travelholics

24 minutes ago, DianneMarie said:

It seems to me that only two people can play, or possibly four? What were they thinking when they decided this would be good entertainment for 2000 plus passengers?

We have not found a problem. Usually sports rep arrives at 9am and offers basic instruction for newbies and players take it in turns to play. At 10am the sports rep coordinates a tournament and everyone gets to play in turn for an hour. Court can be used other times, either by booking or just turning up, depends on ship and itinerary. 

Great addition to ship's programming. We learned to play last year on French Polynesia trip and have now joined local group at home. Also great opportunity to meet fellow cruisers. 

 highlight was a tour of the old market with a local chef and then a cooking class where we made and ate Paella, Catalan Crème and a Spanish Omelet.    It was a group of 7 in the class and everyone took turns with the prep and cooking.  Our chef, Horia, was funny, warm and made the experience a joy.  I would highlight recommend the experience that we booked on EatWith.com, a company we used last year in Amsterdam when we ate dinner at a local chef’s home.

Thank you so much for telling us about Eatwith.com. It looks a great place to find cooking classes around Europe and we will definetely give it a try.

Love your report, we will be taking the transatlantic on Oosterdam in October and look forward to all the events you described. Thanks for all the time involved in writing your cruise report.

9 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I wish I knew. We are booked on a 43 day Auckland to Seattle voyage next year and it is not "Legendary" so clearly length of cruise isn't the criteria. But it does seem those who are on these "Legendary" voyages are getting something closer to what the long time HAL loyalists would consider the HAL standard.

Strange. The 43 day, starting in Auckland, is not titled Legendary, but the 29 day part of the journey from Sydney to Seattle is! My thoughts are that the Legendary part starts in Sydney and HAL views the stage from Auckland as a collector segment. 

How about Tamarind week long 'popup' on Westerdam cruises in Asia? Are Mariner discounts applicable?

Welcome to HAL, hope you enjoy sailing with her as much as we do. The crew are absolutely amazing, nothing is too much trouble and the itinerarys are excellent.

We spent a week in Hong Kong with our daughter, when she was in her early 20's, and had an amazing time. We are on Westerdam in March for travel around Japan and will be very interested in your report. We have visited Hong Kong Disney and plan to see Tokyo Disney this trip. 

Safe travels and thanks for all your efforts on our behalf.

Also thanks for the tip about the Google translate. We had thought we would need to pay for internet coverage to use it, so thanks for answering this and we now have Japanese installed

6 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Yesterday we rented a car and drove to the Volcano National Park. It was a great day and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Weather couldn’t have been better. 
 

The singer last night is billed as a singer/comedian and we laughed our heads off! She was much funnier than the comedian earlier in the cruise. We hope she will perform again, we really enjoyed it. 
 

Tonight is our first “formal night” (we also have dressy nights this cruise) and the Volendam Ball. 

Hi Carolyn, Great action photo. Please can you tell us where you picked up the rental car in Hilo and how long the drive was. Many thanks

Thank you so much for taking the time to include us in your travels. We did the trip in 2019 and loved it and hope to repeat in the future. Look forward to reading more of your travels in the future.

Another great journey to follow! We hope you have a wonderful trip and look forward to reading all about it! This is certainly going to be a Winter of adventure for all of us, with so many interesting, and very different, journey logs to read each day.

Really enjoy your reports. I have been checking daily this week for your launch e mail. Safe travels and thank you so much for all the useful information you provide to us travellers who are only able to take shorter journeys. 

When you log into your cruise on the HAL website, go to itinerary and you will see the tours and dining you have booked under the date

I am sure you will love this journey of exploration. We travelled to Antarctica on Zaandam in 2020 and had the most amazing time. Look forward to reading your live thread, thanks for taking the time to let us share your adventure

Same for us. We wer on both Koningsdam and Noordam in September and didn't receive e mail for Welcome Home for either cruise

23 minutes ago, bennybear said:

Thanks for taking us along!  Sounds like you had really lovely weather.  I’m slow reading so wanted to respond about some of the ports. 
 

We really enjoyed visiting the fortress in Hakkodate and enjoyed the very fresh crab for lunch. It’s a short reasonable taxi ride.  
 

 

Mant thanks for the pictures and information. Really look ofrward to trying all that seafood!

10 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

The $25 was round trip 

I didn't talk to anyone that took an excursion.  There was a lady on that tram (street car) that we took to get to the museum (and Kochi Castle), she said that she bought an all day pass that she found out at the tourist office.  She said that the tourist office directed her to a nearby place to buy it.  She said it cost her about $3,USD.  I can't confirm that, but that is how she described it.  Without that pass, that tram cost us 200Yen ($1.35 US)

 

If possible, try to have Japanese Yen in hand before arriving in Japan.  We brought the equivalent of $500 USD in Yen with us from home.  Pack light, buy the laundry package if you don't have that 4*Star perk, and have good walking shoes.  You might consider adding walking up stairs while at home/office, etc to prepare you for all the stairs.

