REOVA

On 10/30/2022 at 6:49 PM, Mary229 said:

One thing we did not ask which I would like to know, is often I order appetizers instead of an entree.  I assume I could have the substitution at no additional cost?

Yes. DW ordered soup, an appetizer and side (no entree) and was ok. Not sure how many apps you can order in place of entree but seems like they'd give more than 2....but then maybe not. 

Zaandam is the second oldest left of HAL ships and doesn't have Music Walk. But as noted above the ocean bar has a dance floor (band) as does Crows Nest (DJ). The other music options (non dancing) is piano bar and Explorer's Lounge/Lincoln Stage. We were on for 35+ days this year (and sister ship for 100+ days prior). Attached is a breakdown of amenities for each ship from HAL website. hal-ships-at-a-glance-05-23-22_221130_133512.pdf

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I keep reading about internet issues on most of the HAL live threads. We very much enjoy using the internet on the balcony of our cabin. For me, especially, since I like to post to Live From threads. Is that, in most cases these days on HAL ships, going to be an issue? It hasn’t been so far on the other cruise lines we sail with since cruising started back up?

 

You may find HAL behind in technology and wifi. They changed service a few years back but isn't up to level as others. (But technology changes faster than we can keep up.) But even so it will depend on location as well as number of passengers on ship. Obviously Trans Ocean will have drop spots.And we've had problems off west coast of S.A. and Africa. And if many passengers are trying to access at same time, you'll have problems but overall not a problem. You may need to find a seat need a router/extender if balcony is not in good location. But we've made video calls from our cabin with again, some areas dropping connection, but on overall cruise you should ok (except Antarctica). 

29 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Is there anywhere I can easily see a list or deck plan of rooms still available for a cruise I am booked on?  We leave next week but considering paying for an upgrade but don't know what is available. Is there a way I can see?  If it's in a noisy spot or blocked view, it may not be much of an upgrade to consider 

I print out each deck and above/below. If you are talking with HAL (they usually want an answer quick) you can ask what cabins are available and check your deck plan. Another option is go into website (without logging in) and do a dummy booking with the cabin category and deck and location you want. It will show what's left but it may not be accurate as cabins may get booked or open up while others upgrade so speaking to HAL / TA is best. 

1 hour ago, sayvan said:

... See you on the Rotterdam in February for 21 days! We will be back... I may even try and do a live review when the time comes.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We look forward to seeing your next review and how you compare the Rotterdam. 

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! I’ve been checking out some of the other Live threads as you suggested, and I’m just not feeling much has changed in the past 5 years as the narratives still give us the feeling HAL is just “too relaxing” for us. 

 

 

 

 

The Pinnacle ships do offer more music and dining venues, even a movie or game on big screen by the pool. Trivia was 3 times on sea days (music trivia at night). My DW and I love music, (we don't dance or drink much) and enjoyed the different venues. But the quality of the musicians can vary and as others have found, HAL gives them a list of songs so they may repeat each night (at least on our 10 day they did). So unless you want to sit and drink or don't mind hearing repeat songs, you will have time to enjoy other parts of the ship. We sailed multiple times this year and have seen the shows in the theater (which repeat on each cruise - Step One, Cantare, BBC) so if you haven't seen them yet, it's worth it. The  CD did good presentations for the 10 day (however I believe presentations are same on other ships).  On longer voyages they had local talks/presentations on World Stage. Both comedians on World Stage and BB King lounge were good. Those that like the smaller, quieter ships seem not to like the Pinnacle ships and vice-versa. We try to cruise to explore longer destinations and usually getting back to the ship to relax is what we want. But for a short experience on a Pinnacle class, it's worth a try since you already have free laundry. 😉 

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Thanks for the encouragement. It's not our first cruise, it's our first cruise with HAL. We like Celebrity but their East coast cruise doesn't have as good of an itinerary. I like that this is a one way itinerary. I think for us it's a bonus that we don't know what HAL "was" like so we can't be disappointed by some perceived short coming from what used to be.

You'll enjoy it. And try not to compare to Celebrity and complain. 🤣 if you like the smaller ships (we do) and being able to just relax and meet new friends, it's a great ship and itinerary. 

2 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

If HAL is going to have to resort to the larger ships for world cruises, their niche in the that arena is, IMHO, going to suffer.

