Ready2go11

I am getting ready to book a great deal on a fall cruise on the Volendam. First time on this ship. I plan to book in lowest obstructed ocean view and add CO for the upgrade to category C. Much better price that way. Since I am heading south once in the Atlantic, is port side better to face inland? Or does that matter? More importantly, upgrades to category C available include cabin 2635. Seems good because it has cabins above and below on decks 1 and 3 (not under the atrium). However, in the middle of that deck the interior hallway faces a large gray area on the deck plan. Does anyone know what that is? Concerned it may be mechanical and noisy. Another option is 2587. This also has cabins above and below but faces interior staterooms across the interior hallway. So would be possible people noise but manageable. Anything else to consider on deck 2 mid or other advice on the cabins noted above? Many thanks in advance!

My experience or opinion. they should not call embarkation day lunch in the dining room Mariner anything since it is open to all guests. Makes it confusing to refer to as Mariner Society, unless welcome all because by the end of the cruise everyone will have at least one star. Lunch menu is no different than any other day but nice to have the non-Lido option to start off the cruise. On the NS last month, they had a welcome reception for 3* and above on the afternoon of the first day (when there was a sea day on day 2). Our room steward delivered our invitation to this event 2 hours after the event was over. We shared feedback on the app and they apologized and sent a bottle of Prosecco to one cabin in our group and chocolate covered strawberries to my room. We did not ask for anything so it was a nice gesture. In talking to the customer service rep who called about the app feedback, she noted that on cruises of 7 days or less there was no separate Mariner lunch with the special set menu (fewer options but upgraded perhaps from regular fixed lunch dining room menu) like there used to be. That is only on longer cruises. Our tiles were left on our beds by the room stewards. There was a medal ceremony during the cruise that we happened to see by chance in walking around the ship. Few people there leading me to believe it is awardees and maybe Presidents Club (we did have a President Club member on the cruise) that were invited.

When I last purchased an arrangement on the Rotterdam I went to the craft open house on the first day of the cruise and spoke to the florist. I was able to give my flower choices and pick out the vase that I wanted. It was one of the flower Delft vases. When the flowers were delivered to my room the next day, they brought the box for the vase (they even put a sticky note on the box to tell me what it was for), so I was able to take it home. In the box it easily fit in my suitcase nestled in with clothing and there was no issue with getting it home safely with no breakage.

That is my question. However since HIA has been available (and even before that when the booking had the signature beverage package thrown in as a perk), I have always received the max extra credits per day because they gave you credit for 15 drinks spending per day, even if you haven't ordered all those drinks. And that is not counting Internet cost, dining and shore excursion with HIA plus my extra spending on excursions, dining and spa This is the first time, even though my spending behavior did not change, that I only received 6 bonus spending credits for a 7 day cruise, rather than 7.

I was on the NS the second week in January and my credits posted quickly. However, for the first time since HIA started, I did not receive an extra spending credit for each day of the 7 day cruise. I only received 6 bonus night credits. anyone experience that issue?

Just speculating but since the program did not start til late in July 2023 likely it is not yet time to reregister. Not clear if it is annual from when you first were validated or calendar year but unlikely it is time yet. I booked a new cruise for 2025 two weeks ago and there was no mention of having to reregister yet because the calendar flipped to 2024.

One per stateroom.

One more (happy) story of inconsistency to share… On my recent cruise I travelled with my sister and her husband. She had contacted the customer service email months ago to ask for the AARP credit on this already booked cruise and was told sorry it only applies to new bookings. I did the same and it was applied to all my existing bookings. However, when she got on board, her OBC reflected they did give it to her (her on-ship OBC was $100 higher than her most recent confirmation email from HAL and there was no other reason for the extra OBC; she had already received her stock OBC). not sure why, but she was obviously very pleased

I booked a new cruise for 2025 while on board the NS two weeks ago. The onboard future cruise consultant said the AARP was attached, but it did not show up as a credit on my confirmation. When in the next port, I called HAL’s customer service line and the rep told me it was only good for one cruise per year. I said I respectfully disagree with you since I’ve already received it for more than one cruise booked for 2024. I asked her to go talk to a supervisor. She put me on hold and then came back and said I was right it did apply to more than one in a year, and it was added to my confirmation.

Below is a pic from a presentation the Cruise and Travel Director Betty Ann did while we were on the NS the week of Jan 7th regarding the dry dock. I did not take a photo bit she showed the hull before and after dry dock. What a dramatic transformation that was. She stated the hull was especially mucked up because the boat sat for so long during the pandemic in warm waters. She painted a picture of the dry dock experience, noting about 800 of the 960 crew remained on board during dry dock. While it was happening, every floor, piece of furniture, chandeliers etc were covered in plastic. There were intermittent electric and water shut offs to accomplish the work, which made it very challenging to feed the crew and workers. Basically, it was like being in a 24 hour construction zone so sleeping was challenging too. In her talk, Betty Ann also clarified that her job is managing cruise itineraries like port info, shopping, etc and not to be a comedian. It is the entertainment host’s job to do trivia, game shows and all the “fun” stuff. I had never heard it explained quote that clearly. She also commented that they were phasing out live port talks and instead would substitute stateroom videos to provide destination info so people could watch anytime. Finally, she again confirmed the message that classical music would be brought back on board by contracted musicians, rather than via the expired partnership with Lincoln Center Stage.

