OlsSalt

I believe the Cabanas are handled via Guest Service and perhaps Food and Beverage? - you make reservations only through Guest Services or if you want to cancel a reservation. Escalating this just seemed more stressful than it was worth for the short duration cruise, after the first rebuff. And the next day follow up from the Cabana steward, that he had no authority to deal with anything - other than try to make "everyone happy". We did not want him to get caught in the middle since this was a management issue; not an onside deck steward issue. I did notice them i would be complaining both here and to management on the survey, so we are not rolling over completely on this - but the immediate value is to inform others right now. Agree, less likely this cabana issue would be a problem on other than holiday cruises which are much more "family" intensive" than expected on non-holiday or longer cruises.

This was the crazy part - we booked last minute when only ocean view cabins were available, which is why we booked the additional cabana. Then verandah cabins became available so we paid to upgrade to one on Deck 4 - the extended length verandahs. (Sorry I did not use the "Club Orange" upgrade option to get both the upgraded and Club Orange in the same package - live and learn). We debated up to the last minute about cancelling this now no longer needed cabana, but was swayed by the good reports to give it a try, just to see if we enjoyed having the extra privacy and tranquility. Or if it might make sense to book a cheaper ocean view cabin along with a cabana, in the future. Since the future of HAL looks like larger ships, it was worth trying the cabana experiment just to see. Hope our experience helps others to weigh this additional expense option, with their eyes open, and make sure there is a clear understanding about what to expect for the price. Yes, in retrospect an upgraded cabin is the better option, or a good set of headphones. Plus, it is the luck of the draw as I stated, others on the other side of the deck were not impacted. BTW: Internet connections inside the cabana were very spotty. So if one plans using this private space for working online, this is not a guarantee either.

The onboard feeling was much more "old Hal" on the New Years cruise, compared to the Christmas cruise -which was an unmitigated zoo - but we knew that upfront.

Sent a message on the Navigator immediately asking to cancel on the first day. Did get a phone call from Guest Services who said she did not know if we could get a refund - she would need to check with accounting. She never got back to us, we decided to continue with the contract and use the space -why lose out of both ends of this contract? The biggest impact was when Club HAL was closed mid-day; less so when they were on a shore excursion while we stayed on the ship, only for the noise and intrusions to return when they came back. Final days, again made a report to Guest Services and stated ongoing problems for the record - no response obviously. Basic question - why were we asked to accommodate to failed expectations while the other offending party was not? We both paid the same amounts - two adults using a two person cabana; compared to this party paying for a two person cabana, but used by 8 people - adults and six children? Did they in fact rent four 2-person cabanas? It did not look like it, since they had an extra table set up outside and all the food delivery for 8 people collected in one cabana. Two problems - (1) lack of clear stated policies - I picked up my expectations from available online official HAL promotional material (which I just posted here). (2) Failure to enforce policies, if they indeed are as stated in their own promotional material. Caveat Emptor. Luck of the draw that our cabana was close to this large family group - others on the other side of the deck may not have been so immediately impacted. We asked for a change of cabana's but was told they were all sold out - which makes renting a cabana a gambling proposition, if you want "tranquility and quiet".

(NB: this was from 2017 - obviously the adults-only terms have changed) - from HAL facts link to HAL official Guest Services site) 2017 CABANA PRICING CABANA CLUB/RETREAT CABANAS for two adults with two loungers ms Eurodam, ms Koningsdam, ms Noordam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam, ms Zuiderdam PACKAGE Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana per day — port day Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana per day — sea day Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 7 days Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 10 days Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 15 days Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 20 days Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — over 20 days RETREAT CABANAS ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam RETREAT CABANAS ms Noordam, ms Zuiderdam CABANA CLUB/RETREAT FAMILY CABANAS for four adults with four loungers ms Eurodam, ms Koningsdam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Oosterdam, Westerdam, ms Zuiderdam M 5 4 3 2 1 W Del Sol PACKAGE Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana per day — port day Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana per day — sea day Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 7 days Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 10 days Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 15 days Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — up to 20 days Family Cabana Club/Retreat Cabana Package — over 20 days

