moveup

We're taking the same cruise in March. When you get back be sure to post your own review and advice. As for what to do on board ship, based on the MSC threads, you may want to prepare your daughter for 11 days of European cuisine as MSC does not cater to American tastes. Also there may be very few English speaking passengers on board so you may want to bring books, iPods, etc. As for the ports of call, Genoa's aquarium is supposed to be fantastic and it is walking distance from the cruise terminal. In Egypt you'll want to see the pyramids & sphynx in Giza. We're planning to take the ship's shore excursion there to avoid any risk of missing the ship's departure. As for the other ports, we're undecided whether to take excursions (which mostly go away from the port to visit ruins -- lots of time on the bus) or just wander in the port towns. Probably we will do some of each. Finally, although your cell phones may work on board, check with your cellular provider in advance of your trip to find out what the per minute charge is for roaming "at sea." It may very well be $5 per minute, in addition to using up your prepaid minutes. On our last cruise we saw teenagers talking continuously on their cell phones and wondered how their parents would react when they got their cell phone bills the next month.

Our experience on the Noordam in August:

You can call the dining room 1:00 - 4:00 to reserve a table for that night. However, they would NOT accept a reservation between 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. For those times you showed up at the dining room and made your request and waited. Although the ship was full, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table even at 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. So the lack of reservations did not seem to matter. And we had an ordinary cabin, not a suite or ginormous verandah cabin, so we weren't getting any special consideration. (I think if you have one of the high-end cabins they will even reserve a table for you during the coveted 6:30 - 8:00 window.) By the way, when we showed up at the dining room (without reservations) the maitre d' asked our cabin number each time, checked his computer screen, then greeted us by name, and entered something in his computer. So they know who has traditional dining and who has As You Wish, and they would know if you're trying to circumvent the system. By the way, the first time we went to the dining room without a reservation they sat us at a large empty table, but we couldn't order until the table was filled. On other nights we asked for a table for two and we were always accommodated. A great advantage of As You Wish dining is that you do not need to eat at the same speed as the rest of the diners. If you are in a mood to linger over your appetizer, just tell the waiter to delay putting in your entree order. On another night if you are in a hurry, tell the waiter and they will speed the courses. With traditional dining, you don't have this flexibility as the entire table must be served each course in unison (and the kitchen expects the entire dining room to be more or less in sync). While I understand that solo passengers may prefer to be seated at the same table every night so they will have familiar dining companions, they can achieve the same result with As You Wish by showing up at the dining room on the first night and requesting a large table, then if they hit it off with any of the other people at that table, they can arrange to get to the dining room at the same time on other nights and be seated together. As You Wish worked perfectly for us because we wanted to dine at different times depending on what else was going on that day. If we wanted to see the show, we made sure to get to the dining room early enough to allow for a short wait for a table, and the usual time to dine. As for missing a meal, that's very hard to do on any ship -- especially with HAL which has extensive room service at no additional cost (although we tipped the room service waiter, which is not required). You can get a full meal anytime you want in your cabin, and there's no reason you couldn't then transport your tray to one of the lounges if you didn't want to eat in the cabin. I am amazed at the negativity of many of the posts on this topic because everyone on our cruise seemed delighted with the way the Noordam accommodated varying desires for traditional dining, as you wish, and Lido buffet. Solo passengers seemed as satsified as those traveling in pairs or groups.

in HAL but I shouldn't be.. knowing the way they've been headed over the past 2-3 years... changed their tip policy... then the so-called upgrades with a teen center top deck aft... the writing was on the wall... now this fiasco..no sense in bringing along the two tux's .. so I can eat alongside some dood in blue jeans in the dining room... the classiness 'has just left the house' with this marketing buffoonery

 

what would make some marketing genius come up with this when they already have alternative dining in the Lido.. duh

 

I have yet to talk to anyone who has taken NCL that have commented positively about their open dining policy.. to all it was a fiasco and they'd never sail with NCL again..

 

I came very close this week to cancelling our back to back Canal cruises in January '08 on the Maasdam.. so far the schedule calls for the Maasdam to start in late April... looks as though we'll get to our 300 day Mariner threshold then... only we'll have to start to look elsewhere come fall '08 and sail with a classier cruiseline who appreciate their older and loyal clientele:mad::mad:

Stakeout -- Don't be discouraged. I was on the Noordam 12 August Alaska glacier bay cruise. On the formal nights, in the dining room, despite "As You Wish" dining, we were impressed with the elegant gowns and tuxes. In fact I commented to several of the women at other tables how lovely they looked. At the entrance, I saw the maitre d' politely discourage guests who were not suitable suited, encouraging them to change or to try the Lido. They complied. I haven't read this entire thread but if someone is suggesting that jeans and tees are common attire on formal nights in HAL dining rooms, that is definitely not my recent experience. What has changed is that many passengers, including myself, prefer some flexibility in the dinner HOUR, even at the expense of having different waiters on different nights.

Just to clarify my earlier post, we WERE able to dine at or around 7 p.m. every night. We weren't able to make a RESERVATION for that time but we came to the dining room and checked in with the maitre d' and never had to wait more than 5 minutes for our requested table size. All the passengers on our cruise that we talked to about the traditional and as-you-wish options thought HAL was doing an excellent job accommodating varying desires for dining. Those who wanted traditional fixed dining (early or late seating) were assigned tables on Deck 3. Those who wanted "as you wish" dining came to Deck 2. Occasionally we would then be seated on Deck 3 if there was an empty table (i.e., someone from the first fixed seating chose to eat in the Lido buffet or in their cabin). It was smooth and easy.

Just got back from 7-night Alaska cruise on Noordam. "As you wish" dining means you can show up anytime and wait for a table. On the first night we tried to "reserve" a table for 7 p.m. but they would only take reservations at the same times as the fixed early and late seatings. As it turned out, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes and were able to get our requested size table (2) every time. If you don't request a particular table size they tend to put you at a larger table with other passengers, and no one can order until the table is full and everyone has had a chance to look at the menu.