Daisyloo

I echo what above posters have said.   There are some unscrupulous cabbies out there.  Make sure the meter is on.  Don't let them scam you with talk of a flat rate.  

Have you looked for your cruise in the Roll call section?  If it's not there you could start a roll call. 

That will be the best area to connect with fellow cruisers.

Yes, totally do-able.  Like previous poster has said, be in an early disembarkation group.  There will be a taxi line outside the terminal.  Grab a taxi and be at the airport in 10 minutes.  

I think you would be fine taking your son to the MDR.  To be honest, there are not usually many children on a HAL cruise, but occasionally we do see them. 

 I would love to take our kids and granddaughter on a cruise some day soon.  Its nice that you are travelling with your parents so you will have some help and hopefully some alone time for you and your wife.  Date nights are important!

We have used the laundry service many times and been very happy with it.

There are different options to choose from. 

Pay by the piece - most expensive option.

Stuff a bag for $20 or $30 (depends where the cruise is I think) is a good option.  The bags are strong canvas and you can stuff a lot in them. 

Unlimited laundry - $7 to $9 a day times the number of cruise days.  You can send it out as often as you wish.

Turn around time is usually 24 hours approximately.  

1 hour ago, bamelin said:

Any suggestions?   Will be on a 7 night cruise.  It's possible our 1 year old will be with us although I may be able to get babysitting from other family members on one or two nights when we try specialty dining.

 

I've never sailed with HAL before.  I watched some videos online and think I want to try the Asian place (Tamarind) and Pinnacle Grill.  Not sure about the Italian place as I see it gets mixed reviews.  Will we get dirty looks if we bring our kid with us? 

 

Any other complimentary food items specific to HAL that I should make sure I try/don't miss out on?  The burgers in the videos look really good lol.

 

Since we will have our 1 year old with us we may have to use the buffet a few nights -- do they serve some of the same dishes as the Main Dining Room?  Can we get MDR as room service instead if we need to stay in?   On Princess I've always been able to get them to deliver MDR food to my stateroom by calling Room Service and just asking (unadvertised benefit YMMV). 

 

Not sure how HAL handles it.

 

 

 

 

Our favourite restaurant on HAL is the Tamarind.  The food and the service are both excellent.   Both it and the Pinnacle are quiet, elegant dining venues.  If you dine there I would suggest you try and leave your child with a family member.  You can enjoy a relaxing meal without having to worry about keeping a baby happy.  ( and yes, you would probably get some dirty looks from some people if your child starts to act up).  We have a 7 month old granddaughter whom we love to bits,  but she is busy and noisy and we would never take her into any fine dining venue.

We like the Canaletto too, but I know it gets a lot of negative reviews.  

The Dive In burgers and fries are very good - great place for a casual lunch. 

The New York Deli has nice breakfast bagels,  and they make nice pizza.  They offer other things too - check out their menu when you board.  It is by the midship pool and very casual.  

The buffet is very good and it does serve some of the same food as the MDR.  

I can't help you with the room service - we never do that.  

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

When was this? The reason I ask is that the Grand has been through a major refit earlier this year in which  a lot of plumbing was replaced and a couple of years prior it went through another refit in which other systems were updated.

We were on the Grand in the fall of 2012 - so a long time ago and things may have greatly improved on her.  

3 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 Oops sorry replied to wrong post.

Meant to reply to Rccl

Lol

11 hours ago, schifffan said:

Hi Daisyloo,

as inside cabins on MS Koningsdam seem to be extremely small we think of booking cabin 11004 which you might have seen. But: our travel agent tells us that the stateroom is equipped with only one desk chair while a youtube video shows that very cabin with two chairs and a small couch.) But one of us always sitting on a bed is not a good option. Can you tell me something about size and chairs in that stateroom?

It's been over a year since my friends had that cabin so my memory might wrong,  but I am pretty sure there was one desk chair and one small sofa.  The cabin was quite roomy and our friends were very happy with it. It was bigger than our balcony cabin (not counting the balcony space)  And the view out the front was great.

We have enjoyed dining in the Canaletto many times, but not with the new menu.  If you're getting it as a complimentary meal, you have nothing to lose.  Go, ask the staff for explanations of the menu - they will gladly help you.  Enjoy.

