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

[bea555]

Maybe for a better deal.  I want to book an oceanview with a refundable deposit, but the why not now sale isn't good for oceanview cabins;  it's an additional $600 per person. If I book that and a better promotion comes along, I'll have to cancel all my excursions and rebook again right? 

[kazu]

2 hours ago, bea555 said:

Maybe for a better deal.  I want to book an oceanview with a refundable deposit, but the why not now sale isn't good for oceanview cabins;  it's an additional $600 per person. If I book that and a better promotion comes along, I'll have to cancel all my excursions and rebook again right? 

 

Not necessarily.  I just call my TA/PCC and they reface me.  I keep the same booking number and nothing changes but the price and the deal.

 

My shore excursions, specialty dining, etc stay intact.

 

Why not ask what the “advantage” fare is?  The one without perks but still refundable?  The deal might be more palatable if you don’t want the perks that the ‘Why not Sail’ offers.  It’s worth doing the math to see which is better for you. 

[amperciv]

Hi there! I'm sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam in April this year for a 6-day cruise and it's my first time on a HAL ship. Important question - what's the trivia situation? Is it once a day, twice a day, not at all? Is it dependent on the ship? 

 

Second question - I'm hoping to bring my Nintendo Switch and maybe a USB stick with some films on board (I am one of those darn Millennials!) and I was wondering what the TVs are like in the inside staterooms? Does anyone know if they have HDMI outs, USB in, etc.? Are the inputs locked?

Edited February 1, 2019 by amperciv

[richwmn]

9 minutes ago, amperciv said:

Hi there! I'm sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam in April this year for a 6-day cruise and it's my first time on a HAL ship. Important question - what's the trivia situation? Is it once a day, twice a day, not at all? Is it dependent on the ship? 

 

Second question - I'm hoping to bring my Nintendo Switch and maybe a USB stick with some films on board (I am one of those darn Millennials!) and I was wondering what the TVs are like in the inside staterooms? Does anyone know if they have HDMI outs, USB in, etc.? Are the inputs locked?

Trivia will be at least once a day, quite often twice - particularly on sea days or days with an early port departure.

 

All TV's on HAL ships have traditionally had the sets placed such that the inputs can not be accessed. NADM has most likely had the upgrades to the TV and the large flat screen TVs are mounted right against the wall and again the inputs can not be used.

[Sue's Mom]

Can anyone tell me what the 2019 price for the wine package number 1 is please? We will be on the Westerdam at the end of May.

[WheresMyUmbrellaDrink]

On 1/16/2015 at 6:25 PM, bjarrett7 said:

 

 

Is anyone able to answer this? Any past experience would be welcomed!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Not sure how helpful, but we were on a HAL cruise (Veendam) with propeller issues. We missed two ports of call as they tried to fix it. They flew a propeller/engineer specialist to Guatemala that we picked up; our 3rd port 1st stop. We were back to normal speed within 24 hours after that. So I would say HAL is going to go out of their way to have your ship at 100% asap. It costs them too much jn freebies and bad PR. We all got $50 credit per person per port missed, plus free booze parties on missed port days.

[Crew News]

On 2/1/2019 at 10:32 AM, Sue's Mom said:

Can anyone tell me what the 2019 price for the wine package number 1 is please? We will be on the Westerdam at the end of May.

 

As requested:  http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Wine-Packages.pdf

[Katie52]

From Katie52 formerly Sue’s Mom

 

Thank you for wine package link. I found it most informative.

[jamiejjj]

Hi, I cruise in a couple weeks on Nieuw Statendam out of FLL.  I’ve read this entire thread!!

 

 

I still have a couple questions.  How early can I drop off luggage for my stateroom (I understand there is no limit as to how many bags I can drop off to be sent to my room)?  Can I drop things off twice?

 

I ask because I am thinking about dropping bags off in the morning, then taking an Uber to a nearby patio (hopefully with beach access... any recommendations for something like this in Ft. Lauderdale?  Or any other suggestions?) to relax, then grab sodas from a nearby grocery store, then head back to the cruise terminal when it’s time to start boarding.  Or could boarding start in the morning for a ship leaving at 5pm (boarding pass says 1pm embarkation time)?  I’m trying to figure out the earliest and latest time which I should be getting on the ship.

