Laminator

2 hours ago, cbr663 said:

Is this HAL's attempt to solve the problem of the poor entertainment?  Charge passengers more to stream on their own devices and hope they not notice the lack of entertainment onboard?

I doubt it. I think this is HAL's attempt to take advantage of those who now can work from home. With Starlink they can just as easily work from sea.  

And HAL is now offering new more expensive internet plans due to Starlink!

5 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks.  I never found your group.

 

 

Based on Laminator’s post above (included in this post) it might be a good idea to check with the casino to be safe.  I’ve never figured out the casino offers or discounts but someone told me a long time ago that the amount of time counts quite significantly. 

Holland America Casino Players. The platform begins with what you see in your makeup mirror.

32 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 

I’ve done a couple of mock bookings and my casino discount came into play on both.

 

I think @Laminator is talking about the special casino offers that come out - not the standard discount.

 

How long has it been since you cruised?  Is it possible that too much time has passed and your discount has dropped off?

 

My friend always got them and lost it.  the best I can figure out is that they just didn’t spend long enough in the casino on the prior cruise.  

 

 

There is a group of 5000 Holland America Casino players on another platform. This has been discussed quite a bit over the last month. It appears if you are from Canada you can see the offers on the website. Not so much if you are in the US.

1 hour ago, KBC73 said:

The last 6 or 7 years I have received a discount of between 10-25% on most cruises I have booked, The first time I got one I asked why, and I was told I was in a casino group. This worked great until now. I have done mock bookings the last 2 months on both HAL and my TA's websites and the discounts have disappeared. 

Has this happened to anyone else?

Thanks

 

The new website is not showing casino discounted cruises any longer. Either you or your TA will need to contact the casino division to see if you have any offers. With the ships sailing with more pax now the casino offers are not as often or as generous as they were the past couple of years. 

15 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

I too enjoy the coffee served in the Lido.

 

My problem is that it is rarely put out for guests until about 5 a.m. in the morning.  Yes, I'm a morning person and like to have my coffee first thing (about 4:30 a.m.).  I bring Starbucks Via (freeze-dried) on board for early mornings--just add hot water!  It works until the Dutch Cafe opens or coffee is available in the Lido.

On my last 2 ships, the Nieuw Statendam and the Rotterdam, the coffee was actually made the night before around midnight with a sign that said station closed. I hope no one reports me to law enforcement but I on several occasions poured myself several cups late at night. 

5 minutes ago, mleng said:

@Laminator and @electro thank you for your input on the HAL smoking policy.  I know there is a dedicated discussion thread on HAL smoking and it ran thousands of entries.  I cannot possibly read all of them.  Can you (or anybody else who is knowledgeable) boil it down for me regarding a couple of simple questions:

 

1. Why does HAL have different smoking policies for different ships? Is it due to a specific quirk in a ship's layout/hardware, or is it due to a geographic area and the cultural preference?  What's the key difference between the ships that allow smoking in casinos (Koningsdam, NS, Rotterdam, Zaandam, Volendam) and the rest of the fleet?

 

2. Do you think the ships that currently allow smoking in casinos are going to gradually ban them?

 

Thanks.

 

The group I was referring to had nothing to do with smoking. It has to do with Holland America Casino players. 
As for the smoking the Nieuw Statendam recently had the staircase which ran from deck 2 to deck 3 in the casino removed. The casino was expanded. Closing off that staircase I am sure will help with some of the smoke wafting down to deck 2. If successful I am sure HAL will do the same thing with the KDAM and RDAM during their drydock.
I think HAL by offering smoking and non smoking casinos on their ships, is trying to acquiesce to both sides. 
 

5 hours ago, mleng said:

 Can you tell me where to find the discussion thread?  Is it on CC or somewhere else?  My family just started cruising with HAL (did one in 2019 before COVID, then did one in 2023 and another one last month). We really liked the nonsmoking casinos and may end up doing most of our cruises on HAL going forward.  It would certainly be nice to know a little more about the ins and outs of the HAL casino and their offers.

51 minutes ago, mleng said:

 Can you tell me where to find the discussion thread?  Is it on CC or somewhere else?  My family just started cruising with HAL (did one in 2019 before COVID, then did one in 2023 and another one last month). We really liked the nonsmoking casinos and may end up doing most of our cruises on HAL going forward.  It would certainly be nice to know a little more about the ins and outs of the HAL casino and their offers.

We are not allowed to promote groups outside of CC. I believe it is safe to say that you see it when you look in the mirror every morning. 

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

I think you will find the smoking pit on the Starboard side at the stern view pool. Unfortunately there is no dodger so the smoke drifts to all parts of that deck, rendering the entire space unusable to anyone with sensitivities to tobacco smoke. Also apparently they are making new "Non Smoking" casino areas, where they should be making enclosed "smoking" section casino areas.

