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Posts posted by Catlover54
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45 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:
Agreed. I'm always intrigued by those who state that they will never sail Viking again due to this policy - it must touch a very different nerve with them than its reality. Apart from increasing the cost of a Viking trip slightly, it has no other impact.
The policy is simply a surcharge - at today's interest rates it would typically be between 1% and 4% depending on the PIF difference to other lines. It's easy to do the math and add the opportunity cost to the cost of the Viking trip for personal affordability analysis or competitive comparisons. 🍺🥌
Yes, "math" (or really just arithmetic) is the issue. It is a surcharge that at today's longer term CD rates is easily 5% (depending on terms), so one must realistically add 5% to the cruise cost if paid off in full over one year in advance. This also adds to the total amount one has to potentially fight to get returned if unusual events occur (e.g., as happened with Covid, where lines were offering FCC "within one year" instead of refunds), which might not be so unusual going forward. It is *a* factor to me, but not the controlling factor, if a line is so fantastic that one should jump at the chance of paying 5% more. And it is not as if Viking has the best reputation for customer service and easy refunds and compensation, e.g., when river cruises went south due to water level inadequacies or excesses, there was great resistance to compensation.
On the CC forums, even luxury travelers (and Viking is not even technically classified as "luxury"), people fuss about saving even a few hundred dollars, so on a longer cruise well into 5 figures, it is not an insignificant amount. I totally understand some people psychologically like the idea of paying everything off ahead of time, but one is always free to do that even if it were not mandated by the line for a booking to be maintained.
To me it is not a "no way" consideration, just a realistic assessment of the extra cost for Viking, compared with other arguably comparable cruises. It was not as much of an issue when secure interest rates were in the financial toilet. Some lines (e.g., Silverseas) offered/offer a discount in the total price for booking and paying off the cost early, which acknowledges (at least in part) the lost earned interest cost.
On a similar note, I don't like that Scenic wants a 20% deposit which is non-refundable, no matter how long before the cruise is scheduled. What are they afraid of? Plus, they are very difficult to deal with on customer service.
And I also don't like it when foreign lines like Hapag Lloyd (my favorite line) try to charge Americans in dollars and then provide unfavorable exchange rates, which can make a difference in net thousands of dollars, but if one is alert, one can avoid this by paying in Euros.
These maneuvers seem to me to all just be ways of hiding the true higher charges of the cruise offered. If you're fine with them (and obviously many are), great.
But if demand is as high as Viking claims it is , I have to ask why, if Viking has more bookings than they can handle and is doing customers a favor by offering cruises, Viking keeps sending out so many and such frequent advertisements to me and others to book their cruises. My luxury travel TA is also not fond of them in terms of customer service dealings, compared with other lines, but of course she may have other vested interests she may not be willing to discuss with me.
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13 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:
Enjoyed reading your review!
I am glad it was of use to you!
Happy sailing, mixing and matching different lines.
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1 hour ago, Ileneilene123 said:
Yes — I will definitely look for it before printing. How do people who aren’t on Cruise Critic find out this stuff? Grateful for this info!
1 hour ago, Ileneilene123 said:Yes — I will definitely look for it before printing. How do people who aren’t on Cruise Critic find out this stuff? Grateful for this info!
Many first-time cruisers use a TA, who is supposed to alert you to key issues if they are worth their salt. Otherwise the information is online, though it may be obscure.
Have a wonderful time on your first cruise, it is very exciting! Be sure and walk the ship top to bottom after you get on and have settled in, so you don't miss any potentially favorite spots. We also take a picture of the deck plan of the ship and carry it around on our iphones, and areas we are likely to use, (and look at the deck plans near elevators) so we know what's where, and keep track of the location and hours shown in the daily program on the app (and on physical paper if you prefer).
When in doubt about anything, ask (don't assume that because no one mentioned something it isn't possible or available, sometimes it is possible).
Bon voyage!
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Below is a link to my review of our recent suite experience on the Rotterdam (RT Rotterdam-Rotterdam). We are infrequent HAL cruisers (we usually cruise so-called "luxury" lines), but had a very good time. With the right itinerary, we will return.
Apologies for the many typos.
If anyone has questions or comments, please chime in.
