MISTER 67

We are already fed up with HAL, we are 4 Star Mariners but will only be booking with Celebrity and Princess until we hear things improve with HAL.

We always book with our personal cruise consultants on the various lines we cruise with. Seems a lot easier dealing with just one entity. We shop online for the best deals among Celebrity, Princess and Holland America and are always able to find a price to our liking. We are on the Reflection this coming Sunday with 2 other cruises booked in August and December. We also look for good deals while on board which has worked out well for us for quite a few cruises.

I just don't understand some people not taking the time to put on a nice pair of khaki's and a polo shirt, trust me, it doesn't hurt. I wouldn't like sitting near that guy who wore the same shirt the whole cruise especially near the end of the cruise, I hope he at least changed his underwear.

Appreciate your thoughts.

It sure looks that way, as I said it’s not a major issue but it is an inconvenience and something we will live with.

Pier 21 is available both on April 2nd and 9th when we return, looks like Celebrity lacks some clout. One day last week there were 3 HAL ships in port and none had to dock at 29. The solution of course if 29 is going to be constantly used is to build a parking lot close to the pier.

We return to PE on April 9th and there are again only 5 ships in port so that theory doesn’t work, Yeah, it’s not the worst thing in the world but it’s still inconvenient.

I don't understand why Pier 29 is being used so much for Celebrity cruises on the Reflection. This coming Sunday there are only 5 ships in port with the Reflection using out of the way pier 29. We live in Florida and always drive to the various ports in the Sunshine State but we hate Pier 29 as we have to take a shuttle bus from the mid-port garage. With only 5 ships in port why inconvenience passengers when it's not necessary.

Glad you liked the Infinity, we sailed on her last October and it quickly became our favorite Celebrity ship. We had very good food along with excellent entertainment and service. The Infinity is just the right size and we love that it has the old style promenade deck with deck chairs where you can read a good book as you have the sights and sounds of the ocean without any loud music.

We started sailing again in November of 2021 and have been on 7 cruises including 3 with Celebrity. We have never seen the kind of behavior as described by the OP. We have seen passengers turned away at the MDR for wearing shorts and tank tops. Our next cruise which will be our 70th is in 2 weeks on the Reflection and as usual I will keep my eyes and ears open and report back on any unacceptable behavior.

We are on the Reflection on April 2, happy to hear everything was great but how was the entertainment

We were on the NA in December and butter was as valuable as gold.

Holland America is a mess right and they have lost our business, if they continue down the same path, they will soon be out of business.

IMHO, soup and salad are not appetizers, they are courses or part of 5 course meal. Shrimp Cocktail is an appetizer. Our typical meal in the MDR on a cruise ship usually consists of an appetizer, cup of soup, salad followed by the main course and of course dessert. 69 cruises and we have never ordered an extra entree, on the Equinox last summer we were served 2 lobster tails at the same time, on that same cruise we ordered shrimp cocktail and the waiter brought 2 of those each also. On the Equinox about 6 weeks later we ordered lobster and were served one each but the waiter asked if we wanted another tail after finishing the first and we both declined. Both cruises sailed at about 82% of capacity.

That’s fine, we do that too.

Unfortunately the planet is filled with a very large number of stupid and ignorant people.

Covid is still with us, someone we know from church was hospitalized with Covid last week. I don't understand people not using the Purel stations on the ships or not washing their hands after visits to the washrooms, see it all the time.

Unfortunately Holland America is not the cruise line it once was, just too many cutbacks especially with the food and entertainment budgets, service also could be better probably because of staffing shortages, not sure if it's on purpose or not. As far as the Westerdam, we have sailed on her twice but when she was fairly new, one thing IMHO is that HAL keeps their ships in great condition and very clean but I can't say for certain what kind of shape the Westerdam is in. We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam this past December and she is not quite as old as the Westerdam and she was in great shape.

We always request a table for 2 and and there has never been a problem but beware, some of the tables for 2 are 9 inches apart.

Same with our cruise on the NA in December, food and entertainment were fair at best, we also are staying away from HAL until we hear that things improve.

That stinks, shame on Celebrity.

Princess yes, HAL no. HAL at one time was our favorite line but they have cut down on the food and entertainment budgets, even the service was not as good as in the past, we cruised on the Nieuw Amsterdam in December and it was pretty bad, we are done with HAL for the foreseeable future unless we hear that things have changed for the better. We are sailing on the Reflection next month, the Equinox in August and the Sky Princess in December.

Not the same company.

Yep, a terrible waste of space as HAL has cut the entertainment budget.