Snowbaby369

Awesome.  We’re getting ready to board her on Sunday for two weeks.  Can’t wait 😊

I too have often wondered about these free cruises.  My late husband and I had several HAL cruises and never had any offers or even upgrades.  Since  his passing and  covid, I now cruise with a new partner, and he had only one cruise with HAL.  We did two last fall and winter.  To my surprise he got an offer by email last week, two pages of choices for free interior.  We had a 10 day out of San Diego already booked for the end of November.  We were able to cancel it,and book a 14 day Trans Atlantic.  We upgraded to balcony, and purchased orange club .  Scored a balcony on the corner of the  bump out.  All this for less than 1/2 of the 10 day we cancelled. 😊😊

We also booked a cruise while on board in March that included a cruise credit.  Fortunately it shows on the documentation/receipt that we received while on board.  Since coming home I tried to a access it on line on my account to no avail.   The booking was transferred to out HAL cruise consultant.  After a game of phone volley ,I received a message from her that it is indeed there.  I still don’t see it myself on line, and I am keeping my documentation  received on board when booking.  

4 hours ago, albingirl said:

We liked them so much on the NS that I wish I could tip them all.  They were awesome.  I did receive a list from the manager of all of their names so that I could give special recognition to them all.  They were excellent.

Agreed on NS .  I know all ships  are different,  but after being on NS .. I’m so shocked that Rotterdam is polar opposite . It obviously the management.  Staff on NS were so happy and went the extra mile to get to know you 

6 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

When we are in Club Orange we ask the restaurant manager on Day One for a table we like and let them know we usually eat around that same time. They hold the table for us and therefore we have the same wait staff all the time. They have been great and knew our preferences almost instantly. But if you don’t prefer a set time & table location, I guess it’s similar to anytime open seating in the Main Dining Room.

What you describe is the experience we had this past October .  Exactly. However the staff is not making any effort this time on this ship.  We told them first night we are the same time each night .  They’re not trying yo personalize at all this time, or try to remember us. I almost had to go to the bar last night to get wine . 

Currently onboard Rotterdam. We are dining in Orange Club.  We seldom get the same waiter and table .  We were on Niew Statendam  in October and always had the same area and waiters.  We made good connections with them and they picked up on our likes and preferences quickly. At the end we gave tips to them. 
This time the staff in CO is not as personable, and  I notice nobody seems to be making these connections.  
How do I handle tips at the end ?  I know tips are included, but I have always given extra to my waiter at the end .  

5 hours ago, hmorrow said:

The last time we cruised was in October. Since reading most all lines changed with food/service, etc, after the first of the year, we were curious to see how this cruise would compare to previous ones.

I’m happy to say we have not been disappointed. Menus , MAYBE,  not quite as enticing, but for the most part, very nice. Food has been excellent.  We’re in club orange, so I can’t comment on the main dining room, service, but club orange has been perfect.

 

All in all a great cruise on the Rotterdam.

 

1 hour ago, doone said:

On the same cruise and totally agree, great cruise, can’t say enough good about it….on to Bonaire tomorrow…

Good to hear. We board Saturday and we are also Club Orange .  Enjoy your week . 

6 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

Is this on the Rotterdam?  I thought the ship was sold out.

I thought it was sold out too, so was surprised to get the offer we did 

Looking forward to boarding next Saturday , 18th.  We just got on upsell a few days ago to Veranda Suite.  Deck 4 .  We were originally a CQ, no veranda .  Looking forward to it .

How do you change to get a new one ? When I met my partner he had a cruise booked with PCC that he was able to add me onto .  He is new to cruising and this was his second HAL cruise.  I had cruised several times with HAL over the years with my late husband and we had always booked ourselves.  I find  the PCC my new partner has, does nothing extraordinary or extra.   We are now booked for March on Rotterdam .  I have had to call to clarify and sort out room assignment already.  We booked Orange Club and the room upgrade wasn’t mentioned.  She didn’t even give him a choice of cabins …and I wasn’t happy at all.  I went online, saw what was available and called her .  She seemed surprised , asked what cabins I had in mind , and I ended up getting it changed.  I then mentioned that there were a few “C’s” on deck 10 out front.  I wondered if they would qualify for  Orange upgrade .  Turns out they did .  I thought a PCC was to assist you with getting the best available to you.  

