joekerstef

We were in 6001 on Zuidy a couple years ago and it had a shower/tub combo. My mother loved the forward-facing room (she had the same cabin previously on Oosterdam). I did not.

I miss Maasdam. Did three cruises on her including my last one. We haven't sailed anything larger than a Vista; were looking tonight at something on Nieuw Statendam. So very different.

1 hour ago, dada.mv said:

Hello everyone, 

i have an issue, the last february i booked a cruise in the carribean for 2 person for 10 days, the price was 1400 euros each.

Now i've just tried to view if the price was increased and surprise! the price for the same cabin became 850 euro each.

What can i do?

If you're not past final payment, call HAL or your TA and refare. Just be aware that you likely lose whatever perks you were to receive with your original booking.

7 hours ago, ATC said:

Was it on a Gala night?

No. Ours was at 9:30pm in the Crow's Nest on a non-gala night fairly late in the cruise. Dutch treats were served (the cream puffs were to die for) and there was a special orange drink at the bar (said Sex on the Beach on my receipt but they called it something else). They also passed out some orange bling.

59 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

 

Yes, but the party on Koningsdag is really different: an all day party with many events.

That was not the case on Maasdam last year. Short party by the pool for Koningsdag. Underwhelming. Whereas last month on Maasdam it was a decent party.

Also there was a thread about this just a week or two ago.

29 minutes ago, hawkeye65 said:

Thanks. There's a chance we won't be able to print out color luggage tags at all. Better to have black and white tags or none at all?

I have always printed B&W and never had a problem.

4 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Ignore the fuddy-duddies who say eat in the buffet and go back to your room.   You are welcome to eat in the MDR on "gala" night with khakis and a polo shirt (just not jeans).  The stuffy formal thing went away awhile ago.  

 

And even the no jeans requirement may not be enforced. There was a guy at the table behind us on Maasdam a couple weeks ago wearing jeans on gala night. I don't think his collared shirt was even tucked in. And he wore the same outfit two or three days in a row. 

17 hours ago, Btimmer said:

We board the Maasdam next week for a long voyage and I'll be blogging daily and will share my honest impressions of what happens there.  I think I'm pretty level headed, and the EXC program has really been hit and miss.  I miss Dr. Carey and the crew from the FLL to Polynesia cruise last year, really like Kevin and Lance and Ross in their roles that we observed.

 

BTW, my blog address is http:// timmerseattletosydney2019.blogspot.com

 

Tim

Do say hello to Rachel Moreno and Jason Kelley and (if he's still onboard) Dr. Kent Syverson for me. They were three of the guest experts on our cruise and they were all in their own ways quite excellent. Rachel and Jason will definitely still be there. 

The last one I received was 28 December 2018, and before that July 2018 unless I deleted one but I don't think so. Looking in my email, I seem to get "winter" and "summer" editions. I might get print editions in the other seasons as I do seem to recall getting them in print too.

5 minutes ago, Maureenxx said:

My sister and I were on the same May-June cruise to Alaska and we did not find anything exciting or helpful about the EXC feature.  The excursions were not nearly as good as those on our last Alaska trip on the Amsterdam.  The onboard entertainment was truly lacking except for a couple of nights.  We loved Matthew and participated in all his activities.  Mostly, on board we were left to our own devices to entertain ourselves, especially on sea days.  Service was excellent as always.  We found the food lacking, especially on "gala" nights.  Nothing gala about them.  There was certainly NOTHING special about this cruise, especially when we had to anchor out on several occasions when we saw the other HAL ships docked in the middle of town.  We miss the HAL of just a few years ago.

The tendering in Ketchikan and Juneau (especially Juneau; our tender broke down, and that was after two hours of other problems) was particularly frustrating. I get it, we were the little ship and arriving the latest, but again, on a cruise where you're paying a premium (which I realize many many people on our sailing did not), tendering in a port where it should not be necessary is a big bummer. I wonder if that was a factor of the original itinerary having been changed (at least for Juneau and maybe Port Alberni; no change for Ketchikan). 

I've always found the food lacking on gala night, but it wasn't great most other nights either. Dining room food and service was way down from one year prior, when it was the best I've had. So frustrating.

5 hours ago, bcummin said:

How can HAL call this abbreviated version "In-Depth" ???

Barbara

5 hours ago, Alphen said:

We were on the same cruise and personally were very happy with the EXC in Depth concept, this is our second cruise this way, booked our third one. 

Cruise & Travel Director Lance would be more suited to his former  job, Exc guide and for us was dull in his CD performances. 

Regarding Matthew, he indeed was Exc guide on our last Maasdam cruise in December.

From all of the talks we went to, we have not heard any indication that HAL has the intention to expend the program to other ships. Doings so, they would undermine the unique selling point of Maasdam and shoot in their own foot that way.

I think on this particular sailing out of San Francisco, many took this ship last minute, just because they could travel only a short distance from their backyard and less because of the Exc Voyage concept, not in any way condemning any one going for an attractive bargain, but I think this resulted in a different composition of cruisers, than usually would sail the Exc concept.
 

The EXC guest experts on the cruise were excellent, and that was the best aspect of the cruise. But that's all the "In Depth" there was on this cruise, and in many ways, especially the price, the 14 day Alaska cruise I took on Maasdam three years ago was better and more special. The excursions in the ports I'd already been to (Ketchikan, Sitka, Homer, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau) were pretty much the same as a regular Alaska cruise and in Anchorage there were FAR less than there had been in the past. No real entertainment tie-in with EXC, just the regular assortment of singers and comedians and the like. Ship's zodiaks not used for anything because of permitting issues. Food and service WAY down from my previous Maasdam cruise one year prior. I like Lance, but I agree, he lacks the CD's enthusiasm. Matthew will be leaving the ship after the current cruise ends. I'm pretty sure the expanding the EXC In Depth tidbit came from a personal convo with one of the EXC experts and I think what he meant was bringing people like him, the experts, on board cruises on other ships. I also think if this happens at all, it will not be soon, still trying to see how the program is received. I agree there were a lot of last minute bargain getters on our cruise, many of whom from what I gather had never heard of the EXC In Depth thing. Meanwhile we paid a huge premium for the cruise but for me what we got extra (not much) with reduced regular activities and so-so service was not worth the extra money. Bonus: I was left behind at a stop on a HAL excursion in Port Alberni and HAL's response to that whole experience both during and after was terrible. On the up side of that, I did get a unique cultural exchange with a Canadian police officer....

9 minutes ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

On the Volendam sailing of June 12th, there was a person named Cruise and Travel Director. She performed both functions. She gave presentations which appeared to “Canned talks” read from a laptop with slides. Several did not last more than 15 minutes not as extensive as I had heard from EXC guides. I was disappointed. HAL remodeled the Crows Nest on the larger ships for the EXC function and perhaps are taking away the guides who were excellent. Another change which makes no sense to me.

Off Maasdam a couple weeks ago, which has the EXC In-Depth program. My experience with that cruise was very disappointing considering the premium we paid for that cruise and my personal love for Maasdam. I have expressed my displeasure to HAL; might make a full review here, but that's not my purpose right now. As relates to this thread, we did not have a cruise director, we also had a "Cruise and Travel Director" who did the usual CD stuff plus gave port talks that were brief intros to what could be seen in the port and were not shopping based. We had the EXC guest experts to give specialized enrichment talks so Lance wasn't giving any talks beyond the port ones. We also had "Entertainment Director" Matthew, whose function (trivia, djing, bingo, etc.) seems to be more like the former Asst. CD. He told me that he was supposed to be an EXC guide but that HAL was doing away with that position so it was take Entertainment Director or nothing. (Not sure if this is the same Matthew who was referenced earlier in this thread, but I really liked him.) I did also hear, and I believe this came from one of the EXC experts on board but I won't swear to that, that HAL is thinking of expanding the In-Depth program to other ships, perhaps on an itinerary basis rather than designating an additional ship. So maybe if we want any sort of enrichment, we're going to have to pay big bucks for it. 

I will also say here since it did come up in the thread that I really think HAL has lost its way (thinking of hlintner's post in particular). I've only been cruising HAL for three year but I've seen some big changes in that time that are just not good. The line wants to appeal (I guess) to sophisticated and/or active folks in their 40s/50s but don't provide experiences that appeal to that crowd. I don't claim to be sophisticated or active but I am in my 40s and I guess it's just a good thing that I am mostly okay with amusing myself because you are largely on your own for entertainment both day and night unless you're into classical or jazz music. If you were to ask me what really sets HAL apart before, I'd say exceptional service, but even that was uneven and indifferent this time (fortunately not universally so, but still). And the other thing setting them apart has been great itineraries, and looking at the published schedule right now, with the exception of some of the longer voyages that are totally out of my reach, I'm not excited. I'm really starting to feel like under current management, HAL might be in trouble if they don't get their act together soon. It's not necessarily that they're rudderless, it's just that they're steering the ship erratically and will sooner or later wind up running aground on some undesirable and avoidable shoals. 

On Maasdam we had happy hour every day at 4pm and 9pm in Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest. Cannot comment on Ocean Bar since I never went there. But trivia was at 4pm in the Crow's Nest so was concurrent with happy hour. Peanuts and plates of appetizers were offered to the folks who ordered beverages at the 4pm happy hour only (may have been peanuts at 9pm, don't remember, but apps only at 4).

Hope they have a better time tendering in Juneau than we did three weeks ago. 

3 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

Pre-paid gratuities don't count, do they?

yes they do.

3 hours ago, ToXS said:

What is the benefit of buying a beverage card? 

Mainly only one slip to keep track of; buy a beverage, get receipt, check that previous balance minus transaction price equals new balance, toss old receipt. You won't have a ton of little drinkie charges littering your final bill and a million receipts to reconcile. And as was just discussed if you have a balance left at the end of your cruise it is refunded to your onboard account, so I bought a larger bev card than I figured I would need to kind of function as OBC. I wound up with a credit balance for a three week cruise which was nice. 

