iflyrc5

We have over 900 days on HAL ships.  Our last cruise was in Jan/Feb 2023.  We have always used OBC for crew appreciation, drinks, wine package, excursions, Pinnacle, Tamarind, shops, wifi and never had an issue.

There is no access to any of the TV ports on the Rotterdam and the remote only operates the functions provided on the ship systems

We used "Tours by Locals" when in Tallinn several years ago.  Great tour by a college student.

Working fine on my Android phone

Grand South America 2020 - 4 days in Antarctica

The Rotterdam has the extra music venue, World Stage with LED versus the normal show room, Dutch Cafe, Rudi Sel de Mer and separate Club orange dining room.   The Eurodam has a full walk around deck with deck chairs.  Both are great ships.

This was from our 4 days in Antarctica on the Volendam in Feb 2020

Just ask your cabin steward and they will provide you one - no need to pack one.

My wife has very sensitive skin and does fine with the products on the ships.

9 hours ago, triiip42 said:

Hi @iflyrc5under feedback section......they say "E-mail us at navigator.support@HollandAmerica.com."

Thanks - Just missed it.  Sent my email requesting a fix.

On 3/17/2023 at 1:56 PM, ShipWalker said:

It's in the Navigator app.

I tried every menu choice and did not find the email address

We had them on the NA in Nov and the Rotterdam in Jan.

10 hours ago, KroozNut said:

Yep, my email to HAL IT customer support last Saturday about this issue has been ignored so far, and we leave tomorrow.

So at this point, I'm giving up on the menus. I'll deal with it (or not) after we get onboard..

At least you can see the menus on the TV on the ship.

BTW - what is the email address for HAL IT "non-support" that you are using.  Maybe if all of us flood them with emails something will get done.

3 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

Hello.  My husband & I have previously cruised 16 times (17^th coming in May 2023) with Princess.  We are now looking at HAL for our future cruises.  We have been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos of the Rotterdam.  We are very interested in cruising on her in 2024. We both still work, so 1 cruise per year is what we can do.

 

I do have a few questions. 

#1 – Does HAL still use a card as your room key & for purchases?  Yes

#2 – Since we’ve never sailed HAL, picking a cabin for us is a gamble.  For the Caribbean sailing we are looking at for early 2024, the most affordable cabins are Aft and Forward.  I heard the Forward cabins have a lot of “rocking & rolling”.  How are the Aft (mid-Aft) cabins? We like aft and lower deck - quiet and very little motion

#3 – Can you get lunch in the dining room on Embarkation day? Most of the time but not always

#4 – What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? If you go to the main HAL board from back in Jan 14 I posted the daily programs for 42 days

#5 – If you are in Billboards, can you hear the music that is playing in the other venues in the Music Walk? The Bill Board on Board and Rolling stones alternate their show time.  There are doors between these and the BB King so you get some bleed over when the doors are opened

#6 – Does HAL have a separate Vegan/Vegetarian Menu in the dining rooms?  I see (and love) that they have Beyond Meat options in other eateries on the ship! Yes - get the menu the night before from your waiter

 #7 – I heard that if you have dinner in the Specialty restaurants and want to have more than 1 appetizer, that you have to pay extra for more than 1 appetizer (per person).  Is this true? Yes in the Pinnacle - not in the Tramarind 

#8 – If you have the “Have it All” package and order Room Service, are your drinks included or do you have to pay extra for your drinks?  For example, we were looking at Norwegian and while the food was free for room service, you had to pay extra for your drinks, even if you had a drinks package. 

 

Thank you for your help!

Here are some of your answers

4.23 worked fine for me but now with 4.23.1 I can't see the menus

My Android phone is about 5 years old (SM-G960U) and it did an automatic update to 4.23 and all seems to be working fine including the menus for the dining rooms.

Here is the information that I received from HAL guest services last week:

The price for the 7 day Premium Internet Package if purchased pre-cruise is $109.99 USD, if purchased onboard, the price is $139.99 USD.

The price for a 21 day Premium Internet Package is purchased pre-cruise is $239.99 USD, if purchased onboard, the price is $299.99 USD.

On 3/7/2023 at 8:49 AM, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yes I have free laundry too.  It’s about damaging or shrinking clothing.  I’ve had it happen.  

If they damage something go to guest services and you will be reimbursed.  We have had free laundry for about 5 years with lots of loads going out and only twice have had an issue.

15 minutes ago, Hllb said:

I swear I thought I saw a yoga class talked about somewhere - wouldn't they have yoga mats? Sure those may be thinner than is needed for knee PT, but then you can just roll it up, I'd think.

The mats in the gym on the Rotterdam were much thicker than the standard and hung on the wall.  The mats on the Nieuw Statendam were the thin yoga map type.

16 hours ago, SuzWillCruise said:

DRedmond, or anyone with a Eurodam cruise soon, could you let me know if there are gym mats in the gym?

 

I’m doing some physical therapy exercises on my knee that involve laying down on the floor (well, on my IKEA gym mat that came from the kid’s area), but I don’t plan on flying that to Seattle in June!  Hopefully my knee will be much better by my cruise in June, but it would be great to know if I can still do the exercises.

 

Thank you,

Suzanna

I can't confirm they have mats on the Eurodam but they have had them on all the HAL ships we have sailed. 

59 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

Okay, maybe you have to go to guest services or the Neptune Lounge and ask?  On my last two cruises I did not get or see any paper copies.

We have done 100+ days on 6 different cruises on 3 different DAM ships since Feb 2022 in an ocean view cabin and the paper copy is delivered to the cabin each night for the next day's activities.  The app is nice to use and is updated if programs change during the day.

8 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

We're doing just that, and recently purchased 2 refillable stainless steel water bottles for use onboard for our cruise next week on NS. Our plan is to refill them from the lido or our cabin sink as needed.

Just to confirm that these types of water bottles are okay for going ashore and returning?

Yes they are fine

The sports director joined the Rotterdam the end of February and they were doing the art classes too.  The Rotterdam has the library and looking forward to it being added/returned to the other ships.

13 hours ago, islander47 said:

What port are you in? We arrive in Fort Lauderdale on April 10th and had planned to take a taxi to the airport. Now nervous about this decision.

It was Ft Laudale - Port Everglades - pier 19.  There were 6 large ships in which makes for a busy day of transferring guests the the airport.  We have not had an issue as pier 26 trying to get a cab so don't know if it was because we were at 19.   Since we had a late flight we should have just waited on the ship until the last call to depart and it probably would not have been as busy.  Some folks were taking Uber as I saw several cars with that sign on cars in the drop off line.

Got off the Rotterdam at 0845 this morning - we were at pier 19.  It was a real hassle to get a taxi to the airport.  50 people in line and a taxi only showing up every 5 minutes or so.  Finally took a private company shuttle which was also a hassle as they had to stuff it with luggage and people (held 14) with different airlines.  Lucky we were on Southwest so got off at the first stop.  Still took a little over an hour for the 10 minute ride.  Might use Uber next time.