Altamira

On 12/30/2023 at 1:32 PM, Real NHDOC said:

If you’re cruising for the entertainment then HAL isn’t the best choice and Zaandam definitely has less than the larger ships offer but it’s adequate and the food and overall service on the ship has been excellent in my opinion. 

Yeah, Real NHDOC, but wouldn’t it be great, and doable, for HAL to offer better and more fun entertainment along with its terrific itineraries/destinations cruises?  Chamber music and talented instrumentalists and daytime lectures are all great, but what about a popular music piano sing-along venue after dinner? Or more of the music we danced to in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s? Or more and more creative old/new games for daytime or anytime. 

We may be oldies, of ‘60s and 70’s vintage…but not yet ready to settle into a staid nursing home atmosphere, especially on a cruise ship for heavens’ sake. 
 

Nor the opposite either of course, a Carnival type “rager” cruise with belly-flopping, and constant screaming…In between…😁

We’re currently hesitating booking a great itinerary Zaandam cruise. It has a bunch of sea days and we know on those it will be…😴 😅

PS. And PLEASE, comedians: Bathroom and old people jokes…No Más!

1 hour ago, FlorenceItaly said:

If you enjoy LIVE music, R&B, Rock, some classical.  You will be pleased.  We are.  If you enjoy shows in a big show room like other cruise lines offer, you will be disappointed.

So nice to have so many wonderful choices. We consistently love all the big shows on Disney,  Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. (Our favorite cruise lines for entertainment.) We’ve spent more on good orchestra seats to see a single musical on Broadway than we’ve occasionally paid for a 7-nts cruise on the Harmony OTS and enjoyed fantastic, in our opinion, entertainment every night.

16 hours ago, Tennessee Titan said:

22 hours ago Altamira said:

"The Lincoln Center Stage, featuring music virtuosos performing favorite classics at a much lower volume, was never crowded that we saw during our cruise, but a very small minority of people preferred it. "
16 hours ago Tennessee Titan said:

We found exactly the opposite. Lincoln Center Stage usually full to overflowing. Wish they performed more in the evening....

We don't do the Carribean.

If what you say about the Lincoln Center Stage attendance during your cruise was typical of most cruises, rather than what we observed in ours, you can indeed look forward to more, not less beautiful classical music played in all your future cruising. Happy sailings to you!

Of course that people have different preferences.  On this website the only thing we are all likely to have in common is our liking of cruising. 

We have almost 600 nights at sea on 11 different cruise lines. Until very recently we’ve cruised on HAL only twice before, in 2013 and 2014, on the Maasdam (49nts), and on the Amsterdam (78nts). Both were great cruises with fantastic itineraries, great food,  great service.
 

However, every night we’d struggle to stay awake during the after-dinner entertainment. 

A couple of months ago we returned to HAL, a port intensive back-to-back Boston/Quebec City, on the Nieuw Statendam.  And only a couple of weeks later we had signed on for two more HAL cruises, on the Rotterdam to the Caribbean. 

To the Caribbean!…practically our backyard, where we typically cruise several times a year…on boring HAL? Yep, because our expectation is that we will find our upcoming Rotterdam cruise to be as much fun as was our experience on the NS. 

The phenomenal Step One dancers at the World Stage, the BBC Earth in Concert, the Billboard on Board with Gabe and Meghan at the pianos, the entire Music Walk atmosphere…the Rolling Stones, B.B. King Blues…We would eat earlier than our usual time and then go from one venue to the next, not at all sleepy…the music must have been exactly loud enough in each venue to please the crowds of people packed in them to standing room only. Because otherwise they would have left.

The Lincoln Center Stage, featuring music virtuosos performing favorite classics at a much lower volume, was never crowded that we saw during our cruise, but a very small minority of people preferred it. 

There are lots of options on Caribbean cruising. To maximize their profits all the cruise lines competing there have to appeal to the greatest number of potential customers.  I’m sure they study and compare and evaluate all those factors very carefully. What we get is what their well paid consultants on the subject recommend. We may be in it for the fun, but they’re in it for the money.  Obviously. 

