jabcruiser

Thanks Jacqui. Just saw this thread and read thru it with interest.  We are taking this cruise in 2025  but doesn't go until June 7 so should be warmer.  Not sure why but over month later next year.  Will be our first on the Volendam so thanks for your insights on that ship also. 

Jane

48 minutes ago, VermeulT said:

Every cruise I want to look at comes up with unavailable or sold out.  I mean EVERY.  I cleared my cashe and changed browsers.  Makes it hard to see what the prices and availability really are.

I would get on the phone right now if want to make a reservation.  Sounds like something is weird with your searches.  I just found another cruise in 2025 to book and no problem looking at several cruises with prices and cabin availability, etc.

Jane

8 hours ago, alyssamma said:

I agree...but I got the early booking bonus...prepaid grats and up upgraded HAI. It is still within the early booking bonus window.

 

Also the AARP OBC.

 

I don't know if this is refundable - didn't care for $2 lol.

 

The price is the same since I've been tracking it (for the past month)...it might have been cheaper before that for sure. I'm hoping it drops before final payment.

My Early Booking bonus was also included on our 2025 sailing with $2 deposit.  AND price was same as with $1200 down!

Jane

Just got off phone with my PCC booking 3 upcoming cruises.  All required deposits ranging from $250 to $1200.  However he informed me starting tomorrow $2.00 deposits which are non refundable.  Oh well.  He was able to book for me day early and all of my future cruises qualified.

Yay.

Jane

I had just read an article this am about MSC and how it might be a good choice for US cruisers.  I had never considered them.  However, I decided to look at CC boards to get other cruisers opinions.  Oops.  Now I know.  NEVER EVER BOOK A CRUISE ON MSC.  Thank you for letting me know about this sleazy outfit.  Now I will continue on with my search for a new cruise to book.  Probably thru HAL.

Jane

Agree with original poster on all accounts.  Not nearly as many cruises as they have, but over a dozen on HAL and few on Carnival and one each Celebrity and NCL.  Decided to try Celebrity just pre-Covid because of people on CC posting favorable comparisons to HAL and found a great price for 7 day Caribbean cruise.  So took the bait.  So disappointed in food, service, etc.  Yes, the Solarium was nice agree with that.  And MDR food was pretty good but buffet was literally inedible in my opinion.  Example - "taco" bar had no salsa, no jalapenos, no pico, no nothing spicy.  What??? Deserts all fancy and looked fantastic and had absolutely no taste except excess sugary. No I way prefer HAL food.  Unable to even get drinks generally.  Little if any bar service.  Had to go stand in sun 20 minutes for a drink. And bar tables NEVER cleaned and overflowing with trash until I took upon myself to clean. What???? Definitely never greeted or called by name by any of service staff. I have no interest in Celebrity again no matter if new or old ship.

Jane

Just on Noordam cruise 5/28 - 6/4 to Alaska.  DH got cold like symptoms as disembarking and got worse as day progressed.  We were spending 10 days in AK post cruise for a wedding and some sight seeing.  He tested positive next day, I tested positive next day. 60 miles from closest pharmacy and medical clinic.  Spent all day getting some anti viral didn't work.  Not Paxlovid.  Not available this part of AK.  Contacted HAL - no help at all even though return flight later thru flight ease.  DH tested negative after 5 days.  I continue get worse and go to small medical clinic now in Seward for wedding(which i missed).  Admitted with COVID and Flu.  And A-fib and rhythm disorder.  Spent 3 days IP tiny clinic not even an ultrasound available see if any clots.  Long saga finally made it home and have real doctors visiting today.  Miracle I am alive.  HALs lack of cleaning, masking appalling. Self service utensils only spread disease obviously.  Won't be cruising in foreseeable future.

Jane

9 hours ago, martincath said:

Very thorough answers already - only two additions to make. First is that while a private van booking should be quite flexible (there's a minimum cost of any such booking, based on 1 hour minimum rental time, so unless traffic is a nightmare you should be able to deviate per Milhouse's suggested route) but riding in taxis on the Fixed Fares from YVR you give up the right to dictate a route - so unless you want a metered ride it would be best to just get to the hotel then go pootling around on foot.

 

Second is that while the Sun Yat-Sen garden was not part of China's contribution to Expo '86 directly (it opened in 1980) it was by all accounts heavily leveraged during Expo - much encouragement at the China pavilion to go see the garden, so you might remember having done so on your visit (and even if you didn't, it's very close to the remaining fragments of Expo buildings around the Seawall). If you walk into or out of Sun Yat-Sen through the zodiac courtyard, you'll find that new metal copy of the '86 pavilion gate on the sidewalk of Pender' it's referenced in one of the articles linked above by xlxo but not in relation to the Garden.

