Moriah

That GS person is mistaken! I am only 4 star, but I've always received the same "perks" for my cabinmates - including all discounts in coffee shops, specialty dining, or whatever. I'm sure it will be resolved favorably. Let us know.

Wow, thank you again SO MUCH to all of you for taking the time to give me all this info - even answering some of the questions I hadn't thought to ask. Hopefully there are others out there as well who are wondering about this things and this thread will serve. I'm looking forward to this more and more!

Thank you so much for these replies. A couple other questions came to me - did all of you have your B2B cruises on the same booking number? Mine are booked as two separate cruises, because I decided later to add on the second one. I wonder how this will affect anything, although I was told they are 'linked'. Also, it just occurred to me that I may not even find out until I'm on board the first cruise whether I'll be changing cabins - for some reason I was imagining that I'd get the guarantee assignments at the same time, but of course that's not true... so thank you AKJonesy for reminding me by suggesting talking to GS - I will probably get off the ship and go out for breakfast or lunch with my brother, who lives in Miami, now that I know I can get back on at will with the transit card - and not do the whole embarkation scene all over again.

It's been many years since I booked two cruises back to back, and I'm wondering if anyone can walk me through how it's done these days. Specifically I'll be on Nieuw Statendam, out of Fort Lauderdale later this month. My cabin was booked "guarantee" for both legs of the cruise, and I was told that since they "linked" the two cruises I could *probably* expect not to have to change cabins, but if I do, how does that work? Will I be able to move everything to my new cabin before disembarkation from the first cruise or will I have to pack up and take everything off the ship? And speaking of that, will I have to disembark in Fort Lauderdale on disembarkation day of first cruise at all? And if so, when will I be able to re-embark (is that the term?) Are back-to-back guests what they call "transit"? I'm sure I have more questions but can't think of them right now. All you seasoned back-to-backers, any info (especially specific to Fort Lauderdale) about the experience would be most appreciated!

Thanks for that correction Kazu, I didn't realize the Vista suites had them. That's good to know. (I guess I should have mentioned the Pinnacle - I think there is just one on the V? Obviously it has a fridge - actually more than one :)!

1. Yes 2. Yes 3. No, but if you act fast, you can usually rent one. Bear in mind that if you are in any cabin except a neptune suite(which does have a fridge, anyway), the fridge you rent takes up valuable "real estate" - there aren't really any great places to put it, although it can work, if you really want one. 4. the other "free" place to eat on Volendam is the Dive-In next to the Lido pool. It has a great menu of "All American" fare -- burgers, hot dogs, fries... and most people agree it's excellent. Also, room service is free, 24 hours. 5. Volendam is in "ship shape" - I think you'll find her a really gorgeous and meticulously kept-up vessel. Do remember to bring enough multi-outlet plugs, and whatever adapters you need to charge your devices. Volendam has but one American, and one European outlet in each non-Neptune cabin. You can bring a power strip but be sure it's of the allowed type. I always just bring a multi-outlet plug - they make them with 3 or 4 outlets in them, and I find that very convenient.

Yes, it is sometimes per cabin. But if the email promotion specifically says per person, that's curious. I had a similar situation where we got $100 for the cabin, and it was split on our statements, $50 per person.

Interesting! Thanks, clearly, you still have that function, but nowhere on my interface does that dropdown to choose the forum appear! I am using my Macbook at the moment. I will try it on my phone, but I almost always am on my computer, so this is quite annoying.

Has the search function changed? We used to be able to search a particular forum (In my case I almost always only want content posted in the HAL forum) but I don't see that possibility anymore! Is it just me, or has the whole search page changed? Is it still possible to limit a search to a particular forum?

Also... if you purchase OBC, your bill is still itemized, so each purchase still shows up, even though the total owed remains minus.

Are you saying that your agreement with her is that she'll pay you back after the cruise for what she sees as her share? In any case, EACH of you will have to have a credit card associated with your account. If I understand what you wrote correctly, you'll have YOUR CC on both accounts (both key cards, IOW). Both internet and Crew Appreciation can be PRE-PAID, so why not go ahead and do that before you leave - that way she won't see those things on the bill if she logs in. Other than that, you are right, she'll see the bill and could presumably decide "her share" is ... whatever. Maybe others have some other ideas. You mentioned that another thread mentioned pre-paid gratuities still showed up? That has never been the case for me, but who knows with the way things work so inconsistently.

