Infi

Will be leaving on her tomorrow - so looking forward to this cruise!

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I have you added to the list but just realized the date and sadly it was too late to do the Bon Voyage as that date’s Bon Voyage listing was based on the current Future Cruise Listing.  I do my best to accommodate if possible but there is a reason I ask for sufficient notice.  

 

Thank you for clarifying. I had wondered if it was too late to add but thought it was worth a try. I understand the inability to include this in the future cruise listing.

This would be so nice to see on Zaandam/Volendam, the Tamarind is the main thing I miss when sailing the smaller ships. I have to wonder if there is a specific reason as to why they don't do the pop-up Tamarind whereas the Sel de Mer is quite common. I wonder if it is because the Tamarind dishes or prep are harder to translate to the Pinnacle/MDR kitchen, especially given the example below from Loreto. 

14 minutes ago, Loreto said:

Our last cruise before COVID was the Amazon Explorer Nov. 2019 on the Volendam.  The Pinnacle Grill was beautifully transformed for this A Night at the Tamarind event.  The evening started of well with appetizers, but soon became a disaster as the Volendam kitchen became overwhelmed and the meal stretched almost 3 hours.  People became angry and walked out.  We stayed, although after 2+ hours we ran out of things to talk about!  The manager personally apologized to us and we were never charged.  The meal, when it came was delicious.  Hopefully they have learned from their mistakes.  The Tamarind is our favorite restaurant!

OP's point about Home Depot and bearing the brunt of others using the self-check out reminded me of this anecdote. Several years ago, when the Rotterdam (VI) was based year-round out of Rotterdam, we were told by a crew member in a very high position that the HSC for that ship had to be handled differently. Since most of the Rotterdam passengers removed the HSC as a matter of course, the entire fleet's tips were pooled and divided equally so the Rotterdam crew would get their fair share, despite passenger behavior. An interesting story, and I wonder if that's part of the reason why there hasn't been a HAL ship with an overseas homeport year-round since. 

Hi Kazu, can you please add the cruise below? It's our annual holiday cruise and this year a first time cruiser is joining us, too. Very excited!

Zaandam - 20-Dec-22 - 16 day Southern Caribbean Holiday

We were lucky enough to sail the Prinsendam 3 times, and she was truly our favorite. Her decor and layout were first class and the service was always impeccable. Such a loss for HAL and her fans when they sold her; her itineraries just can't be replicated anymore. I remember rumors on CC in 2019 that HAL was considering replacing her with another smaller ship. Does anyone else remember those? Now I doubt those will come to pass. 

For those who are missing the Prinsendam or wish they had a chance to sail her, vote with your feet and let HAL see there is still demand for the smaller ships. We are concentrating all of our future cruising on the remaining R class sisters, as I fear they are not long for this world and I want to enjoy them as long as they are with us. Did the same with the S class and Amsterdam/Rotterdam prior and when we lost them in 2020, I was so glad I had been intentional about only sailing them while they were still in the fleet. I personally refuse to sail the Pinnacle class until the time comes (hopefully many years from now) when there are no other smaller options. They will be around a lot longer than their smaller counterparts, and there will be plenty of time then. 

Thanks for the ideas, all. I wish there was an easy way to accomplish this, but it doesn't sound like it. I will try the OBC transfer first, and if that doesn't work, I'll just put everything on my credit card and try the reimbursement route. 

I was thinking of calling HAL but am not sure if this is more of a ship question due the fact that it concerns onboard accounts or if Seattle will be equipped to answer it. 

Thanks. I forgot to mention that I would prefer not to pre-pay the HSC because I have a large amount of OBC on my own account (shareholder etc.) that I'd like to use to pay for the HSC for the both of us. Otherwise, I would just pre-pay the HSC and call it a day, so hoping for advice for this scenario. 

I've invited someone to join me on my next cruise and am wondering how to work out our onboard accounts. Because the cruise is a gift, I'd like to cover their HSC charges on my account, and they would like to pay for their own incidentals onboard (drinks etc.). Is there any way I can set up this arrangement, either pre-cruise or onboard? In the past I've shared an account with family where one person was responsible for all the charges on both of our accounts, but I didn't know if one account could cover only the HSC for another guest. Any guidance is much appreciated. 

2 hours ago, REOVA said:

The R class ships do not have the rooms for BB King. They do have a band in Ocean Bar which some of them (as well as pianist) may participate in a show on World Stage, but the R class are not set up for music like Music Walk on P ships. 

Yes, I am well aware of the layout limitations, hence why I asked the question. 

3 hours ago, idiebabe said:

We spent fourteen days on Zaandam in August/September.   We loved the Entertainment! 

 

In Ocean Bar we had a Pianist who played earlier in the Evening starting at 4 pm.  Sometimes she played alone and sometimes she had a Singer with her.  Later in the Evening there was the Ocean Bar Band that had a different Singer (or two) and, yes, people were dancing.  They were very good and sang updated songs.  The Piano Bar on Zaandam does not have Billboard.  We had Clara V in the Piano Bar and she was great!  It was so nice not having the same sets of songs that Billboard seems to play on all the Ships.

 

They did have the "Off the Charts" Show and that was performed with Clara V and the Piano Player from the Ocean Bar Band since no Billboard Duo.  

 

Thank you, this is very helpful. I had been wondering if they had kept the old piano bar style intact and am happy to hear they did. Also glad to her there's music and dancing in the Ocean bar. Looking forward to sailing Zaandam soon!

The mystery is solved! Thanks to all for weighing in. It's a beautiful piece and I'm lucky to have received it as a gift. 

Now, the question of what to wear it with, as it's a pretty large and bold piece of jewelry...

