Laurino

Onboard Maasdam now, in Quebec currently. Got a note "New itineraries just released" from future cruises in the mail this morning.

The note says itineraries already available: Koningsdam Caribbean 2016/2017, Antarctica 2017, Zaandam S America 2016/2017, Amsterdam 53 day Hawaii & S Pacific 2016, Maasdam 33 day Hawaii 2017

Itineraries opening June 30: Amsterdam 111 day World 2017, Prinsendam 67 day S America & Antarctica 2017, Prinsendam 56 day Mediterranean 2017

Itineraries opening July 3: Volendam Asia 2016/2017, Maasdam Australia 2016, Noordam & Maasdam N Zealand & Australia 2016/2017

Hope this helps some of you!

I'm interested in Zaandam Antarctica Holiday 2016, but it doesn't show up online yet. I'll have to visit future cruises soon...

/Henrik

Hello Henrik,

Here's how it works in Europe. (ignore everything so far, as it is based on American residents/cruisers).

book your cruise online and take the option for a courtesy hold.

call HAL (probably in UK - the number to call is at the top of the webpage) and tell them that you want to apply your FCD's to the cruise.

I did it this way last week and there are no difficulties.

Hi VMax, thanks for your reply! I will try your way with a courtesy hold and also Serendipitys suggestion to e-mail the FCD-numbers, or call HAL UK or Holland.

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I searched and couldn't find it. I'm thinking of buying a FCD (Future Cruise Deposit) on my next cruise. I've already seen threads about the cost and OBC etc. I'm only wondering if and how the FCD can be "redeemed" with an online booking on HAL:s site? I prefer not to use a TA or book over the phone. Maybe it is stored on my account and applied automatically if I try to book (wishful thinking :o)? I would like to know the booking process before getting a FCD. Also I prefer not to actually book onboard, I would prefer an "open" FCD, since otherwise I would worry about air fare and the cancellation penalty (booking in euros) etc.

Thank you /Henrik

We did this cruise last July, it was great. BB King's and some of the shows were good. The Northern Lights disco was certainly open late, the noise disturbed us slightly when we were going to bed. However we were not out late, partly because it was a port intensive cruise. Btw we are 36 and 41.

I know it's off-topic, but check out my review of the cruise, if you want to see lots of photos of the ports and the ship.

From my side of the pond, it's currently €5500 for an inside including taxes and fees (it's July 25 this year, we're talking about?), that's about 6050 USD or 7540 CAD.

On the other hand, I won't get any €-price drops on my upcoming NE/Can cruise on HAL, even though I have noticed several $-price drops... The $-price is currently about $240 lower than the €-price.

A vital reminder, Laurino, that one thing vacations ought to be about, is getting oneself refreshed. It's possible, I think, to come back weary and still refreshed (overstimulation, maybe, or just making all that new stash of experiences fit into your finite brain/heart).

 

But where one's main memory of an away-time ends up being how exhausting it was? Hah, not what I plan for.

Well, we're all different. My definition of a vacation is "I can do whatever I want" as opposed to what my employer etc wants, but the vacation can be both active and relaxing. We in Sweden (and Europe) get sufficient paid vacation (at least 25 days), but not nessecarily high salaries. Hence I usually divide my vacations into one active fast-paced (and therefore "bang for the buck") trip and afterwards a relaxing time staying at home (with some short domestic excursions) before returning to work.

There are several reasons why I love to cruise. I also like the ocean and scenic cruising is a bonus. I also think the ships themselves are cool and fascinating feats of engineering (I also like planes and trains). We do land trips as well and like to combine with a cruise.

Also agree about staying on a hotel that moves to my destination and about the unpacking thing, and would like to expand on that. Many years ago I discovered that I don't like to "hunt" for accommodation during a trip, so we started prebooking all hotels through the internet. Later I started to feel that it's a hassle to switch hotels and places a lot, so I preferred day trips from a "base" instead. Also I dislike searching for restaurants for dinner, partly because me and my partner have different tastes and it can be difficult to agree and that takes time too, partly because it's not easy to "get lucky" and find a good restaurant. Often the meals take too long and I hate to wait for the check. We don't care much for "night-life" either, preferring to stay in our room. All of this kind of leads up to a cruise being a perfect solution. We actually get more entertainment on a cruise, on land we wouldn't have bothered. And we're only 36 and 41 years old...

