dontworry

Just booked our Cruise for Feb. 9, 2015. Our cabin number is 7011.a deluxe outside stateroom category XF.

We are going through Transat Tours(Air Transat) flying 2 Feb. from Edmonton to Calgary to Varadero with a transfer to Havana. We are staying in the Parque Central hotel, junior suite breakfast included. On the 9 there is a transfer from the hotel to the Ship. A drink package is included. When the Ship docks then there is a transfer back to Varadero and we fly home. Our seats are not the top ones on the plane but the next category.

Very, very excited about this. we have been to Cuba twice before. Once a 3 day Havana and 4 day Varadero and once on a 8 day coach tour of Cuba, plus 3 days Havana plus 7 days Varadero. Hope to see more and more people booking this Cruise.

Cheers to all.

My wife and I just completed our 11th Holland America cruise on Monday doing the 12 day Sea of Cortez. Cuba is another place close to our heart. A few years back we did 3 days Havana-4 days Varedero and more recently we did a 8 day coach tour around Cuba with 3 more days in Havana and then 8 days back in Varedero. This Cuba Cruise with the incredible itineries is right up our ally. We too, have had our eye on this cruise for a long time but wanted to see a successful year for this Ship. We hope to be on it this time next year. You can only get Cuban money in Cuba. it would be rare to use the local currency,all airports,hotels and banks have places to exchange your currency into CUCs. The major airports have a VIP area now which is helpful if you are new to Cuba. I always tell people not to expect the same standards as home when you are in Cuba. Expect the unexpected and go with the flow. It is not uncommon for instance in most areas not to have a toilet seat and have someone standing outside wanting you to purchase a small strip of toilet paper :). Cuba is a wonderful country with awesome people. There is much to see and experience. Like other countries they have their scams like at the money exchanges but with common sense it is a joy to go there.

we will be docking in Mazatlan 11 Dec. on our Sea of Cortez cruise instead of docking in Topolobampo due to a change in our itinerary. I know there will be a lot of disappointed people who wanted to do the Copper Canyon but now that I know we are not going there I am looking forward to Mazatlan. We are thinking of wandering around the town rather than doing an excursion. Sounds like there are some real fun things to do and great places to eat.

There is the Explore 4 and there is the Signature Package. I think people continue to confuse the two. The signature package caps you at a maximun of 15 drinks in a day. 15 times 7 dollars per drink brings you to 105 dollars per day which inludes everyting mentioned throughout the varios threads on the subject. The explore 4 has the cap at 50.00 and that is what has been discontinued. The signature package is alive and well.

Yes,Margeretas are included when using the bar stock but not with premium alcohol. In the cocktail munu there are over 100 drinks to choose from,plus the house wines(not great),plus all beers,plus fancy coffee drinks and bottled water. No you can not buy drinks for others using this package and no to paying the difference for more expensive drinks. The maximum for your drink of choice is 7.00. If you want to buy a drink for someone or buy a more expensive drink then you use your regular room key and it has nothing to do with the package. Remember all adults in the room must purchase the package,not just one person.

I'm sure HAL will have our total safety in mind for this cruise. I'M so looking forward to this 12 day cruise. Lots of excellent ports to do some exloring in.

just got word that this cruise will now not be stopping at Topolobampo but rather will be stopping at Mazatlan instead. Anyone who had plans there,such as Copper Canyon will be very disappointed. Too bad.

Thankyou for the comments and links happy sailing everyone

Have to admit I have had many a Santa Carolina while cruising. It is definitily low on anyones scale. Actually have had 2 buck chuck while vacationing in the States,was in San Francisco.Also had many a fine wine as well while in SF? Somebody recently referred to it on this forum as now being 3 buck chuck. :-)

I think having different levels of quality of high end drinks is great. I think I would be enticed to go that way. Hopefully having drank so much of their house wines over the years hasn't ruined my tastebuds. I like it when there are options to choose from. cheers.

DW and I are going on the Statendams SEA OF CORTEZ cruise in Dec. Wondering if others have done this cruise and what their empressions were. thanks.

