Wrightwoodsbest

Where can I find when boarding starts?

 

Bob

It is listed on your boarding pass. You will also receive a letter from HAL outlining their plan of the boarding. Have a good trip.

To anyone recently on board the Amsterdam....Has the library been eliminated, cut back, or otherwise changed? Is there still a librarian to assist and keep things orderly?

 

We are going the 14-day Alaska trip from Seattle on Aug. 28.

 

Thanks!

Library still there, not attendant to assist but we did not miss them. Just take your book and return it when you are finished.

I agree with Louis. YOu should check you Mom's Mariner status as with 3 stars you get a 25% discount and 4 stars get 50% discount. Husband and I usually bring 2 extra wines, and pay the corkage, then we also order a 5 wine Navigator package. You can always just drink half the bottle and hold it over, the wine sommolier will do this for you, to t he next evening. Good luck and have fun.

Can anyone that has cruised recently on an "R" class (very specifically Zaandam) ship report whether or not the teen sky deck area "The Oasis" is still there? It is now missing from the deck plan(s). I also cannot find any mention of it now on their web site. Of course, now that I have been looking at their "new" web site, I find VERY little information about families and children. I have been reading a lot on this board complaints about changes to HAL. It seems this might fit in with that: why are they not catering to multi-generational cruising (like we are planning)?

Just debarked the Veendam, where it shows on the diagrams, it is not there. Talked to an officer and he said there was a problem with leakage so it is gone.

I am traveling solo and I can't carry the water on board. Should I ask the porter if it's ok? Will they confiscate it before delivering it to my cabin? I need the water so don't tell me that the water on board is fine to drink from the tap. Can anyone give me details if and when they have checked water with the luggage at the pier?

Thank you

Might be easier to have it in a box and check it with your other luggage. That is what we do. Or check a couple of bottles and buy more water on your port visits.

Along with a huge price drop on a sailing that I now am cancelling came the caveat that the deposit would become nonrefundable. I bear responsibility for that decision and whatever comes next. Just wondering if anyone else has ever been in this situation where the cruise line would be willing to transfer the deposit to a another sailing? Airlines do on their "nonrefundable" tickets so it was a thought. My travel agent says she is not having any luck getting someone who will work with her and is suggesting to me that I may have more power to deal with the cruise line even though i am booked with an agency. I have never heard such a thing and have always believed the opposite being true that the travel agent had more pull. All suggestions and experiences appreciated. Again-lesson learned and will never do another non refundable deposit. Thanks

Unless you are a high roller on a particular airline they will not allow you to change your reservation for free. I have done this and the charge is $200 for each ticket.

We visited to this port in March on the HAL Oosterdam. I could find very little on it on both CC and TripAdvisor, and a lot of what I did find was negative.

 

While I am certain that some adventurous souls would enjoy a boat trip or bus ride to a remote area to hike or pass out school supplies to local children, this isn’t really what appeals to us while on vacation.

 

And with that said, this was for us the absolute worst port of the approximately 30+ or so we have visited on our many cruises. It is true – this is primarily a loud, fairly busy (ugly) container port. The only thing to do if you are not on an excursion is walk through a large, crowed, stuffy building adjacent to the port where merchants all sell the exact same thing. I am not sure why HAL (or any cruise line) would put in here. Be forewarned.

What port are you referring to?

Does the Nieuw Amsterdam have self-service laundry facilities?

No, but they do have by the bundle which costs more.

My explanation came out bad, I was on a smartphone and it was late, I apologize.

 

Of course I trust the people I'm sailing with, my concern is more hypothetical I suppose, perhaps some people don't trust their cabin mates, but that's another issue.

 

What does concern me is bad eyesight, computer glitches, and mistakes in general. Not everything will be caught before the 72 hour deadline; I can't imagine the horror of arriving at the pier only to find out my passport number belongs to somebody else in my party because they accidentally clicked on my documents rather than their own.

