momilani

I haven’t traveled at all in 3 years (last trip was 11/19 on the Noordam) and the World Stage is new to me.  Is the entertainment there like the song-and-dance shows of old, or is it more like the BBC movie stuff?  Still 2 shows nightly? Times?  
We’ve booked a cruise on the Konigsdam in December and having not traveled since the plague hit, I don’t know how much it has changed things. Thanks!

Thanks for ‘live blogging’ the cruise. I enjoyed this month (+) long cruise more than I expected - even the sea days were fun!  We avoided the dreaded noro (sometimes being a germaphobe has it’s merits!) and saw many wondrous sights.  I’m glad we had a chance to meet.  

Beautiful day in Ile des Pins today!  

Had to go downtown for a meeting this morning.  Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen one of HAL’s wonderful “dam” ships here in port and just wished I was sailing away with her on another adventure.. This time, as I drove ‘round the curve and the Noordam came into view, I was grinning as I know that tomorrow  that wish is coming true!  Back to packing...😀

I hope that the passenger with the med emergency is going to be okay. That’s worrisome, but they will get great medical care here. We had to make an unscheduled stop off Cabo a couple of years ago on the Veendam for a similar situation.

For the rest of the passengers - are they letting you off the ship here today, then?  I suppose there are worse things than an extra day on Oahu!  E komo mai!  

Thanks, zelker.  Can’t wait to see her!  Not sure how I feel about the status-y changes they’re making...too much like the airlines and some hotel chains.  Guess that’s the way of the world.  I’m just happy to be back onboard!

Thanks for the photos - we’re joining the Noordam next Sunday, in Honolulu.  Can’t wait!!  This will be our longest cruise to date. We did a 21-day SoAmerica/Antarctica a few years back and loved it.  I may have missed it, but what was the extent (if any) of cabin refurbs?  

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

You have an interesting point of view.  Perhaps the "suits" in Seattle will read your post and decide that waiters should start checking everyone's plate (when they are finished) and assessing an extra charge for any left overs (I guess you would call it "waste").  I do recall once sharing a table with a lady who politely ask the waiter to just bring her a "half portion" of her main course.  As one would expect on HAL (and most lines) the waiter simply brought her the normal full portion (since getting a half portion would have likely taken extra time.  And as you might guess she did not even eat half what was on her plate.  Perhaps the waiter should be charged for serving too much food.  And consider the pre-made sandwiches in the Lido(the one's put in "classy" paper bags.)  Say a person only wants half a sandwich.  I guess they could take it out of the bag, cut of tear it in half, put half back in the bag and leave it at the buffet?  Oh Yuck!  Come to think of it, the next time I order eggs over easy I might ask for 1 1/2 eggs so that there is no waste on my plate.  And if I only want half a croissant I will just pick up one at the buffet, tear it in half, and return the rest to the buffet?    I was recently on a Princess ship and wanted half a donut at their International Café (the donuts are excellent).  When I asked the server for half a custard filled donut he just laughed and gave me 2 donuts!  I really did just want 1/2 of that custard donut (which is all I ate).  Was the waste my fault?  Should I have made a scene and insisted he cut that cream donut in half and serve the other half to another person (as the custard oozed out)?

 

In all seriousness I do get the jist of your post, but policy changes always seem to have unintended consequences.

 

Hank

 

 

I was referring primarily to the Lido plate loading Olympics, or ordering multiples in the MDR “just for a taste.”  It happens. Sorry you misunderstood.  Just an observation on my part - the nitpicking kind of supports my initial point about the liberties of anonymity.

On 10/4/2019 at 7:42 AM, zelker said:

If you're on Facebook, go to this page  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seaspan-Victoria-Shipyards-Esquimalt-Harbour-BC/129676153785927    and check out photos that crew and vendors are starting to post.  The flooring company (JayCurt Floording) actually has several posted, including some of the stairway carpet being laid but those are the only internal photos I've found so far.  Noordam posts would be anything posted September 30th or newer.

