hhoope01

Today is our departure day on our 11-night Adriatic Dream cruise.  They let us sign for the drinks in the Neptune lounge and they are charged against our HIA package.  No extra payment required.

The first cruise my wife and I ever took (along with the kids) was out of Galveston.  We live in North Texas about 6.5 hrs away.  We decided to drive down the day before, get a hotel room, have a nice dinner.   During dinner that evening (after the 6.5 hr drive) I realized I forgot our passports.  So my son and I jumped in the car and drove 6.5 hrs back home to get them.  Turned around and drove 6.5 hrs back to Galveston (i.e. almost 20 hrs. on the road).  We made it back the next morning with a couple of hours to spare.   😵‍💫

 

The moral of this story is, yes, never forget your passports (and I haven't since.)  But just as important, building in a day or 2 buffer can be a life-saver should anything "unplanned" happen.  I'd rather be in a different city with and extra day or 2 trying to figure out what to do until we board than risk missing our cruise ship.

For our Vancouver to Seward cruise, we flew into SEA and spent the night.  The next day we took the train to Vancouver and spent another night there before boarding.  We made the extra "hop" a part of the experience as the train had some great views especially of eagles.

 

Also, when dealing with airlines, I try hard (even though sometimes its more expensive) to get direct flights.  As a 2 hr delay on a direct flight is annoying, but nothing major.  But that same 2 hr delay to a connection could cause a day or more wait due to missing that connection.  I know that sometimes you have no choice, but minimizing those connections can really lower the risk level.  🙂

 

And finally, arriving a couple of days early can be very helpful in getting over jet-lag.  We have a cruise out of Rome coming up (traveling from the US) which means there is a 7 hr time difference.  If possible, I'd rather be well on my way to getting over jet-lag before the cruise starts.

Also note that just because there are specific rooms available doesn't mean they have lots of available inventory for sales.  A number of people could have "Guarantee" types of rooms. That means they have a room, but no room number yet.  They could be trying to eke out a little more revenue by trying to get others to purchase "upgrades" instead of putting a "guarantee" customer in that room.  If they can do that, the "guarantee" only gets the lower level room, you get the paid upgrade, Holland gets more money.

I had the same issue where I could add it on my app, but not on the website.  So I added it to my cart in the app.  Then logged into the website and I could now see it in my cart from the website. 

While I'm sure there are many more sites to look over, this might be helpful:  https://kessiworld.com/train-from-seattle-to-vancouver/ 

When we did this (about 5 years ago now), we flew into Seattle and took the train to Vancouver.  It was a beautiful ride.  We saw lots of nature, especially eagles.  The train ride itself was one of the highlights of our whole trip.

On 6/1/2023 at 2:37 PM, washiotter said:

Urgent: we leave Monday and I realized that I have no idea. Do you pronounce it LIE-doh or LEE-doh?

 

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

 My biggest challenge will be driving on the left hand side of the roads from the right side of the car, totally opposite from the US.

Just make sure to get a manual transmission vehicle.  😜  We did that once when staying in London and decided to rent a car to head out to Stonehenge.  

I usually use Chrome.  So I tried on my laptop using Edge and still had the same issue.  But after your comment, I tried from my phone and it worked.  Thanks for the information.  👍

I booked one of the "Free inside stateroom" offers Holland keeps sending us though I did upgrade to a NS (for a very reasonable charge.)  When I first made the reservation, I noticed the HIA package was available, but now that it is made and paid for, I also have the "HIA package not eligible" message.  

 

So I'd guess it has to do with the base rate for our reservation (which for me was free except for taxes/fees/gratuities plus the upgrade charge.)

Have you looked into paying for Club Orange for your daughter and her family?  If that is within the budget, that should solve most of your concerns (except Neptune Lounge won't come with it.)  

 

I'm new to Holland America (and cruising in general), but if you haven't fully paid for the rooms, maybe you could downgrade their room, then purchase Club Orange to get the upgrade back to the VA balcony.  Pricewise it might end up being about the same either way, except your whole family gets the Club Orange benefits.   

We have been getting the "free" inside stateroom offers every couple of months for over a year now.  We finally bit on an 11-night Mediterranean cruise. I was surprised they let me upgrade to a NS for a very discounted rate.  I've only been on a Holland America cruise once before and we didn't spend any money at the casino.  But we did purchase an NS for our Alaska cruise.  Maybe that has something to do with getting on their mailing list.  I just hope they don't stop sending them to me now that I've bit on one of them.  😜

 

The room category for each level is the "guarantee" room, but I'd guess if you then purchased Club Orange you ensure you get the best category room in that level (except for NS as I can't purchase Club Orange with my NS).  

Thanks for your thoughts on it.  I guess all I can do is wait to see what they end up doing.  

