kurtmi03

We've bought a few wine packages while still docked in FLL and never paid any tax. This may have something to do with the tickets being handwritten and by the time they are entered into the computer you are well past any mileage limit.

I've always called 1-206-626-7381 for upsells as late as the night before embarkation.

23 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Slightly off topic but HIA related. Been trying unsuccessfully to add HIA to a "free" casino rate booking that we added Club Orange to.

Multiple calls to HAL: A couple different people said it wasn't available so they couldn't do it. Two tried to add it but after putting me on hold to get Supervisor assistance, I was told they couldn't add it because it's not combinable w/the free casino rate.

Any insights from those who've overcome this issue is appreciated. 

Thanks!!

I had the same problem on our April Eurodam cruise. Some people here suggested trying a different browser but that never worked for me. YMMV. When I took an upsell, I was able to buy the HIA on the website. On that cruise I ordered a milkshake and had to sign for it, but was never charged so I just assumed it was part of the HIA.

We hadn't cruised since pre-covid and decided to book a 10 day cruise over Christmas 2022. We booked in November and paid in full. I then went on CC and thought we had made a huge mistake reading all of the terrible posts. Since we were only a month away it was too late to cancel. We went on the Volendam and had a great time. The service was outstanding, food was good, and there was enough entertainment to keep us occupied. The only difference we noticed were food portions were a little smaller. We both agreed this was a good thing because I always clean my plate and eat too much and my wife was happy because there would be less waste overall. We came home and booked a 20 day Eurodam cruise which we just returned from 2 weeks ago. This cruise was also excellent. On neither cruise did we order anything that they were out of. Food and service were outstanding on both. The entertainment on both was good, but better on the Eurodam due to BB King's lounge. We have 2 more cruises booked on HAL and are looking forward to them. As far as HAL being expensive, I don't see it. I travel quite a bit for work and hotel room rates are outrageous with less service and amenities, and food prices in restaurants are also outrageous with an understaffed and inefficient workforce. For room, food, and service I believe HAL is a great value.   

12 hours ago, zodiac1 said:

I just booked a casino rate and when I tried to book the Have It All through the Manage My Booking site, it said HIA was not available for my reservation.  I seem to recall reading recently that HIA was now available with Casino Rates.  Anyone know the answer?

 

Same thing happened to us. I called HAL and spoke to someone who said I would have to refair at a much higher rate in order to get HIA. I asked to speak to a supervisor and supposedly did who told me the same thing. Months later I took an upsell and went online and was able to purchase HIA.

3 hours ago, purrlinda said:

Can you explain the hydro pool for me?  Is this in the spa area?  I would be interested in knowing the pricing on it if you have it.  Thank you!

I purchased it prior to the cruise online for $299 for 14 days. We were on a 20 day cruise so I stopped in the spa on the first day and they told me it was $336 for the 20 days. They credited me on the spot for $299 and told me they would charge me the $336, so I guess the price per day goes down per day on longer cruises. I just chescked for our 10 day cruise in December and it's $196. The hydro pool is basically a large hot tub with stronger jet and many more bubbles. You can also use the steam rooms and thermal loungers. Here is how HAL describes it:

Thermal Suite 10 Day Cruise Pass

OVERVIEW

An immersive thermal experience. Unwind in an oasis of heated chambers, featuring warm and cool temperatures to cleanse and recharge the body. Elements of mist, rain, steam and warmth are designed to promote deep relaxation and renewal of vital energies. Pass valid for the entire duration of cruise. Heated Loungers, Hydrotherapy Pool, available on select vessels.

11 hours ago, REOVA said:

Thanks for the report. Can't wait to get on Eurodam in the Fall. Did you both have to quarantine? Is HAL still giving FCC for quarantine days? 

I was the only one who had to quarantine. DW had the run of the ship but always wore a mask unless drinking. Yes there is supposed to be FCC for quarantine days but since we were on a casino rate for the cruise it would be a very small amount. If I get it great, but if not I'm not pursuing it.

