4_canucks

We did exactly this a few weeks ago. Yes doable but no idea about restroom 'coz we didn't use one.

Details: We had the 11:30am slot for the wellness checkpoint for Odyssey of the Seas. At around 11:15am we entered Port Everglades via 17th street, had to show ID for all 4 of us at the security booth, then drove to Terminal 18 and there were people directing us to where to drop off. We dropped off two adult daughters and all 5 pieces of luggage. The porters took our big suitcases and the girls held onto the carry ons and they sat on a bench outside the terminal building (there were benches) but they could have gone inside the terminal building, there might have been more seating inside but we didn't look .

We dropped off rental car at FLL and crossed from rental car building into Terminal 1 and hailed a cab from there. By then it was noon and there was a huge jam going into Port Everglades - the taxi meter came to 18.55 by the time we were dropped off at Terminal 18 but the cab guy wanted $21 (hubby and i had no luggage!) and wanted it in cash.

We will likely go this route again if we ever cruise RCI from Port Everglades.

Hope this helps.

2 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

Agreed, I like Odyssey's WJ.

Just got off the Odyssey on friday (Christmas sailing). We LOVED the WJ (and many other things on the Ody) but thought it was just good design on RCI's part across its fleet!? We're thinking of Wonder of the Seas next (to experience the BIG OASIS class, again, only other sailing was Allure 11 years ago and memories are fading 😁).

Edit: Just to add more, we thought the food on the cruise was great and we liked the fact that there was plenty of seating in the WJ, there were tables on each side all the way to the back and wrapped around and there's a food counter/outlet at the stern. Our Christmas cruise was supposed to have the highest passenger count 4800 ("beating the previous record holder by 5 passengers" was what we heard at Captain's Corner), yet we never had an issue looking for a place to sit, including debarkation morning at 8am haha. There were many choices, plus specialties stations such as Gluten Free, Vegetarian and Vegan (we are none of those but have friends who are). Just wish the WJ was open later than 9pm but there are other options : Cafe Promenade has pastries and sandwiches, Sorrento's has pizza, and Playmakers ($) has many pub food options, to name a few.

1 hour ago, TheChiefNL said:

Because English is not my native language, I see that there are some errors here and there, but I can no longer edit the message, any idea how I can edit it again?

 

We also kept an eye on the weather app but did not want to wait that long with the risk that it would still rain, what it did, UNTIL THE SHIP LEFT THE PORT OF Kristiansand 😞 ....

hi TheChiefNL - I couldn't edit mine either.  Did a quick search and learned that on CruiseCritic, we only have 20 mins after posting to edit a post.  After that the Edit button goes away.  If you really need to edit, only an admin / moderator can help you.   Your post is fine by the way!  No need to worry.

Re: Kristiansand - yes that's exactly what happened - the rain finally stopped at 15:00, but by then we were already comfy in front of the movie at Lido Pool.  😬

Just want to add my thanks - for a first cruise TheChiefNL you really had done a lot of in-depth research beforehand - you didn't miss anything! 

Your review (writing and pictures) were all presented in such a professional way - like a seasoned cruiser _AND_ someone who publishes for a living - it was such a pleasure to read!    

We were on the same cruise, but we did different things (e.g.  slept in most mornings due to late nights at BB King's) so it's really nice to hear from a different perspective, i.e. what else happened while we were sleeping / somewhere else <grin>.

p.s. Kristiansand - we waited past lunch hoping the rain would ease up - finally got suited in our rain gear and ventured out at 13:00 - just to be met with TORRENTIAL wind and rain - we did not make it far - to the gift shop at the end of the pier to be exact, when we realized it would not be fun to try to venture into town.   Back tracked to the gangway where the staff had a good laugh at our hasty retreat.  Very glad you were able to see the sights!

p.p.s  Not sure what's the norm but it felt like half the people on the cruise were Dutch?  🙂  We heard Dutch spoken everywhere and the announcements were bi-lingual English/Dutch.  I was guessing oh there must have been some promotion/special for the locals, making this a special "Orange" heavy cruise. 

