TAD2005

23 hours ago, HeinBloed said:

 

Although they tell you it is "mirrored": when outside is dark and inside is illuminated, you could see every little details of your life in your cabin... So be sure to have the right "costumes" for a show with you. There are many people who are looking inside when you have the door open...

 

If you have a tender boat you look always on the bottom of a tender boat:

 

We have been on 2 different "R" class ships in Lanai cabins.   During the day it is impossible to see inside through the mirror coating on the door and window.  At night, with all cabin lights on, AND if you are pressing your nose on the sliding glass door from the outside, you may see some shadowy movement of people in the cabin.  But I doubt that there are too many perverts onboard that will try to peek into the Lanai cabins, or, for that matter, the OV cabins that have the same mirror coating on their windows.   

You mention that "people look inside when the door is open".   Well what do you expect ?  If the sliding door is open, of course people can see inside, day or night.   But a more serious question, why do you leave an air conditioned cabin door open ?   You are killing the air conditioning for yourself and many cabins around you.  That open door sucks in warm, humid air and wipes out the ability of the AC system to cool your cabin and many cabins next to you, and above and below you.  Be considerate and do NOT prop open any cabin door, in a Lanai or any balcony cabin that has a door.

When you choose your cruise cabin, do a little research.  Check Cruise Deck Plans dot com and look at pictures of similar cabins.   If you have a problem with a railing or the bottom of a lifeboat in your view, then pick an OV cabin, or spring for a Vista Suite.   Don't complain here about a choice you made and now regret it.  "Caveat Emptor", or "Buyer beware".

When we have limited water supply due to hurricanes, we used the reliable old standard "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down".

We have had many cruises that during the wee hours of the morning, you push the flush button and nothing happens.  Usually a few hours later, you hear a flush from the bathroom.  They are working on the vacuum system and that happens many times on cruises with new ships and old ships.   If you gotta go, then go, and when the water is back on, flush it.  No big deal, unless your REAL goal was to score some cabin credits by complaining.   But complaining on CC will not get you too far.  Try the front desk.   

HAL has really screwed up on this one.   For years, the Explore-4 promotion, which was applicable for booking from Aug 1 to just before the US Thanksgiving holiday.  It included the SBP,  a PG dinner, reduced deposit, and lower fares for 3rd and 4th passengers in a cabin.   The last time Explore-4 was available was November 2018.

The new promotion, which HAL screwed up by calling it Explore-4,  provides cabin credits based on your cabin grade and cruise length.  It also provides some specialty dinners and lower deposits, plus free premium internet in verandas and suites.   HAL should have come up with a different name for this promotion to eliminate the confusion we are seeing here.

They did have a promotion called Early Booking Bonus (EBB) which was very successful, but it ended on June 30.  It provided the SBP and a PG dinner for no increase in cruise price, which was amazing.   I got a 29 day SBP valued at $1500 per person for no increase in price on my Oct 2020 cruise.   Some people have confused the EBB with Explore-4.   The present Explore-4, in my opinion, is a total dud, and not worth the additional cruise price.   However, if free drinks do not interest you, then the current Explore-4 might be interesting.   They just should have had their marketing people come up with a new name for the promotion.  

5 hours ago, Selion said:

HAL noob here with 1st HAL cruise 9 months away (Memorial Day weekend 2020).  How far in advance should I book my flights?  It's domestic to Seattle.  I know I can cancel and rebook if I book flexible fares with HAL.  Anyone has a suggestion for the "Goldilock's Zone" for booking flights?

The earliest you can book any flights is 330 days from your last flight, which could be after you disembark the ship, if you are flying home.   For domestic (US) flights, the prices start changing (going up or down) around 60 days out.  For international flights, 5 months is a good time to book.   Unless you are travelling to Europe in the summer.  Prices are very high from April to September for Europe.

Any news on the Rotterdam dry-dock in December 2019 ?   On the current "HAL Ships at a Glance" chart, the Rotterdam is scheduled to have the "Mix" area renovated to include Billboard Onboard, eliminating the traditional Piano Bar in that area.  The HAL chart says that Billboard Onboard will be on the Rotterdam effective Dec 6, 2019.   But checking the Rotterdam cruise schedule from now to December, 2019, I don't see any gaps in the sailing schedule that would allow a large scale renovation like ripping out the entire "Mix" area, with both bars and adding the dueling pianos.

