REOVA

HAL went paperless to save the environment years ago (yet there are plenty of hard copies of shop advertisements delivered to the cabin 🤔). You may be able to have the hard copy of Times printed at Guest Services. They found some old trivia sheets to print out for me (no longer put out trivia sheets in EXC cafe) but they due have printed crossword and Sudoku as mentioned. 

1 hour ago, Bick53 said:

We are sailing on the Koningsdam embarking January 7th for 24 nights. We have three  free Specialty Restaurants and free Gratuities as part of out Package. What does the average person do in this type of situation? 

Check if you have restrictions on which  restaurants you can choose from (usually 1 of each with no repeating which is fine to try all three). We space them out on sea days and book them prior to boarding before our day/time is full. (Yes sea days will have some dressy nights in MDR but we haven't found their menu what it used to be so alternate dining is just as well). Some say ship auto assigns nights and times but we've always are able to book our own times to make sure we don't get stuck with odd hours (during shows, events, too early or too late, etc). 

44 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

 To our surprise, our steward in the PG turned out to be none other than Dylan (Dutch name Douwe), hailing from Arnhem in the Netherlands. He had been one of our PG Restaurant stewards four months ago on Zaandam

 

 

 

 

What a delight to see again. Wish him well on his way to Cellar Master. He was excellent on VoV this summer. 

3 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

It was true through Dec 3 in the MDR on the NA.

 

Good to know. I wonder if still true on Pinnacle Class since the MDR seems overworked and chaotic at times. 

2 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Yes, that’s correct, however we never use Cellular at Sea. Way too expensive—we text each other a lot. We always keep our iPhones on airplane mode while at sea and still get each other’s texts, but remember that I said this is on the upgraded internet package. Once docked we switch off airplane mode and use the $10 a day feature on our AT&T plan. It really is nice especially when on a port intensive cruise like we were in the Med in June on the Oosterdam. DH was in covid jail for 6 days on that cruise and we texted frequently. 
 

 

Yes Iphone uses IMessage which works great with ship wifi. I have an Android so my SMS texts won't work in airplane mode so I am stuck with Navigator chat. 😁

Yiu might be able to get HAL to provide help. Or check with Guest Services onboard, they may be able to help with older versions. 

Does your cabin have the separate WC entrance from hall and walkthrough to the bath and ultimately to the bed, like the old Prinsendam Neptune suites? Miss those. 

3 hours ago, MikeD4134 said:

In the Main Dining Room, you may order as much food as you want.  7 appetizers, 5 entrees, 6 desserts whatever you want.

Is that true still within the past month? 🤔 

21 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

My husband and I upgrade when onboard to the premium plan so we can text each other. We both have iPhones. It’s faster than through the Navigator app.  However, we have AT&T so can’t speak for Verizon. We have signed up through AT&T for their international plan which is $10 a day for both of us. What is nice about the plan is that you only pay for 10 days per month. Maybe Verizon has something similar. 

 But to clarify Sharon's post that $10 per day is when in port. Doesn't cover the cellular at sea charges if you try while cruising on board. Navigator chat feature is nice but does have delays sometimes so you may not receive message for hours on some occasions. 

In Canaletto you can order family style which, instead of each person having an entree on their plate, everyone selects items to share and they are brought out on serving dishes to partake in. They now also instituted upcharges for ordering more than 1 entree, side or appetizers so ask about additional charges before ordering.

2 hours ago, melspar said:

My husband and I spent 12 days of a 14 day cruise in quarentine in Oct. on the Neu Statendam. We did “the right thing” and turned ourselves in. Very elderly population on HAL ships. Really didn’t want to risk infecting others. We were promised future cruise credits for each of the days we were quarentined. We’ve been trying to book another HAL cruise using these promised credits and can’t get anywhere through our travel agent or the HAL “cruise concierge”. I’ll never book another HAL cruise if they don’t get this straightened out. Any advice cruisers?

You should have received a letter stating you would get FCC and also certificate from ship doctor of when you tested positive and finally negative listing time in quarantine. Have your TA send these with requested booking (or if on ship, ask guest services supervisor to get through to Corp with your documents). Hopefully these will help. It's a frustrating process. 

9 minutes ago, ukpylot said:

We’re going on the Oosterdam in February for the 14 day South America cruise out of Chile and this is the first time I’ve had specialty dining credits. But trying to make reservations it looks like I can’t book two Pinnacle Grill dates, one has to be in the Canaletto? Anyone know if can be “fixed” on board, or do I have to try to learn to like Italian?

Because of the price difference they only allow split. But you will find "non" Italian entrées which are good. Here is a sample menu and daily specials. 

27 minutes ago, birdie16 said:

Thank you for posting your experience. I wrote a 6 page letter to the President of Holland America, I have not heard anything. No FCC, no expense reimbursement, nothing. We were planning on taking an Alaska cruise in May with good friends of ours...neither of us will book until we receive our FCC and expenses. We also have a 14 night cruise out of Amsterdam in July...again, we will NOT make final payment until we hear from Holland America. We are NOT interested in giving them any more business until we see how well they handle our complaints. So far, not impressed.

