Questions about completed online check-in

[jennaja]

Hi,

 

I'm trying to complete our online check-in for the Zaandam next week. After almost 4 hours, I finally got the boarding passes and luggage tags to print.

 

Can anyone tell me how to reserve a table in the main dining room, reserve a table for lunch in the Pinnacle Grill, and order bottled water, all prior to embarkation?

 

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Ineke]

Same here, but I suspect we’ll have to try once we get on boatd, and hope there are still some late dining spots available. Just got our cabin assignment this afternoon.

[HUNKY]

Your table in the main dining room will be assigned, no need for reservations. Note: if you need to make a change in times or table size speak with the Maitre'd on the day of embarkation.

 

The Maitre'd can also book the Pinnacle Lunch.

 

You can order Evian in advance by going to hollandamerica.com, click on the Already Booked tab, click on Manage my Bookings. Log in. Click Cruise Activities, click on Beverages, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see Evian bottled water packages. These will be in your stateroom prior to boarding.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you are assigned to Open Seating for dinner, you can only make dinner reservations once you are on the ship. The reservations can only be between 5:15 - 6:15 and 7:30 - 9. You can make them for 3 days at a time. Talk to the dining room manager once you get on the ship.

Pinnacle lunches can only be made once you are on the ship.

If you are less than 3 days from your cruise, you can no longer order anything from HAL's site.

[jennaja]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

 

We got our cabin assignment yesterday. (I only booked the cruise a few days ago, so only Guarantee cabins were left.) This morning I received an email saying a change has been made to our booking. I have been trying to get into the HAL website for over an hour. I get the spinning circle of death for several minutes, then the message "Page Not Found". The same issue I was having yesterday.

 

So far, I have to say that I'm not impressed with HAL. I hope the cruise experience is better. We've only sailed on them once before about 10 years ago, and I had a lot more patience back then.

[catl331]

I have been trying to get into the HAL website for over an hour. I get the spinning circle of death for several minutes, then the message "Page Not Found". The same issue I was having yesterday.

Unfortunately the new website that was foist upon us about 3 months is a real mess still. Try using www.hollandamerica.com/?ASCookie=RSOrigin to see if you can get into the old website still.

[Ineke]

Hi again. We received the same email this morning, and my husband was having similar problems. I clicked on the fine print link in the second section of the email (please visit http. etc.) and had no problem getting through, and neither did he once he did that. You may already have tried that, of course, but just in case. I did find that using the old desk-top computer seemed to work better when I was filling out the information for the cruise documents. The new website does make it very difficult to get any kind of information, and this forum has been really helpful in providing the hows and whys.

[OlsSalt]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

 

We got our cabin assignment yesterday. (I only booked the cruise a few days ago, so only Guarantee cabins were left.) This morning I received an email saying a change has been made to our booking. I have been trying to get into the HAL website for over an hour. I get the spinning circle of death for several minutes, then the message "Page Not Found". The same issue I was having yesterday.

 

So far, I have to say that I'm not impressed with HAL. I hope the cruise experience is better. We've only sailed on them once before about 10 years ago, and I had a lot more patience back then.

 

I am so sorry you are having this perfectly terrible experience with the HAL website, and your first introduction too. Lots of us are having the exact same problems - and we are very long time HAL cruisers. This is a new website and a total disaster. I don't blame you for having misgivings, but the onboard HAL experience will be something totally separate from this current customer-killing website debacle.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise once you get past the media electronics. Not sure why or when they will get this fixed but you know the saying, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. I admire your patience sticking with this. Please use the phone number to call HAL directly and the "feedback" pop up side bar which will let them know what problems you are having and if you need a call back.

 

They need to hand out electronic Bonine once they get you stuck you in that spinning blue ball of death on the HAL website.

[KroozNut]

Unfortunately the new website that was foist upon us about 3 months is a real mess still. Try using www.hollandamerica.com/?ASCookie=RSOrigin to see if you can get into the old website still.

 

Disagree... the new website is awesome. Just takes a few minutes to learn, and it becomes a great tool. No need to revert to the old site, unless of course you simply are unable to adapt to a better onsite experience.