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

The mini bar drinks are not included in the Have it All and do not get counted against the 15 drink limit on the HIA..  You will be charged the regular mini bar prices.

Thank you. Not what I would have preferred to hear, but it makes sense. 

Are beverages consumed out of  the “no host mini-bar” deducted from the suite occupants 15 beverages daily total?

Or are those beverages not included in the HIA deal?

We’re back2backing Boston to Quebec City and back to Boston. Does anyone know how the back2back cruisers’ requisites (such as issuing of new sail cards, etc) are handled by HAL? I hope we’re not going to be held onboard for the time we would prefer to be off ship on our last day in Quebec City. 

We’re back2backing Boston to Quebec City and back to Boston. Does anyone know how the back2back cruisers’ requisites (such as issuing of new sail cards, etc) are handled by HAL? I hope we’re not going to be held onboard for the time we would prefer to be off ship on our last day in Quebec City. 

What are the current evening show times on the Nieuw Statendam? Do they vary by itinerary? Or by the passenger loads on a given sailing? I’m trying to get a picture of what might be a typical evening entertainment lineup of shows or music venues for the purpose of making reservations at the various restaurants. I would prefer not to have to scramble, the day of, to try and change a reservation so we don’t miss anything else happening...😊 Thanks in advance for sharing.

What are the current evening show times on the Nieuw Statendam? Do they vary by itinerary? Or by the passenger loads on a given sailing? I’m trying to get a picture of what might be a typical evening entertainment lineup of shows or music venues for the purpose of making reservations at the various restaurants. I would prefer not to have to scramble, the day of, to try and change a reservation so we don’t miss anything else happening...😊 Thanks in advance for sharing.

We were on a back2back disembarking the Vista this past Sat, May 7th also. We had many (not all) of the same experiences that have already been mentioned here, and a few others.

1. Carnival needs to do better. We are fully vaccinated and boostered. We tested Covid positive on Sat, along with lots of other people reporting the same on the other social media website. Post pandemic we’ve taken a NCL cruise in Dec ‘21 and a RCCL cruise this past March. Of those three only Carnival was not enforcing the sanitizing/hand washing outside the Lido buffet despite having these very cool hand washing machines installed at the entrance. The vast majority of people, with only very rare exceptions, ignored both. Once inside there was mostly self-service, and widespread coughing, Lots of people talking about their bad “allergies”. We ate only at venues where crew were serving the food. Of course the crew can also be sick, and in fact we lost one of our great dining room servers for a week because he came down with Covid. But obviously the odds are much in your favor being served, if only because a fewer number of people are touching the serving utensils.

2. The sound. We were stunned by all the yelling into the microphones. At times you could barely understand what was being said because of the sound distortion. The second of our back2back cruises was a bit better and we wondered if there had been complaints. Also relentless was the pressure on people, on audiences, to perform, to show we were having fun by making NOISE. To act like we were wannabe, obnoxious, “Spring Breakers”.

3. Galveston is our home port and our first cruise 10 years ago was on the Conquest. We want to love Carnival, but with the fantastic Allure of the Seas coming in Nov, and the new NCL Prima, and the Ruby Princess coming to Galveston next year, Carnival is going to need to make more an effort to broaden its appeal to people like us who are retired and cruise 50 or more nights a year. Because we all like more, not fewer options. And right now I’d have to say that out of the ten cruise lines we know, that we don’t have a favorite. But we have a least favorite. 

Off the Vista from a back2back ending on May 7.
 

Masks not required. Very, very few people wore them, Hand washing/sanitizing available, but not monitored or enforced despite very cool hand washing machines at Lido restaurant entrance. We very rarely saw anybody washing or sanitizing. People were then self-serving with gusto at the buffet. 
 

Frankly it was gross. We are vaccinated and boosted and nevertheless tested positive on debarkation day, along with a ton of others reporting the same experience on social media. 
 

We’re home self-isolating now. 
 

Carnival was our third cruise line (after NCL and RCCL) since Dec 2021, post pandemic. It needs to do better. 

