igraf

That is pretty much why I started this thread as I used to really enjoy the music venues on HAL back when they had real choices and high quality music. Now it is overamplified BB King, overamplified Rolling Stone and overamplified Billboard on Board (pianos). No classical strings, no serene jazz trio. This is not a matter of personal taste. It is more a matter of hearing safety. igraf

We live in San Diego and used Uber to get over to the Koningsdam two weeks ago. If you arrive at the port after 11am then your Uber car (or taxi) is allowed to drive onto the pier right next to the luggage porters. The was little or no need to handle luggage on your own. I am happy to say that the San Diego cruise port has improved greatly since our last (pre-Covid) cruise. We left our house at about 11:10am and were in our stateroom at 12 noon! The port security bottleneck of the past was addressed with additional screening stations and the HAL check-in was a breeze. We spent more time walking than standing during the whole boarding process! Of course, things will be more crowded if you arrive early. igraf

I will definitely buy something like this before our next cruise. igraf

Trumpets and saxophones can be played at full acoustical loudness without electronic amplication. That would be just fine with me. The loudness of a rock/blues band is set by the drums. The drums are usually so loud that they require full height plastic shielding from the other band member to prevent hearing damage. Everyone else then has to play as loud as the drums, which more often than not requires amplifiers. It is just crazy when a trumpet has to be played into a microphone to be heard in a small lounge. The ship had 2600+ passengers and maybe 100 (200 if crowded) at a particular venue. Not sure if I would call this very popular. I really wanted to enjoy the music, but ended up leaving after a few songs because of the loudness and distortion of the music. igraf

We just sailed on the Koningsdam and had a difficult time enjoying the music venues as the sound in each venue was extremely loud. We always had to wear earplugs, which in turn muffles the sound. At this point the enjoyment of listening to music is lost and it just becomes party noise. I noticed that several of the musicians also wore ear plugs. Even the "Billboard on Board" dueling pianos were cranked up to the point where the sound was distorted by the amplifiers. This is definitely a case of more is not better. The only solution was to sit as far away as possible, typically outside of lounge. I found myself longing for the more sedate Adagio Strings and jazz trio of cruises past. Even though we have sailed HAL for many years, I am now considering Cunard for our next cruise for a more elegant entertainment experience. igraf

Consider this a blessing. The alternative was cruising a very large group who would have completely dominated the cruise. You are lucky to get kicked off. Just select another cruise and this time check the "drydocks, groups and charters" thread first. igraf

We are boarding the Koningsdam today as well. Since we live in San Diego, we are not going to leave our house until after 11am to avoid the crowd. Easy peasy cruise for us! 🙂 I was recently told by a guard at the pier that it is better to arrive after 11am if using Uber or similar. The reason being that they allow the Uber cars to drive onto the pier after 11am. No reason for a local (or someone who stayed in a hotel) to arrive earlier. igraf

That would depend on the specific T-Mobile plan. My T-Mobile Connect plan does not work outside of the USA. On the other hand, I only pay $15 plus tax per month to use my phone. My call quality is excellent (iPhone 13) and I never run out of data. Most of the time I am on unlimited WiFi at home, so I have no need for a lot of cellular data. I don't think that I ever used more than 1GB in a month. So, for someone like me the solution is to purchase a travel eSim for foreign travel and communicate through an app like WhatsApp. Gigsky appears to an excellent choice. igraf

To be clear, Gigsky has a specific product for use on cruise ships. It is called Cruise+ and it is different than their standard travel eSims. igraf

This is why I firmly believe that HAL should go back to a "no tipping" policy. The crew should be instructed to refuse cash tips as they are already being taken care of by the automatic tips. A couple is being charged $34 per day for "Crew Appreciation" plus the 18% tips added to drinks and services. It is enough. It is a common practice for businesses to push double tipping. An automatic tip is billed, but they know that people will feel obligated to leave a cash tip as well. Time to stand up and say "no, I have paid my bill and have already paid a sufficient tip". igraf

I agree, tip requests are getting out of hand. For a cruise on HAL, the hotel service charge is the tip. Why is this so hard to accept? In fact, Holland America used to advertise that they were a "no tipping" cruise line. The hotel service charge is quite generous and very fair as all crew members get their share. I do understand that one might want to tip extra to get better service, but that only works towards the beginning of the cruise. igraf

