Back after 14 Years

[just_cruising_along]

Howdy ricka47:

I think you will find that the internet is adequate. There are times it is slower than others of course. There are different packages and pricing you can select.

Have a wonderful trip.

[OlsSalt]

I've seem the "______ (Fill in the Blank) is going downhill and ain't what it used to be" posts on most of the boards here. The cruise lines are generally filling the ships and giving the market what it demands. If everything was kept the same as it was in the "good old days," I believe prices would have to be significantly higher than they are today.

 

We can either decide to continue to sail, switch to the so-called premium or luxury lines (the complaints are there as well), take other types of vacations or just stay home. We keep cruising!

 

Good to hear, and a very good place to be coming from. But then call me a HAL cheerleader. (Who never uses their in-house slow and pokey internet service,)

[ricka47]

Howdy ricka47:

I think you will find that the internet is adequate. There are times it is slower than others of course. There are different packages and pricing you can select.

Have a wonderful trip.

 

Good to hear - thanks!

[Robin7]

I've seem the "______ (fill in the name of the cruse line) is going downhill and ain't what it used to be" posts on most of the boards here. The cruise lines are generally filling the ships and giving the market what it demands. If everything was kept the same as it was in the "good old days," I believe prices would have to be significantly higher than they are today.

 

We can decide to continue to sail, switch to the so-called premium or luxury lines (the complaints are there as well), take other types of vacations or just stay home. We keep cruising!

 

I did the math a couple of weeks ago. Our first cruise was on HAL's Westerdam--the OLD one. It was 1991, and the ship held about 800 people. :eek: It was AWESOME!!! We fell in love with cruising.

 

BUT the reason we booked with HAL? They were the only ones at the time who offered a double bed. Not even a queen size! A DOUBLE. And we had to upgrade to a porthole to get one. For a double bed and a porthole.

 

Our next cruise was 1992 on the (old) Regal Princess when it was new. Oceanview with a newfangled thing called "convertible beds." It was a HUGE bed compared to the Westerdam.

 

However, for both of those cruises? We paid in today's dollars about $1800 per passenger. For a porthole and an oceanview (window). I don't know about anyone else, but our dollars get us A LOT more today comparably.

 

And cruising is still our favorite vacation. We are no longer brand-loyal. We have cruised HAL, Princess, Carnival (gasp!), and RCI. They all had their good and their not-so-good things. Whenever anyone who hasn't cruised before asks us about cruising, we ask them what is most important to them, and then we talk about the cruiseline we've been on that best matches their wants.

 

Can't wait to try Celebrity and all of the other ones we haven't been on yet. What drives us now is itinerary.

 

Happy cruising! (I take Sundays off from homework. Ha.)

 

~Robin

[ricka47]

I did the math a couple of weeks ago. Our first cruise was on HAL's Westerdam--the OLD one. It was 1991, and the ship held about 800 people. :eek: It was AWESOME!!! We fell in love with cruising.

 

BUT the reason we booked with HAL? They were the only ones at the time who offered a double bed. Not even a queen size! A DOUBLE. And we had to upgrade to a porthole to get one. For a double bed and a porthole.

 

Our next cruise was 1992 on the (old) Regal Princess when it was new. Oceanview with a newfangled thing called "convertible beds." It was a HUGE bed compared to the Westerdam.

 

However, for both of those cruises? We paid in today's dollars about $1800 per passenger. For a porthole and an oceanview (window). I don't know about anyone else, but our dollars get us A LOT more today comparably.

 

And cruising is still our favorite vacation. We are no longer brand-loyal. We have cruised HAL, Princess, Carnival (gasp!), and RCI. They all had their good and their not-so-good things. Whenever anyone who hasn't cruised before asks us about cruising, we ask them what is most important to them, and then we talk about the cruiseline we've been on that best matches their wants.

 

Can't wait to try Celebrity and all of the other ones we haven't been on yet. What drives us now is itinerary.

 

Happy cruising! (I take Sundays off from homework. Ha.)

