C 2 C

17 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

We do sail insides. The onboard entertainment on X is much better. HAL had a dance group multiple nights and one night played part of the BBC Earth show with some live musicians playing along. HAL did have a really funny comic though on our sailing.
 

We sailed on Zaandam in May and Zuiderdam in September because we love the itinerary out of Quebec/Montreal.  We don't have the gluten problem and we found the food to be superior to that offered by Celebrity.  The theatre entertainment is pitiful on HAL but frequent cruisers don't bother with the shows produced by Celebrity.  The choice between HAL and X is difficult because we like both products and itinerary and $$ will influence our choice.  Our recent experience with Zuiderdam will get us back to Celebrity because, unless you like the Rolling Stones, there was no place to dance for those who still like to clutch their partner.

21 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I know we will never restrict our cursing to Celebrity or any other line.   

 

Does this mean you will use more @#$% language in your reviews of more cruise lines? 

We will be onboard for nearly 70 days.  That's a lot of extra points to achieve our goal.

Cleaning expectations are better than in our daily routine at home.

I want to thank  hankandteri, for an intriguing look at reviews from cruise critic members..  CC members represent perhaps 4-6 % of the cruising public.  More importantly CC members express themselves while the majority do not.

What is a good sample?  

If I look at ten posts, I have a very good idea of how cruisers think about a thread.

There are posters who always seem very balanced, others totally out to lunch (from my perspective.)

When I see that HAL's rating has decreased very little over this time period, I would agree because we have cruised with HAL a dozen times in the last year.  Their product is not perfect but their food quality has been stellar from OUR point of view.

If you take any sample of data, it's the trend that becomes significant.

If I look at the respondents to this topic, I have no way of knowing whether any one of them has cruised in the past year or how often.  Individual opinions are less significant than the trend in data.

If only ten people post a review, and they all post lower scores than past averages, there is a noticeable shift in perception of the cruise line.

My own opinion of Celebrity has gone up dramatically since we will again be allowed to enter the Retreat.  That opinion has nothing to do with experiencing a Celebrity Cruise.  That opinion is based on a reaction by the company to a concern by passengers who cruise 3 to 4 months of the year.

"Where there is smoke, there is fire" is concept well entrenched in statistical studies.

I don't look at conversations about apples and oranges when peaches are way more significant.

Seriously?  If one wanted to go green, a cruise is not a place to be.

However, we continue to cruise and pray to Gaia over a glass of wine every evening, begging her forgiveness for polluting the planet as a consumer of opulent travel.

If a cruise line was serious about ungreen behaviour, printed material would not exist and only texts would appear on our apps.. Happy Travels.

I'm holding off booking my cruise until I know That I can get a visa.

We just finished sailing on Zuiderdam for 14 days and our 14th HAL cruise in the last 13 months.

The food has never been better.

We had many minor issues with room maintenance and billing errors, the worst in our cruise history.

I book my cruises based on advertised specials on certain websites.

I then book the cruise while on board or at home and transfer the bookings to the company offering the best deals.

I have a number of cruises booked through a large box retailer to get the gift cards at the end of the cruise.

The call center is based in Montreal and I have yet to get an agent whose native language is English (or French).  Call centres are not known for great salaries or benefits for their employees.

I enjoy talking to Filipino staff on board.  I don't mind at all talking to them on the phone.

There are a number of American states that have accents way worse than the people with whom I have had contact with overseas.

If companies really wanted to save money and become more profitable, they would outsource their CEO and CFO.

Let your budget determine your choice.

It's all about location, location, location.

At one time, briefly,  there were free  language lessons (Rosetta Stone) on Celebrity.

It is time to bring it back for Tagalog.

Filipinos are absolutely wonderful on board.  Why not let them handle our concerns while we are at home as well?

1 hour ago, firegal2539 said:

Questions first, yes trivia is 3 times a day and crowded. The Music Trivia is in the Boardwalk. 

 

Your experience is different than our B2B which ended when you boarded.

There was one general trivia at 4:00 pm and music trivia at 6:30.

Trivia was never crowded perhaps because it included topics such as True/False, give the date, plants, drinks, landmarks.  To us it was the worst trivia experience in over 20 years of cruising and many people just stopped coming.  The trivia master even allowed a team of 8 to win despite stating at the outset that there was a limit of 6 per team.

We loved the food though.  Every meal was excellent.

We used an online agency for a decade but gave up on them when they no longer communicated by internet or phone when covid hit.

Now that agency is owned by a South American company.

A problem for Canadians is that the dollar valuation for cruises varies greatly and TAs in the US do not like Canadian pricing.  We cruise at least a dozen times a year and have yet to find a Canadian source that gives the 9-10% OBC for booking.  

I believe that any agency giving more than the 9-10% will be cut off from Celebrity if they find out.

I refuse to believe anyone that says they get more than the 10% plus refundable prices, plus gratuities over and above Celebrity pricing.  ( I would love to be proved wrong).

21 hours ago, Maya_C said:

 

We had the same good experience with food on the Zaandam in May. 

 

We were on Zaandam in May as well.  The MDR was great, the Lido a bit lacking.

We just returned from a HAL B2B cruise on Zuiderdam, and the food was fantastic, both in the Lido and the MDR.  We can't remember a better culinary experience outside of specialty restaurants in more than a decade.  Unfortunately, I am now suffering from dessert withdrawal.

Just now, C 2 C said:

 

On 9/30/2023 at 1:35 PM, TeaBag said:

Yes, you're right.  It was Founders Club.  I think everyone got their $35 back as an OBC later, but there was a period of about 6 years where we didn't cruise so we didn't get it back.

Michaels Club back then was not just for suite passengers.  This was where we went to hear Perry Grant and laugh our heads off......"positions everyone!"

On Zuiderdam voyage last week, fewer than 10% of men even bothered with a long sleeved shirt let alone a jacket.

Summit is riding out the storm in Quebec City.  

We board Zuiderdam tomorrow.  

It was an amazing sunny day in Montreal today.

Cloud cover from Lee might obscure the sky tomorrow.

We don't leave for Boston till Sunday night.

I just heard from a friend that Summit will be overnighting in Quebec City for an extra day to avoid Lee.

A certain map program shows Zuiderdam and Summit docked a mile or so apart.  We will be boarding Zuiderdam tomorrow.

Do a search on a certain website listing cruises 14 days or longer originating out of a Florida port for X, HAL, and any other cruise company.  For cruisers who want to have an extended sea experience will not find it unless they wish to string a number of shorter cruises together.

18 hours ago, sambamama said:

The HAL Ryndam is now the Celestyal Journey. She does 7 to 10 day sailings out of Greece to the islands and Turkey. Solo supplements are 50% or less, and wine and beer are free with lunch and dinner. I sailed on Ryndam in her first six months and at least once more after that. I always loved the 1200 passenger ships and am booked on the Journey in late August. I'm looking forward to see how its changed.

My glass of wine is situated on HAL's 5 inch tile for the Inaugural Season of the MS Ryndam.

We loved the ship.

Weather info: Hurricanes and Tropical Storms (theweathernetwork.com)

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

In my neck of the woods, ball cap on backwards = gangsta

Bum Phillips: famous football coach would not wear his hat in a domed stadium.  He said a gentleman does not wear a hat indoors.

4 hours ago, Retired 07 said:

I noticed on the itinerary on the Navigator app, they show 3 different options for dressing at dinner: dressy, casual, and smart casual. What’s the difference between casual and smart casual?

The IQ of the staff at the door.  Frequent cruisers know how to impress their partners, others wear whatever they can get away with.  Some will be turned away but you will see a variety  no matter the code of th eday.