calteacher

Thanks. Yes, I will need to wait another four days.

Also tried to get Flight Ease from the HAL site. It is 320 days to departure, so it seems to be within the time frame. However, whenever I indicate the departure city, ( I could use several), it just goes to the screen which says I have no items in my cart.

I need a little help. I tried to book an "imaginary" cruise with the big Box company, but couldn't find any way to access Flight Ease.

I've read how much money some people have saved using Flight Ease, but I cannot seem to be able get any flights to show up when I have my reservation listed. Is it possible to do Flight Ease without getting my TA involved. I have a feeling she won't want to do that since they make more money just providing regular tickets.

She is not new to cruising. My DH and I and she and her DH (while alive) cruised with us twice. Since his death, she has cruised with us two more times. I'm just not happy playing the "elitist" role while with her. We will probably just join the regular line with her. It will be bad enough that we will possibly be flying business class while she is in coach, but my DH is tall and really objects flying across the ocean in a coach seat.

My DH and I have both reached 4 star. A friend will be traveling with us on our next cruise. When we check in, do you go through the 4 star line and hence be on board much faster, or do you wait with your friend so you can board at the same time? Just wondering what others will do. We will probably just board with her on the "slower" line.

We made reservations in February for the August 2019 Scotland cruise on the Princendam. We especially picked this cruise as we wanted to try the Princendam, wanted to be in Edinburgh for the Tattoo, and also wanted the cruise round the British Isles which could be best seen on the Princendam. Since the Princendam has been sold, our cruise has been assigned to the Rotterdam. I am distressed as the Rotterdam is larger and cannot go into the areas the Princendam sailed.

Can anyone give me hopes that this cruise will be as good--as it is much more expensive than other cruises? We are in the process of a double move, so could not try to get the current sailing of the Princendam to the Scottish Isles.

We were on the February 19 sailing to Hawaii. Perhaps my review will give some insight as to activities. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the sea days, but I can enjoy "down time". https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2611415

Yes, please recommend companies. We are scheduled to take a HAL cruise of the British Isles August 2019 and are looking forward to the tattoo and are interested in private transfer to/from the ship.

Thanks for the info. As you can tell from my "name", I'm a "westcoaster" and we only deal with rain. As we rarely have transportation to the airport on the day of our flight, and as we usually have very early departures, we normally head for LAX the precious afternoon (rent a one-way car) and have time to relax after the hurry of getting ready for a vacation.

If I recall correctly, yes, it was $25 per day and from the description it seemed you needed to book for the entire cruise. When my DH inquired, he was told there was no option for a certain number of hours or days. That may have been because we had so many days at sea when the connection was a little "iffy".

If you are concerned about the 25 miles to the airport, have you considered going to a hotel at the airport on Wednesday? You would be there if the airport is cleared and have a bit of peace of mind in worrying about clearing the roads.

Best wishes, and hope things work out for you.

We were on an 18-day, San Diego, Hawaii, San Diego in February. We were surprised to learn the internet on that cruise was $25 per day and it was for the entire 18 days--not just picking a few days. For $440 we decided to forget the internet and just waited until Hawaii when we could go off ship and get the internet connected to our cell phone provider.

It may be true, but I never observed that. Our cabin was only several cabins forward of the Rijks so we observed it almost every time we were coming/going to our cabin. I tend to rise earlier than my DH and it was my "go to" place to enjoy my coffee before my DH was ready for breakfast.

The times we saw the Rijks used most heavily was during the sea days, mid day.

I wonder if we ever crossed paths? I agree that the Crow's Nest was quieter with this revision, but I thought it was because it was a much larger open area and because the bar was combined with the coffee area without a place for people to lean against the bar as they enjoyed their drinks and chatted with the bartender.

We had just always enjoyed the Library in the past--the chairs were comfy, there were desks for use if someone wanted to write or to use laptops, etc.

I know that everyone's body structure is different, but I found the chairs in the middle of the Crow's Nest to be uncomfortable.

Thanks for your input.

Captain Vincent Smit, Hotel Director, Florin Dragomir, Cruise Director, Keri Noble

Thank you. I have never done a report before, and was apprehensive as to how it would be received. My mistake in the restaurant in Lahina, it was Bubba Gump,not Bubba Shrimp. (It was the shrimp sauce that was too much for my DH.)

The Ship

Everything seemed clean. As usual the stewards were unseen, but the clean towels, beds made, chocolate at night, etc. appeared as usual. The laundry was returned within one day. We were in an outside cabin on Main Deck. It seemed that the draperies were new, the TV was new, but the walls had not been updated as I saw a bit of a tear in one wall. It certainly did not take away from our enjoyment. Workers were constantly cleaning. We had no problems with the plumbing. The A/C was a little slow in responding, but it did work.

Lido Marketplace and the Main Dining room have been redecorated. Only problem is, the new chairs are difficult to move. It appears that the carpeting is also new.

The Food

Because food is so personal, I hate to even respond to this. Our first cruise on HAL was nearly 20 years ago. I still have the menus from that cruise. When I compare the menus, it seems to me that HAL has definitely down-graded the menu. Our earlier cruise had food which seemed to me to be of the same quality of a Top Restaurant. The choices are greater now, but the food seems to be of an average quality.

Changing the menu so that it seems you only have three courses (even though it is possible to order an appetizer, a soup, and a salad in addition to the entrée) is certainly a way to cut down on the food budget. There were times it was difficult to find an entrée that appealed to me; however, I readily acknowledge that I am not daring when it comes to entrees with which I am not familiar.

