neuronbob

I received the email several hours ago, regarding my 3/21 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise.  I understand I'll be getting a refund on everything except the base room charge if I select option 1.  My plan is to rebook this weekend via the HAL website (I've already decided which cruise, the date, and the room, just need to pull the trigger), then will call Monday to have the FCC applied to said reservation.  I then wait 8 long months for the same balcony suite I was planning to enjoy next week.

Received this tonight.  When the phone lines open Monday, I’ll be rescheduling the same itinerary I had, for November.

I look forward to rescheduling my 3/21 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise to warm weather.  Not looking for extras from HAL (though accepted if offered!), just looking to reschedule my fully paid cruise for which I was just about to start packing.  Already looking at itineraries for the fall and winter.  🙂

Still bummed, I was SO looking forward to being on the water again.

Thinking of the crews and the passengers still out there.

Safe cruising to all...when we can do it again.

39 minutes ago, TampaMike said:

 

Same neuronbob from AZ?

Yes.  Is this TampaRL?  If so, virtual bro hug!  Small world!

Back on topic, I am so bummed.  Only eight days from embarkation....but I understand.

Well.  This sucks.  I’ll have to call in to reschedule.  It’s for the greater good, but still disappointing now that it’s here.

...and MSC announced, too.  Carnival's group is the only one left.

As all of us did, I received the email.  What a great response by HAL.  We embark next week in FLL.  So far still planning to go, and I’m not complaining about $200 in onboard credit.  So far, none of our stops is on the CDC no-go list.  Thankfully, wife, teenager, and I are in good health.  I’m genuinely worried that ONE person with the flu could keep us from docking at any port including the home port....however, despite the news the last two days about delayed disembarkment, there are dozens of cruise ships and only a few issues.

Tough decision to make now...good thing I always buy the premium cancellation policy...

Maybe I need to call to see if I can upgrade to a suite if folks are cancelling...

We are still planning to show for our 3/21 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise from Ft. Lauderdale.  Thankfully, we have the Premium cancellation plan so if things go sideways, we can cancel up to departure time if we need to.  HAL hasn't sent any information about a change to the cancellation policy.  Their website DOES show some information about a security breach of customer records....

7 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That’s the 7 day Tropical Caribbean, I believe?  Happy to add you to it.

 

Congrats on achieving 2* 🙂 

It is the tropical Caribbean cruise.  It was a Cuba cruise when I booked it, but politics intervened (sorry for politics mention).

And thank you!  Hoping to be eventually 5*...

Please add me to the 3/21 Nieuw Amsterdam sailing.  My dear wife, son, mother-in-law, and I are celebrating spring break and will become 2* Mariners at the start of this cruise.  This is our third HAL cruise, and our third cruise in total.  Thanks!

Leaving on Nieuw Amsterdam on 3/21, come hell or high water.  As long as COVID-19 stays on the other side of the planet, for the most part, I remain more worried about influenza and Norovirus.  Wash your hands, keep your hands off everybody’s food, we should be OK.

Thanks for all the help, guys.  I decided that CO is not really worth the cost for me based on my phone call to the HAL reps today.

1.  They confirmed no separate dining on Nieuw Amsterdam.

2.  The best upgrade they could do was to a VB cabin when the VC cabin I chose for myself at booking was more conveniently located, holds our group of four, and has a larger balcony, hence, why I chose it.

3.  "Priority" disembarkation means that when you show up for your group, which can be at any time, you have priority.  I usually carry my own bags off the ship, and self-carriers are usually allowed off early in general.  In short, no advantage for me.  Besides, HAL ships are not 6k passenger behemoths and so boarding and off-boarding have really not been an issue.  (Aside:  one of the things I LOVE about HAL is that the ship sizes are about right for me...just the right number of people...not too many people...)

4.  The behind the scenes tours sound nice, but are they $350 nice?

In short, CO wouldn't have an effect on the way I typically cruise.  I'll give the $350 to my wife so she can spend more during the cruise, or maybe I'll rent a cabana on ship for the week, so HAL will still be getting more money from me, LOL.

