AryMay

20 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Or the lack of a yum yum man is not driving us to some other cruise line, even though we frequently liberated mints from him.

 I have been enjoying your review. We have spent 69 days (I believe) on the ship and are in the process of packing and will board the Zaandam again on April 20th for another 18 days (B2B cruise.) 

Just wanted to let you know that the Yum Yum Man was back on the Koningsdam in February. He didn't have his usual uniform, but the goodies were all there!

1 hour ago, sfpd3000 said:

I talked to the HoHo rep yesterday.  He assured me that their buses will make the longer loop to include Pier 30/32.  You will not have to find your own way to one of the other stops.

Thanks so much! 

From the Koningsdam in February...

4 hours ago, Skittles said:

ArMay, How did you find a car to rent in Astoria? 

It was 2017 when we rented a car at our port stop in Astoria. At the time there was an Enterprise Car Rental within walking distance of the port. 
 

It appears the same rental agency is still in business, but they are closed on the weekends. From my Google search here is the address:

San Francisco is an overnight port stop on our April cruise. I am interested in the Hop On Hop Off bus but concerned because our ship is scheduled to be at Pier 32/30 which much further south than the main Pier 27. 

Has anyone ever booked the HOHO bus through HAL? The times listed for the tour booked through HAL are either 8:30 am or 9 am but booking independently through the Big Bus website shows the bus begins service at 10 am. 

What I'm trying to figure out (and couldn't get an answer by calling HAL) is:

• 1.  Is transportation provided to one of the bus stops? The closest stop to Pier 32/30 is almost a mile away at the Ferry Building.
• 2. Why is there a difference in starting times?

5 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

You are correct about the activities schedule. Doodling is better than the Dam Dots they have twice a day. It’s literally connect the numbered dots on a sheet of paper 🤣. I think many people go for socializing but these activities are definitely low budget.  🤣😃

Not sure if the “art instructor” is the same gal that was on the previous cruise, but she did very little instructing (she sat and read a book during one watercolor class.) I went to the Dam Dots session out of curiosity and couldn’t believe it when she handed out dot-to-dot sheets with literally about 300 numbered dots to connect! The numbered dots were so tiny I couldn’t even begin to see them let alone connect them! 
 

I was a bit surprised however when I went to the Adult Coloring class and sat next to a guy who was a professional colored pencil artist! I felt very self-conscious and tried my best to color inside the lines! 😆

I believe this is you, Kathi! 
 

So glad you are back to cruising! I always loved your blogs and know how much you enjoyed being at sea. 
 

Bon voyage! 

13 hours ago, Shears5055 said:

They are on board and I must say we are thoroughly enjoying them.  Clara V has some amazing talent and her new partner Lynn is quite good as well.  They work together very well.

Hmmmm. Wonder what happened to James (from Scotland?) James and Clara Vee both had just started together on the previous 18 day Hawaiian cruise and I thought they worked well together. I figured they both would have been on the current cruise. 

I wonder if HAL is pulling out all of the stops knowing how much social media & online presence this cruise has gathered. I was just on the previous cruise and paid the $18 up charge for steak & one lobster tail in the MDR…but now they are serving unlimited amounts in the buffet!?!  😳

9 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

@Haljo1935..thought you'd be interested...we have a Yorkie service dog on this cruise...he is wheeled around in a stroller!

The stroller dog (and owner) were in the Dutch Cafe at lunch today. The pup was doing some yipping. 

If it is OK I will add some random tidbits…

These are just my personal thoughts and opinions. 

Entertainment

Comedian Lamont Ferguson was excellent and I’m not even a big fan of stand up comedy. My husband has been playing pickleball with him each day. 

Clara Vee and James in Billboard onboard are beyond incredible!!! So much talent and personalities that make for a very fun performance. 

Beatle tribute was just OK. 
 

Hawaiian crafts

Make sure you arrive early. I am waiting for a bracelet class to begin now.  I arrived 45 minutes early and a long line had already formed. There were 150 kits for the kakui nut lei class on the first day and all were taken. 
 

Mariner lunch

Yesterday was packed and Captain said they were going to hold 3 lunches to accommodate everyone. Good food! 

I have taken screen shots of my boarding pass so it is easy to see the changes. Looks like the updates have made things confusing (or just downright wrong.)

