ToBe

2 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

When giving your luggage to the stevedores in Ft. Lauderdale, (and many other ports) the luggage is thrown into these large steel cages that, when full, are carried by fork lifts to the ship.   There are a lot of bags in those cages,  and if your bag is near the bottom, there is a huge amount of weight pressing on your bag that may have a case of soda or water hidden inside.   If your bag gets squashed, and a few cans of soda (or bottles of water) explode, your luggage will be destroyed, and every bag under yours will suffer the same fate.   That's why you must carry it on.    

Vey true experienec

carry on he cans!

We have traveled on Hal for over 280 days and never received any pins. We did get a medal for 100 days and our grandsons love playing assorted games with them. Yes, the free laundry is a great perk.

1 hour ago, woodworker&knitter said:

My husband and I were 67 and 66 respectively when we got our yellow fever shots. We had no adverse reaction to it  at all, except the out of pocket expense 

We were in our early 70's when we had the shots. We had no reaction to the shots except the expense. My doctor said that we should get the shots.We had to go to a travel clinic for the vaccine.  I was very happy when we ended up at a Brazilian port that was passing out flyers about yellow fever in the area. Signs were up everywhere. 

2 hours ago, SeagoingMom said:

We just returned from a 14 night back-to-back on Oosterdam, E/W Caribbean. We did a similar one on Eurodam last spring. I can tell you what happened on our cruises, but you should not assume that what we experienced is what you will experience.  Our back-to-back this year was different in some ways from last years'!

 

We booked each cruise as a 14-night Collector's cruise, which meant we got an oversized map of the itinerary at the end as a souvenir.  We stayed in the same cabin for both weeks, but some I suppose who book each cruise separately may not be able to do that?

 

Those of us who were in the Mariner's Club were invited to two champagne luncheons: one for each week.

 

On this year's cruise, when we got back to Ft. Lauderdale after the first leg, all of us staying on board were required to gather in a lounge (our belongings stayed in our cabins) to be escorted off the ship back into the terminal to walk past U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and show them our passports. Then we got back onboard.  On the previous year's cruise, when we got to Ft. Lauderdale, those of us staying onboard for the next cruise gathered in the dining room, and Customs and Border Protection agents came onboard and had everyone file past and show their passports. So clearly the policy set by Customs and Border Protection, who run the show, had changed one year to the next. You should expect it may change again.

 

Anyone who was on the back-to-back but had booked a ship excursion for Ft. Lauderdale (yes, they are available) or wanted to get off the ship for any reason was offered a "transit pass," and exited the ship the same as everyone who was disembarking (except transit passengers did not have their luggage), went through customs (I think), and later got back on board the same as new passengers who were embarking.  That is my understanding of how the system worked, though we never got off at Ft. Lauderdale as transit passengers, so I am not speaking from experience.

 

Our account carried over from one week to the next - we did not have to close it out at the end of the first cruise.  Nor did we have to get new ship cards. But again, those who book their cruises separately might have to do that.
 

We did not have to repeat the muster drill on the second leg. However, a crew member was sent to ask us why we were not at the muster drill when someone spotted us on an upper outside deck during muster.

 

Some (not all) of the entertainment was the same both weeks.  But even when the entertainers were the same, the programs were often different -- the comic told different jokes, musical groups played different pieces. Some entertainment, such as the BBC World show, was probably identical.

 

The dining room menus differed each week, though some menu items appeared both weeks.

 

If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to try to answer them!

We've done B2B and then additional legs in Asia, Australia, and Europe.  Your onboard card is for your entire voyage not just the B2B. Your account carries to the end also. You can buy WiFi for up to a 30 day cruise and the rate is much less expensive than buying daily. We then could buy additional WiFi days. You do not have to go to the safety drill until you will be on more than 30 days .  We like to do our own tours during days that people disembark/embark.. We have always been given transit passes. We have had to go through passport control in Australia this year when we were continuing the voyage. 

