roxybear135

On our last two cruises (a NYE one and one last August), they did not offer any specials when purchasing on board.  It was more expensive to buy on board than online prior to the cruise, but I can't remember how much more it was.  They used to offer deals on board on these passes but it doesn't seem they do that anymore.  So I would recommend buying it now if it's something you want to do.

Wow sounds like a fantastic itinerary!  Make sure to eat some chilli crab with mantou buns in Singapore.  Best food I've ever had on a vacation!

I've been having issues with mine all day.  It seems HAL is having some problems.  I found out that you can email navigator.support@hollandamerica.com to put in a support ticket to try to get it fixed.  My app is about half working now (some things load and others don't) but I wasn't able to log in at all pretty much all day.

After finally reaching someone at HAL, it seems my app is mostly working (I can get my itinerary to load but not the restaurants and some other stuff) so no clue what happened.  But if anyone has issues with their app in the future, I found out that you can email navigator.support@hollandamerica.com to put in a support ticket and avoid the long hold time on the phone.

14 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

This is a real lame suggestion.  Sign out of the app, if possible. 

I'm already signed out.  When I try to sign in on any device, it gives me an error message.  I'm on hold trying to reach someone at HAL to see if they can fix it.  Very frustrating.  Thanks for trying to help, I appreciate it.

It seems there's a problem with my account because I couldn't log in on my iPad or on my fiance's Android phone.  Any ideas on what to do?

11 minutes ago, Dunmore2 said:

My iPad and iPhone’s versions of navigator are working great, just tried a second ago.

Hmm not sure what the problem is then.  I wonder if there's an issue with my particular account (I had my dad try to log in to it since he doesn't have a HAL account).  No clue how to get that fixed if that's the issue since I can't find any contact info for their IT department.  I tried calling the customer service line but the wait was several hours.

9 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Ok, here is a bit more complicated fix but once you learn it - so simple.  Rapidly double click your home button.   This will bring up a screen full of all of the currently open apps and windows.  Swipe each one up until is disappears, it is now truly closed. Once all are dismissed, try again.  
 

I have one or two more tips if that doesn’t work

I've already done that.  I think it may be an iPhone issue because my dad couldn't get it to log in on his phone but my fiancé can (he has an Android).  Hopefully it gets fixed soon because we have a cruise coming up in only a couple of weeks and I always use the app a bunch onboard.

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

Try updating the app then rebooting your device

I've already updated it, uninstalled and reinstalled it multiple times, restarted my phone multiple times.  Nothing fixes it.

My phone updated the app to 4.11.0 and now the app isn't working.  I either get a spinning wheel or the app closes itself out when I click on something.  I tried logging out, uninstalling and reinstalling the app, restarting my phone and nothing works.  I keep getting an error message when trying to log in now.  Any ideas how to fix this?

I tried checking something on my Navigator app this morning and just got a spinning wheel.  Then, whenever I clicked on anything (like my itinerary or shore excursions), the app would just close itself out.  I tried logging out and kept getting an error message when trying to sign back in.  I've tried deleting and reinstalling the app and also restarting my phone.  Nothing is working and I still can't log in to the app (I get the message "An unknown error has occurred.  Please try again later.")  Is anyone else having issues or have suggestions on how to get the app to work?  Thanks.

16 minutes ago, debdiva said:

I though we booked quite early, late January for an August cruise, but the particular excursion we wanted in Reykjavik was already sold out. Bummer, because it was how we wanted to spend our 40th wedding anniversary, on the Golden Circle. Sigh...

Depending on how long you are in Reykjavik (we are going there on a cruise in a few weeks and it's an overnight port there), you may want to look on Tripadvisor.  They have a bunch of Golden Circle tours available (and they're typically cheaper than the HAL excursions).  Plus, if it's an overnight port, you don't have to stress about getting back to the ship in time so doing a non-HAL excursion would be fine.

We are on a 14 night cruise in a few weeks that goes to Norway, Iceland, and Scotland.  I would say about half of the excursions have been sold out for a few weeks now.  I think with so many doing Have It All, far more excursions are selling out than before that was a thing.  I highly recommend booking the excursions you really want to do ASAP so they don't sell out.  We missed out on a couple we wanted to do because we waited too long since we were debating the cost of them.  

13 minutes ago, Love To Traveling said:

Did you feel it was worth it After your cruise?

