JeffElizabeth

7 hours ago, tjcox9 said:

Yes, we've purchased olive oil many times in Europe when on HAL.

Exactly.  We bring back oil oil souvenir assortment packs for our friends who are foodies. 

Good for them! People are booking their 2025 cruises already. Think they will sell out most good cruises? Or were people just taking advantage of the new marketing promotions? 

4 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Remove the monitors and electronic kiosks from the Crow’s Nest.  Put the excursions desk — and their kiosks — elsewhere and return the Explorations Cafe to that spot.  I miss all the light snack goodies they used to have at lunchtime.  I hate the incorporation of it into the bar.  It got claustrophobic and lost its awesomeness.  In fact, it stopped me ordering.

 

Agree.  Used to love the Crow's Nest on the older ships. Just not the same on the monster ships. We hardly spent any time there now. 

22 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Iceland - the land of fire and ice. Sits atop the great tectonic rift between the US continental plates and the European continental plates. The earth is literally opening up beneath your feet in Iceland. Other major volcanos in Iceland are "over due" for eruptions, straddling this highly active tectonic zone.

 

The last major Iceland eruption that shut down air travel for weeks, left our cruise with many, many empty cabins. Luckily, we had arrived at our cruise departure port three days earlier.

 

As a geology prof on one of the Maasdam In-Depth cruise always liked to say: Civilization exists only with the permission of geologic forces.

Ironically nearby Ireland is very geologically stable. Almost no earthquakes.  Whose fault is that? (Pun intended)

Will be visiting Iceland this month and signed up for a helicopter 🚁 trip on the Zuiderdam. 

Very cool to watch the lava flow from a safe place. Got to see it on Hawaii's big island a few years ago.  

Fascinating.  I knew you paid a premium for Viking, but I didn't think it was that high. 

4 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Last 7 months we have sailed Oceania Marina and HAL Zaandam.  Similar sized ships.  We found HAL's offering superior to Oceania: better food, friendlier crew, and more amenities.  Marina's specialty restaurants were terrible, too crowded, far too noisy, poor service and so-so food.  Not what we expected when we booked Oceania.  For us, sailing Oceania is a suite was not an upgrade.

Interesting.  We like Oceania more than Holland,  but we are giving them one more chance with our upcoming Voyage of the Vikings trip. My fingers are crossed they will win us back. 

A nice shirt and pants are usually good enough.  No ball caps please. 

Great point earlier about big tables slowing down the dining experience.  We don't mind long dinners and find them as entertaining as the stage shows. 

For a while on HAL, we would have a ship's officer join our big table for an evening meal. We really enjoyed that and they even supplied the wine.  Do they still do this since the pandemic? One cruise we got to talk to the purser,  it was interesting hearing about the challenges of his job. 

6 hours ago, quack2 said:

I just got off Norwegian Spirit last week as a solo.  Oddly, I was never asked to share a table.  I fully expected to, and kind of prefer it, but NCL appears to have a different policy on sharing a table.

That is a real shame. Sharing a table with others is one of our favorite parts of cruising. 

54 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

My mom was a great cook and no matter how she tried to make spatzle it was an epic fail according to her and she tired to learn it from my German grandmother 😛.  Frankly I don’t ever remember her trying to make it but maybe it was before my time.

Schnitzel is one of our favorite meals when cruising,  but spatzle is almost never offered as a side dish. Might be hard to make for hundreds at a time. 

Our waiter told us we can make special requests.  We order weinerschnitzel more often than it appears on menus.  

On 6/25/2023 at 12:57 PM, threebluestars said:

Big huge promenade deck.

 

While I like the Neptune lounge, I'd love a space that had WINDOWS. Neptune should have a lounge with a view (and I wouldn't mind it having indoor and outdoor space). Then the indoor inside lounge could be for Vista/Signature only to give those suites a few more perks.

 

Capacity around 1900-2200. More than that feels too crowded.

 

A few more cafe style places like Dutch cafe or the Explorations cafe.

 

A bit more cover outside for dining. I find the buffet too busy sometimes (especially post-COVID) it's hard at Seaview because of all the smoke, because it limits outdoor seating to just one small half that's under cover if the weather isn't great.

 

A small plunge pool on the Sun Deck to cool off.

I miss the Neptune Lounge on the old Prinsendam, a deck off it so people from the other side of the ship could use it to see the sites while snacking. 

You just never know about weather, but the Bermuda and Azores voyages tend to be milder than the trips to Iceland and Greenland.

We are doing Voyage of the Vikings trip in July and August,  so we will be well stocked on sea sickness patches.  

On 3/29/2023 at 6:19 AM, DaveOKC said:

Most the most part, on HAL the smaller/older the ship the larger the cabins.

 

Isn't that strange? You would think it would be the other way, but the old Amsterdam and Prinsendam Neptune Suites were so much better than the Koningsdam.  There are some advantages to the newer, bigger ships, mainly restaurant choices and entertainment venues but overall I prefer the older ships and cabins.

12 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Some of the easiest and lightweight things to pack are dressy night items. The fun continues. Any sort of sparkle tops are just fine. Virtually unwrinkable, to stuff in a corner of a suitcase. Even a light weight dinner jacket for men is an easy pack staple.

 

So there must be other reasons besides packing and weight allowances, but that is the way it goes these days. 

A full tux does take up room,  but pretty easy to travel with a sport coat, often I wear it on the plane. The flight crew seem to take better care of you with it on. 

Back to the room service question,  anyone else find it not as good? Seems like they always forget something or the food isn't as warm? And I hate eating hunched over the two of us on a tiny coffee table?

16 hours ago, Vic The Parrot said:

I'm pretty sure Volendam and Zaandam are able to fit at the Front Street wharf. 

 

Their dimensions are the same as Veendam, but an extra 60ft or so.

 

Just wonder if they could squeeze thru Two Rock Passage ... 😵

On the Prinsendam,  we got to dock in town. It was awesome just to walk around downtown. We ate at a second story restaurant right across from the ship. 

In March 2022, we were on a Oceania cruise that was scheduled to stop at Bermuda, but their Covid-19 restrictions were too draconian so the ship went to their private island in the Bahamas instead. 

14 hours ago, erdufylla said:

Same for me. I’m often a solo cruiser, or as good as (traveling with other couples or family members who have their own ideas of how they want to spend their time), and for me, getting to sit at a table with a bunch of strangers and talk with them for the 1-2 hours the meal takes is a highlight of my day. 🙂

Agree. One of the reasons we cruise is to talk with a new crowd of people. After the pandemic,  I want to get back to the tables for eight. 

5 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Remember that suite guests do get the Club Orange dining room for dinner on the new ships.  That's a cool new amenity.

 

My wife loves the Club Orange restaurant,  I am fine with the main dining room. I do admit the service is very good in the Club Orange. 

Holland is doing a great job discouraging people from paying the extra money for a Neptune suite. The suites are much smaller on the new bigger ships, and "suite life" isn't as good as it once was. 

Thanks for this thread.  We like Oceania but have never tried Regent. Our travel agent says Regent is her favorite cruise line, but always good to hear different opinions. Regent is offering a cruise through the Kiel that you just don't see anymore so I wanted to feel them out. Sounds like Seven Seas is getting less formal than I remembered.  

I love that they posted a cruise through the Kiel Canal. We got to do this on Holland America's Prinsendam one year and really enjoyed it. All along the banks, families and towns came out to see us or have BBQ's. So few cruise liners can fit there anymore 

Very quick turnaround.  Sometimes it is slower on the day before Gala nights as people get their evening wear pressed.