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DutchByAssociation

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Something I've wondered about, Dutch. Do the types of hotel rooms assigned during Alaska CruiseTours relate at all to the type of cabin or suite booked? In other words, would Deluxe Verandah Suite passengers receive what's considered a more desirable room assignment in the Alaska hotels?

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New to cruise blogging, thought I would give it a try.

I have cruised on Costa, NCL, Princess, Royal Caribbean, but never HAL.

I am thinking about the Meditterean Romance as I love the itinerary. The itinerary, personalized service, and cabin are most important to me.

 

I understand the Oosterdamn is the ship that sails the Meditterean Romance. Any tips would be appreciated.

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Dutch,

This may have been asked...if so, forgive me. With the increased violence in Mexico, has there been any serious talk of temporarily ceasing trips down there? If so, what might be a replacement? I would love to see a Pacific Coast cruise...

We live in Cali, and the violence in Mexico is just getting plain scary.

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Something I've wondered about, Dutch. Do the types of hotel rooms assigned during Alaska CruiseTours relate at all to the type of cabin or suite booked? In other words, would Deluxe Verandah Suite passengers receive what's considered a more desirable room assignment in the Alaska hotels?

 

 

It doesn't, but I believe SOME of the hotels may have various accommodations where you could see about upgrading. (Call Reservations, or have your TA if you booked through one)

 

And keep in mind, some of the hotels in the interior are a little on the smaller and more rustic side of things and likely only have one kind of accommodation, exception being a couple of accessible rooms.

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New to cruise blogging, thought I would give it a try.

I have cruised on Costa, NCL, Princess, Royal Caribbean, but never HAL.

I am thinking about the Meditterean Romance as I love the itinerary. The itinerary, personalized service, and cabin are most important to me.

 

I understand the Oosterdamn is the ship that sails the Meditterean Romance. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

The Oosterdam will be fresh off some major enhancements and is an amazing ship.

 

Lots of folks on these boards are VERY loyal from what I can tell to the Oosterdam (aka the "O") so I would recommend you check on the boards with a post for specific suggestions.

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Dutch,

This may have been asked...if so, forgive me. With the increased violence in Mexico, has there been any serious talk of temporarily ceasing trips down there? If so, what might be a replacement? I would love to see a Pacific Coast cruise...

We live in Cali, and the violence in Mexico is just getting plain scary.

 

The safety and security of HAL's guests, crew and ships is always the number one concern and if anything got out of hand enough, I can guarantee itineraries would be changed where an iminent threat is seen. Depending on what port and where excursions may go, expect some could be cancelled if they go to or through certain areas...

 

But also understand that there will be very few sailings to Mexico before the fleet repositions to Alaska and Europe, so if this continues in Mexico for months to come it will be just a short time before HAL won't be in the region til mid/late Fall

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Hi,

Just what I need tonight!! I'm taking my sister-in-law on her first cruise (and first trip to Alaska). I just had to take her on our favorite line and she needs a small ship so we're booked B-2-B on Ryndam. I've been on Veendam several times and I think Ryndam is "the same."

My question is...........we've "ordered" a refrigerator on Veendam before and they have put one into our cabin and there was no charge. My s-i-l is a diabetic so we really do need a refrigerator.

1~Is there a charge for that now?

2~How/where do I put in the request?

THANKS for helping me....................I'm SO excited to introduce her to cruising (the RIGHT way, with HAL).:p

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I understand the Oosterdamn is the ship that sails the Meditterean Romance. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

Oh, my gosh.............do we love the O. She was our first cruise.......23 days and we would have stayed on. We got upgraded to a balcony and we just loved everything about that ship. Many people who had cruised before complained about the lack of storage on the O..........what did we know? It was our first cruise!!

When we got onto smaller ships (ie: Veendam) we understood there were more drawers and spaces but we didn't suffer!

I wear a pedomater and walked the inside halls after the show, often, to get more miles in.............I never ran out of art objects to look at on my walks. I remember walking on the treadmill while dolphins raced along beside us and

STANDING IN A GLASS ELEVATOR TO WATCH THE SUN SET........."RIGHT INTO THE SEA"...............I had planned that and it worked!

