terrydtx

 

Does anyone know what happens when the category of stateroom you booked is recategorised.

We booked a B3 balcony which is now categorised as a an A2 concierge do we get concierge benefits or what came with our original booking,I cannot think if some booked it as a concierge they would offer different benefits to different cabins in the same location?

I have asked Oceania but the answer I got didn’t make sense 

If Oceania can't answer how do you expect a bunch of us to know the answer?

3 minutes ago, Weelynn said:

Hi all. HAL newbie here. Just a quick question. We have HIA onboard which includes 1 speciality dining. I’m understanding that it’s better to book this online as they get filled up fast. I’m trying to do this both on the app and the website but there’s nothing happening. Is this because they’re full or am I trying to book too early. Our cruise is in August this year. TIA

We have an August cruise and we booked our HIA specialty restaurants months ago.

6 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

If you get Club Orange and book the lowest class 'guaranteed' cabin I'm pretty sure you can use the Club Orange complimentary upgrade to upgrade to a specific cabin in the highest class within your category.

Yes that is true and how we got the cabin we wanted on our upcoming Volendam cruise by adding CO when we booked.

3 hours ago, TRLD said:

Where?

 

HAL ships do not have the best layout when it comes to multi use venues. Most are used for nightly entertainment and as such used after 4.

 

The Crows Nest is mostly used during the day for its ocean views with some activities.

On our first Volendam cruise the first floor in the Atrium was used for the art auctions by PW and they were held during the daytime on sea days only. I would be very upset if they took over the Crow's Nest, one of the only two indoor bar venues and by far the quietist on the Volendam.

18 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Well truth be told I have never met anyone on Cruise Critic defend Park West so fervently.   You do them a great service. Now back to why you think it is ok for a contractor to commandeer a popular space for the entire length of a cruise.  I don’t think anyone would complain about a single evening but not for the entire cruise.  
 

PS 30+ day cruises are fairly normal for HAL

I was thinking the poster was a Park West emplyee.

When booking your shore excursions put them all in your cart then when you check out the HIA shorex credit will then be taken out of the grand total. If you book and pay individually, you can lose some of your credit. For example, if a shore excursion is for $90 and you use the $100 Shorex credit the left over $10 is lost. I found this out the hard way on our HAL cruise last year. If you have multiple excursions in your cart the full $100pp credit is deducted from the grand total.

We boarded the Koningsdam in San Diego last November. We had CO priority boarding and there was a line to check in for CO, Neptune and Pinnacle suites and 4* and 5* guests. We had np problems using that line and checking in, then we were directed to the special waiting area for those groups to board when boarding began. We got to the terminal at 11am and boarding began about noon. We were on the ship by 12:15pm.

We use a TA, always, and when we booked our upcoming Volendam cruise last year, she booked us in a B category Vista Suite, added CO and then our upgrade was to an A category VS at the B price. No problems at all.

On 4/21/2024 at 7:08 AM, Mary229 said:

PS when you complain on app Seattle receives a direct message also.  I was saddened to see Park West back onboard.  They were almost sued out of existence but now they are back. Yuck

They are back because of the huge amount of revenue the cruise lines make from this unethical company that has taken advantage of unwary passengers for years. Closing the Crows nest every night is ridiculous and should be unacceptable by passengers. There are plenty of other ship venues that could be used that are not as popular by guests,

15 hours ago, 57redbird said:

We really liked the K with CO on our 35 day cruise in 2023 & have it booked for a December cruise BUT...I found a Caribbean cruise on the Volendam & am having a hard time thinking about going back to a smaller ship without a separate CO....see my signature for the ships we've been on & convince me which one I'd like better, please.  TIA.

I see you did a cruise in 2013 on the Zaandam, the sister ship to the Volendam, how did you like the ship for that cruise? We have sailed on the Volendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam, Noordam, Oosterdam (twice) and Koningsdam and found each ship to be very different and we liked them all. When we book a cruise, our first priority is the itinerary and then the ship available for that itinerary. That is why we are booked on the Volendam in August.

Last November on the Koingsdam we booked CO, fortunately for us, as the lines ever night to enter the MDR were down the hallways past the CO dining room. The most we ever waited to be seated in the CO dining room as 10 minutes. The cruise was 100% booked and there were crowds everywhere. We would never sail on a Pinnacle class ship now without CO for that reason. We will be on the Volendam in August, and we booked CO for the cabin upgrade, but we may enjoy the special lines for CO to enter the MDR.

1 hour ago, Bostonjetset said:

But the HAL site says 140 for OV. So confusing. 
 

 

That actually says 140-319 sqft. If you cruise much you should subscribe to Cruise Deck Plans. Its cheap for lifetime and has much more information on cabins and decks along with actually pictures from past guests who post on the site. I use the site to check out any cabin before we book.

