BigMattT

6 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Just putting my 2 cents in, about recommending the Club Orange and what HAL as done in this case. With the Signature Class ships for Verandah categories the lowest category is VH, then VF, VE, VD, VS, VB, VA V. VT. then VQ. VT is the one mentioned in this post and VQ is a Spa Verandah. If you do the Club Orange and take the Upgrade option you must move to the Highest available category above what you currently have. If there are no higher categories above what you have booked they will give you ship board credit in lieu but say you are booked in VH and want the VB you cannot get that category if there is a higher category you must get the highest available under Club Orange. For this particular ship that most likely will be VT or VQ of which most do not want so they are usually always available. Other Class of ships taking the Club Orange can be a good move but not so on the Eurodam. I feel bad for the OP because unfortuately in HAL's Eyes they see this as a big upgrade and Buying Club Orange would not help this situation at all. He can try to talk them into moving to a different category but he would be better to offer to pay the different to choose a different category and cabin.

When we added Club Orange to our booking, we were able to pick any cabin we wanted in our meta category. We weren’t forced to take a VA over the VB we wanted.

On 2/4/2022 at 4:46 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

So, you enjoy standing on that small VT balcony with no place to sit for a long time?  

Yeah, for Alaska, we don’t tend to spend as much time on our balcony, we wouldn’t mind the small size. Especially when the Retreat is right there. 

Despite the Juliet balcony, that would be a great location on a ship to me. I’d grab a corner retreat cabana for the length of the cruise— it’s mere steps away. Crows nest and great morning coffee right there, too.

My two cents is that a spacious cabin with easy access to an exterior viewing deck is the best for Alaska— way more important than your balcony size.

They would probably try to keep you together. And you could likely request another change easily if you were moved away from your group.
 

Unless they’ve changed the cabins used for the quarantine section, anything aft of cabin 4156 on the port side is not part of the quarantine section.

We try to go to a tea whenever we travel. Afternoon tea on the Koningsdam in October 2021 was not worth attending.

Everything they served was boring and old tasting, and there was a better selection of teas from room service than at tea. (Weirdly, decaf black tea is available at room service but not lido or MDR). 

We made the best of it— our giggle fits over the absurd music playlist was the most memorable thing though.

15 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Your description sounds exactly like the noises I heard too.  But in my case it happened every night.

Yikes. Out of curiosity, did your itinerary have a lot of port days where they would have been using that more often? (We were a Mex Riviera with only two docked days out of 7.)

The space on Koningsdam was definitely used in some way for preparing to load/unload the ship. We were there in October and it was very quiet except the night before debarkation. That last night we could hear very clear banging from moving large carts or pallets or containers of some sort. Other than 1-2am, we still got a decent nights sleep. I wouldn’t hesitate to book it again. (Note: the area just forward of that was used as the quarantine wing, so traveling forward and aft on that deck wasn’t possible without crossing over to the other side of the shop at an elevator bank. 

Newer to HAL here, and we almost sailed on Noordam until we found out there was no Tamarind onboard. Switched to Eurodam and have 3 nights reserved now.

It was our favorite dining venue on Koningsdam in October. (Rudi’s a VERY close second.) As far as Asian cuisine goes it’s not revolutionary, but it is all executed extraordinarily well. Highly recommend for the first night of the cruise; it’s sparsely attended night 1.

Space is gorgeous during the day, too. In fact, after chatting for a bit, the staff encouraged us to visit their secluded bar area lounge as a hangout during the day. Sure enough, was an amazingly comfortable place to curl up with a book—no other passengers around.

I wish they had lunch available there. Our MDR experience for lunch was pretty miserable.

The steak and eggs and lobster bennie were additional charges for Club Orange guests on the Oct 24 Koningsdam sailing.

Mimosas were free.
 

Theo, the Club Orange morning bar runner, said they had a good spicy Bloody Mary… and it turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever had.

