Looks like we will be jumping ship too

[HeatherInFlorida]

I've personally seen a lack of concern by Seattle in the last couple of years. Sadly from recent experiences the feeling I got from them has been "You're lucky we let you sail on Holland America".

 

Possibly like on board the Seattle office staff is stretched to thin. Poor "Christine Farris" must write a few thousand letters each day- everyone seems to get a reply from her :)

 

Wow!:( So sorry to read this. I remember when speaking of sailing on Holland America was something really special and people would say "Oooooh, Holland America ... one of the best". I can remember right here on this board standing up to a high level HAL staff member who posted often (you all know who I mean) as he told us we were just numbers, that HAL didn't care about us individually at all. And I swore it was not true, that no company could hold its standing if they stopped caring about individuals and focused on the bottom line alone.

 

Looks like he was right and I was wrong. No one understands more than I do that this is a business and the bottom line must always the focus. But if you stop appearing to care about your individual 'guests', then I believe it's a slippery slope to oblivion.

 

We are just 2 people who wanted to try HAL again. Now we won't. We're just 2 little nobodies so they won't even feel the boat move, but ....

[sammiedawg]

We too have been on Riviera this year. She is the most beautiful ship we have been on and we enjoyed our cruise. You will probably need to do your own excursions because Oceania's leave HAL's looking not too bad. The other alternative is to do pretty well all ship's excursions because if you do more than 5 (I think it was 5) you get a reduction.

 

We will probably go on Riviera or Marina again if the price and itinerary is right, but at the end of the day DH and I prefer the ambience on HAL, so for this year we are back with HAL on the NA and just done a long cruise on Volendam. We are also experimenting with Celebrity on a short 5 days cruise in May

 

The Riviera and sister ship Marina are stunningly beautiful, pictures do not do justice the the style and beauty. Food and service blow Holland America out of the water, especially the four free specialty restaurants, the Terrace Grill and Waves. Every time I walk into the Terrace grill my jaw drops, the food selections on the various serving lines are great but the food selections at the walk up grill must be seen to be believed. And I could eat at Waves every day.

[SilvertoGold]

In reading this thread I keep thinking: is this an evil plot by HAL to get everyone to purchase their air?

 

I have no idea what is going on with these cancellations, but I'd be pretty unhappy, even if told this far out!

[serendipity1499]

Jacqui, I want to wish you a wonderful cruise on Riviera in November:). I hope you love the ship and I know you'll love the food. I really look forward to your comparisons. We all have our favorites and somewhere there's a fit for everyone. For us, right now, it's Oceania. The Riviera is a magnificent ship, but I have to say we really loved the smaller Regatta which is why we're on her in April for our 30th anniversary.

 

I look forward to your review!

 

Heather, nice to hear from you! We've been on the Regatta twice & both have been wonderful cruises..Hopefully we'll be able to cruise on Oceania again soon.. Agree the Prinsendam just about mirrors the Regatta.. Now is the time to tell the story about the Lady Matre'd on the Regatta..

 

We were on her with our good Buddies..One day the Matre'd asked my Friends DH why he never took any of the wonderful Muffins for breakfast.. His answer was "I can't have the sugar".. With that she said "Tomorrow you will have muffins made with splenda" & the next day he did & every day thereafter he did..He really enjoyed them too!..

 

One day we had a very early tour & we all decided to eat in the Buffet.. The next day the Matre'd asked where we were & we told her why we had to eat in the Buffet & why our Friend did not get his muffins.. Her answer to him was "Next time that happens you send one of the Stewards down to the MDR to get your muffins from me" !! She meant every word of it!! We all were shocked as NEVER had we seen such service on any cruise..

 

Thank you Heather. We're excited about It

but nervous, being "newbies".

 

The Oceania board has been a huge help and several CC'ers there have been kind enough to advise.

 

I'll certainly be doing a comparison - most likely to the Prinsendam who I feel is in a class by herself (not everyone agrees).

 

And enjoy your 30th anniversary on board:D

 

Jacqui, don't be nervous!! Oceania is wonderful & their crew will make you feel right at home immediately.. Their service & crew is extraordinary! As I mentioned before, we actually were able to drag our chairs out on the small Promenade & spend our days out there, which we all love to do.. Every day we would pass the young girl who polished the railings inside & out.. She never failed to greet us & ask us if we were enjoying ourselves.. Can't wait to hear about you cruise on the Riveria..