If the airline you are flying is part of the code-sharing alliance for a domestic airline, then your FF number will credit the miles to your domestic airline.   We booked a Trans Atlantic on British Airways with Flight Ease.  After the booking, we got an immediate BA record locator.  BA is a member of One World, which American Airlines is also a partner.   We were able to enter our AA FF number and we got AA mileage credit and we were able to select out seats on the BA flight.

I saw a CC post that the Veendam has a full ship charter starting Nov 3, when it arrives from its Trans-Atlantic.

20 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Holland America Line

Ships: Fleetwide

Package Details: For $51.69 per person, per day, with advance purchase, or $57.44 when you purchase onboard, Holland America's Signature Beverage Package allows cruisers to indulge in a variety of wine, beer, spirits, cocktails (including nonalcoholic), sodas and coffee for an entire sailing. Each drink must cost no more than $9.

The Elite Beverage Package will buy you premium spirits, cocktails, wines, beers, coffees, nonalcoholic beverages, bottled water and sodas, up to a value of $15 each. On Koningsdam, this also includes the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, which offer more than 100 flavors. The price for the Elite Beverage Package is $63.19 per person, per day if purchased in advance or onboard.

The line also offers a Cellar Master Package, which includes a choice of five wine bottles, a standard and a premium wine-tasting, one Pinnacle Grill dinner, a wine accessory gift set and a Holland America Line commemorative bottle of wine, starting at $252 per person.

Fine Print: Prices reflect an included 15 percent service charge. Packages are only available to purchase onboard during the first 48 hours of the cruise. If one passenger in a cabin opts for a Signature or Elite drinks package, anyone who is 21-plus years old in the same cabin is required to purchase it as well. Items from the mini-bar, in-room dining and beverages on Half Moon Cay are excluded from package. 

The package is now $11.00 from $9.00!

🌺 we enjoy all the specialty coffees at Explorers Cafe and also Dutch Cafe plus 

all your waters this is included!

Denise😊

The most current prices of the SBP, copied from the HAL website today are "Prices are per day at $44.95 if pre-booked online compared to $54.95 if purchased on board".   With the 15% service charge added, that makes the online purchase $51.70 per day and the onboard price $63.20 per day.   The Elite beverage package is now $59.95 per day plus 15%, or $68.95 per day.   The elite package has the same price, if you purchase it online, before the cruise or onboard using cabin credits.  HAL recently raised the price for onboard SBP purchases.  It used to be a $5 a day penalty, now it's a $10 a day penalty, plus the usual 15%.   I call it a penalty because HAL would prefer you use your own money to buy the drink packages instead of using the free, HAL provided cabin credits.   If you are going to use their free cabin credits, they will grab more of it for the SBP when you buy onboard.  You are correct that the max drink price for the SBP is now $11, up from $9.

The Signature Beverage Package (SBP) covers all alcoholic drinks with a menu price of $11 or less.  And you don't have to concern yourself with the 15% service charge, because you have already paid that when you purchased the package.  Check the drink menus on Roger Jett Photography dot com, and you will see the current drink prices and what is available for $11 and under.   You can get all beers, most every mixed drink and a decent selection of wines with the SBP.   Just about every gin, vodka, rum, scotch, is included, and drinks with multiple alcohols still count as one drink.  You can get a Long Island Ice Tea which has many types of alcohol in it and it is covered.  You can get doubles of any drink,  but it counts as 2 drinks of your daily limit of 15.   If you do order a drink that costs more than $11 menu price, your cabin account will be charged for the full amount of the drink plus 15% SC.   You cannot just pay the difference.  Both passengers in your cabin must purchase the same drink package.  This prevents drink sharing.   People have tried to scam the system in the past and order a drink for a cabin-mate or a friend and discretely sliding that drink over to them.  The waiters are attuned to this and will cancel your package with no refunds.

With the SBP, you can also get unlimited sodas (cans or in a glass), bottles of water in 500 or 330 ml sizes, and all non-alcoholic specialty coffees.   You can use it in the MDR and any specialty restaurants.   

The SBP will not cover any drinks from your mini-bar in your cabin or any room service drinks.  Also drinks on Half Moon Cay are not covered.   Bottles of water that you might buy when heading down the gangway for a shore excursion are not included. 

If, when you get onboard, and find that the $11 limit is not sufficient, especially if you like your wines, you can easily upgrade to the Elite Beverage Package that has a $15 limit, by paying the difference in the daily price.   But if you check the drink menus before your cruise, you should be able to determine which package is best for you.

We always find the SBP saves us hundreds of $$$ on every cruise, but our cruises are usually 21 days and longer, with many sea days.  Enjoy !! 

