Back to Back questions on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam

Hey there folks. My husband and I are doing our first back to back sailings starting Nov 30th and again on Dec 7th on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam. Has anyone ever had an experience doing a back to back on HAL? Do we have to get off the ship and check in again? We have the same cabin so I guess this will make a few things easier.

Check out the Holland America board to see if there are any threads talking about how HAL does turnaround for b2b cruisers. We have done them on Princess from Fort Lauderdale. We received an envelope the last night of our first cruise explaining the procedure. It was fairly painless. We had the choice of going off on our own or taking an excursion if we wanted. We opted for the third choice, which was meeting all the other b2b passengers in one of the lounges in the morning. It should have been a fairly quick process--being led down to show Immigration our passports and then using our new cruise cards to get back on the ship. Unfortunately, two passengers held us up by not showing up on time. They have to clear the ship of all passengers before allowing passengers to get on.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out the HAL board as suggested :)

Hi Skidawg71: First, congrats on your cruise, and glad to hear that you two are still on the move. We met on the Eurodam several years. I also did a back2back on the Nieuw Amsterdam several years ago, and the process is as geoherb explained. Everyone has to get off, either briefly as a group or take a tour, or you are on your own. I signed up with the ship for a tour to a shopping mall that day. It worked out well. Everything fell in place. I cruise about 4 times a year with HAL. Actually, I leave Dec. 2 for an 18-day r/t cruise to Hawaii from San Diego. Hope our paths cross again. Hal

My partner and I are doing the exact same cruise as you, but for the two weeks after.

Last year we did it on the Zuiderdam, and did not want to go into town. They ushered us into a waiting area in the terminal and we all just wait until they zero out the ship. There were a few hundred of us.

Woe to the passengers who think they are above the rules, for when they were finally found and escorted off everyone booed them lol. That happened to two people and they sure looked embarrassed. Total wait time was about an hour and a half because of them; someone said normally it's 45min to an hour.

Once back aboard the ship feels oddly depopulated, until about 11h45 when the trickle of new passengers becomes a torrent. The ship is back on disease watch again (e.g. lido buffet is manned, no self serve for the day). Mariners can go to the embarkation lunch again. We all do the safety drill again.

FYI: If you didn't buy a signature beverage package at the start of week one, you may do so now for week two.

If there are any particular crew you want to give cash tips, do so on the last evening of the first week and again on the last evening as applicable. Staff can get moved around, and they appreciate the cash for going ashore. We always give our stewards and favourite bartenders/waiters something extra above the automatic gratuities where deserved.

Cheers!

Me & mine will be there, too, & I just posted this qustion in the roll call forum for this cruise. Let me know if you get an answer and I'll do the same.