DoggyDaddy

On our last 12 day cruise we pre-ordered two soda cards. They worked well. We got both glasses or cans, the price was different. The first time we used each card, they scanned the users key card, after that only the soda card.  Mrs. DD doesn’t always carry her key card, so I had to go back to our cabin to get it. No biggy. 

DD

We’re taking a South America cruise next year.  While the Costco excursions look good, they were priced significantly higher than other similar tours. Of course they are lower than the ship tours.

DD

WisRiver, did you order the bottles of Gin or the gin and tonic? 2020 cruise???

half of the time I just drink Gin on the rocks, that is why I wondered about the difference. At home I drink Beefeaters or Tankeray. On a whim I tried a bottle of New Amsterdam- it wasn’t bad but I won’t do it again.

DD

What kind of “Black Friday” sales has HA had in the past?  We have a 40+ day cruise next year and would like to save some money. 

DD

How much difference is there between Bombay and Bombay Sapphire? On longer cruises I get a gin and tonic setup for the room and it is “Bombay”. For a fair amount more I can get a bottle (both liter bottles) of Bombay Sapphire. The tonic has been both no-name and Swepps(sp). Question - is the Sapphire worth the difference?

DD

We have also stayed at the Embassy Suites and liked it. It is very walkable to our favorite restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, Kelly’s Landing, for New England seafood. Mrs. DD is from the Boston area and loves her whole belly fried Ipswich Clams. I usually get the seafood platter. Has always been excellent. Onion rings are good too. 

DD

The free gratuities  would save us about $1000 but the fare went up by $2000. Guess what we are going to do!

DD

Another benefit to attending the ceremony is they give you a free drink of your choice! When we got our 100 day medal I asked for and got a gin and tonic and Mrs. DD had a lemon drop. I got the old style medal and Mrs. DD got the new style. The Captain presented them. After the ceremony we were all escorted to the dining room and we wore our new adornments.  Various people asked what they were. We enjoyed the ceremony and liked the medallions. But, please don’t ask us where they are now! I think they are in the infamous “safe place”!

DD

We stayed at the DoubleTree on points! Good location but still needed a cab to the ship - at 20 Euros. Just a little to far to ship our luggage, others have done it.

DD

FriendswithDave mentioned a carving station at lunch. I believe that this is only in the Lido. Lido lunch is very good, lots of choices.

DD

We didn’t get pins when we got our bronze medallions. Were we supposed to?

DD

I’m sure that if you really want one you can take it with you. I’m also sure that HA will charge you for it. There is usually a note somewhere how much the charge is.

DD

Thank you for the info TiogaCruiser.

Only one person has visited Iguazu falls, and none on a HA cruise? 

DD

We are booked on the 44 day Koningsdam trip from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego around South America starting in March 2020. We have also signed up for a five day overland trip from Rio de Janeiro (with a visit to Sugerloaf  Mt. and a hotel stay there, a flight to Iguazu Falls, staying at the Melia hotel (on the Argentine side) for three nights, and a flight to Buenos Aires to rejoin the ship. 

Has anyone taken this overland excursion in the recent past, and can tell us what to expect, like what does HA provide and what do they not? We know that Brazil does not require a Visa anymore which helps. At $3,000 pp for the excursion we would think that most things would be covered. We have been looking and have not seen any recent reports, only one from quite awhile ago and they stayed on the Brazil side.

 No one on our Roll Call has said they are taking this excursion.

On our last cruise on the Princendam in May, I pre-purchased a $50 Soda card for Mrs. DD for $25.  She could use it for both canned or fountain soda. It was something like $2.25 for a fountain soda  or $2.40 for a can of soda. Great bargain. 

DD

We sailed on her in 1977.

DD

Also, if you don’t like what’s on the Dining Room menu, you can consider the Canaletto.

DD

On our last trip on the Princendam to Norway, the daily Dining Room Menu was posted on the electronic “Navigator” site which was accessible  via my iPhone or iPad. Is this the case for all ships? It also had the detailed schedule of all future events. I thought this was a very useful tool!

DD

T hank you for the info, GeorgeCharlie. We are hoping for a promotion where we will get a "gratuities included" deal, and this all would be a mute point. However in that case, we might give the room attendant some extra as it would not be his fault that we will not be there for the entire cruise. In this vein, what do people give the room attendants as an extra gratuity on a per day basis?

DD

Cruise credits will not be an issue as this cruise will give us our four star status. The $6,000 overland, thru HAL, will give us 20 cruise, a nice start for our five star status.

DD

Can we lower our gratuities by $xxx or by yyy days at The Pursers Office? 

DD

We are thinking of doing a five day overland excursion on an upcoming cruise. Will we be automatically charged the $14.50 gratuity on the days we are off the ship? 

DD

Rats!  There was one on the Noordam on our cruise to Australia/New Zealand and we used I quite a bit for lunch (alond with the Dive In).

How big are the room TV's on the Koningsdam, or does it vary with the type of room?

DD

Do they have the Taco Bar alongside the Dive In? 

DD