A screen shot from Monday, January 22:

A screen shot from earlier today (Thursday, January 25):

And a another screen shot from today (January 25) AFTER doing the app update on my iPad:

We had gotten an updated email changing our boarding group from E to H, but no longer is the boarding time listed. I wonder how long it will take them to figure this out? 

Here is a list of the changes made during the Navigator update.
 

I am on the January 30th Koningsdam cruise and yesterday everyone received an email with updated boarding times (ours is 12:40, Group H), but the way it is worded on the app makes it sound like everyone has a NOON boarding time. I can just imagine the nightmare this is going to cause in San Diego (which already has a reputation for being unorganized)!

The original wording said “Your check-in 12:00 pm/ Group H”

The updated app says “Boarding begins at 12 pm/ Group H” AT 12:00 PM / GROUP H

We will be boarding the Koningsdam soon for an 18-day Hawaii cruise. We have a lot of OBC which I might use to purchase an internet plan. Using the tables from above, I calculated the cost per day of the Surf plan (for the first 20 days) just out of curiosity since I might wait a day or two before buying the package:

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

At first glance I thought perhaps that was a water spout that you caught on the photo above. Now I'm wondering if it is just a streak on the window. 🙂

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Ok, here we go. Which to do first - talk about the most recent sighting of the 4 legged passengers or the incredibly adorable animal invasion at the Lido?

Don’t leave us hanging! Is there another chapter to the dog story? 

16 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

@crystalspin that was my understanding too. I found out about the AARP gift cards and used them for a large portion of our 2023 World Cruise payment. I am now stockpiling them for the 2025 Pole to Pole cruise. For these long cruises, I need to buy trip insurance anyway for medical and evacuation purposes anyway.

But if you needed to cancel for a covered reason would your trip insurance just refund your payments back to the gift cards? I have used the AARP gift cards to make cruise payments in the past, but have quit since I really don’t want to get stuck with them if we had to cancel (especially for huge amounts like a World Cruise.) 

15 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

This morning while planning my cruise next week I realized Google has those user created maps and downloaded quite a few nice city walking maps from there. 

Can you share how you access these user created maps? I get confused (easily) when using Google Maps!

27 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

K'dam definitely has the 14th deck, frequently referred to as the "secret" deck since it does not appear on many deck plans. There is a button for it if you're in the correct elevator.

I will post pictures later once I've made my way you there (currently sailing on K'dam).

While you are out on your mission, could you head to the front of deck 7 and see what the white spaces are on either side of this deck? Still trying to discover if there is a way to access a public area  overlooking the bow of the ship. 🙂

27 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Check forward on deck 7 to see if the small front wrap deck is open. It's balcony width.

I can see doors opening up to the outdoor area, but not sure what the white space is leading to the doors. Any ideas?

Edited to add: Just read the thread linked above and it was suggested that the white spaces are officers’ cabins. 
 

Is there a public deck that is accessible that overlooks the bow on the Koningsdam? If so which deck? 

34 minutes ago, POA1 said:

There is a package price for Surf once you get onboard. You'll see it once you click connect to the internet in the Navigator app. You'll get to choose from day, remainder of voyage, in either Surf or Premium.

Thanks @POA1…with 2/3 of the cruise being sea days crossing the Pacific it will be nice to stay connected! Usually I just rely on our T-Mobile service in ports since I am a cheapskate. 
 

Sorry to hijack this thread. Time to go back into lurking mode. 
 

Woke up to an email from Holland America…Glacier Bay is back! 😃
 

5 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Internet is not discounted on the ship.  

I was just using the advance purchase price for Premium internet as a reference to try and figure out what the Surf package might cost onboard.

I wasn't looking for a "discounted" price, but rather a "package price" for the whole cruise that is less than paying the daily rate. Is there such a thing?

I haven't purchased wi-fi before, but since we have a lot of OBC I was considering doing it this time.  

5 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hey @AryMay this has per day costs; I thought there was no discount to the daily rates, so they should be the same once onboard, but I will check. Feel free to remind me once I'm onboard🫣

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/onboard-packages/cruise-ship-wifi

Thanks. I'm looking to purchase the Surf package for the entire cruise (using OBC) rather than pay the daily rate.

Right now I can purchase the Premium package in advance for $ 267.99 (at a 20% off discount) so the regular price would be about $335. The price of the Surf package would be less. Hopefully you will notice the package price when you are on the ship. I will try and send a reminder when you are onboard!