OlsSalt

We always seek out a shaded area under the over-hanging trees at the edge of the sand area to put out our towels.

The beach area is not that wide, so you are still somewhat close to the water when you are under the tree share. Plenty of length to the beach to find a good spot.  Lovely stop. 

You get baked "pizza" on many HAL ships, that do not have the high temperature dedicated pizza ovens.

Baked pizza is more like what you can buy in the frozen food section, half off. Flavors and ingredients are there, but the high-fired yeast dough, cheese melt and ingredient combo Maillard is not.  

You can still call the stuff a warmish, bread snack identifying as a pizza; but it is not pizza.

10 minutes ago, asebastian said:

Damn penguins sucking up the bandwidth with their mobile phones... 😄

Becomes a daily necessity, so they can contact their franchising agents and check on their royalties.

On 12/25/2023 at 3:20 PM, Chrissy6299 said:

 

How was the snorkeling? We're leaving on Wednesday and are wondering if we should bother... what was the water temperature?

Water temperature at HMC best in late Fall, and gets cooler as this warmed up Caribbean water  from the hot summers moves into the Gulf Stream to warm Northern Europe winters. Then these waters get replaced by cooler water coming up from the depths - the Gulf Stream is a fascinating ocean current rotating beltway.

I did not want to get out of the water on an early November HMC stop once, but usually avoid it at other times. Still a gorgeous stop however, just to be lazy.  One needs to go to the ABC islands to get warmer water later in the season, and better snorkeling.

16 minutes ago, StuffedOlive said:

 

Can you share why Vancouver is so horrible for embarkation and any tips? I will be doing my first ever cruise out of Vancouver and am now nervous. Thx!

If you have any mobility issues, do try make plans early for any necessary accommodations.

You go down into the garage, up to the viewing deck area, in this line, and then in that line, and up an escalator and then back down again - or some gosh darn combination of all of the above.

Not well signed so we had to keep asking where the next step would take us.  The last time a few months ago I remember thinking, I would hate to have mobility issues and have to face this. 

They have perfectly nice people to help guide you along, but it is definitely not the straight line one expects in most other terminals.  It just seems more complicated than it needs to be - for a large convention center, but I am sure if they could they would have made it simpler. 

Kind of like a medieval labyrinth - just when you think you get close to your goal, you shoot off in another direction and have wind back again.  (Yes I exaggerate a bit.) No way you can prepare for it, but be sure to pack your patience and good humor.

Just makes finally getting on the ship all the sweeter - ahhhh, home again.  Home, sweet HAL, home. 

Here is a sample of the disembarkation form from another cruise - thanks to Norbert's Niece showing the disembarkation times for their particular port. You will get something like this ahead of your own Rotterdam port disembarkation with the time slots for "independent" guests.  This particular one for Argentina- Santiago starts at 8:45 am. 

Pizza on the sister ship Westerdam was more flat bread than pizza - tasty, but not real pizza.

I suspect they don't have the high heat pizza ovens on the Vista ships to produce the pizza on finds on other HAL ships, So they have more of a baked pastry crust with pizza like toppings on it at a Lido station. 

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

K'dam definitely has the 14th deck, frequently referred to as the "secret" deck since it does not appear on many deck plans. There is a button for it if you're in the correct elevator.

I will post pictures later once I've made my way you there (currently sailing on K'dam).

I guess that explains all the cameras shown on this deck plan. Now that you know the secret, we will have to shoot you.  (Groan)

Just now, POA1 said:

Is it hard to walk around with all the cameras scattered all over the deck? 😁

Looks like there are even drones flying over the retreat cabana - is that how you got your shot?

Today surveillance cameras are everywhere. We now have proof. Best not try to smoke on this deck, is all I can say.🤗

Koniigsdam  Deck Plan - (No deck 13)

Breakfast hours will also be earlier, allowing you to get one last bite before your early departure.

Make sure you get into the first group to leave - you will be filling out a form declaring your  disembarkation transportation connections.

They accommodate those who have early connections to make and assign you to the earliest groups - by color and number typically.  Matches where the luggage can be found in the terminal.

Did not seem like there was any problem getting off the ships when in the first groups. Other than threading your way around all the people milling about the exits, even when repeatedly told to not wait in these exit areas until their group number/color were called.

10 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

Crow’s Nest is on deck 12 which is the Observation Deck. No deck 14, nor Sky deck.

I believe there is a tradition to not name Deck 13 on ships?  

Recently checked the Konigsdam deck charts to make sure and there is very much a labeled Sky Deck and it was called Deck 14. You can see the outside stairways up to it from the Retreat Cabana areas behind the Crows Nest.

As well as see the people who could look down into the Retreat Cabana private space from above.  If you search for images for this location on the Konigsdam you can get a better sense of the layout of this space. 

We had the same challenge once -to make an early morning connection from the Rotterdam port to the main train station - two choices- their metro, or their above ground trams.  This was several years ago - things may have changed. And it was a Sunday.

None of us could figure out how to get tickets on the underground metro machines  - being US, we did  not the right credit cards,  and no Euro coins in the right amounts since we were not visiting other EU countries , etc.

Since it was very early Sunday morning there was no one there to help. We finally bailed out and took the above ground tram, not sure how we got around payment - maybe we finally had to go to a shop to buy something to get change?

Underground was faster - but more difficult for our early morning departure to the trains station - figure out how to get the ticket first if you want to use this option. Above ground tram was the easiest but took longer to get to the train station.. But was finally our only successful choice.

