islandwoman

8 hours ago, Kaibyrd said:

Thank you. I had seen this deck plan before but am still confused as to why SC is less desirable. I can see they are located closer to the back of the ship instead of the middle but wouldn’t that make the ones close to the front about the same? (SA7047 vs SC7085) Is there something else that makes SC less desirable? 

The forward areas of the ship tend to be rockier than the mid or aft sections.  People who are subject to motion sickness will avoid them, holding the prices down.

Has anyone used "Get Your Guide" for a shore excursion? 

How was their charge coded on your credit card - travel or a different category?

Were you happy with Get Your Guide's service?

2 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

does this help?

 

Yes, thank you.

First a cruise line was unwilling to allow DH and me to participate in a dive shore excursion because we were too old, even though we are both PADI Advanced Open Water Certified with several hundred dives logged.  Then in my home area, we were refused participation in a kayaking tour because of our age.  Now I have run into several independent shore excursion operators who list our ages as "not permitted".  One of these was a Segway Tour in Halifax, Canada; the other was a rail and HOHO tour in Ireland. 

Is there anything we can do about this age discrimination?  We are not frail and there is no reason that we could not ride a Segway, train, or bus as well as anyone else ☹️I don't want to be restricted to the "easy" shore excursions because I hate riding busses where I can see nothing but the back of another passenger's head. I tried calling Viator, but the agent only directed me to a different shore excursion that was not what we want.

Is there anything we can do about this age discrimination other than take our money elsewhere?  (These are excursions I picked because Holland America's are sold out/waitlisted).

Is there convenient and reasonably priced transportation from the cruise port in Reykjavik into town?  I would like to book an independent whale watching tour, but they all seem to depart from Old Harbor. 

Can we walk?  What's In Port says that town is 2 miles from where most cruise ships dock, but google is telling me that Old Harbor is a 1 hour 10 minute walk. 

I received an email from Azamara the other day, saying that they will be including taxes and fees in the cruise fare quotes.  And Princess. 

Will Holland America be doing the same? 

12 minutes ago, FreestyleNovice said:

If only we could keep this thread down to PUP links I would subscribe for daily email notifications.. 

I am subscribed for daily notifications.  I'm happy to have something to read other than "me too", "me too!"

I got all three.  Only 418 more to Elite Plus 🤣

I know where to find my total Captain's Club points, but where do I find the list of points earned and for what?  I remember that someone posted that information here, but now I can't find it.

29 minutes ago, skatelady said:

Thanks!  I went to the travel agent site, their frequently asked questions under the cruise heading has how to transfer a reservation for many of the cruise lines and lets you download a partially completed form.  Clear instructions - complete and email, they provided the correct email address at the cruise line, and advised to give them 7 days and then contact them to complete the transfer.  It was easy once you knew where to look.  I had great difficulty finding the form on the HAL sight.  

It is in the TA's interest to facilitate the transfer of a booking.  Not so much for HAL !

2 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

no need to print the boarding pass until there's a barcode on it. I download each version as a PDF when first available and but print only when a barcode appears.

Good advice.  On our recent Koningsdam cruise several passengers attempted to check in with boarding passes that had no bar codes.  They had to see an agent to get a new boarding pass. I don't know why the HAL website posts useless boarding passes.

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

We even have it on our 11 day Volendam cruise in August. We got a nice cabin upgrade and  we will not have to wait in lines for almost anything, including anytime dining in the MDR with the extra entree CO menu. 

Since the Volendam, along with the Zaandam, is HAL's smallest ship in passenger count, I would hope that Club Orange would not be necessary in order to avoid lines.

18 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My experience is you have to ask for the OBC if no cabin upgrade is available. My TA knows to ask.

Apparently mine doesn't.  I'll have to remind him.

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Our TA was told when she booked the CO that we would get the $50pp OBC. It didn't show up until we boarded the ship.

Thanks for the information.  Our TA hasn't mentioned anything about OBC instead of an upgrade.  I'll have to contact him.

Is there somewhere on hollandamerica.com that you can see your OBC?

Can they be used pre-cruise to book packages, shore excursions, etc?

7 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We got $100 OBC for our Koningsdam cruise last year because we had booked the last AFT facing Verandah cabin and there was not a higher cabin in our Meta-category. However even if we hadn't gotten the OBC, the other advantages of CO, like the CO dining room, far outweighed the $100 OBC value.

How long did it take before you were informed that you had received OBC?  How were you informed?  Is there a place on hollandamerica.com that you can see OBC? 

I certainly agree with you about the CO dining room on the Koningsdam being a great advantage.  The lines,  the crowding, and the hectic service in the MDR on my recent (spring 2024) Koningsdam cruise were enough to make me decide never to sail that ship again.

9 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

You are only eligible for OBC is there is no other cabin available in your meta category to upgrade you to.

As I mentioned way back on this thread, we booked our cabin exactly where we wanted it before even considering Club Orange.  Not only do we have the highest category (SS) in our meta-category, but at the time we bought Club Orange, all cabins except inside on our cruise were showing "sold out".  We wanted Club Orange mostly for quicker as-you-wish seating in the MDR. After learned posters on this thread told me that they had received OBC when cabin upgrades were not available, we decided to buy Club Orange. 

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and sharing your experience.  I asked my TA to buy us Club Orange for our upcoming and already booked cruise.  The purchase went through without a hitch.  I don't know yet what we'll get instead of an upgrade.  Since we already have the cabin we want, I'm hoping for OBC. Our TA sent us a confirmation updated to reflect the Club Orange purchase, but no mention of additional OBC.  Is there somewhere on hollandamerica.com that I can see OBC for particular cruises?

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

You don’t have to actually book the lowest rate cabin.  You can book any cabin in the category and pay the lowest cabin in that category rate if you add CO.  

I can see how that would work.  You'd make a temporary booking for the lowest priced cabin (or your TA would do that for you), buy Club Orange and then immediately upgrade to the cabin you want.  But would it work if there are no lower priced cabins to be had? 

4 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

Are you still looking at separate flights because with the airline they will always( in our case) be way more expensive a KLM single flight is often more expensive than an open jaw return. As there is only 18 days between flights I would wait until you can check return flights and then if F.E. is still much cheaper make your choice.

 

Are you saying that you can book open-jaw on Flight Ease?

3 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

I like to book directly with the airline to eliminate the middle man and let me keep control of my booking.

So do I, but it looks as if Flight Ease will be much cheaper, at least on the outbound flight, than booking directly through the airline.

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious what level you are considering booking. As mentioned, a commonly recommended is to book the lowest cabin in a meta category, thus an upgrade is almost always a financial benefit. How far out is the cruise you are looking at?

I have already booked the SS.  Those were the only Signature Suites showing availability at that time. Actually they were the only cabins above "outside" showing availability.  For several days before that everything was "sold out" except inside, and today again. I only thought about buying Club Orange after I was already booked, mostly for the dining.  But now I'd like to learn what else might come with it.

My cruise is in August, 2024.

55 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

If you are in Signature Suite, any of the Signature Suites would be in your Meta Category - SS, SY, SZ.  If you are in a Verandah stateroom, ANY Verandah would be in your Meta Category. And so on.

So if my cabin is a category SS, and it's the most expensive of the Signature Suite categories (I can't verify that because the site keeps locking up on me), I couldn't get an upgrade?

33 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

You can call to have it done, but they will cancel the first flights and rebook. At that time, you're subject to a price increase if there has been one. They don't just add the return leg...🙄

Yikes!

I don't understand what Holland America means by "meta category".  For example, if I am in a Signature Suite, category SS, is that the "meta category"?  What could be "better" (or worse) within that category?