cathaana

Viking is a luxury cruise line. Ultra cruise lines are Silversea, Seabourn, Regent better known as 6 star cruise lines. Viking is 5 1/2 star. When all the cruise line reviewers learn to use the star system there will be no mix up. We can use the terms ultra luxury, luxury, premium but what do call cruise lines that are less than premium?

I would be happy to use a star system but since there isn't one that is recognized by all (and never will be either), we'll just have to live with our approximations.

The cultural differences are what concerns me (as well as a language that we do not speak). These articles, IMO, express this well. The BBC article, IMO, this would be similar for those of us in the U.S. and Canada.

 

BBC News excerpt:

 

"There are Britons in Berlin who get taken aback by the directness of Germans. And there are Germans who get really annoyed when Britons (and Americans), in an effort to appear friendly, say things that they don't really mean. Some Germans call this 'lying'.

 

She found (or verified) that Germans really don't do small talk, those little phrases so familiar to the British about the weather or a person's general well-being, but what she describes as "empty verbiage".

 

Saying things like "It's nice to meet you" are rarely meant the way they are said, she says. 'It's just words. It's stimulating interest in the other person'. From a German perspective, this is uncomfortably close to deceit'"

 

Lastly, excepts from an article entitled "Communication Styles in Germany and the United States (from a class taught on "Intercultural Education in K-12 Classrooms"):

 

"Germans tend to say exactly what they mean and do not value superfluous "fillers" within conversations, Americans on the other hand, usually include these fillers without even realizing. Due to this cultural difference, Americans often see Germans as impolite and harsh.

 

I remember being startled the first time I called a friend's house in Germany and her father answered the phone by saying 'Linnemann' (his last name). There was no polite 'Hello?', only a quick confirmation that I had reached the Linnemann household. While this seemed unnatural to me the first several times it happened, I soon came to realize that the German way of answering the phone was not impolite, but efficient. The same can be said about their communication style in general; it is direct, clear and to the point.

 

There is one instance in which German communication is not so different from the United States. In both cultures, a lack of eye contact can be interpreted as a sign of weakness, dishonesty and poor self-esteem".

 

I learned a lot from these articles and wanted to share.

Hehe, I still remember when I first moved to the States and everybody kept asking me how I was. I thought the constant interest in my health and state-of-mind weird. And then those waiters - always telling me their name and wanting to chat with me. So annoying... Over the years I have grown accustomed to it and even manage some 'empty talk' ;p myself.

The younger German generation has lost quite a bit of its formality though, e.g. addressing one's boss with his first name is becoming pretty commonplace. That won't help with the average Europa customer but the Europa 2 with its younger target market should be better. My rule of thumb is if they look older than about 50, I introduce myself with my full name (letting them choose how to respond), if younger I go with my first name.

I don't remember details of my Hanseatic cruise but I do remember thinking that the drinks prices were very reasonable. Cocktails less than 8 Euro IIRC.

Because one of the participants of this luxury forum asked for it. He is cruising with Hapag Lloyd and was interested in a comparison. There is no separate space for German cruise lines except for Aida which is a lower tier mainstream line. And somebody who is interested in German ships may want to try out the TUI line at a lower price point than Hapag Lloyd.

I was also interested in the comparison as after years with HL, we now hold a booking for Mein Schiff 3.

Maybe instead of trying to get a separate HL forum, we could try to get the Aida forum re-purposed into a 'German cruise lines' forum, since funnily enough, Aida does have its own.

Similar situation here. ;) We'll do Celebrity with the kids in October and I'm a picky eater. We booked a suite though in hopes that Luminae serves decent food.

Our next cruise is a summer family trip on Mein Schiff 1. Easier on the pocket book for all of us.

We've also booked a Mein Schiff cruise. Until I get over being annoyed with Hapag Lloyd, it should serve us well. Crystal turned out to be just a bit too expensive.

Sounds exactly like the excursions we did. :D

Even though I haven't given up my 'no more HL for us'-stance, I am very envious of your trip(s).

And no need for ball gowns even on formal nights, a cocktail dress should be good enough.

What I've read of Silversea, they are not too keen on kids. We'll probably try Crystal.

Since he didn't even bother to acknowledge my first email personally, I don't think he cares too much.

By now I'm not sure I would sail with them again even if they re-instated the credit.

I really wish they had never offered the credit in the first place. Trying to get the money back through travel insurance would have been a hassle and not certain but at least we could have tried. 5000 Euro is not exactly small change.

No. He passed my email on to some sales team lead (Teamleitung Direktkundenteam). Possibly the one who made the decision in the first place.

Well worth the effort.

 

The worst that can happen is that Michael Steffl confirms the Team Leader's decision.

I did write that letter but sadly they just confirmed the previous decision. I guess no more HL for me. :(

Forgot to add that with all the St Petersburg tours we would get into the sights before they opened for the public.

You can read my review of the cruise here (in German): https://web.archive.org/web/20130707212902/http://reisen.ciao.de/MS_EUROPA_Schiff__Test_8935667

I did pretty much the same cruise a few years ago and was very happy with nearly all our excursions.