Edited January 6, 2015 by serendipity1499

[summersigh]

Not a lot of choices on the TA's and most itineraries were blah

:D

 

That was the reason that we took Cunard - QM2 - for our TA. We picked the date we could TA Westbound then built our 3 weeks touring on land using trains based on that date.

 

It was 6 days crossing and we preferred spending the difference in number of days TA (on other lines) doing land stuff in England as opposed to sea days or stops we really didn't care about during the TA.

 

Cruising TA after land touring was soooo relaxing and no jet lag. The ship changed it's clocks one hour each day so by the time we reached the USA we were even.:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Heather, nice to hear from you! We've been on the Regatta twice & both have been wonderful cruises..Hopefully we'll be able to cruise on Oceania again soon.. Agree the Prinsendam just about mirrors the Regatta.. Now is the time to tell the story about the Lady Matre'd on the Regatta..

 

We were on her with our good Buddies..One day the Matre'd asked my Friends DH why he never took any of the wonderful Muffins for breakfast.. His answer was "I can't have the sugar".. With that she said "Tomorrow you will have muffins made with splenda" & the next day he did & every day thereafter he did..He really enjoyed them too!..

 

One day we had a very early tour & we all decided to eat in the Buffet.. The next day the Matre'd asked where we were & we told her why we had to eat in the Buffet & why our Friend did not get his muffins.. Her answer to him was "Next time that happens you send one of the Stewards down to the MDR to get your muffins from me" !! She meant every word of it!! We all were shocked as NEVER had we seen such service on any cruise..

 

 

After my first cruise, or even my second, this might have surprised me. But after our cruise on Regatta, I'm not surprised at all. There's an extra level of service that cannot be duplicated on the larger ships :).

[hmorrow]

Wow!:( So sorry to read this. I remember when speaking of sailing on Holland America was something really special and people would say "Oooooh, Holland America ... one of the best". I can remember right here on this board standing up to a high level HAL staff member who posted often (you all know who I mean) as he told us we were just numbers, that HAL didn't care about us individually at all. And I swore it was not true, that no company could hold its standing if they stopped caring about individuals and focused on the bottom line alone.

 

Looks like he was right and I was wrong. No one understands more than I do that this is a business and the bottom line must always the focus. But if you stop appearing to care about your individual 'guests', then I believe it's a slippery slope to oblivion.

 

We are just 2 people who wanted to try HAL again. Now we won't. We're just 2 little nobodies so they won't even feel the boat move, but ....

 

 

 

Heather

So come through the Panama Canal with me and Kelly in nov on celebrity!

 

Helaine

[HeatherInFlorida]

LOL!!! Hi Helaine! You crack me up. No, we can't do whole Panama Canal that time of year because we have family coming for the Thanksgiving holidays. but otherwise a great idea! We booked January on Oceana so that's a done deal. I'll be in touch ... good to see you here :)

[hmorrow]

LOL!!! Hi Helaine! You crack me up. No, we can't do whole Panama Canal that time of year because we have family coming for the Thanksgiving holidays. but otherwise a great idea! We booked January on Oceana so that's a done deal. I'll be in touch ... good to see you here :)

 

We had fun on the Westerdam and the prinsendam

Why r they off your radar- I know though- I love the smaller ships.....that being said,

We're going on the Volendam for a month in April from china to Vancouver

Still cabins left on that one, too!

H

[hmorrow]

LOL!!! Hi Helaine! You crack me up. No, we can't do whole Panama Canal that time of year because we have family coming for the Thanksgiving holidays. but otherwise a great idea! We booked January on Oceana so that's a done deal. I'll be in touch ... good to see you here :)

 

We had fun on the Westerdam and the prinsendam

Why r they off your radar- I know though- I love the smaller ships.....that being said,

We're going on the Volendam for a month in April from china to Vancouver

Still cabins left on that one, too!

H

[HeatherInFlorida]

We had fun on the Westerdam and the prinsendam

Why r they off your radar- I know though- I love the smaller ships.....that being said,

We're going on the Volendam for a month in April from china to Vancouver

Still cabins left on that one, too!

H

 

We absolutely did, but that was a long time ago. We haven't cruised HAL for ages as you know. But we were going to give it another try and booked an SA so that we can compare it with the PH on Oceania. But the way they handled this was very disappointing so we're just not going to do it. And I could never uproot myself for a whole month; you know I'm a potted plant.:):):)

Edited January 7, 2015 by HeatherInFlorida