19 hours ago, luvn2cruzzz said:

My question is this--I have been on ships when passengers are on their phones, say they are not hooked up to the ships internet, and call and check email frequently.  What am I missing?  With ship internet so expensive on Holland America, I am looking for more cost effective measures on the ship.  Do they exist?

Here's one possibility:

If the cruise is close to land, you could pick up cellular signals from land towers.  e.g.  on our 2018 Aug Baltic cruise , I was able to pick up a land signal 90% of the time.   You just need to manually scan and select the land carrier and not let your phone default to the Cruise's own cellular-at-sea signal (which is the really pricey one).    We had a European SIM card so was able to roam in EU countries (we are not T-mobile customers as we aren't from the US).

my $0.02 CAD  🙂

3 hours ago, MAVIP said:

Please notice that the question of TheChiefNL was about delivering the luggage hours earlier and come back for the "procedures" at the time advised in the HAL e-mail. And what will happen when you arrive at you usual 11.00 AM? That is hidden in the future 😉 but in my experience HAL personnel is very "client friendly" and will do their utmost to accommodate (right word?) you. (I do not have experience with this method of embarkation myself!).  

Thanks MAVIP!    We're not trying to be difficult , really just wondering out loud how this "progressive" check in times would work, and to hear if others have experience they could share. 

Yes, I did see that in a subsequent post, TheChiefNL then asked about the possibility of dropping luggage earlier then returning for check-in time.   Given how easy it is to get to the cruise port (very close to Centraal station on the map - walkable even?), this does sound like a nice option for many.

12 hours ago, TheChiefNL said:

I got an email from HAL today with embark information for our cruise to Norway on the Nieuw Statendam.

 

It say's (translated with google (Dutch to English)):
**********************
To ensure that the start of your journey will go smoothly, there is one

check-in schedule made. If you require an overnight stay or airport transfer

booked through Holland America Line, you will receive your check in time in it

hotel or at the airport. We would like to draw your attention to all guests

must be on board at least one hour before departure.
The following layout has been made:
1:00 PM - Deck 8 - Navigation Deck
1:30 PM - Deck 6 - Mozart Deck
2:00 PM - Deck 1 & 11 - Main Deck & Sun Deck
2:30 PM - Deck 7 & 10 - Schubert Deck & Panorama Deck
3:00 PM - Deck 5 - Gershwin Deck
3:30 PM - Deck 4 - Beethoven Deck
We would like to invite our 4 and 5 Star Mariners and Pinnacle and Neptune Suite
guests to arrive between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM. We look forward to it
to welcome you on board.

*********************

 

At first we were planning to get to Amsterdam on time as we are traveling by train. The plan was to be in Amsterdam at 11:30 am and around 12:00 at the cruise terminal (PTA). If I read this email now from HAL, I see that check-in fore us starts no earlier than 02:30 PM (deck 7)? Does it make sense to be there already at 11:30 / 12:00?

We got our notification too (in English   ).   We've only cruised a half dozen times on various lines but we KNOW enough to always be at the terminal by 11am on embarkation day haha.   Now HAL wants us to check-in a good 2.5 hours later.   🤔  What will happen if we get there at our usual 11am.      🤔😛

There's only one way to find out, i guess.  😬   In our case we only have the 1 star mariner status, and we're not in any suites, so our mileage will most likely vary 😂

7 hours ago, Ine said:

You only need to checkin and out when there are barriers when entering or leaving the platforms or the station. As far as I know there are none at the Zaandam station, you can simply leave and return. You have to checkout however at Zaanse Schans station and again checkin for the return at that station. Also there there are no barriers. Just look for the yellow poles, you will see other passengers using them.

At Zaandam there are big boards stating what platform your train will leave, but almost for sure it will be the same one as where you disembarked. From Zaandam station there are sprinter (stoptrein) withj destination Uitgeest, those make stops at Zaanse Schans. It will be the 2nd stop after Zaandam. Donot take trains with destinations Hoorn, they go a different route. 

