And here I've just been using the Sky Deck for stargazing! :o It's also good for getting away from all the people at night if you're someone who needs some alone time and/or you're tired of the person back at the cabin ;)
Still free tote bags in your cabin.
There's no automatic fruit bowl, but there's a bowl with a form to check off whatever fruit you want and they'll fill it for you. Less waste and you get what you want!
The Lido serves the same food as the dining room at dinner, so if you want to skip out, you don't have to miss it. It never looks as good when served out of various trays than made up plate by plate, though, and there was always a little something that didn't seem quite as good as the dining room.
If you've got late seating dinner, grab an appetizer or two from the Lido to hold you until dinner ;) Don't automatically go for Early seating either. Late seating usually is less busy and faster as a result, plus you don't have to rush back from port if you want dinner in the dining room. Also, late night diners tend to be more interesting and adventurous from my experiences
They still do appetizers in the Crow's Nest before dinner. Happy hour is 4-5pm and 11pm-12am - your second drink is $1, and that includes all drinks on the bar menu, except for top shelf liquors. If you're good to the bar staff, they're good to you, and that's all I'm gonna say on that subject :D
Breakfast and lunch in the dining room are highly recommended, but only if you're ok being there for at least an hour. Always sit with other people. The people are the best part of the dining room. My 2 favourite breakfasts were the Eggs Royale (Eggs Benny with smoked salmon instead of ham) and the Japanese Breakfast (rice, a filet of salmon, eggs Japanese-style and silky smooth, and a bowl of Miso soup), since I'm not fond of bready breakfasts.
In the dining room, they do their best to accommodate anything you like. If you want 3 appetizers, order them! If you want 3x the sashimi in your appetizer, ask for it! If you don't eat beef, ask for Surf & Surf instead of Surf & Turf! If you really, really like a particular dessert, tell your steward and he'll try his best to get it again for you on another night. If you order the chicken but think the swordfish also sounds good, ask them to put a filet of swordfish on your plate too ;) Almost anything goes, so long as they have the ability to do it.
The afternoon tea in the dining room is also highly recommended. There are themed late night snacks between 11-12 too. Dutch, Indonesian, Japanese, Mexican, different every night.
Some days for BBQs on deck or special parties in the Crow's Nest they do an all you can drink for a set price. If you've got the choice between blended or on the rocks, on the rocks gets you your money's worth without brain freeze ;) If they really have to screw up the itinerary because of weather or mechanical probs, they sometimes have a free all you can drink for a couple hours to help appease the masses. If there's a big lineup to get whatever drink you want, there's usually a table with a bunch of glasses of "rum punch" or beer or whatever they set up that you can just come up and take without waiting.
At the Mariner's Brunch and the Medallion ceremony before, they just kept handing out and refilling drinks. We had 6 people at an 8 person table, and a couple of us had 2-3 glasses in front of us - all of them kept getting filled! (This seems like a Drinking For Dummies HAL Secrets now...)
The Mariners tiles don't have the ship name on them anymore - they're all just generic Holland America ones, but they've got different designs on them at least. We were told 1 tile per couple this time, but that could be because we had 1200 Mariners on board out of 1400 passengers. (We had to have 2 brunches!)
Someone's been going around telling people they don't do Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum medallions anymore, but they are. If you've crossed a 100/300/500/700 day landmark and haven't gotten a medallion, hunt down the cruise director and tell them at the beginning of your next cruise, and they'll make sure you get included in the ceremony - my mom finally got hers this trip.
Fridges are still $2/day if you don't get one in your room. Cut flowers seem to be a suite thing.
They're still doing $7/day all-you-can-laundry, but I think you need to pay the $7/day your whole trip to get that deal. Otherwise, there's still the one time use fee and self service laundry too. If you have the choice of paying $50 extra for another bag of luggage on the airline or bringing fewer clothes and laundering them, I'd do laundry.
The Cafe in the Library serves Starbucks for a small fee. There's still the take a book leave a book in the corner, too. There's always a puzzle going, which is great for those small chunks of time where there's nothing going on. They also have cupboards full of board games that you can borrow. If you want to leave a note asking people to play a game, leave it around the Daily Quiz papers and ask people to call your cabin. You're sure to get a bite from a few people.
To get to the bow on the Zaandam, you don't have to go through the theatre and feel all suspicious. You can go through one of two sets of double doors at the front of the Lower Promenade deck. They're not marked, but if you open them, you'll see stairs and a sign that says "Deck 3" and you know you're at the right door. Go up the stairs and you get to the same locking doors as going through the theatre. Don't try going out unless you're in port, though. It gets seriously windy out there, and you might not be able to stand it, nor open the door again to get back inside!
All in all, it's really the people on the cruise that make a trip absolutely great. HAL's crew tries the hardest to make you happy and get you everything you need. The staff is so friendly and make all the activities a blast. But most of all, HAL has an outstanding group of passengers who are very well traveled and love talking about their lives and their voyages throughout the world. If you haven't been sucked in by all the secrets, the people will do it.