21 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Or couldn’t you just buy a beverage card for the amount you want?  I believe if you buy it ahead of time your name is on it.  Then you can use it for anything you want.

 

do you save a lot by buying a package?

Depends on your typical beverage consumption when you are in vacation mode.   (much different than home mode when you have to go to work the next day, or worry about driving home from a restaurant).   The current SBP is $44.95 per day plus 15% SC, or $51.70 per day if you buy it online before your cruise.  That gets you 15 drinks per day prices at $11 or less, MENU PRICE.   Don't worry about the 15% SC with the package, it is already paid.  The 15 drink per day limit is only for alcoholic drinks,  sodas, bottled water and non-alcoholic specialty coffees are unlimited.  The average drink price on HAL ships is $8.95 plus 15%, or $10.30 per drink if you don't have the package.  Divide $51.70 by $10.30 and you get about 5 drinks.   After 5 drinks, you are drinking free.   It all depends on what you think you will consume per day.   Also, a very port intensive cruise will keep you off the ship most of the day, so your drink count will be lower.  On cruise with lots of sea days, the reverse is true.   Some people make out like bandits with the SBP, others say it doesn't work for them because they only have 1 or 2 glasses of wine at dinner.

DW does not like the room service coffee.  So she brings her own container of instant coffee, and we write-in a large pot of hot water on the door tag, along with a lot of other write-in items.   We always get exactly what we write in, and it is prepared perfectly.

The muster drills are usually quick and painless.  But we always seem to be assigned to a lifeboat station where there are a few stragglers who insist on getting that last cocktail when the 3rd level alarm is sounded.   They try to take it with them, but they get stopped, so everybody has to wait while they chug a drink and wander out to the lifeboat station with 100 + people glaring at them.  

3 hours ago, Floridiana said:

 

We are planning to book this cruise from Rotterdam to Fort Lauderdale via Barcelona. We are worried about the age of the ship and were also looking at a Viking ship, but the Rotterdam has the better itinerary. She has Bilbao, Valencia and Casablanca on her route. That is extraordinary. Bilbao and Valencia are on my wish list and I have never found them on the same itinerary before.  

By the way, we also live in Central Florida.

We cruised on the Rotterdam from Tampa for 21 days in 2016.   Great cruise, no problems.   We love the traditional, intimate piano bars that were on all HAL ships before the Billboard Onboard dueling pianos came along.   That change eliminated the really great piano bar musicians from being able to work on many HAL ships.   The new musicians from Billboard Corporation usually have never performed together in a "dual" setting before they board the ship and start their contract.   Usually you get one good musician and one weak one.   Occasionally you get 2 good ones.  But we prefer the traditional piano bar that is in the "Mix" area, and hope it stays that way. 

2 hours ago, kruzin2010 said:

i A 15% service charge will be automatically applied to your purchase.

The 15% service charge is added to the purchase of the initial SBP,  NOT each drink.   When you buy the SBP online, it is $44.95 per day (the least expensive in the industry) plus the 15% SC, which totals $51.70 per day.   Yes, both in the cabin must buy the package.   

Princess doesn't have the "both must buy" requirement, but their basic package costs $69 per day plus 18% service charge or $70.79 per day.  For that extra $20 per day, they can afford some sneaky drink sharing between guests.

Yes, the Westerdam does have the wall-mounted flat-screens.  They are around 40' and they use on-demand technology.   You can start a movie, stop it to have dinner, and come back and it remembers where you left off.   The movie selections are vast and categorized according to genre.   There are hundreds of titles.   Plus they have live TV from ESPN-2, ESPN-2, MSNBC, FOX News, BBC World Service, and a special events live channel.   There are reruns of popular TV series such as Big Bang Theory,  and House Hunters International from HGTV.  Lots of stuff to watch.

18 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

I fly in the day before departure and in the US I go to the nearest CVS or Walgreens  to my hotel.  I've put a case of Canada Dry ginger ale (only one I'll drink) and a couple of bottles of water in one of those plastic dollar store bags that you can zip.  Then I add a luggage tag and off load it at the port with my luggage.

HAL has specific policies that any soda or water MUST be carried on by the passenger.  You cannot pack it into a "dollar store zip bag" and put a luggage tag on it.   All luggage is loaded into a huge metal cage with hundreds of pounds of other bags in top of it.  That cage is delivered to the ship by fork lift.   If your "dollar store" bag is near the bottom of hundreds of pounds if other luggage, the weight will squash your soda cans and water bottles and your luggage and many other passengers luggage will be soaked with sticky soda and water.   Are you willing to pay the cleaning charges for those passengers clothes ?   That's why HAL prohibits any sodas and water in checked luggage.   People have gotten away with doing it, but why take that chance ?