If you’re a diver/snorkeler, the Vista itinerary gives you one more port on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. 
 

On the down side, we just got back from a back2back on the Vista on Sat, May 7, and besides testing Covid positive that day, our ears were thankful to get away from all the yelling into the mikes by the entertainment staff. It was a bruising. 😱Recommend ear plugs for that one.

It baffles me why people scoff at comments made here that are critical of a cruise or a cruise line. Seems like specifically Carnival cruisers are prone to jump in as if they were personally offended. This site is called cruise CRITIC. Its for sharing one’s experiences both good, but even more helpfully, the bad ones.

So weird.

We were on the Vista back2back April 23 to May 7. Port arrival delays throughout. People missing flight connections in Houston. Multiple apologies, no explanations given. Secret stuff.

1 minute ago, Oceansaway17 said:

they can keep the protocols of cleaning and isolating on ships.  Afterall, covid is getting on boards so the testing has not helped that much. Taking the vaccine should be good enough for ships given it is good enough for most of the other places in the rest of the world.

It is how to handle the virus once detected that the ships are doing a good job. Most of the outbreaks have been managed.  I think testing can stop say in about 2 months.  that is it done.

 

the world will get to what I call "Survival of the fittest" -- and anyone not getting a vaccine will have to deal with that decision as they see fit.

You should contact the cruise lines and let them know your assessment of what they ought to be doing. It’s possible these ideas of yours have not even occurred to them. 

20 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I will truly rejoice when they stop the darn pre cruise testing.  then I will feel like cruising is more normal. I mean I can go to theme parks, get on airplanes and go just about anywhere else with a darn test.  But on ship nope, nada, NO.   gotta end soon

Because in all those other situations that you mentioned people would not be immediately and directly affected by an outbreak of a highly contagious and potentially serious illness like it would impact passengers, officers, and crew trapped in a ship in the middle of the ocean for days on end. It would diminish the fun factor of your vacation for sure. It’s not difficult to understand the difference. 

The CEO’s of all the cruise lines naturally want their ships to sail as close to capacity as possible. They are no doubt calculating such a thing will not start to happen again if there are outbreaks of sicknesses in their ships scaring away potential cruisers. They must be fully armed with all the pertinent data and are evaluating their options carefully. 
 

Wouldn’t you think?

Thank you, thank you, Longstockingpip! You're making us even more excited.

Oh, yeah, this is great. Thanks for posting these. Have a wonderful cruise!

7 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Wow. I have a feeling at least part of your trepidation is from reading a thread I started about do people want to dine with others that was posted in the NCL section. Please try to go with a more positive attitude as your attitude when you sail will affect your enjoyment or lack of on the ship.

 

Concentrate on the itinerary; that is why you picked the cruise. I'm sure you will find some people you can interact with. It may be harder than on other lines, but there surely will be some.

 

🤞 that your cruise will be better than you expected.

 

 

 

 

Indeed. I second this very good advice, for all of us. As well as not to forget to always try to hang on tight to as much of a sense of humor as can be mustered in the face of surprising situations. What we’ve always heard about laughter being the best cure. 😊

Thank you very much, Tony, for taking the time to tell us about your experience. It’s what I’m doing as well in sharing with you the information I was given when I tried to clarify the conflicting information I ran across on HAL’s website which I mentioned. I understand the point you’re making regarding the possibility of inaccurate statements that may be given by a HAL representative. But it is HAL who has employed and assigned that person to provide all of us with hopefully accurate information. If not that costumer representative at the number HAL indicates in its website, then who is the best source of information. Is it people like us on social media websites sharing our own individual, necessarily limited, experiences? 

It sounds like you want to defend HAL, that it is “doing an amazing job in very difficult circumstances”, etc. I’m mystified why you feel compelled to do so. I am not attacking HAL. We have sailed 127 nights on HAL ships and hope to do so again very soon. It’s in fact what I was looking to do when I saw and shared the discrepancy I found on the official information HAL provided. It would be smart for them to fix that and I hope they do. Successful companies pay attention to what their customers say about their experiences with them. They in fact go through a lot of trouble to acquire that information. 

