Grandmaanne7

Sorry to hear of your disappointing experience. I was not overly impressed with my one and only PG experience to date and was hoping for better on my upcoming cruise. I will go with lower expectations as it included with my HIA package. I may end up canceling the 2nd and 3rd reservations if it is truly disappointing again. MDR food and service are quite acceptable to me.

Beware that, although I was assured that my party of 11 would be seated together, when we arrived, we were seated at 2 tables close by. They could not even move the tables together. 

We took grandkids aged 13, 15 and 19, who are Carnival regulars, on a week long HAL cruise in July. Not only were they not bored, they're asking when the next family cruise will be? Your kids will have fun!

If this is the actual menu, I'm not impressed. We've only eaten at Pinnacle Grill once and the menu was different than this.  I would have difficulty choosing something from this menu.  I really enjoyed the scallops last time and they are gone. Way too many items with an upcharge, especially considering it is already an upcharge.  Would never consider going if I actually had to pay.

27 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

Overall, this was an enjoyable excursion and was on the cheaper side. My one complaint is I'm not sure anyone actually wants to listen to two plus hours of narration ... Like, I don't think most of us care about the controversy about whether or not the community college is building a parking structure or when the road is getting resurfaced or the tour guide's family quibbles ...

Tour guides can make or break a tour. We've had ones that gave interesting and informative talks and others that just wanted to vent their unhappiness or talk about themselves with a bit of boring history thrown in. Hopefully, the scenery helped you get through it. 

Thanks for doing another live report. I enjoyed your last one and got great information for our Volendam cruise. We're booked on Zuiderdam in 2026 so will appreciate your comparison of the 2 vessels. Enjoy your cruise! PS. Crab cakes all the way although DH loved the mushroom soup.

Great pictures and posts!  Following along with excitement.  Enjoy and safe travels.

Can one dine in Rudi's on the HIA program?

14 minutes ago, Jensue9 said:

Just heard back from my TA and he said holland America don’t have traditional dinning times (early and late) it’s open dinning???? I’m sailing in westerdam out of Auckland next march. 

Incorrect. They have fixed dining at 5:00 and 7:30 as well as anytime dining. 

12 minutes ago, CheapieD said:

New to Holland. Booked my first cruise last night so I am just starting to research. I choose the anytime dining.  Do I need to make a reservation for each night? Used to other cruise lines where I just check in for ATD or go at my assigned time for set dining. 

No, you do not need to reserve every night.  Just show up.  Sometimes there is a line and sometimes there isn't.

12 hours ago, Jeeves299 said:

We assumed our refundable OBC balance from the July 6, 2024 Eurodam sailing would be refunded to our credit card on file.  It was not.  A call to Guest Services indicated that HAL is now issuing checks for the balance.  As of two weeks after our return still no check has been received.  

We have recently returned from our first HAL cruise. Our refundable OBC was credited to our CC within days. No cheque involved. 

21 minutes ago, DaisyRose said:

I verified my AARP number logged in to my Holland America account, and booked a cruise a few days later.  Can I use that credit before I get onboard towards a shore excursion, or is it only available once I am onboard?  Also, where would I find that credit within my booking?  Thanks so much for any help you can give.

You cannot use any onboard credit prior to boarding on HAL. I have not found a way to break down the OBC within my booking. I know how much I have and it is there but not itemized. 

On 7/12/2024 at 12:26 PM, tarrenel said:

I was looking at the specialty dining restaurants on the Volendam and Canaletto says  One pasta or entrée per guest is included with the restaurant cover charge. A charge of US $10 will be added per additional entrée ordered. So, if I want to order a second entrée I will be charged an extra $10 but Pinnacle Grill does not say that on their menu. So, can I order as many entrees as I like at The Pinnacle Grill and not be charged an extra fee? If this is true that just sounds silly, I would think if they were going to charge for extra dishes it would be the steak and not pasta.

We were recently on Volendam and dined once in Pinnacle Grill.  Some in our group ordered 2 entrees instead of an appetizer and an entree.  We were not charged extra.

Thanks for all the great information on this thread. Very helpful for planning my upcoming cruise. 

As the OP, I had stated that I would come back and report once I had booked onboard.  The process was seamless.  The OBC appeared on my invoice and my Canadian TA didn't even know that this benefit existed.  The only reason I knew that it was there was because my OBC was $200 more than my DH's and there was no other reason that would be so.  I had mentioned it to the future cruise agent onboard and she just said that anything I would be entitled to would be included and it was.

10 minutes ago, hhalliv said:

I’ll be staying in the same cabin in a few weeks! Any other tips or warnings?

The noise was our biggest complaint. There was lots of storage, the shower was large with lots of hot water and good pressure. The motion sensing lighting was wonderful for nighttime trips to the bathroom. The cabin was smaller than we're used but we knew that ahead of time. 

Just got off 7 days in 2520 on Volendam.  Every morning that we were in port was extremely loud.  There was a constant humming, whirring noise for at least 15 minutes (my daughter on the other side, cabin 2525, said over an hour but I think it only felt that long).  The ship also vibrated a lot.  I would never book a cabin that low again, especially near the front.  Our other daughter who was far more aft said she just head lots of banging. Definitely a noisy ship and not conducive for a light sleeper.

On 6/26/2024 at 3:50 PM, everbeentoseabilly said:

I keep getting an error message when I try to get the form to fill out with HAL

I just could not get to the form no matter what I tried.  I called HAL and was told that they couldn't help me as the customer must fill in the form themselves.  I was quite surprised as I had never been told "No" and "Do it yourself" by any other cruise line.  This is our first HAL cruise and I'm hoping the experience onboard is certainly better than the pre cruise experience.  Anyway, I tried calling the Mariner help desk and the gentleman there was very helpful and filled out the form for me.  I received an email very quickly verifying that it was done.  He also told me that we should qualify for the AARP OBC for our Saturday cruise and to call in 3 business days to have it added.  This is contrary to the fine print so I may or may not call.  I really want it for the cruise I am hoping to book onboard as it is a longer cruise and the OBC will be well worth the effort. To be continued.....

2 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

AARP membership is open to Canadians, but certain parts of their programs are restricted to US residents. For example, they sell gifts cards 10% off their face value, but only to members living in the US.

 

Do you have an upcoming HAL cruise, and have you tried applying for the OBC? I'd be very interested in the outcome.

Good to know.  I'm planning to book one onboard and will come back and inform of the outcome.

1 hour ago, JustCruzin77 said:

 

What was the price for Canadians?

$17US

I was just able to join.  They even have drop down menus and different prices for Canadian and Mexican members so it is absolutely doable.

7 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

Yes - we can!

Thank you!  That makes me very happy!

1 minute ago, JustCruzin77 said:

I have not looked in to AARP, can any members speak to the benefits to Cruisers?
Is it all cruise lines, or specific, etc..
 

I am only aware of HAL.  The $12 annual fee is absolutely worth $200 OBC!

HAL offers AARP OBC.  Does anyone know if Canadians can join and qualify for this?

May I ask if anyone knows whether Canadians can join AARP and qualify for the OBC?

21 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area.

 

PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard??

I was able to book my HIA dinner reservation prior to boarding.