islander47

Nothing better after arriving late back to the ship from an excursion than the taco bar or a burger for lunch at the Dive In. On my first HAL cruise it took me 10 days to discover this. Also, loved room service for early morning shore excursions. Left a note on the door to just knock and come in as they were often early, and we were still asleep.

How early does the luggage drop open in the Amsterdam Cruise Terminal? We have a 6 AM arrival in Amsterdam and expect cruise boarding about noon. We would love to get rid of our luggage so we can take a walk or canal boat ride. I see on the terminal site there are luggage lockers but can't figure out if they will accommodate two 26 inch suitcases. If yes, this would be an option if the luggage drop does not open early.

Is it possible to have OBC moved to another booked HAL cruise? This is our situation, as well.

Can this be done on the Navigator app, as well?

Am I correct that once we are on board we can make reservations with the maitre d' for various times each evening for an anytime dining time?

I am confused. Are you saying HAL lets you have several appetizers in the MDR for no extra charge but not in a specialty restaurant?

What port are you in? We arrive in Fort Lauderdale on April 10th and had planned to take a taxi to the airport. Now nervous about this decision.

Can you make MDR dinner reservations prior to boarding if you have Open Seating?

Miraculously, my travel agent whom I always use for cruising, was able to find quite a few verandah balcony rooms for us on the full 29 day cruise/crossing on the Rotterdam this fall. Hmm....do you think my travel services reserves rooms with deposits for future clients, or do you think HAL reserves some rooms for travel agents to use that do not show for individuals browsing or calling the HAL info number? Good news is we are going and have a nice room 🙂

85 December 2, 2007 St. Simons Island, GA USA #187 Posted 15 hours ago I am probably on the wrong place to ask this, but we are trying to book a verandah balcony room on the Rotterdam on the crossing from Amsterdam to Ft. Lauderdale in October. Neither of us get sea sick so don't mind be in a forward cabin. There are about 10 available between 5003 and 5046, and about 10 between 6003 and 6045, and 11022, 10032, 11038, 11035, and 11039 on the Sun Deck. We need to go ahead and book something because the full 29 day cruise including the crossing has only 2 balcony rooms with stainless steel walls available, as of today. This is really our first choice and would grab a cancellation but not sure how that works. Any suggestions? When I called HAL they failed to tell me about the stainless steel balcony so am asking for some first had advice on this relative new ship. Also, if we do the crossing part only, have any of you done a HAL pre-cruise in Amsterdam? We like to be gone at least 3 weeks but don't want to lug a big suitcase everywhere doing this on our own. Another other pre-cruise suggestions would be most appreciated. If I am in the wrong area for this posting, please steer me to the right place in Cruise Critic! Everyone has always been so helpful here but have really only used the roll call area in the past so not sure what I'm doing here 🙂

Does the "Have it all" drink package include wine by the glass in the main dining room at dinner?

Last winter every person on a ship entering the Panama Canal had to be tested within 24 hours of the ship beginning transit. I suspect this is still the situation. Our guide explained their pilots who board our ships are paid a huge salary, and they can't afford to have any get sick. Makes sense to me. P.S. Loving your trip account. Will be boarding for our 31 day trip in March.

Our only Holland America cruise was last January and there seemed to be lots of singles. Afternoon tea was the big meeting spot for single sailors, it appeared, and we loved meeting them there!

My husband and I will be on the Star Flyer for 5 weeks, our longest trip ever. Though we have stayed in our exact room on several previous sailings, we've never lived in it for so long. Do you have any tips and tricks for organizing the room? Packing starts now!

Love it!! Have not tried golf on board yet.

Anyone have a photo of the interior of the closet area on the regular Star Flyer or Clipper stateroom? Trying to make some packing decisions :-).

Will be joining you for our third Star Flyer crossing. First crossing a storm knocked out all Internet on Day 2 making for a wonderful disconnected sailing. Our second crossing a few were able to connect in some spots. I would not count on it, however. Even if you don't normally participate in shipboard games and activities, I recommend you do on the crossing. It's almost like being a child again!

My husband and I have visited Granada several times and would love a different shore excursion other than the Granada ones offed by the ship when docked in Motril on November 1. If anyone is interested in joining us on a private trip to share expenses, please let me know. We are looking at this one to Nerja - https://www.toursbylocals.com/Private-tour-axarquiagems The excursion is for 6 people so we're looking for 4 more English speakers. Paula

Though I've traveled on the Star Clipper ships several times BC (Before Covid,) I can't remember how I purchased Internet access time. Anyone have the current prices? Hoping to be on a long voyage in the fall and just might need to touch base with home a time or two.

Looking forward to our 8th Star Flyer/Star Clipper cruise in October from Malta to St. Maarten. This one is 5 weeks long, so you can see how much we love them, especially the Westbound crossings with TONS of sailing. No, you do not have to do any sailing work unless you want to volunteer to help with minor things. We generally do a few ship shore excursions and do a few last minute things like Free Walking Tours on our own. Though the ship tries to stay on an exact time schedule, this is not always possible so don't book an expensive independent tour where you can't get a refund. Two best things, in my book, about Star Clipper cruises are the sailing and the interesting passengers who are attracted to this sort of cruising. Lots of fun meeting people from all over the world!

I've sailed with Star Clippers in Greece, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Portugal/Spain/France, and the Westbound crossing twice from Malaga. My suggestion is to go with ship excursions or to do free Tours By Locals or other groups that do not require up front payment. All of my Star Clipper excursions have been fine and nicely priced. However, you never know exactly when you will arrive at a port, so don't pre-pay much for an independent tour. I love independent guides in big ship ports but not on the Star Clippers.

This is the one cruise line where I generally take the ship shore excursions. They are generally priced like ones you would book elsewhere and will fit the ship's sailing schedule with no worries. Did visit Ephesus with Star Clipper some years ago, and the tour was excellent. Just escape the bazaar as fast as you can.

I've found the Star Clipper shore excursions to be reasonably priced so you might want to consider doing the ship excursion. We've sailed on the Clipper and Flyer seven times and have found port skipping to be rare, but expect it if there are rough seas or other issues. This is a cruise to sit back and smell the roses, for sure. We were on a crossing for two weeks without any Internet or other communication with land for two weeks due to a hurricane behind us which wiped our electronics. This was the two weeks prior to the 2016 election in the US and Brexit vote in the UK, and our entire ship simply floated away ;-). We all agreed we were the luckiest people on the planet.

We are already planning for our 5 week Star Flyer cruise from Malta to St. Maarten in the fall. We have done the Atlantic crossing twice preciously but never with so much time prior to the crossing so need to plan for laundry. Does anyone have the Star Clipper cruise laundry price list. We can't wait to sail again!