I haven't been on an R class ship since the pandemic, and I'm curious how the entertainment is now handled on these ships. When we last sailed on the Amsterdam in 2020, they hadn't yet brought the BB King's, Billboard, Lincoln Center, etc. to this class of ship and they still had the old style solo player in the piano bar, Adagio in Explorers, etc. 

For those who have been on the Volendam or Zaandam post-pandemic, how have the spaces onboard been adapted to the new entertainment style? Do these ships still have the old style piano bar or is it the dueling pianos? Is there BB King's onboard, and if so, where? Is there still a trio in the Ocean Bar for dancing? I'm curious because the R class ship design is more limited and doesn't lend itself as easily to these new entertainment options like the Vista/Signature class does, so am wondering where it all fits. Thanks, all. 

4 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

It's beautiful. I have not seen this one before. Could it have been custom made?

Thank you, and that's an interesting suggestion. I don't think so, unless someone was a super HAL fan, but it's certainly possible. I myself am wondering if this was a special giveaway to a select group, like the President's Club or high performing TAs for a particular year.

Just now, VennDiagram said:

Is that writing on the bars at the bottom, or a design?  If it is words, they may provide some info.  Got a jewellers' loupe?

No, just bars as part of the old HAL logo. 

I think it's the people on either extreme (very dressy or very casual) that tend to speak up the most for their respective side. Keep in mind that this board is such a tiny segment of the cruising population at large, and isn't always representative of what the broader cruising public thinks. 

OP (and others who are curious), I hope on your next cruise you'll dress as fancy as you like, and don't ever get too caught up in what others or this board thinks. 

I collect HAL memorabilia, and for my birthday I received a beautiful HAL pin (more like a brooch really), pictured below. It was purchased off eBay and I'm pretty sure it's at least from the last decade or so. I know most of the HAL memorabilia items at this point, but this one has me stumped. Do any of the HAL experts know where it is from? 

10 hours ago, ldtr said:

Actually you stated HAL following policies already implemented on other CCL brands

 

of which Princess is one.

 

You also stated later in the post

 

policies like once a day turn down service ... were implemented on Carnival  and Princess ...

 

so you really might want to reread you own post carefully as you put it.

Actually, reading comprehension would be helpful on your end. In my original post, I referred to Carnival for the turndown policies, Princess for having the room service charges first. Apparently I hit a nerve by saying something negative about Princess, hence the aggressive follow-up. Have a nice day.

20 hours ago, ldtr said:

On the recent cruises on Princess has gone back to twice a day.  The Steward asks if you want once or twice a day.  It appears that the once a day on Princess was mostly for when they were getting operations up to full speed, had lower passenger numbers, and reduced staffing.  Now operations are getting back to where they were pre-covid and most things are going back to the pre-covid with some minor changes.

Again, if you read my post carefully, I used Carnival as the example of the cruise line who first implemented once daily room cleanings. Did not say anything about Princess and their room cleaning policies. 

Waiting with interest to see if/when HAL will drop pre-cruise testing for all cruises. Sailing on a 16 day (not B2B) in December so coming in just over the 15 day no testing requirement. I don't anticipate they'll drop the requirement, but policies have been changing almost daily since summer, so who knows. 

Comedians usually do a show in the main theater one night as the "main show" for the evening, then another set in BB King's on a different night, usually when the BB King band has the night off.

32 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I was asked about the single service option in April 2019 on the Koningsdam, I requested morning service with an evening chocolate drop. This is not new.  

What I was trying to say was it was a fleet-wide policy on Carnival at that time. Clearly it also existed, though in a one-off, ship-specific form, on HAL as well. Were it not for the industry shutdown, I would bet money HAL would have fully implemented this by 2020-21 and it would be done and dusted in October 2022.

On 10/23/2022 at 6:27 PM, ldtr said:

HAL is still lagging the others in the adaption of some changes (for example they are pretty much the only main stream US focused brand that has either not adopted or at least indicated a move to ship within a ship model (Princess now has with their new Sun Princess design) and is pretty much the only main stream line not to lock in most of the tier pricing designed.

I wanted to underscore this point about HAL simply following policies or changes that have already been implemented on other CCL brands. This forum likes to joke about the "Testerdam" being the guinea pig, but policies like once daily turndown service and the charges for select room service items were implemented on Carnival and Princess long before HAL adopted them. Carnival had once a day turndown service in 2019, perhaps earlier. Perhaps Carnival corp intrinsically knows these changes would not be as well-received or accepted on HAL, so that's why HAL is last in line to get them. Or perhaps they want to maintain the image that HAL is their premium brand. Who knows for sure?

For those who are HAL fans, it's worth it to keep up with news about other Carnival corp lines to see what changes may be afoot. I'm dreading the day HAL tries to implement charges for the majority of room service like Carnival or tries to remove the desk chairs from cabins like Princess. Won't be pretty!

11 hours ago, love_the_sea said:

I was recently on the Zaandam. Yes there was a "request card" in our cabin but our cabin steward said we had to choose between morning or evening service. He did explain that on Dressy Nights we would get chocolates. I kept a copy of the card and now upon rereading it, it appears that we could have requested evening turndown service as an addition to our morning service. 

Thank you for sharing. Sailing on Zaandam in December and was wondering about the status of this policy. I'll be requesting service in both the morning and evening like we have always had before. 

The Lido market pizza leaves much to be desired IMHO. Tried it on my first HAL cruise in 2008 and never repeated that mistake again. Dried out from sitting all day under a warmer and flavorless. Years later and it still looks the exact same. The dedicated pizzerias are a welcomed upgrade and actual quality pizza.