On the return of course take the ones with destination Amsterdam leaving from the platform oppsite the one you arrived.

It may sound complicated but it certainly is very easy.  People will be glad to helk you if you ask them. Enjoy!

Hi Ine,

Your explanation is very clear, actually.    Thank you!    We now understand how we can stop off in Zaandam to visit the Inntel hotel on our way to Zaanse Schans.    On our return to Amsterdam we might take the Connexxion 391 bus instead, depending on where in Zaanse Schans we finish  .   Thanks again.

On 6/6/2019 at 7:20 AM, Ine said:

Yes you can make stop in Zaandam. Traintickets allow this since you stay at the same route. Trains on weekdays every 15 minutes. Just watch you take the right one with stop at Zaanse Schans. 

Thank you Ine - we want to do this, buy train tickets from Amsterdam Centraal to Zaanse Schans but get off at Zaandam station to visit the Inntel hotel first,  then back on the next train to continue to Zaanse Schans station. 

My question would be, given we have to "check-in" (tap-in) and "check-out" (tap-out) our train tickets, how could we get off and get back on the next train?    As in, don't we have to "check-out" (tap-out) when we get off at the Zaandam station and exit onto the street?    Does that tap-out make the ticket "complete" - or would the system still know that we have not reached out final desination (Zaanse Schans) yet.   We don't want to get into trouble trying to go back into the Zaandam station and "check-in" (tap-in) to board the next train to Zaanse Schans and the system gives an error because we have already previously checked-out (tapped out).   

Any help / insight greatly appreciated.

I looked but didn't see where the OP is sailing.

If it's the Baltic Sea then I've just posted my experience using a Croatian Bonbon SIM card in the Northern Europe/Baltic Sea forum. We were on the HAL Zuiderdam 10 nights round trip Copenhagen earlier this month.

BIG Disclaimer - i did not use cell voice nor cell text, it was all 4G/LTE/3G data picked up from shore signals (Data roaming). Not sure if this is what you're looking for.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2674071

Thought I'd share my experience staying connected on a Baltic Cruise . Hope this is of help to some.

We just did the Baltic cruise in August on the HAL Zuiderdam, 10 night roundtrip Copenhagen, and on the Starboard side of the ship i had SHORE cellular service pretty much everyday (except the first sea day when we were crossing over to Estonia).

Bought a Croatian Bonbon SIM card which allows ROAMING all over EU at low cost (had to switch to a Beeline SIM for St. Petersburg) .

BIG DISCLAIMER - the cards did not offer cell voice or cell text, it's all data, and that's fine with me. Our Airbnb host in Copenhagen and our Russian Tour operator Best Guides use whatsapp so i could communicate with them via that app.

On my iPhone, I set my Cellular data roaming to ON (and enable LTE to Data only), and my Carrier provider from "Automatic" to "Off" (meaning i don't let my phone just latch onto the cruise ship's CellularAtSea service), i manually pick a SHORE/local provider whenever my signal weakens.

I recall "3" and "Telia" were the providers i got most of the time, and even at sea, as long as i can see the shoreline, and that's like over 80% of the cruise, i got 4G/LTE service often, but 3G at a strength of "2 signal bars" already lets me do a lot of internet surfing.

To me, this is far cheaper than using the internet on board, but the best part is when we're in port i don't have to run around looking for wifi at cafes, etc.

Also, i chose those cards as they allow tethering. I ran a hotspot so my family and my laptop could just connect through my phone.

Bottom line: I stayed connected as the ship was close to land most of the time. The Croatian Bonbon SIM cost me $21US on eBay for 6GB of data. The Beeline SIM (for St. Petersburg) was less than $10US for 22GB of data!

I was lucky my eBay seller activated the cards and loaded the data for me, but if i had to do the activation / data top up myself, I'd use the google chrome browser that offers translation of the entire Bonbon website from Croatian to English.

Hope this helps some folks.