Sea Belle

18 hours ago, HAL4NOW said:

Actually, the bill hasn't even come up for a vote in the senate yet. they haven't even voted to proceed to the consideration of H.R. 748, the CARES Act.

If they do vote to consider, and then eventually vote to pass the Act, it still needs to go through the House of Representatives. The House isn't even in session at this time.

With all of the political game playing, nothing is assured.

It has passed and the language of the bill has been released to the public.  The House appears to be considering how their vote will be managed.  Now we shall see which companies want to take out the loans with the stipulations involved.  It will be interesting.

Today it was announced that any company taking out a government loan would not be allowed to pay dividends until the loan is repaid.  That is a part of the bill passed by the Senate.  Interesting to watch what this will do to the CCL stock....

Today, as details about the government loans come out, it has been stated that any company taking out a loan will not pay dividends until the loan is repaid.  We have heard it twice.  We are wondering what this will do to CCL in general if it acquires a loan.

Our first experience with a lanai was in Dec. on the Veendam and we loved it!  I can’t believe we got to 4* before trying one.  Lady V has always been one of our favorite ships  and now it is #1 on our list to book another lanai.  If only she would return to Bermuda for our annual trip......😉

The Bermuda run from Boston to Bermuda was an annual cruise for us.  The Veendam was perfect for docking in downtown Hamilton, and we hoped it would return in 2020.  It was a very relaxing cruise in a beautiful area and we miss it. 😪

As a follow up:  I gave a considerable amount of thought to my next move, taking into consideration all of your comments.  Here goes:

I continue to be bothered by the incidence of ***** via you reneging on our OBC for the upcoming trip.  I have sought opinions within my various HAL cruise groups and all concur.  It is not the money but the principle involved.  Some rather drastic actions have been suggested, but I prefer to handle the situation in my own manner.

In looking back at my notes taken at the time of you quote I see the price included the $** OBC from *****. I also have noted that after you researched the cost of a gift bottle of wine you found it to be too expensive and suggested I could use my $** credit to purchase one.

My loyalty perks from HAL and my stock OBC have nothing to do with this booking or any other.  I earned and paid for those.  I was promises something with this particular transaction that was not provided. The price of the cruise was established when I booked and the OBC was included at that time by you.  To be told after the fact that the price was too low to qualify is unacceptable. It is a poor business decision by ***** and consequently reflects on you as their representative.  The understanding between client and company should never look like “bait and switch” but, unfortunately, that is how this appears.  It could adversely affect a person’s entire cruise if the amount involved was a large one.

My mistake was being too trusting of what I assumed was a reputable and well known travel agency.  A lesson learned the hard way is often in the form of a negative action.  My experiences as a retired business woman should have made me more cautious, however, in the 20+ years we have been cruising all of my dealings have been without incident.  Needless to say, I won’t be placing a deposit on any cruises without all promises put in writing at the time of Origination.

We continue to look forward to our upcoming cruise on the Veendam.

Ann King

The result:  An apology for how this was handled and a personal $*** amount purchased on her personal credit card applied as a gift when we board.  Also enclosed is a detailed copy of the purchase from HAL.

Thanks to all of you for your comments.  All of this just proves that when “the principal of the thing” is involved one should never let it go.

FYI:  The agent is an Independent Affiliate of  ***** Travel as well as other travel groups. She alone could resolve this dilemma when ***** would not.  I respect her decision although it was a pressured one.

Happy Sailing to All!

Well, it seems I’m not alone in thinking this was being treated badly.  The funny thing is the OBC was very small, but to me it is the principle of the thing.    I’m normally a very calm person who doesn’t want anything but to be treated fairly.  I told her how upset I am and that’s when she came back with how lucky I am to be a 4* and have stock.  I can’t let it go, but can’t cancel the trip either.  Be assured that I will follow through though.  How nice to have a group of folks to share the good and bad with!  😁

We booked through a TA that we have used before.  During the booking process she said we would have an OBC of certain amount.  I called a few weeks later to verify the amount of OBC showing, what she had promised and our CCL stock amount.  Hmmmm....it seems the OBC from the agency will not be given because our booking price was too low.  On 2 occasions during the booking process I was told the OBC would be placed on our account by the agency.  We really are looking forward to our annual Dec. R & R cruise but have admit I can’t dismiss the cavalier attitude of the agent.  She says I am lucky to have the OBC from stock and the 4* benefits.  I tell her I paid for both of those and they have nothing to do with her offer.  Rant over 😡.....I won’t be using that agency or agent again.  Now, on to have another wonderful HAL cruise! 😎

We will be cruising in Dec. and look forward to some of the new entertainment in our future.  I have tried to do some research on Cantare with no success.

On 10/2/2019 at 3:56 PM, St Pete Cruiser said:

Nice to hear a positive review on Veendam.  Our friend, Tom, was aboard the Veendam from Lisbon to Boston in August and also said he was very pleased, so much so, that he booked another cruise on Veendam for this coming winter.  HAL has put some money back into this "S" class ship and it seems to have improved.

Veendam is coming back to Tampa Nov 2020 for the winter season, and I'm hoping may resume the Bermuda itinerary in 2021.

We are always happy to hear a positive review of the Veendam, happy to hear it will come out of Tampa in 2020, but most of all we have our fingers crossed for a return to Bermuda in 2021.  Right now I am beginning to count the days until our sail date in Dec. with the always delightful crew of the Veendam!

