Curly-Q

Where do you find your OBC for your cruise reservation on HAL?

It was a “clean” water flood.  They were working on a leak and either cut an active water pipe or someone turned a water valve back on prematurely.  Either way, it was an avoidable error.  Even the sofa was wicking the water.  There were many other problems especially with air conditioning in many areas.

The deck was the best we’ve ever had and it was a shame to not have it for the entire cruise.  We’re in the forward nose and are experiencing a rough ride into FLL. 

Worse cruise EVER!  For those interested, it was Neptune 5190, port aft wrap around balcony.  Cabins to the side and below were affected, all because of a major error by a crew member. If you’re in this cabin in the near future, know that it was completely flooded with 2+ inches of water. Five cabins had to be relocated that we know of.  Our relocation cabin was smaller than our Neptune balcony.  I expect mold or mildew to be a future problem, because it’s only a routine turn over on Friday.  I suspect it’s Holland’s “do more with less” policy that caused all the problems.

This cruise got off to a rocky start and we’d hoped it wasn’t a bad omen (as OPs have stated) but, apparently, it was.  We sincerely regret booking this cruise for both our milestone birthdays celebration.  Though we enjoyed the food and found the service to be great, lack of enough staff on board during Half Moon Cay port was very noticeable.  They provided a partial refund in OBC, but it didn’t really make up for the inconvenience of having to move to a much smaller cabin and we had our perks, though at a disadvantage.  

From a very reliable source—not a passenger—25% of the cabins on this “post dry dock” cruise reported cabin problems.  I find that shocking!   HAL along with the other cookie cutter lines spend all their effort and money on building mega ships, leaving their existing ships to deteriorate.  We don’t mind a minor problem or issue, but this cruise went beyond that. We have never experienced such problems on any cruise line and cancelled all our future HAL bookings.  We certainly will not recommend HAL after this experience.

If so, what happened afterwards?

Our Neptune aft wrap balcony on the Zuiderdam flooded today and we had to move to a balcony room— which we hate—probably for the remainder of our 10 day cruise ending on December 20.  Our cabin feels like a closet compared to our suite, and we spend a lot of time in our cabin, which is why we book Neptune’s.  Has anyone had this problem before?  If so, what was done?

BTW,  the ship just came out of a 10 day dry dock and we think there was an existing problem in the next door cabin.  The passenger(s) next to us were relocated to a different cabin a few days ago. However, today’s flood was solely due to a HUGE error by a crew member.  Luckily we did not sustain any damage since none of our belongings were on the floor.  I’m wondering if this kind of stuff happens more than we think.

Can you get a table for two at breakfast or lunch in the MDR?   Thanks

We had an deck 8 aft wrap around Neptune on the Eurodam in October for a Vancouver to Hawaii cruise and had no issues whatsoever.  Would definitely book that cabin again in a heartbeat!  

So disappointing that HAL doesn't eliminate all smoking in the casinos like most cruise companies have done.  There is a lot that I like about HAL and began cruising with them when they changed their original smoking policy, but feel restricted to those non-smoking ships that have blah itineraries IMO--specially the Veendam that is now out of Tampa, how nice it would be to have that one go smoke-free!  I won't be cruising any of HAL's ships that allow smoking in the casino. and may go with Celebrity instead.

We sailed in the corner aft Neptune suite on deck 8 of Eurodam and were concerned about noise.  Yes it's everything the OPs have stated, but the balcony is covered fully and some on the side wrap section too!  The balcony is totally private (especially from above) and absolutely perfect if you want to use your balcony in rain or shine; we were not bothered by any noise at all; and you're only one deck down from the buffet!  The pool area was directly above, but we did not experience any noise whatsoever.  I have no hesitations in booking the 8th deck aft Neptune cabin on Eurodam again!

1 hour ago, George C said:

You have a valid point on rccl concierge lounge , but most of the ships are removing concierge lounges and creating larger suite lounges which do not allow diamond plus, also if you do not drink hal might be better. Celebrity is costly but so is Neptune suites, celebrity suite restaurant is excellent and is for suite only and open for all meals except lunch on port days . I have done each of these suites multiple times and did love hal until I tried rccl and celebrity suites. 

RCCL & Celebrity suites are nice and we truly love them.  Been holding off booking any future cruises because of the deposit requirements and find booking full suites on HAL easier to find.  It would be nice if RCCL changes to suites only lounges, I may be more interested in booking.  Really haven't kept an eye on that since I started cruising with HAL.  You'll enjoy the suites on both lines, they are nice!

Thanks to both posters, definitely provided some good information.  We like playing in the casino, don't really win big, kinda win some then lose some, but it's entertaining.  If it'll get me a better price on a future cruise, then it's a win-win in my book!

How does the casino rate work.  On my recent cruise I got a $50 in free play in the casino for my next cruise as well and an offer code for a new booking.  But it looks like one must purchase a cruise on HAL's website to get to the payment section before you see what your casino rate perk will total; and I don't purchase on their site, I go through my TA.

