InTheWASide

Just a heads up that they just cancelled our sailing for 12/16/17. No explanation of why yet, but it is confirmed to be cancelled. I'm guessing they moved the dry dock to these dates. The 12/23 and 12/30 sailings appear to not be affected. Heads up!

drydock or charter would be my guesses

Now, I have to do some research today for the best price. HAL website has zero incentives, but I'd be in control as I have always liked to be. Some of the "big box" sites have a couple of bennies - the ONE and one who COMPETES, (any one have any others you can kind of specify in a roundabout way?). Since I'm a solo, the bennies are at least half of what they advertise. No brick & mortar sites within 100 miles of my home, so that is out. It's just a quickie trip, so I don't need hand-holding, just a cheap price and maybe a dinner or two paid for me...

It's rare HAL will offer inclusions on these short cruises because they have such low prices associated with them. Most specials and sales like the current View and Verandah don't apply. Super last minute you may see some Flash sales but that's about it if there is remaining inventory.

If a TA were offering a meal or 2 or some OBC it would be incredibly generous of them as these have a lower price and therefore low commission coming to the TA. Any gifts they provide would be coming out of their commission. It wouldn't take much before they were effectively working for free.

With the coastals we have always thought about it this way... "For the price we are paying, could we come anywhere even sort of close to a nice hotel in downtown Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, equivalent... 3 meals a day (or more :O)... entertainment, lower than normal priced beverages AND transportation up the coast via either train or plane..." The answer is almost always "obviously not" and therein lies the biggest benefits of these coastals... the super low prices

First, sorry te OP won’t be able to make the cruise.

 

From what I have read on these boards, I do not understand the above number 1). IIRC, particularly, I have read that this is definitely not what to do if you are a single and sharing a cabin. I have read that it will result in your cabin mate being charged a lot more for the cruise. I thought the thing to do was to notify HAL not sooner than the date of embarkation.

 

Also, I do not understand what the insurance has to do with whether or not you have previously notified HAL.

 

Scott & Karen

The OP did not say they were leaving someone that will be sailing alone now. Indicated by if nothing else the reference to a waitlist. So I answered as though the room was being completely cancelled.

OP does not state what sort of insurance they have. HAL's or a 3rd party, something through a credit card, etc... Some insurance companies want to see that you did your due diligence and informed the appropriate companies (assuming of course that you are able to given the reason you need to cancel)

Some larger travel agents have 24/7 numbers.... give them a call if you can't reach the office during the day. Hopefully the 24/7 number is not a message center.

Good point. Just depends on if they are a part of something much larger... say like AAA for example, or a stand alone agency

What sad news. I'm wondering about the list. Are all 3 for the Prinsendam HAL related or are 1 or more related to her original life?

 

Roy

It was 3 HAL employees (I know Rose Abello was head of PR at the time), not familiar with the other 2 right offhand, on behalf of ALL HAL employees

Information on new itineraries would be great since I am sick of the same ones offered for years. Someplace new would be great!

New itineraries refers more to things like this thread "2018 Europe is now available" and less like "look, here's a 12 day cruise we opened for sale and you've never seen anything like it before"... of course there can be times where buried within a huge product release there ARE some unique runs.

I've also noticed that under Orlando Ashford there has been a little shakeup in what ships are going where vs the rut they were stuck in from 2006-2014 or so

Sorry you have to cancel and hopefully the surgery will go well and you'll heal quickly.

Coming from someone who is a former HAL employee and is now a travel agent... a couple words of advice:

1) DO NOT NO-SHOW. Insurance is likely going to want to see that you made an effort to cancel prior to the start of your trip. Also, if you have airfare, you can pay change fees and rebook the air, but they void the fare paid if you no-show.

2) As you are booked through a TA, you must call them to cancel. HAL does not allow guests to cancel themselves on a TA booking. If you work with a larger agency and your specific person is not there talk to someone else in the office who I assume would be able to assist.

3) If, due to the holidays, your TA's office is possibly closed, in that instance call HAL direct, explain the situation and that your TA is not open for business due to the holiday. They may need to run it up the ladder to a supervisor or manager due to cruise line/travel agency contracts but in most instances HAL can make the exception and allow direct cancellation if no other option exists.

I hope that helps. Wishes for best health in 2017! :)

Here is a list of all of the respective dedicators or godmothers;

 

Amsterdam Janet Lanterman

Rotterdam Princess Margriet Netherlands

Zaandam Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen

Volendam Chris Evert

Maasdam June Allyson

Veendam Debbie Reynolds

Oosterdam Princess Margriet Netherlands

Westerdam Renée Soutendijk

Zuiderdam Joan Lunden

Noordam Marlee Matlin

Nieuw Amsterdam Queen Maxima (Princess at the time)

Eurodam Former Queen Beatrix (Reigning Queen at the time)

Koningsdam Queen Maxima

Prinsendam Rose Abello, Eva Andresen and Linda Ehlenberger (representing employees)

Thanks for posting the list. I saw this thread and was going to and you beat me to it. I made a couple corrections or additions though

One thing not showing yet, Nieuw Statendam's crossing to North America. Not surprising... new ship sailings are released in time with other new ship announcements.

Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam, but Eurodam has the newest additions and concepts and goodies, Nieuw Amsterdam does not yet.

While I find Nieuw Amsterdam to have a little more modern look I would go with Eurodam because of the new venues like Billboard Onboard and Gallery Bar.

The buttermilk chicken on embark day in the lido is SUPER good.

Bread pudding with the vanilla sauce is a must. (I add a few of the white chocolate chips into it and it makes it even better when they get all melty and I mix it together)

Wang Wangs! Specialty drink not on any menu but every bartender in the fleet knows how to make it. It's strong but really good.

