FlaMariner

So we think we need a pre-paid card for subways in Tokyo and Yokohama and Kyoto. I remain very confused about them....Why? There are several but looks like they all work the same and are acceptable at most all subways/transport. Some are for tourists but you have to buy at the airport (I think) and we arrive by ship. Some are no longer being sold because of chip issues. Our goal would be to pre-purchase and have in hand before arriving in Japan. If that is not feasible, we'd like to buy the card at the Yokohama subway station near the pier. Any intel from those that have gone before us?

We've got several......from Dive in Burgers on Lido to escargot in the MDR. My favorite lido lunch dessert though is the bread pudding. Even the pea soup at the Dutch Cafe is worthy...... Enjoy the food......

We did not do this when onboard the Oosterdam in March/April but that's good news if that has now been rolled out.....We still had our keycard "dinged" by the security person at the gangway area.

Not sure about pics but this is what I recall and others who follow this more specifically can chime in. At embarkation, after security screening, your passport is scanned with face recognition.....at the ship entrance, the boarding pass is scanned......at your room, your stateroom key is waiting. When you use the stateroom key to enter/exit the ship, your photo and other details do show up on the security person's computer......as I have seen my smiling face.

The boarding pass is scanned when you enter the ship.

It's not the crazy travel I'm concerned about..actually, air fares were low to Europe when I checked......it's the crazy family....LOL....Although we could bolt the day after Black Friday and say "see y'all later"...so tempting....LOL

We've been on 2 HAL TA's (2019 & 2021) I believe those qualify as a "re-positioning" cruise......We've experienced nothing different as far as crew ratio or entertainment. The 2019 crossing was, of course, before the unpleasantness.....And the 2021 crossing was the maiden voyage of the Rotterdam and was during the unpleasantness and passenger capacity was 60%....But that was due to the unpleasantness and not related to the "re-positioning".

I'll take a stab at this........ 1). Daily tip charges are charged auto to your onboard account. And bar tabs include the 18% tip. It is not required/expected to tip further but some of us do pass along $$$ to folks that have given great service. 2). Adapter for ship. None need. Just like home/USA. 3). Safe in your room? Yes 4). no self service laundry but for a daily charge (guessing around $11???) per cabin, you can have clothes laundered for you.....Also, a $20 (???) charge for a small laundry bag. The service is great. Others will chime in to confirm the prices. Look on the forum if you need more laundry details....It's a frequent, detailed topic. Enjoy the Nieuw Statendam.....A great ship.

Yea...I saw that and we've tried to figure a way to make that work.....Incredible price. Problem is it departs Thanksgiving weekend......

Based on our last couple of HAL cruises all since the unpleasantness..... Our stateroom key cards were waiting for us at our stateroom (in the mail slot by the door) and our stateroom was ready for us when we boarded. Enjoy Holland America Line........

I never know the staffing levels but we've been on 4 HAL cruises since the unpleasantness and the service has been the usual top notch good service as always.

Same here. Even toured London and Paris in mid January and did just fine w/low to no crowds. I wish HAL would extend the Europe season a little more to take advantage of the less crowded times.

That's correct. Europe 2025.....first person to post that it is out and available to book!

That's perfect. Thanks for passing that along....That looks like what we will do.

That would be the "over the top" fun, great 19 night Santiago to Fort Lauderdale cruise in March 2023...loved the Oosterdam....Still enjoying our South American coffee and Ecuadorian "Panama hat"!!!! Good times.

We have October Flight Ease flights from Tokyo to USA on Air Canada. We booked a Flexible Fare. We were not able to pick seats via Flight Ease or Air Canada after making the reservations. We were able to make seat reservations after making final payment for the cruise/air. We asked the TA to proceed with ticketing air once we made final payment. After that, we were able to book seats. Enjoy the Oosterdam....We had a blast on her this past March/April....and look forward to cruising on her again this April!

We book thru a TA........ I submit the shareholder OBC request to HAL......Once they send me back the email that tells me it has been credited, I then ask my TA to confirm if the shareholder OBC is on my booking.....She confirms and then she sends me an updated cruise booking document that includes the newly added shareholder OBC.

"inbound tourist arrivals in the region remained below pre-pandemic levels, totaling roughly 594.5 million in 2022." answer when asked the internet how many foreigners visit Europe 594,500,000 inbound foreigner to Europe X 7 Euros = 4,161,500,000 Euros (not a bad days work to increase revenue and it is paid by non voters...genius actually)

Ditto. Free MDR lunch for one to whoever posts first to announce that Europe 2025 is out!

After I get the confirmation from HAL, I ask our TA to confirm and then she sends me a new confirmation with the additional $$$.

That is strange.....check spam? I'd give it a week and then re-send.

Did you send it to the "new" email address of CCLshareholderHAL@hollandamerica.com? (I almost sent mine to the old World Cruise email address that was saved in my email from previous requests)

So here's our recent shareholder credit story......request sent via email: Request sent 7/6 @3:49pm Request acknowledgment 7/6 @3:57pm Confirmation email of the credit received 7/10 Confirmed with TA and updated booking w/credit received 7/10 Also, something interesting....the cruise is 13 nights and that qualifies for $100 OBC and that was what HAL referenced on the email confirmation but the TA booking has the OBC listed as listed as $250 OBC (which is for 14 days +)......I'm wondering if the difference is because we cross the International Date Line going west???? I'll take the $250. Again, the dividend yield on Carnival stock for us with the OBC makes it a high performer in the portfolio!

AGREE! Probably the best Billboard Onboard duo ever...and very patient and nice to us older folks....They were also dating when we were onboard in March/April. Cute couple. We enjoyed lots of live music on the Oosterdam. The band was great, as were the classical musicians. Never bored w/music walk.

us too....and yes, with our southern twang...... I'm not going to reference cat urine....then folks would not take me serious.....but when I say "hint of kiwi, y'all" they will know I am a serious Sommelier package #1 connoisseur......LOL. Looking forward to our first FREE 4* wine tasting.....Cheers Y'all!