JeffElizabeth

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.  

On 6/29/2022 at 6:22 AM, Let Me Travel! said:

I’m sad because we will be in Edinburgh in August, during the Tattoo…leaving the port at 5:00PM…boohoo…would have loved to stay late in the evening for the Tattoo…has anyone ever been? I hear it is spectacular!

Horrible planning!

This will never happen, but we would love to sail on the Kiel Canal again. We did it years ago on the Prinsendam.  The German people had BBQ 's and waved as we passed by. 

Ironic that Norway is all concerned about fossil fuel pollution when they are one of the biggest oil and gas exporters in Europe.  

49 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

That pretty much sums up the majority of long-time posters in this forum.  And to tie that into the subject of this thread...because they feel entitled to it.

We are willing to pay for the small ship experience so we are booking fewer cruises with Holland.  We still really miss the Prinsendam. We tried the big 2500 man ship to Hawaii last year and didn't enjoy it as much. 

Understand how Norway feels. We were at a small port on the Prinsendam, about 800 passengers and at noon, a MSC ship of 5,000 shows up. They engulfed the small community of 1,000 souls.  We do try to walk the small towns on our own and dine at their restaurants. Enjoy talking with the natives at the non-tourist restaurants.  

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

You are in error in your second statement.  There are lots of 4 & 5* Mariners who sail other cruise lines and no longer consider HAL as their primary line and others who have left altogether.  That’s a fact.  I know a number of them & of others.  Please don’t generalize and paint everyone with the same brush.

 

 

 

I am down on HAL right now after a bad cruise to Hawaii in October,  but since we are 4 ****,  my wife will continue to cruise with them. 

On 1/23/2023 at 9:48 AM, sofietucker said:

I came here to say just that. We choose our cruises based on itinerary, because we want to visit those places.

Exactly! I had four ports canceled by Oceania on our last 28 day cruise. Bermuda, Azores, Madiera, and Marseille. They blamed it on bad weather but I really wanted to see Marseille.  Seen the other ports plenty of times. Did add up to a very long time at sea in the Atlantic.  

23 hours ago, shepherd really said:

The boat was half full, so your experience is nothing like the current situation where ships are sailing at or near full capacity while corners are being cut by the debt laden cruise lines.

Funny thing, on Princess,  the boat was half empty, but they closed three restaurants for the entire two week cruise. And the food was cheap, lots of pasta choices.

On 1/8/2023 at 2:51 PM, LHT28 said:

Changes are happening  on Oceania  as well

What Oceania  will look like in a few months may be different that the O we all know & loved  in the past

 

I for one will not pay premium prices  for shorter port times , inferior food  etc

 

 

YMMV

We had a delightful cruise on Marina in March and April and it was awesome! Great food, boat was half full, long voyage from Miami to Trieste/Venice. Then we took a Princess cruise in September and a Holland cruise in October.  Night and day! Closed restaurants,  small portion sizes, boring food, and excursions were very limited. Hope Oceania doesn't go this way. 

Gala nights usually are scheduled on Sea Days so people don't have to rush home and change after excursions.