Sailings from European ports are under rules, (such as masking rules for example), that do not apply to sailings from US ports. And by now we should all be well aware of the fact that these policies are extremely dynamic, changing all the time with changing situations. So please forgive me but it is you, not me, who is guessing “what the rules are” and making “statements or guesses about the procedures on board Holland America cruises”. I made no guesses nor statements about HAL cruises. 
 

Once again, I appreciate your sharing of your experiences on your cruise.

52 minutes ago, syesmar said:

I recall back in the summer, other cruise lines who followed the 95%/5% route were considered “fully vaccinated” sailings, but HAL made it clear that current sailings had 100% vaccinated passengers (they weren’t as clear about crew, although see previous comments above). I agree, I’d like some clarification in light of what you were told.

Check out Norwegian’s policy by comparison. We’ve never cruised with them before, but our first cruise after Covid is with them (in 3 weeks!) because of their no-exceptions, for any reason ,100% vaccination requirement, for passengers and crew, plus the mandatory antigen test (at their expense) at the dock prior to embarkation, plus the incentive to get tested within 96 hours prior to sail date to qualify for NCL assistance with expenses (hotels and transportation) should your dockside test be positive. We would have made bookings with HAL, had their policy been comparable because we know HAL and we don’t know NCL.

5 hours ago, syesmar said:

Given the difference between the 2 pages

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well/covid-guest-protocols.html

and

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well/frequently-asked-questions/faq-for-cruises-from-usa.html

it would seem that since HAL is apparently taking bookings post-February from the unvaccinated, the statement is included so it is clear what will be expected *should* the 100% requirement not be extended.

I am still curious about what the phone agent told @Altamira , could it be the model (with a small ratio of unvaccinated) they’re currently using for booking post-February cruises? Anyone know when booking a post-February sailing if potential passengers are asked about vaccination status?

While I waited on hold the HAL agent asked someone, (possibly a supervisor?), to explain the discrepancy that I had brought to her attention. When she came back on she said that the reason was that the CDC guidelines for cruise ships allow for a small number of passengers (it’s 5%), to be unvaccinated and still have a sailing considered fully vaccinated. That’s why there were the statements about unvaccinated passengers in HAL’s website.
 

I have no way to judge if these calculations are or aren’t perfectly valid for assessing likely risk of  viral transmission on a cruise ship. I’m sure that the CDC with the best scientific minds in the world in the field of virology, either know or are in the best position to make those judgements. 
 

But 95% and 100% are two different numbers and I just didn’t like the statement on HAL’s website about the 100% vaccination requirement, applying now and through February, followed by comments about the unvaccinated passengers. Facts are important. They should absolutely make those crystal clear. 

1 hour ago, HuliHuli said:

14 hours ago, Altamira said:

What are you guys trying to say about NCL’s cruisers? 😁

Like @ChiefMateJRKstated, I don't think I am saying anything pro or con about NCL's culture.  I think that one takeaway from this discussion is that it's YOUR choice on NCL; ditto on Windstar.  My comments were simply observations.

The question was obviously posed in jest. 😁

Between Sept 2008 through Sept 2019 we’ve spent 523 nights at sea, including two 11-nights on Windstar, and a 49-nights and a 78-nights on HAL. As far as I’m aware, in not one of those were guests ever forced to share a table against their preference, nor frankly would that likely even be posible. There have been, and continue to be, optional set times in the main dining restaurants on some cruise lines but there are always choices on table sizes, principally for two, four, six and eight.  Also there invariably are options to eat at other venues besides the main dining room’s set times.

On the smallest cruise ships we’ve sailed, of 332 and 100 passengers (Paul Gauguin and Silver Galapagos), the availability of dining options are of course very limited. But even then I would bet that a request for a separate table for one or two would be accommodated.
 

I can only imagine how much fun it would be to have to share a table with people who don’t want to be there but are forced to be. 😅