ORTravelGal

That looks so nice & relaxing! I’m trying to decide whether to purchase a pass to the thermal spa on an upcoming transatlantic cruise. Did you purchase a pass for the entire trip or for the day? Sounds like you feel the value is there for the cost?

Yeah, I saw a video tour of a ship on YouTube and in it there was a person in a bathrobe getting food in the Lido. Although I might be inclined to wear a robe up to the pool (I’ll be certain to walk stairs less traveled & will watch out for these nets y’all speak of), even I would know not to wear a bathrobe to the Lido.

Another (retired) Gen X’er here to follow along. My first cruise was in ‘96 on RCCL. Forget the ship name & I’m too damn lazy to look it up but IIRC the passenger count was about 600. Small ship & it was an old one. Interesting factoid: I lived in San Diego in my 20s and at one point interviewed at the Hotel Del to be a personal assistant to whoever owned it at that time. Didn’t get the job and that was probably wise on their part because I wouldn’t have been a good ass kisser. Love Hawaii as well. We spend a month there every winter to get away from the gloom of the PNW. May have to consider the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in the future. Enjoying your posts!

Can you provide more detail about why wearing the HAL bathrobe to/from the Thermal Spa is frowned upon? Is it the “wearing a bathrobe in public” or something else? Thank you in advance for elaborating.

Hope you’ll report back and let us know your wife’s reaction when she discovered the awesome upgraded room.

Yes, it is worth trying. We booked a trip in October 2023 for later this year. We joined AARP after booking the trip, applied for the AARP OBC and received it (it’s showing on our invoice as OBC - the trip hasn’t happened yet.) Also, FWIW, the teacher/educator OBC was stacked with the AARP and Shareholder OBC.

Just last week I cancelled a shorex booked with HIA credit & I received the credit back under my promotional credits.

Aft-facing cabins are highly coveted and hard to come by, for many of the reasons you mentioned. Being able to see the ocean behind you and being protected from the wind are many of the reasons people like them. Just try not to get one that is on the floor directly beneath a swimming pool or deck as some people complain they hear noise from above. If it were me and I could choose, I'd go with option 2.

My mom has AARP, teachers & stockholder OBC all on one reservation in a room by herself. All three are showing up on her documents from her TA & HAL and have been confirmed on a phone call with HAL.

Thank you so much for the tip about Google Translate. Just installed it and three languages for an upcoming trip.

The AARP membership requirement to buy discounted gift cards actually changed in the October/November 2023 timeframe (ask me how I know🤣) and applies to either card value.

You are an amazing ambassador for this trip and you are successful in making me hope this is something we’ll be able to do in the future. Your tux is especially snazzy! Now I understand why you needed 12 bags for this trip.

Saw this on social media in a pickleball group I’m in. Looks like this may be for New Statendam - Eastern Caribbean February 11-18, 2024.

Sounds like an amazing adventure! Looking forward to following along & thank you in advance for the food porn. By the way, why do you have to change rooms?

In response to the comments about the copies of the passport, we always take two copies (each) with us but we've intentionally done black & white copies as we are cautious about being accused of trying to create a counterfeit copy. Maybe just weird paranoia on our part, but that's how we handle it. Like another poster indicated, we travel with one copy no matter where we go and leave a copy in the safe.

Walk through the process online and you'll see that you choose balcony & it will let you know that you can do a "free" upgrade from ocean view and display the applicable pricing. You do get to choose the stateroom you want. I've looked at it several times this week and it doesn't really appear to me to be any less expensive than it was prior to this promotion. Also, note that you have to purchase the HIA package in order to take advantage of the offer.

This sounds very much like a Magical Mystery Tour. (Queues music…) I look forward to following along.

Sounds like an amazing adventure! Looking forward to following along & thank you in advance for the food porn.

I noticed this guy on the balcony of the room I have reserved for April’s transatlantic crossing.

I’m surprised to read that HAL doesn’t use Riedel glasses for wine & champagne/prosecco. We were on Princess in September and every glass we received was Riedel.

There is a community appreciation link at the bottom of HAL’s homepage. Click on that, choose your category, submit required documentation & get approved. You can also get AARP credit & CCL shareholder credit (if you own 100+ shares). They can all be used together to increase your overall OBC. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-deals/community-appreciation-cruise-offers

This didn’t happen on a cruise ship but since the info someone posted above indicates airlines use this company as well, I thought I’d share that a family member of mine left their laptop computer in the seat back pocket of a Delta plane and it took many phone calls but they did finally get the computer back. It took right at six weeks. Hopefully you’ll have a similar (or even faster) experience.

Thank you so much for this thread! My mom & I are booked on Rotterdam for the TA next April when she makes her return to Rotterdam for King’s Day. I learned so much from the group’s posts and am eagerly counting down the days until we are onboard. @kazu Jacqui, I think we all need you on each of our trips. It is evident you put so much effort into gathering info & planning events. It’s clear your efforts make the trip more enjoyable for everyone & I hope the HAL team appreciates you as well.

Hi @Holly g - I’ll be on the same cruise. See you onboard in April!