Club Orange definitely worth it for us to go from obstructed verandah to V. 

On 11/11/2021 at 6:07 AM, terrydtx said:

Pre Covid for the last 10 years HAL had been our cruise line of choice mostly in Signature Suites and one Neptune suite cabins, however, I retired in 2020 at 70 and we felt too young on our last HAL cruise in 2019. We cruised on Celebrity in August for the first time since 2009 in a Sky Suite and we were blown away by the service and amenities of the Retreat vs the suites on HAL

Oh, yeah— that’s the caveat. My former comments should apply to non-suites only. HAL’s suites and suite-level service don’t compare to Celebrity’s. Not even in the same ballpark.

It’s nice not NEEDING a suite on HAL to get the quiet and relaxing, non-salesy experience.

We’re in the same general demographic as OP.
 

We do Celebrity if we suspect we want a few nights of drinking and Karaoke in there somewhere. HAL Pinnacle class if we we’re leaning toward more relaxation and recuperating from daily life. Both work just fine. I’d try HAL. At the very least, you’ll know for the future if it’s an option for you again. 

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I thought that Club Orange dining is "open", so what is your thought on letting them know ahead of time?  Just curious as we have never had Club Orange on the Pinnacle class ships but will next month.

Thanks.

You don’t have to let them know. Just courtesy.  We found our courtesy was rewarded with being seated at the big roomy table we liked.

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

 That said I would absolutely book it again if they don’t up the price.

Agreed. Would definitely do Club Orange again if the price doesn’t increase. However, we both felt it’s at its max price to be a good value right now.

3 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

Since this is my first cruise, and I've done a ton of research...it seems there's an agreement that if you want quiet to book a room on a deck with rooms below and above you.  That's not the case on deck 4.  Just wondering if you found rooms on the deck 4 noisy (front is above world stage, back is above dining room).

Yes, I’d be careful what areas of deck 4 you choose. The only noise we had in 4154/56 at all was on the final night during luggage collection when that giant empty space affording the huge balcony was used. Otherwise zero noise.

Port side farther aft seems to be pretty safe for deck 4. 

Great question, OP!

Food wise, we don’t find Gala Nights special enough to warrant planning your other dining arrangements around them.

Regardless of gala night or not, the Club Orange special entrees nightly were noticeably higher quality preparations. Peking duck and a beautiful veal chop (they called it a cutlet!) were standouts for the Club Orange specials.

Tip for Club Orange: we love going to specialty dining on embarkation night (we’ve often had the restaurant nearly to ourselves), but we made sure to stop by the Club Orange podium the first night to let them know when they might see us for dinner the next night.

We’ve done Royal Princess to Alaska in mini suites and aft wrap suites, and just did a Mexico cruise on Koningsdam.

I recommend HAL now. As far as value… you could book 4156 or 4154 for the sailing on Koningsdam by booking an obstructed verandah, adding Club Orange, and using the upgrade to VB4156/54.

That would give you a veranda way bigger than the mini-suites on Princess (bigger than Neptunes), much roomier showers, way better food in Club Orange than Princess Club Class dining, and priced likely below what you quoted.

There’s plenty of activities for anyone to do on HAL if they seek it out. But Princess is definitely Vegas compared to the relaxing vibes of HAL.

Itinerary wise, we stick with inside passage but have equally enjoyed round trip and one-way voyages. A lot of its luck with weather deciding what you’re going to see.

Photo of 4156’s balcony:

(But note our favorite Alaska ships are still the Celebrity solstice class with the glass-blowing studio on the top deck. Watching that scenery by the warmth of a kiln was really wonderful experience design.)

I won a nice jackpot on one of the slots in the Ocean Bar while waiting for dinner.

The Ocean Bar was otherwise deserted anytime we walked past.

Despite my win, I’d agree the aesthetics aren’t great with them there. The machines are very quiet, but they block the view. 

