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

[vanman]

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 5:57 PM, Cajuntraveler said:

We are arriving at FLL the night before our cruise on Oosterdam.  Our hotel provides shuttle from the airport, but we would like to have a car to make some overnight and morning stops before going to the cruise terminal.  It appears that you can rent a car (we are looking at Alamo) at the airport and return it to the cruise port.  I phoned Alamo at port everglades and was told that they provide a shuttle to the cruise ship after we drop the car off, but I'd feel better hearing from someone who has actually rented at the airport and returned to the cruise terminal.  

I have done this from FLL and MIA. The Alamo location is only a couple of minutes from the port. They do drop offs at all of the ship terminals. Like any shuttle, you might have to wait a few minutes for the shuttle if others are dropping off their cars at the same time.

[kb4683]

Is it possible to play video from an iPad (old, Gen 3) to the tv through the dvd player on the Veendam?  

 

Thank you

[Fouremco]

6 hours ago, kb4683 said:

Is it possible to play video from an iPad (old, Gen 3) to the tv through the dvd player on the Veendam?  

 

Thank you

You might want to post this query on the Cruising Technology board as well.

[avian777]

On 12/14/2018 at 8:35 AM, kb4683 said:

Is it possible to play video from an iPad (old, Gen 3) to the tv through the dvd player on the Veendam?  

 

Thank you

 

You may want to direct this question to HAL Ship Services.  The SS person you talk to may not know the answer - as I'm certain some of the "serial Posters" will tell you - but there is always the possibility that she/he might or be willing to track down the answer for you.  IMO it's certainly worth a shot.  Good luck.

[beaming90]

This is a great thread, just found out I am going on the Oosterdam in August to Alaska and it is my first HAL cruise and first Alaskan cruise and I love spending time daydreaming about it so this is perfect for me!!!

[Bxianesq]

To those of you that have the fortitude to read through all of the posts here-you may want to take notes on your phone and then jot down the date of the last post that you read.  I did that prior to our last HAL cruise and then went back that the date where I left off last time when seeking updates-saves a lot of time!

[faerievert]

On 11/21/2014 at 11:24 PM, Pernilla said:

My eyes are crossing from reading all these great tips -- so I may have missed what to me is a huge benefit. If you own 100 shares of Carnival stock (parent company for many lines), and you fax your most current stock statement to the appropriate cruise line, you will get a cabin credit (amount varies with length of cruise) on your cruise. 

1

I know this is a crazy old tip, and frankly a rather weird perk, but I just want to thank @Pernilla for the heads up. I just checked and this is still a thing! We may well take advantage of it.

[Jen1000]

We have cruised many times on Carnival.  Is there any benefit with our first cruise on Holland America?  

 

Thanks,

Jen

[richstowe]

2 hours ago, Jen1000 said:

We have cruised many times on Carnival.  Is there any benefit with our first cruise on Holland America?  

 

Thanks,

Jen

Yes . You will be on HAL instead of Carnival . 

Sorry , sorry . I couldn't resist. 

[*Miss G*]

4 hours ago, Jen1000 said:

We have cruised many times on Carnival.  Is there any benefit with our first cruise on Holland America?  

 

Thanks,

Jen

 

Welcome to Holland America, Jen!  You will receive the same rewards as a Star Mariner.  Here is a link to the rewards:  Mariner Society Rewards

[Princeandstella]

Hi we are elite on Princess but are doing our first Hal cruise on the Noordam in a few weeks and I have some questions.

 

How much is the daily charge for laundry on a South Pacific cruise and is it a per cabin or per person rate?

 

Is there a daily happy hour and is it permissible to buy extras unopened to take back to your cabin?  I will probably only drink two or three nights during the 14 night cruise so a drinks package won't be good value for me. 

 

We are travelling with our very well behaved 12 year old daughter and understand that the aft pool is adults only but is the area also adults only or can she sit in a deck chair around the pool?

 

Do any of you feel ok about receiving room service without giving the delivery person "extra" money each time they come?  We are not accustomed to tipping here in Australia and actually feel uncomfortable about it but will make a special effort to get some american currency in small denominations to hand out each time if this is the must do thing?  Or is the daily hotel charge sufficient?  Alternatively is there a place to write an extra tip amount like on the Princess delivery form?  

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, Princeandstella said:

Hi we are elite on Princess but are doing our first Hal cruise on the Noordam in a few weeks and I have some questions.

 

How much is the daily charge for laundry on a South Pacific cruise and is it a per cabin or per person rate?

 

Is there a daily happy hour and is it permissible to buy extras unopened to take back to your cabin?  I will probably only drink two or three nights during the 14 night cruise so a drinks package won't be good value for me. 

 

We are travelling with our very well behaved 12 year old daughter and understand that the aft pool is adults only but is the area also adults only or can she sit in a deck chair around the pool?

