Mariner Package

[erewhon]

After returning from our cruises on the Volendam, September/October (when we reached over 100 days on HAL), I read several postings here on Cruise Critic of Mariners on other ships receiving their 100 day medallions. We had not received medallions on board the ship.

I contacted the Mariner Society to enquire whether we should have received the medallions.

Received a prompt reply to my message, apologising, & informing us that the medallions, and our 3 star pins would be mailed to us.

The package from the Mariner Society was delivered in our mail box on Saturday, only 8 days after their message, arriving out here well before we expected.
Also included in the package were two lovely Mariner Society fridge magnets, a very kind gesture to send them to us.....the blue coloured design is perfect in our kitchen.

A big Thank You to the Mariner Society for great service, I really thought we would be told that we would receive the medallions the next time we cruise.

I would also like to thank Sail7Seas for reassuring me that the medallions are for all Mariners.

[SilvertoGold]

Wonderful to hear that you were treated so well by the Mariner Society.
It seems that you emailed them. Is this correct? I ask because I emailed them on January 19 and have yet to have a reply. I expect that they are swamped with work and will eventually get back to me.

Congratulations on your Copper Medallion!

[Krazy Kruizers]

After returning from our cruises on the Volendam, September/October (when we reached over 100 days on HAL), I read several postings here on Cruise Critic of Mariners on other ships receiving their 100 day medallions. We had not received medallions on board the ship.

I contacted the Mariner Society to enquire whether we should have received the medallions.

Received a prompt reply to my message, apologising, & informing us that the medallions, and our 3 star pins would be mailed to us.

The package from the Mariner Society was delivered in our mail box on Saturday, only 8 days after their message, arriving out here well before we expected.
Also included in the package were two lovely Mariner Society fridge magnets, a very kind gesture to send them to us.....the blue coloured design is perfect in our kitchen.

A big Thank You to the Mariner Society for great service, I really thought we would be told that we would receive the medallions the next time we cruise.

I would also like to thank Sail7Seas for reassuring me that the medallions are for all Mariners.

Congratulations -- there are others on here as well who did not get their 100 day medallions while on a cruise and also had to contact the Mariner Society.

Great you got your pins as well and even a bonus of the magnets.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful to hear that you were treated so well by the Mariner Society.
It seems that you emailed them. Is this correct? I ask because I emailed them on January 19 and have yet to have a reply. I expect that they are swamped with work and will eventually get back to me.

Congratulations on your Copper Medallion!

When we didn't get our tiles on our Ryndam cruise -- we called the Mariner Society and got them within a week. Didn't get anything else -- like the magnets.

[erewhon]

SilvertoGold,

Yes, I did e-mail the Mariner Society, on January 18th, their reply arrived before 8am on the 21st, which I thought quite prompt considering how busy they must be.

Hope you will soon receive a reply.

[kazu]

We're still waiting for our tiles from our NA cruise. but we did get our medallions - I'm glad you got yours. Hopefully next cruise they will take your picture with the captain as a souvenir for you. :)

[SilvertoGold]

SilvertoGold,

Yes, I did e-mail the Mariner Society, on January 18th, their reply arrived before 8am on the 21st, which I thought quite prompt considering how busy they must be.

Hope you will soon receive a reply.

Thanks. They must have got really busy between your email and mine!! Hope to hear from them before my cruise.

Congratulations again on your Copper Medallion. I remember getting ours -- a big deal, believe me! Sounds as if you did not get the copper pin. So much nicer that the star pins, I think.

[erewhon]

Thanks. They must have got really busy between your email and mine!! Hope to hear from them before my cruise.

Congratulations again on your Copper Medallion. I remember getting ours -- a big deal, believe me! Sounds as if you did not get the copper pin. So much nicer that the star pins, I think.

SilvertoGold,
Thank you for your congratulations.
Yes, the copper pin is pinned through the black lining that the medallion sits on, in the blue box.
It was quite fun opening the package and finding all the contents.

[sail7seas]

I'm so happy to hear how well Mariners Society handled your request and that you received your Medallions. Congratulations.

