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Disappointed

kandagal1939

By kandagal1939,
in Holland America Line

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted

That's a shame. It would have been a very nice itinerary.

 

We had our Asian cruise cancelled due to a charter so I know how you feel.

 

On the bright side, I went looking and found a fabulous itinerary on my favourite ship - so we did that instead. In hind sight, it was a good thing:D

 

Good luck on finding the itinerary you like

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Ine

Ine

Posted
Posted

In 2014 HAL had to cancel many ports on the westcoast of Africa due to Ebola. The itinary was not as nice as planned and I think they had problems filling the ship. I have often seen many reduced prices for the portion South Africa to Europe last summer.

Also it could be that infrastructure in other ports might not have been that good for cruise passengers.

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kandagal1939

kandagal1939

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What were the disappointing bits of the cruise? We were thinking if they bring this cruise back in 2016 we would try it then but maybe we will be better of forgetting it all together. There is a Princess cruise for Sept this year which is similar but which is not as good & is more expensive.

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Iwant2BatC

Iwant2BatC

Posted
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I did the first 55 days of the cruise this year from Rotterdam to Walvis Bay and I would say it was the best cruise I have ever done. The ports were fantastic and I could do the same thing over again. I had originally booked the 85 days but shortened it after they skipped the West African ports on the world cruise figuring they would cancel them on this cruise also. I thought perhaps this year they would modify the itinerary and do Ascension Island and/or St Helena. No luck. They can't fill a ship with the mediocre itinerary they had for the second half. Frankly, I think they would have been better off to have turned around in CapeTown and called on different ports on the way north ie Mozambique, Zanzibar, etc. Just my opinion. Friends that continued on for the entire 85 days said it was pretty boring.

 

 

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1of4 Excellent Advice! Rare

1of4

Posted
Posted

I had a cruise cancelled too. Very disappointing but we found another vacation that we enjoyed very much. Hope you can roll with the change and enjoy whatever it is you decide to do.

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SilvertoGold

SilvertoGold

Posted
Posted

The replacement cruise, an 85 day Med, would be of interest to us if it had more than 20 days at sea.

 

It will be in competition with the Grand Med in March and the Maasdam 50 day in the autumn.

 

I wonder how HAL will do filling all 3 of these similar cruises?

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happyglobetrotter

happyglobetrotter

Posted
Posted

On the African explorer, they could not fill the ship. So it was divided in 4 smaller cruises....even in Tenerife, at the end they boarded 87 new passengers....in for a 14 day cruise.

 

The cruise had no sense of direction, no pizzaz, no theme, no unity, it was just a series of shorter cruises put together and filled with 'discounted' passengers who paid next to nothing through a british wholesaler....the quality of people and amenities were minimal. Also, because most of the Europeans were taking away all the tips (up to 400 persons per segment) the service was not as 'grand' as is usually the case on HAL. Reduced staff....even if all of them were working their heart out as usual. We even met discounted passengers complaining about how the HAL product had come down....at $40 USD a day (we paid over $200 a day) they were complaining how cheap the food and the activities were. Our friends won a raffle and they got a USED deck of cards. The 4 segments were weaker and weaker, the worst was after Cape Town.

 

This was supposed to be a longer cruise, it became a series of short cruise and a lot of turnover in passengers, each segment getting cheaper and less sophisticated.

 

HAL did well to cancel 2015.

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serendipity1499

serendipity1499

Posted
Posted (edited)
On the African explorer, they could not fill the ship. So it was divided in 4 smaller cruises....even in Tenerife, at the end they boarded 87 new passengers....in for a 14 day cruise.

 

The cruise had no sense of direction, no pizzaz, no theme, no unity, it was just a series of shorter cruises put together and filled with 'discounted' passengers who paid next to nothing through a british wholesaler....the quality of people and amenities were minimal. Also, because most of the Europeans were taking away all the tips (up to 400 persons per segment) the service was not as 'grand' as is usually the case on HAL. Reduced staff....even if all of them were working their heart out as usual. We even met discounted passengers complaining about how the HAL product had come down....at $40 USD a day (we paid over $200 a day) they were complaining how cheap the food and the activities were. Our friends won a raffle and they got a USED deck of cards. The 4 segments were weaker and weaker, the worst was after Cape Town.

 

This was supposed to be a longer cruise, it became a series of short cruise and a lot of turnover in passengers, each segment getting cheaper and less sophisticated.

 

HAL did well to cancel 2015.

 

How do you know what those Europeans paid? And how did you know that MOST of the Europeans were removing the Hotel Service Charge from their bills?

 

Did you ask them? How did you know it was mostly Europeans? Did you sit & watch them remove the tips?

