MissShelllly

Thanks everyone. I did not even see the PDF at the bottom of my confirmation letter. It says I have bPromotional-Two $50 Beverage Cards Pre-Paid Hotel Svc Charge Promo. The Hotel Svc are my gratuity charges for the room stewards, and wait staff?

Yes it is. We have the same promo.

Michelle.

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I see they list Bundaberg Ginger Beer under the Australian beers. It is non-alcoholic. They made the same error on the Volendam circumnavigation last year. It's an Australian favourite in warm weather

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We did this in 2014 and really enjoyed it. Here's what I wrote in my journal:

"We had a 5-hour HAL tour booked for the afternoon. It started with a catamaran ride down the coast. The catamaran was large enough for 120 people, while there were about 40 people on board, so we had plenty of room. Soon after we started sailing, they opened the bar for free drinks, including a rum punch that was very popular.

We stopped in a pretty bay for an hour while some people swam or snorkelled. We stayed on board the catamaran. Several locals arrived in small boats, selling bracelets and craft goods. They also had fresh coconuts. I bought one as I've been wanting to eat coconut for weeks. The seller cut it open for me and then separated the coconut from the husk. It was delicious, and I'm glad I bought it.

We then sailed further down the coast to the town of Soufrière where we got off the catamaran. Near Soufrière are two tall peaks known as the Pitons. From some angles they appear to be close together but they are 3 miles apart. We got into mini buses and drove to Morne Coubaril. It is a former sugar plantation that now grows cocoa, of which 80% is bought by Hershey's in the US for their chocolate goods. We saw demonstrations of harvesting and drying the cocoa beans and the polishing of the beans which they call the cocoa dance. We also tasted a ripe bean, which had a white fleshy covering which we had to suck from the bean. The views from the estate house were spectacular, looking over Soufrière and the bay. The tour ended with more rum punch and a snack. We the headed back to the bay to be picked up by the ship's tenders. The rest of the passengers had to be back on board by 3 pm in Castries so the ship could leave to sail down the coast to pick us up. We had a great time on the tour and were pleased we booked it."

Edited to add that it was nice to see the ship coming in to pick us up.

Michelle.

Also, hi MissShelllly!

Hello to you too Rich. I hope you have a wonderful time!

Michelle.

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We did this cruise on the Prinsendam in November 2014 and loved it. A big plus was that no port was repeated, so we saw a variety of places. Yes it was humid. Join the roll call because they are probably organising private tours at a fraction of the cost of HAL. Private tours we did (and loved) included 2 into the Amazon jungle near Santarem (one going up the river and the second on the way back) and a very long tour at Manaus where we saw wild pink dolphins and touched the different coloured water at the meeting of the waters - the temperature difference is surprising. That last tour also did a lot more in the 6 or 8 hours it lasted.

We hadn't been to any of the ports before - not sure if this is true for you. There was such a variety in the ports.

The only cons I can think of are the humidity and the extra cost associated with a small ship.

It is a different feel knowing you are on board with the same people for the whole cruise, as there are no segments. There were a lot of enrichment activities. I'm still reading books recommended by one of the lecturers.

Michelle.

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The only time I've seen Zumba on a HAL cruise was when the cruise director took the classes. That was Tamrin on the Volendam at the end of last year.

Michelle.

You asked if there are other dining options on formal nights. You may dine in the Lido, or you can have room service. I'm not sure if you are aware that you can order room service from the menu in the main dining room while it is open. On days we think we might order room service, we check out the menu (it is posted in front of the main dining room after lunch) and then order items from it via room service.

We have stopped taking dressier clothes we we are usually on longer holidays and there isn't space. On our last cruise, my husband ordered surf and turf via room service and had an extra lobster tail included in his meal.

Michelle.

We like to book our cruises at least 18 months ahead. On a number of occasions there's been a price drop before final payment and we've usually been able to get the lower price. On one occasion they offered us extra on board credit instead and we were happy to take it, as I was a longer cruise and the amount was reasonable.

You need to use your room key in the poker machine. That will let you draw down funds to play with. When you have finished on a machine, any money you haven't spent gets loaded backs onto your card, and you can then use this in another machine.

On the last night of the cruise, you go to the casino and cash out the money on your card. Yes, they give you cash. If you want, you can then go to the front desk to pay it off your shipboard account. You can also take cash from any winnings at any time during the cruise.

There is no fee for drawing down funds from your onboard account. If you use your room key at one of the tables or at the casino cage, some ships will charge a 3% fee, although the last ship we were on didn't charge that fee.