There's no free lunch (or breakfast or dinner).   Every product or service that you consume on the ship costs the cruise line money.  If those services or product are bundled into the cruise fare, it goes up for everybody, and every guest doesn't use all of those products or services.   To keep prices competitive, most products and services are not bundled, but ala-carte.   Obviously this could be taken to a ridiculous end by charging for hot tub and pool usage, charging admittance at BB-KIng's Blues Club, etc.   But to reach a happy medium, things like soda, specialty coffees, bottled water cost the cruise line something, so they mark that up and charge the passenger.   If you want "All-Inclusive", there are lines that provide that, and everyone pays for many services and products they will not use.   But if that is what "floats your boat", then go for it, but be prepared to pay.   However, when "All Inclusive" goes main-stream, then you end up with situations like Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.   The food and beverage managers of many of those "All Inclusive" resorts were getting swamped by guests drinking themselves into oblivion.   So they put out feelers for any beverage distributor who could supply off-brand alcohol at rock bottom prices.  The distributors complied and started cutting the booze with methanol, which is cheaper, but is killing people.   I'm not saying that the free Diet Coke on your next All Inclusive cruise will kill you,  but when the demand for all the free stuff reaches the tipping point, then the quality of the free stuff will suffer.  or the prices will go up even more.   Take your pick.   I am happy the way HAL is marketing their product.

23 hours ago, sevenseasnomad said:

Agree that passengers should never leave an outside door open any longer than it takes to exit or enter the cabin by that route.

 

We were on the Rotterdam when we had the lanai with the steward bringing in our cushions for us.  This was April 2018, so it may be different now.  The few times we sat out late at night, we hauled the cushions back in because we didn't want them exposed to the damp night air, not to mention any hosing down the crew may have done.

 

Yes, they do collect the cushions; our neighbors mentioned it, but no one knocked on our door asking where our missing cushions were.

On the Rotterdam, recently, if you brought them inside at night, the crew doesn't care.   If you don't, they will collect them so they don't  get soaked during the hosing of the promenade deck.   There is so little excess space in the Lanai cabins, that storing those chair pads every night would be a real inconvenience.   

Because the NY Style Pizzas are made individually to your order, where you can choose the toppings, (or bring your own toppings from the Lido Salad bar), the bake of the cruse, the amount of cheese, the type and amount of sauce,  then the quality of the pizza is really in your hands.   Yes, the Lido Market Pizzas (under the french-fry lights) are OK, but not great.  But the NY Style Pizzas on the ships that have them, are only as good as your instructions to the baker.

We have sailed the Rotterdam many times in the past, and have booked 29 days on the Rotterdam from Rotterdam to Ft. Lauderdale in Oct 2020.   According to HAL's "Ships at a Glance" chart, the Rotterdam is scheduled to have the Mix bar and piano bar area gutted and Billboard Onboard installed by a drydock just before Dec 9, 2019.   But I checked the sailing schedule of the Rotterdam, and every day from now to Oct. 2020 is a scheduled cruise.   I don't see any 2-week period where such a large renovation could take place.   I checked the Drydocks, and Groups onboard post on CC and they do not show a drydock (or a wetdock) for the Rotterdam.   Does anyone have any updates on this ?   

Most ports in the US are secure areas which, like airports, require vehicles entering the port to have a boarding pass or a legitimate port vehicle pass like taxis.   Amazon delivery requires a street address.   Considering the chaos that normally surrounds a cruise ship port, I would think Amazon would politely say No Thanks.   For sodas and bottled water, give yourself and your mom a real treat on the cruise and buy a Quench non-alcoholic beverage package.   That way, when your mom is thirsty, she doesn't have to run back to the cabin to grab something cool.  She just asks any waiter or bartender for a cold soda or water and show the card.  And you can buy as many sodas or bottles of water as you want and stock your cabin fridge.  Ask your room steward to remove all of the fridge contents when you board, leaving the fridge empty.   People spend thousands of $$$ on a cruise, but try to save a little by humping heavy cases of water and soda all over the embarkation city and onto the ship.  And you can't try to smuggle it in your checked luggage.  HAL x-rays all bags and catches most flats of soda and water.   HAL doesn't want broken cans of soda leaking all over the carpets when they deliver your bags to your cabin.

There's a difference between a B2B and a Collector's cruise.

