shrimpboat123

They used to put balloons on your door, but not sure if that is done anymore....

They stopped putting balloons on the door when we were on the Zuiderdam in April. You now have to provide your own.

I love schnitzel. We are booked for the Tamarind and I have heard the raisin buns are excellent. It all,sounds delicious

I would have two Raisin Buns every morning for breakfast. They are the best! :)

The CAC will be changing soon - attendance is not good and with only 2 menus (Lavender and Basil) how many times would you go. We have done it twice now and love the concept. The manager does not even know when exactly it will change. You do get the 4-5 star Mariner price 1/2 off.

I know we got the discount when we all attended the CAC. I just can't remember if it was on the whole deal (food +wine) or just on the food part.

I think the OP is talking about the reusable gel bags that Orthopedic surgeons recommend. They mold to your body part, unlike ice. I had mine with a neoprene sleeve to keep it in place.

Those reusable gel bags need to be kept in a freezer in between use. Would a steward be able to find a freezer for the OP?

Totally understood what the OP was asking. My DW used them to ice her knee after she had Knee Replacement surgery. I found the zip-lock bag, filled with ice, and wrapped in a towel did the trick in lieu of the gel bag.

We took a large zip-lock freezer bag and asked our room steward to fill it with ice when we got back to the room after a day of touring.

Bon Voyage everyone! Wish I was going too.

Looking at doing the excursion Lifestyle VIP Resort. Has no reviews on the HAL website. Looking for anyone who has been on the excursion for some input.

Thanks

We did this excursion the first time we went to Amber Cove in Feb 2016. I would not recommend this particular excursion. It was quite busy at the beach and it was difficult to find suitable loungers. There was a pool there and a bar as well as a place to have a light snack.

The main meal was at a different location and we had to pack up early from the beach and be bussed over to a different part of the resort (with lots of stairs). It was a zoo and the food was not that good. Definitely don't recommend the Lifestyle VIP Resort Getaway.

I’ve never called them but did receive an email after our last cruise thanking us for our loyalty and congratulated us on achieving another star. They also said they looked forward to our return cruise in March. We have never received unsolicited emails from the Mariners Society. It was nice.

I'm glad you received an email from the Mariner Society congratulating you on getting another star.

We achieved 5* on our last cruise which ended on May 29th, 2017. It has been posted on "My Mariner Status", however, I didn't get an email from them, nor have I received the 5* pins in the mail yet. Not a big deal, but some sort of consistency would be nice. :D

Sorry to sound stupid, maybe I missed something but

 

did you logon to http://hollandamerica.com, then 'login' then My Account, then My Mariner Status ?

Just login to http://hollandamerica.com and then click onto My Mariner Status.

Has anyone done the land and cruise trip from Fairbanks to Vancouver via HAL?

I know the tipping policy on the ship but not sure about the land portion.Any help would be appreciated or point me in the right direction for answers.

Thank you

Check out this HAL document, 2017 ALASKALAND+SEAJOURNEY TIPS,

page 7 GRATUITIES DURING YOUR LAND+SEA JOURNEY

https://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-destinations/Tour_Tips.pdf

First Caribbean cruise. How do you deal with towels, or something to sit on when spending time at the beach?

Beach towels will be placed in your cabin the day before you dock. When you get back from the beach, place the beach towels on the floor in the bathroom and they will be replaced with clean ones for the next beach day.

You can try this one.

http://www.sundiegolive.com/?referer=http://www.***********/cruisecams/ports/united_states/san_diego_california.php

The Tamarind costs an additional $25.

There is no self serve laundry on board the Koningsdam.

I believe that it's officially known as a "bronze" medallion. However, if Frank can get a photo of his copper medal with Copper Jon in the picture, that's pretty much the best cruise photo ever.

It's a good thing it got changed to Bronze otherwise it might turn "Green" on those rough sea days. :D

Our first NS since the refurb and we love it- they are beautiful ! The big TV is great however they had to come up and fix it- everyone had neon blue eyes and white hair and very blurred. When we came back before dinner all OK. New bathroom very nice- love the night light. Didn't notice until lights were off that the lights next to the bed have a very dim glow when dark. Was nice as made it easier to not run into furniture in the dark.

 

Neptune Lounge looks good with new colors. Concierge team is excellent.

 

Love, love, love the new Lido Market look- what an improvement! Soft colors and great flooring.

 

Dinner in the PG was amazing as always- great server and the steak was perfect. Manager Arlin is on top of things and is treating us like we are family. Hoping she stays at HAL and we get to sail with her in the future. Was great being back at our Honeymoon table again

 

Stopped in to say hi to Copper this morning on our way ashore and promised we'd behave :D. Hoping we can get together for dinner one evening.

 

Our PCC is on the ship until San Diego and hoping she can join us one evening in PG at dinner.

 

According to the Mariner site I will hit 100 actual nights on Thursday so may get the first Medallion at the Mariner reception on Friday. Not sure if they do it that way. Should also jump to 4 star after this cruise so looking forward to the new benefits..