The package allows for the large size bottled waters,world class beers,fancy coffee drinks,wine,and a collection of over 100 cocktails. Not sure why someone would talk about having 15 expressos or even having 15 alcoholic drinks in a day. The combination of what I described is really not excessive to have. What I see as being the worst aspect of this is the low quality of the housewines. Lots of people may have 7 alcoholic drinks in a day plus the fancy coffee drinks.plus the bottled waters and easily have paid for this package on a daily basis.Not for everyone but a good deal for many who choose to use it. It can be fun to try the drink of the day or have a fancy coffee drink for something different. This package was quite popular on our Alaska cruise this summer.

We are staying in Stateroom 156 for the Sea of Cortez cruise Dec 4. If yo get the chance can you check a few times to see that our cabin is being cared for? :-) Looking forward to your reports on your adventures and how the good old Statendam is doing these days.

While on Westerdam in Aug. They swiped the room keys. Very efficient and there was none of the yelling over the loudspeakers from all directions. Sped things up.

My 3 year old grandson was always attempting to jump off things and I was telling him to be careful and not get hurt. The response was always dontworry :-)

what an incredible review, My DW and I werw on thar Ship starting Aug. 24 and while we had record breaking warm weather at almost every port I could feel you excitement for the thrills that you had and how great it was that uou made the most of what was presented to you. Well done and thankyou for letting us share your journey. Happy sailing for you and your family in the future.

I know for sre there is not a 50.00 limit per day. This package is at a maximum of 15 drinks per day,none of them over 7.00. Your dollar maximum for this package is 15x7.00,which would be 105,but they are not really considering a maximum dollar aamount. I think there is some confusion here now on different types of packages. On at least one day I easily had over 70 dollars worth of beverages(not just alcohol :-)

Yes, for sure they use the less than premium quality brands for their drinks. They only sold the gold cards for the first 2 days and if you bought one on the second day they would delete the amount you had already spent that day buying drinks using your room key. If you are a beer drinker you have a good choice of world class beers plus you are still able to get your coffees,water,pop etc. It is good for some scenarios but for sure not all.

I would be very surprised if each individual Ship had a choice of 13 wines. On Westerdam I know we only had a choice of two reds(Merlot and Cab-Sauv.) and Im not sure of the Whites as we dont drink white.I would imagine there would be a number of choices. Our Merlot was S anta Carolina(spelling?). It is not a wine that I would order over dinner or bring home but it was an easy to drink wine that we were happy with. Perhaps over the entire HAL LINE there is a overall choice of 13 wines. :-)

On our Cruise seperate gold cards were used to obtain your drinks. You use your room key only for the first purchase which is how they activate your gold card. After that you only need that gold card to get your drinks. I dont drink the other types of coffees that you can get in the Explorations Lounge so I dont know if they are included or not. I would think so because as you say they are under 7.00. We found that on most cruises we have a drink of red wine and they, jokingly,for the most part inform us we may as well order a bottle because it was cheaper :-) This way we have a glass whenever we want to and dont succumb to the good natured sales pressure. We never really drank their fancy drinks on previous cruises but did so this time,just for fun. If your cost conscience then 7 beverages,counting everything(water,coffee,wine,pop) would be the break even point. If you induldge as we do on cruises then you can go up as high as 15 beverages. We felt it served our purposes this time. We are getting it as a free bonus on one of our next cruises. Happy cruising.

My wife and I used this on our Alaska Cruise in Aug. All adults in the room must get the card. I can be used for any drinks uner 7.00. That includes housewine,large bottled water,regular coffee from the Explorations,all coffee drinks(like Spanish coffee)all drinks of the day and all drinks from the bar menu,pop. We never drink morning drinks but on this Cruise we did have a bloody mary at breakfast :-) We had a wine or two at lunch and perhaps a cold one late afternoon. At dinner perhaps a couple drinks(Lido) and also during the Show in the Showroom. We could have had 15 drinks a day but we didnt. I think anyone having just a few drinks a day,plus buys large bottles of water and basic coffee from Explorations actually breaks even quite easily. It is quick and convient and gives you some fun options throughout the day if you choose.

We were in 8094 for our Alaska Cruise 24 Aug. We enjoyed this cabin very much. It seems bigger because of the different shape. There is definitily more privacy on the balcony. It is nice to have a shower in the bathtub as well as a standalone shower. It took a minute to figure out the controls for the main shower and be prepared for some changes in the temp. :-) The A/C works very well,we always kept it quite cool.It was very quiet all the time. It offers a very nice view of the port side of the Ship. We very much enjoyed life aboard the Westerdam.