joekerstef

OlsSalt, thank you very much for your detailed report of the new EXC In Depth program. I'm really looking forward to how this will play out on our Alaskan cruise next year and i'm very glad to hear that it's been enriching and largely without major issues thus far. Looking forward to reading more of your reports on this.

Also, if you want to see glaciers... Tracy's Arm is on the 14 day Amsterdam and I think also on the 21 day. We didn't get to do Tracy's on the 14 day (early June) due to ice, but we did go up her neighbor Endicott Arm and saw Dawes Glacier. In Juneau you can venture out to Mendenhall Glacier. Hubbard Glacier is spectacular and is on both the Amsterdam and Maasdam itineraries. And there is a fabulous (a little pricey but worth it) 27 glaciers excursion out of Anchorage which I suspect is even better than Glacier Bay. So if you choose either Maasdam or Amsterdam, you'll not see Glacier Bay but you will not lack for glacier viewing opportunities.

I have done the 14 day itinerary on Maasdam (the one Amsterdam is doing). Can't say enough good things about the itinerary or the ship. I have been on but not actually sailed on Amsterdam; she's a bit larger than Maasdam but in most ways pretty similar.

I am currently scheduled for the 5/28 21 day itinerary on Maasdam. Already love the ship and the itinerary covers most of what the 14 day does (differences between the three sailings--first run in may skips anchorage, second run that i'm on does not do Vancouver, and third run skips Victoria; I wanted the third run but was outvoted). What excited me about this trip was all of the good stuff from my first trip on the same dam ship with the addition of the EXC program educational programs and tours. We were admittedly disappointed that Eureka was dropped as my mother wanted to see a good friend who lives there, but i'm still very much looking forward to this trip.

I also like Roy's suggestion. I'd like to do something like that the next time I get to Alaska.

You really can't go wrong with the 14 day on Amsterdam (I'd take the June sailing) but I'm hoping that the 21 day will be even better and more of what I personally hope to get from an Alaskan cruise. YMMV

Here's the link to the sign i referenced before, deck 9 aft, Maasdam, June 2016.

Hello CruiserBruce

I do not understand what you mean by Can't give the link to your Roll Call, but hopefully someone will shortly.

You've given only a vague indication of the cruise you're on so someone's not likely to do the legwork for you and post the link to the roll call to which your query should be posted. Go to holland america's roll calls and search ship and date of departure (Zaandam Sept 29?). Join the roll call if you haven't already and post your query there.

On my first HAL cruise, on Maasdam, June 2016, going to Alaska, there was much to my surprise a sign on the wall in the deck 9 aft area about permitting topless sunbathing during certain designated hours. I have a photo of it somewhere. Never saw anyone partaking, rarely saw anyone using that area at all in fact, and the sign disappeared after a day or two. On my most recent HAL cruise earlier this year, also on Maasdam, doing a Panama Canal transit, there was no such sign there and far more people than normal were using that space for no female breasts exposed sunbathing. But there were a couple women who were using the sun deck (one of my other favorite hangouts) for topless sunbathing; however, whenever i saw them they were chest-down. Frankly i don't care if it's allowed on the ship or not. It's definitely no worse than some of the theoretically permissible sights i saw out at the aft pool on the last cruise, and i'm sure some of the other cruisers might have preferred not to be subjected to my fat self out there in a bathing suit either. Relax and enjoy your dam cruise.

Help Please! On the Volendamn

 

I've been reading through threads and noticed a lot of people have a lot of experience going on the Panama Canal itinerary For those that have. Please tell me what were the BEST shore excursions you would suggest. These are the ports,

 

Cartagena, Corinto, Puerto Quetzal, Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta, I have Costa Rica taken care of with other members on our ship. Just would like to hear from others who have done this itinerary before. Thank you in advance.

Cartagena -- I did the National Aviary tour, which was really nice. However, if you just want some pics of pretty birds, there are a lot of them at the free visitor center/gift shop at the port.

Punta Arenas -- we did the scarlet macaw sanctuary and a mangrove cruise. Good tour. Note that at Punta Arenas, there is a really nice vendor area once you leave the port area (along the shore off to the left). Best and most reasonably priced souvenirs of the trip. Save some time to walk through there.

Corinto was scrubbed for us and several other ships this year due to political unrest.

Puerto Quetzal -- go to Antigua. I just purchased the bus transfer and did it on my own.

Huatulco -- I did a birding tour. Not horrible but I can't recommend that.

Puerto Vallarta -- We did a general tour of the city and environs. Okay. There's a Walmart right across the street from the port (note: crossing the street is like playing Frogger, even with walk signals). There's a souvenir section there. Less useful to you as a resupply stop (we did itinerary in the opposite direction).

Enjoy your cruise!

I've embarked now at Seattle, Boston, and San Diego and I've yet to see the check your wine table. Next up is FLL though and there will definitely be a table there.

I probably won't be able to be there tomorrow but I'm looking forward to hearing updates about Maasdam's new EXC program.

I personally think the behemoth of the seas type ships are pretty ugly and they wouldn't be my first choice for a cruise. But aside from just dealing with the crowd of 3000-6000 folks on the same ship, my personal concern is what about in an emergency? Yeah, I know, there are lifeboats for everyone, the crew is well trained, that's what the lifeboat drill is for, yadda yadda. But if heaven forbid there is a real, abandon ship emergency where time is of the essence, I'm really not sure I want to depend on a crowd that large not panicking and conducting an orderly, quick evacuation where everyone does what they're supposed to and gets off the ship quickly enough. Obviously I hope nothing of the sort ever does happen and the chances of that do seem pretty remote, but I like my chances better on a HAL-sized ship than on a behemoth.