 

~Robin

 

Robin - my students seem to take most days off from studying! Yes, your math is correct I would think.

 

We like Celebrity and, if you can find a decent deal on Aqua Class, jump on it. I think, with the exception of Carnival (and I know some love it), we're open to most lines depending upon price and itinerary.

[TomBeckCruise]

What were the major things that disappointed you all those years ago on HAL? Anything special make you inclined to return to HAL? Welcome Back. ;)

 

You ask a big question... Most every mass market cruise line has changed a great deal in the last 14 years.

SMOKE, SMOKE, SMOKE

 

Hopefully HAL is finally coming around.

 

We are trying again after 13 years.

 

 

Has HAL joined the 21st century ?

[calteacher]

We were on an 18-day, San Diego, Hawaii, San Diego in February. We were surprised to learn the internet on that cruise was $25 per day and it was for the entire 18 days--not just picking a few days. For $440 we decided to forget the internet and just waited until Hawaii when we could go off ship and get the internet connected to our cell phone provider.

[ithaca gal]

We were on an 18-day, San Diego, Hawaii, San Diego in February. We were surprised to learn the internet on that cruise was $25 per day and it was for the entire 18 days--not just picking a few days. For $440 we decided to forget the internet and just waited until Hawaii when we could go off ship and get the internet connected to our cell phone provider.

 

Are you saying that you had to pay $25 per day times 18 days in order to get that price? We were on the Zuiderdam for 10 days in January and our son paid $25 twice, for two days of service.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We like Celebrity and, if you can find a decent deal on Aqua Class, jump on it. I think, with the exception of Carnival (and I know some love it), we're open to most lines depending upon price and itinerary.

 

We'll be on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 2.5 months, and will only be on the ship for 3 nights before a cruise tour, so am not too concerned about the ship. After reading disappointing reviews of the Westerdam, regarding food, entertainment, and cosmetic condition, we decide to stick with Celebrity for Japan. I can definitely vouch for Aqua Class!

 

Carnival, I believe was once great value, if you avoided the partiers and sailed in the Fall. Maintenance, quality, and integrity have become a real issue. I can tell you from first hand experience, not all Carnival cruisers can handle a longer repo "Journey" cruise, without getting grumpy and irritable. Spousal abuse, line cutting, profanity, pushing and shoving, and intentional cold spreading, hit a peak by day 14.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Stateroom_Sailor

[ricka47]

We were on an 18-day, San Diego, Hawaii, San Diego in February. We were surprised to learn the internet on that cruise was $25 per day and it was for the entire 18 days--not just picking a few days. For $440 we decided to forget the internet and just waited until Hawaii when we could go off ship and get the internet connected to our cell phone provider.

 

Was that the only option? No per minute options either? How can we find out for sure what the options will be on a sailing?

 

I only need limited access for three of 7 days and would rather not pay for the days that I do not need access (if possible).

Edited March 19, 2018 by ricka47

[ricka47]

We'll be on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 2.5 months, and will only be on the ship for 3 nights before a cruise tour, so am not too concerned about the ship. After reading disappointing reviews of the Westerdam, regarding food, entertainment, and cosmetic condition, we decide to stick with Celebrity for Japan. I can definitely vouch for Aqua Class!

 

Carnival, I believe was once great value, if you avoided the partiers and sailed in the Fall. Maintenance, quality, and integrity have become a real issue. I can tell you from first hand experience, not all Carnival cruisers can handle a longer repo "Journey" cruise, without getting grumpy and irritable. Spousal abuse, line cutting, profanity, pushing and shoving, and intentional cold spreading, hit a peak by day 14.

 

Aqua Class and especially Blu was great! We need to do that again for sure.

 

I see some good deals on Carnival and some of their newer ships look very nice. I've heard good things about the food as well. But, because of the things noted above, I'd rather pay a little more and go with another line. Plus, while I'd be open to trying Carnival, I'd have to drag my wife and any other family member aboard as they are so anti-Carnival despite never having sailed on one of their ships!

