lammy1952

On 5/15/2022 at 9:12 PM, Astro Flyer said:

Discovery did not have kiosks so had to stand in the GS line to get a printed copy which we did the day before the end of the cruise. Everything was correct however the emailed final statement received the day after the cruise was wrong. Our $260 of refundable credit was reduced by 25% & received no reply to my email sent to their director of CR. Just more lost trust in Princess’ ability to properly treat their guests & just one reason why we just booked Oceania & are close to canceling all of our Princess cruises.

 

Astro Flyer

Did you get this resolved? If so, who did you contact?

We have disembarked recently and there is an error on our account.

Thanks

We eventually contacted Mad Ex and booked three tours with them. Unfortunately we didn’t make Nosy Be due to weather conditions, but the remaining two tours were good, particularly the Diego Suarez tour to three beaches and Ramena, our guide spoke very good English.

The tour in Tamatave was interesting, especially the lemur zoo, the canal was a mixed experience, some good some bad, but this would apply to ship tours also.

We were pleased with the. content and price of the tours and would recommend this company.

On 12/17/2019 at 9:47 AM, Janevo said:

lammy1952

 

We booked all three tours in advance, payment could be made once you met them at the port. I have just looked back and these are their contact details :-

 

WhatsUp : +261320439607 Mail : madadiego201@yahoo.fr Web : www.voyagemada.com

I think we paid $60 for the first tour, then $75 for the second and $40 for the third, but of course these prices may well not be the same now.

Thank you Janevo, very helpful.

On 9/21/2019 at 8:33 PM, Janevo said:

We visited Antisirana (Diego Suarez) as well as Nosy Be and Toamasina last year from a cruise. Madagascar is a very poor country, but wonderfully rich culturally and in its flora and fauna - we very much enjoyed our three stops there. For all three stops we used a company called Madagascar Excursions MAD'EX (voyagemada.com) who were really good and made sure we were well taken care of throughout. This company is very much used by French speaking passengers, but we had a wonderful guide with very good English.

 

For Diego Suarez we went to the Red Tsingy and Ramena for lunch and the beach, and enjoyed our day very much. At the end and start of each day the company owner was there to make sure everyone got to their excursion as booked and had enjoyed their day.

 

From Nosy Be we visited Lokobe, Nosy Tanikely and Nosy Komba. we saw lots of wildlife at close quarters and at Nosy Tanikely the snorkeling was very nice, we even had a short time with a turtle there (this was very unexpected as we had no thought that the snorkeling would be that good!).

 

Hope thats useful.  We found this a very interesting place,  know that toilets can be basic, so be prepared, and take care with any food eaten there, but a wonderful place to visit.

Janevo

I have tried to contact Mada Ex but not had a reply, did you book beforehand or was he at the port?

How much was the tour that you took?

Thank you.

We were first taken to Charlotte Amalie which was mainly a shopping stop and from there we were taken to Mountain Top -the highest point on the island- where we sampled the famous Banana Daquiri whilst taking in the magnificent view of Magen's Bay - absolutely fantastic. We then continued the tour past Magens Bay via another spectacular viewing point and on to the beach, from where we were returned to the ship in good time.

Godfrey was extremely pleasant throughout and provided some good information as we progressed, the only possible problem would be if you are in the back of the open sided vehicle, as the sole speaker is at the front. If you are looking for a friendly, informative tour of St Thomas we would most definitely recommend Godfrey.

Lammy1952,

Great information on the ship we are going to call home from January 25th for two weeks. Can you confirm that they do not provide trays in the Lido restuarant.

Patrick

mactire

The review info is courtesy of POA1, however from memory of our previous cruise with HAL, there were trays provided in Lido.

We are on the sailing 25 January also, if you are interested there is a M&G being arranged on the thread for that cruise.

Only two weeks before sailing, and 12 days before flying to Miami!!

Two of the most subjective parts of any review are the sections where the reviewer discusses the food and the entertainment on their cruise. There's really no way around it. Different people have different tastes. They also have distinct and varying expectations.

 

As do we.

 

That means that my comments here are going to reflect Huskerchick's and my opinions, with a little sprinkling of her father's tastes and preferences thrown in for good measure. So when you read my comments on the food, bear in mind that what you like could be completely different from what we like.

 

To help you better understand how we dine on a cruise, here's rough overview of our normal routine.

 

Breakfast - We typically order room service breakfast, although we did eat in the Lido fairly often on this trip. The Lido is DFIL's go-to spot for breakfast. He likes to walk around to all the stations so he can see what's available. Once he's assessed the situation, he has an omelet - pretty much the same omelet every day. But at least he's scoped out his options.

 

We did not eat in the MDR for breakfast, and I can't recall the last time we did. There's nothing wrong with the MDR breakfast; it's just not our thing. In the past, when we wanted a table service breakfast, we ate in the Pinnacle. But, since neither we nor DFIL were in a Neptune Suite, it wasn't an option on this trip.