Hope this helps.

Michelle.

They iron jeans but there is no crease down the front.

I've never asked for a specific temperature so I can't help with that.

Michelle.

I didn't see anything about cancer research. It would be interesting to hear from other Australians, as it seems to be something only you got.

I am an Australian and the email mentioned cancer research. Here's an extract from my email:

"We invite you to share your thoughts so that we can further enhance your cruise experience. Please join our research study, which involves a 30 minute online survey. By participating, you will join us in the fight against cancer. For every completed survey, Holland America Line Foundation will make a donation to one of our international cancer organization partners to fund research, education, screening and cancer treatment programs. Just click on the link below to begin and thank you for your participation. "

I stopped completing the survey part way through as I didn't want to say how much we'd spent on holidays in the last two years. I'd already lied about our income.

Michelle.

They installed one on the Volendam during our 50 day cruise that ended last week. It was out of order more than it worked. But when it did work, it was handy to use.

Michelle.

We've just finished a 50 day cruise on the Volendam, and we ate our dinner in the Lido on more than 40 nights. The food was very good. Part way during the cruise, they added more features such as a made to order pasta bar, more appetiser choices, larger salad selections, and new plates. We loved the changes they made.

Michelle.

We did the 28 day Amazon Explorer on the Prinsendam last year and loved it. No ports were repeated which was a bonus. It was very warm, even hot some days and quite humid at times.

There are a lot of different excursions you can take, whether they are with HAL or privately organised. Our favourites included swimming with wild pink dolphins in the Amazon, and walking through the Amazon rainforest.

As for the length of the cruise, and the cabins you like, that is subjective. For us, 25 days would be a shorter cruise than some we have taken. We had a verandah cabin and I was out on the verandah every day. I particularly enjoyed the convenience of the verandah when we were on the Amazon, watching the scenery and the birds and the people in boats and on shore. Seeing the different coloured waters when rivers met was also special for us.

Michelle.

The NA has an electronic Texas Hold 'Em table. From memory, the buy in was $30. There were times where they had trouble filling enough seats to get the game started.

Michelle.

On the TA in November, we were told all the props in the Show Lounge would be refreshed.

Michelle.

When booking the lanai, our travel agent told us that we could only book a guaranteed lanai and we agreed to do that. I would have preferred to choose our cabin, but did not have that choice. I was wondering if this is how lanais are typically booked. If we don't get the lanai, we will be upgraded to a Vista Suite ($1500 more than the lanai per person). I really doubt if that will happen though.

We have recently booked two lengthy cruises on the Volendam and decided to book a lanai on both to save some money. On one cruise we were able to pick which lanai we wanted but on the other, only a guarantee was available.

Michelle.

We were on the NA for a TA in November. During a tour of the Showroom at Sea, we were told the NA would undergo a dry dock in March. Extensive work will be done to the stage area, including replacing all the stage props and removing the orchestra pit from the stage itself.

I haven't seen any mention on these boards of this dry dock, so I don't know what other work is planned.

Michelle.

We are on the Prinsendam now and they have the new PG menu. My DH was a big fan of the trio creme brûlée and he tried the lemon tart brûlée and loved it. It had the brûlée top, and a pastry bottom.

Michelle.

Captain Roberts said today that it was a Coast Guard inspection and he made it sound like an extensive one. The Prinsendam passed, of course. I hope the Brazilian authorities don't give us a hard time.

Michelle.

Captain Roberts has just announced that we are due to depart at 6 pm, providing we can load and store all of the provisions. He made a point that storing the provisions before sail away is important and necessary. I think he's preparing us for an even later sail away.

Michelle.

Hi Michelle,

 

 

 

how are you doing? I wouldn't be surprised if there is an inspection. She often gets inspected when she comes to FLL as it is so rare.

Hi Jacqui, we're fine, how are you and Jose? We're hoping the Adagio duo are the same ones you had. Your write up of them was very good.

Michelle.

After the muster drill, Captain Roberts announced our sail away would be late due to the large number of stores we are taking on board. He didn't say when we'd be leaving though.

Michelle.

Boarding today started at 12.30 pm. There are rumours of an inspection having occurred, although I can't confirm that through a Google search. The mandatory safety drill is at 3.30 pm. Like others. I'm hoping we leave on time.

Michelle.

I don't know about the Eurodam. Just off the NA where we were told she's going into dry dock in April.

Michelle.