SLOTheta

For clarification, were any of the people you spoke with a Personal Cruise Consultant or were they just customer service-type people?

I was transferred to a PCC who was quite eager to take my booking. But, when I started to ask questions about the group perks and program, that when I started to get bounced around.

Hopefully, someone on this board has organized groups and can give me a few tips on how to maximize group perks/program.

Thanks!

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I would talk to a PCC. They would have the best insight. I agree that what you have posted isn't very clear.

Thanks. When I called HAL, they weren’t all that helpful. I was transferred to 3 different people. They really couldn’t tell me why someone would choose GAP vs the Family Reunion package.

I was hoping to hear from people who have organized group cruises. But, from searching this board, most people book on their own, and if they are a part of a group, they haven’t been involved with the backend planning.

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When we were on the Eurodam, we loved our Canaletto meal. We had an appetizer, two pastas to share and a fish dish we split. Everything was delicious! The bottle of wine was very reasonable, too.

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Hello! I was hoping I could get a few tips with groups. Does anyone have feedback or when they think the 2019 GAP program will be released? I’m leaning towards using a big box hot dog store to book our group trip. Thanks!

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Hello,

I’m organizing my 2nd cruise next summer on the Koningsdam. I’ve decided on the July 2019, 12 night Ancient Empires Cruise. We plan on doing a vow renewal and celebrate my birthday. I received the 2018 Group Advantage Program guide from HAL. I called the group line at HAL today and I couldn’t get clear answers. I also did a 10 year search on CC and there weren’t a lot of answers regarding group perks and benefits.

It appears that the Family Reunion and the Wedding package offers the best incentives for your guests. Group Guests get some nice perks such as champagne, lunch and soda cards. I was told that no matter how many people you have, your GAP points are given to your group and that’s the amount you get. For our proposed cruise, we would get 4 GAP points. This would give us 1 dinner and chocolate covered strawberries. Why would a group organizer choose GAP points over the family reunion or wedding package?

Can someone clarify what the below means? Does this mean you’ll get an upgrade within your booked category?

“Complimentary “best available” between meta upgrades

—

Below are the packages:

2018 AFFINITY GROUP PACKAGES

2018 Wedding Package for family groups of 8 or more staterooms Benefits below are in lieu of GAP Points

FOR THE WEDDING COUPLE

Wedding Couple Reward — Complimentary “best available” between meta upgrade[emoji812] Complimentary Wedding Cake for up to 16 guestsu

Pinnacle Grill Lunch per guest❖

Chocolate-dipped Strawberries per stateroom

Bottle of Prosecco Sparkling Wine per stateroom

Private Winetasting per guest — approximately one-hour tasting featuring five wines and domestic cheeses* ADDITIONAL GUESTS

Pinnacle Grill Lunch per guest❖

Chocolate-dipped Strawberries per stateroom

Bottle of Prosecco Sparkling Wine per stateroom

Private Winetasting per guest — approximately one-hour tasting featuring five wines and domestic cheeses*

2018 Family Reunion Package for family groups of 8 or more staterooms ◗ Benefits below are in lieu of GAP Points

Head of the Family Reward — Complimentary “best available” between meta upgrade[emoji812]

Family Member Reward — Complimentary “best available” upgrades within meta category for all family members✤ $50-value Fountain Soda Card per stateroom

Pinnacle Grill Lunch for all family members❖

$50-value Beverage Card per stateroom

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Remember that the high numbers are often the HA cabins, which have to be larger to be accessible. Most Verandah and Vista cabins will be the lower number. OP may very well have a rare 405 sq ft verandah cabin due to that large balcony.

Thank you! That’s really helpful to know. The more I read about the Vista suites and the not so fabulous perks, I’m leaning towards sticking with a Verandah and hoping the upgrade fairy comes along and offers us an upgrade. I’m organizing a birthday cruise for next summer and had wanted to splurge on a vista suite or signature, but it just doesn’t seem worth the extra money at this time.

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I have the same question. Why would people chose a Vista Suite if you don’t get a lot of extra perks and the room size is essentially the same? I’m looking at the Koningsdam map and it says for Deck 8, there actually might be bigger rooms for the Veranda vs Suites.

B - Vista Suites

Approximately 260–356 sq. ft. including verandah.

VS, VA, V, VF, VE - VERANDAH STATEROOMS

Approximately 228–405 sq. ft. including verandah.

The Verandah is $2929/pp and the Vista Suite is $3339/pp. For 2 people, it’s $820 to upgrade suite.

I like the idea of a suite, but it seems like a lot of money for not much more.

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Given the ports you've already been to, I would recommend the first cruise, on the Koningsdam. The Veendam itinerary repeats several ports you've already visited.

 

 

 

Actually, I would prefer it anyway because I feel the ports have a good mix of history (Athens, Rhodes, Katakolon) and nice Greek island scenery (Mykonos, Santorini).

Thank you. I didn’t realize that #2 repeated so many ports until I responded to the other poster. I’m definitely 90/10 on my choice based on new ports - #1 is ahead thus far.

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We have been to Greece on a prior trip but are going on the 12 day Greek Odyssey this year. We chose this cruise for the number of ports we have not been to but also for Rome and Venice. We love Italy and will spend time in both of these cities before and after the cruise. I also liked the addition of Kotor, Montenegro even though we really like Dubrovnik, Croatia. I'll post a full review of out trip on CC and we will be aboard the Oosterdam.

I’ll forward to your review of the Greek islands portion. We loved Rome, Venice and Kotor. Even though we only had a few hours in Kotor, It’s worth the trek up the mountain. The views were Amazing.

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I would personally prefer the Veendam sailing because of the places visited.

