Nang

What qualifies as proof of loyalty status? Something like this ...

Hi, we are currently in the process of booking our first VV cruise - 21days Athens-Miami Oct '24 on the Resilient Lady which is actually a 7 day/14 day back to back. If we purchase some bar tabs will they carry over to the 2nd leg of the cruise or cut off at the end of the 7 day first leg? I expect to buy at least 3 and know at most one (mine) would be fully spent after just 7 days.

I thought I would offer my experience with Scenic ... We did Amsterdam-Budapest in 2015. It was mostly a great experience with a few, not insignificant issues for me (but not my DW). Scenic restock their drinks only in Nuremburg, 9 days from Amsterdam. When we boarded in Amsterdam they were out of Stella, 2 days later no Heineken, one day later my next beer of choice was done. Given beer is a big part of my holiday experience I was less than impressed. Each afternoon everybody meets for pre-dinner drinks, a briefing for the next day and sometimes for some entertainment. Unsurprisingly most people want a drink or two. The wait was AT LEAST 20 minutes, all due to a severe lack of wait and bar staff. They tried hard but were very much overwhelmed. OK, so just walk up to the bar. Nope, told only service is via one of the wait staff (no great surprise there given the situation). After the daily briefing we are invited to move to the dining room for dinner. Exactly the same situation repeated itself regarding drinks. This occurred every day. Entertainment was severely lacking compared to an ocean cruise. Some late afternoons an act would board the ship and perform, often with a focus on local culture/traditional performances. There were quite good, but short. During and after dinner is was a solo piano player/singer who played chamber/elevator music, every night, except on the rare occasion we attended an off ship, high quality night of entertainment. The above negatives were much outweighed by the quality of the itinerary/destinations, the ship itself and the food. Staff were efficient and polite, but not in the same league as HAL's friendly staff in enhancing my holiday. HAL ocean cruises and Scenic river cruising are different products, but both have delivered me a pleasurable experience with Scenic a mix of high highs and disappointing lows.

P&O is CASUAL. Wearing a suit will make you stand out. Wearing a sports jacket will put you in a reasonable sized minority. Its your holiday, wear what makes you comfortable.

No photo but you can get a few tap beers and a cider in the Pub. Imperial pints were $AUD10.50, Schooners $10, cans $9.50 from memory (no service fee or gratuity added). Prices are consistent across bars. Brands are listed below - note this a 2019 list but close to what I remember being available 3 weeks ago. Great Northern Super Crisp • Pure Blond • Carlton Dry • Crown Lager • Carlton Black • VB • Fat Yak • 4 Pines Kolsh • 4 Pines Pale Ale • XXXX • Cooper's Pale Ale • Cooper's Session Ale • Cooper's Mild Ale • Cascade • Peroni • Stella Artois • Corona • Sapporo • Moretti • Heineken • Grolsch • Budweiser • Strongbow (cider) • Carlton Draught • Fat Yak • 4 Pines Pale Ale • Great Northern Super Crisp • Stella Artois • Goose Island • Bulmer's Cider

Milkshakes were definitely included in the SBP on the Statendam in September/October. I had quite a few.

Good to see there is no gratuity on top of the high drink price. By the way $US18 is $AUD27 - that is scary high. Wonder what's a Corona/Heineken in $US?

Absolutely.

The reusable bottles are fine.

Never heard anybody call them wet suits. I expect sciencewonk was just describing what they are made from - wet suit type material. Aussies call them stubby holders, Americans koozies. Check their history out in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koozie#:~:text=A koozie ( %2Fˈkuː,like a can or bottle.

If you paid to have the signature beverage package (SBP) added I suggest you cancel it and book HIA which will cost less and include excursion $s, wifi and specialty dining options, If the HIA package includes the SBP you should be able to upgrade to Elite once on board but you need to do so before getting ANY drink on the SBP. Just ask to upgrade at any bar and if you get refused at a bar just keep trying at different bars.

In my experience reservations are far from "competitive" in Canaletto. You will be able to check the MDR menu in the morning and reschedule Canaletto if you want, there is almost no danger of not being able to rebook.

about 75 minutes but this was on a Sunday with minimal traffic.

We boarded the NS on 17 Sept 2023 in Civitavecchia. Got picked up by car at 10:30 from our Rome City BnB and boarded immediately we arrived at the port. There was not 1 person waiting to board. If the ship arrives at 7:00am or 8:00am I would just do what we did. Our scheduled time was 2:20pm.

Try clearing the app's cache, then restarting the phone.

Have been very close to elevators s few times and never noticed any related noise.

They are not formal, but dressy nights. No suits, jackets or ties required for the guys. Slacks, chinos, collared shirts. No sneakers. Dress up if you want, you may see a few tuxes. Your holiday your choice. No need to "dress up" for other non-dining venues. Lido dress code is as it is for any other night. There will likely be a dressy night on the first or second sea day and on the last one if it is not the last night of the cruise.

The Billboard Onboard performers tend to be OK entertainers with their weakness being their vocal abilities, unlike those who preceded them in the piano bar days.

What about the two pianists/singers in Billboard Onboard? Surely they are still a thing?

I too do not like having to queue for lengthy periods but I do not begrudge people ordering specialty coffees at a specialty coffee venue. Tweaking an order should be part of the service, just as it is ar a bar, the MDR and specialty restaurants. Somebody making multiple orders and paying with multiple cards is probably no more or less "efficient" than having an equivalent number of extra people in the queue. Would I rather be one ahead of a multiple orderer than behind? Sure I would, but it is what it is and I exercise patience.

Surely passengers can order the beverages they want without being part of the problem. I do not understand at all????

If it is a round trip out of Amsterdam the passengers will largely be Dutch. Based on our experience last August the MDR will be VERY popular and the dress will be very much smart casual. Very few suits, ties.

I too have an A13 and have had no issues with the app until a few weeks ago which was easily fixed by clearing data/cache and reinstalling. I have made fairly extensive use of the app over the past couple of months booking excursions (and cancelling them) and HIA dinners which all worked well. Who knows why my experience has been better than many others.

We are on the 17 Sept sailing, are you as well? Based on what I have read I am assuming the ship will organise the visa ... From the HAL website go to Identification documents in https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html Scrolling and reading will eventually lead you to "Visas" where you will find this link https://cibtvisas.com/tourkits?bookmark=1&login=hollandamericaline while the really useful bit is this link in that page https://cibtvisas.com/additional-client-info . It states clearly here we do not need to organise a visa for Egypt, Israel or Turkey. That is good enough for me.

Being on the dock at 7:15 when the ship docks at 7:00 is very tight. I can't recall the time taken for the ship to be cleared for passengers in Alaska but 15 minutes is optimistic for clearance and disembarking.