Mary Ellen

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us. I may have missed this, but was there commentary broadcast during the Canal transit and, if so, could you hear it out on your balcony?

Your cruise docs will note how many Gala nights to expect.

We also have dinner in the PG the last night of any cruise, or segment, as we don't care for the MDR menu. We've also started dining there on first Gala nights too. On the NA recently we found that first Gala night menu pitiful. There were only four entree choices - including the vegetarian option. The selection for other courses was also very limited. As our cruise had four segments, we had four first Gala nights. One time we couldn't face that limited menu again and made a very last minute decision to eat in the Lido instead. We had more choices and enjoyed our dinner there.

Minority for this thread, but not I think, on the ship.

 

We do carry-on-only, smart casual 24/7. Latest cruise was 26-day TransAtlantic and western Med on Nieuw Amsterdam. Did NOT see many tuxes around the ship, maybe a few.

 

I actually like to eat in the Lido, so the Gala or Formal/optional (forget already what they were called last April) nights were my favorites.

We were on both of those cruises as part of our 39 day cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam. As we typically have pre-dinner drinks in the Ocean Bar we get to see quite a few other passengers. We remarked at how nice it was to see SO many tuxes - and dinner jackets. With the new dress code, DH didn't bring his tux, but sport coats and ties. He actually felt underdressed. There were a few we saw (a very few) who pushed the bottom limits of the new "Gala" dress code. More like Key West casual. They did stand out. ;)

The great thing about the new TV system on the Nieuw Amsterdam is that you can start watching a movie whenever you want. You can stop when you need and pick it up again (at that same spot) when you wish. No more coming in during the middle of a movie. No getting bits and pieces of a movie. No keeping the TV tuned to the same channel just to see what you missed.

We are on HAL Volendam to China in October 2016. The ship has an overnight in Tianjin, then two sea days, followed my an overnight in Shanghai. We would rather take a land tour, leaving the ship in Tianjin, and reboarding in Shanghai, making our own way to Shanghai.

 

Does anyone know if this is allowed? We expect there would be a ships tour that would do a similar land tour, but think we may do it at less expense on our own. I wanted to get the experience of others before calling HAL. Thank you!

We did this without any problems a few years ago. There wasn't any problem getting our then 1-year multi entry visa for China. We sent in a copy of the ship's itinerary that showed our entry and exit from China. Our tour company asked for contact information for the port agents, should they need to contact the ship.

Our TA had let HAL know we would be doing an overland between the two ports. On the ship we had to notify the Front Desk and give them contact information for our tour company. We did have to sign forms that we wouldn't hold HAL responsible for our onshore expenses and that we realized that we wouldn't be eligible for any refund - due to the days we were off the ship.

Since SO many spend the night ashore in Beijing, the ship was completely set up to either collect the passports of those who were returning to the ship that night or let the vast majority of us who weren't returning to the ship keep our passports after going through Chinese Immigration - as passports are required for foreigners to check into hotels. Front Desk staff were just past Security once we reboarded in Shanghai to once again collect our passports.

Being able to see Beijing and Shanghai at our pace was great. We took the high speed train in business class (in China that is above first class) between Beijing and Shanghai and LOVED it. The journey did show us that the pollution problems in China have not been overstated. Our overland trip was 5 nights and just the two of us. Our hotels were nicer than those used by HAL. Even so, our price for both was less than the HAL shore ex between the two cities for one (based on the double pricing).

I say - go for it.

Hope that you are having a great cruise. Relax, get rid of the stress, unwind and enjoy.

 

KK just returned from Eurodam and posted days/hours Tamarind is open for lunch in this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2276884

 

Tamarind is often open for lunch on Eurodam. Of course, that could vary on Nieuw Amsterdam.

Well, I'm currently on the Nieuw Amsterdam and have been since 7 October. Given that the OP asked about the Nieuw Amsterdam and that your earlier post specifically mentioned Tamarind serving lunch on the Nieuw Amsterdam I'm at a loss to understand what happens on a different ship, such as the Eurodam, is pertinent. My comments were clearly specific to the Nieuw Amsterdam. TravelinJones is absolutely correct in that Tamarind on the Nieuw Amsterdam is currently NOT serving lunch.

TAMARIND ALERT - we went to make a lunch reservation today -- and NO MORE LUNCH. The manager said they are no longer open for lunch - only dinner and the bento boxes served to your room for $9.75 each between 5:30 - 9:30 pm.

 

We enjoyed the set lunch. Has anyone else heard of its demise?

Nieuw Amsterdam is one of the two ships that has a Tamarind Restaurant. While it is a different lunch time menu than for dinner, there is no additional charge. It likely is open daily.

Actually, your picture proves her point. You need to look closely, but the tables to the far left (closest to the camera) are a 4-top just inches away from a 2-top. We've had that 4-top. At the 2-top were a couple who assumed none of us were fluent in their native language. They were wrong. ;)

Are you sure you're talking about the same ship?

 

Even in this modern age, young professional sailors, training to be officers, still learn how to use a sextant. Kind of strange in a world where you can carry a portable GPS unit in your pocket. But it is tradition!

Was just wondering what is considered off-season for cruises? What time of year would you get the best rates?

It of course depends where in the world you are cruising. Close to North America for example, the Caribbean and Alaska have a VERY different 'off-season'. ;) Then there are the different regions of Europe, South America/Antarctica, Australia, Asia.... You need to be more specific in your question.

The itinerary I see on several websites show this 14 night is actually a B2B with the same ports twice. Know something I don't?

They apparently know about the Maasdam doing 14-day r/t cruises from Seattle next summer. ;) It's not a B2B. We did this itinerary on the Amsterdam last year and loved it.