 

If you are staying in Tokyo on your own during your trip, I can recommend the Tokyo Ginza Aloft Hotel (Marriott).  Great location, and walking distance to lots of restaurants and some very upscale stores.  There is a fish market about 1/2 mile from the hotel that you can walk to and grab a bite to eat during the morning/early afternoon.  The Tokyo Ginza Aloft is also close to two subway/train stations.  This is the second time we have stayed at the Aloft, and have been happy with it.

 

I am jealous about your upcoming cruise - I would love to be back here that soon.

Thanks so much for the info,  it will really help us with final detailed planning.

54 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

The ship was docked a fair distance from anything, and quite a ways from the city center.  HAL offered a $25 shuttle, which was the easiest option for most folks.  Walking was not an option.

Really enjoyed your reports, thank you so much for your dedication. 

We are on Westerdam in March/April, so your information has been extremely useful. The $25 shuttle cost, was that each way or return? We have 2 visits to Kochi during the 28 day trip, did you hear of any other excursions people enjoyed? Safe journey home

21 minutes ago, luvn2cruzzz said:

I recently had to cancel a cruise and had used FCD.  I was told they would not go back as FCD but as FCC.  I have never had that happen before.  Usually they return to me as FCD. Anyone else experience  this?

We cancelled a cruise in June and the FCD's were returned as FCD's and we used one of the $300 for 2 deposits during the $1 special in July and received the $75 OBC which went with it for a veranda cabin

4 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Day 4 Menus (which are labelled Day 3!)

 

Lido Lunch

 

MDR Dinner

 

 

 

 

Lido Dinner

 

 

 

There were quite a few 'extras' in the Lido.  A lot of pies!  Steak and Kidney, beef and potato, Cottage Pie, Toad in the Hole.   Real British Food.  It was well received!

 

 

 

 

m3-day3-_lido_lunch_north_europe_2023 (1).pdf 97.35 kB · 0 downloads m3-day3-_lido_dinner_north_europe_voyage (2).pdf 110.54 kB · 0 downloads m3-day3-_mdr_north_europe_2023 (2).pdf 116.28 kB · 0 downloads

 

 

What choice! I think it would have been starter in the MDR with the Borscht and then up to the Lido for Steak and Kidney puff pie! Not sure if there would be room for bread pudding too !

Can $1 per person, pushed us to book a 2025 longer cruise we had been thinking about but didn't want to lose our opportunity for an aft facing cabin. 95% chnce we will sail and now excited to start planning

9 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

There are tables, chairs, couches and armchairs(patio furniture) on the aft deck 9. Plus Seaview Bar.Smoking side is starboard (side where the bar is). Loungers are around the pool, and extreme aft. Tables, chairs and couches are covered overhead.

The location of the smoking area must vary, depending on the cruise.

When we were on the Hawaii/French Polynesia 35 day journey in February this year, the smoking section was on the port side, which left few tables for eating breakfast outside for non smokers. The set up has many more tables and the serving staff  on the port side.

Thank you so much for your wonderful report of your family's first cruise on a HAL ship. My brother and I still remember clearly every day of our first cruise when we were your teens age! It is now 50 years later and we completed a 35 day cruise together, with our spouses, in March. Travel is one of the best investments we can make in our kids lives and I am sure your family will remember their time in Europe for many years to come. Thank you for sharing.

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

That fettuccine sounds very good. We had the same issue with entrees and lack of vegetables on our Celebrity Equinox cruise last week in their suites MDR, Luminae. I found out that we could ask for and get extra veggies like steamed broccoli and green beans, so I hope we can do the same in CO.

On our 35 day cruise to the South Pacific on Koningsdam we explained that we loved vegetables and a large plate came each evening for the 4 of us to share (MDR)

P and O in the U.K. have some ships which are adult only, and it seems to work well.

HAL's solution of now stating that the kids club will not be offered on longer cruises seems like a good idea, as we found, on the 35 day South Pacific cruise, that 2 entertainment staff were required to run the kids club for approximately 7 children! It meant that there were only 4 staff available to organise events for the remaining 2400+ guests, during the day.

We have found service to be quicker now with wine by the glass than before covid when we were often still waiting for the wine bottle to arrive when the first course was served. We have had no problem ordering a second or third glass and liquors to be delivered with the coffees.

Do not be afraid to query if you think you might have the wrong wine, as the waiters carry a full tray of glasses and we have been given the wrong one a few times!

I have found that the crew, in general, feel uncomfortable with today's culture of hard sell- witnessed in their reluctance to 'push' bottled fizzy water at lunch in MDR and the large extra cost steaks (despite an incentive being offered for each sale), and this is why we are no longer subjected to this embarassing issue since covid. (Spa excluded!)

We have only been asked to mention them on our post cruise survey when we have built up a particularly good relationship  with an individual and in a very tactful manner. We have no objection in helping them gain well deserved incentives or promotions, but would not let an individual colour the comments we would naturally give.