From the Holland America blog:

Recent Konnigsdam Lincoln Center - it was packed, when they were playing straight classical pieces - got standing ovations - they were superb. Smaller crowds, when required to play watered down, out of the classical genre selections. Loved having this long standing HAL tradition continue and the space offered for this was lovely in all regards - except for the acoustic compromises being an open-sided space on one side. This is Chamber Music - to be played in a smaller more intimate setting; not on the World Stage and NEVER with the use of microphones to fill such a large inanimate space if offered only as a special evening performance. The early evening, pre-dinner hours worked best for us to have a few special musical moments to wind down from the day. Agree, this would be a loss to a long standing HAL tradition for evening "chamber music". May this tradition continue on the smaller ships, even if reduced to only a two- person ensemble since many of them were quite good.

HAL promotional material claims the Retreat Cabanas on Pinnacle class ships to be tranquil, peaceful spaces, adults only, with occupancy restricted to 2 adults in most retreat cabanas along two "family" cabanas limited to four adult occupants. Our recent experience on the Konnigsdam - New Years cruise - was anything but. At approximately a $500 surcharge for 9 day cruise, we learned our tranquil, adults only space would be shared two cabanas away with a family with six children under the age o 12 who were given free reign of the central area while making excessive services demands on the two staff attendants. (They were not in the "family" cabana, but the kids did invade this adjacent family cabana space at will to play games, when the reserved occupants were not present.) Guest Services complaints by myself and other Retreat Cabana occupants were ignored, and we were told there was nothing they would do about this, let alone assure us we could cancel and get our money back. So we hung in there and tried to work around it. We finally stopped going. So did another adjacent occupant who shared in the complaints. We were told we had to accommodate to them, instead of asking this large family unit to accommodate to our clear expectations about the use of this reserved space. Cabana steward told us after our first complaints, they wanted to make "everyone happy" - yet they only made the large family happy; not the other impacted cabana occupants. Besides being greeted by the unexpected numbers of young occupants, there was also the awful loud music that plagues far too many other areas of the ship. At least we got this music turned down, again with the support of other cabana occupants who also expected this to be a quiet retreat space. The sounds of the sea and waves is what we personally find tranquil and peaceful. Asked if this music could be turned off instead of just lowered in volume, the staff attendant was shocked by the request and said not possible, but at least it was reduced to be minimally intrusive. Overall retreat cabana experience was a C -: breach of expectations; no, peace and or occupancy limits; not adults only, food delivery service took well over a half hour or 45 minute, so items arrived cold - pick sandwiches, salads and potato chips if you want predictable choices. A few chocolate strawberries and a glass of white sparkling wine at the end of the afternoon for a "reserved" lounger was not value added for the expense in our final assessment, especially since Guest Services refused to honor the original expectations. There are plenty of loungers all over the ship, with speedier access to Lido food for...... free. And with a little searching one can find a few spots around the ship, blissfully free from the ubiquitous piped in music. (Port side Crows Nest special meeting room, Ocean Bar -daytime, window seating outside Club Orange-daytime .......and ironically the elevators...... which do not have piped-in elevator music!) Report from a long time "Old Hal" 600 day plus (S,R, Vista ships) cruiser who found this first experience on a Pinnacle Class ship to be a 50/50 good/bad experience. The Gelato Bar was the one 100% happy experience, even with the minimal surcharge. It was delicious.

Renamed, redecorated and some re-purposed changes to two of our old favorites: The former HAL Amsterdam - now Fred Olsen Bolette: https://www.fredolsencruises.com/our-ships/bolette The former HAL Rotterdam - now Fred Olsen Borealis: https://www.fredolsencruises.com/our-ships/borealis Oh, the places these two grand ladies took us.