deal 

PREFERRED LIMITED UPGRADE SPECIAL
Upgrade for select bookings from your Verandah stateroom (Category VA to VH) to the following best available:
Neptune Suite (Category SA to SC) for an additional $399pp USD/$499pp CAD Signature Suite (Category SS to SZ) for an additional $199pp USD/$249pp CAD

Our second port stop was in Mazatlán. We were able to walk off the ship and into town. As we exited the ship, there were several  retired American volunteer guides wearing blue shirts to show us the way. We decided to walk into the central part of time by following the blue line. From there, we walked along the malacon and hailed a Pulmonias into the Golden zone where the nicer beaches are.

We walked along the beach and found a beach umbrella guy to set up a chair and umbrella for us. We were in front of Joe’s Oyster bar and had a waiter to serve us. He first wanted $10, but we said we wouldn’t only be there for about an hour and would order. He lowered his price to $5.

We ordered from the nice waiter - 4 beers, 1 Paloma and 3 shrimp tacos. Beers were buy 1 get 1. Total was around $25, which was a much better deal than the day before in Cabo. Kept the beers on ice in a bucket.

We done usually buy anything from the beach vendors, but one very nice gentleman came by with football palm tree steins. We snagged a perfect gift for our Packers best friend. A great deal at $10 (he originally wanted $18).

The water was nice and the beach wasn’t too crowded. We ended up staying for 2 hours. We flagged another spiffy looking pulmonias to take us back to the port for $10 (Inc tip). 

What a nice day day on the beach in Mazatlán 

5 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

We were on the Eurodam last week in a signature suite and were delighted to find a king size bed in our cabin even though HALs web site says the cabins have a queen bed.  We will be in a Sig. Suite on the Oosterdam in March and  I wonder if they also have king size beds.  I would really appreciate it if you could find out the bed size in the signature suites on deck 6. Thanks and have a great cruise.

I can call the reception and ask. Do you know what room you’ll be in? Our bed is a pretty good size. Not sure, but it fits my 6’7” hubby and me just fine 

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

You've got the former "King of the toots" (Westerdam Port Everglades, FL), Capt. Rens van Eerten as your captain; Great character/funny guy! 

 

Really enjoying your pics and review! Keep up the great work and keep her warm for us; boarding this Sat when you disembark, for her New Year's cruise and looking forward to seeing Post Modern Jukebox

Captain has been quite entertaining on stage and on the intercom. 

Hopefully enjoy the PMJ. The singers were great, but the song arrangements were really hard to get into. I would say 25% of people left after the 3rd song because it was so strange....it might have just been the song selection for the evening. 

5 hours ago, CabinForOne said:

 

Small world! I was at this same table on a B2B Dec 7 - Dec 21.  I liked the location and all the servers plus there was a lovely couple to chat with across the aisle.  Say hi to Celso!  Hope you continue to have a great cruise.

Celso has been a great wine steward! The two tables around us have been for open seating guests. Last night, the couple left in a huff. Not sure why!

Yesterday was our first stop - Cabo San Lucas. It was a mess with tenders. We docked at 9am. It was tender tickets until about 12:30pm. We waited until it was open tender. I didn’t want wait in the bar. Preferred waiting until open tender.

After we landed in the Marina, we walked along the marina towards Medrano beach. We were going to walk all the way there, but as we left the craziness, a boat hawker flagged us down. $15/pp to take us to the arch and lovers beach. We offered $10 each. The runner found a boat, it was King of the Rock. Driver took us on a tour, showed us pirates cove, the arch and dropped us off at Lovers beach. We stoped for a moment where he fed three bread in the water and a swarm of fish came up next to our boat. 

We asked him to come back in 1.5 hours (3pm) the other family wanted a ride to medrano. We hung out on the beach, no resources, except a guy selling $5 beers. Hubby went into the water and checked out divorce beach (the other side).

