keeponcruising

2 hours ago, 0106 said:

I was on the Rotterdam in October and refused to sign any slips for drinks. It was not a problem and after the first day, my favorite servers never presented me with one.  I do not want to use a pen that others who may not have clean hands have used.

That's a good point!

9 hours ago, POA1 said:

Perhaps it's because we look like people concerned about paper waste, but we almost never had to sign a drink slip. The two exceptions were the Pinnacle Grill and Sel de Mer.  In both restaurants we ordered wines that were well above the $15 EBP limit.

 

We bought the Elite Package, standalone, before the cruise. (We opted for Have It All on our upcoming cruise. We'll upgrade right after we book our PG lunches.) I load up on paid OBC for the upgrade.

On my recent Rotterdam, we upgraded to EBP and still had to sign for every drink.  It's annoying having to sign for every drink.

3 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I think this is the best strategy for most people.

Yes, I think so too since you have to sign for every drink already.

10 minutes ago, chawkjewel said:

How much was it to upgrade (per day?)?

$82.60 for the week.  That included the service charge.  I don't know if I would do it again, but one good thing is that it included unlimited non-alcoholic drinks.

8 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

That is the current cut-off for EBP. And currently (or last time I checked) the 15-drink allowance was only for alcoholic beverages, unlimited non-alcoholic. 

 

Unless something has changed, you can only upgrade the HIA-included SBP to EBP on board and only before having any drink "charged" to the SBP. Visit a bartender (try to find one that is not TOO busy!).

 On my Rotterdam cruise I got off of last week, I went to the drink station in the Lido and upgraded my drink package before I had my 1st drink.  It was very easy.  I did get charged for some drinks though.  On day 2 I went to guest services and they printed a new card that showed EBP.  Staff looks at that to determine what to charge you.

On 12/6/2023 at 10:22 AM, cruzingnut said:

 

I would love it if this worked, would safe some packing space!  If at all possible, can you come back and let us know if it fit?  I had measured the opening on the one on the ship and it was pretty large.  Also, it's tapered but with the silicone grips on this diffuser, as long as it fits on, it should stay in place.  Thanks for coming back with this info!

 

Linda R.

I got off the Rotterdam last Friday and as promised, I am coming back to report that my travel diffuser works perfectly on the supplied blow dryer in the cabin.

Cani't wait!! I'm on the Rotterdam  12/29 too!!

Last year on the Nieuw Statendam I had a retreat cabana. One day I went in there later than 5 pm to retrieve something and found that was where they were squeezing the oranges. A crew member pulled a the squeezing machine out of the closet and had boxes and boxes of oranges. I watched him put a few oranges in the machine. I was kind of surprised  that was the location for the squeezing process. The orange juice is definitely fresh squeezed as others have stated just not tableside. If I recall they also pop the popcorn for like movies up there.

I didn't chime in while you were on board, but I read every post and I want to thank you too for your live thread!

1 minute ago, POA1 said:

I think the shirt is perfect as is. Why would you want to upgrade it? Longer sleeves? A hood? Drink holder pocket? 😉

Good thinking on pockets for drink holder.  That is what I missed😉

On 12/14/2023 at 11:00 AM, POA1 said:

 

Michelle said, and I quote: "Tell her, heck no. I can't even sew on a button."

 

We found PJ's Mile Marker Zero (for US Coastal Route 1) in Key West years ago.  After that, we tried in vain to find him shirts in port.  The Research Department found a company called Mandy's Moon that does small run, custom imprint shirts in Poohby Joe's size. He's hard to fit.

 

We have a concept meeting to decide what shirts we should create. Then, the Art Department comes up with the art work in the correct format, 300 dpi JPEG or PNG with an alpha channel transparency.  We order the shirts and they're back within a week or so.

 

Here are the designs for the current trip:

Embarkation Day - Classic HAL Logo

 

We're coming up on the 10th Anniversary Edition of the guide, so there's this collectable shirt.

