jwitt2

We were just on the Ryndam last month. Granted it was to the Caribbean, so they may be more lax than where you are going. My husband did not even take any kind of jacket because we had been on NCL the previous week and he didn't want to pack one. He was able to eat in the MDR on both formal nights with no problem. No one made him put on a jacket. There were not many other men without jackets upon entering the MDR, but we noticed that some who had worn them took them off and hung them on the back of the chair because it was quite warm.

We were on the Riviera Holiday cruise to the Caribbean in 2013. It was a wonderful experience, food was the best we have ever had. Goose on Christmas Day was a new and delicious experience for me. Celebrated my birthday in the French restaurant which was a real treat. We got to know some of the servers who became friendly with us. Also met several passengers to meet up with for breakfast, lunch, dinner and happy hour. We have over 150 days on HAL, cannot say we have ever had as good a cruise on it. That said, we did take the Ryndam last month and an NCL cruise, both to the W. Caribbean instead of a 12 day Oceania cruise to almost the same places because they were a better value and covered more places. You should try Oceania at least once to see for yourself. We also liked Azamara, but it too got expensive after they were around for awhile.

We were on the Ryndam last month. People on the open seating had long waits to get a table and many were upset. We were on early seating at a 4-top. No one else ever showed up. Dinners took a long time but the food was better than we expected. There was one evening that we couldn't make it in time, so we ate in the Lido. We saw people with beepers in the Explorers Lounge waiting to go to the Pinnacle Grill so didn't want to do that.

We had both HAL Cats and Neptunes on the Ryndam last week. However, there was a jazz group taking up much of the ship. They took over the Ocean Bar almost every evening, so we only heard the Neptunes once o twice. What surprised us was that on one evening there was no show in the main theatre but instead some movie was shown twice. The Adagio string duo was very good, as well as James in the piano bar. I almost forgot to mention that we also had a wonderful steel pan player who taught us how to play one afternoon.

They are not models.

 

Just plaster miniature replicas.

 

We bought a few of them.

 

It was ok when they were $24 a few years ago.

 

Last cruise I think they were $39 or something stupidly high.

 

And they are now smaller. in size

 

That was the end of that collection...

This is pretty much what my husband has said. He has a whole fleet of ships in his bookcase. Most of them are ceramic or china. When we went on our most recent cruise, Royal Princess, he refused to pay $39 or whatever and bought what was probably a Christmas ornament instead. It was solid, nor hollow.

I still think Royal introduced the vouchers to stop all the need for overflow lounges. Too much space is being taken up that could be revenue producing.

I have a feeling with all the D numbers in the C&A program-this may be a change that is soon to come and vouchers will be the D perk.

When I was on the Grandeur in May, I don't recall there being much of a crowd in the South Pacific Lounge, so the overflow from the Diamond Lounge would not have taken away any revenue. That said, I was always there before the early seating, not later in the cocktail time. Maybe it is busier then, don't know.

I have not been on HAL for 2 years, don't think I saw any on 14 day Alaska cruise. We are going on 7 day Ryndam next month, doesn't sound like there will be any.

A dance instructor I see in the Catskills every year told me that he has been in charge of dance hosts on Princess, is still going on some of their cruises.

I heard that on HAL the average age is deceased.

On another cruise line, the cruise director was trying to find the couple in the audience who had been married the longest. Upon finding the couple, he asked them what was the secret to staying married for such a long time (I think it was over 50 years). Without batting an eye, the wife said "He won't die." The CD was speechless.

I did enjoy his ripping on people from Ohio

No ripping Ohio today. GO BUCKS!

Wait till you see me if there is free booze...:D

I think we were on the Star together to Bermuda and yes, we did drink up some free booze. Hope you guys are doing well since your move to FL, have wondered if it turned out well for you. We are going on the Sun in Jan. Sorry we won't be on with you again. Have fun.

Jo Ann

A few years ago, we had at least two or three sailings on different HAL ships where the piano bar person was "Fritzie". Has anyone seen her in the past five years? I wonder where she is playing/how she is doing, etc? Thanks for reminiscing on this one.

We were on several cruises with Fritzie but have not seen her for quite awhile. Here is a link to her website:

http://fritziemusic.com/A55CDF/fritziemusic.nsf/index.shtml

We were also on several cruises with someone named Steve whom we really enjoyed, but heard that he had given up cruising for some land jobs, not sure if he was coming back.

We went on Oceania Riviera for the 12 day Caribbean cruise over Christmas and New Years (and my birthday) last year. Never again. Did not expect any children, but there were over 100 and they were a nuisance in the outdoor pool, hot tubs, at the New Years Eve party, on the dance floors. Even though there were special programs for them (which is not usually the case), many did not seem to attend them. It was nice that Santa Claus came for them and gave them presents. The ship was beautifully decorated and has the best food we have ever had. I had never had goose, which was deliciously served on Christmas Day. After this experience, I will think twice about sailing on anything this time of the year. Same for Thanksgiving. I love to cruise, but not with a bunch of kids running around.

