crewsgirl

oh, MargoK, sounds like so much fun! I hope you have a fabulous holiday and will report back about the Oosterdam. I am looking at cabins now before reserving. If you have any great cabin tips, I would love to hear. Also, did you use a local TA or did you book directly with HAL? I am curious if there are any pricing differences. Thanks in advance

I am looking at AUS/NZ and was pleasantly surprised to find HAL's Oosterdam as an option rather than the tired Maasdam, (which we loved on a previous trip, so not knocking it at all) If you have done this itinerary on the Oosterdam, I would love to hear any tips for great cabin selection as well as not-to-be-missed excursions/points of interest. Between HAL and NCL, which cruise would you choose considering price, value, service and most importantly, itinerary? I have my heart set on Tasmania and it looks like NCL won't be doing that stop in 2021. Any other information for booking is greatly appreciated as well!

I have had Australia/NZ on my bucket list for a long, long time. And I am very close to booking this cruise on the Noordam in 2020, mainly because I want the itinerary that includes Hobart and Picton. The HAL people tell me she will go into dry dock Sept 2019, and I am hoping that refurbishment will make a good difference. So my question is...anybody here that has sailed that itinerary on the Noordam have a compelling reason that I should or (should not) book this trip this week on the HAL Why Not Now sale? Is that the best deal? Anybody ever done the restricted fare? That is a bit worrisome to me, but open to ideas on that. My TA actually said HAL wasn't offering any promos. so I am interested in your ideas to get the best pricing as well. Is there a difference in booking with a AUS TA? I know we can be happy on HAL, we have sailed with them before and been pleased. Wondering if it is worth the splurge for the signature suite vs regular veranda cabin, any thoughts on that? Thanks in advance and happy cruising!