New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies"

[Haljo1935]

Told today by both PCC and TA that the Welcome Home OBC (received from taking a cruise) cannot be combined with any of HAL current fares, the only way to use it is with non refundable booking with no "perks" or credits, not even w/Military OBC. So that is not welcomed news...

[*Miss G*]

10 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Told today by both PCC and TA that the Welcome Home OBC (received from taking a cruise) cannot be combined with any of HAL current fares, the only way to use it is with non refundable booking with no "perks" or credits, not even w/Military OBC. So that is not welcomed news...

 

The T&C on the Welcome Home offer says it’s “not combinable with other shipboard credit offers”.  There is a refundable fare, which is a bit higher than the non-refundable fare, and doesn’t include the current promo.  Ask for the quote on that one.

[Cruise Suzy]

8 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Told today by both PCC and TA that the Welcome Home OBC (received from taking a cruise) cannot be combined with any of HAL current fares, the only way to use it is with non refundable booking with no "perks" or credits, not even w/Military OBC. So that is not welcomed news...

 

I was able to get it added to the November 2024 and April 2025 Caribbean cruises I booked yesterday that had the Ealy Booking HIA upgrades.

[cgolf1]

On 3/24/2023 at 5:31 PM, cruiser3775 said:

Got given a very sturdy cloth tote bag on Noordam this week. Very useful

 

 

Are the tote bags for return cruisers only? Being a new to HAL cruiser we are trying to figure out what to pack.

[cgolf1]

On 3/29/2023 at 12:51 PM, terrydtx said:

Plus HAL unlike other lines will not let you use the OBC before you embark for things like shore excursions, spa treatments and Specialty restaurants.

 

This is good to know, as we really like being able to do that on Celebrity. I guess the thing working in our favor for our HAL cruise is that we booked so late most of the excursions we wanted are sold out, so we are hoping to book onboard and it was only 100$ obc anyways. If it was more than that we would be challenged to spend it once onboard.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

... so we are hoping to book onboard and it was only 100$ obc anyways. If it was more than that we would be challenged to spend it once onboard.

 

That's impressive !

 

This has likely been addressed already, but can OBC be utilized for gratuities ?

 

Tom

[Haljo1935]

32 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

I was able to get it added to the November 2024 and April 2025 Caribbean cruises I booked yesterday that had the Ealy Booking HIA upgrades.

I did specifically ask if I could use it with early booking as the fall 2024 AK cruises were just released - PCC said no. Another examp!e of inconsistent information causing frustration with what should be a straightforward process. Since we can't apply the OBC ourselves, we're relying on PCCs to be the experts and do the best job for us. Ugh...

[Cruise Suzy]

16 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

This has likely been addressed already, but can OBC be utilized for gratuities ?

 

Yes it has and the answer is yes. Gratuities will be automatically deducted from your OBC. Non-refundable OBC will be charged first, then they will be deducted from any refundable OBC, and if there is no longer any OBC, the gratuities will be added to your account balance.

[cgolf1]

56 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

That's impressive !

 

This has likely been addressed already, but can OBC be utilized for gratuities ?

 

Tom

 

Now its not an issue to spend it with the gratuities. I grew up in the beer business, so I hate paying super inflated prices for drinks lol. So when we sail without a drink package, which is 16 of our 18 cruises, we rarely drink. Some lines had deals where you buy a card and get 1 to 2 free drinks and we might buy that. After our first HAL cruise I will do a review if everyone likes them. We are thrifty cruisers though:)

[lavictoria]

On 3/31/2023 at 6:44 AM, cgolf1 said:

 

We are thrifty cruisers though:)

When we were, well, more thrifty than we are now, DH and I would head to happy hour for our one drink of the day before dinner.

[idalia]

I will be going on my first HAL cruise at the end of April. When I look at the Navigator app under itinerary, it is currently showing 'Smart Casual' for all 7 nights. Does this means no gala attire at all (which I would be totally cool with), or if there is any likelihood that this will change before or at the time of sailing? This is on Zaandam, if that matters. Thanks!

[lavictoria]

4 minutes ago, idalia said:

I will be going on my first HAL cruise at the end of April. When I look at the Navigator app under itinerary, it is currently showing 'Smart Casual' for all 7 nights. Does this means no gala attire at all (which I would be totally cool with), or if there is any likelihood that this will change before or at the time of sailing? This is on Zaandam, if that matters. Thanks!

It seems that Smart Casual is used as a placeholder when they start loading info on the app.

I'm leaving a couple of weeks before you and while all days have the Smart Casual header when I scroll down the events I see "Dressy Night Photo Opportunity" under the Events tab on 3 of our 18 evenings - spread out evenly over sea days.

[RuthC]

47 minutes ago, idalia said:

I will be going on my first HAL cruise at the end of April. When I look at the Navigator app under itinerary, it is currently showing 'Smart Casual' for all 7 nights. Does this means no gala attire at all (which I would be totally cool with), or if there is any likelihood that this will change before or at the time of sailing? This is on Zaandam, if that matters. Thanks!

On a 7-night cruise, you will have 2 dressy nights. Count on it. 

[KroozNut]

3 minutes ago, RuthC said:

On a 7-night cruise, you will have 2 dressy nights. Count on it. 

 

Yes, and you likely won't know when they are until after you board the ship.

[cruiser3775]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:34 PM, cgolf1 said:

Are the tote bags for return cruisers only? Being a new to HAL cruiser we are trying to figure out what to pack.

I was a first time cruiser on Noordam, and the bag was waiting on my bed when I checked in.  I think everyone on board got one.

[Haljo1935]

15 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Yes, and you likely won't know when they are until after you board the ship.

But you count on them likely falling on sea days.

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

But you count on them likely falling on sea days.

 

Most of the time, but not always. Depends on the particular itinerary. I've seen them fall on port visits like HMC and others, but it doesn't happen often.

[Aloha3]

Note. It is Dressy rather than Gala now so the best of your smart casual will do. Men should be collared shirt and long pants.

 

[cgolf1]

27 minutes ago, Aloha3 said:

Note. It is Dressy rather than Gala now so the best of your smart casual will do. Men should be collared shirt and long pants.

 

 

Collared button up or collared polo style? I have 1 button up packed for a week and 2 polo. One pair of dress pants, but for the less dressy nights, the Zip off kaki pants/shorts I packed, should cover me to give me less chances to spill on the nicer pants.

[Sea Hag]

4 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

But you count on them likely falling on sea days.

But not the last night, if that falls on a sea day.

[KroozNut]

3 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

 

Collared button up or collared polo style?

Collared.. so both of those styles are acceptable.

[KroozNut]

52 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

But not the last night, if that falls on a sea day.

 

Never on the last night... sea day or otherwise.

[GreenDice]

Can I book shore excursions on the HAL web site or the Navigator app even if the booking was through a big box TA? Thanks.

[Sea42]

12 minutes ago, GreenDice said:

Can I book shore excursions on the HAL web site or the Navigator app even if the booking was through a big box TA? Thanks.

Yes you can. Once you log in, you'll be able to go to your account and select your booking. From there you will see excursions, dinning reservations etc that are available. These things may not be available until about 6-8 months before your cruise.

[GreenDice]

Thanks for the quick reply. I wanted to make sure I don't get locked into dealing with Costco exclusively.