sunviking90

My feeling is that the decision has been made to go around the Cape, but exact routing, ports, etc are still being worked out.

We recently were moved to a cabin right by the elevators on Koningsdam when we had issues with our original one. I would never have chosen this location, but we were pleasantly surprised and weren’t bothered by noise at all. It was very quiet. You’ll be fine. We love the Zaandam and the smaller ships. Enjoy your cruise!

I’m not at all surprised. We recently took 2 HAL cruises and their wifi is $29.99 per day for the basic “surf” package and no discounts for higher loyalty tiers. We passed.

Dessert for me on a cruise is something I look forward to as we don’t have them at home. I love the desserts on Princess and they always seem to have an option I like. Our recent 2 cruises on HAL on 2 different ships I skipped dessert half the time, and when I had it I didn't finish it. The fruit crisps especially much, much better on Princess.We remembered HAL desserts as not being very exiting and not much has changed in my opinion.

We also love the noodle bar. Never busy and a hidden gem on the Majestic.

I certainly wouldnt be giving any toonies or loonies. Heavy and cumbersome. I avoid coins myself (and cash generally). If you’re talking about larger tips at the end of the cruise that will be in bills and your ship will be at Canadian ports soon, then I think it would be ok. I don’t think Zaandam is expected in Canada until April though. Remember, even more than tips the crew wants to be mentioned in your post cruise survey. Everyone we tipped recently mentioned how important that was.

If your bid is accepted, you are not necessarily “stuck” with the one given. Once it’s assigned check the availability and if there is another one you prefer in the same category, call Princess and they will change it for you. I’ve done this through Princess and my PCC. Keep it simple when calling Princess. Just say you want to switch your cabin and let them know which one you want. Don’t say anything about bids, upgrades, etc. The call centre staff are very inexperienced now and this will just confuse them. Most minisuites on Ruby Princess are on deck 9, with a few aft on Deck 8 also as far as I know, so you won’t be any higher than that. Some people prefer deck 8 as they have partial coverage.

Masks haven’t been required for quite some time. Your friend may need a new travel agent.

We had a priest onboard the Volendam in November and also last week on Koningsdam, so I don’t think the practice is ending, but rather there weren’t any available.

We booked a cruise for October while on the Volendam in December. I don’t have a “regular” TA, but had booked this particular cruise through one because the price had jumped a bit and she still had the lower pricing for some reason. When booking the new cruise onboard I had a choice of it being thru HAL or going to the TA. As my AARP wasn’t showing on the booking initially, I decided to give the booking to the TA, so she could sort that out rather than me. Of course once I completed the booking, the AARP OBC did show up just fine. I was told by the cruise consultant onboard that I would get an email from the TA shortly with the booking details. I never got anything, and had him print me out a booking confirmation before disembarking. We’ve been home now for over a month and I still haven’t received anything at all from the TA. I guess I will call her, but I am wondering now if I even want to give her the booking after all. Has anyone dealt with this before? Can I transfer this to another TA or to my HAL cruise planner?

Completely agree. We always complete the survey as we know its an important way to recognize certain crew members, but the survey is painful! Way too long. I wonder how many people mean well and start it, but give up. FWIW, we are just back from an HAL cruise and theirs was almost as bad. I would encourage you if you had any crew members who made your cruise better, to go back and complete it when you have time. This is the most important thing for them in regards to pay increases, renewed contracts, etc.

We had one of these a few years ago with our then 19 year old son. I ended up sleeping on the sofa bed as we thought it a bit “short” for our son. Depending how tall your sons are, this may be a good arrangement for you. It flips out lengthways as a single and I found it very comfortable.

I actually like the idea of a set menu for lunch (as long as they don’t change my embarkation lunch!). We recently took a couple of HAL cruises and they have a set menu for lunch. I like that I won’t “miss” a certain item if I don’t go on a certain day. Interestingly a few of the menu options are directly from HAL.

Gosh, this is truly not a thread I ever thought I’d see on the HAL board. Recently off the Koningsdam though, I saw a few who seemed to have this goal. A pretty stark contrast to our recent Volendam cruise.

I spoke to the cruise consultant last week onboard and she quoted me advantage or non refundable deposit fares. She said the cancellation policies are the same as booking on shore. I didn’t book anything this time, but was told the same thing in November when I did book on another ship. Aside from the nice extra OBC they offer for booking onboard everything is the same. To OP, I had the choice of having the booking go to my travel agent or not.

They look like they want to pose as Santa’s reindeer next time!

I’ll be following along as we are on Oosterdam next fall. She’s the only one of the Vistas we haven’t been on. Cabin Fever is SO good! One or two incorrect bits (grand staircase to the Lido on the Zaandam??) but very well written overall.

How does one go about booking a cabana for a single day only? I was thinking of trying it on my upcoming cruise with my sister. I read somewhere else (but can’t find it now) that single days can only be booked once on the ship, but where? Also a question about music. Is there background music constantly? I’ve read conflicting reports. I like quiet and can’t read if there is music.

Yes, we hadn’t been to one in years, but attended last month and were pleasantly surprised. The food made it worth attending.

I would go to the airline’s own website and know the type of aircraft before doing so. Then you can make a clearer decision. On a wide body (3 class) jet premium economy will be similar to business class on a narrow body domestic aircraft. Generally the wide bodies are used for international, but some airlines use them for domestic flights. We have often chosen a connecting flight from Florida on Air Canada if both legs are on a wide body so we can book premium economy. It’s exactly the same as business class on a AC 737, and usually a better price.

I see the manicure/pedicure prices as similar to the prices at home in a “full spa” type establishment, where they can be as high as $90 for a manicure. I pay about $35-$40 at home for a basic manicure in a nail bar. There are cheaper places, but they are a little too “sweatshop” for me. Nice to hear the pricing is reasonable on the River cruise. I would guess like others have said that there is no Steiner middleman involved.

Here it is: https://cruisingwithbillandmaryann.blogspot.com

Gosh @OlsSalt, in a few short paragraphs you vividly painted a scene that many of us will never experience. Thank you for that.

Sorry, I didn’t think you were going to get “suckered”. It was more of a collective “let’s” 😊. Like you, we book what we will be happy with and if a bid comes through it’s just a bonus.

Yes, I read about this new ploy on the other thread. Let’s not get suckered. We have won 2 bids in the past and both times they were minimum bids. I’m sure many people “outbid” us, and won their bids before us, but we knew there were multiple cabins in our bid category available and it worked out for us. I guess if you were bidding on the only available suite it would be different, but we’ve only bid on balconies or minisuites.