New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies"

[islandwoman]

48 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

And I only use very reputable 3rd party tour companies that also have guarantees to get us back to the ship on time.

Something can always go wrong.  Several years ago, I arranged a tour in Montenegro.  We were heading back to the ship with plenty of time to spare when a bus got stuck side-ways on the only road down the mountain.  Our tour guide got on his phone and called the tender dock.  The ship held the last tender for us and we got onboard in time.  But it was nerve racking.  Now it's funny when I think about us running down the tender dock as if we were late passengers running back to the ship from the bars in Cozumel 🤣  Had our guide not known how to contact the tender dock 😬

[Mimie03]

Booked on a Christmas cruise. On Christmas day we will be sailing so no port. When I talk to the cruise line, they told me that they do not take specialty restaurant reservations for December 24 or 25 because it’s Christmas. I’m a little bit confused because who can have the day off when it’s to see day? So I don’t understand why something would be closed on the cruise ship for two days while we are sailing.  Has anyone else heard of this?

[Mary229]

48 minutes ago, Mimie03 said:

Booked on a Christmas cruise. On Christmas day we will be sailing so no port. When I talk to the cruise line, they told me that they do not take specialty restaurant reservations for December 24 or 25 because it’s Christmas. I’m a little bit confused because who can have the day off when it’s to see day? So I don’t understand why something would be closed on the cruise ship for two days while we are sailing.  Has anyone else heard of this?

I don’t sail during holidays so only my speculations- maybe they do a very special feast in the MDR which requires all restaurant personnel.  Try starting a thread and asking people about their holiday experiences onboard 

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

 

 

And I only use very reputable 3rd party tour companies that also have guarantees to get us back to the ship on time. Several of them are highly recommended on CC and one Spain Day Tours has a forum on CC. We have been mostly doing private tours since Covid and not once did we even come close to missing the ship. Until I wised up, I too avoided the non-ship tours for the same fears you site but I no longer have any worries. Some of the private tours we have on our upcoming cruises I was the organizer through our Roll Calls. We have 7 of the 8 ports on our Amsterdam to Athens cruise next month booked with private tours all organized and filled with fellow people on our roll call.  We not only booked very interesting tours but saved hundreds of dollars by not booking with the cruise line.

Like you, we usually book private tours with reputable companies after exercising due diligence in assessing the potential risks. The exceptions are generally in those cases where we rent a car and enjoy a DIY tour. As a consequence, we've had many truly excellent tours for considerably less money than had we booked a ship's excursion. 

 

With the HIA promotion, we have credit towards a couple of excursions in Hawaii, so we may make an exception.

[Sea42]

3 hours ago, islandwoman said:

Several years ago, I arranged a tour in Montenegro.  We were heading back to the ship with plenty of time to spare when a bus got stuck side-ways on the only road down the mountain. 

This same thing happened during our recent cruise in Norway. We could see all of the buses and cars lined up from our balcony on the ship. Both ship and private tours were effected and the ship did wait until everyone was back onboard.

[Clay Clayton]

16 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t sail during holidays so only my speculations- maybe they do a very special feast in the MDR which requires all restaurant personnel.  Try starting a thread and asking people about their holiday experiences onboard 

Or maybe they do like NCL did years ago when we cruised over Thanksgiving. Every venue onboard served the same traditional Thanksgiving meal.  🤔

[Nikon1957]

23 hours ago, terrydtx said:

And I only use very reputable 3rd party tour companies that also have guarantees to get us back to the ship on time. Several of them are highly recommended on CC and one Spain Day Tours has a forum on CC. We have been mostly doing private tours since Covid and not once did we even come close to missing the ship. Until I wised up, I too avoided the non-ship tours for the same fears you site but I no longer have any worries. Some of the private tours we have on our upcoming cruises I was the organizer through our Roll Calls. We have 7 of the 8 ports on our Amsterdam to Athens cruise next month booked with private tours all organized and filled with fellow people on our roll call.  We not only booked very interesting tours but saved hundreds of dollars by not booking with the cruise line

This is one of the primary reasons we joined CC a number of years ago. We had great success matching up with others on our cruises that wanted to book a small group and needed people to join (most of them charge per group or per vehicle). We even set up a couple of our own. It seems that since Covid, (and maybe other social media sites) that isn't as prevalent. Disappointing to us.

