bahrain_not_dubai!

I'm looking at booking a week's Costa cruise around the Med. As I have never in over 120 nights at sea used a ship's room service (including breakfast), so the classic fare suits me best. Nonetheless, I have read about passengers being treated worse by guest relations for being on one fare than the other.

Is there any truth to this? If I shall be treated as a second class passenger aboard I am willing to pay the difference, but otherwise there is no incentive for me to book the higher fare.

Nothing to add but sailing the studios this Summer... I hope I have some good positive stories to add!

I just was in a HH (I think) cabin on the Volendam, aft, Dolphin Deck. There was a lot of noise, especially when the ship was in port, as well with a lot of vibration on some days, I mean wake-me-up and disallow me from sleeping noise. Please note that the ship's aft mooring mechanisms are only two doors down from where the cabin is, and as a result I wouldn't recommend it.

As far as I am aware, the casino should remain open on Veendam's Bermuda voyages.

On my recent voyage, which was immediately post refit, her age showed- not so much in her public rooms, which were all up to scratch, but in her cabins, where numerous passengers reported issues with plumbing, sewage, air conditioning and so forth. On our deck, 12 cabins got flooded when a plumbing pipe burst.

Luckily our cabin was not effected and due to the fact that I didn't experience any age related problems, I found the ship's condition to be excellent and enjoyed her age as part of her charm- she, a long with her sisters, are elegant ships, but I would ask closer to the time if the aforementioned cabin related issues are still prevalent, for if they are, they may be a deal breaker.

In Casablanca the ship will dock in a commercial port, so not walkable, but once your outside the port then a lot of the city is walkable. Nonetheless I doubt I'd have had been as comfortable walking around there if I couldn't speak arabic.

The city itself is a bit of a dump, so if there are excursions available to Rabat or other parts of Morocco I wholeheartedly urge you to take them. Morocco is a beautiful, vibrant and rich country, unfortunately unless you know Casablanca quite well it does not reflect that.

Can I just say that after reading everyone's replies I think it is quite a shame. This problem is obviously endemic throughout the HAL fleet and we were not the only ones to experience this. We heard it quite a few times on the Volendam also, and had it not been for this situation I sure think we would have had enjoyed our cruise a lot more. The fact that the Volendam was only carrying 1,250 passengers makes it worse (fewer than normal). Everything else was to my satisfaction (including our room steward, best we've ever had), but the dining room experience marred an otherwise great cruise.

HAL can truly have a premium product if and when they choose to sort this out. Until then, it really dilutes their product (which I otherwise love) in my eyes, and is a deal breaker.

For my father's birthday the waiters sang an Indonesian song around the table while giving him a small cake. As he doesn't care much for his birthday (indeed he found what little we did too much), it is alright. If you are one to celebrate your birthday like there is no tomorrow I'm not sure if HAL is the best line.

I think HAL should fit what you want to do quite well. It is more of a sedate ship but on my recent cruise we stayed up well into the wee hours, it was always the same group of individuals, but you begin to meet other couples your age and enjoy your voyage in a far more intimate setting. I love the piano bar (our piano man was fantastic, really made the voyage) and while the DJ in the Crow's Nest was abysmal we often brought our own music and just played whatever we wanted to our heart's content. I imagine the shorter Summer cruises would attract more of that demographic.

HAL ships are just the right size and offer you a more intimate atmosphere in which to partake in the activities you enjoy.

Get a proper TA and never look back. I don't mean the type that you spend educating about a ship or whom can only call the reservation line and do exactly what you are capable of doing for a fee, but rather the kind of TA that can call the VP of the cruise line if necessary, the GM of the hotel you'll be staying at, and has sailed on NCL a million times and knows the ship better than you ever will. That kind of TA has value, and funny thing is ten times out of ten they do not charge extra fees. They will provide you with amenities, OBC, but most importantly, the cruise line will treat you well knowing you booked through them. You can search through Conde Nast and various other travel publications to find such recommended agents.

I used to always book on my own, but now, it is refreshing knowing someone who is better than me at booking cruises (lets face it, most of us can go onto NCL's website) is doing it for me, but most importantly, I can get a trusted review of the ship for they have likely sailed it in the last few months, and a first hand review of anything I wish to use. That is worth it's price in gold.