If split pea is ever offered anywhere on your sailing, get it. Same with bitterballen. (If you order hore douvres in your room for any evenings you can request if they are able to do bitterballen and usually if you give a couple days notice before you want them, they can always make it happen)

Main dining room french onion is one of my favorites (I like it more than the french onion in the Pinnacle Grill).

Caesar salads on room service are on the "side salad" size-range. If you want it as an entree order 2 and just combine them once delivered.

Anything from the Dive In! Especially the fries with cheese sauce

Happy hour is a fantastic value!

Behind the scenes tour is a significant cost but really fun and informative if the technical side of the ship is of any interest.

Canaletto is great and you can really use it to get a huge variety. With 4 people you can get nearly everything with the way the menu is set up to work

Hydropool and thermal suites - the pass for the week is a great value. If you don't want it for the week you MAY be able to get day passes based on availability OR if you get any services like a massage, etc they usually give you access for that particular day/afternoon

You picked a fantastic ship to try when coming back! Have a wonderful cruise!

Does anyone know if we can book a Celebrity sailing while onboard a Royal ship? Will there be any advantage in doing this?

 

Thanks

You can. Or at least you could last month on Liberty. I know because a friend of mine did it. She booked an upcoming Royal AND Celebrity cruise.

Benefit? You get the perks from booking onboard without also having to take a Celebrity cruise :)

Those are really cool. That said, cue the people that have an attachment to the old design and this is just proof of HAL ruining things even further. :rolleyes:

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They sell some rather effective sea sick medication on board. Worked well for me.

And if you prefer to get it ahead of time... bestter to start 1-3 days ahead on it... meclizine is what you want to look for. Not drowsy like dramamine is (even when it says it isn't)

Interesting...

Just off the Zuiderdam - the late HH was in the Northern Lights from 9-10pm - second drink was $2

Next time someone asks why they get rid of Northern Lights and replaced with Gallery Bar... here's the reason right here... If happy hour is needed to get people to go anywhere near the nightclub... :eek:

Drink prices have risen since the $1 for the second drink was implemented.

 

I have no problem with the $1 increase. It's been a long time since the price was increased and it's still a bargain IMO :)

Prices have gone up some yes, but HAL still has lower alcoholic beverage prices than nearly all other lines

Definitely still a bargain!

You're complaining about a $1 increase for something they don't have to offer at all?

 

Seriously?

Beat me to it. This would have been my response exactly

We were recently on Liberty of the Seas (yes, I know this is the X forum) and we got a future cruise deposit. I learned that you can book future Celebrity and Azamara cruises onboard too which is cool. Didn't know they had THAT degree of cross-branding onboard.

So here's the question:

Right now we are booked and deposited through the next cruise thing we bought on a cruise this next fall on Anthem of the Seas.

And I know I can move it to another Royal Caribbean cruise if I prefer a different cruise.

But can I move this deposit TO a Celebrity cruise? Or is this credit fully within only the Royal Caribbean system now?

Might be a stupid question. I know what the gut answer is but I can see arguments for both sides of it. So I'm asking for all of your expertise

But that meant nothing, in reality.

meant in the week prior... and if ever given sooner what a nice surprise...

Thanks for the pics, the remodeled suites have espresso machines or is that just for the Neptunes?

 

-Paul

Neptunes

Here's some that I found online:

http://halfacts.com/vista-class/6058-oosterdam/

Hi folks- sailing the Rotterdam on 1/2, and took a guarantee Vista cabin category. This is my 34th cruise, and I've had a guarantee cabin quite a few times, all of which were assigned well before the cruise (between 20 to 35 days). We're now at 12 days and still no assignment. I know it's the holidays, but I'm surprised it's taking this long, and we've been booked since September. I've checked our luggage tags like everyone has suggested, and nothing there either. We haven't sailed on HAL in several years, so I was wondering if this is something new that assignments are made on port day. Thanks very much for all your help.

From my HAL days... 2006-2012... the rule was always explained (and taught that we were to explain it) as: "the stateroom will be assigned 0-7 days prior to departure"

Dear Guest,

 

Thank you very much for sailing with Holland America Line aboard the ms Oosterdam.

 

We are writing regarding your onboard account payment. Regrettably, it appears that due to a system error you may have been charged again for your shipboard expenses on December 16th. If you were impacted by this error, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this processing error may have caused and want to assure you that we are in the process of reversing the duplicate charge. Please note that individual bank refund processing procedures differ and this reversal may take up to10 business days to appear on your account.

 

Should you have any questions or concerns you may contact our Reservations Accounting department by email at reservation_accounting@hollandamerica.com, or by phone at 1-888- 663-5384 (US and Canada) or 1-206-626-7380 (International).

 

We understand that in some cases this could have caused additional bank fees. If you remain out of pocket following the correction of your transaction, you may submit a claim for reimbursement by emailing guestrelations@hollandamerica.com. Please include your name and booking number in your email, along with a copy of your credit/debit card statement attached showing any fees charged by your financial institution as a result of the transaction. You may black out any areas of the statement that include private information. All we need to see is your name on the statement and the fee charged in relation to the duplicate charge. Once you have submitted your claim, it will promptly be assessed and processed.

 

Again, we want to extend our most sincere apologies for this error and thank you for your patronage. We hope to be given the opportunity to welcome you aboard again very soon.

 

Kind regards,

 

Holland America Line

Sounds reasonable to me. Surely annoying to those dealing with it, but they are not only making it right but also ensuring no one is subject to fees associated with this after the fact. End of the day the customer is being made 100% whole in each instance.