New to HAL ~ few questions

[CatLuvsH20]

My DH and I are cruising May 17th on the Zuiderdam on the Fjords and Highland cruise. We have never cruised with HAL ~ Last few were with Regents but I could not pass up the itinerary. This is our Silver anniversary present to each other.

 

Does anyone have insight on the beverage card? It works out to 3.5 a drink ~ whether it be alcoholic or not. Is that what most people have done?

 

Also, just started thinking about excursions ~ Are HAL's excursions good? Worth their value?

 

How do the gratuities work? Should we bring $$$ for the staff? I have seen something about prepaid. Is that on your cc when you get on board?

 

Also, should we schedule our dinners in the specialty restaurants? Has anyone done the Le Cirque recently? Is it worth the price? Should we plan on going to the others? Can we wait until we get on board to schedule or do they sell out before the cruise?

 

Anything else we should know before we go?

 

Thanks a ton in advance

[catl331]

gratuities are added to your daily bill for each person in your room. You can have them taken off if you wish to do it with cash. I always think HAL's staff is exceptional.

 

Excursions--Many people do not book through HAL. One thing that does come to mind is that the ship will wait for you if you are late getting back from a HAL excursion. Yes, they sometimes are more expensive than locals would charge but Cruise companies are a business. Also if you miss a port or excursions are canceled due to bad weather you get your account credited. Some private excursions ask to be paid in advance. But if one knows what they are doing and has used a reputable company before, go for it.

[Btimmer]

Re: beverage cards, you'll have to make that assessment. As for us, we are not big drinkers, but we like sodas, so we get the $25 soda card which is good for $50 in sodas. That will last us for 3 weeks. For wine we'll usually get a wine package now that we have a nice discount as 4* Mariners.

 

Re: gratuities, there is an onboard hotel service charge of around $12 per day per person which is allocated to the crew. We always bring some extra US$ to tip our room stewards and whomever else we feel are worthy.

 

Re: specialty restaurants, we used to never go to them. Now we make sure we do! We've never done Le Cirque, but we might on the K-dam in a few weeks. In the past we've always made the specialty restaurant reservations as soon as we got on the ship, but for the K-dam upcoming cruise, we made the reservations already. Our favorite is the Tamarind (Asian cuisine), followed by the Pinnacle, and the Canaletto is the 3rd in line.

 

For the Main Dining Room (MDR), we always choose open seating as we like to mix it up with other passengers. We like to eat as soon as the dining room opens so that we can catch the first show in the Showroom. However, on port days we'll also eat dinner in the LIDO so we can eat a bit faster and in a more casual environment.

 

Re: shore excursions, generally one can find a better deal not using HAL, and on our last cruise a few months ago on the Zaandam, we booked quite a few with other CC members and those were all pretty good except one. We also use HAL shore excursions when needed; and since we like to walk, quite often we'll do self-guided tours (especially in cities we've been to before). Like a previous poster indicated, booking a HAL excursion has a significant benefit in that the ship will not leave without you. We've seen that happen (most recently in the Falkland Islands when a vehicle on a HAL excursion got stuck in the mud. The ship waited for them.).

 

HTH, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. Somebody should be able to help you.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Btimmer

[OlsSalt]

My DH and I are cruising May 17th on the Zuiderdam on the Fjords and Highland cruise. We have never cruised with HAL ~ Last few were with Regents but I could not pass up the itinerary. This is our Silver anniversary present to each other.

 

Does anyone have insight on the beverage card? It works out to 3.5 a drink ~ whether it be alcoholic or not. Is that what most people have done?

 

Also, just started thinking about excursions ~ Are HAL's excursions good? Worth their value?

 

How do the gratuities work? Should we bring $$$ for the staff? I have seen something about prepaid. Is that on your cc when you get on board?

 

Also, should we schedule our dinners in the specialty restaurants? Has anyone done the Le Cirque recently? Is it worth the price? Should we plan on going to the others? Can we wait until we get on board to schedule or do they sell out before the cruise?

 

Anything else we should know before we go?

 

Thanks a ton in advance

 

We will be on the same cruise and are exploring the ports now too. We have been very happy with HAL shore excursions, even though they are a lot more expensive than others find doing similar things on their own. The guides have been good, the food when included has been excellent and they avoid (for the most part) any forced shopping diversions.

 

However, many of the ports on this cruise are easy to do on your own. Best to check the independent port websites to see which ones you want to try on your own, and which ones you may want to make arrangements for a more formal visit.

