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Last night at 8pm west coast time I faxed a cover letter listing my booking number, ship, dates and a redacted copy of my statement showing my Carnival stock to 206-501-2620.  In less than 1 hour I had an email stating that my $250 benefit had been added to my account.  Easy process.

24 minutes ago, edq said:

We have sailed Holland America many times but not the Koningsdam.  One of our favourites cruise things is sitting on a recliner on the promenade deck with a good book and watching the ocean go by.  We heard that the Koningsdam does not have a “proper” (as it was described to us) promenade deck.  It was unclear as to whether there is a promenade deck at all for sitting or whether there is one but the view of the ocean has been blocked by lifeboats.  Has anyone been on Koningsdam that could enlighten us.  If there is no sitting on the promenade deck is there an outdoor place that is shady and quiet with a view of the ocean that would be similar?  Thanks.

On all 3 pinnacle class ships the promenade deck is too narrow for chairs.  In fact in some areas it is almost too narrow for 2 people to walk side by side.  There is a couple areas where they have the wooden benches with the ships name.  The only place with shade for sitting outside is the lido pool area and the sea view pool but those areas are not quiet.  There is the "balcony" deck above the lido pool deck with shade which is a little quieter than down my the pool.  If you want to side out on the promenade deck in a lounger you need to stay away from the pinnacle class ships.  BTW - we were on the Eurodam in October and they are replacing some of older wooden desk chairs with the metal/Web style.

19 hours ago, Mtn2Sea said:

I’m wondering if policy has changed.  Earlier this year I was told by Guest Services that I could not get the $30 credit because my prepaid price already included a discount.

That is what I was told by guest services for our cruise in Oct 2023.  I would email guest services and they will provide an email response.

I checked with ship services and no you do not get the discount if purchased pre-cruise.  If you are getting the premium onboard buy pre-cruise is a better deal unless you have lots of OBC that you won't be spending then buy wifi on the ship.  That is what we are doing in January on the Rotterdam

We had this on the Eurodam in October - outstanding - looking forward to it on the Rotterdam in Jan/Feb

We are boarding Jan 14 for 42 days - looking forward to your postings.  Is the Starlink wifi active and how is the speed and connection?

51 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I am well aware of the water quality standards on cruise ships and that chlorine is added to the RO & evap water made onboard. Although I am not privy to the Dutch Shipping Act and pursuant regulations, I have dealt with other Flag States, and am not aware of any regulation against filtered water.

 

Filtered water, both still and sparkling, was readily available on our last cruise with Viking. Supplied twice daily to the cabins and at the Buffet filling stations.

 

Hence my question if the HAL filling stations also filter out the chlorine that is added to the potable water. 

I have not seen filtered water stations on any HAL ships.  You can purchase cans of still water or get them as part of your HIA package

11 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Are the water filling stations in the Buffet regular chlorinated potable water, or do they have a filter, removing the chlorine.

It is the same water all over the ship.  Govt regulations require the chlorine be added to the water made on the ship

Bernards Tours in Sint Maarten does a great tour.

The pickleball court is open every day with several activities scheduled each sea day.  Have not seen any Zumba classes and dance floor is dependent on ship.

1 hour ago, tpwolfe said:

I would think so.  Here is the email I received:

 

November 22, 2023

 

Dear Valued Guest,

 

We look forward to welcoming you on board Rotterdam for your upcoming voyage departing November 8, 2024 

 

We are writing to advise you know of a change to your cruise itinerary. Due to port congestion, your voyage will no longer be a Southern Caribbean Seafarer sailing but will follow an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. As a result, your voyage has been revised as follows:

 

Date	Destination	Arrive	Depart
Friday, November 8	Fort Lauderdale, Florida		3:00 PM
Saturday, November 9	At Sea
Sunday, November 10	At Sea
Monday, November 11	Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Tuesday, November 12	St John's, Antigua, Antigua & Barbuda	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Wednesday, November 13	Road Town, Tortola, BVI	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
Thursday, November 14	San Juan, Puerto Rico	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
Friday, November 15	Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands	Noon	7:00 PM
Saturday, November 16	At Sea
Sunday, November 17	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	7:00 AM

 

For guests with Holland America Line tours booked for the cancelled ports, you will receive a refund to the original form of purchase. Updated shore excursion information will be available online within the next two weeks.

