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

[kazu]

I thought I'd try posting this question here instead of starting a new thread. This will be my first time on HAL with my 5 yr old along. We eat a 95% vegan diet, whole foods plant based. It's harder for her to eat things she isn't used to. When I travel I always make sure to have available avocados (to make avocado sandwich for her), peanut butter and jelly to make a sandwich, red pepper slices, mini carrots, kidney beans, hummus (and other things like fruits that I am sure will be available). She will often want to eat earlier than us, and I'm wondering at what time of day (breakfast? lunch hours? via room service?) these items would be available so that I have them on hand when she announces she is ready to eat. If it will be hard for me to have these items available, I'll try purchasing them in Venice prior to boarding. Thanks!

 

You will be able to find some of the items listed on board.

 

And, HAL is very good at looking at veg diets.

 

but I see you are sailing out of Venice. Avocados may be hard to find there and I would not expect to see them on board. If you HAVE to have avocados, don't got to Europe ;)

 

And you may have to collect some of your necssities at lunch in the Lido (baggies ;) ) Red pepper slices are available at the salad bar, hummous at the other bar - you get the picture.

 

Room service starts at 6:00 am. And you can order the night before so you don't have a long delay in the morning. There is also a 24 hour room service menu but it is limited.

 

Going to Europe means that certain things won't be there. Or, if they are, they won't be there for long. I can't recall every seeing avocados on a European cruise.

 

Just my experince though,

[VAtravelers100]

Thanks for the helpful reply! It will be fine, of course, if a particular item isn't there, but reassuring to hear that several items would normally be available. I'll be trying to figure out each morning how to put together a collection of food for my daughter to eat mid morning before the rest of us are ready for lunch.

[kazu]

Thanks for the helpful reply! It will be fine, of course, if a particular item isn't there, but reassuring to hear that several items would normally be available. I'll be trying to figure out each morning how to put together a collection of food for my daughter to eat mid morning before the rest of us are ready for lunch.

 

You are most welcome. Be sure to check out the salad bar in the Lido at lunch. You can ask for some of the stuff they put in and skip the lettuces if some of what you want is there (and some of it was on our cruises).

 

Also be sure to talk to the MDR manager/assistant manager. They do have vegetarian offereings on each menu but if there are certain things that can't be eaten, they will try to be helpful if they know in advance.

 

Peanut butter and jelly is available at breakfast. Just get some extra containers ;)

[VAtravelers100]

Thanks for the helpful info!!

[AlohaJoy]

Thanks for the helpful info!!

And remember mom, those kids seem like they are starving themselves...but they are not. I now am the proud mom of a 21 year old who's adventures in eating are amazing and quite sophisticated considering what she would NOT eat as a 5 year old.

[49erteacher]

VAtravelers100,

I would call guest services at HAL to arrange for a vegan menu. I know they have vegetarian not sure about vegan. I have seen humus in the Lido. The 24/7 room service menu does have a crudites option. If you will have a minibar in the room (varies by ship if you do) you could probably pick up what you need in the Lido. Some ships have had prepackaged peanut butter some have had a small dish with peanut butter. When you get on board have a talk with the dining room manager, they tend to really like catering to kids. You may also want to ask Club HAL staff once on board about kid friendly vegan options. Since HAL doesn't see the numbers of kids as on other lines the staff seems to really like treating them very, very well. Have a great fun cruise.

[rafacq]

First time on HAL, doing the transatlantic voyage April 3. Been on Princess twice. Are they similar or are there differences worth mentioning?

[ski ww]

First time on HAL, doing the transatlantic voyage April 3. Been on Princess twice. Are they similar or are there differences worth mentioning?

 

Find the roll call for your cruise , also read any of the HAL cruise reviews for your ship.

Allan

[kazu]

First time on HAL, doing the transatlantic voyage April 3. Been on Princess twice. Are they similar or are there differences worth mentioning?

 

Haven't done a TA on Princess - just HAL and NCL but, if you let us know what specifically you are concerned with and/or appeals to you, we may be able to help. Which ship are you sailing on?

 

Defintiely sign into your roll call as Allan has suggested.

[rafacq]

How do you find a roll call?

[kazu]

How do you find a roll call?

 

On the roll call boards. If you tell us your sailing date and ship, we can look and give you the link.

 

Or, just go to the top of this page and under the Cruise Critic logo, you will see various titles. "Find your roll call" is in the middle. Just click that and you can insert your cruise details to find your roll call.

[rafacq]

On the roll call boards. If you tell us your sailing date and ship, we can look and give you the link.

 

Or, just go to the top of this page and under the Cruise Critic logo, you will see various titles. "Find your roll call" is in the middle. Just click that and you can insert your cruise details to find your roll call.

 

Got it, thanks. Guess it’s just another board.

