Rinderoo

8 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Excerpted from the article above by retird, "Rotterdam 1873 is roasted fresh in small batches in Beukenhorst Coffee USA Inc.'s West Palm Beach facility and supplied to the ships. For more than 20 years, Holland America Line has been serving Beukenhorst Koffie imported from the Netherlands in the Lido Market, Dining Room and other venues where complimentary coffee is served."

 

In the article (from 2019, when Rotterdam 1873 was introduced), it reads that coffee from Beukenhorst had already been supplying coffee to the free venues on HAL for 20 years. Since Beukenhorst makes various coffees, isn't it possible that Beukenhorst still supplies the Lido/MDR one, too? 

I would bet it's the Dutch stuff in Lido. It didn't taste like Folger"s to me. Too smooth.

7 minutes ago, a1211 said:

At least on one previous cruises, I've seen crew filling the lido coffee machine with Folgers classic roast ground coffee.

😂

10 minutes ago, Nattyg1723 said:

Rotterdam 1873 🙂

 

"Beukenhorst Coffee USA is proud to offer Holland America Line private coffee label Rotterdam 1873, a small-batch roasted premium coffee blend. Served on all ships in the Exploration Café and Grand Dutch Café. Now available for purchase to enjoy at home in regular and decaf, whole bean or pre-ground for pour over."

 

https://www.beukenhorst-usa.com/shop/p/rotterdam1873

Saw that. But they didn't say it was ship wide in dining rooms and the Lido. I didn't care for what I had in Explorations. 

Got off Eurodam a few days ago and I am missing the coffee. We found the Lido coffee quite good and very drinkable. A few days my room service coffee was weak but I never needed to buy it in Explorations.

Does anyone know what they serve on board? 

I have sailed 'em all and prefer HAL and Disney. However, HAL to me is boring--but in a good way. I don't care for the music and miss production shows. But the tradeoffs to me are worth it.  I don't notice anyone heaping plates of food and not eating it on HAL--service in the Lido pretty much eliminates that issue. Dining room meals are duplicated in Lido (we went to MDR once on our recent 11 night Eurodam cruise.) Passengers are generally nice, quiet,  and respectful of others.  Elevators aren't necessary for me on HAL with their smaller ships. Never heard one door slamming or TV through the wall. We like to be on a cruise ship that is manageable, with great food and no drama! I do Disney for entertainment and to keep my status and we like it a lot even as older adults with no kids. But I find HAL far more relaxing and less chaotic than RCCL and NCL. Never saw a drunk person on HAL--just a tipsy happy person in the casino. 

So although the music on HAL makes me run for internet and XM Octane and Ozzy's Boneyard, I will happily sail them to actually relax and not be stressed out.  

18 minutes ago, syesmar said:

Years ago, I was price shopping and was very surprised to find that a big box agency had put a booking on hold without my consent. I only found out when I called the next agency on my short list to check their price and perks, and they said, “we see you have a booking already!” I was not amused….

Agencies do this all the time to hold a price. It falls out with no deposit after hold expires. 

You are quite correct here. Nothing should ever be done to a cruise reservation that has been booked without client consent. Especially when you know the room assignments are important and there are amenities.

There were mistakes made here. I hope the OP is able to get a resolution to their satisfaction.  

7 minutes ago, Roz said:

How would a TA benefit from changing a cabin to guarantee and taking off included gratuities?  Isn't the deposit and final payment charged directly to HAL?

As a former TA, this agency could have been part of a Consortia, and a consortia group was pulled on this sailing. Might possibly have moved this res into the group, perhaps for a better price. But then the room assignment and amenities fell off. There's also a box to "auto upgrade", which could have been ticked. 

It may not have been the agent going into the booking and actually changing it. One thing here is that the entire reservation has a transaction history each time it was accessed, and by whom. The folks at HAL resolutions will be able to see the entire thing. 

On 1/19/2024 at 10:29 PM, kwhear435 said:

I need assistance. My husband and I, along with another couple, are booked on a 35-night Holland America cruise departing on February 17, 2024. We reserved specific cabins on the 11th deck and received 'Have It All' perks, crew appreciation, and onboard credit (OBC).  Our final receipt from our travel agent (TA) shows that we all have all of these items.  However, now on Holland America web site we no longer have crew appreciation or VB cabins, and most of our OBC is missing and we are in a VH guaranteed category cabin.

Does anybody have a phone number to Holland America corporate headquarters so we could try to get a resolution to our problem ?

Thank you in advance. 


It's been a few days since your post. Do you have an update?

You can call HAL and request they assume your reservation, and thus "fire" the TA. The agency must release the cruise though. Many don't want to, especially since commission will be recalled, but if you escalate within HAL and have a paper trail showing your deposited confirmations are different from what you now have, they are likely to do it.

