Leaving Next Week...

We have a guaranteed cabin on 3/24 on the New Amsterdam....quick question...we will be arriving in FLL on 3/22--- so I will be packing this weekend. Should I wait to print my luggage tags...since no cabin has been assigned yet or does it not matter. I know on other cruises the tags are colored coded by deck and if you do not have the deck/cabin info it delays when you get your luggage and if that is the case I can pack clothes for dinner in my carry on and I can wait and print them at the hotel if that helps. But if there is no reason I would prefer putting all of my clothes in my checked in luggage. Please guide me if you can...I was hoping I would get a room assignment by this weekend but....who knows. Still tons of cabins available.

If you don't see your cabin number by the time you leave for the hotel -- then wait.

You can always print them out the morning of the cruise at the hotel.

If you still don't have them, print what you can and once at the pier so the head porter to get your cabin number that you can write onto your tags.

On HAL the tags are not color coded by deck. You could either print them now and simply write-in the cabin number when you learn it, or you just could get tags from a porter at the pier. They will have a manifest. HAL does use a number/letter "locator code" such as 7A for deck 7 aft (of center) or 4F for deck 4 forward, etc, which you could add, but it's not necessary.

If you don't get your dinner clothes in time they will most likely allow you into the MDR the first night anyway.

Wishing you a wonderful cruise.

Keith

Thank you everyone for the input and the nice wishes...what I have decided to do was to print some blank tags to have with me and then see if I get more info regarding cabin assignement I can always re-print new ones at the hotel... I didn't want to open my check in luggage, I may never be able to close it again:) So, maybe since I will be at the W for a couple of days...if I don't get my cabin numbers... I can make the sacrifice and shop in FL and just buy a new outfit to stick in my carry-on LOL

Great idea.

Have a wonderful cruise.

Thank you everyone for the input and the nice wishes...what I have decided to do was to print some blank tags to have with me and then see if I get more info regarding cabin assignement I can always re-print new ones at the hotel... I didn't want to open my check in luggage, I may never be able to close it again:) So, maybe since I will be at the W for a couple of days...if I don't get my cabin numbers... I can make the sacrifice and shop in FL and just buy a new outfit to stick in my carry-on LOL

good luck, we too are waiting for assignment on NA for april 7th have a great cruise

Don't forget HAL has a very nice "Friends and Family" program for its own staff so those "tons of empty cabins" may be getting filled with last minute by them.

Keep this also in mind - we had our assigned cabin number on to our luggage tags which we had dropped off and then commenced to check only to see the embarkation desk lady scratch out our assigned cabin number and change it to ...a Neptune Suite. At the embarkation desk.

Our luggage and in-cabin gifts went one direction, while we went the other. An initial mix up that took some time to sort out, but what a nice muddle to be in. (There were a lot of last minute cancelations on that cruise due to severe storms in the US East Coast that left many booked passengers unable to get to Barcelona. )

Thank you for the well wishes...getting excited. We leave on Thursday and we hope to gt away from another possible bit of snow....the last time we sailed on HAL was a very long time ago, for our honeymoon 39 years ago.on the Volendam out of NY. So I don;t think we will get any upgrades, especially not to a suite, we are not HAL regulars, ....but it is nice to dream but those things don't happen to us and that is fine, Just getting my ducks in a row for the trip --- Thanks again everyone, if you have any tips when we board we will take all the help we can get to make this cruise smooth sailing.

Hope you have a fabulous cruise on the N. Amsterdam.