OlsSalt

It appears this theft could have happened during the life-boat drill when the vast majority of the crew members were on life-boat drill duty, and non-ship personnel could be roaming the unattended hallways before the ship's departure.

Reminder this incident possibly took place during a time the ship was still in port before departure, during the life-boat drill when there may still be many outside persons on board, who can easily grab and go. Undetected.

Caution: never leave anything out of value during the life boat drill when all the crew is out on duty and few passengers remain in the hallways to observe anything suspicious.

Interesting. If you cannot hear them in your cabin how do you know to even go out in the hall? :) Granted it sometimes just sounds like noise in the cabins....but then again it often sounds like useless noise when you can understand the announcements.

 

Hank

Hearing them, and understanding what is being spoken are two different things. We can hear something sometimes, if we are near the cabin door and then have to pop out into the hallway to actually be able to listen to what is said.

So how do you get them broadcast into your cabin -- we thought they would also be on a TV channel but that did not work for us, at least. What is your secret that they are so loud they can wake you up. We almost wish because we generally find them helpful, to the point … and short.

Since the time period the loss could have occurred was before the ship actually left, could one also add some of the shore agents who are also roaming about the ship before departure. They would be more likely suspects since they could grab and go, whereas anyone onboard ship would be trapped and easily have his personal items searched.

There is typically a card on the room service trays advising to dial room service for pick up, with the admonition to not leave it in the hallways. I don't think it is within the cabin stewards duties to deal with room service trays, but they often do.

I doubt if their room service closets can handle too many dishes, spent food and trays. So turning down a bed but not picking up a food service tray would not immediately be suspicious, at least on HAL ships.

9am! OMG! If we were awakened by worthless 9AM announcements we would quickly seek out the CD and have a very polite conversation. The gist would be that if it happened again, there would be an e-mail soon on it's way to Seattle. Believe it or not but there are actually a few HA cruisers who stay awake after 10pm and enjoy sleeping late :)

 

Hank

How do you get these announcements broad cast into your room? We always have to stand out in the hallway to hear them.

….someone stole an item from our cabin. I say stole because I know where it was left and we searched the whole cabin 5 times. It was a Jawbone bluetooth speaker and it was in a velvet pouch, so it may have looked to someone as a jewellery box. My husband left it on the make up table beside the ice bucket when we had to go to the safety drill.

 

After we came back from dinner, the bed was made up, so clearly the cabin stewart was there, but oddly the dirty dishes from my afternoon snack were still on the coffee table.

 

Why would he/she not clean those? Perhaps forgot because he was trying to leave the cabin in a hurry?

 

Not exactly blaming of the cabin stewart (sic) but certainly pointing a suspicious finger his way and none other.

Period of time when this theft could have occurred: safety drill until after dinner on the first day.

Just finished a week on the Westerdam, and room service was the only way I found to get HOT coffee. Coffee in the Lido was consistently tepid. If you don't mind the extra charge, mildly better coffee is available in the Explorations Cafe, but don't expect great coffee there, and certainly don't look for it there too early or too late. It took me 3 visits before I found it open.

 

There is a reasonable number of versatile activities each day, and we often found ourselves having to chose between options. That's so much better than not finding enough!

Be sure to enjoy the Indonesian Specialty tea at 3pm on a sea day when it is offered and order their Sumatra Coffee choice - comes in its own French Press and is rich, robust and delicious.

Not to make light of this serious experience but even in the silent movie days in 1917 there was "Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman" who preyed on cruise ships passing himself off as one of society's elite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J9WiwMISCU

I am glad you reported this missing item to the front desk. It is the pattern they need to be most concerned about which your report will add up to something far more serious if there is an identifiable thief sneaking around.

You did the right thing and agree is it frustrating to feel dismissed and even insulted to boot. That was unacceptable.

However, I am sure they also do get the reports of stolen items with suitable outrage only to have them turn up again and not get reported. And I will also side with supporting the cabin stewards first, but like it says it only takes one to ruin it for everyone.

