24 Days on the Amsteram

[mickey]

We returned last Saturday from the May 9 Transatlantic and May 23 Baltic cruises on the Amsterdam. We have cruised over 100 days with HAL and thought I'd note items without doing a full review. Food: very average on the transatlantic portion. It improved on the Baltic leg. We heard the executive chef from Seattle was on board. The days of additional lobster tails on formal night are over. None were offered. We sat at two different tables on the first leg at the 8:30 seating and one table at 8 on the Baltic cruise. Service at all three tables left much to be desired. Items ordered by guests at all three tables were often not delivered and service seem forced. My husband got his cappucino twice on the Baltic leg and it was never delivered again. He said he got tired of asking for it and not having it delivered. I miss the coffee machine in the Lido that dispensed Lattes and cappucinos. Now you to pay for them in the Explorations cafe. I don't consider that a Signature of Excellence upgrade. The shore excursions that we took in St. Petersburg left much to be desired. The guides had no placards to lead the groups and unless you pushed your way to the front, no commentary could be heard. We saw Celebrity passengers with headsets on in the Hermitage. Their tour leader had a headset with a microphone and spoke to the group as a whole.

We also learned other ships had dinner at Peterhof and dinner and ballet excursions. Our evening excursion was opera at the Yusapov palace with one canape and glass of champagne. We spoke to one couple who had a suite and said they would never sail HAL again. They had secured a Russian visa and planned to see ST. Petersburg on their own. They had to walk a half hour through the commercial port to reach the gate and get a cab. I spoke to one of the officers who had gone to ballet and somehow I don't think that he had to walk to the gate.......to be continued.

[grannynurse]

Wilted lettuce and waiters forget us

Not much repartee, pay for the latte

No chance for rebuttal, what no free shuttle?

Musical tables and all the old HAL fables.

Missing Dover, another long "Dam" stopover

$25 for fish eggs, where are my sea legs?

I wish I was on the Rotterdam again,

Out where a friend is a friend,

Raising a grapefruit cosmo in your honor,

WELCOME HOME, MICKEY!!

[wander]

Sorry that things did not work out as you expected in St. Petersburg. I have seen groups with headphones and the guide with a microphone. They always look interesting, but I have never been on a tour that used them.

 

About your Suite friends, I have been to St. Petersburg three times, in the late 80s, late 90s and in 2002. In all cases there was no way to secure on site transportation to the gate, and it is a looooong treck through working shipyard areas. For our late 80s trip, you were not even allowed to take the walk. This is an issue tha thas been discussed numerous times on these boards. It is unfortunate that your friends had not looked into how they could get to Taxis before sailing. For folks with previously arranged, private tours this seems to have been taken care of by their tour folks, with pick-ups arranged for dockside. For future reference, it is always a good idea to research getting around on your own if one plans to do their own thing in a port. It can vary a great deal in terms of distance and availability of taxis and public transportation. We do get spoiled since so many ports make things easy.

[Copper10-8]

We were in St. Petersburg last August and saw the same thing. Taxi's and shuttles are not allowed in the commercial port where we were docked on Rotterdam along with Prinsendam and RCI's Jewel of the Seas. Unless you were on a HAL Shorex tour and/or on a private tour like Red October, there was no transportation and as Wander already stated, it is a pretty descent hike to the front gate of that port. Don't even know if that was allowed and/or if you could find your way to the gate. That particular port (or part of the port) is no day at the beach either. Suppose you did make it to the front gate, then what? Can't find your way around, hope you can secure a taxi, language problems, a not so childish crime rate, etc. Nope, St. Petersburg is one port I would never wander (no pun intended Wander)off on my own. That couple can blame HAL all they want but none of that is HAL's fault. It's a matter of doing some homework before you leave or at least having a chat with the Shorex staff who more than likely have been there before!

[grannynurse]

Doggerel continued from above:

An eye with a scratch, M wore an X patch

Baguettes in paper, a real french caper,

The Lido wine and cheese, again, again please

Shawn on the bow, officers having a cow.

Hymnals in the crow's nest, Irish ditties, not the best,

The OB with its scooters and androgynous hooters,

Norway's trolls and tromso strolls

Polaria was hokey, the tour guide was OKIE,

J's lost his umbrella, poor poor fella

Riverboat in the rain, we didn't complain

Mike barred the door, john access a chore.

But did we laugh?

Thanks for the memories!

Do you still have a copy of your Rotterdam epic?

GN

[doone]

I have to agree with Copper on his point about St. Petersburg. No matter which cruise line this couple sailed, the samething would have happened. Its so important to do your homework on something like this so you are not disappointed. I did the Baltics August 2001 on the Amsterdam. I have to say this was my favorite itinerary and favorite ship so far and am thinking of booking it again in a couple of years. I am hoping its the Amsterdam that will be sailing that itinerary in 2008.