The larger ships will be the bread and butter with short cruises. Not sure what their plan is for long voyages. Unless they acquire smaller ships (like they did Prinsendam) but I don't see small ships being built for HAL. Hopefully they learned from Maasdam. 

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

The difference is  the Amsterdam can hold a lot of supplies, while the Zuiderdam can only hold supplies for about 12 days, for the WC this is the wrong ship.

Wow. More passengers and less supplies? That will be interesting during supply chain shortages. Even on Amsterdam they had to scramble in some ports to find supplies. And if they start using inferior TP again, they won't hear the end of it. 🤣

For those waiting on FCC, my DW and I were quarantined in July (she positive, me negative 3 times during 6 day quarantine). My brother and his DW also were on same ship, she tested positive, he negative and also both quarantined for 6 days. They booked a future cruise onboard and when they got home, called their TA who got the FCC applied to the booking. We all got letters for FCC and dates, etc etc. My wife and I heard crickets until we got onboard in October and I stood at Guest Services to get someone on phone and miraculously FCC appeared in my Mariner account. Once you are off a ship, it's impossible to get HAL'S attention. It appears that having  someone (TA, onboard staff, etc) in your corner is required. I was told to email HAL to follow up on another issue we were not credited for.  Since we've been off the ship,, HAL has been silent for that. If you have a TA or currently on a ship, might be worth following up and pressing. The good thing is because our FCC came late, we have a longer time before they expire so we can wait for things to hopefully get better organized. 🤞

I believe the last ship to covert to new TV system was Zaandam this summer. The TVs are now on the wall so I don't think any access to port connections either. But the on demand movies have a decent selection since the TV selection is limited. 

5 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

There is no reason how the boarding times are assigned. I have been sailing on HAL +40 years, lots of cruises and just was assigned 1:20 PM boarding time on NS!

Because they flagged you 🤣 

It appears to be automated and random. We are 5* and were in Neptune Suite last month and initially got D boarding and then it changed to A a few days before sailing. Go figure. 🤷‍♂️

6 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

With all these complaints, I will be curious to see if Zuiderdam's impending drydock will bring the ship up to the standard that the "23 WC's expect.  If not, the complaints herein will mushroom exponentially!

The Amsterdam had many issues with leaks in cabins and plumbing was taped and buckets out on decks but it served many a GWCs. When we sailed on Zaandam in July, I was amazed how it looked (repaired) compared to sister Amsterdam so hopefully Zuiderdam will be repaired well. But as you say,  with larger number of passengers onboard, complaints will be plenty. We will sit out next year to see how she does. 

Last month for me...The health assessment on the website before printing boarding passes was more than 1 question. It was similar questions to the old health assessment pre Covid. If you answer yes, they will probably require test at Port, just my guess, depending on itinerary. The health questionnaire at the port upon embarkment (on the check in tablet) was 1 question. 

1 hour ago, DinkyDee67 said:

What a shame 😢 

We have recently cruised on Princess and P&O and both had lots of trivia, so maybe we’ll cruise more with them to get our trivia fix.

To Clarify - There are still usually 3 live trivia games a day. The ships used to have daily trivia sheets they would put out with the various newsletters and puzzles. I know they did away with the newsletters precovid (to save paper but at least you could take them off ship and read unlike on the app now) and they have the crosswords and sudoku still but not the printed trivia. 

2 hours ago, DinkyDee67 said:

 

We loved the daily trivia quizzes pre COVID - have they really gone? We are cruising on Noordam next month and will be very disappointed if they are gone.

Unfortunately. But if you go to guest services they may have access to old ones and print them out. But for some reason the questions and answers were together on same page so it wasn't quite the same. Had to have DW take a photo of each and then black out the answers so I could do them. 🤭

1 hour ago, kdakda said:

The Rotterdam has a very nice library on deck 2, stocked with a variety of books that you take and return.   There's also an area where you can Leave a Book/Take a Book, and I left a couple paperbacks I'd brought.  Puzzles were there and a few chairs (with lap robes) that looked out at the water.  

Yes they listened to us and built the library after not having one on NS and KDam. We were surprised at the number of current books and multiple editions. 

1 hour ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Not true on some ships. I was specifically told to put the tray on the floor outside my cabin. Believe me, it wasn't laziness on my part.