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=716670
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1. I wouldn't be surprised if people are less social than pre-Covid. Even though 'dying of Covid' and/or quarantine fears are way down, there are still plenty of other contagious viral infections going around that can ruin your trip, and likely people have learned to be cautious about who is breathing (and often coughing, shedding plenty of airborne droplets) right next to them. I recently was on the Rotterdam where juicy coughers were quite frequent, and became more frequent as the cruise went on, including on stuffed bus excursions. Even though not all the coughers were likely infectious (some have allergies, or COPD, or other non-infectious causes of chronic coughs) , some pax very likely were infectious , and neither DH nor I had an interest in ruining our trip getting sick (DH is particularly sensitive). The entire air is of course shared by all in the dining room or entertainment venue but if someone is at your table or on your bus and is in the infectious stage of a virus (and talking/laughing loudly very close to you), the general idea is that you are a bit more likely to get his infection than if you are off in a well-ventilated uncrowded corner by yourself. And you obviously can't wear an N95 mask (for what it's worth) while eating.
But for all the coughers on the ship, we would have been open to sharing a dinner table, with a solo or otherwise. But we chose to play it a little safer (or at least pretend to). We were asked (in the crowded Cannelleto, where we had a reservation), if we wanted to share, and we said we preferred to wait until a table was clear.
Another reason for not sharing is timing. Shows on the ship were early, at 7:30 and 9, and we are not early eaters. If we would come eat at 7:30, we wanted to be sure we would be finished by 8:45, in time to get a decent seat the the 9 o'clock show we were interested in , and not be held up by someone ordering extra courses and/or eating very slowly (as has happened on other ships). You cannot always predict who will be a slow eater (other than when a hostess in a crowded luxury ship dining room learned we were willing to share, and quickly sat us down near one couple where the man had a speech/swallowing and saliva control impediment (we learned from cancer treatment) , and the other man had an arm movement impediment from what we learned had been a stroke -- we were there 3 hours).
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As for joining a table at the Lido,
I am relatively new to HAL and had just assumed straight off that on a non-luxury line like HAL, in the typically overcrowded Lido/buffet area (rather than a specialty venue) , if you are at a table that is not at capacity, others would understandably have the official right to join you and you wouldn't officially be able to say no, so just say yes straight off. Not that long ago, in every-man inexpensive European restaurants, it was common for people to join your table in a crowded venue, and then they would just carry on their own conversations without involving you, and it is no big deal. Some places that still happens, and sometimes you can meet interesting people (or at least eavesdrop on interesting conversations :).
It is good for newbies like me to know that permission to join is required even in the crowded Lido, even if one person is sitting at a table for four. I'd rather eat in my cabin than impose on someone who wants to be alone.
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Interesting.
I knew that of late cruiselines reserve the right in interpreted fine print to change their routing, port of embarkation, port of disembarkation, ports visited, food and excursions offered, etc., without much if any obligation, but I did not know that solos are first on the hit list for getting moved from their chosen accomodations if there is a problem. Perhaps this could occur if some other party on a sold-out ship fusses loudly enough about the inadequacy of their accomodations? Solos aren't generally a fussy bunch, and may have less clout than couples or groups if there are problems.
But if they would move you "to a comparable stateroom", and you booked a Neptune, how could anything less than a Neptune be considered "comparable"? What is the definition of comparable here?
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1 hour ago, TLCOhio said:
From that key Barron's article, I found through MSN News today that full text with this headline: “Royal Caribbean Stock Is in for Smooth Sailing. Cruise Demand Runs Deep.” with these added details and highlights: “Few industries have undergone as significant a sea change as the cruising industry: Long gone are the dark days of the pandemic. That should mean smooth sailing ahead for the shipowners’ stocks. Most consumer-related companies have noted recently that Americans are being discerning in what they buy, hunting for value as persistent inflation keeps living costs high. Yet they aren’t willing to give up on things they enjoy. That puts cruise operators, particularly Royal Caribbean, in a sweet spot.”
Here are more insights and comments: " 'Royal Caribbean is our top pick across the leisure and travel sector as the company has the best assets, the best management team, and the best balance sheet to capitalize on the moment that the cruise industry is having,' writes Citi’s James Hardiman in a note Thursday. As Barron’s has noted previously, cruises are definitely having a moment. Far from being the choice of just newlyweds or retirees, they’re appealing to a swath of travelers. Part of the reason for the heightened popularity is that as travel expenses have skyrocketed, cruise passengers get more bang for their buck, Hardiman explains."