Zelker - thanks so much for the shipyards link!  What fascinating photos.  We were on the Noordam for a Med cruise in June 2006 and are looking forward to boarding in Honolulu on the 20th.

35 minutes ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

And yet, this was a very whiny post. 

Thanks for the observation. 

What I love most about HAL is the reliable service and friendly crew.  I appreciate their eagerness to please that doesn’t slosh over into the obsequious. 

Like many others, I prefer the smaller ship size and the classy, mellow atmosphere.  My party boat days aren’t exactly over - they never ever were.  I go on cruises to relax. We were on the Zaandam for 21 days (SoAmerica/Antarctica) and it felt as comfortable as home to me. It was hard to leave.

The port talks are usually interesting (depends on the EXC staff) and I’ve seen things as a result that I might have otherwise missed altogether.  This was especially true our our recent spring cruise in Japan.  The timing couldn’t have been better nor the Sakura more stunning.

HAL’s food is consistently good - often excellent - and (perhaps best of all) I don’t have to plan, prepare or clean up after. Those first few days back home are HARD, I tell ya! I realize that all lines provide food, but in my experience HAL offers better. I especially enjoy the extra touches, like the frozen orange sherbet cups served on the hot and sunny deck as we went through the Panama Canal and the welcome cup of hot chocolate that greeted us portside on a cold, rainy Christmas Eve in Puerto Chacabuco as we waited for the tender back to the ship.  I haven’t experienced that level of personal touch except on the much smaller river cruises in Asia. 

I imagine that for (considerably) more $$$, there is better to be found, but I’m happy right here...

We’ve been cruising with HAL for over 20 years, and the steward situation has not really changed as respects being greeted day one. This is not the case with other lines we’ve sailed with.  I really like getting their calling card, as I’m not as great with names as I once was.  

We’ve been on other lines and come back to HAL because it appeals to us personally and, thus far, hasn’t disappointed.  I wonder how much of the whining that seems so prevalent is not just the result of the general societal tendency towards negativity.  The relative anonymity of online forums enables the worst in some to emerge.  As a result, we see the picking apart of every little thing.  Take the trial run of charging for a second entree in the MDR, for example. I see it less as a grab for revenue and more as an effort to reduce waste, and as such I would applaud it heartily.  The amount of excess food - that people take out just because they can - that ends up being trashed on these ships is appalling. But enough people fussed that they ditched the plan.  Complainers gonna complain.  I’m trying hard to keep the whining from drowning out my enjoyment of the experience.

We had an extraordinary cruise aboard the Zaandam over the Christmas holidays 2015/16.  I was terrified in the run up because I’m a bit queasy in high seas, and knew a couple of friends who had the Antarctic portion of their trips aborted due to weather out of Ushuaia.  It couldn’t have been more beautiful for us.  Just the luck of the draw - no one controls the weather, and there are no guarantees.  But the payoff of taking that chance was spectacular for us.  Good luck and smooth sailing!

When first I read of this situation, I came to this site to see if other (esp. more experienced) cruisers saw this the way that I did: a captain and cruise line acting in the interest of safety of passengers and crew with a (probably small but vocal and potentially dangerous) group of angry, hyper-entitled folks protesting.  I was not disappointed in the responses I’ve read.  Common sense prevails here, as usual.  

One of my biggest peeves about cruising is the entitled attitude of some passengers.  There’s always a handful of malcontents aboard, and I avoid them once identified. I’d far rather the captain exercise common sense risk management and miss a couple ports than try to jack**s us through unsafe conditions and get us injured or worse.  I agree with some here that the particularly vociferous and threatening passengers should be banned in the future.  I’d certainly not want to encounter that kind of person on my ship!

Great recap of a fabulous cruise!  We were on the same one, but took different shore excursions here and there.  Such amazing weather for the majority of the cruise - Mt Fuji with my morning coffee was spectacular.  Even with the blustery weather at Hirosaki Castle, the cherry blossoms were fantastic!

