sheepers21

Special kudos to.....  Wida.   We have had the pleasure to have her at our table in the Tamarind  on both the Eurodam and the Koningsdam, most recently in February 2020. What a beautiful person, both inside and out. Wishing her, and everyone, safe and happy times during this most unfortunate pandemic.

Thank you, Bruce and Bax. This will help quite a lot. 

   Does anyone know how a person can find an updated retreat cabana price list for the Koningsdam or Nieuw Statendam? Is there a link or page somewhere that can be found with this sort of information?

Management is not listening to this volume problem, likely because they are deaf from being in proximity to these venues too many times. The increased volume is either added to show off their newest technology and enhanced audio systems or they are trying to drown out the inadequacies of the musicians and the singers.. I believe it is the technology because most acts that I have seen in my cruises with Hal are pretty good. One only has to see the lack of cruisers in these exceptionally loud venues and see the full capacity during the Lincoln Center Stage sessions to notice the difference. I've been to many, many rock concerts during my younger years and enjoyed them back then. Things change, and now that I am in my sixty's, my preferences have changed as well. The demographics of Hal cruisers are not the best fit for ear drum splitting volumes. Those with hearing aids are especially affected. It's a shame that Hal management refuses to lend an ear to the demographics of their loyal past customers.

Not too certain what time it opens, but it closes at 10 PM. A word of caution, though. We have booked the thermal suite on numerous occasions in the past. What they don't tell you when you give them your money is that they arbitrarily close it down during normal operational hours. They cite either cleaning or maintenance as the reasons. You will be inconvenienced by this on approximately 4 days out of the 16 days. On our last cruise, they had it closed 2 days in succession, first day for maintenance, the 2nd day for cleaning. Why they couldn't do both in one day is a mystery.   

    Footnote:     On some of the days, the thermal suites are only shut down to the cruisers for an hour or two in the evenings. 

Such a huge loss, both close to home and globally. His input and efforts for us all in cruising made for a better experience. 

Again................Useful information that I am thankful for. This input will facilitate a much easier transition. I appreciate you all.   Thanks so much..

We don't mind walking and schlepping our own luggage providing that it is safe to do so and legal . If it does come to pass that the two terminals are way too far to walk, then a taxi would be our only other choice???

I am grateful to all who have taken the time to reply. There's a lot of very useful info to absorb. Special tip of the cap to catl331 for the enclosed map of the area. Tremendous help... Thank You.

Ty so much for your replies. Mobility is no issue whatsoever. I was more concerned about access from ship to ship with luggage. Distance between ships is an unknown to us as well as possible denial due to forklift loading etc. I expect that taxis will not look kindly on such a short fare, especially since they endured waiting at the port for a long time to get a fare. We don't mind walking at all if it is possible to get to the terminal for processing. (Customs, embarkation, etc.

We have booked back to back cruises on 2 different H\A ships in February. Does anyone have any experience or advice as to how we get from one H\A ship to the other??

      from Koningsdam to the Nieuw Statendam on February 23rd, if that helps???

Just booked Koningsdam cruise for Feb. 2020. Did not book retreat cabana because of negative feedback in previous comments. We loved the cabanas on Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam and Zuiderdam but were unimpressed with the ones on the Westerdam. Does anyone have any more recent comments or observations about the Koningsdam retreat cabanas that may be a little more recent?   Any upgrades or changes that may sway our decision???

I have been told that non alcoholic beverages eg..(coffee, juice, bottled water, etc) are excluded from the 15 alcoholic drink limit. To my understanding, the 15 drink max per day pertains ONLY to alcoholic drinks. Can anyone confirm in certainty that this is indeed the case for the Signature Beverage Package???

You are providing a valuable and extremely helpful post. We all are very grateful for all of your efforts. Thank you so much.

CJ.. You cannot possibly comprehend how many cruisers you have positively impacted with your massive efforts and time spent for the betterment of everyone. I would make you a thousand towel animals if I could!!!! Thank you....Thank you....Thank you!!!

