Loreto

Hi Jacqui,

I have been following your Volendam cruise and hope you are enjoying it🙂!

Please add Loreto Noordam 05-Oct-25  7 day Great Bear Rainforest

This sounds like a unique itinerary...I booked on board the Zaandam last month and it appears to be selling well!.

Thanks,

Karen

We occupied #7033, a Neptune Suite on the Zaandam this month facing the hall opening for the elevators and stairs.  It was never noisy in the area and very convenient for stairs to the Lido.

4 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Just stepped outside and I see that the MS Amera, operated by Phoenix Reisen, is at Terminal 26 – the main HAL terminal here in Fort Lauderdale. The Amera is the former Prinsendam, so she's back, kinda sorta...

 

 

We were parked next to her in Huatulco Mexico in March 2023...she looks good!

3 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I am currently on the Koningsdam.  I was unpleasantly surprised to find it crowded (like Carnival)  Anytime dining usually requires waiting or a reservation and when you get into the dining room, it's noisy and frantic with slow service.  It is difficult or impossible to find a seat at the pool deck, in the Lido, or at the World Stage.  At lunch times, it's difficult to make yourself understood to the servers behind the food counters, probably because of the noise. 

I am booked on the Volendam for a 42 day cruise in November.  Should I expect to find the same crowding on that ship? 

Hi islandwoman!  I am with you on the 42 day in November🙂.  My past Koningsdam experiences have been terrible.  Acoustics in the MDR are awful and we never went there on a coastal cruise (which resembled Carnival.)  The only thing we like is Gelato and Grand Dutch Cafe.  We ate most meals in specialty restaurants.

Like Cruiser Bruce We are just off the sister ship, Zaandam, which was sold out.  I never felt crowded anywhere, and marveled at how many times we got in an elevator and were the ONLY ones!  I have sailed the Volendam a number of times and it never felt crowded.  You will love the Volendam!

Karen

1 hour ago, zelker said:

Hi, Jacqui - We were under Canaletto in 7033 on Zaandam last year, thinking the carpet would buffer the cart noise, but alas, it did not.  BTW, if I'm not mistaken, 7032 isn't under Canaletto.

Enjoy your cruise!

Barb

We're in 7033 Zaandam....sister ship of Volendam thought it would be quiet under the Canaletto...wrong!  since they tiled the lido area the rolling carts are really loud, but stop by around 10pm so it isn't that bad and no early am rolling carts.

We were in an SB Volendam for the Amazon and it was great..I think it was 7004 which was under the beauty salon at the forward stairs opposite the Pinnacle Suite.

We get off the solar eclipse cruise tomorrow. Great cruise 😀!

Karen

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

A quick points while the internet is working better.

 

As promised by the Captain, we needed to be flexible. We arrived at the desired spot around 5am, but there was nothing but clouds ahead. So we reversed course and sailed on the reverse bearing ( to the southwest) for about 3 hours. That caused Mazatlan to be canceled. We saw the two Princess ships and Koningsdam doing the same on AIS. Then just after 9, the Captain came on the speaker,  explained what we had done, and said we would be reversing again, back to the designated course for the maximum Eclipse exposure. We soon began turning, and saw the other ships, which were visible,  barely, on the port side, do the same thing.

 

The change in location meant all steps in the process started 3 to 5 minutes earlier,  otherwise, just amazing.  Totality was truly impressive,  but I have to say the Diamond Ring was even more impressive.

 

More later.

Our experience on the Zaandam was great today!  Many thanks to the first time HAL cruisers who shared the 2 unused chairs at their table😀!  I was surprised that there was a lot of open deck space, but not enough chairs.  I don't know how many people used the bow, but the lido pool area was a perfect spot.

6 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Settled into our hotel. No cruise ships in port today.

 

Excitement today was a guy trying to scam a free upgrade to the front of the place, and a quick visit to urgent care to deal with a minor medical issue.

 

Weather is sunny, but a bit cool and breezy at times. Going to be a bit cooler tomorrow as the storm approaches. 

Hope you get your Neptune GTY!

43 minutes ago, joke2020 said:

Here’s a switch.  We were called and asked to downgrade from our Neptune to a A Vista..  The offer came with a partial refund, some OBC, and all the benefits of the Neptune suite, including the lounge and breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill.  We are 5 star so early embarkation or tendering wasn’t important.  After a few minutes we took the offer.  We have been traveling in Neptunes but mostly on longer cruises.  I’m sure we can endure.  We have 5 more cruises booked in Neptunes.

We have a Neptune which we are not giving up!....love the bigger verandah on this ship🙂. That was a fair offer to downgrade.  You are on my Nov. 9th 42 day cruise...I have a vista for that one, going as a single.  Hope to meet you onboard.