Full story at:
THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio
AFRICA?!!?: Fun, interesting visuals, plus travel details from this early 2016 live/blog. At 56,972 views. Featuring Cape Town, South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta.
Perhaps big mega cruiseline parents such as RC, which bought much of "luxury" SS, and also the German luxury line Hapag-Lloyd (and others) , have better profit anticipations and now higher value for investors, because they are cutting personnel and services right and left on their ships. SS is not the same level of luxury as when we first cruised on her ships in 2011, and even on Hapag-Lloyd there have been cuts which veteran pax have noticed and don't like. On SS the quality of included wines has declined (if you care), and number of frontline staff per passenger has declined, maids and waiters seem overworked, and worst of all is the phone and customer service before cruising and after cruising (i.e., once they have your payment), if issues arise (the internet is full of complaints about the non-luxury aspect of service, flights arranged with many and/or inconvenient timings, etc).
This is true not just on RC purchased lines, but also on Carnival purchased lines like Seabourn.
But ships are mostly full, likely from the rise in the number of people worldwide who can afford cruising as the article states , and I'll add who don't have expectations as high as they used to (the latter bunch is dying off). For many, just going somewhere -- anywhere -- and then being able to tell people they went, is novel and exciting. For those who expect more quality per dollar spent -- less so. I am not sure I believe that cruise pax are "getting more bang for their buck" now than 10 years ago, (much less 30 years ago).
Service aspects of cruise lines are down just like hotel and airline service is down, and restaurant service is down, and in general because all companies more or less do the same frustrating things , e.g., have customers do more themselves, or online, or put people on hold with phone trees, and unintelligent AI, and customers understand to expect lower quality overall if it is "good enough."
People don't have as much true choice when the big companies all do the same thing and get away with it because there is nowhere else to go. It is not just cruising that has been cheapened in available quality, but is still described as a great luxury.
I still enjoy most of my cruises, but DH and I started doing more land trips since Covid, where we are in more control of problems. Even though we anticipated cruising more with retirement, the quality decline has discouraged us from going all out. Others have also discovered the value of land vacations -- and, accordingly, nice hotels and venues are sold out well in advance.
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11 minutes ago, dockman said:
Rule one for me over dozens of cruises all over the world is travel light. If you don't have massive luggage to deal with then the skytrain and short walks are good options and getting on and off ship and airport/plane options are expanded..
Do you really really need to bring a different outfit for every day and 10 pairs of shoes? No thanks. Keep it simple and use the laundry service is some very very good advice for most. Think layers of clothing instead of one giant coat etc.
I travel with a rolling carryon and a small computer bag....not one time have i ever thought gee i wish i had brought more stuff to deal with. Travel size toiletres are fine and no worries over airport security rules. I do not care if i wear the same outfits over and over as i do not go on cruises to impress people with my wardrobe.
I do have free laundry which helps but even if have to pay for laundry it beats hauling big suitcases around.
Take a look at the size and amount of luggage that many passengers will bring on even a 7 day cruise...how much is hauled around and never even worn or used once? My guess is a lot and have to say a lot of the over luggage bunch looks pretty darn miserable trying to move all their stuff around.
I am envious of people like you who are healthy enough and strong enough to travel with just a rolling carryon (presumably meeting the official smaller size requirements of the last few years?) and a computer case, and are also confident that you will always find overhead space for your essentials. When I was young and healthy/strong enough to lift a rollaboard into the overhead compartment of an airplane (which I no longer can do), and didn't have any health care needs requiring extra supplies and clothing changes, and didn't have arthritis in my hands that makes sink washing and wringing of clothing difficult, and never dined in dressy restaurants or went to dressy concerts while traveling (it was youth hostels!), that worked well. I would also only take short trips, flying was more reliable and not so difficult (e.g., overhead space was always available for my essential items even with short-notice flight schedule changes, and so was underseat space). Some modern seats, especially on the aisle have IFE metal bars blocking access and of course the plane is full. Now with retirement and struggles flying long distances (even if I sometimes get special assistance, which creates its own problems), I take less frequent trips but make them longer, or combine cruises back to back with land trips, and may be on the go for close to two months.