Does HAL ever email a "casino rate" offer on a particular cruise to you?  

Just curious, never had this before nor have I seen other lines offer anything similar.    Thanks for your help!

I've cruised suites on both RCCL and X, and much prefer the Neptune Suite on HAL.  What some may not notice, is there are more suites on HAL ships than the other two lines -- and I'm talking about full suites and not Junior & Sky suites.   Though I will admit Celebrity does offer a really good suite package for their Sky Suites (like a Signature) but it's a much smaller cabin than the full suites and can be quite pricey.  You have to practically sit on the website to grab a full suite as soon as the cruise is offered; if you're thinking about grabbing a suite on a cruise six months or a year out and you're pretty much out of luck -- this is especially true of the popular cruises.  Yet, for HAL you can pretty much find a Neptune, because they have more suites per ship than the others.  

On another note, RCCL made all deposits for suites non-refundable and there is NEVER any reduced deposit for suites.  If HAL runs a special reduced deposit, it applies to the suites as well.

It depends on what you want, of course.  There are free drinks, but that's not that great a benefit; because the free drinks are limited in what you get.  Additionally, while booked in an Owner's Suite on RCCL, we were denied entry to the Concierge Lounge because it was too full --  not by Suite Guests, but by Diamond Plus members who  book cheaper cruise cabins then hog the lounge.  Of course, HAL offers free mimosas with breakfast in the Pinnacle and with room service breakfast.   If you drink a lot, then the other lines may work better for you.

My favorite HAL benefit is the free laundry, but to each his own.  After cruising suites on all three lines, I much prefer HAL.

Just off the Eurodam and mimosas were complimentary for breakfast in Pinnacle, as well as with room service breakfast - be sure you get the Neptune room service menus, we had a regular room service left one night, but were only ordering coffee.  Our room steward was so upset he left the wrong one, I told him no worries, we were only ordering coffee, but I did learn there is a difference.

Speaking of refreshments, you can't beat tea service delivered to your suite.  We had delivery on every sea day and it was fantastic!

The service on Eurodam was exceptional to say the least!  Enjoy your cruise!

16 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Ok, I’m really getting worried about the Eurodam for an 18-day Hawaii cruise next year! It’s our 40th anniversary and first time on that ship.

I think you'll be fine, our cruise on the Eurodam was to Hawaii and for our 40th as well and our first time on the Eurodam.  It was a fantastic cruise; if you can,  do the Renewal of Vows, that was a wonderful experience.  My only complaint was the food, but by your voyage it may be better or maybe you'll find the food to be great, food taste is very subjective.  If not, do use the Dive In for burgers--fantastic; my only complaint, the Dive In closes at 5:30, I wish it would be open longer!  We didn't experience the other specialty restaurants, maybe they were good.  

Given the suggestion to research hotel directors, does anyone know how can I get the current list of hotel directors by ship?

2 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Not trying to be critical at all, but based on our experience with the selection and quality of HAL's MDR menus, I would characterize 'not being able to find ANYTHING to like on their menus' as a bit picky. 😉

I know you're not being critical, but that's pretty much what we experienced in Eurodam's MDR.  Maybe the food tasted better than it appeared on the menu, but the selections just sounded unappetizing with a mishmash of ingredients --- as I said earlier, like you're cleaning out your pantry and throwing it all together.  If I can find one thing that's appealing to me, I order it, I don't have to like everything on the menu, and at least one will do the trick.  Heck, I'll eat just about anything, no allergies so I'm game, but it's got to sound appealing!   I had to send back the lobster tail from Rudi's because it was soooo salty, they couldn't figure out why it was salty, but it was inedible.  They offered to replace it, but I turned it down and ate more bread and left room for dessert!  Oh, the bread on Eurodam was incredible, they got that right!

15 hours ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

On my recent 12 night  Zuiderdam cruise, we ate in the MDR every night. There were two menus On which I could find nothing that I particularly wanted. But there is the always available items of Caesar salad, French onion soup, a steak, salmon, and I think chicken. And you can always request a baked potato. For some reason, they chef likes to serve white beans with veal. Don't know why. There seemed to be at least two fish options every night.

Thanks everyone for all the responses, I'm feeling better now about our upcoming cruise on the Zuiderdam.

 Another food note on Eurodam -- there was one night early on that nothing on the appetizer menu sounded appealing and I requested a green/garden salad and was told they couldn't do that, but you can order a Caesar which I did, but certainly would've preferred a garden salad; another night nothing in the desert section appealed so I asked for a scoop of chocolate ice cream and was again told this is not availabe - really??   All these items are in the Lido, why can't the MDR cover these very simple requests - it's not like I was asking for Baked Alaska?  Maybe it's a specific ship thing, I'll see how it goes on the Zuiderdam.  I'll look into the Hotel Director, good suggestion!  Thanks again everyone!

