Soon will be booking my first cruise on HAL questions please

[MikeNKim]

Hi, I will soon be booking my first HAL cruise and have a few questions.

How big are the balcony rooms?

Are dinner times assigned or is it freestyle?

How do they handle tips are they automatically added or do you have to add them?

Thank you.

Kim

[MercedMike]

Hi, I will soon be booking my first HAL cruise and have a few questions.

How big are the balcony rooms?

Are dinner times assigned or is it freestyle?

How do they handle tips are they automatically added or do you have to add them?

Thank you.

Kim

Kim -- surely you know how to search the boards. All of these have been answered repeatedly. However -- for you and probably 100 lurkers -- here goes:

No cruise ship room is large. The balcony rooms on HAL are just big enough for two twin beds and night stands, a small end table and a chair and a desk, with a couple of closets and a bath-cupboard. The balcony is big enough for a small table and two chairs, not lounges. Of course the minisuites are bigger.

Dining is traditional fixed times except for a couple of ships which are experimenting. There are several posts on this board about it.

Tipping is automatic $10 a day. HAL says it is divided among the "whole hotel staff."

Have a GREAT cruise!

[mike35]

Hi Kim

We just completed our first HAL cruise on the M/S Statendam. Our balcony room was significantly larger than what we had experienced in Oceania, Princess, RCCL, and Carnival - a large sitting room with a couch, tons of storage space, spa tub, etc. Our veranda had a chair and a chaise with a table, and it, too, was larger than the other lines mentioned above. The various "classes" of HAL's fleet are laid out differently, so you might want to do a bit of research pertaining to your specific ship.

The tipping, as stated, is $10 per person per day.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[jtl513]

What ship? To supplement MercedMike's reply: go to http://www.hollandamerica.com/fleet/fleet.do , choose your ship, then choose explore Staterooms

The auto-tip breakdown is $3.50/person/day for your room steward, same for your dining room staff, and the remaining $3 is shared with the rest of the ship.