debcruising

Wehwalt, you mean when they finally cancel the cruise or call now and cut my losses?  

Thanks gwenmarie and StartrainDD. - I feel like HAL is engaging me and my friend in a game of Chicken to see who will blink first. Since we have a short drive down I-95 and have used a United Airlines Voucher for the flight from Montreal, we will wait it out. I do see our Repo Cruise is still up for booking at the HAL website as well as of yesterday. THANKS!

Hi, my friend and I are booked on the Zaandam 04/21/2020 11 day FLL Repo to Montréal and just today received the Express Docs Reminder email. 
 

I just happen to call HAL yesterday (as weekends have little phone wait time) and the Rep told me the cruise is still on. I could cancel as we have CFAR Platinum Insurance, but would lose the 10% as well as the insurance cost. I told the Rep that Canada Ports are closed until July, but she said the cruise is not canceled. 
 

Has anyone on this cruise received Express Docs or have any information on the sailing?  Could the Express Docs email be on a timer and thereby automatically sent. I just don’t know how we can sail to Canada when the ports are closed.  Thanks everyone and stay well. 

We just came off Harmony of the Seas and pool attendants would mark on tape the time they saw "reserved chairs" with merely towels, maybe a magazine and flip flops on several chairs). They would then walk by 30-40 minutes after marking the chair and would then remove the items.

Not sure if this was a pilot test project but we noticed his occurring on each sea day.

 

 

Hey, that is a great idea! Like Meter Maids that chalk the tire to see how long a car is parked in the same spot!!!

Of course the DAM ship was over an hour early, but with her 180 turnaround and docking - Rotterdam had plenty of time and still arrive on time.

Well, she had such a long trip down from Tampa Bay last night!!! ;)

Great question, I'd love to see the menus as well!

Thanks for the link. I'll be on the Rotterdam next week and it will be fun to see the docking "from the other side!!"

Yesterday, I took an upsell from an HH OV to a Lanai 3343 on the Rotterdam 02/04 Sailing. My other 9 HAL staterooms were always "sandwiched" between cabin decks. But felt I had to try a Lanai for the first time & the price was right for me - at $129PP.

My question is, is there a lot of noise from the Wajang Theater / Culinary Arts Center below me at night?

I've searched & this is Copied from a Feb 2015 Posted answer:

"I wouldn't worry about the Wajang Theater . It isn't very big and used mostly during the day."

But, there might be some changes since Feb, 2015 and I'd like to hear from a recent cruiser on their experiences.

Thanks in advance for your answers. Happy Sailing!!!

I guess the next best thing to being on a ship is watching a TV show about one! And drooling the whole time!! Happy Sailing!

Mary Lou, I will forward the info to my family. They will be so happy. This is their first big Ocean Going cruise and they will be thrilled to know they can stay up all hours of the day and night!!

Hi, I'm a newbie to X and sailing TA on the Eclipse in April with my brother and sister-in-law, both real coffee-hounds. Does Celebrity have an all night coffee area open, or perhaps a section of the Buffet area open late into the night?

I did copy and send them the fabulous Room Service Breakfast menu, so I know they can have coffee as early as 6:00am delivered to the cabin.

Can anyone let me know how a coffee-addict can get their late night fix otherwise. Thanks in advance and Happy Sailing!

Thanks for posting! I'll be on the TA in April and I'm starting my diet NOW!!!

Thanks for the info! My cabin mate is really interested in this! I appreciate your quick and thorough response! Happy Sailing!

Hi, I did a 7 day Solo Konigsdam cruise over Christmas and in the first Day At Sea printed program, "Solo Cruisers to meet for Team Trivia." And also "Solo Cruisers to meet for lunch in the MDR at noon." So at least HAL is trying to get people together. Hope it helps. Happy Travels.

Hi Everyone, I'll be on the Rotterdam in Feb and wondering if they have America's Test Kitchen and if so, is there a cost?

In checking the boards, it looks like they have a "TV Show format" and a "Class format" - which mentioned a price of $29 and that it fills up fast.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

I find that Zicam Nasal Swabs help. Use it at the first sign of nasal congestion or that little scratchy throat feeling. It saved me on my last cruise over Christmas! Happy Travels

Enjoy your cruise. And you WILL BE hooked on Holland America. I've sailed the Veendam and it is a nice and intimate ship!

Ok – recently, I read on a thread that when an HAL pax reverses the automatically charged gratuities, they may be thinking they will individually reward their stewards, waiters, etc. Having just completed my 9th HAL cruise, I have been in the Front Desk line right before debarkation and have seen passengers requesting gratuities removed from their account, so I know it must happen a lot fleet wide.

But I did not know that if the pax does decide to individually tip, say their steward, that the steward must turn over the tip or risk being fired. Not only are the ship’s personnel behind the scenes being robbed,the person being individually tipped has also been cheated. That really has me bothered. I know, I keep reminding myself that tipping is subjective.

It was nice, however to read that Room Service Waiters take on the duty during their off hours to earn extra cash. My most recent cruise on the KDam over Christmas, one of the waiters told me that not everyone tips. That makes me sad.

Oh, and before I get off my soap box, why do passengers insist on leaving their used Room Service trays outside their doors. Don’t they realize that everyone needs to walk in the halls? In my 9 cruises, the KDam pax seemed to be the worst offenders.

Question - before I get too excited! Is this the fleet wide Room Service Tag for regular folk or just for Concierge / Suite cabins? My first time on X will be Feb on Summit Category 2B & Eclipse Cat 1C in April and I'm so excited about cruising this line!

I get the additional cost shown for some items. Holland has some for Non-Neptune suite pax. And I ask if fleet wide as I was just on HAL Konigsdam (reg balcony) and the Breakfast Room Service menu does not have a lot of choices - like only scrambled eggs, no bagels, muffins, etc. to streamline the process.

Thanks in advance for your help and I hope I don't sound too much like a Celebrity newbie.

I was on the NA in Nov and the Konigsdam over Christmas and they asked people to take their ship card and another form of Government ID along when we went to shore on all port calls. Must be the new policy. If I were a diver, I would purchase a waterproof case for it, though.

Hi, I was on the NA over Thanksgiving and agree with you. The ship is LOVELY!

Thanks for sharing this piece of HAL History! The ad states that "Jet economy class to London cost $210 one way." Just knowing it is $1750 today is a handy grain of salt when reminiscing!

Thanks for the start of the review. And great on beating Cancer!

Thanks for the review! I liked the way you described and categorized it all. You covered a lot.

I was on the NA over Thanksgiving & it was disheartening to hear people on board lamenting "How HAL used to be." Hey, my motto is "The past is like a foreign country, they do things differently there." ENJOY the HERE and NOW! Happy Travels!

Thanks for the Fleet Report. I'll be leaving work in Boca Raton at noon to drive down I95 to board the Konigsdam! The ship sure looks pretty sitting at the pier! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!