Our least favourite was the Grand.  When we were on her we had several issues.  Lost power to the aft section of the ship for several hours.  Many leaking pipes in the corridor near our cabin, so buckets out to catch the drips, fans blowing to try and dry it up. A funky smell all two weeks because of all the leaks.   We still enjoyed our cruise, but would try to avoid the Grand in the future.

It's always a good feeling to get the e-docs!   I'm waiting on mine.  Should be here in about a week or so.  

We did  a cruise from Rome last Dec. and had very good weather.  In some ports we needed a light jacket, and we had a bit of rain at times, but overall a very good experience. 

We did a food tour in Rome last December and really enjoyed it.  Our guide was really good and very knowledgeable. 

It was called :   Rome Food Tour by Sunset around Prati District

You can go to TripAdvisor and read about it and other food tours.  Read the reviews and compare tours.  You can pick the one that appeals the most to you. 

Thanks OP for the info on the entertainment.   

Hope you had a great cruise.  Can you tell me what were the show times in the World Stage?    And what was the entertainment like overall?

The only time we booked a cruiseline transfer to the hotel, we were met in the airport by a HAL rep. with a sign.  It was in Vancouver and we flew in the day before the cruise.

We have only been in a Neptune Suite on the Zaandam, and the third person slept on the sofa bed.  It was okay, but not the most comfortable bed.

2 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

Ok, that seems weird to me?  The last 3 times I stayed at embassy, they had a “made to order” breakfast bar... is that no longer the case?

They did have the made to order breakfast,  and the buffet.  The line up to get the cooked to order breakfast was very long so we opted for the buffet food.  And it was not good.  After all the recommendations we read here on CC for the hotel, we were very disappointed.

We did it in Fort Lauderdale, but from a Princess ship to a HAL ship. 

We asked for the latest disembarkation from Princess, and  then took a cab over to the HAL ship.  We tipped the driver well.  Then we checked in to the HAL ship.  Easy peasy.

28 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

What if I never sent out laundry?  What if I never went to the pool? Why tip people who have done nothing for me?  As for the lido,  I am also waiting on myself, so I expect a tip as well.  

Seriously!?!

Maybe you don't send out laundry, but I bet you like having clean towels in your cabin. And clean sheets. And maybe clean napkins in the dining room and Lido.  I bet you also like the clean dishes and glasses in all the venues- they don't clean themselves you know.  There are so many workers that work hard to make your vacation pleasant, not just the ones you easily see.

That's unfortunate you had a poor experience with  Already There.  We used them last summer when in Seattle for our Alaskan cruise and they were excellent.  But I can understand how you feel about the experience based on what you had to deal with.  

We usually stay at the Hampton Inn Airport/North Cruiseport,  but our last cruise out of Ft Lauderdale we decided to try the Embassy Suites because  so many people on here recommended it.

We were disappointed - it seemed dark and dated and not overly clean.  We thought the desk staff were not the nicest and the breakfast was not good.  Everything on the breakfast buffet seemed to be very poor quality.  We much prefer the Hampton, and even the Holiday Inn.  The only way we would book the E.S. again would be if we got a very good deal. Maybe.

11 minutes ago, santellavision said:

1st time cruising. We purchased the 6 bottle Sommelier Wine package on our Holland America cruise. They offer two options for delivery of the wine. 1) Deliver to Room or 2) Deliver to Dining Room. 

My question is this. It does not say if there is any Additional Corkage fees. So, do they charge an additional fee for EITHER the bottles delivered to room that you bring to dinner Or, the bottles that were delivered to the dining room and held for you for dinner? I've read about some stickers that are put on bottles for "Corkage Fee paid", is that what they do so you don't have to pay additional if you have them deliver to your room?

Thanks in advance 

The actual bottles of wine won't be delivered to your stateroom.  If I remember correctly, you will get a card in your room saying that you have purchased the wine package.  When you go to dinner at any venue on the ship  you will be able to access the wine.  Just tell the waiter you have the package and he will give you the wine list to choose from.  I don't think you need to show proof of purchase - the purchase will be linked to your cruise card.  If you don't finish a bottle at one meal, the staff will keep the bottle for you and you can have it another night, in a different venue if desired.  Or take it back to your room to finish.

There are no extra fees like corkage or gratuity to be paid - it's all part of the price you pay for the package.

To move your booking to a travel agent it needs to be done within 60 days of making the booking. 

I personally would not want to book with a non-refundable deposit.