ldog

I tried changing to chrome. It worked for a few minutes but when I switched to a different booking number it went to a white screen. 

39 minutes ago, colin v said:

Then don't. 

 

Which business are you inquriging about?  Holland America, Your ISP, the Chrome browser, your laptop, operating system, cruise critic or the website you visited before that placed some sort of tracker on your computer that is potentially mucking things up?

 

There are thousands of pieces of code that are between your browser and their website. Sometimes it just takes one of them to have a bad day and you have a bad day.

 

HAL apologists abound. 
 

websites are there for us to buy stuff. If they are glitchy and don’t work there is nobody buying. 

i have worked with computers since the early eighties and have even developed some websites in my marketing days. 
 

I could find a workaround but why do I have to fix their incompetence?

I’m not going to change my browser. I see no reason why I should have to do that. Who is running this business?  

I haven't been able to login to my account for days.  today it just says "Some thing went wrong, Try again later."

When I was on last week I tried to book some shore excursions but was dumped from the site.  Then it told me that I had redeemed my HIA credits but nothing showed up on my itinerary.  I called and spoke to a very pleasant agent in the shore ex department who booked one of the excursions which does show up but now it still has the incorrect remaining amount.

I am not new at this. We've been booking  sailing with HAL since 2004.

Very frustrating.

We are on a B2B in November 2024.  The ship is in port from 7-3 so I'm thinking there isn't really enough time to go into Rome. So we are looking for ideas for that day.

Can we talk about how the Caesar salad has changed?  I was so disappointed in the bit of big lettuce pieces with a smidgeon of dressing drizzled over the top and huge tasteless croutons.  I can't see how anyone would think that it was okay to charge extra for that.   We love the lobster bisque so had decided to split a salad as an add on.

It sounds interesting but at what price point?  This way both HAL and Nat Geo have to make a profit along with the actual tour provider.  Looks like there will be more middlemen.

Not a casino offer but did you sign in with your Mariner account?  We had a mail offer and then email offer that our TA and her HAL rep couldn't find until they put in our Mariner number.

I have never not found a seat in the Lido at breakfast. 

1 hour ago, Roz said:

I think goose is greasy.

That's what I expected but this wasn't.  It was tender and delicious.

We were on the Zaandam over Christmas and NY last December.  Beautiful decorations.  The food was really good.  Roast Goose on Christmas Eve was fabulous!

On 5/24/2023 at 11:56 AM, kitcrazy said:

Just came off a recent (February-March 2023) cruise to the Central and South Pacific, and while researching, I couldn't find much information for a few specific areas/activities.  So I've written three blog posts (with photos) in the hope that they can assist those of you who are going to the same area and/or have similar interests. Please note that this is NOT advertising as my blog is  not monetized; it is simply for family, friends and other interested people. 

• Remote serenity, the Tabuaeran Atoll (https://thefunoftravel.com/remote-serenity-the-tabuaeran-atoll/ ).  Also known as Fanning Island.
• Tasting Tahiti ... (https://thefunoftravel.com/tasting-tahiti/).  About French Polynesian cuisine.
• Holy Fakarava! (https://thefunoftravel.com/holy-fakarava/).  Way more fun than you might expect!

 

Hope you enjoy reading these, and please tell me if you do 😃

thanks....these are all great!  We are on the Koningsdam 2024 itinerary.

I check all the time.  You don't lose the original unless you book a new flight.

21 minutes ago, dawnvip said:

That is really disturbing then, and makes me re-consider our plans to add on the second leg of the SA cruise we are booked for this fall. Right now, we have the 17 day Fort Lauderdale to Santiago, and were seriously considering adding on the Santiago to Buenos Aires portion.

I wouldn’t say it is a dealbreaker. Just an annoyance and something to be prepared for. I would just book the important dates before boarding next time. We could mostly book what we needed. 

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

So would it really be fair if you could book dining for the second two legs before the rest of the passengers on those legs got on board?  It seems like the way HAL handled it was fair to everyone.

Passengers who hadn’t yet boarded could book on the website we couldn’t book even though we were there. 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

If you were on a Collectors’ cruise you would have had not issue.  You were on a B2B - those are 2 separate cruises and that is the problem.  

Nope.  It was booked as a 28 day and a 14 day and we couldn’t book the second half of the 28 day after we were onboard. 

2 hours ago, dawnvip said:

 This answers the OP's comment exactly - you're on board and can access HAL concierge/reservation desk directly. Seems the real gripe is that the app doesn't let you make reservations once the cruise has started, no matter how long you are on board?

Nope....It happened to us on the Westerdam in February.  Once onboard we couldn't book any dinners after the first 14 days and we were on three b2backs.  It was ridiculous.  The IT dept and the Nav app are substandard.   We couldn't even book at the Pinnacle or Canneletto desk until the start of each segment.  Makes us seriously consider so-called Collectors cruises.

I am well aware that we were on a startup cruise.  But it was 3 BTB's out of Singapore which is the part of Asia that we wanted to go to at the time of year that we wanted to travel. (escaping winter in Ontario).  

That still doesn't mean that they had to repeat EVERYTHING. 

The performers that they did bring aboard, especially the Malaysian Harmonica Champion and the Filipino's Got Talent violinist, were fabulous.  The Comedians not so much.

I worked in the entertainment business before retirement.  I know that it isn't that hard to change up set lists.

On 5/10/2023 at 1:46 PM, canadarocks said:

Just sharing my experience. I expected the third leg to be repetitive as it was almost identical to the first. But since the first and second legs were also sold as a 21 day cruise, I (perhaps foolishly) expected them to be different. To each his own. Happy Cruising! 

We were on the Westerdam for February and March in Asia. Booked as a 24 and 16 day. Turned out to be three repetitive cruises. No repeat ports except Singapore but extremely repetitive entertainment and menus. Even the set lists in Billboard, Lincoln Centre and RS. 
 

I’ve seen the Step One and Cantare so many times that I could do them in my sleep. (Two cruises last year). 
 

There aren’t any longer cruises in Asia so if you want to cruise there it’s the only option. It looks like Europe is much the same. 

On 5/6/2023 at 6:21 AM, ontheweb said:

The accounting system works in strange and mysterious ways. It is not something we mere mortals should even attempt to understand. 

DH calls it 'creative accounting'.

Gala dinners are generally on sea days.  We were on the Zaandam over the holidays last December - there were special menus on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve.  I don't think it will be very different out of Singapore.

But, unfortunately, the plan to return to longer voyages seems to only be bundling a number of two-week itineraries together.  This makes for repetitive entertainment, menus etc.  We were on the Westerdam for six weeks in Feb-March.  Even the Billboard Onboard sets were repetitive.   I could tell you when Dancing Queen was next on the list and even the jokes and repartee were repeated.

thanks for the review.  we are going in January. 

Cantare and Step One are around 40 minutes at most. 
 

afternoon tea is usually only on sea days now

Not that it will stop us from cruising but on the Westerdam in Feb.

Lido

no cream or half and half ever

blueberries ran out every day....if you ate before 730 you could get them

lettuce other than iceberg

lemons for tea

lemonade was very diluted

rye bread for toast

smoked salmon

hot sauce

cookies after 9pm

Bars

ginger ale or ginger beer

any soda other than cola

olives and celery for virgin mary

Dining Room

berries cut in half

sauces were negligible...remedied by ordering double sauce

no cream of wheat but still on menu

cream for coffee at breakfast sometimes