SetAnOpenCourse

12 hours ago, HamOp said:

To clean the TV remote, just fill the bathroom sink up with really hot water and soak the remote for an hour.

Works every time😁

We’ll now I know why the remotes give me so much trouble.

...

They’re TOO CLEAN!!

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

However, I feel that it's something that's trending upward. In many different places recently I have come across discussions of crowding and overtourism at ports and at other destinations. However, ports where large cruise ships come to call seem to be particularly in the cross-hairs: in Venice, in Dubrovnik, in Santorini and I'm sure others. It is an area that bears watching.

 

Just like a few years ago many people thought that anyone who wanted to eat "organic" food was far removed from the mainstream consumer....

 

 

There is indeed the perception out there among people not enticed towards cruising, that the port experience is, primarily, a few thousand people being disgorged at once and killing the atmosphere that they had in mind.  Perhaps they are deluding themselves and that’s the experience with or without the cruise ships.  But anyway the perception is out there and certainly can’t be getting any better as ships get larger.

46 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

If HAL really wants to attract the younger crowd then they need to invest in technology:  super fast (and cheap) WIFI, game rooms where passengers could pay against each other, and Oculus VR devices.  People in their 20s and 30s expect to be in touch with everyone they have ever met at any moment. They also enjoy communicating more via their phones then in person. Ordering could be done by phone while you are having dinner or while you are waiting in line.   They also need to change the menu to a more modern pallet:  boneless wings, barbecue ribs, and craft beers. 

If HAL invests in technology for passengers’ personal use, I’d hope that the users would be the ones to pay for it.  Offer a faster network, but at a higher price.  How much do you want to pay toward the maintenance and upgrading of VR devices?

I don’t like the direction HAL is going in.  Pathetic promenade decks on new builds, evening noise levels.  I don’t mind cutbacks but an atmosphere that doesn’t obscure the fact that I’m at sea is non-negotiable.

However, is the current direction  better than other potential directions?  I don’t know.  Could it be a “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know” situation?

I would fly from Florida to NY just to add some sea days, which I enjoy!  On the right ship, though (not Pinnacle class).

If history is littered with that, then it’s also littered with businesses that failed under management who steered them in a different direction, or followed in the direction of other firms.

Some here presume HAL’s future success based on not reading any bad news this morning.

Businesses have ups and downs.  Sometimes due to how they are managed and sometimes due to external forces or economic conditions.

17 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

 

Mutual friendship when one is cleaning the other’s toilet, huh?   Hmm. Ya, go ahead and keep believing that. 

I’m not sure where you’re coming from, and I give you the benefit of the doubt, but my first reaction is that you may need to look at work, and what makes it honorable, in a different way.  Friendship is a possibility when both sides are down-to-earth people.  Would it be rare to find that in both people?  Perhaps, but it would be due to a certain immaturity of one or both, not because of the work.

For me, though, I don’t expect to bond with people that quickly - while realizing that people with personalities different than mine may do so.

Thanks, HappyInVan, for calling into question, if not debunking, the popular narrative on this forum about the acquisition of HAL.  Some here seem to push the idea that the line was absolutely doomed before being rescued by CCL.  On this thread it was even stated that the acquisition was an act of CCL’s “largesse”.   The narrative seems to be proffered as if to say, the only alternative to any and all changes (made by all-wise, unerring management!) is to lose Holland America completely.

I expect the narrative to survive, though, and to be pushed again and again when a change is called into question.  It has been a handy stick to (try to) beat back the points that are made in opposition to specific changes.  Nevertheless, the narrative has been undermined.

I hope translating is worth your effort.  I’m no foodie but the menu descriptions seem a bit overwrought to me.  I sometimes ordered a dish based on an one of the listed ingredients, only to find that item virtually nonexistent.  Now I tend to pick dishes based on just the main item (eg the meat or fish).

