utahtea

3 hours ago, canadarocks said:

There are a few HAL shore excursions I'm interested in for next year's cruise. Do they tend to increase in price as the time gets closer to the cruise date? I've found that Princess shore excursions definitely do. 

On our upcoming cruise I saw one price increase of $20 per person on a tour from the published Excursion Brochure to the online price we booked at.  It might have just been a price mistake in the Brochure.  It's the first time I've seen a price increase on HAL over 6 cruises.

Utahtea

58 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

We are still in Porta Delgada the 29th.  On the 28th our original itinerary was Horta but now is Prail.  I'm also wondering how many ships Amsterdam can take.  Celebrity Solstice will be there as well as us.

 

Silver Wind just left with no toots.

 

Roy

There's a lot of talk where they are putting the Zuiderdam in Amsterdam!  According to my research besides the Celebrity Solsticew there will also be the Costa Mediterranea.  We booked a HAL tour so I'll let them worry about that!  We're doing a B2B and will be in Amsterdam again with only 1 other ship.  😉 

Utahtea

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I had not noticed that.  Awesome. Amazing that you go to Bermuda and we don't but still meet up later on.

 

Roy

Roy,  I’m curious if your still scheduled for Ponta Delgada, Azores on April 29th.  We were supposed to be there the same day as you but HAL just recently changed our port to Praia di Victoria.  We can still wave in France, Belgium and Amsterdam!

Utahtea

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Give a friendly wave to the Nieuw Statendam. I expect to be waving back.

 

Roy

Hey Roy,

We're going to have several of the same ports on the same day....we will be waving a lot!  😉 

Utahtea

7 hours ago, Happily@Sea said:

This is her final Caribbean/Panama Canal cruise before leaving for Europe - next time she returns to FLL/PEV - Apr 21.

 

Will probably see sail -in, I will definitely be here for sailaway.

We will be on the Zuiderdam when she leaves for Europe!  So excited!!

utahtea

19 hours ago, slidergirl said:

What does HAL do for Passover?  Surely they don't just do Easter to the exclusion of the other holiday...

We were on the Westerdam over Passover too and I don't remember anything.  I went back and looked at my the Daily Explorers and didn't see anything but maybe I missed it.  In 2016 we were on the Noordam over Rosh Hashanah and there were services with a Rabbi for that holiday. 

Utahtea

11 hours ago, bendigoboy said:

We are on the Westerdam sailing in Japan during Easter this year. We haven't cruised with HAL before or cruised during Easter. I wonder if more experienced HAL cruisers can tell us if anything "special" occurs? I don't necessarily just mean religious ceremony but the other Easter type celebrations ie Easter Eggs, Hot Cross Buns etc that we enjoy so much in Australia.

We were on the Westerdam on a Panama Canal cruise in 2013 over Easter and they did a little decorating.  I think if you got to the Lido early enough they had some candy.

We are embarking on a cruise on Easter Sunday on the Zuiderdam so it will be interesting to see if they have any decorations. 

Utahtea

On 3/5/2019 at 6:31 PM, CDP Cruiser said:

Can someone confirm that the walls in the staterooms on the Zaandam are magnetic? I was on the Veendam last May and they were no longer magnetic. Thanks!

We were on the Zaandam last June and my magnets didn't stick to the wall.  I had a large map and was able to hang it with magnets on the ceiling.  Had to do that on the Amsterdam too.  Both were Alaska cruises and liked having my big Alaska Map.  

What I use for cabins that are not magnetic, I get removable hanging putty.  Works great for putting my calendar and other info on the walls.

Utahtea

On 12/25/2018 at 12:45 PM, Chocolate Rose said:

I would love to find out about repositioning cruises but seem to be striking out. 

I'm particularly interested in Australia/New Zealand to Seattle. Any suggestions?

TIA

Besides April also look for late September departures from Vancouver.  In 2016 we did the repositioning on the Noordam but we boarded in San Diego for 39 days. We had a lot of our roll call start in Vancouver.  It was a fantastic cruise!  We were worried about all those sea days but we LOVED them and was never bored.  They had a lot of guest speakers and great shows.  

Utahtea

10 hours ago, hugger said:

Oh if the day would finally come that I could pack light!!!  I was in the travel industry several years ago you'd think that would have been one of my take aways 

We are both bad packer's - hoping that having the laundry and pressing available to us will reform us once and for all 

it's embarrassing always being asked how long of a cruise we are going on - mind you not enough that we didn't keep overpacking.  We can drive to port which doesn't help the cause LOL

So happy to hear I’m not the only one that over packs!  Whenever we can we’ll drive to a port.  We even drive from California up to Vancouver, Canada  which means I really over pack!  Our upcoming cruise starts in Ft. Lauderdale so that means we’re flying and we’re really going to try and cut out one suitcase this time.  Wish me luck!

