luv2cruisenz

On 4/15/2019 at 10:44 AM, VacationingCharlene said:

Hi All!  We have enjoyed the 14 day Alaska Explorer with Hal a few times.  Saw the 21-Day Ultimate Alaska & Pacific Northwest Adventurer and VERY interested BUT saw that it is ONLY available this May and June 2019.  It is roundtrip from San Francisco.  Does anybody know WHY it is not being offered for 2020??  THANKS...this is the place peeps will know

I am also disappointed they are not offering this in 2020 as I've wanted to go back to Alaska but with new & different stops. I am also keen to try the EXC experience as prefer the exploration speakers to the port talks. We want to book the 14 day Alaska on the Maasdam instead for next year on  May 4. We actually want to join it in San Diego on 27 April on the Pacific Coastal then carry on to Alaska but it is not offered as a Collectors voyage so will have to buy as 2 separate cruises .so I guess that will cost more!

On 3/13/2019 at 10:10 AM, DaveOKC said:

Bring back CNBC!!

 

is it still on the Eurodam??

 

Such good info on these boards! I didn't know this was all changing. According to HAL's website the Mainstage shows are "Available on the Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, , Nieuw Statendam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Prinsendam, Westerdam, Zuiderdam".   Maybe they will all change in the future ? We were on the K last year in Norway and loved it, so booked again for the Med this year. Still found the mainstage shows a bit lame so I won't be that disappointed they are gone. The Lincoln Centre Stage, Classical concerts and the piano bar were in heavy demand and it was always standing room only which creates a great atmosphere actually. I still don't understand why happy hours are only in some bars and at different times! I think it is the entertainment in the bar that draws you in as well so I do miss a house band playing decent covers in a happy hour situation. I also enjoyed the Test Kitchen but you had to get there early for a seat too. Looking forward to the cruise anyway 🙂

Hi, sometimes the external ports like for USBs on the TV,  are disabled as there is a fear of viruses etc being imported into their systems. But I can't say for sure on HAL. Can you download your TV/movies onto your device such as a tablet? Its not as easy as downloading Netflix say, but it is possible, depending on what device you have or what you want to bring with you.

We were on the Zaandam in January in an outside cabin on the lower prom deck. And no the bathroom in our cabin had not been rennovated but needed to be!

Just off the Zaandam and I noticed that as well, but not to worry, any bar will make you any drink! I had to do a hard recall to remember all my favourite cocktails such as lemon drop as well! (classic or Tuscan). But the waiters know what you were asking for or if you described it they would know. I couldn't remember the exact name of the Bengal banshee tiger or something drink but they knew it. And you can get them in happy hour as well.

And yes it was annoying not seeing them all listed. Just some new names for the same thing really. I noticed the menu in the Mix had more of the 'original' cocktails listed than the other bars.

I bought wine in a department store, they had a food shop in the lower level, or find a supermarket. But it is expensive in Singapore, plus there's a 17% sales tax I think from memory. It's not really worth it in my opinion but you can check it out at least before boarding and decide for yourself.

Hi we're just off the Zaandam, from the South America and Antarctica cruise that just finished. We haven't cruised HAL in over a year and did notice some changes, not sure if they are cutbacks or what.

I was disappointed with the lack of Christmas trees and decorations around the ship, it was a bit of a half hearted attempt as there were only a few trees around with little colour. But the gingerbread houses were amazing and I always like the big chocolate santas in the lido.

The afternoon tea was in the ocean bar every day at 3pm, only had 'classic tea' and 'tea'. We went just once and the classic tea was a generous plate of little sandwiches and cakes. It was quite nice having it in the ocean bar actually.

We also had a couple of buffets in the lido pool area, the last one a superb Argentinian BBQ with coal BBQs grilling with lots of meat and a pig on a spit.

There was also no librarian or guitar person which I really missed so the music was very limited. The 'neptunes' was a South American band that played mostly soft sounding music sung in Spanish, I think they did a few other sets with songs in English but it would have been nice to have a bit more variety especially on New Year's Eve.

The Hal cats band played a lot on stage with the guest entertainers and the normal ship shows. So the singer had an easy cruise as she probably only performed about 5 or 6 times! We did have the crew shows though.

The main issue we had was the chairs in the lido were in bad need of repair, as in they need new stuffing! Most of them had a big dip in the middle so were rather uncomfortable !