And to VMax.... You have more new best friends than you can imagine. You are about to embark on a huge challenge, and we all wish you the best>>>

While on the Westerdam last December,. we witnessed a small commotion in the main dining room on a gala night. There was a family of approximately 10 people upstairs for early seating dinner. One of the men was wearing a baseball cap on backwards when they sat down. It was quite a while later that a number of crew members had gathered around the table and a heated discussion ensued. After a few minutes, the offending man was escorted out of the dining room and he was not happy!! What I found to be odd was that the agitated cruiser was around 60 to 70 years of age and the people at his table that were trying to reason with him were in there 30's to 40's. No pushing or punches thrown, but we did not see them return to the MDR for the remainder of the cruise.

Thank you very much Bob> I did what you had advised and had over 270 viewers read that post, ( although no one replied.) I appreciate your response.

Wondering if the retreat cabanas have been left intact post refurbishment, or if they were reconstructed like the Westerdam retreat cabanas where they are numbered as opposed to named. The Westerdam placed sideboards inside the cabanas and moved the loungers outside. Westerdam cabanas did not have a table or chairs, but had a sectional summer furniture setup with an ottoman. Can anyone comment or provide some pics as to what has transpired post drydock on these cabanas????

We are looking for information about the retreat cabanas post dry dock and are wondering if they have been left intact with the same names, layouts, etc. or were they refurbished along the Westerdam style of retrofit??? Anyone have comment, info, or pics????

I was on the cruise that OlsSalt was referring to in an earlier post. They are indeed a very large group and do influence certain activities and spaces once aboard the ship. For instance, they occupy the full dining room for the late seating. A number of cruisers had been given late seating the first week but were relegated to early seating, as you wish seating, lido dining or specialty restaurants the week of the large group. There are certain times where public spaces aboard the ship are sectioned off for the group and everyone else is prohibited from these areas during the reserved times. Many of the cruisers from last year that had this group to contend with were visibly upset and angry. I suppose it is up to the individual as to whether this would deter you from this particular cruise, or if it would not alter your enjoyment despite the group presence.

We are on the Westerdam next week and are in an aft cabin with a balcony. This feature is of utmost importance to us and will monitor your comments about the odor very closely. As cruisers, we pay a premium for the use of a balcony as there is precious little private outdoor space on a cruise ship to enjoy. Your thread is appreciated very much. Thank you for your time during your cruise to benefit others.

It was not offered on the July 3rd sailing of the Amsterdam. I'm not a chocoholic, but I do enjoy some chocolate treats once in awhile. Like the idea of the double chocolate cupcakes, but how to keep the crumbs off my tux and white formal shirt?

Perhaps you could pull up the "Crumber" Bund>>>

These sideboards must serve some sort of purpose other than just taking up space. Perhaps the water and ice buckets and air misters are inside the doors to be stored out of the direct sunlight??? Could a bar fridge possibly be included there as well? Maybe any cruisers that have used the cabanas post refurbishment could shed some light on this obviously touchy issue?

Should it not be incumbent for Holland America to inform people at the time of booking their cruise that the dining reservation time that they prefer would be compromised on the second week of the connector cruise by a huge group??? (E.G.) the gospel group... I WOULD THINK SO!!😬

We were also on this cruise, but were not affected by the large group for dining only because we had an earlier seating in the MDR. However, I have extreme empathy for those that were affected by this large group. I later found out that this group did not do anything special during this dining time. Just sat and ate. Shouldn't those passengers that were inconvenienced have the same right and opportunity? Many of these passengers had planned and paid for their cruise well in advance without being informed that they would be relegated to alternate dining against their wishes. For future cruises, I would hope that HAL would treat each person the same, and not tier people to the upper crust and steerage classes of yesteryear. It is not right that people pay top dollar and be told that their request for a particular dining time would be granted until they receive the final payment, only to have it rescinded to accomodate a larger group. Everyone should receive equal treatment!!!!