badtwin

Two possible options if the Rotterdam port is close enough to other things or has good transport to them. You may be able to drop your luggage at port even if you can't check in for your cruise. Or your hotel may have a baggage room it will let you use after check out. We stayed in Utrecht before a cruise out of Amsterdam. Our hotel held our luggage while we did some touring then we picked it up and caught the train to the port. Later boarding was delightful with very little waiting.

Looking forward to trying the seafood boil. But as someone from the Pacific northwest, boiling salmon seems almost sacrilegious

Thank you. We are on Koningsdam on April 27. I will try to remember to report back

I was actually pleased with the show times as they looked to coordinate with the fixed dining times but realize the show times probably don't work with those who want to eat freestyle at some time in between. We are boarding Koningsdam in Vancouver on April 27 for her first Alaska sailing of the year. We hope the menus and lunch specials continue for the 7 day Alaska sailings. Thank you so much for posting. I am curious what her current fixed dining times are and if they will shift as the ship moves north.

Friends taught us about ordering a plate (or more) "for the table" if there is something several want to taste but are unsure about commiting to eat a whole serving.

We were assigned a balcony below the lido, port side between the mid and aft stairwells on the Rotterdam last fall. I was very worried about noise but pleasantly surprised we rarely heard any noise except for the above-referenced carts occasionally in the morning. We are early risers so I couldn't say if it was enough to wake us or if we just noticed because we were awake. Ended up loving location and its convenience to the lido and pool areas.

And has been pointed out on another thread, you won't be lunching in the MDR anymore on boarding day no matter when you arrive.

Long ago, my DH resisted cruising because he didn't want to dress for dinner. He wore a suit and tie to work and he did not want that on vacation. We took our first cruise in 2006 and really enjoyed it. Several cruises later he bought a tux and I got my first long gown in years. We love late fixed dinner and dressing up. On a British cruise we enjoyed the gentlemen in kilts on dressy night. Last fall he took his tux on our Holland Norway/Baltic cruise (21 days) and wore it a couple of times and a table mate wore his once while the other male at our table didn't even have a sport coat. It was fine. Not a lot wore tuxes but DH enjoyed it. Airline luggage restrictions are an issue. If you want to wear one, it's fine. If not, it's okay too.

Just a note to be sure you understand local rules of the road. Last cruise we did bike tours in Oslo, Helsinki and Amsterdam. I don't think rules were same in any as far as bikes vs pedestrian vs cars. When in doubt stop I guess. We loved bike tours although got soaked to bone every time.

First a couple questions. Does anyone know exactly how the crew appreciation is paid out between all the various crew members? I know what the blurb on HAL says but I wondered in dollars and cents. Second, are tips from bar bills and specialty restaurants and whatever else gets an automatic tip put in the same pool or do those tips got to the direct service providers? I ask because it seems that the OP finds the most fault with the food and beverage servers but I assume a large portion of crew appreciation goes to all those behind the scenes that make my cruise experience pretty good on HAL. I am one who used to find the crew appreciation a bit annoying - sort of a pricing gimmick to keep the base price of the cruise lower. And since nearly every other cruise line does the same, it would be hard to be the one line that changes. The only justification I could figure out was that it is a way to increase compensation when work load increases. That is, on a full ship crew will have to work harder but they have a bigger pool of crew appreciation. If the ship is not as full, they still get their base pay but may have a slightly easier time of it. Just to be clear - I was a waitress a few summers and I know service is hard work. When we cruise, we give extra where extra is due. I get very annoyed when I hear complaints about the bar service when I can see the wait people are working very hard. On our last cruise, it often looked like the bottleneck was number of bar staff - they couldn't make the drinks fast enough to keep up with the waiters. But there is only so much room behind the bars too. Service will be slower during times of peak demand. Live with it.

And don't forget ask at the pizza place and New York deli which could appeal to a 9 year old and have less chance of cross contamination because of more limited menus.