[jsscuba2]

1. If you have sailed on any Carnival Corporation cruise, you will be a HAL one-star Mariner and invited to the Mariner Luncheon near the end of the cruise. At the luncheon, you will receive a commemorative tile.

 

2. Here is the Room Service Menu with only a few items having a charge:

 

How do they know if you cruises Carnival.

[Michigander1959]

Is the $25 (totaling $50) soda card a separate card (as it looks on the HAL advance purchase page), or is it a purchase tied to your room key card? Taking three families, but I don’t think they will use $150 in soda. Thoughts?

[*Miss G*]

It's a separate card.

[*Miss G*]

How do they know if you cruises Carnival.

 

You contact the Mariner Society. The information is available on the HAL website.

[Sheri K]

In December it was 1000 min for $250, 500 min for $175, 250 min for $100, 100 min for $50, and 50 min for $25. I think the pay as you go rate was $0.75 per minute

 

HAL is finally introducing wifi packages this year. I was told by a cruise specialist on their website that starting this summer they will have a social package for $14.99/day, a surf package ()with no audio video calling) FOR $24.99/day and a premium package for $29.99/day. These packages can be shared as each user will have his or her own password. They just can only be used by one user at a time. Great news for those who have sailed with HAL before and have only had the pay per minute option available to them.

[kazu]

Got it, thanks. Guess it’s just another board.

 

Exactly. This is the HAL board and there is a Roll Call Board subdivided into the different cruise lines. In your case you would want the HAL roll call board and the ship you are on. ;)

 

HAL is finally introducing wifi packages this year. I was told by a cruise specialist on their website that starting this summer they will have a social package for $14.99/day, a surf package ()with no audio video calling) FOR $24.99/day and a premium package for $29.99/day. These packages can be shared as each user will have his or her own password. They just can only be used by one user at a time. Great news for those who have sailed with HAL before and have only had the pay per minute option available to them.

 

HAL has had the unlimited package on at least on ship for a couple of years now - Westerdam. Our package was for 30 days and it was cheaper than above when you broke it down per day.

 

I think there is another ship or two now with it from reports on these boards. I don't know if the older ships (S & R, Prinsendam) have the capacity or if HAL will invest the $ to do this with them. We'll see. Fingers crossed (yn). I really liked the unlimited package.

[Turtles06]

We are excited to be taking our first HAL cruise in August (Viking Passage on the Zuiderdam) and have chosen As You Wish dining. I totally understand the concept -- my question is about advance reservations. Some older threads say you can make dinner reservations on board the ship for three nights in advance. Is this still the case? Can any reservations for AYW dining be made on line pre-cruise?

 

Relatedly, what times are the evening shows? We tend to opt for the early show, and eat dinner after.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Judith

[kazu]

We are excited to be taking our first HAL cruise in August (Viking Passage on the Zuiderdam) and have chosen As You Wish dining. I totally understand the concept -- my question is about advance reservations. Some older threads say you can make dinner reservations on board the ship for three nights in advance. Is this still the case? Can any reservations for AYW dining be made on line pre-cruise?

 

Relatedly, what times are the evening shows? We tend to opt for the early show, and eat dinner after.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Judith

 

Hope you enjoy your first cruise on HAL Judith.

 

Last time I sailed (March - May, 2017), you could still make reservations up to 3 days in advance. The timing can't be peak hours though. I believe it was something like 5:30 pm - 6:15/6:30 (depending on the ship) and then after 7:30/8:00 pm.

 

Show times vary on the ships and itineraries. On some they are 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm and on others they have been 8:00 pm and 10:00/10:15 pm IIRC. The captain's toast and a couple of other things are only once on that evening. Best bet is to check your When and Where once you are on. Once you see the first schedule, they are normally the same for that cruise.

[joenic27]

Apologies up front if this question has been addressed, which I am sure it has. In March we are going on our first cruise. Does HAL require middle names on the boarding documents, if they are on your passport?

[Lucy Jane]

Apologies up front if this question has been addressed, which I am sure it has. In March we are going on our first cruise. Does HAL require middle names on the boarding documents, if they are on your passport?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Lucy Jane]

When you go on line to register with HAL, they will require you to use the names on your passport. Just fill in the blanks.

 

 

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[joenic27]

Thank you.

[Turtles06]

Hope you enjoy your first cruise on HAL Judith.

 

Last time I sailed (March - May, 2017), you could still make reservations up to 3 days in advance. The timing can't be peak hours though. I believe it was something like 5:30 pm - 6:15/6:30 (depending on the ship) and then after 7:30/8:00 pm.

 

Show times vary on the ships and itineraries. On some they are 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm and on others they have been 8:00 pm and 10:00/10:15 pm IIRC. The captain's toast and a couple of other things are only once on that evening. Best bet is to check your When and Where once you are on. Once you see the first schedule, they are normally the same for that cruise.

 

Thanks for all this!