I agree that it's less culturally immersive to cruise, but I get so relaxed on a cruise that I get more stamina and can actually cope to be more active (more sight-seeing etc) than on a land trip.

We did the Behind the Scenes tour onboard Nieuw Amsterdam last July, and it was great. I posted a lot of photos of the tour in my cruise review (starting from page 5). There was also a separate, short and free Galley tour. It's good to know that the Behind the Scenes tour is nowadays always scheduled on a port day, because of security reasons, so it's difficult to combine with excursions.

We got the Behind the Scenes book, a HAL cookbook, pins, a photo of the Ship and also a photo of us posing with the Captain. The tour was from about 1 PM to 5 PM, including cocktails and canapés in the Ocean Bar.

Nice blog! I really enjoyed the two Maasdam posts/trips, since I will be sailing on her soon for the first time.

Keith, the "W" is similar to English. "West" is pronounced the same in both languages. "Dam" is prounced "dam" as opposed to "daaam"

Doesn't a Dutch "W" sound like an English "V", and a Dutch "V" sound like an English "F" ? Similar to German.

Hence; Westerdam = Vesterdam, Volendam = Folendam ?

We do not want to walk. Just trying to figure out what to expect when we arrive. We are trying to DIY to Pisa for the day so we need to get from the ship to the train station. We are not interested in arguing with local taxis who don't want a local fare. We are happiest on public transit.

As others have said - the port provides a shuttle bus, but you have to pay for it. Last summer it was 5€ return, when we went on our Nieuw Amsterdam cruise. We did at DIY to Pisa; you can check out my somewhat detailed description of prices, which bus to take, photos etc in my photo review, post #78.

I cruised HAL's newest ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, in 2012 and it had none of that.

When we cruised N Amsterdam last summer, they had displays in the hallways with interactive sea charts and ship info. Also they had kiosks for booking shore excursions. However no kiosks or interactive cabin TV for photos, onboard account, restaurants etc. That would be appreciated.

1. HAL

2. Celebrity

3. Princess

Have only been on four cruises in four years. Agree with what others have said before. It's very difficult to compare since itinerary, weather, emotions, cruise line policies etc change. My/our 'mental state'/ how I feel at the time, seems to have the biggest impact on the experience - it overrides small product differences between the cruise brands. Itinerary and/or scenery is extremely important, for us it would be a waste (flights, money, environmental impact) to consider a ship a destination. We've also found that repeating a destination (even though you have fond memories from the first time) can quickly make it less exciting the second time. We are not that old at 35 and 41, but completely uninterested in nightlife and bars. Do lots of sightseeing during the days, history-culture-nature-technology and some shopping, we're tired every night and relax in our cabin and turn in early.

1:st cruise, HAL Zuiderdam, Alaska, May 2011. Wonderful, but dazed by the first cruise experience. Remember mostly constantly walking the promenade deck and watching the scenery of the Inside passage and Alaska. Cold and overcast but spectacular scenery. Good service and food. Really liked the Lido, MDR too slow. Went full Formal with rented tux. Didn't have time to try everything onboard. Didn't like the decor. Great cabin and bed. Small balcony because of lifeboats. Unmemorable entertainment. Good lectures. Great itinerary with both Inside passage, Tracy arm and Glacier bay. Had built up a mental image of HAL from brochures, CC etc that perhaps wasn't quite fulfilled.

2:nd cruise, X Equinox, C America, Dec 2012. Wowed by ship interior design, but not exterior. Didn't like walking in full sun on the short jogging track, promenade deck a disgrace. Hot Glass show great, my partner spent hours up there. Lido good layout but boring repetetive food, not as fresh as HAL. However MDR high quality, quick service and many 2-top tables. Good lectures again, also interesting tech talks about the ship. Much better entertainment including a great aerialist show and good solos. More varied dining/speciality, Murano very good. Narrow cabin, great bathroom with glass shower stall. Took only ships excursions because afraid of language barriers, safety etc - they were all good (except Panama) but too pricey and too slow, won't do that again. Loved afternoon tea from Lido on aft outside deck, watching sail away. Service friendly but a bit 'stuck up' in the restaurants. Beautiful Christmas decorations. Great itinerary to the main land with ruins culture etc, didn't want beaches and small islands. Didn't feel that comparable to previous cruise, because of different itinerary, time of year, cruise line etc.

