ANSalberg

Friends don't let friends wear socks with sandals. Seriously. No socks with boat shoes, either. Please. But on the other hand, nothing is worse than a gentleman of a certain age (and they're ALWAYS of a "certain age") wearing calf-legth black dress socks with sandals and Bermuda shorts.

ANDa "Pull-MY-Finger" T-shirt........***** Formal night!!!!! ;)

Debbie - We've enjoyed several of the Grand cruises -so have several plates of various sizes. I believe it was our first and I put it on the wall in the diningroom as a decoration just above the light-switch - I enjoy looking at that IF/when we use the formal dining area. Another is laying on a dining "trolley" [ use the under for a bit of storage]

The most interesting use is the the many tiles we have from HAL over the years. Our kitchen widow is small/above the sink/work area -PLUS it faces North; the LAST thing I needed was a curtain there -so I used the different tiles as "decoration" ; there are 8 tiles in a row plus another 8 on top of those -PLUS the END tiles are two slightly larger tiles from Grand cruises -all different- ALLthe Blue/White. Practically every person who visits our kitchen remarks on the USE of the tiles! This won't "work" for everybody but I thought it was a nice idea -suggested by a friend who was an interior decorator; Added color and interest to a rather shady/dark/NORTH wall/window.

Anne

You do have to wait for a long time...and I thought April was a long time away :-)

 

How fun to find another Coloradoan going on a river cruise. We're very close to you..We're in Louisville.

Elise

Thanks - I was curious [where you live] So many times when anybody compares something or states something - knowing where they are MAKING these decisions matters [ for you & I -LONG long flights to either Asia [us] or for River cruises in EU - have to be considered. Our cruise in another month from HERE is from Italy[ Venice] and we're flying British Air because there will at the VERY least be one [ probably more] plane changes we can avoid -saving a LOT of time. We fly DIA to Heathrow - THAT same day -Heathrow to Venice. Similar on the now projected flight to Bucharest NEXT [2015] Fall. Our TA from Gold Key here in Longmont found a similar changeover. BA is the only overseas carrier, I believe, out of DEnver without stops on the East coast or MORE [ Like Frankfort/ United/Lufthansa] I wasn't trying to JUST be 'nosy'......Ok, I WAS just nosy!

Thank you so much for your review. By far it is the best, most thorough, review I've seen on cruise critic. The pictures of not only the excursions but life on the ship are so helpful. Plus the commentary is so informative.

Not sure how I will wait till April for our trip though. Again, thank you!!

And WE have to wait until LATE September 2015 for ours!!! Note where we are from! Where are YOU from in Colorado? Anne ;)

And I thank you too! We are doing our FIRST ever river cruise next Fall on Viking and YOUR marvelous photos have gotten me MORE than enthusiastic!

THANK you very very much! Anne

Karen - While I'm thinking about it -You might just keep a [ more or less] daily diary of what you are seeing and doing -In a kid's notebook! You can do that MORE easily on your own time than the blogging -THEN you can decide when you get home what you can do with your memories!

The reason I suggest that is because I DO do that -and that makes the rounds of the kids/Grands -very happily SHARING our travels. I mean unedited FEELINGS about your travels and the people you meet -OR your EMOTIONS about the places and people. I do that and it helped me put a distance between sadness or complete joy that is NOT mine [ if you know what I mean] because it's "private" - it's privately mine and a space between doing -writing -AND then re-reading sometimes MAKES me think as much as .....reading a novel. XXXXX Anne

Yes we met on this fall Grand Cruise....but it didn't do Asia that year...it did New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific so this is my first time to Japan and China. Maybe you did the South America Grand also.....can't remember for sure.

Karen- I'm flattered you remember!!! And it helps! You will thoroughly enjoy Asia -We've returned many times because of it's lessons! Last Fall it was themed for WWll -a theme I've read about extensively for over 50 years beginning with Anne Frank's Diary - The people AND history there are amazing. I would go back there in a heart beat however we've been retired for 15 years -and [ do the arithmatic] its getting harder and harder to DO the walking and getting around we LOVE to do, sadly.

