RoyalVisit

We will be on this sailing as well. Very much looking forward to the "new" ship.

 

 

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Hi there! same for us! I'm not up to date on classes but I think the lsrgest one we've been on to date was the Constellation or Voyageur but I could be wrong so we are looking forward to seeing the ship. My husband has never been on a HAL cruise so he's a newbie to the line.

When we booked all we could choosefrom was open seating or second dining so we took open but waitlisted for early.

Really looking forward to the World Stage and the Dutch Cafe! I have a sweet tooth! :)

I try not to get upset about things that are beyond my control but somethings that raise my eyebrows...

Loud obnoxious people who feel they need to share every word they utter with everyone. As if what they have to say is always profound or interesting. Also, if you're trying to make a point get to it. The details only matter if they connect diectly to the point. They best storytellers know how to weave the pertinent details into the story to make it worth listening too.

Body odors and perfumes....we're in a confined space, we're all hot tired and hungry so we don't also need to smell like a donkey's butt or a tart's boudoir. The cabins have showers for a reason and deodorant is cheap.

Selfie sticks...I don't hate them but please be aware of where your swinging them.

Negativity...we all paid for our vacations and waited patiently for them to arrive so we could have a good experience and a relaxing break from work etc. If you're having a bad experience please don't infect those around you with toxicity and complaints. You can spoil your own vacation but you have no right to try to influence someone elses.

There aren't nearly as many smokers as there used to be, but the non-smoker lobby is very vocal. There was one smoker who played Blackjack, as I do, on our last cruise, but he played at a table under the smoke-eater and I didn't have a problem with it. I honestly think you hear the most complaints from 1 or 2% of the passengers who've had an inconsiderate chain-smoker next door, rather than the 98 or 99% who've never had a problem. Now I'm going to go put on a helmet, as I'm sure there will be lots of rocks thrown my way by that "2%" after these remarks.

I get your point too. I don't begrudge people from smoking. I just think chain smokers particularly should be considerate of nonsmokers around them which I agree, is difficult on a ship when you have an addiction like smoking.

Many smokers will not smoke in their cars or homes, or even around their own family or friends so for the same reasons, I hope they are considerate of those of us who don't smoke. In Canada, the last statistics I've seen show that roughly 21% of men/14% of women smoke.

All of us, nonsmokers and smokers just want to enjoy ourselves on our hard earned vacations so if everyone was just a tad bit more considerate then there will be less objections. Now having said that, if I find a cigarette butt on my verandah I am going to complain!

I'm not a smoker, but I've been told you can ask your steward for an ashtray.

Thanks for answering! I've been reading the other posts but they are numerous and I was particularly interested in the complaints from other guests who have had cigarette butts fall onto their balconies from above. I once was in a car with a woman smoking in the front seat. She tossed her butt out of the window, it blew back through my open window and burnt a hole through my jacket which was lying on the seat next to me. I'm sure you can imagine my feelings on that.

Second-hand smoke is more my concern which as the American Cancer Society states "This type of smoke has higher concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and is more toxic than mainstream smoke." Mainstream smoke being the smoke exhaled by the smoker. I just do my best to avoid people who are smoking but that is difficult in public areas and particularly in the casinos which I feel strongly prohibits nonsmokers from enjoying the facilities if they are concerned about their own health. Our last two cruises were on Carnival and I tried to use the casino but the stench and the cloud of smoke made it impossible to stay more than a few minutes.

I'm a nonsmoker who also appreciates ships with a no-smoking policy in public areas and as far as I'm concerned, a balcony is a public area when they are adjacent or share the same verandah.

My question is on the disposal of cigarettes/cigars? if you smoke on your balcony, does HAL provide a disposal container for your cigarette butts? if not, what are you doing with them?

We decided to put a pause in our cruise planning until we see how this one plays out.

 

I'm making no judgment on other people's decisions, just curious if anyone else has given thought to this?

 

Governor: 4 new Zika cases likely came from Fla. mosquitoes

 

http://usat.ly/2ahmqaz

ZIKA was a consideration but not enough to prevent us from travelling. Precautions will be necessary yes, for example, wearing light weight long sleeve shirts and pants would probably be a good suggestion for Puerto Rico for example. Having said that though, we are an LGBT couple without children and have zero plans for having children in the future so had either of us been a female who is pregnant or wants to have children in the future, I would have either postponed or found an alternative destination to avoid the higher risks areas. :)

My partner and I have been thinking of taking a vacation with his recently widowed mother. The three of us get along and are looking forward to it.

