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Dogstar

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    Live! The Grouch on the Noordam for 38 days to New Zealand, Sept. 30, 2018

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    7 hours ago, whogo said:

    As if I have not been exposed to enough germy people, the man directly behind me in the bus coughed the whole ride to the airport, did not sound like he was making any effort to contain it. Tried to hold my breath for the forty minute ride, missed by 39 minutes. Resisted the urge to club him senseless, thought the risk from blood borne pathogens outweighed the risk of airborne cold germs and the pleasure I would have received.

     

    🤣🤣🤣

    Casinos

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Here’s the HAL FAQ link ...

     

    https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.html

     

    It appears that Oosterdam & Noordam are both 100% smoke-free casinos for cruise duration. Haven’t sailed on either yet so can not personally confirm. 

     

    ***

     

    To better align with guest wishes and health concerns, Holland America Line will implement a new smoking policy beginning in January 2017. Please see below for details.

    Smoking Policy beginning January 2017:

    Effective with the first sailings for all ships beginning in January 2017, the following smoking policy is in effect:

    For the comfort of all of our guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and most other indoor areas are designated non-smoking. No smoking of any kind will be permitted on any stateroom verandah.

    The designated smoking areas for all ships are as follows unless otherwise noted:

    • Sea View (Retreat) Bar/Pool on starboard side only. On Prinsendam, Koningsdam, and Nieuw Statendam, smoking is allowed on the port side only
    • Sun Bar on Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam
    • Sports Deck forward and aft of Crow's Nest on starboard side on Maasdam, Veendam, Volendam, Zaandam, Rotterdam and Amsterdam
    • Oak Room on Noordam only, including cigar and pipe smoking
    • Designated areas for active slot players in Casinos*. Oosterdam and Eurodam casinos are completely non-smoking. Noordam Casino is completely non-smoking, with the exception of two nights per cruise.

    Cigar and pipe smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the ship; it is only permitted on the outside decks where smokingis otherwise allowed.

    Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms and suites but not on verandahs or in other public areas of the ship other than designated smoking areas.

    Any guest who smokes inside staterooms or on verandahs in violation of our policy will be charged a US$250 cleaning fee per day of violation and will risk being removed from the ship for repeated violations.

    Holland America Line reserves the right at any time to modify the smoking policy onboard or alter the locations where smoking is permissible.

    Which trip would *you* choose?

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Dogstar
    Typo correction. Stubby fingers. DYAC.

    6 hours ago, Dragonfly1984 said:

    3.) Rotterdam out of Tampa (3rd week of January)

              PROS: Tampa is way more convenient for us than Fort Lauderdale. 

                           We'd be able to attend Gasparilla the day before in Tampa (we've never been and really want to)

                           I LOVE LOVE LOVE the itinerary. (Key West, Mahogney Bay, Costa Maya, and Santo Tomas De Castilla)  

                           We'd have the opportunity to see some central american ruins (We went to Belize for a week last year, but never really got to any Ruins- something we both regret)

                           Except for Key West, Neither of us have been to any of the ports. 

                           First time to Guatemala and Honduras for both of us. 

                           *I* love the idea of a small ship.

             CONS:

                        I'm not sure how well *he's* gonna like a small ship

                        No Hydro Pool. 

                       No Tamarind.

                      We'd spend slightly more on the cruise portion of this trip, because we'd probably book a Vista Suite, since no typical balconies are available. 

     

    Of your three selections @Dragonfly1984 I would select Option #3 ... Rotterdam’s Western Caribbean itinerary out of Tampa. Your listed PROS significantly outnumber your CONS. 

     

    As for Option #1 Eurodam’s Mexican Riviera out of San Diego ... meh. Unappealing ports (to us) & cold(er) ocean.

     

    Option #2 Oosterdam’s Eastern Caribbean itinerary is good but appears to be heavily crowded in some ports.

     

    Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision. Keep us posted!

     

    Cheers. Dogstar. 

    Which HAL sailings (if any) have Dance Hosts?

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    18 hours ago, AmazedByCruising said:

    If the accountants are reading this, please alter the excel sheet and move the latter to the Ocean Bar and let them play waltzes and "Let's twist again

     

    Agreed. In our early days of marriage, as cruisers we were very much below the average age of clientele aboard. We thoroughly enjoyed the various dancing but couldn’t keep up with the ‘oldies’ doing their thing. It was, & still is, magical to watch them dance!

     

    So so we made it a point to take “beginner ballroom dancing” lessons before a subsequent cruise many moons ago. Despite my having the proverbial “two left feet syndrome” to this day Mrs. Dogstar & I still laugh, giggle, trip & stumble our way together across the cruise ship dance floors whenever the opportunity presents itself.   It’s not the quality of dancing, it’s the opportunity to dance together,  particularly on vacation, we enjoy. 💕 

     

    For us, ballroom dancing is part of the charm of cruising.  Are we looking forward to the new Rock Room venue?  You bet!  Surely there’s still room for both, old & new? I hope so.  💃🏼 🕺🏼 

    • Like 2

    Port charges - Sounds like a lot to me.

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

    .And the tariff is based on the actual maximum capacity of the ship, not just the number of passengers actually onboard, and then, as you say, it is divided between the actual passenger count.

     

    Not having taken a Canal cruise yet, to account for this calculation, does the Line adjust the ‘per  person’ tariff upon sailing once final actual passenger count known? Just curious how this is handled when ships aren’t at capacity, if this occurs. 

    Didn’t believe in upgrade fairies

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    2 hours ago, DocJohnB said:

    Received an email from HAL this afternoon that informed me of an cabin upgrade I had received. ... Not sure of the upgrade process, but I like it!!! 😃 😃

     

    47 minutes ago, School library lady said:

    We paid for a VF guaranteed cabin. Got our assignment today and it’s a VB cabin in the aft of the ship close to the elevators. Don’t know if HAL considers that an upgrade, but I do!!!

     

    Congrats on the upgrade assignments. Enjoy! 👍🏻

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