49 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

A semi live report from Zaandam sailing Saturday to Mexico,  14 days, to see the Eclipse, April 8th.

 

Waiting at SFO for our flight to SAN. Raining here now, supposed to be raining in San Diego on Saturday. After that, expect warm weather. 

 

Most newsworthy info at this time is the crazy cabin situation. The cruise has been sold out since about November, with an astronomy group of just under 500 on board. We have a GTY booking. There have been at least two offers to "move over" to other cruises, but we have not received either. There have been upsell offers, didn't receive those either. There is a waitlist, and people are getting assignments off of it. But we have not received our cabin assignment. Have to admit it's frustrating. Not our first GTY booking (actually our 6th), but by far our latest. 

 

There are 3 ships in port Saturday. Zaandam, KDam and a Disney ship. It is going to be crazy. Then add rain, perhaps heavy. They have, after a false start, announced scheduled, assigned boarding times, with check in and boarding starting at 11am.

 

Zaandam should be at sea today, enroute to San Diego.

 

Will answer any questions I can.

 

 

We will be there too!  Have had our cabin since Nov. 2022.  We will have a meet and greet Sunday around 11:15 crows nest after the astronomy talk at 10am.  Speaker is supposed to come to our m&g.  Our checkin is at 11, I have my umbrella ready!

12 minutes ago, syesmar said:

As an aside tip, if you visit Canaletto for dinner, they serve Gelato.

I was going to suggest that, too☺️!  The gelato stand by the pool on Pinnacle Class ships is very popular, and I have suggested that it be implemented on other ships, but so far, no.

1 hour ago, Shippy said:

Cannot find a youtube on the SB

Some discussions I have read says it has a bigger balcony but the cabin is the same (?)

Others say the SA & SB are exactly the same just the location is different.

Anyone familiar with those categories ?

Thanks

we stayed in SB 2004 on the identical sister ship Volendam for 28 days....very quiet, under the beauty shop.  Great location!  We are in SA 7033 Zaandam March 30th, under the Canaletto and hope it will  be a good choice.   Verandahs are large on both ships.  The Zaandam is a favorite ship!

So glad I found these posts!  I have sailed to Alaska many times,( including 4 14 day cruises...best ever!) but Great Bear Rain Forest Cruise is  unique and I may book it onboard later this month.  Being from the desert, rain is always welcomed!

26 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

They do? News to me...

The police at the pyramids in Egypt offered to take pictures of tourists...they didn't was dollars as a tip, they wanted Euros!

My husband will need wheelchair at embarkation.  I let my ta know and I received an email from Guest Accessibility and filled out the required form.  I received a follow up email from them and a wheelchair symbol appeared on his boarding pass. 

58 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Hi Karen, I kind of doubt it will be the Marriott close to the pier,  in the last several years it has been further out and most I have seen were Renaissance in Plantation.

Thanks Lisa!  It seems to me that the world cruise participants this year stayed and gathered at the Rennaissance close to the pier.  My cruise is 42 days and I must be on the ship for the transatlantic.  The itinerary was amazing until the tragic conflict in Israel.  There have been a number if itinerary changes.

4 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

It has been my experience in the past 12 months that it is taking HAL longer to give hotel options.They have been showing up between 5 and 7 months out instead of 9 to 10 months out. If you are flying into FLL or MIA getting HAL hotel is good because not only do the take you to the pier on embarkation but they will pick you up from either airport. For me it was great having a HAL Rep there and then we had a Private car transfer it was actually quite nice. The hotel we were placed in by HAL was Renaissance Fort Lauderdale - Plantation. We went out to dinner by getting a Lyft that only cost $5.00 and went to J. Alexander's that was near by. For breakfast there was a fairly good buffet with typical hotel breakfast food offered but the coffee was very good.We did not think breakfast was included we charged our buffet breakfast, a few days after we got home from the cruise the hotel refunded the charge to our credit card minus the amount I tipped So guess breakfast was included..

Hi Lisa,

I am hoping the Marriott close to the cruise pier is offered as I plan to fly in 2 days early just to be safe..  If it is the one in Plantation I looked at the hotel online and the dining options are limited at the hotel, and I am not getting in an Uber alone to go to lunch.

Karen

On 2/20/2024 at 12:42 AM, Euby said:

I'm trying to do some comparisons to see what my options may be for a pre-cruise hotel in FLL in early November.  I know that I can get my own hotel in Fort Lauderdale and take an Uber/Lyft.  However, traveling solo with a mobility device made that experience more stressful than I want.  Been there, done that, would like to avoid it in the future.