 

I have some OBC, from my travel agent and from Carnival shares.  Can these pay for anything (eg. the daily gratuity fees, specialty dining, casino chips, etc.) or are there restrictions?

Edited February 3, 2019 by jamiejjj

[kazu]

2 hours ago, jamiejjj said:

Hi, I cruise in a couple weeks on Nieuw Statendam out of FLL.  I’ve read this entire thread!!

 

 

I still have a couple questions.  How early can I drop off luggage for my stateroom (I understand there is no limit as to how many bags I can drop off to be sent to my room)?  Can I drop things off twice?

 I see no reason why not.  Stevedores are usually ready for drop off around 10:30 AM in my experience.

2 hours ago, jamiejjj said:

 

I ask because I am thinking about dropping bags off in the morning, then taking an Uber to a nearby patio (hopefully with beach access... any recommendations for something like this in Ft. Lauderdale?  Or any other suggestions?) to relax, then grab sodas from a nearby grocery store, then head back to the cruise terminal when it’s time to start boarding.  Or could boarding start in the morning for a ship leaving at 5pm (boarding pass says 1pm embarkation time)?  I’m trying to figure out the earliest and latest time which I should be getting on the ship.

 

I have some OBC, from my travel agent and from Carnival shares.  Can these pay for anything (eg. the daily gratuity fees, specialty dining, casino chips, etc.) or are there restrictions?

You can use your OBC for just about anything (including HSC (aka gratuities).  The only exclusion is the casino unless it is refundable OBC.  TA's OBC can be refundable and non refundable so just best not to count on using the casino to use it up

 

[PaulineW]

Very helpful Board.  Especially thankful re advice about $1-2 tipping for room service! Our country doesn’t have tipping so it’s a bit of a nightmare for us - I don’t want to offend so a big thank you.  From what I’ve gleaned through the threads tipping is taken care of for anything we buy on board via our on board account. Very helpful to know staff opt to do room service to earn extra for their families so we really must tip.

 

A question re water.  I don’t drink tea or coffee so have water instead.  (Am not polishing my halo - I do drink alcohol....). Do I have to pay for water - presumably not in a dining room/restaurant but what about water to have in my room? Could I fill up say, a water bottle and take that to my room? Or is water out of the tap on board ok?  A trivial question but I’ve been diligent in reading the posts and didn’t see it covered. Many tx.

[Dismomx5]

22 minutes ago, PaulineW said:

Very helpful Board.  Especially thankful re advice about $1-2 tipping for room service! Our country doesn’t have tipping so it’s a bit of a nightmare for us - I don’t want to offend so a big thank you.  From what I’ve gleaned through the threads tipping is taken care of for anything we buy on board via our on board account. Very helpful to know staff opt to do room service to earn extra for their families so we really must tip.

 

A question re water.  I don’t drink tea or coffee so have water instead.  (Am not polishing my halo - I do drink alcohol....). Do I have to pay for water - presumably not in a dining room/restaurant but what about water to have in my room? Could I fill up say, a water bottle and take that to my room? Or is water out of the tap on board ok?  A trivial question but I’ve been diligent in reading the posts and didn’t see it covered. Many tx.

The water from the tap is perfectly fine (reverse osmosis), and is the same water that you will find all over the ship. I will pour a glass and add ice from the water bucket each day. Enjoy your trip!

[PaulineW]

Great tx a lot. First cruise and really looking forward to it - Fall cruise in October. Is on my bucket list. Been to Canada and the States a few times but never to the East Coast. 

[WheresMyUmbrellaDrink]

I've got a couple of questions for our Oosterdam cruise March 2nd:

 

1. I am addicted to fun creamers in my coffee. Do they have the sugar and chemical enhanced creamers like french vanilla or hazelnut at the MDR and Lido buffet?
2. If not, will they let me bring a bottle in my carry-on for our fridge?
3. It looks like they did away with the internet cafe, but do have a computer teaching room for their Microsoft classes. Are those or other computers available for personal use? 
4. Does anyone know the difference in the 3 internet plans offered at $10, $15 or $20 p/day? 

