cruzngal

I agree. Pick your own. If you like access to the Neptune Lounge, pick something on deck 7 mid-ship.  If you can get one of the aft suites with wrap around balconies, that may be amazing for an Alaska cruise. 

We agreed to get an upgrade on our last cruise.  We were upgraded from our regular Verandah stateroom  to a spa Veranda stateroom.  It was billed as a 5 level upgrade.  It turned out to be the same sized room with no verandah to speak of.  Loved the location of the room but would have rather stayed with our original since I basically live on the verandah during a cruise.  Common sense would tell you that the best rooms will be selected by passengers, and HAL will hand out the rest.  It's not going to be a prime room, either for location, size, layout, or whatever.  My advice - pick your own...

We've learned that a taxi or Uber/Lyft out of Port Everglades is faster and really not that expensive.  It's cheaper than paying for the transfers for a couple of people or more.  Last time when we were going to the Miami airport,  we had to wait over an hour for the bus to fill, and then they decided they didn't have room for us based on luggage.  It was only when the HAL representative told them that they had to get us to the airport somehow that they managed to find room for us on the transfer we had already paid for.  

Taking the Thanksgiving cruise next week on the NS.  I am also trying to get a little Christmas shopping done.  If anyone has been on the NS recently, do you know if they sell Garmin or Fitbit fitness trackers in the watch shop, or other shop onboard?  Any opinion as to whether they are any kind of a deal would also be appreciated.  I know that it's probably same or cheaper to buy online, but if it's close and I can talk to a human, that's a benefit.  Recent physical limitations prevent me from doing alot of brick and mortar shopping this year.  

Will appreciate it!

Unless you get the same stateroom on the port side, you can always switch to another Neptune suite and just have a smaller verandah, book-ended by another barrier.  You have a full curved verandah, much larger than any other Neptune suite.  I'd call that a win.  If you really think you'd hate looking at the equipment, then change staterooms.  Personally, I'd keep it and enjoy the extra space.

Yes, the clientele is older than some other cruise lines.  It is quieter, and there are not wave pools, ice skating rinks, carnival rides, or water slides.  But as with any cruise ship, there are plenty of bars.  On the larger ships, there is a nice music vibe, with the BB King Blues band, dueling pianos, and late night dance party.  There's a health club, spa, generally a couple of pools and plenty of deck space.

We have always liked environments where we can do what we want, away from the crowds.  We started taking our kids on HAL when we were in our thirties.  We have always liked it BECAUSE it didn't have all the stuff I mentioned above.  

If you do decide to go on HAL, and you want to take a tour, look at the ones with an activity level of moderate or strenuous.  That will mean that you'll have a more active group regardless of age.  

Pick what works for you, and you will enjoy.

I agree with some of the posters that asked whether this kind of a cruise would interest them. If it does, go and enjoy. I wouldn't worry about what others say.  Good behavior and manners are all that are asked of any of us.   The rest is noise.

Mary229, I got exactly what was promised last time I did this too.  This one was different, however.  But after reading KrazyKruisers post, I might have just been lucky. 

I received a brochure for a limited time Private Sale on selected HAL cruises.  I saw one that I liked and called to make a reservation.  The long and short of it was that the dates and sailings I wanted, and are published in the private sale brochure, are not really on sale.  The HAL reservationist finally admitted that they are listed, but there is no sale -- only the representative sailing, whose price was listed was the one on sale.  The other dates and sailings listed in the same section were not. The actual rate for the one I wanted was  hundreds of dollars higher for the same category of room.  It appeared to be the regular price. 

I contacted HAL about this, but of course, they have not responded.  It has been about a week.

Nothing I can do about it other than to caution others.  If you call about one of these promotions and the rates don't match, ask specifically if the private sale applies.  I'll be far more cautious about these sales in the future.  This is the first time I've seen them be this deceptive.  Lesson learned.

I'd guess that Day 7 would be a formal night, since it's a sea day. I'd also guess day 3 for the Welcome Gala, and and maybe day 10 for the Farewell Gala.

I agree that the fries were probably the best food we had on the trip and the only food we had I would rate above other lines. The burgers and hot dogs were ok, but nothing special like the fries.

 

 

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Absolutely. Burgers and dogs are fine, but the fries are the kicker.