Orange Party on Maasdam was in Crow's Nest at as I recall 9:30pm whatever night it was. You don't *have* to wear orange although it's encouraged. The crew passed out orange beads and glow necklaces for those who arrived early. There were some tasty Dutch treats passed around (the cream puff was amazing). Brought people together and there was some dancing. For me it was fun. There was absolutely nothing related to the Orange Party in MDR.

11 hours ago, Nang said:

I too thought that unused beverage card "cash" would be returned but on the Masdaam last week I was advised any unused amount would not be credited to our account. I got this advice from the front desk on 2 occasions from different staff. I ended up using the full amount so cannot confirm whether the advice was correct.

If you purchased the beverage card (and it's not a soda card which is different), any unused portion will be refunded. I was also on Maasdam last week, had a $250 beverage card (I also had $25 bev card from HAL that I used first as that would not be refunded) and I had my $161 unused balance refunded on my final statement. This has always been my experience.

4 minutes ago, dfish said:

Checked luggage is not handled gently.  Think of what that could do to cans of soda.  

Think of what exploding wine/soda/water could do to your luggage. **And everyone else's.** Carry it on. You can bring soda aboard at any port btw. Wine only at initial embarkation.

Just off Maasdam and our show times were at 7:30 and 9:30. We also had EXC In Depth talks at 6:30 and 8:30. Explanation given for change in times is that they have trouble getting folks to show up for the 10pm shows. Of course they scheduled both of the crew shows on our cruise at 11pm.....

On 6/17/2019 at 9:48 PM, simplyrubies said:

On the Koningsdam (June 1), it was hosted in the BB Kings Club. Waiters came around with different Dutch treats (similar if not the same as what you can get in the Grand Dutch Café) and the cruise director made a small speech. There was also a special orange cocktail on sale. The cruise director and other officers were there. There were a fair amount of people in orange, but not everyone. 

 

Lots of people were dancing after the people from the bar hop earlier ended up at the Orange Party and the people seemed to be having a blast! It's a fun event but nothing big. It's confined to the BB Kings Club.

Just off the Maasdam and our experience was much the same except the Orange Party took place in the Crow's Nest. There was a bar hop beforehand but I don't believe too many of the party attendees did the bar hop so not a drunken affair. As I recall, there was an early port the next morning so I thought it could've been scheduled better, like the night before a sea day. But it was the most active I saw the Crow's Nest that late at night the whole cruise. Crew also passed out a limited amount of orange beads and glow necklaces. No obligation to wear orange.

22 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I was reacting to the statement "There is a reason why the 4* crowd is booking HAL's new in-depth EXC lecture-based cruises with longer itineraries and we hope it continues."

 

To me it sounded like it was saying the EXC lectures were why those cruises were popular.  I was only reporting my experience with an EXC in-depth voyage.  

Shmoo, you said that you were on Eurodam. That was NOT an EXC "In Depth" voyage, which is currently only offered on Maasdam. These voyages have several guest expert lecturers on board, not the usual EXC guides, who are HAL employees. The guest lecturers on our Alaska voyage that ended this week were quite good and spoke on a variety of topics. The entertainment on this cruise was as oaktreerb described (same cruise) in post #3. And while 4*s and up were well represented, there were plenty of 3* and below as well. 

I was actually surprised by the number of children and teens on our cruise. They for the most part entertained themselves in the pool, lido, or atrium and weren't disruptive. No idea how the lack of Club HAL affected their cruise experiences.   

I buy an arrangement each cruise. Agree that the sunflowers last the longest; they got all the way through 20 days. Otherwise 10-15 days as long as you're keeping them watered. they've always been very nice.

1 hour ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

Thanks for the information. I did not know this.  We have 138 days with Carnival but never sailed HA.  Booked for 21 days in 2020. Do I call up HA and tell them?

37 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Have you gotten credit for your sailing days with other CCL ships.  I have sailed quite a bit with Princess and never thought to have those credited to HAL

Do not misunderstand--you get to be a 1* mariner but you do NOT get your cruise days credited to HAL. You will start with zero cruise days no matter how many days you've sailed on any of the Carnival brands. 

33 minutes ago, joepeka said:

I did a quick search on this forum and couldn't find where this question may have been asked previously so forgive me if it's been asked/answered. We're looking ahead 18-24 months for Panama Canal cruises and have previously booked (but unfortunately had to cancel) a Sunfarer 10 day partial transit on Zuiderdam. We really want to book it again and In checking a well known web site (vtg) I see that HAL has 10-11 day PC cruises scheduled out to late 2020 and early 2021 but in looking at HAL's web site, I see none of those partial transit cruises beyond early 2020. Has anyone else noticed this and maybe can enlighten me on the discrepancy? Thanks!

I just checked the HAL website and Zuidy is doing the Sunfarer cruises through April 2021. I suspect they're listed as Caribbean for destination rather than Panama Canal as I didn't see them either when I selected Panama Canal as destination. But if you just filter by Ship: Zuiderdam (under more filters) and then select those late 2020-early 2021 dates you'll see them. We did the 11 day in December and it is a wonderful itinerary.