I do miss those glass elevators when aboard the smaller ships, but I love them, too.

YOU WILL LOVE YOUR CRUISE ON THE O.;)

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Hi,

Just what I need tonight!! I'm taking my sister-in-law on her first cruise (and first trip to Alaska). I just had to take her on our favorite line and she needs a small ship so we're booked B-2-B on Ryndam. I've been on Veendam several times and I think Ryndam is "the same."

My question is...........we've "ordered" a refrigerator on Veendam before and they have put one into our cabin and there was no charge. My s-i-l is a diabetic so we really do need a refrigerator.

1~Is there a charge for that now?

2~How/where do I put in the request?

THANKS for helping me....................I'm SO excited to introduce her to cruising (the RIGHT way, with HAL).:p

 

Hi kayef,

 

There is a charge of $2.00/day unless you are in a balcony or higher in which case there is already one in the room.

 

But one important thing to keep in mind, the fridges are actually considered more of a "cooler"

 

Of your sister in law's meds must be kept at a very precise temperature, I wouldn't go the route of the cooler but rather ask the medical department if you can store excess there and maybe keep a little in the room with some icy water.

 

Or, if it just needs to be cooler than room temperature but not necessarily COLD, the cooler ought to work for you just fine. (I just want to make sure you know all the specifics)

 

Enjoy the Ryndam!

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Gosh, that was FAST. THANKS!

 

How do we order it?

 

I'm just so excited to be taking her on HAL and I'm eager to sail on Ryndam...........besides, we're going to Vancouver the day before and I didn't want her to be exhausted when we board..............so, I got a DEAL at Pan Pacific!!!!!

Hurry up, June 5. Pretty much I go to AK every year but prefer late August or September............hoping those two weeks in June cooperate!:p

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Gosh, that was FAST. THANKS!

 

How do we order it?

 

I'm just so excited to be taking her on HAL and I'm eager to sail on Ryndam...........besides, we're going to Vancouver the day before and I didn't want her to be exhausted when we board..............so, I got a DEAL at Pan Pacific!!!!!

Hurry up, June 5. Pretty much I go to AK every year but prefer late August or September............hoping those two weeks in June cooperate!:p

 

Ship services can add it to your booking, or have your TA call and have it added if you booked through one.

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I have a question regarding purchases made ahead of time to be delivered to your stateroom at embarkation. I have read several posts that state to wait until you are at sea to have them delivered due to local taxes at the ports. I am leaving out of Civitavecchia and am wonderng if there is also foreign sales taxes at these ports or other ports in the Meditteranean?? I am prebuying shipboard credits so there are no holds put on our cards, and having them done at port. Also some silly gifts for my husband and my soda card, and beer. Any help? :confused:

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I have a question regarding purchases made ahead of time to be delivered to your stateroom at embarkation. I have read several posts that state to wait until you are at sea to have them delivered due to local taxes at the ports. I am leaving out of Civitavecchia and am wonderng if there is also foreign sales taxes at these ports or other ports in the Meditteranean?? I am prebuying shipboard credits so there are no holds put on our cards, and having them done at port. Also some silly gifts for my husband and my soda card, and beer. Any help? :confused:

 

Hi there,

 

I've never heard of anything like this, but as Ship Services handles all gift orders, I would imagine they can best advise you. If they sound uncertain as well, ask if they can check with the supervisor or contact one of the ships and follow-up with you.

 

If I had to venture a guess though, I would say this is not the case.

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I have read several posts that state to wait until you are at sea to have them delivered due to local taxes at the ports. I am leaving out of Civitavecchia and am wonderng if there is also foreign sales taxes at these ports or other ports in the Meditteranean??
The posts you have read are most likely referring to sales taxes applied by US states, like FL. In Europe (Baltic and Mediterranean) I don't ever recall paying a sales tax per se. They generally use a VAT (Value Added Tax) that is built into the price that you see on the tag. I don't see how that could be applied to goods bought onboard at the pier in Italy.
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The posts you have read are most likely referring to sales taxes applied by US states, like FL. In Europe (Baltic and Mediterranean) I don't ever recall paying a sales tax per se. They generally use a VAT (Value Added Tax) that is built into the price that you see on the tag. I don't see how that could be applied to goods bought onboard at the pier in Italy.

thanks jtl513!! that is what I thought, just wanted to check as I am trying to save money by buying all the shipboard credits ahead of time, so that we are totally cash and carry. no bills to come home to;). just wanted to make sure they weren't going to tack any more on it, unless I do it myself.

