Lunar Dragon

6 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

You are expecting passengers to be considerate of their fellow passengers in today's "Me First" environment.

This brings to memory a very old Perry Como song, "Dream On, Little Dreamer, Dream On" !!!

😁😁😁  I live in hope........

We were on the Rotterdam and during dinner there was an emergency situation due to a fire on board.  It was quickly contained and the Captain kept us informed with updates.

What really irritated me was that everyone was quiet during the first announcements given in English but, as soon as the Captain switched to Dutch, everyone started talking.

English is my native tonque, but there were elderly Dutch people sitting next to us who had limited English.  Because they couldn’t hear the Captain’s announcements in Dutch due to the coversational roar, I ended up translating the important information for them.

Please keep in mind that especially in Europe when many Dutch are on board, not all speak English well enough to understand everything.  In a real emergency it’s in everyone’s best interest that all passagers understand the instructions.

Being able to find something or someone to be annoyed about is not unique to cruising or HAL.

Common courtesy goes a long way to diffuse situations.  Personally I think an ‘excuse me, the line is behind me’ or a ‘go ahead, I’m not in a hurry ‘ is preferable to listening to people get in an argument about the line.  There will always be rude people, but arguments rarely have an effect.  Sometimes it’s better to let it go.

Walking (or driving😀) around the ship on sea days when everyone is on board can be crowded, even on the smaller ships, but again, common courtesy and tolerance go a long way.   You may not be able to do anything about someone else’s reaction, but you can choose your own reaction and not stir up a conflict.

As to the ‘geriatric’ element on board, I am relatively young at 55 and started cruising in my early 40’s. I enjoy chatting to older passengers .   I have met many older couples with wonderful stories and I enjoy hearing about their lives.  When my daughter was a child, she had a great time and, as there were few children on board, was spoiled to death by all the attention she received from the older generation!   I much prefer that to being on a ship with the younger generation who rarely look up from their phones!

I agree that being negative is unhealthy and generally pointless.  However, I do not feel that having an opinion and responding to ‘what I miss’ threads is being negative.

 I love cruising on HAL and I look forward to each cruise, but that does not mean that I don’t notice the changes occuring.   The reason I notice, is because I care about HAL and I am sorry to see the typically HAL experience being slowly eroded.  Much is spoken about costs, but I believe the popularity of the Prinsendam ( with its higher costs ) shows that people will pay to sail on a smaller ship to special ports.  Yet the feeling many of us have, is that HAL will slowly replace the smaller ships for the ever larger Pinnancle size ships in order to be more cost effective.

I don’t believe it’s negative to discuss and debate this as it will affect our future relationship with HAL.   I hope that Seattle will hear our ‘negativity ‘ and just maybe it will help to stem the tide and preserve HAL’s uniqueness.

I miss the vase of flowers on each in-room dining tray, flowers are also  now gone from the main dining room  (at least on our Rotterdam cruise this summer.) 

However what I miss the most is the lovely indonesian good bye song sung in the dining room with cabin stewards, kitchen and dining room staff all singing and dancing.  The last night now is absolutely nothing -a brief roundabout from kitchen staff.  Its not even worth going to the dining room for the last evening.  See link I found on youtube.

It was so much fun!   On the Rotterdam the staff would sing and play instruments!

I do not like the direction HAL is going.  I have been cruising since 2007, and especially  in the past 5 years, each time we sail I notice something has disappeared.  This summer it was fresh flowers in the dining room which had disappeared, and the dining room stewards were so busy we barely had time for a chat.   It may each time  be small changes, but these add up over the years and a real decline in the experience happens.   Most  importantly  the trend towards larger ships, which will impact the itineraries,  is a concern to our family.

I really don’t understand why HAL wants to focus on 20-30 year olds, if this is the case.  I am a 4 star mariner and at 55 hope to have a good 15-20 years of cruising left!

You would think that HAL would want to keep this business as we will have the money and time to cruise in the coming years.  We are loyal customers but as the smaller ships get fewer,  and the quality less,  this will change.

At the mariners lunch, we hear the speech about HAL being proud to have the most loyal customers of any cruise line.  However, I feel we are not as valued as we should be.  Head office seems to have stopped listening to us.    If they keep going in this direction they will throw away a loyal customer base that will be hard to replace.

The picture of the french fries has made me hungry!  When ordering fries, ‘patat’ is used  in the north of the country and down south they order a ‘friet.’

thanks for the information about Schiphol.  I always thought if was actually built on a ‘ships hole’- so on the sea.   

Thank you!

And the ms Rotterdam?  Or did I miss it?

Absolutely true-a little kindness and consideration goes a long way, on a cruise and in life!

