ninkb

Love your attitude, both toward the dependability of HAL, and your willingness to answer questions. You're a blessing to many of us!

Have not yet been on the Zaandam, but HAL's other ships of that size have self serve laundry facilities, operated by quarters. You can also send out single items for their laundry service, but if you have the time, self serve is much cheaper! Enjoy your cruise!!!

I agree with all of you who say the sounds are too loud! My solution is to not attend the shows and to comment about the audio discomfort on my evaluations. Maybe if ALL of us put our complaint in writing we will get somewhere with it.

We've never had a problem with "drop offs" when we've cruised in and out of Boston. Your plans should work out well. Happy sailing!

. . . at the front desk. We didn't receive our 100 day medallion on the qualifying cruise, then not on the next one either. That made us go immediately to the front desk to ask "Why not?" They said it should have happened previously, but gave us the medallions the next day. However, no pictures of them being placed over our heads . . . just 2 boxes left in the cabin.

The benefits are the same, but the glamor was missing.

I always appreciate the help, as well as occasional OBC our TA gives. We booked our upcoming cruise while on a cruise last year and had it immediately put in our TA's name. Recently she was able to get us a discount on our HAL shore excursions for the upcoming cruise. They were not available at the time of booking. Every benefit helps. Since we had a specific cabin we wanted, there was no reason to work with a PCC in selecting the cruise or cabin. I'm sure things are different for other cruisers, but this works for us. Good luck with all your cruising details.

Remember the days before carry ons had wheels? We had a "trolley" with 2 wheels at that time, and now it easily carries 3 bungy corded 12 packs of my favorite no sugar added, cherry coke. I wheel it on; no problem with cans exploding or suitcase/clothing getting sprayed with explosive cans. Works beautifully for long cruises when it's hard to hand carry more than 2 cartons, plus other essential carry-ons.

Some cabin categories were changed because of their location. They are now more "desirable" because they are midship rather than the old "cheaper" price because they are on lower decks. Personally, I think it's more of the $ game . . . get more money for each sailing by changing the category rather than simply raising prices. Makes you think you're getting a better cabin because of the category . . . and that's not always true.

All past passengers now need to adjust and carefully research future cabin choices. For our next cruise, we made the reservation during a cruise. Signed up at one price, then a few days later were told it would be more because the cabin would be in a different category by the time we sailed. Of course we paid the difference; we really wanted that particular cabin, on that particular cruise. I was just a bit surprised that the FCC didn't know about the correct pricing when we first booked.

For me, HAL cruising is worth paying more money.

Have cruised both lines, and always in inside cabins. There is no comparison in size of the cabins. NCL was so tiny we could hardly move. HAL has some good sized insides and we usually can book one of those.

As to formality, HAL isn't as formal as it used to be. Unless you really want to go to the main dining room in sweats or jeans at dinner, you don't have to be "dressed up". I don't even pack heals or dresses for formal nights. Slacks, flats, and a glitzy top work just fine.

We have also enjoyed the food and service on HAL much more than our NCL cruises.

Of course, what pleases one person does not please the other. Just be sure that you've researched current trends on both lines before making your choice.

And I strongly agree with other posters, itinerary is important. That's the only reason we've chosen NCL in the past. Good luck in making your decision.

... for the clarification. I do like your idea of HAVING to book a next cruise so that I can use those new amenities.

Or maybe with the new "organization" at HAL and Carnival Corp. there will be new ways of doing things.

It's exciting to know that some of you have received the new pins before you got home. Did you also get a new room card with the correct number of stars so that you received the appropriate amenities onboard?

Our next cruise is 35 days (17 + 18) collector's cruise and we'll become 4* on the return trip. We'd love to be able to use the new amenities (particularly the laundry) before the cruise ends. Do we have any chance of this happening?

The interior is all that we need. Once had a balcony and enjoyed it, but I'd rather spend the extra $$$ on something else. We usually book a large J on the main deck and do appreciate a bit of extra space. We enjoy the quiet darkness at night.

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread before posting the question to cruisinskier. Answer has been forwarded to DH! Thanks for the "early" response.

Love the pix you posted. DH is hoping for your success on our upcoming cruise. Would you share some details about your camera? Make? SLR? If so, what focal length you used for the canal pictures? Thanks for sharing your experience with others.

As we plan our next cruise, your commentary and pix are a great help!!! Thank you for all of the time you put into it. And do know, that we also like the quiet, relaxing places we can find on HAL ships.

We stayed at the Sailport Suites in Tampa 3 nights before our cruise. . . .

 

Thanks for the info. You don't mention it, but I assume they allowed you to leave your car with them while you cruised.

Are there any Tampa hotels that allow free parking while you cruise? I know there are east coast hotels that allow free parking if you stay there the night before the cruise.

Celebrity has a small ship called the Xpedition that sails for 7 nights in the islands. They also offer 10 day trips with before/after cruising in Quito, as well as 11 day trips that add Macho Pichu at the end. There's a LONG thread on the Celebrity board that talks all about it.

Other ships that go are not "major" carriers and are usually shorter itineraries from what I've read.

Guess I'll try the wetsuit and be prepared for an initial chill. If it's too bad, I can always select another excursion for future days. I believe I heard that Xpedition has some long suits on board also. Maybe that will work.

I really do appreciate your feedback!

:):):) ninkb

Benita, I'm interested in the snorkeling and the wet suit. Was it long or short? Were you comfortable? We'll be going in Nov 09 and will have the short ones. I chill easily and want to prepare ahead in any way possible. If you have snorkeled in the Caribbean/Hawaii/Great Barrier Reef how did it compare, both in temperature and what you saw?

We are so excited by the possibilities this trip provides!!!

Thanks for your help.

:):):) ninkb

I've also had trouble in the past, but just asked for help and received it quickly . . . and was able to follow their instructions.

Also tried several things before being able to finally delete the "sailed" portion of my signature.

Good luck!

:):):) ninkb