 

And finally, Club Orange is new since we last sailed.  We have a vintage Holland America poster on an orange shirt. He's got a Rotterdam version for our Spring '24 cruise.

 

 

 

I made adult versions of Poohby Joe's Tshirt for my upcoming cruise on the Rotterdam 12/29.  This one is for my friend and mine is navy blue and white.  I thought you might enjoy it.  We plan on making use of our drink package!!  We'll try to upgrade it once on board.

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

No, you cannot. With a beverage package, Happy Hour is just Hour.

 

Good thinking though.

Thanks for your quick response.  Wishful thinking on my part!

Hello Poa1, I am greatly enjoying following along with you and it is building my anticipation even more for my cruise in a few weeks on the Rotterdam.  In the middle of the night  I had the thought that during happy hour, I wonder if the beverage package can be used to get a more expensive drink that would be over package limits. Example would be a glass of wine is $20, but with the 50% off it puts it within the package limits.  I wonder if the Institute of Cheer can do some research on that??

1 hour ago, cruzingnut said:

 

I would love it if this worked, would safe some packing space!  If at all possible, can you come back and let us know if it fit?  I had measured the opening on the one on the ship and it was pretty large.  Also, it's tapered but with the silicone grips on this diffuser, as long as it fits on, it should stay in place.  Thanks for coming back with this info!

 

Linda R.

It opens pretty wide, but will not work if the diffuser stays on.  

11 hours ago, cruzingnut said:

That black attachment does come off, you kind of have to pull/twist it to get it off though.  I use a diffuser too and bring my own hair dryer.  I've looked at many different diffusers to see if any of them would fit and determined that they wouldn't.  

 

Linda R.

Thank you for letting me know.  If if can come off, then you can use this diffuser I purchased on Amazon.  I checked and right now it is $14.99 and has a 10% off coupon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FWXZ67F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

1 minute ago, keeponcruising said:

Thank you!!, that might work.  I will try my diffuser on a blow dryer with a similar attachment and see if that works.  I really appreciate your quick response!!

Nope, doesn't work.  I'll have to bring mine or maybe a sock over that one will work.  Anyone with curly hair knows what a blow dryer without the right attachment does to curly hair!

29 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

The black nozzle at the end doesn't come off, but it does swivel.

Thank you!!, that might work.  I will try my diffuser on a blow dryer with a similar attachment and see if that works.  I really appreciate your quick response!!

Hello QuattroRomeo, thank you for your posts.  I am getting very excited for my Dec. 29th cruise on the Rotterdam.  Can I ask you a favor?  Can you take a picture of the in suite blow dryer?  I'm trying to figure if I will bring mine or if I can use my diffuser on it.  Thanks

Love those toots!

X is a Party Pooper

I'm getting excited.  Will be on the Rotterdam 12/29/23.  I can't wait!!

On 10/22/2023 at 1:25 PM, Crew News said:

Cancel payment only at Guest Services

Thank you!

1 hour ago, cunnorl said:

I have been using the gift cards to make payments online without difficulty until now. I have tried several times without success. Same experience as you.  I am going to try to call HAL today which I really dont want to do.

Someone else mentioned that they gave their credit card info when making a purchase with gift cards and the transaction went through on the credit card.

14 hours ago, Crew News said:

After years of my own and others fighting for discounts after prepaying, having the proper procedures explained by both the Front Desk and a Specialty Restaurant Manger gives a clear picture for converting prepays to OBC. 

 

I will no longer wait to make reservations onboard to use my OBC.  Now, I will prepay, cancel payments once onboard without cancelling the reservation, and just use OBC, or no OBC for the 5 Star free meals. 

 

This conversion process was quite a light bulb moment and ranks almost as high as cashing OBC in the Casino for a few years.

 

Do you cancel the payment at guest services or do you log into the Navigator App to do it.  I'm trying to figure out exactly the procedure.  Thanks and enjoy the second half of your cruise!

5 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

Yes, but you do not get a refund for the drink package you have already purchased.

Thank you!