I honestly did not see Glenn much as he said nothing that I couldn’t read for myself so I never attended the ‘lectures ‘ and tended to block out the monologues during the scenic cruising. 

I learned more from the lovely student tour guides we met.  Again I agree with you that HAL could easily have found various graduate students to give lectures.  A real missed opportunity!

I was on the same cruise and agree with you.  Considering this is a once a year HAL itinerary, I had expected Experts on board to give information.  HAL has been promoting its EXC in depth program but nothing special was done on this cruise.  Glenn is a very nice person, but no expert.  The ‘highlight ‘ for me was Glenn droning on about the beauty of Jan Mayen Island with everyone staring out at a thick blanket of fog- it was hilarious 😂 Luckily we caught a glimpse later as the fog lifted a bit.  

I would have loved to attend lectures about the extraordinary nature we saw.  Experts on board special itinerary cruises should be the norm if HAL continues with promoting their ‘in-depth’ programs.

My first cruise was on the Prinsendam in 2007 with Captain Turner.  It was amazing and got my family hooked on cruising.  Last year we said our farewell tomher on her last voyage through the Kiel canal.  The link below was filmed by someone on shore as she sails through the canal for the last time as the Prinsendam.

I certainly hope HAL doesn’t go the way of the mega floating hotels!   The unique itineraries HAL offers are often due to the ships that can dock at smaller ports.  We shall see.....

My daughter thoroughly enjoyed herself and kept in touch with her Canadian friend for many years after.  If a ship offers Club Hal, they will run it even with only two kids.  The Baltic is popular so there are sure to be other kids on board and most European kids speak a bit of English.  We have done the Baltic on the Zuiderdam and it was wonderful..  My daughter by that time had just turned 18, and was in floods of tears as she was no longer allowed in Club Hal!

To be on the safe side, let Club Hal and the Dining room manager know when your daughter’s birthday is and I am sure they will organize something for her.

Have a wonderful cruise!

Years back my daughter had a wonderful 9th Birthday on the Prinsendam.  There was only one other child on board but club HAL organized a birthday party for her.  We ate in the main dining room and the waiters came to sing for her.  Captain Turner stopped by at our table  (My Dad had asked if this was possible for a photo) and wished her a happy birthday.   She loved it all and to this day remembers what a special day it was!

 I hope your daughter has a special day as well!

Bitterballen are made from a roux of butter and flour and beef bouillon.  Depending on how thick the roux is made will determine how firm the mixture inside is after being deep fried.   Hope this helps!

My first cruise, on the Prinsendam, was a gift from my parents after my chemo for Breast cancer.  What a wonderful experience that was to be in a bubble away from reality for awhile.

 I remember the excitement of pulling away from the dock and setting off towards the North Sea.  The beautiful, beautiful sea, always a comfort to me.   I remember walking around the deck in the evening with my husband, watching the moonlight dance on the waves.  The afternoon tea served with elegance in the crows nest.  Lovely Captain Turner stopping by our table in the dining room to wish my daughter a happy 9th birthday.  The entire crew, so kind and welcoming.

It was an experience of a lifetime.  Today we are 4 star mariners, and are still looking forward to that next cruise. My parents are no longer with us, but we have wonderful memories together, many aboard a cruise ship.

 I honestly believe that first cruise contributed to my recovery and even today, 12 years later,  I feel it is always better to focus on something positive and to have something to look forward to.    Happy Cruising everyone!

We stopped in Riga last year with the Prinsendam.  Wonderful port, thoroughly enjoyed the city! 

How interesting, small world indeed!  Soesterberg, I believe, remained Dutch soil, unlike other bases which were US soil. Therefore the Royal crest.  Anyway 

groetjes uit Nederland en een fijne dag verder!

Happy Easter Father,  and Happy Passover to all Jewish CC members!

😂 Look at it this way, when my cruise is all over, you can still look forward to yours!

No actually, although later he was in Soesterberg.  My mother was Dutch (they met in Ramstein). Dad was in Air Crash Rescue at Grand Forks AFB.

my mother was from Amsterdam, and her first taste of the States was North Dakota.  Bit of s culture shock, but she always remembered how lovely the people were there.  I live in Holland as I happened to marry a Dutchman, because of Dad being stationed at Soesterberg later-   what goes around,comes around😁.   Soesterberg was a lovely base,  sorry they closed it down.  We were also at Hahn AFB.  Wonderful memories there growing up.  Also gone.  I stopped by there with my Dad in the 90’s, I believe, and it was just closed.  Really strange as everything looked exactly the same (except the buildings were no longer green) but It was a ghost town.  

Thank you for posting the videos.  My father was in Air Crash rescue in the USAF.

This brings back so many memories for me.  My father has passed away but I am still so proud of him.  

Thank you Ruth!  I appreciate the information!