Mandalay1903

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

That would be lovely, but I'm not so sure. The 74 day Grand South American is not an itinerary that typically sells well, hence HAL assigning it's smaller vessel. I haven't been keeping up on HAL's return to service schedule. Does HAL have another similar size vessel to replace the Volendam? 

 

The Oosterdam is scheduled for the 22 day South America/Antarctica (a cruise I had covid cancelled :(), but I don't know if a ship that size would work for the Grand South American journey. So much is still so covid fluid, and now we add on the Ukrainian tragedy and we just can't seem to catch a break.

Earlier this spring we cancelled the 2023 40-day Grand South American Voyage (FLL to Buenos Aires) on the Volendam in favor of a 22-day SA/Antarctica sailing on the Oosterdam. I sure hope they don't take your suggestion and swap ships for the Grand Voyage. Talk about a triple whammy from the Volendam!! Yikes! 😁 

3 hours ago, MAVIP said:

Thank you for your answer. The reason could be there are not enough staterooms left on those summerseason voyages. However, I myself would not hesitate to try and would just call them if any of those later voyages would suit me.  I wish you a good outcome.

Three weeks ago before our 35-day Volendam cruise was cancelled I checked with my HAL PCC who told me that the sailings were only booked to 50 or 60% capacity.  Spitsbergen is an exceptional itinerary and I would suspect that Volendam would not be sailing at a higher capacity than that later in the summer season.

Enjoy your cruise, looks like fun! Enjoy the Islands!!!

Enjoy your cruises!  Looks like fun!!!

5 hours ago, MAVIP said:

My apology for not understanding, but did the list mention that all cruises of the Volendam were excluded? Thanks for your answer.

No problem...

There were no Volendam cruises offered as alternatives on the drop down list in Door #2--only cruises on Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Oosterdam.  It felt as if they didn't want us to transfer from the cancelled Volendam cruise to a different Volendam cruise later in the year.

We also were cancelled yesterday from our fully-paid 35-day Spitzbergen, Iceland and North Cape cruise. We were given three options.

Door #1 transfers us automatically to a 21-day ms Rotterdam cruise touring Iceland in August 2022. Pricing and promotions protected versus our cancelled cruise, plus a $500 pp stateroom credit to boot. 

Door #2 allowed us to select a new booking of a HAL cruise in Europe in Summer 2022 with pricing and promotions protected versus our cancelled cruise, plus the $500 pp stateroom credit.  The available cruise selections were from a drop down list, and none included Spitsbergen. This list EXCLUDED all cruises on the Volendam. Unless HAL has other plans for the Volendam later this summer, like extending its use as a refugee ship, why would they exclude her from a rebooking option?  The ship is far from being fully-booked. (We are also booked on a different Volendam cruise in Europe in September.)

We chose Door #3 and took the full refund, despite there being no compensation to us for the inconvenience.

IMO, these options aren't a good deal for the cancelled passengers given that our trip was fully paid and just over 2 months away. This HAL decision was not pandemic-related.

On our Koningsdam cruise earlier this month someone near our stateroom decorated their door with some stick-ons. About two days into the voyage I noticed that the decorations were removed. It could be that they were prohibited. Otherwise, not sure why a passenger would remove their own stickers part way through the cruise.

I agree with what Dave has explained and have had success the approach.

There's another thing to consider if your sailing is also marketed as part of a collector cruise (two sequential sailings sold separately or together, like two sequential 14-day sailings also marketed as a 28-day collector cruise). Sometimes HAL identifies and markets cabins only for the collector cruise, and doesn't release them for the separate sailings. Also, sometimes HAL markets cabins only for the separate cruises and doesn't make them available for the collector cruise.

If you're booked on a collector cruise, for example, and see that the cabin you want is only available for the two separate cruises, you can call HAL and ask them to release the cabin for your collector cruise. Or vice versa if you're booked on a separate cruise. They may or may not do this, but I have done this a few times with success.

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Oh, thanks kindly, Lee.  Much appreciated 🙂 

We're trying again for 2023. 🙂

3 hours ago, kazu said:

Noordam - 28-Mar-22 - 28 day Southern Japan & Russia Collector
Mandalay1903
Hhagatha

Hi Jacqui,

Sadly, the 28-MAR-22 - 28 day Southern Japan & Russia Collector was cancelled...

Thanks,

Lee

On 3/11/2022 at 3:51 AM, kazu said:

HAPPY CRUISING EVERYONE!

Jacqui

Hi Jacqui:

This week we booked the 73-day Grand Africa Voyage on the Zuiderdam departing October 10, 2023. 

Also, we cancelled our 40-day Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage on the Volendam departing FLL on 1/3/2023.

We are also booked on the 22-day South America & Antarctica cruise on the Oosterdam departing Santiago on 1/11/23--I believe that may have fallen off your list.

We had a timing conflict between the Volendam and Oosterdam cruises, and chose the latter. It was a better fit for our calendar.  Looking forward to a great year of sailing!

Thanks,

Lee

12 hours ago, missguy said:

We have over 30 cruises with Carnival, close to 10 with Royal and a few with NCL. Recently,  we booked at the end of February our first Alaskan cruise for May 2022 departing from Vancouver with Holland. I made final payment yesterday and I noticed at the end of the payment summary (and under our room info) + 124.99$ Onboard amenities and more. What is it? Thank you for your help.

