mcrcruiser

7 minutes ago, packedandready said:

This will be our first cruise with HAL. Would like a tile as a newbie. Does everyone get one, or just certain levels? Will be in a Neptune Suite, if that matters.

 You should get a tile .If not ask your room steward for one 

Free laundry starts at 4 star Mariner level . 200 cruise days ro get there 

2 hours ago, DesireeC03 said:

is there a certain must do or see that you would recommend to a 1st timer?

you might search out a HAL cruise to the southern Caribbean where Aruba ,Curacio  & Bonaire are the port stops .when my wife could fly we took Konogsdam for a 9 day Southenr Caribbean cruise with her cousin & husband ,It was a great cruise because those ports are clean ,the water is clear & warm .  Although Koningsdam is now out of San Diego ,our home port ,I am sure one of the other HAL ships does that itinerary . Second to the Southern Caribbean imo is the English Virgin islands 

 I would first look at the Rotterdam or Statendam itineraries ,These are Pinnacle class ships & cousins to Koningsdam  .These areour favorite with HAL 

 We also are Diamond with RCCL & Elite Plus with Celebrity  .  Far less juveniles on HAK ships except  during Holiday periods especially id HAL offers include children sail free .Avoid those times  in my recommendation 

It seems to me that HAL has floor supervision at the Lido buffet .Thus ,if people are using the table for card playing etc during peak   meal times ,then a person should ask the fllor supervisor to ask those people to vacate ,then there is no interaction with passengers 

3 hours ago, Wally Alligator said:

I tried them one sea day lunch last month.  I was not impressed.  Kinda dried out and not much flavor.  Did not try a second time.

Might be the day or the ship you were sailing .We sail only on Koningsdam here in San Diego & that might make a difference in the sushi ?

Carnival Corp will not combine Seaborn with HAL , Seaborn is a high end cruise line with a much  different focus than HAL  .   They must have the same VP over both lines  & that is all that will ever happen 

Every thing looos terrific .The taste must have been as good as it looks in your pictures😄

12 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

This is not just an HAL problem.

Fortunately my lady at Holland America is pretty good.

However my Celebrity PCC stopped all contact after Covid, if he left they never gave me a new one.

The lady I’m assigned to at Cunard takes days to reply to emails.

I assume these folks get some sort of commission so it seems odd they don’t have a greater sense of urgency if it impacts their paycheck.

It has been known for many years that cruise lines are great at sea but horrible on land 

"Yes, HAL rolled it out badly. But that's par for the course with HAL."

 I totally agree with your statement above .Perhaps this & other management mistakes is why Carnival corp is holding back new ships for  HAL while they are adding ships to other of their fleets . Maybe HAL will be on the 4 sale block in the future 

With cruise bookings at record levels why is HAL bringing this standby program out  ? seems to me that there is a reason but cruisers will never know the real reason as we can only guess why  the cruise line is using    this standby  deal   .  I keep seeing cruise line stocks moving up in value  as booking keep setting record levels 

17 hours ago, BashfulBeki said:

For my 2nd/3rd HAL cruise (blame Covid), I was assigned my 3rd PCC. Let’s call him Andy. Andy and my husband and I had pretty bad communications via phone due to differing accents but I really wanted to give him a chance so I tried to email as much as possible.  Due to this wonderful board, I applied and was approved for the AARP and the Educator OBC. Feb 7th, Andy said he would get back to me as soon as the OBC was applied (he’d lost one OBC approval already).  I gave him 2 weeks and then emailed a reminder; a week later another reminder; 4th week, I called the PCC # to speak to a supervisor. I got reservations, who sent me to PCC, who sent me to reservations, who sent me to PCC, who sent me to reservations …. more than an hour later, I finally got to someone who told me my new PCC was ‘Billy’. Andy was no longer with the company. I suggested an email informing me of the change would have been appreciated 3 weeks ago. Her response - you will receive an email. No mention of when.  This same afternoon, I receive a promotion email with Andy as my PCC.  
 

I love being on HAL ships with their wonderful staff and calm atmosphere but they need to step up their customer service reps.  
I know you will tell me to get a good TA but I’ve researched and tried but all my trusted TAs have retired or left due to Covid.

TIA for the sympathetic ears, I feel better getting this off my chest.

You are not alone in dealing on the phone with HAL 's land side of the business . I had a $1600 problem about having it back to my AARP gift card which is the normal policy .After long hours dealing with people in all areas of the world I finally connected to HALs accounting department .what they did was credit my creidt card in stead of sending the $1600 back to the AARP gift card  .  There is no question in my mind that HAL  needs vast improvement in their ability to communicate effectively  with customers . 

