Takes Notes

I had my OBCs applied by the World Cruise Department for my next cruises in April & May. The staff member said that in the future, I should use "Stockperks".

My experience has been that the World Cruise Department processed the requests lightning fast, usually within 24 hours of submitting it.

I was on the "infamous" sailing Dec. 19-23. There were only two dinners at Morimoto and each was sold out with a long wai9ting list.

At least on Nieuw Amsterdam,  Tamerand remains along with the sushi bar and Morimoto

I'm sure that our delayed/rerouted sailing meant that not all expected provisions were on board.

You asked, JS, about other things worked on in drydock. There are several new sliding doors on decks 3& 10 and they were being adjusted by crew. It was a long process. There are some new seats in bar counges such as Explorers. Outside of those areas, I can't think of anythying elso. In general, the ship looks "refreshed" and really sparkles with the care given by the Indonesian crew.

Thanks all for the comments. By the way, what is the capacity of Grandeur (2 per cabin)? I'm sailing on her Jan 5-10. Are there any classical musicians on board?

On a recent sailing on the Nieuw Statendam, we did a cabin crawl that included four inside cabins. I was really surprised at how much the design and square footage varied. I'm sorry I did not note which were the larger cabins.

As far as noise and convenience go, you'll need to have priorities and then select a cabin on that deck, or in that placement.

Happy sailing!

The amount of activities is greatly reduced on port days. This is true across the fleet.

If you've been on Vista class ships on HAL, outdoor dining spots are similar. See "Cruiser Bruce" above.

11 minutes ago, dockman said:

I wish HAL would offer some cruises with no single supplement like princess is doing.

Amen to that. I've been fine in the single "OO" cabins on Koningsdam, & the other Pinnacle ships, but a more reasonable surcharge 25-40%  would really help!

3 hours ago, sciencewonk said:

Here's a question I haven't seen asked before.  I am in the habit of practicing my piano daily.  When I go on a cruise, are there any pianos available for passengers to practice?

The ships with Lincoln Center have a beautiful Steinway as well as a grand piano in the "former" Explorer's Lounge where the "Adagio Duo" performed, and there is a third grand piano on the main show lounge stage. A few ships have "real" pianos in the Billboard Duo Pianos.

However.....the entertainment staff take a dim view of guests attempting to use the ship's instruments. It disrupts the "elevator music" in the locations and is considered a distraction to the guests.

Thank you for posting this information.

In my grumpy old age I don't really like it when a large group "takes over" the ship with special events, slowing down elevators, etc.

The Dry Dock postings are interesting as well.

Stay healthy!

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses.

I'm sure someone can help me out with these two questions:

1. Can beverage cards ($50 & $100) be purchased on board with onboard cabin credits?

2. Can the cards be used on a future sailing or only the one when it was purchased.

I've never been this situation where I have "too many" cabin credits---if only they could be used in the casino, sigh.

My HAL reservationist found this offer yesterday when I was booking Rotterdam Transatlantic FLL/AMS April 16-May 1 2022.

We don't use Have It All but I did get the Casino promotion rates. I did not realize it was for 4 & 5 star. The cruise was dirt cheap for us. We were content with an outside "F" guarantee, but I think it applied to all cabin/veranda/suite categories.

I thought that 15 was always the max number per day...whether alcoholic or not.

This topic has had a lively discussion with good cases made for several points of view.

We are (hopefully) going on the first Koningsdam sailing: San Diego for 7 days on Oct. 10. Three ports are in California, and one in Mexico.

Should one or more guests become ill, they are always less than 48 hours from a US port on our final itinerary.

Honestly, I suspect that a large percentage of HAL customers, including us, are in the CDC "warning groups" of being aged, or obese, or with underlying conditions. In fact, these groups are probably a majority of customers. I believe that HAL has not made any statements about the CDC warning.  I suspect that they have at least one eye on the cash flow balance sheets.

Anyway, unless something else radical happens, we are hoping that this sailing will be a safe and exciting return to the HAL experience--with significant modifications.

Indeed. If this is the case, it will cut down on the number of seniors who are willing to cruise.  Thank you for sharing.

As always.....thanks for the information.

Great question! I personally prefer to travel east although I have made 5 West and 10 east crossings.