 

Lunch - While we do partake in the occasional sit down, table service lunch, we are much more likely to grab lunch on the go. If we're being good, we generally grab a large helping of broiled fish, chicken, or other proteins from the lido line and pair it with some vegetables or a salad. Being good only gets you so far, so we slip in a burger or hot dog from the Dive-In every so often. Our favorite table service lunch venue if the Pinnacle Grill. It's a $10 supplement, but it is well worth it in our opinion.

 

Dinner - We're a fixed, late seating people by nature. We eat most dinners in the MDR and we sprinkle in the occasional specialty restaurant. Typically, we're in the MDR five out of seven evenings. We never have a problem finding something that appeals to us on the regular menu, and the odd time when we get something from the everyday selections it's because we're in the mood for salmon, or a Caesar salad, or a baked potato.

 

We enjoy the Pinnacle Grill - provided the service is up to snuff. I'm happy to report that the Pinnacle Grill was excellent on the Nieuw Amsterdam, but more on that later. We like Le Cirque night in the Pinnacle and we're huge fans of fussy, fancy food. (If we're on the Eurodam, we would do De Librije in a heartbeat.) We enjoyed trying the Tamarind restaurant, but we are not nearly as keen on it as many of our Cruise Critic compatriots are.

 

We view the evening meal as a social occasion. We tend to travel with friends and it's our opinion that the conversation adds to festivities. While we hate to wait a long, long time between courses, we'd much rather have a relaxed pace than feel rushed. Our typical MDR dining experience clocks in somewhere between 75 and 90 minutes. That's for a typical four course dinner (appetizer, soup or salad, entrée, and dessert.) If we are out at a good restaurant with our friends - say, a party of 6 for instance - we figure on 3 hours or more. Bottom line: We're usually not in a hurry.

 

Wine - Heck yeah! Seriously though, we do like our wine, and our normal routine is to have a red and a white with each meal. If it's a formal night, we add a bottle of Champagne to the mix. This might seem a bit much to some of you, but I can assure you: The table with the most stemware wins.

 

Now that you have a baseline, feel free to read our opinions. Just remember that your perspective may be completely different than ours, particularly if what you've read thus far differs a lot from the way you cruise. You might consider us slowpoke lushes, or you might think that we're your kind of people. At least you have a frame of reference for what you are about to read.

Oh for crying out loud, tell us about the food already!

Room Service Breakfast:

 

Our room service breakfasts arrived on time and hot. Every day. (Except the day I forgot to hang the card out. I left it sitting there, next to the tip money. There have been some claims that alcohol was involved, but I am blaming the hour that we lost the night before. I must have put the breakfast card on the door just as the time was changing. Therefore, it never happened.)

 

If you're not familiar with Holland America's Room Service Breakfast offerings, the Institute of Cheers' Department of Scanning Things is pleased to provide a PDF at the link below:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjH6f6ojMtOloombnAyuohL-8CAqozXDXk/

 

Our typical room service breakfast was omelets or eggs. Years ago, we realized that where your sides wind up is a crap shoot. If you're the kind of person whose day is ruined if your spouse's bacon touches your eggs, or there's ham on you plate even though you clearly hate all porky treats, then room service breakfast might not be for you. As for us, we're perfectly fine sorting the breakfast meats out after our tray arrives.

 

We occasionally got some toast, or a danish, or the beloved chocolate croissant, but most of the time we stuck to protein for breakfast.

 

Also honey.

 

 

I'm sure most of you already know this, but you can do a fair amount of special ordering on your breakfast card. Want your bacon crisp? Write the word, "CRISPY" next to bacon. Looking for a chocolate croissant? Write "CHOCOLATE" next to Croissant on the card, and have your order delivered when the MDR is open for breakfast. (I'm not 100% sure why this is. I mean, they're not baking them in there. They must be made up ahead of time. Next time you eat breakfast in the main dining room, check to see if there's a little cage with chocolate croissants all cooped up in it.)

 

If you followed the link above and taken a gander at the room service breakfast menu, you will have not doubt noticed that you can order both stewed prunes and prune juice for breakfast. Delivered right to your room! These are truly wondrous times in which we live. It's you, and prunes - in both solid and liquid form - mere feet from a room with your own private commode. Can it get any better?**

 

I'm running out of room for this post, so I will continue on with "Breakfast in the Lido" and other stirring mealtime observations in the next post.

 

**Yes it can! The Penthouse/Pinnacle Suite has a bidet on many of the ships. Prunes and a bidet??? Better check off the box next to Tabasco.

POA

Thanks for the great review(s), however I wonder if you could answer one specific question. On our previous cruise with HAL on Noordam there was an Asian station in the Lido at lunchtime, is this available on NA. My wife loved it previously and is really hoping it will be on NA.

Thanks

Anni

Do you have any information on when the Festival is scheduled for this year, and roughly when the vessels start arriving for the event. We are due to dock in Warnemunde in August.

Thank you.