We have done a lot of HAL cruises but sailed in an aft facing suite to Bermuda on NCL Sun awhile back. It was wonderful. One thing I really liked was breakfast and lunch in Cagney's Steak House. The assortment was wonderful and it is much quieter than going to the Lido and more intimate than the larger dining rooms. As stated earlier, the price is much better as well. We have booked another cruise on the Sun to W. Caribbean in Jan. Enjoy the suite life.

Just to say I have not seen more than 8 kids on 1 cruise but as you said it was over the holidays then you will get more along with the Alaska cruises

We avoid the Holiday cruise on Oceania just for that reason

 

Hope you give them another try at another time of the year ...

 

I do not think you will find too many cruise ships over the Christmas holidays that are not packed with kids unless it is one of the adult ships of P & O

 

Lyn

Never again a holiday cruise on Oceania. Our other option would have been the QM2. Not sure how that would have turned out. We used to always go over Thanksgiving for our anniversary, but that has also been full of kids who seem to skip school. Hopefully mid January will be okay. We have never seen many kids on the longer HAL cruises. Don't mind them so much if there is an adult pool.

Was this during Christmas vacation? The only time children are seen on Oceania or Regent is during Christmas (in particular), Spring break (2nd highest number of children) and summer. Ladies dressed to the hilt? Sounds like you were on a very unusual cruise. If anything, I think some Oceania passengers should dress up a bit more (I saw overall shorts at 9:30 at night -- looked like the guy belonged on a farm).

Yes, Christmas and New Years. Probably explains the dressing up as well as all of the children. I don't think I would do it again. We picked the ship to get away from kids. Some of them were pretty spoiled and obnoxious. Don't like being in the pool with kids jumping in and splashing.

We were on the Oceania Riviera holiday cruise last year. There were 100 kids (and a program for them which many did not bother to attend) and many ladies were dressed to the hilt. Just sayin'.

We had a suite on NCL Star and really loved it so are going on the NCL Sun in a suite. I liked eating breakfast and lunch in the smaller special dining room away from the crowds of the Lido. We will be sailing on the Ryndam when we get off that cruise. It will be interesting to compare the two. We only book outside cabins on the smaller HAL ships, find that anything above that seems too expensive and probably is not worth the money. We have also been cruising on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean because they offer much better past passenger benefits. We have close to 200 days on HAL but don't get much of anything from them.

Looking forward to our cruise to Bermuda. I'm excited to see the pink sand at Horseshoe Beach. I read on one of the post that the sand is not really pink. Can someone tell me what color is the sand? What other beaches would you recommend?

Elbow Beach is also very nice, but further away and a bit quieter. There is also a beach near the Kings Wharf Dock if you run out of time. Sometimes there is a charge to get in. Enjoy the beautiful pink sand.

We are booked for NCL Sun out of Tampa in Jan. When we return we will go to a different part of the port to board HAL Ryndam. TA said it shouldn't be a problem. We have done this in other parts of FL but had a day in between. Hope it works for us and you.

We spent 30 days on this ship to the S. Pacific, loved it. Have been on the other HAL ships which are similar, like this size. Wanted to do one more cruise before it goes to Australia. We have also done a similar itinerary and enjoyed it, so have booked the cruise you mentioned. The previous week we will be going to the W. Caribbean on NCL Sun which only goes to one of the same ports as Ryndam.

We were on the last cruise of the original Royal Princess in 2005 and got some nice dark blue champagne flutes.

On the final cruise of the Royal Princess in 2005, I heard her at the pursers desk saying that she was sad to be leaving the ship for the last time and having to move to another. She was recognized at one of the celebrations. RIP.

Our first Princess cruise in 1982 on the earlier Sun Princess to the Caribbean was our second cruise. Our 58th cruise will be on the Royal Princess in October to New England and Canada. Over the years we had difficulty booking with Princess as their cruises seemed to fill up quickly. One of our favorite ships was the original Royal Princess which we helped to name when we were on the Pacific Princess. It was a beautiful ship, such a nice size.

We are glad that people seemed to want to eat later on our recent cruise. This is usually not the case on other lines with fixed seating; it is often difficult to obtain a table on early seating. We don't like having to wait around to get a table and then having really slow service. Late dining does not work well with many older people like us. We never had to wait for a table, often got one for just the 2 of us, in the aft section by the window which was lovely.

Good Grief, that would totally kill my cocktail hour! :p

 

Happy Hour starts at 5 PM.