VTcruisenut

Hello all! we have been on 7 Holland America cruises and our last one just didn't meet our expectations. We have been told to check out Celebrity and I would like some feedback. We aren't fond of the HUGE ships - Which of the Celebrity ships might we enjoy? What was your favorite itinerary? How is the food? and price wise how does Celebrity stack up against other lines? Is there a way to get their "specials and pricing" or do you go thru a TA? Thanks in advance!

good luck with that! we have no idea what the balances are because they were double posting drinks to the cabin and then GS said no, they used the beverage card. AND I still haven't heard from Guest Services about all our other issues. I had to ask for an on board credit we were given to be posted (from a shore excursion guarantee). It was a total mess..........

No, there were no instructions and the bartender told us we had to go to Guest Services. Everytime. Multiple times. When we left the ship, I think all but one card still had balances, a couple of them full balances...................

Beware the $25 and $50 Beverage cards! Our experience (there were 6 of us that had them) was that they aren't activated when you board - though they are in your cabin with your shore excursions. We tried to use them and the bartender told us they wouldn't work. Then we went to Guest Services who activated them. The next time we tried to use them, they said they wouldn't work and charged the drinks to our cabin. When we went to Guest Services, we found the beverage card had been charged and so had our cabin! There were several other people in line at Guest Services with the same issue. Just a head's up!

I can't pull the review up since I hit "submit" but it was pretty much what I wrote in my email to HAL other than CC has a place for you to rate the cabin, etc.

I have yet to hear from Guest Services, though my "personal cruise consultant" left me a voice mail today, saying they are looking into the issues. I was leary before our cruise as well, hoping the reviews I was reading weren't accurate. If you are looking for good entertainment, you will be disappointed................

I don't know either! However, that was our experience as well as many we spoke with on the Oosterdam. We reliquished our 8:00 p.m. fixed dining for As You Wish and then found out we could only reserve 7:45.

You can also call for reservations. We thought we could reserve "any time" that's what we were told. On the Oosterdam, we found out they only take reservations for 5:45 and 7:45 every other time is show up and check in with the Dining Room manager and waits for a table. Or if you are lucky, get seated immediately!

My review still hasn't been approved! It's difficult to find the thread with my original Roll Call - but members have responded with their own experiences, and reviews. All in all, this cruise was a major disappointment. HAL needs to step it up a bit!

Keep in mind, they tell you that you can make a reservation for "anytime dining" You can't. The reservation times are 5:45 p.m and 7:45 p.m. Any other time you want to dine, you have to check in with the Dining Room desk, and wait for a table. Unless you have a nightmare experience like our group did, and we had a standing reservation every night for our 6 top with no waiting!

Oh I have communicated to HAL, and on a Facebook page, but so far, no response!

I had a Meet & Greet post for those of us on the March 16th sailing of the Oosterdam and met many of you onboard. Looking to connect and get your feedback on the cruise! Your experience, what you liked or didn't like. Favorite port etc. Anyone out there?

We are just off the Oosterdam on 3/23 and I can tell you there is little to no entertainment any longer! No shows with the singers and dancers they used to have. They had Postmodern Jukebox 2 nights, once was fine, but not twice. There was a comedian but his show was about 45 minutes long, and all his material was played off the front row of the audience. One night there was a combo magician/ comedian and his show also about 45 minutes long. One other night they actually projected photos on the stage wall with the orchestra playing in the front..............pretty images, but pretty boring. There was no place to dance, no night club atmosphere at all. No audience participation games as we have seen previously or Karaoke. The piano bar has been turned into dueling piano players right outside the Casino and they were, well lets just say different. That intimate atmosphere of the piano bar is gone. No live music to speak of at either pool area and during sail away, they had a DJ like set-up above the Sea View pool. In our conversations with other passengers, we were not the only ones that were very disappointed.

WE had $25 beverage cards on our cruise 3/16 on Oosterdam. They wouldn't let us use them for a purchase of wine either. We did try to use them for drinks on the Sea View deck, but the cards continually wouldn't work the bartender told us. When I went to Guest Services, they claimed they did work and that the drinks had been charged to the cards, but the drinks were also charged to our cabin! Beware! When we left the ship, we all had balances left on those cards because they wouldn't work!

We got off the Oosterdam on March 23rd and I had an email Casino offer the next day for a free cruise! They don't always come via regular mail, but on email and you have to act immediately! I met 3 couples on our last cruise who were sailing on the free Casino offer and 2 of them said this was their 2nd freebie!