TrolleyGirl

I hope you will agree with me that a cruise ship should be a politics-free zone. I was on the Zuiderdam last June, and a group of about 15 passengers took over the Crow's Nest each morning to talk rather loudly about their political views. This is rather a personal issue, and, I believe, should not be aired in this way in a very public area on a cruise ship. There are more private gathering places if necessary. Thank you

You can't be serious? You want to police what topics individuals are allowed to discuss in a public space. From the sounds of it, you were not an invited participant in the discussion, so under what circumstance do you believe you should be able to choose their topic of discussion. If you don't like the subject, don't eavesdrop.

Sorry, deleted

Sorry, deleted

In simplest terms:

-- You cannot change the behavior of others, only your own response, and

-- Don't complain about the problem, find a solution.

 

There's no way I could impose my wishes on everyone dining at the Lido -- even if I wanted to (which I don't). Contemplating ways to do that is an exercise in futility. So if the Captain's message is that important to me, I would find somewhere where I can listen to it in (relative) quiet and then I would dine afterwards. If the captain is one who addresses passengers at 1:00 rather than noon I would adjust my plan accordingly and dine first. One has choices....

You are my kind of person! Amen!!

My sister & I were just discussing the best way to have money spent in the casino count towards the onboard spending credits. I am referring to the way HAL gives you mariner credit for each $300 spent. I’m quite certain, but correct me if I’m wrong, OBC purchased prior to sailing counts toward the $300. My question is do casino credits bought precruise count? Does cash given to the casino cashier count?

We are just trying to figure out how to maximize our on board spending $.

Thank you for your assistance! I’ll check out the public transportation maps.

We like walking tours and eating at local establishments. We will be there June 1&2. Right now I have the YOTEL on hold at Seaport for $216. It looked like it had easy access from the airport and to the pier. Plus it looked funky cool, especially the sky view bar. Would it be fairly easy to pick up the trolley from there or the freedom trail?

I will also look in the Black Bay Area. Thank you for the suggestion

We (2 couples in our early 50's) will be sailing on the Maasdam in early June out of Boston. We will land at Boston Logan around noon (Friday) and sail the next afternoon. I would like a hotel recommendation for 2 rooms for under $200 per room/ night, that is in a safe, interesting neighborhood. What would be a good touring plan for us to see the must see sights of Boston? Mobility is not an issue.

but I've not seen little kids in a specialty restaurant on any line. Not even on Disney.

You wouldn't see any children in the two Disney specialty restaurants, Palo and Remy, as they are adult venues only. One must be 18 or older to dine there. Disney does an excellent job of maintaining adult only areas and family friendly areas.

I am amazed at how good it looks. Key Westerners you are a resilient lot!

Thank you for posting the letter. I wonder why the writer did not sign their name.they signed the company name but are they nameless? :( It may be a particular oddiity of mine but I think if it is worth writing and sending to your 'customers, is it not worth taking owners ship of and signing ? JMO.. Who wrote the letter and/or okayed that it be sent?

 

OP it was vert good of you to share it with us.. thank you..

You can't be serious?! The directive more than likely came from a group of well informed corporate decision makers and was drafted by an administrative assistant. Does the name of a person you have never met or will likely never meet matter? If it was signed, it could have been signed by a pen name for all you would know. Sorry, but to me content is more important.

I have one every night at dinner! It's the only thing I really miss when we go to the specialty restaurants!

I wonder if you could order the crisp of the day through room service and have it delivered for a late night snack?

At lunch the Pinacle Grill made up a lovely cheese board as a dessert item. I was too full from our lunch so I took it as a to go item for an afternoon snack. I wonder if one of those could be ordered from room service? I would be willing to pay for it.

If I remember correctly the floats they rent on HMC are the foam w/ plastic coated kind, not inflatable. So I don't believe there is air pump to pump up your own floats with.

We got to experience the chocolate parade last November on the Eurodam. We were on the first sailing were the debuted it, the assistant dinning manager was very excited about it and made a special point to tell each dinner in the MDR all about what was going to happen.