 

We've been thinking that a cruise might be nice. Anyone tried sailing with an in-law? We would be looking at a North American port, warm waters, about 7 days, perhaps out of New York or NJ.

 

Anyone who has taken a similar trip, do you have any advice?

We cruised once with my husband's grandmother, all in an inside cabin. It worked out fine and we had a lot of laughs but I think for privacy, separate cabins is the way to go as you suggest below. NCL has single cabins on some ships now so that may be an option. Consider the ports carefully as far as mobility goes if she wants to explore (other than doing paid excursions.) We went to Bermuda from New York on that cruise and his grandmother explored the whole island with us because they have easy bus/ferry transportation options.

Hi Everyone,

I hope this isn't a duplicate roll-call!

We were looking for a leisurely + peaceful cruise in early January so we picked the Holland America Koningsdam on January 8th.

Looking forward to it, long time since I've been on Holland America. Our last two cruises were on Carnival (first time ok, and then the second earlier this year also ok - but also maybe our last on Carnival, just didn't seem the right fit for us.)

Scott

Was the Indian food spicy?

 

I have Sjogrens and I can not tolerate any spiciness at all.

Yes and no, meaning that some were spicy and others were not. I would suggest you pass on the Indian vegetarian options.

A couple questions, does the menu state that the soups are vegetarian? A lot of vegetable soups are made with beef or chicken base. Does Guys have the veggie burger on the menu? I know the grill used to offer them. When I was on the Pride last May, Guys didn't offer a veggie burger. I made due with a bun with melted cheese & toppings. It was good, but really missed having a veggie burger option. Thanks!

For the soups - no, I don't think they did specify they were vegetarian but I could be wrong.

The veggie burger is not on the menu, you have to ask for it and it takes about 10 minutes for them to get it ready. Sometimes you have to make a point about it but the servers on the Glory were excellent and always delivered. The cheese is optional of course, served with fries, and they have the toppings bar for you to add as you please. I believe it is made with chickpeas/rice but I could be wrong!

This might be a bit clearer

Do you remember if you had the traditional menu or the new American Table menu?

New American Table Menu I believe. Each night we had two vegetarian main options, one of them was always the featured Indian. Sample menu from one of the elegant nights...we had 3 in 10 nights...too many in my opinion.

I also eat dairy so I was able to enjoy many of the desserts. The key lime cheesecake and the key lime mousse were my favourites and while the pie on the menu changed nightly, they were awful, particularly awful was the pumpkin which was tasteless and didn't taste like pumpkin at all.

I should have taken a photo of the veggie burger at Guy's Burgers which is not on the menu so you have to ask for it and it takes about 10 minutes but is definitely worth the wait..greasy but delicious...had four of them over the 10 night cruise.

The quattro four cheese pizza from the pizza place onboard..it was ok

Squash soup was great too

Broccoli or mushroom soup...both were good as were the chilled peach and strawberry soups

BBQ Tofu Steak.. Good

Polenta and mushroom cream soup... not a fan of polenta

Phyllo pastry with spinach and rice..

Good..

Just returned from the Carnival Glory January 23rd sailing and I thought I would post a few photos of some of the vegetarian dishes we had. I forgot to take some of them before we started eating!

My favourite was the Root Vegetable Pie in a pastry crust (no photo). The worst dish was the Baked Vegetable Princess which was a cheesy pastry dish in with frozen and undercooked peas, cauliflower and carrots (no photo).

The featured Indian, appears on the menu nightly but the selections change slightly each night.

Yes exactly my concern too. I might try the guarantee again but right now it doesn't seem worth the wait.

We changed our flights to tomorrow because AA put their weather policy into effect. We arrive late in Miami but I am less anxious because we will be in Miami earlier to avoid the storm. Packing done! Safe travels!

Finally got assignment! Deck 1 ocean view so I'm happy with that and it's not an adjoining cabin which I prefer. Since this was our first time using a guarantee, I think next time we will just book a specific cabin. I didn't like the waiting!

We are supposed to fly Friday afternoon and arrive in Miami around 7pm but we connect in Philadelphia. If AA invokes the weather policy we might fly Thursday instead. Luckily we have some flexibility. We missed a massive snow storm years ago for the same reason...we were on a cruise when it hit. My parents missed a rare hurricane here because they were on a cruise. I'm thinking positive so we will get there!

When are you guys flying to Miami?

Getting a little nervous looking at the current weather forecasts for the Northeast later this week. :confused: