akke29

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It looks like BC044 is right under the Lido buffet. Don't know for sure, but it might be a little noisy in the early morning. Ideally we like to have cabins above and below us. Maybe someone else has some first-hand thoughts on that set of cabins.

I usually like that as well.  What do you like about those aft cabins like 205?  

Kenthecruiser - I selected BC044 as our cabin, on the Navigation deck.  Any thoughts on that one? 205 is available, however.

I made a final decision and went with Maasdam.  In the end, it was all about the itinerary and after a chance glance on the HAL website, was actually about $500 cheaper than my travel agents quote, so... it was a no brainer.  Thanks again!  Looking forward to this cruise!  But first... a trans-atlantic in April and Canada/New England in October. 😃

Thanks to everyone for the great advice so far.  Though there are such compelling arguments either way, it still leaves me wondering what to do.  It boils down to how bad do we want to go to Napier and Stewart Island and if it's worth the extra money.  As for the Maasdam vs. Noordam entertainment, we're not ones to be bored often, but do like variety in choosing those entertainment options.  

After extensive research, I've narrowed down a time and destination for a 2020 family vacation cruise with my two 70 something Parents.  It's been a dream of my Mom's to visit NZ and want to maximize the experience, without running them ragged.  I've been several times to NZ and am in love, so I know both my Parents will enjoy as well.  Since they've been to Australia once before and loved it, I'll focus my decision making on NZ.   We've cruised before and of course, are hooked.  We most recently cruised on Oosterdam last summer on a Med cruise.  Having been on the Oosterdam, I know what to expect on the Noordam.  The two cruises I've narrowed down to are a 14 night Maasdam or a 15 night Noordam.  My priority has been the itinerary, then price, then ship amenities.  

Comparing the two cruises, they're nearly identical with the Maasdam calling at Stewart Island/Halfmoon bay and Napier.  The Noordam doesn't see Stewart Island or Napier, but calls at Gisborne.  For this, the Maasdam gets my vote.  However, the Maasdam is about a $1,000 more expensive.  To get a cabin that will fit the 3 of us somewhat comfortably, I need to book a "suite" which is simply a verandah room on the Maasdam (BC).  On the Noordam, it would likely be a VC cabin, or for $800 more, a verandah suite (SY).  I'm not concerned about the Maasdam age, as I've read many great reviews here, but I'm a little concerned about the EXC format and it being boring.  While we want to learn and be immersive, one can only listen to so many lectures.  After exploring during the day, we enjoyed the pool, gym or thermal pool, then after dinner, we like to go to the show, listen to music or find some sort of evening activity.  

The question I suppose... is it worth the premium to sail on the Maasdam for 1 less night but the addition of two ports in particular?  The other wild card is a far cheaper pricing on the Soltice, but the itinerary is somewhat less appealing.  

Any thoughts?  Ideas?  Something I may haven't considered? 

Hi akke29,

 

 

Hope you had a great trip. We are leaving for the same trip Mid august. Haven't booked any excursions (yet). Would love to get feedback from you if you don't mind.

 

Plan to research this week and try to finalize at least what we want to do.

 

Thanks for any info!

Hi Mommyz - sorry to have taken so long to reply, been swamped at work after the vacation. We had a fabulous time on the cruise and met some wonderful people. Re: shore excursions... We booked ones in Santorini and Athens. We used Nikki Olympic tours and were overall quite happy. The other Greek ports were spent doing our own thing and using the lack of plans to rest as the cruise was very port intensive.

Santorini - it's a tender port and the tendering that morning was awful. That said we got a bit of a late start on the tour with another boat ride to the single dock that serves Oia. Once finally there, the time in Oia was less of a tour and more of a "here's where we'll meet, be back in 2 hours" sort of thing. Our tour guide was friendly, patient and informative and always willing to answer questions, but we weren't really on a tour, per se. After Oia we boarded the bus and drove to a winery on the other side of the island and made a stop to take in the view along the way. After the winery we ended in Thira. To be fair, we booked this tour almost entirely for its transportation and logistics and then expecting some commentary, which we got, so based on my expectation I was satisfied. Expectations of others in the group were not met. YMMV. I could have done without the winery and have had more time in Oia and/or Thira.

Athens - fantastic experience and wish it was longer! Between the port of Piraeus and Athens we were given commentary on Athens history etc... Once in Athens we drove by many important monuments, sites and buildings. But the only one we stopped at was the Panathenaic stadium. Then we went to the Acropolis museum and had an incredible private tour of the terrific museum in the comforts of wonderful a/c. It was one of the hottest days of the year that day and the daunting task of climbing the acropolis to the Parthenon was still looming. After the museum, we did make that trek to the Parthenon but it was worth every ounce of sweat. The journey wasn't difficult, it was just bloody hot. Afterwards we had some time in the Plaka, but not nearly enough. We then headed back to the ship. Not sailing until 11pm that night we had so much more time and I considered returning to the city for more. It was a wonderful snapshot of Athens and will definitely be back.

As I mentioned earlier, the other ports we had no plans and just took the day as it came.

Rhodes - spent most of the day on the ship, nursing a cold that was clearing up. I did wander through the old town next to the port in search of some medicine, but quickly realized there was nothing there but shops, restaurants and beggars. With more time, planning and not being sick, I'm sure there's a lot more to see there.

Crete - hired a cab and went to Knossos Palace. It was pricey, (80 euro) but it was efficient and the cab driver obtained our entry tickets for us, allowing us to bypass the snaking line to just buy tickets, let along entry. Well worth the euros. The palace was interesting, worth our time, but I only wished we followed that with the archaeological museum afterwards. The heat and still feeling slightly under the weather had the ship calling for our return. Yes, one can do it cheaper, but I was all about paying for convenience at this point.

Nauplion - A quaint and charming old town. We tendered to port and wandered around the old town admiring the charm. Here we did some shopping for gifts as well as art/pottery for home. There is a hop on hop off train option here, which we would have done purely to get to the fortress high atop the city. With more time (we got a late and leisurely start) we would have done it.

Argostoli - another leisurely day. I had been dying to get into the water and had discovered this may be the best place to hit the beach. We took a cab from the port to a nice beach for a few hours. Tip - spend the euro for chairs and umbrella. While HAL provides beach towels, there isn't much natural shade. Water was fantastic. There are water sports for hire as well, which looked fun. We went to Lassi beach, but there are others to visit as well.

Corfu - we just wandered around the town, did some shopping. We stumbled upon a toy train tour, which was pricey, but it was a nice way to get a quick overview, a place to sit and catch some breeze, as it was quite hot. From the port, there are multiple ways to get to the old town. We took the public bus which is set up perfectly for the cruise ships. Cabs and Hop on Hop off busses are also available.

That's it in a nutshell. I hope this helps!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! For Crete, yes, it's Heraklion. I did want to take a dip in the ocean at some point, so it sounds like Nafplion might be the place.

We are sailing on the Oosterdam late June going into July, 2018. Having never been to Greece and overwhelmed with the thought of shore excursions to each Greek port on a port intensive cruise, I'm feeling a little bit lost and unprepared for what's ahead! I've arranged activities in Santorini and Athens, but the remaining Greek ports, I'm at a loss. The HAL website isn't that helpful, so I'm looking for suggestions from my fellow cruisers. I'm trying to balance relaxation, being spontaneous and making the most of our time in Greece, traveling with mostly mobile and young at heart 70 year old Parents. We love food, local culture, want to be good/responsible visitors and history. Knowing which ports are tender ports would be great too, as HAL isn't that forthcoming with info.

Thoughts/suggestions on Rhodes, Crete, Nauplion, Argostoli and Corfu?

Absolutely. Once you purchase the package, the 8 bottles (or however many you purchase) are yours to do as you wish. You can have them at dinner in the MDR, have some delivered to a favourite bar onboard, have some delivered to your room, etc... as you wish.

Great! When you say "do as I wish" do you also mean I can pick the same bottle more than once, if I absolutely need more? lol.

Thanks for posting this! We are sailing in a month on Oosterdam and am trying to nail down some details, like wether to buy a drink package or not. I'm thinking not, because purchasing the package for all people in the cabin is not only ridiculously expensive, but it doesn't make sense for us. The wine packages however are exactly what I was hoping for, since 2 of the 3 of us are generally wine with dinner drinkers only.

Question... it makes no mention of having to buy these wine packages per person in the cabin. So, am I right in deducing that the wine packages are for each cabin? We would all share the 8 bottles of our choosing from the package, for example, over the course of our 12 day cruise?

Thanks Cruiser Bruce!

Our cruise sails from Civitavecchia at 6pm. My plan was to get picked up at our hotel in the city at 1pm and proceed to the pier. It seems like this timing is still very conservative, but want to maximize time in Rome that final day. I'm considering pushing the pick-up to 2pm. This gives us the morning and lunch in Rome before the drive to the port. Is this pushing it a bit?

Usually not the entire dry-dock with no a/c in the entire ship but for sure several days. Add no hot water for showers on 1-2 days and dry-dock is a peach for the crew and contractors. I will have two this year ;p

I've always wondered what the crew did during a dry dock! Thanks for the insight. Looking forward to enjoying the Oosterdam in June sailing from Rome.

The June 29th itinerary shows departure out of Civitavecchia at 6pm, a normal departure time, so I would think that embarkation would begin at the normal time, 11:30am, and that's when the rooms should be ready by.

The arrival in Venice is 1pm the day prior to disembarkation, so you will be allowed to leave the ship that afternoon or anytime until the usual "everybody must be off the ship" time of 10am on the day after arrival in Venice. If you want to not stay for the overnight in Venice, you should clear this with HAL ahead of time. m--

Thanks, this helps with my planning. Before sailing, it allows for the morning in Rome and we’ll leave for Civit. After lunch. As for Venice, I think we’ll spend the night on the ship until disembarkation a s then move to a hotel for an additional night.

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If you already have a reservation to fly into Marco Polo Airport, then forget this post :). Otherwise, why on earth are you flying into Venice....to drive to San Gimignano? The ideal airport for San Gimignano would be Florence.....and even FCO (Rome) would be a shorter drive. We applaud you using the San Gimignano area as a base (we have done this a few times) as its a great location. Consider driving the S222 wine route (through Chianti) and perhaps visiting Volterra and even little Colle val d'Elsa.

 

As to Pisa, some like it and others do not. But make sure to read-up on ZTL's which are Italian restricted driving zones. Much of the area around the Field of Miracles are in ZTLs...so you should print out a ZTL map and plan your route (and parking) accordingly.

 

Hank

Hi Hank, thanks for the advice. Yes, I realize VCE isn't ideal for what we'll eventually end up doing. I had initially planned to buy plane tickets that brought us into FLR and leaving from VCE (the cruise starts in Rome and ends in Venice). But then a roundtrip to VCE popped up and was a good deal so I pounced on it. I figured it could be worth the small logistics mess, in favor of plane tickets that fit the budget. Plus, I figured we could figure out some kind of drive to the Tuscany region that would be fun and make the most of the extra driving I have to do. If I could change the ticket I would, but I'm pretty sure the cost to do that will exceed the other costs associated with a night in Padua and the time/fuel costs of more driving.

Given the fact we'd be spending some time in Rome and then sail on a vert port intensive cruise, I wanted to keep the visit to Tuscany quiet, relaxing, picturesque, a bit rustic and sort of out of the norm. Settling on San Gimignano after much research seemed to be the ideal spot as a base, given our limited time.

Get on the road and drive to Padua, about 30-40 minutes. Nice sightseeing and restaurants. It beats airport area anytime.

 

Driving through Pisa is ok depending on the time. After Pisa, you could drive through Volterra to get to San G. in the late afternoon.

Thanks for this advice! I like this idea and will move our booking to Padua.

I agree, Padua would be a much better choice than staying at the airport. Even after the flight that short drive should be do-able, and that way if some members of your family want to go out and see/do things while others rest, you're in a good location to accommodate them.

 

Personally, I think Pisa is well worth a stop. Do read up on ZTLs because Pisa is full of them. You'll need to know about them for every other town of any size in Italy.

 

As for the car drop off, I wouldn't go all the way out to the airport. There are much closer downtown locations that are well outside the ZTLs in Rome.

Thanks for this as well. I'm aware of the ZTL's and will definitely research best options for both Pisa and Rome. Hopefully I can find a way to do the same for Florence if we decide to spend a day there.