We disembarked 10/31. We were the first luggage tags to be called (Pink 2), and we were off and had our bags, waiting for our parking shuttle at 8:33am.

There were 5 CBP agents there at that time, moving relatively quickly. Not overly talky, but their new “take a photo” system isn’t ultra fast.

HAL crew members were doing well organizing the line of people weaving from the bottom of the stairs at deck 1 midship around the hallway and back to the excursion atrium area where customs was staged.
 

While things were busy and a little congested, they weren’t disorganized nor did it come to a stop at any time.

Since this was our first trip on HAL, I’m curious what is the “normal”? We didn’t wait more than 15 minutes… which is pretty normal from our experiences on other lines.

Following. Ordered these and hope they’re accepted for Oct cruise. 

On 8/29/2021 at 10:54 AM, Cruise Suzy said:

From HAL's FAQ

 

Yes, we require ALL guests to produce a negative, medically observed, viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 3 days of their embarkation on all Holland America line sailings. This currently applies to sailings through October 31, 2021, however, guidance will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis.

 

For U.S. guests, Holland America Line has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to provide over 1,500 locations in the United States to schedule a no-cost* COVID COVID-19 test appointment, with results delivered within 48 hours. Click here (No-Cost COVID-19 Testing (questdiagnostics.com)) to find a testing location near you.

 

* This COVID-19 no-cost-to-you program is available to eligible individuals for $0 out of pocket when billed to a health plan or the government.

Yeah… this resource from HAL isn’t helpful at all.  The locations are listed as “active infection testing only”, or 50 miles away (which is hours of Los Angeles traffic…)

I’ve never hit 15 combined drinks, but now that there’s a limit, I still FEEL like the packages provide a lesser value to me LOL
 

Pity HAL didn’t proactively bring this change to their fanbase’s attention. Wouldn’t feel like HAL is just being sneaky.

On Anthem now. Received a Noro letter again tonight with tomorrow’s compass.

Last night, Chic second seating had the majority of tables empty.

Everything is still being soaked with sanitizer.

All touch screen stuff is removed.

No fruit in drinks or muddling.

We’re part of a large group, and reports are starting to trickle in that members are sick.

The most frustrating thing I’m finding is that you can’t avoid touching the elevator buttons by using a covered finger or whatnot because they’re touch sensitive.

I’m meticulous about washing hands and touching surfaces in public spaces, but avoiding getting Noro when there are this many people crammed into one ship is pure luck.

It’s laughable RCL thinks people will go to medical when they know they’ll get quarantined.

UPDATE: I phoned Crown and Anchor direct. Agent knew about the promotion and was nice enough to call "another department" to verify eligibility of my booking. After 10 mins, he came back on, stated that my booking is eligible, and that the free gratuities credit amount will be applied my booking roughly a week prior to the sale date. (I'm 47 days out now.) He also stated he made a note on my booking in case the TA receives conflicting information from another Royal rep in the future.

 

I'm just considering it a great surprise if we indeed get the free grats now at this point ;p

*SIGH* Called my TA today about something else about my booking, and we're back to "no free gratuities" for the booking. Even if I did something wrong in the way I asked for this promotion to be applied... I'm most annoyed because Royal now says they have no record of my call to Crown and Anchor.

Why not just renew by mail using expedited service? Overnighting it there and Paying for overnight shipping back got mine last month in a week...

Seems much less hassle than all the other options and/or risks proposed...

Update: Coastal Kitchen reservations show on my order history again (had said "Data Not Available" before), but I'm still not able to book a new reservation for the 2nd night.

BOGO dining also not working...

Ah well.

Seriously? Semantics. It did not cost much and it is definitely an upgrade

Uhh... called and asked to pay for a better cabin versus awarded a better cabin for free... are two completely different things. When I see "upgrade fairy", I'm interested in finding out why RCI deviated from their normal operating model (i.e, upsells).

No drop for Anthem in November. Still $46.