FlaMariner

When in Europe, we buy the wine (and olive oil, and tea, and some spices) but we do not pay corkage....Instead, HAL will hold the wine and then give it back to you the last night of the cruise.....To take home and enjoy. Pack carefully. When onboard, we enjoy Sommelier Wine Package #1.....Fair price and good wine. I've seen HAL excursions state you can bring wine from your HAL wine tour onboard with no corkage....after all, you've paid quite a lot for that HAL excursion. Seems fair.

On Safari....7:30pm ET.....I can login and see my cruises/excursions/check in etc.

When we've had questions/booking issues with flights thru Flight Ease (booked by us), we've had our TA chase it down......According to the Flight Ease info on the Holland America Line website, they offer this up for when you need help Should you need assistance with your flight selections or during your air travels, you may rely on our support to ensure worry-free travel. Contact your Travel Advisor or call our support line at 1-800-628-4771.

I confirm that....No matter our stateroom....vista, verandah, outside or inside, they have all had the clothesline

Understood..... FREE laundry and half price WINE has motivated me for many years....Our next cruise will be our first w/4 stars so we will be boarding like we own it very soon.....It took us 21 years to reach 4 stars...much better achievement than anything I ever got from work!

.......and just a reminder to keep cruising with Holland America Line because at 4*s, it's FREE.

But I "assume" this line is the USA border control and thus I will not be able to use the Global Entry lane because I do not have my Global Entry card even though Global Entry is on my passport and I'm able to use other USA Global Entry points (Miami, JFK, ATL) with just my passport? or maybe this is a useless concern because, like many times with the TSA line, the other line is just as fast or not a big deal? (Thinking that our 2x a year international trips are not worth the hassle of TSA Pre Check/Global Entry or whatever other scheme is created to get us across the border quicker.....LOL..maybe I'll just head to Mexico and just walk in. Seems much easier from watching it on TV. LOL)

Airlines are all over the board....but we've experienced London to Miami to Orlando on British Air/AA with Flight Ease and AA JAX to Charlotte to London.....all since Covid. Not necessary for us Floridians to endure JFK anymore to get to Europe at a reasonable price. Check Flight Ease when it's available and you will see all sorts of routings.....at least that has been our experience....and the prices for trans Atlantic flights on Flight Ease have always been cheaper.....And with the right fare, you can book and then keep checking and change with no penalty if the price drops or the schedule improves....before final payment. Enjoy the journey....fellow Floridian.

Leave the "tide pods" at home and welcome aboard Holland America Line.....Enjoy the laundry service...it's excellent....by the bag or daily service....It's against the law (JK for the literal folks) to do laundry on vacation on Holland America Line..... Enjoy the journey....and enjoy not doing laundry.

I've thought about this....thinking it would get us extra attention during the cruise and we might be more of a priority....not that we've ever experienced "not being a priority" as they are always top notch and attentive.....Do you also tip again at the end of the cruise?

FWIW on the last night of the cruise, they do close a little earlier than 10pm so that they can give it an intensive cleaning......

Yes on the Oosterdam in March 2023

The poop on the street finally did it in for them and they decided they did not need to be there.....Sad.

Interesting.....very much appreciate the heads up on this.....we are traveling Tokyo to Orlando via Montreal in October......Got a deal on the Air Canada flight but the deal seems to be adding a slight challenge now....LOL. We've had Global Entry for several years....and we never (from foggy recollection) received anything in snail mail. We had our Global Entry number but that was it. We've never been asked for a Global Entry card (Miami, JFK, ATL) and we've gone to the magic kiosk and received the green light and the slip of paper. I went online to the Global Entry site and see that there is place to activate the Global Entry card and it shows no card ever being activated for us. Caesar gives me the privilege of ordering a replacement card under the reason "never received" and I get to pay tribute of $25 each.....Instead of spending $50 for the cards for the one time experience of transferring in Canada and having the authority figure demanding the card, we will politely flash our passport and Global Entry numbers and see if we can get into the "privilege" line (of which we qualify for and have spent $$$ and time already to be able to utilize)...and if not, we will rot in the "steerage" line. Fun times.....

