landlocked12

You will need to book an accessible cabin to have enough room for a rented scooter. Please do not leave it in the corridor as this creates a hazard for other guests.   We have used Scootaround on several cruises and they have left the scooter in my mom’s cabin. 

Our travel agent booked our teenagers in a separate cabin. She said that the teenagers needed to be in the next cabin or directly across the hall from the adults’ cabin. 

Picture from my balcony as she maneuvers in.  

I’m currently on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the standard internet that comes with the have it all package is just as bad if not worse than the pre Starlink internet we had on the Oosterdam last summer in Europe. Nearly half the texts we are sending get marked as not delivered. A few members of our group have paid to upgrade to the premium plan and it makes a big difference. 

Cabin 5001 was remodelled. It now has a full sized couch and less desk/counter space in the cabin than pictured in Halfacts.  https://halfacts.com/signature-class/5001-nieuw-amsterdam/
 

The new configuration seems to have switched the locations of the tub and shower so that the shower is roomier

We are on the Nieuw Amsterdamin cabin 5001, an accessible Signature Suite. They completely remodeled it during the drydock last month so the pictures on HALfacts are no longer accurate. My mom has a scooter and we can turn it around in this cabin, something we could not do in cabin 6108 on the Oosterdam, which was listed as a fully accessible but did not have much more if and more room than a standard. These  pictures are of 5001 on the Nieuw Amsterdam.
 

I am currently on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the orange juice in the mimosas are is not fresh squeezed. The same was true on the Oosterdam last summer in Europe. Maybe getting the fresh squeezed orange juice in a mimosa is a Club Orange thing which we have never gotten?

At least giving cash to servers is optional on Holland America.  We were on the Norwegian Sun several years back.  On my first day I stood at the Lido bar for about 15 minutes.  Other passengers were coming up around us and getting served, but the bar tenders were ignoring us. Then I noticed that the people getting served all had cash in their hands to give the bartenders.  It was that way the whole cruise, our first and last on Norwegian. 

Thanks for the pictures. We will be boarding her next Saturday. She 

8 hours ago, oldbluff said:

For those wanting a cash tip to go to a specific bar server or bartender, a reminder that cash tips to them are pooled. Extra tips written on receipts go to the person listed at the top.

 

I recently verified with a bar manager on Eurodam that this is still policy for the bar staff. 

This is good to know.  I had thought the opposite would be the case. I wonder what happens to the cash we give the folks who deliver our room service?

Ever since my mom has needed mobility aids, we have limited our cruises to ones where we could get an accessible cabin and at least two other cabins nearby for the rest of our family. 

It never occurred to me that we could bring a scooter if we were unable to book a fully accessible cabin. I thought it was a requirement that we be able to keep it in the cabin. 

On 10/9/2023 at 2:16 PM, mightycruisequeen said:

😁

This happened to us on the Celebrity Solstice last December.  I contacted the front desk who sent up security to investigate and collect the evidence in the form of cigarette butts. It continued to happen so security came again, a more senior guy.  He gave me the impression that he had a good idea who the culprits were.  I’m not sure what happened to the smokers but the butts and ashes stopped. 

On 9/5/2023 at 1:27 PM, koolforkatz said:

Thanks @crystalspin. That's what I had read on here too. However, the HAL rep I spoke to insisted we could upgrade on board. There are a couple of wines my husband really likes and 2 or 3 glasses of them would definitely make it worthwhile upgrading. If we can...

 

And yes, I would prefer not to have to keep checking our account either 😉

A representative told me the same thing over the phone, but once on the ship they told us it was not possible. 

We were recently in an accessible signature suite on the Oosterdam. Our coffee table wasn’t just a tripping hazard but prevented my mom from moving around the cabin. The steward said that he could only move it out onto the balcony. Fortunately it was a bump out cabin, so the balcony had some a little extra space otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to use it. 

On 9/30/2023 at 12:48 PM, VMax1700 said:

Interesting occurrence last night in Tamarind.  I ordered for the two of us and ordered the two main courses and then ordered the sides.  However the server's connected notepad would not accept the order for the second side.  She found it necessary to cancel our order and then order mains + 1 side and the another main + 1side.  She said the system would only let her order one side per main.  

