michmike2

Roz - 20 yr HAL cruisers here.  We were on Rotterdam 3/13 - 3/20.  Not impressed either. Took a reasonably priced offer to try a Vista Suite.  Underwhelmed.  Other than double days in our quest for 4 star, no great difference from a VD -VA balcony.  Cabin steward informed us he was only allowed to service the room once a day.  
Spring break time so half the pax were under 50 and many brought kids.  We have always enjoyed the Halcats in the Ocean Bar at nite.  Gone.  A piano player for 2 45 min sets and he played obscure music rather than stds and was far too loud.  Hot hor doevres - Gone.  Mixed nuts - Gone.  Replaced w/ tasteless unsalted peanuts.

Dining room service pace was glacial.  Had to ask for water or tea refills.  No more cold fruit soups.  Shrimp cocktail one night.  Other than that, an $8.50 upcharge. No choc tulip dessert.  No lobster other than w/ surcharge.  Lasagna on menu 3 nites.  Finally tried it and I’d prefer Stouffers frozen.  Back to the smaller ships for us.

4 of us getting off N Statendam on Easter.  Any recommendations for Easter brunch that isn’t $75 ea between Lauderdale and 30-40 miles north?  We have a car, so no issues there.  TIA

listened to it on 24 CDs a few years back when I was still working and commuting for over an hour each way every day. Seems like it took a month, but lots of good info. Prompted us to book a full transit, which we will be doing on HAL in Mar of '18

Just a guess, but I would think you would be using the old locks... but really can't be sure unless I know the name of the ship. Basically if a ship has used the old locks previously, it will continue to use the old locks. You will be able to see the new locks on the Pacific side from the port side. They will come into view after the ship travels under the Bridge of Americas and before you get to the first set of locks (Miraflores Locks)on the Pacific side. The new locks are not really visible from the old locks even though they are relatively close to each other. However, you will be able to see a ship passing through them from the old locks if there is a ship in the new locks at the that time. The new locks on the Atlantic side will be seen on the starboard side after you clear the last locks (Gatun Locks) later in the afternoon.

 

I am sure others will advise you to move around the ship during the transit and see the sites from a number of different vantage points. I agree with that strategy completely. Here is one quick example if you are too anchored down to your port side balcony... as you arrive at the Pacific entrance of the Canal to begin your transit, the port side will offer you a great view of the various islands in the Bay. You will probably see a number of other ships waiting for their transit of the Canal, however if you are not where you can take in what the starboard side has to offer, you will miss the striking skyline of Panama City, well worth seeing.

we had a rear facing balcony (back of the ship) in Alaska a year ago and enjoyed it so much that we have another booked for our full transit., so should be in good shape to see everything. When we considered doing it for Alaska folks advised that you either hate or love it. Guess you can count us among those who loved it. Plus you get a much larger balcony (which we didn't get a ton of use out of in Alaska due to the weather in Sept), but this time our cruising buddies will be next door in another rear facing and we can open the divider and have party central!

4 of us will be in San Diego in March for a few days prior to 3/4 departure on Oosterdam. Will be renting a car from the airport and then returning it there the morning of the 4th and will need to get from the airport to the cruise port. wives tend to be charter members of the bring it all club, so will likely have at least 6 suitcases and a backpack or two. Can anyone recommend a car service that would have a van or large suv to take us to the port? thanks in advance. I guess if you are so inclined, if there are things other than the zoo that we should see, we're open to suggestions, as our first time in San Diego.

Went last nite. My advice would be to skip it. Lackluster meal and a nothing special show. Actors / waiters were enthusiastic and did the best they could w/ a substandard script. At $70 a person, it was a real disappointment. I fed convicts for 36 years and could have put on a far superior meal. No excuse for how marginal it was.

Wolverines are vastly overrated. My mighty Mich State Spartans beat them like a drum every Fall.

the effect that passing had on the passenger's family, but given my choice, I'd far rather pass on on a cruise ship than in a nursing home. Hopefully some solace in the fact that they lived life fully until the end.

We already have a trip booked on Noordam in Sept (land/sea) and decided to try a rear facing balcony for the first time, so we should be in position to see what is going on on both sides of the ship. Now some friends have decided to join us. Any advice as to which side of the ship they should get a cabin on in order to maximize their sightseeing. We are doing the land portion first, so will be joining the ship in seward and heading back to Vancouver w/ stops in Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan.

Thanks in advance.

Wish HAL would position a ship in San Juan for 7 day eastern itineraries. Tired of the same old HMC, San Juan, Grand Turk, St Maarten itinerary. Been there, done that.

Small world. Punta Gorda here. We enjoy Joe Maxx in Englewood.

thanks for the response. We're over north of Ft Myers, so an easy 2- 1/2 hrs to FLL or Miami and less than 2 hours to Tampa. Guess we'll see what the other responses bring.