After our late seating we went down to the piano bar to listen to the entertainment and wait for the show. I believe the parade started at 10pm. Waiters came around with specially designed acrylic serving trays and platters with many different chocolate treats. Some were tiny sugar cones with a chocolate meringue, macaroons, tiny triple chocolate cake bites. There were probably 20 different offerings. There were also bar staff with trays of bubbly. The treats were all no charge, the bubbly had an associated charge. It was quite fun and different. We gave good feed back to the assistant dining room manager the next evening. It sure seemed like it all went off perfectly for a first time event.

We were hoping HAL would keep it in the regular schedule.

I agree with Lizzie68 and POA1. I would definitely rent two. That way if you all want to be in the retreat at the same time there are no occupancy violations. The retreat area is so intimate I would not be concerned with side by side cabanas either. If you are able to get side by sides fine, but if not don't let that prevent you from getting cabanas. They are wonderful!

I guess if you get off on false intimacy then go right ahead and request a waiter. Lots of service industry people make notes on prior guests and in this digital age of CRM even big companies track data points about guest preferences and personal history. Luxury lines keep notes about guest preferences so they can personalize service from cruise to cruise.

I have to completely disagree with you 110%. The memory on many of the cuiseline employees is amazing and they are not referring to cheat sheets or digital tracking.

This is what happened to me - We sailed on the Disney Magic one year and our assistant waiter was Jules. Four years later, I was sailing on Holland America's Eurodam and I was getting my lunch from the Lido buffet when one of the buffet attendants recognized me and said that he was my assistant waiter several years ago. I said "are you sure? I have never sailed on Holland before?" He was quite sure, so I racked my brain for the next 3 days trying to figure out how he knew me. Later that cruise when I saw him again, I asked if he used to work for Carnival or Disney and those were the only other lines I had sailed. Sure enough, he was our assistant Disney Magic waiter. Now there is NO way he had a cheat sheet to help him with that!

Amazing!

Wow. So are the lounge chairs assigned for the cabana outside which they sit or is it open seating?

I suspect I wouldn't be the only cabana renter re-arranging furniture either. Embarkation day in the Retreat, may end up looking like college dorm move in day.

Well, call me the clueless, classless rebel. I don't see what all the fuss is about. I think the new Westerdam retreat looks very nice:)

Those of us that covet the retreat are looking for a relaxing, quite serene environment to spend the day. We enjoy lounging on our chaise lounges in the shade of our cabanas or the shade of the umbrellas. We enjoy our tiny table to eat our lunch at inside our cabana. We love the big squishy round sofas under the canopy and the gentle music that plays in the background. All of those treasures are now missing.

looks like a doctors office waiting area

Exactly! Nothing says come, relax, enjoy your vacation like a doctors office!!

I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around what HAL could possibly be thinking with this new format.

Ithaca Gal is so right on this one. The retreat on the Edam and NA is PERFECT! Why mess with perfection?

Thanks for linking the pictures, Krazy Kruiser. Those are the ones I was referring too.

I was just reviewing the thread on the new EXC on the Westerdam. I noticed on post number 43, there are pictures of the "new & improved" retreat.

Oh, my goodness, what is HAL thinking???

It appears as there are no chaise/lounge chairs in the cabanas. They have been replaced with a daybed type piece of furniture, a footstool and a serving buffet. The lounge chair has been moved outside the cabana in the sun, butted against the cabana entrance.

Also gone are the cute cabana names, replaced by a number.

I wish I could figure out how to link the pictures to this thread so you could see. Maybe one of you with better computer skills could add the photos to this thread.

You should know -

1. its a beautiful ship

2. the crew is wonderful and always smiling

3. you will enjoy yourself

4. there are gorgeous live flower arrangements everywhere

5. the berry panna cotta is yummy

6. you will feel relaxed

7. it doesn't feel crowded

8. it is easy to navigate around

9. the Tamarind is excellent

etc., etc., etc....

Can you tell I love the ship?:D

We have sailed twice during Thanksgiving on HAL signature class ships. Both times there were quite a few multi-generational families on board. I would guess around 60 children. To put this in perspective, the Eurodam and Nieuw Amesterdam passenger capacities are near 2100 and the Rotterdam is 1400.

Does anyone have pictures of the common area of the Koningsdam retreat cabanas? Maybe there's something there that makes up for the missing space, tables, and chairs?

Oh, there are also fewer single loungers in the sun, instead they put double loungers in the common area for the most part.