We will be on Koningsdam April 27 for its first trip up to Alaska this year. I have been enjoying this thread to get up to speed on current conditions on this ship. We were on her in 2018. I would really like to see more menus (we are mdr people mostly) and food porn if you have the time. I do understand that someone might want to enjoy their cruise instead of working on a travelogue for those of us living vicariously. Dailies are interesting too but I suspect yours are more tailored to current venue. Hope your sea conditions improve. Thanks

Thought I would add our recent numbers to the mix. We were on a 21 day collector (is that the term?) - a 7 day and a 14 day booked as one booking. We had HIA for $2100. We spent somewhere between $900 and $1000 with OBC, refunded port fees and some credit card. We got 15 days on our Mariner accounts for spending. I had assumed we would get 10 days - 7 for the HIA and 3 for the other spending. So who knows how they do this. I have tried to calculate actual drinking but I don't think that gets us there unless I am grossly underestimating our drinking which is possible as I really enjoyed HIA for the first time. But I don't get why HIA would count beverages but not the specialty dining and tours we enjoyed as part of HIA. I was sort of wondering if port fees were included but from the little paperwork I have and those amounts that doesn't account for the extra days either. Hard to complain but if I would get more days ordering more drinks, it would be an interesting problem....

Thank you all for the responses. DH could open the pdf files. I sent an email with proof of our last cruise and our mariner numbers and we both got credit for the last cruise within 24 hours. We are a long way to the coveted 4 star (I want laundry and wine discount!) but it was nice to see the new points. Thank you. One "hint" I will pass on that I have been learned recently. The HAL tab selections and drop down menus don't work for me - my brain must be wired differently. But if I stop and use the search function, I can often find pages I have never been able to find the way I would normally find on a website.

I have been following this thread and trying to figure out what the "real" issue is. I have had trouble figuring out what is the big deal - HAL is the one saddled with paperwork to cancel and rebook. So OP must be out something. Here is my guess and OP can correct me if I am wrong. OP booked with a non-refundable deposit (which we all know costs less, sometimes lots less) but bought insurance to recoup deposit if cruise cancelled. It is a bit unclear but if OP has to cancel (if HAL requires cancellation and rebook), OP will recoup deposit but is out the cost of the insurance plan which won't transfer over to the new cruise. Or maybe OP is out some portion of deposit. And OP will have to buy another insurance plan. There may also be an issue about what the necessary deposit is on the new cruise compared to existing deposit on the booked. cruise. I don't know how that works. Bottom line, OP is bearing the consequences of selecting a non-refundable fare. I have trouble seeing this as a deceptive practice by HAL. I admit I have been tripped up by the small print in the endless T&C with HAL and other cruise lines, but I don't see why HAL should be expected to allow changes on cruises the way the OP wants. If I book a hotel with a major chain for a stay in NYC, I would not expect I could just switch it to Philadelphia. I would have to cancel and rebook. The cruise lines have their games and the passengers have theirs. When HAL announced the OBC for AARP membership that was for future cruises only, how many cruise critic posts did we see of folks cancelling a cruise and then rebooking to get that extra money? There are lots of other hints on these boards so savvy cruisers can game the system, all very legitimately, to reduce costs or increase OBC or whatever. As posted above, we usually have a choice to book refundable or a non-refundable. Choices have consequences. What am I missing?

Two questions. How long in general until a cruise is posted to my account as part of my mariner points total? It has been 5 weeks and our last cruise is still missing. (For that matter, our other past cruises come and go too) Second, can anyone actually open any of the the pdfs of past cruise spending shown on your account statement? I have tried numerous times and it says not available.

