richwmn

Yeah - I get that. But since both "Pax Max" and "Total Staterooms" are listed, it seems redundantly repetitive. Again, just curious. I guess I am kind of a "data junkie."

 

Cheers

When you get on the ship, you are more likely to be at "capacity" rather than "Pax Max". With the exception of school breaks, That is 2 passengers in each cabin. During school breaks, more cabins will have 3rd or 4th occupants, where available, and the ship may approach "Pax Max".

We're taking a 24 day Europe/TA cruise next October, and I saw some posts about HAL laundry fees. This $7 seems like a bargain. Might make a difference how much I pack?

The $7 (maybe $9 in Europe) is for buying the whole cruise in advance. If you do it by the bag it is $20 (maybe $30 in Europe). The bag is left for your room steward to pick up, and is returned about a day later. All shirt and pants are on hangers, other items are folded and returned in a basket.

Some will respond that they had problems, but for the most part the service is very good.

that appears to be the "lower berth" capacity for passengers. For ships other than the Koningsdam, it is twice the number of cabins. Koningsdam has several solo cabins. Total or lifeboat capacity would is more and is listed as pax max (passenger maximum).

(typing at same time as Carol)

I recently transferred a booking from HAL to a big box TA and received shipboard credit from the TA.

 

This the first time I have done this and am wondering how I can tell if HAL acknowledges / is aware of the OBC received form my TA. The credit shows on my booking invoice from my TA of course, but is there a way to verify with HAL that yes, they have it? It doesn't appear anywhere in my reservation on HAL's site (my online account).

 

Should I call them, or simply wait until I print out my Express Docs (and will it even show on them)? Just curious as to where I'll see that I do in fact have the OBC prior to boarding.

 

Thanks!

You should print out your invoice from the TA and take it with you. Chances are it won't show up anywhere on the HAL site, if it does, it would be on your itinerary on the first day showing as a gift. Most likely the TA won't even purchase the OBC until just before your cruise, maybe a week or so.

I just booked a Cruise using a Future Cruise Deposit Voucher and was given the $100.00 on board credit for the FCD. I was also given $100.00 per person OBC for being on a recent cruise. I am a four star Mariner and have never been given this OBC in the past. I tried to get it on other cruises I am already booked on, but was told that you only get it once. Does anyone have a reference or information for this past cruiser benefit?

 

Thanks,

 

Dean

You can get it more than once, but it is for new bookings only within 60 days or so of exiting the ship. It can not be added to existing reservations.

I see on one of the recent threads someone had the Holland America Navigator app but i am not sure where to find it. When we cruise next year in April we are taking one of our cellphones but won't be signing up for Wifi so just wondering if it needs internet or whether it is bluetooth activated on the ship? Also is it available to use on both Samsung and Iphones/iPads?

 

We are going to be onboard for 22 nights so keen to see what the navigator offers. I think someone said you could get a timetable of the days events on it rather than carry the paper version around with you but i am be wrong.

 

Thanks in advance...

 

Kiwi Cruisers

It is not an APP, it is a web page on the ship's server. Any web enabled device can use it - phones, pads, laptops.

For a lot of discussion about it, please see this recent thread - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2565550

I have been a member of that group for quite a while, and I am able to see the pictures.

Who knows???

as long as you have time left on your plan, or you wish to pay the $.75 per minute, the ships internet is available until you leave the ship. You should have no problem printing your boarding pass the night before.

Not meant to be nice or not. Just a reality check. If someone's credit limit is only a few hundred dollars, the last thing they should be thinking about is a cruise, particularly one that's three weeks long.

 

 

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Again, you don't know the situation. Georgie562 may have plenty of resources to pay for the cruise, just not the current ability or desire (for whatever reason) to obtain the credit card you seem to feel is necessary to be able to cruise. It is Georgie562's choice to cruise or not, and we should not judge if he should.

You may want to revisit how you do your finances. The current average new credit card limit for someone with a good credit history in the US is $9k plus.

 

 

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not really a very nice thing to say. you don't know him or have any idea of his circumstances.

This comment doesn't make sense to me. The Carnival Corporation owns Amber Cove and I would expect they would (or should) know what was going on. HAL should have been made aware of the situation. They were obviously caught off guard but refused to acknowledge the problem or even offer a formal apology.

