sandiego1

How do you get gift cards at Target at a reduced price? I see them at full price. I know AARP sells them with a discount.

I tried but it didn't work. HAL often adds an insignificant item to their tour to ensure it's impossible to have an exact match. For example, for the Flam, Norway train ride, they offered a waffle and a "host" to escort you to the train station. The price was more than double the price to buy the train ticket independently. When I tried to get the "best price guarantee," I was informed that the tours weren't identical because of the waffle and the host. That was one very expensive waffle! We declined the tour and did it on our own. The train station was visible from the ship and a very short walk!

I’ve never seen one, but then again, I wasn’t specifically looking for one.

#2

The measurements listed above by TheInsideCabin are accurate for the Zuiderdam.

Yes if both of you qualify for 5*

No. Book 2 cabins.

When you apply for the passport, I suggest checking the box for the large book. There is no additional costs flans you get more pages. I neglected to do that last year when I renewed (stupid error). Now I have very few completely blank pages. Immigration clerks don’t stamp in order as they are in a rush and just look for a blank page. I have many pages with a single stamp. When we go on a long or World Cruise , we need at least 6 blank pages before starting the cruise. Between that and Visas which will sometimes be attached to your passport, I will definitely run out of pages before my passport expires.

Yes.

We have used Costco for our travel vaccinations too. We were very pleased with the service. Prices are considerably cheaper than going to our regular Dr or local clinic. I noticed that they recently added additional states. I don’t believe it was previously offered in Florida.

There is a TA site that displays all cabins available per deck. I find it much easier to scroll through that site than the HAL site. I don’t need to select aft, mid ship, or forward. That site is considerably more user friendly. Since it’s a TA site, I can’t share it.

Officially, HAL charges $20 corkage fee on every bottle. Unofficially, they sometimes forget to do it. You are supposed to carry the wine or champagne in your carry on luggage, not checked bag.

I have often ordered an entree in an “appetizer “ size and switched the sides that go along with an entree. The waiters and chefs in the MDR are very accommodating.

Me too!

HAL has the same guarantee. They just add an insignificant item to their itinerary to prevent you from making an exact match to an outside tour. For example, there’s a brief stop at a hotel for a waffle on the train ride in Flam, Norway. That waffle cost over $100 per person compared to booking the train online! And there’s an escort from the ship to the train station (line of sight from the ship). Those are the 2 differences that eliminate the possibility of getting a refund using their guarantee.

HAL definitely incorporated regional cuisine on the World Cruises in many ports.

We had different menus every night on the 2019 and 2023 Hal WC. Some dishes were repeated, but never the entire menu. And they had a handful of “always available” entrees. I looked forward to repeats of my favorite desserts and entrees. They weren’t on the menu often enough for me.

If they don’t find your clothing, they will pay for the cost of the clothes. They ruined a polo shirt of mine and reimbursed me. The red shirt came back with wide streaks of black on it. They tried to get it out, but couldn’t. I assume it was washed with a black item that ran in the wash. Don’t know why only that item was damaged.

I recommend http://www.kingdomprivatetours.com/ Charles Morgan +447480527825 kingdomprivatetours@outlook.com We had them pick us up at the Portland cruise terminal and take us to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral to see the Magna Carta. The entire trip was custom for us and our friends.

It wasn’t with the headboard light switches in our J cabin on the Zuiderdam. The speaker was in the middle of our beds (pushed together) and was covered by our pillows. Perhaps it was near the speaker and we didn’t notice it??

I’ve never seen that button on any of the HAL ships we’ve been on. Last 2 cruises were GWV on the Amsterdam and Zuiderdam. Is it specific to certain ships or cabin category?

Dive in burgers are horrible in comparison to the Pinnacle burger. No comparison!

Go to websites to see any info you need. There’s a ton of info available online. WhatsInPort is one resource. CruiseCritic port boards. TripAdvisor. TheInsideCabin…. So many to choose from

Another common complaint was the lack of decorations in the MDR on theme and Gala nights. They sold the Amsterdam with all the decorations. The Zuiderdam doesn’t have as much storage as the Amsterdam did so they weren’t replaced. They also weren’t able to store our luggage and we had to rethink how we packed to ensure our luggage would fit under the bed.

We were on the 2019 and 2023 WC. The biggest difference was the lack of pillow gifts and the number of complaints by others. We don’t care about the gifts. We don’t need “stuff” to collect in our home. Some of the old-timers seem to complain if they change the butter dish in the MDR. Really some of the complaints were very petty. It got annoying after a while. Some people are just grumpy and look for things to dislike. We liked the Zuiderdam compared to the Amsterdam. The music walk gave us more choices at night. Again, there were complaints about the different ship. People also complained about ports in West Africa for a variety of reasons. What did they expect? We were visiting 3rd world countries with wide spread poverty. We didn’t expect Four Seasons luxury there. We had never been to Africa before and were happy to go there and experience local cultures and meet people from very different backgrounds. It was educational and eye opening. We booked independent tours in each African port and had a great time in most of the ports. There were some food shortages which led to grumpy people. Considering it was the 1st WC since COVID, we thought they did a great job. Was it perfect, no. But considering the state the world was in (ie many countries opening up for tourism again), we expected some issues. They ran out of the pillow chocolates and based on the number of complaints, you would have the thought it was a critical issue. Honestly some people need to just loved to complain! The staff was fantastic and we had great service in every venue. Our cabin stewards were the best we’ve had! Miss those guys!! Overall we loved the cruise and signed up for the 2025 Pole To Pole.