Tech is not my thing but it is also my understanding that that you want to leave phone on airplane mode while on the ship to avoid your phone hooking up to ship's the internet - as opposed to Navigator. I have read the costs can be eye popping. Up until our last cruise with HIA, we have always managed very well with finding internet on shore, sometimes the cruise terminals offer it other times you may need to go buy a beverage and the restaurant will usually offer it free. So unless you have a long string of sea days, you should be fine. Also check your phone plan, We recently switched to something pink and with the plan we purchased, we discovered we can text and use our data in many foreign countries. It was a very pleasant surprise as that was not the reason for the switch. Calls are something like 25 cents a minute. We make sure we leave our phones in airplane mode until we have actually docked though. Techies feel free to correct. This is just my understanding

I totally agree. Web site is phenomenally bad. I have never resolved issue on phone. Once or twice multiple emails worked but should have only needed one. But I do like the on-board experience. After almost always booking on our own, we now use an outside travel agent. Maybe that would work for you?

On Rotterdam recently, the water table had some water covered by HIA (cans and maybe cartons) and some other container that wasn't included in the package. I had read previously supplies will vary from cruise to cruise. We did three HAL tours and water was provided on one ( a bike tour) but not the others (second bike tour and an "on your own" bus ride).

It depends. I re-used the same plastic water bottle for years. (No BPA or whatever lecture please) It came with a sports drink in it but it was very heavy duty and had a lovely drinkable top that never leaked. And I would not mind if I lost it. (Or so I thought) When boarding the Rotterdam this fall for the first 7 day leg of a cruise out of Amsterdam, it went through security no problem. When I tried to get it back on board on the transition day (also in Amsterdam) for the next 14 day leg, it was confiscated. Which annoyed me greatly. So then instead of re-using my own bottle, I was forced to buy - wait for it - single use cans of water. Until I got a bottle of water on one of my HAL sponsored tours. I then re-used that PLASTIC bottle for the rest of the cruise, hiding it in my pocket as I went through security. I get reducing waste, especially plastic waste, but when I am reducing waste by using something plastic, it makes no sense to make me throw it away so I must then use single- use cans or cartons. Bottom line, don't count on getting plastic on the ship.

Waking up in the same town with a list of chores instead of waking up in a new city with a list of places to go see.

I suspect several reasons. A microwave draws a lot of power and would require additional wiring. And while safer than many cooking methods, they can still be a fire hazard. And finally, cooking can create odors which could impact neighboring cabins.

The issue is how HAL interprets its Terms and Conditions for the military/first responder/health care worker/ educator OBC. Each has a separate T&C section and each one of them contains the following language: "Onboard Credit offer is based on Promo(s) ZH*. Limit: One (1) onboard spending money credit (“Offer”) per stateroom." So does this mean one onboard credit offer per stateroom per work category or one onboard credit offer per stateroom for all of the 4 categories?

I know this rule but am confused by how it works if you qualify for different community appreciation benefits. DH gets the firefighter. I am qualified for teacher but only his OBC showed up on new booking. Can you stack community appreciation benefits of different categories or do you just get one per cruise per stateroom?

Taxis - I saw some but when you exit Amsterdam cruise port, those with rides waiting are sent to a different area about 100 yards further down the terminal than those for taxis, so I can't tell you if there were plenty of taxis or not. We went with a prebooked ride service (Welcome Pickups) which cost 51 Euro for two people and 3 pieces of luggage in a Mercedes 220 D. Great communication beforehand and no hassle over payment etc. Seemed competitively priced with taxis when I booked. Schiphol lets you book a security time slot. See here. https://www.schiphol.nl/en/timeslots/ Once you put in flight info, the website suggests times to book. How the system supposedly works is explained on the website but we ended up not needing it. I would also suggest reading up on their security rules before hand - a bit different than US so nice to be prepared. Actually easier in some respects with regards to shoes and electronic devices if I recall. And a note for self disembarkation. Guest services suggested we line up at about quarter to 7 (for 7:15 scheduled departure.) We were well toward front of the queue. Staff kept things orderly and reminded everyone very loudly to have your cruise card out and ready for scanning to keep the line moving and it worked. Once they opened the doors the line moved very quickly. Not sure when it opened, but we were in the lido shortly after 6 and they had full breakfast service available. I think I covered the things I worried about....