Thank you for sharing such a nice story with us.

Hope you have many more great cruises and collect more Medallions. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We're still waiting for our tiles from our NA cruise. but we did get our medallions - I'm glad you got yours. Hopefully next cruise they will take your picture with the captain as a souvenir for you. :)

Don't count on pictures -- several ships that we have been on lately -- no pictures -- not even the captain at the Mariner's medallion cocktail party.

[kazu]

Don't count on pictures -- several ships that we have been on lately -- no pictures -- not even the captain at the Mariner's medallion cocktail party.

KK - that's a shame - here we go again - varying from ship to ship. On the NA in October they did pictures of each couple who got their medallions and they were delivered to our cabins. Kind of nice.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our Nieuw Amsterdam cruise -- the medallions were given out at the cocktail party.

This was the only ship that we have had pictures taken in quite a while.

It's a shame that on some ships the neither the captain, hotel manager, etc. couldn't even show up for the cocktail party.

[sail7seas]

Eurodam, Westerdam and Maasdam......... Captain and Hotel Manager at Suite Welcome Aboard Party every time.

On Westerdam, we were seated at a hosted table with Fekko Ebbens who was on his last cruise with HAL. He retired the end of that cruise.
Every Cruise on Eurodam (five of them), we were seated at a table hosted by Hotel Manager or Captain.

Maasdam Captain always does a wonderful job at cocktail reception prior to the Brunch in the dining room. The Hotel Manager and Captain both have always attended.

On every cruise we had photos taken with Captains and Hotel Managers and they were always delivered to our cabin.

I really appreciate that and they are about my favorite momento from each cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Haven't had a host at the table since we were on the Eurodam in 2008.

That is a long time ago.

[sail7seas]

KK....... someone observed this week, you seem to have the worst luck in these sort of things.

I'm very sorry you miss out on these sort of things. Maybe the Captains were needed on the bridge. Who knows?
We have sailed with both of Eurodam's Captains and all cruises they attended the brunch and hosted a table.

[It just occured to me....... didn't you comment you don't attend the brunch? Maybe there were hosted tables but you weren't there to see them or know? :confused:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I seriously doubt that that many captains, hotel managers, CD's, etc. are so busy that one of them couldn't attend some functions.

[Aruba]

Sorry but what are these medallions you're talking about? Do you mean the little tiles HAL used to give that make good coasters?

[sail7seas]

Aruba,

Mariners Society presents large Medallions on ribbons to be hung around the neck for Mariners who have completed various numbers of cruise days.

Copper Medallion is 100 days
Silver Medallion is 300 days
Gold Medallion is 500 days
Platinum Medallion is 700 days.

We have a lapel pin, as well, for the levels we have attained.

These Medallions have, in the recent past, been presented at cocktail reception held prior to Mariners Brunch.

Some people recently have said they did not get their copper medallion at this reception but have written or called Mariners Society and they were great about sending them. Every cruise we have been on we have seen Medallions presented and we were on three ships this past year.

Many of us long time Mariners have valued this program through the years and there is debate as to when or if it will continue.

[Aruba]

Wow -- I haven't sailed enough days (yet!) to receive a medallion so thanks for filling me in on what they are. :)

[CABcruisin]

Wow...we are a LOOOONG way off from getting medallions! We are on the count down to our 2nd cruise (3 weeks, yeah!). But, as this is our second HAL cruise I see we now have a 'star' rating. By what I read, this means we will receive a gift once we are on the ship. I am just wondering if anyone has an idea what that might be. It's not that I am too eager to wait to find out, but I have a suspicion it is a tote bag. If it is, then I won't bother bringing one from home. Thanks.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wow...we are a LOOOONG way off from getting medallions! We are on the count down to our 2nd cruise (3 weeks, yeah!). But, as this is our second HAL cruise I see we now have a 'star' rating. By what I read, this means we will receive a gift once we are on the ship. I am just wondering if anyone has an idea what that might be. It's not that I am too eager to wait to find out, but I have a suspicion it is a tote bag. If it is, then I won't bother bringing one from home. Thanks.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Besides the tote bag -- one per cabin -- you will also get an invitation to the Mariner's Brunch and the gift -- a tile per person -- something like these:

