Jacaluke

On 2/14/2021 at 7:29 PM, Mike B Landlubber said:

I’m excited about the ship, I just signed up today for the eleven day cruise from Perth to Sydney this December. A little of a gamble, but I am looking forward to it! 🙂

We are on the same cruise, do you think it will go ahead?

We are booked on a HAL Australia circumnavigation cruise in December 2021 - we are on the southern segment of the cruise, leaving from Perth and docking in Sydney Dec 22.  After this it heads to NZ.  Although this cruise doesn't enter international waters, is it still unlikely to go ahead due to the ship having to travel here from another country?  Also a lot of the travellers booked on the cruise are from the US.  I'm not very hopeful of it going ahead.

We board our cruise on the Maasdam today and I have another question in relation to the bottle of wine we are allowed to take on board - my son is 19 years old and over the legal drinking age in Australia - is he able to take a bottle of wine on-board?  I know HAL operates under the American system where the legal age is 21 - just curious if this rule still applies in Australia?  Many thanks.

Can anybody recommend any good tour company's in Port Vila?  We are looking at a day trip to see the main sights - Cascades/Blue Lagoon/Swimming with Turtles - but are looking for a reputable tour company - thanks.

Does anybody know if the Lanai cabins on the Maasdam have fridges in them?

Another question re the bottle of wine we are allowed to bring on board - are there fridges in the cabin to chill the wine as I'm thinking of bringing a bottle of champagne?  We are sailing on the Maasdam - many thanks.

Thanks for your help everybody - I telephoned the 1300 number of HAL in Sydney but unfortunately the cruise is fully booked.  They advised me to ask at check-in if there had been any last minute cancellations which she said happens quite often.  She did say though that she had not heard any complaints about cabin 370 so maybe it will be OK 🙂

There are no other cabins available in the category we booked in.  We sail in 3 days - I'm hoping that if it's too noisey HAL might be able to move us if there is another cabin available in another category.

Thank-you so much!!  I was worried it was the 'Conditioning Shampoo' which I've had on other cruise lines.

Do HAL supply separate shampoo and conditioner?  We are sailing on the Maasdam in a few days - thank-you.

What's the chances of being able to change your cabin if it's under the galley?  We are in 370 and I think it's under the galley - we didn't realise when we booked it!!  

On 10/12/2019 at 8:42 AM, oaktreerb said:

Call HAL to ask for a different stateroom but have in mind what you would accept.  Or if you booked with a TA you will have to explain the situation to the TA and have them act on your behalf.    On the other hand if you said you would accept an upgrade you could be upgraded but more likely HAL would try to upsell you to a verandah.  What did you pay for the lanai?  maybe veranda cabin asking prices have gone down to a lanai rate?

It never hurts to ask.  

 

We got the lanai cabin on a cheap rate - it was actually cheaper than the OV cabins at the time.

On 11/1/2016 at 5:37 AM, oaktreerb said:

We had a lanai room on the Veendam for the Mexican Riviera #365. I like being on the promenade deck and really enjoyed the view and the deck chair outside our sliding doors. You will not have a cooler and there is not much room to add one.

 

The lanai is an upgrade to the ocean views on the promenade. The ocean views on lower decks are larger but don't have the easy access to the promenade, the views, or the deck chairs.

 

Be sure to choose a lanai that is not under the kitchen (empty area on the deck plan). Our last cruise (Maasdam) we chose the lanai room we wanted and said we would accept an upgrade. We were upgraded to a verandah spa room. They had oversold the lanai guarantees so we got a free upgrade.

 

Google the Holland America stateroom pictures fact site for Veendam #365. The Maasdam and Veendam are very similar and there will be other stateroom info.

We have unfortunately got a lanai cabin underneath the galley on the Maasdam (CA370)!!!  We have paid in full - what would our chances be of changing it for another cabin?

On 9/12/2019 at 4:16 AM, rjhoward13 said:

We were below a galley on the Noorsdam last year and it was the worst. The ship was full so no remedy. If you can change do so. The staff was great but had no options.

Do you remember what cabin number and deck you were?

We will be docking in Auckland on Monday the 20/1/20 at 7am and our return flight to Australia leaves at 10am - just wondering if this gives us enough time to get from the port to the airport to catch our flight.  If anybody has been in this position before I would love to know how it worked out for them - thank-you.

We are sailing on the 6th of January 2020 and have got Cabin CA370 on LP Deck - has anybody stayed in this cabin?

We are on a cruise on the Maasdam in January and we have got a Lanai cabin CA370 - it is directly below the galley.  I'm just a bit worried about noise - has anybody stayed under the galley and if so how bad was the noise?  Thanks.

Vineyard View our schedule was changed and we didn't end up visiting Dominica - we visited Antigua instead - sorry I can't be of more assistance with this.

Any tips on how I would go about finding a private vendor?

We are in St Thomas on the 13th of December on the Norwegian Escape - there will be 2 cruise ships in port on this day including ours - just wondering if it's worth waiting until our arrival and then picking up a tour at the port - given that we've done our research and have a fair idea what we want to do?  There are 6 in our group.

I am considering booking the same tour - I have been in contact with Anison via email and he has suggested the River Tubing/Trafalgar Falls/Beach tour which takes 6 hrs. Just wondering whether the beach (Mero beach) is worth visiting or should I just take the River Tubing/Trafalgar Falls option. It will cost us an extra US$45 for our family to add Mero Beach to our tour - just wondering if it 's worth it.

Dominica is open for business as far as I know - we are visiting it in December and have been able to book tours through Bumpiing Tours (Levi Baron) and Antours River Rafting.

Thank-you everybody for your replies - we have decided on Cagney's, 7.30pm booking - can't wait :)

Some advice on the best way to get to Newark would be fantastic - there will be 6 of us travelling in total, youngest being 12 years old.

All Ashore is about 9:30 a.m. You have to be out of your room between 8:00-8:30, so if you are staying on the ship longer, let the porters take your bags off the ship to the baggage hall.

 

You always have the option of enjoying a NY city tour ending at the airport.

I don't think the NCL NYC tour gives the option of going to Newark Airport though - I've already checked that out.