There's basically no good Mexican food in Vancouver - even random roadside Florida Mexican restos are better quality and a heckuvalot better value than anything on offer here! We do have some great tacos - but they are MAD pricey for anyone from the US in general, and if you're used to visiting Mexico they will appear obscenely overpriced! Every now and again we get a genuinely good, authentic, regional Mexican something opening... which dies within a year or two because anyone used to the cuisine objects to paying the kind of prices charged here for imported ingredients! I'd also avoid anything that pretends to be BBQ - while Florida may not have the rep of Kansas or Carolina or Texas, if you're used to decent pit BBQs like Sonnys then we have absolutely nothing that comes even close - although the 'least bad' local Q option is probably Buckstop on Denman, easy walk from your hotel if you really want to risk it!

 

I'd definitely second the Tapas suggestion (I'massuming Dawn meant Espana); Denman in general is a great street for Not Fancy But Pretty Good dining, with vanishingly few bad options, so a random 'wander and smell the smells and read the menus' evening goes pretty well here! Personally I'd suggest that you drag DH to Kingyo, despite it being Asian, because it's a stellar example of an Izakaya (or 'Japanese Tapas Pub') the offers a wide variety of food that while in theory Asian, includes pretty much staple Western Pub Grub like sausages, pork chops and chicken wings! Served up in either tiny nibble plates or big share plates it's easy to satisfy a wide palate so group dining, even for picky people, and maybe if DH tries a wee sample off the other plates he might also find there are some Asian foods he really enjoys - it's a heckuva wide category to not like ANY of, China alone has at least eight different regional cuisines. I dragged my dad to one of these on his first visit to Vancouver and he is the most boring, meat-and-two-veg (preferably boiled enough that corn, beans, and potatoes all turn out the same shade of pale beige) diner ever; I just ordered for him and he was very happy with his 'regular pub food' and a pitcher of lager while we all ate 'that weird foreign muck' !!!! 😉

Thanks so much for the info.  Your dad sounds exactly like DH. Sounds like Kingyo could work. We will wander around and find something no doubt.

Jane

We do this often, especially on gala nights if don't want to do MDR crowd.  Always has been on time and food very fresh.  

Enjoy.

Jane

Have been following and wondering what info you might provide about West End area. Will be at Time Square Suites for two nights before cruise.  Don't arrive until late Friday so really just Saturday to explore.  Basically just plan on wondering around Stanley Park and around the area.  Any suggestions for restaurants in this area.  Not looking for fine dining and DH does not do Asian.  Saw a mexican place close by but wondering about Mexican in Vancouver??  Assume this area is safe in evening??

Any info appreciated.

Thx,

Jane

Received check-in time this morning for our May 28 Noordam cruise.  10:40 in group C so assume will begin about 10 for group A.  Just hope lines not as bad as everyone talks about.  At least on HAL can go straight to cabin and avoid Lido craziness.  Our first aft veranda so really looking forward to that.

Jane

2 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

I would love to know what time HAL gave you to board and the amount of time it took for others with later boarding times to get on. Two weeks ago, we did the same exact routine you did at 12:15 (HAL assigned boarding time for us was 12:40) and we were in line for almost 80 minutes for your step 2, Your Step 3 was more than an hour for us and, your step 4 was also an hour. Total time from getting in the line until getting on the ship was 3 hours and 30 minutes. Can you ask others on board who boarded later how long it took them?

Well, that won't work for us based on sail away at 4:00.  Believe all aboard is 3:30 and sounds like you got aboard about 3:45.  We don't have a check in time yet for our May 28 cruise on Noordam -Vancouver to Whittier.  But current plan (certainly subject to change) is to get taxi about 10 am to cruise port.  Our hotel is little over mile away so not really walkable with luggage for us anyway.  Planned to check luggage, check out situation and probably just wander around port area, find restaurant to hang out for awhile and wait for crowd to thin which thought would be 1:30 or so.  But based on your experience maybe should just get in line at 10 -10:30 and hope for best.  

Vancouver sounds like a mess to me.  And we thought San Diego was bad last year.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Jane

5 hours ago, Laminator said:

It sounds like you may have walked in. Do the taxi's drop you off where you hand your luggage to the porters or did you not notice?

Wondering this also.  We will arrive by taxi May 28 departure on Noordam.

Thanks,

Jane

On 1/19/2023 at 12:49 PM, CruisingGrandmaW said:

Can understand your frustration.

I've run into this no matter if using HAL directly or various TA's.

 

I learned to plan ahead of making my call.

I Look at the Online HAL Deck Plans myself.

