I'm Sure I Will Die On This Cruise

[Oakman58]

Although I'm Platinum level on NCL, I booked an Alaskan Cruise/Tour on Holland based on the land portion of the tour.  I booked this a long time ago and at the time NCL didn't even list their cruise/tours for the time frame I wanted.  This is my first time on Holland and I've already discovered a big difference in the cruise lines, no coffee makers in the balcony cabins on the Holland Westerdam.  I'm a very early riser and like to have a cup of coffee almost immediately.  I will probably die on this cruise.

 

[All-ready2cruise]

Well, I certainly  you're wrong about your life ending experience but hope you enjoy your Alaskan cruise in spite of the NO COFFEE experience. 

 

Is the Westerdam an older HAL ship?

[Son of a son of a ...]

Room service ... you’re on vacation 

[EMOSEA]

Pack yourself a little 2-cup coffee pot 😉

[lorif]

We did a HAL cruise, and if I remember, the breakfast room service was a nice feature.  I am addicted to coffee, and we would order 2 of the carafes for breakfast.  I also became addicted to their breakfast muesli, I was shocked, but it was really good. 

The other advantage, Starbucks on the ship we were on was included in the beverage package.  The regular person working there knew our regular orders on the second day.

[Oakman58]

4 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

Well, I certainly  you're wrong about your life ending experience but hope you enjoy your Alaskan cruise in spite of the NO COFFEE experience. 

 

Is the Westerdam an older HAL ship?

 

I don't know if it would be considered older, it was built in 2003 and refurbished in 2017.

[EllieinNJ]

I, too, have a Princess balcony booked for August and they also do not have any coffee in room.  We plan to purchase their coffee cards for better coffee anyway so hubs will have to go down each morning for my am fix.

[Cruisercl]

RCCL does not have a coffee maker in their balcony cabins either. 

I like having it too and really missed it on my RCCL cruise last week.

Often room service coffee is a hit or miss, I like not having to leave the cabin for coffee in the AM. 🙄

 

[DirtyDawg]

🙏 I'll be praying for your survival.

 

On Alaskan cruises I find that sucking on some raw Maktuk is a good substitute for my morning caffeine addiction.  

[Oakman58]

I've been on other cruises that didn't have coffee makers in the cabin and somehow survived so I guess I can suck it up and tough it out again.  As long as NCL has coffee makers in the cabin I'll be cruising with them.  This makes the NCL Epic look much better to me now.

 

I usually wake up between 5 and 5:30 AM which is "sleeping in" compared to my worker bee days.  In those days I always had the coffee maker programmed to start the coffee 10 minutes before my alarm was set to go off.  Coffee and caffeine play an important role in jump starting my old and timeworn system.

 

[travelnap]

As others have stated, HAL has excellent room service so if you want to drink in your cabin, you can order a carafe of coffee to be delivered at 5:30.  I too am an early riser but seldom drink coffee in my cabin.  I like to be up and around so I will stop at the lido early in the morning for my coffee fix.  Even though the lido is not open you can still get coffee and pastries very early in the morning.  Enjoy your cruise.

 

I also am Platinum on NCL, but I do enjoy HAL.  They have the same friendly service you find on NCL and for an Alaska cruise, you will be well taken care of, as that one is all about the destination.

Edited May 13, 2019 by travelnap

[4774Papa]

We did Alaska with NCL and it was a great cruise.  We had a wonderful Aft Balcony and booked early to get that cabin.   No cruise tours were offered then.  

 

Once the cruise tours were posted on the NCL website, I called to add one to our cruise.  We wanted to go to Denali, etc.

 

I was told that we could NOT ADD a cruise tour to our existing booking, but would have to cancel and rebook.   Fares had increased for our cabin, so that was a non starter.

 

That stupid decision by NCL caused me to book a private tour with Alaska Tours that worked out very well and was a bit cheaper than what NCL's cruise tour would have been.

 

 

[Newleno]

From my recollection HAL has free room service not like NCL which cost something like $10, so get your free coffee delivered to you along with a free wake up call.   Beats making your own coffee any day, thanks HAL

[fourofakind]

I feel ya I couldn't  function without my coffee either. I bring a small thermos on cruises with me this way I have the option to prepare my early morning coffee the night before or make a nice iced coffee in the afternoon.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[beerman2]

1 hour ago, Newleno said:

From my recollection HAL has free room service not like NCL which cost something like $10, so get your free coffee delivered to you along with a free wake up call.   Beats making your own coffee any day, thanks HAL

Newleno  just an FYI , NCL coffee and continental breakfast is free delivered to your room before 9:00-9:30 a.m.