Did I get a card for Global Entry? I do not have such a thing. I thought once you got Global Entry the passport was updated? I've gone thru the Global Entry line several times (Miami, JFK, ATL) and never showed a card and was never asked for a card. Just my passport.

I follow the guidance given by Flight Ease even when I book my own air. I figure they have the experience and it is not their first rodeo.

Personal decision but I ditched mine several years ago.....Same with the coat and tie onboard. And we consider that a more sane way for us to travel/live.....but I understand others feel differently and therefore wear the tux if you want....... It's your choice now.....and no matter what the cruise critic folks say about "longer cruises being dressier", as long as I am complying with the dress code, I am good to go. Enjoy the journey......

We are headed to Yokohoma 10/1 and will be drinking the tap water served by Holland America Line....We plan to drink lots of spigot water in Japan....along with saki brewed with Japanese water. We are not afraid. We will savor the water...and the journey.

We boarded the Oosterdam in March in Santiago with several bottles of wine in tow.....There was a desk just after the passport reader iPads that was manned by one of the bar crew.......We had them take the wine and hold it until the end of the cruise....Receipts were provided. If you wanted to pay corkage, he was set up to charge the account 20 bucks per bottle.

Interesting....makes me want to hand them over to the stateroom attendant during embarkation introductions and get a receipt. We certainly do not want/need them.

From my experience, I book flights as soon as they are available in Flight Ease and then I cancel/rebook (make sure you get that type of fare) if/when the price drops.....and keep doing that up until final payment. We never find good deals for domestic/USA flights on Flight Ease but for Europe/Asia/South America to/from USA, the prices on Flight Ease were much, much better than what I could find on my own.

I hear you! I hope SF is nice for you but we had friends that went in May and they left a day early and I think we all know what the experience was for them......So very sad.

We are fine w/HAL's beautiful and clean ships We have no use for internet when on vacation and the MDR is perfect for us We are fans of HAL's live music venues HAL has brought back the library (on some ships and soon to be more) and we've enjoyed the new library and find us good books The MDR waiter does fine fetching my bottle of wine from the Sommelier package #1 Never paid a food up-charge on HAL and have enjoyed the meals Never felt crowded on a HAL mid-sized ship except for last Thanksgiving and we knew/expected that going into it....Lido can get busy but we've learned how to maneuver Don't drink soft drinks and the lido/MDR coffee is fine for us Not bothered by those that pay $$ for CO, hydro pool, retreat.....Don't feel like we are missing out...and if we want any of those special areas, we know we can pay the man and get in. We enjoy 5 courses nightly in the HAL MDR....appetizer, soup, salad, main, dessert This list is a good example of why we would never pay the O prices...and affirms why we continue to cruise HAL because of the value we get for our $$$$.....I realize for some, these extra things are important but for us, we are "cruise only" fare customers and we enjoy HAL.......I cannot make the business case for the daily rate on Oceania (or other luxury cruise lines). I'm glad we have choices.....and hope that continues..... Savor the journey......

We've had pre-paid and no pre-paid gratuities on previous cruises...... No matter how gratuities are handled, we hand out extra cash as follows.... room service steward when he drops off breakfast laundry bag each time we ship out laundry billboard onboard waiter (or any bar waiter) if we request the free water...when he/she brings it to us longshoreman porters if we hand over our luggage at the pier (most of time now we take it on ourselves) MDR waiter and assistant waiter in one tip (to each one) on last night of cruise...after dessert when we say goodbye....always sad. stateroom attendant and assistant in one tip (to each one) on the last night of cruise.....in the hallway when we say goodbye...always sad I think that's it for us regarding when we tip.......

We have no interest in cruising/visiting California now.....And when I view the few repositioning type cruises along the west coast it seems they are at rock bottom prices....so sadly, I do not think we are alone in our lack of interest..... Not being welcomed is yet another reason to avoid California. Sad. Because the weather is fantastic.....