glorialagos

I had a very old ID card from my school. Took a photo of it and submitted. It was accepted with no problem.

We stayed closer to aft on deck 8 on Rotterdam which is basically the same as NS. We loved the location. Had a very short walk to the stairs, up one flight and came out to the buffet area and aft pool and bar. It was never noisy. We will be boarding the Statendam a week from today and chose the same location. Have never sailed in the forward location but deck 8 is our favorite.

Thank you SO much!!!! These reviews are extremely helpful and just what I was looking for!

Mine is currently showing the teacher's, AARP, Carnival stock and a small TA onboard credit. I board in two weeks so we will see but it appears that at least those four are stackable. I sure won't complain!!! Our HIA did not include gratuities this time so a nice portion of my OBC will go to pay that.

Hello! My friend and I will be boarding Nieuw Statendam in two weeks and will be taking the HAL excursion "Dunns Falls and Dolphin Cove". The two reviews posted on the excursion are very good, but over 10 years old. I did not find what I was looking for on the port board. Has anyone done this excursion recently? Are there suggestions you could give us? I have seen the general pushy vendors and challenging falls info. I am more curious about the Dolphin Cove part. Also, the excursion is for 4 hours and a lot of what I have read says there are long lines. Do the HAL excursions skip the lines or is there not much time at either place? There is no mention of lunch provided. Can someone recommend a place for lunch? Any info on this excursion is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Is there an advantage to booking onboard vs booking on your own at home?

So is it possible to add the gift cards for OBC before sailing? I could call or have my TA do it. I had planned to print off my gift card info and take it to the guest service desk after boarding but would love to avoid that line. It will be my first experience using gift cards. Thanks.

Our only issue with this on our last cruise was that our luggage had not arrived by the time we needed to get to our Pinnacle reservations. We went as we were but would have loved to change clothes and not wear our travel clothes!!

I agree! It's been a few years since we did this one but it was a blast!! Not sure it still exists but I would definitely look it up and do it again. (not offered by the ship, private company that I believe we did not book in advance, just walked in)

My TA called yesterday to tell me this had happened. She wanted to rebook us on the Statendam for a day later. The entire point of the cruise was to go on the Rotterdam. Could you share the email you received? I was getting ready to board a plane and did not get full details and expected I would also have the email but I received nothing. (we were. booked for one week, leaving Jan 19) Thanks

Yes. I currently have AARP, shareholder's, Teacher Appreciation and the TA obc for my next booked cruise.

Super helpful info - thanks so much!! You really can teach an old dog new tricks!!! 🙂

I thought I knew most of the ins and outs of travel but am discovering I know so much less than I thought!! How does one know a fare is non-refundable? I also have a cruise booked for 2025 and have only paid the deposit. I purchased the platinum insurance. If I cancel, do I get the deposit back or is it non-refundable? I'm hoping that having the insurance "cancel for any reason" would mean that the deposit is refundable, but now I am wondering? (we would cancel in order to get some credit card perks that don't work on previously booked cruises - so would rebook) Help! And thank you to all you knowledgable people in advance!!!

Thank you. This exactly the answer I was looking for. We know now for the future.

My friend and I have always booked through HAL ourselves. We were assigned a PCC that we didn't care for and wasn't very quick with replies etc. So we decided to help out the local mom and pop travel agency in our little town to support local business. We are discovering that we are not in control of our booking at all and have to rely on our TA for everything. We would like to be more self sufficient. Basically, the TA is the customer, not us, and it is frustrating because we have gone on HAL cruises recently and know more than the TA knows (since they are dealing with all kinds of travel and every cruise line). So, my friend and I are frustrated with not being able to do things for ourselves and would like to switch to a PCC who has been highly recommended. We wouldn't do that if it would affect our TA negatively, take away commission, etc. We know for the future. We will go back to booking the way we always have in the past. Thanks for listening!!! We thought we were doing a good deed but we are not happy with the result.

I realized I had misnamed my previous question when the responses didn't fit what I thought I was asking. Has anyone ever booked with a TA and then switched the booking to a PCC? If so, is there any drawback. Does our TA get any compensation for the booking? Thanks.

Wow! Interesting. . .

You are exactly correct. In the future, I will return to the practice of booking online with HAL. But, I currently have two cruises booked with a TA that I would like to switch. I also do not have a full understanding of that process either!!! Thanks for the help and advice.

I'm actually not even sure what I am asking! My friend and I in the past just booked online with HAL and were assigned a PCC. We had terrible service from our last one and did not want to use him. We live in a small town with a mom and pop travel agency and decided to support a local business and had a TA there book our current cruise. We now feel so out of the loop. It seems we cannot manage our own booking, can't log in and make payments, can't see what we have paid. We are wondering now if it is possible to transfer this booking to a PCC that we have seen highly recommended? How does that work? Does our TA still get credit or perks or payment for our booking? Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

Just reporting back that finally my AARP credit has been applied. It took over 3 weeks and I followed up with 3 phone calls and an email. Surprisingly, I did a mock booking for 2025 and the AARP credit automatically came up. I thought it would have to be renewed each year so was surprised that it showed up for a 2025 booking. Hopefully they are getting the kinks out and it will be smoother from now on.

I agree but I am learning to just go with the flow!! I was on hold for at least 30 minutes today trying to get my OBC for AARP. After all that time, and speaking with a supervisor, was told "2-3 more days". It has already been 48 hours, then 72, then one week, etc. I have been dealing with it for over 3 weeks now. I prefer to handle it myself but will get my TA involved after these "2-3 more days". It's only $100 but that can almost pay the crew appreciation so I am not giving up. I do feel like the phone reps could be more helpful and the website can be frustrating. But, I am also grateful to be able to cruise so I will just keep trying! Good luck with resolving your issue.

Forgot to hit send on that last post! Here is my response (very quick response) from RESERVATIONS (NOT resolutions). "Regarding added your Teacher appreciation on board credit unfortunately we are currently experiencing an issue which is being worked on. Please check back in another week. Thank you for contacting Holland America Line. Please feel free to contact us if we may be of additional assistance or visit us online. Holland America Line is delighted to welcome you as one of our valued guests on board! Kind Regards, Russ Resolution Specialist Holland America Line" So, I am told to wait yet another week (it has already been two) and the email does not address AARP, only the Teacher Appreciation. I have already received the Teacher Appreciation on the last two cruises so I really don't understand. It showed up automatically on my profile when logging in but is now not applied. Anyway, plenty of time but I'm sure they could streamline this process somehow??????

Hmmm. . . I was just informed that my email was undeliverable due to the address not existing. Perhaps I misunderstood and the HAL person actually said "reservations" and not "resolutions". That is my next step - resubmitting using the "reservations" email. I will follow up with a phone call if I don't hear anything. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll keep you posted!

If I remember correctly, the change was made and quickly rescinded after much backlash from passengers. It is now back to the honor bar with HIA honored.

So many different answers on this (from HAL) - my AARP was "verified" on the day I booked my cruise but wasn't "official" from HAL yet. For this reason, I put the cruise on a courtesy hold to wait the 48-72 hours it stated was needed. No luck but the HAL rep assured me the OBC would be applied because it was a new booking. So, I paid my deposit. Two weeks later - still no OBC. The last time I called, I was told I must send an email to "resolutions", which I did. I am still waiting. I will continue to call and will get my TA involved also. Seems unnecessarily complicated. But, $100 will pay my crew appreciation (almost) so it is worth making the calls, sending the emails, etc. Has anyone else been told they must email "resolutions"?