3:rd cruise, P Emerald, Caribbean, Dec 2013. Now it got different. Wanted a winter escape at a good price. Also married after booking, so turned it into a honeymoon(!). Many small factors made this a less enjoyable cruise. Repeated some stuff in Florida (Disney etc), less exciting this time. A more simple itinerary only with Caribbean islands, Aruba and Bonaire was boring, ship skipped Princess Cays because of bad weather, however Grenada-Dominica-St Thomas were great. Basically no culture, less activities, more beaches and some nature. Rained, especially on Bonaire. Also unfortunately started to compare cruise/ship to Celebrity before. Small cabin no sofa, minuscule shower, downgraded from balcony to obstructed OV - OK considering the savings. New years celebrations on board great. MDR service felt rushed and didn't like the food at all, did Lido instead. Horrible coffee. Fantastic pizza! Service overall efficient but less friendly. Strange layout in Lido but great variety with different themes every night, still not so fresh food as HAL. Unmemorable entertainment again, no lectures, focus on movies rather than live performances. Lots of outdoor pools. Nice with a wraparound promenade, but annoying with the exposed bow and the stairs. Elegant decor in the Piazza, the rest more sedate than HAL but not better either. Our biggest ship so far, lots of people. Overall not so good, but probably some circumstances that made our assessment a bit unfair to Princess.

4:th cruise, HAL N Amsterdam, Mediterranean July 2014. Amazing cruise. But incidentally - got a great deal, extremely long relaxing 24 night cruise, beautiful hot calm weather, very consistent service and food quality onboard. Itinerary - not so exciting for us to travel in Europe, but many first visits in Greece, Balkan and especially Turkey, second part in Italy-France-Spain were mostly familiar ports and much less interesting. By disembarkation in Barcelona, we had actually seen and done so much, and we were quite frankly tired and didn't do that city any justice at all. We noticed some downgrades from HAL - Adagio Strings shrunk to a duo, no midnight dessert buffet, no special topic lectures only bundled-up port talks, felt cabanas were in the way, Crow's nest - library combo noisy. Some upgrades - BB Kings made great entertainment, Dive-in grill fantastic, Tamarind good (no 'upgrade', just different from Zuiderdam) and Silk den a great daytime lounge for reading, great themed dinner bbq/buffets by the Seaview pool. However strong points important to us - quick service and impeccable food in MDR, great breakfast in Lido, great and friendly service everywhere, a great cabin (though obstructed OV) and great cabin stewards. Entertainment not improved except BB Kings. Really liked Culinary arts center presentations. Lido also good lunch but dinner seemed too casual all of the sudden - preferred the elegance of MDR. Pinnacle Filet Mignon to die for, but an unvaried menu compared to Murano. Ship more modern and elegant than Zuiderdam and Emerald, great artwork, though could be brighter and airier compared to Equinox. Again great with the shaded promenade deck on a warm cruise. Took a ship tour - a highlight.

Sorry for the long rant - should go to bed now :o

Overall HAL is slightly ahead right now. However Celebrity does give HAL a run for the money. Very interested in Koningsdam, seems to me as a great 'merger' of HALs and Celebritys strong points ;) will however lament the views from promenade deck.

I loved the 'Cannonball' burger at the Dive-In, made a great lunch by the Lido pool.

We dined once in Tamarind onboard NA last summer. The vibrations were quite pronounced, but no movement. It was sort of funny, I and a woman at the neighboring table had the shrimp tempura as appetizers, the two shrimps were stuffed in a cup and vibrated naughtily like kicking legs :p we all laughed.

The Silk den was my favourite day lounge for reading. Much more quiet than the Crows nest. Comfy sofas and great views. Never had a drink there though.

I would like to VPN to an american HAL website to compare, but cannot.

While I agree that using a US TA site might be the simplest way, a great site (hope I can mention it here?) I have been using to show how HAL:s website (and pricing) appears in different locations, is GeoPeeker: https://geopeeker.com

You simply do a cruise search on HAL:s site and then paste the resulting adress/URL in to GeoPeeker's site, and their servers (in Singapore, Brazil, Virginia, California, Australia and Ireland) return an image of how that HAL page looks in from each different server.

No proxies, real servers. Quite neat. Also it's free. However you only get that specific page/URL, you can't surf through/onward. Also a bit strange selection of countries/states, but you can get more if you sign up (and pay). It's primarily a tool for web designers to check the appearance of their work.