13 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

How did you like the SS?  Ever been in one before?  Thanks.

The SS was nice. We have had them before. The couch is comfortable but you can't see the TV. I sat in the desk chair, which was comfortable, to watch TV, and DW sat in the makeup mirror chair, which was also comfortable.The balcony also had more room. It was definitely nice having a little more room and the bigger balcony for quarantine.

Thankfully it was not a bad case of covid and I felt fine when the cruise ended.

Here is a short review of the Eurodam sailing, April 9^th – April 29^th, from Ft Lauderdale to Seattle. We booked this cruise since my wife was invited to the slot tournament in the casino. We booked an OV guarantee with a casino rate. I bought Club Orange so we could pick our cabin and got a midship cabin on the main deck. Since we had no balcony, we also rented a Retreat Cabana. Prior to boarding I also purchased Hydro Pool access, but it would only let me book it for 14 days not the entire trip. I figured I could take care of that once we boarded. About 2 weeks prior to boarding, we received an upsell email for SS and NS. It was more than I wanted to spend but I called to see what was available. Maybe an aft wrap that would tempt me. All NS and SS were gone but we could have a veranda for $499 pp. I took it so we would have a balcony and the Retreat. 3 days before we sailed, we received an email that we were now in a SS. Most excellent!

We flew into FLL 2 days early and stayed at the Embassy Suites. Not a new hotel, but in pretty good shape. We had 2 days of good weather there before heading to the ship. We left the hotel at 10:45 via Uber and were through check in and in our stateroom by 11:30. They have in down at the port in FLL.

We hadn’t been on the Eurodam in several years, so we went to lunch and then wandered the ship getting reacquainted with where things were. We bought a wine package for DW which we requested be delivered to our cabin and the barman who sold it to us told us he would deliver it later in the day. We had it by 5:00. We always loved the Crows Nest so we took a walk up there. One and done at that bar. TV screens blocking some of the view and fewer seats at the bar so they can sell more coffee. Definitely a no go for us. We checked out our cabana and then headed down to the Ocean Bar for a drink. We headed back and our bags had arrived, so we unpacked and our cabin steward brought us a wine bucket filled with ice for the wine and we were set.

We had dinner in the Canaletto the first night as the MDR is sometimes a zoo on the first night. Dinner and service were excellent. On this 20 day cruise we ate in the Canaletto 3 times, the Pinnacle Grill 3 times and the Tamarind once. They were all excellent as to food and service. The rest of our dinners were in the MDR or room service. These were also excellent and never took more than an hour. When DW would order a glass of wine in the MDR it always came quickly.

I don’t have much to say as to the ports we stopped at as we only planned on getting off in Victoria and Vancouver. The others we have been to or didn’t see anything we needed to do. On previous trips through the Panama Canal, I rushed around trying to take pictures from many vantage points and really missed the actual wonder of the canal. On this trip I took no pictures and just enjoyed watching as we went through. I started off on our balcony as we started through the locks and watched much of it from the cabana. The highlight had to be when we passed the Zaandam coming the opposite way in the canal. Horns were blaring, and people were waving at each other for a good 5 minutes.

My days on this cruise were very similar. I’m always up early and this was no different. I was usually awake between 5 and 5:30 and would go down and walk on deck 3 then up to the Lido, usually before they were open, to check email and surf the web. Had breakfast when they opened and took some coffee back to DW and waited for her breakfast to be delivered. Normally about 8:00 or 9:00 I would hit the Hydro pool, then head up to the cabana. DW and I would have lunch there and usually read for much of the afternoon. Some days there was no breeze and it got quite hot. Then it was drinks in the Pinnacle Bar and then dinner. After dinner we would usually go to BB King’s and listen to the fantastic band.