For the room upgrade alone, it was worth it.  We went from a fully obstructed balcony room to one of the high categories of verandah (can't remember which one exactly).  As far as the club orange dining room, we had a very mixed experience there.  Sometimes service was great, sometimes it was horrible.  Sometimes the food was great, sometimes it was barely edible.  It was nice having some extra menu options though between breakfast and dinner, but I wouldn't pay the fee for club orange just to eat at the dining room.  It was also nice not having to get tender tickets and being able to skip the line for those, so if you have a cruise with a lot of tender ports, it's a very nice perk to have.  We booked a 14 night casino deal for next month and added club orange again to get our choice of cabin (and got a verandah with a huge balcony!).  If room choice is important to you, I would say go for it (and it can end up cheaper adding club orange to an obstructed balcony fare than paying the unobstructed fare).

Sorry don't know how a duplicate post happened.  Please delete!

Has anyone submitted a non-HAL excursion for a price match to one of their offered excursions?  I found one that's identical to an excursion on our trip for a lot cheaper.  We had booked that since the ship one was full but now we got off the waitlist for the ship one.  I feel more comfortable going with the ship offered one since they are responsible for getting us back to the ship if anything happens.  How does someone submit the price match claim?  Are they typically honored?  Thanks!

Has anyone submitted a non-HAL excursion for a price match to one of their offered excursions?  I found one that's identical to an excursion on our trip for a lot cheaper.  We had booked that since the ship one was full but now we got off the waitlist for the ship one.  I feel more comfortable going with the ship offered one since they are responsible for getting us back to the ship if anything happens.  How does someone submit the price match claim?  Are they typically honored?  Thanks!

17 minutes ago, darstamp said:

Does anyone know it Tamarind is open for Lunch and is there a lunch menu somewhere?

 

Unfortunately it's not.  Only dinner available.

I love the wonton soup (it's called jewels of the sea) on the appetizer menu and the crispy duck for an entree.  I've also had the baby back ribs, satay sampler, and shrimp tempura from the appetizer menu and all were good.  The wasabi tenderloin was also good, but I didn't taste any of the wasabi on it.  The food at Tamarind is fabulous, so I highly recommend trying a few of the appetizers because we haven't had anything there that we thought was bad.

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Correct.  I’m not a huge steak person so after a couple times of the tamarind steak I don’t enjoy it so I don’t order it.  I know it’s a favourite of others. 

I tried it once and thought it was fine, but nothing special.  Then I tried the crispy duck there and loved that so that's my go to at Tamarind.  I highly recommend that and the wonton soup!

7 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I'm pretty sure onion rings come on the steak at the pinnacle.  They look better then they taste.  I found them to be bland without taste.

They also come on the steak at Tamarind.  Both those and the Pinnacle ones were pretty bland from what I remember.

We parked at the Manchester Grand Hyatt when we did our cruise from San Diego in December.  It's about a 10 minute walk from the cruise terminal and is on flat, paved ground.  They have a giant parking structure and it felt safe leaving our car there.  I can't remember the site we booked through but we got an incredibly reasonable price, so if you search for parking there, you should be able to find a deal.  If you want something a bit closer, parking at either of the Bric parking garages should work (I think they're across the street from the terminal but not 100% sure).

I've also stayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt before and it's a lovely hotel.  So I would suggest staying there and then paying for the cruise parking (it has no in/out privileges so it's cheaper) for the time while you're on your cruise.

2 hours ago, gobar said:

Can anyone suggest which is the best home proctored test in terms of least wait time and able to connect with a proctor. Choices are Emed, Radeas, Binax or Qured

 

 

Thanks

We did the ones we ordered from eMed for our last cruise.  The wait time was approximately 30 minutes to get connected with a proctor.  They're available 24/7 and the wait will vary based on how many people are waiting.  It was an easy process.

2 hours ago, vicd1969 said:

I think Greece requires 1 day test - the rest of European Union allows for 3 days testing.

 

I understand that.  The person said they had done the at home test the day before the cruise but then had to re-test at the port.  I was just wondering if that will be done for all HAL European cruises.

I saw someone post that they had to get re-tested at the port for their European cruise even though they already did the medically observed at home test (they were going to Greece).  Any idea if this will be the case for all European cruises or was it because their cruise was going to Greece?  We are on the Northern Isles trip next month to Copenhagen/Norway/Iceland/Scotland and I don't want to test ahead of time if we will have to test again at the port.