LAFFNVEGAS

Hi Jacqui, you can remove this one for Diamond Princess Diamond Princess - 02-Apr-23 - 9 day Japan Explorer Spring FlowersLAFFNVEGAS We did cancel that but thinking we will return to Japan in Spring 2025 on the Westerdam 😉 Thanks, I forgot I had had you list this one.

Weird that both my iPhone 14 and my iPad Mini show updated to 4.21.0 and states no updates available. Both are usually good at updating when needed.

Thee SS is aproximately 1 and 1/2 times the size of a regular balcony stateroom.To me they are the best of what HAL has to offer with the Vista Class Ships and Signature Class ships..

Thanks Jacqui, yes both 7 day 🙂 Mid way through the December cruise we will hit both our 300 days with HAL and 5 Star 😉

Hi Jacqui, you can add Tom and I to the Bon Voyage for two cruises. September 3, 2023 Westerdam to Alaska December 10, 2023 Nieuw Statendam to Eastern Caribbean Thanks so much!!

One never knows for sure with HAL Flight Ease. I have seen too many problems with Flight Ease and swore I would not do it but when I booked a month ago our flights to Seattle for an Alaska cruise and found good prices for First Class on Delta, I snapped it up. (Keeping my fingers crossed I did not make a mistake in doing this) They are non- stop so figured we should be OK. They showed up right away on Delta and showed the normal pending or what ever it stated knowing it was not ticketed. But interestingly enough this past week I looked on Delta and it shows Confirmed and Ticketed. Could be because they are first class and prices went back up, could be because I have paid 75% of the cost of the cruise, air and hotel to HAL, I do not know for sure but I can say that the 45 days and 30 days are not a hard fast rule. I think some depends on the class of ticket it is. Guessing that HAL needed to lock it in by paying for it.

I honestly do not think we will see this any time soon. They recently raised the gratuities. They still have a lot of reservations out there that had this from previous promotions. When they previously offered this they would offer it far more frequently. It has been crickets since they last offered this. I think at best for Future promos with HIA it will be giving premium WIFI and adding a second specialty Dining and reduced deposit. The including gratuities cuts into their pockets too deeply.

Yes NCL does have a lot of Casino players but with that being said their price for cruise and specialty restaurants is considerably higher than HAL but they are definitely worth it. When I cruise NCL we do not gamble but I purchase the specialty dining packages even though we always stay in The haven and have that as a Specilaty restaurant as well but we usually only dine ther one night maybe two. It is way more elegant than Pinnacle even for breakfast. Plus they allow for just asking for extras. For example the Breakfast menu has a NY Strip Steak and Eggs, myhusband has had a standing order for a filet instead every morning.No problem, No extra charge. They will actually get you anything you want within reason. One comes into the restaurant even in the morning and if I have black shorts on, they bring me a black cloth napkin instead of the white one on the table. Everything they do is just several steps above what HAL offers.

I agree, there might be a few items but... in the last 4 months I have cruised Princess and and two NCL cruises. There was not supply issue of items, while Yes, Princess is pulling the same stuff as HAL with smaller dishes but at least they are not nickel and diming as badly as HAL is. HAL has been using the excuse of Supply Chain from the begining. It has been a convient excuse for them that in my opinion is most likely not accurate.On our two most recent NCL cruises their specialty dining is night and day different. Almost all restaurants are a la carte unless you have the Dining Package. The Dining package if you purchase it averages $49.00 pp plus 20% gratuity the more nights you buy the cheaper it is. But with the dining package, you get an Appetizer, soup or salad, entree, two sides and dessert. In many cases it is almost too much food. They also allow you to split between two people one dining package because their items are not skimpy. Living in Las Vegas we are exposed to some great restaurants and we do dine out frequently. I will say some of the best dining I have had recently was on the NCL Ships. They cannot compare to HAL or Princess. But with that being said and NCL cruises is considerably more money than HAL. I came home a few weeks ago from the NCL Encore, was so thrilled I placed the same ship on hold for Alaska. Then thought to take a look at HAL, For a Neptune Suite comparing to NCL Haven Suite HAL was just over $4000 less. Knowing what I was changing to and what to expect from HAL I took the cheaper cruise with HAL. I guess the moral is You Get What you Pay for.