[OlsSalt]

Disagree... the new website is awesome. Just takes a few minutes to learn, and it becomes a great tool. No need to revert to the old site, unless of course you simply are unable to adapt to a better onsite experience.

 

Be sure to read the above posted experience from a first time user. How are they supposed to learn anything, when they drop into the spinning ball of death that the HAL website has become? They are needing to unlearn nothing - they are getting abused on their first pass.

[KroozNut]

Be sure to read the above posted experience from a first time user. How are they supposed to learn anything, when they drop into the spinning ball of death that the HAL website has become? They are needing to unlearn nothing - they are getting abused on their first pass.

 

That sounds to me like either an operator error, or hardware/software error specific to that particular user.

 

No abuse (as you put it) at all when I'm on the site..;)

[jennaja]

Your table in the main dining room will be assigned, no need for reservations. Note: if you need to make a change in times or table size speak with the Maitre'd on the day of embarkation.

 

The Maitre'd can also book the Pinnacle Lunch.

 

You can order Evian in advance by going to hollandamerica.com, click on the Already Booked tab, click on Manage my Bookings. Log in. Click Cruise Activities, click on Beverages, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see Evian bottled water packages. These will be in your stateroom prior to boarding.

 

 

Do you know if they presell "regular" water, such as Crystal Geyser or Arrowhead"? I know the tap water on board tastes good, but we need the bottled water due to medical issues.

[jennaja]

Disagree... the new website is awesome. Just takes a few minutes to learn, and it becomes a great tool. No need to revert to the old site, unless of course you simply are unable to adapt to a better onsite experience.

 

 

My travel agent was having the same problem. Went through the old website as suggested by Ineke, and that worked.

[HUNKY]

Jenna. The only other water for purchase prior to sailing is distilled by the gallon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jennaja]

Thanks, Hunky. Sounds like we'll be carrying a couple cases of water aboard. Yikes! I hope they have porters available.

[*Miss G*]

Here is the water offered for sale in your booking:

[jennaja]

Here is the water offered for sale in your booking:

 

 

Thanks, Miss G. I think we will have to carry our own water aboard.

[TAD2005]

That sounds to me like either an operator error, or hardware/software error specific to that particular user.

 

No abuse (as you put it) at all when I'm on the site..;)

 

Oh... I get it... you have to be a software expert to know all about extensions, browser add-ons, etc to be able to easily navigate the new HAL website. How is that customer friendly ? Do future HAL guests need to sign up for a Chrome, IE or Firefox seminar to be able to access their reservations and other critical info ? Let's face it, and stop cheer leading for the contractor HAL hired to develop their new site. The new site S*cks, it has many issues needing attention, and is very user-unfriendly to non-computer literate folks. They seemed to be in a rush to get it online to beat any performance penalties, and they totally skipped Beta testing completely.

Also, why is HAL maintaining the old website ? I use the old site when I have problems with the new one. When a company sets up a new website, they thoroughly test the new site, and when it is ready, there is a scheduled cut-over. The old site is taken down and all you can get is the new one. HAL is keeping the old site active because they realize they have problems with the new site, and the old site is a good fall-back.

Edited July 8, 2018 by TAD2005

[KroozNut]

Oh... I get it... you have to be a software expert to know all about extensions, browser add-ons, etc to be able to easily navigate the new HAL website. How is that customer friendly ? Do future HAL guests need to sign up for a Chrome, IE or Firefox seminar to be able to access their reservations and other critical info ? Let's face it, and stop cheer leading for the contractor HAL hired to develop their new site. The new site S*cks, it has many issues needing attention, and is very user-unfriendly to non-computer literate folks. They seemed to be in a rush to get it online to beat any performance penalties, and they totally skipped Beta testing completely.

Also, why is HAL maintaining the old website ? I use the old site when I have problems with the new one. When a company sets up a new website, they thoroughly test the new site, and when it is ready, there is a scheduled cut-over. The old site is taken down and all you can get is the new one. HAL is keeping the old site active because they realize they have problems with the new site, and the old site is a good fall-back.

 

No HAL cheerleader here, not by a long shot. And I'm about as non tech savvy as they come. Just sayin' that I have had zero issues with HAL's new site, that's all.

