scdreamer

We are on the June 21 sailing out of Southampton and I've been keeping an eye on fares.

Long story short - we were initially booked on an August sailing, but had to switch to June because of a new grandchild set to arrive in late summer - ended up with a less desirable cabin for more $$$.

Yesterday I saw that fares had dropped for our sailing, and I called my travel agent, and we were able to upgrade from a 2C veranda on deck 6 to a concierge class XC for $700 less per person than we were paying. To do this we are taking a guarantee, which is fine for us, because any concierge cabin will be better than the 2C cabin we had. And we still get to keep the perks we had.

Not sure if this has anything to do with the troubles in Ukraine and passengers canceling - but we are very happy to have found this option. If you're sailing to the Baltic this summer and haven't made your final payment, it could be worth your time to check on fares.

My husband and I spent two weeks in Paris a few years ago - we had an apartment in the Montmartre, and we shopped in the little markets, rode the Metro, tried to blend in as much as we could.

Of course, while we were there we did as much sightseeing as possible, and on the day we visited Napoleon's Tomb at Dome des Invalides, my husband had awakened with a very sore arch on one of his feet. The only shoes that felt comfortable were his white New Balance running shoes, which he had been avoiding wearing since we had arrived in the city.

Off we went for our day of sightseeing, and if you've ever been to the Dome des Invalides, you know that it is quite grand - lots of museum spaces in large buildings with balconies running along the sides, and lots and lots of people. Of course, with so much to see, it was inevitable we would lose track of each other, and we didn't have cell phones ... a lot of time passed, as I was looking from one room to the next to try to find my husband. In the worst case, we would have both had to return all the way to the Montmartre to reconnect, which would have been very inconvenient.

Finally, as a last resort, I went out on a balcony to look out over the courtyard - so many people milling about, but yes! There was one shining pair of WHITE shoes moving among the gray and black crowd. And it was my husband! We still joke about the day he wore the white shoes, and how much they really did stand out in Paris.

As far as the mini bars go, maybe it would be a good idea if the default is for the mini bar to be a personal refrigerator, and that passengers could elect to have the mini bar stocked when they make their reservations. That way, the stewards wouldn't have to go about emptying and refilling them for the many who want them for their own personal use.

Yes, I realize that might mean the bottom line for the cruise line would be slightly compromised, but it sure would make for less work for the stewards, and less chance for incorrect billing issues.

I wonder how many people actually make use of the almost always overpriced contents of mini bars, whether on a cruise or in a hotel? personally, I would never purchase anything from a mini bar, and I don't think I even know anyone who does.

We will be on Celebrity Eclipse in St. Petersburg June 28 &29. We are looking at an Alla grand tour, but they will return us to the ship at 6 p.m.

This time of year is the famous and beautiful "White Nights" - with a tradition of celebration and music very late into the night in the streets of the city. We wuld love to be able to see this, but my understanding is that without our own visas, we are not allowed to be off the ship. I haven't seen any evening tours that don't include indoor activities (dinner, ballet, etc).

Has anyone else figured out a way to see the city at night - without the hassle of getting one's own visa?

I say if you don't want to be around people that are different from you then don't get on a cruise ship. It is pretty hard to get off when you are out at sea. You could stay in your own back yard for a vacation and don't worry about encounters with other people?? No offense is meant to anyone on here but cruising on a ship is a choice. You have to know you will encounter people different than you.

I don't think most people would object to a group because they are "different." The problem comes when the group has private access to public areas of the ship, impacting other passengers. We were on a cruise a few years ago with a very large ballroom dance group. There were many areas of the ship closed off to passengers, so the dancers could have lessons, such as bars and lounges. This included the crow's nest area (it was a HAL cruise) in the afternoons and evenings. Even when the areas were open to all, the dancers took over with ongoing "lessons" and it was quite intrusive.

I'm sure there will be others here who will have some great ideas, but what comes to mind is that you can order from the room service menu 24 hours a day. I think there is a turkey sandwich (or maybe it's a club?) and I know there is fruit. I think you can ask that your steward keep fresh fruit in your cabin.

You could also make an extra plate at the buffet of non-perishable food items to keep for a later snack. Lots of people do that.

It would seem that a cruise would probably be one of the best kinds of vacation for your situation. Hope you have a great time!

I am looking forward to following along!

I am curious - it seems that some itineraries lend themselves to a bit more adherence to dress code - particularly for formal nights. Is that true?

Would it be more likely that the dress code would be followed on a European itinerary than on a Caribbean cruise? How about Alaska? Or on a longer cruise compared to a a seven-day?

What about fixed seating versus open?

Do passengers tend to dress more formally under different sets of circumstances?

 

We just want to be able to smoke on our balcony, enjoy a coffee or other drink in peace and we hope that we can find that with HAL.