I spent 35 nights in one of the inside cabins a couple of doors up from that short cross passageway. I will admit that more than once I was jostled awake as the ship was arriving. It made for one heck of a good alarm clock!

 

I didn't find it a "violent" awakening, however. And to tell the truth, I needed to get up anyway. I would not consider this a deterrent from booking in that area again.

YMMV

I'm also interested in these cabins. Some have mentioned noise when arriving and docking, but how about vibrations when under way? MDR and other aft rooms often vibrate on other ships?

This thread may help you with your decision: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2111489 I will be on the Maasdam in May so cannot provide you with personal experience yet.

Yes that's a good thread, I have actually seen it before and forgotten about it... Thanks for the reminder :p We'd like to book Maasdam for a late June sailing.

Hi,

I'm looking for a quiet oceanview cabin on Lower Promenade deck on Maasdam. Looking at the deck plans, I'm thinking of forward E/EE322-329 or aft EE/HH/H391-421, as they will at least avoid the showroom and MDR galley above. I suppose A deck or Main deck would be quieter, but I would like the convenient access to promenade deck, restaurants etc.

Can anyone recommend these cabins?

I'm asking because when we cruised onboard Nieuw Amsterdam last summer, we could hear the Northern Lights disco at night even though we were two decks above :eek: in cabin G4074. We were not disturbed by activities on Promenade deck however. Does Maasdam even have a disco?

Not wanting to hi-jack the thread, but I've been asking myself the same question as OP. We would like to get the June 27 Montreal or (preferably not) the June 20 Boston sailing, onboard Maasdam. But I find the European pricing of those salings a bit unappealing right now, they've been increasing slightly every weak since Christmas. We'd really like to be able to get two cruises this year :cool:

It's probably even more difficult to get a last-minute late June sailing, compared to May? We've already booked transatlantic return flights to Newark, so a bit nervous now, wondering what sort of trip we'll get :o

I've just found your review as we've started thinking about taking this cruise or a similar one on the Zuiderdam in 2016. Thanks to you, I'm now sold on it. Just have to wait for the 2016 itineraries to come out. Your photos are fantastic and thanks for all the useful information. I've taken a page of notes for future reference. Next I'm going to watch your movie. Many thanks again!:)

Thank you, glad to help! Zuiderdam was our first cruise ship. :)

'MobyandDick', 'cknic' and 'Cruisa Loosa' - thanks for reading, and I'm happy to answer questions :)

Thank you all for your kind replies.

If I may ask, what type of camera did you use?

I used the 'enthusiast compact camera' Canon Powershot S100. I just recently switched to the 'bridge camera' Panasonic DMC-FZ1000, mainly to get better video quality and more zoom. The Canon was quite sufficient for still photos. I'm looking forward to bringing the new Panasonic to the next cruise.

Probably 5 best cruise ships afloat (after The Queen of All Ships - RMS Queen Mary 2 ocean liner):

 

2. Queen Elizabeth

3-5. Eurodam & Nieuw Amsterdam and Allure OTS & Oasis OTS

 

Just a note. The Queen Elizabeth is not a Signature Class ship (a sophisticated derivative of the Vista class platform).

This Queen is also a derivative of the Vista clas but the most distant relative with lengthened and strengthened hull, significantly redesigned public rooms and open decks.

Yes it's a bit confusing. For instance, when reading on Wikipedia, they sometimes refer to QE as a Vista, Signature, Spirit or even Spirit/Vista hybrid. BTW don't you like Queen Victoria? Is she much different from QE?

Laurino, thank you very much for this great review and stunning pictures. We are sailing in August on the Zuiderdam for the 33 days Best of Mediterranean. It has most of the port calls your cruise had. This is our first HAL cruise and our first Mediterranean cruise. We are planning to do many of the shore excursions as possible on our own, for much the same reasons you gave throughout your review. You have helped us enormously in this. Once again, thank you.

Thank you! I'm glad to help. I hope you'll have a great cruise, 33 days is a long time, you'll get to see most of the Mediterranean! I see Valletta is on your cruise, that's perhaps the only port we felt 'we missed'. Zuiderdam was our first HAL ship.

Wow!! Beautiful ports, beautiful ship. Thank you for posting the link to your review...we really enjoyed it, and I think it convinced my husband that Nieuw Amsterdam it is!!:D

Glad to help you!