 

Do any of you feel ok about receiving room service without giving the delivery person "extra" money each time they come?  We are not accustomed to tipping here in Australia and actually feel uncomfortable about it but will make a special effort to get some american currency in small denominations to hand out each time if this is the must do thing?  Or is the daily hotel charge sufficient?  Alternatively is there a place to write an extra tip amount like on the Princess delivery form?  

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and the HAL Forum.

 

The daily laundry charge is either $7 or $9 per stateroom but I am not sure which is for the South Pacific area.  I am a firm believer in packing for three days and using the laundry (no limit on how much you can submit each day) that is very good at same-day service or next-day service at worst.  There is also a $20 one time laundry bag service you can use several time during the cruise.

 

Happy hour beer is regular price but the second is only $2.  You can order multiples of these and request a bucket of ice in which to carry them back to your stateroom.

 

your daughter can sit around the aft pool.  The indoor pool roof is open so you can all sit around and swim in that pool.  There is a Taco Bar near the indoor pool where you make nachos and your own tacos for snacks.

 

It is customary to tip $1 or $2 for Room Service as the delivery people volunteer to work extra hours to earn money for their families back home.

 

Your daughter will love Club HAL so you may not see mcuh of her as she will find lots of new friends there.

 

Just a note that Gala Night is polo shirt and slacks as a minimum but you can be as formal as you wish. 

 

Enjoy your cruise planning.

 

Edited December 23, 2018 by Crew News

[ToXS]

We recently returned from our 1st cruise w/HAL in 30 years (18 day circle Hawaii on Eurodam), so we are in actuality newbies. I was shocked at the price of laundry - a very small bag and charges of $8/$9 PER ITEM! I never heard of a $20 one time laundry service while onboard...? If you have to use that same little bag, you can't get more than a very small t-shirt and a pair of socks in it. NCL gives you a very, very large bag for this sort of deal. Am I missing something here?

 

As for the tipping,  I hear HAL is raising their daily gratuity fee yet again. As far as I'm concerned, that is going to have to cover all of my tipping for the trip.

[Jen1000]

16 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Welcome to Holland America, Jen!  You will receive the same rewards as a Star Mariner.  Here is a link to the rewards:  Mariner Society Rewards

Do I need to provide HAL with my Carnival number to get the rewards?  Some on our cruise have cruised HAL previously and I would like to join them at the lunch and brunch.

 

Thanks,

Jen

[ljgordon54]

5 hours ago, Princeandstella said:

We are travelling with our very well behaved 12 year old daughter and understand that the aft pool is adults only but is the area also adults only or can she sit in a deck chair around the pool?

 

Do any of you feel ok about receiving room service without giving the delivery person "extra" money each time they come?  We are not accustomed to tipping here in Australia and actually feel uncomfortable about it but will make a special effort to get some american currency in small denominations to hand out each time if this is the must do thing?  Or is the daily hotel charge sufficient?  Alternatively is there a place to write an extra tip amount like on the Princess delivery form?  

We cruise seldom but on both Princess and HAL, but as a favor to the other cruisers; why bring a 12 year old to the adult pool? I am sure she is a doll, but some old folks (like us) occasionally would rather not be around children. We have grandkids and love them to death, but when someplace says no kids; we don’t take them. It is just a courtesy. 

 

For some reason, we always felt compelled to give a little extra on some ships and not on others. It is not by line; sometimes on Princess and sometimes on HAL. I don’t feel we should ever need to tip extra. They seem to cover it with the room tips.

 

Enjoy your cruise; it is hard not to!

[saltshell]

Like ljgordon, do not, please, violate an adult space with a child. Know you mean well, but adult is adult and separate from general population for a reason. Yes, she's well behaved but best behaved in the appropriate area.

[Cajuntraveler]

We just returned from a western carribean cruise on HAL Oosterdam.  We paid $49 for unlimited laundry for 7 days(per cabin).  We sent laundry every other day and it was returned, cleaned and pressed within 24 hours.   I don't know if the other ships offer the same deal.  I agree, the small bag for $20 is expensive.  The only problem we had with the laundry was my sensitive skin, so I avoided sending my undergarments.  

 

This was our second cruise and our first on HAL and we really enjoyed the trip.  Afraid we're now hooked on cruising!

7 hours ago, Princeandstella said:

Hi we are elite on Princess but are doing our first Hal cruise on the Noordam in a few weeks and I have some questions.

 

How much is the daily charge for laundry on a South Pacific cruise and is it a per cabin or per person rate?

 

Is there a daily happy hour and is it permissible to buy extras unopened to take back to your cabin?  I will probably only drink two or three nights during the 14 night cruise so a drinks package won't be good value for me. 