Cybersp — so how did it go? Hope you had a fabulous time - I adore Venice!

We’ve celebrated three very lively NYEs on HAL ships. There was a huge live band dance party in the main theater and another in the Crows’ Nest, plus the frivolity extends well after midnight in the various ship’s lounges. Plenty of champagne and sumptuous late night hors d’oeuvres as well. The crowd will be older on HAL, so with the exception of a few over-indulged (and over indulging) grandkids, you won’t see the raucous drunken debauchery you might find on the more “fun ships”.

We last sailed the Veendam in January 2017 and she was lovely. In reading the “awful reviews” — be they of ships, hotels or restaurants - try to factor in as much context as possible. Does this reviewer habitually trash or are their reviews reasonably balanced? How long ago was their experience? What was the experience of others since that time? We’ve booked the Veendam again for this October (bucket list - Cuba - itinerary) and I’m looking forward to another excellent HAL experience.

Regarding bringing Bailey’s on board - we did the Makers Mark distillery tour out of Brandenburg KY and brought a couple of “souvenir” pints of 46 on board with no problems...same with the Apple Pie Moonshine we picked up in Paducah at the Moonshine Company (another great HOHO stop there.)

I’m super sensitive as well, so I packed several of the pocket sizes of Off (or something like it) so I could keep one in my day bag. The only days I conscientiously applied it was when we were at Angor Wat and Ta Prohm (which were amazing!!!) That said, I didn’t experience much in the way of bug bites at all.

We’re on the AQ right now. Just left Cape Girardeau and are headed on to Chester and, eventually, St Louis. We are having a lovely time - nice cabin on deck 3, great dining room service and way too much good food.

I’ve only river- cruised in the US on the AQ (I’m one of those ‘rave reviewers’ you mentioned.) I have also cruised the Hawaiian Islands on NCL - also a ship with a US crew. If you are expecting the same level of service here that you’d receive on a Viking or other foreign flagged ship/crew, it’s just not likely to live up. Different cultures. Not judging, just my observation.

We did have super service and accommodations on the AQ Mississippi cruise in 2014, and we are headed out on her again soon...but it still doesn’t rise to the level of attention we’ve gotten in SE Asia with Viking or Europe with HAL and P&O. Not bad, by any stretch - just different. I just modify my expectations accordingly, and roll with it. I want to do the Columbia River one day, too.

As for the condition of the ship, much depends on the age and last refurb dates. That info is available elsewhere on Cruise Critic. I traveled a lot for work and for fun over the last 30 years and had my share of tempermental plumbing and such along the way, but the incidents were pretty random and not representative of a given hotel chain or cruise line as a whole - what’s most important is how they handled it. So far, so good! Good luck to you!

Since I have no plans to be in Cuba again after our cruise ( and I’m risk-averse ), we just booked the longer tours through HAL. Should be fine.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the American Queen from Memphis to New Orleans — I kind of grew up in that part of the country, but my husband had never been to any of the places we covered. It was an excellent itinerary. Took the premium excursions to the battlefield at Vicksburg and Angola Prison - both well worth the extra. Accommodations, food and entertainment were all excellent. We’re headed off on the Ohio River cruise later this summer. Covering new ground for both of us.

I think that some of the negative reviews on any ship (or restaurant or hotel...etc) are from unlucky souls who just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. Some come from people who have low tolerance for inconvenience for some reason, or just like to complain — but I honestly think those are in the minority. I take it all with a grain of salt. You sail often enough, you expect to run into a hitch now and again. We had a toilet that just didn’t want to work right off and on during our second cruise on the Ryndam. It’s an older ship, and it turned out to be a system thing in our section of the deck we were on. They fixed it timely, as they do. They make every effort to take good care of all the ‘dam ships we’ve sailed on.

We had a great time on the Veendam through the Panama Canal in Jan ‘17 and are looking forward to boarding her again in October for Cuba. “The best ships are the ‘Dam ships!”