Damcruiser

Thank you for the fleet report, I always find it very informative. We are very aware of the toll cancer takes on so many people. I had a chunk of my tongue removed last year because of cancer cells and my wife underwent radiation therapy. Our niece died of brain cancer at the age of 41, her brother had a large growth removed from his brain but survived. Our neighbor's daughter died of leukemia at the age of 22. For us, every day is cancer awareness day.

We are in a later group but signed up for Club Orange with priority check in. I'm just eager to get on board and find my favorite chair.

How was embarkation? Did cruisers get processed by time slots or was it a free-for-all?

We have just received our time slot for boarding Nieuw Statendam on November 19th. Has anyone had recent experience boarding? If group A, B, C, D, E, etc. are actually processed in order or can someone just show up early and get boarding earlier? Does Club Orange actually get to the front of the line no matter when they show up?

From mediocre to bad. As the ships get more crowded the connection will get worse. (Sept experience)

It depends on how often one has gone through a safety drill or video. After 100 times or so one knows the correct way to put on a vest. If a Concordia type event occurs, no amount of safety instruction will suffice.

We had the same experience in September. We love the ship and are going back in two weeks.

I need a few more specialists. Thank you for the laugh of the day.

Two weeks today we board N. Statendam for an extended stay. Can anyone tell me how early self-disembarkation starts in Port Everglades. Is there a priority line or does it require getting up early to stand in line? It's tough to ask questions about the end of our 7-week Caribbean getaway but it is easier to plan the whole experience while in control of fast internet.

You don't do this anymore. No more standing in the sun while a rollcall is taken. No more separation of loved ones, ladies in the front, gentleman at the back. While unpacking, my wife watches the video and I go to have our cards scanned at the place we would meet if "ship" happens.

This will be interesting. We’re on three consecutive back to back cruises for a total of 49 days. COVID will not go away just because protocols are changed to attract more cruisers. however, we are fully vaccinated and we hope we won’t suffer too badly from either a cold, the flu or the latest version of COVID

I just found a picture of Celebrity's Caesar, in Michael's Club while my computer is connected to the only 110-volt outlet in the room.

I have, part of a complete vegetable breakfast, liquefied, distilled, potato extract included. Celebrity used to offer gazpacho and that combination was even better.

Many years ago, my rule of thumb for cruise pricing was $100 pp per day for an inside, $125 pp for an OV and $150 pp for a balcony cabin. A balcony cabin would cost just over $8,000 per month. If memory serves me right my last month on a Celebrity ship cost about $12,000. Our upcoming N Statendam pricing is back to $8,000 per month and includes the have it all perk. I realize that there is a reduction in the overall experience such as missing chocolates, no yum yum man, no (or little) library nor librarian, no turn down service etc..... but I will be in a warm place, have a great meal and great service. I will eat more, and drink more than I do at home. But we have the opportunity to meet like-minded people for our trivia team and on the dance floor all for the price I paid a decade ago. I would rather spend two weeks cruising on a dam ship then spending two or three times that amount for a one-week "luxury cruise". (Unless one has the money of course to spend more time at sea.)

Mott's Clamato juice rather than tomato juice. It's not all fishy but has a bit more of a tang. By the way my handle used to be "Cruisenut" but that must have been a decade ago.

I'm sorry I was not clear in my post. We spend the morning in the Crow's nest. In the evening we enjoy the music walk and the different dance floors throughout the ship. We love the M-class ships but that front lounge is frequently used for Park West art auctions during the day. There is a dance floor there, but the band does not play there very often before the last theatre performance. Because there is seldom bar service up there during the day, the lounge is frequently empty. I have to say I love the looks of Celebrity ships better, but they are not as practically laid out as HAL ships. To use an example: in the days of the Captain's Club cocktail hour, a line up would develop on S-class ships. Some pool people would try to use the lady's washroom which was behind a closed door inside the lounge. The men's was port side outside the door. On HAL the crow's nest facilities are much more convenient. On that topic, HAL's toilet paper is softer than the sandpaper used on Celebrity.

You missed the point. Cutting off chocolates is a money saver for cruiselines, just as olives were for the airline. I’m about to spend seven weeks on a HAL ship, and I know that if I need a chocolate fix, there are alternatives that some seemly have not discovered.

There were 4 different assistants that presented trivia. Several years ago, Celebrity cut the number of assistants in half. It has been a long time since we cruised on Princess so I can’t comment about their staffing. I must say however that the cruise directors on Celebrity are much more visible than on our experience on HAL. The same goes for senior officers. They are much friendlier and outgoing on most Celebrity ships. On Celebrity I even had the opportunity to host the occasional trivia. the most important difference between HAL and Celebrity is the opportunity to dance on a real dance floor on HAL. Celebrity has a band playing in the atrium, or in the newer ships in the martini bar. And then there is the crow’s nest. Celebrity has cut the forward observation lounge from its newer vessels. The crows nest is a huge success on HAL ships, Celebrity has nothing comparable. The crow’s nest also has power outlets for charging phones, tablets, and computers.

What makes you think I’m relatively new? My first cruise with HAL was on the Rotterdam V in 1989. I’m almost 4* now but I’m triple Zenith on Celebrity after 225 cruises over there. my whole point is that people complain about minor issues. there are many serious issues that make people switch cruise lines. I sort of remember a study done decades ago about an airline that removed one olive from their in flight martinis thereby saving 100’s of thousands dollars.

There was a major $**t storm over at the Celebrity forum when nightly chocolates disappeared. A nightly candy either after dinner or on your pillow should not be a serious enough event to make you want to switch cruise lines. However I really missed the liqueurs that at one time were freely available at the ice cream counter. if one wants chocolate one can always get one of those humongous chocolate desserts at the Dutch Cafe. as long as the prices are where they are now, the crew as as good as they are, all other issues become minor.

The grass is not greener on the other side. I believe that for every cruiser leaving HAL with dissatisfaction, others will be leaving Celebrity, Royal, NCL. All for the same reason, a lowering of standards and expectations. I wish you well on other cruise lines. Please report back to us how your next cruise compares.

Count us as a couple who were very happy on our recent 19-day B2B cruise on N Statendam. This was our first cruise since being kicked off a Celebrity ship due to covid over 2 and a half years ago. The food and service in the MDR was exceptional. The crew throughout the ship were friendly and glad to be of service. In this day of Kindles and eReaders, who needs a library and a librarian? We found senior staff to be rather invisible. A request we made on day one to change cabins (we were willing to pay) was ignored. We loved the live music and the dance floors in different venues. Trivia was great, partially due to the wonderful hostess, Erica. (Prizes were meaningless) Towel animal complaints bother me. I would rather have turndown service at night than the time spent making towel animals. Chocolates and candy man missing? How much weight do you want to gain on a cruise? We were impressed enough to book 7 weeks on NS starting this month. The prices were too low to stay at home and the stock I just bought is giving us $750 OBC. In all our many, many Celebrity cruises, I never had the quality of a Bloody Caesar that I received on board.

I think there are some larger cabins midship on deck 1.

We cruised on NStatendam in September. I developed a cold early on in our 17 day cruise. I tested negative while onboard but positive when I arrived home. The cough lasted more than 4 weeks. Deck four had a closed door due to COVID isolation of that deck. I know that COVID is a risk but we’re going back for 7 weeks. COVID infection will be as common as catching a cold or the flu onboard. Having been vaccinated 4 times, still getting infected onboard, I realize the risk but will continue to cruise.