I do not mind losing an hour each day, especially since these usually happen on sea days.

I like arriving at the ports refreshed and rested (and also a bit anxious to get off the ship).

I don't mind the day with 7 extra hours to come home from Europe since I tend to use miles rewards for a bus/first class seat.

Of course, I respect the opinions of those who prefer west.

I suspect (no hard evidence) that HAL is not canceling more cruises sooner is to avoid a complete crash of their phone/internet communications systems. Canceling a "clump" of cruises every few weeks is better than canceling a much larger number. It's their way to "flatten the curve".

Also, as has been clearly stated in this board, it does let them keep our deposits and final payments for a few more weeks or months.

About the closed Canada ports......the Zaandam is scheduled for Canada/New England May through July. HAL has cancelled only the first two sailings on May 2 & 9. Rather and one Canada port which is typical for Alaska, these itinerarys have five Canada ports.

I'm waiting for my back-to-backs May 23 & May 30 to be cancelled. As was pointed out in an earlier post, HAL is doing this gradually, usually about 4 weeks or so out.

Stay healthy everyone!!! That is the most important thing!

Any info on whether the Zaandam is going to its scheduled drydock? I'm sure much advance planning and purchasing went into the improvements for the public areas.

Thank you, as always, for the fleet report. Any information on whether the Zaandam is going into Dry Dock and if the upgrade of pax amenities (Lincoln Center, Billboard, Fuji Imaginarium) will be happening?

My two cents is that the drydock will continue as planned b/c it has been paid for and custom materials there.

Pure speculation here.....but it would not surprise me if Zaandam is deployed to Europe some time after drydock. I think HAL has given up on the first half of the Europe season (May-July) but they may think that they be able to salvage some of the Aug.-Oct. sailings and a ship fresh out of drydock, completely scrubbed down might be the lure

Again....I have no inside information, and this is just a hunch.

On 5/12/2019 at 2:52 PM, photocat75 said:

Have been trying to find solo cabins  and it is a bit overwhelming  

 

it it doesn’t help that/I am not sure where to go except the areas that will be=new to me are a ver long plane ride, but I would still like to travel for a few more years and so am just doing research that to see what is available 

 

am am hoping I can pick up some=information from folks on this thread

 

 

I'm sure it has been suggested by others, but there is a great site that lists sailings for singles with low or no suppliments. It is

www.cruiseplum.com

They don't sell cruises, so you can go right to the cruise line or your Travel agent.

I just got off the Zaandam, and the showtimes have been moved back an hour, to 7:00 & 9:00.

The singer/dancer troupes are being phased out, since one cabaret performer can fill the revue slots.

On the other hand, food remains really good, to my standards anyway, and on this sailing the Adagio Duo were much better than most on the smaller ships.

22 hours ago, Kynana said:

We are on the Rotterdam for 21 days. We purchased 2 wine packages and received credit for the 50% discount onboard after we asked for it. It appears that it's still in effect but there are new wine pkg brochures being distributed with a 25%  discount plus additional 15% gratuity. But the small print says Mariners receive additional off. It's not clear what the future holds but now all seems well on this cruise.  

I want to confirm what Kynana wrote. I am on the Oosterdam right now on a Europe and TA crossing.

This is a good news...unknown news situation (I don't think there is bad news).

First the good news. Remember that there are no "Mariner wine packages". There are the Sommelier Suite packages which have Cellar 1 Cellar 2 and Cellar 3. These were still available on this sailing and everyone seems to be getting their "favorite" wines from the packages. Most importantly.....4 and 5 star Mariner discounts are still in effect.

Now for the "cloudy future". The cellar master told me that a lot, in fact MOST of the regular wines on the wine list are depleted and not available. In late November and through December, the new "wine guru" will be unveiling his selections (and hopefully packages) for the future. It sounds like the plans are still hush hush and will be sprung on all of the fleet before the new year begins. Everyone I've talked to from the beverage staff seem convinced that there will be some sort of Mariner discount on some sort of packages. The exact details, and the wines in question are yet to be revealed to us mere mortals. HAL often does this. 

I hope this post helps. And now I'm back to my perfectly fine Cellar 1 package................