 

Have met many CC folks on board already. Supposed to be an informal get together at Seaview for sailaway today. After several glasses of bubbly, cocktails, more cocktails, and a bottle of wine with dinner no way I would have made the sailaway last night at 11 pm. Even if I did make it probably would not have been pretty.

 

Great crew so far and always smiling- hats off to the Oosterdam HD. Happy crew means good management in my book

 

More to follow- tomorrow is Astoria Oregon.

Since you will be achieving 100 sea days during this cruise, you should get your copper medal at the ceremony. Check with the Concierge and get them to verify that you will indeed achieve 100 days and see if you can get your metal while on the cruise.

Hi,

Not that it matters, but does booking a suite for the cruise portion of a HAL Alaska cruise tour translate into any benefits on the land portion? I thought I saw something addressing that years ago, but can't find hide nor hair of it now that I actually have a suite booked.

You don't get any special treatment on the land portion for being in a suite on the ship. I didn't get any better room in the hotels when we were in a Neptune Suite back in 2013.

Hope you have a suite on the port side. Great viewing of the glaciers from the balcony and the Captain seemed to favour the port side for time spent while up close to the glacier.

Did I just not stumble on it but is CNN no longer on HAL tv 's.? I might hav scrolled passed it but never saw it during my recent Veendam cruise.

You are correct. I haven't seen CNN on the HAL TV for some time now. I think is was replaced with Fox News.

How does one request a table for two in fixed dining?

Can one request a specific table?

 

We've never done traditional but are considering the idea but only if we can get a two top.

When you make your booking, you will be asked to choose either Open or Fixed dining. Choose Fixed and specify either Early or Late dining and also that you want a table for 2. If you know which tables you might like, you can make a request through your TA. Some people have been successful with these table requests. If you don't get your request, you can always go and talk to the DRM as soon as you get on board and see if anything can be done.

I am thinking about booking a Panama Canal cruise on the HAL Zuiderdam. The reviews of this ship are concerning. A theme of outdated /boring/sub par food seems to be occurring. Does anyone have an impression of this ship? Also. would we be able to book a table for two for fixed dining? We would prefer not to sit with others and we like the fixed dining option. Any help is appreciated!!

We spent 40 days on the Zuiderdam from mid April to the end of May this year. Food is so subjective, but we didn't have any problems finding something we liked 95% of the time in the MDR. There's always the Lido if you're not happy with the selection.

I have to say this was our best cruise. The staff on the ship were outstanding. The Captain and officers were alway there to greet you as you left the ship and arrived back after a day of touring.

You should have no problem getting a table for 2 in fixed dining. make sure you put in your request early.

I just checked the fare for our cruise in October and we booked at $1500 less per person than what it shows today. That pretty much pays for our business class air fare, so we're good with that. We don't drink enough to make good use of the Explore 4 program, so it's not a great perk for us.

 

On another matter, does anyone know where the most recent list of groups and charters can be found? I did a search and the search feature timed out 3 times (on my PC and netbook), so I came up empty handed.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

The May 2017 issue is listed here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2501748&highlight=groups+and+charters

Not sure if there is a newer version out yet.

We were on the Koningsdam in the Caribbean Nov/Dec 2016. The showroom is smaller than on the Signature and Vista ships. Therefore, they typically had three shows each night at 7:15PM, 8:30PM and 10:00PM.

I still cannot get the links to work. Try searching for threads started by shrimpboat123 and by LiveLifeLoud.

 

Roy

I have recently deleted my Photobucket account. That's why the original picture review doesn't work anymore. The text part should be OK.

hi I placed a deposit on a guarantee suite on Eurodam for Caribbean and noticed this morning rate had dropped 100 per person, not a lot but anyway. I called my ta and asked if final,price could be adjusted since I am in the window before final payment. He called Hal and they said there would be no change but I was offered an SU cabin or 100 dollars FCC. Just wondering if this is a new policy or standard and was hoping for obc if price could not be reduced. any thoughts?

That's the new HAL policy. They offer an upgrade or if an upgrade isn't available, they offer FCC.

I'm surprised. Our birthday celebrations were just last month on the Veendam. I do like carrot cake but we got a very tasty chocolate cake. Damn now I want cake for dinner![emoji39]

 

 

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Just another example of "Inconsistency" from ship to ship on HAL. Normally you do just get the small chocolate cake, but I had requested the carrot cake. :)

We have sailed when we have had a birthday during the cruise. We did get a card from the captain each time. When in a Neptune we also got balloons on the door. We have also received the birthday cake.

 

My DH and a dear friend we met several cruises ago both have the same birthday, different years. On the last cruise to Bermuda I mention to the Canaletto manager that their birthdays were the day after we disembarked but were celebrating that Friday night. Each got a cake large enough to share with us non birthday people. It was wonderful and made for a nice way to end the cruise.

 

 

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No more balloons even if you're in a Neptune Suite. I had a birthday this past April when we were doing a TA on the Zuiderdam. I asked the concierge why there were no balloons on the door. She said you have to buy them yourself now. We also had an anniversary in May while we were on board, still no balloons. We did however, get a very nice Carrot Cake for my birthday and a very large Carrot Cake for our anniversary. It was delicious! :D