cruz chic

Just back from our first HAL cruise (at 59 & 60 yrs of age) and we are in absolutely no hurry to repeat the experience. We found the food to be good at breakfast, fair at lunch, and just plain bad at dinner. The ship was very nice, but compared to the airy, open spaces of RCCL ships, Westerdam felt cramped and very dark.

 

I loved the Explorations/Crows Nest area, but found the Explorations Cafe itself to be a joke. It didn't keep long hours, snacks were hard to find, and paying for the so-so coffee in paper cups didn't impress me even a little bit.

 

The singers were talented, and the musician very good, however I never had problems finding smaller, quieter musical venues on RCCL ships. Piano bars on EVERY ship should be bigger, as they seem consistently popular.

 

Absolutely loved the Digital Workshop and Culinary Arts centre! They compensated for a lot of other disappointments.

 

I was shocked and extremely dismayed to find out that pools and hot tubs have very limited hours. What??? Do the lifeguards go off duty??? No, wait - there are no lifeguards. Apparently pools need to be roped over at 7 pm to keep us doddering old ones from falling in.

 

Essentially, different strokes...HAL is obviously a favorite for many. We can say we tried it, but it just wasn't a good fit for us.

Doddering old ones. Well aren't you sweet? Rcl is likely a better fit for you.

Because the cabin steward is not suppose to take deck chairs and put them on people's private balconies. If you ask quietly, they do it quietly, then they don't get into trouble. Sometimes the steward says no he can't do it, other times, the steward is willing to take a chance in order to please you.

Yeah, that makes no sense at all. Would someone really scream or talk that loud?

That is odd. Looks like you have a guarantee now. I'd call HAL if you booked thru them or call your TA.

Just curious, why do you have to ask quietly?

What is the big deal with a shuttle to the dock from port area hotels?

 

A cab, as I recall, costs $15-20 depending where you are staying. It is so much easier to get there on your on steam, at your own convenience instead of having to wait, wait, wait, and then being jammed into a van. My guess is that if many of the hotels are charging for a shuttle it may even be less expensive to take a cab if there are a few of you.

That's what I was saying only to be told I should book at the Ritz.

Hmmm. In that case you might want to consider the Ritz Carlton. It will only cost you a "few bucks" and is in a totally different class then the Embassy Suites :).

 

Hank

Would there be a free shuttle:D:)?

A month to go and the suspense is killing me! :p

 

Does HAL send an email or is it best to keep checking?

They may. You are more likely to get an email if you book directly through HAL. It will say your booking has changed or something like that. You assignment will show up immediately upon being assigned on the luggage tags. It takes about a day later to populate under the reservation side.

I find that the International meal or whatever they call it, often on the last night of the cruise, is a good one to miss and go to the Pinnacle Grill. We have found nothing on that menu of real interest to us.

Totally agree! That menu is a stinker. I was excited to try that menu before I did. Now I try and make alternate plans that night.

He was the cd on my Veendam cruise too. Yup, he was a pain

Well, I actually telephoned them last evening and ask just this question. They told me that they use a transfer service (that they highly recommend) that charges a flat $8 per person fee...which can be charged to the hotel room. We know Ft Lauderdale pretty well and a taxi from the airport to the 17st area would probably cost $16 - $25 depending on traffic and the lights. From the hotel to the port should be the same or a bit less then the transfer fee (as long as the taxi did not "take you for a ride").

 

Hank

Like I said, I thought they offered it or were you looking for free transport? To me, my comfort is more important than a few bucks.

We tried our first HAL cruise when in our 40s (a 12 day Baltic cruise on the Maasdam) and loved the cruise, but were not happy with our fellow passengers. On that cruise (about 20 years ago) the average age of our fellow passengers was probably in the early to mid 70s, nobody was awake after 9pm, and we felt like the children on the ship. It was nearly 15 years until we again went back on HA (we have cruised on 14 different cruise lines) and we now have about 300 days with HAL. Would we recommend HAL for a couple in their 40s? Our answer would be a very weak yes. We would probably suggest Celebrity or Princess before HAL for the OP.

 

Hank

I've cruised both celebrity and princess. The make up of the pax has been pretty much the same. You make no secret that you think everyone on Hal is 90 years old and goes to bed at 9. On my last cruise which was 15 days I checked out the BB king band and it must have been close to 11. The place was hopping. Maybe you are going to the wrong places or maybe some people are tired at nine because they didn't take a nap like you do in the afternoon. I don't rely on others to make my fun. Maybe that's where you are going wrong. I'm surprised that you've made it to 300 days considering how boring you seem to find Hal.

If a hotel I want is booked at their web site I always go to Expedia and Orbitz to see what they list.

Apparently, they sometimes actually buy blocks of rooms that they have to sell even though the hotel itself has no more for sale.

Good info. Thx.

Thanks for your reply! It was the boost I needed to make the call. We got an aft Vista suite A on the verandah deck for far less than we could have imagined and are thrilled. Today's upsells were significantly lower than last week's too. Hoping the fairy shares the deals with many others!