 

 

[kazu]

5 hours ago, WheresMyUmbrellaDrink said:

I've got a couple of questions for our Oosterdam cruise March 2nd:

 

1. I am addicted to fun creamers in my coffee. Do they have the sugar and chemical enhanced creamers like french vanilla or hazelnut at the MDR and Lido buffet?

I haven’t noticed any.

5 hours ago, WheresMyUmbrellaDrink said:

1. If not, will they let me bring a bottle in my carry-on for our fridge?

Yes you can bring it on as long as it is non alcoholic.

5 hours ago, WheresMyUmbrellaDrink said:

1. It looks like they did away with the internet cafe, but do have a computer teaching room for their Microsoft classes. Are those or other computers available for personal use? 

The Microsoft class computers are not available for personal use but there has always been other computers available IME.  What ship are you sailing on

5 hours ago, WheresMyUmbrellaDrink said:

1. Does anyone know the difference in the 3 internet plans offered at $10, $15 or $20 p/day? 

 

 

 

Cost of the internet plans varies depending upon the length of your cruise.  But the cheapest plan is social - only allows you to use Facebook and a few social sites - very restrictive.

The next one is the medium plan (forget the name) which suits most of us.  Let’s you email, use internet, social media, everything but streaming.

 

The most expensive one allows you to stream stuff.

[Btimmer]

There are public computers to use on every ship (generally they are near the Explorations Cafe).

 

The middle plan is called Surf and it has a daily data cap of 300mb.  It's what I now use as I don't need to stream video.  I can, for the remainder of our cruise, upgrade to the highest tier for $50 for ten days.

[bea555]

Is there a way to check  onboard credit online?

 

I booked a cruise with the Why Not Now promotion which includes a $400 air credit. I'm confused as how to use the credit - as it doesn't show up when I book my flights using flight-ease. 

[ski ww]

If the flight is booked thru HAL would they not apply the credit to your flight then? Or I guess you can ask HAL.

[Charlie Bear]

Are the pools heated on Nieuw Amsterdam? We are sailing 17th May.

[ski ww]

7 minutes ago, Charlie Bear said:

Are the pools heated on Nieuw Amsterdam? We are sailing 17th May.

No

[kscarpetta2]

16 hours ago, bea555 said:

Is there a way to check  onboard credit online?

 

I booked a cruise with the Why Not Now promotion which includes a $400 air credit. I'm confused as how to use the credit - as it doesn't show up when I book my flights using flight-ease. 

When we booked our flights through FlightEase a couple of weeks ago, we saw that the flight prices were shown in red. When I called HAL they said that "sale" price reflected the $200 pp air credit.

[cruises42]

Does HAL have a rule about not being able to use a passport if it's within 6 months of expiring?

[Mtngirl2]

Look under Holland America's "Know before you go section" on its website.  It highly recommends that your passport is valid for at least 6 months and then outlines the reasons why.  I have had friends traveling outside the US who could not enter some countries because their passports were valid for less than 6 months.  Do your research!  I personally would not travel outside the US with a passport close to expiring.  If your trip is coming up soon, you can get your passport renewed through expediation--see your travel agent for more info or look it up on the US passport website.

[true45]

Pardon me if I didn’t go back far enough to catch the answer to Why not now promotion.

 

If we are local and do not need air, is there still a credit through OBC or on cruisefare?

The rules online were vague.

 

Thanks

[cruises42]

22 hours ago, Mtngirl2 said:

Look under Holland America's "Know before you go section" on its website.  It highly recommends that your passport is valid for at least 6 months and then outlines the reasons why.  I have had friends traveling outside the US who could not enter some countries because their passports were valid for less than 6 months.  Do your research!  I personally would not travel outside the US with a passport close to expiring.  If your trip is coming up soon, you can get your passport renewed through expediation--see your travel agent for more info or look it up on the US passport website.

Thanks. I know that is the rule for Carnival cruises but I couldn't find it on the website. I just wanted to make sure HAL followed that rule too before I mentioned it my by brother and sister-in-law (our passports are good for a couple more years). 

Edited February 8, 2019 by cruises42