mountainmare

I think the official rule on most cruiselines is 30 min before you ask a crewmember to please put the items in lost and found for safe keeping.

Reporting in that we did not smell or see anyone smoking anywhere on the Westerdam on our recent cruise. I only went in the Casino one time for just a few minutes.

 

Where was your balcony located? Did you have one forward?

Jeff just posted some of his wonderful pictures so it looks like he is having another super cruise. (and is gong to share it with us)

I agree with Sail about the canned music everywhere, but if HAL is going to continue to survive after the old guard ages out they have to offer some of the things that younger family cruisers love. it's just good business. This is why trying other (maybe not mainstream) lines is a good idea. For us that means maybe not cruising as often, but getting back that special feeling we used to have with HAL.

This is sad (well to me). I kept my horse on a mountain and last week lost my mare. Now every time I log in I'm sad. WARNING--I'm also sensitive to the "dead horse" comment so be warned if you are tempted to use it on the smoking thread, tip thread, whatever thread right now.

As I've said before--when most of the mainstreams allowed smoking several (carnival and costa for example) that had "spa cabins" made the spa cabin area totally smoke free--including balconies--as part of the healthy lifestyle idea. As a start HAL could make the spa cabins totally smoke free. Yes yes I know...they are at the front of the ship, have silly amenities and cost more just for a yoga mat and fountain that makes you want to pee...but it would be a start.

Come on HAL--throw us a bone at least!!!

There was a large faction within corporate that was adamant that their new ship NOT be tainted with smoke. I'm curious myself how that developed. This has sort of fallen off my radar.

 

Any new information I can find out I will share.

 

But corporate would probably not consider outside areas (like verandas) a problem because as we all know "in the open air while the ship is moving the smoke just disappears and doesn't taint anything" We're still sitting on FCDs that are 5 years old and have vacationed away from HAL, if they change the policy we may try them again, if not we're willing to let that money go.

http://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com/ For those who follow Jeff's amazing blog of his extended voyages on the Amsterdam he has posted his latest itinerary. Here's hoping we get to see some of his beautiful photos once in awhile again.

I also thank you for the coffee info. I was thinking of bring my grinder and press, but didn't know what to do for water, these products look great (although I like my unfiltered press coffee)

So again my dumb question is how is someone allowed to check in online without having all required documentation? I"m not saying that HAL should get their documents for them, but couldn't there be a check-off box or flag that says, do you have required visa and then the link instead of being somewhere on the website.

I guess I'll just agree to disagree.

So now I have a really dumb question about my first suggestion to have visa checks during online check-in. If it is so impossible for a company to know what is required when a person checks in on-line, then how do they have the information when the person is at the ship?

I'm not arguing that people should do their homework, just wondering how this works. It wouldn't have to be a legal problem if they didn't say "we're guaranteeing that you have everything needed to board" and included the disclaimed that you are responsible. It just seems that it would be a nice thing to do as they seek to attract a wider range of nationalities using their product.

On the other hand---while I agree with everyone that it is indeed the responsibility of each traveler to insure that documents are in order---how hard is it for a large travel company like CCL to have in place a computer program that checks for documentation when the person does online registration. We just had a thread wanting a computer program to show birthdays and anniversaries, It seems a no brainer that when a person enters nationality the registration asks for appropriate visa information before allowing the passenger to continue.

Obviously this is in place because we do occasionally hear complaints here and not just from this poster where people have been denied boarding at the pier.

While I am also suspicious of this particular post I think that in general this is a problem that has an easy fix. Not everyone is an experienced traveler, we need to remember that.

I must be really dense because when it says the price I think that is the price. I don't seem to have the problems everyone else is having. I just start booking, don't put any info in, pick a type of room and it gives me the option of a specific room or just a category, then it gives a price. I must be missing something.

Oh well, wouldn't be the first time.

I generally don't put in my mariner number (or name) and just hit continue so to answer your question---on my computer its not like that. I just tried changing the number of people to one and the price changed. I think if you want to pick a specific cabin you have to start a dummy booking

I don't think the smaller ports would be thrilled to be a cruise port. Cruisers don't realize that many communities don't see cruisers as a good thing. All that happens is that a small area gets super crowded by people who are generally wandering around for a few hours, negatively impacting local and visitors who are staying for a relaxing getaway. Cruisers don't spend alot of money in most ports--many will go back to the ship and eat instead of buying in port and will do alot of window shopping with little buying.

Just look at the difference in Venice when the cruiers leave, visit tripadvisor forums for some popular cruise stops and the question that is often asked is--how can I avoid the cruise ship crowds.

If you want to visit little oddball ports then they are better seen from a small sailing trip or very small ship.

I can see it as a port of call but it seems silly as an embarkation port. They would have to convince other cruise lines to use to port and then they have to be sure that there are enough hotel rooms and restaurants to serve the large numbers of passengers on a cruise ship. All this for something that will be used for only a short part of the year, a time that is already their high tourist time.

There is also another thread about port Canaveral which has the facilities and use already, but some people pointed out the distance from a major airport, the same problem with Salem.

Since it is so close to Boston and apparently easy to get to I think that if some has the burning desire to see Salem they can do so either pre or post cruise.

I read somewhere when we were mattress shopping that there are a couple of reasons that hotel (and ship) mattresses feel better. First they are replaced more often and usually have a topper. Second was that while they may be used every day, they are used by different people with different sleep patterns so the mattress doesn't get worn the same way night after night. With the new mattresses you don't flip them the way you used to so even turning them you only have two sleep patterns so they will wear faster. That might explain why people who bought the HAL mattresses were not as happy with how they held up.

I would just go shopping and buy something that feels right. (We just did that this spring-mattress shopping is worse than car shopping)

 

I just read the above post--we were told that platform beds do help with wear--years ago we made our own "platform" by just putting plywood under the mattress.

Have you tried to ask on tripadvisor? Just thinking you may get more answers.

I was so happy to see your review because we all were hoping that you had a good time. I understand why you picked NCL so that you could go with trusted and loved friends.

I ask with all the respect that I can give (over the internet). Why have you never tried the more "upscale" lines instead of thinking of mainstreams to compare to HAL. Just from reading about what you like and prefer I would think that it would be a good fit--Roy's reports from Crystal come to mind. To me that would be a better fit than something like Princess or even Celebrity.

Anyway I'm happy that you had a great time.

We enjoy roll calls and usually meet great people. We did have one very unfortunate roll call experience (on Celebrity). I set up some private tours and there was quite a bit of fun e-mailing back and forth. Finally one new "friend" asked if we wanted share a table for dinner with a few friends--since we got along so well. For the face to face meeting we really disliked each other on so many levels--it made dinner time a dreaded ordeal. There just wasn't an easy way to change tables since we had requested to be seated together (or I was just a coward and didn't want to make waves).

So now we do enjoy roll calls, and will share tours but have learned to be cautious about other plans.

I'll suggest Lauderdale By The Sea, it has a bit of "old Florida" feel. The town is a bit north of Fort Lauderdale. Tripadvisor is our go to source for land options.

No biggie--just pack a book light, we have old itty bitty booklights that we pack just in case we need them. I go to bed early and DH can read without bothering me.

Also please remember to turn off the light when you go to bed, we had neighbors who liked to use the light as a "night light" and didn't realize that it also lit our room (we like the curtains open)

Thank you for checking in. It does seem odd that with six ships in Europe that the UK would be ignored.

If all else fails you could get some A4 size paper and just adjust your printer, have you asked around in your hometown, banks, business offices etc? I'm just trying to think outside the box (schools, community colleges, law offices)