Schooner-ca

Did a b2b on the Zuiderdam through the holidays. Happy hour started off at 30% after a few days it went to 50%. The important thing I noticed was that all drinks are measured.  No more free pours. 

We came off the Zuiderdam in Fort Lauderdale 10 days ago. Needed a PCR test to get back into 🇨🇦  They did not send out our test results. After many calls from the HAL rep at the airport we got our results with 10 minutes to spare before the gate closed. The testing at Fort Lauderdale and San Diego are completely unprofessional. Our plan in Fort Lauderdale was to use a 3 rd party if we got a positive test.

We are currently on Zuiderdam and have been since December 22. I would agree that the flight down from YVR to FLL was stressful. We are about to disembark in Fort Lauderdale. Travelling back to Vancouver through Montreal on Air Canada. I’m not too concerned about this trip home as we are flying widebody service back to Canada. We have also chosen seats and are much more relaxed than we were when we flew down. 

Did you happen to see Dons Family Vacation on YouTube a couple days ago? He was departing from Princess in Fort Lauderdale. His testing process was not very good? Multiple people had false positive due to poor testing practices. Was this your experience? 
 

we have to go through the process on January 16 in Fort Lauderdale. A bit of a worry getting home to Canada. 

I am not sure what the problem is? Boarding doesn’t start until 1:00. 40 minutes seem a short wait. I am trying to be polite but really?

These were passed on to me last week. If you don’t have a discount bring your own wine on board and pay corkage. Believe me it will be cheaper. 

Wine-List-2021.pdf Wine-List-2021.pdf

Anyone traveling on HAL now.
Can you advise if you brought your own masks or is the ship providing them?

Many Thanks

Thank you for this very kind review. Getting on board the Zudderdam Dec 22 for 24 days. We are **** star and the wine packages are reasonable. 
 

Many Thanks 
 

Hello HAL cruisers

Does anyone have or know where I can find the current wine packages?

We are boarding the Zutterdam  Dec 22 getting off in Fort Lauderdale Jan 16. 
 

looking forward to our cruise

regards 

We’re masks 😷 provided by the ship?

We tip our cabin staff on day one. That way we get the benefits of the tip rather than being lumped in with everyone else. This have proven to be a great move. 

On a three ship day get there as early as possible. There have been delays getting through customs. Please be patient. It will make the process more comfortable. 

The wifi question was covered.  

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

No problem Tim. We did some research and now have a RavPower File Hub Plus on order from Amazon. Thanks again for all your help and happy sailing!!

We are boarding the Maasdam In October for 47 days. I had never heard of this device before. Always a pain with only one internet connection. I also purchase one myself.   Thanks

We took a 42 day cruise Vancouver to Auckland last September. We boarded with 24 bottles of wine. We payed corkage on 22 bottles. 2 bottles are allowed but must be consumed in your stateroom We were able to consume the 22 bottles anywhere on the ship. The dinning room stored the unconsumed wine and served it to us the next night. This is not a problem. Just declare your wine after you clear security. Your bottles will be marked to show corkage was paid. We saved a ton of money. Ps we bought another case in Honolulu.  Same process. 

My take on a 7 day cruise is bring your own wine and pay corkage. If you get on a cruise of over 2 weeks don’t pass on the cellar master dinner it’s a must. Have done 3 and each one was outstanding. 

We are on this cruise on BTB. Yes the ship docks a White Bay. We are staying at the Russel before we board in October. It is at the Rocks which across from the Opera House. Very Very convenient  The hotel is very cool Very old Australian Hotel. Breakfast is included. Warning Sydney can be expensive. We are coming in 4 days early. If you want something more American there are tons of options in the area. 

Like anything you must know what it will cost to fly independently. Our experience has been that the airfare through the cruise ship company has been the same or much better. The thing to remember is that if you book your air through HAL and you have a problem like missing your cruise it’s HAL’s problem. They do a great job. We have booked our air through them on our last 8 cruises.  

Victoria is not a town it is a city. If you book your transfer though HAL be prepared to pay big $$$$. Transportation and hotels at all prices are available and simple 

It’s easy to put a wine list together at these prices anyone can recommend a $100 bottle. It a challenge to put together 25 or 30 wines at $30 to $35 dollars. 

If this is the direction I will board with a case of two of shore bought wine. 

Westerdam, Noordam and Eurodam they are done on deck. 

Yes usually it’s every 30 days. HAL has a very quick and easy lifeboat drill. No life vests only attend your assigned station and tap in. Watch a demonstration and a short lecture. 15 minutes all done. Lifeboat drills where required are mandatory before the ship can sail. 

Yes Seattle to Vancouver is about 5 hours by bus, 20 minutes by plane. The question you have to ask is “Are you prepared to miss the ship?”

if if you are then go for it. We live in Vancouver and I would not recommend it unless you are coming up in a private vehicle and plan to arrive at the pier at noon. 

Good luck and and enjoy your cruise. 

Hello

Seriously considering a cruise that will have a couple of stops in Papua New Guinea. Does any have and information on visas.

We are seeing that as we are in-transit the ship looks after this, We are reaching out to the cruise line.

Second question  PNG is the reason we are taking this cruise segment. What was your impression. 

We like snorkeling and going to the local markets and bars.

We are not hard to please.

Many Thanks 

I spent 38 days on the Noordam in October/November. I did the same trip in 2017. In 2017 you bought minutes and could have multiple devises on the same account at the same time. 2018 you buy internet packages that are clearly explained on the ships web site. I found the overall cost to be lower on our last trip. The overall performance was much better. I was able to face time with our grand daughter any time I wanted. The one issue is that under the new program you can only have one devise on the system at any given time. I never ran out data. I did have some issues with band width on my banks wed site and my security cameras.

Social medial I was always able to up load pictures. When off the ship I was always able to find free hot spots. I would not recommend using these for any financial transaction.  

I am off on the Eurodam in a few weeks to Mexico. My experiences in Mexico any shore based top spots are very slow. I will be getting a ship internet package.

I called Sept 25 and asked if I could pre order a internet package for the Noordam. The agent said that packages by the minute were no longer available. All internet packages were only sold on board the ship.

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