As a non smoker - I have to agree with you. As long as smokers follow the rules wherever they are, that should be enough.

As non smokers, we choose not to cruise HAL with a balcony. We understand that smoking is permitted on balconies on HAL, and if there is someone smoking near our balcony, it would negatively impact our comfort.

So - if we are going to cruise on HAL, we will not have a balcony. If we want a balcony, we will cruise on another line. Seems simple enough.

We had no a/c on Veendam last September, but received nothing from HAL.

To the poster who said "fresh air" from the balcony - the OP was on a Panama Canal cruise.

And as far as Noro goes, I can see how that could make for an unpleasant cruise, but HAL can't control that the way they can (should) fix the a/c.

We sailed Veendam a few months ago and had fairly significant issues with the air conditioning in our cabin. There are many other posts regarding this problem that you can find by searching. Our cabin had no air at all, we used a portable fan the ship provided, but it was still very hot and stuffy, especially for sleeping. I think it's mainly the cabins in the aft section that seem to be affected. Ours was an OV, so no possibility of opening the door to the veranda for a few minutes to let in a bit of fresh air.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise ... other than the problem with the a/c, we loved everything else about Veendam.

UPDATE:

We're delighted to report that we received a wonderful letter via email from HAL in which our concerns were addressed and nice compensation for our trouble was given to us. It's great to see that HAL does, indeed, live up to its reputation for commitment to passenger comfort. The rapidity of the response was also a very pleasant surprise. We look forward to sailing again on HAL.:D

Well, HAL did not respond to or give us any compensation on Veendam when we experienced no AC in our cabin (not even any air coming from the register at all). Of course, we were in an OV, not a high end cabin, so maybe that had something to do with it.:cool::mad:

Your experience matches precisely that of dinner companions on our November 2012 partial Canal transit on Zuiderdam (as well as matching numerous other postings here). Fortunately, we were in a lesser cabin and our a/c amidships was fine. I believe you are completely correct in thinking that HAL's plan to deal with what appears to be an intractable a/c problem is to leverage the "each individual passenger" approach and play out "Service Desk kabuki" following the script that they are shocked, shocked that someone is having a problem, say the engineers are working on it, then time goes by, then offer a fan, then stall as long as possible, and then after numerous complaints and several sleepless nights, offer-up a sleeping cabin. That was the script we witnessed last year, and that appears to be the script behind numerous postings I've read since then. Perhaps Zuiderdam just needs to be moved to the Alaska run. Or maybe its heat doesn't work either.

You are correct - at least that was pretty much our experience on Veendam two months ago. Except we were not given another cabin, just a fan.

The weather on the New England/Canada trip was quite cold and rainy, but our OV cabin was hot and stuffy the entire cruise. So one shouldn't assume the problem would not exist on an Alaskan itinerary.

Smokers stink, can't help it. :eek:

 

That said however, it isn't going to stop me from being close to him, it isn't hurtful in any way to my lungs ( just my nose ) ...

Actually, that statement is in question. There is evidence that the residues that cling to smokers and other objects around smokers (clothing, carpet, curtains, furniture, vehicles, even dust (!) etc) are potentially harmful to non-smokers who spend time around smokers.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/thi...-smoke/AN01985

That said, as an older former smoker, you are probably at little danger of increasing your risk because your husband smokes, but it's worth considering that children and grandchildren of smokers could be at higher risk due to "third hand" smoke.

I realize this does not necessarily pertain to fellow cruisers who would have only a casual exposure, but it does refute the contention that there is no risk from spending lots of time around a smoker or in an environment where smoking has taken place.

And I heartily agree with the poster who said if there had not been complaints, there would still be smoking in the dining room!

but of course a/c is not an issue in Alaska.

It is if you're in an OV or inside cabin, no matter where you cruise!

We were on Veendam - Canada/New England in late September - the A/C did not work in our OV cabin, and it was very hot the entire cruise, even though the outside temps were quite cool. We were also given the runaround when we complained, only to discover later that this was an ongoing problem in the cabin we were in and others nearby.

Apparently the issue and lack of resolution are not limited to just one ship.

Hmmm ... part of the reason to upgrade from classic to premium was that we had read some great reviews of the Molecular Bar and its innovative drinks. But the drinks there are not included in the premium package?

I know with the classic, if you want a drink that costs more than the "classic" price, you have to pay full price for it (you can't just pay the difference). Is that true for the premium package as well?

We have the classic drink package as our choice in the "pick your perk" or "123 go" or whatever the promotion was called.

Wondering if we can upgrade it to premium, as the Molecular Bar and others sound like fun. Should we call our TA and do it now, or can we upgrade when we get on board?

