mwj

https://rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/HAL-Cabanas.pdf

My guess is that they do the TV upgrades gradually over the next couple of months, with a goal of having them finished before the upcoming dry dock.

You have the room you wanted. Would you have paid $1000 more for the Neptune when you booked originally?

This is NOT necessarily the case. On a tender-port intensive cruise there is value in club orange. More importantly, there is value in the room upgrade. We have successfully booked a lowest cost balcony room, and then upgraded to a more desired balcony room. We saved more money in the room upgrade than club orange cost.

away back in the days when I drank cocktails ... Yellowbird https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-a-yellow-bird-cocktail

They offer three sizes; 16", 27", 35" The prices were ~$50-90.

From the very beginning, this has been a poorly booked cruise. Sixteen days, encompassing xmas and new years, is to long for those that haven't retired. The mariner specials for this cruise have existed for the past two plus months. We booked using the mariner rates back in August, because we wanted to spend xmas and new years at sea. A month ago, there were 334 available rooms (not including accessible cabins) out of 720. Hopefully, your TA can help remedy your situation in concert with HAL.

You can get a full list of benefits here: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/dining/club-orange.html The cost will vary by length of cruise, either $25 pp/day or $15 pp/day Besides the cabin upgrade value, we find value in the tender benefits if the cruise is port intensive with multiple tender ports. The larger ships (Rotterdam etc.) have a separate dining room for club orange, if that is to your liking.

We don't think it's a conundrum. We save substantial money by buying special fares that don't include a drink package. We will enjoy an occasional cocktail or wine. We don't need 15 daily drinks.

As Seabourn is managed through HAL, and Seabourn is up for sale https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-in-talks-on-possible-sale-of-seabourn-brand/72702, is HAL also part of the 'deal'?

The mariner rates disappeared last Thursday (9/29) for us.

We very much appreciate your notification. We were sitting on 5 $500 gift cards in our cart, and where able to checkout and receive the emails successfully. The $500 gift cards were not available unless they were already in your cart. Lo and behold, today, the AARP rewards website checkout is no longer working (again ...)

One thing that hasn't been mentioned with respect to short layovers, is luggage. Given the shortage in staffing, luggage transfer has been a significant problem. For the start of a cruise, I wouldn't want less than X time (you choose X), to minimize chances of your luggage not making it to your destination in a timely fashion.

from another topic ... online at the HAL website to my booking and then to the section - "manage payment" When the page came up and showed me the remaining balance and the payment options - I chose pay with gift cards. You are allowed to enter 10 gift cards at one time. The process is a little tedious but the website accepted all my gift cards and I paid off the cruise

The best kept 'secret' about Holland America. We attempt to book a retreat cabana for the entire voyage, unless it is a port intensive cruise. We often attempt to book the cabana immediately after booking our cruise. We can save money by booking an inside room and the cabana, rather than booking a balcony or suite. It feels like you are on a private yacht ...

For us, it depends upon the cruise and the ship. We have paid for club orange on two longer cruises, due to multiple tender ports, and for the room upgrade (VF->VB in one instance, saving us over $1000). These are the two main reasons why we would choose club orange. We consider the dining as a bonus, that we don't consider when choosing whether to book it. In both our instances, CO was $15/day/pp.

Nieuw Amsterdam in December (4) as well ...

We don't call on a whim. We only call when there is a significant price reduction. This was the first time our PCC has been reluctant to re-fare. If it happens again, we will request a new PCC. We expect our PCC to work with us to obtain the best scenario, without hesitation, and without us having to be adamant to override their reluctance.

Hal PCC did the same thing to us recently, reluctantly do a re-fare for us. We wonder if corporate is putting pressure on PCC's about doing a re-fare. This is the first time, we have encountered any hesitation. The fare drop was significant; over $1000.

Hal plays continual games with pricing, especially as final payment date nears. You really need to monitor the Hal website on a weekly basis. In addition, always check around holidays, as the run special week long promos.

There seems to be much confusion about testing on cruises over 15 days. We are also on the sixteen day Zaandam cruise. The enhanced protocols document would leave you to believe that no testing is required on that cruise. Our HA PCC says otherwise, and sent us a document stating testing was still required on cruise over 15 days, contrary to what the ep doc says. We wont concern ourselves further until a month before the cruise.

I think HAL has a particular problem to solve before they make an announcement. Many HAL cruises are marketed as B2B, whether it be a total of 14, 21, or 28 days. How do they say that no testing is required for cruises <x days, when the b2b version is >x days. Do they now automatically test all b2b cruisers between cruises? ??? I'm curious as to how HAL will choose to solve this problem?

agree with your wife ... Jan 1 2023