icu222much

Beautiful, thank you 🙂

I am wondering what sort of exercise equipment will be onboard Volendam? Would there be:

• squat rack
• smith machine
• free weight

Great, thank you for your advices ❤️

Thank you for all the responses.

I do have another question: Some days my baby has certain preferences on what to eat. I'm wondering if I can order basic food items (ie - boiled eggs, plain avocado, apple slices, sliced bread...) onboard? Would there be an additional charge for my request?

I'm going on my first cruise to Alaska with my wife and toddler in August aboard the Volendam, and have a few questions:

1. Is there a dress code for the main dining hall? If so, is it enforced? Would jeans and t-shirt be ok?
2. Can I see the main dining room menu before the cruise?
3. What time will I have access to my luggage and room on boarding day?
4. How would I communicate remotely with wife without wifi? The Holland America app, which has a built in guest chat, does not work on my phone (Redme Note 5).
5. My daughter requires hot water to make her formula. My understanding is that the buffet is not open 24 hours, and kettles are not allowed in the room. Do I have any other options for getting hot water?

47 minutes ago, TruckerDave said:

Actually you are fine....MANY folks on this website refuse to stay ON TOPIC and will inject personal opinions at a moments notice without actually answering the original questions posted in the thread. 

 

but alas...I can't help with you questions as I am one of the people who don't use T/A's.

Thank you for that as I was afraid I crossed the line somehow 🙂

I did not title my thread or explained myself as appropriately as I should have, which is probably why this post is going very off topic. I am not here to discuss $50, or whether to book with a large travel agency that is located near my home or a small out of town agency that is located in another country. I just wanted to know what I should consider before between two travel agencies that is offering me roughly the same package. I think I have gotten the information I needed.

In response to the rest of the thread: I have been saving up for a nice cruise, which I found a deal at less then $1400. I don't travel often and I am still trying to save money to purchase a condo (which costs well over half a million). I assume those who think $50 is not a lot of money regularly donate $50+ to charity, and so I applaud your generosity.

I am not trying to start an ethical discussion regarding whether or not I should support a local travel agency vs a non local travel agency. But FYI, my local travel agency has multiple locations just in my city alone where-as the one one in Maryland USA seems to be a smaller run business.

$50 is quite a sum of money, and I am trying to get the best value here. Wouldn't you be happy if you found out you have saved $50 on your flight by booking with someone else?

My friends all have referred me to Expedia.

16 minutes ago, thinfool said:

If you have a glitch in a foreign port who will be most likely to spend a lot of time trying to help you straighten it out?

The cruise line?  No how, no way.

The out of town TA...again, pretty doubtful

The hometown team?  Seems most likely, esp if you go sit down and talk to them when you make your booking.

Making a success when traveling internationally is not all about the lowest price.

 

Lastly, remember, all TA's get the same price from the cruise line, so any discount you receive means that you are eating into their commission.    

This is information I am looking for. What sort of glitches can happen at a foreign port? Are we talking about me missing the cruise because my taxi broke down?

What about if this was between two local travel agencies? I just got a response from another local travel agency that quoted me with the same price and on board credit. Does it matter in this case?

I have found two travel agencies that have the same price for the cruise I want (Oasis of the Sea for Dec 2020). The only difference is that my local travel agency is offering $50 less on board credit then the agency I found on a website where I post which cruise I am interested in. This other agency is located in Maryland, USA. My local agency has been around for 30 years where as the one in Maryland has had their domain name registered for the past 5 years.

I know exactly which cruise I want, and I am planning to book my flights, excursions, hotels separately closer to the cruise date with any company that offers me the best rate. I am interested in trying to save as much money and don't need the travel agencies to suggest me hotels, flights...

I am wondering if there is a difference or any issues I can run into if I book with one travel agency vs another. Issues I am worried about is if the agency in Maryland would somehow scam me, or that they would make a mistake with my booking. Note that this is my first time booking a cruise.

TLDR - I'm looking to save as much money as possible, and I know exactly which cruise, hotel, flight I want. I am only interested using a travel agency to get the cheapest rate. Does it matter which travel agency I use?

That bad huh 😞

How is the quality of the food in their main dining room?

Imperial Palace -> Quad -> Linq?

So I'm imagining something along the lines of Circus/Strat?

I am going on a cruise on either the Allure or Oasis of the Sea next year. This will be my first cruise with Royal Caribbean. I am wondering what the quality of the buffet will be like when compared to a buffet on the Vegas strip. Are we looking at a buffet similar to Wynn/Cosmo/Aria, or something along the lines of a Paris/Luxor/MandalayBay?