Consider increasing the hotel service charge instead. They all worked hard for you. Especially the plumbers who unplug the toilets..... Nothing for them? igraf

I attended the HAL Alaska Cruise & Travel show in San Diego yesterday: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/alaska-cruises-travel-show Definitely worthwhile, though I only found out about by it by accident during a web search. Thus I am passing the word along. HAL had their own representatives and PCCs, plus there were several excursion vendors that work closely with HAL. A great source of information. I even panned for gold and came home with a few gold flakes! igraf

i will start by saying that DW and I are very independent travelers and will often rent a car at a port and explore on our own. Having said that, the HAL tours are typically of good quality though I agree that they can be expensive. Be careful and read the reviews before booking alternative tours. An example that comes to mind is the whale watching excursion at Cabo San Lucas. The HAL tour was in a large comfortable boat with an open bar and free snacks. One could get up and walk around and even use a restroom. The alternative boats were right next to us when we were actually watching the whales, and these poor souls were crammed in tiny boats that were not much better than a canoe. They were miserable and did not get any closer to whales than us. igraf

The trick is to explore farther away from the ship when in port. All it takes is an short taxi ride or ride the local bus for a dollar if you want to mix it up with the local expats/snowbirds from Canada. Try visiting the Basilica Cathedral in Mazatlán or the Romantic Zone in Puerto Vallarta next time. My rule is to quickly get past the "first mile" in most cruise ports. igraf

We ended up booking one of the odd November itineraries that travels north from San Diego to San Francisco. I'll let you all know how it turns out. igraf

You should bring your cotton sheets regardless of what you are told by HAL. igraf

Why is packing an extra suitcase such a problem? You have an unusual need and this is a very good solution. Is all this about not wanting to pay extra luggage fees? igraf

I agree with it generally not being a compelling price for couples. We are going on a HAL cruise soon and paid about the same for a normal advance booking. Still, a good option for singles who live near a departure port. igraf

I have never gone hungry on a HAL ship. Seriously, there is no shortage of food. Room service is always available for unusual or medical circumstances. I would much rather give the food staff a couple of hours between meal times to clean up and then present us with fresh new offerings. Much better than keeping some stale food out all the time. igraf

You can request faster dinner service. We did that once and our waiter started to rush out our orders. I politely told the waiter that we were not in that much of hurry; I just didn't want to wait 30 minutes between each dinner course. The waiter was happy to oblige in any case. igraf

Good for you. We have also travelled extensively and at the same time stayed within our budget. I rarely felt that this diminished our travels. We do pay more for an extra level of comfort as we age, but I will still avoid just wasting money. 100+ cruises!!! I would say that you know what you are doing. igraf

I was going to say the same thing. A combination of currents and swells (and possibly the sailing season) favor the southbound Pacific coastal cruises. We have personally noticed the difference between northbound vs southbound, with the southbound being smoother. igraf

I have learned to visit and enjoy airport lounges when I travel, so my connections are typically over 2 hours if the airport has a decent lounge. A benefit of this, besides the lounge, is that I am not bothered by a minor flight change and I am much better able to tolerate extended flight delays. You can get into good lounges with a premium travel credit card, even if you are flying economy. I used to think that paying several hundred dollars a year for a premium travel credit card was nuts, but now I think otherwise. Most people regard airports as a necessary evil. My approach is to make the airport experience less stressful, even enjoyable, with amenities like TSA PreCheck and the Capital One lounges. I've been known to book my flights according to the lounge locations! 🙂 Having said that, I will admit that some lounges are better than others. igraf

There are miles for free flights and points for loyalty status. Losing miles would be very important for most of us, but I really don't see FE dropping an airline just over loyalty status points. Especially for cases where AA was the only viable airline option. American was very transparent to their customers about losing loyalty points if they did not book through the AA web site or a few select travel agents, though the significant airfare surcharges when booking through other travel agencies was not communicated to the general public. We would only know about this if Flight Ease decided to tell us about it, and I suspect that FE quickly decided instead to drop AA rather than deal with a lot of angry customers when they were quoted high prices for airfare. My experiences was as of late 2023/early 2024, and AA may have changed their travel agency policies since then. igraf