No.

I've seen, and heard of, people joining closed loop cruises after having missed them at embarkation. Does anyone know (for a fact) that this is no longer allowed?

Has anyone even said that isn't allowed? I know in the post I quoted earlier said that cruise lines have stopped the late embarkations that were non-flight delay. To me that seems obvious that flight delay caused late embarkations are still allowed. (Passport involved issues aside.)

Can someone explain the difference between this HAL forum and a roll call.

The email you received when you signed up for the CC should have described the Roll Call forums. This thread on 'What is a Roll Call and how do I find mine' should help:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44773

I was surprised you could experience rough water in the Inside Passage. It is so narrow I can't imagine how that could happen? Were you in a very small ship? Or perhaps the rough waters were just before or after the Passage itself?

The greatest risk for rough water on the Vancouver sailing is usually while crossing Queen Charlotte Sound at the north end of Vancouver Island. That is open to the Pacific. So if it is is rough out in the Pacific, it will be rough in the Sound. At least the ship is only exposed while crossing the Sound. Those on a ship to/from Seattle will be exposed much longer.

Due to the limited number of ships that can transit the Seymour Narrows (this can only happen for a very short time during 'slack tide'), ships sailing from Seattle usually can't opt to sail the portion of the Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland should the Pacific be very rough.

While this post dealt with someone who wanted to disembark early, the principle is the same. What you would like to do would require a lot of extra work and expense for the cruise line - not to mention a lot of aggravation for all of the other passengers. Bottom like - kelkel2 nailed it, Princess has already said 'no'. While I understand this isn't the answer you wanted, it is the end of discussion.

I think the problem here would be more the WHTI and CBP regulations than the PVSA. Remember, the ship clears immigration with CBP every time it returns to a US port from a foreign port. Whether or not you have an interview with CBP like at disembarkation, at the first US port of return CBP will clear the ship, at least via the passenger manifest. If you leave the ship in Tortola, a new passenger manifest must be prepared to present to CBP when entering St. Thomas, showing you as not onboard. The WHTI is the CBP regulations that allow travel on closed loop cruises using the BC/DL form of documentation. This is because the passenger manifest, with your documentation, is submitted to CBP at the start of the cruise, and allows CBP the full duration of the cruise to investigate all passengers. Each time a new passenger manifest is presented, this must start all over again. For this reason, and the fact that CBP has a fee for clearing a ship, many cruise lines have stopped or restricted the late embarkations or early disembarkations that used to be common (non-flight delay). Additional to the cost, since the passenger manifest changed during the voyage, at disembarkation CBP can require a full passenger interview (more like an international flight clearance) than the cursory closed loop cruise interview. NCL experienced this last year in Tampa when they had a Tampa-Cozumel-Tampa cruise that they also marketed to European cruisers as a Cozumel-Tampa-Cozumel round trip. This caused massive delays in disembarkation because CBP had to handle the clearance differently since some passengers "embarked late" in Cozumel.

Our neighbors once took a Caribbean cruise on Princess for their September anniversary. That year the Caribbean was getting pounded with hurricanes one right after another. All of their scheduled ports were impacted. They had either just been hit or in the path of the next hurricane. They didn't make it to even one of their scheduled ports. As the others have indicated, ships head for 'someplace else'.

:confused: I just tried a mock booking on the Koingsdam. Using 5 passengers my options were obviously limited to the new family cabin category. The price was shown. I didn't bother to compare prices to the other categories, but it would be simple enough to do for anyone interested.

We will be arriving on an American (US Airways) flight from Phoenix and leaving on Alaska Air for Anchorage. How do I find out which gates they will be using? Thanks

You can use the procedure I described above. Not knowing your flights, using a random date with the Flight Track app, it looks like the US Air arrivals from PHX to SEA are at the A Concourse. The Alaska flights to YVR from SEA use either the C Concourse or the North Satellite. That app has terminal maps available.

I think you'll be quite happy with your decision to fly home from YVR instead of SEA. It used to be that it was much less expensive to use SEA but that has changed. As you saw, by the time we add in the transfer costs to SEA and the 'hassle factor' using YVR makes a lot of sense. Unless we're adding in a family visit in Seattle, we now use YVR for our Alaska cruises.

Thank you all for your responses especially Danni3113 since what you did is what we are hoping to do. When you say you met the tour guide outside the terminal after getting your luggage from the holding area, how do you get to the terminal with your luggage? I thought tour guide would meet us by ship.

On all of our cruises we've always picked our luggage up in the terminal. If you wish to carry ALL of your luggage off yourself, then you would be in the first group to disembark. The ship is docked immediately next to the terminal (except for a few ports like Buenos Aires). Meeting your guide outside the terminal in Barcelona shouldn't be a problem.

There have been some posts from some bragging about how they bought the CCL stock, faxed in their proof of purchase, and promptly sold the stock. They no longer owned CCL stock when they boarded. Maybe HAL has had to tighten up the time frame between approving the OBC and the sailing date.

Thanks interesting - I purchased my mid-March, 2016 cruise last January (2015) and I got my stockholder's credit ($250) at that time! You never know with HAL!

Sometimes I use my Flight Tracker or Flight Aware apps to see what gates are being used for our in/outbound flights at the connecting airport starting about a week or two out. There is NO guarantee that those gates will be used for our actual flights, but it gives me a sense if the same general area/terminals are being used. If your flights are consistently using the South Satellite, the odds are in your favor that your flights will too. The North and South Satellite concourses at SeaTac are compact and easy to use (as long as you don't have to go between them ;)). I've always found SeaTac an easy airport to navigate. It's much better than LAX, DFW or ORD.