We, too, have experienced frustration around the ice issue. We always let our steward know we would like ice in our cabin between 4:30 and 5 p.m. each afternoon. It almost never happens, and we can never even find the steward. We end up calling room service, and then it's another half hour before we have ice, if at all. Oh well, I guess once the new wine policy goes into effect, the need for afternoon ice in the cabin will diminish anyway :rolleyes:.

We were on a cruise with a large ballroom dancing group a few years ago - not sure how many were in the group, but we found that many areas of the ship were unavailable to us, and you might as well forget about being able to use the crow's nest - it was always packed and being used for dance instruction day and night, as were many other "public" spaces. We found it annoying - never anywhere to just sit and enjoy the quiet and the view.

The group also took over the ambiance of the MDR with themed costumes most evenings - and lots of group partying. We felt as if we were interlopers after a while.

I would try to rebook another ship or itinerary that could work with your vacation time and flights, if possible.

On our last HAL cruise, we had Anytime Dining and arrived to have dinner about ten or fifteen minutes before the fixed late seating time. There was a 45 minute wait our first evening - so we switched to fixed seating and were taken right in. Luckily for us, we had great table-mates for the entire cruise, and were happy ending up with the set dining time.

While in Boston - definitely take the free "Freedom Trail" walk - you can just follow the red line and will pass many historical spots. We did the entire walk over two days.

We were in Boston for four nights a year ago in late September, and our favorite meal was at Il Villagio in the north end. Small restaurant with an intimate ambiance, and really delicious Italian food.

We will be on the New England/Canada cruise later this week, and we are planning on arriving a day early into Boston. Staying near the waterfront, so that's where we'll eat this time around. We have reservations for Atlantic Fish - hope it's a good choice :rolleyes:

We really enjoyed our time in Boston last year - thought the city was great for walking, and found the people who live there to be friendly and helpful.

My very first cruise was in 1959 aboard the SS Chusan - a British ship built in 1950 for the P & O line. I was 11 years old, and our American family cruised from Tokyo to Hong King and the Philippines.

We had two small porthole cabins with bunks - my mother, sister and I shared one, and my father and younger brother shared the other - with an older gentleman, "Mr. Culpepper." He was a stranger when we boarded, but we ended up becoming fast friends and stayed in touch with him via mail until his death many years later.

Children were cared for in the "nursery," I guess the early equivalent of today's Kids Club. We were expected to be seen and not heard, and even dined in a special nursery dining room at a separate time as the adults on board. My sister and I - along with a few new shipboard friends - would escape the nursery and often roamed the ship at will, even down to the crew's deck, as I recall. Plenty of mischief.

Meals were very British - lots of unfamiliar foods, and I remember my sister and I ordering the weirdest stuff for our younger brother, who was only about six years old. Poor kid - he ended up with blow-fish, kidney pie, and other culinary oddities we were curious to see but not actually taste ourselves.

There were deck games that everyone took part in - I remember some sort of wooden frogs strung on a line that had to be nudged along a race course to a finish line. There were also talent contests - I sang "Molly Malone" in one of them and won a small prize. Hard to believe, as I am not known for my singing voice!

Cruising is quite different these days!

Definitely not a deal breaker for us, but one of the pleasures of travel is to have an opportunity to sample local wines from the various ports visited. This is especially true of European ports of call. It's too bad they won't allow passengers to pay a corkage fee to bring any wines they wish to consume on board, instead of taking the wine and holding it.

I am curious - how does HAL get around the fact that when some passengers booked and paid for their upcoming cruises, the former policy was in effect? Seems like a switch after the fact. I guess there must be some sort of generic disclaimer that says they can change the rules whenever they wish?

What a wonderful review! I am holding my breath for the novice couple :eek:.

I am really enjoying your descriptions and especially your take on everything.

We did a Celebrity cruise a few years ago - inside passage - and also kayaked. But not in quite as remote an area as you are doing. It was still pretty daunting to consider the ramifications of tipping and falling in, though. And it absolutely reinforced my dislike of double kayaks. I can even blue-water solo in cold water, but hate being at the mercy of anyone else's movements in a double. Was not exactly a great activity for fostering camaraderie with my husband :o

Looking forward to more from you!

Agree! We have done our share of HA cruising (4 Star Mariners) but usually find ourselves going to the Pinnacle no more then once a cruise (even on 60 day cruises). And we are only paying 50% of the full price....but still do not think its a good enough restaurant to justify repeat visits. On every cruise we hope to find that HA has revamped their Pinnacle menu.....but alas, not much has changed in the past 20 years. We think some of the "suits" up in Seattle should pay a visit to Murano on a Celebrity ship and get some new menu ideas :)

 

Hank

Hmmm ... I was expecting that Pinnacle Grill would be on par with Celebrity's Murano, which is the other specialty restaurant we have experienced. We loved Murano (great menu, well prepared dishes, and amazing service and ambiance)- will we be as pleased with Pinnacle?