Weather changes easily can go from very cold to very hot, wet and dry. I don't need 10 pairs of shoes, but I need 3 pairs (and that is wearing the identical "outfit" -- if you can call it that -- for each formal dinner. With one pair of shoes on my feet (and it has to be a pair I can easily kick off and on at US security since I can't stand on one leg, and pre-check isn't always running), shoes can take up a lot of room (e.g., waterproof walking shoes for rainy weather, presentable dinner shoes for "dressy" or formal nights -- so I don't wear bulky hiking boots to the fancy restaurant -- and sandals or airy shoes for sweltering days and poolside . Layering clothing only takes me so far when it comes to clothing getting soaked in humid climates (requiring frequent changing), and nowhere when it comes to supportive shoes. Cold weather clothing also tends to be bulky (though less than before, with the new synthetics). I even found a handy 4 ounze umbrella, (but it isn't good in the wind). A recent hotel had no conditioner, and the cruise had no conditioner for sale (I'd tried to avoid bringing conditioner), and no time to find a land store to buy it (closed Sundays).
If DH travels with me, it is easier as he can help me lift an overboard bag, but then he also has his own rollaboard full of admittedly optional -- but for him enjoyable -- photographic equipment and electronics, plus sometimes a dinner jacket for the cruises and venues that require or recommend one as part of the dress code (e.g., some Silverseas, opera house).
And I don't want to be "that person" who brings on more hand luggage than they are supposed to and/or a bag that doesn't fit in the overhead compartment without being put in sideways, and/or who expects to impose on modern young men to help her lift hand luggage into the overhead.
So, I have to check one normal sized case, and bring a normal sized but stuffed backpack on board with essential medical items (I have many) and a change of clothing (e.g., for when the stewardess spills sugary drinks all over me before a 13 hour flight, or the many times flights are canceled). I often still wish I had more with me (especially when a "luxury" line delays laundry service, or a hotel has no service on a weekend). And it is not to impress strangers, but to be clean, comfortable, and appropriately dressed.
When I look at the hallways the night before disembarktion, it looks like most two-person cabins have two normal sized checkable cases out in front of their doors. But hauling even one case plus on-board luggage per person through a city, train connections, and subways can be challenging when elevators are so often broken and cobblestones or irregular surfaces do not accomodate rolling luggage, and I don't have the strength and cardio of my youth to lift it up stairs.
I used to love Vancouver, but its embarkation. disembarkation, and airport procedures, are difficult (it is not alone). Spending more money can of course make visiting Vancouver easier (as it does in many venues).
There may also be a "luggage forward" type service, e.g., where you pay a lot of money to ship your case from home directly to the ship. I used it a couple times, but there are many restrictions on what they will accept.
Many seniors stop cruising not because of difficulty on the ships, but because of flying and embarkation/disembarkation issues at the ports. But for now, it is nice to at least be able to have such first world problems 🙂
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1 hour ago, Infi said:
Also disembarked the Rotterdam recently and can concur with this. The waits at the Grand Dutch Cafe were AWFUL, no matter when you went. It seems like a real missed opportunity to not introduce app ordering here, but there must be some reason why they don't - probably can't handle the volume of orders they would get, since I imagine the kitchen is rather tiny. To add insult to injury, many of the European guests seemed to treat the space like their personal lounge, camping out there for hours on end and playing games, chatting, reading, etc. leaving no tables available for patrons who wanted to eat or drink. The GDC was easily the biggest disappointment of my first cruise on the Pinnacle class.
I visited the Grand Dutch Cafe on different days at different times for snacks, and the only time there wasn't a line was very early in the morning (before they started serving food) or late at night (after they stopped serving food). Perhaps you should think before you post, since you didn't personally experience these ridiculous lines throughout the day.
