MISTER 67

Not us, things need to improve in the Food and Entertainment departments before we sail on HAL again.

Plenty of time. I too wonder why you don't drive. We hate airports and flying, we live in Punta Gorda and always drive, we've made the trip in as little as 2 hours and 10 minutes, you should make it in 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Exactly, look how much Disneyworld costs these days.

What the OP went through is what is now becoming par for the course with most of the lines with cutback after cutback. We sailed on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam last month and after 24 cruises with we are done with them. The food was bad and portions were very small. I had some dover sole one evening in the MDR and the piece was was about 2.5 inches square with a spoonful of mashed potatoes and a couple of carrots. Of the 7 nights we were on board we had 2 decent meals in the MDR. The buffet for breakfast and lunch wasn't much better, things must really be bad when you have to ask for butter as it's out of reach and they give one measly pat. One morning someone forgot to heat up the scrambled eggs and mine were actually frozen in spots. I'm a big fan of lox and bagels and HAL always had the best but on our cruise the lox were actually gray in color and not fresh, it was disgusting. Entertainment is really bad with lousy shows and the worn out Music Walk. We also cruise with Celebrity and Princess and they also are cutting back but raising prices on most services as Celebrity is charging $9.95 for room service. Their boards are full of threads with unhappy cruisers. We are sailing with Celebrity in April and this might be our last cruise with them also if what I'm reading is true. We saile on the Infinity in October and a wonderful cruise with excellent food and entertainment. My guess is the cruise lines really took a beating because of the pandemic and the passengers are paying the price literally as the lines try to get back on solid ground financially.

The venue on the newer Pinnacle Class ships seems to me to be just the right size. The shoe boxes on the smaller ships are a joke. On another point, passengers should start complaining about the lack of real entertainment in the Main Showroom, BBC TV shows with thousands of snakes chasing and eating baby iguanas is not entertainment nor is the History of Holland America which is something to be shown maybe in the afternoon in a smaller venue as part of an enrichment series.

That very well could be the direction most of the lines are contemplating.

We've given up on Holland America as they have cutback on too many things with the food and entertainment . We decided to cruise more with Celebrity and now it seems they are going with the same kind of game plan. Pretty soon we will be seeing neckbones and black eyed peas on the menus. We did sail on the Infinity in October and it was a fantastic cruise with great food and outstanding entertainment on a wonderful ship. We sail on the Reflection in April and it will be interesting to see what cutbacks have been made.

Exactly, we won't touch the stuff.

We've been on 24 HAL cruises and 22 Princess cruises, this isn't just me but if you go to the HAL boards you will see a lot of disgruntled people who aren't happy with HAL. The product now is pretty bad due to excessive cutbacks from the food to the entertainment, even the service has been cut back with only once a day cabin service. The latest news is that Lincoln Center Stage will no longer be a part of HAL cruises. We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam last month and it was our worst HAL cruise, my recommendation is to stay with Princess or another line. We have been very happy with Celebrity and we also had 2 great Princess cruises in late 2021 when we started cruising again after no cruises for 2 years due to Covid.

We were on the Infinity in October and thought the ship was in great shape for her age. We had a great cruise with excellent food and entertainment. If there was one negative, the buffet didn't have the variety that the larger ships have but the food was still very good in the buffet. The ship did not look dated as far as decor and furniture. We also loved the promenade deck that all the older ships have with deck chairs and a quiet place to read a book and watch the ocean go by. As far as the towels I'm pretty sure they were in good shape otherwise I would have remembered.

It's all about what the bean counters are recommending to management.

Yes its warm in the Caribbean but most of lines keep their ships pretty cool, on our NA cruise last month it was probably the coldest we have ever been on a cruise ship, I'm still thawing out.

Our thoughts and prayers for Kathi.

We've been cruising since 1982 and the changes in the industry down through the years when you think about have been quite startling. If this keeps up with cuts along with nickle and diming, we will find somewhere else to spend our vacation money.

We had the same exact experience on the Nieuw Amsterdam last month, out of 24 cruises with HAL it was by far the worst.

We were on the NA last month and at the beginning of the cruise all of the crew were masked, with 2 days left in cruise only a few were masked. I asked our steward why the change and he said it wasn't mandatory for the crew for the last 2 days as there were very few Covid cases on board.

I don't know what has happened since our October 1st cruise on the Infinity but it was one of the best cruises we have had among the 69 since December of 1982. Everything was excellent from the food to the entertainment to the service and on an older beautiful ship. We also cruised on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam in December and it was one of our worst cruises, talk about cutbacks.

That’s not what we were told.

Exactly and except for the service HAL has downgraded many facets on their ships and even the service has been cut back with only once a day cabin service. For now we are taking our business elsewhere.

They need to use the main theater like Celebrity with various entertainers from comedians to singers to magicians along with no more than 2 production shows. Celebrity also has live bands in the main showroom to accompany some of the acts plus they have live bands in some of the lounges on their ships, we hate canned music and singing. We were on the Infinity in October and the entertainment throughout the ship was outstanding, wish I could say the same about on our cruise in December on the Nieuw Amsterdam which also had food which was not up to HAL standards with miniscule portions.

We are also finished with HAL, we will stick with Celebrity and Princess.

Hate to see Lincoln Center Stage discontinued but the venues on all but the 3 new ships are a joke, it's like watching a concert in a shoe box besides being a Covid spreader event.

Be careful what you wish for.

We were on the Equunox in June and those who ordered lobster in the MDR received 2 right of the bat, same with shrimp cocktail, 2 orders were presented by the waiter. We sailed again on the Equinox in August and the Intrepid in October and both of those sailings only one lobster was presented but we were asked during the meal if we would like another order. To tell the truth I don't care if I ever eat lobster again and certainly would not pay an upcharge for it even if liked it.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is eventually a charge for all meals in the MDR forcing passengers to dine in the more expensive restaurants or in the buffet. That's when we will just look for other vacation options.