JeffElizabeth

On 3/9/2023 at 11:47 PM, bdd123 said:

What made it bad on HAL?

Going cheap on the surf and turf, too much pasta, and nothing that really wowed us. It is possible we are getting more jaded, but we didn't have the same issues on Oceania six months before. 

20 hours ago, eroller said:

Cuisine on NIEUW AMSTERDAM last October (2022) was lackluster at best.  Probably the worst food I've ever had on HAL.  Cost cutting was VERY evident.  You could see it in the menu selection, in the presentation, portion size, and quality of the dish.

 

I'm hoping it will be better on ROTTERDAM later this month.  If not it will be my last HAL cruise for a couple years until they get their act together.

 

I realize cost cutting is happening on all cruise lines right now, but I haven't seen it to the same extent on other lines like I have on HAL.  Other recent cruises (post-COVID) include Celebrity, NCL, Cunard, Regent, and Virgin. 

We were on Emerald Princess in September and Konigsdam in October.  Worst food in twenty years of cruising.  Our next cruise is 28 days in July and August on Zuiderdam, hope the food gets better by then. 

5 hours ago, CruiserN1 said:

I'm a statistician and can't understand why anyone would play a game for money where the odds aren't fixed. Playing video poker/BJ or slots are like being a rat in a psychology expert. The machine is manipulating your behavior. Craps has the best odds but BJ is easier to get the odds on your side.

Interesting.  My brother has studied most games and he thinks video poker nets you the best returns. Continued good luck. 

On 3/8/2023 at 11:24 AM, schmerl said:

We are in a penthouse, but that has nothing to do with my expectations as far as the food is concerned,

We had been told how fantastic the food is on Oceania and after all, the best cuisine at sea.

We have yet to have an outstanding meal. Jaques came close, 

Perhaps the difference in how the people feel about the food has more to do with where they are from and what they are used to, We have many wonderful restaurants where we live and I was expecting food on board Oceania to be at least that good if not better, 

  The service throughout the ship has been wonderful.

   By the way...there has been plenty of strawberry jam in the Grand Dining room.

We eat out a lot back home and we have noticed quality slipping there too, so maybe it is just the new normal all around,  but if I don't like my neighborhood restaurant I  can find another one. I don't want to be stuck on a 28 day cruise where the steak cuts like leather. 

On 8/14/2021 at 6:12 PM, Godblessourhome said:

Red Ginger is our favourite!!  I know, everybody's taste is different!!  Our friends took the cruise with us all because of Red Ginger!!!!

We were blown away by how good Red Ginger was on our first Oceania cruise 5 years ago, better than our Asian restaurants back home. Our cruise in April 2022? Mediocre.  

Agree. One of our favorite features of the Prinsendam was the places it could get into. Bucolic British towns, docking in the center of Antwerp, cruising the Kiel Canal. The big boats drop you off at commercial ports. Some cruise lines are introducing small, expedition ships.  We might have to give them a try. 

We had a great cruise last March and April on this boat. Food was awesome but I am very worried about budget cutbacks. Norwegian predicts a couple tough quarters coming up. 

On 3/3/2023 at 9:51 AM, Colorado Klutch said:

While larger ships powered by bunker fuel would be more profitable, I don't see that as the future. Environmental regulations are getting more strict and more ports are growing weary of megaships. Norway will soon ban any cruise ships which are not "zero emissions" in some of their fjords. I'm certainly no expert, but I'm thinking the era of the megaship will soon wind down. 

 

Liquified Natural Gas is becoming more common for powering cruise ships, but they require more tank space for fuel which leaves less room for cabins that generate revenue. Diesel engines currently burning bunker fuel can't burn LNG. I doubt it's worthwhile to replace the engines in a cruise ship. And not all ports can provide LNG refueling. 

 

As with progress in any industry, cruise lines will have to get clever and creative. A big, flashy ship isn't much good if nobody wants it in their ports. Maybe HAL can build smaller ships that burn LNG and charge more per cabin based on the smaller ship experience and longer itineraries? Perhaps future cruise destinations will include ports with fewer restrictions. Maybe the Philippines? They could certainly use the revenue. 

 

It's fun to consider the possibilities of solar-powered ships requiring no fuel. That kind of technology is way off if even possible at all. 

Whatever the future holds for cruising, I'm sure it will be interesting. No doubt people predicted doom for the cruise industry when airlines started flying trans-Atlantic then trans-Pacific. 

Actually transatlantic flights created the cruise industry.  The passenger shipping lines had to transform themselves into cruise lines. Attended a Captain Albert presentation where he laid this out. 

3 hours ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

As someone already said, Carnival Group has already announced it will not order any new ships for the near future.

But I still expect to maybe do some inside movements to ships.

Island Princess, Coral Princess & Arcadia are good candidates for HAL.

Also they can try to remove the less efficient ships from their brands, so Volendam & Zaandam eventually will be retired.

Makes sense. I think there will be more shakeout in the cruise industry.  I expect a couple more lines to fail as interest rates rise and they have to refinance.  Norwegian looks like it will have a couple tough quarters coming up. Why build a new boat at 8% interest when you could buy a fire sale Norwegian ship. 