4 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

The basic reason for the carry on policy is because with an x-ray of your luggage, HAL security cannot clearly determine if you have 24 can of coke or 24 cans of beer.   So, there is extra time and effort once the bags are delivered to the cargo hold of the ship to determine if you are smuggling cans of beer.   But there is also the common sense reasoning and respect for other passengers luggage.   In most ports, the shore side porters will happily take your cash and put your cases of water or soda into the huge luggage steel cages along with everyone's luggage.  Those cages are delivered by fork lift to the cargo hold of the ship.  That is where the local port employees (porters) responsibility ends.  If your bag with a lot of soda, sitting out in the hot sun, happens to be near the bottom of the cage, it will have hundreds of pounds of luggage squashing your hot cans of soda or plastic bottles of water.  If those cans or bottles rupture, your soda will be soaked into every passenger's bags that are unfortunate enough to be under your soda bag.  

Short story...Don't do it.   Be respectful for your fellow passengers.   Buy a small amount and carry it on.  Then in subsequent ports, buy more and carry it on.   There's no restrictions to bringing soda and water onboard in any port.

Thank you for the thorough explanation.  Best explanation in this thread.  Again, I had no idea.  Still relatively new to cruising and still learning "do's and don'ts".

You rock and thanks for the teaching, I owe you a cold beer if I meet you on a ship.

7 hours ago, panoramaofthepast said:

I got the same email last week for our cruise on Zuiderdam. I called my HAL rep and inquired about the upgrade; she said it was only an upgrade within the category [ie, a "better" balcony room] - then she said, "let me check on something!" Five minutes later, she was back with the offer of a FREE upgrade to a mini suite [yep! I said free] because apparently prices had decreased and a mini suite was now going for the approximately price I paid for an aft balcony. The change got me some of the Club Orange perks, so we took it. Fast forward 24 hours and another offer comes in, this time an upsell from the mini to a Neptune suite for just about the same cost as we were contemplating for Club Orange [10 day cruise x $25 per person]. Yes, indeed!

 

So in the space of 24 hours we went from a balcony to a full suite and you better believe I am going to enjoy that suite! 

WOW.  I'll call tomorrow.  If I can get a deal like that, great!

OTOH, even "shrewdly negotiating"  (LOL) a further price reduction in CO to $15/dy/person would be good, too.

For reference, I turn a 2* Mariner during this cruise, so paying to have some of the same benefits as a suite person, or a 4* or 5* Mariner, looks good at first glance.  For me the primary benefit of CO is going to be early embarkation and disembarkation.  I drive to the cruise port instead of flying, so in particular, leaving the ship early to begin our long drive back to Ohio would be a huge win for me.  Tough decision to make.  I'll know what to do after I've called HAL on the issue.

19 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

As far as I remember it is printed on the first page of the boarding documents.

I just looked at my boarding documents.  No policy there.

To be honest, I wasn’t aware there was a policy until I read this thread.  I certainly had no idea that it was such a hot topic for some.  I’m here to learn, I certainly just learned something, and I appreciate the knowledge.  🙂

My family is set for a March Nieuw Amsterdam boarding with a balcony cabin.  I just received an email about a Club Orange upgrade special.  It's a new program to me that wasn't present when I cruised last in March 2019--it started in October.  The cost is usually $35/day/cruiser for the first two cruisers, and the sale is for $25.

Has anyone here used the program and is it worth the price?  Was the cabin upgrade worth it?  I chose my cabin at booking and like where I am, but I wouldn't turn down an upgrade to a suite if offered.  How does the suite upgrade work in reality?  TBH, the most useful aspect of the program for me would be priority disembarkation, but since I carry my own luggage, I usually am in the first group off, anyway, unless that's changed.

Thanks!

The last two years' cruises (Eurodam 2018 and Rotterdam 2019), I brought 32-packs of water from Sam's Club.  I put a packing label on them, handed them to the porters on boarding, tipped the porters 🙂 , and they delivered them to our cabin, with no questions.  I plan to do the same when I arrive to Nieuw Amsterdam in a month.

Interested in eventually trying cruises from Baltimore.  In order to save money for excursions, and to have a larger variety of ports, we usually drive instead of flying to Florida (I don't mind long road trips).  However, Balto is a quick five hour drive from my house and even with limited itineraries, it'll be interesting to try a different cruise line from our usual (Holland America).