That was our routine for the first 13 days of the cruise. About day 4 of the cruise the Captain on his noon address mentioned there was a small number of covid cases on the ship and he kept us updated daily on the number of positive cases. We pretty much kept to ourselves, except when DW was in the casino, so we didn’t worry a great deal about it. Day 13 started with a runny nose and day 14 was a little worse. Day 15 we were supposed to meet friends in San Diego but I felt worse and called and told them we couldn’t make it because I was sick. I self tested and was positive for covid. I called medical and they told me not to leave the room which I wasn’t planning on. Medical called everyday to check on me and there were menus placed in our mailbox in the evening for the next day. If there was something I wanted that was not on the menu but was being served in the MDR I would just write it on the menu, and they would bring it. They always delivered on time or a little early. They really treated me well in quarantine. Two of my quarantine days were sea days were it was cool, overcast, and windy so I probably would have been reading somewhere. Now it just happened to be my cabin. Thanks, HAL, for the upgrade to the SS. I did miss Victoria which was too bad, but that’s the way it goes. I was released from quarantine on the morning of day 19. We were in Vancouver but just stayed on the ship. My wife never tested positive.

The bad. We only had two problems on this cruise besides covid. When we boarded and received our keys, they had the blue stripe. We were unaware that we should have had an orange stripe since we were in Club Orange. When we asked at dinner on the second night why we didn’t get Club Orange menus, we were told they didn’t know we were in Club Orange and should have had the orange stripe. A trip to guest services solved that and we received our orange striped keys. Club Orange menus from there on. Our other problem was charge from the spa. My wife had her nails done on about day 6 and was charged accordingly. On day 15 there was a charge for $113 for the spa for my wife. She went to guest services and there was a miscommunication between my wife and the women who did her nails. The person who did her nails tried to sell her so creams or lotions. My wife said she’d think about it as the items wouldn’t be there until we were in San Diego. That was the charge. My wife said she didn’t want them, and the charge was removed. I was also not happy with the redesigned Crows Nest. The TV screens blocking some views and the bar practically turned into a coffee shop was a real turn off.

The good. The cabin was great and kept sparkling clean by our 2 cabin stewards. The food on the ship was tasty, hot, and menus varied so you weren’t eating the same thing for 20 days. Our waiters were excellent and after the first night eating in the MDR they kept my water full and made sure we always had enough butter. The bartenders and bar staff were outstanding. When we would walk up to the Pinnacle bar Leo would be pouring my wife’s wine and ask what I wanted since I didn’t always have the same thing. We didn’t go to any shows on the Main Stage but did attend BB King’s nightly for two or all three sets. They were outstanding. The singers had great voices and the band played great together. They usually played until 11:15 or 11:45. After that there was sometimes a DJ afterwards. I don’t know how late that went as I was always in bed by midnight. They definitely didn’t roll up the sidewalks at 10:00 on this voyage. The laundry was good. Everything we sent out was back within 24 hours and sometimes the same day. I could go on and on about how great the service was on this voyage. I think that’s what HAL does best besides unique itineraries. Every worker you encounter has a smile and a kind word. Anything you ask for is done as fast as possible. We never wanted for anything on this cruise and never ran into any items they were out of.

All in all, it was a wonderful cruise even though I was down with covid for a bit. We have 2 more cruises booked with HAL. I checked and this was my 16^th cruise with HAL and will keep going unless we have a bad experience. I’ve read on other threads about overcharging, and yes it happens as it did to us. It was taken care of promptly. Someone else wrote that they bet all accounting errors were in HAL’s favor. I can tell you this is false. There were 3 things that never showed up on our statement, so not all accounting errors are in HAL’s favor.

If anyone has any questions, I will try to answer them.

We just returned from a 20 day Eurodam cruise. About 2 weeks prior to the cruise we received an upsell offer to go from our OV to a SS for $1899 pp or a NS for $3899 pp. I didn't want to spend that much and was only hoping for a veranda but called anyway. They had no SS or NS left but had a veranda for $499 pp. I took that immediately. 3 days before the cruise we received an update to our booking. We thought a port or time changed, but when we read through it we found we had been upgraded to a wonderful SS.