We’re going to make 4 star during our upcoming B2B cruise.  By the time we start the second part we will have our fee laundry and the other perks!  We’re so excited!  Our very first cruise was on the Zuiderdam so it’s fitting that we will make 4 * and get to reap the benefits on her as well!  

Utahtea

5 hours ago, 78232 said:

We like a VE cabin on deck 8...Navigation deck by the forward elevators.  It is under the spa and beauty salon and convenient to the lido pool and restaurant.  We did not hear any elevator noise.  Have a great cruise.

Just be aware that the VF and some VE cabins on deck 8 are under the aft pool and you can hear the noise of the chairs scrapping in your cabin.  On the Westerdam you had to be careful while at the rail of your balcony that people didn't drop things on you from above.   

Utahtea

2 hours ago, blythe said:

My husband and I are booked on an early August 7-night cruise on the Zaandam.

I've read the most recent reviews and they are mixed. I'd appreciate any comments

regarding this ship as we have not sailed HAL in many years. I am not worried about

food or service but have a few concerns about noise in cabins (we have a Guaranteed

OV so I can't research any particular cabin). Thanks for any help.

We sailed on the Zaandam last June on the 14 day Alaska cruise right after her dry dock.  She was in great shape!  There were a few areas they were still carpeting, but they did a great job of not inconveniencing passengers.  I'm sure it's all done by now. 

We sailed with our friends who had never been on Holland America.  They had always cruised on Royal Caribbean and they loved the Zaandam and Holland America!  They loved the food, service and ship.  We had a fantastic time.

We have gone the guaranteed route twice.   The first time we ever cruised we had a choice veranda and loved the location it was a VB.  The second time we went a guaranteed VE and ended up with a VA, unfortunately it was under the aft pool.  Before we sailed we asked to be moved, but it was too late.  We had heard you could hear the noise from the chairs being dragged around and you can.  We also didn't like the fact that we had to worry about people dropping things on our head when we were out on the balcony at the rail.  From then on, we've paid the few hundred dollars more to choose our cabins.  The good part is that HAL changed the cabin ratings.  That VA we had under the aft pool is now a VF!  The area we like went from a VB down to a VD so the costs is usually not much more than guaranteed we would choose. 

Utahtea

So glad to see that others cruisers are so happy with the Zuiderdam. Sounds like she is in good shape.  We did our very first cruise on her back in 2010 and fell in love with cruising and Holland America. We’re finally returning to the Zuiderdam next month and we were just upgraded to a signature suite.  We’ve always had a veranda before so really excited to have the SS! 

Utahtea

7 hours ago, jabcruiser said:

You will love the Signature Suite and we had no noise issues at all with the connecting room. The SS are so much roomier than the standard veranda cabins. Plenty of closet and storage room so no concerns there.  Enjoy your trip.  Don't just stay on the veranda though through the canal.  Go forward and aft also for different views. They also open a deck forward, maybe level 4 or 5, very early with coffee and rolls served so try to do that if you can.  Started raining hard so that was kind of a wash out on our trip. Enjoy.

Jane

Jane,  

Thank you for getting back to me.  Our upcoming cruise is a transatlantic to the Baltic and Northern Europe.

We did the Panama Canal on the Westerdam in 2013 and agree that you want to be out and about as you go through the canal and loved the Panama rolls! Our very first cruise was on the Zuiderdam back in 2010 so we’re excited to be back on her again.  We will take good care of our cabin 8095!  

Utahtea

On 6/28/2018 at 9:23 AM, jabcruiser said:

Book starboard side. We had perfect Signature suite 8095. Faces inward to canal both directions. But don't just stay there. Be sure to go all around the ship and different levels. Crows nest, aft Lido deck, they open a normally closed front deck, on 4 or 5 I believe. See great views of raising/lowering locks front and back but you have to move around. Fun watching the other ships pass going other direction. Crews and any passengers out waving and stuff. Mostly cargo ships so they enjoy seeing the cruise ships I guess.

Wonderful cruise. You will enjoy it am sure.