Just off the Volendam. 1,250 guests onboard, and our waiters in the MDR could not keep up with even a basic service, forget about finesse. The first three nights it took 2 and a half hours or so to get through dinner, and only after the entire table complained to three different officers did something get done about it. It was not a vast improvement, there was no service as such, simply waiters plonking down food in front of you in a very rushed manner. The waiters were stressed throughout the service and you could see them running around like headless chickens. Whenever we needed something that is standard in fine dining service (i.e. lemon water after crab legs) you had to ask the Matrie D who'd bring it to you, the waiters would just say no to any request that was not black and white.

I do not blame the waiters for the situation because they just had far too many tables. At the end of the cruise they approached me and apologised and told us ''we are sorry if we did not add to the enjoyment of your cruise but we just can't cope with the amount of people we have to serve''. There is a balance between cutting down and still maintaining the same service standard for which you are known, and cutting down to the point above. One night we were sat in another part of the dining room where the waiters had much less work and besides our night in the Pinnacle Grill that was the only night in which we got satisfactory service. If it is any conciliation though, the food was absolutely fantastic and far exceeded my expectations.

I use shore excursions quite regularly in European ports, not because it is good value for money but rather because I rarely have time enough prior to a cruise to do enough research to book all the private tours, etcetera. Nonetheless, in Asian ports or ports were private cars willing to do tours are plentiful then I will go ashore, negotiate with the driver and take a private tour.

I just got off the Volendam today (am currently in the St. Regis Singapore) and the excursions were obscenely priced. I'm willing to pay $149.95 per person for a tour of Paris, because, while a taxi would be slightly cheaper, it isn't a massive rip off. In Phuket, where we had a half day, HAL's tour was over $89.95 and we paid $10.00 (we are a party of 3) after heavy negotiating for a driver with a modern van to take us around the island, then to the shooting range, elephant ride, ATV course, lion centre and beach- we saw HAL groups almost everywhere we went. The driver stayed with us for 5 and a half hours and we tipped him $50, although the agreed fare was $10. In Myanmar we did the ship's tours because any other options required a lot of organising, but while I spent $840.00 in total on shore excursions the 3 days we were in port, people who had done enough research had secured the same (if not better) private tours for less than $200.00 (for 3 days).

I do however want to point that this isn't related to HAL but rather cruise lines in general, shore excursions are a rip off. You'd be surprised just how cheap HAL gets these tours for, and how much of a money maker they are.

Thank you everyone! Counting down the days :)

People getting on to the lift before everyone else is out drives me nuts, as does rudeness to the staff and people not adhering to the dress code in areas where it is supposedly imposed.

Another thing that drives me insane are passengers who have no respect for the cultures and the countries they are visiting which drives me to question why they even took the cruise in the first place.

Lastly, I do not mind passengers complaining if there is something they are genuinely unhappy with, but I have had at times in the past when I was onboard mass market ships, where people would whine to me with complaints that I felt would be hard pressed on ultra-luxury ships, nevermind the line on which we were sailing. Adjusting expectations is key.

Just being a smart alec, but the RMS QE as others have pointed out is sitting buried under sand in Hong Kong's harbour.

Now, the Cuanrd ships are certainly more formal than the HAL ships. I suppose one needs to ask which class aboard the Cunard vessel are you planning to travel in? If you are in either the Queen or Princess Grills, you would get a lot of services that are unavailable to guests on HAL.

Most people prefer to blame some sinister foreign corporate conspiracy than recognize the fact that it is their own government who is picking their pockets.

It isn't a corporate conspiracy, it is companies charging what they think various regional markets will (and do) bare. My jeans cost me £85 from the UK ($141.89)- this includes a 20% tax, which accords to £17.00, or $28.38. So, when VAT is removed, you still have a $113.51 pair of jeans- the same jeans that is on sale in the US for $47.00 as per the Levis website. The simple fact is the brand is positioned as a pseudo 'luxury' brand in the UK, while being an everydman brand in the US.

This is very prevalent in the UK in the fashion industry, with Ralph Lauren being another example- I can see the same jacket listed for £285 ($475.56) on the UK website and lists for $185 on the US one.

As per the GCC market, the entire area is tax free and as such it was the cruise lines themselves trying to wind up the price.

I think the main issue in regards to looking at the future with CCL lines is that some, in my opinion, lack organisation within a corporate structure, or as is the case with HAL and Princess, it appears that they may be on course to start cannibalising each other's business, which is a torrid thing within any large corporation.

Unlike other corporations that hold a huge market share in one industry- GM, Ford, Swatch, etcetera, where they have various brands successfully target various markets (in the case of the watch industry Swatch is a shining example in being able to manage a plethora of brands to each target their own niches without hurting the other brands) CCL appears to lack that to a certain capacity.

For example, one can argue that Cunard, Princess and HAL all hold a very similar niche that is targeting a similar audience. Lets take out Cunard due to their relatively small size, and take a look at Princess as well as HAL. They both do relatively interesting itineraries as far as large lines are concerned, with ships that, in the grand scheme of things, are relatively 'traditional', and HAL seems to be positioned to build ships of around 100,000 GRT, bringing it even closer to the vast majority of Princess' Grand class fleet. To me, at least, they appear to be on a crash course, and if HAL winds up a line of 80,000-100,000 GRT ships, they may very well be start eating up into Princess' business and vice-versa.

It is unlikely in my opinion that we will see a vessel of the size of the S or R Class ships again, as it is simply not as economical for lines to build ships of that size anymore, unless charging relatively high prices on par with Oceania. Of course, this is also a possibility that probably fits HAL well- to be CCL's Oceania, competing in the 'luxury' category (as opposed to ultra-luxury that is Seabourn, Crystal & co), which puts them directly in competition with Azamara, Oceania and Viking Ocean- the only issue with this course of action is that this market is relatively small, with only few ships occupying it and may not be seen fit for a line of HAL's size.

I suppose a hybrid line between the large ships and a smaller Oceania style fleet is also possibility, but I dear-say that the market niche the HAL of old occupied is disappearing- I assume for the price of HAL 20 years ago one can be accommodated aboard Oceania or Azamara today, which is overall a more 'luxurious' product than Holland America.

Now, the last time I sailed with Princess was in 2007, so I am not going to even attempt to start to compare the two lines service or food wise. What I have done, however, is sailed aboard the Oceana, the original Ocean Princess, which shares a very similar layout to the Coral Princess (although not direct sisters). Personally, I found the ship's design to be quite constricting, with everything located across only two decks, with nothing located up top and very little 'movement' within the ship's interior. I find HAL's ships to be more tastefully decorated (Princess tends to use glass everywhere), and a bit more upmarket/refined. This fits with the fact that HAL is a 'premium' as opposed to 'standard' cruise line. Nonetheless, if you were comparing HAL to one of Princess' post-panamax ships, I think I'd have a different answer.

I staunchly dislike it as it does not price the cruise properly until after one enters all the passenger's details, which is tedious if you just want to quickly see how much a given voyage costs once all the fees and taxes have been added on (imho they should quote the original per person price with taxes and fees, so, for example, instead of saying voyage X is $5,499.00 per person, I'd much rather they go it is $6,249.34 per person all in), but now you have to enter all the information to book any voyage before getting a proper price quote. As I usually travel in a party of three, going through this process is even more necessary as third berth pricing is not on the initial webpage.

I much preferred the older system.

HAL and Cunard also tried to do this with people from the GCC for a while- as I split my time between the GCC and the UK, having addresses in both meant that I could get ''less'' ripped off with my UK address, while still paying more than the US cruiser. Then they realised it was working against them and both the UK fares are adjusted as per the pound vs dollar (meaning the same as the USD price), and from the GCC I can pay in USD too, making it all around a more desirable package. I'm under the impression Cunard still rips UK cruisers off vs the US price unless they're selling a 'getaway' fare.

Nonetheless, I think most companies discriminate against Europeans- everything, from a pair of Levis to a timepiece etc go for considerably more in the UK than they do elsewhere.

There is no cure, but thankfully treatment does exist that tends to relive symptoms, and that is, BOOK ANOTHER CRUISE! :p

NCL are yet to release anything on their UK website! Had to use a proxy to change my IP address to be able to look at their US website to see the new cruises.

British Princess Cruises!

If you enter the number into the website below, it should give you either 0800 no. or a local geographic no. if one exists.

 

Great website to use for any premium rate no.

 

 

http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php

Thank you, that is very useful indeed. Their non premium number is 01932 834300, which puts their headquarters at Weybridge, Surrey.

Hi everyone!

I was just wondering if any of you had a non premium rate telephone number for Celebrity Cruises? I think our friends in the US would be surprised to learn that in the UK companies do the opposite of the 1-800 numbers and charge you a premium to call them. I was surprised to learn this since I moved here.

Anyways, I digress to say that I have spent £17.60 ($28) only this week on the line with Celebrity ironing out problems with my booking (on an unlimited plan). It isn't the money, but rather the principle, especially as the company charged me a £150 admin fee to carry out the changes I required, and so I hope that involves the time on the line to the agent!

Regards!