As 3pm neared, we moved closer to the water. Our water taxi, King of the Rock showed up right at 3pm. On our way back, a sea lion jumped on the ship next to us. Seemed like he wanted a snack!

Took us back to the port in a snap. Tipped him $5. Super nice guy.

We had a hankering for tacos and wanted into town. It’s very much like San Diego, including the prices. Found Taco Fiesta. It was $40 for tacos, guacamole and 2 drinks. Not the cheapest, but tasty. Walked back to station #4 for HAL. 

Spent more time in the casino. Really tight machines, so we went to see the illusionist, Leon. Pretty entertaining and good audience participation.

We enjoyed ourselves at the orange party in the Koningsdam where they had fun desserts and lots of balloons. The party wasn’t as entertaining this time 😭

Retire early at 11pm and was greeted to a rhino towel animal 

Sunday was our sea day. I pre-ordered my MDR lunch due to my onion allergy. The tuna poke and carbonara were delicious. We were able to have our wine steward bring down our rose from our dinner, it was nice to have rose with lunch. 

After lunch, we gambled a little and my husband participated in the beer tasting for $15.95. He enjoyed the beers and nibbles.

At 6:45pm, we joined the captain and his officers for the Captains toast. We were given a glass of sparkling. It was on the sweet side, but still a nice gesture. Captain was quite humorous and seemed like a nice guy. 

After the roast, Post Modern Juke Box played. The singers were incredibly talented, but the arrangements were truly horrible. I love musicals and shows, this was an unfortunate production since the singers could do so much more. 

The gala night menu seemed to have been made for me. Absolutely my favorites: escargot, duck and truffle risotto. All delicious. We had the 8pm seating. I would say 90% were dresses in at least cocktail attire, or nicer than normal dress. Most of the men wore suits, a handful of tuxes. I saw many beautiful gowns and lots of pretty cocktail dresses. I went with Mexico tropical chic. I have my more formal cocktail dress for Christmas Eve, our 2nd gala night. 

The holiday display was really pretty and great for photoa 

2 hours ago, TheJurea said:

Great pictures!

Thanks for the slots info and pictures also. I’m glad that the slots are at least give and take, instead of just take. 😊

 

 

It was definitely nice to get small wins on just about every machine. Even though we gave it back, it’s nice to hit the bonus and feel like you are up (for a short while). 

First night dinner in the MDR was great. We were assigned Table 70.

We decided to get the 4 bottle wine package for $119. Ordered the French Rose and Bordeux. Both pretty good for being young wines. 

 I ordered the tuna ceviche for my appetizer and salmon for my entree. The salmon has been good before, but this time it was dry and due to my onion allergy, there wasn’t a good sauce to use. I asked for the eggplant bucatini. It was quite good. Had the butterscotch sundae dessert. Yummy!

Spent a few hours that evening in the casino. The $5 drinks were such a deal! Select wine, beer, bubbly and mixed drinks. I ordered glass of bubbly. It was on the sweeter side, but for $5, I couldn’t complain. When we were on the Koningsdam this summer, there was a late night happy hour, buy 1 get one for $1. They only have the 4pm HH for this cruise 

Spent a couple of hours in the casino. Lots of fun and the dueling piano guys were quite good. The last 2 dueling pianos were not great. 

On 12/21/2019 at 7:11 PM, TheJurea said:

Thank you so much! I bet you’re correct and they are all the same.

That is a perfect edge for my decorating for our 40th anniversary.

I am looking forward to any review of the slots, they are my favorite sea day activity.

 

Good Luck, win big !

 

The first night, we had a bit of success. Left the casino up $200. But, gave it all back and much more on the sea day. But, it was a lot of fun 

On 12/22/2019 at 7:41 AM, regnig said:

SLOTheta look under the ends of the beds for drawers.  Also, unless they have changed the love seat there are also 2 drawers there too.

