HAL extras.

[mrcruzer]

Hi, We have been exploring the possibility of a HAL cruise next Spring, and were wondering about the little extras onboard. What kind of things are included and non-included?

We found on Princess, EVERYTHING was extra cost, even Ice cream.:(

Also, do HAL offer any soda/drink packages?

[Ziggy7]

Hal has free ice cream, and soda card specials :) My dh had free expresso's after dinner in the dinningroom and they were free, I heard they might charge for them now, not sure!

[Vic The Parrot]

Like Ziggy said .... 'spresso, capuccino, and other coffees are free in the main restaurant after dinner. Be prepared to purchase ALL types of coffee in the Explorers Lounge, in case you need an extra dose of java.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our most recent cruise, soda cards were offered for around $18 for 20 cans of soda or 20 glasses of soda from any bar along with a complimentary glass.

Ice cream is free.

You can purchase all kinds of coffees in the Exploration's Cafe and get free pastries along with them.

[Vic The Parrot]

Hey there Y


HOPE you go on Statendam ... kinda wondering about that.
Drop me an email .

(I tried sending you something, but got 'punted' again.
Hope all is well.

[gizmo]

There will be apppetizers in the lounges prior to dinner. There is no charge. (I know there is a review on this site that said they were charged but they were mistaken. I don't know what really happened but Hal does NOT charge for the appetizers in the lounges prior to dinner.)

All cabin categories can order dinner from the dinner menu during dinner hours.

All cabins can order a full breakfast. There will be a card in your cabin, to hang on your door the night before but it does not list everything. You can write in what you want or call and order in the morning.

The beds in the cabins are wonderful.

[sail7seas]

The broad smiles and eagerness to please of all the crew are included in the price. No extra charge for their friendliness and warmth. :)

[sail7seas]

Also, HAL offers free popcorn for guests going to the movies.

[Bodger]

We were on the Volendam in March and the Caribbean Princess in April, so we have a recent and close comparison. (We paid for the HAL cruise and I won the Princess cruise in a sales contest. As much as we would like to cruise more we normally cruise once every winter.)

The little differences on the HAL ships really add up to a more enjoyable experience for us. Better beds, mints on leaving the dining room, free ice cream, lemonade at lunch, fresh squeezed orange juice in the Lido, chocolate milk, larger cabins, and BETTER FOOD, to name some that come to mind at the moment.

On Princess I found the cabin stewards have a better command of English, enabling better discussions with them about their lives and countries. The chocolate chip cookies on Princess were excellent, I should have smuggled more off of the ship, and would have done so if they hadn't run out. Maybe everyone else was doing the same?

My wife is a vegetarian and she found the food offerings on HAL to be wonderful, while Princess was extremely limited and it was essentially pasta every night. I found the beef on the Volendam to be good and I was very disappointed on Princess (once again).

I also enjoyed being able to go to the Wajang theatre and watch a movie or getting a DVD to watch in the cabin on the Volendam.

Our only Celebrity experience to date was 14 days on the Zenith, but it was quite enjoyable and I would look to sail with Celebrity again, if we found the right itinerary/price.

Bodger

[HALOnlyCruiser]

HAL offers some great "extras" for free, but I would check back through threads.......it seems as though a lot of things that were free as recently as 2005 have now been dropped or a charge instituted. By the time you actually go on your cruise, no telling what the situation will be. Things that are free now may not be by then. It's sad, but a reality.
All other things being equal, however, I think HAL definitely gives you more bang for the buck. It's my cruise line of choice!

[bepsf]

Does HAL still have the Ben & Jerry's carts in the Lido?

I don't recall seeing one on Noordam or Oosterdam - doesn't seem to have been very popular since HAL make their own yummy (free) ice creams aboard ship...

[sail7seas]

We've been on a lot of HAL cruises and while I have read about the Ben & Jerry's cart here on CC, I have NEVER seen it aboard any ship we have sailed.

I well may have walked right by it and not noticed.......but to my knowledge, I have never set eyes on it.

Like Brian says....HAL's ice cream is soooo good, who needs anything else? Not me. :)

[peaches from georgia]

Does HAL still have the Ben & Jerry's carts in the Lido?

I don't recall seeing one on Noordam or Oosterdam - doesn't seem to have been very popular since HAL make their own yummy (free) ice creams aboard ship...I don't believe HAL makes their own ice cream. Everytime we have seen the containers being changed out, which is a number of times, it has been Breyers. I know they also have picked up some more ice cream at one of the ports we stopped at on one cruise.