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Exactly. All good considerations,  before making a choice one way or the other.  

 

We just like balconies and always book them, but on our upcoming Zaandam Antartica we booked an ocean view in the middle of the Lower Promenade deck - we expect rough passage, learned last time the Humboldt Current down South America keeps things very cold so being center and lower looked like a good choice.  

 

Plus being able to quickly get out to a lower ,more "sea level" deck and easy access to both sides of the ship seemed like a good idea on this unique trip too.  Price difference, yes that was material too because this is premium, seldom offered itinerary that will be among the last ones HAL can offer on this wonderful ship. 

 

So, is a balcony worth it ....you are very right, it depends. No one fixed answer. 

Great planning! We had an ocean view on Deck 4  for our Antartica cruise and it did exactly what you want. We would run on deck as did everyone on the ship. We ate early at a table for 4 which was at the window! Dinner was so exciting: whales, penguins and seals everywhere. It will be COLD  on deck. The bow was open too. Bring super warm gloves and a very warm hat. It can be very windy and rainy but still glorious!

On 3/16/2019 at 9:46 AM, CruiseRQA said:

Was on the Oosterdam two weeks ago:

 

No production show

No chilled soups

No smoked fish

$10 charge for an extra lobster tail

No library

No Explorations Cafe

so sad

On 3/17/2019 at 9:18 AM, JT1962 said:

I am probably in the minority, but I am glad there are less production shows with singers / dancers. It always reminded me of watching Lawrence Welk or the boring choreographed dance segments of the Carol Burnett show. I would much rather see a comedian, magician or really good cover band. We have also seen some really good tribute bands on cruises including shows featuring the music of Elton John & Billy Joel, Journey, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Earth, Wind & Fire, Motown tributes, Disco tributes, etc. Hopefully those will be shows in the future.

4 hours ago, faerievert said:

Are the walls magnetic?! That would be fantastic, I have three magnet hangers I could bring. I often use them on door hinges in hotels but hadn’t thought about on the ship. I’ll be on Eurodam.

We use magnets to hang maps etc. and my dh baseball caps. Most ships have some metal walls.

1 hour ago, bizeesheri said:

Is Dec or Jan a better month, considering weather, I know weather is unknown, but generally.  

We were in Antartica last February and had 4 days of lovely weather. Often the ships do not have such great weather. Bring WARM gloves and hats. The views are breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, October 2, 2018, headed towards Hawaii

 

Thanks for the good wishes, good to know people are following along.

 

On deck early again for a relaxing day at sea. Calm breakfast in the dining room and I relaxed until I took time to book an independent tour online. My credit card was declined. The front desk was kind enough to offer a complimentary call to my card provider, but I could do without the faffing about. Enjoyed a relaxing day at sea until I found the form to fill out and show that we had our electronic visas for Australia. Mrs. Whogo's documentation is safe in her computer. At home. Inaccessible from the Pacific Ocean. More faffing about. Holland America gave no indication that we should bring documentation of an electronic visa. If Mrs. Whogo is put off the ship in New Caledonia, she will fend for herself and I will continue the cruise and use the elevator whenever I want.

 

While I faffed, Mrs. Whogo relaxed, learned how to make fluffy omelets and blueberry pancakes at America's test kitchen. She claimed they stole her blueberry pancake recipe.

 

Lunch of fish and chips for me, beef barbacoa for her at a table for two in the dining room. Fun Australian teammates and a beer for afternoon happy hour trivia in the Crow's Nest, did admirably, missed three, couldn't beat the team with a perfect score.

 

At 5:35 we were headed southwest at 18kts, course 227°, position 40°55.22' N, 138°10.75 W. Relative wind was 25 kts from two o'clock, a sailor would probably phrase that differently.