9 hours ago, ldtr said:

The pricing structure of HAL will not support new ships smaller than their more recent build. This is both from a construction point of view as well as operational efficiency.  Even with current ship sizes fares will probably increase by 25% over the next year. If you want Azmara or Oceania size ships, expect to pay their prices which are much more.

 

HALs future competitive position is pretty clear. Having the smallest avg fleet size of the mainstream lines, coupled with the longest average itinerary length, and more unique itineraries than the other mainstream lines.. They are not going to compete with the premium lines ship sizes.

Exactly! I think their next ship will be Konigsdam scale.  They will probably lose us as customers. We are doing our last big 28 day cruise on the Zuiderdam, Boston to Boston, but after that our next two cruises are booked on 1200 passenger Viking and Oceania ships. We are tired of the giant industrial ports, no walkable access to the towns. 

LOL, free laundry is why we are still cruising on Holland America. 

We took the Konsingdam to Hawaii in October.  If you arrive in Vancouver early,  the hotels near the ship will help deliver your luggage to your stateroom.  That was a nice feature. One caveat we found,  book your excursions early! They filled up fast and they were unable to add new ones. On Maui, we could get a cab away from the ship but not back to the ship. Had to hire a private citizen to get us back on board. 

Great idea! We took my SIL around the British Isles for her 60th birthday and we bought her a sash and tiara to wear for her dinner. It was the Emerald Princess and the crew decorated her suite while we were touring Belfast. 

On 2/20/2023 at 2:01 PM, ldtr said:

You can see what the plan is here

 

https://victoria.cruises/about/restaurants-on-board/

 

According to that the main dining room will be changing the menu weekly.

 

Unlike cruise ships they intend to spend much more time in port and thus one will have the alternative of dining off ship locally for a change of pace quite often.  Though at their own expense.

We have no problem with that and love trying out the cuisine of the ports we visit. One of our big complaints lately is that Holland doesn't change their menus to reflect the nation's we visit. Princess didn't either. 

On 2/20/2023 at 10:44 AM, OlsSalt said:

 In the pre-covid days, I believe on the longer cruises HAL operated on a 21 day menu plan before repeats. Though it is hard to keep reinventing the basics - meat, chicken or fish. Now I am hearing it is more a one-week menu plan.

Our cruise to Hawaii on the Konsingdam was that way, menu started recycling after one week. 

11 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

6 month menu novelty?

3 months?

3 weeks?

3 days?

 

Hope it is not like working at a summer camp - every Thursday night was beef stew.

Great point. My dad's senior living community is like that. Many of the residents only visit the cafeteria one meal a day because they get bored of the fare. 

Any guesses on if you think this will work? We like cruising but we also love time at home. I am guessing it won't work, but this might be the time to get it going when so many older cruise ships are being retired. I do wonder what happens if there is another pandemic.  

Trivia, a nice dinner with great conversation.  We like the eight person tables. Maybe trivia after dinner or hang out at the piano bar. My wife is a night owl, but she prefers to spend her late evenings comfortably in the cabin. 

4 minutes ago, MAVIP said:

The shows of the Phillipine and Indonesian Crew were the only ones we attended....Lectures: as much as possible.

 

We only got to attend one crew show, but now that they are no more, we wish we had seen more. 

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

This is a significant point for me too.  I enjoy the music and lectures but I have a low level of interest in a cruiseship-style production show.  I know others enjoy them but it’s not a deal-breaker for me.  What I don’t understand are those who denigrate the entire line for not having them.  Just choose a line that has what you want, then, and stop coming back to the board to mudsling!  I don’t get it.  🤷‍♀️

Agree. In 25 years of cruising on Holland,  we have only seen a handful of shows. Just not our thing. 

We have been with Holland since 1997, and have never had issues with understaffed ships. Our last cruise in October of 2022 did have cutbacks with food quality and serving size I found to be disappointing,  but they had no problem getting me another appetizer or entree if  I wanted it. 

Agree. We were on the Konigsdam to Hawaii in October and our top level cabin wasn't nearly as nice as top level cabins on the Prinsendam or the Amsterdam.  They claimed to be suites but there wasn't even a curtin between the bed and sitting area.  Plus the desk was in the bedroom area so if was very cramped.

But, the big ships do have more energy at night, and more things to do. Plus more restaurants.  So what do you prefer? On our next cruise, we are in one of the smallest ships Holland has left. Going from Boston to Bergen to Boston. 

On 2/6/2023 at 5:24 AM, Iloveketo said:

Yes, depending on 

 

Yes, you can send it out and pay for it, but for suite it is even include:

• Complimentary laundry, dry cleaning, pressing and shoeshine services.

Great news! Thanks.  Now we just booked a New England cruise to Montreal in 2024. Our first cruise with Viking.

On 2/6/2023 at 3:44 PM, ldtr said:

Sure, the question is how much will each choice cost.  Small traditional means much higher cost.  

 

Problem is people want small ships to be in the same price range as the mega ships.

We were always willing to pay the premium to sail on the Prinsendam.  But now we are looking at Viking or Oceania for our next cruises. Hate parking at the huge commercial ports and miss the neater itineraries like Antwerp and the Kiel Canal. 

Does the cruise line offer laundry services? I don't want to do laundry on vacation. My brother? He always spends the last day of the trip doing laundry.  He can't stand smelly/dirty clothes in his luggage.