 

IMO your post is thoughtless & quite judgmental of your fellow Psgrs..:(

Edited by serendipity1499
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SilvertoGold

SilvertoGold

Posted
Posted
On the African explorer, they could not fill the ship. So it was divided in 4 smaller cruises....even in Tenerife, at the end they boarded 87 new passengers....in for a 14 day cruise.

 

The cruise had no sense of direction, no pizzaz, no theme, no unity, it was just a series of shorter cruises put together and filled with 'discounted' passengers who paid next to nothing through a british wholesaler....the quality of people and amenities were minimal. Also, because most of the Europeans were taking away all the tips (up to 400 persons per segment) the service was not as 'grand' as is usually the case on HAL. Reduced staff....even if all of them were working their heart out as usual. We even met discounted passengers complaining about how the HAL product had come down....at $40 USD a day (we paid over $200 a day) they were complaining how cheap the food and the activities were. Our friends won a raffle and they got a USED deck of cards. The 4 segments were weaker and weaker, the worst was after Cape Town.

 

This was supposed to be a longer cruise, it became a series of short cruise and a lot of turnover in passengers, each segment getting cheaper and less sophisticated.

 

HAL did well to cancel 2015.

 

Thanks for your detailed info. I am really sorry that this cruise was so mediocre when it could have been so good!

 

I remember on the Rotterdam 85 day out to Indonesia and back the Front Desk was saying, "this is not Grand cruise, just a long cruise", to explain the same circumstances you relate about this Africa cruise: nothing "special", just a lot of shorter cruises glued together.

 

You really do have to take a Grand or the VOV, to experience anything special these days on HAL.

 

Who was the CD and HD? They often make the cruise, one way or another. Did the 5 stars have lots of extra/special events?

 

Again, thanks!

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Iwant2BatC

Iwant2BatC

Posted
Posted

Wow! I can't believe you were on the same cruise I was. I LOVED it and thought it my best cruise yet ( I sailed from Rotterdam to Walvis Bay). The concierge in the Neptune Lounge was fantastic. The Hotel Manager was one of the hardest working I have ever seen. He was visible everywhere. The chef in the Pinnacle was superb. The Canneletto food delicious. The ship was spotless. The cruise director was excellent. The Future Cruise Consultant was the best yet. The Captain was professional and kept us informed. The port lecturer was very knowledgeable and if I asked a specific question she ALWAYS got back to me with an answer. There were a few things that could have been improved ie the internet ( it was hopeless) and the young woman who gave the excursion talks was really bad. She gave out erroneous information and constantly mispronounced words. She had no clue about the excursions and should have been sent home. But those things are minor in the big picture. I would do the same cruise again in a heartbeat!

 

 

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SilvertoGold

SilvertoGold

Posted
Posted
Wow! I can't believe you were on the same cruise I was. I LOVED it and thought it my best cruise yet ( I sailed from Rotterdam to Walvis Bay). The concierge in the Neptune Lounge was fantastic. The Hotel Manager was one of the hardest working I have ever seen. He was visible everywhere. The chef in the Pinnacle was superb. The Canneletto food delicious. The ship was spotless. The cruise director was excellent. The Future Cruise Consultant was the best yet. The Captain was professional and kept us informed. The port lecturer was very knowledgeable and if I asked a specific question she ALWAYS got back to me with an answer. There were a few things that could have been improved ie the internet ( it was hopeless) and the young woman who gave the excursion talks was really bad. She gave out erroneous information and constantly mispronounced words. She had no clue about the excursions and should have been sent home. But those things are minor in the big picture. I would do the same cruise again in a heartbeat!

 

 

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This is great to hear!

Can you tell us who the CD, HM and Captain were?

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Viesczy

Viesczy

Posted
Posted
Jeez, how rude:eek:

 

As that was Happyglobetrotter's experience, so stating their experience is neither rude nor polite unless you too were on the cruise and one of people which Happyglobetrotter was defining as minimal. Were you? Are you?

 

Back on topic,

that STINKS that the cruise was cancelled!

 

Princess does an Indian Ocean cruise that hits eastern Africa, I forget the boat but it sails out of Freemantle (I think), a little less time than the HAL cruise though.

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chrispb

chrispb

Posted
Posted
As that was Happyglobetrotter's experience, so stating their experience is neither rude nor polite unless you too were on the cruise and one of people which Happyglobetrotter was defining as minimal. Were you? Are you?

 

 

Are you aware of the difference between experience and opinion?

 

No, I wasn't on that cruise so can't offer an opinion on the quality of the people (not that I would) but perhaps you were?:cool:

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