I apologize in advance for talking about smoking outside of the smoking thread, but I had to let @islandgirlejfan know that the indoor smoking is also very disappointing to us. We never encountered it in our cabin but we definitely had to avoid several areas of the ship because of it.

@Shalandara I just wanted you to know that there are only a few ships in the HAL fleet that have no smoking in the casino. Unfortunately for us Westerdam isn't one of them.

There is no smoking in the casino on the Westerdam. Hasn't been for a few years!

The answer is yes to OBC. You can purchase the chips from the cashier or you can get them at the table. 

27 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Just like an in-cabin hair dryer, HAL needs to provide compatible devices for Navigator use to all passengers requesting them, if they do not nor cannot use their own personal devices.

 

It would save a lot of grief and the extremely long lines after embarkation since so many appear to have fatal problems linking into onboard Navigator. 

I gotta try this with Microsoft. They discontinued updates on Windows 7 in 2020. I hope I can get them to provide me with a new surface pro. 

17 hours ago, oceanbeau10 said:

Have the casino offers lately, been free or discounted?  I used to get free cruises, but now they're discounted.  Husband thinks it's because I have agreed to pay, and now only occasionally offered a free one.  Just curious.  Thanks for your response.

With the ships filling up the generosity of the casino offers has declined. There's a group of nearly 5000 HAL casino players that discuss this constantly. 

Depending on who books your offer is whether you will see the casino benefits in the special services section. Fortunately for me I have a PCC that is very familiar with booking casino offers as she has been doing them for me since 2007. This shows on my sons booking. He received a free ocean view, $300 in Free Play and the DOU stands for Drinks on us which is drinks in the casino only. 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Yes, they can make a mistake.  Last year I had a casino offering and stupidly used the casino and my PCC (never again).  I had a B2B2B and I had two  price increases.   I don’t sweat the small stuff but one was an ouch and the other a bigger ouch.  Apologies or “I made a mistake”. The cruise ended up costing much more than I was told originally and I consider myself a relatively experienced cruiser.

 

But it was the casino and the PCC who made the mistakes and didn’t check.

I thought I would save my TA some work and little compensation for that booking.  Never again.

It's critical your PCC is familiar with booking casino deals. If they aren't you can run into issues. There are some major differences between booking email offers and cone back and sail offers. Fortunately my PCC has taken care of my casino offers since 2007 so I never had any issues. 

You can book solo and then add a family member or friend down the road if you wish. 

4 hours ago, PROCRUISE said:

The poor children could have done better at my small towns Santa House! Live music each night, plenty of time with Santa, picture for $5, small gift plus stocking filled with candy!!

Yep...those poor children who just happen to be fortunate enough to be on a cruise. 

40 minutes ago, cruisedd said:

Can anyone think of a better way for HAL to handle drink receipts for people on a drink package?  On a few occasions my card was swiped and returned without the receipt.  But most of the time, it was printed and handed back for me to sign.  Since the tip is included, I almost always added no additional tip and signed.  I found that "extra" step slightly inconvenient. I realize they don't know if I'm going to add an additional tip or not, so they are just giving me the option.  My question is this, do you typically add a second tip to bar tabs or not?  If most people do not, then I'm thinking those that do want to tip extra could ask for the receipt when ordering so they can add the tip or just use cash if they prefer.  I'm suggesting that the default for HAL should be to not print a receipt for us to sign.  I recall being on another cruise line without the receipts and I liked that way better.

The reason HAL is making pax sign the receipts is they were having issues with pax claiming they were being charged for drinks that they did not receive. 

2 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

You can pick up your beach chair and go someplace else. Typically there is just one or two pools on cruise ships available to all passengers. With no where else to go. 

I have spent many hours sitting at the Seaview pool where I wish I could have moved and I can assure you that it had absolutely nothing to do with thongs being worn. But since I understand that folks are on vacation and trying to enjoy themselves it is none of my business what anyone wears. Everyone here knows the opinions are like saying.

49 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Modesty is the best policy when in group settings. 

I would consider the beach a group setting. There are plenty of thongs there. 

2 hours ago, NJCoupleForFun said:

Where were you sailing?  I assume it makes a difference.  Out off Miami will have not thongs than out of Baltimore probably. 

ABC islands out of Ft. Lauderdale.

I was on the Rotterdam from Nov 3rd to Nov 12th and there had ti be at least a half dozen women wearing thongs at the Seaview Pool. 

We were on deck 4 on the Rotterdam from Nov 3rd to the 12th. We never had an issue sleeping but I have to admit we do not sleep between the hours of 3pm til 11pm anyway. All 4 of us thought the food was good to excellent. 

1 hour ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

For some people it's a bargain.

A steal actually!

It's working now. Possibly just rolled out at the time I visited the site!