 

Part of what made the situation so frustrating was the events that led up to this day. The majority of the passengers on the NA booked a cruise that was to go to St. Thomas, Grand Turk and San Juan. After final payment was made and it was too late to cancel, the hurricanes came through and changed the whole itinerary (other than Half Moon Cay.) Not HAL's fault...just a fact...but still a disappointment when you are spending hard earned money and vacation time going someplace different than where you wanted to be. (And I realize that this is spelled out in the contract.) IMO, what HAL delivered was not up to par with what we booked.

 

I'm sure it was a nightmare trying to come up with replacement ports and Amber Cove got added in the last few days as a replacement for the replacement port of St. Croix. We were already scheduled to go to Cap Cana, another DR port with very limited, but similar type excursions. Our other replacement port, Nassau, was not one I would have chosen in the first place and then it got cancelled anyway.

 

I was also somewhat frustrated with the excursion we booked in Cap Cana through HAL. When I booked it online in advance (for $99.95/person), the tour description included things that we didn't get to do and was shortened from the 8 hours in the original description to 5.5 hours. What we did experience on the tour was excellent so I didn't complain, but it just felt like we were being short changed. Even our tour guide apologized repeatedly for having to cut the tour short. The tour was late getting started and ended well over an hour before we had to be back on board so I feel it could have been extended to cover what was advertised.

 

So...by the time we encountered the problems at Amber Cove it was like the straw that broke the camel's back. Had HAL made some sort of an effort to acknowledge the issue then my attitude would have probably been different.

So very sorry that I didn't know that Carnival Corporation developed Amber Cover and therefore "owns" the water park. Even with that being said, it would be managed by a different division of Carnival Corporation (not Carnival Cruise Lines). Therefore, it is still possible that the group that chartered the ship also arranged separately for the use of the water park and that division didn't notify either Carnival Cruise Lines or Holland America Line.

Just an observation, since this was a charter for the Carnival Victory, Carnival Cruise Lines may not have known that the pool area was reserved. The chartering agency may have booked the Amber Cove pool independantly.

The self purchased shipboard credit you buy from HAL website, is it refundable?

 

and if so, whatever amount is not used at the end, is it paid out cash? check delivered to your home?

 

this is the only description it gives:

 

Not sure what to purchase for an upcoming cruise? Then buy shipboard credit. It makes a perfect gift, for yourself or someone special. Use it as credit toward shore excursions, spa treatments, beverages, and more. Available for purchase in increments of $5.

As quoted above, the original question is whether or not self purchased onboard credit is refundable.

The answer to this is yes.

I don't have a high limit credit card to cover my upcoming 22 day cruise, so I have been buying OBC from the website.

I will not give my debit card.

The second part of the original question is "How is it refunded?"

If sufficient OBC is purchased prior to, or on embarcation, is greater than $60/per person/per day you do not have to register a credit card. As such, you will need to go by the Front Office to get a refund. You can do this starting around 9pm on the last night of the cruise. At the point you close your account and get your refund you will no longer be able to charge anything on the ship. Since no credit card is registered, the refund will be in CASH. I have not noticed an upper limit, however there may be one. They may be able to issue a check, I have never asked. The casino trick is NOT necessary for closing out your account, it is necessary if you wish to get cash earlier in the cruise without a 3% charge, or if you are trying to cash out HAL or Carnival Corp issued credits which are listed as Non Refundable.

If you have a beverage package, that will still be valid until the end of the cruise - even if you have closed out.

This is the way I have handled my on board expenses for more than 10 cruises over more than 7 years.

Usually amount over a fixed amount aren’t given out in cash. You can go to the casino . Transfer the balance to a casino account. Pay a few slots and then cash out the account in cash.

 

 

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Again, I have been doing this for years and have never had a problem getting cash for my purchased OBC from the front desk. The amounts were generally over $100 and in at least one case over $300, so if there is a fixed amount it is over that. I have not registered a credit card in at least 7 years, maybe more. The most recent cruise ended last Oct 20th and I was refunded over $300 the night of the 19th.

Lately amounts over $50 USD aren't returned to the card used to purchase the OBC. If not refunded to the card , theyll send a cheque in about 4 to 6 weeks.

Funny, I was cheerfully handed much more than $50 in cash four times in the last year on the last night of the cruises involved.

The self purchased shipboard credit you buy from HAL website, is it refundable?

 

and if so, whatever amount is not used at the end, is it paid out cash? check delivered to your home?

 

this is the only description it gives:

 

Not sure what to purchase for an upcoming cruise? Then buy shipboard credit. It makes a perfect gift, for yourself or someone special. Use it as credit toward shore excursions, spa treatments, beverages, and more. Available for purchase in increments of $5.