 This thread is becoming an example of why this forum can give the impression that there is

”hate” of the cruise line.  When someone states an item they liked and are disappointed to lose (or see a decline in the quality of it), someone comes along to try to “correct” them, often in a reply that is pretty long-winded.  Such people  seem to come here to feel astute.

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just curious, what target age market are you in? We're now in our mid 60s and thought it was finally our turn after dealing with Frank Sinatra era music for so long. For you young ones, that means we graduated HS in the early 70s when Queen, Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin and country rock were just coming on the scene. Our music era ended when Metallica and the like showed up. 

Don’t overlook punk and new wave.  Those of us from this era, I’d guess, are more the so-called target market.  

And some of us very much appreciate Sinatra’s music!

I’ve been cruising for only six years, but even I can see some changes which make Holland America less distinct.  For me, this mainly has to do with the ship design, and the evening ambience.  Both of these aspects were great for enjoying the feeling of being at sea.  I don’t want other sights and sounds dominating the environment, trying to grab my attention.

I still like HAL, and some of its ships are still my first choice when they are available for a region in which I’m planning a cruise.  However, more and more, Holland America is becoming less and less of an escape from the ordinary for me.

We fly to a few cruises, but they have to be pretty special, like a Transatlantic, or Asia, or the right European cruise.  We’ll probably do another Alaska cruise at some point, which will be worth the discomfort and hassle of flying (worth it one more time).

The ship also needs to be worth the flying hassle - forget the recent builds in the fleet!

I must admit, if we weren’t living in Florida we probably would never had tried cruising.  A big reason to move here was to fly less.

3 hours ago, kwb101 said:

We were on Maasdam in May, and I'm pretty sure they just play standard DVDs. The TV is standard definition, rather like watching a movie through a screen door 😞

I can post pics of them, if you're interested. 

Thanks but I think I’m all set. Although it sounds like you didn’t try to play music CDs,  I’m guessing that the dvd players are similar to what I’ve had on a couple of other ships, which I was able, after some trial and error, to use for music CDs.

Thank you!  I’ll bring some music CDs with the hope that I can play them.

Are The Maasdam’s cabins equipped for playing one’s own music?

Do cabins have CD players, or DVD players that accept music cds?  Or perhaps Bluetooth enabled TVs that could play music from a smartphone?

25 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

Yes.

Are the machines free?

22 hours ago, Jammu2 said:

Most what we call breakfast yogurts in the us have "active cultures." Not all active cultures qualify as "probiotic." You would need to know exactly what you are looking for when reading labels. I saw plenty of live culture yogurt on Oosterdam but I don't recall seeing Activia specifically.

There does seem to be a preference to reserve the term probiotic for those which have probiotic bacteria added after fermentation.

We will soon be visiting Japan for the first time and have applied to some of the goodwill guide groups.     Can anyone advise on the range of what this typically costs?  Just a ballpark figure would be fine - I know it depends on the sights we choose and the transportation.  I’m a little worried that, considering the fact that we cover all expenses of the guide, that it might be as expensive as our ship’s excursions.

How much do you know about yogurt?  Many brands have live and active cultures, and are therefore probiotic, no?

On 7/28/2019 at 10:21 AM, Miaminice said:

 

I have a credit card which does not charge any fees. No ATM fees, no foreign currency fees, no advance fees. I use it all over the world and never have to worry about exchanging different currencies before a trip.

 

Should the bank of the ATM charge any fees, my credit card company reimburses the charge. The charges of e.g. 7eleven ATMs in Japan were less than 2USD, so I never even cared about sending in the receipts.

 

 

May I ask which card you use?  It sounds very good.

Thanks for the advice.

I must have missed the part about aversion to pants.  You’d better distribute the dress code and take it from there.

Don’t overthink.  It’s a cruise.

Any advice on where to exchange hard currency?  Thanks for the advice about ATMs, but I’d need some details/numbers/facts before choosing that option again.  Two fees on a single withdrawal in Portugal, atm with the network logo (applicable to Bank of America), totaling over $10.