We looked under the bed, I didn’t see drawers. But, there was space under neath the bed to our our suite cases. Didn’t check the loveseat. We figured it out. Put some stuff in the shelves and bedside table 

On 12/22/2019 at 11:21 AM, GreenValleyDogWalker said:

 

What time did the Muster Drill start ?

 

Have a great trip ! - We are booked for the Feb 29, 2020 Itinerary - looking forward to the rest of  your posts !

 

 

I don’t recall exactly, but I would say around 5pm? It took about 30ish minutes for everyone to line up and for the missing cabins to check in. I’m glad I wore a jacket. It was chilly on the promenade 

10 hours ago, comcox said:

I was very interested to read about your rolling your big suitcases on board yourselves; I wasn't aware that was allowed.  How well did they fit through the security scanners though?  I would much prefer to do that as we will be sailing on Oosterdam from San Diego next month.

We have never done it ourselves. But, we missed the porters and asked several people if we could do it ourselves. Our suitcases (50lbs) fit through the security scanners fine. One of the agents comments how strong I was since I put it up in the conveyor belt myself. No issues. It’s a long trek, so as long as you are prepared to roll quite a way, you should be fine. 

2 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

SOLThea,

Glad your on board and got a great up grade! Sorry about our weather not as sunny more clouds! Sitting out on our balcony and watched a sunset with lots of pinks and orange over the ocean!

I remember when you did your first live back in 2016! All your friends and how pretty all you were in your gowns! 
We flew out in First on United and remember you had a picture of you with champagne in first on United. That was a great live thread and all the pictures! That was your first Med cruise! We boarded a couple months later on the same HAL ship.

Glad to see you back!

Have a marvelous time! Win some money 💰 and relax.

Denise😊

So nice to hear from you again Denise! We had a fabulous time on our first cruise and had another fabulous time this past summer. Our group dressed up and we had a blast on gala nights, danced the night away and spent some good time at the tables. I didn’t recap or post, but I need to since it was an amazing trip. 

We flew Norwegian premium this time, it wasn’t as good as United first, but it was a direct flight. We flew United first home. Definitely enjoy the Polaris! 

Safe travels and happy  holidays 

2 minutes ago, TheJurea said:

Safe travels.

Thanks for posting.

We are on the Oosterdam in Feb. sooo excited!

I am thinking of decorating our door and am wondering, if you feel like you need a walk about, if you would walk by room 5191? I am wondering if our door has a metal trim for magnetic 🧲 decoration or if I need tape/sticker. 

 

I will try to go by, but I think all the rooms are the same. Seems like there’s a metal border. Here’s a picture of our door 

Finished the muster drill. It took about 30 mins. Last time, we were lucky to have our station inside the dining room. This time, we were outside for station 16. I’m glad I brought my jacket. It was quite chilly in the promenade. It was taking awhile for people to check in, some guests had to request to sit down inside. We were pretty crammed, shoulder to shoulder. Made me feel like we were in a lifeboat. 

Took a tour of the ship, stopped by the casino and noticed a sign for $5 casino drinks. I will definitely need to check that out later. 

I love all the Christmas decor. It’s really festive 

Hello!

I have not posted as much as I would have liked on CC since our first cruise in 2016. I was an avid reader and poster as I prepared for my cruise and after I arrived home. I am so thankful for all the CC posters who helped our 1st cruise be such a wonderful one. We went on our 2nd cruise this summer - Ancient Empires to celebrate my 40th and our 10th anniversary. We did quite a bit of gambling during our trip (wish I could say I won...) that we received an offer we couldn’t refuse for a cruise over the holidays. I had grand intentions of posting a review after our Greek cruise, but never found the time. For this cruise, I’m going to try my best to live post during our 7 day adventure. Changed my AT&T data plan, so I should be covered while in Mexico. 

