grannyshell

Safe travels Jacqui! Thanks for taking us along! Looking forward to your wrap up 😉 

Those 2 stations are my go-to options...salad and stir fry, which to me is the best food on the ship. Cooked to order, fresh, healthy and hot as hades! Love it.

I got the hard sell at the spa on Nieuw Statendam in the past. Very very pushy. Arguing with your massage therapist isn't a nice way to end a relaxing massage.

8 hours ago, kazu said:

So the night before we went to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner.

It was deb’s birthday on this cruise but on the 22nd.  she chose the 24th since it was 1/2 way between hers and her DD DH’s.

By the way, our old waiter never sang happy birthday to her nor gave her a cake.  She was happy not to be sung to though.  PG made sure she got a cake.

 

 

PG can be a mixed bag on some ships.  On this one, it was very good.

 

we really enjoyed our appetizers:

 

 

 

 

For the main I had the tenderloin with lobster dumplings - OMG.  

And here’s where Debbie fell down on her job.  She and I forgot about pics until it was toll late and not picture worthy.  It was that good.  Well worth it on this ship.

 

We smartened up for dessert.  I had the soufflé 

 

 

and Deb the cheese tray 

 

 

that’s right - no crackers on it but there were two bread sticks.

 

 

So what is one to do with this strange HAL cracker-less situation in every venue on every ship? Should women keep crackers in their purses and discreetly slip them onto their plates? 😜

We booked it for an 11 day cruise to the Canadian maritimes on Nieuw Statendam and also on the Rotterdam for a TA, both with cooler weather. I probably wouldn't do it for a warm weather cruise. It was never crowded. We'd go every day. The showers weren't private and there was no private place to change either. I wouldn't hesitate to book it again and will on our upcoming cruise to Norway. 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

We are in Newport today .  Colts dreary and damp day.  Pictures were pretty useless as you can see here.  
 

 

 

 

All the tenders are back and we will be leaving soon and look at what just came out.

 

 

 

 

 

Our time was shortened here due to the need to travel slowly to Boston.  10 knots due to marine traffic -whales 

 

 

We took a drive down to Newport to see the ship. What a sight to see the Volendam sitting pretty in the harbor. I agree, weather was miserable...windy and spitting rain but just as we were leaving the sun came out. Newport is such a beautiful place when the weather cooperates.

Jacqui, I seem to recall a similar rocky start to your TA last fall...hope this isn't going to be a tradition 🤣 Hope you have a wonderful time. You mentioned a port change - will the Volendam still be stopping in Newport? I was hoping to drive down to see her.

Bon Voyage!

On 4/13/2024 at 10:19 AM, rcs931 said:

Not bad, but noticed some signs of aging.  I'm glad she's getting extra attention this trip. I'm aware ocean vs. metal is a constant struggle. 

Yes, Joao is still teaching but leaves after this crossing for a break.

Where is the corrosion in the pic located on the ship please?

Thanks everyone. I've got all the info I need.

15 hours ago, POA1 said:

If you are using Flight Ease, you cannot change your arrival time. Flight Ease feeds it into your booked flights section. (It should, anyway.)

 

The advice to pre-book the transfer from the airport is solid. You will want to be on the transfer list.

 

I don't know how you booked, but talk to that person - or, if you booked online, call HAL. Tell the person to look up the pick up times and location on the Guest Logistics Transfer Summary for Rotterdam. The Guest Logistics Transfer Summary is the master reference for all the embarkation / disembarkation ports. (Aka turnaround ports.)

 

They should be able to tell you where to meet the bus, times to meet, and transit times. You cannot always meet the bus at the HAL hotels if you aren't booking the hotel through HAL. However, the person should be able to look up all the pick up points for you.

The airport is always a pick up point or drop off point.

 

If you get someone who knows what they're doing, they should be able to answer you pretty quickly. By telling the person to use the Guest Logistics Transfer Summary for Rotterdam, you're telling them exactly where to look.

 

 

Amazing level of detail. Thank you so much for this, for now and future reference. The breadth and depth of knowledge of folks here on this forum is impressive. 

On 4/7/2024 at 9:09 PM, RuthC said:

I've never done what you propose in Amsterdam, but I have done it in several other cities. 
The big difference is that I have stayed near the airport, so getting back there was relatively easy. In Amsterdam, however, you are quite a ride away; I expect you would rather stay in Amsterdam itself, and be a tourist for those two days. 

The mechanics of returning to the airport are fairly easy. You let HAL think you are arriving that morning, giving your flight number and time, just two days after you actually did arrive. 
Your taxi will drop you off at departures, and you will have to make your way to arrivals to meet up with the HAL reps. 

If I were in Amsterdam, sailing from Rotterdam, I would find it easier to hire a car to drive me. Less moving from one transportation to another, and less time needed to accomplish the goal. 

If we let HAL think we are arriving that morning, but have arranged airfare with Flight Ease, will that cause a problem...will they be able to see that we in fact arrived days earlier?

Here's the situation: we are flying into Amsterdam 2 days prior to our cruise departing from Rotterdam. If we stay in Amsterdam, could we make our way back to the airport on the morning of the cruise to take advantage of the HAL airport transfer to the cruise terminal in Rotterdam?