 

We signed up for the two day St Petersburg HAL excursion since this looks like a very impacted city and it will be a very strenuous two days - they offer a "smaller group" version and a larger group version. But this is one where we definitely want to leave the driving to someone else and also avoid all the Russian visa craziness.

 

Tipping (daily service charge) is "included" when you check out, but you can opt out if you want. We never do, and we also add extra amounts at the end in an envelope to our cabin, wine and dining stewards, because we have fixed dining and have always been well served which always adds to the overall enjoyment of the cruise.

 

We do not tip cash individually for services like room service or bar service. That is a point of controversy here, but that is just what we do and it has not affected the quality of service for either activity. We see these activities as part of the prepaid activities that are covered by the daily service charge.

 

We personally don't pre-book any of the specialty dinners and in the past have found inconsistent quality at the Pinnacle. We have never found it impossible to later book this restaurant. Often just the opposite. We did a Le Cirque years ago when it first started and found it was not worth the extra cost. But of late people have been very positive about the experience, so we may try it again.

 

Others will also agree, lunch at the Pinnacle when offered is the best deal of all. But we don't have many at sea days on this cruise so that may not be an easy option to try.

 

t is good to break up the dining routine or meet with others than your table mates so I would keep the option open but maybe not worry about pre-booking it. Plus we are going to ports with great dining options so maybe spend the extra money on nice lunches in port instead?

 

We agree, HAL itineraries are the best of the mainline cruise lines. But since you are coming from Regent, there will be an obvious change in your expectations from that higher level of service, decor and self-selected clientele. The Zuiderdam obviously will be much larger, harder to get around and the decor will not be very refined. But there is an old shoe comfort to HAL ships -dated, but often surprising in its array of fresh flowers, art and antiques.

 

Much more of a crowd feel on HAL ships when you do go on shore excursions including the lining up to disembark. Think college football games when everyone wants to exit the stadium at the same time. Regent is what 600 passengers, and the Zuiderdam is over 2000? Be prepared for a different experience. Put on your running shoes as savvy HAL travelers always want to be the first on the bus.

 

We started cruising on Crystal which was also smaller and had a much higher service level, along with the higher costs. After our first HAL cruise we got hooked and never looked back, mainly because we did not really enjoy the high service level, could not eat that much good food every day at every meal, found HAL cabins to be larger and better laid out than our cabin level on Crystal, and we could take twice as many cruises for the same price.

 

We liked the genuine hospitality of the primarily Indonesian and Filipino HAL crew and the wry humor of the Dutch officers. The food is generally good and varied, but is of good hotel banquet food quality; not individual preparation quality. There is enough variety of choices and venues that one will leave feeling very adequately fed, but not luxuriously indulged.

 

Fresh baked breads are a HAL specialty and I can be happy just with them. Lots of good nibbles throughout the day, so I often end up just having the large dinner salad entree item in the evening, or doubling up on items from the appetizer/soup column.

 

HAL will work hard to show you a good time because that is their business and after 300 plus days with them they have earned out continued loyalty. However, we are partial to the smaller HAL ships 600-1400 passenger older, more classic ones.

 

Zuiderdam is as big as we go with HAL, and we know we will compromise a lot when we take a ship this large. The main dining room is less gracious, the distances on board longer to traverse, more need to use the elevators than the stairs, and getting lost in the crowd both on and off board is far more likely.

 

But, oh the places we will see ......... hope you have a good time. It does look like a very special cruise. And there will be more Europeans on board which also changes the energy (and sometimes the food) as well.

 

Sorry, no help on the beverage card. We don't use one. DH gets one of the wine packages for dinner but the choices are not that great and it is always a disappointment for him.

Edited April 30, 2016 by OlsSalt

[OlsSalt]

One feature worth exploring on the Zuiderdam is the extra-cost Hydro-Spa. It has a large, heated shallow pool with jets and underwater loungers with room enough to even paddle around a bit. As well as heated ceramic loungers, sauna and aroma showers.

 

The views from the ceramic lounger rooms are spectacular since we will be cruising through several archipelago areas. There is a set fee for the cruise period, but you can check in at the Spa desk for a tour to see if this interests you to make the up front commitment.

 

I have also had good service in the salon - for high-lightings and pedicures. Even a trim once which was excellent. But since this is a contract operation, there is no guarantee it will always be as good.

 

Evening shows have been good, and there are a variety of other music venues for classical, piano bar sing alongs to dancing both ball room and "disco" in the evening. Plus this ship will have the BB King blues lounge which other passenger report is great. But overall HAL ships are low-key with larger libraries and quiet spaces than most ships. Unfortunately they moved the formerly very spacious lower deck library up to the top deck Crows Nest, where it has to compete with other activities but it is still nice enough.