Jane

Jane,

Hi, I hope you're still monitoring your old posts. We were just upgraded to Signature Suite 8095 on the Zuiderdam.  YEAH!  We've never had a signature suite before, but after we booked I realized that it's a connecting room.  It's a better location than under the Lido pool where they wanted to put us.  We've had a connecting veranda cabin before and never had any issue with noise and the door was against an empty wall.  In fact on that cruise we had a lot more noise from the cabin on the other side.  I would like to know where the connecting door is?  I've read you could lose a closet.  Not a deal breaker but it will be helpful to know ahead of time.  

Any other info on the cabin will be great since it will be our home for 40 days!

Utahtea

We stayed at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Marina in Room:  812 Q1F and had fantastic views of the port and the ships coming and going.  We had booked though Holland America that trip and just lucked into this fantastic room!  Make sure you request rooms with the view of the port because not all rooms do.

Utahtea

On 2/28/2019 at 1:33 PM, Msrigby said:

On board.  Technical problem. Everything is peachy

We are going to be on the Zuiderdam next month so glad to hear it wasn't anything wrong with the ship.  On our roll call someone asked if the shuffleboard is still on deck 10.  We've had all kinds of answers but no one sure so if you're on board...can you check to see if it's still there or not?  

Thanks in advance...and sorry for hijacking the thread.

Utahtea

On 2/12/2019 at 7:01 AM, GulfShoresCruiser said:

 

Cailey53.....So the points are critical for us too....We are 3* and every point counts towards the most important reason to be a Mariner...FREE LAUNDRY!  Congrats on meeting that goal!

Us too! We had choices on how to book the many different segments on our up coming B2B cruise and we chose the one that would make sure we were 4 star Mariner by the end of the first cruise.  Our HAL PCC told us to let the front desk know at the beginning of the second cruise and they would be able to make sure we received the 4 star status for the second segment and get that free laundry!  Hope this works!  

Utahtea

On 2/5/2019 at 1:53 PM, sigsky said:

Uh, I don't know if I'm supposed to disclose this, but a HAL rep told me today that if you book a ships tour in advance using a credit card that when you get on board, before the tour occurs, you can have the excursions desk reverse the credit card charge and put the charge on your onboard account.  I never knew this.  Please don't blame me if this turns out not to be true, I'm just relaying what I was told.

I was told that if there is a waiting list for an excursion, then you get put at the bottom of the list, so make sure there isn't a waiting list before cancelling & rebooking!  

Utahtea

We had so much OBC that we weren't going to use but our friends had no problem spending it!  Besides things that have been mentioned, there are pictures, wine, & water.  You could probably even use the spa too.  

Utahtea

When in doubt, call Holland America.  I bet they can check to see about the cabin you want too.

The 14 day Alaska cruise is one of the best.  We've done it twice and will probably do it again!

Utahtea

On 1/15/2019 at 6:57 AM, EbayCruiser said:

We are using our PCC for the first time for our upcoming cruise.  We booked with her because she is very knowledgeable about the ship and stateroom sizes.

 

For those who have used a PCC before, does your PCC give you an onboard gift (wine, etc.).  Just wondering and didn't want to ask her.

I don't remember our PCC giving us any on our first cruise, but every time we have cruised since she throws in a little something and each time they have improved.  Started with chocolate covered strawberries and then moved on to specialty restaurant lunches & dinners.  The reason we stay with ours is how she handles all our questions and bookings to get lower prices as they happen.  She is excellent!

On 1/18/2019 at 2:05 PM, Krazy Kruizers said:

I would be having my TA ask HAL what the cost of the cruise is without the gratuities -- could be a big difference.

When we first booked our current cruise in August they had the Explore 4 Package and we did not want that so we asked and there was a lower price which we took.  Then in November when they had a big sale that included gratuity we called our Personal Cruise Consultant and got the lower price and gratuity paid.  

We did this on our last cruise too.  Every day they bill you the gratuity and also credit it back to you.  

Utahtea

5 hours ago, sandyrich said:

We are looking at a 22 day cruise through the Panama Canal on Holland.  DH and I have done 15 day cruises but none longer.  Is there enough to keep busy on these longer cruises.  Any suggestions?

Our very first cruise was a 7 day cruise to Alaska.  Our second cruise was a 20 day Panama Canal cruise.  After the second cruise we decided that a 7 day cruise is WAY to short!  The shortest we will do now is 14.  We've done a 39 day cruise and are now booked for 40 a day cruise.  Love the sea days...and don't even do anything special.  Your experience might not be the same as ours, but you won't know until you try.

Utahtea

I usually post if there is a sale on my cruise on my roll call.  You do know that if the price drops before final payment you can call Holland America and get the lower price.  The best part of that is you can secure the cabin you want and then get in on deals.  

Utahtea