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

[Cruise Suzy]

3 minutes ago, islander47 said:

Are you able to use On Board Credit for gratuities at the end of the cruise? If yes, fabulous! If no, I'll book some more ship shore excursions.

 

The gratuities will be posted daily. As long as you have OBC remaining, they will be deducted from that amount.

[islander47]

3 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

The gratuities will be posted daily. As long as you have OBC remaining, they will be deducted from that amount.

Great! Thanks so much for that tip.

[islander47]

Have you joined a segment of one of HAL's Grand Voyages without booking the entire thing? We are considering this for next spring but don't want to be "out of the loop" with so many doing the entire voyage. Any experiences with this will be most appreciated as we make our decision.

[RuthC]

6 hours ago, islander47 said:

Have you joined a segment of one of HAL's Grand Voyages without booking the entire thing? We are considering this for next spring but don't want to be "out of the loop" with so many doing the entire voyage. Any experiences with this will be most appreciated as we make our decision.

I did the last two segments of the World Cruise a few years ago; only a few of us boarded when I did. There were groups of cruisers who knew each other well from several World Cruises, several more groups of first-time full World cruisers who mixed and mingled with each other, and what are called 'segmenters' who fit in with various groups. Some people were more welcoming than others in each group. Isn't that always true, though? 

I found when I first started cruising decades ago that it's important to be outgoing if you want to meet up with others. Dining at a large table introduces you to others who you will run into again and again. You have to participate in activities if you want to be in the loop. 
There will be people who will be friendly. There will be other people who will be less friendly. Both will be true whether you are joining at the tale end of a long cruise, or just starting a cruise with everyone else. Slap on a smile and have a good time. 

[RuthC]

11 hours ago, lisax said:

We are cruising on the Nieuw Statendam in September,and it is our first time with Holland America. Are you restricted to one starter and one entree.

As of now, you can still have as many of each course as you wish. Order as much as you want, but please eat what you order. 

You can order a specific starter in an entrée portion or an entrée in a starter portion, too, if that suits you. 

[tschwa2]

9 hours ago, islander47 said:

Are you able to use On Board Credit for gratuities at the end of the cruise? If yes, fabulous! If no, I'll book some more ship shore excursions.

yes.  OBC can be used for gratuities.

[ski ww]

17 hours ago, islander47 said:

Have you joined a segment of one of HAL's Grand Voyages without booking the entire thing? We are considering this for next spring but don't want to be "out of the loop" with so many doing the entire voyage. Any experiences with this will be most appreciated as we make our decision.

We have twice done segments of a world cruise and as Ruth mentioned get involved. We always book a large table fixed dinning that way you get to know your table mates. Join the roll call sign up for a couple of private excursions. Enjoy your cruise.

[DAF7065]

I need to get my receipt for services to show I paid on a recent cruise as went to the med facilities.   I looked at the info on HAL site and did not see anything that could help.   

 

Any advice

[*Miss G*]

27 minutes ago, DAF7065 said:

I need to get my receipt for services to show I paid on a recent cruise as went to the med facilities.   I looked at the info on HAL site and did not see anything that could help.   

 

Any advice

 

Send an email to onboardbilling@hollandamerica.com.  Include the name, booking #, ship name, and sail date.

[DAF7065]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Send an email to onboardbilling@hollandamerica.com.  Include the name, booking #, ship name, and sail date.

Thanks for the quick info.   Working on it now

[islandwoman]

I have a few questions about HAL's MDR dining options:

 

Early dining or "As you wish"?  I heard that Early Dining can be anywhere from 5:15 to 5:45 PM.  Is that right?  Most nights we would be happy with Early Dining, so long as it isn't at 5:15.  But we're considering requesting "As You Wish" for flexibility.  We like to eat around 6 or 7 PM, depending upon when the ship sails from a port of call.  How long are the waits to be seated around those times with As You Wish?   Is it easy to get a table for two with Early Dining? with As You Wish?

Is there a dedicated dining area for suite passengers?  

[RuthC]

By 'As you wish' I am going to presume you mean open seating, as early and main seating are also 'As you wish'. 

I was on early seating on my last cruise, and it was scheduled for either 5:00 PM, or 5:15 PM (can't recall). I know it interfered with 5:00 PM Mass by a lot, and three of us at the table were terribly late every port day. 
Early seating has gotten earlier and earlier over the years. Once upon a time it was at 6:00 PM. 

The people who arrive for the opening of the doors at open seating start to line up around 4:00 PM. The place is filled almost as soon as the doors open. 
But that means people are finished their meal about 6:00 or a little later. A few minutes to clear and reset the table, and there is room for more diners to enter. If you plan to arrive around 6:00 PM (if a 5:00 PM opening), I would expect a short (if any) wait. 

[erdufylla]

I personally find the fixed dining option to be too restrictive schedule-wise for my taste and generally prefer to do open seating. But that’s easier to do when you’re only one or two people with no dietary restrictions. If/when I’m traveling with a larger group (5 or more people) and/or traveling with someone with specific food restrictions (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, whatever), I would definitely book fixed seating, both to ensure we didn’t have a lengthy wait each time, and to ensure we had the same waitstaff each night ho would know about and oversee our dietary needs.