 

 

[newmexicoNita]

3 hours ago, Newleno said:

From my recollection HAL has free room service not like NCL which cost something like $10, so get your free coffee delivered to you along with a free wake up call.   Beats making your own coffee any day, thanks HAL

No quite what you are saying? Are you saying NCL charges $10 for room service? If so, nope, it is $7.50 or $7.95 and there is no charge for morning coffee on NCL. In fact there is no charge for continental breakfast period on NCL> I don't know about HAL. They used to have no charge for room service, but since many lines have now added a charge I can say for sure if HAL is still free or not. 

[Newleno]

8 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

No quite what you are saying? Are you saying NCL charges $10 for room service? If so, nope, it is $7.50 or $7.95 and there is no charge for morning coffee on NCL. In fact there is no charge for continental breakfast period on NCL> I don't know about HAL. They used to have no charge for room service, but since many lines have now added a charge I can say for sure if HAL is still free or not. 

Ah what I am saying is on HAL there is no charge for room service,   "not like NCL which cost something like $10", (yeah $7.95 is something like $10, yeah something like that) yeah on NCL I never tried to order any room service of any kind (be it continental cuisine or any other) after they slapped that exorbitant room service charge.  it just aint worth the risk to order room service on NCL at any time.  (that $7.95 is equivalent to 12 cans of mini ravioli purchased at aldi, i cant afford to waste any monies) 

[newmexicoNita]

51 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Ah what I am saying is on HAL there is no charge for room service,   "not like NCL which cost something like $10", (yeah $7.95 is something like $10, yeah something like that) yeah on NCL I never tried to order any room service of any kind (be it continental cuisine or any other) after they slapped that exorbitant room service charge.  it just aint worth the risk to order room service on NCL at any time.  (that $7.95 is equivalent to 12 cans of mini ravioli purchased at aldi, i cant afford to waste any monies) 

Every time we have sailed there has been a reminder somewhere in our cabin about free continental breakfast. I too would never pay $7.95 for room service delivery but NCL isn't the only line that charges and they are not the most expensive. As I said, i can't speak for HAL as we haven't sailed them recently. When were you on them that they did not charge for room service and I am not talking coffee; I think most lines still do offer free morning coffee. Other than continental breakfast  or maybe a situation where someone was not feeling well, I don't understand having room service period. 

 

BTW" as much as I do not like the room service charge. I do not consider $7.95 as being something like $10.00. 

[Oakman58]

I guess I will set up room service to deliver coffee to my cabin in the morning.  I love sitting on a balcony watching the ocean roll by...even if I have to wear a parka.  BTW, according to the HAL website they still offer complimentary 24 hour in-room dining.

 

I broke my ankle over the winter and while I'm mobile, I'm still not close to 100% so I was thrilled to see the number of elevators on the Westerdam.  I don't plan on taking the stairs very often, if at all.

 

[Newleno]

32 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

Every time we have sailed there has been a reminder somewhere in our cabin about free continental breakfast. I too would never pay $7.95 for room service delivery but NCL isn't the only line that charges and they are not the most expensive. As I said, i can't speak for HAL as we haven't sailed them recently. When were you on them that they did not charge for room service and I am not talking coffee; I think most lines still do offer free morning coffee. Other than continental breakfast  or maybe a situation where someone was not feeling well, I don't understand having room service period. 

 

BTW" as much as I do not like the room service charge. I do not consider $7.95 as being something like $10.00. 

March 19 - March 26 2017, ms Nieuw Amsterdam,  we got this smoking deal on this "gas monkey garage" cruise, like $359 for a balcony room.  We were concerned about what type of activities would be on board but outside of a little this and that it was a regular cruise,  and free HAL room service, ah sometimes just eating in your room out on the balcony on a great night, ah that is the life, that is living (ps once a celebrity cruise I had 3 dinners delivered for 2 people including lobster, Yeah I gave the guy a 5note for delivery, he deserved it, yeah free room service baby but not on ncl, aint gonna pay it )

Edited May 13, 2019 by Newleno