For at least one lunch, go to the Dive In for a burger and fries. Best fries anywhere!

About 30 years ago, I wanted to go with my husband on our first cruise, even though we didn't have alot of money. Booked a $199, lowest grade inside room, on an old ship (the Galileo, Chandris Line ) during late March and found $69 airfare from Minneapolis to Miami. Well, the $39 flight appeared to be some kind of mail run or something. It took all night, making 4 stops on its way down to Florida. By the 3rd stop, my husband was fairly irritated with me for booking this. The cruise turned out to be a Spring Break party boat with about half the passengers being college students.. A beautiful, old, and very worn ship, but yet every morning, there was a buffet set up on deck with fresh flowers and white tablecloths. The staff still had the old school elegance, and really worked to try and keep up that old ship. Our inside cabin was not terrible, but I also learned that I was fairly claustrophobic. Great time to find out. Between the cruise director officiating "stuff ping pong balls in the girl's bikini" at the pool, and spring breakers washing down their dramamine with bottles of champagne, we learned that we didn't like. But we did learn that we really loved cruising and that some things are worth paying for. 8 cruises later, we're still at it. :-)

We also had the hydropool pass. During our 16 day Eurodam cruise, they closed the pool from 8-10 PM for cleaning about 4 times. One day it got particularly bad, but they straightened it out in a few hours. I posted on another thread, but while we really enjoyed the hydropool, it seemed like the spa really struggled to keep it clean and at the right temp.

I would not hesitate to get the pass again, but as this last time, I'd be a thorn in the side of whoever was in charge of it, if it wasn't running properly.

We were aft on 8th. The front desk suggested to go to an area like the explorer lounge and to try to use it during off hours like early am, late pm. The same satellite connection is used for passengers, crew, office, etc, so bandwidth gets limited. Those suggestions were helpful.

One tip is to MAKE SURE you log off, or the meter keeps ticking. A couple of times the wifi hung up while I was logged in to the satellite connection. I had to go to the front desk to disconnect. They did refund the lost minutes. They could see that no data was being transmitted so they knew it was hung up.

It was fine for mail, but not practical for enterprise applications or other company-specific connections. It was just too slow.

Good luck!

Thank you for the information on internet TuraLura. May I ask when you went on Eurodam? I'm hoping they upgraded since then... We were on Niew Amsterdam back in 2014 and they had unlimited so I just assumed Euro had it. We are the same. We definitley need the internet for work while we are not in ports. We may have to cancel the trip...if the internet is not available in the cabin by the time we go which is on 5/20/17. Thanks again for any comments in advance!

Got off the Eurodam last week. And sorry, no unlimited package. Best was $250 for 1000 minutes, and it was pretty slow. I bought the 1000 minute package to stay connected for work, and quickly learned it had some quirks and hung up on occasion. But the 250 minutes covered our 16 day cruise acceptably, and frankly, it helped me disconnect from work a little more than I otherwise would have, so I'm not complaining. :cool:

We bought the same pass. Yes, you buy it onboard the first day. We used ours extensively, usually twice a day. Given the cost of other things, like excursions, cabana rental, etc, it didn't seem unreasonable for a 16 day pass -as long as you really use it.

While I had a more favorable impression of the ship, I will agree with 3Shelaghs that the spa was a bit of a weak point. It seemed like a struggle to keep the hydro pool clean and at the proper temperature. And their "precautions" during the Norovirus incident were strange and didn't match the rest of the ship. (Removing all clean towels, including the hand towels in their restrooms)

BTW, other than the spa comments, I think the ship's crew handled the virus outbreak exceptionally well. They were able to knock it down within a few days of notifying passengers. it appears that someone brought something back from one of the ports. Stuff happens, and they handled it well. Seeing passengers refuse hand sanitizer made my head spin, but in spite of it, the ships protocols worked.

There's no service charge on the corkage. Recheck your bill. Corkage is already a service charge. We have a wee bit of experience with corkage and have never see a service charge on it. The only observed anomaly is that the corkage does not seem to work out to exactly $18/bottle. It's a fraction of a cent less.