 

 

On the one hand, HAL's methodology makes sense, but for every person to have access to all express doc files does not, to err is human.....to forgive divine, does HAL forgive? Are errors of this nature an easy fix before boarding or are we forced to walk the plank? They put the fear of god in us at every step, about how everything must match, hence the concern.

 

Edit: does passport info print on the boarding pass? If it does, and if that's all that needs to line up, then it's a non issue. But if it must match what HAL has in their computer, and an error was made after your own docs were printed, then that is a problem that can't be controlled, as you'll be unaware of the error until called out about it by HAL.

Your passport does not show on the boarding pass but to the left of the "guest details" it states in black print "Passport to be scanned at pier." I would think that the passport would have to match the guests passport that was entered during the registration process.

We will be staying in London for 3 days after a HAL cruise and before a Cunard cruise. We are looking for a hotel that is located for sight seeing. Would you please share any suggestions? Thank you☺

Take a good look at VRBo.com for accomodations. Chelsea, Kensington or above Kensington Park or Bayswater are good locations for walking or riding the tube.

Of course they do. You will get disembarkation information that is returned to the front desk. Just check this option for your departure.

Thanks so much for sharing your trip details. We will do the opposite journey from SAN to FLL in April. Will use your notes for new ports. Have a happy New Year.

Next March, I will be on a b2b on the Koningsdam; this will be my first ever b2b on HAL. I can't seem to find any info on the HAL website about what to expect; and the email I sent to the company four days ago has not been answered yet. (But that's another discussion!) I have been assured that I will have the same cabin for the whole 22 days, and the same dining table with early fixed seating. But what about carrying over wine packages, shipboard credit, shipboard accounts, casino winnings and chips--and no doubt lots of other things I can't think of since I have never done it before. What has been your experience?

Last winter husband I did a b2b in the caribbean. Into and out of FLL on the middle day. Did not have to get off, no lifeboat drill, just went to the lounge until the ship zeroed. Of course it took awhile as there were customers who did not read their letters.......

When is the last time you saw an 18 year old on the ship? Not without his parents I bet?

We did the museum a few years ago. It is one of the stops on the HOHO bus, got off, did the museum and then back on the HOHO bus. Easy and the museum is very interesting.

Try checking travel agents in Italy or Britain. From my experience their fares are more reasonable.

DH and I like our cocktails also. We do not buy the drink package or the wine package. We bring 2 bottles of wine on board at the beginning and pay the $18 for the corkage for a red we prefer(if we bring on too much.) We bring several large bottles of water and on port days we buy more wine, if we like it, and pay the corkage. Find that it spreads out the cost and we drink what we want. If you take your wine to the dining room, or the Pinnacle, they will keep the bottle for you. Enjoy the trip.

You do not have to sign up for the included tours, only the limited editions. Most stops do not have more than one included tour but if they do go on the one you want to. DH and I split up last May, he to see Van Gogh's last apartment, I went to the summer home of Napoleon. Nice to have time to myself.

Make a copy of the picture page of your passport and take that with you. No one needs a passport in any country, as long as you have a picture ID which you do.

That is a good idea. Flyng on KLM, a trusted and large airline. Just go up to the Kiosk, check in, get your bag tags to check you luggage, then print your boarding passes.

Aren't most people careful, or do infer some other meaning?

Check out property #192 on VRBO - vacation rentals by owners. Looks like a cute apartment, near the Louve so easy for getting around. Reasonable price.

An H category is a guarantee for an oceanview. You can wait or call for a specific cabin number. We have done both and have no preferred method. You might get lucky in September as it is saddle season in Alaska.

I always use the internet the day before to get my boarding passes but you do not have to, you can check in at the airport. I would be careful with this option as your reserved seat assignment could be given away if you do not check in the day before.

3 hours before departure. Schipol airport has 2 security lines that you must go through to depart for the USA.