Unfortunately you may not get FCC until you book. We know many (us included) that had to contact TA to get them to expedite their FCC before it showed up. 😖

1 hour ago, Cruise NH said:

 

Wouldn't it also be beneficial to get faster access to the MDR with open seating?  DH and I are considering CO for an upcoming cruise.  We were too late to get fixed seating so we're hoping to get preferred seating at the MDR so we don't have to wait in line (vista class ship). 

For open seating, unless you want a table for 2, there shouldn't be a long wait (depending on time you walk in). Kind of like zipper merging, if people are willing to move together then the line doesn't back up as much. 😉

5 hours ago, pmjnh said:

How soon after purchase of CC stock are you eligible to apply and obtain OBC?

Make sure you send it in at least 30 days before cruising (we email it with our booking number) and keep the email response when you board in case they "forget". 

10 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

If you are five star then you are entitled to a full refund if charged in full while on board. I don’t know of a specific website for Guest Services. I am currently trying to get a credit back for similar issue with Guest Services but for only a partial credit for dining at PG.

 

Bottom line per my experience the whole process for five star mariners is terrible. If you are on a cruise less than ten days you need to book these restaurants prior to boarding to get times you wish to dine. That means you have to prepay for the dinner. Recently sailed on NS for 14 days and dined at PG four times. I prepaid a total of $368. Each time we dined at PG I informed the person checking us in that I had prepaid for the PG dinner and that I require a credit back of $92 since I was five star Mariner. Never happened. Had to visit Guest Services onboard four times to request credit to my account. Unfortunately the last request was on Friday night, the day before disembarkation, since we had just completed dinner at the PG; so never received credit.

 

This happens on every cruise !!!!

I did same . I did get a credit through credit card company already as HAL email system takes forever (if they respond). The response from HAL claims I am going to get 50% back. I told them why then advertise 2 complimentary dinners for 5 star members? Still waiting for their response. Appears they are not trained in knowing their own rules. Or maybe they are trained to make 5 star mariners angry enough that they never sail again with HAL. Pretty unique way to thin out the top tier and not have to provide as many benefits. 🤔

6 hours ago, KirbyMcK said:

Sorry if already explained, but where in the Navigator app do you find the daily menus? Thanks!

 

On the main page under Dining. Click the restaurant and menus can be found but they are generic unless you are onboard (when they change things). 

Which airline is the European partner airline that may be flying this route. You may try Incognito in Google and going to that airline (like Lufthansa) and pricing the flight. It might be in Euros but the exchange may be cheaper depending on your credit card. I haven't done this in many years but seemed to get cheaper flights. (Unless you have points to use). 

So still playing email tag with "Guess" Services. Do they know what their website and Mariner Rewards are? Waiting for credit on 2 dinners we had months ago that were supposed to be credited onboard. Initial email says they will gladly credit me 50% for being a 5 star Mariner. Here is Hal's response:

"Please be advised under Mariner Loyalty Rewards, We only cover 50% discount on specialty restaurant surcharges at Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind and Canaletto"

Make sure you bring a copy of the Rewards and speak with Restaurant manager (and actually get credit before disembarkment). 

20 minutes ago, ShipWalker said:

Oosterdam did stop at Port Stanley.  We got close but the Captain announced on the bedroom speakers (never a good sign) winds were about 20+ and we turned around and left.

 

Seas were rough the night before so it was a good indication this might happen. 

 

Todays sea just as rough all day. Beautiful day just rough ride.

 

 

Looks like snow drift. How'd you get the wind in the shakers. 🤔

IMHO CO on other than a Pinnacle ship (due to separate restaurant) is not worth it for a 5 star Mariner. You will get to see the "upgrade" selection in your cabin category but another poster elected to keep their booked cabin and received a discount on the cost. Keep in mind that HAL does things differently as the wind blows (so previous actions do not necessarily mean they will be the same). 

2 minutes ago, VTcruisenut said:

Thank you!  someone on FB told me about checking the Itinerary day by day, and the purchases do show up there.  We never use a TA, we do everything on our own.  I just wanted to be sure my daughter used the correct account and Mariner numbers as we both have cruises booked!

 

We print out the daily itinerary a few days before cruising (after booking dinners and excursions, etc) and print copy onboard to keep track of days and also add notes or private excursions to it. Makes a handy quick view if you need port times, restaurant schedules and proof of reservations. 

1 hour ago, VTcruisenut said:

We didn't get an emailed invoice......................

Did you get a confirmation email with booking number on it when you booked the cruise? That will list what was included in the purchase. If you bought things after the initial booking, you should get an email to confirm what was purchased and bring that on the ship so there isn't any issues while inboard. Also if you go to Navigator App under Account and Profile it should list OBC not part of a HIA. If you don't see what you are looking for call your TA. If you don't see it your kids should check their account and also would need to call HAL since they purchased the credits. 

@ShipWalkeris onboard and can clarify but in another post it was noted Oosterdam entered the harbor, did not anchor, and left. So most likely weather did not allow (pretty common). 

7 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I've heard the same from others, but if there aren't books whose pages I'm interested in turning, it's a moot point.

She's never had trouble finding something to read in the take one/give one section. There are books, just not anything I read. She also meets others with books and swap and then leave them onboard. Of course these days digital reading is probably healthier (except on the eyes 😁)