New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies"

[RuthC]

25 minutes ago, sheri221 said:

Are these by above the indoor pool?

They are on the Lido Deck, on the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. 

[lavictoria]

1 hour ago, sheri221 said:

Are these by above the indoor pool?

I don't know. I didn't even know they were a thing until @richstowe corrected my previous post!

[ski ww]

The pinnacle class ships have two decks at both the main pool & the Lido pool. 

[KroozNut]

5 hours ago, ski ww said:

The pinnacle class ships have two decks at both the main pool & the Lido pool. 

 

Aren't the 'Lido pool' and 'main pool' one and the same? Do you mean the Lido/main pool and the Sea View pool?

[RuthC]

11 hours ago, ski ww said:

The pinnacle class ships have two decks at both the main pool & the Lido pool. 

Both the pools (Lido and Sea View), plus the Lido cabanas are on the Lido Deck. 
The Retreat cabanas are on a higher deck. 

[ski ww]

14 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Aren't the 'Lido pool' and 'main pool' one and the same? Do you mean the Lido/main pool and the Sea View pool?

Correct, that's what I meant.

[57redbird]

On 11/21/2022 at 4:15 AM, islandwoman said:

Yes.  If they use bacon fat or lard, some people (like me) can't eat it.

Or soybean or canola oil...

 

[richstowe]

On 12/9/2022 at 5:40 PM, sheri221 said:

Are these by above the indoor pool?

Yes they are beside the lido indoor pool . BTW, the opened and closed the roof several times .

It worked but the screeching noise was something . There are 2 rows of lounge chairs plus

aisles in front of the pool .

[Benh]

Hi All,

 

My Mom and I are going on our first Holland America cruise starting May 20th on Eurodam to Alaska. I want to make reservations two nights for Tamarind and Pinnacle, but probably want to avoid having those specialty restaurants on gala nights. Is there a way to figure our which nights on our seven-day cruise will be gala nights?

 

Thanks in advance, Ben

[ski ww]

17 minutes ago, Benh said:

Hi All,

 

My Mom and I are going on our first Holland America cruise starting May 20th on Eurodam to Alaska. I want to make reservations two nights for Tamarind and Pinnacle, but probably want to avoid having those specialty restaurants on gala nights. Is there a way to figure our which nights on our seven-day cruise will be gala nights?

 

Thanks in advance, Ben

Find the roll call for your cruise date and post there. Enjoy your cruise.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, Benh said:

Hi All,

 

My Mom and I are going on our first Holland America cruise starting May 20th on Eurodam to Alaska. I want to make reservations two nights for Tamarind and Pinnacle, but probably want to avoid having those specialty restaurants on gala nights. Is there a way to figure our which nights on our seven-day cruise will be gala nights?

 

Thanks in advance, Ben

Generally Gala nights are on sea days and not the first or last night of the cruise. You will love Tamarind IMO it is the best specialty restaurant of any cruise line. I love the Wasabi crusted tenderloin steak there.

[Benh]

Thanks! Made a reservation for Tamarind for the third night.

[cruiser3775]

My first cruise on HAL, next March. I got an excursions credit plus two dinners at the speciality restaurants included in the deal. The excursions credit worked fine on Navigator, but when I try to book the dining, it looks as though it works OK. I get a message saying I am booked in at the time and date I chose and I ticked the box to say it was to come out of my OBC.  But when I come back later, in both the app and the web version, the bookings are not there and I'm still shown as having the two on board credits for speciality dining.  The first time this happened, I tried again, making the same date and time bookings, and once again it showed they were booked.  But once again, when I look at the app today, the bookings are not there and I still have the credits.

What am I doing wrong?

[Crew News]

5 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

My first cruise on HAL, next March. I got an excursions credit plus two dinners at the speciality restaurants included in the deal. The excursions credit worked fine on Navigator, but when I try to book the dining, it looks as though it works OK. I get a message saying I am booked in at the time and date I chose and I ticked the box to say it was to come out of my OBC.  But when I come back later, in both the app and the web version, the bookings are not there and I'm still shown as having the two on board credits for speciality dining.  The first time this happened, I tried again, making the same date and time bookings, and once again it showed they were booked.  But once again, when I look at the app today, the bookings are not there and I still have the credits.

What am I doing wrong?