I guess we both need to take "Cruising 101", and/or learn how to not get exhausted standing in long barely moving lines while in our 8th decade of life. Or we should learn to appreciate the opportunity to talk to officers (who BTW are trying to take a coffee break and unwind a bit themselves). 🙂 Per our room steward, most of the guests had Dutch passports this cruise, and it is of course customary in land-based cafes in Europe to just sit and hang out for hours after ordering just one coffee. So they may not have seen their hanging out as inconsiderate. And of course there aren't that many convenient public spaces *with food and drink service* during the day for groups to cozily hang out (Crow's Nest is small). But I would have been happy just to order on an app (even if there would be a long waiting time to pick it up) and then take away my food and feast on it in my cabin (cabin eating is allowed). For what it is worth, I will provide feedback on my cruise review to HAL about moving to an app and hope you and others do the same (unless of course the idea is to advertise that there is a nice Dutch Cafe but then deliberately limit availability of access to the foods there via the rationing that great inconvenience creates).The one time we did get in this cruise (when there was an important talk given in Dutch), we both loved the pea soup, the ham/cheese sandwich, the trappist beer, and that giant waistline killer ball that is full of cream. After my first experience in the DC last year I thought I would select all future HAL cruises based on whether or not they had a DC on the ship, but won't do that anymore, at least not for cruises based out of Rotterdam that will likely all have many Dutch on board. Maybe close to half of the Lido should be converted into an expanded DC area, given its understandable popularity.
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Given interest rates have gone up in the last couple years, my guess is that their bean counters decided that forcing final payment very early will help their bottom line, because they can invest your money in that year (instead of *you* investing it), but without publishing an official higher "price" of the cruise.
If this starts to deter cruisers, they might back off.
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It's the wonderful Miss Apple, of course! 🙂
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9 minutes ago, JodiandFrank said:
I’m following this as we are seriously considering this for 2025….. Was there much time in Edinburgh for sightseeing or should we plan on staying a few extra days?
Edinburgh is wonderful and I think requires more than just one day, if you want to see more than just the castle, and/or the environs, especially if you are interested in history of the region and also want to have nice unrushed meals locally. To get an idea, you can see lists of "things to do" in and around Edinburgh on various commercial websites that sell tours, (and also allow extra hours for just wandering around without a tour).
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On Rotterdam recently, there were almost constant long lines at the Dutch cafe at all but the most inconvenient times (though getting the hot food after ordering only took 10-15 minutes). We would have gone there almost every day and spent more money (e.g., on the specialty beers DH enjoys), but for the lines (I have trouble standing for a long time, especially when tired after already standing in very long tender return lines).
You cannot use the app to pre-order like you can for the very efficiently run Navigator app for Dive-in and NY Deli.
Does anyone know why HAL has not yet moved the GDC to app ordering?
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15 hours ago, BasandSyb said:
We did Edinburgh to Longyearbyen 26 days. My comments are limited to Svalbard.
We had quite a few landings both bog boots and dry. Mostly small walking areas of beaches to view glaciers or walrus. No great distance involved. There were two, I think, walks of higher gradient to viewing points. In the last few days we had waves of fog come in which cancelled or changed the plans for landing or walking distance given the lookouts with guns for polar bears had to be able to see to be effective. Generally, were blessed with good seas and weather. Such brilliant blue skies. The midnight sun was wonderful but unfortunately sitting in the observation bar bedtime would come and go many times.
On arriving in Longyearbyen it was windy, cold with a bit of drizzle. We had two airport groups for the return flight to Edinburgh - 1:15 flight which departed 2:45 and a 4:30 which I understand got away on time.
Buses took us in groups from around 8:30 in 15 minute intervals on a tour up the hill to see a disused coalmine and the entrance to the International seed bank. It was raining and the dirt road meant the bus windows were soon covered in fine black sludge.
We then visited the local museum which is very good for an hour and a half which was about 15 to 20 minutes too long and then on to the airport for the beginning of what became a bit of a shambolic time. those on the later flight had an included lunch and a visit to see huskies.
We had long slow queues while two people checked us in and then we queued long and slow for security. We were the bulk of the people, but there were other travellers from different vessels catching commercial flights. While Seabourn had its own check station there were two people doing the work.It took us 2:40 minutes of standing to clear, the boarding had already been called so we walked through the waiting area straight to the plane. It was quite difficult for people who had issues standing and with mobility. It was a ground crew process issue only. Just volume and very very slow. The aircraft arrived on time and sat for a couple of hours waiting for us to board. It was a 3+3 configuration with an odd spare seat - maybe 4 or 5 in total. It was very crowded for a long flight.
This was quite different to our experience in Antarctica in February where we were provided boarding passes well ahead of time and our luggage was checked in bulk and we went straight to security on airport arrival. On that charter flight most rows had a spare seat.
People on the late flight advised they also had a very slow check-in process, so the day hadn’t improved.Not a good end to a luxury cruise. The hotel in Edinburgh also leaves a lot to be desired and we are very glad we did not book extra nights at around £800.
photo is Tuesday 23:46.Were the return flights at roughly 1 and 2 in the morning, or in the afternoon (I assume the latter, but I ask because for unclear reasons polar related flights like Antarctica often have unusual and inconvenient timings)?
