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love_the_sea

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  • Posts

    811
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About Me

  • Location
    Cumming, Georgia, USA
  • Interests
    travel, photography
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Holland America
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    anywhere in the world!

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  1. I have received emails from HAL just this past week asking me to review the 3 ship tours we took on our recent repositioning cruise from Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale on Zaandam. I submitted reviews and one reply told me my review had been posted. I can't see it since I don't have access to those particular cruises. However, I have begun researching tours for three cruises I have booked for next summer and many of those excursions have multiple reviews. They are varying years old, but give me some idea of the nature of the excursion and the physical difficulty. I ignore the comments about the tour guides as they are likely to be different.
  2. I was recently on the Zaandam. Yes there was a "request card" in our cabin but our cabin steward said we had to choose between morning or evening service. He did explain that on Dressy Nights we would get chocolates. I kept a copy of the card and now upon rereading it, it appears that we could have requested evening turndown service as an addition to our morning service. We both decided we wanted morning service (we didn't want to make up our own beds!). We hung up our towels on the pegs on the bathroom door but they were almost always replaced anyway and we did get good service. But I missed the days of returning to the cabin after an evening "out" and having the low lights on and the room all tidy. Now I realize I could have asked for both. If I thought HAL would hire enough staff to not totally overwork the cabin stewards I would gladly ask for both! Actually the card lets you ask for other items and I think it is a nice touch.
  3. I am surprised that it is only available in the Lido (same as Zaandam). I was on the old, small Rotterdam in the fall of 2019 and there was a pizza bar outside on the back of the ship where the Sea View pool was. My recollection is that it was a New York Pizza place. It was good pizza and you could customize it unlike the pizza in the Lido.
  4. I also was surprised at no questions about vomiting or diarrhea. No questions at pier; just the 72 hour pre cruise questionnaire which as I recall was about covid symptoms. No covid test (we boarded in Montreal the day Canada lifted the testing requirement.)
  5. Thanks so much for this review with all the information and pictures. I am doing the final cruise of the season, Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. Seems like a lot has changed since I last cruised on HAL in the fall of 2019. Sounds like you have to have the Navigator app for excursions? No excursion tickets? And of course the whole boarding process with the Covid tests etc. is different. You mentioned in one of the early posts that "room keys were in the room" (see quote above). This seemed strange to me as always before the room key is a card that you get at check in and that you have to show to security to get on the ship. In fact every cruise I have been on (HAL and other lines) was that way. Can you explain? Thanks.
  6. Think it depends on whether it is a true B2B or a Collection cruise (I think that is what they call it). I am signed up for a 28 day cruise next summer that is actually a series of B2B cruises but I have one booking number. In that case I don't think Mariner status would change. I am doing a short cruise this fall to get my 9 nights for 4Star.
  7. I thought I saw that they could not be resold?
  8. Thanks for sharing this thought! You make a good point. If my final payment was due very soon it would make sense to purchase these cards and use them for that. But my final payment is about 3 months away. These days it seems like a lot can happen in 3 months!
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