32 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

 

The Yardbirds are rocking out!!!

Heart Full of Soul!!!!  Love it!  They were way ahead of their time!

Quote

 

 

Just now, vtcruising said:

We are looking forward to seeing them too! I’ll report back!😀

Thank you!  Oh, and Peace!

I am so enjoying your report.  And we would love doing this cruise one of these years.

I''ll be interested to hear about The Yardbirds, my personal favorite 60's band (tied with The Beatles, of course!).

Shapes of Things, I'm a Man, Over, Under....  I could go on.  Can't wait to hear about them!

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

Congratulations and Welcome to the Club.  Make sure you learn the secret handshake to get into the Elite Happy Hour.

So that explains why they wouldn't let us in!

OP, I love your zest for life!  And what a beautiful picture you have in your signature. 

I love reading threads like this.  Thank you!

23 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

It is very time consuming. Many land restaurants have issues with running out of sous vide cooked meats, as they have to be done somewhat in advance...due to the long cooking times. Finishing on a BBQ (at home) or on a stove top/grill is important for those who like "medium well" or "well" done.

Have you ever seen a steak come out of a plastic bag following sous vide?   Trust me, you wouldn't want to eat one.  They will sous vide the steak at rare temp and always do a quick sear on the stove top or BBQ.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure if it is $2.00 or $2.50 per soda.  Either way, my husband finds the soda package is worth it for him, but he drinks a lot of soda.  He likes that they will give him unopened cans that he can bring back to the cabin.  He does not drink alcohol (that's my job!) so it is a small price to pay to make him happy.

We are in a suite in Nov so he will not buy it because it is served in Michael's Club.

Wow, that terminal is beautiful.  Thanks for sharing the pictures.

I hope we can use it in Nov!

Can I assume that if the Edge isn't there, they will use it for say, Reflection?

Wow, Nawaz is an awesome room attendant!

Then there are people like myself who have allergies that cause a cough. 

It sounds like I am sick, but I am not.  I am just allergic.

Hi.  We had cabin 6119 for 14 nights.  We are not usually bothered by noise and we weren't on this cruise.  But if you look at the deck plans, 6119 is a little more exposed to the elevator/stair area than 6121 is.  6121 isn't directly across from the elevators but it is around the corner (yes, there is a wall, the one in back of the elevator!).  We could hear some noise sometimes but it wasn't that bad.   But like I said, a little noise doesn't bother us.  I hope I answered your question.

OP is not kidding about HAL!  We did 2 weeks over the holidays and was not able to watch them all and I love to watch movies in the cabin.  I am kind of not looking forward to that aspect of X on our Reflection cruise this Nov.  But I know other things will make up for it.

OP, I enjoyed reading what you expect from X along with the comparison with Carnival.

We recently did a Holland America cruise for the first time (we are long time X cruisers).  I also had expectations, I just didn't have the guts to post them!  I think it will be interesting if you would come back to this thread after you complete your cruise and let us know where you were right and where you were wrong.

PS There were several things on HAL that I did not think that I would appreciate.  Now that I have experienced another cruise line, I know if we ever want to do a different cruise (or a Christmas/NYE cruise, much cheaper on HAL), we have a great alternative.  We have tried RCI but really don't enjoy them that much.

Another great benefit of the Suite Life is the priority debarkation.  For us, a VIP perk.🙂

Yup, normal.  I have the same bottles that I refuse to empty too quickly because when I see them and smell them (when I actually use them) i have happy memories.

I used to feel that way about my Disney soaps.

We stopped here a couple of nights and enjoyed the wine very much.  I should have paid more attention to what I drank.

Does anyone know which chateau st Michelle chardonnay it is they serve at Happy Hour?

It was quite good, I enjoyed it.  I'm pretty sure it isn't the $7.97 at Total Wine, it was too good for that.  They other one I see is Chardonnay Columbia Valley Reserve which goes for $37 a bottle.  Does anyone know?  Thank you!

We were new to HAL and cruised on NS over the holidays with a $50 soda card (paid $25).  We were told it would be fountain only but on our cruises (we did B2B) they used cans.  But....some places would load the glass with ice and basically give you only half a can of soda (we started asking for it without ice) and not let you take the rest.  Then other places some worked hard to give you most of the can.  And one place actually handed over the can.  I never saw such foolishness.  I know we were paying half price, but that is still $1.25 for a can of soda (which they rarely gave us a whole can).

