FlaMariner

I've heard from others that you cannot cancel the ship transfers. I'd try to do that and take Uber/Lyft. Or taxi if it is your preference. We've been taken on some LONGER than necessary taxi rides over the years in Fort Lauderdale so Uber/Lyft is our preference. If you cannot get a refund, I'd head to baggage claim and look for the lady with the HAL clipboard and off you go as @RuthC described appropriately (as usual). And don't forget to look for the ship when landing....She will be the classy one with the dark hull! Enjoy the cruise!

I think there was a sign about that in the cabin but we've never used nor needed a balcony light and we never had any issues with the curtains. You could see the side that sticks out of the bridge and along with waving good morning to the officers on deck, it was fun to watch them all gather and observe when we were docking. But no view obstructions.

We've been in several of the VF cabins a few doors forward from your cabin on the Rotterdam and the other Pinnacle class ships. It's our favorite/preferred balcony cabins....(VF forward, deck 8). Very quiet, tucked away and up high. ...It's a dead end street. Never had issues with noise. We liked the easy proximity to the gym/spa and lido. (The thermal suite, I believe, is right above you..and that closes at 10 and folks are walking around in there with their slippers on anyway and it's one of the quietest areas on the entire ship, IMO) Enjoy the Rotterdam! Beautiful ship.

Sure: from the home page: Go to ALREADY BOOKED Go to KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Go to FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Go to CRUISE PREPARATION Go to WHAT ARE YOUR LUGGAGE SHIPPING SERVICES?

yep, all works fine now.....my 4 booked cruises are back!

We've always found the lady with the HAL sign and clipboard when we made it to baggage claim and she directed us to where to find the bus....... .......perhaps ask your TA for specifics though. Enjoy the cruise!

Ditto. No booked cruises even though we have 4.

Here is the tour we booked.....should be a fund day....Any comments from those who have gone before me? Elqui Valley Tour + Pisco Distillery + Recova Market + Monumental Lighthousewe visit:-City of Vicuña (which includes a walk through the main square, the Bower Tower and the Temple of the Virgin Immaculate Conception)- ABA distillery and sales room (which includes a tour of the facilities and vineyards, where you can taste excellent artisanal pisco)- Visit to the artisan farm of the papaya factory and sales room.- The Recova Market (Back to La Serena, we will visit the most important and well-known artisan market) and- The Monumental Lighthouse******Lunch is not included but if you need lunch it would be in solar cookers in the town

Here is the fine print....the question would be "is buying chips" an onboard purchase? I would think so but others who frequent the casino will be around shortly to advise. 1 bonus credit will be granted for every $300 spent in onboard purchases.

The 3/5 sailing is showing SOLD OUT on the online TA agent site we use. The 3/26 sailing shows no balcony cabins available to sell. The prices for the rest of March are twice as much as what we paid in November. That's just a random look. Demand must be there for March. We've sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam several times over the years....Last time was 12/2021 and all great cruises. Enjoy!

Gotcha! I'll stick with the HAL square footage numbers and our view of reality after being in both types of cabins. We've only spent 56 days on Pinnacle ships (42 days in VF & VQ balconies and 14 days in Insides). Your 300-400 days onboard Pinnacle class ships and your variety of cabin types makes you much more of an expert than I am. Nice. All good and savor the journey....no matter your cabin size!

From the HAL website.......and have a great cruise! 2. Luggage Direct Luggage Direct offers you the opportunity to receive your airline boarding passes and check your luggage in to your flight while still onboard your Holland America Line ship. Our TSA-approved partners will take your luggage directly from the ship and deliver it to your outbound aircraft. You will claim your luggage when you arrive at your final airport destination. If you want to make your trip home even easier, sign up for Bags VIP luggage delivery and eliminate having to deal with your luggage completely.* (See section for Bags VIP Luggage Delivery below for details.) Luggage Direct offers: Ability to enjoy your final hours in port at your leisure without having to stand in line at the airport. Avoid lines at disembarkation as you are invited to be the first to disembark No need to locate your luggage or wait for a porters assistance in the terminal Avoid lines at the airport — with boarding pass in hand and no luggage to check you can proceed directly to Security. Luggage Direct is available on most of our vessels when sailing domestically in and out of the following ports: Anchorage Fort Lauderdale Seattle Copenhagen — NEW — our first international option (available for Lufthansa and SAS Airlines only) For more information, or to sign up go to www.maketraveleasier.com/Holland or call 1‐877‐847‐0045 to speak to one of our customer service representatives. Please note the following general information about Luggage Direct: Cost is $19.95 per person / $29.95 for Copenhagen Airline-assessed baggage fees will be applied to guest’s onboard account when applicable as per your airlines rules. Guests may check no more than 3 pieces of luggage per person. Upgrade requests, seat assignment changes, and flight changes cannot be accommodated onboard. Restrictions for each homeport city include participating airlines, earliest and latest flight times, and citizenship requirements.

