classicwhaler

Wondering if this might be the cruise that actually happens? Beth and Jim here, keeping our fingers crossed this will sail! 

Okay---I have a unique taste in diet sodas----Tab. Hard to find and never available on a ship. Does Celebrity allow bringing a 12 pack of cans aboard? Holland America allows it, but will be cruising Celebrity for the first time soon and need to know!

Question: HAL pushes booking future cruises while aboard, often offering extra on board credit or other perks. But we have a strong relationship with our HAL personal cruise consultant and don't want them to lose business if we book outside of them. Guidance please!

We have used a HAL PCC for four years, and get solid service. We always book guarantees rather than pick cabins, and I think going through HAL vs an outside TA gives us an advantage on room selections. On occasion they are slow to get back to you, so don't expect a call back in 15 minutes. If you don't hear back form your PCC, call the PCC number and explain the situation to whoever answers. Yours may be out sick, on vacation, etc., and they seem to vary their schedules a lot. Try it and compare to an outside TA...

We have booked this coastal hop on the Niew Amsterdam as a fun mini cruise, and since we love the cities on both ends we'll spend some time there, too. HAL really has ZERO information on the cruise other than the minimal stops. In talking to our HAL personal cruise consultant, it appears there is no formal night, which makes packing easier! And HAL makes no nods toward helping you with lodging prior and post. Or getting back to Seattle from Vancouver. So this is not a cruise for the first time cruiser, unless you're a very brave traveler. Would love feedback from those who have taken this trip.

We just booked the five day April 25-30 San Diego to Vancouver. Very reasonable pricing, especially if you like sea days!

Blast from the Maasdam on Monday, June 15, 2015. Had our official Cruise Critic Meet and Greet this morning, without ANY Maasdam senior staff in attendance. Got a call last evening from Event Manager Rob Loeub telling me that due to a corporate mandate from HAL, no member of the Maasdam staff would be in attendance for this or ANY Cruise Critic Meet and Greet aboard HAL ships. WOW! What happened?

DaveOKC---Thanks!

When does the casino on the Maasdam open on its current Montreal to Boston route? International waters only? In the St. Lawrence? Thanks for the intel!

Classicwhaler Jim and Beth

Failed to mention that our Meet and Greet went very well, with the captain, hotel manager, cruise director, executive housekeper, and brand manager all in attendance. A big thank you to these busy officers for taking time to join us for the gathering!

Wrapping up the December 14-21 eastern Caribbean cruise on the Westerdam, it's been a great week on the "Westy." Now sailing under the skilled hands of Captain Noel O'Driscoll who celebrated his birthday this cruise, we had a wonderful week of weather.

Grand Turk was an interesting stop as we had never been there. Walked off the ship and wandered the terminal, then booked a local taxi for transportation to town. Lots of construction rebuilding from a hurricane. Carnival has built a new reception center in town ready to open in 2014 that will impact the area in a positive way. Our favorite shop was The Dizzy Donkey and our favorite purchase was the Turks and Caicos SPCA 2014 calendar.

The St. Martin stop was interesting to say the least with 8 cruise ships including Oasis in port at the same time. The seven ships docked at the pier created a great wind tunnel the captain had to skillfully navigate to just dock. A portion of our shore excursion was scrubbed due to wind and poor undersea visibility, but HAL let us know before we headed out and refunded half the excursion cost. Lots of vehicle traffic!

San Juan was nice and hot! We walked around Old Town, then hopped on the free trolley and toured the island. The ride was bumpy, but fun.

The ship is very tidy, folks are in a festive holiday mood, and a good mix of young and mature cruisers made for a lively bunch of guests. The only problem I encountered all cruise was a difference of opinion on rules of one slot machine with the casino staff. The bold print said one thing, the fine print another. We got it worked out though and I ended up contributing to the profit margin of the casino.

Was nice to see Hazel and Spencer in the Neptune Lounge, and they took great care of us. Our room stewards Nur and Nis were attentive and always had the room spotless in short order after we put the service sign out.

We originally booked a suite guarantee, but took advantage of an upgrade offer and bought the Penthouse as a Christmas present to each other. Waterford crystal, lots of space. See the pics to check out the luxury.

We ate four dinners in the Pinnacle Grill, and had four excellent meals including Le Cirque. We are not fans of the MDR and never ate dinner there, but had an excellent Mariner's Luncheon there. We got room service meals and were pleased with the food and service, and grazed the Lido and Terrace Grill for most lunches.

Half Moon Cay was nice, and we had a blast on the AquaTrax jetski outing, then chilled on the beach before returning to the ship.

I am baffled by the number of CC members who cruise on HAL and fail to attend the organized Meet & Greets to have the chance to get to know the senior staff on their ship. Invest an hour of your cruise time and get to know the folks who CAN make a difference in your cruise if you encounter a problem. Those of us who are proactive and engage the crew have a much more enjoyable stay than those who expect the world to come to them, then complain here when it doesn't. If you encounter a problem on HAL, let a manager know. It works for us. We'll be on the Westerdam this month, and are looking forward to a great cruise!

I submitted a feedback form while on this voyage outlining our concerns and observations. I would always encourage HAL sailors to use the feedback forms for great or lousy shore excursions. It would be nice if HAL offered me a future credit, but that was not the purpose of my posting---just want future cruisers to know what to expect if they're considering booking this shore excursion.

I'm laughing because I can't believe how bad it was! Sailed on the Zuiderdam on Jan. 2, arriving at Half Moon Cay the next morning. Tendered over to the island and straight to the fishing boat for my deep sea trip trolling to catch wahoo, king mackeral and other game species. We got maybe 100 yards from the dock and both (yes, that's two) fishing lines went in the water. We trolled out to about 200 yards from the beach and then back and forth. And back and forth. Both lines trolled on top of the water, none at mid-depth or deeper. There was one other fisherman with me (Tim from Texas). The mate appeared to be asleep the whole trip, and the captain never said 10 words until I went and stood beside him and engaged him in coversation.

I have over 45 years experience deep sea fishing including tournament fishing. We never fish less than five or six lines in calm water at various depths to maximize our chances, and move to more promising fishing areas as needed. This boat only had three rods total and no depth finder. In the two hours we fished, the captain might have burned $10 in diesel.

We ended up catching one two-pound bottom fish when the captain finally stopped to a drift over a reef and bottom fished. (a yellow-tail snapper)

I've had great fishing excursions with HAL in Alaska, so I know they can find qualified skippers. They need to work a little harder on their own island excursions.