Karen -ENJOY this cruise -I'm envious of YOU and YOUR ability; please NEVER change ;) Lovingly Anne

Hello everyone,

 

The trip I am talking about it the SOON to be sailing Grand Asia aboard the Amsterdam. I really doubt that I will have too much time on my hands.

Karen aka Kween Karen

Karen -HAVE a WONDERFUL spectacular cruise [ we met on one of the "Grands" I've forgotten which -several years ago] Anyhow - I'll be thinking of you; ASIA is my FAVORITE destination!!!!! [Where we met- I'm sure!] Take care!!!!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXv Anne [And Dick]

From Colorado!

I had not given the issue much thought, but found Holland America listed as a mainstream cruise line in a cruise article. I thought the common perception was that HAL was a premium line. Your thoughts?

ForME[???] PREMIUM; Of course I live in a mountainous state no-where NEAR an ocean. That said -Maybe EVERYTHING is perception. HAL takes us to Asia/Europe/Australia [ one of my BEST friends lives in Australia -I MET her 10 years ago -ON a HAL ship!] to "see the world!" and reality I surely never got from Newspapers/TV......I've learned so much [are they a SCHOOL? You might say that] Our cruises are months long [ usually 70 days or so -PLENTY of 'school' time. TIME to LEARN

I never worry if my coffee is cold - OR there are smokers in the smoking section - or if I can carry wine on board - or if my dress is OK [ I'm 74-its not fancy-scmancy BUT it's compliant and I look OK/decent] THAT is a "premium" feeling or emotion as far as I go......

IS HAL a PREMIUM line? - You bet your sweet.........it is!;) Anne

Unless HAL does decide to station her Down Under/Asia and provide a very unique and potentially attractive itinerary in order to get her there.

Bob - I'd go on THAT one in a heartbeat - You too??????? Anne

Our first post-retirement cruise was a half of an Asian cruise [ on the Volendam] in 2002. We enjoyed the cruise enormously but not the Denver to Singapore flight! We made friends on that cruise that are still friends today - so we now take preferrably LONG cruises once or twice a year [usually once] and Asia/Australia is still my preferred destination [ Europe comes a close second]

BTW we have taken a World Cruise on Amsterdam[HAL] and thought that was too long and too much time away from family FOR US! [it was 110 days] so we feel we've found our niche,,,,,,, I hope you CAN find yours!

Anne in Longmont

The Amsterdam has always done a FALL " Grand" cruise into Asia /Australia/NZ - various itineraries - from the West Coast in Fall; They are WONDERFUL [ we've done 4 -we're retired] and they've been WONDERFUL. These are usually at least 70 days. If you EVER have the time/$$$ for these -they are WONDERFUL!!!!

Anne in Colorado

When I see all the cabins suddenly disappear I assume the cruise line just assigned all the guarantee cabins.

Not necessarily; We got a Viking River Cruise booklet - For NEXT autumn. I think it showed maybe 3 current/fall2014 cruises full. We've NEVER taken one [ HAL is our Fav line/SEA cruises] but this one looked interesting to us because of WW11 history - From Rumania to Amsterdam. We had wanted the reverse; Am to Ru -NONE were available!!!!!! So we got the last cabin in a northwest bound. This is for September 2015!!!!!We booked on the DAY the booklet arrived! Last week!

Anne/Longmont

Your photos are SPECTACULAR -when we were in Istanbul about 15 years ago they were cleaning/renewing the blue tiles [ I believe hundreds of years of coal-burning had covered and/or destroyed ALL that color!] It is amazing to see YOUR beautiful camera work on a city I was AMAZED that we would EVER visit! Talk about whetting the appetite for international travel; Turkey simply open a door and my heart! THANK you for your beautuful camera-work! ;)

What is it that Julie / Maria sings in "The Sound of Music" -"Open a new door -open a new WINDOW" ? ......;)

I am so so so at the point I really don't care what people bring on board and what corkage they do or do not pay.

