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I am wondering if I should try cruising by myself on a longer cruise (30 days or more) and does the ship try to do anything for single cruisers to meet each other? Carol

We also did this before, and will be doing it again "the end of August this year. Carol

I would guess that the R and S class ships will not be redone soon, if ever! HAL seems to be eliminating these ships as new ones come online, so why spend alot of money on them?

 

Personally, I like the smaller HAL ships - larger cabins, easier to get around, plus a "family" feeling with staff and other passengers. The only negative I experience is the more frequent plumbing problems (on some ships).

I COMPLETELY agree with you :)

Sounds like there will be opportunities to meet other solo cruisers. :)

As others said, all HAL cruises have these. The Culinary Arts Center host seems to always be the host for the Solo and Single Travellers. Look for the events listed in ship's itinerary in first couple of days. Do try to attend those because poor turnout for both can mean no more scheduled that cruise.

 

 

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Thanks for a great idea of the Culinary Arts Center.:)

Check the Daily. There is usually something the first several days of a cruise at the very least. (Have never been, nor do I plan to go, so I cannot offer more info.)

Thanks :)

They have solo meet & mingles on all HAL cruises.

Thank You for the info! :)

Does HAL have a meet & mingle for people traveling by themselves ? If so , how do you find those cruises ? :confused:

For me personally, when the small ships (1800 passengers or less)are gone so am I.

The piano bar was lots of fun.

 

Can you advise WHO the piano person was and if you know how long he/she,will be on board? We are on ship in late,September.

Thanks.

I know his first name was David, but forget his last name (old age). Carol:)

Welcome Home

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

That is wonderful that you had great staff in all the departments -- even to getting your notebook fixed.

 

Best medical staff -- hope it wasn't anything serious that you needed their help.

Yes it was something serious, but the care we received was better than some hospitals on land. Carol:)

We were on the Mar.1-Mar.29 cruise. Our Maasdam cruise was one of our best. It was the best medical staff ever. The doctor was more thorough than the ones at home. The Front office could not have been better. They head of the front desk, even took my little broken down notebook to their “computer Guru” to see if he could fix it for me, and yes he did, and wouldn't even take a tip, much less charge me. The dinning room manager, his assistants and our waiters couldn’t have taken better care of us. The head chef would come to our table to see if we had special requests, and yes he took care of them. The piano bar was lots of fun. Then our bartenders in the Crows Nest were great. Even the shows were better than usual. Yes, we got into San Diego late, but it was because of VERY rough seas and heavy winds. HAL gave everyone free limited phone calls and free limited internet to change travel arrangements. We got in at noontime. Wish the staff and crew were this good on every ship. EVERYONE in every department were the best.

All of this is just IMHO. Carol

I find it VERY frustrating to reserve one of the specialty restaurants on line, ahead of time, if with one's Mariner status one gets it at half price. We get charged the full price, and then once on board it normally has taken weeks and many visits to the front desk to get it changed on our account. Am I doing something wrong? Carol

Jacqui...From following your posts, am I correct in assuming you are not "jumping ship" to Oceania. Seems like what I am reading, each line has it's good or bad points. The biggest good for Oceania seems to be the food, and for me, as long as HAL keeps the smaller ships I am satisfied with all else. Carol:)

Thank you for taking us along on your adventure. Carol

Anyone we know ? :D

Probably...:D

I know of many people who are 5 stars trying out Oceania and some are even staying there, saying it is what HAL used to be.

Looking VERY forward to your Oceania postings, as with HAL's many cut backs and larger ships, we have been told Oceania is much like, but better than what HAL used to be. Carol :)

Exactly, I totally agree. There are just way too many things that need to be replaced or fixed on the HAL ships the money spent for this was extremely foolish in my opinion. I am hearing of yet another ship with diesel fuel smells (I am aware of two ships that have this continuing problem) because of a fuel tank leak that HAL is not fixing and numerous plumbing and a/c issues on many of their ships. I have heard that they do not have the funds allocated to fix these ships and that money that was thought to be allocated was spent for something else...hmmmmm guess we found out what it was.

There continues to be cut back on crew. They are expecting to have Koningsdam operate smoothly with less crew than the Signature Class with three more Restaurants and Three more bars. But 40 Million was spend on what we heard about yesterday.

Maybe it is bad thing for myself and DH to know personally may that work on the ship and know some of the inner workings. We are not naive passengers we are well aware what is going on. Last night Tom and I discussed this. We have spent 95% of our cruising time on HAL and basically always thought it would be our Home Away from Home. Our Go To Cruise line. We have seen the changes over the years but thought they would turn themselves around. Tom's words were and mine too is basically we feel betrayed. I know of several crew that have quit. Even a Bartender I am friended with on Facebook is going to RCCL. As well as a Very Good Hotel Director very recently resigned.

HAL truly needed to FIX many things before they wasted the money they did on something that no one will truly notice.

Lisa....Couldn't have said it any better. At the rate HAL is going into the future, we will probably start looking at Oceania..Carol

When we were in Copenhagen we did the HO HO, bus and they included a boat HO HO in the price.

I can't begin to say enough good things about our last Statendam cruise. It was so special. I am sorry to see her go. Carol

I thoroughly enjoyed your review, and agree with you on everything. It brought back many great memories. I can't think of one negative thing to say. Carol:)

Yesterday I received an email offer that was too good to be true. I just got off the phone with HAL and it is true. :D

 

I just booked the 47 day Tales of The South Pacific and all I have to pay is taxes, port fees and HSC. The cabin is free. Yeah, really gratis. It's a casino offer. I couldn't pass this up. Seriously, a 47 day cruise for a total of $757.51!!! I can even take a guest if I choose. And that price includes insurance. I know it is gauche to speak about pricing but hey, this is amazing.

 

It is like a small miracle for me as I never thought I would get the opportunity to take Virgil's ashes to Bora Bora as he wanted but saved some in case. Now I can. :)

 

I am so excited and somewhat intimidated as I've never cruised alone - but hey world here I come!

I am happy to hear you will be cruising, and to your favorite places. You will do great, but I can imagine it is intimidating to try it for the first time. Fear not, you make friends easily. Carol:)

Today I started going through my pictures, and they brought back memories of a wonderful cruise. I can't think of anything negative to say...the ship, the officers and staff and the itinerary were all great!

Got to spend a little time with Barbara and her husband....wonderful, interesting people... Carol:)