Used a cab, with a meter, from FLL to the Embassy Suites on April 7th. $17.15 so it could as cheap as $15 or as much as $25 depending on traffic. Ours are usually between $15 and $20. 

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Evening fans ( all 1 or 2).  This will be a basic blog about our day in Kanazawa.  We docked around 7 and were awakened by the usual HAL announcements.  It was a cloudy, cool, quiet Sunday morning and we went to the Lido, about 8, for breakfast.  I got eggs, made to order, since most pre made options are not hot.  After breakfast, we went to the Crows nest for our usual cappuccino and to relax with some reading.  At 9:30, we decided to head off the ship.  Inside the cruise terminal,we asked about taking the local bus into town (about $3.00 round trip) but since it was Sunday it only ran once an hour.  So we opted for the HAL bargain $25 round trip shuttle to the local station.  At the station we took the local Loop Bus ($1.70 or about $4.50 for the entire day) over to the popular Kenrokuen Gardens.  Admission to the gardens (one of the best in Japan) was free for we seniors.  
 

After spending more than an hour in the gardens (and seeing HAL tour groups that paid hundreds to be at the same place) we walked over to the nearby Castle Park to do some exterior explorations.  We have had enough of climbing castle steps so did not go inside.  We then walked about 15 minutes to the local Omicho Market (also on some HAL excursions) where we browsed for about a half hour.  We then continued walking through the city, browsing some shopping areas, until we returned to the station.  All that walking was about 3 1/2 miles.  We decided not to spend more time in the city, and caught a shuttle back to the ship.  A very enjoyable morning when we duplicated a HAL Excursion that would have cost the two of us $210.00.  Our DIY cost was about $58 because we used the HAL shuttle.  If we had waited for the local bus our cost would have been about $8.

 

Since we are leaving Japan (to cruise over to Busan, Korea), everyone had to clear Japanese Immigration (required when entering or leaving Japan).  This was done in the cruise terminal and took us about 5 min. The Japanese procedures are a pain, but their authorities have, so far, assigned enough folks to expedite the procedures.

 

Tonight, DW and I stopped at the Ocean Bar at, chatted with a few friends and listened to the easy listening trio, and finally headed to the MDR around 7:30.  There was actually a queue of 4 folks (the longest line we have had for any dinner) and we were quickly seated at a table of 4 with another American couple.  Dinner was enjoyable, and we finally went on our way about 9:30.  The show was the same Filipino Violinist that has already performed 3 times on our cruise, so we did not attend.  
 

So let me explain about this ship at 9:30.  There were 100-150 in the main show.  Rolling Stone Lounge was closed tonight.  Lincoln Center Stage is always dark because there is no group onboard the ship.  The new easy listening trio was in the ocean bar playing to about 20 folks.  We went to Billboard to listen to the two piano players/singers (who quit at 10:45).  The adjacent casino (at 9:30) had zero clients and about 10 employees.  Not even a single slot player.  At 10:20, when the violin show let out, about 8 stopped at the casino, and 10-15 joined us in Billboard.  At 10:45, all the entertainment was over,  We stopped at the late night Gallery Bar where there were exactly 2 patrons,

 

DW’s reaction to this lively ship was, “we are not booking anymore HAL cruises.”  I have said this before, everything on this cruise is OK.   But we can do much better than OK on some other lines.  Perhaps we are being a bit harsh, but there are probably more lively nursing homes than this ship.  For us, the saving grace has been the excellent Rolling Stone Lounge Band, but they do get some nights off :(.