At the Dutch Cafe they did not know how to deal with the card.  They asked me for our room key, insisting that was how it worked (even though this was day 14 of our cruise and we knew how it worked).  I told them it was going to charge us on our account and not the card.  So they repeated the transaction.  Yup, 2 charges ($5.00 plus tax for 2 lousy cans of soda).  So I had to go straighten it out even though they promised they would fix it (I could see the charges on my phone while still there).

Bottom line, I think it is a pretty good deal but they way they won't give you the can and don't properly train people how to use it, it is almost not worth it.

Thanks OP.  Nice comparison, fair and balanced, my favorite!

NCL is not on our top list for next cruise but we are open to seeing what X cruisers think.

On 2/10/2019 at 8:02 PM, richwmn said:

Some early notes:

We had a good time at sailaway. About a dozen showed up at the appointed place. I hope that Lou and company were able to find us. I met AlbertaQuilter and her mother, and a couple of others.

After the sailaway I entered the Lido Market and found things to be just as they were on Koningsdam, so I easily found what I wanted. Had a nice dinner then to music trivia. It was handled by the assistant CD Grant, a very high energy guy. I noticed that the winners only got possession of a "Cup" to be turned in tomorrow to be presented to the next winner, not even the pins that have been handed out the last few years. True disappointment.

When trivia ended it was time for the Rolling Stone Venue to open, and they opened with a bang. They seem to be comprised of 5 or 6 talented 20 year olds who enjoy playing classic rock. The venue was full of people enjoying their efforts.

I left there to come to the room for a minute, I could here Rolling Stone in the hall to about cabin 1022 or so, but not any further. I don't know if it could be heard inside the cabins in that area. Nothing inside my cabin 1012.

All for now

 

About that trivia.  Yes, the evening trivia only rewards the group with a trophy for 23 hours that you are expected to decorate.  I had no idea what was going on but our team mates did.  At the end of the week he totals everyone's points and you are rewarded with...wait for it...a drink at the bar.  We don't play for the prizes (we have so many from DCL and X and RCI we don't need any more).  But in a way it is kind of a let down for a weeks worth of progressive trivia.

And having to listen to Grant say Fit Bit or whatever it is and go on about Oprah Winfrey, well, after 14 days I was so ready to not see Grant ever again.  But I will give him this, he does seem to enjoy running the trivias.  I requested music trivia on our cruise (they had the same general knowledge day after day) and they did do a couple for us.  I'm glad to hear that they are still doing it.  I love music trivia.

I appreciate that.  And I always appreciate your posts and reports.  So helpful.  Check out the suite prices on Reflection longer cruises, Nov, Dec (oops, Caribbean).  We didn't get a RS (one of these days on an S class we will try one) but there were some good prices.  We got an S1 for a very reasonable price.

We were very interested in MSC Yacht Club but lately I have been reading some negative reviews on their food.  Princess has their Club level but I am afraid it won't be as good as Luminae. Let us hear what you decide.  Enjoy the hunt!

On 2/5/2019 at 4:21 AM, chemmo said:

What a great review to read! So easy to see the positives and negatives, a real factual report.

 

Whilst X loyalists we are struggling with the really expensive cruise prices in the Mediterranean (and the lack of S class ships) to the point of beginning to browse other lines...

 

We usually book RS on X and do love the fact that when we board we have unlimited speciality dining, in suite bar set up, premium drinks package and laundry. You mentioned you can pay daily for laundry, are there drinks packages and speciality dining packages available or do you just buy as you go?

 

Also we love a suite with a real separate bedroom and living area, are there any suites like this on HAL?

Hi Chemmo,

HAL does have a specialty dining package and drinks package, but we didn't do either so I can't comment.  Since it was a brand new cruise line for us we wanted to give the MDR our undivided attention.

We love those suites with a separate bedroom too and I believe HAL has them also.

If you ever do a HAL cruise, try that unlimited laundry.  I just went to my closet and found a cotton blouse and black jeans that were so nicely ironed, I knew I hadn't done that great a job.  I must have brought them home clean.  Thanks HAL!

We have had the premium drinks included with our suite in the past.  But we have one coming up this Nov and will not have the package.  To be honest, even with the premium package, I was not that thrilled with the selection.  And in Luminae, while the sommelier was very nice, he was reluctant to give me the wine I wanted (it was a few $$ over the premium glass allotment which I had happily paid previously).  He suggested that I buy the whole bottle with my ship board credit.  I'm not sure what he was drinking before he made that suggestion.  I said I wasn't interested and he finally brought me a glass.  Anyway, I think I will be happy getting a few glasses from Michael's and skip it in the dining room.  I find it is too easy to have 4 or 5 glasses of wine a day with that drink package.  That's a little too much for me.

