HAL Beach totes

About 1 month out from our cruise and starting to think about packing issues.:)

My question is, does HAL still give out beach totes? We will be on a B2B-type Collectors cruise, so if they are still giving out the totes, might we be getting one for each leg? Thanks, m--

I don't recall getting any 12/10 on the Ryndam or 10/11 on the Veendam ...

I don't recall getting any 12/10 on the Ryndam or 10/11 on the Veendam ...

Hmm, sounds like cutbacks maybe. Thanks. m--

We received the HAL bag on our 11-day cruise aboard the Maasdam on Dec. 12-11.

I don't recall getting any 12/10 on the Ryndam or 10/11 on the Veendam ...

Did you ask either your stateroom steward or at the Front Desk? :confused:

If you mean the 'typical' canvas bags, yes, we got them in November on the Prinsendam. :)

I don't recall getting any 12/10 on the Ryndam or 10/11 on the Veendam ...

Thank Plan B and Kazu. We will be on Maasdam so maybe we will get one. I don't think I'll bother packing one in that case. Thanks for the help as always. I'm sure I'll have other little questions as they come up. This will be our longest cruise and I really don't want to overpack for it. Been there done that! :) m--

Thank Plan B and Kazu. We will be on Maasdam so maybe we will get one. I don't think I'll bother packing one in that case. Thanks for the help as always. I'm sure I'll have other little questions as they come up. This will be our longest cruise and I really don't want to overpack for it. Been there done that! :) m--

Maureen, we'll be on the Maasdam before you - I'll try to remember to post about it - most likely I will post if we DON'T get one:) They are handy for a lot of things - including my meet and greet name tags:)

My DW thinks we did get one tote on each cruise, but she's not really sure either. They're not really important to us, so I don't think we'd have noticed if we didn't get one. Now, if we didn't get TILES, I'd have noticed!! :D

I've missed tiles on our last two HAL cruises and didn't realize that I could have persued it through other avenues. I'm planning on getting at least one this time for sure! I'm guessing that we'll only be invited to one of the Mariners Luncheons.

Along those ones, we'll be making our 3 Star mark early in the set of 3 B2Bs but I'm told we won't get to use it until next time. Too bad, they may have picked up some more business. More their loss than mine. What I really want is a discount on the T-Spa pass... but I digress to easily. Thanks for the help. :) m--

About 1 month out from our cruise and starting to think about packing issues.:)

 

My question is, does HAL still give out beach totes? We will be on a B2B-type Collectors cruise, so if they are still giving out the totes, might we be getting one for each leg? Thanks, m--

We received HAL tote bags on our January 22, 2012 cruise on the Ryndam. There was even a painting class one morning in the Explorers lounge where we got to "decorate" our bags.

We have never not received tote bags on any HAL cruise.

On Collectors cruises we have often gotten the nice Mariners totes. I really like those bags. :)

We did not receive them on Eurodam in January. First time in about 15 years.

We did not receive them on Eurodam in January. First time in about 15 years.

Despite the fact we have a large collection, I wouldn't be happy to not get our tote on every cruise. I'd certainly speak with our steward, the concierge or front office.

We have never not received tote bags on any HAL cruise.

On Collectors cruises we have often gotten the nice Mariners totes. I really like those bags. :)

We have also always received tote bags on our HAL cruises, as well as, the Mariner totes on the Collector's cruises. Some of our tote bags are well over 25 years old and seem to holding up just fine.

We did not receive them on Eurodam in January. First time in about 15 years.

We received our tote bags on the Eurodam in January. Perhaps, it was just an oversight. Always ask though, if you don't receive them the night before your first port.

Just got off the Zudiderdam and we received a canvas tote as we did on the Noordam in September.

Thanks for the reports all. And Kazu, thanks for thinking ahead for me and I'll understand if the thought evaporates with all the fun things you'll be doing.

I've never gotten a Mariners bag so that would be a nice surprise if it happens. :) m--

We did not receive the totes on our Dec/Jan Hawaiian Holiday cruise on the Rotterdam. I also didn't see any HAL totes in use. We did receive our tiles at the Mariner brunch.

Thanks for the reports all. And Kazu, thanks for thinking ahead for me and I'll understand if the thought evaporates with all the fun things you'll be doing.

 

I've never gotten a Mariners bag so that would be a nice surprise if it happens. :) m--

If those bags are the blue and white ones - I think you only get them on b2b or collectors cruises:confused: If so, you should receive yours:)

Have a great cruise Maureen - I will do my best to remember - if I forget just ask - I'll be trying to report from the latest ship we haven't been on - the lovely Ms Maasdam:D

If those bags are the blue and white ones - I think you only get them on b2b or collectors cruises:confused: If so, you should receive yours:)

 

Have a great cruise Maureen - I will do my best to remember - if I forget just ask - I'll be trying to report from the latest ship we haven't been on - the lovely Ms Maasdam:D

Maasdam was my first HAL ship and I hope you find it to your liking. I'ts been a while since then for us, 2006! but I think I'll feel at home. Just thankful today for another 5 inches of snow! Our forest are so dry we need all we can summon! m--

We didn't get on our January Noordam cruise. Feeling left out, I asked and rec'd two (one for each of us). Will say they were 'used', i.e., ratty looking. Obviously they had been washed but no attempt to press to make them look presentable. Didn't make a big deal about it, our trip was so wonderful, didn't want to be bothered with any negativity.

we got the cloth beach tote in Jan. on the Nieuw Amsterdam!

Part of me is surprised at the variety of responses to what I thought was a simple question... and part of me is not surprised at all that these types of things vary form ship to ship, cruise to cruise, long cruise vs. short cruise, collectors cruise, grand cruise... OY! I guess the best approach is to not expect anything, to bring a back up tote and then be happily surprised if they show up :)

It's have a bad day on a cruise ship! Thank you all for sharing your experiences. m--

Wow, I've always thought the canvas totes were "for your use", not for pax to keep!

I think lots of people don't use them. I carry a large backpack when I go ashore, so I've never had a use for them. In that case, I'd assume there were plenty to go around. I'd ask more than one person if I wanted one.

I might bring one home this time. :)

Part of me is surprised at the variety of responses to what I thought was a simple question... and part of me is not surprised at all that these types of things vary form ship to ship, cruise to cruise, long cruise vs. short cruise, collectors cruise, grand cruise... OY! I guess the best approach is to not expect anything, to bring a back up tote and then be happily surprised if they show up :)

 

It's have a bad day on a cruise ship! Thank you all for sharing your experiences. m--

Maureen,

We've had 32+ cruises (I'm not sure the count right now) on Maasdam and have never failed to get a tote bag on every one of those cruises.

You can count on getting one on Maasdam and if for some reason your steward misses your cabin, ask him/her. They distribute the totes the night before the first port.