Semi-New to Holland

[joycezega]

Sailing the NiewAmsterdam on 3/20/2011. Anyone have any tips - suggestions to make this trip more enjoyable??? We are booked in a VH Balcony guar. cabin - if the suite price goes down we would like to switch. Do you think we have a chance of this happening?

We have cruised many, many, many times before but have not been on Holland in years. We have been on Princes, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal, and NCL. How does Holland compare - will we be disappointed??? Some people have said the problem with Holland is the age of the passengers. And I have to say the last time we sailed it was apparent we were the young people on board and we were in our 50's.

Does anyone know if the soda card includes diet sprit or just diet coke???? If it does not include diet sprite can I bring it on board? How strict is the dress code - outside of formal night - does my husband have to wear a jacket? On a 7 night cruise do you know which nights are the formal nights? How strict is the no liquor brought on ship enforced?

Lots of questions - hope you have some answers....Thanks,

 

[George C]

We are going on Holland in a few weeks, need to continue to check Holland web site for your cruise. When I booked it it was 1299 for Category: SZ, then it went down to 1199 then 1099 then 999, each time we called travel agent and locked in new rate, however afer we made final payment it went down to 799, but we were then locked in. Still we saved 600 from original price.

 

[Calgon1]

Ahoy There Joyce and Welkoom ann Boord. Hope I can help ...

Sailing the NiewAmsterdam on 3/20/2011. Anyone have any tips - suggestions to make this trip more enjoyable??? We are booked in a VH Balcony guar. cabin - if the suite price goes down we would like to switch. Do you think we have a chance of this happening?

We have cruised many, many, many times before but have not been on Holland in years. We have been on Princes, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal, and NCL. How does Holland compare - will we be disappointed??? Some people have said the problem with Holland is the age of the passengers. And I have to say the last time we sailed it was apparent we were the young people on board and we were in our 50's.

Does anyone know if the soda card includes diet sprit or just diet coke???? If it does not include diet sprite can I bring it on board? How strict is the dress code - outside of formal night - does my husband have to wear a jacket? On a 7 night cruise do you know which nights are the formal nights? How strict is the no liquor brought on ship enforced?

Lots of questions - hope you have some answers....Thanks,

Suite prices rarely drop. There just aren't that many suites/penthouses on HAL ships. The other categories? Yes. Quite often. However, there is always a chance ... Have your TA keep an eye on the offerings ....

I sincerely doubt you'll "be disappointed" by HAL. Of course I am a major HAL fan, so my opinion just may be a bit tilted ... LOL. Seriously, HAL is very comparable to Celebrity. While =X= has a more international crew, HAL senior staff are almost exclusively from the Netherlands, with the occasional non-Dutchman/woman thrown in for good measure. The service staff is predominantly from the Philipines and Indonesia and, by and large, are the most plesant crew we have ever experienced!

How does HAL compare to Carnival or NCL? There is no comparison! It used to be that 75% of HALs passengers were 75 and over. Not anymore. HAL has been actively marketing to families and younger demographics. Successfully. The current mix runs more toward 15-20% (under 30); 10% (30s); 15% (40s); 20% (50s); 20% (60s); and maybe the rest in the 70s.

The "soda card" is good for any fountain soda, Coke, Sprite, etc. They are Coca-Cola products, so, if you must have Pepsi stuff, bring it on with you.

Dress code is observed, but they're not overly Dranconian about it. No, a jacket will not be nesessary. Even on formal night I'vwe seen passengers get away with a dress shirt and tie. On a 7-Day cruise, you'll have two (2) Formal Nights - usually 'At Sea' days.

They do watch the bringing liquor on board fairly closely. If it's that big an issue, use the single ounce (airline) bottles and mix them through out your luggage. Or, you can go to all the trouble of disguising the booze in other containers to save a few bucks. Might get away with it ... might not.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise @ddicts.

You can bring as much soda, bottled water, wine and champagne on board the ship as you want. There is no limit. There is an $18 corkage fee for wine and champagne bottles that you take to the dining room and/or lounge and bars.

We always book SA cabins -- and for our upcoming cruises on the Nieuw Amsterdam there have been no price reductions.

The Signature class ships are attracking a much younger group of cruisers.

As for the coke cards -- they have been phased out. They have been replaced by the new beverage cards:
$50.00 Beverage Card cost $45.00



$50.00 Non-Alcoholic Beverage Card cost $45.00
(for coffee in the Explorations Cafe)

$100.00 Beverage Card cost $90.00



$50.00 Soda Card cost $25.00
(for sodas)

On our recent cruises we bought the $100 Beverage Cards -- really a good deal.