So I went to 'Manage My Booking' page to see what HAL had to offer.  There was nothing listed on the 'Hotel & Travel Packages' page.

NO HOTEL & TRAVEL PACKAGES AVAILABLE YET

We're as excited as you to book hotel and travel packages. Unfortunately, it's still a bit early. Please check back closer to your cruise departure

 

Does anyone have any guesses when they may have something available show up?

I have the same concern!  I plan to fly to FLL 2 days early for my 42 day transatlantic Med cruise Nov. 9.  Since I will be doing this as a solo I want to stay at a HAL Hotel, expensive as it will be.  DH and I always used HAL hotels for Alaska in Seattle which were open for booking way in advance, and it relieved a lot of stress.  In Ft. Lauderdale we always used Spring Hill Suites and took their paid shuttle to the pier.

My TA called HAL and was told they were still working on contracts and to keep checking.  Another wrinkle is that flight ease, which a few weeks ago had offerings posted now when I click on "find flights" nothing happens.  I plan to book air on my own, but still like to look at options .

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

You can also order bagels, lox and cream cheese on the free room service breakfast menu. 

I have been doing this for several years...I cross out the lox, and they seem to understand that I want a bagel and cream cheese.

I am very surprised that people give their full names and have on the side their city.  CC rules advise against giving full names.  I dropped my city and am very general about where I live.  We had someone trolling our roll call awhile back wanting people to sign up for tours immediately to "lock in a price" and admitted she worked on commission. Our roll call moderator caught it right away and suggested she read the guidelines.  Person never posted again, but I am sure they are out there.

11 minutes ago, amglory said:

I started to open an account with Stock Perks but baulked when the site asked for my username and password to my brokerage account.

 

Why would I - anybody - do that? Is it possibly a ploy by the cruise lines to avoid giving onboard credits? Because I can't imagine too many people giving out such personal and potentially dangerous information.

 

RH Nowers

I opened an account on the app.  I did have to create a password for my account.  Never did I have to give any brokerage password.  When you get to the point on the app where it lists  brokerages mine was not listed .  There was a place for me to enter it and upload a photo of my current statement (with account # blacked out)  showing proof of ownership.   I received an email that they were reviewing it.  4 days later, another email that I was approved and would be able to redeem my perk..  I am not tech savvy, but I managed to get it to work!  Good luck...there is an email listed for questions or help.

3 hours ago, anniegb said:

Same experience.

Navigator App confirmed 0900 GMT that OBC was visible.

At 1700 GMT OBC has disappeared from Navigator App.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

I sent my request to HAL by email/PDF requesting OBC fo my March 30th cruise..  I got an email from HAL that they were applying my shareholder OBC at embarkation for me and that in the future I should use Stockperks.  I set up the app and sent the info to see how it works.  Since HAL already said they were applying the credit, I am not going to "claim" it at Stockperks...certainly don't want to confuse anyone!  I will be using Stock perks app for my November cruise.

1 hour ago, cfgrandma said:

Finally got the email at 7 pm tonight from Stockperks saying my statement had been approved. I did the Redeem step and just got another email saying that my request for OBC has been successfully submitted to HAL. Also it said they would be in touch in 5 days to confirm that the credit was applied. I will contact my TA in a week about getting a new Booking Confirmation to see if credit was applied.

Glad you were successful!  I would print all the emails and take them when you sail.  I also bring my brokerage statement.  In the past, guest services had given me a print out that showed the different credits.

13 minutes ago, cfgrandma said:

I started the Stockperk process Jan. 16 by uploading a photo of current statement and did not receive an email confirming such. Uploaded a pdf of statement on Jan 23 and still no confirmation email. In looking at the Profile tab everyday since I have “Profile completion 50%” in a blue box.  I am ready to send email to HAL stating that the new procedure for OBC is very unusable. Fortunately I have until April for my approval.

 

Carolyn

Hopefully something will come through.  I was annoyed that I had to use the app, but I followed the directions…I had to put my brokerage company in and did get the reviewing email.  Good luck!!

I applied with Stockperks Tuesday Jan. 23. Uploaded a photo of my current statement, got the reply that it was being reviewed and received email confirmation that it was accepted today, Sun Jan 28.  So it did work!

12 hours ago, MightyCruiser said:

Thanks for the help. San Diego parking is not very friendly. I have tons of hotel points with Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton but with parking fees for 12 days (first 7 free) I will save my points and buy a room at the Yacht Club.

Happy to help!  It's not the Marriott, but it is clean, friendly and safe.  We have stayed there for the last 10 years.  The front desk is always helpful and the included breakfast is adequate.  There are a number of restaurants within walking distance, which is a plus!