We are moving on NS!

I kept accepting offers I didn’t want so new ones would pop up (they only show 100 unaccepted at a time). After 2 months of playing this game, my offer finally showed up this week too. Already paid on April cruise to get the rebate!! I was so excited

I am pretty sure the lobster and sole up-charge started at the beginning of September 2023 when they also raised the price of some venues and changed caviar and fruit de mer prices. At the same time they removed the extra appetizer charges as an offset in the speciality venues. An increase in the base price plus up-charges for some dishes does seem a bit much, especially with inconsistent experiences in food and service. And has been mentioned on other threads, if you eat at a speciality restaurant they are saving the food costs of you not eating a full meal in the MDR

This was from a review of the card about points redemption: A statement credit redemption toward a Holland America Line purchase — which starts at 5,000 points for a $50 credit — can potentially earn the most value for your points: Given that it is saying you need 4900 points to redeem and the cost of a dinner pre-service charge today is $49.00 I would assume that is for one person. The price of a dinner in PG has been steadily rising. Was the last time you redeemed for 5,000 points for two dinners a while ago when the per person cost was much lower?

The Black Friday sale details were announced on November 7 well before the start on November 17. There was a press release and it was reported on another thread here on CC, so it was public. If you booked two days before the sale started, or November 15, your TA surely should have known the details of the upcoming promotion. I would push them on that point.

I am also interested in on board activities for a future TA on the Oosterdam. Please share! Thank you

I am a big fan of the laundry service and used by the bag or unlimited before having it included. They iron pants of mine I never iron and things always come back in excellent shape. As noted, you can add special instructions- we always write on our paper “cold water only” and “low heat dry” and have never had shrinkage. special tip- I have found that Dawn Power Wash dish soap is a foolproof stain remover on clothes. I use it at home and it takes stains out like magic (especially oil based food stains). I take a small bottle of it in a recycled hand sanitizer container on the ship and always spot treat any stains before sending to the laundry. I would not use on silk and delicate fabrics of course but for cotton, blends, etc works like a charm!

They are opening a permanent, stand alone Morimoto on the Nieuw Amsterdam in December. The announcement says it will be adjacent to the Tamarind on the Observation deck. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/news/2023/november/news-1122023-holland-america-line-to-open-new-restaurant-morimoto-by-sea

Although it is widely advertised as one extra entree choice, on the Rotterdam last month there were three extra every day choices available in addition to the CO special. See below for same day comparison of MDR menu and CO menu.

Last month on the Rotterdam, I used the blanket in my room for a few days and loved it! I was able to purchase the blanket from guest services for the $35 listed on the price list posted above. It was charged to my own board account so I got to use OBC and my cabin steward brought a new one to me the next day in a thick plastic carrier to take home. I will say my customer service desk rep had to go get someone else to find it in the computer so maybe they are not all trained on what may be available. If someone tells you no (unless its because they do not have any to sell), I would use the Navigator app to send a message about purchasing one to guest services and ask for a reply.

I like that for now due to the time differences we get same day reports! risi bisi is an Italian dish of rice and peas. It is a cross between a risotto and a soup- not as brothy as a soup but looser than a risotto. Departure from the traditional pea version can be made with other vegetables like zucchini.

We always eat at least one night at Rudi’s when available. We enjoy the premium menu items you cannot get in other venues on ship and it feels special to us. I celebrated my birthday on board earlier this month by dining at Rudi’s and they brought me a fish shaped chocolate mousse cake (that is a square shaped in other restaurants on board to celebrate special occasions). I appreciated the special touch. It is a 25% discount for 4* and 5* off the base price (no discount on 18% added service charge). My discount was refunded to my on board account since I booked online ahead of the cruise. Also, the recent pricing changes (effective in Sept 2023 I think) include an up charge above the dining cost for lobster and dover sole.

I played all the games to see every available offer on my platinum card and although 3-4 other cruise lines had offers I never received the HAL one this time around 🤔🤨

Extra tips applied by receipt for drinks, coffees and speciality dining were also charged to our non refundable credit helping to use some of it.

On a recently completed Rotterdam cruise with CO, we sometimes found it was not beneficial to be in the CO line. When no one was in the CO line, that service rep would take someone from the regular line. All good. However, on more than one occasion, we were behind one person who was being assisted at the CO line, and that took longer than if we had waited in the regular line because six or seven people from the regular line were helped before us since there were three representatives helping them. In essence, it took longer for us to be served and we would’ve been better being in the regular line. In that case, it would have been nice if CO truly received priority and an open rep helped us as the next one became available. If there was no one in line at all, we would go straight to the regular line. No need to stand in the CO Line, if no one was waiting anyway. In the end, we were on a fabulous cruise so a waiting an extra 5 minutes was not a big deal at all.