You are missing a number. Room numbers are 4 digits with the fist one being the deck.

Maasdam cabin numbers are three digits, not four. Same with her sister ship Veendam.

I would contact the ship's services rep for Koningsdam (call the ship's services phone number and ask for the person's name and email addy). Then email that person with your reservation # as well as the other reservation # and ask for a table for four for all of you for early dining. I'd look at the map of K'dam's dining room and request a specific table if you're looking for something in particular beyond just the four of you sitting together. No reason this can't be resolved before you get on the ship. Good luck!

Mexico is in North America and is a foreign port. I've been on many Holland America Blues Cruises out of San Diego and the only place they went was Mexico.

But if you're leaving from San Diego and returning to San Diego, that does not violate PVSA. The issue is transport from one U.S. port to a different U.S. port.

I'm sailing the same day. Getting excited! We're going to just miss seeing Nieuw Statendam in FLL by a couple days.

Looks fabulous! Have a wonderful trip everyone!

I thought when I was there in May that Global Entry and handicapped had one fairly short combined line at disembarkation.

Best things about Veendam: New York Pizza (outside by the aft hot tub area) soooo good, way better than Dive In. Big beautiful promenade deck (Deck 6 as I recall). I love the Sky Deck which is the very top of the ship (above the Crow's Nest, which is also nice). There is absolutely nothing up there except wide open views of the sea or whatever. Small size of ship. Not crowded at all. Great staff. Still has a nice library with books and games and comfy places to sit or play.

Worst things about Veendam: that aft hot tub area ruins the views that you would've had from the pool area that it replaced (and also if you want to swim, there's only one pool). Lacks many of the amenities of the newer/larger ships (specialty restaurants, music/entertainment options, etc.).

Having said that, your cruise is short and port-intensive so I'm not sure that any shortcomings will be a huge deal. Enjoy your trip!

We always request table for two early seating. We got waitlisted once and then were told that we were assigned to open dining. So we boarded Veendam and went to the dining room to try to get a reservation. Never bothered to look at our key card--by the time we boarded, we had been switched to a table for two (actually we got a four-top for just us which was great) during early dining. Your chances are probably fairly good.

Pax on the World Cruise this year (ms Amsterdam) posted that they were told to take down any door decorations they had put up or the decorations would be removed.

Why, I have no idea but this was reported on WC blogs.

I think this is what I was remembering; I recall right before my last cruise earlier this year reading that door decorations were no longer allowed. So I was quite surprised to see more door decorations than usual on Maasdam. Someone had two sets of googly eyes on their door, lots of balloons and flowers, happy birthday banners, there was a craft activity making paper cutout designs before our first stop in Mexico so lots of those went on the doors. Our neighbors decorated their door with some sort of memory for each port and kept adding to it as we went along. It's the kind of thing I might do myself except I don't think my mother would go for it, so I decorate my cabin wall next to my bed with magnets that I pick up in port. But as long as the door decorating is non-destructive, I don't see the harm in it. If it adds a little happiness into someone's life or helps someone more easily locate their cabin, even better.

On Maasdam in May. Much to my disappointment, the "new and improved" shops had zero "Dam Ships" merch and pretty much no merch of any kind that I wanted to purchase. Got a Maasdam shirt (available in same design in white, orange, and navy blue) and that's it. For more specifics, I've written about this before on a couple of older threads, I think about the new shopping experience. I love the "Dam Ships" stuff and would've been thrilled to get more. Guess I'll have to love the one t-shirt I do have (that sadly has a hole in the armpit) unless by some miracle Zuiderdam has something better when I board her in December.

Just remember that your USD must be in pristine condition, i.e., no tears, marks, excessive folds, etc. Enjoy.

This. In Guatemala this year, there was a very small tear in an American $5 I tried to use. It was refused twice. They really do want brand new money.

Library is still there. And I believe all is the same with the Ocean Bar too. Definitely people dancing there, cannot attest to nibbles though.

I think you can buy the tour right up to the time it is supposed to go.

Except someone has to be at the excursion desk to do that. On a port day, the excursions desk might not be open until after the ship leaves port because the excursions people are busy directing people to the right bus and such. Check your When and Where for excursion desk hours.

You can also use the Navigator to purchase online. They cut that off late the night before the port day and your tickets will be slid under your door overnight.

 

We certainly do enjoy cruising but we go for the itineraries first. At first choosing there were 10 ports that we had not visited. Victoria was one stop I was looking forward to. I hope they don't keep whittling.

Switch to one of the other two departures if you can. The first cruise dropped Anchorage but kept Vancouver and Victoria; I'm on the second one; that dropped Vancouver but stops at Anchorage and Victoria (both of which I've been to but not Vancouver, grrr). The third departure which I guess you're on dropped Victoria but goes to Anchorage and Vancouver.

Our experience with the ratings on EXC tours has been that HAL is very conservative. Moderate usually means more walking and some stairs, but it’s really not too strenuous and the guides walk slowly.

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I agree that their activity level assessments are on the conservative side. They don't want someone with serious mobility challenges to bite off more than they can chew, to the detriment of themselves and everyone else on the tour. The tour descriptions I think do a pretty good job describing the issues that might be problematic for people. Also if you have any lingering doubts, the folks at the excursions desk may have more information or insight to help you decide (if of course you can wait until you're on the ship).