roboref

We've cruised on all the major cruise lines except HAL (leaving on our first HAL cruise in 11 days). All of them do good things for kids, but I would be on RCCL with my little ones if I still had them.

I certainly agree with most items covered so far. I am hoping our upcoming 36 night cruise we will be able to get over to late seating as that is our preferred time. We were wait-listed for late dining, but assigned immediately to anytime, which I absolutely hate. The addition I would make to the thread is I wish if you have something you don't want or like, politely communicate with the dining room manager, as early in the cruise I am sure he would like to match people as much as possible with their wishes.

On a previous RCCL, We had early seating as were doing B2B and needed early on the first cruise due to other family members consideration. After our first night at early seating on the 2nd cruise we went and asked if we could move to 2nd seating. He was delighted saying he had 200 people on late seating trying to get ot anytime or early. So I am really hoping we can get off anytime to 2nd when we board! Keeping my fingers crossed.

Roboref (Ron)

Yes Roboref, I was on the Noodam in April for a month and the Oak room was definitely still a smoking room at that time.

I was hoping it was so. Will have to wait till we board, to actually find out. I so want to be able to smoke a cigar indoors.

The ashtrays are just behind the bar. Take one out if you need it. What else are they going to do when in port & bunkering. Can't smoke outside (even before the upcoming January change). Only ship with a dedicated indoor space is the Noordam with the Oak Room.

 

I'd rather have them smoking in a closed Casino than outside when bunkering. Much safer.

Does anyone have recent information from actually being on board that this is correct?

I have done this several times in FLL. There will be porters to leave it with and with any luck it will be some of the first delivered luggage.

On our transatlantic this spring, the rental car agencies at the airport provide a free shuttle to the ships. However, we arrived about 12:30 and it took almost 2 hours to arrive at the ship. The line was quite long to get on a shuttle and then each shuttle went to each pier slowing the process.

While I give the shuttle an A for effort, the organization and efficiency could use some work. I would actually go ahead and pay for a cab.

I am asking for my brother and his wife about the best way to book this trip. It involves the 36 day Transpacific from Auckland to Vancouver. My SIL would like to do the whole 36 day cruise. My brother hates sea days and does not wish to be gone that long. He is willing to do the first part of the 36 day cruise which is 13 days Auckland to Sydney and then he wants off the ship.

Both cruises are available. We realize that a single supplement is probably required. My first thought is to book both of them for the trans-pacific cruise and then he leaves the ship in Sydney. No single supplement (since they both paid for the whole cruise) and maybe the easiest way.

Or they book the 13 day cruise together and she gets a single supplement rate to Vancouver (the problem with this is that there is not a cruise listed for this segment). The 29 day Auckland to Honolulu is showing sold out, but that doesn't really help either as she would like to go all the way to Vancouver.

I don't have any experience with this type of travel booking, so I did suggest he contact his travel agent directly and then maybe she could call HAL and inquire/negotiate a booking that would most closely match their travel needs. A single supplement is not a deal killer, but I would like to help them book it the most economical way possible.

Any ideas or suggestions would be really appreciated.

When we sailed on Noordam last year, smokers were encouraged to use the Oak Room, comfortable chairs, TV etc, situated next door to the Crows Nest starboard.

I had read that on the smoking post thread. That it had happened on certain cruises but no one could confirm it. As I mentioned earlier, I have decided that trans-Atlantic or trans-pacific would require a protected pool environment as I love hanging around the hot tub and taking naps and indoor cigar rooms. We were on a Celebrity cruise last spring for 9 days and only outdoor smoking and it was cold outside and portside, so I didn't smoke for 9 days. I normally have one cigar per week, unless I am on a cruise then I have one a day, while Pam is getting ready for dinner. I had scoped out possible smoking locations outside and decided I could live with situation, but the Oak Room would make it even better.

Roboref(Ron)

Looking at this and sorry about getting off-topic a bit. We are seasoned cruisers and have 4 trans-atlantics under our belt. I think the main question for what to do, is that there will be activities. I am happy to read books, smoke a cigar and hang out by the hot tub. I am good to go. My wife is an avid reader and is really easy going as far as things to do. If there are really good lecturer's all the better.

I think the ukulele classes, hula dancing class and great lectures would be an added bonus.

All of the posts on this thread have really allayed any fears we have of going on HAL and are getting us very excited to go.

We have never flown in the day of embarkation, as it just seems to be too risky. But we are going to do it this cruise, if we do miss the ship, the next port is not very far. Unfortunately we won't see much of Auckland.