 

I am only curious if HAL has a more liberal policy for guests returning from ship sponsored tours to wineries where they certainly expect (and want) guests to buy wine during their tour. The wineries will not be happy if they have no cruisers purchasing their wine and could stop offering the tours.

 

I think HAL should expand the corkage policy by exempting wine brought back from winery tours or at least give a 4 bottle allowance. Their tour providers have a right to make some money and the guests should be permitted a liberal allotment to enjoy on the ship.

I think you have to understand the kind of cruise that Ausralia/Asia cruises are; they are around 70+ days each [ we've done 4] so you are comparing incredibly different cruises. One of the things I think are VERY different are # of sea days and flexability of that ship/captain. On a 7 day cruise-ten day cruise -the EARNING expectations are entirely different for a reason. That's like asking "ARE ALL Holland Am passengers old?" It depends on cruise length/time/$$$$.....MOST on the longer { Grand} voyages ARE older. They can afford both time AND $$$. Not a "good" or "bad" thing - it just 'is' .....

Nice and lovely you enjoyed the wines. :)

 

What we are speculating about is whether there was enforcement of the corkage fee for the wines you brought back to the ship with you for consumption while on the ship? If you went on a ship sponsored winery tour, did they permit you to bring how ever many bottles you wanted back from your tour and drink them on the ship without paying corkage fee?

 

Thanks if you care to respond.

 

I honestly don't remember - it was several years [ and more cruises] ago.

The types we buy NOW/here are "Barefoot" and "Fisheye"[?] - under prices that are better HERE [ Colorado] than THERE. I'm a "rule-follower" so it wouldn't be a problem anyway -and HAL is my favorite line! Anne

:D

hic

:D

I like my gin with agnostic bitters :D

Now THIS is FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

wow. I love sea days. Here is what i do: Nap, read (a lot!), write, talk to people, eat, spend a little time in the gym or walking around the deck, staring at the ocean while my blood pressure drops to normal and the knot in my neck disappears for the first time since i was last on a ship.

amen!!!!!!!!!! ;)

I would suspect a ship's sponsored tour to a winery would put no limit on the number of bottles of wine everyone on that tour could bring back for consumption during the cruise if that is their choice. The tour providers would have a real issue if HAL limited their potential sales. People who fly are not very apt to buy much wine if they are going to have to lug it home.

We have purchased Australian wine and New Zealand wine after tours there and VERY much enjoy those wines. There are two advantages to purchasing most -even after we are at home; The prices are lovely and they are really GOOD [ I prefer dryer white- husband LOVES the blends of red FROM/introduced in Australia] :)

Anne from Colorado

NCL was first with "free-style" Dinning and has recently launched some amazing new ships.

 

Royal introduced the Oasis Class ships bringing on board entertainment to new levels.

 

What new experiences has introduced besides burgers?

I don't know when this was introduced on HAL because we cruised very INFREQUENTLY before we retired -BUT the MUCH longer itineraries [ "Grand" cruises and now segmented cruises put together] out of/into the USA [or Canada] that DON'T require long flights -are OUR idea of pure bliss!! We have accumulated over 1000 days on HAL [ that's MORE than 2 YEARS] in the last 13 years by doing those cruises and enjoying them wholeheartedly.

There are a million [ it seems] cruiselines/ships/cruises -to simple week-long near by areas LIKE Caribbean or Alaska cruises for those still working OR with larger families - but HAL offers a few VERY long cruises that we appreciate! [ Asia is our FAVORITE destination]

The other thing we TOTALLY support is the crew in both dining rooms/kitchen/roomstewards etc - from Indonesia. The longer cruises have 'given' us a HOST of new "friends" we really love! From our experiences these are LOVELY caring people.

We have sailed other lines and happily; BUT HAL is our favorite and MOST used!