 

Gala night dinner, good conversation and surf and turf made for an excellent meal. Mrs. Whogo looked lovely, I looked adequate. Those who care can grit their teeth about my wearing a sport coat and tie instead of a dinner jacket. To further raise your blood pressure our first dinner table mate wore a tee shirt, this morning's breakfast mate wore a ball cap and tee shirt in the dining room.

 

Arrived late for 1980's music trivia, joined a team of young people who tied for first. It was all the young folks' doing, I contributed nothing and did not claim any part of the victory. Ended the night with a peek in the showroom, a couple of songs in the piano bar and couple more at B.B. King's, my first visit there.

Love your comments. We board the Noordam January 4 and will have the orange view too. It will be wonderful to follow your comments. I agree with Mrs. W: no elevators and my DH ignores me. This ship is larger than our last few HAL ships so the climb from 4 to Lido will be more than a challenge.

Thanks again

Temma

I believe they use precracked eggs that you can buy in wax. paper cartons for their scrambled eggs. They also have those eggs at the omelette station BUT you can ask to have a regular fresh egg cracked in front of you. They have real eggs with shells. Just ask.

Yes, you can taste the difference.

I don't believe they will let you charge both rooms to your account. We had this problem when we traveled with family too. Only one cabin will get the discount. It also is reflected if one family has a drink package

Must be awful to hear news like this and be on board a ship not knowing if family and friends are o.k. Thinking of them all.

I think of this every time happens in Indonesia. The staff is so wonderful and I hope they and their families are safe.

We've been traveling on the smaller Hal ships and usually have an ocean view cabin which do not come with a fridge/cooler.

Do the Noordam ocean view cabins have the mini fridge? We are on the Upper Promenade Deck- Obstructed View.

Thanks.

Each one of us has been able to take a non 4/5 star person with us for priority tendering. There are times when we wait in a special line until there is room on the tenders when there are HAL tours that are getting off first. We usually do private tours and this works well when are only 4. There is no priority for the return tender.

We have the same perk on Celebrity where we are Elite Plus.

That Belkin Mini power strip has surge protection and is dangerous to use onboard ships. The more time it is exposed to shipboard power systems, the more the semi-conductors in the surge protection circuit break down. Also, even a brand new Belkin, fresh from packaging, when plugged into the ship's wiring, can suddenly fail and start a fire due to a ground fault hundreds of feet away from your cabin, several decks up or down, and totally out of your control (even something as simple as a deck light cracking and filling with rain water). Please do not take the Belkin on your future cruises.

Interesting. We have used the plug for years so that we can charge three things at one time. It does not have a surge protector. It is not a power strip. Amazon Basic also has a multiplug. We used the plug on HAL for at least 7 years and Celebrity longer. This is not a convertor. We have not sailed on one of the newest ships but it helps on the more mature ships.

We have a Bekin power plug that we leave in for the entire cruise. It has two USB ports on the side for iPads, phones etc., and we have never had any problem. It works.

There is a huge drawer under the foot of each bed. It holds a great deal. Sometimes the room attendant will store another sheet set in one but it can be removed if you need the drawer space. We do not like bath wash and always bring our own bar soap.

I have never seen good maps in the ship stores and most that are available in the ports are more tourist oriented. DH always gets a very detailed map of the general area ahead of time by ordering them online and posts it on the wall of our cabin with sticky tabs. He uses maps.com https://www.maps.com

We do the same. We order them on line or find some at AAA. National Geographic also has maps. All the maps cost money but we enjoy tracing our itineraries. Our cabin attendants always comment about the maps. WE had excellent maps on our cruise to North Cape in Norway. Often DH marks with highlighter some of the ports. We use magnets if the walls work or resort to some tape.

We were the Zuiderdam immediately after dry dock and the library/exploration cafe in the Crows Nest was close for new carpet for at least three days. They were putting down carpet for the entire trip in other areas. We were given a small credit. We were also on another ship where carpet was being laid. We try to avoid ships after dry docks .

Wondering as well :confused:

I flew American Airlines economy and in flight entertainment was included. Lots of games and movies. Meals included as well.

