firsttimer1971

Yeah, that sounds like a real ordeal when you must plan when to renew your passport. It's the uncertainty of how long it will take that really makes it difficult.

Wow, 7 weeks.... in my country (The Netherlands) it takes 5 working days. And if you really need it urgently, the next day is possible (for an extra fee). But for all applications we do have to go to our local City Hall in person. Now I understand why I see so many questions about "do i need a passport for this cruise" on Facebook.

I agree that it is in HAL's best interest to provide this. In my country (the Netherlands), it is no longer required to go in the quarantine/isolation when infected or even self-test when you have symptoms. The current Omnikron-variants are now treated just like a cold or flu -> if you feel sick, you stay at home and if you don't feel sick, you can go about your business as usual (while being mindful about people with bad health). So I can definitely see why some people (not me) would think to themselves "why should I isolate/quarantine and miss out on all the ports/fun if it is no longer required to do so?" if they don't feel sick. HAL providing FCC will give some people the incentive to stay in their cabin.

As far as I can tell FCC is still offered: If I go to https://www.hollandamerica.com/ -> Plan a Cruise -> Worry Free Promise -> FAQ and then to the question " What happens when a guest test positive for COVID-19 on board?" it says: [Quote] If you, your family members, travelling companions or other close contact are quarantined or medically isolated during your voyage because of a positive COVID-19 test or are suspected of having COVID-19, you are entitled to a 100% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for any full day spent in isolation, including the time in quarantine. [end Quote]

Just a simple example, took a photo, removed one person, and used PS AI to add penguins. It gives you three options, and this was the "most realistic" of the three. PS AI even notices things like the direction of the sun. All of it took less than 30 seconds.

I just used PS AI to remove an unwanted person from the middle of a group photo and it did an amazing job, especially considering it is a beta-version. That photo had been bothering me for a couple of years now because it was a photo from my wedding (made by an amateur friend) and one of my family members insisted that his girlfriend was included and of course they broke up soon after the photo was taken. It was also noticeably clear from the expression on her face that she didn't want to be in the photo. I had tried to remove her myself a couple of years ago but since she was in the middle of the group and the background was busy this had not been an easy task and the result was a 6 out of 10 at best. And now PS AI did it in 10 seconds and nobody who sees the photo will know that it was edited. It also does an amazing job of expanding the canvas. The result may vary from fantastic to terrible but since this is still a beta-version it will only get better.

Completely agree but without knowing any details about their basic salary we do know that the Hotel Service Charge (or Gratuity/Crew Appreciation) is important for the crew as it says so on the HAL website: "The Hotel Service Charge is paid entirely to Holland America Line crew members, and represents an important part of their compensation"

The Hotel Service Charge that is charged on a daily basis is pooled together and then paid to all crew members. So no, the suite stewards don't necessarily make $45 more than the outside cabin stewards as we don't know how the Hotel Service Charge/Crew Appreciation is distributed among the crew. From the FAQ on the HAL website: " Our crew works very hard to make sure that every aspect of your cruise meets the highest standards. This includes those crew members who serve you directly, such as Dining Room wait staff and the stewards who service your stateroom each day. There are also many others who support their efforts whom you may never meet, such as galley and laundry staff. To ensure that the efforts of all of our crew members are recognized and rewarded, a daily Hotel Service Charge is automatically added to each guest’s shipboard account. ... The Hotel Service Charge is paid entirely to Holland America Line crew members, and represents an important part of their compensation"

Isn't it the other way around? Customers feeling obliged to tip because they know that employers pay less to their employees resulting in the employees depending on tips to have a decent wage? Nothing is stopping employers from paying their employees a decent wage, regardless of the tips they receive. The only reason to pay them less is greed on the part of the employers. Coming from a country where employees in the service industry are paid a decent wage and tipping is not the norm (or just a small amount), I have been reading all the threads and discussions about tipping in the USA with increasing amazement. There seems to be a huge division between the USA and the rest of the world in that respect. I saw videos about customers at drive-throughs and in a self-service kiosk in the US being asked to tip. Don't get me wrong, I understand how it works on a cruise and will not be removing the daily gratuity . I'll even be tipping some extra for excellent service, but I'd much rather just pay more for my cruise and not have to deal with tipping at all.

Yes, $10 a day, on top of the costs of your Internet package. I have the travel router so I am going to try that first.

Most of the reviews are 4 or 5 star with an overall rating of 4 stars. I found this through a (Dutch) tech site and most users were happy with it.

The TL-WR902AC is a new model, only costs USD 10 more and supports dual band. As far as I can tell from the TP-Link website it is the latest model travel router they've got.

In addition to this I will also be disabling Roaming and changing the network selection from Automatic to Manual. Combined with the airplane mode that should prevent my phone from ever accidentally connecting to the ship's cellular service. Maybe a bit paranoid but better safe than sorry.

No, I don't recommend stealing because that is against the law and the rules. But sharing an internet account using a router/laptop/phone is not against the law or against the rules. If you consider that stealing, then my wife and I should also take separate taxis instead of sharing one. Yes, HAL missing out om some money but that is different from stealing from the ship stores and spa. If it was, then taking your own photos onboard and not buying them from the ship's photographer is also stealing. Taking your own sunscreen onboard instead of buying it from the ship's store would also be stealing. And taking 3rd party excursions instead of using HAL's excursion would also be stealing.