I have two future HAL cruises, the first is September 3rd on the Westerdam. I cannot make reservations for either Pinnacle or Caneletto. But then that is 6 months from today so maybe tomorrow.We have booked shore excursions with no problems. I also have Dec 10th for Nieuw Statendam and also cannot make any dining reservations or shor excursions yet another person in our traveling group can make dining reservations but only on her ipad of the HAL App??? Very strange.

This is good news on the menu but that still makes no sense why they would stop reservations or why one person was told they would close for a short period of time. All the resturants on HAL have gone through menu changes and yes even since the restart and and it did not stop making reservations. Then I would think the new menu would be rolled out on all of the ships. Lots of confusing information that does not make much sense.

I have to agree with what others are saying from what you are stating you like HAL over Royal HAL is going to be much more to your liking. I think you will find Royal to be even more crowded and the size of the ship far more over whelming.

I really enjoyed your review, in our early years of cruising we did sail three Royal ships our very first cruise was on Monarch of the Seas but we did not like the food that much and considered most to be sub par so in the early 2000's HAL to us was far superior in food quality. After a 3rd try with Royal many years ago never looked again to try them. Possibly we should try again but with our 3 go to lines of NCL Haven, HAL and Princess no sure I have enough time to fit in another line 😄

To be honest my absolute favorite cruise line is NCL, For years in the early 2000's we sailed just HAL but then started to branch out a bit in 2009 and found we really loved NCL. Through the years and well before covid we started to see a decline of HAL and what we first enjoyed with the cruiseline but found NCL. I will say with NCL we have only cruised in full suite or Haven so our experience could be different from others. We compare NCL Suites to Neptune Suites of HAL and Full Suites of Princess and find their suite life far exceeds. We just got off the NCL Encore 2 weeks ago today having had an amazing cruise. We mostly dine in their specialty restaurants which everyone was excellent. We returned and I thought i could scrape up enough extra days off from work to add in an extra cruise to Alaska over Labor Day so placed a Haven suite on hold, we so wanted to go back on the Encore. Before I paid for it I figured I better check pricing for that same date for a HAL cruise or Princess. Discovery Princess was about $2200 less for a Penthouse Suite category S4 on Riviera Deck (we were last on Discovery in December, good cruise although food not great except for going to their new 360) and with HAL it was going to be $4000 less for SB category deck 5 corner aft on the Westerdam. Under a Mariner promotion and if I added the Have It All it was $3300 less than NCL. We ended up booking HAL. If in this case the difference in price was less than $1000 we would have stayed with NCL over HAL but the price difference was just too much. Of these cruise lines they all have their pros and cons. I think you will totally enjoy NCL, in many ways NCL and their crew reminds of how HAL was 15+ years ago.

Excellent comparison. in the past 7 months we have done one HAL, and one Princess and two NCL and you gave an excellent comparison between HAL and Princess.

Those forward staterooms should have probably stayed being Signature Suites, I am sure the Bean Counters were involved in the early planning of this ship. It does really surprise me that this would be so different from the Eurodam. Learn something new, I had not realized there were these differences in the two ships. Sq footage wise there is a lot more real estate in those staterooms on the Nieuw Amsterdam plus lay out is drastically different.

Thanks Sharon, that is what I thought and also thought that Caribbean Shore excursions were out well prior to a year since HAL does a lot of Caribbean cruises. I have been surprised that I cannot review any excursions for a early December 23 cruise on the Nieuw Statendam. I guess I will keep checking. One only knows if calling HAL if you can even get through on the phone if you get correct information.