 

For long time HAL fans I will toss out a few things.  There are no  deck parties, no more special brunches in the MDR, no more cooking lessons, no dance classes, no Indonesian crew show, no Filipino crew show,etc.  One passenger told, us the highlight was being able to toss beanbags at the indoor pool,  No more ice carvings, fruit carving demos, etc.  HAL,does go through the motions, but something is missing from the line.  The crew knows it, and many passengers also seem to know it.  We still see some of the old HAL,with the terrific bar tenders, cabin stewards, and a few others.  Perhaps that is enough for some.

 

Hank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess it depends on the ship. We’re on the Eurodam now and there is a Sunday brunch this morning. There is also entertainment which lasts past 11:00 and bars that are open to at least midnight. I can’t comment on after midnight as that’s my bedtime. 

Sailed from FLL on April 9th on the Eurodam and was asked if we were vaccinated. We said yes and she told us to keep moving. Didn’t have to fill out a health questionnaire. 

Eurodam finally on the move. 

NA is moving with the aid of a tug. 

Looks like Nieuw Amsterdam is next. 

Have sailed the Zaandam twice, Alaska and South America/Antarctica. The Drake passage was rough with winds sustained 50 gusting to 90 knots with accompanying rough seas. A little rocky but you’re on a cruise. There is the walking deck around the whole ship and there are chairs to sit in out there. 
 

We were on the Volendam, sister ship to Zaandam, last December and there were gluten free options, however I didn’t pay much attention as neither of us are GF. I can tell you that the food was good. We didn’t attend any shows but did enjoy the piano player and the band in the Ocean bar. I wrote a brief summary of our cruise on here so you can see the good and bad of that cruise. We have 3 more cruises booked on HAL so it was mostly good. 

We were on the Volendam in December and we were comfortable. I can't speak to your husbands height as I'm only 6'1, but the beds are normal length. I can speak to seating as I'm definitely wide at about 360 lbs. I was comfortable in chairs in the Lido and MDR. I didn't ask for one but there are chairs without arms in the MDR. In the showroom there are some bench seats so there are no arms. Same in the Pinacle. I always sat on the booth side of the table (no arms).  I hope this helps ease your mind a little.

7048 had air conditioning that did not work. We were moved to 6206 and the air worked great.

We were on the Volendam for the Christmas cruise last month. It's an older ship, but still in good shape. I posted about our trip when we got back. The first night at dinner service was slow but after that it was great. The air conditioning in our cabin wasn't working but we were moved to a different cabin and all was well. The service was excellent as always. Overall we enjoyed it and are booked on 3 more HAL cruises.

14 hours ago, dcsam said:

Interesting. Thank you. 

 After reading the above post about Celebrity, I checked out the Solstice (they do Alaska RT out of Seattle) deck plan.  That's all it took for me not to consider a cruise aboard.  It looks crowded.  Very crowded.  

As far as the Volendam Neptune suites: they're huge and the balcony is big too.  That's important for us.  But I'm realizing service and food, certainly would not be something we'd get.  It's too bad. 

We're debating between three different ships for Alaska:  Seabourn Odyssey (~3x more $ than Neptune Suite) and Oceania Regatta (Penthouse - ~same as Seabourn).  Decisions, decisions.  Since we can drive to either Seattle or Vancouver, we might wait a few months to see if any of the cruises go down in cost.  Right now, I can't justifiy Seabourn or Oceania, and it's a 'possible' for the Volendam.

We cruised on the Volendam last month over Christmas and wouldn't hesitate to book again. Service in the bars and lounges was excellent. The only blemishes were in room air conditioning, 90 minute dinner the first night in the MDR, and an overdone burger in the Pinacle at lunch. After the first night service in MDR was much quicker usually under 45 minutes. We had fixed late seating. Can't speak to the Neptune Lounge as we had a Vista Suite.

You can have one at a time. You can use both but both can't be connected to the internet at the same time.

We're going to be on the Eurodam in April and I was wondering if there are electrical outlets next to the bed or just USB ports?

I have been in 7001, 7003, and 7007 on the Zandam and never had a problem with noise. The Neptune is still a short walk.