We started our morning in Sacramento. Took the 10:50am Southwest flight and landed in San Diego 12:30. We picked up our bags and called an Uber. San Diego now has Uber and Lyft where you can get any car that’s waiting in the queue, after you show them your code. I used this last week in Vegas, and it was much better than waiting/searching for your driver. 

We arrived at the cruise terminal by 1. It’s a short Uber to the port.  The porters were busy, so we opted to roll our 2 large bags, box of wine (we reused my wine club shipment box), and small bag. I’ve never rolled all our luggage to our room, I would highly recommend it. We didn’t need to wait, we had everything with us. After the X-ray machine, we checked in with the wine steward who opened our box and counted the wine. We had 2 bottles covered, paid corkage on 3 - well worth the corkage of $18, since we had a 1998 Silver Oak, Dom and Veuve. She wrote us a receipt ticket and stuck a blue sticker on the bottles we paid corkage for so that we could bring them to the MDR to store and drink. 

After security, we waited for general check in. It went pretty fast. We maybe waited 10 mins. We were issued our keys and we were off. I noticed printed on our keys showed a set dining time and table #. What a relief! We were on the waitlist and it looks like we were able to get a set time (defaulted to Open Seating) 

Took the elevator and found our room on the 6th floor. We originally had an awesome casino rate room that was a fully obstructed view (the discount really could have just come from my losses 😬). But, I called our PCC 2 days ago to check it there were any verandah rooms. Lucky for us, we were able to get one for only $59/pp more. What a great deal!

Since we didn’t need to wait for our bags, we quickly unpacked. There are two closets, but there aren’t any drawers. 

After packing, we zipped to the Lido to check it what was offered. I opted for the Thai station. It was pretty good - fish curry and chicken basil. It had a little spice and good flavor. We also swung by and get Dive In fries with cheese sauce. Yum! I noticed there was a taco bar set up by the pool.

We met our room steward, Petrus. Very nice gentleman who was quick to fill my ice bucket when I asked. Mini-bar clearing is commencing now. 

Muster drill is soon, hubby went to explore San Diego. First couple hours on the ship have been great. We sail tonight and see day tomorrow. 

We did not research the cruise or it’s ports. Not sure when/if there’s a Gala night or orange party. But, we came prepared with suits and cocktail dresses. For our previous 2 European cruises, our group wore tuxes and gowns. But, since this is more casual cruise, we opted for cocktail holiday attire. I brought an orange dress just in case. The orange party on the Koningsdam was a lot of fun. 

I am looking forward to relaxing, eating, drinking, gambling and reading. 😬 

Since I’ve only taken one cruise and when I asked the PCC, she told us the count and which night. Maybe it was using the educated guess that others have proposed: first sea day and not the last night. She was correct, so I guess we are lucky. We have a different PCC this time and from her email, it sounded like they used to tell people. 

I will go with her guess and hope it’s the 8th and 17th. Trying to plan our specialty meals to not conflict with Gala nights. I always love an excuse to dress up and use one of my 200 gowns and cocktail dresses (I go to 20+ cocktail or formal events a year). 

6 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I know that this topic (booking though HAL vs a discount on-line site) is often discussed on this board and I really do not want to start another one, but I just wanted to share a great experience I had today with my HAL PCC.

 

Around 9 am I email my HAL PCC the following:

 "I noticed a fare decline in our Dec.  XX, 2019 cruise (#XXXXX) of $45.00 per person.  Could you please check this out for us?

 

If you need to call me on this, best might be my cell phone today"

 

At 10:15 am (they start work at 10 am my time) I got this email response:

 

"

Done!  Your new base fare is $XXXX.00 with same promos and obc.  I resent the booking confirmation to you .

 

Have a great day!"

 

What a quick and easy way to save $90!  And I generally do this at least once on each of our cruises.

 

 

 

 

That’s awesome. My PCC also is quick to make a change. I send her the info or link, she compares it for me, and let’s me know if it’s a better deal. She changed my booking 3 times without much effort on my part. Elizabeth is great!