OlsSalt, we have been on smaller ships 2200 to 3000 passenger ships before. We really are not too difficult to please. Give us decent service, reasonably good food and some shows that are not horrible and we are good to go. Also we have pretty much decide for cruises with many sea days, an enclosed pool area is a must!

36 day Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific Collector.

Yes, it was a big commitment to HAL for this cruise and not knowing what to expect. We had all the pre-conceived notions of HAL just being dull & boring with a much older passenger demographic. We have done several long cruises and that is a simple fact that the longer cruises will have an older clientele. But being retired I am in that category as well.

We did a lot of reading on this board and comparisons of HAL to the other lines we have been on and decided to jump ship from the RCCL 24 day Sydney to Seattle cruise we had booked to this cruise. It was hard to give up our diamond perks on RCCL. But this trip fit our needs scheduling wise and after our trip this year of 45 days with 3 cruises, 4 hotels and 3 flights we felt a flight, cruise, flight would be more appealing than trying to cram a lot of pre-cruise days in New Zealand and Australia.

We don't need lots of activities but we have enjoyed the lectures on our Trans-Atlantic a lot. If HAL is similar in style, food, service and class to Celebrity or even RCCL, we know we will enjoy the cruise.

Hi from fellow New Mexico cruisers (Albuquerque). I have really enjoyed reading your posts on the threads I am reading to learn about HAL. Our first HAL cruise is next March from Auckland to Vancouver. HAL cruises sound so nice and with lots of activities. Your posts are very instructive without being cheerleading. You also have a broad range of cruiselines to compare against.

We were a little apprehensive about going on HAL, but are really excite now!

Roboref (Ron)

It recommends going through the cruise ship. But where is the fun in that?

http://www.dunedinrailways.co.nz/our-journeys/cruise-ship-visitors/suttle-and-train-ex-wharf

I found the link for the train site.

http://www.newzealand.com/us/plan/business/dunedin-railways-taieri-gorge-railway/?rd

I am sure you could get a cab or shuttle bus to the station and then take the train out. I am not sure about getting back though!

We were also thinking the same thing as the OP especially on the dining time. On the 14+ day cruises we have done on other lines we have hardly ever had a problem getting late seating in the MDR. But on this collector cruise we booked 9 months out and could only get wait-listed for late seating, we did get an open seating with table for 4.

You can bet my first stop on embarkation day will be to the maitre d'hotel to ask for late seating. Hope we can get it. I just figured that this far out and with so many people preferring early seating now or open seating, we would not have an issue.

Will keep fingers crossed that we get late seating in MDR assigned before we leave!

Not having been on HAL before I don't have any experience. However, his explanation of the "SNL Skit" did remind us of our last Carnival muster drill. CCL announced it at 9 pm then 10 pm, well it didn't actually start until 1030, staff wasn't even at the stations to check people in. ( the late drill was due to us not being able to leave port until the next morning) Then the cruise director acted like a DJ at a beach party, couldn't understand and absolutely no respect shown to the importance of it.

I have sailed enough to understand the importance of it. I would hope HAL shows the importance and respect to the drill it requires. You can't force passengers to take it seriously, but I do expect the line to! It was the only complaint I wrote down about the CCL cruise was how little attention was paid to muster drill!

I disagree about Jewel. I thought the decor was horrible and tacky... That is the one NCL ship I feel that way about. Hot pink chairs, with striped backers and clashing carpet. DW and I have sailed on every NCL ship except Epic, Escape, and Spirit, and the Jewel stands out to us as having very garish decor. To each his or her own.

Just off the NCL Jewel in May and that is not a recent photo. While NCL isn't as sedate in decor as Celebrity, is sure isn't Carnival either.

I am of the other point of view. I nearly always pick ship before itinerary. The ship has to have what we want and then we will worry about the rest. We have been on most major lines except for HAL which we are going on next spring. NCL Jewel in Alaska in 2016. The ship was really nice, not as elegant as Celebrity or RCL. The freedom class ships are nice on RCL even the Voyager class. Remember just because the ship is supposed to go to a certain port or glacier, doesn't mean it will. Our 2016 Alaska cruise ended up not going to the listed glacier, due to being packed with ice and ended going to a different glacier.

If you are looking for super elegance Celebrity is great, then RCL and then NCL. Though I would rate NCL Jewel right up there, it was one of our favorite cruises ever. The whole experience was fantastic, from excellent staff to the dining (7 night dining package), so enjoy yourself.