No, and keep in mind the Vista "suite" is not really a suite - just a renamed veranda cabin - about half the size of the Neptune suite, which as has already been pointed out, is a large cabin, with no divider between sitting and sleeping area.

I guess it's knowing this that always has me booking a much later (and more expensive) flight back up to the frozen North, 🙂 The OP will probably be just fine, but as you say, there is no guarantee.

I know you've already gotten this answer, but I want to add my voice to the crowd and say, please forget Uber when it comes to leaving a ship on your way to FLL. Since your flight is early, just go to the gangway with everything you need to bring to the airport and try to be among the first off the ship - probably around 7:30 - and as others have said, just jump into a taxi - there will be a whole line of them waiting. Can I ask what time your flight leaves? I am usually too afraid to book anything for before noon, even though I've seen time and again that it would probably be just fine. Then I kick myself, because the earlier flights are so much cheaper...

Your cabana will be a tiny space, and on glacier day you are going to want to move around, get views that are more than just one direction... and for the rest of the cruise the cabana will really have no value - it's usually much too chilly when the ship is underway. If you think you will want to be outdoors all day on glacier day, you will probably feel very confined by your cabana - the views are in all directions and so awesome, you won't be wanting to sit down on a sunbed chair.

Depends on the performer. A comedian, for example, will often get a private room. And it will be a UP cabin (ocean view) They can also bring along a family member or friend for port fees only.

Those are crew cabins. Performers, etc.

Ooooh, right. Now it makes sense. Then yes, I'll bet it would work fine if you got bar cans/bottles using your drink package and asked they not be opened so you can put it in your bag to bring to HMC.. (wouldn't be cold by the time you got there? - my mind always goes to the "what ifs" LOL) I never thought of that, but then I never get a drink package.

I agree about the TV placement on Pinnacle class. We had a family cabin with two bathrooms but only one TV, which would really not have been a problem but the TV was, as you said, across from the bed! The little sitting area with loveseat would have been a much more logical place to watch TV. Especially in a family cabin where there might be more than two people - everyone having to pile onto the bed is ridiculous. Glad you enjoyed coming back "home" to HAL.

No, you don't. HAL takes care of it. You can disembark in Aruba without having the ED card in your possession.

Puzzling over this question... not sure what you mean by "bottled and canned drinks from the ship." Do you mean from your mini-bar? If so, sure, nobody checks the contents of your bag when you leave the ship to get on the tender. Do you mean bottled/canned drinks you brought on board yourself? Same answer. Or do you mean something you bought at a bar that you asked not be opened? I guess same answer there, sure, why not. But in that case, I don't really get it since you can buy the same drinks at the bars on the island. Maybe there is some other meaning to this question that I haven't thought of?

No, that is really not relevant. Just the original email offer is all you need. If you just keep it available on your phone you are good. You probably won't need it since they have a list by your name and stateroom - just go to casino as said and ask them to give you the free play and drink sticker, and if for some reason they can't find you on the list, show them the original email offer. You need the "campaign number" which is not in what you've pasted above.

I've never seen it on a confirmation either, but they've always given me the sticker when I went to casino on first day of sailing. They have a list of all the pax who have each campaign offer.

Be sure to have the original offer email, either on your phone or printed - it has a campaign number so they can see which offer you are signed up under. I've never had it appear on my HAL confirmation (probably because it's not a HAL offer per se, but the casino that is giving it to you). As for tips, I never carry cash on the ship during the cruise, but since the free drinks are from the Casino bar only (on Pinnacle ship there is a dedicated casino bar - on other ships it might be the Billboard or other bar), you will get to know your bar tender, presumably... I usually go up there on the last evening and tip the bartenders for their service during the cruise. This is because gratuities are not included in this offer - so I assume they are not getting the 18% that they wouldif it was a regular cruiseline drinks package. But tipping is obviously not mandatory.

Of course you can "find out" - all the info on what's in the cabins is readily available and right on the website. The Volendam is an older ship, from an "age" when a refrigerator was not standard in every cabin. On the good side, your ocean view cabin was significantly bigger than those on Pinnacle class ships where you have a fridge, but much less storage, and much less room to move around. I love Volendam - and I'll be so sorry when (I'm assuming it's inevitable) it leaves the fleet and Vista class ships are considered "small." I still miss Veendam and Maasdam!