Thanks, that 4 and 1/2 months sounds about right for booking Dining since we are sailing September 3rd so just over 6 months away so hopefully I can book dining about mid April. I have already booked Alaska Shore Excursions so knew they were available. Now just trying to figure out how soon December Carribbean Excursions will be available. It may also be about mid April for the Excursions to be available for our December cruise. For some reason I thought excursions were available at closer to a year out but maybe that has changed. Thanks for all the info.

Hi,I am tried searching for this answer and cannot find it. We will be heading to Alaska in September on the Westerdam and it states too early book for Specialty Dining. When will be be able to reserve. Is it not till after final is paid? Then I also have a Caribbean Cruise for December and there are no excursions available. Any idea when those may become available since I would like to reserve a Cabana at HMC. Thanks fo any info.

Sadly this is their new practice, I think they get merit points for placing on hold or something like that. I am sure it is just on hold with hopes you will pay the deposit. This is being done by Princess as well they push to get it on hold.

Actually I think HAL has tweaked their website, I have two HAL cruises booked and they were not show but just click on where it says to put your booking number into it and there will be a drop down box showing your reservation and click on that one. The Website has been a bit different each time a pull it up but that drop down box has stayed there the last couple of time and not showing my reservations when I first log into HAL.

My next cruise 7 day Westerdam, I did not purchase the Have It All an i can purchase the Premium Internet for $109.99 which is actually a pretty good price. PREMIUM INTERNET PLAN - 7 DAYS Whether emailing friends or streaming a movie, enjoy truly premium, unlimited access throughout your voyage—at a savings of at least 50% compared to the daily rate—with our Premium Internet Plan. All onboard Internet usage is subject to Holland America Line standard policies, which may limit browsing of some sites due to network security and bandwidth usage. Applications that use high bandwidth may be blocked and offerings are subject to change with or without notice. The plan can be activated on any device but only one device can be actively connected at a time, the rate calculation is based on prorating the voyage package by length. Premium Internet Plan - 7 Days Premium Internet Plan - 7 Days $109.99 BUY NOW

For 2024 there is not a 14 day that goes to Anchorage from Seattle. There is one 28 day round trip Seattle on the Westeram June 9, 2024, this one is quite interesting with going to Nome AK. Ports of Call Seattle, Washington | Ketchikan, Alaska | Sitka, Alaska | Valdez, Alaska | Seward, Alaska | Dutch Harbor, Alaska | Nome, Alaska | Kodiak, Alaska | Anchorage, Alaska | Homer, Alaska | Haines, Alaska | Juneau, Alaska | Wrangell, Alaska | Prince Rupert, British Columbia Then from Vancouver round trip there are two both state Anchorage First one is May 5, 2024 on the Nieuw Amsterdam Ports of Call Vancouver, British Columbia | Kodiak, Alaska | Anchorage, Alaska | Homer, Alaska | Valdez, Alaska | Juneau, Alaska | Skagway, Alaska | Wrangell, Alaska | Ketchikan, Alaska Second One is September 15, 2024 on the Noordam Ports of Call Vancouver, British Columbia | Kodiak, Alaska | Anchorage, Alaska | Homer, Alaska | Valdez, Alaska | Skagway, Alaska | Sitka, Alaska | Ketchikan, Alaska | Prince Rupert, British Columbia

I have been so disappointed my last several times in Tamarind, definitely a lot has to do with taking away many of the very good items on the menu but in July I just thought the quality had fallen as well. For many years I was never impressed with Canaletto but tried it again on our Rotterdam cruise and can say I was actually impressed as was my husband who previously hated Canaletto. We actually felt it was better than Pinnacle which has been declining for the past 7 years. Our next cruise Westerdam in September does not have a Tamarind and actually it does not bother me either way. Sadly I have never had a good experience with Sel de Mer and I love seafood so will not miss that either. We are returning to a Pinnacle class the Nieuw Statendam in December unknown if we will even bother with Sel De Mer, probably not. Planning to dine in Tamaind and Canaletto.

I agree with several here, the best ships were and still are the Vista Class ships with a slight nod to the Signature Class. In my opinion they ruined the staterooms including Suites with the Pinnacle Class, while they added more venues they cheapened the entertainment.