islandwoman

I think they want you out of your cabin as early as possible, so they hope you'll go to breakfast and then get off the ship. But some people (like me) want to brush their teeth after breakfast.

Just when you need room service breakfast the most, it might not be available. 😟 I know it isn't on other cruise lines I have sailed.

I didn't realize that! It's good news. Thank you.

What is the fastest or cheapest way to achieve 4-star Mariner status? I am a 1-star with 13 points 🤣 I'd like to be 4-star by fall, 2025 when I hope to go on HAL's Grand Africa (if they offer it). I know that I can earn one point per night on a cruise, or 2 points per night if sailing in a suite, and one point for every $300 spent onboard. I have a 42 day cruise booked for 2024, but that won't be enough and I made the mistake (as far as earning Mariner status is concerned) of buying the Early Booking Bonus that includes crew gratuities that I think would have been considered onboard spending otherwise. I would like to hear some words of wisdom from those who have managed to achieve 4-star status.

Maybe I should have said "Central" Florida well water or Florida sulfur water. Where I live in east coastal central Florida, our well water stinks and tastes of sulfur.

If you lived in Florida and were on well water 🤪, you might feel differently about that ! But I also refuse to buy water on Holland American ships. There's no point. Ship's tap water is so much better than Florida well water.

We always take a re-usable hot/cold cup with a lid. Also, we take a reusable water bottle that we fill with ice and water before leaving the ship on excursions. It makes us feel good about taking care of the planet and also, our drinks stay hot or cold as we like 😊

Did you all notice that we've made 300 pages? 😀

How do I know when formal nights will be? We would like to book our specialty dining reservations before sailing, but need to avoid formal nights because we will not be packing formal wear or anything close to that. Also, would we be expected to dress formally to other events around the ship on formal night, or just in the dining rooms? There are a lot of sea days on our upcoming cruise, so it's not easy to guess at when formal nights will be.

Is the Volendam the only HAL ship that has Lanai cabins?

Easier, but not cheaper - some suites include free laundry.

Are you referring to Million Miler status?

Enough airline miles can be used to book free flights, but not to acquire status as can Power Up Points. A better comparison would be a PUP point to an American Airlines Loyalty Point that can be used to build status. But then Celebrity points (and those of other cruise lines) win hands down because airline status expires at the end of each year. Cruise Line status lasts forever, or as in the case of Azamara, until the cruise line "upgrades" its IT system and loses its passengers' information.

I booked a cruise with an Early Booking Have it All package that includes crew gratuities, wi-fi, and beverage package. But as I'm looking for another cruise, (not early booking though), it looks like the Have It All packages offered don't include crew gratuities. Is that correct? The crew gratuities are what make the Have It All a good value for me.

We leave on August 26 for our annual three weeks at Buddy Dive in Bonaire. We only do shore diving. Several years ago we spent a week on Curacao shore diving, but were not thrilled with it. The only reason we'd consider cruise ship excursions is logistics.

We're 77 and 78. We are both PADI Advanced Open Water and Enriched Air Certified and have over 200 dives logged. But sometimes the cruise lines only care about age. I know that some of them ban older divers, but I don't know whether HAL is one. We are considering a HAL cruise to Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, and Grand Turk. Although we would prefer local dive operators to the ship's excursions, sometimes that is logistically not possible.

Does Holland America have an upper age limit for its certified SCUBA diving excursions?

I hope that someone who has redeemed points will post the details of their experience.

Fivelinks, I don't understand what you said here because I found this on Barclay's website at the "Terms & Conditions" for "Holland America Line Rewards Visa Card": "Statement credit redemption value toward Holland America Line purchases will vary based on the amount of the Holland America Line purchase. The sum of eligible transactions made on the same date will be assigned to the appropriate rule as described below: Holland America Line purchases within the last 180 days: $50 to $499.99 will have a redemption value of 1% $500 to $1,499.99 will have a redemption value of 1.25% $1,500 to $2,000.99 will have a redemption value of 1.50% $2,001 to $4,000.99 will have a redemption value of 2.00% $4,001 and up will have a redemption value of 2.50%" (underlining is mine) Now I'm even more confused because I don't know what Barclays means by "The sum of eligible transactions made on the same date".

OK. Since this thread is for newbies, what is a CO?

Can you tell us how long it had been since you'd used that card when Barclays cancelled it? I'd rather only use my Holland America card for double points on HAL purchases, but those might be few and far between. So I'd like to know how often I need to "waste" my purchases by using my HAL card for single points when I might have used a double or multi-point card instead.

We contacted our TA and asked him to include it in our new cruise booking. We haven't heard anything from HAL about it. Should we see it in our online account?

Thank you for the warning. I will be sure to use my Holland America card now and then to prevent it from being closed for non-usage. I lost a card from a different bank a few years ago for the same reason.

Do you have a different card that you could try? I used my Citi AAdvantage card without a problem.

Are you a multi-star Mariner? Do some Mariner levels receive early boarding?