Help please!!

[sea girl2]

We just book on the new ship Noordam leaving Dec 27 06. We have always done Carnival. And the age is all age groups. We have heard that H.A. is much older group. Could some one please tell me if this is so. And how is there New Years Eve on there ships? Thank you for any and all help.

[Lucyt1207]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=295491

 

Here's a survey being done on ages on this board...we are mid 50's and have found that HAL passengers are of all ages. On a New Year's Eve cruise, with schools on vacation, I would think that you would have avery mixed bag on board. Enjoy!

[grannynurse]

I'm assuming that your New Year's cruise is longer than 7 days. On longer trips there are fewer children and an older crowd.

 

Our New Year's trip on the Zaandam was 11 days and had quite a lively crowd.

We had arranged to travel with several sets of friends and our 2 married daughters in their 30's (left the husbands and kids home).

The passengers were a wide age mix including many young single women.

 

The new Year's eve dinner was of course, formal with many parties to follow. The group in the Crow's Nest was very lively and got livlier after midnight. They were still going strong at 3 am.

Every one dressed to the nines and no one changed after dinner. The ship was covered with tiny glitter for days afterward (shed from glittery dresses).

It was a great cruise ehich is unusual for me to admit in the Caribbean, I prefer cooler climate cruising and I don't especially like what's become of the islands.

 

We also had bowl games on the wide screen TV so it was a lively ship in more ways than one. Deck BBq's, all you can drink tropical drinks served in pineapple shells for $11.

 

I have a feeling the Noordam will be as lively or more as it will have more pax and probably a slightly younger group.

GN

[kakalina]

I have to agree with GrannyNurse about the length of the cruise affecting the age of the pax. We have also noticed that the Vista class ships tend to have a younger crowd than the smaller classes. We prefer the quiet elegance of the Statendam class ourselves. Others prefer the hustle and bustle of a larger ship. HAL can now cater to both types of pax and I think this makes them a better cruise line, among other things :rolleyes:

 

Trisha

[Randyk47]

Yes, it will be an "older group" but not exactly walkers and canes for all either. HAL certainly has a reputation for attracting the mature cruiser but with its newer ships they are doing more and more to attract younger cruisers and families. A New Years cruise might not have a lot of young children but it'll have, I think, a good mix. You'll love the cruise and HAL though it might not be quite as "lively" as what you experienced on Carnival.

[sea girl2]

Thank you so much for all you help. We love NewYears on the ship. MY DH loves to to take vacation on a ship . But they have to be around New Years on a ship. :D Thanks again

[doverite]

We cruised last year on Mariner of Seas RCL, great time. This year want to do Eastern and out of New york sounds great - no long driving from Canada. A concern - age group - we will have 2 teens, and 2 in their 20's and 8 in their 50's in our group. Will the teens be happy and the 20 year olds?

Also, when the price dropped with rcl, we received a credit to our credit card. What happens with HAL - anyone else ever had the credit given to them?

[sail7seas]

It isn't often that HAL's prices drop these days. I have found in recent months, if we see a cruise we wish to take, we book it right away. For more than one of the cruises we currently have booked, the price went up after we booked.

 

Also, they are selling out many sailings. If you wait long, you could find yourself settling for a different category cabin than you really wanted or find the ship totally sold out and you can't book at all.

 

Just my personal experience.........

[sail7seas]

Sorry.....meant to add that, yes.....in the past, on times when the price we paid dropped by more than 10%, we had credits issued to our credit card for the difference.

 

[Debi Girl]

Sorry.....meant to add that, yes.....in the past, on times when the price we paid dropped by more than 10%, we had credits issued to our credit card for the difference.

 

 

Does this mean that one could get the difference in rates from Holland America if another company (ie *****) has a lesser price for their cruise???:cool:

What do I have to do (ours has dropped by $469.25 a piece!)???:eek:

Boy, what I could do with an extra $938.50:rolleyes: !

I must have read that wrong:( !

[jhannah]

If I understand your question correctly, no ... HAL will not drop its price to match an online TA. However, you may transfer your booking to the online company. Just be sure the quoted price you saw includes taxes and port fees. With some online sellers these charges won't show up until late in the booking process. (Although with that much difference I'm sure it's not all taxes and port charges.)

[Debi Girl]

Oh Well - I thought it was too good to be true!! I did call our TA she called HAL - they don't know how they're doing it - the online TA assured me that the price included all taxes, charges, and fees! Oh Well - we love our room and it's a done deal - we sail 4 weeks from tomorrow! Thanks for the quick response!

[Randyk47]

I've booked three consecutive cruises through on-line providers at fares well below the brochure prices. Since we typically plan and book a year or more out from the cruise I have plenty of time to watch the brochure and on-line prices. Recently I've not seen the fluctuations in prices that I was seeing three years ago.....things seem pretty stable and relatively fixed right now. Might add that I shop pretty hard for my fares and I can't tell you how many times I've had TA's say "don't know how you're getting that quote....we'd go broke doing that" kind of statement. Well...whatever....but I've gotten on all my cruises without a problem so as far as I'm concerned I don't know or care how the provider made it happen long as it was legal. :)

[Alexborngal]

I've booked three consecutive cruises through on-line providers at fares well below the brochure prices. Since we typically plan and book a year or more out from the cruise I have plenty of time to watch the brochure and on-line prices. Recently I've not seen the fluctuations in prices that I was seeing three years ago.....things seem pretty stable and relatively fixed right now. Might add that I shop pretty hard for my fares and I can't tell you how many times I've had TA's say "don't know how you're getting that quote....we'd go broke doing that" kind of statement. Well...whatever....but I've gotten on all my cruises without a problem so as far as I'm concerned I don't know or care how the provider made it happen long as it was legal. :)

Hi Randyk47. Would you be kind enough to share on line providers? Thanks.

[Nasmas]

We got the same thing from our local TA. They couldn't get close to the price of the online agency. Last year, we booked a suite and two days later, the price dropped by $200 and they gave us the credit. This year, we booked early and the price hasn't changed at all. Plus, all of the good rooms are gone, so I'm with you about booking as early as possible.

[1cruiselvr]

Sometimes when price comparing with online cruise brokers, we aren't aware that they are providing the cheapest category pricing and therefore we aren't comparing apples to apples. For example, you might notice that your balcony category on VTG is $200 cheaper than your booked balcony cabin with the CL or TA but when you call VTG you discover that it's 2 categories lower than your chosen booked balcony category so it's not really a deal. With CLs offering so many different categories under one general type of cabin, (interior, exterior, balcony, suite, etc) all with unique pricing, it's hard to compare pricing until you call and verify exactly which category they are offering for that price. Happy Sailing!

[Randyk47]

Alexborngal - Contact me at randyk_47 dot yahoo dot com. I can't post my recommendations here because of board rules.