You are right. My mistake. I saw the odd number of cents and assume a multiplier had been applied to the $18, but it's just the $17.99714... price that they charge per bottle. :D

I believe that we were charged a service charge on the corkage, just like on other bar charges. And the wine steward got to sell us a number of additional bottles on our 16 day cruise! :-)

We just got off the Eurodam in San Diego on Monday. The ship is in lovely condition, although decor may be understated compared to some other cruise lines. But I prefer that. I think it was refurb'd a few years ago. The public areas are all in good shape. The food was the best of any HAL ship that I can remember. In all fairness, we were on the lower side of the bell curve as far as passenger age goes. This was a Panama Canal cruise, so the passengers were older. Unfortunately, entertainment closed up early (before midnight) and there was only one venue that we could find for dancing to live music, but I attributed that more to passenger interest/HAL marketing than to the Eurodam itself. It has all the same public areas, pools, restaurants, etc as the other mid-large HAL ships.

Overall, I would happily sail on her again. And preferably soon!

We stopped and bought an interesting assortment of wines at Publix in FLL before our cruise. Got a nice 4 bottle carrying bag free with every 4 bottles purchased. Carried them in, paid the corkage on all but two, and enjoyed the wines in the MDR and Pinnacle. Other than I think the Wine Steward was close to crying every time he came to the table to open our carried-on wine, it was a nice way to enjoy some nice wines at value-prices. And in all seriousness, from start to finish, the HAL staff, including the wine steward, was nothing but gracious about it. Might very well do it again next time.

Just got off the Eurodam this Monday. We had room 8155, so starboard, but approximately the same location as yours will be on port side. In the morning and late evening, there is a little bit of scraping heard as the staff moves the deck chairs around to set up and close down the deck. Otherwise, we don't hear much from the pool deck above. We like this area of the ship because it's close to the aft pool, Lido, etc.

If you are really sensitive to noise, you may want to go down one deck, but otherwise it's convenient and the verandah staterooms are just as nice as anywhere else on the ship.

After looking at the design drawings, I don't see any loss of windows. If you think about it, even for a minute, you can pretty much rest assured that a cruise ship isn't going to give up windows. That would make no sense whatsoever.

 

I'm laying two to one odds that the Crow's Nest will not lose windows. Email me with your bets. :D

You're right, I see the windows are still there in the Library photo. Seating seems to be reduced, and less comfortable. I get what they are trying to do, but until there are climbing walls and water slides (:rolleyes:) this kind of stuff is going to be a waste of space. And at the point where they've got the water slides and climbing walls, I'll be looking for another cruise line.

Hello from Minnesota! Every "Snowmaggedon" thus far this year has been a great disappointment -- at least in the Twin Cities. That being said, I'm waiting for my Dam ship to come sailing in, in April!

Fair Winds to those of you traveling soon!

Some countries require 6 months remaining on your passport in order to enter. You can google it and get a list of them. In those countries, it's non-negotiable. But for others, I think it's a guideline. My guess is that if cruise lines are holding you to the rule, it's just for simplicity of their own processes. If a travel agent told you that without checking, then shame on them.

You didn't make a mistake! You and your friends will be fine. The ocean, the blue sky and the fresh air will be just what you need to forget about dorms and exams. You are sharing a ship with a crowd that is mainly older adults. You don't have to hang out with them.

 

There are different noise levels associated with college spring break. Laughter, high fives and "lively conversation" when you are near others is what cruise lines encourage. Breaking furniture, yelling to friends at the far end of the hall, crying drunk -- thatsa no good!

Bring Dramamine and follow the directions. You will not have a good time if you over-drink and under-hydrate and get seasick. (Take Dramamine every day; better safe than sorry.)

Most of the ship's crew is young and you may meet some interesting people that way. There will probably be some grandmas and grandpas bringing along their college age kids -- try and meet some, they would probably love to talk to some peers. You might actually ENJOY some of the activities that others here are sure you won't like. My college age son thought the entertainment wasn't so bad. He doesn't mind looking at pretty young ladies in low cut dresses singing and dancing. ;-)

Enjoy your vacay

 

 

 

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BikiniBlonde, you are so right! My kids have been coming on Holland America cruises since they were little. They are now young adults and all of them keep bugging us as to when we will take them (read that as pay for them...) on another one. They would have loved to have us send them on a HAL cruise for Spring Break. No matter what line you are on, it's all about enjoying the journey and making your own fun.

Fair winds, Spring Breakers! :cool: