GregnChris

I have been absent for some time and recently resumed reading Cruise Critic, only to discover the  underlying system that manages the forum has changed.  Now I am not a noob with forums and boards.  I have worked as a computer professional for more than 20 years.  But I have had admit it has taken me several hours of frustration to figure out how to filter the content.  It wasn't until I found this thread that I began to understand how the new system works.  (Thanks Globalizer for your help on this thread!!!).  I can understand from first hand experience how frustrating it is learn a new system WHEN THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANY DOCUMENTATION ON HOW TO USE IT!  Is it hiding somewhere I just haven't found?  Or is it missing?  If it's hiding, then maybe a new, more prominent location should be found.  The frustration I see in some of the posters is understandable.  I felt it myself.  

Suggestion:  How about a "How To" sticky topic in the HELP area?  Useful information like how to setup a followed topic/thread screen (i.e. Globalizer's good work here) would help reduce the frustration level as users move to the new system.  If the forum is hard to use (filter, etc) then we all will be the losers as members drop off. 

Greg  

Oh Darn! We are doing the same cruise, but on Oct 10. We are flying over 5 days early to spend time in Paris, on our own. We have done several cruises on Vantage and have always been pleased with the ships and crew. The service has been excellent and the food outstanding. That is why we keep coming back to Vantage. Let us know how your trip goes and if there are any things you think we should not miss.

I'm not sure what we were thinking' date=' but after 30 ocean cruises, we are trying a Vantage river cruise aboard the River Venture on September 4th. We will be spending four days in Versailles before the cruise leaves Paris for Normandy and then returning to Paris. I'm especially concerned that I am seeing so very little about Vantage river cruises and so much about Viking.

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GregnChris

Just ask the wine steward to bring you one of your bottles, unopened, when you are ready to leave the dining room, and take it back to your room.

If you don't finish a bottle at one sitting, they will mark it with your room number and save it for another night. When you want to finish it, just tell the steward that you have an open bottle of red or white, and give him your room number. He will find it.

And if you are eating in different dinning rooms, be sure to tell the steward which one you used last for the bottle. They will find it for you.

Greg

I take a standard US extension cord that was made for Christmas Trees. It has three, three socket receptacles on it. I plug it into the US power port and then plug my chargers into it. And when I am in European hotels, I put a plug adapter on it its male plug and put it into the 220 volt socket. Since all of my chargers run on 110-220, I just plug them into the cord. I only have to have one socket and one plug adapter. And since it doesn't have any surge protection on it, it is fairly light weight and fine on the ship.

Greg

You can find info about day passes on the web site for Venice. I don't remember exactly what it is called, but a little looking and find it. The Vaporettos are like buses. The main line is up and down the grand canal.

Rick Steves even has a guided tour of the Grand Canal that narrates a cruise down the Grand Canal on the "milk run" (#2 line I believe). You can load it onto your cell phone and listen without needing data access.

Greg

Interestingly, the cost for one bag of laundry varies between the ships. We just got off the Prinsendam, where it was $20 per bag. Last fall we were on the Zuiderdam, where I believe it was $30 per bag. Not sure why the difference. But it is a good deal at either price.

But even better yet, we just made it to 4 Star, so it's free from now on! :D

Greg

We recently returned from a 20 day Norway trip on the Prinsendam. It had come out of dry dock earlier in the year and everything seemed to be working well. We didn't hear of any toilet problems and the ship seemed in good shape. The ship is about 28 years old (or so), so you will see some signs of her age. But nothing that impacts the quality of the experience or safety or comfort of the passengers. They said they replaced the bed mattresses. That may be, but the ones we had were quite hard, harder than what we have had on other HAL cruises. DW finally asked for an "egg crate" pad, which seemed to help.

I would not hesitate to take her again. In fact, I am starting to look at her schedule to see if we can get back on her soon. The crew was outstanding. The Captain did a fantastic job. Being on a smaller ship meant we got into places the bigger ships don't go. For most of our port visits, we were the only ship in port.