Great thread. I'm planning a self-drive pre cruise "road trip" for my family and I. I have loosely planned the following: We are flying into Venice arriving at 1615, picking up the car and spending the night at an airport hotel . The next day we'll drive to San Gimignano where we are staying at a farm house for 4 nights as a base and will explore the region. Ideally, I'd like to do this first drive via Pisa and anywhere else on that side of where we'll be. We'll then spending the next days exploring on the other side of our San Gimignano base. When leaving the region, we'll head down to Rome, drop the car at an undetermined spot (tentatively FCO) and then spend 3 nights prior to sailing from Civit. Questions...

1 - Should we not waste time spending the night near the VCE airport and just get on the road? It will be a long journey to Italy, so was thinking of not overdoing it on arrival afternoon. The only reason I chose to fly into VCE is that our cruise ends there, flight was cheaper and seemed more logistically sane at the time.

2 - Is driving via Pisa just a silly idea in order to catch the leaning tower and a nice lunch?

3 - Re: Dropping in the car in Rome. As I said, I've tentatively planned it for an FCO drop. Obviously we don't need a car in Rome and while not intimidated to drive in big cities, I just don't want to. With two older Parents in tow and all our luggage, FCO seemed like the easiest spot. Any other suggestions?

June 29th, 2018

HAL - Oosterdam

Greek Odyssey

12 nights

Celebrating my Dad's retirement! My 3rd cruise, Parent's 2nd, but all our first time on HAL.

I'm trying to plan pre and post cruise activities for this summers sailing on the Oosterdam. Any idea what time embarkation is at the Civitavecchia port and disembarkation at Venice is?

Our southbound sailing on June 26th aboard the Millennium was nothing short of outstanding! We loved Luminae and everything it offers suite guests. We had lunch, in a pinch one day at the Ocean View cafe. It was okay and almost unfair to compare to Luminae. Also, we did dine in Olympic for dinner and while nice, great service and great food, we actually found ourselves missing our new friends in Luminae. The staff was terrific and definitely contributed to our amazing first cruise experience! There were a few misses on the menu, but the quality, presentation and creativeness was terrific. Now... I may just have to always cruise in a suite! :D

It's a 15 minute, normal pace walk to the Goldbelt. South Franklin dock. furthest from downtown, being walkable. AJ is by itself a mile away, (not walkable for most, with shuttles running).

 

Head to your library and read up on Juneau- Fodor's and Frommer's both have Ports of Call books http://www.traveljuneau.com

Thanks! I see there are public busses and then the tour busses that go up to Mendenhall. I've read here on CC that people wished they had more time at Mendenhall but were constrained by bus timings. Also, I get the impression that the bus doesn't get you as close as you would if you had a car. Really, getting to Mendenhall is the only reason I've booked a car. If it isn't necessary, I'll save the $$$ and walk around town as well as take the busses.

We too have no plans in Juneau except for renting a car and exploring the area on our own. I want to get to Mendenhall and explore the own itself. We're arriving on the Millennium and that document posted shows we're arriving at FKL? I have no idea what that means. We're renting from Avis. Any suggestions besides Mendenhall to make use of the car?

We've booked an 8am whale watch in Icy Strait Point. Anyone with experiences up there that early in the morning?

Honestly, wait until you're on board to decide. If the prices seem to be too much, you may want to get a non-alcoholic package to cover the majority of your daily drinks and then buy your wine a la carte. I hope you enjoy your cruise :D

Thanks for posting such an informative guide to beverage packages! I think we'll stick with the wait and see approach. 1 week to go!

If you actually read through the first post in this thread - scroll to A La Carte Drinking and go to the section titled "Where can I find the most updated prices for beverages?" There's a link to a wonderful blog by the Preisman family, that includes scans of every drink and food menu on board (if you click on their Celebrity Infinity review from Nov. 2014, and then go to the Menus tab, you'll see it). From there, it's really up to you to decide whether it's worth it.

Yeah, so... I did happen to read the whole initial post as well as viewed the great reports. As I said, I'm a first time cruiser and just trying to get information here, not exactly knowing what to expect. I didn't see MY cruise reviewed, or even a Celebrity cruise in Alaska so wasn't sure if pricing was different based on region etc... or changed for 2015 sailings, along side all the other changes. Forgive me for asking a question that may have been answered elsewhere. Thanks for pointing this stuff out.