[terrydtx]

12 hours ago, RuthC said:

By 'As you wish' I am going to presume you mean open seating, as early and main seating are also 'As you wish'. 

I was on early seating on my last cruise, and it was scheduled for either 5:00 PM, or 5:15 PM (can't recall). I know it interfered with 5:00 PM Mass by a lot, and three of us at the table were terribly late every port day. 
Early seating has gotten earlier and earlier over the years. Once upon a time it was at 6:00 PM. 

The people who arrive for the opening of the doors at open seating start to line up around 4:00 PM. The place is filled almost as soon as the doors open. 
But that means people are finished their meal about 6:00 or a little later. A few minutes to clear and reset the table, and there is room for more diners to enter. If you plan to arrive around 6:00 PM (if a 5:00 PM opening), I would expect a short (if any) wait. 

Ruth, as usually you make a very valid point. Last year on the Oosterdam early seating was at 5:15, which is just too early to eat for us, and 8:00 was way too late. We also had some long shore excursions that would have made 5:15 impossible for several nights. We like the 6:30-7:00 time and we arrived every night to the MDR with any time around 6:30pm and not once did we have to wait to be seated. It worked perfect for us. That cruise was only about 70% full and that might have helped with no waiting, so for our next 2 HAL cruises we are trying CO to avoid the lines if possible,

[iaae22]

If I have a shipboard credit should I be able to see in the navigation app? I have it on my booking email confirmation but it's not showing in the app. We are 2 weeks out form out trip.

[tschwa2]

My experience, only one HAL cruise but it was last month, was that the OBC did not show up pre cruise.  Other cruise lines do but not my experience with HAL.  I didn't prepay gratuities, so I knew if nothing else I could use the OBC on that.   

[Haljo1935]

7 minutes ago, tschwa2 said:

My experience, only one HAL cruise but it was last month, was that the OBC did not show up pre cruise.  Other cruise lines do but not my experience with HAL.  I didn't prepay gratuities, so I knew if nothing else I could use the OBC on that.   

You are correct - you won't see the OBC in the booking, but you can ask for an updated invoice and you'll see it there.

And you can use your OBC for gratuities. 

[tschwa2]

5 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

You are correct - you won't see the OBC in the booking, but you can ask for an updated invoice and you'll see it there.

And you can use your OBC for gratuities. 

Is it correct that you can't use HAL OBC for any pre cruise purchases like dining or excursions?  It didn't look like I could, but I might have been missing something.

[Haljo1935]

9 minutes ago, tschwa2 said:

Is it correct that you can't use HAL OBC for any pre cruise purchases like dining or excursions?  It didn't look like I could, but I might have been missing something.

No, you didn't miss anything, the HAL system isn't set up to allow you to spend OBC for pre-cruise purchases; it truly is "onboard" credit. However, you can prepay then request it be moved to OBC once onboard and you'll get the original purchase refunded. There's a specific process you need to follow to do that - several threads on here you can research for details.

Don't confuse using OBC for excursions and dining with HIA credits paying for those - that's entirely different. HAL credits CAN be used in advance to prepay.

Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

[islander47]

On 6/22/2023 at 3:54 PM, DAF7065 said:

Thanks for the quick info.   Working on it now

My surprise was my health insurance covered most of the $2300 expense my husband incurred on his visit to the infirmary for the day in South America. I just submitted the itemized bill we received from HAL.

[DAF7065]

39 minutes ago, islander47 said:

My surprise was my health insurance covered most of the $2300 expense my husband incurred on his visit to the infirmary for the day in South America. I just submitted the itemized bill we received from HAL.

 I to had a small med issue on our cruise, we both visited the Med Center for some cold (Covid Negative) and the payments are approved.  Have not received yet but should be in soon.  

[jonyboy]

Check your health insurance before you go.  Make sure you have coverage out of the country.  In Mexico I had to give the hospital my credit card before they would do anything, but I was reimbursed by my health insurer.  Better to know before you go

[terrydtx]

18 minutes ago, jonyboy said:

Check your health insurance before you go.  Make sure you have coverage out of the country.  In Mexico I had to give the hospital my credit card before they would do anything, but I was reimbursed by my health insurer.  Better to know before you go

Medicare and most Medicare Advantage plans will not cover you for medical expenses outside of the USA. But most good travel insurance will cover you, last year in the Mediterranean we got Covid and our travel insurance covered us for all expenses related to the Covid on the ship and in quarantine in Venice. We paid out of pocket with a CC but the insurance reimbursed us 100% after the cruise.

[Mary229]

16 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Medicare and most Medicare Advantage plans will not cover you for medical expenses outside of the USA. But most good travel insurance will cover you, last year in the Mediterranean we got Covid and our travel insurance covered us for all expenses related to the Covid on the ship and in quarantine in Venice. We paid out of pocket with a CC but the insurance reimbursed us 100% after the cruise.

There is a small exclusion in most Medicare plans  which is if you enter a hospital via the emergency room and it is a true emergency.   

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

There is a small exclusion in most Medicare plans  which is if you enter a hospital via the emergency room and it is a true emergency.   

"it is a true emergency" or "it isn't a true emergency"?