So if you like smaller ships, this is a great one to cruise on.

Greg

We just returned from the 20 day Norway cruise on the Prinsendam. We originally booked a Veranda Suite and a couple of weeks before embarkation we took an up sell to a Signature Suite. The small text on the up sell offer (see following) stated that we would only get the perks from our original purchase, not for the upgraded cabin.

"On all sailings, including Grand Voyages, promotional or stateroom amenities are based on the non-discounted category paid, not

the upgraded stateroom category. Preferred Limited Upgrade Special offers do not qualify for the double cruise day credits under the Mariner Society Loyalty Program."

That said, since we were moving up from a Veranda Suite to a Signature Suite, there were no extra perks, other than the bigger cabin. I have checked our Mariner accounts and yes, we were given double days for being in a Suite, but that was because we originally booked a suite.

It sounds like the OP was looking for special dining and concierge services. On Prinsendam, Concierge service, use of the Neptune lounge and Pinnacle Grill breakfast do NOT come with the Signature Suite. You have to move up to the Neptune Lounge to get those perks.

Greg

BTW. It was a great cruise. Loved Captain Dag!

thanks, everyone for your comments about using your TA to book the xfer. unfortunately, we booked our tour thru HAL PCC, and he was not able to add the transfer. apparently he has left the company and we were assigned a new PCC. I will give her a call to see if shecan help us.

Greg

HAL offers shuttle transportation from Victoria Plaza Hotel (maybe in the Plaza across the street from the hotel) in Amsterdam to Ijmuiden port. The cost is $44 per person and I believe you have to book through your TA. We have a reservation for this transport on Aug 23, 2016 through our TA.

We are arriving 5 days early for our June 16 departure and staying on our own at the Starwood W hotel on Dam Square. We booked the cruise thru a HAL PCC. I asked if we could book a transfer from Victoria Plaza hotel as suggested by others, but he said he could only do that if we HAL booked our pre-departure hotel. So if I want the HAL transfer, I guess we have to go back out to the airport and catch that one. I think we will just take a cab.

Greg

When we were on the Zuiderdam last year, we found the B.B. King group too loud to listen for long. We would have loved to stay longer and dance, but our ears couldn't take it.

However, one night they were the main show in the Vista Theater and in that setting, they were great.

HAL does a great job in recruiting very talented folks for this group.

Greg

Thanks all for the information.

I carefully looked for the codes before posting the question yesterday, and I couldn't find them. I even tried using the search function to find them, but could not. I checked the printout of the itinerary I made yesterday, and no code explanations on it either. I am glad they have added them back.

Thanks again for all the responses.

Greg

In looking at the Itineraries for the New Zealand cruises, I have come across several "footnote" references that I don't recognize. I tried to search the HAL web site for a list of definitions, but could not one.

Here is the list of footnote keys that I ran across. I have listed the meanings of the ones that I know. Hopefully the experienced HAL cruisers can fill in the missing definitions. Or post a link to their definitions on the HAL. Thanks in advance for your help.

Key - Meaning

AC - ?

CO - ?

DH - ?

ON - Overnight in Port

SC - Scenic Cruising

TC - ?

TR - Tender Port

VX - ?

WC - ?

Greg

We are going on the Koningsdam from Amsterdam in July. I just assumed that the cruise left from Amsterdam. This isn't the case? I must say, I am confused.

FunTraveler52.

You need to check with HAL to see what port your ship will leave from. If you have booked your transfer with HAL, they will take care of getting you to the correct port. Ijmuiden is not far from Amsterdam, but apparently not that easy to get to using public transportation from Amsterdam.

Greg

It is interesting that they left the hulls Blue on the ex-HAL ships.

Greg

On all of our B2B cruises, both in Europe and South America, we have been required to attend the lifeboat drill for both segments. I believe that Holland is strictly enforcing this since the Costa Concordia disaster. The drill is usually scheduled before the all-aboard time, around 3:00 or 4:00pm. I think that if you miss the main one, you can take a "make up" later in the evening.