 

Hopefully we will have an opportunity to say hi while on the cruise.  👍

We've only been on a few cruises (and one Holland cruise about 5 years ago.)  We got a very nice price offer for the upcoming 11-night Adriatic cruise in October/November.  I decided to purchase the Thermal Suite package for $149.  In looking around on the CC boards, I noticed that it looks like this cruise at one point in the past was selling as a 7-night cruise, cancelled and then put back as an 11-night cruise.  I then went back to the Thermal Suite package I purchased and it says it is a 7 day cruise pass.

 

So does that mean I will only be able to use the Thermal pass for 7 days in total and I get to pick them or do they pick the days?  How does that work?  Or did they just forget to update and I'll get some type of email from them cancelling my purchase and telling me that I have to repurchase at a higher price?

 

Thanks.

I pre-purchased a Thermal Package for my Alaska cruise on the Noordam departing June 3rd. I was charged $250. I have heard that when pre-purchasing as I have, Holland may actually charge me more, but that I can get the on-board signup difference credited to my OBC.

 

So I agree with the previous poster, it doesn't look like they gave you any discount.

BTW, I just tried looking for the suite perks on the HAL website, and can't find them. Don't know if they moved them or don't show the complete list anymore.

Is this what you are looking for: Holland Suites and Staterooms

Not to hijack this thread from the OP too much. :) But we've never been to Vancouver either and will be staying a night at the Westin Bayshore (no car). What are some good restaurant options within walking distance?

So it sounds like the below list are the differences:

 

• Larger room
  
• Larger balcony (especially the aft wrap-arounds)
  
• Bose® Bluetooth-enabled Soundlink
  
• Complimentary mimosas with in-suite breakfast
  
• Pinnacle Grill Breakfasts
  
• In-suite coffee and espresso machine
  
• Neptune Lounge
  
• Neptune Concierges
  
• Priority Boarding
  
• Complementary Laundry
  

 

Whether the above benefits are worth the price difference between the cabin types is a personal decision.

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They don't "honor" Carnival's program, but if you've never cruised with HAL but have with Carnival, you can get HAL to "register" your HAL Mariner account. I don't think that gets you much, but if they are limiting the Mariner's embarkation lunch to Mariner members, then you could get in to the lunch.

(bold is mine) I'm sure Cunard does this. I think the little "As this voyage is fully booked, cabin changes are not possible" sign has been discretely set out at the front desk on every cruise I've taken in recent years, both Cunard and HAL. Think how long the lines would be if people thought they could upgrade on board.

Just thinking out-loud a bit, if there were possible upgrades available and a cruise line leaves them empty as opposed to letting people (for cash/money) upgrade, wouldn't that be leaving revenue on the table? I'd guess if there really were some upgrades possible, they'd be more than willing to let someone get an upgrade (for the right price of course.)

Can you purchase a cruise pass to the thermal suite from the concierges in the Neptune lounge? Or is going to the Spa the only option?

DW and I are going for our first aft suite next summer on a northbound Alaska trip. We chose it for the 270 degree views we can get from the balcony and the partially "elements" protected part of the balcony. For Alaska it made sense especially given my understanding is that with an inside passage, most of the trip will normally have very calm waters. In the open Pacific around Hawaii, the chances of being affected by rough seas is much higher and I doubt my DW would go for it. :eek:

You might want to check Noordam's 2018 schedule as I think they have now filled the early May 2018 slots (where they would have sent it to dry dock) with other sailings. So I'm guessing HAL may have changed their minds on when it will be updated.

 

I'm a bit disappointed as I also thought it was going to be refurbished in May 2018 and scheduled our first HAL cruise on the Noordam June 3rd Alaska trip. Of course that wasn't the only reason we chose that particular cruise schedule and HAL, so I'm still optimistic we will have a wonderful Alaska trip. :)

To Krazy Kruizers (and I guess the OP).

 

With a post count over 100,000 I am amazed at the misinformation in your post.

For #1, I'm new to this board and to Holland, but I'm guessing Krazy Kruizers probably made an "assumption" around the type of drink package the OP received (i.e. Signature package). But yes, it would have been more accurate to state that assumption. Since I'm new though, I can't say what the most likely drink package a TA might offer, but I can say the one cruise I've booked with Holland did come with the Explorer package which included the Signature package. So that may be the most likely package offered (but yes, it would have been a bit better to state that upfront.)

 

For your 2nd point, I'm a bit confused. Exactly what point are you disagreeing with? I read Krazy's response as most any "glass" drink is included. Are you saying the Signature Package doesn't allow one to purchase "alcohol drinks, sodas, bottled water, coffee, etc.? Or are you saying that it does include bottles of wine? Or are you saying not mentioning the $9/drink limit was wrong?

 

Since I have the Signature package with my upcoming cruise, I'm definitely interested in what is and is not included.

 

Thanks.