SilvertoGold

On our 39 day Noordam cruise the Cruise Director was everywhere. Very busy on sea days and on port day evenings. Introducing evening shows, doing the Coffee Chat with various officers and guest entertainers, doing port talks. She would come early to the evening shows and wander around the Show Lounge talking to guests, even to those, like us, whom she had no involvement with. We had had her before and noted that she was more present on this cruise. We thought she was definitely earning her keep and I kept wondering when she had time to change her clothes and eat!

I have found that the Private Sale mail-outs are usually out of date pricing. Signed in under my Mariner Number I find better pricing. However, the pricing for emailed Private Sales from HAL are always what I find under my Mariner number.

Depends on the cruise, long or short. If short, go to see the FC Consultant the very first or second day. Longer cruises you can wait a while. Going early also lets you check for errors before you are off the ship.

Looks as if they are limiting cruise ships because of some rowdy younger Brits who travel to Amsterdam and cause a lot of trouble. Also, the pollution angle is a valid one, but to limit all cruise ships? Sounds like the sledgehammer solution. Rotterdam should be able to take advantage of this move by Amsterdam. For us this is a positive since we enjoy Rotterdam

I am referencing both. I did some editing which you may have missed, so please go back and read my whole post.

(Way back when we got our first Covid credit for a cancelled cruise, the wording said you could not use it towards a deposit on another cruise, just to pay down the amount owing after the deposit. When the time came, it was used for the deposit with no fuss. Always check and double check!) MIKE: The FCD/FCC that you purchase onboard is good for 4 years. "should be USED WITHIN 4 years" is what it says on our confirmations for these. However, the HAL website shows "SAIL BY 2027" for the ones we made this year. The vocabulary is confusing.

Manulife has a lot of plans under different names. The Cover Me plan is very good as long as you do not have a bunch of pre-existing conditions, unstable or stable. Easy to use online form and you can call them as well if you have questions.

We found almost no drink menus in any HAL bar or lounge on our last two cruises, 39 and 14 days. So, how much is any specific drink? You have to ask a waiter and that is one more reason we do not buy HIA or the Signature Bev packages.

Loved last year's posts and that "cool" granddaughter of yours. Have a really super time and we will enjoy every post.

Yes! No problem.

Sounds like a plan, a very good plan! Hope you find something perfect!

Have done too many to count and loved them all. We do not see them as any different from regular cruises, more sea days sometimes, but that has been the only real difference over the years. And how are you Mr M? Are you planning and when will you spill the beans on your next cruise so I can put it on my calendar to watch for your posts ? :)

Chocolate Mint Buzz is always available but it just comes in different disguises and as a mocktail. On the Noordam and Koningsdam they never had any mint liquor so made it with coffee or whatever. All were good, just not the "real thing" that would satisfy RuthC. You need to ask very specifically if you know exactly what you want. Most bartenders will make you anything you want as long as they have the ingredients. The bill will come out as something totally different but it will be what you ordered.

We were able to pick and change seats from 4 days after booking up to about a week before departure. Very simple, straightforward.

Louise Please let us know how it goes for you and your husband. This is such an informative thread you started and we thank you for that :)

Thanks for your post! How is your husband now? Did you have much added cost for insurance for the timeline you ultimately chose?

Very generous assignment! These days HAL seems to be keeping pax in the category they book as GUARs or close.

The last cruise before the 14 day TA on the N Statendam leaves October 29 for 11 days. Could be a dry dock in between as cruisemom suggests Too bad as we would be very interested if there were a European B-B connected to this good deal.

Sorry this happened. We have found that HAL lets you know when work will be done on your balcony, so for work on the lifeboats outside your window this should have been done, as well.

I have experienced this using the HAL website booking program which is a pain to use. How is this new way of pricing being discussed different from paying more for each category? C costs more than D which costs more that E, etc. What I see is that you get to choose between GUAR and Choose. Plus with Choose you can pick aft. midship and forward, all of which will be different letter categories.

Interesting that you think that 14 night TA will drop further! In Canadian dollars it is nothing to write home about...yet. Love these deals and hoping there are more. We will be taking another one of those 14 day Alaska cruises while this promo is in effect! Hope you have something good picked out yourself :)

BermudaBound: I thank you for posting this deal. We sailed in June under a similar deal in Canadian dollars. It was about half the price we had paid in past years for the specific cruise so we were very pleased. I agree that whether or not someone is retired with endless travel time is irrelevant to the post. You are right: it is a good deal and to pass it on was thoughtful.

How do people feel about how this pricing reflects how important fares are overall to HAL? This pricing is maybe half or a third of the "normal" fare. What HAL is "losing" with these cheap fares can be easily made up when pax are on the ship (shorex, wine, shops, casino, specialty dining, etc) and HAL probably can fill the ship much more easily. Also, pax might be more free with spending onboard if they know they have saved a lot on the fare. This sounds like a good win-win promo for HAL and quite a good deal for the right pax.

Nice deal. How much do the taxes add on?

Very good info. I really dislike having to stand in line merely to find out the "flavor of the day" ice cream. I asked the Lido Manager and the next day it was listed, for a couple of days then, back to "normal". And this Manager is a really good one!