Thanks...looking forward to one next week 😃

Can anybody share their experience in a Lanai room? Is the room smaller?   Are there two deck chairs outside them? Do other passengers use these chairs?     

Enjoying this thread.  Glad I came across it.  I'm all caught up now.  We sail on her the end of January.  Looking forward to it.  

🎄🎄🎄🎄MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄🎄🎄🎄

On 3/4/2019 at 2:47 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The staggered times are meant to spread out the passenger flow so that people don't stand in long lines. It seems to be working. I got to the FLL terminal around 11:00 because the trip up from Miami was faster than I allowed for. I was surprised that there were so few people in line at security and check in. There were a lot of people sitting around and waiting (already checked in), but it wasn't as crowded in the waiting area as I have seen in the past. 

 

A good way to kill time is to go to a hotel, ask them to store your bags while you have a nice breakfast. 

 

We flew in the day before so already at hotel.  We go to a hotel that offers shuttles.  The last shuttle to the ships is 12:30 .We have breakfast, check out as requested by 11:00.  Not hard to put in time in the lobby, or sitting outside in the sun.  At this time the lobby is starting to fill  up with people that have disembarked ships and not flying home.  Our embarkation details had stated 1:00.  So things are working out...we are doing what we are supposed to do.  We get to the ship at 1:00.....the line up is way outside around the terminal.  We stood outside for 45 minutes before we ever even got inside to the lines.  We walked onto the ship and into our room by 3:30. But..we did what we were told to.  We could have taken an early shuttle but we didn't.  This was in January on Konginsdam.  

For  anybody flying in on the same day, shuttles and transfer cost extra money to go and find some place to wait. 

Can someone confirm?  Can I take bottled soda on bourd?  Seems to me last year you couldn't  take bottled beverages on  bourd .

We booked a guarantee...so still waiting for room assignment !

Enjoying the read. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Presumably you didn’t intend to be insulting to seniors, but “gripe” imho is not a word appropriately used about other human beings. You can “gripe” about poor service in the MDR, or about food being cold, etc. I imagine you meant to say that the age demographic on HAL skews older than you would prefer, given your own age, just as many folks would prefer not cruise with 1,000 children.

Well put...Thanks.... from one of those older senior type that enjoys HAL as they don't tend to have so many children on bourd. ;)

We are late 50's. I'd hate to think we put people out because of our age.

While the seating area above the pool is pleasant enough, I wouldn't consider it to be quiet. I suppose it varies from cruise to cruise and the makeup of the passengers, but we found the sound from the pool combined with the music contributed to less than a peaceful atmosphere. That not a criticism, just an observation, and I suspect that your PCC might be right if you don't have a shady balcony upon which to relax.

It is also very hot and humid if the retractable roof is not open. This also makes it noisier. This happened on several days we were on last November. It wasn't closed all day, but they were often late opening it.

Had it once too. Horrible. A couple trips to the clinic, and thankfully a doctor on call told me of the Eply Manouver. He performed it on me. It was nothing short of a miracle as I was feeling so poorly. He told me to google it at home and print instructions off. I had to do it maybe twice more over the next few weeks. I too agree with others....go to doctor and discuss options with him or her. Only a doctor can determine if there is an underlying cause.

Hey Canadaman! Good to see you ! Did you ever get a chance to do a review on it? Must have been great, (no surprise lol) , I see you've got you're next one booked! Didn't we all tell you you'd get hooked

Enjoying the read

Following. Your little girl looks so cute back there!

We've been waiting to hear from you! Really hoping to hear all about it, including your road trip to get to port.

Is anybody else excited to hear about Canadamans trip? Been following along with him for so long, can't wait to hear about it all.