We did our first Holland on a trans-canal cruise on the Westerdam in December 2017.   We were excited with Holland-- there was nothing to dislike , the food was excellent and the service was great.  Holland has a few differences from the other cookie-cutter lines that stand out in our opinion.  We recently completed a cruise on the Eurodam and while the service was great as always, the food left a lot to be desired.  On the Westerdam we ate in the MDR most every night, there was always something appealing on the menu.  Sadly, on the Eurodam, we ate in the MDR maybe four nights, possible three nights.  The first night had the best first night menu I have encountered, but sadly it went downhill from there.  The next two nights were fine, but that was about it for us.  Even the Gala Night menus didn't do much for us, and fellow cruisers complained about the roasted duck served was tough and practically inedible.  We'd check the menu on the TV every morning only to be disappointed in the menu selections.  The menus appeared to be pantry "clean outs" with weird ingredients put together in some sort of edible concoction, definitely did not appeal to us.  

We believe the Dive In to be the best offering on the ship and the pizza was okay, not great.  We rarely eat at specialty restaurants, but had dinner in the Pinnacle one night which was good, but were sadly disappointed in Rudi's on another night.  The service in both was fantastic, but the food seemed sub-par.  Both cruises were about the same length, 15 and 16 day.   The Lido Market seemed to be meat & potatoes every night, nary a vegetable in sight anywhere--excluding the salad bar.  

We have three upcoming Holland cruises, one of which is fully paid and on the Zuiderdam.  However, the other two are on the chopping block at this time.  We'll see how the meals are on Zuiderdam, if the food appears unappetizing to us, we will cancel the other two cruises, none of which are short cruises.  We prefer not to eat in specialty restaurants, can't really rationalize the up-charge when a perfectly good meal awaits in the MDR (supposedly) and prefer to save them for special occasions.  We love cruising and are certainly not hard to please, food wise, and not picky eaters.  

I've read cruisers complaining about the food on Holland and didn't really understand based on our experience, but now we do.  I still like Holland, but being stuck on a cruise for 16+ days and not liking the food and menu selections can be rough.  BTW I submitted my survey noting our displeasure, but doubt it'll make any difference.  Don't get me wrong, we really do love Holland, but the food....not so much so.  

The bags measure larger because of the wheels.  It's still a 26" suitcase, but adding another 2" for the wheels.  I usually travel with a 26" (aka 28") and sometimes with both a 26 and a 24 with wheels for longer cruises and haven't had any problems with AA or Delta.   Plus, we fly first class, where you're allotted a few more pounds per piece.   

Make sure you don't have VPN enabled which can lead to this type of problem.

In addition to what Kazu said, the higher up you are on the ship, the more motion you will feel.  If you're prone to sea sickness, lower level cabins located midship will work best for you.  

It appears the Zuiderdam will be on time with it's scheduled dry dock.  Good, because we're on the Zuiderdam's first cruise following dry dock.  I wonder what changes will be made - any ideas?

That's good news, but I wish it was a different ship - specifically one of the ones that has a smoke-free casino since it does make a difference.  We only sail on those:    Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, and Zuiderdam.  

First, I really like HAL. I've cruised on other lines and, for now, HAL is the best "cookie-cutter" cruise line--we have 4 upcoming cruises with them.  That's my opinion, of course, others might disagree.  

I do not have a problem with people who complain and often get tired of people complaining about complainers!  It's okay to complain about something you don't like, to voice your personal opinion-that's what free speech is all about.  Others have the right to ignore or gloss over their comments.  I find that too many people split hairs on these boards, not just HAL.  In deciding on a cruise, one must look at the good and the bad to see if it's the right fit for you.    Just think of the things that might not have changed in our past history is someone didn't complain!

As far as HAL goes, it's not unlike the other cruise lines.  Those of us who were able to cruise in the golden days of cruising know how much cruising has changed in the last thirty years or so, just like air travel has drastically changed since 9/11.  If you're too young to remember the good old days of cruising and flying, you won't have much to compare until you too have traveled long enough to see changes.  And sometimes, it's the little things that a cruise line does that make all the difference in the world, whether good or bad. 

I've searched this site, but can't find what I'm looking for.  I would like to find out more information on how HAL does the airport transfers from the ship upon disembarkation.  Our flights are the next day but we're staying at an airport hotel.   We've never used this before and are thinking about using it when we disembark in Vancouver.  It's a combination sight-seeing excursion with drop off at the airport.  Does your baggage go with you on the transfer bus; and does the luggage need to be placed outside your cabin the night before or can you walk off with it?    Is it more convenient than using a taxi and not have to worry about having CAD to pay the taxi and we wouldn't get to the airport hotel too early like with a taxi direct from the port?  I'm curious as to others' experiences with it.  Thanks for you help!

We had a one-time bad experience with a table for 8 quite a few cruises ago (not HAL), and have since requested and received a table for two with no problem every time.  We always confirm as soon as we're on board.