PoolSlider

June 2018 - no smoking.

2 weeks on the Zuiderdam was $169.99 for the mid-level package: I think it was called Surf package. Streaming was $50 more. You can figure a bit more than that for 6 more nights.

Edited after I found my final statement.

3rd/4th guest are reduced or free. The E4 sailing I'm looking at is definitely not free for No 3 or No 4.

Now in many locations you also have the influx of Japanese brides doing destination picture taking. I counted 20 different brides doing their location photography on Charles Bridge in Prague one morning when I was there last year.

They are actually Korean. And the Americans are all Canadian. :D

I think the Rick Steves Effect is dated. If you spend anytime at the "Must See" places in Europe you would know that. Americans are not the overwhelming horde any longer. Go to Versailles. Go to the Van Gogh Museum. Go to Hallstatt: it ain't Americans filling those hotel rooms. You see what you see and stop using dated information from a decade or 3 ago.

For what it's worth, I had a Royal Princess booking to the Baltics which I cancelled when I got a look at her in port in FLL 6 months before the sailing. No way I'm going anywhere with that many people.

The main bow is on Deck 4 for viewing. The aft behind the Lido is also quite nice on deck 9.

Question - if I pay for another person's cabin and all costs, is there anyway to get some credit to my Mariner spending days? The other person likely will never use the credits anyway.

Both I and my minor children were given 2 star pins during a recent 14 day cruise. They aren't paying for anything! :D As we have only 25 actual sea days...I do think everybody in the cabin gets the same "spend" credit.

And I thought it was a nice touch to give us the pins on the cruise.

I've sailed on the Dawn and it is not an example of one of NCL's floating amusement parks. It's actually a smaller low-key ship for them. I've never sailed on the Veendam but I imagine you all will be fine. HAL feels a lot quieter than NCL because most people are older and there is less overall entertainment. For example, I still remember "Dingo Dave" was the cruise director on our NCL sailing. He was always "on." There is nothing like that silly party/party/drink/drink/drink vibe on HAL. So if you expect a Carib cruise without the pier side dancing and frantic vibe then you'll be fine. You will be left to your own devices/means to entertain yourself and your kids. My teens were fine with that.

My advice is to spend as much as possible of your first day awake and walking around in Amsterdam. Let your excitement carry you a bit. Try not to go to bed until evening. It's hard but the sooner you adjust time zones the easier the rest of your trip will be.

ymmv.

Those are pre-Nov 2017 dry dock cruises. Hoping my post-dry dock in Nov 2017 experience can be repeated.

Thanks

There does seem to be two schemes. On Westerdam, there is a set of unlimited plans that vary by restrictions, similar to Carnival. From what I've read, they have trialed that on some other ships, but I believe that at this point all of those have returned to the per minute plans.

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

I hope they haven't all gone back to minute plans! One of the reasons I rebooked the Zuiderdam was because I didn't have to deal with minute plans. I was on the Zuiderdam post-dry dock in Nov 2017; can anyone confirm they have or haven't gone back to minute plans since then?

If one was gifted a wine package but one took a look and found out that one did not care for the wine after going to the supermarket and taste testing said wines....could one trade for a different wine or trade two package wines for a nicer one bottle? Has anyone had personal experience? Or even can one pay an additional amount to make a HAL valued $50 bottle a $60 one, that type of thing?

On our Nov cruise, our late departure was Aruba not Curacao.

Wonderful! This should help immensely!

I was given a 5 day hold that included New Years.

Ok I'm back. So if we go to West Cowes we can get a taxi to Osborne House? If we go to East Cowes we take the bus? I want to get this right. If we arrive on a rainy day, I might prefer just grabbing a taxi over waiting for the bus. And I like options. Can you clarify? Thanks again!

The soda card is $25 to receive $50 of fountain soda.

For the regular card, you buy the card for $ increments and the cost of the drink and tip are deducted as you use it. You can use it at happy hour. You can buy any price drink so long as your card has the $. They can be gifted to others. I can buy you a drink too with it.

One thing I found was that the magnetic strip easily fails and I had to go to guest services 3 times. The chief advantage for me was giving the card to my son and letting him order independently. Also I like prepaying so I don't get the big bill at the end.

On HAL, there are far fewer children and young adults. The HAL crowd is older. There are no pool games trying to find out which male can produce the biggest belly flop. No loud music. No screaming TV screens. Not near the level of drunkenness. The buffet is non competitive and the plates are normal sized. In general it is quiet. Some people will say it is too quiet, but others will find it peaceful.

Thanks for the help! Wondering are taxis readily available off the ferry? Also any good cake/pastry shops in the area where Grandma could replenish her strength?

Hello,

What is the best method to get from ship to East Cowes ferry terminal?

We have an overnight stop in June; would like to go to see Osborne House and back again in a day.

Any ideas or helpful hints? Am I being unrealistic?

Thanks for all advice.

I liked Zuide so much at Thanksgiving I booked to go on her again this June for the Summer Solistice sailing. Thinking about booking the Thanksgiving saiing for Nov 2018 again too. They have to pay me to stay away!

Had the 3 for Free deal. Checked this sale for our 11 night June Cruise; our cabin price dropped $650 and the higher OBC pays the gratuities with some to spare. One thing I note, you have to check the booking all the way to the "choose your room" level for the price drop to show up. I checked the room next to mine...and yep I refared quick!

At his cruise end presentation on 11/25 Capt Wouter suggested the cracks in the Crows Nest were post-drydock. The change from dry to wet causing materials to shrink/expand. One lady on the cruise expressed that she saw it happen right in front of her. Capt Wouter (cannot spell his last name) expressed dismay and said a glass vendor was available in FLL port to fix it eventually.

There is no dance floor. I believe it was the Hotel Director who said it was never in use and seemed to belong to a different era. So the space was updated.

Also it seems odd to me that comments suggest the Crows Nest was lightly used. Every time I was in it there was a big group drinking, napping, reading, knitting, playing chess, researching shore excursions, putting together puzzles, gabbing, etc. Were we on the same ship?

Loved the nonsmoking casino!!! I know this is subjective based on addiction (mine is not smoking) but wow it was fantastic not to have to deal with The Cloud.

My Chief Complaint (quibble really) was the lack of non-mobility restrictive shore excursions. I saw quite a few physically fit seniors on this trip. Really they are out there, Holland America Brass! I wish that there had been more options for more adventurous EXC trips with hiking etc. Why not offer one version of an excursion that is for those with walkers and mobility restrictions and another for passengers who have no restrictions? Drop that in the suggestion box!

Yes, I will be back on HAL; loved the Zuiderdam and her crew.

We are sailing into Puerto Limon now. There are always minor "it could be better" quibbles but I have no real issues to report. This is my first time on HAL and I'm slightly younger by a decade and a half than the most common demographic onboard. I love the low key atmosphere. I haven't seen any of the drunken roudiness that has become synonymous with cruising. Its freshing.