LouisV

I am so hooked on your review!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for the next instalment :) Please hurrry.....:D

btw - what kind of camera where you using?

Mo

In 2004 as we were passing in between mainland Italy and Sicily we hit a small pocket of very rough sea! We were having dinner in the Ocean Cafe and Grill when all of a sudden the doors leading out to the Summit Bar blew open by a huge gust of wind. We were sitting right across from the grill area where staff were cooking on portable burners with open flame. The burners started to slide across the counter tops. I have never seen staff move so fast trying to catch the sliding burners. It could have gotten out of hand so fast and spelled disaster. Talk about heart pounding excitement!! :eek::eek::eek:

WOW!!! that took my breathe away!:eek:

She's congratulating about 8262.

yes my point exactly, she is congratulating not reporting on a cabin! :rolleyes:

CONGRATULATIONS -- Silhouette Report #1:D

....and your post was about which cabin???:rolleyes:

CONGRATULATIONS -- Silhouette Report #1:D

How about cabin 1231 on the Silhouette? We have that cabin for next year to the Holy Land.

Mo

You know, I thought so too, maybe someone is laughing their behind off somewhere, its the only way to explain such a discusting thing right?

I can't believe that these pics have found themselve on CC again. They were pulled once already.

It tends to get lost in all the noise.:)

 

http://www.wa70.com/hdisplay.php

 

I really appreciate the time and effort that poster richwmn puts into maintaining this web page.

 

Also note that there are groups ( a booking for 8 or more cabins) on every cruise line, every sail. Groups, like individual passengers, are notorious for cancelling their plans before final payment date. So what is reported here, may or may not bear fruit.

Thanks again hammy!

Poster richwmn graciously maintains a web page that allows us to see reported groups and charter plans.

 

I would hate to see this sticky go the way of some of the other stickies and so, perhaps someone could start a new thread to share and vent about groups and charters, if they so desire. :)

any idea how to get to this web page?

I just booked Westerdam 3/1/08 - 3/8/08 with my mother though a group called Spirit Path at Unity Village for a spiritual retreat. I figured we would be a small group on board. Now I see that Olivia is also on the cruise. Do any of you think our trip will be cancelled? If so, how far in advance will they let us know? I have no experience with this.

 

Thanks,

Jackie

Jackie,

My experience with a cancelled cruise on the Westerdam was: in the early fall of 2007 we booked two 7 day b2bs on the Westerdam with the first leg starting on Nov 9, 2008. In November 2007 I got a call from my TA saying that HAL had cancelled one of the cruises due to a group booking. We then booked another 7 day cruise to the end of the segment that wasn't cancelled. Well guess what? I got a second call within a few weeks from my TA saying that it's happened again!

What made this really frustrating was that I was taking my Mom on her first cruise and I felt really crummy having to tell her twice that the cruises were cancelled on us and this was to be my first cruise on a HAL ship. I was determined to experience HAL as my in-laws are professional cruisers and they really favour HAL!

I rebooked a cruise on the Constellation...wasn't going to take anymore chances with HAL. Now it seems I get a brochure a week from them!

6/12 Constellation- Atlantis

8/30 Constellation -Atlantis

5/1/09 Xepedition-Romance Voyages

3/19/10 Constellation-Bare Necessities

 

Hand's down the winner in charters is Star Clippers. I also see NCL, Carnival, RCL, Windstar, Seabourn and Regent charters.

 

There are that many organizers who can fill a big ship so it's fairly easy to stay on top of this stuff. Planetout.com does a nice summary for gay/lesbian cruises. The rest tend to be well known jazz and blues cruise organizers with tremendous followings. Just google jazz or blue cruise.

 

There are also many corporate charters flying below the radar.

Thanks hammy!

11/1 Veendam Jazz Fest Group

 

11/2 Westerdam Dave Koz Jazz Charter

 

11/9 Westerdam The Jazz Cruise Charter

 

1/18 Westerdam Smooth Jazz Charter

 

1/24 Ryndam Legendary R&B Charter

 

2/22 Westerdam ( No longer being sold- no idea who chartered)

 

( BTW, I am seeing many, many Celebrity charters too)

Celebrity charters??? Can you share which ones and where are you seeing this at?

Unless a TA stays on top of known charter organizers for the buzz, there is no way for them to know if a cruise is apt to be chartered until the charter organizer and cruise line have a contract. It's only then, that public bookings get cancelled.

 

Celebrity is another favored cruise line for charter companies because of its size and perception of an upscale experience. Given it's almost April, I think it unlikely for there to be any further charters for 2008.

 

I hope the third time is the charm for you.:)

Thanks Hammybee! I hope Celebrity doesn't book any large groups for our Nov 21st cruise. It appears that HAL's Westerdam is a popular one for groups as well.

Westerdam 11/9 Jazz Cruise

Westerdam 11/23 Olivia

Westerdam 3/1/09 Olivia

 

Eurodam 2/21 RSVP

RSVP has been selling cabins on this charter for about a month to their existing client base. It has yet to show on the RSVP web site and HAL continues to sell cabins to the public.

 

Sounds to me like the the contract has yet to be finalized.

Our b2b cruises were cancelled twice on the Westerdam as 2 segments fell on Nov 9 and after rebooking a second time one fell on Nov 23. According to our TA, she knew nothing about the group bookings until HA cancelled on us. Since then we have rebooked with Celebrity for a November cruise.

I just got back from a 7-day on Westerdam that had a small "Dance Camp" group on it. They were nice folks, and really didn't interfere with normal enjoyment of the ship at all. They mostly used the Queen's Lounge and some of the conference rooms, and maybe the nightclub, at times during the day when they wouldn't be used for public events anyway. They did have a few lessons in part of the Crow's Nest during the day, but they only used the dance floor area; the rest of it was open, and they weren't playing music so the lessons were fairly easy to ignore. On the other hand, this was a pretty small group - I think only about 50 students and 5 instructors. I can see that a larger group might be more disruptive.

Actually that group sounds like alot of fun...

Pmatch,

 

That's unusual for a group to book a 14-day cruise. Have you tried doing an online search of the date and ship? Sometimes that turns up something. Here, I have it - a ballroom dance group called "Let's Dance". I'm imagining they'll take over public areas like the show lounge, Crow's Nest, and Ocean Bar, so you would probably rather not be on board with them.

 

At least you have a year to book something else.

 

Roz

Thanks Roz! I guess it's back to square one with planning!

Does anyone know what group is sailing on Nov 9, 2008 on the Westderdam on a 14 day cruise. My mom and I booked this cruise and my TA sent me an email saying the cruise was canceled due to a group booking...