Barkevko

On 8/18/2023 at 9:18 PM, cruiser man 60 said:

Do the specialty restaurants get fully booked in advance? And if you have dining credit under HIA and can’t get a booking what happens to credit?

You can book your HIA dining pre-cruise. That's what we usually do and have already booked them for our December 2023 cruise. If there are dates that won't allow you to book it is probably because there is a special dinner on that night.

16 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Can we spend the on board credits in the shops as well as the special restaurants on board ? Are there ant limitations ?

 

TIA 

Can't use them for the casino. I believe anything that you can charge to your room account will count. When you look at your account details on board, it should show the OBC as a negative (eg -$150) and then as charges are made to your account, the amount of OBC will decrease accordingly.

Saw a picture of the ship yesterday with the new name Aegean Majesty painted on the aft port side. She was in Katakolo, Greece.

4 hours ago, woodscruise said:

Just checking Marine Traffic and it shows both Maasdam and Veendam heading to the Suez Canal.

Currently Maasdam is doing 8.8 kn and Veendam is 11.9kn.

Any idea where they are heading too?

35 minutes ago Veendam HD posted that they are leaving Singapore and heading to Cyprus

Here in Tasmania we have no new cases for the past 34 days. We have moved into our Stage 3 restrictions which allows us to get about, stay in accommodation over night anywhere in the state. Our border is still closed. Alot of businesses have reopened as long as they can abide by the 1.5m social distancing requirements. My husband and I only did grocery shopping and checking the post box during the height of the coronavirus outbreak although we were able to continue with doctor visits and trips to the large hardware store as we were doing jobs around the house. We have been able to sit and have a cuppa in a local cafe as long as we adhere to the 1.5m rule and are looking forward to spending some nights down in Hobart in August. Just waiting now to see what happens with a potential AU-NZ travel bubble and how that might affect our HAL cruise set for December 2020.

I've been wondering if anyone from HAL actually reads the CC posts or if we're just wasting our time making suggestions?

Do any of you know?

When will HAL bring back culinary classes? I admit I wasn't that thrilled with America's Test Kitchen but it was certainly better than nothing. I know the US health folks don't like passengers to eat what they make in these classes, but sometimes just the making of it is good. I'm not a good cook and always enjoyed the info that was presented.

We love HAL and, like most, have noticed a lot of changes over the years.

Keep:

BB King (my husband finds it too loud but puts ear plugs in to reduce the sound to a level that is tolerable for him and that way he can still accompany me)

Ditch:

Orange Club - why can someone buy perks that many of us have spent years getting by being loyal HAL cruisers?

Oprah - not everyone wants to do yoga that early in the morning

Bring Back:

Cooking classes - once America's Kitchen left (not really a favourite) 5*s lost the free cooking class perk

Guest Speakers 

Just a couple of ideas off the top of my head.

:) There are three key exemptions to compulsory PIN authorisation, where cardholders may need to sign and are permitted to do so:

 

1.Australian credit and debit cards without an embedded chip: Australian issued magnetic-stripe (mag-stripe) cards without an embedded-chip will still be able to use signature for authorisation. Many of these cards will be replaced with chip-enabled cards by their issuer in the near future. This includes some American Express and Diners Club cards and certain gift cards.

 

2.Cards issued outside of Australia: Visitors from overseas are not impacted by the changes, so they will use signature or PIN to authorise transactions as they did before.

 

3.Signature-preferred cards: Special limited issue signature-preferred cards are available for Australians with a genuine need to sign. Signature-preferred cards feature a special chip to identify that the card does not require a PIN to complete the transaction, automatically notifying retailers via the POS terminal screen that a signature is permitted.

 

http://www.insideretail.com.au/blog/2014/08/20/pin-switch-continues/

Thanks for the info. I know we haven't been able to use our PIN when travelling in the US and we always have to go inside at gas stations there to arrange our fill-up. I just hope retailers, etc. here know that overseas cards will be okay.

Barb

Just to advise those of you who may be travelling to Australia, on August 1, 2014, the system for using your credit card for purchases changed. Instead of signing a credit card slip for your purchase, you must input a PIN into the credit card reader. If you do not have a PIN associated with your credit cards, you may want to contact your credit card issuer to obtain one as it will not be possible to use your credit card in Australia without one.

Barkevko

Hi Barb

 

Scheduled for OSDM on that particular Dec voyage are:

 

Capt. Pieter Bos

HD Boban Zivkovic

GRM Mila Castellon

Ex CHK Sri Waluyo

DRM Andreas Mamangkey

CD Shane Michaels

Thanks, John.

Have missed seeing Capt Bos while he was on the Veendam...happy to have him back in our part of the world.

Barb

Hi John,

It may be 'early days' but do you know the officers set for the Oosterdam for the 19 December 2014 Holiday cruise to NZ?

Thanks,

Barb

We will be on the Zaandam in about a week. Want to buy my son a tablet for a grad present, but would prefer to do it on board if it will be cheaper.

 

I don't recall ever seeing electronics on any of my previous cruises, but this is the first time with HAL... and well.. you never know....

 

thanks in advance.

M

Hi,

I've never seen any electronics for sale on HAL ships and that's in quite a few cruises. I would be surprised if that type of item were to suddenly be available. Our last cruise was in January this year.

Barb

I understand where you are coming from. We will be cruising with our young kids at xmas and has seen some VERY nastty things on the forums about kids and the desire of some for kids to be banned from areas on the ships. The overall negative tone has me quick anxious now about going. Don't get me wrong not everyone have been anti kids but those who are are so vocal about it I am concerned what we will find on the ship :( so sad some are like this

Your kids will have a great time...the kids clubs are very popular on the Christmas cruises. We have cruised virtually every Christmas/New Year on HAL since 2005 and the kids always seem to be having a great time. They even get a visit from Santa on Christmas Day. With Christmas being our summer holidays, you can expect there to be plenty of kids onboard.

Barb

What on board purchases count towards Mariner credit? Specialty dinners? Excursions? On board spending? What else?

Thank you

As I understand it everything that appears as a debit on your final bill, as well as those items that you pre-purchased (whether shorex, liquor, etc) count towards cruise day credit. 1 day of credit for every $300 spent. Those covered by the bill receive the credits.

Barb

Staff Captain Williams, the only female staff captain with HAL at the moment, has been serving on Volendam but is going to Maasdam in the future

 

HD Rene Tuinman and his wife are currently assigned to Zaandam

Copper 10-8, I am bereft...it seems there may be none of the 'old guard' on the Volendam when we board in October for the circumnavigation...weep, weep.

Barb

My question is now, we are planning a cruise on HAL (Singapore to Hong Kong). I live in Australian, booked via HAL in Australia and paid the fare in AU dollars.

So...does anyone know if HAL does the same thing as Celebrity and Carnival?

I'm happy to tip and will do so either way, just don't want to have auto tip if it's built into my fare.

Regards

Other than our first cruise in 1991 when we met, all of our HAL cruises have been booked from Australia. HAL charges us the Hotel Service Charge as for any other passenger. Yes, our fares will be different that those quoted in the US for a variety of reasons. I've have friends here who used to book through a US travel agent but are no longer able to. Also as an American now living in Australia, I'm surprised anyone here could have a US bank account, etc. without living in the US unless they are here on a temporary posting and will be returning to the US - used to be able to have an account there until the financial services laws changed but that is an entirely different story.