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

[tschwa2]

7 hours ago, UTBOB said:

They use aluminum cans for the bottled water package.

But they still sell bottled water, at least they were on the menu at the coffee place, just told that the have it all only covered the canned water.  

[Crew News]

37 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

In other words, single-use plastic bottles are banned?

It is my experience that empty, single-use-designed, plastic bottles are not banned.  If one decides to postpone the recycling of a single-use-designed bottle and use it for an excursion sport bottle during the cruise, it may, in an empty condition, be freely brought on board without concern.

 

The ship will gladly recycle the bottle and the crew will thank you, as all proceeds from ship recycling go to the Crew Fund.

[Crew News]

15 minutes ago, tschwa2 said:

But they still sell bottled water, at least they were on the menu at the coffee place, just told that the have it all only covered the canned water.  

There will be a large glass bottle of water in your stateroom.  You may choose to drink it but you will be charged.  Your Room Steward will bring you more glass bottles of water if you wish.

 

Here is a link to the current minibar menu showing bottles of water available for purchase:  Mini Bar Menu

[Haljo1935]

38 minutes ago, Crew News said:

It is my experience that empty, single-use-designed, plastic bottles are not banned.  If one decides to postpone the recycling of a single-use-designed bottle and use it for an excursion sport bottle during the cruise, it may, in an empty condition, be freely brought on board without concern.

 

The ship will gladly recycle the bottle and the crew will thank you, as all proceeds from ship recycling go to the Crew Fund.

We take empty plastic bottles with us to use and have never had an issue. Sometimes, the metal bottles are just too heavy for port days.

[robotpony]

1 hour ago, Crew News said:

There will be a large glass bottle of water in your stateroom.  You may choose to drink it but you will be charged.  Your Room Steward will bring you more glass bottles of water if you wish.

 

And if you happen to rent a cabana from The Retreat, they will have 1 glass bottle for you per day.

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

We take empty plastic bottles with us to use and have never had an issue. Sometimes, the metal bottles are just too heavy for port days.

My wife and I just got off a cruise in the Caribbean and we used this metal reusable water bottle. It is super lightweight and kept water chilled for over 10 hours.  I highly recommend one for taking on a cruise.

Amazon.com : Super Sparrow Water Bottle Stainless Steel 18/10 - Ultralight Travel Mug, Insulated Metal Water Bottle 12oz, BPA Free & Leakproof Drinks Bottle, Flask for Gym, Sports, Kids, School, Office : Sports & Outdoors

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by terrydtx

[loveandpeas]

We have a leftover Mariner Cocktail card from my May cruise... how, I don't know!  Can these be used on a future cruise? We bought Have It All for July's cruise so I'm sure we won't need the cards anwyay!

[*Miss G*]

3 hours ago, loveandpeas said:

We have a leftover Mariner Cocktail card from my May cruise... how, I don't know!  Can these be used on a future cruise? We bought Have It All for July's cruise so I'm sure we won't need the cards anwyay!

 

My sister found one in her cruise bag last week too!  As we happened to be on a cruise, she used it without a problem.  They’re still using the same blue cards.

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

My sister found one in her cruise bag last week too!  As we happened to be on a cruise, she used it without a problem.  They’re still using the same blue cards.

Correct - you can use them on any ship and it can be a different drink. Enjoy!

[pelishek]

What type of coffee does Holland America have in the Lido and with room service? Is there a bold choice? Bold decaf? Also are there flavored creamer choices? 
Leaving on my first Holland America cruise on July 2 on Niew Statendam for 31 nights to Baltic and Norway. 
I like my bold coffee, bold decaf and flavored creamers! Wondering if I need to bring bold Nescafe instant coffee and decaf and flavored creamers. I’m not in a suite with a coffee maker.

Thanks

[*Miss G*]

34 minutes ago, pelishek said:

What type of coffee does Holland America have in the Lido and with room service? Is there a bold choice? Bold decaf? Also are there flavored creamer choices? 
Leaving on my first Holland America cruise on July 2 on Niew Statendam for 31 nights to Baltic and Norway. 
I like my bold coffee, bold decaf and flavored creamers! Wondering if I need to bring bold Nescafe instant coffee and decaf and flavored creamers. I’m not in a suite with a coffee maker.

Thanks

 

I like bold coffee and I think you’ll find the room service coffee to your taste.  I cannot comment on the Lido coffee or creamers, though.  Sorry.

[Haljo1935]

@pelishek I have not noticed flavored creamers. Not saying they aren't there, just that I haven't seen them. I get my vanilla from Explorations or GDC in the form of cappuccino. 