Thank you OP for your fair and balanced review!  I appreciate when someone takes the time to point out the pros and cons of each cruise line. 

I have a question, you mentioned in room gifts.  I've done a few RCI cruises and I don't recall any gifts.  Oh wait, I did get a big bottle of water but I thought that was associated with the suite we booked.  What gifts do they give you?

18 hours ago, podsnel said:

We are booked on our first HAL (also on NS) this December and I will be on my 5th Celebrity when I board Edge 1 week from today!  Thank you so much for the comparison- we really love Celebrity, but are looking forward to all of that amazing music (and the wine blending) in addition to new ports on HAL. 😊

While we didn't do the blending, the venue was very nice and we had a couple glasses of wine there.  Each evening between 9-10 they have their Chateau St. Michelle wines half price.  While checking it out we saw several couples who had done the blend and seemed to enjoy it.  The wine there was delicious.

3 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

We never booked HAL, since until a couple of years ago it had the worst smoking policy of all the cruise lines.

I think it must have attracted smokers.  We did a cruise to Alaska (on NCL-it went to Glacier Bay) and found our own post-cruise land trip that went to Denali.   We were the first on the bus that goes all the way through Denali and before entering the park stopped at another hotel to pickup about 40 HAL passengers.  The smoke odor was awful.  There was no smoking on the bus, but many of the HAL people must have had it on their clothes.  We had to put up with that odor all day.

 

Have read positive reviews of HAL, so it seems they provide a good product, but I wonder if they still attract the smokers?

We thought that the smoking interfered with our nostrils about as much as it does on X.  We could usually avoid cutting through the casino but if we did, we just walked quickly and it really was not that bad.  There was also smoking on the pool deck aft just on one side.  Again, not that bad.  And we detest the smell of cigarette smoke.  I did not see any more smokers on HAL than I do on X.  But then again this was a big holiday cruise so the pax mix may have been a bit skewed.

2 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

We just cancelled a cruise on the brand new Nieuw Statendam due to smoking concerns.  I know it’s only in the casino...some say there are non smoking nights periodically, but enough recent posts re smoke coming out of the casino into the common areas and stairwells that we decided to give it a pass.  (Both on the Koningsdam and the new sister ship, the NS).  We work too hard for our money to put it into something with a high probability of being aggravating or intrusive.  We like HAL but for that one thing.  They’ve come a long way in FINALLY doing away with smoking on balconies but not far enough to meet our expectations.

It sounds like you are pretty much against even trying HAL, your prerogative.  But as I said above, I found the smoke no worse than X. 

44 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Thanks for the post...very helpful

Can you give us an idea on age range on each ship.

TYIA

Again, we were on a holiday cruise so the age mix I'm sure was not the normal mix.  Perhaps someone else can chime in. 

29 minutes ago, Eloise4Ever said:

Thanks for your review Muushka. We are keen to try out HALs newest ships. In fact we did have Nieuw Statendam booked for this coming October but cancelled it when we came across a really good deal on X. I was also concerned about smoking on NS. Can you tell me if the Casino on NS is open to other public spaces via a staircase? A lot of people complained that smoke from the casino on Koningsdam came down the staircase to the music lounges. The hope was that HAL would change the design on NS and take out the staircase. I am hoping you can tell me that they did.

We did not notice cigarette smoke odor other than in the casino, not in any stairwells or common areas.  I remember that they did not have it closed off, you didn't enter through a door, but that is a great idea!  They have a large glass door between music venues, why couldn't they do it for the casino?  But really, smoke was not an issue for us.

6 hours ago, TeeRick said:

On Harmony the service level in CK was mostly up to Luminae standards.  The food definitely was on par. In CK they knew our names and what we preferred right away.  But it is not the same team approach in CK as in Luminae.  In CK you get one waiter who handles everything. You can request the same waiter every night for consistency.  So he/she might get a bit busy with other tables.  In Luminae there are multiple servers that attend to you and yes remember you.  The Luminae Maitre'd usually knows you pretty quickly too.  In the Harmony Suite Lounge which is joined to CK, the cocktail service was spotty.  On many occasions I just went to the bar and ordered.  In Michael's Club (soon Retreat Lounge) you can just about order anything.  In the Suite Lounge on Harmony selections are more limited.  Overall I prefer the Celebrity suite experience but the CL suite itself on Harmony was very nice!

OK, sounds like you had about the same experience as we did.  Maybe some day I'll snag an L1 deal to experience the cabin, but I won't have high expectations for the "suite life" on RCI.