mcrcruiser

From other family members who also cruise often .We are all in the 90 plus past cruise experience levels ,we all feel that Princess is a far better line for food service & quality ,entertainment quality & in over all performance quality vs HAL ,as of todays market

We are not going to give HAL our hard earned monies if they are continuing on the path that they are on & I am not alone in that thought ,We have zero allegiance to any cruise line unless we can have a pleasing experience

Candidly we use HAL mainly because they sail from our home port in SD .However ,after thee 2 future cruises we have booked with them that could end . Not that HAL is a horrible cruise line ;But on the Dec 10th & 17th Koningsdam cruise they had 975 staff to a cruise pax of 2600+ .The service was awful in the MDR & some stations in the Lido .Lines of many hundreds of people lined up every evening for dinner & dinner tacking 2 hours to get through .not a lot of fun .The World Stage was used for one night of Mariachi bands brought on the ship & one night the Cruise Director talked about the 150 years of HALs sailing history . If you or any one else calls that decent ships entertainment then go for it .not only screw up on service people but hardly great entertainment .We entertained ourselves on those 2 cruises .I call it as I see it

Yes modern technology is great until it fails & becomes a night mare but so far so good .

Seems to me that there are free cruise give aways from certain Vegas Casinos . Perhaps I need to ask my friends in Vegas about those give away deals .My wifes cousin in up state NY gets many free casino giveaways for his slot play in Atlantic city which includes Free cruises ,Free land trips ,free gifts ,free gas credit cards free rooms & meals while playing the slots .I saw the copies of checks he won ,one was $36000 & one was $22000 from the slot play .while staying free at the hotel they also see free shows Me thinks that the cruise industry is stingy when comparing the above to anything the cruise lines give out

Yes it seems to be a different model than gaming amounts or consistency of gambling in their casinos . We have gotten many free perks like free gratuities plus free drink packages & free Wifi from Celebrity .Admit we have sailed more with Celebrity than HAL ;but we are 3 star mariners with HAL .Elite Plus with Celebrity .We are yet to receive a free balcony with Celebrity

Seems to me that the odds are far better to want the non smokers vs those who light up coffin nails in any casino these days . Perhaps 10 to 15 % of the population in the States still smoke cancer sticks .Thus , 85% to 90% are non smokers .Most non smokers will stay out of the ship casinos just because it lingers in the air & on their clothes

Some times for those who smarten up .This is why it was also known as Lost Wages .The smoking gets so bad that any one who breathes that crap in is testing their own health .Many casinos have non smoking sections & not just in Vegas but the Indian Casinos as well

Also Pinnacle Restaurant is open for lunch only on Sea Days .Great buy vs the diner cost

Don't you know that smoking is bad for your health!!

Well to answer you my sign & sail card is either in the machine or to the dealer on the craps table . I never play the other table games because they are just bad odds I do take money away than leave money there . It is because of my gaming knowledge

That is great . I need to try that one

LOL for over 30 years I did business with Las Vegas Hotels & Casinos & it was always known as gambling now they want to call it gaming .Perhaps the damage that it can cause some who can't control the habit, it now males it more publicly acceptable to call it gaming

I play enough in their Casinos that I should be acknowledged for free state rooms or at lease discounts . what is their criteria for free state rooms & or discounts from the Casino ?

imo HAL is way behind many of the other cruise lines in it's class with regards to entertainment in the evening . The question is will & or when will HAL management change to bring on their ships some better entertainment choices especially for the world Stages in the fleet ?

Very interesting comparisons between X & VV . We need to try VV even though we are older than their generation

HAL is definitely a different cruise line than Norwegian . It is a more subdued pax & avg age is 50s & up . The entertainment is very different depending on the class of ship in their fleet . We personally prefer the newer Pinnacle class ship ;which is the newest & largest . Best to go over to the Holland America board & read the posts there .

PS I have a transformer & perhaps a UK electric plug in my plug assortments we can bring along .That would solve a additional outlet

Thank you so much . Wow that is not very good for USA electric outlets . We mat need to get the ship to add a US power strip with more USA outlets . Wonder what people might need if they have electric razors , need to recharge their computers ,electric dryers ie ?

We will be sailing this vessel in 2024 for the Eclipse /Mexican riviera cruise ,14 night ,Being a older ship where are the electric outlets & how many are there? We do bring a extra electric box that is approved for cruise ship use that has both UBS connections & electric out let connections ;however ,in a handicap cabin we need a primary for the electric scooter . hopefully some one here knows this info ? TIA

Yes the HIA could be worth the cost id based on certain itineraries .About HAL including it in one price point ,I truly doubt that would happen because then they may not be competitive to another cruise line not including those perks

We got a plastic HAL bag on Koningsdam in Dec 2022 Mexico cruises

Very good imo

With X taking away virgin is including .Most every thing is included ^ their food is better than Xs ,No MDR just all special restaurants included ,non smoking Casinos with windows for natural sun light , Smart Vibe entertaining . There is a video on what they offer on a cruise .just google Virgin Cruise Ship video

Try Virgin Cruise lines ,mist every thing included . Really nice ships all 110,000 tons & even windows in their non smoking casinos . The TA cruises are incredible value