[Sea_Silver]

I haven't found information regarding Grand Voyage "Have It All" or internet or drink packages.  Whats the deal?  I'm considering the 73 day 2023 Grand Africa voyage and need an internet package and would prefer a drinks package (typically when we add waters, coffees, alcohol, and soda it makes sense).  However, the HIA states "excludes grand voyages", so I'm concerned regarding the cost.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

[Haljo1935]

41 minutes ago, Sea_Silver said:

I haven't found information regarding Grand Voyage "Have It All" or internet or drink packages.  Whats the deal?  I'm considering the 73 day 2023 Grand Africa voyage and need an internet package and would prefer a drinks package (typically when we add waters, coffees, alcohol, and soda it makes sense).  However, the HIA states "excludes grand voyages", so I'm concerned regarding the cost.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

@Sea_Silver I do not have experience w/Grand Voyage HIA, so I'm not able to assist. You should be able to get an answer from Guest Services; hopefully someone on here will be able to provide insight. 

Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, Sea_Silver said:

I haven't found information regarding Grand Voyage "Have It All" or internet or drink packages.  Whats the deal?  I'm considering the 73 day 2023 Grand Africa voyage and need an internet package and would prefer a drinks package (typically when we add waters, coffees, alcohol, and soda it makes sense).  However, the HIA states "excludes grand voyages", so I'm concerned regarding the cost.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Currently HIA is not available on grands.   You will have to buy each package separately .  Check these two sites to see if they have the current package prices listed.   If not search this forum or as on this forum

https://rogerjett-photography.com/

www.halfacts.com

 

[spally]

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, spally said:

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

The very earliest you will get an assignment is 30 days prior and the latest is day of.  I do not recall any problems with Holland overselling.  Occasionally they will cancel a cruise for a charter , that is rare and you would be notified well in advance(many many months)

of the cruise

Edited June 15, 2023 by Mary229

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, spally said:

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

Did you book a Guarantee cabin category and rate?  If you are worried about assignment never book a guarantee rate. We never do as we want to choose our cabin and location.

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, spally said:

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

Really too early for a cabin assignment as they're usually done couple weeks before right up to day of the cruise. No need to be concerned at this time - at least I wouldn't be.

[jonyboy]

36 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Did you book a Guarantee cabin category and rate?  If you are worried about assignment never book a guarantee rate. We never do as we want to choose our cabin and location.

I do the same thing.  I want to choose my cabin when I book

[richstowe]

My last guarantee cabin was Princess, notified 5 days out . It looked like a poor cabin location but it turned out great .  Before that on HAL I was notified about 35 days out and two days later was offered a great upsell which I took .

 

I haven't heard of any overbooking on the CCL brands . This seems to be a RCL brands issue .

6 hours ago, spally said:

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by richstowe

[Haljo1935]

My only experience w/Guarantee on HAL was April this year. Did a verandah guarantee - cabin assigned about 2 weeks out; was a spa verandah so a very nice upgrade. One day before sailing got new cabin assignment to SS, so it turned out to be a very good deal. I feel like that's not the normal and would not be inclined to do a guarantee on a regular basis. 

[Anne614]

10 hours ago, spally said:

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

We are about 17 days out from our cruise and have not received our cabin assignment.  Our last cruise in April we got an upgrade offer 3 weeks out but it was just to a better ocean view and the cost wasn’t cheap.  One week later at two weeks out we got a room assignment which the a nice unobstructed cabin mid ship. One week later got an upgrade offer which was the same as what we were assigned.  They later retracted that offer and said another would be coming. Never received any other offer.

[MarinersBaseballFan]

11 hours ago, spally said:

Our stateroom is still unassigned for our cruise in early august.  Our travel agent insists that they do not oversell cruise ships, and not to worry.  The news I'm seeing lately seems to debunk that 😞 Anyone else have an unassigned stateroom pretty close to the sail date?  Did you end up in a better class of rooms? how far before sailing did they finally assign a room?

We booked Interior Guarantee for July 8,  7-day Inside Passage out of Vancouver on the Koningsdam. Sailing date is sold out now (or nearly so). Just received our stateroom assignment 2 or 3 days ago: K4189. Pleased since over Main Dining room, rather than over music venue. Guarantee was part of the good email deal.

[Turtles06]

We've only sailed HAL once, before the pandemic, and disembarked using the regular "hand the checked bags over" the night before route.  (Always my preference.)  On our upcoming cruise aboard the Rotterdam, a very recent change in our flight schedule will make it preferable for us to walk-off the ship with all of our own luggage.   I assume HAL allows this "self-assist" disembarkation, but could someone please confirm that?   Also, any tips for how early to get in line, etc.  (We'll be disembarking in Amsterdam if that helps.) 

 

Thanks for any info!