 

We are travelling with our very well behaved 12 year old daughter and understand that the aft pool is adults only but is the area also adults only or can she sit in a deck chair around the pool?

 

Do any of you feel ok about receiving room service without giving the delivery person "extra" money each time they come?  We are not accustomed to tipping here in Australia and actually feel uncomfortable about it but will make a special effort to get some american currency in small denominations to hand out each time if this is the must do thing?  Or is the daily hotel charge sufficient?  Alternatively is there a place to write an extra tip amount like on the Princess delivery form?  

hooked on cruising!

[ChillEDog]

We were also on Oosterdsm recently.  We thought the $20 bag of laundry was GREAT.  Stuffed quite a lot into that bag and, i thought it would come back washed and folded,  but everything was perfectly pressed on hangars. 

[*Miss G*]

4 hours ago, Jen1000 said:

Do I need to provide HAL with my Carnival number to get the rewards?  Some on our cruise have cruised HAL previously and I would like to join them at the lunch and brunch.

 

Thanks,

Jen

 

You should mention it to your TA or PCC (Holland American Personal Cruise Consultant) but it should populate automatically when they book your cruise.

[*Miss G*]

5 hours ago, ToXS said:

We recently returned from our 1st cruise w/HAL in 30 years (18 day circle Hawaii on Eurodam), so we are in actuality newbies. I was shocked at the price of laundry - a very small bag and charges of $8/$9 PER ITEM! I never heard of a $20 one time laundry service while onboard...? If you have to use that same little bag, you can't get more than a very small t-shirt and a pair of socks in it. NCL gives you a very, very large bag for this sort of deal. Am I missing something here?

 

As for the tipping,  I hear HAL is raising their daily gratuity fee yet again. As far as I'm concerned, that is going to have to cover all of my tipping for the trip.

 

I think you may be thinking of the per day cost because HAL doesn’t charge per item.  The laundry bag actually holds quite a lot if you roll each item.

[Princeandstella]

Thank you Cruise News I think we will do the laundry deal. 

 

"do not, please, violate an adult space with a child".

 

Wow strong words there. I cant believe my child has that much power just by being in the vicinity of someone.  She is a quiet girl taller than me and if she didn't look youthful she would pass for an adult in all manner of her behaviours already.  She actually told children off for splashing in the pool on our last cruise and refused to get in an adults pool on another cruise as she would not break the rules so she would be on your side anyway.  I have seen her shoved aside by cranky older people who have had no respect for her in the buffet line and have had to explain to her that she has to have patience and that it's her manners that count in the end.  I totally understand not wanting to be around 100 screaming children that is why we choose to cruise on ships with a more mature demographic, mature in behaviours not necessarily age, and why I chose to ask the initial question first to see if children were actually permitted in the area as per Hal policy not per 'passenger preference'. 

[Princeandstella]

8 hours ago, Crew News said:

 

.

.  The indoor pool roof is open so you can all sit around and swim in that pool.  .

 

Crew News is the only other pool available an indoor pool? If so that's a bit disappointing as we like being outdoors.  I suppose it doesn't matter so much as most days we can swim at the beautiful white sandy beaches in the South Pacific.

 

I just looked at the deck plan again and the lido pool doesn't look to be indoors.  Is the hydro pool part of the gym or for everyone's use?

 

Thanks

[Crew News]

17 minutes ago, Princeandstella said:

Crew News is the only other pool available an indoor pool? If so that's a bit disappointing as we like being outdoors.  I suppose it doesn't matter so much as most days we can swim at the beautiful white sandy beaches in the South Pacific.

 

I just looked at the deck plan again and the lido pool doesn't look to be indoors.  Is the hydro pool part of the gym or for everyone's use?

 

Thanks

 

The indoor pool is much larger than the pool on the aft Lido deck and has a sliding roof that remains open as long as the weather is good.  Here is a photograph of the indoor pool on a sister ship to the Noordam:

 

 

The spa pool is located just past the clock on the far right of this photograph and is not free.  The Fitness Center is on the other side of the spa pool.

[ToXS]

I am still confused about HAL's laundry practices. On the Eurodam, I just remember seeing the little laundry bag on a hanger in the closet. It was hung with a sheet that had a long list of clothing items and the exorbitant cost to launder each separate item. How does one get a hold of the larger bag and get to use the bulk laundry price???

[Princeandstella]

54 minutes ago, Crew News said:

 

The indoor pool is much larger than the pool on the aft Lido deck and has a sliding roof that remains open as long as the weather is good.  Here is a photograph of the indoor pool on a sister ship to the Noordam:

 

 

The spa pool is located just past the clock on the far right of this photograph and is not free.  The Fitness Center is on the other side of the spa pool.

Thank you that is very helpful. I don't think we will use an area like that due to fumes and noise but we will see when we board the ship.