 

We have also enjoyed HAL enrichment lectures, port information talks, and desk support personnel for the independent traveller. The library has a full array of travel books for upcoming ports. But best to do most of your homework ahead of time. The port information booklet has vastly improved and will help with basic orientation.

Edited April 30, 2016 by OlsSalt

[lcand1923]

I've done several HAL cruises and recently took my first Regent cruise. I've not been on the Zuiderdam, but will try to answer your questions using my one Regent experience.

 

I have found that the beverage card isn't really worth it for me since I am not that heavy a drinker. I buy a wine package and put the rest of my drinks on my account.

 

I would say that HAL shore excursions are quite comparable to those that I experienced with Regent. Your group with HAL will be a bit larger. (I find that HAL groups are in the 30 - 35 people range. The groups with Regent tended to be 20 - 25 people.) Look at your ports and look at the Roll Call for your cruise. You may find someone on the Roll Call who is looking for extra people for an independent tour. You will save some money that way.

 

The HSC is added to your account each day. I normally leave it as is and have some extra money on hand to tip various people at the end of the cruise who have made my trip extra enjoyable. The staff on HAL is the best!

 

I like to pre-book my Specialty restaurants so that I can get the days and times I want. I very much enjoy Le Cirque and consider it worth the cost. However, this is something that only you can decide. Le Cirque normally sells out prior to the cruise, so book it before you board. If you like to dine early, you should be able to book the other specialty restaurants onboard. If you like to dine later, I would book them all ahead of time.

[Overhead Fred]

My DH and I are cruising May 17th on the Zuiderdam on the Fjords and Highland cruise. We have never cruised with HAL ~ Last few were with Regents but I could not pass up the itinerary. This is our Silver anniversary present to each other.

 

Does anyone have insight on the beverage card? It works out to 3.5 a drink ~ whether it be alcoholic or not. Is that what most people have done?

 

Also, just started thinking about excursions ~ Are HAL's excursions good? Worth their value?

 

How do the gratuities work? Should we bring $$$ for the staff? I have seen something about prepaid. Is that on your cc when you get on board?

 

Also, should we schedule our dinners in the specialty restaurants? Has anyone done the Le Cirque recently? Is it worth the price? Should we plan on going to the others? Can we wait until we get on board to schedule or do they sell out before the cruise?

 

Anything else we should know before we go?

 

Thanks a ton in advance

 

If you are referring to the Signature Beverage Package (SBP), I am not sure I would recommend it. You both must buy the package - it cannot be shared. I think you will need to drink alot for it to be worthwhile. If you are looking for convenience rather than saving money, then maybe it could make sense. Personally, I liked going to the happy hour bars - buy one drink and get a second of the same for $1. On our cruise there was at least one with a pre-dinner happy hour and at least one with a 9 pm one for a nightcap.

 

If I had used a SBP to its fullest extent, I think I would still be hungover from our cruise!

 

There are prepaid beverage cards, but I am not sure they save you anything (other posters, please correct me if I am mistaken).

 

I would suggest trying the Canaletto. I have seen some mixed reviews, but we liked it (on Nieuw Amsterdam) enough to go back a second time. At $10 per person it seemed like a good value.

 

We had the normal gratuities charged to our bill and gave extra cash on the last day to the folks that we felt went above and beyond HAL's normal high level of service.

[freanesi]

DH and I Sailed aboard the Zuiderdam last year and loved it.

We purchased a prepaid Beverage card (not a Signature Beverage card)which we used for all of our drinks and found it to be worthwhile. It didn't save us any money but we purchased it for the convenience. For us the advantage was that we only had one transaction on our onboard account, instead of each individual drink.(saves tallying everything up at the end!) At the end of the cruise we still had credit on it so HAL credited our account with what was left. When you order a drink (bottle of wine, coffee, soda or whatever) you hand over your card. It is returned with a receipt showing how much credit you have left.

For our excursions we joined groups formed on our roll call or did our own. I do agree with OlsSalt though for joining HAL excursions where the point of interest is quite away from the port. I don't mind spending the extra money for peace of mind knowing that all contingencies are covered.

We booked our Speciality restaurants before we sailed, but were able to change the dates of some once on board. I pre booked because there were certain dates that were important(birthday, anniversary) and I wanted to ensure we got those specific dates.