Dutch National Airline KLM gives it Business Class passengers on international flights a Delft Blue miniature house (filled with Gin) representing a real Dutch building. One of them is the former Holland Amerika Line head office. I actually have this one myself. Text from the website of KLMhouses.com: "Hotel New York Koninginnehoofd 1, Rotterdam Hotel New York is situated in the former head office of the Holland America Line, also known as 'The Grand Old Lady'. From here thousands of emigrants left for North America, hoping for a better life. Nowadays, people come here to sleep, celebrate, eat, drink and do business in a special atmosphere. In earlier times, many Europeans escaped poverty and/or religious persecution by leaving from Rotterdam. These emigrants usually left for North America, hoping for a better life. In 1873 the NASM company was founded, officially renamed 'Holland America Line' in 1896. In 1971, after more than 100 years of transporting passengers, the Nieuw Amsterdam left the city on the Maas for its last crossing. An important episode in Rotterdam's nautical history had come to an end. The building in which hotel New Yorkis situated was built in the Jugendstil style during the period 1901-1917 by the architects J. Muller, Droogleever Fortuin and C.B. van der Tak. In 1977 the Holland America Line's head office moved to Seattle and in 1984 the building on Wilhelmina Pier was put on sale. One fine day in the early nineties, a few people regarded the building from across the water. With its tall towers and spinning weathercock, the building seemed to say: "Yes, I’m still here!" That is when the idea of a hotel and large café-restaurant first took shape, leading to Hotel New York opening its doors on May 5, 1993. Hotel New York has 72 rooms (some of them are old boardrooms from the directors of the HAL), 7 conference rooms, a big caf&eactu;-restaurant for 400 people and an exclusive restaurant for 100 guests named NY Basement in its souterrain. The 97th miniature was revealed at a festive event aboard the Steamship in Rotterdam. KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers presented the first miniatures to Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Mayor of Rotterdam, and Mr and Mrs Westers, who run Hotel New York. After the official presentation, the guests were brought by boat to Hotel New York for drinks and snacks." The Delf Blue miniature can actually be bought online (that's how I got it) and send to the UK/US: https://www.klmhouses.com/miniatures/97-klm-miniature-97.html (Size: 8cm x 5,5cm x 4cm)

I haven't tried it out myself yet, but I know it can be made to work on cruise ships. The problem is that it might require some technical knowledge and adjusting settings so I can't describe at this moment how to connect it to the ship's internet. Using a travel router has some limitations and is only an option if you know what you are doing, else paying $10 for multiple devices might be the best option.

I am not yet sure if it will work but I read several people using this device, some also on cruise ships. For example from a Royal Caribbean forum: "I have a TP-Link AC750 TL-WR902AC which I use when I am on a ship. It basically takes the Royal-wifi hotspot and and creates a wireless network with your cabin. It is easy to setup, you set a switch on the side of the device to hotspot mode and then connect to router, usually by address entered into a browser. There is a quick setup where you search for the available wifi connections and connect to one. You can also setup the wifi network name you want your devices to connect to." It does mean of course that once you leave your cabin and connect your phone to the ships' wifi, the router will be disconnected. I'll probably end up paying for premium internet and multiple devices but I just like to try these things out. I will let you know how (and if) it works on HAL once I have tried it out.

Apparently it is $10 per day, depending on the length of the cruise a $40 router would be (a lot) cheaper.

What you would need is a portable wireless router that supports WISP. Then you should be able to connect to WiFi and create a hotspot for additional devices. I haven't tried it out myself yet but recently bought a portable wireless router with WISP and will be trying it out later this year on our first cruise. Just as an example, I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/

As I live in the province of "North-Holland" I would say there is nothing wrong with a bit more "Holland" 😅

I agree but as you can see from the text I quoted from the HAL website "Guest Services" are included in the Crew Appreciation/Service Charge pool. They should just pay everybody a decent wage and include that in the cruise fare instead of all these extra charges.

Quote from the HAL Website: " All of the Crew Appreciation and Service Charge payments made by all guests on all ships in our fleet are pooled, net of credit card transaction fees. The pooled funds are distributed throughout the year in the form of compensation, including bonuses, to crewmembers fleetwide who interact directly with guests and/or behind the scenes throughout every cruise, including those in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas." Source: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/crew-appreciation.html

Assuming you already have an HAL/Mariner-account -> Log in -> My Bookings -> Manage my Cruise -> Cruise Activities -> Packages & Gifts -> Internet Only the Premium Internet Plan is available to buy ahead of time.

Yes, you can leave on the first or second day. We will be making our first cruise ever in November and I wasn't sure what it meant that we will be arriving on December 15th in Buenos Aires but the last day listed was December 16th. They responded by saying that it meant that we could stay onboard until the 16th but that we could disembark on either the 15th or 16th, the choice is up to us. We have decided to disembark on the 15th in the afternoon.

I edited my response a little bit from what you quoted but it is the way it works for everybody. Would be nice if you could see all the perks on the website but unfortunately that is not the case. I will be taking a print of my confirmation as well, just in case.