First Time Cruise Questions

[icu222much]

I'm going on my first cruise to Alaska with my wife and toddler in August aboard the Volendam, and have a few questions:

 

1. Is there a dress code for the main dining hall? If so, is it enforced? Would jeans and t-shirt be ok?
2. Can I see the main dining room menu before the cruise?
3. What time will I have access to my luggage and room on boarding day?
4. How would I communicate remotely with wife without wifi? The Holland America app, which has a built in guest chat, does not work on my phone (Redme Note 5).
5. My daughter requires hot water to make her formula. My understanding is that the buffet is not open 24 hours, and kettles are not allowed in the room. Do I have any other options for getting hot water?

[erdufylla]

The dress code topic has, I’m sure, been covered quite a lot on this forum, so I’m sure you can find more extensive answers with a bit of browsing. But in a nutshell, this is their formal statement on dress for the MDR (main dining room) on the FAQ page:

 

How strict they are probably depends on the ship and the person working the desk, but in general, I’d say things have gotten more lax in this post-pandemic world. Jeans will probably fly on a standard night (not formal nights) if they’re nice jeans, but I’d say no to t-shirts. 
 

20 minutes ago, icu222much said:

Can I see the main dining room menu before the cruise?

Someone else pointed out in a recent thread that the menu for identical itineraries are the same, so if you can get the Navigator app working on your phone, you can access the daily menus there as they’re posted and know what they’ll be on your upcoming cruise. Barring that, you may be able to find where someone has posted the menus.

 

22 minutes ago, icu222much said:

What time will I have access to my luggage and room on boarding day?

The answer is “it depends.” Usually it’s pretty quick, but sometimes you might get to your room before your luggage does. It should be there by evening, though. Keep anything you need with you in your carryon. 
 

24 minutes ago, icu222much said:

How would I communicate remotely with wife without wifi? The Holland America app, which has a built in guest chat, does not work on my phone

Use the chat function in the app, or go old-school and utilize a post-it note situation in your stateroom. If you can’t get the app working on your phone, try deleting it and reinstalling it. I’m told that sometimes helps — it can be buggy. If that doesn’t work, don’t despair. A lot of people report that it didn’t work at all for them until they stepped foot on the ship. 
 

26 minutes ago, icu222much said:

My daughter requires hot water to make her formula. My understanding is that the buffet is not open 24 hours, and kettles are not allowed in the room. Do I have any other options for getting hot water?

The buffet isn’t open 24 hours, but the hot water units often are kept up. If that doesn’t work out for you, there is 24hr room service. Let your room stewards know you have a need for hot water and how frequently, and they may be able to help you out, either by putting in a standard order or telling you the best way to go about getting the hot water when you need it. (They’ll likely come by that first day to introduce themselves and ask if you have any special requests.)

 

Good luck, and enjoy your first cruise!

[colbe]

Daytime dress is casual. Shirts/cover-ups and footwear are always required indoors.

Most evenings smart casual attire is appropriate. Shorts, pool and beachwear, distressed jeans and tank tops are not permitted in table service restaurants.

On Dressy Nights we take it up a notch and recommend slacks, skirts, dresses, blouses, collared shirts and jackets.

Jeans, shorts and T-shirts are only allowed in the casual dining restaurants.

 

[oakridger]

1 hour ago, icu222much said:

What time will I have access to my luggage and room on boarding day?

@erdufylla answered about the luggage.  

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and HAL/Cruising!  One practice I love on HAL is that they plan to have the cabins available as soon as you board so you can drop off your carryon luggage before going out to the muster station and lunch or exploring.  Occasionally there may be a slight delay getting into the cabins but it's my experience that most of the time they are ready.

 

Have a great time!

 

~Nancy

[Crew News]

Here is a link to your Alaska menus:  Alaska 2023 MDR Menus

[Roz]

Coffee and tea, and the hot water needed to make tea, are available 24 hrs a day in the Lido. 

[erdufylla]

1 hour ago, Crew News said:

Here is a link to your Alaska menus:  Alaska 2023 MDR Menus

It’s possible my memory is just bad, but none of those menus look familiar to me from my May 27th 7-day Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Koningsdam. Is it possible the Seattle and Vancouver routes have different menus?

[Crew News]

3 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

It’s possible my memory is just bad, but none of those menus look familiar to me from my May 27th 7-day Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Koningsdam. Is it possible the Seattle and Vancouver routes have different menus?

Menus are the same for all ships but may be influenced by some ingredients not be loaded during turnaround day.  These menus are from Nieuw Amsterdam.

[loveandpeas]

I would take a thermos for overnight hot water.

[icu222much]

Thank you for all the responses.

 

I do have another question: Some days my baby has certain preferences on what to eat. I'm wondering if I can order basic food items (ie - boiled eggs, plain avocado, apple slices, sliced bread...) onboard? Would there be an additional charge for my request?

[erdufylla]

You can probably find all or most of those things at the Lido Market, and maybe bring some back to your room to have on hand so it’s more convenient. That said, I think only the suites have mini fridges in the staterooms on Volendam, so unless you’re in one of those, that might limit what kinds of foods you can safely keep in your room. 
 

Ordering it from room service might be more difficult, but your steward might have some suggestions.

[kdakda]

9 hours ago, erdufylla said:

It’s possible my memory is just bad, but none of those menus look familiar to me from my May 27th 7-day Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Koningsdam. Is it possible the Seattle and Vancouver routes have different menus?

We're currently on the Koningsdam and have only had 2 dinners, but these menus are nearly the same ---- a couple selections weren't offered to us, or were slightly modified.

[erdufylla]

1 minute ago, kdakda said:

We're currently on the Koningsdam and have only had 2 dinners, but these menus are nearly the same ---- a couple selections weren't offered to us, or were slightly modified.

I wish I had saved the daily menus now, so I could compare, and know if we really did have a completely different set of menus that week, or I’m just losing it. I looked at them again earlier today, and I literally recognize almost nothing from them, nor do I see most of the dishes my nephew and I ended up ordering! So weird.

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, icu222much said:

Some days my baby has certain preferences on what to eat. I'm wondering if I can order basic food items (ie - boiled eggs, plain avocado, apple slices, sliced bread...) onboard? Would there be an additional charge for my request?

If they have it (thinking the Lido is best place to ask), there will be no charge. There are some things with charges if you are thinking of room service. Also not sure about avocado in Alaska... 

 

Rooms that do not have a balcony can rent a "cooler", probably not cold enough to keep milk from spoiling more than a day or so! -- for a real nominal sum. Used to be $2/day. And/or you can get your steward to bring you more ice.

Edited June 19, 2023 by crystalspin

[weix]

The water from your Bathroom tap is Drinking water. Hot or Cold.    Have fun.   Chris

[icu222much]

Great, thank you for your advices ❤️