cruiseaholic78

This is a translation from an article in a Dutch Maritime newspaper De Schuttevaer. OVV investigates fatal accident on cruise ship Holland America Line The Safety Research Council (OVV) is investigating an accident on a Holland America Line cruise ship, in which two crew members were killed on Friday. Two OVV employees traveled to the Caribbean, where the accident happened, the council said.

Why not book an hotel next to the cruise terminal, take a taxi from the airport to your hotel and walk to the cruise ship on embarkation day? I would first of all check the price for the HAL hotel booking, it is usually priced per person instead of per room. See if it is worth the price difference and then check the hotel for their checkout times. HAL seems to have dropped staggered boarding times (read on CC here not yet verified myself) and allow it after 12:00.

Good to know but on our 28 days cruise last October it was on the menu (nearly) every night, no need for a special order.

I sincerely hope not, bread pudding reminds me of school dinners (UK) and was never a favorite of mine! That said I have been following the menus on the Nieuw Statendam as we will be sailing on her next month and been very sorry to see hardly any fruit crisp offerings. I hope you have not been influencing the chefs on HAL to replace my beloved fruit crisp with your beloved bread pudding. I might even need to put in a special request with of course double portion of creme anglais instead of ice cream (have to watch my weight).

We are booked for this October, to be honest for us the only real advantage is booking a guarantee and then buying C.O. to upgrade to the cabin of our choice. The price difference was not worth it for this cruise as the upgrade is the only real value for us and there are not as many (other) advantages with this ship versus the Pinnacle class ones. If you have already booked and paid it could be interesting for an upgrade otherwise all you get is OBC. https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/inventory-assets/activity-types/dining/club-orange/Club_Orange_Benefits.pdf

Yes I just realised that and was looking for a more up to date version, you beat me to it! Rosalyn

Maybe this will help. https://www.space-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Avoiding-Stairs-on-the-Tube2.pdf Rosalyn

We were on the Westerdam 28 days Asia in October 2023 and on embarkation day we were (of course) sent to the Lido for lunch. I actually went down to the MDR to check and it was definitely closed. I didn’t quite understand this thread as I am sure this has been discussed previously but as I couldn’t find it I didn’t bother to answer.

I would check to see if NCL offer a combination of sightseeing tour which at the end drops you off at the airport.

I have been told never to add your address to your luggage label as it is possible that thieves will also know that your house is empty!

Sorry if I posted something that was out of date, it was what I used last October when planning our M&M. I was quite surprised though to see mention of a fax! Still all the basics are mentioned there so thought I would post it.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/meet-mingle/hollandamerica/

After seeing the shrines/Pagodas extensively in Tokyo here is something completely different but definitely worth a visit. If it is fully booked keep checking as tickets can become available. https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/ happy planning

Good for you have a great cruise.

Welcome to CC. Here is a good place to start. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/48-australia-amp-new-zealand/ Happy planning

Hate to be the bearer of bad news.

Maybe this information will useful for their first HAL cruise. The main question is, did they book assigned or anytime dining, if anytime they just have to show up when they can request a table for two or shared dining, this is not for every evening so they can mix and match if they want. We do this too sometimes we like to chat and sometimes we don't.

We will be coming to the terminal on 19th October but have a rental which will have to be returned before 11:00 at Atlantic Avenue. We are hoping to dump our cases, return the car and walk to the terminal taking in the Seaport area on the way (we missed this part on our last visit) Does anyone know how early we can deliver our cases ?

For some reason I can’t get any further after choosing a cabin category on (any ship) on my iPad but can do so without a problem on my computer.

The GDC questions have been answered, now the CO, this is something that to me has the most value on the Pinnacle ships. We booked (if CO is available which is not always the case) the guarantee Veranda category and upgraded to our veranda cabin of choice. You also get some extra’s shown below. The total cost of this was cheaper than the price of our preferred cabin. On the smaller ships the price difference is not usually worth it, the maths just have to add up, I do not know how they work for other categories. https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/inventory-assets/activity-types/dining/club-orange/Club_Orange_Benefits.pdf If the maths work for you I would get the CO the booking process. Happy planning

Yes this was probably in 2022, things are fine now, last time we were there October there were loads more staff so no waits at all. Don’t worry. https://www.schiphol.nl/en/ Happy planning Rosalyn

If you are looking for something different in Amsterdam this could be interesting. https://davinciamsterdam.com/

Does your ship have an excursion to Lamanai? First a boat trip and then you can see a Mayan pyramid. This area has not been excavated as much as many others so there is really a feel of how the explorers first found it. It was more impressive than one that has already been “tweaked” Happy planning Rosalyn

I presume you are on the Nieuw Statendam. You have found CC for some questions so you might like to join the roll call, this is for your sailing where people post tips, questions etc for your specific sailing.

This is the Early Mainer bonus, you have to know when the itinerary was released, this is in addition to the early booking bonus which can vary.