The Navigator app is not reliable until you are physically on board.  Make any reservations online at the HAL website.  

 

Make sure you join your ship's roll on the HAL Forum where you will have experienced cruisers available to answer any questions. 

 

The links in my signature might be helpful in planning your cruise.

[terrydtx]

11 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

My first cruise on HAL, next March. I got an excursions credit plus two dinners at the speciality restaurants included in the deal. The excursions credit worked fine on Navigator, but when I try to book the dining, it looks as though it works OK. I get a message saying I am booked in at the time and date I chose and I ticked the box to say it was to come out of my OBC.  But when I come back later, in both the app and the web version, the bookings are not there and I'm still shown as having the two on board credits for speciality dining.  The first time this happened, I tried again, making the same date and time bookings, and once again it showed they were booked.  But once again, when I look at the app today, the bookings are not there and I still have the credits.

What am I doing wrong?

Welcome to HAL Navigator the poorest excuse for an online app on the high seas. I suggest that you book anything pre-cruise online with a laptop through the  HAL website and only use Navigator once you board. 

[KroozNut]

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I suggest that you book anything pre-cruise online with a laptop through the  HAL website

 

A desktop PC is also a viable option.. 😉

[terrydtx]

47 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

A desktop PC is also a viable option.. 😉

Does anyone realy have a desktop anyone? Yes any PC will work.

[Happily@Sea]

6 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Does anyone realy have a desktop anyone? Yes any PC will work.

 

Yes, with my typing skills[??] I need a full sized keyboard. lol

[KroozNut]

49 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Does anyone realy have a desktop anyone? Yes any PC will work.

 

Yep.. sure do! 🙂

[cruiser3775]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Does anyone realy have a desktop anyone? Yes any PC will work.

Yes, many people still have them, especially if you want a very large monitor for design and editing.  Thanks for all the advice.  Today, when I look at my HAL account (on my PC) the dining and excursion bookings from my OBC have finally been confirmed.  It took days to register.  

Thanks for the advice about Navigator's shortcomings.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Yes, many people still have them, especially if you want a very large monitor for design and editing.  Thanks for all the advice.  Today, when I look at my HAL account (on my PC) the dining and excursion bookings from my OBC have finally been confirmed.  It took days to register.  

Thanks for the advice about Navigator's shortcomings.

Glad it finally worked for you. My biggest issue with the app, is not being able to see the daily MDR menus for the entire cruise.  You can only see them for the current day. This makes deciding which days to book specialty restaurants rather difficult. 

 

BTW we are looking forward to our 30 plus days visiting your country in January 2024. We will be on a cruise for 22 days in  NZ and the Great Barrier Reef and another 12 days doing a self driving land tour of Australia from Melburn to Adelaide. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by terrydtx

[Navybikermom]

7 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Does anyone realy have a desktop anyone? Yes any PC will work.

I have one, along with several other types of computer devices. But then, I had a long IT career 😉. Some things just need to be seen on a big screen. 😁

[*Miss G*]

I don’t understand the large-monitor-requires-a-desktop references.  My laptop connects to large dual monitors (and a third if I want to make use of the 17” laptop screen as well).  With a dock I can easily disconnect and reconnect should I need to grab and go.  The dock also accommodates a full-size keyboard.

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by *Miss G*

[leck57]

Before we get off on to a discussion about the need for a desktop and monitors, I have a question please.

We are about (in early Feb) to take our first HAL cruise after about 10 cruises with Princess. No issues with Princess but looking forward to a change. My question is, with Princess, after you have booked you get deluged with emails about excursions, specialty restaurants etc etc. There are also some useful ones about medical requirements, visas etc. Since booking with HAL (via a TA) I have received nothing from them. My TA sent me a link to the HAL site to input all our details and I have booked excursions and some restaurants, and have completed check-in. So, I think I have done everything but I am surprised I haven't received any emails whatsoever about the upcoming cruise.

Is this normal?

Thanks for any advice.

[regnig]

2 hours ago, leck57 said:

.......................................

Is this normal?

Thanks for any advice.

Pretty much so and isn't it great!  If you have questions about pretty much anything about your cruise and cannot find the answer on HAL's Before You Go site just ask you question here on CC. Additionally, I recommend you join (or at least read) the Roll Call for your cruise.