HAL secrets
in Holland America Line
Posted · Edited by GetOnABoat
And here I've just been using the Sky Deck for stargazing! :o It's also good for getting away from all the people at night if you're someone who needs some alone time and/or you're tired of the person back at the cabin ;)
Still free tote bags in your cabin.
There's no automatic fruit bowl, but there's a bowl with a form to check off whatever fruit you want and they'll fill it for you. Less waste and you get what you want!
The Lido serves the same food as the dining room at dinner, so if you want to skip out, you don't have to miss it. It never looks as good when served out of various trays than made up plate by plate, though, and there was always a little something that didn't seem quite as good as the dining room.
If you've got late seating dinner, grab an appetizer or two from the Lido to hold you until dinner ;) Don't automatically go for Early seating either. Late seating usually is less busy and faster as a result, plus you don't have to rush back from port if you want dinner in the dining room. Also, late night diners tend to be more interesting and adventurous from my experiences
They still do appetizers in the Crow's Nest before dinner. Happy hour is 4-5pm and 11pm-12am - your second drink is $1, and that includes all drinks on the bar menu, except for top shelf liquors. If you're good to the bar staff, they're good to you, and that's all I'm gonna say on that subject :D
Breakfast and lunch in the dining room are highly recommended, but only if you're ok being there for at least an hour. Always sit with other people. The people are the best part of the dining room. My 2 favourite breakfasts were the Eggs Royale (Eggs Benny with smoked salmon instead of ham) and the Japanese Breakfast (rice, a filet of salmon, eggs Japanese-style and silky smooth, and a bowl of Miso soup), since I'm not fond of bready breakfasts.
In the dining room, they do their best to accommodate anything you like. If you want 3 appetizers, order them! If you want 3x the sashimi in your appetizer, ask for it! If you don't eat beef, ask for Surf & Surf instead of Surf & Turf! If you really, really like a particular dessert, tell your steward and he'll try his best to get it again for you on another night. If you order the chicken but think the swordfish also sounds good, ask them to put a filet of swordfish on your plate too ;) Almost anything goes, so long as they have the ability to do it.
The afternoon tea in the dining room is also highly recommended. There are themed late night snacks between 11-12 too. Dutch, Indonesian, Japanese, Mexican, different every night.
Some days for BBQs on deck or special parties in the Crow's Nest they do an all you can drink for a set price. If you've got the choice between blended or on the rocks, on the rocks gets you your money's worth without brain freeze ;) If they really have to screw up the itinerary because of weather or mechanical probs, they sometimes have a free all you can drink for a couple hours to help appease the masses. If there's a big lineup to get whatever drink you want, there's usually a table with a bunch of glasses of "rum punch" or beer or whatever they set up that you can just come up and take without waiting.
At the Mariner's Brunch and the Medallion ceremony before, they just kept handing out and refilling drinks. We had 6 people at an 8 person table, and a couple of us had 2-3 glasses in front of us - all of them kept getting filled! (This seems like a Drinking For Dummies HAL Secrets now...)
The Mariners tiles don't have the ship name on them anymore - they're all just generic Holland America ones, but they've got different designs on them at least. We were told 1 tile per couple this time, but that could be because we had 1200 Mariners on board out of 1400 passengers. (We had to have 2 brunches!)
Someone's been going around telling people they don't do Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum medallions anymore, but they are. If you've crossed a 100/300/500/700 day landmark and haven't gotten a medallion, hunt down the cruise director and tell them at the beginning of your next cruise, and they'll make sure you get included in the ceremony - my mom finally got hers this trip.
Fridges are still $2/day if you don't get one in your room. Cut flowers seem to be a suite thing.
They're still doing $7/day all-you-can-laundry, but I think you need to pay the $7/day your whole trip to get that deal. Otherwise, there's still the one time use fee and self service laundry too. If you have the choice of paying $50 extra for another bag of luggage on the airline or bringing fewer clothes and laundering them, I'd do laundry.
The Cafe in the Library serves Starbucks for a small fee. There's still the take a book leave a book in the corner, too. There's always a puzzle going, which is great for those small chunks of time where there's nothing going on. They also have cupboards full of board games that you can borrow. If you want to leave a note asking people to play a game, leave it around the Daily Quiz papers and ask people to call your cabin. You're sure to get a bite from a few people.
To get to the bow on the Zaandam, you don't have to go through the theatre and feel all suspicious. You can go through one of two sets of double doors at the front of the Lower Promenade deck. They're not marked, but if you open them, you'll see stairs and a sign that says "Deck 3" and you know you're at the right door. Go up the stairs and you get to the same locking doors as going through the theatre. Don't try going out unless you're in port, though. It gets seriously windy out there, and you might not be able to stand it, nor open the door again to get back inside!
All in all, it's really the people on the cruise that make a trip absolutely great. HAL's crew tries the hardest to make you happy and get you everything you need. The staff is so friendly and make all the activities a blast. But most of all, HAL has an outstanding group of passengers who are very well traveled and love talking about their lives and their voyages throughout the world. If you haven't been sucked in by all the secrets, the people will do it.
Geez, it's like I wrote a novel haha