Just as an aside, this is our first summer in FL so I'm sure I'll be hearing from all those folks up north that I gloated to about the weather over the winter, asking how we like the heat and humidity. *L*

now that we'vew switched over from snowbirds to full time FL residents, I've heard over the years that there are all these last minute "Let's get the ship filled" offers for the Florida folks. Any ideas on where to find those offerings, if, in fact, they do exist?

of older gay men and their younger admirers. We travel w/ a childhood friend and his wife. He is a day younger than me, so he told me that I was going have to be the older gay man. *L* They didn't really cause any issues and we got a laugh out of our respective roles in fitting in.

Had a group of Dixieland players and fans on a trip a few years back. Same issues w/ taking over public areas. Got REAL tired of Dixieland by the end of the week.

But that was a piece of cake compared to a group from The Nation, a liberal propaganda magazine. What a bunch of smug, self-deluded pains in the butt. I ended up crafting a hand made "fair and balanced" tag out of an around the neck passport holder and wore that all week in protest. Got quite a few high fives from others who weren't fans of that "Code Pink" bunch and their histrionics. They even staged a protest march against the Grand Cayman bankers when we were there. I'll take the square dancers.

Appreciate the advice from all of you, esp based on the length of time many of you have been part of this forum and that you are long time HAL travelers.

Went ahead today and booked the trip, starting w/ the land portion in Fairbanks on 9/6 of '16 and heading back on the Noordam which we have not been on before (10 cruises w/ HAL thus far). Ended up taking the rear facing balcony and foregoing the meal plan. Figured the only way to see if we enjoy the rear facing was to try it one time.

Now starts the research about excursions etc. If there are any that you feel are a "don't miss" we'd appreciate that info as well.

Just recently moved to FL so looking forward to the last minute FL resident offerings that we have heard good reports about. Maybe a trip or 2 in the time between now and next Sept.

Smooth sailing to all.

Just got off the phone w/ an online TA we have used a number of times in the past, to get pricing on an Alaska cruise/tour. For starters, their pricing was $385 per person less than our local AAA office. That is after adjusting for the fact that the AAA folks were including the Explore 4 option in their quote.

But the online folks told me that the Explore 4 pricing was significantly higher than a booking made w/o it. Turns out the difference was $320 per person. Still reduced deposit ($400 for the 2 of us, NOT per person). As for the Pinnacle dinner, neither of us have been over impressed w/ the Pinnacle in the past and as for the $50 a day in beverages per person, we might have 3 drinks ea per day, so no real value there. I guess if you're a big drinker there is some value there or if you need the reduced rates for 3 or 4th person in your room, but in our case, I'll take the $640 (for the 2 of us), pay for my own drinks and come out ahead.

As always, your mileage may vary, but proof again that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Getting ready to do our 1st Alaska cruise next Summer. Looking at Noordam on Sept 6 w/ the land portion 1st. Any advice re that timing? Any advantages to going earlier in the season? Or downsides to going toward the end?

Also looking at our 1st rear facing balcony roon (VC on Navigation Deck) any pros or cons on rear facing balconies in general?

Also looking at the meal pkg for the land portion. It's $399 per person for 10 meals, which works out to $40 per meal. Seems a bit steep when 5 of those meals are breakfasts. Any advice pro or con?

Thanks much in advance for your help.

can't answer that about the piano bar as we never went in there. Not fans of the smoke from the casino.

we didn't see anything except the beach right in town, which looked great and was full of people. You can likely get more detailed info on the St Maarten forum in the ports of call section.

I think you'll enjoy Westerdam. A great ship w/ what we think is a very elegant, understated décor as is the case w/ most HAL ships. Don't get me wrong, we had a good time and if someone who hadn't cruised w/ HAL 10 yrs ago were to take their 1st trip w/ them now, I doubt they would have many of the concerns that we did.

My only other frame of reference is one trip on Celebrity (which we enjoyed, but again, was 10 years ago) and a 4 day on Disney when our best friend's son got married onboard, so I'm fairly prejudiced in favor of HAL.

One thing I neglected to mention was that there is a lot of fluff in the schedule for sea days and relatively few actual activities. Also scratched our heads at scheduling the daily movie in the Queen's lounger during 1st seating most days, even when there was no conflict re use of that room earlier in the day.

Don't know what ships you've been on before, but all HAL ships are a manageable size (esp in contrast to Oasis of the Seas which we docked w/ in a couple ports) to walk around. They have the great wrap around promenade and limited numbers of kids. We've been on 6 HAL ships now and there are really more similarities than differences. Just wish there were more innovative itineraries. Hope you have a great experience on Westerdam.

This was our 10th trip on HAL in the past 12 years and our 3rd on Westerdam. As we all have acknowledged, it is a different experience today than it was 12 years ago. We traveled w/ another couple who have been life-long friends and whom have been w/ us on 9 of our 10 HAL cruises. Both couples agreed that we would happily pay 25% more to go back to the level of service that existed when we first cruised w/ HAL.

Our dining room steward did an excellent job, but he was stretched to take care of all his tables and we missed the opportunity to get to know him on a personal basis as was the case in the past. Food was good overall and eliminating a course has helped to move the dining experience along. It also meant we didn't feel as stuffed when we left the dining room. NOTE TO HAL - If you are going to continue to have a dress code in the dining room, then ENFORCE it. Doesn't seem all that difficult to discretely tell folks that they don't measure up and will have to change and return if they want to eat in the dining room. We saw jeans and/or shorts nearly every nite. Not that big a deal for us as we are laid back, but either enforce it or get rid of it. We'd be fine w/ either decision.

We were at an 8 top and one of the other couples was apparently put off by our "exuberance" what w/ rubber chickens and screaming, flying monkeys in our travel bag we cart around the ship so they sought repast elsewhere after night 1. That was probably best for all concerned. The couple who remained joined in the fun and we had a pleasant week dining w/ them and I think the sentiment was returned.

We did most of our drinking in the Ocean Bar. Service there continues to be slow due to understaffing. Every nite, I would have had 1 or 2 more drinks if the server had gotten around more often. Again, not their fault, but that of those who set staffing levels. I don't understand the 2 for 1 happy hour requirement that both drinks be the same. Most drinks are priced identically. I'm certain that the thought process was that with a couple, you would still sell 2 full priced drinks as many couples have different preferences in alcohol. In our case, we simply compromised and ordered one gin and tonic and then had the 2nd for a dollar. We would much preferred to have our regular Old Fashioned (me) and Scotch and water (DW). Not the end of the world, but an annoyance.

As in the past few trips, and in contrast to 10-12 years aqo, we had to request the hot hor doevres as well as mixed nuts and/or goldfish but they WERE provided when requested.

We rented golf carts from Nathan and Linda on Grand Turk. We had used them in the past and were satisfied, but this time we could never get a confirmation from them, so weren't sure until we showed up that the carts would be there. My buddy's cart had no brakes and lackluster acceleration, so I wouldn't use them again, but I understand there is now a vendor at the cruise terminal who offers them. Had fun exploring the island and having conch fritters and cold Turks Head beer downtown.

It rained in San Juan and we had been there 3 times previously, so wife and I snagged a couple of the recliners in the Crow's Nest and read/napped while our friends did the Bacardi tour. He seemed to think it was worthwhile. We have never done it.

Shopped and had lunch onshore in St Maarten. Again, had been there a couple times previously so no real yank to go sightseeing.

Gorgeous day at HMC (w/ the exception of the darn pirate ship bar and accompanying noise pollution). Another argument for 10 yrs ago. Spent most of the day in the water, escaped the sun burn, had some pina coladas and the BBQ. Schedule a 7 day w/ 2 stops at HMC and we'll be on it. For some reason I didn't see anyone parasailing. Not all that windy, so I don't know why that was the case. I enjoyed it last trip.

Only went to 2 shows in the Vista Lounge. Mike Robinson, a ventriloquist, was excellent. We had seen him 7 or 8 yrs ago and the material was much the same, but still a cut above many of the shipboard entertainers we have seen.

The other nite we went it was an older comedian who did a good job, especially when dealing w/ a few hecklers w/ wit and grace.

Went to the BB King Blues Club one nite and while they could have dialed back the volume a bit, it was a nice change of pace for HAL. Note to whomever picks the preshow music in the Vista Lounge - lose the disco beat stuff. There was pleasant soft jazz background Christmas music in the lido all week which would have been a big improvement over what you were playing preshow, esp given HAL's demographics.

The ship was nicely decorated for the holidays, but again, scaled back quite a bit from what was the case 10 years ago.

We had dinner one night in Canaletto and were underwhelmed. Great gelato but the rest was just average. Not a fan of the Pinnacle so we didn't try that.

All in all a good trip, but now that we are both retired we'll be looking at something other than the same boring 7 day itineraries HAL has been doing out of Ft Lauderdale. Would still love to see them base a ship in San Juan for some 7 day Eastern trips to include St Lucia, Antigua, etc. We may find ourselves back on Celebrity next time.

Best part of the cruise was that we are now FL snowbirds, so at the end, instead of fighting the crowds at FLL, we hopped in the car for a leisurely trip back to the Ft Myers area.

Happy New Year to all and GO GREEN, beat Baylor!

we are 2 couples who travel together. He and I have been buddies since we were teens 50+ yrs ago. We always ask our TA to try to get us a table for 8 or 10, but failing that, NOT to get us a table for 6. It is just too uncomfortable for the couple who get seated w/ us and while we do our best to make them feel welcome, it's just not ideal for them. So she gets us either a 4 top or 8 or more. an only imagine it is even worse if 2 are seated w/ a group of 8 that all know ea other.

As for strangers.. well they don't come any stranger than us w/ our rubber chickens and screaming, flying monkeys *L*

Didn't read the entire post, so apologies if someone beat me to this.. but DAM is an acronym for Mothers Against Dyslexia.

chris pb - the basic concept is that any merchant should go out of their way to show appreciation for frequent and loyal customers.. not so much the meal or setting per se.. but the acknowledgment that your business is valued