Anne/Colorado ;)

We are interested in taking the 39 day repositioning cruise in Sept. of 2015. Has anyone done it? What are your pros and cons? A little concerned about the 2 five day ocean stretches...looking for the good, bad and ugly! Thanks

 

 

There are several types of longer cruises to look into and for different reasoning. HAL's "Grand" cruises are usually at LEAST 50 days [ or more; the World is usually over 100 days] The thing we appreciate on these much longer cruises is they often start OR end [ or both] in the US. Flights are difficult as you age; BUT as you age/ AND retire -you often have the time/ $$$$$. Now YOU have to decide which works for you. The last post talks about having a full week of relaxing/reading being IDEAL [ That is for us too] but the BIGGEST draw for us is the exotic cruises/Grand cruises -into Asia/ Australia and points west of us and EAST of them; ANYWHERE there is wonderful/exciting/INTERESTING; but we had to discover that and we DID in 2002 when we flew to Singapore and took the second half of our first longer cruise [that was also MOSTLY English language] including Australia and if I remember -French Polynesia. it was HEAVEN and we loved that cruise.

We did find the World cruise in the mid 2000 [2007, I think?] was I think 115 days -was/FELT too long for us; we were READY for home! But that's a personal feel/personal "test".

We've been to Asia/Australia etc - 5 or 6 times and absolutely loved each one. The last was 2013; WW11 History cruise OUT of S California/BACK to S Calif. AND that was my ALLTIME favorite for the spectacular history lessons on board. We also- Thanks to the Captain -kept safe from the devestation of the Typhoon that HIT the Philippines just as we were headed to Cebu -which was canceled. [ Combining 70 year old history with TODAY!] I appreciated that HAL kept us safe. I'm thinking that cruise was 76 days but I can't remember for sure! The Amsterdam ship

This fall we are on the Nieuw Amsterdam for a SHORT B2B -Venice to Barcelona to Ft L. Florida -25 Sea days with 3 days in Venice.

You CAN find your OWN comfort-level and it may be different places/different CABINS/ different areas of the WORLD =only YOU can know what "fits". And GOOD luck! ;)

Anne in Colorado

Its all about money. Now smokers only have HAL to choose from.

 

DaveOKC

My guess is the choice takes into consideration that MANY of HAL cruisers are European or Asian or Australian -who's HOME rule is NOT as restrictive as USA/CANADA. I am NOT a smoker and never have been -nor in DH -I cruise HAL because the itineraries are found there that suit us -AND we ADORE the Indonesian crew -and we like the Dutch/EU officers/execs. We prefer MUCH longer itineraries and prefer to sail out of or back to USA with shorter flights! Its simply a preference choice! ;)

We live in a somewhat sparsely populated insular area and had really never known any gay couples. A few years ago we had fixed dining and were seated with a gay male couple. Just the four of us. We honestly didn't have a clue what we would ever find to talk about but decided to stick it out for 22 days and broaden our horizons.

We were so glad we did make that decision because we had a great time and shared so many laughs. On the last night there were hugs all around. I feel that we are better people because of the experience.

I'm enjoying this thread and where it is going [ nobody being judgmental ] but reading THIS made me think of our cruise two [?] years ago -when we -too- had a long cruise/dining companionship with a couple. Until I read THIS [sapper's] comment - I honestly had forgotten they were gay BECAUSE we ALL [ there were 8 at the table] had such a GOOD time .... what somebody else IS [ black/white/gay/straight/handsome/ugly etc] isn't really important if they are NICE :)

Anne from Colorado

Thank you all for shearing your happiness with me and each other. We are all so lucky to be able to enjoy the joy of taking a cruise and the sharing of our love of cruising with each other.

We ARE so very lucky -just as you said - BUT the thing that popped into MY memories is the wonderful -sometimes teasing -sometimes just KINDNESSES -realtionship we have with the crew we deal with on a daily basis. Our cruises tend to be at least a month long and sometimes longer than 2 months -the "Grand" cruises into Asia and EU being our favorite. That extra time gives us opportunities to understand our "friends" ....in a world FILLED with Sabre-rattling...isn't it FUN to SHARE a sense of humor?????????? Is that ANY wonder WHY we cruise so HAPPILY with Holland America? They enrich MY world and OUR faith in people and countries. ;)