2 hours and 40 minutes of standing to check in for *Greenland* security is insane and not possible for many people who aren't sick enough to travel with personal wheelchairs, but who are also not 100% healthy and frisky.
SB of course cannot do anything about slow Greenland ground staff, but likely paying a higher cost could have taken care of the issue with the crowded coach style flight (the question, of course, is whether or not pax would be willing to pay more).
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I love the laundry service overall, but I still write "Machine wash on low (not on hot), tumble dry low" when I submit special tencel material sleeveless tanks I have that are next to impossible to replace. The first time I sent one in (fortunately just one) it came back beautifully hung on a hanger but sized to fit a 10-year-old. However, after that, always with the instruction, and perhaps due to the instruction though I cannot prove it, the same shirts come back perfect, unshrunk.
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On Rotterdam right now, per my suite status DH and I are entitled to free laundry and dry cleaning. Laundry is beautifully done, and will be put on hangers or folded *per your request*. I always also request in the comments that they wash on cold, not hot, and tumble dry low, to prevent shrinkage (I had a tencel undershirt shrink last year).
I usually get it back the sane day with a note (lately, "Rudi" has been thanking me.This is one department that runs very smoothly.
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38 minutes ago, English Voyager said:
You have not answered my question.
Rather, by emoji and word, yet again denigrate Vistaman.
If you have cruised with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises you would know that it is neither pre World War 2, nor upper crust.
What it does do is attempt to live up to the word 'luxury'.
It's nice to see you posting again, EV. I hope you have had opportunity since Covid to go back on the lovely Europa2. I agree that HL certainly is not pre-WW2 in any way.
HL still remains my favorite line overall so far, and the MS Europa is my favorite overall luxury ship (in part because of the regular Ocean Sun Festival outstanding classical music). The Europa 2 sadly does not have such a festival, though depending on the voyage, she may have classical music guests.
But I also like the Europa (as you know, German only officially, though staff speak varying degress of English). This is because despite loosening in the evening dress code on Europa to match the business casual style on Europa 2, which I'm ok with, there are still some old style luxury features. I also like that there is on average an older clientele (since I belong to the latter group 🙂). Some Europa pax I talked to say they would not set foot on the Europa 2 because it is "too modern" in overall style (though they do like the food and the wine list of hundreds of wines, even more expansive than on Europa). I am fine with and appreciate the modernity there (especially the decor), but the itineraries are often to very hot places which I have trouble tolerating, and the AC on HL overall is sometimes not as strong as I would like, i.e., not like that on English/American focussed lines.
I am currently in a very nice suite on Holland America with my DH, and though it is not a "ship within a ship" and there are sometimes lines and odd rules, I am also enjoying that experience, but in different ways (e.g., the specialty Japanese and French restaurants on board are very good, as is the "blues" club, and the option to easily get simple good hamburgers and pastrami sandwiches in the casual venues, which I often miss on HL when I eat one fancy meal after another, is welcome! ).
It is fun to mix and match and have good food, service, and attention, regardless of what is called "luxury".
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48 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:
Thanks Mike B Landlubber.
I am doing this cruise exactly a year from now and will skip this excursion, thus avoiding the "challenges".
Norris
The crab are impressive in their size, however! It is good that HAL provided some credit for the botched excursion.
In Bodo (ship there today), we had beautiful weather. We engaged a private guide (who works as an air traffic controller in his day job), and who took us around and about town for six hours, to the fortress above town for great views, and to see maelstrom currents (HAL did a RIB boat excursion there).
He had his own key to an old WW2 bunker we toured with him in town (currently right next to a children's playground), which was cool. There is also a very large aviation museum.
In case you or others are interested in going private when/if you stop in Bodo, his name is Ola Sakshaug, ola@opplevnord.no, +4790192636. He also organizes e-bike tours.