What's your source for this? And do you know the square footage of a verandah balcony (the balcony portion only, not the entire cabin)?

Guess we all need to start bringing our tape measures and adding that to HALfacts. LOL. All good...as I enjoy my own reality!

Just relaying our "feeling of reality". We "felt" and "experienced" the same type of room that our VF balcony has just less the very nice balcony....Not confused with an Oceanview. We've never experienced an Oceanview on HAL. But, let's look at the square feet: According to HAL (from website): Inside= 143 to 225 square feet Verandah/Balcony= 228 to 405 (balcony included) So if you took a verandah/balcony cabin and deducted the balcony dimensions, the inside cabins are not much different. Perhaps my "feeling of reality" was close to real? What am I missing?

Understood. Coffee and breakfast might easily sit on the desk.....But the atmosphere of eating in the bedroom would not work for us even if it fit. Now breakfast on our balcony, that's worth it! (for us, we would be fine slepping our sorry selves to the the lido for breakfast if it save us big $$$$ vs eating in the bedroom....again, our opinion and understand that others see this differently....folks need to work their own business case to do what works for them)

We did not partake in in-room dining/service.

FWIW We spent two weeks in inside cabins on the Nieuw Statendam in November. We booked inside guarantees. Week #1 was on deck 1/Main and was a J cabin. Week #2 was on deck 4/Bethoven and was a L cabin. The aft back. Both were plenty of room for us. Seemed like the same size as our usual VF balcony cabins just less the balcony. It had been awhile since we were last in an inside as we thought we always required a balcony. Her Majesty said "these are not bad at all and have plenty of room" and now she is permitting the booking of insides when it is a port intense itinerary. We have learned that the inside cabins also arrive at the port the same time as the balcony cabins and the $$$$ savings is substantial. RE: Spa deck cabins....We got a free upgrade to a VQ spa balcony deck cabin once. It's a nice location as you are tucked away on top and we frequent the gym/hydro suite but, in our opinion, it is not worth the extra $$$$. Deck 8 forward (one below the gym/spa) is just as convenient and has a much better price point. Enjoy the cruise!

In November, the Nieuw Statendam docked at Havensight.

I'm on this cruise also. We cancelled our own pre-cruise travel to Cusco and Machu Picchu. Right now, Machu Picchu is closed. As far as Lima, I just read this encouraging post on the South America board. These folks were recently in Lima and experienced no difficulties in enjoying their time in Lima. Of course, things can change but I'll take that info as good for now. (Also, check out our roll call if you have not already.) See you onboard soon!

Thanks for the report! Good to hear that all was looking normal. And good to hear about Uber being available and a bargain. We will be in Lima next month (Holland America Line Oosterdam) for a two day port call and we remain very curious as to how things are going. We did cancel our pre-cruise Machu Picchu trip as the Machu Picchu site is closed.

....agree it is not just a HAL issue.....On Sky Princess TA cruise last March (2022) Princess kept insisting we would be visiting Casablanca although no cruise ships were stopping (Covid). As we departed Maderia and our next stop was Casablanca, the Captain announces that unfortunately we had just learned that we would not be able to make our port call in Casablanca and Gibralter was added and tours were instantly available for sale...... It all smells fishy but the contract does read that ports are not guaranteed.....

Similar frustration with two of our HAL Caribbean cruises since the unpleasantness. Key West stayed on the itinerary until after final payment then we got to experience Bimini on one cruise and Freeport on the other.....yuck. But according to our contract we all know that ports are not guaranteed.

Kaki pants and a long sleeve collared sports shirt and I meet the "dressy" requirement. In fact, that is my attire for every evening in the MDR. The "dressy night" menu is the same amount of courses but the menu is kicked up a notch. That's the filet beef night for us. We rarely go to specialty restaurants but "dressy" night would, in our opinion, not be the night to miss the MDR. We enjoy 5 courses every evening in the MDR. Appetizer, soup, salad, entree, dessert. Love it! Tea is at 3 on sea days and usually in the MDR. Lots of fun especially when we bring Mother with us as it is a favorite of hers. They place a three tier plate of goodies on your table and all the tea you can drink. No surcharge. No reservation required. Show up and enjoy. The time/place will be in your daily program/navigator. Enjoy Holland American Line........

We cruised out of Port Everglades in November and no-one checked, verified, requested, reprimanded, kicked us to the curb or did anything to verify whatever boarding time was printed on the boarding pass...........and we booked steerage (inside guarantee). Based on our experience boarding HAL ships in Amsterdam and Port Everglades since the unpleasantness, boarding times did not matter and we were onboard before noon in time for lunch. Also, check-in is quick. As fast as you can walk and flash your passport on the magic iPad, you are done. Then grab a seat and wait until your boarding position is called. Easy peasy.