shack

You are correct!! Future Zaandam cruisers should have no issues as long as she is in service. Great call.

Service charge part of thread removed. Finally got ungarbled word that with HIA or Signature Beverage pkg all drinks $11 and under get charged to the package with no grat. Drinks over $11 pay the upcharge (amount icer $11) pkus the 18% grat on the upcharge or price difference. Kinda what we thought all along. Requested deletion of the previous thread with bad info from HAL.

Zaandam is indeed outlet limited. Here is a pic of the sole oulet grouping at the desk. One standard US 110v; one European 2-prong 220v which we put an adapter in. There is also a 3-pin receptacle if you have the adapter for that. We actually didn’t use these much as our Vista suite had a USB port in the.table lamp basewhere we inserted our 4-in-1 USB splitter. ($3-$10 depending upon number of jacks. Worked like a champ charging phone, watches, Kindles and headsets. New large flatscreen is dynamite. Attached directly in front of bed(s), 24in H x 36in W which yields a diagonal screen size of about 39 in. Easily viewable from bed, chair or sofa. No HDMI, USB, audio or other jacks for peripherals. DVD player gone but over 100 free on-demand movies of goid quality including sone new releases.

OK I’m going to find the hotel manager after our excursion tomorrow and mail down the real deal. Something is definitely amiss. Tonight we had dinner at Pinnacle Grill - exceptional BTW - best food in 25 cruises incl Seabourn, Seadream Yacht Club, Crystal, Windstar, Oceania, etc. A true bargain at $39 upcharge plus grat. Best halibut I’ve ever had (8 oz portion) snd great steak. Here’s the rub. My wife had a great glass of Simi at $12 which was charged at $1.18. I had a $13 glass of red and was charged $2.36. Both charges were EXACTLY what I would have expected - the amount over $11 plus the grat on the amount over $11, but no grat on $11. I really think I was given bad poop multiple times by inexperienced crew. The staff at Pinnacle is at the peak of their game and know their stuff cold. All this to say this needs a bit more research and I will revise the thread as appropriate. Don’t fret, I’d never knowingly put out bad info but it could be I’ve been sold a bill if goods (and others). Totally mystified at this point. If only I spoke Tagalog…

$11 IS the limit under Signature Bev Pkg. I understand from fellow cruisers that up until 2021 if you went over $11 you paid the full price and grat for the higher priced drink. As you note they now only charge the difference (amount over $11) plus grat on all of it. Going to the differential pricing put them in line with the competition.

Just call HAL to verify instead of quibbling. I relayed the info I was given by those responsible for booze charges on Zaandam. I’d be thrilled to find out they are wrong, but I’m not ringing up roaming charges on hold to find out. Would cost more than the darn grat residuals. 🫤

Believe what you want. I’m just relating the way it IS on Zaandam yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I was under the assumption from brochure that any by the glass wine $11 and under included grat. Not so GI. You don’t have to flame it up saying you don’t believe ME. I don’t set the policies- I’m just frustrated by them. You *should* believe what I was told by a bartender, a bar manager, and two people at Guest Services. They will recalibrate you when you get aboard. i was merely relaying what was a surprise to me and a policy unknown to many as a service which I thought was the purpose of this board. Challenging the messenger is not a good look.

Yup, for technopeasants the struggle is real.

Guest services also burns through reams of paper and laser printer cartridges printing off statements for curious customers when they can just show it on screen. HAL not as green as they claim to be.