Your story is a good reminder for all us to use those room safes, even when we think they are not necessary. It if would be painful to lose something, then it belongs in the safe when not in use or in clear view. As much as I hate the safe hogging closet space, everything important goes into it including passport and credit cards at all time. I wonder if there were any hallway cameras operation at that time?

Additionally, one more concern about the larger ships which can more easily hide among its numbers of passengers someone who intentionally preys on cruise passengers. Wasn't that always a good old movie theme - when the jewels and furs were standard on ships where only the wealthy could afford to sail. Put a crook in a black tie with an easy fence in every port and he/she has a concentrated gold mine. And most likely expensive electronics are far more popular to heist than diamond pave wrist watches these days.

We are sailing on the Zuiderdam in May for our first HAL cruise and I followed your link to a wealth of information! I thoroughly enjoyed reading every morsel and I was making notes in my copybook. As my new hobby is to lurk and scour cruise critic, I felt like I hit the jackpot! I will be dreaming of all my On Location activities!:D

Good choice, the Zuiderdam continues to get the best reviews for its food - it was the best dining room we have found on any HAL ships, which are pretty good to start with. Its decor a was also a lot more pleasing than its photos looked on first impression. Good ship for your first choice.

Would it be cheaper to rent a car for the day with multi-city drop off privileges? We used the train ourselves but needed a taxi at the end in Rotterdam to get to the port, though they do have an intercity tram system ONLY if your luggage is light.

Does anyone have a limo company they could recommend to get from AMS to

a hotel in Rotterdam? Thanks.

Does the Schiphol airport website have ground transportation links?

…..on other cruises when we would have lunch in the buffet sometimes we would spend around 30 mins just trying to find a place to sit down and eat at least this way we will have a table.

No, it will never take you 30 minutes to find a table at the Lido. HAL ships handles space and dining options very well. You will get a table, but it might not be near a window. The HAL crews seem to be very accommodating to those with mobility problems.

I just heard this as well Lisa. devastating!

 

Roy (rafinmd) has reported that Crystal has let the crew use their phones and have tried to determine how they all are. Apparently it has been established that their families are safe on his Crystal cruise.

 

I so hope this is true for all of the crew on HAL as well and elsewhere through the cruise industry.

My guess is HAL has bent over backwards finding ways to support their crew and staff members affected by this disaster. That is just the feeling one gets on HAL ships.

HAL ships have lovely libraries and on longer cruises they even have a book club. HAL ships appeal to those who are more self-contained than those who prefer a lot of highly structured activities.

On the longer cruises with extended at-sea days they will have an excellent array of enrichment speakers, on any number of topics appropriate to the areas one is cruising in. Shorter cruises or port intensive cruises not so much.

Afternoon Tea at Three is always another nice way to break up the long afternoons on sea days.

…...

Another sad fact about cruise line excursions is that its no longer sufficient to charge the big bucks for the excursion. More and more excursions subject their charges to visits to one or more shops who kick-back fees and percentages to the tour operators. In a sense passengers are paying high prices for tours to take them to oft overpriced shops/factories who also contribute to the bottom line.

 

Hank

The forced "shopping experiences" are something we have never been subjected to on any HAL cruise which is one thing we really like about them. However we have experienced the occasional rogue tour leader who tries to tack something on the end on their own.

Most recently in Kusadasi-(Ephesus), Turkey who after all was said and done on what had been an excellent tour to that point, threw in a "extra" stop on the way back to the port to have a "carpet "education" (shopping) experience". We ditched the tour at that point to go back to the ship on our own, and he missed out on his previously well-earned tip.

When a tour guide deviates from the expected plan, this needs to be reported to the shore excursion people. HAL so far has not tried to exploit the shore excursion experiences with these annoying shopping extras unless as can happen it is requested by the passengers, or as can happen a rogue guide plays fast and loose with what I assume is clear HAL policy up front.

One other ploy is for the guide to announce that "some passengers" have requested a shopping stop, but when it has been put to a vote to the rest of the group it gets soundly defeated.

China was/is notorious for almost demanding their guides spend time at shopping stops, sometimes with the ploy there are "western" bathrooms there which in the early days of China tourism was worth it even to get herded into a huge shopping emporium.