 

Should you wish to consider an alternative voyage, please reach out to your travel advisor or to Holland America Line at the appropriate office to discuss your options:

 

 

Interesting - no visit to HMC - that is a bummer.

47 minutes ago, Hobar said:

Are there water stations around the ship to refill my own flask?  Do they have ice?  Do they have sparkling water?  (I will be on Koningsdam, if that makes any difference.)

Yes - still water and ice 24/7 - just remember to use a glass to fill your container and not directly from the dispenser into your bottle.  Wide mouth bottles are the best for this purpose.

On ships currently using the Starlink system - are you able to use your VPN?  I am looking at using NORDVPN on our upcoming cruise on the Rotterdam in January.

One feature of the Navigator we use almost every is under the connect menu called "let us know".  You can use this to report issues without going the guest services but we use it mostly for giving positive feed back on over and above support from the wonderful HAL crew members.  These messages are sent to the crew members manager and are read at daily team meeting.  We have been told that crew members getting these positive reports get some extra time off during the cruise. 

3 hours ago, Moriah said:

Yes, I mentioned that, but my question is, would I have to do that when I leave the room to make sure something plugged in will keep charging?

Some of the plugs stay live and some don't when the card is pulled out of the slot.  If I remember correctly there were 2 on the desk and one stayed live and the other did not

We had this in the Lido at lunch on the Eurodam in October.  They we very very good

9 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

 

The ships filtered water has a lot of salt in it.  This would include any of the drinks that are mixed with water such as the lemonade and fruit drinks in the dispensers.  Be sure to drink only the bottled or canned water.  

Where did you hear this?  From what I have heard from the engineering staff that the drinking water either comes from the ship RO system or a distillation process and then a little chlorine add per government regulations and minerals for taste.  It should not have any more sodium than your drinking water at home.

We were on from Sept 30 to Oct 28 and did not notice any smells and my wife is very sensitive to smells.

On 11/7/2023 at 6:33 PM, rafinmd said:

It is too wide to go through the old locks.

 

Roy

From a discussion with an officer on the Rotterdam last year the ship was modified during construction that allows the life boat structure to rotate in several feet which then allows the ship to go through the old locks.  We are on this cruise twice in Jan/Feb 2024.  I am hoping that we get to do one through the old locks so I can see this process of rotating the structure in for clearance and one time through the new locks since we have not seen them.

Did HAL raise the wifi price on ships with Starlink?

They are there - we are booked for the Volendam Jul 27 to Aug 20 for Greenland and Iceland

16 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So there was some sort of entertainment offered every night on the World Stage? If so, that is awesome! Sounds like we can start getting really excited about that cruise now!

Yes - one night there was a last minute substitution of a movie instead of the Step One Dancers because of rough seas.  Yes we were on for 28 days and had live entertainment every night on the World Stage.  Some was excellent - some was good - some was OK - one (the comedian) was bad.  Just my opinion. Just like people's food tastes - some might love the entertainment (I really like the Humanity show by Step One) and others may hate it.

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That would be awesome if HAL brought back production shows and guest entertainers performing in the main theater again! And hopefully by the time we sail on our 21-day Panama Canal cruise on the Eurodam in April 2025!
 

FWIW that’s the cruise we chose to dip our toes back into HAL waters. We used to enjoy cruising with HAL a lot. But we’re just not lounge people, so we found greener pastures on other cruise lines.  But like I said, that would be awesome if they brought back nightly main theater entertainment again. 😁

We had guest entertainers on the World Stage on the Eurodam the last 3 weeks.

On 11/1/2023 at 5:56 PM, RuthC said:

Turn-around day normally has Mass scheduled at 5:00 PM. 
I can't think of a reason that Easter Sunday would be any different. 

Ruth is correct - and on sea days it is normally 8am and on port days it is normally 5pm.  Check on the daily program/Navigator app.

On 11/1/2023 at 5:25 AM, Laminator said:

The Koningsdam has one of those 100 flavor or more beverage machines outside of the lido mid ship. Probably not what you are looking for but I am sure Hi C or Minute Maid fruit punch will be one of the flavors. 

To use those machines you would need to purchase one of the drink packages