Zaandam is indeed outlet limited. Here is a pic of the sole oulet grouping at the desk. One standard US 110v; one European 2-prong 220v which we put an adapter in. There is also a 3-pin receptacle if you have the adapter for that. We actually didn’t use these much as our Vista suite had a USB port in the.table lamp base where we inserted our 4-in-1 USB splitter. ($3-$10 depending upon number of jacks. Worked like a champ charging phone, watches, Kindles and headsets. New large flatscreen is dynamite. Attached directly in front of bed(s), 24in H x 36in W which yields a diagonal screen size of about 39 in. Easily viewable from bed, chair or sofa. No HDMI, USB, audio or other jacks for peripherals. DVD player gone but over 100 free on-demand movies of goid qualuty including sone new releases. The signature drinks package does include drinks up to $11.00, but the (un)cleverly worded pkg info that says gratuity is included is wrong for all drinks $11 and under is wrong. $11 max is a total max, including tip so you need to purchase a drink $9 or less to have the drink and 18% grat ring in at less than $11. Some decent wines @ $9. Most desirable wines $11. $9 wine + $1.62 grat = $10.62 so totally included $10 wine or bloody mary + $1.80 grat = $11.80, so .80 charge on your acct $11 wine + $1.98 = $12.98 so $1.98 charge to your acct This applies across the board so if you buy a bottle or a high end shot/cocktail you pay 18% on the total, including the $11 package discount on the net. This all seems a bit bush league to me, especially since the most desirable package wines were recently jacked up from $9 to $11 bringing them out from under the $11-incl tip category to the slap leather for grat category. The grats on $10-$11 drinks are peanuts in comparison to cruise price, and the bar staff certainly deserve them for their great service, but confusing enough to generate a 20-person line at guest relations questioning their statements. As a former hospitality professional I guarantee you HAL is not making enough grat off $10-$11 drinks to pay for the guest relations time and payroll to explain the convoluted system. A bartender explained it to me and I gave him extra tip. He saved me (and hopefully you) 20 minutes. If this system isn’t ‘nickeling and diming’ I don’t know what is… Still a great NE/CAN cruise so far. More later.

'Have your drink at the pool' response posted and deleted by Ipeeinthepools. Probably just as well. I think I'll stick to the hot tubs and shower before AND after... ;-))

Anyone know if Zaandam MDR is open for lunch at the usual 12-1pm time for Mariners on NE/CAN cruises this season? TIA

That's a great drink - my Florida fave; also called a Greyhound without the cranberry. Used to be specialty of Greyhound bus terminal restaurants back in the day. Unfortunately grapefruit now off limits for me.

The one that costs $11 or less for my HIA...

We registered very early - like 4 months prior to cruise. Don't know if that affected our getting Vista GTY 16 days before departure, but guessing it didn't hurt... Our Vista "suite" GTY included HIA for a very good price - a lot less than the $50pp/day currently.

Thanks for sharing. Many great HAL dining tips (25) beyond the veg menu.

Nice to see blue sky!

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Wine-List-2022.pdf https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Wine-and-Champagne-for-Stateroom-2023.pdf

The way it was presented to me was 15 beverages of any kind $11 or less, including specialty coffees, fresh juices, soft drinks, waters, and of course beer/wine/cocktails $11 and under. I wouldn't dream of 15 alcoholic beverages a day, but with the the non-alcoholic bevs and tips included it seemed a decent value, especially if you use the HIA specialty restaurant, shorex, and vanilla WiFi internet included.. And, as I understand it, if you decided to spring for a more expensive cocktail or wine, you just pay the difference above $11 + 18% grat.

We are on her 27 May-3 Jun BOS-MON

Ran across this well-produced video tour of Zaandam ahead of cruising on her next month. No narration, but clear video. Fitness center looks impressive; thermal suite not so much.

Carnival has always been a floating frat house, esp now on spring break.

I'm a long-time AARP member and I think it's great they offer the gift cards, but it's not a core business line for them so you get a lack of knowledge, priorities, and the Customer Service shrug. We scored the military OBC of $100 to pair with our TA OBC of $150 to combine to take care of grats in a Vista "Suite" for week-long BOS-Montreal. I'd be willing to bet you could do better telling your TA you'll pay them $50 cash for every $100 in OBC they get for you up to the limit you might need. TAs get buckets of OBCs, many of which are 'use it or lose it' non-refundable/non-transferable to carry forward to future bookings. Cash is King... Just a thought...

Make that 2023 Bar Harbor stops. Not quick enough on the edit function...

Yep, that's true, but I would imagine a ship like Zaandam bringing in 1450 pax of whom likely less tan 1,000 debark due to mobility issues and the tendering you mentioned would be locally popular vice a 3,000+ pax behemoth. I'm from New England with a lot of time in Maine, so I'm guessing there is an element of the populace that really wants to see cruise pax in controlled numbers. A lot of Bar Harbor restaurants and shops don't even open until cruise season and a lot of cruise pax like their fresh Maine lobstah; especially since you now only get frozen with a hefty upcharge aboard.. And, while I don't know about the exact tendering scenario at Bar Harbor, I know that at a lot of other ports local tenders are hired to free up crew for other tasks like cleaning and their own drills. Those local tender operators are generally loathe to lose the tender business.