Make of that whatever you wish!

We were also told that each person could only order one salad, soup or appetizer in the Pinnacle Grill on the Oosterdam. 

22 minutes ago, Mandalay1903 said:

Another good thing about your 6 AM plan is that you'll be an early morning departure. There are usually fewer delays with early morning, since delays often build up during the day and can impact connecting flights.  Weather permitting, you should be in really good shape. The pre-cruise hotel is worth it in my book.

We got caught up in the Southwest debacle last December. Four members of our party were booked on the first flight out the morning of the cruise.  Fortunately my niece, my disabled mother and I planned to fly down the evening before.  It was San Francisco to Los Angeles so a short flight.  When it became clear that our flight would not depart, despite the assurances from the the Southwest gate agents, I called my sister. She drove to the airport, picked us up, and we began the 6 hour drive to LA. The other three members of our group drove down at the crack of dawn after collecting our luggage from the airport, bless them.  We were very fortunate.  While waiting at the gate, I overhead several people trying to rent cars to make the drive to LA and having very little luck. It was our second cruise on the Emerald Princess and she was surprisingly uncrowded for a holiday cruise.  Word was that 300 to 400 people did not make it on the ship. 

On 10/5/2023 at 11:04 AM, sailawayward said:

You can upgrade from the Signature to the Premium under the HIA, but anyone interested in that should do it prior to embarkation. I'm assuming the cost will drastically increase, but you can upgrade to Premium on embarkation day from what we saw with other passengers.  If you're on the Signature Package and order a Premium cocktail, you're just charged the difference in price + gratuity.

They would not allow us to upgrade from the HIA package to the Elite package on the Oosterdam last July. We tried at a bar as we had been able to do on Celebrity and Princess. He sent us to the Customer Service Desk. We went all the way up to the beverage manager but the answer was the same. 

Has anyone ridden one of the donkeys up the hill from the tender port recently?

Or seen the line? Is it as bad as for the cable car?

Alas, when I visited in June of 2000 there were no lines to speak of.  Ours was the only cruise ship in port and we only carried about 900 passengers. 

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

They used to have them and they have slowly disappeared.  

Mary is right.  Our minisuite on the Crown Princess did not have a curtain. 

12 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

It is still a mess and may not get straightened out until February or possibly latter.

 

If you have a cruise in January, it may require arguments with the staff to get what you think you bought.

This is especially true for my niece who has the Zero Proof package in the Solstice right now. I think some of the bartenders don’t want the hassle of making frozen drinks. I sent her this screenshot from a previous Cruise Critic thread to show them:

19 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

First, if you are thinking of buying a alcohol drink package it may be WAYYYY cheaper to get the AI when you consider gratuities, etc.

 

ALSO, the last time I looked at my cruise planner (which was after the change in packages) it said the Classic package INCLUDED Zero-Proof and zero proof has the fancy waters and frozen smoothies, etc.

 

At the moment I think there is still complete confusion at Celebrity about what includes what.  Inconsistency across their website and I would not trust what the agents say.

And this confusion is shared by the bartenders on the Solstice right now. 🤷‍♀️

14 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

I'm just here to find out what the new password is for Mexico since the old one is expiring. 

 I know, and me an English teacher and all. 🤣It wouldn’t let me edit the initial post.  

Thanks for the input. I just worry about the inconsistency. It seems like there are different rules for Mexico but technically it is an international destination. Since our cruise departs in two weeks, it would be tough if not impossible to get my mom’s passport renewed in time.  Fortunately we found a copy of her birth certificate, which in another section of their rules, Celebrity says will work with a photo ID. It does not mention the expiration date of the ID.

We are doing a closed loop cruise out of Los Angeles that will be stopping in Mexico.  We just noticed that my Mom’s passport will expire two months after the cruise. The State Department website says that all we need is a valid passport for travel to Mexico, nothing about when it expires.  Will Celebrity accept this? I’d hate to be turned away at embarkation.