Cruise Deck Plans, Ship Layouts & Room Details - Cruise Deck Info

29 minutes ago, Bostonjetset said:

I’ll be on the Volendam in June and can’t wait. I love the smaller ships. My first HAL ship was the Veendam and that size is great. However, looking at the deck plans it says the ocean view staterooms have a smaller square footage than the interior ones!  Is that correct?  Can anyone confirm that? I found it strange. We had an inside on Veendam and thought it was a great size but have an OV on Volendam

and expected it to be at least the same if not bigger. 

According to the Cruise Deck plans website, on the Volendam Interior cabins have 182 sq ft and the OV cabins have 197 sq ft. 

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Smart move . The upgrade is definitely worth it alone 

We got the midship Vista Suite we would have booked without CO by booking lowest level of VS and the difference in cost paid for the CO add on cost.

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

True that CO is much quieter  because it is a lot smaller restaurant  than the MDR & the same is true in land based restaurant sizes ,The only problem is the Club Orange sells out rather quickly as experienced people know not just the dining benefit but the cabin upgrade & priority boarding & rendering & a special line at customer relations . Simple answer is " whats not to like " 

We booked our upcoming Volendam cruise with CO for the free upgrade and other nice amenities,  not having the CO dining room was no problem on this cruise.

We had the same location on the Koingsdam last November and loved the location. Never noticed any smoke and noise was never to the level to be bothersome. I would book the same cabin again. The only smoking issue we had on the ship was from the casino which was so bad we never could enter the casino and the stairwell next to it.

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Since you only sail Koningsdam now, your experience in MDR’s of the other ships is somewhat limited.

 

All of the Pinnacle Class ships’ MDR’s are VERY loud.  Much louder and noisier than the other ships in the fleet.  Fixed dining is not as bad but open dining is horrific.  We could barely hear the person next to us at the Mariner’s reception.  The sound just reverberates like an echo chamber.

 

I have been on Koningsdam for 3 segments B2B2B and Rotterdam for a longer cruise and my experience was the same.  Dining rooms are much quieter on the other ships in my experience.

 

I will not cruise on a Pinnacle Class ship unless I have Club Orange and can use that dining room.  

 

I agree with you about only sailing on the PC ships with CO. Last November on the Koningsdam we had CO and every night the line to enter the MDR was running down the hall past the CO dining room. We were so glad we had CO. The food and service also seemed to be much better than the MDR.

9 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo the bottem line is if you want small ship environment in the future then you will be  sailing on the  higher end lines like Seaborn  .Most people will  cintinue to sail on the larger & mega sized ships of the future  ,Even CCL for  their Carnival band  has ordered new larger ships  

 

We can understand the desire for smaller ships . Those which can get into the smaller ports of call & stay for 2 or 3 days  with far less people . But ,you will have to pay a lot more money for that  style of cruising . 

 

 

 

 

Oceania has much smaller ships and they are not that much more expensive than Celebrity and Princess. We are booked on the Oceania Marina for an 18 day cruise for $200PP less than the 14 day Celebrity cruise that was canceled after we booked.

8 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

thinking she was going to go out of service at some point we booked the Canda/New England trip for August 2024. 

Are you on the August 20th Boston to Montreal cruise with us?

On 4/8/2024 at 12:13 AM, kelliebiz said:

One thing about Volendam is that there are no verandah cabins. The ship does have lanai cabins where your back door opens right onto the lower promenade deck where the public is walking their laps. I’ve not stayed in one of these cabins but it would feel like a loss of privacy to me. 
 

I really enjoy everything about the smaller size of this ship and it is older but nothing that relates to the age is an obvious deterrent for me. Others may have different opinions of course. 

Not totally true, the Volendam does have verandah cabins called Vista Suites on deck 6. We are booked in one in August from Boston to Montreal. We love the smaller ships of HAL, no crowds, fewer kids and exceptional service. 

The smaller Volendam is perfectly suited for the NE/Canada cruises as she can get into ports the bigger ships can't. 

If you look on your invoice from HAL you will have something like this that shows all of your HIA amenities.

9 minutes ago, Kathyrd said:

Thank you

Glad I could help. We will be on the Volendam in August in a Vista Suite. Our first HAL Cruise was on her in 2007.

1 hour ago, Kathyrd said:

do the Volendam Neptune suites have a shower cube or is it only in the tub? Thank you

Here is a picture of the tub shower in a Neptune Suite and a diagram of the suite. 

22 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

To be pedantic for a moment, probably evaporated milk, which is unsweetened.  Condensed milk is always sweetened.

Sorry my bad it seemed to be evaporated canned milk.

1 minute ago, crusin'k said:

Not new to HAL, but do have a question.  If we pre-purchase the internet package, do we both have to buy it.  Hubby never uses internet, but I do.  

We usually get the HIA with surf internet and I upgrade to the premium but my wife doesn't have to.