Thanks for the confirmation. I realized it wasn't a 100% guarantee, but was hoping for 90-95%. So, from what you said I will be a happy camper with it.

Won't even use it in ABQ as it is usaully no more than 10 minutes to check in at TSA.

your chances for TSA Pre. The agent said that it only improves your chance to get TSA Pre. I had the impression (wrongly) that it was TSA Pre as well.

Could someone tell me about chances of TSA Pre is it almost always there with Global Entry, or 90%, 75% or worse odds of being given TSA Pre?

Also as an aside, We applied July 1, got conditional approval on July 15 and I was able to snag an appointment for Monday July 18 and Pam was able to Get today July 20. In Albuquerque. On Monday I was the the only one of 8 people from ABQ there for an interview, the resat had come from Denver and Phoenix to get an appointment. We also found out when we were there that ABQ takes walk-ins.

We were hoping to get Explore4 when we booked the 36 day trans-Pacific, but it only applied to the 29 day segment that ends in Hawaii. It was $200 more per person for the 29 day cruise versus the 36 day cruise plus the added costs of flights from Hawaii. So we went ahead and booked the 36 day trip without Explore 4.

New to HAL! Like to have a cigar in the evening while my wife is getting ready for dinner. Read the HAL smoking policy about only outdoors etc. I love the indoor cigar bars on other ships, but this was an itinerary we really wanted to go on. In reading all the smoking threads I came across this in another post:

"We sailed on the Noordam for her first cruise Sydney to Auckland, October /November 2015.

How ever, on embarkation day, a letter from the Captain in our stateroom advised that the Oak Room is now a Smoking and Cigar lounge, located on deck 10 forward, open 24 hours a day, with full beverage service available from 12 noon until 10pm. The Oak Room has an enhanced ventilation system, comfortable leather seating, a large screen TV and a wide array of cigars and cigarettes to purchase. The letter encouraged smokers to utilize the Oak Room."

Was this a one-time event or after the DryDock did they turn this into a permanent indoor smoking area? We are on the 36 day Trans-Pacific so I am really hoping this will apply to our cruise as well! Can anyone advise from recent cruises?

Thanks (Roboref) Ron

did look at the deck 1 K's as suggested. I don't think they are available, at least not from travel agent nor could I get availability directly from HAL.

That is why I considered the J's mid-ship deck 1, but was concerned about the noise. Generally I won't book a cabin with public areas above or below.

This is for a 30 day plus cruise, so that is why the larger inside cabin is important. Normally we are happy with inside cabins, we have done as many as 28 days inside cabin.So I know what to expect from an inside. It was after seeing the Large inside floor plan and large couch, that I was willing to pay more for that size cabin.

I love cruisecritic as there are so many people with knowledge and willing to share. Also if you are a loyal HAL cruiser, in your opinion, would it be worth waiting till the end of August for another Explore 4 sale?

Thanks again

Roboref (Ron)

We are wanting to book an inside large cabin on Noordam. Regarding post #2 above the only large inside cabin with the semi-circular couch are Deck 1 cabins. We are looking now at CAT J Deck one, listed as Large interior cabins.

2 concerns

Will the noise from Casino etc above be an issue. A

Are these larger inside cabins than say large inside on Decks 5-7?

Thanks again for the input!

Roboref (Ron)

I have scoured HAL Noordam deck plans and there is not a single instance where CAT K does not show the semi-circular couch and huge room floor plan. I am glad I am getting the information now, as I would be very disappointed booking a CAT K expecting that room configuration to find that it isn't. In Fact the HAL site for Noordam never shows an inside cabin of any variety without the semi-circular couch.

I don't see any reason to book CAT K, should just stay with CAT L.

Thanks for the reply, having never sailed HAL, I like to know what I am getting.

Roboref (Ron)

We are considering booking a cruise on HAL Noordam. In considering the inside cabins, I wanted to be sure I get the Large inside stateroom as it is a lengthy cruise. Our travel agent is looking to book us into a CAT K (large inside) I want to be sure I get the large inside cabin that has the semi-circular couch. HAL shows this on their website but I can't tell easily which is the large. Very confusing!

INTERIOR

Large or Standard Interior Staterooms

Large Standard

I, J*, K*

* This category available in both Large & Standard. Please use stateroom number to verify.

How can I be sure I am getting the larger cabin?

Thanks