A B2B is 2 cruises that HAL has not officially combined into a single cruise and they sell them individually.  You can usually get a discount when you buy both cruises at the same time.  You usually get 2 separate booking numbers, and occasionally you have to change cabins if your first cabin is not available on the 2nd cruise.    

A Collector's cruise is one, longer cruise that has a midpoint,  and people can buy either segment or the whole cruise.  But you have one booking number for the whole cruise, one cabin account,  and you are guaranteed the same cabin for the full cruise.   In Europe, on a Collectors Cruise, you get an "In Transit" pass and you can leave the ship or stay on at the midpoint, your choice.  When you return to the ship, you can bypass the lines of new passengers waiting to board.   If your Collector's cruise or B2B midpoint is a US port, everyone must leave the ship at a specific time after the disembarking guests have left, and wait for US immigration to declare the ship is at "Zero Count".  Meaning there are zero passengers onboard.  Then, you are permitted to reboard.   We have never had a B2B or Collector's cruise where the midpoint was a Canadian port, so I can't offer anything there.

2 hours ago, Sea Belle said:

Thanks to all of you for your responses.  I am glad to be forewarned about the sliding door and magnet situation.  Since the space is limited we may forgo the refrigerator.  I may just bring a small fold up cooler and have the steward fill it with ice once a day for cooling a bottle of wine or sodas.  I wish the ice bucket was larger. LOL!  

 

Clothes pins for the curtains at night.

Sm cooler for icing wine

Bring in cushions before going to dinner

Eat sufficiently to build up strength to open sliding door!!!!!!  No problem with that!😎

Ask your room steward for a champagne ice bucket and keep it full of ice.   You can rent a fridge for $2 a day, but it has to be under your desk which eliminates your leg space if you plan to do any computer work at the desk.

On the Rotterdam, we were not instructed to bring the lounge chair pads in at night.  They came by with a push-cart to collect them around 8 or 9 pm. Then they hose down the deck.  They put them back on the chairs around 6 AM.

PLEASE do NOT leave your Lanai sliding glass door open, or for that matter, any balcony cabin door on any ship for outside ventilation, as suggested by a post above.   The air conditioning is a shared, closed-loop system.   Just like in your house,, if you leave a large door open with the AC running, your AC unit will work much harder to remove all of that hot, humid air.  On a cruise ship, with shared cooling among a group of cabins, that action will destroy the air conditioning for you and every other cabin in your area.  That humid, sea air gets sucked in from the open door, circulates through all other cabins,  and reduces the cooling for everybody. 

The SBP has always had the 15% SC included in the purchase price, if you buy it, or if it's included with a promotion, it is always included.  You never get hit with 15% service charges when you have the SBP.   And the current drink max cost is $11 MENU PRICE.   Do not start adding 15% to the menu drink prices to determine if they are included in the $11 limit.  The price you see on the drink menus will determine if the drink is included in the package.

We had a Lanai cabin on the Rotterdam.   The sliding glass door has very thick panes of glass, much heavier than you would see on a regular balcony cabin higher up.   That heavy glass makes the door more difficult to slide open, but we never had a problem with it sliding closed by itself.   We definitely had to push it closed.   The door has a very strong magnetic lock that you push a button inside to release the magnet.   You have about 3 seconds to slide the door open before the magnetic lock re-energizes.  Same for the outside proximity lock release.   Your special lock release card (you are issued 2, and don't lose them) is a prox card.  You just hold it against the prox reader outside your cabin and you again have 3 seconds to start to slide open the door, or it will lock.

The sliding door and window have a very heavy reflective film applied which prevents anyone on the outside from seeing into your cabin.  During the day, it's impossible to see anything.  At night, with all the cabin lights on and your nose pressed against the door from the outside, you can only make out the ceiling lights.  Anyone walking around the cabin are just shadows.   But you should still keep your drapes closed at night, because the promenade deck is well lighted all through the night.   Some people use the men's pants hangers with clips to hold the drapes completely closed, if you want total darkness for sleeping.   

There is no fridge and there is little room to put one if you decide to rent one for $2 per day.   

You have 2 reserved lounge chairs right outside your sliding glass door.   The pads on those chairs were removed around 9:00 pm and replaced at 6:00 AM to allow for hosing down of the deck during the night.

On the Rotterdam, some of the Lanai cabins were under the kitchen sections of the MDR.  We did have a little noise from that in one of the Lanai cabins that were closer to the aft section.

But we enjoyed the Lanai cabin and it's great for people who enjoy walking the decks.