TraelorMex

Thanks Essiesmom.  I do not know much about 'live threads' etc.  If you could direct me to a website or 'link' I would really appreciate it.

Planning a cruise on this ship in near future.  Have not read much about it.  Can someone tell me how it compares to other HAL ships? We have crusied HAL many times and overall are quite satisfied with the experience.  We just never did travel aboard this one.  Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, does anyone know if covid vax's are still required for HAL shiips??

Hi fellow cruisers. I am considering the 77 day S/A cruise (Volendam) departing Jan 2021. I cannot find any information about whether or not this cruise will be a 'go'. I am concerned about making a reservation and NOT knowing if it will even sail.

Does anyone have experience with these iffy matters? Guess I am looking for advice on what to do.

Thanks in advance.

just off this very cruise. don't forget to stop at diamond's international for your 'free' bracelet. (you'll be stopping at dozens of em)  🤑

on the plus side, I didn't notice any 'art' auctions on board....

Long time HAL sailors here....the 'K' was our first experience on the larger ships. Overall our experiences were positive. Big exception was the food..we found it to be inferior in quality (compared to previous HAL cruises).

we definitely prefer the smaller HAL ships (i.e. Rotterdam, Maasdam etc). Doubt well be sailing the behemoths again.

I am going to vent, now. I simply HATE seeing 'comfort' animals on board. HATE IT! Our last cruise a couple had two dogs (comfort level). Large elk-hound for the chair-bound husband and smaller ratty looking terrier yapping at everyone around.

Going thru the buffet (Lido) one evening what looked to be an emergency hazmat team appeared and cordoned off the entire buffet area. Seemed the huge elk-hound crapped on the floor in the buffet line and other pax tramped thru this nasty stuff and distributed the comfort animals feces all over the Lido.

The entire one side was disrupted during the busiest time of the evening (for the Lido) and those pax eating were forced to watch disgusting display.

Meanwhile, the owners of these 'comfort' animals sat idly by beaming at their precious animals.

I wonder if HAL executives would enjoy dining in an area contaminated by someone's comfort animal crapping all over their dining area....(done venting now)

Many cruises on HAL. One on Princess. Spent the entire time on Princess cruise wishing we has sailed HAL ;)

Enjoy your time in Norway. While you did not address this issue, BE PREPARED! Price shock will certainly floor you!

Wife and I stopped at a local dock market and inquired about a small lunch (very small salad, 3 shrimp, roll). Price: $52.48 U.S.

And, we REALLY wanted to by one of the much mentioned sweaters. They were beautiful. Couldn't find one for under $350.00 U.S. :o

Hi all. My first posting on this forum. I am a HAL cruiser with many cruises under the belt. Would like to try Regent Cruise. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of regent compared to HAL?

Any other info is greatly appreciated. I know nothing at all about Regent.

Thanks in advance.

Been on this cruise twice: first, the ships. Our first visit was on the Rotterdam. Simpy put, GREAT. Ship had tons of activities (crossing equator ceremonies etc). Second time (two years ago) on the Amsterdam. Big Blah. No ceremonies or anything. Kinda like a floating taxi.

Ports: were great. Well worth the visit. We stopped and visited an active archaeological dig. Saw ancient human bones being uncovered (got pix!).

Most folks we spoke with said to forget the Machu Pichu (SP) excursion as this was too pricey for so short a time. (no ROI).

Enjoy the trip if you take it and do report back.

"where the window wasn't."

Love it!

"But there is another problem which is that a majority of cuban cigars sold in third countries are counterfeit."

Great advise from previous poster. Deal only with reputable cigar shops.

You can generally tell when someone has an axe to grind. Boy, I can hear the wheel spinning here!

On another topic, I recently concluded a 32 day cruise wherein I had to ask the ship's doctor a question. Entire conversation lasted less than 10 minutes. Received a bill for $45.00 for the 'consultation'. :rolleyes:

I thank you for all the good advice. My wife will love this :)

anybody know where I can get the recipe for these? the wife LOVES em!

Low Notes: 32 day cruise just concluded. Food quality was simply BAD. Part of our enjoyment of cruising with HAL had always been their food. Apparently cost savings have really taken a bite out of this budget item.

32 days, prime rib was offered twice. 5-6 times the featured carving board item was 'meatloaf' (Chef Rudy's meat loaf..Grandmas' favorite recipe meatloaf) surprised they didn't run out of adjectives.

Lobster tail was offered once. HAL no longer makes their own desserts, and the proof IS in the pudding here.

All in all, the cruise was a very big '7' out of '10' for us. May be time to look elsewhere......

High Notes: Enjoyed the cruise director (Carlos Mendoza). Very dapper fellow. Food servers and cabin stewards were fantastic as always.

Also, for you coffee lovers, they have installed new coffee makers and the morning coffee was very palatable. Coffee quality tended to wane appreciably as the day wore on though.

By note of comparison, we did this exact same cruise on the ms Rotterdam 7-8 years ago. The differences were simply stunning.

We have been on both. The 'O' is larger than the 'V'.

We did not care for the 'O'. Hard to put into words. We did enjoy the 'V'.

We did not like the decor of the 'O'. Seemed harsh...the 'V' had a more understated 'elegance'. if you will..more homey.

Cute...never heard this one before :D

We had an opportunity to 'do' this for free on a recent cruise. After reviewing the menu items and talking to several folks that had already done this, we chose the 'regular' pinnacle grill dinner.

I just don't get these people who purchase something (time share, jewelry, paintings, pictures) and then AFTER the purchase, perform their due diligence.

I just don't get it.

Has no one ever heard the term Caveat Emptor??

Been on both, several times. They are both very nice ships. We prefer the Rotterdam though.

Comments about the aft pools are correct. Although we are not really 'pool' people so this was not a biggie for us.

You can really write a neat review. Maybe you should get a job writing for some travel magazine! Reading your reviews is getting me antsy to start our cruise (and visit Vancouver).

Thanks

Chatting with an old man in a hotel last year in Mexico. Told him I was there on a cruise, and asked him if he ever cruised. He said he did once, but didn't enjoy it. Said he received a free cruise to France that lasted 30 days, and he hated it. He said it happened in June of 1944 :D

(following copied from 'Cruisefeverdotnet)

The best thing to do is to try to use your favorite search engine to search the dates of the cruise and name of the ship. Try the dates in different formats and see what comes up. Often times, if it is a larger group booking part of the ship, they will have these details mentioned on a webpage or forum somewhere online. This was the case for my dreaded cruise and I could have avoided all of the craziness if I simply did this searching.

You will not always get a good idea of the size of the group from the webpage, but some of them will say how many tickets are available or what the limit is.

You can also ask your travel agent about any large groups. This information is not always privy to them, but often they will have some insider knowledge as to who else will be cruising with you, so it doesn’t hurt to ask.

There used to be a website that listed all of the large group cruises, but I have done some research and it is no longer in existence. Alternatively, you can check out http://themecruisefinder.com to find group cruises. You can’t search by ship, however. You can look at the different categories for the themes and see if a cruise is scheduled during your trip. You can also use Google to search for listings on this site. For instance, just type in Google “site: http://themecruisefinder.com Carnival Liberty”. You will see a list of group cruises for that ship. Keep in mind that this does not include all group cruises and some of these groups are very small and would not impact your cruise in the slightest. But it’s a good resource to have.

I do sympathize. We have been on several cruises with HAL where other 'groups' were present. While we did not know this, it was absolutely no bother whatsoever, nor did it detract in any way from our experience.

I do believe that, as in most things, the term ''Caveat Emptor' does apply here. It remains incumbent on the buyer to exercise their due diligence.