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On 6/14/2024 at 8:18 PM, Mike B Landlubber said:
I am a World War II buff, as well as a fan of big things that go boom, so this morning in Harstad, Norway was a major event for me. We visited the Adolf gun, a gun emplacement built by the Germans in World War II. There is one gun of the original four remaining, it is a 16 inch gun (406 mm) about the same size as that used on US battleships, Missouri and Iowa that you may have heard of. The gun ended up on active service for 20 years, a few with the German builders and then it was taken over by Norway after the Germans surrendered and kept in service till about 1962. It hasn’t been fired since about 1960. It’s maintained as a museum, and is still on a Norwegian military base, so we had to have military escort to visit it. Very cool, I will have photos of the interior and other stuff soon. We also visited an old church and a local museum that was very well-presented but just didn’t engage me. For a great late lunch, I had a burger and shake at the Dive-In!
The second floor of the museum has sobering WW2 history exhibits, including information about the hundreds of Soviet POWs and Czechs who had been kept near Harstad and died of hunger and poor care by their German captors, roughly 40-50% mortality (this of course doesn't compare with the roughly 2 million Soviet POWs who died on the eastern front due to poor care when masses of Soviets surrendered during the initial phases of Operation Barbarossa).
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The majority of pax are Dutch (per the roster), so it is not surprising that they offer Dutch menus. I didn't know about the Dutch language excursions.
Anyone tall, and/or large-boned and with whitish hair is Dutch until proven otherwise (or maybe it is just a good bet statistically on this cruise). 🙂
If you go back to the Asian restaurant (Tamarind), ask for the waitress named "Apple". She is from Thailand, has an accent, but is understandable and very sweet.
I am enjoying your posts and pictures.
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I am pretty sure you won't have to go "ugly American" on them, because I think you're right that my case was in outlier. Everyone who has main speaking parts *can* speak in English if they want to or are alerted they need to or have to (the captain, the expedition leader, the expedition team members), and they are nice people, who want to do the right and proper thing, once politely alerted if there is a problem. So even if you're the only Americans on board, once they know that's the case and you say that you want full service English, my guess is it will happen (but it would of course be nice to have it happen starting with check-in and have staff already expecting you, with English menus etc.) I never asked them when I was on board to start doing English as well as German, because at that point it would have been just to run an experiment and report about it on CC rather than to understand.
Just in case, there is a "customer relations" (i.e., complaints) person on board with an office near reception. The expedition leader made a point at the beginning of the cruise (appropriately) to let them know if something is not to your satisfaction early on, so they can try and fix it. There is no 'cruise director' per se.
Staff hours for different departments are announced in the written daily program towards the back -- you should get yours in English (paper and TV -- stewardess can show you key things on TV), after you get your safety briefing in English). If you have an elective issue, be there 5 minutes before they open, otherwise there may be a German already in line in front of you. No one will likely be there in off hours, and staff expect to leave when their hours are up. But receptionists are there 24/7 officially for whatever you need, including urgent issues, deck 4, which also has the Hanseatic main Restaurant.
Keep in mind the stewardess (likely a Filipina with better English than German though it helps to avoid slang and jargon and speak clearly and slowly), is not a butler or general problem solver like on Silversea. Her duty, other than orienting you initially to your cabin, is to clean 2x/day (unless you put the do not disturb sign out) and keep the mini-bar stocked with your requests (I had my list of requests and preferences written out in advance, to keep the first day flow going quickly for her). Everything else goes through reception triage.
One more thing I didn't mention: Germans value and expect punctuality. So don't be late for Zodiak rides, spa and other appointments. This may mean coming a couple minutes early (in case the elevator is slow -- which it often is). Then there is just a general politeness expectation , e.g., "hello" when you enter a venue (like the boutique, a restaurant if there is a host standing there or line-up of waiters etc.), and goodbye.
If you talk to other guests, if they're older, don't immediately go first-name with them (if at all), that is not customary (i.e., no, "Hi, I'm Jeff from Texas"), but if you get seated close to someone, either nod or say "Guten Abend" (Good evening) before you sit down. One older couple I sat next to landed up asking me about the Japanese venue and though we talked for 20 minutes, we never exchanged names, and the wife still felt she had to semi-apologize and say "I hope we didn't disturb you". Immediate boistrous familiarity is not the norm, but there are friendly people curious about foreigners.
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7 hours ago, jeff74 said:
Hopefully what you had mentioned about it not being a dual language cruise is not the case for our cruise that is in 20 days on the Inspiration because the extent of my knowledge of the German language comes from watching reruns of Hogan's Heroes on tv.