Write down the various Aft-Facing Cabin #s I'd be interested in.

THEN place my call to HAL or my TA.

I give them the Cabin #s - they check availability.

Makes the process go smoothly saving me a lot of frustration.

 

My PCC is wonderful.  Don't just call customer service.  Call your PCC.  Ours was very knowledgable about Aft Facing verandas and even booked us on deck 5 where they are apparently larger than decks above this.  Don't wait on hold.  Call and leave message for PCC.  Or email direct.  She has always been very responsive.  Even during COVID and trying to navigate cancellations and rebooks.  Very pleased.

Jane

On June 28 we booked HAL Alaska cruise for next June which included Have it All.  But over the weekend prices dropped and HIA now includes crew incentive which our original booking did not.  Had it repriced and rebooked saving $250 each on fare and about $200 in crew incentive which is now included.  Total savings about $750. Same OBC as prior booking.

Jane

We have been big fans of the BBKing Blues Bands since they first started.  A big draw to HAL for us.  However, on our recent 35 day HI-So Pacific cruise on Zuiderdam we were very disappointed and only went twice.  Terrible band(especially singers) - no audience interaction, no dancing, bad song mix(no blues, no motown classics, half the songs I didn't even recognize).  Singers did not move one inch during entire performance. What a huge disappointment and on a 35 day cruise.  Not a fan of Rolling Stone.  Found it very amateurish on Konigsdam several years ago .  Maybe has improved by now.  Anyway, looks like music venues will no longer be a draw for us to cruise HAL.

Jane

We were on the Zuiderdam in March for 35 day Hawaii So Pacific cruise.  The crew had their show on return leg of voyage in the afternoon. We thought that unusual.  But it was great and packed with standing room only.  Several passengers commented after the show it was better than the evening shows they had attended with the professional entertainers.  

Jane

On 2/7/2022 at 12:58 PM, Newly Retired Teachers said:

 

Impressed by the amount of weight they will hold too!

What size hooks did you get?  From Amazon?  Need to order some for our upcoming cruise and want to get some that will hold lots of stuff like yours.  Thanks so much.

Jane

HAL often has web site issues.  I would try again tomorrow, or call them to book.

Jane

Mary Ann,

So glad you are Free now.  Hope you have some warm clothes as going get really cold tomorrow nite.  You may have to go to Walmart for sweats!  Have you found a restaurant close where you can dine out tonite? Or are you just going to stay safe and keep ordering in? Thanks for keeping us posted.  Hope you can continue on with no further disruptions.

Jane

We are scheduled to be in Fakarava in March.  We are currently on a wait list for Ato's snorkeling excursion. Wondering if we cannot do that if there is an area near tender dock which might have decent shore snorkeling.  A waterside restaurant/tiki bar would be nice for DH to hang out while I snorkel.  Thanks for any info.

Jane

23 hours ago, IPB4IGO said:

Today, two days after we were disembarked, I was able to contact HAL's Family Assistance Department. It seems they were closed on Sunday and Monday.

I learned that we pay for the quarantine hotel, then submit the charge to HAL for reimbursement. We get a flat $100/day/person for meals. We will be contacted after we get home with the details of the reimbursement process.

After five days we can go home. 

 

 

So, they told you only 5 days then you can leave?  I was under the impression it was 10 days. 5 days way better than 10.  I wonder if they are still using 10 days on the actual ships when quarantined.  So glad you are taking this in stride and wish you many wonderful future cruises - COVID FREE.

Jane

Are the food trucks there in Papeete? We are on a HAL cruise going in March, hopefully.

Thanks,

Jane

10 hours ago, 0106 said:

Thanks for your wonderful report (and blog) and the beautiful photographs.  

Is there a “movie” screen at the aft pool? My husband was hoping to watch the Super Bowl there.  If not, where do you think would be his best option?  

They used to have a BIG Super Bowl event in main showroom area - World Stage I guess it is called.  Huge buffet spread and since our Bronco's were playing we purchased VIP seats which was really great.  Lots of give-aways during what would have been commercial breaks.  Who knows what they will do now with Covid??? 

Jane

38 minutes ago, sassy~one said:

Hi there, can you please let me know, if someone leaves the ship and need to be in quarantined, how do they get to a hotel? Who finds the hotel? Who pays for the hotel?  I have not seen anything about this.  I'm b2b2b in a few days, and have a healthy amount of fear about being kicked off the ship in the middle of my sailing with limited amount of FLL hotel info. Thanks so very much.  Debbie

You might want to review info on HAL site regarding Covid Protection Plan:  

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/COVID-19-protection-program.html

Doubt if anyone on this board knows anything more than this.

Jane