2010
http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_1.jpg
(http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_1lrg.jpg)
circa 1959
http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_2.jpg
(http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_2lrg.jpg)
circa 1948
http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_3.jpg
(http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_3lrg.jpg)
circa 1890
http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_4.jpg
(http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/mariner/2010_tile_4lrg.jpg)
circa 1950

[sail7seas]

You will be invited to the Mariners Brunch and be given a delft tile. We love them and have a large collection of various designs. Perfect size for coaster but some people who have many have been very creative what they have done with them.

[erewhon]

Congratulations -- there are others on here as well who did not get their 100 day medallions while on a cruise and also had to contact the Mariner Society.

Great you got your pins as well and even a bonus of the magnets.

Thank you for your congratulations.
The magnets are really nice bonus.

[CABcruisin]

Thanks...something to look forward to. We will leave the tote bag at home.

[kazu]

Thanks...something to look forward to. We will leave the tote bag at home.

Just an FYI - the tote bags are nice, but they are relatively small. depending upon what you plan on putting in your bag, and what you use it for, you may still want to bring one. Plenty of room for some water, maps, and little things. :D:D

[sail7seas]

I love those tote bags though I admit I like the cloth the older ones were made from better than the coarser fabric now used.

The great bags now, IMO, are the new Mariners Society Totes given on some of the Collectors Voyages. I love ours.

I took some of the 'oatmeal color' cloth totes and sewed a few velcro strips across the top in a few places. Makes very handy for closing if I don't wish it to be easy to poke a hand into or fear things falling out if put down. Works great and I don't worry about things falling out.

[erewhon]

I'm so happy to hear how well Mariners Society handled your request and that you received your Medallions. Congratulations.

Thank you for sharing such a nice story with us.

Hope you have many more great cruises and collect more Medallions. :)



Thank you for your very kind message.
We do indeed hope to have many more cruises.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I really like the new Mariner tote bags that we got on our Collector cruises so much better than the old canvass bags.

They are much sturdier.

[NMLady]

Thanks...something to look forward to. We will leave the tote bag at home.

Do not leave your tote bag at home. We have been on two long HAL cruises and never received a tote bag. We have gotten the tiles, and also were mailed a 2-star pin after our most recent cruise, but haven't seen a HAL tote bag.
Hubby has won a HAL umbrella and a HAL thermal tumbler, both of which have been very handy items. No HAL tote bag though.

[sail7seas]

If you ever should fail to find a tote bag in our cabin by the night before you first port, ask your steward. He surely will get you one. They leave them on the bed when they do nightly turn down service.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Do not leave your tote bag at home. We have been on two long HAL cruises and never received a tote bag. We have gotten the tiles, and also were mailed a 2-star pin after our most recent cruise, but haven't seen a HAL tote bag.
Hubby has won a HAL umbrella and a HAL thermal tumbler, both of which have been very handy items. No HAL tote bag though.

Wow -- I am surprised at this. No matter the length of the cruise we have always gotten a HAL tote bag the evening before ourr first port of call.

Why didn't you ask you cabin steward for one?

[NMLady]

Wow -- I am surprised at this. No matter the length of the cruise we have always gotten a HAL tote bag the evening before ourr first port of call.

Why didn't you ask you cabin steward for one?

We didn't ask because we didn't know we were supposed to get one.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I ope you get one on your next cruise.

[Aruba]

Aruba,
Mariners Society presents large Medallions on ribbons to be hung around the neck for Mariners who have completed various numbers of cruise days.

Copper Medallion is 100 days
Silver Medallion is 300 days
Gold Medallion is 500 days
Platinum Medallion is 700 days.

These Medallions have, in the recent past, been presented at cocktail reception held prior to Mariners Brunch.

When I get that first Copper Medallion, which will be after the Maasdam this summer, I am going to strut around that ship like I'm Stein Kruse himself. :D
(By the way, I always thought he has the PERFECT name for a cruise line CEO.)