What we did notice too was the beautiful floral arrangements lacked attention and were often wilted. I left two comments with the front desk asking for someone to give the flowers some attention and to water the poor ponsietta plants in the lido as they were just hanging on! On the last day they were replaced with orchids so perhaps they just have a life span and are discarded.

Overall it was an amazing cruise though, and the Captain did a fantastic job of our scenic cruising in the Antarctic peninsula, it was so stunningly beautiful and we were blessed with fantastic weather as well and a smooth-ish crossing in Drakes passage.

Hi we are also just off the Zaandam South America and Antartica cruise that just ended. We have open dining and have a table for two. In our experience there was no wait from 6.30-6.50pm but after that we might have waited between ten and twenty minutes, they give you a pager that works upstairs in the lounge where the adagio duo plays, so you can wait in comfort there. Usually after 7.45pm it was very very busy as we left the dining room. But I do believe that if you want to share a table there shouldn't be much of a wait, if any.

The service in the main dining room was the slowest we've ever experienced on HAL but as we had nowhere to go it was fine! Staff were very nice as usual. Seems to be less dining room stewards but more wine stewards which was good, as they did all the bar drinks as well. I had no real issues with the food. Coffee wasn't the best though and sometimes not hot, and twice they forgot to bring it, so we would go to the explorers lounge instead.

Also noticed on the gala nights the dining room did not have the white cloths on the chairs and the staff were not dressed in different uniforms like we've had before, but we haven't cruised on HAL in over a year so maybe this isn't new.

Overall a really great cruise though, hope you enjoy yours.

Hi, we did this cruise on the Eurodam last year, and in Greenland there were no ship tours offered.

In Qaqortoq we did a private tour to the Ice Cap using Sagalands. http://www.sagalands.com/. If you want to do anything here you must book in advance. They also had a tour to some Hot Springs which was also a boat ride away (note they may not reply to any emails right away). At the Ice Cap we got out of the boat and walked for about 15 minutes up to the glacier, chipped off some ice and drank it with some whisky one of the group bought with them, so that was really cool! There are no ropes or pathway on the glacier so you do need to wear proper footwear. It was awesome being next to some amazing ice bergs in a small boat, and we stopped next to some really huge ones to get some close up pictures. That tour cost 1200 danish krone and we had to pre-pay it.

In Nanortalik there isn’t anywhere else to go but to walk around the town. The open air museum was 25 danish krone and it is really fascinating. They have restored old dwellings and historical artefacts of significance as an Inuit summer camp of life in the arctic, and a kayak exhibition. Each building depicts an aspect of arctic life from the 18th and 19th century. In town there’s a tourist centre, cultural centre, general store & post office, school, sports centre, a few cafes (wifi was DKK50 for twenty minutes), fish and meat market, church & heliport. At the meat market there were huge slabs of fresh whale meat and blubber for sale, so don’t go to the markets if that is not something you want to see. A lot of the local children were hanging out around the tenders, wanting their photo taken, and laughing & waving goodbye.

We loved the stops in Greenland and the locals were so friendly and sold some lovely, unique handcrafts.

Our experience has been the special coffees are luke warm by the time they get to the dining room so we don't order them there any more and just go to the explorations cafe .

Hank, I am like your DW and also take my own tea bags and ask for hot water. I do this in the dining room also and there's never a problem with tea that way! But I have found it best to ask for boiling hot water otherwise it's usually just warm :)

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Hi, I don't think so, they were just temporary shops I saw selling souvenirs and clothes.

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Hi, we bought a hop on hop off bus ticket from the ship, and included was a free coach transfer to the start of the HOHO near the star ferry by the Ferris wheel. They had a return transfer coach that ran every half an hour so it turned out to be very good value really. This was a few weeks ago and there is an enormous amount of infrastructure changes and building and roadworks in the area so the trip to the star ferry area took much longer than usual with traffic congestion , like way over an hour. The metro would be a better option if you don't need the bus tour and can get a free shuttle to the shopping centre.

BTW other passengers told me they had trouble getting a taxi back to the ship as they didn't want the one way fare. So allow extra time for the return just in case.

Hi, I looked up my notes and at the destination talk the speaker (a guest speaker, so not from the ship) said taxis do not generally come out to this port because it is so far away. And they have no guarantee they'd get a fare.

Hi we were there a few weeks ago on the Ovation of the Seas. It is a working port, and there were two working ports near each other. No facilities at all. We got a fabulous welcome with locals in national dress etc, and there were some makeshift stalls were set up selling stuff. It was extremely hot & humid and rained in the afternoon on the way back to the ship.