[mrcruzer]

Wow. thank you for your help! This really is an awesome Forum!:)

Im glad to hear about the "more bang for your buck" as we were not impressed with Sapphire Princess this February in those regards.



On the Vista-class ships, particularily the Zuiderdam, are you able to walk on the forward-bow part of the ship?

[gizmo]

The Pinnacle has Ben & Jerry's ice cream in the Baked Alaska they serve.

I thing the B&J carts were tried on a Vista ship or 2 and did not work out. I have never seen one on any of the other ships.

I agree with Peaches on the ice cream. Hal does not make their own.

[sail7seas]

We were on Zuiderdam five cruises during her first year and a half to 2 years. Never saw the ice cream cart. Maybe I walked by it dozens of times but I never once noticed it.

[Travelbug66]

Breyers is all-natural, so it's good for you too ; )

[mrcruzer]

Hey, nothing wrong with that! It tastes good, and isn't bad for you. HEAVEN!:p

So none of the Ice Cream costs any money?

[gizmo]

Hey, nothing wrong with that! It tastes good, and isn't bad for you. HEAVEN!:p

So none of the Ice Cream costs any money?

Not unless you see that Ben and Jerry's cart and try to get ice cream there. ;)

The ice cream is available in the Lido along with some great toppings. There is no charge. Enjoy :)

[mrcruzer]

that is wonderful to hear. It really dissapointed us on the Sapphire Princess, over $3 for each ice cream!:mad:

The other question i have for now is:

On the Vista-class ships, particularily the Zuiderdam, are you able to walk on the forward-bow part of the ship?



Oh right, and one more thing. We are planning to book a balcony cabin if we do book, but were wondering, which type would be best? We want to be as close to the middle as possible, and we may have 2 cabins, one with 3 (or possibly 4) people in it, and one other cabin with 3 people in it.

What can anyone suggest for this?

VA, VB, VC, VD, VE, VF, etc.

[SteveinPhilly]

We were on the Volendam in March

I also enjoyed being able to go to the Wajang theatre and watch a movie or getting a DVD to watch in the cabin on the Volendam.

Bodger

You were on the revamped Volendam as it was completely redone in November in about 3 weeks. We were on last June. Only poor reception and VHS tapes in cabins for our alaska trip.

Hope the Rotterdam has DVDs.

BTW, they offered free coffee or iced tea 24 hours in the Lido and free coffee (and cookies) in the coffee bar (next to the movie theater) but it wasn't always open.

Stevein Philly (leaving tomorrow for HAL Europe)

[nurseblissful]

my husband and i took the maasdam out of norfolk. what a glorious old woman! she is sooooo elegant. a bit shabby at some points, but all class. the pheasant and cranberry gnosh were fabulous, as was the duck and black bean quesadia (how the heck do you spell that?). our room steward, waitress, cocktail bartenders and dinner waiters were fabulous. my husband stalked the room steward for constant ice refills. he was not lax, we were tending bar on the balcony. :) i did hear some complaints, but not from my cabin. we had a little mini suite kind of thing and it was wonderful. enjoy yourselves, hal does a great job.

[Sayyadina]

Does HAL still have the Ben & Jerry's carts in the Lido?

I don't recall seeing one on Noordam or Oosterdam - doesn't seem to have been very popular since HAL make their own yummy (free) ice creams aboard ship...

I did not see Ben & Jerry's anything on the Maasdam in March/April.

The OP might want to check out this great thread on HAL Secrets. Ignore the fact that one of the first things they talk about is what a great make-out spot the Sky Deck is, they DO talk about other things:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=50922

[Tricia724]

We've been on a lot of HAL cruises and while I have read about the Ben & Jerry's cart here on CC, I have NEVER seen it aboard any ship we have sailed.

Don't know whether there is one on the ship, but we have definitely seen one on Half Moon Cay....just ask my SO. I thought he was going to break down and cry on our last trip when they ran out of Cherry Garcia!

[Ziggy7]

The ice cream they serve in the Lido buffet is Dryers, I saw the name on the lid! It was free every night! :D

[bookworm0911]

Dryers is a west coast brand and not sold on the east coast. In the east that same packaging and flavors is called Edys. I've lived on both coasts and buy a lot of ice cream. Since ice cream must be purchased locally HA must have contracts for various brands in different ports. So pax are seeing different brands depending on where they are cruising and all are correct.

In any case, ice cream is free on all HA ships! :)