I do this regularly. Starting the last evening of the cruise you may close out your account and receive any remaining credits in cash. If you have purchased enough OBC to cover the $60/person/day minimum you do not have to register a credit card at all.

Okay.

Hey, richwmn, suggest you take jtl513's bet, since she/he has not rescinded the offer ... and make it worth your while since jtl513 did not limit the size of bet she/he was willing to take. BTW if you need "proof" in order to collect on the bet, I'd be happy to provide you documentary evidence (the confirming e-mail I received from HAL) to prove your point.

Good luck ...

Actually, I wouldn't take the bet. Reason is that if 3 different people call HAL they are likely to get 4 different answers to any question. Quite often it takes the customer knowing what can happen to make it so. This problem is not restricted to HAL, it happens with any large corporation that has a group of people who only answer the phone.

He doesn't need your help. He knows jtl513's email, name, and cell phone number. They are friends.

John, are you posting on Carol's account again?

And I'll bet if you called HAL to ask they would tell you can't do that! :D In my 9/2010 experience the N.A. was less than 3 months old, with a lot of new staff, and were probably "going by the book".

 

In thinking about how they could have known that our guests were "zero star", it might have been because I had booked both cabins (they were DB & DSiL) and linked the reservations for dining.

 

When you booked the dinner for 10, did they ask for names and send them reminder "invitations" on board, or just you?

When I booked the dinner for 10 I did not provide any information other than I would have 9 guests. On another cruise I set up a dinner for 12 and paid for 5 with the other 7 paying various ways. All done via a call to ships services.

And this has been our experience ever since we achieved 4-Star status. We have never been asked the Star status of our dinner guests, and thus the 50% discount has been applied to the full price of the dinner which we booked well in advance of our cruise. Easy, peasy!

Smooth sailing :) :) :)

This has been my experience as well. I have booked, and paid, well in advance as many as 10 Pinnacle dinners for a group sitting. For all 10 I received my 4* discount and no one ever asked the loyalty level of any of my guests.

Can anyone tell me what it is like to be seated on bar stools in the very back row of the theater on the main floor on the Nieuw Amsterdam? We are going on a theme cruise and have been assigned our seats for the nightly shows.

Why are you being assigned seats?

Shouldn't it be first-come-first-seated like on regular cruises?

OP is on a theme cruise - they can do whatever they please!

Google's translation of his question --

Good morning, I would like to know what internal temperature I will find on the HAL Zaandam that

will depart from Buenos Aires on December 1st and arrive in San Antonio on December 15 Thanks to who will respond

Unless you specify otherwise, if you book a cruise on board it will "belong" to the agency listed for the cruise you are on. If you want the cruise to stay with HAL or for future transfer to an outside agency, you MUST let the consultant on board know.

First can you transfer a on board new booking for a future cruise to your Travel Agent ?

 

Secondly is there a time limit for doing the above transfer placed by HAL ?

 

TIA

No problem transferring to your personal TA. Don't believe there is any time limit for doing do.

Must be transfered 1 day before final payment and can not be fully paid.

This is another exception to getting increased mariner perks during a cruise other than on a grand cruise. And no, you do not need separate cruise booking numbers.

 

If your cruise is sold in more than one segment and your cruise days during the former segment meet the next mariner level requirements you can receive the increased star benefits by doing the following:

 

Call the Mariner Society before the upcoming cruise and have them confirm your sea days. Ask them to note in your file a change of status when the qualifying segment ends.

 

On your cruise two days before the qualifying segment of your cruise ends go to the front desk and ask for a change of mariner status asking them to email the mariner society (remember they are closed weekends) for permission to upgrade you with the increased level of benefits.

 

After the mariner society confirms your prior request and validity they email your ship and your new key card is issued on the first day of the new cruise segment.

 

We did this in 2015 on a cruise which changed our star level from 2 to 3 and on our cruise in two weeks the mariner society has confirmed our level will change from 3 to 4 on the 19th day of the first 21 day segment. The new perks begin on first day of the next segment of the cruise.

 

Important: HAL will not automatically increase your benefits--you must request this before the cruise.

 

Hopefully I stated this clearly enough as I don't want anyone missing out on unlimited free laundry and 50% off wine packages! (in my case 4 star) The request was simple, only a 5 minute phone call. Enjoy!

My understanding is that actual cruise days, not "Bonus days" must put you over to the next level. So for example if you need 8 days and the first segment is 7, your $300 in spending will not count.