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Dutch,

How are the kid's programs on HAL? I am considering booking the Ryndam for Thanksgiving week. I have two boys (7 & 4). The price is good but I want to make sure my kids have a good time. The other ship I was considering was the Costa Atlantica. Thanks for your help.

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Hi,

I wonder why a ship (Zuiderdam) has balconies which we cannot see through the horizon? (Please forgive my poor english)

We navigated on Princess and we could see the water seated on the balcony.

Same thing with Royal and Norwegian.

 

I took an option yesterday on Zuiderdam and the travel agent told me today that we have to stand up to see the horizon on the balconies she had reserved on the 4th deck. If we want to have ''normal balconies'' (I mean in plexiglass), iwe have to pay 265 $ more each person.

Can you explain me the reason?

 

Thank you

Charlot

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Hi,

I wonder why a ship (Zuiderdam) has balconies which we cannot see through the horizon? (Please forgive my poor english)

We navigated on Princess and we could see the water seated on the balcony.

Same thing with Royal and Norwegian.

 

I took an option yesterday on Zuiderdam and the travel agent told me today that we have to stand up to see the horizon on the balconies she had reserved on the 4th deck. If we want to have ''normal balconies'' (I mean in plexiglass), iwe have to pay 265 $ more each person.

Can you explain me the reason?

 

Thank you

Charlot

 

The reason for some of the balconies being solid steel is completely structural. Unfortunately I'm not an engineer to give you the specifics, but all solid verandahs on the Vista Class and Eurodam (and sister ships in other fleet with the same general design such as Queen Victoria, Costa Luminosa, P&O Arcadia, etc) are purely structural on the ship. However, because of the balcony being this way (and more forward) the VH and VF categories are also the lowest on the ships and a cheaper price. And some people even like the added privacy...

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Dutch,

How are the kid's programs on HAL? I am considering booking the Ryndam for Thanksgiving week. I have two boys (7 & 4). The price is good but I want to make sure my kids have a good time. The other ship I was considering was the Costa Atlantica. Thanks for your help.

 

The ship services department can definitely give more specific information, but the kid programs onboard are really good from everything I've heard. If you have not seen it yet, here's a picture of the area on Ryndam for your kids (for ages 3-7), if your one will be 8 by that cruise there will be a little "older" program designed for ages 8-12.

img_club_HAL.jpg.a028ee41e0d994ec8c44e0cd83bcee61.jpg

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... and the travel agent told me today that we have to stand up to see the horizon on the balconies she had reserved on the 4th deck.
If you have a VF in the range from 4005 to 4042, you might be able to change to a VF on deck 5 (i.e., 5051 to 5070, or 5125 to 5140) with the plexiglas rail walls for no increase in price.
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The reason for some of the balconies being solid steel is completely structural. Unfortunately I'm not an engineer to give you the specifics, but all solid verandahs on the Vista Class and Eurodam (and sister ships in other fleet with the same general design such as Queen Victoria, Costa Luminosa, P&O Arcadia, etc) are purely structural on the ship. However, because of the balcony being this way (and more forward) the VH and VF categories are also the lowest on the ships and a cheaper price. And some people even like the added privacy...

 

For Charlot07 in Montreal/Pour Charlot07 en Montreal:

 

La raison de certains des balcons etant acier plein est completement structurale. Malheureusement Je ne pas un ingenieur pour te donner les details, mais toutes les verandas pleines sur la classe de Vista et l'Eurodam (et bateaux de soeur dans l'autre flotte avec la meme conception generale telle que la Queen (Reine) Victoria, Costa (Cote) Luminosa, P&O Arcadie, etc.) sont purement structuraux sur le bateau. Cependant, en raison du balcon etant de ces facon (et plus vers l'avant) les categories de VH et de VF sont egalement les plus basses sur les bateaux et un prix meilleur marche. Et certains aiment meme l'intimite supplementaire. ;)

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