Good to hear you got it. Many folks end up disappointed so happy you got it done:). Have a wonderful cruise!

Excellent review and great pics. Thx for posting.

Thanks, Chief, me too!

 

It's a depressing, grey day here, so I will watch for a while just for a bit of warmth.:)

Ahh, but the weatherman promises sun for the rest of this week. For today, a sailaway (with lots of toots, hopefully) is just what we need.:)

Take a look at the Calgary forecast and I bet that will cheer you up. It's stupid cold. It's warmed up to -12C right now:rolleyes:. One of my friends is leaving on a Princess cruise tomorrow and another one is in Puerto Vallarta. I need to find some new friends:D.

They go fast so grab now or you'll be out. You can sometimes ask which rooms are available. Good luck!

Keep in mind that it is a busy time of the year (as others have said) and that particular hotel is very popular with cruisers for several reasons. We would point out that there is a down side to the Embassy Suite in that the hotel does not provide free transfers from the airport or cruise port. There are actually quite a few other hotels in the same area that include free transfers.. If you look at the Cruise Critic board for "Ports of Call", "United States", "East Coast Departures" you will find a lot of discussion about various hotel options.

 

Hank

Are you sure they don't have transfers? I was under the impression they did. That said, I'd rather pay a few bucks extra and take a cab rather than being jammed in a van with a bunch of people.

For what?:confused: What does a non-smoker do that impacts on a smoker? Sorry but that makes no sense.

Well the top two that usually get thrown out are perfume wearing and over eating at the buffet. I'm surprised we haven't heard about it yet:rolleyes:.

I agree with sapper..... as long as HAL collects the corkage fee, they don't care where it came from. Every passenger is entitled to bring a bottle onboard - HAL cannot decide who drinks it once it gets there.:D And show me the wine waiter who would dispute who the bottle of wine belongs to, LOL.

Got that right. Usually just getting them to serve it is beyond their ability.

Its early morning here but we are looking forward to 27c/80f - fine and sunny - come on down :)

Cathy

I'd love to but that four letter word (work) gets in my way.

This cruise is on my bucket list. I look forward to reading it. Thx for the heads up. Enjoy your cruise!

I'm thinking of doing a back to back next November. I hope things are better by then. While Hal doesn't control the process sometimes they do things that do not help with the process, especially for non USA citizens. Sorry this has been such a pain for you OP.

It is time for me add my two cents here. I quit smoking two months ago because health reasons forced me to. I didn't want to quit but I have.:(

 

DH did not quit and does not intend to. My point is he stinks now. I do understand what so many of you have tried to say. Smokers stink, can't help it. :eek:

 

That said however, it isn't going to stop me from being close to him, it isn't hurtful in any way to my lungs ( just my nose ) and truthfully just helps cement my intention to never smoke cigarettes again. :D So while the smell may be unpleasant for a short time it is not unhealthy.

Congrats on your quitting smoking:).

My goodness...if you see a price drop you make the call, take to any customer service rep, and ask for the reduction. If they tell you to wait until your PCC comes to work, document the call and the name of the person who gave you this advice, and then wait until your PCC is back to work. Just keep in mind that the PCC program is a bit of a marketing ploy and really is nothing more then a regular customer service person who is assigned a roster of customers. Some folks just seem to feel better when they have their "hand held" by a regular person and HA is meeting that need. As an aside, we just booked a HA cruise yesterday and did our usual shopping around among several major cruise agencies and also HA. Bottom line was that we could get a $1875 OBC from one of our preferred TAs...and HA would give us zip....zero....nada. Personally, we do not think that a relationship with any PCC is worth that kind of money :)

 

Hank

I used the same ta for probably 15 years. I've never gotten 5 cents in obc from them. I have no desire to book thru a Florida online ta that may skip out with my money to get some obc. I'm now booking with a PCC and I'm pretty ok with that arrangement.

HAL has had some terrific enrichment speakers, but mainly on cruises that have more at-sea days. On a trans-atlantic cruise I think we had three different speaker series. And on the long voyage to Indonesia another great group that kept the day filled morning and afternoon

 

How many sea days did you have on this cruise? On our last cruise we had a lot of port days and had only a port enrichment speaker who provided in depth commentary in the showroom as well as when we were outside cruising past significant passages.

 

One problem I am seeing now is lectures scheduled at 3pm, the sam time as Tea which we hate to miss so this is a very unfortunate choice of scheduling for us. First we thought it was because one long cruise was Dutch/English bi-lingual so many talks had to be repeated in both languages.

 

But on the last cruise they only offered English language talks and they were also at 3pm. Not happy about this turn of events because we love especially the Indonesian and Royal Dutch Teas. But again, this was a very port heavy cruise so there was not a lot of free time flexibility for these onboard events.

There was only 3 days out of 15 IIRC on that cruise. Not really much time for speakers.