Help understanding the "have it all" plan

[SDARCH]

Freestyle has been removed from the Rotterdam. Other ships to follow if not already. 

[CruiserBruce]

39 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

Freestyle has been removed from the Rotterdam. Other ships to follow if not already. 

Source? Don't blame them, tho...the machines seem very maintenance intensive.

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, Banditswife said:

I am wondering if I can switch between electronic devices w/o incurring additional charges?  

And will we be allowed to order unopened cans/bottles of water to keep in our cabin or take onshore?  I know our particular ship-Zaandam-does not have mini fridges in regular cabins, so should we pack some type of cooler?

You can switch between devices! Only one device at a time with the one-device plan. When the second device wants to log on, I think it allows you to choose to bump the first device.

 

You can order unopened cans of water. The price to rent a cooler used to be very low, like $5/day? Inquire ahead of time. 

[SDARCH]

12 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Source? Don't blame them, tho...the machines seem very maintenance intensive.

Personally witnessed the missing one on the Rotterdam last month and the Lido bartenders said they were going on the remaining two ships.  Self service beer taps were also gone on the Rotterdam...if they were ever there.

 

And yes...they always seemed to have a lot of down time.

[Banditswife]

As far as the freestyle machines go- at least they gave a variety of soda choices.  I wish they would stock more varieties at the bars on all ships.  

[Petronillus]

Very interesting, very worthwhile thread.

One collateral aspect that I don't think has been mentioned yet is that in calculating the levels of on-board spend that count toward Mariner points HAL is generally pretty generous and, more specifically, credits one's utilization of the HIA benefits at the a la carte rates. When we first reached 3-star status, 4 stars seemed almost impossibly out of reach. Thanks to HIA, we seemed to zoom into free laundry and 50% discount territory.

 

On last booking (our Asia cruise) included pre-paid gratuities -- a first for us. We were surprised to find that we had to go out of our way to use up all of our non-refundable OBC!

Edited June 10 by Petronillus

[BBQ Bacon]

3 hours ago, Petronillus said:

Very interesting, very worthwhile thread.

One collateral aspect that I don't think has been mentioned yet is that in calculating the levels of on-board spend that count toward Mariner points HAL is generally pretty generous and, more specifically, credits one's utilization of the HIA benefits at the a la carte rates. When we first reached 3-star status, 4 stars seemed almost impossibly out of reach. Thanks to HIA, we seemed to zoom into free laundry and 50% discount territory.

 

On last booking (our Asia cruise) included pre-paid gratuities -- a first for us. We were surprised to find that we had to go out of our way to use up all of our non-refundable OBC!

How does the star status work?  I thought it was just for days cruising. 

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, BBQ Bacon said:

How does the star status work?  I thought it was just for days cruising. 

You get one day for each day on a HAL ship. You get an additional day if in a suite. You can get an additional day, up to one day for each day of your cruise, for spending $300 on board, excursions, etc.

 

Check the HAL website. Lots of details and info.

[ChinaShrek]

12 hours ago, SDARCH said:

Personally witnessed the missing one on the Rotterdam last month and the Lido bartenders said they were going on the remaining two ships.  Self service beer taps were also gone on the Rotterdam...if they were ever there.

 

And yes...they always seemed to have a lot of down time.

Yes, they were on the Rotterdam in 2022. There was a self-serve beer tap for Newcastle Brown Ale right near the Lido pool. I used it on two different cruises. I love Newcastle on tap! Now, the bigger problem was all the head that one would get if they didn't angle the glass just right. lol

[MadManOfBethesda]

Since it has been almost exactly one month and the OP has never come back to this thread since the initial post, I'd like to just piggyback onto it and ask a related question about the HIA package.

 

I recently booked a 10-day cruise departing next month on Niew Statendam, but I haven't taken a HAL cruise in roughly 15 years so I'm unfamiliar with the HIA package. I want to make sure that I'm understanding it correctly, because it seems like a no brainer to add it. If what I read is correct, it will cost $550pp and that includes $200 credit for shore excursions, a WiFi package that would cost roughly $170, 2 specialty dinners (~$100), plus the drink package. If correct, this makes the drink package basically free. Am I really reading this correctly?

[FlorenceItaly]

6 minutes ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

Since it has been almost exactly one month and the OP has never come back to this thread since the initial post, I'd like to just piggyback onto it and ask a related question about the HIA package.

 

I recently booked a 10-day cruise departing next month on Niew Statendam, but I haven't taken a HAL cruise in roughly 15 years so I'm unfamiliar with the HIA package. I want to make sure that I'm understanding it correctly, because it seems like a no brainer to add it. If what I read is correct, it will cost $550pp and that includes $200 credit for shore excursions, a WiFi package that would cost roughly $170, 2 specialty dinners (~$100), plus the drink package. If correct, this makes the drink package basically free. Am I really reading this correctly?

You are reading this correctly!  Have a wonderful cruise.

[MadManOfBethesda]

1 hour ago, FlorenceItaly said:

You are reading this correctly!  Have a wonderful cruise.

Amazing. Thank you!

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

it will cost $550pp and that includes $200 credit for shore excursions, a WiFi package that would cost roughly $170, 2 specialty dinners (~$100), plus the drink package. If correct, this makes the drink package basically free.

For us, we would get the drink package and WiFi anyway, so that makes the excursions and dinners free! Agree with Florence, you are reading it correctly.

 

You can also upgrade the Surf level internet to Premium (or Streaming if you need Netflix etc) for a reasonable fee, shown here:

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Internet-Update-from-HIA-Surf-Plan.pdf

Thanks Roger! @Crew News

[SeeSun&Sea]

On 6/10/2024 at 8:29 AM, Petronillus said:

On last booking (our Asia cruise) included pre-paid gratuities -- a first for us. We were surprised to find that we had to go out of our way to use up all of our non-refundable OBC!

Extra crew gratuities are my favorite way to spend those last few non-refundable OBCs.