paintbranch

Starboard last week. The port side overlooked the pier.

 

David

Thank you. I booked my clients starboard for August 14. I just saw pics the original thread people posted. Sure enough you're correct!

Thanks again.

We were on this cruise also, thanks for the great review commentary and pictures. We also booked a private car tour for the first day, then did our own walking tour on the second day. We booked with old cars havana dot com. We paid 110 CUC and tipped 15 CUC, you are a big tipper :)

 

The only excursions booked onboard was the waverunner, not bad at $139 for both of us on one.

 

We rated it 5 stars, wonderful experience, no problems with the ship, cabin, entertainment and dining, or time onshore.

 

We liked the freestyle NCL so much I took advantage of the deposit for a future cruise to get the onboard credit bonus. Now I just need to figure out how to get the best value out of the credit, we are looking at the Pearl out of Seattle for Alaska cruise.

 

I bought a box of 25 cigars and had no problem with US Customs, they didn't inspect bags or xray them. You can bring in 200 cigars. If you bring cigarettes there is a form to fill out to pay some kind of tax.

 

 

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Which side of the ship has best view from 9th floor balcony when tied up in Cuba? Thanks. Port or starboard?

OP's wife here...correcting my DH since he was taking all of the pictures...at one point Hector did ask if we wanted the AC on. I said no, since we had all 4 of our windows down and there was a nice breeze.

 

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Thank you for your great review.

 

Which side of ship gives you a view of island from balconies? I think I saw your pic showed starboard side toward island and port side toward a ship in the next berth. My friends wanted me to change them to port side but you never know if bow first or stern first or tie ups along side. Thanks. Great info.

HAL is experimenting with a new unlimited internet time program on the Westerdam. The cost per day or per voyage is based on if you want total internet, or only access to some social media sites. On all of the other ships, you purchase a package of "minutes". Plan on the internet to be painfully slow, especially if you use their computers. Your own tablet will be much faster.

Because the ship internet is so slow, I broke down and bought unlimited.

How far back in this thread should you read now, in April 2016? I'm looking at a New Zealand trip on Noordam. Just wondering how to sift through a lot of outdated information.

 

Any particular threads that have good info on this particular ship?

Hello / great question. I would go to your roll call HAL Noordam and your date. And then read backwards. Newest first. I am kind of nerdy so I might read all the way back. I am looking for nice people to share small tours with. Better, cheaper and more fun.

Travel safe.

Susan

The participation in roll calls varies for reasons that no one can identify. There really is no way to increase participation in a roll call except to wait as folks book the cruise and join the roll call thread.

 

I've seen little 4-day cruises with lsrge numbers of participants and roll calls as large as 100 pages and big 15 day tranaAtlantics with just 3 or 4 pages.

 

Generally speaking the size of a roll call is not a function of cruise lines but just the luck of the draw.

Truthfully, I expected you to suggest it might be a function of computer literacy. And the average age of the cruisers. 🤔 Thanks. ⛴🛥⛵️🛳

Every cruise line has its own standards, styles, techniques, idiosyncrasies, traditions and other characteristics that are unique. It has been suggested that we set up a sticky thread for folks who are new to Holland America but not necessarily new cruisers. Contributions by folks who have sailed on other lines as well as on HAL would be appreciated.

 

This thread is not intended to replace individual threads discussing specific issues. Rather it is intended to point out things that might be helpful to those who are cruising on Holland America for the first time.

 

My favorite user manuals for computers and associated software are the "Dummies" series, so that's the title I chose for this thread.

 

By the way, thus is not intended to replace the HAL Facts thread which has a different purpose.

 

Here's a thread on the First Time Cruisers board that may give you some ideas...but make sure your posts are specific to HAL. "I wish I knew before..."

There are only 18 members on the May 30 Eurodam Roll call. Is this ususal for HAL? I am used to higher numbers on NCL. ANYTHING HAL or travelers can do to get the word out? Thanks. It iis impacting attempts to share tours.