Thank you! Which cities are your favorites on the Veedam sailing? Have you been to the Greek locations? We did the Mediterranean Tapestry Cruise and hit Venice, Rome, Kotor and Corfu.

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Hello!

I went on my first cruise 2 years ago for a wedding. It was an incredible Mediterranean cruise. We had so much fun with our group of 50, we wanted to replicate the experience for my 40th birthday.

Holland America has 2 Greek cruises that fit during our summer 2019 window.

I’m leaning towards the Koningsdam itinerary since it’s a newer ship and it has 2 sea days.

I would appreciate your expert cruiser advice!

1) 12 Day Ancient Empires

Koningsdam

https://www.hollandamerica.com/details?webItineraryIdForAudit=E9M12E&fromSearchVacation=true&guestsCount=2&voyageCode=K939&selectedMeta=Verandah&shipId=KO

2) 12 Day Greek Odyssey

Veendam

https://www.hollandamerica.com/details?webItineraryIdForAudit=E9M12G&fromSearchVacation=true&guestsCount=2&voyageCode=E937&selectedMeta=Vista%20Suite&shipId=VE

Thank you!!

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If I were to guess, I would say probably or at the very least an itineray With many similar ports.

Thank you! I’ll keep looking to see if they update the schedule for next Summer.

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Any ideas or guesses?

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Hello,

I emailed HA about the likelihood of the Greek Odyssey cruise during the summer (June to August) returning for 2019. They weren’t able to confirm if this cruise was coming back from next year.

Have cruisers seen this cruise year after year? Does anyone have any insight on the odds of it coming back for next year?

I was hoping to get a group of 50 together to celebrate my birthday next year and I love the itinerary of this cruise.

Thanks!

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I am looking at the Eurodam for a long cruise 28 days. I am wondering how these cabanas are rented? Is it by the day or the whole cruise? Anyone know the approx. cost? Thanks. I tried the search, but couldn't find what I am looking for.

We rented 3 cabanas in the Eurodam for 12 night trip. Send an email to HAL and they will send you a PDF with the pricing. The main pool cabanas were cheaper than the retreat ones. When we asked if there were more available, they were all sold out.

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We were in a Mediterranean cruise last summer for 12 nights and I would say a good majority of the Late diners wore suits, tuxes and nice dresses for the ladies on Gala Nights. Our group of 50 went all out with tuxes and gowns. We didn't care what others wore, we all love dressing up. We were pleasantly surprised to see so many people dressed elegantly.

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We had "dueling pianos" on the Eurodam. Most nights, the room was full, but it wasn't very interactive. They took requests, but generally played the same songs. They weren't very good and off tune. I felt bad because people just went into it, but it could have been the off key singing.

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We went on a 12 day Med cruise in July and we had 2 gala nights. I emailed HAL and they told me which nights. On our Med cruise, a good majority dressed up every night and Gala nights people dressed very well. The men wore dark suits and tuxes. The ladies wore dresses or gowns. I had the later seating. But, I didn't care if people didn't dress formally. Dress how you want.

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We were on the Eurodam and our friends are home winemakers. He checked both in his suitcase and took them out at the port. When they asked what was with the funky label, he told them he is a home wine maker. They let him in. No problem.

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For our cruise this summer, I emailed HAL and they told me how many and which nights we would have Gala nights. This was helpful since we were attending a formal wedding. For a 12 day cruise, we had 2 Gala nights, unfortunately they fell on other nights besides the wedding, so I brought 3 Gowns. I'm told Med cruises have guests who like to dress up, I was happily surprised this was the case.

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Our group booked 4 of the Lido Cabanas this summer on the Eurodam and we loved having a spot where we could hang out. Most of us didn't even go into the water, but we loved hanging out and seeing the world go by. Our cabana steward was awesome and always made sure we had plenty of water, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. We tipped him every day - he went above and beyond!

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How very disappointing. My DH and I have just finished ballroom dance classes, the waltz, rhumba, swing, samba, tango, foxtrot, cha cha and how much fun we had. We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in January and there was a wonderful band for ballroom dancing in the Ocean Bar. We have booked the transatlantic on the eurodam and were so looking forward to dancing our way across the atlantic. Thank you for the information.

You could still dance away! I saw people doing all sorts of dancing. Even if it's not the traditional music you'd want, the counts are similar with many songs.

Have fun and don't worry about other people, dance your heart out.

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We were on the Eurodam this summer where it was nonsmoking. Awesome! We saw Black Jack minimums at $5, $10, $15 and $25. Roulette was $5 inside and outside bets. Craps was $5. We had a group of 50 and there was at least 15 of us gambling every night, which made it fun. We closed down the casino most nights. All the games were played. I played 3 card, which I hit some nice wins.

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We brought wine from home, we checked a case shipper on our flight because we had high end aged bottles we wanted to drink. We bought a few extra bottles in Barcelona, there are wine shops everywhere. We paid for corkage up front and brought the bottles in every night to the MDR, which included our "free bottles" our wine steward asked if we paid corkage and we said yes. Never an issue. At the end, we tipped on every bottle we brought and bought at dinner.

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When we were on the Eurodam this past July, there wasn't any ballroom dancing on the ship. I didn't see any dancing other than in the Queens Lounge where BB King played. We danced every night, I guess you could maybe do a salsa or swing to some of their songs. They played great music, mostly wedding type dance songs that people of all ages could dance to. My friends were disappointed that the ballroom dancing was gone, one of them won the Dancing with the Stars contest in her last cruise.

I checked my dailies, I didn't see any other bands playing where you could dance. Maybe we missed it, but our dancing group would have found an alternate location to dance if there was one.

I had happy hour in the Ocean Bar several times, I never saw a dance floor or band.

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