For example, the last evening had a choice of seven starters, soups, salads: 1. Cannelloni Couscous, 2. Salmon Tartare with Baby Zucchini, 3. Duck Confit Puy Lentils, 4. Noodle Soup, 5. Potato Soup with Shrimp, 6. Gazpacho with Crab, and 7. Coconut, Carrot and Radish Salad.

The entrée choices were: 1. Pappardelle and Veal Ragout, 2. Black Sesame Jumbo Shrimp Baharat Salad, 3. Pan-Seared Rainbow Trout, 4. Slow Roasted Striploin of Beef, 5. Lamb Shank, 6. Roasted Chicken with Cheese Gnocchi, and 7. Vegetable Curry with Forbidden Rice. I am certain that many people would know immediately the ingredients of those items, but me, not so much.

Pinnacle Grill: It has become almost impossible for me to get a “medium” steak at the Pinnacle Grill. Either it is “rare” or it is “well-done.” The rest of the food was, as usual, very good, but the service left much to be desired. One of the diners at the table next to us never received his baked potato even though he had asked several times. They told us they had ordered the soufflé when they gave their order for dinner. I believe they said they were now into sitting in the Pinnacle for over 1½ hours and still no dessert.

Lido: The food was good. I was trying to “cut down” on lunch, but a number of times I felt the choices in the Lido surpassed the selections in the main dining room (my opinion only.) However, I enjoy “dining”, so we did not use the Lido for the dinner service.

Room service: we rarely use room service. However, one day my husband “overdid” the spices at Bubba Shrimps and his stomach was rebelling. We ordered off the main menu. The food came when it was expected (45 minutes) and was hot and very good. We received a call about 15 minutes after the food was delivered to see if it was satisfactory. It was.

Activities

More activities were available during the sailing to Hilo. Lei making, ukulele lessons, hulu lessons, etc. were some of the hands-on activities. Each day there was at least one “lecture” about Hawaii presented by a native Hawaiian, very informative and interesting. America’s Test Kitchen had a different demonstration every morning and every afternoon.

During the sailing back to San Diego, the America’s Test Kitchen simply repeated the morning demonstration in the afternoon, and one day just repeated one of the demonstrations from earlier in the cruise. There were two Q/A sessions, one with the support personnel, and one with the captain on the return sailing. We sat on the first level but back several rows to be able to see the AV presentation. When it was time for the Q/A portion, nearly all the questions were taken from the first four rows (the “lounge-type” seats) even though there were many “hand up” in our section.

Entertainment

We went to only a few of the evening presentations, and we left quite early for the most of them as they just didn’t appeal to us. The pianist was fantastic, he but would have been really effective if the “back-up” band would have been silent so that we could have really enjoyed the piano music. The other music was just loud. (Again, this is my opinion, and many others enjoyed the band back-up.) During the Q/A session with the Hotel Staff, many passengers expressed dissatisfaction with the loudness of the music. We were told the volume was “toned down” for this cruise. I hate to think how loud it would have been otherwise.

Revisions to the ship:

The Rijks museum is a great addition to the ship. Often saw many people sitting in this area. My DH love this and enjoyed especially looking at the “moving” artwork.

Crow’s Nest: Not having a Library is a real bust. A very small shelf for “take one, leave one” was available. By the end of the cruise, it had expanded incredible as people were leaving books for others. The interactive tables are, to me, a real waste of space. I saw very few people utilizing them. Most of the time, it seemed that people sitting at that area were just waiting to speak with the Future Cruise Consultant.

The only place for jigsaw puzzles was a small table, only slightly larger than a regular card table, which made it very difficult for doing puzzles. My DH is a puzzle fan. One evening an employee brought a cloth insert and placed it on one of the interactive tables which worked fine for working a puzzle. A few days later I was in the area and saw another employee remove the insert and loudly say, this does not belong here. When I asked about working a puzzle, he just said to use the “card table”.

Ports:

Hilo. Great, Honolulu: two days extended to three days as the weather would not allow us to dock at Niwiliwili, Kauai. (A day too many, IMO, but I’m sure that others appreciated the extra day.) Lahaina and Kona were also great. The sailing past the volcano was changed from 10:55 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. We did not stay up to see it as we had seen it on a previous trip to Hilo.

Seas:

The first 2½ days were quite rough, and I heard conversations that many people were seasick. The captain did mention that there was one time when he was quite worried as the waves were coming from two directions. The trip home was very smooth; we didn’t have much sun, but the seas were calm

.

We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, would love to do it again, but other destinations are also attractive.

Is there a Walmart near where the ship docks in Ensenada, within walking distance?

Our scheduled time is 1 pm. If we arrive at the port early, will we be allowed to check in or will we be required to just sit and wait until the time listed?

We are really interested in obtaining a pass for the thermal pool so want to check in as early as possible.

We have $100 in beverage cards. Can we use this to pay toward a wine package?

We will be boarding in San Diego Monday and sailing to Hawaii. Can we purchase flowers in San Diego and Hawaii and bring them on board? Or will they be confiscated?

Thanks.

It was the Westerdam, Cabin 4178 or 4181.

My TA called with information about a possible upsale, $289 p/p for an 18-day cruise from a category C to a veranda, BC. My DH didn't think he would like that location. So, a VC was available. I said "Yes"!. Very excited for about 3 minutes when she called back and said that while the HAL employee was typing the info, it disappeared! So, we will stay with our original cabin and still enjoy the cruise. So close, but not to be. Still going to be smiling.

Is it possible to upgrade to business class when using Holland Air? upgrade using FF miles?