I've seen something like that several times on my payment summary on the Manage Payments page. (I book directly with HAL, not through a travel agent.) In my case it was the value of my share (Guest 1) of the Onboard Credits. In some sailings it also included the value of my share (Guest 1) Surf Internet package included with my promo package. This would explain the odd number (i.e. $124.99)

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

There is no requirement to being a shareholder at the time of sailing.  It is very loosey-goosey.   However considering they are in California short term capital gains rates (fed and state) can be as high as 50%

I'll take that risk--the rules don't say anything prohibiting selling shares. You just have to be a shareholder holding a minimum of 100 shares, which I was on the day of application. Besides, CCL nickels and dimes us all the time.

BTW, it was not my intent to make this a tax discussion, but I won't be taxed on these earnings.

8 hours ago, canadarocks said:

I'm very curious if anyone else has had the same experience as Mandalay1903, onboard and/or online?

In my experience (booking online) the remainder of one $100 credit definitely doesn't "carry over" to a second excursion

😀

So just to clarify this, I am on the Koningsdam tonight on the last day of our cruise and we check out and go home tomorrow. 🙁

I asked at Guest Services how this is supposed to work. The staff said that you should be able to split your Have It All shore excursion credit across more than one excursion, and the system should let you do that if you book the excursions online from home before boarding your cruise. Whether or not the system actually lets you do that when booking online I don't know, but if it doesn't the Shore Excursion or Guest Services team on board will be able to fix it up for you.

I hope that helps!

2 hours ago, MoneyGuy said:

We’re cruising HAL April 7 and don’t currently own shares so I’d better get on this. 

Yep, time to get on it. I have purchased the shares on one day, owned them overnight, documented that I owned the shares with an online account statement, sold the shares the next day, filed the paperwork with CCL, and received the Onboard Credit a week or so later. Made $100 of OBC plus $160 on the shares...

Have a wonderful cruise. Enjoy!

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That was my experience.  I chose 3 shore excursions. One was less ($10.01) and the other 2 were over.  I didn’t receive credit for the $10.01 not spent on the first excursion and paid the difference for the other 2 that were over.

 

My credit balance did not carry over to the other 2 tours.  

 

I purchased mine on line.  Wondering if@Mandalay1903’s experience was different as they bought some of their shore excursions on board?

In my example in post #8, I purchased the first shore excursion (for $84.95) online from home. I purchased the second excursion on board using the Navigator app. The remainder of my $100 credit ($15.05) was automatically applied to my second excursion by the system. I did not need to work with the Shore Excursions staff to make this happen, it all happened through the system.

If you have remaining credit after booking your excursions online from home, I really recommend speaking with the Shore Excursions staff once onboard. I did this on my Eurodam cruise in Greece last summer after port changes were made just before and during our cruise. They were very helpful in kindly making sure I could use my full credit, even if it had to be spread across two excursions.

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

Interesting! I did not suspect that to be true. Was planning to apply the 3x$100/person to higher priced excursions and buy the lower priced ones on board... But happy to hear your experience!

Also, the onboard Shore Excursions staff was very helpful in helping work things out fairly if needed. 🙂

If your don't spend your shore excursion credit on shore excursions, you can not spend it as standard shipboard credit. It must be spent only on shore excursions.

4 hours ago, highseaschick said:

Does anyone know if you do not use the full $100 on a shore excursion if HA will credit the rest on another shore excursion at another port? Many shore excursions are only $29.95 or so and I would hate to waste the credit.  

Yes they do. We are currently on a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Koningsdam.  We were given a $100 shore excursion credit pp based on our Have It All promo booking. We booked an $84.95 shore excursion in advance of the cruise departure, and this was applied to the credit. While on board, we booked an additional shore excursion at a different port for $44.95. $15.05 of the second shore excursion was credited to our Have It All promotion, and the remainder of $29.90 was charged to our room.  So, yes, the $100 credit can be split between two excursions, per person.

This was also the case with our Eurodam cruise last summer in Greece on the Have It All promotion

2 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

This is good news about the HIA credited toward points. Could tip us into 4* on our next HAL cruise.

...and a warm welcome to the free laundry club... 😉

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

You are referring to the HIA (Have it All)?  .  It has certainly counted in the past and been credited towards my Mariner days.  I’ve only had it once BC (Before Covid) but recent reports are the same 😉 

 

I’ve only done Flight Ease once in recent years and not seen that credited either

Yes, "HIA" = "Have it All" in my post.  They counted HIA toward Mariner days in my 8/2021 cruise last summer, but probably not the Flight Ease LAX to ATH. In any event, including HIA capped out my spending points per the policy.

I've seen Mariner points credited for all of the above including HIA (as if you bought the perks separately), but never for Flight Ease air, or pre- or post-cruise city stays.

7 hours ago, Iris5383 said:

Do they still have not-so-fancy steak and prime rib on the menu without added charge? Are all lobster meals an upsell now?

These were the only items on the MDR menu with an upcharge.

Other restaurants have different menus.

I'm aboard the Koningsdam today, and the MDR is offering the following entrees on their "Indulge" menu section with an upcharge. All others menu food items are no extra charge. We have not asked about whether they charge for a second helping.

JUMBO SHRIMP COCKTAIL* $8.50
dijon aïoli, lime
5oz. FILET MIGNON & 5oz. LOBSTER TAIL * $30
grilled asparagus, baked potato, garlic butter
PRESIDENT’S CUT 36oz. TOMAHAWK BONE-IN RIB EYE * $75
shallot confit, aged balsamic, green peppercorn, baked potato, creamed spinach
16oz. USDA PRIME DRY AGED DELMONICO STEAK* $40
shallot confit, aged balsamic, green peppercorn, baked potato, creamed spinach