[Mimie03]

3 minutes ago, Nikon1957 said:

This is one of the primary reasons we joined CC a number of years ago. We had great success matching up with others on our cruises that wanted to book a small group and needed people to join (most of them charge per group or per vehicle). We even set up a couple of our own. It seems that since Covid, (and maybe other social media sites) that isn't as prevalent. Disappointing to us.

Used to be that when you get off the cruise ship, they were mini mini mini tour operators waiting to give you a tour. I hope that is still the case for some of the ports where we can’t come up with something. I know I have changed things around a few times to get what I wanted. I really really don’t wanna go through the cruise line. We have made fun of those people that are packed in like sardines and the times are always much shorter. We have never had a problem with getting outside excursions. They rely on tourism so they do try the very very best. As long as you have a long buffer time you’re good.

[Nikon1957]

6 minutes ago, Mimie03 said:

Used to be that when you get off the cruise ship, they were mini mini mini tour operators waiting to give you a tour. I hope that is still the case for some of the ports where we can’t come up with something. I know I have changed things around a few times to get what I wanted. I really really don’t wanna go through the cruise line. We have made fun of those people that are packed in like sardines and the times are always much shorter. We have never had a problem with getting outside excursions. They rely on tourism so they do try the very very best. As long as you have a long buffer time you’re good.

Yeah. There still are in some places. We did that multiple times in the Caribbean in February 2023. We also did it once in Namibia on a S. African Cruise. Worked out fine. They were always there. Mostly there wasn't a language barrier - for English.

[Mimie03]

I have one more question for you. This is our first Holland America cruise and our first cruise in about six years.  My question is about the formal nights. Is it essential that my husband brings us sports jacket? Such a pain to pack it. Not something he normally wears as a retiree. So, if I need to get one, I need to get on it.

[Nikon1957]

30 minutes ago, Mimie03 said:

I have one more question for you. This is our first Holland America cruise and our first cruise in about six years.  My question is about the formal nights. Is it essential that my husband brings us sports jacket? Such a pain to pack it. Not something he normally wears as a retiree. So, if I need to get one, I need to get on it.

I am not sure who you mean by "you." If you mean the group here, if you look back a few pages, you will see there has been a fair amount of discussion about this. I haven't been on an HAL cruise yet. Have one booked in April. But from what I read here, a jacket is not necessary

[FlaMariner]

1 hour ago, Mimie03 said:

My question is about the formal nights. Is it essential that my husband brings us sports jacket?

 

There are no "formal nights".  They are called "dressy" nights and a jacket is not required.  I wear kaki pants and a collard shirt. 

 

From the FAQ's on the Holland America Line website regarding "dressy" night for men:

 

For gentlemen, collared shirts and slacks are required in all fine dining restaurants. 

[Mimie03]

20 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

There are no "formal nights".  They are called "dressy" nights and a jacket is not required.  I wear kaki pants and a collard shirt. 

 

From the FAQ's on the Holland America Line website regarding "dressy" night for men:

 

For gentlemen, collared shirts and slacks are required in all fine dining restaurants. 

Thank you. That’s exactly the information I was looking for. I kind of hope that was this way. I’d rather bring back souvenirs than my husband sport jacket! 

