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Mein Schiff 1


Floridiana
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For those interested:

Mein Schiff 1 is a former Celebrity ship and will soon be sold and replaced by a new build. Compared to the Mein Schiff 3 - 6 series, it has less space per passenger. I didn't check the numbers, but the ship felt much more crowded than Mein Schiff 4 last year in the Baltic. One reason may be the Norwegian weather which was sunny, windy and cold enough to chase most people indoors.

 

Advantages of this ship built for Americans: a nice double story dining room and a refrigerator in the cabin. Our balcony cabin on Mein Schiff 4 didn't have a refrigerator and the dining room was divided into several (included) restaurants.

 

You will immediately know you are not on spacious and more elegant Europa 2 with its large staterooms and well-equipped bathrooms. Cabins on Mein Schiff are tiny, 17 square meters. Food was more refined and more varied on Europa 2. After all, there is an enormous price difference. On the positive side of Mein Schiff, all non-alcoholic and many alcoholic drinks are included, still and bubbly water was waiting for us on the dining room table. We had a choice of included Sekt and Prosecco, several decent table wines, three kinds of draft beer. Included drinks, cocktails, specialty coffees and teas are also available in several venues.

 

Service was swift and friendly in our favorite dining section where a team of well organized Philippine waiters took good care of their customers. Service in other sections we tried for breakfast and lunch was hit or miss. The buffet was always crowded. Mein Schiff 4 had an additional small deli style buffet which always had room and the same food selection just less of it. We did not go to the specialty restaurants.

 

Dress is casual at all times. In Norway, it was LLBean style with some people showing up in ski jackets in the dining room because they didn't bother to take them to their cabin before dinner. Casual on Europa 2 was resort style.

 

We booked another cruise on Mein Schiff 6 for 2018. It is a good choice for our family. Be aware that at least one in your party needs to speak fluent German. Mein Schiff staff speak English (most of them), but all information for passengers is only in German.

 

In the Baltic, we booked private tours or did our own thing. In Norway, our kids booked the more active tours. The guides would all have spoken English if necessary.

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probably because both Hapag Lloyd and TUI so " Mein Schiff" still did not receive a separate thread in CC and several people on Europa 2 did refer to Mein Schiff

By the way : Mein Schiff 3 , 4 and 5 did receive the same 4 star plus rating in the 2017 Berlitz so the same as some companies known as "luxury"

On the other side one of the most basic companies CMV does have a thread ...

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Agree with wripro. There is a place to post comments/questions for cruise lines that do not have their own board on CC. Interestingly, there is a Ponant thread on there. Even more interesting is that Virgin Voyages have their own board. This speaks volumes about the "luxury" cruise lines that have been put onto this board and do not have their own.

 

Perhaps the posters of the cruise lines without a "board" can communicate with CC. I'm not trying to be mean -- I just enjoy reading about luxury cruise lines in general on this board (comparisons, etc.).

 

The board for "other cruise lines" http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=218

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Perhaps the posters of the cruise lines without a "board" can communicate with CC. I'm not trying to be mean -- I just enjoy reading about luxury cruise lines in general on this board (comparisons, etc.).

 

An absolute waste of time.

 

I have written several times, including 'chasers', re Hapag-Lloyd Cruises having their own 'board' and have never even received the courtesy of an acknowledgement.

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An absolute waste of time.

 

I have written several times, including 'chasers', re Hapag-Lloyd Cruises having their own 'board' and have never even received the courtesy of an acknowledgement.

 

Wondering if this has to do with small cruise lines out of North America vs. those out of Europe? I didn't think that Virgin was even sailing yet and they have their own board. Or, perhaps the number of posts (or people posting) about Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is too small. Whatever the reason, it seems to be frustrating for all of us.

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Wondering if this has to do with small cruise lines out of North America vs. those out of Europe? I didn't think that Virgin was even sailing yet and they have their own board. Or, perhaps the number of posts (or people posting) about Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is too small. Whatever the reason, it seems to be frustrating for all of us.

 

Even more frustrating with regard to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is that CC blocks a direct link to the English language web site, but not to the German language one.

 

www.hl-************

 

www.hl-cruises.de

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Why are you posting this on the luxury cruise board?

 

Because one of the participants of this luxury forum asked for it. He is cruising with Hapag Lloyd and was interested in a comparison. There is no separate space for German cruise lines except for Aida which is a lower tier mainstream line. And somebody who is interested in German ships may want to try out the TUI line at a lower price point than Hapag Lloyd.

 

 

Cathaana,

 

A very good idea to repurpose the Aida forum.

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Because one of the participants of this luxury forum asked for it. He is cruising with Hapag Lloyd and was interested in a comparison. There is no separate space for German cruise lines except for Aida which is a lower tier mainstream line. And somebody who is interested in German ships may want to try out the TUI line at a lower price point than Hapag Lloyd.

 

I was also interested in the comparison as after years with HL, we now hold a booking for Mein Schiff 3.

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I was also interested in the comparison as after years with HL, we now hold a booking for Mein Schiff 3.

 

i verified the Berlitz 2017 : Mein Schiff 3 : 1665 points - Seabourn Quest :1639 points / 2000

Silver Spirit 1664/2000:D Mein Schiff 5 :1674 ...

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cathaana,

When the crowds become too much on Mein Schiff, just think of the price! ;)

 

If you can, self-disembark. Mein Schiff tells you that all luggage is available after 9 a.m. In Kiel, they took our suitcases from deck 9 the very last. The storage hall was way too small for everybody's luggage plus people from all decks looking for theirs at the same time. It was arranged by deck, but the set-up created mayhem.

 

I talked to staff before disembarkation in Hamburg and they are still not using a timed, color coded system like they do on large American ships. We then decided to self-disembark. We left before 8 am and had no trouble at all getting our suitcases down on the elevators. We then rolled them off into the Steinwerder cruise port facility. We will self-disembark again next time in Dubai. On the positive side, you can use your cabin until 9 a.m. Maybe the crowds will have thinned when you leave late.

 

A few days before the end of the cruise, they offered a free bag of laundry in the Baltic last year and a Euro 19.90 bag, all you can fit in, on our Norway cruise this year.

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Wondering if this has to do with small cruise lines out of North America vs. those out of Europe? I didn't think that Virgin was even sailing yet and they have their own board. Or, perhaps the number of posts (or people posting) about Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is too small. Whatever the reason, it seems to be frustrating for all of us.

It's not just the posters but CC itself which posts threads about non luxury lines on this board. The only thing I can think of is that these lines pay for advertising and so expect to being included and represent themselves as luxury when clearly they are not. Hello Oceania, Azamara etc.

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It's not just the posters but CC itself which posts threads about non luxury lines on this board. The only thing I can think of is that these lines pay for advertising and so expect to being included and represent themselves as luxury when clearly they are not. Hello Oceania, Azamara etc.

 

Good point! My issue with Hapag-Lloyd is that the luxury board is being used as a Hapag-Lloyd board where posters just want to discuss that cruise line whereas the luxury board discusses multiple cruise lines - even non-luxury cruise lines as you indicated.

 

In terms of foreign cruise lines, since the U.K. has their own board, perhaps one could be started for either people in other countries or cruise lines like Hapag-Lloyd and Mein Schiff 1 where English is not the first language. When the TS stated "The guides would all have spoken English if necessary.", this is a put off for some people in English speaking countries (particularly the U.S. where, unfortunately, English is the only language that we know).

 

 

While I don't know the answer, I find this board confusing on many levels. When I first heard of Europe 1, I wanted to read about it but didn't know where to look. Had there been a "German Cruise Lines" board, it would have been helpful.

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