rocksteady27

So glad to hear they worked with you! They did something similar for us when we couldn’t get to FL in April for a spring break cruise. Our situation was much different but it was due to weather (massive thunderstorms) and a glitch in Southwest’s systems that disrupted hundreds of flights including ours. We found out too late to make the drive down from the DC area. Our PCC at HAL rebooked us and even carried over our OBC - even though we had no trip insurance - because of the massive outage. Several other passengers also missed flights to FL and couldn’t board so we weren’t an isolated group. Definitely appreciate my PCC and HAL - I have 4 more cruises already booked through Feb.

3*, started sailing with HAL in 2018. Got points quickly from staying in suites and onboard spending. DS is still a teen and I’m in my early 40s. I love sailing on HAL and plan to continue once the kid goes to college. Would love to do some longer itineraries and continue towards 4* and 5*

yeah I’m not excited about Bimini - would much rather visit Key West. I’ve never been and really was looking forward to it! bummed

I’m on the Nov 5 sailing and Key West has been dropped - now going to Bimini. Would prefer KW

HAL laundry is a huge perk for me - traveling with a kid who finds a way to stain clothes everyday. It also helps us pack one carryon for everyone - knowing we can get t shirts, socks, pajamas washed versus bringing a lot of each item.

Got a tile last month on the Zaandam.

@NCTribeFan that trip sounds great! I have a kid in HS so we can only go during school breaks but I’ve booked the NS for November and the NA for December. I wish I could book more but in a few years I’ll have tons more flexibility.

I was in a Neptune and sent in laundry 3 or 4 days; each time it was returned with a note naming the person who did the laundry (always the same person). I left a cash tip for her with the Neptune Concierge and submitted a compliment in the app. I also gave cash tips, in addition to the gratuities, to my Neptune concierge, my room stewards, dining stewards, and 2 casino beverage waiters who never let me go thirsty! I also sent in compliments via the app for the casino waiters and dining stewards; the Neptune Concierge thanked me for sharing my feedback.

We were in room 7012 and definitely heard noise early morning as they set up around the pool.

Thanks for the info! How do I purchase internet onboard? Do I have to go to Guest Services or is it via the app?

I did a similar itinerary on Zaandam from Montreal to Boston and all my excursions were private through Viator.

I receive free cabin offers with included free play and included signature beverage package. However the emailed offers from HAL are better than the ones I receive at the end of the cruise - the primary difference being the amount of free play. Both types of offer give me the same type of free cabin but email has more free play $$$.

Mine says Rapid NAAT test - nowhere on the report does PCR appear.

I had the same casino offer and was pleasantly surprised with my cabin assignment. Instead of the SB NS at the end of the hallway we had a room (SA) closer to the Neptune Lounge. Good luck and I hope you get the room you want!

I was in the Zaandam July 2-9 and used Azova to proctor an iHealth test (free government mailed test). Azova provides video proctor and sends a report with QR code. I uploaded the report to Verifly and it was accepted. I received the green check and “ready to sail” badge in Verifly. At boarding, the HAL reps were just checking for the check mark and ready to sail on Verifly, they didn’t ask for anything else. Took 30 seconds.

I just got off the Zaandam on July 9. I was in a suite and earned 21 credits (7 sailing, 7 bonus for suite, and 7 for onboard spend). I didn’t buy anything on board as I had the beverage package and my only charges were for gratuities. I did independent excursions. I did play every night in casino - I would win, play it back and win again ending up a little on top. It’s all tracked on the card. However I did charge to my room account for casino cash and paid it off every night with winnings. There’s no fee associated with it and I prefer to do so versus bringing cash with me. HAL’s website isn’t clear - it says “eligible spend” but doesn’t define it. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/mariner-society.html As a member, you’ll earn Cruise Day credits for every day you cruise and for each purchase you make onboard. Earn bonus credits when you pay a published fare for a suite or penthouse and for each $300 in eligible onboard purchases.

same here and I also got onboard spending points from my casino play so 21 total points for my last cruise.

Just got my offer today - yay!

Sailed on Zaandam July 2-9, got bags for each of our 3 rooms.

I was also on this cruise and agree the crew was wonderful. We added tips for our Neptune concierge, dining stewards and room stewards plus tipped our casino servers. It was my first Neptune stay so I hope it was appropriate to tip the concierge - she was lovely!

Watching online now, thanks for tip! https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/episodes/nme23v/mighty-cruise-ships-koningsdam-season-3-ep-1

One final note - Verifly kept offering a paid service to expedite the review of documents uploaded (vaccine record, test results) claiming they were busy. We always declined and still got everything back as accepted in less than an hour. Fees were about $20 or so for expedited review but we always declined and did the normal review process.

Also, we had taken PCR tests late Wednesday back home at Walgreens and 2 of 3 of us received the results by email on Friday which we submitted to Verifly. They were both accepted with no problem. The final person’s results from Walgreens never came through so we booked Azova late Friday for an early Saturday morning appointment at 810am. We had results by 8:45am (PDF document from Azova) which I uploaded to Verifly. Verifly accepted the result by 9:30, issued the final pass, and we boarded at 12:30pm with no issue.

We used the iHealth test - it’s an orange and white box and we received it free via US postal service via the federal government request site. So not purchased but it is one of the accepted tests for Azova. The proctor asked us to open the box during our session but didn’t really do much else to verify which test we were using. The proctor was only on video with us for 5 minutes to verify ID and see the swab be done. Then proctor started a timer in the app and logged off. After the timer for 15 minutes was done the app asked us to enter the result of the Covid test but didn’t verify it live.

We had a similar travel itinerary out of Montreal. We took a couple of the at home test kids and booked a video proctored exam with Azova (add the .com) Super easy and only $20 per person - results within 20-30 minutes and accepted by Verifly for boarding HAL. Got that tip from another poster here and it worked out well for us.