[Mary229]

I made a change to a booking yesterday that resulted in a  very nice OBC increase.  I had earlier booked shore excursions, now sold out, that did migrate to the new booking.  My question is when I get on the ship will I be able to have those excursions moved over to my OBC and have my credit card reimbursed?  Thank you 

[Haljo1935]

53 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I made a change to a booking yesterday that resulted in a  very nice OBC increase.  I had earlier booked shore excursions, now sold out, that did migrate to the new booking.  My question is when I get on the ship will I be able to have those excursions moved over to my OBC and have my credit card reimbursed?  Thank you 

Yes, just go to the Shore Ex desk as soon as you get onboard and ask them to move them to OBC. They will cancel the excursions and rebook using OBC. You'll see the canceled excursions credited as OBC then at end of cruise if you haven't used it, it will be refunded to your CC.

It's important you have ShorexEx do it rather than trying to do it yourself because they can secure your spot on the sold out excursions but you cannot.

It's also important you do it before the excursions as they won't do it after the excursions have taken place.

Guest Services cannot do this - it has to be the Shore Ex desk.

Congrats on the "new" booking!

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

[islandwoman]

On 8/26/2023 at 7:57 AM, Haljo1935 said:

Yes, just go to the Shore Ex desk as soon as you get onboard and ask them to move them to OBC. They will cancel the excursions and rebook using OBC. You'll see the canceled excursions credited as OBC then at end of cruise if you haven't used it, it will be refunded to your CC.

 

Are you saying that even though you paid for your shore excursion with a credit card, it will be refunded as onboard credit? 

[Haljo1935]

49 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Are you saying that even though you paid for your shore excursion with a credit card, it will be refunded as onboard credit? 

Yes, then if you don't use it, at the end of the cruise, it will be refunded to the credit card you registered for the cruise (which may or may not be the same CC that was originally used to purchase the excursion- only you will know that). So, ultimately it gets refunded back to credit card.

Or you can go to Guest Services and have it paid to you in cash rather than going to a CC.

[AllTheSun]

In the MDR can you only order the wine on the MDR menu? I saw a MDR menu example today and was surprised to see it only had a few wines on it.

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, AllTheSun said:

In the MDR can you only order the wine on the MDR menu? I saw a MDR menu example today and was surprised to see it only had a few wines on it.

No, you can order any wines by the glass that are available in the bars. Ask the wine person working in the MDR.

[*Miss G*]

10 minutes ago, AllTheSun said:

In the MDR can you only order the wine on the MDR menu? I saw a MDR menu example today and was surprised to see it only had a few wines on it.

 

Here is the WINE LIST.  If you take a look at @Crew News BEVERAGE MENUS page, you can also see the wine packages if you’d like to choose ahead.

[Aloha3]

On 8/26/2023 at 4:45 AM, Nikon1957 said:

This is one of the primary reasons we joined CC a number of years ago. We had great success matching up with others on our cruises that wanted to book a small group and needed people to join (most of them charge per group or per vehicle). We even set up a couple of our own. It seems that since Covid, (and maybe other social media sites) that isn't as prevalent. Disappointing to us.

On own HAL cruise recently there were private groups on each shore days, spreadsheets, meet ups etc. Join the rollcall for your particular cruise. Some are more active than others.

 

[awhfy]

Does HAL offer reciprocal status from other cruise lines like Celebrity & Royal do?

[DE Solo]

23 minutes ago, awhfy said:

Does HAL offer reciprocal status from other cruise lines like Celebrity & Royal do?

Unfortunately they do not.

[Haljo1935]

44 minutes ago, DE Solo said:

Unfortunately they do not.

 

1 hour ago, awhfy said:

Does HAL offer reciprocal status from other cruise lines like Celebrity & Royal do?

And do not reciprocate within the CCL family.

[ToXS]

All feasible HAL sponsored excursions are sold out. Is there a good way just to get transportation to a close by beach at Kailua-Kona (Hawaii) (tendered) and Honolulu (at dock)? Can we just catch a taxi at the dock? More importantly - how can we be sure to find a taxi to get us back in time?

Any recommendations for close by beaches at those 2 ports would be very appreciated!

Thank you!