Once hooked into the Dutch train systems we had a marvelous jaunt across half of Holland on our Rotterdam overnight turnaround day on Voyage of the Vikings - out to delightful Zutphen  and down to impressive Maastricht, and back to Rotterdam with enough time to extend on to Delft  for a short time before heading back to the ship and the return trip back on  RT Voyage of the Vikings. Rome 2 Rio gave use precise instructions on what train connections to make and which platforms to use.

 Removing all doubt about inconsistent onboard policy- DIY 

Look up Deck 14 "Sky Deck" on the Konigsdam - over the Crows nest and forward from the Retreat Cabana. Not directly forward and open, but has forward views -through the darker glass wind breaks.

Higher-priced Prinsendam never lacked for long-term passenger loyalty within the HAL brand.

And she was one of the most awkwardly designed and dated ships of them all - but the intimacy of her small size (600 or so passengers) and the privileged itineraries (the Elegant Explorer) were keen selling points for HAL's very old Prinsendam for many mainline HAL passengers.  

What was the magic that kept the Prinsendam floating as long as she could. I remember staff reports saying they would hate to lose her loyal customer base if she was ever sold. 

Love the interior feel of the older HAL ships and the connection to the outside as well as traffic flow and use of large windows for sea views - you know you are on a ship at sea,  compared to Crystal Symphony's very awkward floor plans, inwardly directed feel and lack of real usable outdoor space with sea vistas. You had to remind yourself there was actually a sea out there. 

Very cramped cabins on Crystal too, when booking down the food chain.Could a bathroom be smaller and the wardrobes opened up into the sleeping area rather than having a dressing are hallway.  

Just the opposite on HAL - their ocean view cabins can be some of the largest and the cabins on the older ships are spacious enough for even very long cruises.   I wonder if Crystal  changed their basic floor plans in their recent redo. Plus the upstairs Garden Court on the Symphony felt very tippy. The ship did not sail well, compared to HAL ships - the last one the Noordam sailed extremely well and we had some rough seas for a while.

Crystal does spend a lot more money on its interior finishings which are lovely,  and has good itineraries. Their size is good too.  Lots  of frou-frou evening dining touches, but that gets old fast. You can only eat so much on longer cruises. HAL Lido had more interesting choices for breakfast and lunch.

Hands down, HAL crews are the best. As DH noted between the two brands, the HAL crew is still nice to you even after you, hand them the end of cruise tips. But the sad fact is the smaller ships just may have to be very high-end premium ships, like Crystal prices,  in order to make the numbers work. 

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I recently commented on this very topic- San Diego port team needs to follow other ports - would make for a much smoother, quicker, less stressful experience. San Diego is likely 2nd only to Vancouver in horrible boarding process. Ugh

FLL is one of the easiest (with Seattle being the other).

Agree. Vancouver is such a lovely setting for a port and the very worst embarkation. Up and down and all over the place.  Can't imagine how much it costs for the armies of people the have to hire to keep everyone headed in the right directions in that unfortunate maze. 

SD is just too small for the larger ships that come in. Looks like they are trying to fix that after the disaster of that secondary terminal they installed a few years ago. It looks like it is getting expanded and redesigned. 

Cruise ship embarkation is certainly an evolving art form, and does needs to be designed to handle the unique traffic flow. Though it is improving with facial recognition and having cabin cards at the cabin door, instead of going to a separate sign in desk in the terminal. 

Didn't Crystal just revive their former two ships, now under new ownership Crystal Symphony was pretty clunky back in 2007, and now she is back as the epitome of "luxury cruising". 

18 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I thought cruise ships weren't subject to any health department inspection?

Check out the CDC Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) online - they are subject to very strict requirements, and both routine and surprise inspections. They list all cruise ships by name, status of inspection and detailed list of deficiencies and corrections. 

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/default.htm

9 hours ago, Desert Cruisers said:

I also listened to the analyst call.  The two comments made by senior leadership that I found most interesting were:

 

• "Larger ships are more efficient."  How I interpreted this statement...No more new-build small ships except for Seabourn.  Our older small ships will eventually go away."
• Our focus is on "new to cruising" and "new to a cruise line" passengers.  "New to cruising passengers are more accepting of higher prices because they are comparing the cruise fare to what they might spend on a land-based vacation."   How I interpreted this statement...While we will still welcome them onboard, we are not going to cater to passengers who don't generate revenues beyond the cruise fare. Expect more non-complimentary services and offerings.  

That "efficient" model could have the makings of another Bud Light backlash. I can see bean counters liking the idea, but a reliable passenger base rejecting it. Then one is forced to compete for the their lowest common denominator share among the floating behemoths. 

Spinning off the smaller older ships into a Fred Olsen type model, has some possibilities rather than all CCL brands competing with each other being bigger and better floating hotels, plying canned ports stops.  

I suspect fresh-squeeze orange juice was probably was also a victim the newer "green mandates" to reach zero-waste onboard within the cruise industry.

47 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

You do realize that the PVSA affects vastly more maritime business than the cruise industry?

Amendments seem proper, since it now requires silly games to be played to get around hair-splitting requirements. ABC is a "foreign stop" but Barbados is not? Time to take a good look behind the curtain, to see what demands this vintage legislation be upheld in its resolute entirety.

Contact your local US  Congressional Representative and ask this entire PVSA legislation be reviewed, amended or rescinded in its entirety, since it appears to serve no valid purpose today nor confers any special interest advantage.