One thing is you really need to show that you deposited what you think you did. Otherwise it shows just a misunderstanding on your part. Only HAL can restore a semblance of what you initially booked, if they even can. This is a very long time to have unhappy guests on board. 

5 minutes ago, Bill B said:

Why don't you ask them?

They are always busy and I don't see them in Lido. We are noticing new lighting, like these, on 10 and in our Retreat Cabana. So that might be what they're doing. These weren't here yesterday.  

Been on Eurodam for a week now and I am seeing what looks like contract maintenance from Marine Telnik Engineering. 

Anyone know what they're doing? Some seem pretty dirty at the end of the day. Don't see them in dining room to ask. 

Just curious as I have done many cruises over the years but have never seen uniformed contractors except during a pre inaugural. 

2 minutes ago, REOVA said:

Check to see if it's a charter cruise. 

Interesting. We are booked and PIF. I just find it odd that there's not one double. 

I haven't found anything yet and the list kept here doesn't even show a group. 

Was looking at this cruise the other day and there are no rooms available. I find that odd, considering the trips before and after still have space. January cruises usually aren't sold out two months ahead of time and often have deep resident discounts to get filled. 

A few years ago I was a TA, and this always made me question if there's something going on behind the scenes and it may not go as scheduled.

Anyone here have info about this cruise? 

I book my cruise and buy unlimited laundry immediately. Never had a problem with it either. We usually send it out daily. Occasionally we've had same-day service too. That's a nice surprise! 

Cancelled Nieuw Statendam sailing April 12 on March 14, 2020 via e-doc.

Refund pending  with credit card company on June 9, 2020.

Twelve (12) weeks, three (3) days.

Way way too long. 

Have January 2021 cruise booked on Zuiderdam with reduced deposit. Will cancel if they are NOT sailing by final payment due date. I am done tying up thousands of dollars on delayed refunds and will book a last-minute rate if available. 

Just now, Copper10-8 said:

 

Anytime! I'd be very surprised if, given the unfortunate circumstances, Rotterdam's guest relations dept. is not very hard at work offering assistance in getting those pax home

I have some first hand info that these particular pax were not offered assistance. They had a family member buy them an airline ticket to Boston.  Cost around $300/each, so it was not horrid. These folks did not have HAL air. 

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

As laid out in HAL's press release dated Friday, March 13

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/topics/news/holland-america-line-announces-a-voluntary-and-temporary-pause-of-its-global-ship-operations-for-30-days/

 Thanks for sending this.  Am being told HAL did not offer assistance with getting home, but perhaps these passengers missed something. I'm sure someone on board will pop on here and provide their experience.

I am told by a friend of mine that passengers are being sent home from Puerto Vallarta and not completing their sailing on the Rotterdam.

Anyone know why HAL did this? The mouse boat is in the Panama Canal today and at least finishing their voyage in San Diego on March 20 (at least as I write this.)  

The T&C on the email to agents sent March 14 2020:  

Anyone have nonrefundable air with Royal Caribbean and take the FCC under Cruise with Confidence? 

Wondering how they are handling that air and if the costs are going to the FCC, or if it is entirely nonrefundable.

Haven't made the decision on this yet as trip is in late May.  

Thanks! 

I give them $5 for coffee, fruit and pastries for two. 

I was on the Nieuw Statendam in December and there were a couple of kids. Not many. Saw a couple of boys at the ping pong tables. There were a few in the under 3 crowd. 

When my kids were teens, we took them on HAL. They hated kids clubs and liked finer dining and the lower key vibe of HAL. Did they like entertainment? Not really, but we had a good time in Billboard Onboard. We did these trips on the Eurodam and had the Family Retreat Cabana booked for all our family trips. They were up there enjoying the break from college and what we did in the ports. (I do not book Cabanas for the two of us.)

I quit worrying what they wanted to do because they didn't like kid clubs at all, except on Disney. They absolutely hated teen activities. 

If the 11 y/o likes to read and do cultural things, and enjoys good food, then you shouldn't have any problems. But he may be on his own to make friends and be with you for most of the trip. 

Great thread as I booked the Jan 24 Zuiderdam 10 night cruise. Was debating the excursion, or being on the ship. Based on reports here, I will be out there at 5am!

Also... what is a "Panama Bun"? Are they are delicious as the raisin rolls they had on the Nieuw Statendam?  lol  

I have done several cruises on the Eurodam and was recently on the Nieuw Statendam. Since I need to work, internet is important. What I had on the NS in December was great. 

Can anyone tell me if HAL has the unlimited internet fleet wide, like the NS? I can't be on a ship for 11 days without it. 

Thank you in advance!