We have done 2 Trans Atlantic cruises . The last one on Celebrity  from the port of Rome was in 2009  .It was a fabulous crossing with no bad weather & we had a stern balcony for that wonderful 180 degree views  . 

now backing up  we first flew in to Amsterdam to take the Rhine river cruise . These river cruises are so very different than ocean cruises .first ,we have 140 people ,The chef  each day bought fresh produce for dinners .wine & beer was included with lunch & dinner .all the tours each day were included .We enjoyed a French Balcony cabin . My DW won a cucko clock onboard  , hand made  where we visited ine of the tours . 

 After seeing amsterdam & taking the  Rhine river cruise  from Amsterdam to Basil Switzerland we stayed at the Hilton in Zurick with side trips on their trains  . We did a lake cruise to see all the Swiss Chalets  .We over looked the alps from a coffee shop  .

 After Zurick we flew to Rome for 6 wonderful days of exploring this eternal city 

 So the moral is see as much as you can ,enjoy the local food  & entertainment .  Get all the culture you can where ever your travel take you . Life is short &   injuries can also change what you once could do  . So enjoy it all as you can 

15 hours ago, Breezy66 said:

@mustgoYes- they stay on until Papeete.  Ukelele lessons, tahitian dance lessons and at 5pm they do sing, dance and play ukelele in the crows nest.  They are great

Are these people only performing in the Crows Nest ? Also what time do they perform ?

TIA

5 minutes ago, bobomonkeyrage said:

wait. so for all the talk of the yum yum man, it's just a dude handing out mints...?!?!?! 
I'm all for a nice mint after dinner, but the legend of this mint giver seems extremely hyped.

It is just that with all the cut vacks that HAL has made it is a nive touvh to get one of the cuts back , Sort of sentimental to those who have cruised a long time with Holland America lines 

for the 3 special restaurants on  Pinnacle class ships the disvounts start when a person reaches 3 star mariner & gets a 25 % discount ,4 star gets a higher discount ,the 5 star gets the best discount  . We are 3 star mariner going to 4 star shortly . At the price escalations in the special restaurants we need all the discounts we can get lol

The yum yum man is at

2 minutes ago, bobomonkeyrage said:

As someone who only started cruises post pandemic, can someone fill me in on what the fabled yum yum human does?

  It is either a man or woman handing out after dinner mints ,This has been done post dinner at the dining room door areas  .a nice toiuch brought back 

Praters for  the evacuated person . 

2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Yes, you have to be willing to take whatever they give you. That, I think I could live with. It's the tight timing that I don't like.

We need a handicap cabin & normally book a VH handicap & use Club Orange to upgrade the cabin to a V or VA category .That is a great deal with using Club Orange plus the other perks that CO gets

For those that scored a great cabin  , bravo to you ;however in scouring these pages we see  both sides  of this standby program .  The timing seems tighter than  the 7 days   in the ad  in soe cases 1 or 2 days prior to sailing . Then there is a guarantee of a inside cabin with hopes for a better cabin .  Cabin location can not be selected ie  . For some this program is a blessing & others a nightmare   . It is not some thing we would vie for even though we live 30 miles from the Dan Diego port

Mary we hope for you & others on this long cruise that the noro is contained quickly . 

Neat shark pictures & oh that shark cage . wonder of any one ever sees great whites or full grown tiger sharks in that area 

Bermuda Bound you got some great photos . Reminds me of the time we spent on the beach there . 

You certainly are getting your exercises in with all that walking 😄

Cliff

We hope that you all miss that stinky Noro virus  you guys have a long cruise ahead .We were 0once on a ship with 200 getting  Noro  ,we heard the infirmary floor was full of puke . We saw them spray watered down bleach all over the ship ,even inside cabins ,on upholstery etc .It is a very nasty virus .   Yes washing ones hands frequently is a good way to prevent Noro virus . Some ships have habd wash basins that every one entering the buffet area must wash their hands .That is a great practice imo to lessen the chances of Noro on any cruise ship

4 hours ago, vicd1969 said:

It's usually available during lunch in the Distant Lands (ie, Asian food) section. Mostly basic sushi, the really fancy stuff is in the Nam Sushi on ships that have them.

Thanks then the sushi must be California tolls  in the Lido Buffet . Next cruise I will look at the Asian food section ,at lunch time . My DW likes Calif rolls . 

Where is the sushi station  located  ?