We chose open seating to give us the opportunity of meeting new people and so that we weren't tied to a specific time for dinner every night. We made some lovely friends this way. We like to eat early (6-7pm) and rarely had to wait for a table. We also chose room service some nights so we could eat on our verandah and enjoy the view from our balcony.

We left our gratuities in place and I had taken the cost of this into account when booking the cruise. We also tipped extra to those staff who really looked after us.

Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

Edited April 30, 2016 by freanesi

[lynn2002]

With regard to shore excursions, I agree you can often get a better deal by organising your own excursions, however, if referring to the Norwegian fjords, that is not always possible. Depending on the port, you normally would have to travel a little to get to the spectacular sights. Transport is not always available to these places. Some ports you can do by yourself, such as Alesund or Stavanger if you do not want to go further afield but some ports you need to book an excursion to see the area surrounding the port and in a lot of these ports I would book a ship excursion. Which ports are you stopping at?

[Krazy Kruizers]

There are 2 types of cards. One is the Signature Beverage Card -- it is about $55 per person per day including gratuities. You can buy drinks worth up to $8. Each person over 18 staying in the same cabin has to buy the card. As we do not drink a lot, that card is not worth it to us.

 

Then there is the regular Beverage card. You can any price drink with it -- also buy bottles of wine. Multiple drinks can be bought at the same time with this card. Each person does not need to buy a card. We buy this card as we like the convenience of not having a ton of receipts to check at the end of the cruise. You can pre-order it or buy it once on the ship.

 

Le Cirque -- we love it and do feel it is worth the money. It filled up quickly on several of our cruises.

 

Hotel service charge - we keep it in place. That way any extra tips we give to anyone, we know that they can keep it for themselves. If you choose to remove that charge, then all extra tips you give anyone must be turned in and pooled among all the crew.

 

For the most part we prefer to do HAL's tours -- that way if something goes wrong, we know that the ship will wait for us.

[bjkrlk]

We are on now. Staff are truly superb. Food better than our past 3 or 4 cruises. So much choice. Enjoy.

[tooalto]

In your (freanesi) post, you mentioned that the extra money you had on your SBP at the end of the cruise was credited to your account. I wasn't aware that that option was available. We've had Expolre4 for our last two cruises and again this summer. While we average about 5 drinks a day, including water and my espresso at dinner, it is a great convenience like others have said. No need to spend time checking the account for each drink. If we do get the $ credited back it would be much more convenient than loading up our account with OBC.

[Parrottdizes]

In your (freanesi) post, you mentioned that the extra money you had on your SBP at the end of the cruise was credited to your account. I wasn't aware that that option was available. We've had Expolre4 for our last two cruises and again this summer. While we average about 5 drinks a day, including water and my espresso at dinner, it is a great convenience like others have said. No need to spend time checking the account for each drink. If we do get the $ credited back it would be much more convenient than loading up our account with OBC.

 

The SBP (that you got with your Explore 4 deal) is different from the beverage card.

 

SBP......no you do NOT get credit back.

 

Beverage card.......this you load up with (your) money, what you don't use will be credited back to your account.

[CatLuvsH20]

Thanks everyone for the great advise!!!

[chefestelle]

That was very fulsome advice. Thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[RMLincoln]

My DH and I are cruising May 17th on the Zuiderdam on the Fjords and Highland cruise. We have never cruised with HAL ~ Last few were with Regents but I could not pass up the itinerary. This is our Silver anniversary present to each other.

 

Does anyone have insight on the beverage card? It works out to 3.5 a drink ~ whether it be alcoholic or not. Is that what most people have done?

 

Also, just started thinking about excursions ~ Are HAL's excursions good? Worth their value?

 

How do the gratuities work? Should we bring $$$ for the staff? I have seen something about prepaid. Is that on your cc when you get on board?

 

Also, should we schedule our dinners in the specialty restaurants? Has anyone done the Le Cirque recently? Is it worth the price? Should we plan on going to the others? Can we wait until we get on board to schedule or do they sell out before the cruise?

 

Anything else we should know before we go?

 

Thanks a ton in advance

 

Happy Silver Anniversary! And Norway is such a beautiful place to cruise.