As usual, each ship has its own protocol. We were told not to leave outside door in July. 🤷‍♂️The quarantine cabins are marked on each deck for crew. But the problem predates Covid so it won't change. 

9 minutes ago, bobpell said:

Yes, REOVA those plugs were available in the sitting area between the bed and the washroom

My wife was musing over the lack of plugs in the washroom itself.

PS. After 458 days on HAL over the last 12 years we are making a huge leap to Princess mostly to see if their entertainment is better and to compare their culinary delights

We haven't sailed Princess in over a decade but used to sail when our family was younger as they had more kids on board 🤣 will be curious to hear if they've made the same cuts and change to their entertainment and your comparisons. 

5 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Your luggage doesn’t get delivered any faster with club orange.  I wonder if it gets delivered an quicker in a Neptune suite. I was in the first boarding group on the koningsdam on Nov 11 which was 11:30.  We boarded closer to 12.  My luggage didn’t show until about 3:30.

We had Priority boarding and luggage tags for Neptune Suite. We were first to drop off luggage and first to board. Sail away was 4 and at 3:30 I asked cabin steward and concierge where our bag was. They had to search but finally arrived as we sailed. Baggage priority doesn't matter but CO should have same boarding with suites. @forevercruising1may want to print out the info showing the cabins linked just in case boarding is an issue. Also may want to send message to HAL regarding linked booking and boarding times. Boarding Pass time still may change before you get to Port. 

3 hours ago, bobpell said:

 

3. No night light or curling iron plug in in Signature suite washroom

 

 

 

 

 

I thought they had a multiple socket plug that you could switch voltage on. It looks like European outlet but you can fit US plug. Was it not in your cabin? 

7 minutes ago, bobpell said:

Thanks RuthC

We saw the dishes and trays in the hallways but no stools

Bob

When we were quarantined, we were told not put things in the hall nor did any rooms have stools (I think it was done only in the quarantined section of the ship where that was closed to general pop.) If you are quarantined in your own cabin they ask you to call guest services and someone will take trays, trash bag, towel bags exchanged at the doorway.  Leaving trays, dishes, glasses etc in halls, elevators, planters, pool side, Lido buffet...is just a lazy cruiser. (They want to enjoy their cruise at the expense of others...but we have the same people back at home so no surprise).  If you can carry your drink from a bar and finish it in the elevator, you can carry it to room or drop off for appropriate disposal. 

Thanks for the tidbits. Shows that HAL(and others) has 2 types of cruises and the short 7 day or Holiday cruises are where you find this activity more. We've done 20-100+ day cruises, which we prefer, and may have a few of these issues but not as much, even with kids onboard. The prominade deck (walking no jogging) is only a few laps for a mile but they've made it narrow with blind turns and tender heavy view on Pinnacle ships. They still have bar soap if you are in Neptune suite. 

1 hour ago, hmorrow said:

We have a sunset aft on deck 6, on the Rotterdam,  Is it totally exposed to above? Does anyone know? TIA

It's not totally exposed but those above you can see down depending on where you are. Here is a photo I took last month. Deck 3 is the white area for reference. I remember many years ago my brother had a corner aft during Alaska and they were very exposed from above. But that was an older ship on a sister line. 

You basically have 2 statement balances on the cruise, 1 shows non refundable balances, like OBC from ship, and the other is refundable balances. Usually if you have a refundable balance you can request cash at end of cruise (otherwise it goes back on credit card). Make sure you to ask for a copy of your statement (or look on Navigator) and let them know you want it applied to B2B. 

11 hours ago, oakridger said:

Signing for drinks and even for included food at the Dive Inn was new for Rotterdam on my cruise.  I immediately sent a note to the ship via the app expressing my dislike for the practice. I did not ask for a response from HAL. The poor bar people had to then keep track of all those little pieces of paper.  What a waste of staff time!  I just don't get it.  I still had a good time on the cruise, but it seemed like a lowering of the shipboard ambiance for sure.  I thought of the term "Carnivalization".

 

~Nancy

I was told it was for inventory purposes. However not everyone asked for a signature so it was hit or miss. Seemed like their computer system would track inventory without needing a signature or maybe they don't trust the bar staff and they want verification of sale. 🙄