vicd1969

Those of you fortunate enough to get early fixed dining are more likely to get the «pre-Covid » levels of service. As others mentioned, pacing tends to be better the earlier it is. It got really frustrating for me when they take more than 20 minutes just to get our order in the MDR. It may also be a function of being on a Pinnacle class with almost 1000 more passengers than a Vista class - the Pinnacle class MDR isn’t like 50% bigger, so understaffing is more noticeable. On the Westerdam for a long sailing, the MDR experience may be a better intimate experience.

Great notes on your cruise experience on the NS. My Nieuw Statendam MDR and Tamarind experience largely matched yours this past November. Being burned by the slow MDR anytime dining, I’m going to aim for Club Orange next time whenever I sail a Pinnacle ship. For what it’s worth, our cruise director told us in her Q&A session that the shipboard staff have no flexibility in setting up activities - they have to follow the script from Corporate. It seems HAL is conceding the lack of ship activities as a comparative weakness and has a strategy of focusing on non-Caribbean itineraries and longer cruises to deploy their activities budget.

Oh, sorry, didn't mean to say the NA's thermal suite isn't nice. It's still a lovely place to hang out. The Rotterdam just has more heated chairs and the steam room is larger, with a window. The NA's water jet bath is actually better since it doesn't spray on others in the pool. One minor difference is the NA thermal suite is on starboard while the Rotterdam is facing port.

If you're willing to sacrifice the presentation, maybe you can ask the staff to plate the steak tartare and bacon together and treat it as a "main". Then ask for a small dish to move the bacon after you get the course. Of course, it won't be an instagram-friendly option but I'm sure you have tons of bacon clothesline pics by now. It does remove the "premium" dining experience though lol. I do agree with others who believe because of HIA, HAL is devaluing the Pinnacle Grille due to higher usage and on ironically Pinnacle class ships - steering those who seek a premium dining experience to Sel de Mer.

I would imagine the ship would have new year's eve activities for kids. Or in Amber Cove judging by the itinerary - you'll be there for like 14 hours through new year's eve. It's basically a resort island so helps offset the lack of "resort-like" amenities and activities onboard the Zuiderdam. BB King also does attract a lot of dancing for their shows if the group is a good one. However, the dance floor can get crowded due to its compact size. The entertainment activities used to include scavenger hunts on the ships, but I haven't seen it held in my two cruises this past year.

Can you apply the Have it All excursion credit for booking shore excursions before the cruise? Or it can only be used on shipboard bookings?

You can upload the boarding passes to the Holland Navigator app. That’s what I did for my Nieuw Statendam check-in at Fort Lauderdale.

Glad you enjoyed the ship despite the circumstances during the first week. I’m sure the corporate suits were ecstatic about the more than full ship, but I feel sorry for the crew who had to deal with all the overcrowding issues.

You come as you wish. It's basically anytime dining but with shorter waits (usually). Also, you'll likely have the same waiter throughout the cruise.

Probably due to overcrowding on the ship in general for a Thanksgiving sailing. Likely will be as crazy for Xmas and New Year's sailings, but back to being reasonable passenger numbers afterwards.

Technically, there is no table reservation. However, if you meet with the host on the first night, and let them know your time preference, there is a good chance they'll have a table for four waiting for you when you arrive at the Club Orange room. Like most things in life, things get easier when there is there is a lot of communication among both sides. They were very accommodating for our group of 11 on the Rotterdam, but we tended to eat early around 530ish.

Unlikely you'll have to get tested before or during your cruise, unless you or your cabinmate report any symptoms to the ship. But I would bring a few self-test kits in case you want to test upon leaving the ship, for your peace of mind.

Note to self: don't book future cruises that happen over main holidays. Dodged a bullet booking the Nov 12 Nieuw Statendam cruise instead of the Nov 19 one this year.

Sorry i should have specified officer crew 🙄

Thank you for the comprehensive writeup about your cruise. The Rotterdam 21-day cruise is a 11-day and 10-day back-to-back so you may see a few repeat entertainment activities. The bands will likely play the same songs after day 4-5. But the Southern Caribbean ports are very interesting and hopefully you will be worn out after doing active excursions in the islands of the cruise. If you have the budget, highly recommend springing for the thermal suite pass. It's even nicer than the one on the NA. I envy you getting to dine for 21 days onboard the Rotterdam. Its crew was top-notch back in June and I doubt that will change!

Hope HAL shows the game on the big screen of its Pinnacle ships. Would be fun seeing the crew root for one side and most passengers rooting for the other. A true orange party hopefully.

At least the site allowed me to do a dummy booking and the fine print was available when pricing was shown. Yes, the "free gratuities" are only for the first two pax, as you said. Thank you for trying to look, though.

The crew appreciations for this promotion are only for the first two passengers, right? It's very difficult to find the fine print on the HAL website.

HAL and Princess have the same backend flight reservation system, so you can do a dummy Princess booking and it would be the same price as HAL. As mentioned, needs to be within 330 days or so.

My cousin complained about the noise of chairs and tables being moved in Club Orange above his cabin. They were in a family oceanview starboard side. Nieuw Statendam, so should be almost same as the Rotterdam.

Yes, you don’t need a reservation to go to the bar. It is also usually not crowded as it is a bit out of the way. You can also order Ala carte Nami Sushi appetizers which have a lot in common with Tamarind, so you get a little taste of the restaurant.

Great tidbit about booking an inside on the 7th floor instead of other decks. I've yet to have a mediocre cabin attendant on HAL, but that's a pretty clever strategy. Thank you for putting your thoughts and keen observations out for everyone on this board.

On my Statendam sailing to Aruba and Curacao, there was no separate line or use of Verifly during embarkation. The only teeeny advantage to using it was that I could complete the health assessment sooner than the one on the regular HAL website. No covid information required to check in and board whatsoever.

If you have more than two people in your cabin, only the first 2 will have to pay for Club Orange, but everyone in the cabin gets the benefits. I think the going rate is $25/per person per day (so $50/cabin per day) on sailings less than 14 days and $15/per person per day ($30/cabin per day) on 14 days and higher.

HAL doesn't really do 3-5 days very well - the experience is a bit lessened than their 7-day trips. Unlike Disney or Royal Caribbean. Also I don't think there are any non-suite rooms with 3 regular beds. They all have a sofa bed and/or a pullout upper bunk bed.