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VACARITraveler

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    HAL veteran sails the Edge

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by VACARITraveler

    We are four star mariners and decided to try Celebrity once again (we sailed with them one time prior many years ago for an Alaskan cruise).  We do enjoy HAL and find the crew almost always a pleasure to interact with and always have a good time.  Tastes, whether it be in music, food or wine, is all subjective and varies from individual, so what we may find disagreeable, others may love, as is their right.  The cruise lines are different and I will try to point out a few of the differences we observed and our take.  First, we were on the Equinox, which is larger than the largest HAL ship by about 500 passengers.  When we were on Nieuw Statendam, I believe the crew complement was about 900 to 2600 passengers, while the Equinox has 1288 crew to 3100 passengers, which gives Celebrity a much higher staff to passenger ratio.  Where HAL seems to be trimming the Cruise Director staff and consolidating positions, the Cruise Director on the Equinox seemed to have several staff members to assist him.  There were many more activities going on during the day than on HAL.  We enjoy playing trivia on occasion and on HAL the last few cruises, there were actually no prizes, just a trophy that they handed to the team that won that round that was taken back until the next game.  On Equinox, we were given a punch card and each time we won the card was punched and the next to last day, they set up a prize table and you could collect a prize(s) depending on how many punches were on the card.  Nothing spectacular, decks of cards, a USB memory stick, etc., but at least it was something.

     

    The main show room entertainment we enjoyed more on the Equinox.  They still have productions shows, and while the HAL shows are a bit better than some give them credit for, we have seen the dance show Humanity about 6 times, so we would just skip it if we were on another HAL ship.  The music walk, which seems to be where HAL has placed its emphasis, is something we enjoy.  We do hear the complaints about the loudness of the BB King and Rolling Stone Rock Room, but having been to a few Springsteen, Doobie Brothers, and other concerts,  the volume did not really bother us. Rock is meant to be loud.  The Equinox did seem to have the band playing in more locales at different times which encouraged dancing which was fun.  They have a "white party" by the pool with the band playing, drink mixing contests and the dance troupe putting on a show between the passengers dance times.  Also, the dance troupe from the main stage shows works with the Cruise Director and gives dance lessons at different times of day.

     

    Food is very subjective, we found the variety and quality to be somewhat equal to HAL.  We were in an Aqua Class cabin so Blu was our main dining room and it was quite good.  We ate in Murano which I would equate to Pinnacle, with a slight edge to Murano as they prepared our lobster tails table side.  We found the Tuscan Grill on the Equinox to be superior to Canaletto.  As far as the buffet, each has several stations with a fair variety of food if one takes the time to look around.  We do prefer HAL in having them serve the food as we see people who get caught up in the moment and do some unsanitary practices when they self serve.

    Our room was about the same size as on HAL, but with more limited closet space and a smaller shower.  The bed was equally comfortable and we really enjoyed having a sliding door for our balcony (on our last HAL cruise, our neighbors were constantly slamming their balcony door and with 3 kids it would happen several times in a short period).

    We have enjoyed all our cruises and we have opted to book a couple more Celebrity Cruises, but I am sure we will be using HAL again.  If you peruse the boards, it seems to be universal that all the mid market cruise lines are offering less, but, in our opinion, it still is a bargain.

    • Like 3

    Cruise & Travel Director position

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    I recently wrote to HAL regarding some of our experiences on our Voyage of the Midnight Sun cruise from Amsterdam to Norway and return and received an interesting reply.  (It was not a complaint letter, just sharing some observations that went beyond the routine survey).  One thing I mentioned was that I heard rumblings that they were doing away with the EXC Guide position and that there was even speculation that the Cruise Director position was being eliminated.  In the reply I received, this was what was said: "...we recently evolved the Cruise Director position into the Cruise & Travel Director as a result of listening to our guests."  I find it interesting that they take one of the busiest people on the ship and add duties to his or her position (I hope they at least get more salary).  On our last cruise the EXC Guide did all the port talks in English and Dutch - something the Cruise Director could not have done.  Also, the EXC Guide was outstanding, she really helped us enjoy our experience in Norway by giving us extremely useful information.  I'm not sure if this move is good or bad, but thought I would just put it out there.

    New Trusted Traveler Program Website

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Along the same line, has anyone used the Mobile Passport app?

     

    Since it’s free I was wondering if it would be a good thing to use in lieu of Pre-Check or Global Entry.

     

     

     

    We used mobile passport returning from Europe at Miami airport and it worked great- we bypassed lines went directly to an assigned agent who processed us through in seconds. The long walk through the airport was our only delay.

     

     

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    Half Moon Cay Question

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    Last time we were there two ships did anchor and use the island (both Holland America). We were scheduled but the Nieuw Amsterdam came because of weather at another port. Lots of people but we still had plenty of room and no trouble getting food, drinks, or tenders

     

     

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    Safe beaches in port for solo female?

    in Aruba

    Posted

    Snorkeling in Bonaire is spectacular, do some research and you can find vendors who take you by boat to Klein Bonaire to the coral reefs (it's close by, you actually are near the cruise ship and can see it from the snorkeling area). They do fill up so reservations are needed. The vendor we use was a 5 minute walk from the ship dock.

     

     

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    Panama Canal Cruise

    in Panama Canal

    Posted

    Go to one of the big box TA web sites that markets most of the major cruise lines where you can put your criteria in (dates, length of cruise, etc.) and you will find many 14 to 15 day full transits.

     

     

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    Changing rooms in a turn around port on a B2B - is there anything I am missing?

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    We did a turnaround in Fort Lauderdale- packed everything in drawers back in suitcases, left everything on hangars in the closet. Verified at the desk that they knew we were changing cabins (they didn't) so they noted it and we also told our steward. We had about 100 passengers doing the same thing. They had us all meet in a lounge, then escorted us off the ship, through emigration, and back aboard. Went very smooth except for having to wait in the terminal while they tracked down 3 people who had not disembarked.

     

     

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    What is the difference in the two Cuban monies?

    in Cuba

    Posted

    The one you exchange for is the CUC (pronounced KOOK) which is the convertible peso which is indexed to the US dollar (1 peso = 1 dollar). Cubans are not allowed to have US dollars and they use the Cuban peso which is of considerably less value than the CUC. Tourists are not supposed to have Cuban pesos, but you may end up with a few when out and about shopping. When you exchange, if you exchange US dollars for CUCs there is a 10 percent penalty - there is no penalty if you convert euros, not sure about loonies. Before we went we got euros here in the US and used those for the exchange thus avoiding that penalty. Technically, you are not allowed to leave Cuba with any of their currency, but as is inevitable, we ended up with a couple of coins.

    Cuban Rum Brands

    in Cuba

    Posted

    Many of the locals we talked to in our trip there over the summer preferrred Santiago de Cuba rum. A 7 year old rum was under 10 CUC, while longer aged ran up to 40 CUC. There was an interesting episode on 60 minutes a week or so ago about Havana Club as there is a version made in Puerto Rico where the Bacardi's fled to after the revolution and Cuba still makes a version just not with the Bacardi family recipe. As an aside we visited two cemeteries, one in Havana and one in Santiago de Cuba (Fidel is buried there now), in one of those cemeteries is the Bacardi family tomb.

     

     

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