[Friend100]

Has HAL joined the 21st century ?

 

No. Still the 19th century , and I sincerely hope they stay it that way.

[ricka47]

No. Still the 19th century , and I sincerely hope they stay it that way.

 

Thank goodness that the modern "safety" elevator was invented around 1852; so we're OK with that century.:cool:

[mahi mahi]

I cannot speak on the internet service as we never use it....simply connect to wifi in ports to keep in touch with family. There is no longer any smoking allowed on balconies and now very limited in other areas....no longer have to walk through a cloud of smoke in the casino to get to the evening show. That was the one thing that kept us away from HAL for a few years. We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in January this year, post drydock - a beautiful ship. She has the new entertainment features - BB King, Billboard Onboard and Lincoln Centre. All were very popular. We found the crew and MDR outstanding.

 

We are not loyal to any particular line but our last cruise set the bar pretty high!

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I cannot speak on the internet service as we never use it....simply connect to wifi in ports to keep in touch with family. There is no longer any smoking allowed on balconies and now very limited in other areas....no longer have to walk through a cloud of smoke in the casino to get to the evening show. That was the one thing that kept us away from HAL for a few years. We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in January this year, post drydock - a beautiful ship. She has the new entertainment features - BB King, Billboard Onboard and Lincoln Centre. All were very popular. We found the crew and MDR outstanding.

 

We are not loyal to any particular line but our last cruise set the bar pretty high!

 

That's reassuring to hear. We're hoping that HAL and/or Princess maintains their general level of quality, for itinerary diversification. We would have never upgraded to veranda, with the old smoking policies.

[TiogaCruiser]

I’m not sure about the internet on NA as have never been aboard, but just got off Zaandam. As an “older “ ship, we had the options of several minute based packages. I got the 10” minutes for $55 and only used half of it. Only did email and a few quick looks at a website.

In preparation for the cruise I had inactivated my usual email accounts and only kept my “secret” travel account hooked up. I turned up background refresh and most other services that “call home” so I wouldn’t be wasting any KB. I prewrote emails and blog posts, then sent them once connected. Most postbacks were complete within 3-4 minutes (including pictures). You might want to preset up in a similar fashion.

 

(I talked with several people who just couldn’t “get on”. I’m not sure what they were trying to do, but when I asked about turning off the background stuff (including live tiles), they were clueless.

[Jade13]

Robin - my students seem to take most days off from studying! Yes, your math is correct I would think.

 

 

 

We like Celebrity and, if you can find a decent deal on Aqua Class, jump on it. I think, with the exception of Carnival (and I know some love it), we're open to most lines depending upon price and itinerary.

 

 

 

Don’t pay attention to the negative posts. We cruise both HAL and Celebrity (AQU class). Neither are what they were 10 years ago. With that said, we think that recently the MDR food on HAL is better than Celebrity/AQU. But it always depends on who is cooking.

 

The internet is the same (it depends where in the world you are).

 

We sail on HAL for the itineraries and crew.

 

What we prefer on Celebrity is the vibe on the ship. HAL is boring with few activities. Celebrity is more fun.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ricka47]

Don’t pay attention to the negative posts. We cruise both HAL and Celebrity (AQU class). Neither are what they were 10 years ago. With that said, we think that recently the MDR food on HAL is better than Celebrity/AQU. But it always depends on who is cooking.

 

The internet is the same (it depends where in the world you are).

 

We sail on HAL for the itineraries and crew.

 

What we prefer on Celebrity is the vibe on the ship. HAL is boring with few activities. Celebrity is more fun.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

It's a Thanksgiving cruise - so, a little relaxing (maybe even a bit boring) will be OK.

[calteacher]

If I recall correctly, yes, it was $25 per day and from the description it seemed you needed to book for the entire cruise. When my DH inquired, he was told there was no option for a certain number of hours or days. That may have been because we had so many days at sea when the connection was a little "iffy".