We stayed at a very cool place last fall, called Pension Homeland. It was very reasonable. There is a small, but slow, elevator. The restaurant there is amazing, locally sourced food, its own brewery and home baked sourdough to die for. Taxi to cruise ship cost 8 euros. It is small so might be booked up, but it's worth a try.

There is currently a Live review on the Koningsdam cruise to Hawaii and Tahiti that you may find interesting. Many of the daily menus and activities are posted there. I've been following because we'll also be on the cruise to Hawaii next January.

I will add that we recently did a trans Atlantic on HAL and were never bored. Look for the roll call for your cruise and since there are so many sea days you may find that it is very active, with someone organizing activities above and beyond what HAL offers (book clubs, knitting groups, games, cabin crawls etc.).

1 hour ago, gizmodog said:

I am thinking of booking this cruise next year, have a question, don’t know if you are able to answer.

all aft balconies are booked, I love a bigger balcony. It looks like from deck plans deck 4 has larger balconies, do you know if that is true? Also, are they obstructed from lifeboats?

thank you if you are able to answer.

We've been on the Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam, sister ships to Koningsdam. We like a bigger balcony too and chose to stay on deck 4. Like tupper10 said, the balconies are huge. Half is covered, half not. Room for 2 chaises and you could probably fit 4. The obstructed cabins are midship; the extended balconies are located fore and aft. You've got to be careful choosing one at the front of the ship because some of them have steel railings vs. plexiglass, if that's something that's important to you. We've since found out that there are large balconies on the other decks. They're located midship where the ship jogs inward. Part of the balcony is on an angle but it's large.

Wow, that gov't warning is frightening. Why would anyone get off the ship and why would HAL continue to have such a port on the itinerary?

2 hours ago, Moriah said:

Probably on your recent cruise you played bingo or otherwise got your name on a casino list (by putting your card into a slot machine?). So it's the casino company, not actually HAL, who will pay for your cabin and gift it to you.  There is no "catch" - but these offers "sell" out quickly so do make the call if you want to go on one of the offered cruises.  You pay port fees and taxes.  Like any cruise, you can add HIA or anything else, but your won't pay the "cruise fare."  You can upgrade if there is availability, and that will cost you.

No, did not play bingo or slots, not once.

5 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

It's HAL assuming a "winback" approach to customers who it thinks are no longer sailing.  Lots of companies take this approach.  With telecommunications, for instance, you will only get your best offer once you leave the company and they try and win you back.  HAL's reward for current customers who continue to book is its Marnier Program.  

 

If you want discounted cruise offers (as these "free" cruises are not free in the sense that you pay $0), you may want to consider stop sailing and hope that HAL notices and wants to win you back with an attractive offer.

I don't think that's always the case, it surely wasn't in ours. We've done 2 cruises in the past 2 years and have 2 booked with HAL this year.

We didn't spend a penny in the casino on either of our 2 cruises.

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Who sent the email?

 

1) Direct from Holland America? Have you ever sailed with HAL?

2) From a travel site you use?

3) From a site that you have never heard of?

Directly from Holland America and yes, we have sailed with HAL recently.

Still a relative cruising newbie here (all on HAL). Just got an email offering free interior staterooms on select sailings. In order to book, one has to call. Hoping the experts here can enlighten me: what's the catch?

On 1/23/2024 at 6:11 AM, Traderboy said:

Hi 

I am looking for assistance in deciding what to do in these ports:

Haugesund

Aalesund

Olden

Skyolden/Sognefjord

Stavanger

 

My first question is how easy is to get from the ship to the local town (or whatever)

Secondly  it would be helpful to know what is easily accessible in these various places

 

i would be grateful for any information or experience that you might have had

We are sailing on Sky Princess at the end of April 2024

 

 

A good place to start: https://www.whatsinport.com

If one is sailing from Rotterdam, in which case any post cruise flights would be from Amsterdam, how do the airport transfers offered on the HAL website work? Will they actually put you on a bus to Schiphol?

We'll be on a Med. cruise on HAL Oosterdam this June and one of the ports is Portofino. I've read that it might be necessary for the ship to divert to Genoa if weather conditions prevent tendering. In that case, would the cruise line normally offer a shuttle to Portofino or would we be on our own to arrange transportation?

On 11/20/2023 at 9:48 AM, Duane S. said:

this may be slightly off topic but it does relate to airfare

We are booked for a future cruise on Hal in September to Boston and return from Montreal, I checked the airfare and they seem to be quite expensive, so much so that it almost equals the cost of the cruise, 

I despise flying but it is the only way in this case

We are actually considering canceling the cruise due to the high cost of flying to the port.

Do the costs of flights come down the closer we get to the sail date? We have until June to make a decision but it sure isn't looking good.

also, for the New Englanders, Are we better off simply driving to New England as our main goal is to see the coast and fall colors if so what time of the fall is the best weeks to go for foliage views ?

If this inquiry does not belong here please simply remove it.

thanks

I live in southern MA. In general, we don't see much color until well into October. There are "foliage maps" to see where/when peak color is happening if you google it. Of course, every year is different.