I have read that discounted cruises do not get the OBC from stock purchase.  What constitutes a a “discounted cruise if this is a fact? 

We are booked on the Veendam in Dec. and are looking forward to our first experience in a lanai.  Every time we have cruised on the V has been a success...service outstanding always as well a music venues.  Thank you for posting this favorable review and making our anticipation even more pleasant.  BTW....we too hope she will return to Bermuda.  That had become one of our annual cruises and we miss it!

What is the dividend amount now?  How does it compare with other cruise lines?   I remember when it was below $30a share but the dividend was very low even with consideration of the OBC. 

Thank you for the report. We were last on the Veendam in May 2018 and she did need a little sprucing up.  We, however, will take her as she is as long as she maintains some of the character we have come to expect.  The combo music in the Ocean Bar isn’t found on many of the HAL ships now so we have fingers crossed the V will retain that feature for a long time to come.  Looking forward to a Dec. visit to the Veendam!

Thank you.  Is there a site where we can review what was accomplished in dry dock?

Does anyone know when the Veendam was last in dry dock and what was done?  Is there a site where this information is posted for HAL ships?

We purposely chose the smaller and older Veendam for our annual Dec. R & R cruise.  The dance music in the Ocean Bar during cocktail hour and after dinner seems to bring us back every time.  Fewer and fewer HAL ships seem to provide our type entertainment in these time slots.  Don’t get me wrong!  We enjoy all classes of the ships for a variety of reasons relating to each.   BUT.....we like the combos that play music in the Ocean Bar best.  On some of our cruises we have been without anything in particular to do between 7 & 8 PM except have cocktails on our veranda.  We can do that on our balcony at home.  😉  We love the personal attention we get from the crew on the Veendam.  They are always a happy bunch and that in itself has brought us back to her several times.

On 9/8/2019 at 1:53 PM, St Pete Cruiser said:

Veendam will leave Tampa in April, so it could do Canada/New England and Bermuda again for the summer season.  As you may know, she is the maximum size allowed to dock on Front Street in Hamilton. Even the R class must use the Dockyard. 

That’s why we have taken the Bermuda cruise on the Veendam several times.  It is so nice to walk off of the ship and experience Hamilton on foot.  We also enjoy the weekly street festival being right beside the ship.  We have no desire to berth at the shipyard with all of the other ships.  Fingers crossed for 2020.....

I guess that lets out the Veendam resuming the Boston/Bermuda run.  We did miss that trip being available this year.  This is good news for the Tampa area though.

I would love to see the Veendam resume the Boston/Bermuda run.  That was a unique cruise docking in downtown Hamilton.  We were disappointed to miss it this summer.

Thanks to all of you for your responses.  I am glad to be forewarned about the sliding door and magnet situation.  Since the space is limited we may forgo the refrigerator.  I may just bring a small fold up cooler and have the steward fill it with ice once a day for cooling a bottle of wine or sodas.  I wish the ice bucket was larger. LOL!  

Clothes pins for the curtains at night.

Sm cooler for icing wine

Bring in cushions before going to dinner

Eat sufficiently to build up strength to open sliding door!!!!!!  No problem with that!😎

18 hours ago, sevenseasnomad said:

Loved our Lanai so much that we have booked one on Volendam for 2-week 2020 cruise.  You can take a couple clothes pins to keep drapes closed at night.  If you don't, there's a little gap which lets light in from the Promenade Deck, but people couldn't see in.  

 

Our steward told us to bring our cushions in before 9 p.m. if we wanted to use them later.  (We forgot to do it the first night, though.)  When we indicated that we probably would do this, we never had to collect the cushions because he did it every evening when he provided turn-down service at 8:30 while we were at dinner.  Very nice, as we did use them several nights.  

 

You will love this category cabin, and you can't beat the view!  

Thanks for the chair cushion information.  I always sit out on our verandas when we return to the room at night and plan to do it in the lanai.  So far it looks like I will enjoy the experience.  I’m not sure about my husband though since he is a “creature of habit” but is always willing to try new things for me.

We are booked in a Lanai on the Veendam for a Dec. cruise.  Although we have been on the Veendam several times we have never booked that style cabin so are curious about suggestions and opinions from those of you who have.  We are 4*, getting older and want to have that experience at least once.  All suggestions and opinions will be appreciated, good and bad!

We have traditionally sailed on the Veendam from Boston to Bermuda (that has been dropped so we missed it this year) and a couple of Caribbean trips.  Actually the small ship appeals to us because it has maintained some of the old style charm.  Yes, its an oldie but a goodie!  In Dec. we will be doing another E. Caribbean but for the first time in a Lanai cabin. We are 4* but were never sure about that style room.  It’ll be interesting and hopefully a good choice.  What could go wrong????  Hmmmm.....

On 12/23/2018 at 6:20 PM, CruiseLady88 said:

 

Dancers don’t drink. They drink water to keep hydrated. When they dance, they sweat. This means cruise ships are losing revenue on drink. But they neglect the fact that dancers bring in other passengers to the area since some passengers enjoy watching them dancing at the same time listening to the live band music.

Our experience has been that the waiters can hardly keep up with the orders.  Why?  The seats are filled with people who enjoy watching the dancers as well as those who are putting on the show for them.  We really do think HAL is missing the "boat" on this issue.  The days of booking the big bands has sadly passed, but those were great back in the '90s and early 2000's.