 

Excursions: There are not a lot of independent excursions available in Norway port, it's not the Caribbean where they line up at the pier to attract cruisers to their tours. But there may be some independent tours being arranged in advance by members on your roll call - if you are not familiar, go to the main CC list of forums and then scroll down to rolls calls, select HAL roll calls and then your ship, then search for your sailing date; that roll call is of people booked on your sailing and is the place to share information about private excursions. We have used many HAL excursions, most recently and very successfully visiting Istanbul and some Greek ports where we didn't want to do it ourselves. There are things we like and dislike about HAL tours, advantages and disadvantages so it's hard to predict your preferences. I have put together private tours with roll calls in some places when there were special things I wanted to see which HAL didn't offer. But I'm usually ok with doing HAL tours and find their value acceptable for the peace of mind and convenience they offer.

 

Prepaid gratuity: The HAL sale called the Anniversary Sale had a perk of prepaid gratuity; if you have that with your booking your room statement will show credits for the Hotel Service Charges of $12.50 pp/day or $13.50 pp/day for suites.

 

The Anniversary Sale also included a Beverage Card perk; I believe it you will get 2 cards, each for $50 worth of beverages of your choice - alcoholic or non-alcoholic, such as coffee, water, etc.

 

Anything else? If you enjoy the art on board you may want to see the librarian and ask to check-out the free Do-It-Yourself iPod audio art tour. It will take you about 45 minutes to tour the ship's art while listening to the commentary.

 

Laundry: Zuiderdam does not have self-service laundry but you can purchase laundry service in 3 ways: by the piece; by the bag; or for $7/day/cabin but for the full cruise number of day.... or it may be $9/day/cabin for European cruises.

 

I haven't checked your itinerary but if you are seeing Norway and Scotland you will have some amazing sights! Enjoy, m--

[OlsSalt]

We are on now. Staff are truly superb. Food better than our past 3 or 4 cruises. So much choice. Enjoy.

 

We are packing and soon ready to take your place. Good to get your report. Thanks.

[OlsSalt]

One aspect of HAL shore excursions that may differ from Regent is they do not offer individual headsets. - I don't know if Regent does, but often premium cruise lines provide this very welcome standard feature for their shore excursions. Only one HAL excursion we were on at very busy Ephesus used those headset, and they were terrific.

 

Nor does HAL have T-Coil for their lectures, if this too is a feature on Regent ships for those needing hearing assistance.

[cruisemom42]

It's getting a bit late for you, but if you can swing it at all I would look into a private tour for St. Petersburg. It can be such a scrum on the larger tours, although going this early in the season it may not be QUITE as crowded.

 

There are a number of reputable private tour agencies that manage your two days in St. Petersburg very seamlessly, getting you to fronts of lines and maneuvering around large tour groups from cruise ships. It really is a better experience.

 

These companies handle the visa issue as well. If you sign up with one, you'll just have to print out and show your voucher and passport to get through the passport control.

Edited May 1, 2016 by cruisemom42

[OlsSalt]

It's getting a bit late for you, but if you can swing it at all I would look into a private tour for St. Petersburg. It can be such a scrum.

 

There are a number of reputable private tour agencies that manage your two days in St. Petersburg very seamlessly, getting you to fronts of lines and maneuvering around large tour groups from cruise ships. It really is a better experience.

 

These companies handle the visa issue as well. If you sign up with one, you'll just have to print out and show your voucher and passport to get through the passport control.

 

HAL is offering two versions of their two-day St Petersburg tour: smaller group and larger group. We opted for the smaller group option (20 or so) and will see if this offers any advantages to the crowds and lines, though it does warn up front to expect them regardless.

 

I last visited St Petersburg in the mid 1970's when it was under full communism control, indifference and neglect. I remember thinking they had a really good thing going in St Petersburg if they started cleaning it up, refurbishing its many architectural jewels, and making it tourist friendly.

 

Well, I guess they did ....except it sounds like it is too much of a good thing now. We had free run of the Hermitage in those days, with nary a guidebook or even guards - all do it yourself. Peggy Fleming had just done an ice skating special at the Hermitage and her previously elegant looking courtyard ice rink was now full of debris and junk.

 

The guides that were available offered primarily a propaganda spiel about the glories of Soviet communism, while condemning the excesses of the Russian royal family who had created all this opulent wealth. Every tourist meal was the same: a little piece of meet, dried peas and potatoes with some of that dark bread drink.

 

I think I will be in for some major surprises. :cool:

[cruisemom42]

Twenty people is still far too many to be able to maneuver easily. We had a private tour for four and it was still much less $$$ than the ship tours, plus we had an excellent guide.

[OlsSalt]

Twenty people is still far too many to be able to maneuver easily. We had a private tour for four and it was still much less $$$ than the ship tours, plus we had an excellent guide.

 

That does sound perfect. Hope the OP can still find good options at this date. Don't know if HAL is sold out at this time too.