In Stockholm we did the Vasa museum plus city tour (4 hrs, 79E) and in Tallinn the Medieval City walk (4 hrs, 29E). A historical city walk in Riga (amazing, 4hrs, 39E) and Marienburg/Gdansk tour in Gdansk (also amazing, 8hrs, 125E). In St. Petersburg the city tour with the Catherine's palace and Peter-Paul (amazing, 9hrs, 129E), another full day tour doing parcs, St. Isaak cathedral and a canal tour that was also great but had a somewhat annoying tour guide (9hs, 159E) and, the absolute highlight, an exclusive evening in the Hermitage (private concert and tour after-hours, 3.5hrs, 195E). They also offered tickets to the ballet on the other evening but we were exhausted to do that, too.

cathaana,

 

The International Sales Director is Michael Steffl who I met last year at the London Cruise Show, and found very pleasant to talk with.

 

I am not certain if his e-mail address is now

 

Michael.Steffl@hl-cruises.de

 

 

I would advise contacting your TA to confirm that they have no objection to you writing direct to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

 

Having set out in your e-mail the responses from HL, I would state that, apart from being disappointing, they appear to be designed to be a disincentive to you taking further cruises with HL.

 

Good luck with the appeal.

Thanks, English Voyager. I have been dealing with the German HL sales team directly (my family is originally from Germany so I found it easier to go through the German team than an international TA). And it was a 'Team Leader' who made the decision to not grant the discount anymore.

I probably should write that letter. At least I will be able to get some of that frustration and disappointment of my chest.

I presume your decision is because of the response from HL outlined in your earlier post.

 

Did you escalate an appeal to management level?

Yes. No, didn't even think of that. I guess I'm not the type to complain. Wouldn't even now how to go about contacting management.

By requesting in advance as you did, EV and Vistaman, I was granted a solo price (50 % above) in the cheapest tier veranda on the MS Europa, same as on the website, I had requested for the Ocean Sun festival classical music cruise in late May 2018 -June, so I am pleased with that, and also got a double booking for a German friend and me for a garden cruise to Britain August 2018 on Europa, on my bucket list, same price as on the website.

The garden cruise is amazing. We went in 2013 and did the garden visits in every port except Dublin where we visited a friend. Many wonderful memories of that cruise. Which makes me even sadder that I have decided not to cruise HL anymore. :(

Did my first cruise on her slightly larger sister Hanseatic. Not sure how I will deal with cruising on a 'normal' cruise ship (Celebrity). :o

The most luxurious cruise ship that truly caters to kids is Hapag Lloyd's Europa 2.

Is the afternoon tea any good on Crystal?

I already put down a deposit for a Celebrity cruise later this year. I think I'll add one for the Mein Schiff for late next year. Then I only need to figure out whether I'll give Crystal a try in between.

Thanks vistaman. I would certainly miss the German breakfast, especially decent cheeses. That's one of the reasons I am considering Mein Schiff. The only itinerary we could do (the Asian one) is not very exciting but at least we would get Laugenstangen. ;) But then I'm not sure how the nanny would go on a German-only ship.

It is good to hear that food-wise it's not KDW versus Aldi. That should be good enough for us. I don't drink wines at all (except for a nice Beerenauslese from Weil now and then again) and hubby only a bit so that wouldn't be a deterrent.

I have considered the cabin size. Definitely an issue as there would be 4 of us. On Celebrity or Mein Schiff we would get a suite for half the price.

Thanks, bodogbodog. Yeah, I expect there wouldn't be many other kids around. Another reason why I am also considering the mainstream ships. Basically it's do I want what's best for us or the kids. :D They are too young to appreciate the luxury environment, so they probably would be better off on a line with more kids.

Didn't know about the rough seas (that is the itin I was looking at). I do get a bit seasick and not sure how the kids would deal with it.

As I have mentioned in another thread, I am not happy with HL at the moment and am therefore looking at other options. Crystal has an interesting itinerary ex Perth next February and I was wondering how they compare to HL? The two things important to us are food and being able to bring kids. We will have our nanny with us but it would still be good to have some sort of kids area, so it's easier to keep the kids away from the other guests. According to my research, there are probably a few cruise lines that are quite good food-wise (going to miss the German breakfast though :(), but it seems only Crystal is willing to accommodate kids. Any ideas? Or should I just go for a more mainstream line (thinking Celebrity, RCC and Mein Schiff)?

Have you looked at Hapag Lloyd's Europa 2? Mostly German speaking but otherwise close to what you are looking for.

Quite disappointed by HL right now. We had to cancel our 6th cruise with them and they told us we could re-book and apply the non-refundable part of the price to that cruise as a discount. Did that but had to cancel due to a somewhat unexpected pregnancy :p. They told us we could just apply it to the next cruise. Wanted to book the next cruise the day the new schedule came out, only to be told that they wouldn't honor the offer and only give us 5% discount instead of 25%. So I asked whether we could at least get a club offer (miles for a discount) only to be told, yes, but for nearly half what they normally offer. Am I being a total DYKWIA for being annoyed and thinking that must be the worst customer service ever?