We have flown to AY/NZ twice and are doing so again this January. First trip United IAD to LAX to SYD. Included meals and entertainment. We were in economy class as we were when we flew Air New Zealand using the same itinerary: IAD to LAX to AUK returning from SYD. The service on both was fine and both flights turned down the lights for those who can sleep . This time we are flying Economy Plus on United: IAD to HOUston to SYD. The Houston to SYD is on a new Dreamliner. Quantas does the same long haul from Houston. We made sure we had at least 3 hours in Houston returning since we will be gong through Customs and it took two hours last time since we were in transit and we had to run to make our next flight. The he TIA did not give any express treatment to people who had Global Access. The January flight is expensive and we were able to use some points to help with the cost. I tried to make sure that we spent the least amount of time in travel.

FYI Flying into LAX and then picking up the flight to SYD needs your attention if you will be mixing airlines. The gates can be far apart and in completely different buildings that are not connected. We found out the hard way.

Yes, the flights are worth the flights and allow a few days to explore AU/NZ cities.

ToBe,

 

Are you, by chance, looking for Alaskan ports? It takes a little more work than just looking up one website. Here is a list of all of the 2018 port schedules in Alaska. http://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551

You will find a code on the right part of the box for each day. That code is the dock that the ship is scheduled to be at. So then you need to check the code, and they are all different. If you will have to tender, the code is usually similiar to ANC for "anchor". Here are a couple of links to the ports that we are going to:

 

Juneau http://cruiseportwiki.com/Juneau

Ketchikan https://www.ktn-ak.us/port

Skagway http://skagway.com/cruise-ship-calendar/

 

I hope this helps!

You and other responders have helped. We will be on the Noordam in January and I have an idea from the original itinerary for some of the ports. I will check each port. I wish HAL would include this information. It makes planning for private tours easier.

Earlier I saw information about this. I can't remember how to do this.

How can I find the tender ports on the HAL site? or is this not possible?

HELP!

Here are some photos I took during our Oosterdam cruise in October 2014, from Seattle to Sydney.

 

Mystery Island, Vanuatu:

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/mystery2.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/mystery.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/mystrey4.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/mystery6.jpg

 

Lifou, New Caledonia:

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/lifou4.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/lifou1.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/lifou3.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/lifou6.jpg

 

 

Noumea New Caledonia:

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/noumea1.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/noumea2.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/noumea6.jpg

 

 

Ile des Pins, New Caledonia:

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/iles7.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/iles6.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/iles5.jpg

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/iles4.jpg

Thank you for the pictures.

I'm trying to arrange a private tour in Petropavlovsk and they want to be paid via Payoneer. I've never heard of it, but there are a bunch of mixed reviews all over the the Internet. My TA has never heard of it either. Do you have any personal experience with this method of payment?

WE used Payoneer this past January for a private tour and it went perfectly well. On the other hand, we had to use PayPal for a tour. When the vendor had to cancel the tour due to bad weather, she gave usa refund but PayPal was difficult. PayPal charged a fee so we did not receive the entire amount and it took me weeks before someone could explain how to get the money back. PayPal would not return the money to my credit card but required my band account to return the money. I did not want PayPal to have access to my banking account. After the money appeared, I had my bank account flag and not issue any fees etc to PayPal. I use my credit card for PayPal and hope to avoid using that service.

Yes HAL have safes aboard there ships in the closest. And you entry the combo upon placing items in the safe. Enjoy you cruise.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have had ocean view rooms in both the Volendam and Zaandam and both safes did not have a key pad. We had to use our room key or credit card and only one person ends up being able to open the safe. EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE SAME ROOM KEY OR CREDIT CARD THE SAFE ONLY READS ONE VERSION. My DH and I do different activities on the ship and find this very inconvenient. We did ask if this could be adjusted and were told no. We did not have this problem on other HAL ships.