 

The new site is great, and you can stick your head in the sand and continue to deny that progress is a good thing. As we rapidly pass you by, and wave good-bye! ;)

[ontheweb]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

 

We got our cabin assignment yesterday. (I only booked the cruise a few days ago, so only Guarantee cabins were left.) This morning I received an email saying a change has been made to our booking. I have been trying to get into the HAL website for over an hour. I get the spinning circle of death for several minutes, then the message "Page Not Found". The same issue I was having yesterday.

 

So far, I have to say that I'm not impressed with HAL. I hope the cruise experience is better. We've only sailed on them once before about 10 years ago, and I had a lot more patience back then.

 

I also had a cabin change e-mail. I tried to get on the website, but was told my password was wrong. I reset my password, and it still told me it was wrong even after it confirmed it, but when I went to the site, I was logged in.

 

But I still could not find my new cabin number. I finally called the 800 number and the rep was very helpful. She had me click on experience, then on the ship we will be on. A deck came up, but I could not see what cabin we had and where it was. She said, maybe you have to zoom in on it. I told her to just tell me the cabin number and describe where it was, and she did.

 

This seemed to be a very non-user friendly way to find the new cabin. As a matter of fact, the easiest way would be to include it in the e-mail, not just important message, your cabin has been changed.

[TAD2005]

No HAL cheerleader here, not by a long shot. And I'm about as non tech savvy as they come. Just sayin' that I have had zero issues with HAL's new site, that's all.

 

The new site is great, and you can stick your head in the sand and continue to deny that progress is a good thing. As we rapidly pass you by, and wave good-bye! ;)

 

Excuse me... but I do not have my head in the sand. I develop websites for a living. The site has many deficiencies. They made this major change to accommodate small screen devices such as phones and tablets, to eliminate vertical and horizontal scrolling and make the text more legible. That has caused problems for folks who use full screen laptops and desk tops. In my many conversations with HAL's Seattle office, they constantly apologize to me about the web site and say they "are working on it". If there were no problems, why does HAL's main office constantly apologize for it's poor performance ?

[KroozNut]

Excuse me... but I do not have my head in the sand. I develop websites for a living. The site has many deficiencies. They made this major change to accommodate small screen devices such as phones and tablets, to eliminate vertical and horizontal scrolling and make the text more legible. That has caused problems for folks who use full screen laptops and desk tops. In my many conversations with HAL's Seattle office, they constantly apologize to me about the web site and say they "are working on it". If there were no problems, why does HAL's main office constantly apologize for it's poor performance ?

 

You'll figure it out some day... ;):)

[TAD2005]

You'll figure it out some day... ;):)

 

I guess you also figure that the 800+ posts on the 3 other threads on CC are also total morons and can't work their way through the new site. You are one of the few brilliant ones who are having no problems. I envy your good fortune, If you have the magic clue to the website, please take the time to pass along your brilliance to the 800 + other CC members who are having problems.

Yes, the site, sort of, works. But there are many flaws in the code. HAL has admitted there are problems to the many people who have called Seattle and complained. Text that overlays other text and graphics, every time you open a new page, it opens a new window. Changing pages should always target the same page you came from so you don't end up with loads of open pages all signed in with your password. There's no way to actually sign out of the main page. You can sign out of the pages for purchases (book2), but the main page cannot be signed out.

The site is bush league right now, hundreds of people are having difficulties with it, who had no problems with the old site. For commercial sites to be successful, they must be transparent to all browsers, and be user-friendly. Before you come back with any more of your sarcastic comments about other CC members difficulties and my abilities, take a few moments and read the 3 other threads on CC about problems with the new web site. Rather than just criticize other people's computer skills, how about being proactive and passing along some of your wisdom and actually help people who seriously have problems. You say I have my head in the sand.... I think your's is someplace else.

[OlsSalt]

You'll figure it out some day... ;):)

 

I just figured it out. New CEO was given orders to kill off HAL. Now it all makes sense. Hope their wonderful crews find jobs elsewhere since they are the pride of the fleet. But since HAL is going down, they better jump ship ASAP. Viking is already harvesting out the best of the HAL personnel.