Overall, HAL shore excursions are blissfully free from these shopping intrusion unless it is stated upfront one will visit hand-crafted centers, etc or it is a frank shopping or market area experience.

A snorkel and fins might be cheaper

Grappling hooks to get over-board first? :cool:

Their families soon become our families, even after just one cruise. Prayers, hope and fingers crossed their loved ones are safe, sound and dry.

Hi Hank,

I was only on 4 different cruise lines and never on HAL. On two cruise lines I was able to leave on the first or second tender without purchasing excursions. On one line I had to wait for three hours, no exceptions.

 

I understand the need to give out tender tickets to control the flow.

Would being first in line to get a tender ticket as an independent (and first time cruiser on HAL on a low category cabin) assure that I leave the ship with the 1st or 2nd tender or at least during the first hour after the ship was cleared by port authorities?

 

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Of course no one can assure you here, but we have found HAL passengers are very savvy travelers who also show up early and try also to get the best positions too. It is an art form to watch sometimes. Particularly for shore excursion and bus loading. So you will have some competition trying to be the first off the boat.

Learned to also be (guilty as charged) in the mad dash sitting at the back of the show room to be first out the door and down the stairway when our shore excursion gets called. Plus the trick for tenders is to not necessarily be the first one on, because that can make you the last one off. Which juggles this game around considerably. How do you know your place in line will at the end of the cut off point for tender passengers? :cool:

No one is pushy and we have always found HAL passengers to be a very seasoned and courteous group, but persistence and strategy in disembarking can pay off.

However, there has also never been a port stop where we felt cheated for time and if weather delays happen, many times the captains have been very accommodating about adjusting the schedules so we get the full time in port.

Overall, there is a high degree of efficiency in disembarkation. Hope it works out for you no matter which cruise line you finally choose.

If money is no object, book the least expensive shore tour that leaves early, and don't go on it. :D

Bah! If money is no object, book a suite and get tender priority included in the package and all the rest of the suite goodies. :p

Keeping in mind priority does not let you go to the head of the line, merely that you can show up at any time you want and stand in line with those already gathered there. Good thing about the smaller HAL ships is we have never felt materially delayed at any port by the tendering process, unless it was weather compromised.

And there is no priority boarding when you return to the ship; only that priority boarding lets you have a little more flexibility about your departure protocol.

Quick-witted, think on he or her feet, affable, welcoming, real voice and vocal intonations, hospitality focused, comfortable on the stage, interviewing and mindful of his or her audience. The best ones we have had also had some sort of cabaret experience. Glen on the Rotterdam (2013) was a gem, and made the bilingual demands on him for that cruise in both Dutch and English a smooth delight. I'd give him a five star on all those qualities. His boyish impishness made us all fall in love with him too.

When I watch spillways (when I get a chance), what do people use to secure their banners to the railings for sail away that stands up to the winds?

I wonder if your spell-checker demon did a number on you and your request -- watching spillways :confused: Sounds like a dam thing, but not sure it was what you intended. ;)

…...

HalfMoon Cay...expected much more as people always rave about it on these boards. It's pretty, it's a beach...it's nothing to write home about.

 

….

Sigh, here we go about the good old days but it was not that long ago (5 years) there was very little development on the Half Moon Cay beach, but this slowly changed with the addition of the huge, out of place hokey pirate ship bar with its noisy music and now two-story cabanas.

I agree, now it is nothing special. But it was pristine, quiet and glowing with natural beauty at one time.

Thanks for your report and good news about your first HAL trip - there is a sense of privacy, art and flow on HAL ships that we too find very engaging and hard to beat. Wishing you many happy HAL cruises in your future.

BTW: If you do not know about these yet, there are several online websites that report what other ships will be in port on the same days and now becomes part of trip planning to help avoid those over-crowded ports if one has a choice between competing itineraries. But with the popularity of the Caribbean and the proliferation of the mega ships carrying over 6000 passengers, it is probably harder and harder to ever get that private island feel now in this area.

Keeping in mind, the second best gift is to mention them by name in your post-cruise evaluation.