We had a private tour arranged (MyWay travel) and they were not allowed inside the port gates to meet us at the ship unless we paid another USD22.50 each. It was about a 10-15 minute to walk to the port gate across a wide, flat, concrete area with no shelter, inbetween containers and cars, no safety concerns here as we could walk about freely. But it was a weekend with no cargo activity.

I can't remember if I saw taxis at the port gate but I wouldn't count on it. I'd say it would best to arrange something ahead of time.

The ship excursion buses were at the ship of course. And some other pre-booked private vans that either had clearance or paid the extra I don't know.

It was about one and half hours drive into Saigon (as our local guide preferred to call it) and they have loads of traffic, so factor that in to your return and allow extra time! I would suggest it is best to pre-arrange a driver if you need to go somewhere.

Hope this helps.

Yes I like the Berringer's White Zinfindel very much as well and order it alot on HAL as I can't seem to buy it at home. I am disappointed too it's not in the wine package.

My (one time) experience on a RCL Asia cruise was that they stopped selling the cheaper wines half way through the cruise, saying that the wine list had been changed for the 'Chinese market'. They used the same wine list but about half of it couldn't be ordered!

I don't understand what the "new" liquid eggs means. I have been getting omelets on HAL for over 10 years almost every morning on our cruises and they have always been a liquid egg. I know it is from a container that is frozen as often it is still semi-frozen as they are dipping it out and putting it into the pan. I know you can ask for "real eggs" and have seen people do that but the liquid stuff has been fine for me. Looking forward to 66 days of omelets on the Maasdam this fall.:D

My DH loves the omelettes too and has them every day on a cruise. Years ago I noticed they used liquid eggs from a carton and I stopped having their omelettes and scrambled eggs. I asked a few times for scrambled eggs to be made from real eggs and was told no, so I have poached or boiled eggs instead. Either way I'm not cooking or doing the dishes so I'm happy with that!

Our TA called HAL and they just recalculated the cruise fare. It did go up. We were able to remain in the cabin we chose originally. Was this a "cancel and rebook"? I'm not sure, we did not receive cancellation paperwork. We did receive documentation showing the new cruise fare along with the all important pre paid gratuities. Ours is 48 day cruise. :D

 

Cheers, Denise

Thanks for that, I would prefer to keep our cabin number so I'll give it a go.

Hi, silly question but if I already have a cruise booked and want to take advantage of this sale, do I have to cancel and re-book? I know this is usually the case.

I looked at this too for my cruise although the fares have gone up as well. The free gratuities is good, I didn't realise they have gone up to $12.50.

The terms & conditions say "Free US$100 Beverage Card: Card may be used to purchase beverages or other eligible items at payment terminals aboard the ship. Participants may order non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverages one at a time and must be 21 years or older for alcoholic beverages. No sharing is permitted. Beverage management reserves the right to revoke the card if misused and refuse service for any reason, including service of alcoholic beverages to intoxicated guests. Beverage cards expire at the end of the cruise, are not transferable or refundable, cannot be redeemed for cash, and are not replaceable if lost or stolen. Beverage cards exclude purchases made in Signature Shops, Mini Bar and In Room Dining, or beverages on Half Moon Cay.".

I wonder if they would be really strict about these rules on board - technically you can't use the card in happy hour since you have to order the 2 drinks at the same time. And I couldn't use it to order a bottle of whisky for the cabin either ?

I also make a summary spreadsheet that I print in largish font on a large sheet of A3 paper so it is readable. This has the basic itinerary and next to each day I list the important stuff to remember like M&G time/place, shore excursions, pre-booked dinners etc. I stick it on the wall in the cabin using bluetak so it doesn't leave a mess or rip off any wallpaper.

During the cruise I also put post it notes on the mirror if there's something I need to remember to do for the next day or so, such as collect passport from front office, 10am presentation etc. When I'm in holiday mode I don't always remember stuff! Sad but true

Thanks we are really looking forward to this cruise, and having Christmas & New Years on the ship too!

Hi I remember seeing these codes explained as well but they are no longer there, well on cruises I have looked at anyway.

Such as the Zaandam on 20 Dec 2016, South America & Antarctica Holiday cruise. I cannot find the explanation of these abbreviations anywhere.

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. I've booked an E, OV cabin on the lower prom deck just to have easier access to the outside. I always find it hard to choose a cabin, but have not been disappointed on any cruise so far.

Thanks for the info, we are really looking forward to this cruise.