oaktreerb

On the Rotterdam, yes it’s worth it. When you book your cruise, decide which inside cabin you want to book and add Club Orange at that time. You will be charged for the cheapest inside cabin and upgraded to your inside cabin of choice. You can’t add Club Orange if you are self booking the cruise online. Keep it simple!

Not good. Captain Alberts blog does not seem to be available as part of the HAL official blog. He is still active on the captainalbert.com website. He recently updated (2023) the current schedules for ship captains.

I got really good feedback on my very long and descriptive letter to HAL re: the Alaska itineraries for 2023. They listened: Look at the amazing Alaska 28 day Alaska 2024 itinerary! More than I had hoped for!

How about forwarding that suggestion to the appropriate department at HAL Corporate. Grand Ditch Cafe has been a very welcome addition to HAL ships and fits into the history of the Holland America Line.

From recent onboard accounts HAL is now operating at full passenger capacity. They are still working at adding crew to increase service levels. May would be a good time to cruise since there will be fewer children aboard due to the school schedules in most states.

If the adults have a two person cabana, the children need to be in Club HAL. The HAL response was beyond belief. They are saying that the adults pay for the 2 person cabana and the kids (however many) have the whole retreat open area as a playground and the stewards as their “tenders”. This needs to be clarified by the Food and Beverage Dept at Corporate. The ships seem to need guidance in this matter. HAL needs a new brochure to define the actual permitted use of the Retreat. Cabanas on the Lido Deck are kid friendly. A Retreat for adults is not a kid friendly area.

A better question might be why do want a balcony and cabana🤔

Times are changing.

Kids sail free holiday cruises! Some ships have the cabana areas on one side of the Lido pool area. That keeps the kids in a more confined, activity area. I agree the Retreat on the Koningsdam should be for adults only and HAL should make that clear when the Retreat is booked. It’s not even on the same level as the pool or ping pong table. In the “What and Where” in November we were encouraged to submit a request for a visit with the Hotel Manager on the ship. Not only did I ask for a meeting, I also submitted a request on the Navigator App. He never did contact me. I hope the Koningsdam has a new Hotel Manager on my next cruise. To request feedback and not make yourself available to receive feedback tells me he’s not doing his job. He’s expecting every problem to be resolved by someone else. @OlsSaltDid you contact the Hotel Manager? If he says it’s not his department, then find out whose department it is.

Seabourn is luxury. Check out their itineraries. The cabins are large. Food is good. You can choose your excursions off the ship according to your own interests. There are yachts that cruise in Alaska during the summer. You might need to research those with a Travel Advisor.

A simple answer to the question. If you have children, take the Princess cruise out of Vancouver that goes through Glacier Bay. You will disembark in Whittier and you can take a bus or train by ship transfer to Anchorage where you can rent a car. You sound like you have done some good research concerning Denali. Only appx 30% will see the mountain from various points between Anchorage and Denali. You can get a great view from the Princess lodge in Talkeetna when the mountain is “out”. So, rent your car in Anchorage (or Whittier) and the sooner you rent it the cheaper it will be. Downtown Anchorage is a good source for more than one car rental company. The Anchorage airport is more expensive for rentals. Plan your itinerary by researching online for visitor’s information, like Travel Alaska. Plan ahead as a lot of visitors enjoy DIY trips in Alaska.

Holland America and Princess have modern dome cars with a dining car on the lower level that will transport you to Denali National Park. You will ride in the dome car and be called to the dining car when you are ready to have breakfast or lunch/dinner. I have been in both Princess and HAL and Holland has the more comfortable seating. The food is excellent on both. Grayline Tours of Alaska is owned by the Princess/Holland Tour Group and has tour packages that do not include cruises. We toured separately with them to Kantishna and were transported in the Holland America dome cars (a nice treat). In my experience a few years ago the railcars used for transport between Anchorage and Seward to meet the ship were not luxury. Alaska Railroad has different levels of service so choose the more expensive luxury service.

The location near the spa would be the perk. You will get a yoga mat and maybe some included bottles of water. I would not expect more than the features listed on the HAL website which is the same as any other veranda in that category…except for the yoga mat and water. Some people in all categories get coupons for discount services in the spa but don’t expect anything more than published on the HAL site.

No. halfacts.com is a site that provides HAL cruisers a place to post stateroom information and pictures online, and lots of other ship related information. You may like the location of the spa cabins if you use the spa or enjoy the sports deck. On some ships the balconies are smaller than other verandas.

You should probably write a letter to HAL corporate. Did you receive paperwork from the ship following your quarantine that would indicate a contact for follow-up? The letter will need your booking #, dates of the quarantine, the ship, and your names and contact information. You can always address the letter to Gus Antorcha’s office and they will get it to the right people. HAL probably doesn’t read Cruise Critic and it wouldn’t be able to solve your problem anyway.

@Crew NewsThanks for your very helpful research on Holland America cruising. We’ll be sailing on the Koningsdam in February and specialty restaurants are not available for booking on Valentine’s Day. Do you know why? Are they not serving, will they be available to book onboard, will they have something special in those venues? 🤔

Confirmed. No need for tender ticket if you purchased Club Orange, just show room key when you are ready to go ashore. You still have to get in line with everybody else to board the tender.

yes, in San Diego. Non HAL staff were very aware and acknowledged 4*+ priority but not CO.

I have noticed that teens will find other teens and make their own fun, play board games, and just hang out and talk a lot! Go for it. They probably don’t need organized entertainment.

You can put in your booking number closer to your embarkation date and it will tell you if you need to test. The requirements are fluid!

HIA Also covers specialty coffees, sodas, specialty waters, mocktails (nonalcoholic). It doesn’t cover the minibar in your room or larger water bottles. You really have to “add it up”. Maybe wait until they also include gratuities with HIA.

We had shrimp available in the dining room on our recent cruises on the k-dam. We don’t eat in the Lido except for the salad bar (you choose what you want in your salad) for lunch). The Lido is not a serve yourself buffet except for a few items. Cruise passengers come from all across the US/Canada and many countries so we each have our dining preferences. I’ll agree that the Lido hours are too limited. Staffing has not come back to HAL stated ratios. Many experienced HAL cruisers prefer fixed dining in the dining room for the evening meal so they always have the same table and wait staff.

We like the Grand Dutch Cafe, the Club Orange Dining Option, and the World Stage.

If you are on a Holland America cruise tour and you have two nights in Fairbanks HAL has probably planned for you to see the Alaska Pipeline, panning for gold, and the steamboat on the Chena River which are usually a combined activity. You will be staying at the Westmark which is an easy walk to a museum along the riverfront. Look online for the Fairbanks visitor center information. Look on the HAL excursion site for other convenient activities.

In the past it has been available on public screens around the ship, it should be easy to add it to the in-room TV offerings. The forward camera, the aft camera, and the route and miles we’ve traveled, and where we are going. I looked for the information on our recent cruise and didn’t find it.