On the Zuiderdam this last time, the muster went quite fast as they used portable scanners to scan everyone's room key instead of calling out room numbers.

As previously stated, you will get a letter the night before, telling you how you can exit the ship, how to re-board, and when to attend the drill.

Greg

I think it is a shame they have removed the square master ship from the logo. I think it added some class.

Greg

I have found that most electronic devices today will work with either 110V or 220V. Purchased an extension cord that is intended for use with Christmas Trees. It has three sets of triple plugs at 5 foot intervals. That means I can have several chargers plugged in, and I don't have to worry about them covering other plugs.

I put a two prong European plug adapter on the plug of the extension cord. This means I am running 220V through the cord, so I don't plug in anything that doesn't take 220V. This means I don't have to carry a separate plug adapter for each charger.

Greg

Thanks for the replies. I will give our PCC a call and book a HAL transfer. First I have to decide if I want to stay at the airport Sheraton, or find a hotel in the city.

Greg

We are on the Prinsendam starting June 15, 2016. Thanks for the info on the transfer.

I searched Google Maps for a cruise terminal in Ijmuiden, and it showed me the Felison Cruise Terminal. Is that where the Prinsendam docks? Or is it at a different place?

While we have cruised with HAL many times, this is the first time we have used a PCC. We like to arrive a day or so early to make sure we don't miss the ship. Did you work with your HAL PCC to book a hotel in Amsterdam for the overnight?

Do they give you any choice on the hotel?

Did they also handle the transfer from the airport to the hotel?

We were thinking of staying at the Sheraton at the airport, then catching a transfer from the airport. Has anyone tried to do that?

Greg

aliaschief,

HAL sells individual legs of cruises. They also sell multiple legs as Collector cruises. The collector version is a little cheaper than buying each leg individually. You should not have to change your cabin. But it is the equivalent of a Back2Back (B2B), and you will have to attend the muster drill for each leg, even though you booked it as a single cruise.

OH and one thing to watch out for with excursions. Once your first leg starts, you can only book excursions for that first leg. You cannot book excursions for the second leg until that leg starts. It has to do with how they keep their records. So if you plan to book HAL excursions, do so before your trip starts to be sure you get the ones you want.

Greg

We boarded the Zuiderdam in Barcelona this spring and it stayed overnight in Barcelona, leaving at 11:00pm the next day. On embarkation day, they ran the muster drill about 3:30 or 4:00pm. We were required to attend. It went quick because they used scanners to read eveyone's room cards as we arrived. I believe they ran makeups for folks that were late boarders, but I don't remember hearing any general announcements about makeup muster.

As for attending additional muster drills. If they hold a general muster drill, like on the second leg of a B2B, all passengers are expected to attend, even if they did an earlier one. It seems their policy, which I agree with, is "Practice makes perfect".

Greg

We are recently off the Zuiderdam, and were in cabin 5185. The aft cabins on deck 5 of the Zuiderdam have extra long balconies, on the order of 12 feet deep. Interestingly, four of the aft cabins (5184-87) are about 6 inches narrower that a regular Veranda room. That made it a tight fit to get around the end of the bed. And the first closet was not as deep as normal, so it didn't hold the normal amount of hanging items.

That said, looking at the Deck Plans for the two ships, I think the aft cabins on the Nieuw Amsterdam are different from the Zuiderdam. One way to see is to use Google Images to see photos of the stern of the ships for comparison.

Greg

I know how annoying that can be. There were all kinds of promos before our last cruise but not once did that cruise qualify.

Which means you picked a popular cruise that is selling well. You should have fun! :)

HAL does say, somewhere in the mariner docs, that all folks staying in a cabin get the benefits of the highest mariner star level staying in the cabin. So if one of you is a 2 star, and the other is a 3 star, either can book the restaurant and the 3 star discount should apply.

Greg