🙂
If you booked through a TA, I suggest calling her and having her confirm with HL that you are an English-speaker (and are thus relying on the dual language presentation).
On HL's other dual language ship (Europa 2), the English speaking started right in the boarding line when they see your foreigner passport (typically at 4PM, all in a mass). If it's not happening, speak up immediately, because Sargent Schultz isn't going to be on board.
Also get to know the expedition team as quickly as you can, they speak English, so they can organize you.
Have a wonderful trip!
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Below is my very long review of my recent experience on this Hapag Lloyd (HL) luxury expedition ship.
Unfortunately I accidentally submitted the review before I was done fixing spelling errors and typos, so many apologies for that. But it can still give you an idea how the ship was.
One very positive thing I forgot to mention is that unlike on most English language luxury ships, out on the decks, unless there is a party going on, *there is no pumped in pop music*. That way one can enjoy the sound of the sea from the many comfortable outdoor perches that are available. I truly dislike pumped in music, usually thumping or wailing, on outdoor decks, and am happy it is not present on HL.
If anyone has any specific questions, please ask me on this thread.
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=715896&stay=1&posfrom=1
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DH and I are on the verge of booking a panorama veranda suite to Antarctica, but the only ones available on the cruise we're interested in are on deck 5. It is of course good to be low in a storm/Drake Shake, but I'm wondering if deck 5 is *too* low, i.e., so low that crew would often have to seal off the windows during such storms (which would defeat some of the purpose of paying extra for the awesome views, including views from the bath tub which appeal to me a lot).
Of course I understand that it is unlikely one would have a severe storm the entire trip, but I wonder if it is typical, or if anyone knows how often deck 5 windows and balconies (be it in a panorama or a regular veranda) have to get sealed off for protection.
Thanks in advance!
REVIEW, suite experience, Rotterdam, Norway/Scotland 6/8/24-6/22/24
in Holland America Line
Posted
To me, SS is not priced appropriately, given the product offered today. All in, because we mostly ate in specialty restaurants on the Rotterdam (which I think are on average better than SS MDR), we aren't that interested in free hard liquor on SS, and we do more private excursions on HAL to avoid bus crowds, it actually costs us net *more* to sail on the Rotterdam *in a suite* than on SS in a base accomodation (which is about a 325 -350 square foot room they call a suite, smaller than a Neptune). But given the better available food, the better overall service (at least in a suite), and the greater variety of entertainment on HAL , HAL provides a nice alternative.
Because we mix and match lines, DH and I are not part of the "in" crowds of loyalists on SS or Seabourn, e.g., people involved directly or indirectly in the travel industry and/or where I have seen that guests well-known to staff who tip extra on the side, or who have pushy personalities, quietly get more service than run of the mill customers (basically at the expense of other guests) even though it is allegedly a "gratuities included" and "all guests are treated equally" line.
On HAL I have had way less service comedies than on SS and Seabourn ( I have many stories), at least in a HAL suite. Seabourn and SS loyalists will deny that there is favoritism independent of cruise fare paid , but I have sailed with them often enough to observe that there is. With HAL it is more straight-forward: you pay more, you get more, regardless of your cruise history. That, and more available food and entertainment variety, is an appeal, as long as you can tolerate the long return tender lines (and overly long Dutch cafe lines), and the inadequate seating in most entertainment venues with a full ship. There is less phoniness on HAL, less faux luxury (e.g., the caviar isn't "free and unlimited", but it is actually very good, unlike on recent SS and SB, and wine options are more numerous.
The main real luxury I see most luxury lines providing is more physical public space per guest, which is nice visually, but I am more interested in my own suite space to retreat to , because the "in" groups have a way of loudly taking over the smaller public spaces anyway on luxury lines. Customer service pre-cruise has deteriorated, and food/included wines/entertainment has also cheapened.
I remain very fond of luxury Hapag Lloyd food and most service, and entertainment (they offer a lot of classical music, and in appropriate venues without sound distortion), but they are appropriately more expensive per diem, and are not popular among non-German speakers. Plus their partial ownership by Royal Caribbean has started pulling even that stellar line down a bit (and DH doesn't like sailing on a primary German line, so I only go there when I go solo).
It is nice to have a variety of choices and overall, though there is room for improvement on HAL in line management, I am pleased with my HAL experiences so far (only five cruises). I plan on more as long as food and service quality is maintained.