Observation:

[AAAAmerican]

I have seen a few things I have to ask youall.

 

1.) Do youall ask the firm at its HQ about things wanted/needed?

 

2.) Has anyone else noticed service has not really improved with the cost basis going up to pay for all the new ships?

 

3.) WHich is your favorite line? ( now so many more to choose from)

 

4.) Your favorite room and why?

 

5.) Which was your favorite voyage and why?

 

Thanks in advance.:cool:

[dsawyer]

Even though HAL is owned by Carnival Corp., the actual Carnival cruiseline ships are nothing like those belonging to Holland America.

 

I rarely talk to the folks at the cruiseline but have my travel agent take care of those needs.

 

Service has declined but for the most part so have the fares. Although, the fares seem to be creeping up once again.

 

Princess is my favorite cruiseline and Holland is my second favorite.

 

My favorite cabin is the SS suite on Holland as its roomy and has a fabulous bathroom. Wish I could afford it more often.

 

My favorite voyage so far has been to the Med. I love Italy. :cool:

 

See you on The Noordam!!!:D

[shonuf]

I have seen a few things I have to ask youall.

 

1.) Do youall ask the firm at its HQ about things wanted/needed?

 

2.) Has anyone else noticed service has not really improved with the cost basis going up to pay for all the new ships?

 

3.) WHich is your favorite line? ( now so many more to choose from)

 

4.) Your favorite room and why?

 

5.) Which was your favorite voyage and why?

 

Thanks in advance.:cool:

 

1. Nope

 

2. Yes

 

3. HAL

 

4. Deluxe suite, aft corner, Vista ship (for the huge balcony)

 

5. TransAtlantic 1999, Maasdam, lots of sea days, 40 foot waves and 40 mph wind across the bow. #2 Oosterdam Mexican Riviera 1/06 because of the friends we met through the CC roll call.

[Krazy Kruizers]

1) Have not talked to HQ about wanting or needing anything.

 

2) Service has changed over the years with the cutbacks in staff. Prices have gone up.

 

3) Right now it is HAL.

 

4) We only book suites.

 

5) Favorite cruise - 16 day Orinoco River.

[Druke I]

HAL & Princess yes - Carnival no.

 

Oceania is up and coming hard - we liked it very much.

[kelmac]

1) One of things I really like about HAL is the ability to email the main office and request a specific table in the dining room. They have great customer service.

 

2) Supply and demand controls prices. I think Celebrity's service has been very consistent through the years. The others????

 

3) Celebrity is our favorite, put I must say, HAL is a close second. It would take a really special itinerary to get us back to Royal Caribbean, Princess, NCL.....,

 

4) Cabins are not important to us. We actually feel better about being in an inside cabin with a good location. This allows us to cruise more often (3 --4 times a year) and you can turn off the lights and nap anytime of the day. We spend very little time in our cabin.

 

5) European port intensive cruises are very nice. Greek islands, the Med, and Baltic.

[dsawyer]

What is the email address of the main office? Will they honor my table request if I booked thru a TA?

[sail7seas]

I hope some of you will read the thread I just started about "I thought I knew Holland America Line----the naming/dedication of ms Noordam".

 

 

We dined with Mr. Stein Kruse and I was seated to his right. If I had all sorts of major issues that I thought HAL needed to hear..........can you imagine yourself having a bigger opportunity than that??

 

Is that 'really having the boss' ear.

 

I haven't finished that thread and will be adding more parts.

 

At luncheon yesterday, before the Dedication Ceremony, DH and I enjoyed (and I really mean enjoyed) lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Kruse (we're on a first named basis now :) ---no kidding, they each repeatedly asked us to call them Stein and Linda and 'ya know what??? :) We did!!!) Also at the table was Mr. and Mrs. Micky Arison; Mr. and Mrs. Antonnelli from Rome-----all the boatyards of Fincantieri are theirs!!!! More about that Luncheon in the other thread.

 

My point here is....they listen!!!

[grannynurse]

Our TA speaks to a supervisor about special requests and gets a faxed reply which he forwards to us.

 

We've sailed NCL RCI, and old Premier but are now, since 2002, exclusively HAL (7 cruises).

 

HAL has an atmosphere that is its' own and really does not reflect Carnival or the other related lines. Most HAL cruises on S and R class are mainly populated with HAL mariners.

 

On our 35 day transtlantic we had 900+ Mariners out of 1280 pax. We saw many famililiar faces which, IMO is great.

This was out favorite cruise, roundtrip from NY with many out of the way ports as well as traditional European cities. 16 at-sea days, very few (2 or 3) repeated menus, great shorex, and marvelous service. There were 40+ cruise critics on board. It was a fabulous time.

GN

[kelmac]

What is the email address of the main office? Will they honor my table request if I booked thru a TA?

 

No problem! Just use this "contact us" link from the bottom of their webpage. Do you know what table number you want? I have a few seating charts from the Volendam and the Zuiderdam. Good luck!

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/contacts/contacts.do

 

Kel

[dsawyer]

Thanks for the info. Where is a good table on The Noordam for 2 persons?

[kelmac]

Thanks for the info. Where is a good table on The Noordam for 2 persons?

 

If the tables are numbered the same as the Zuiderdam, I would request "Upstairs on the railing" table numbers -- 77, 79, 67, 90 or 84. There are more, but these are nice. We had table 79 and it was great. Remember, to get upstairs you will have to do early/early seating or early/late seating. Downstairs is late/early and late/late seating.

Good luck!

Kel

[starysacz]

TA requests table at the time of booking and then forwards a fax to the ship as a reminder about a month before the cruise. Our requests for specific tables are always honored.

[dsawyer]

Just whipped out an email to HAL. Thanks for the info and advice.

[Sport Goofy]

If the tables are numbered the same as the Zuiderdam, I would request "Upstairs on the railing" table numbers -- 77, 79, 67, 90 or 84.

The contact link sent up an "error" message for me. Probably a temporary problem. Can you tell how to get a dinner seating chart for the upstairs dining room on the Zuiderdam? These tables you mentioned, are they 4-person tables? The "on the railing" tables, does that mean they are tables by the window? We would love to have a table by a window this cruise. Thanks in advance for your response. :)

[kelmac]

The contact link sent up an "error" message for me. Probably a temporary problem. Can you tell how to get a dinner seating chart for the upstairs dining room on the Zuiderdam? These tables you mentioned, are they 4-person tables? The "on the railing" tables, does that mean they are tables by the window? We would love to have a table by a window this cruise. Thanks in advance for your response. :)

 

I got someone to FAX me one; the quality is very poor, but tables 16, 18, 20 and 22 are tables for four upstairs next to the window. Remember, the windows look out to the Promenade deck upstairs. A good view would be from tables 103, 105, 121, 123, 120 -- all tables for four, downstairs on the Lower Promenade deck. Of course, you would have to sign up for late/early or late/late seating to be on the lower promenade deck.

Only a couple of tables for two are close to windows. (#24 upstairs and 122, 127 downstairs and all three are stuck way back in the corners, which could be okay)

 

Good luck!

Kel

[SeaGypsy1]

Hi Kelmac,

 

We will be on the Volendam, April 2. Would like to request a nice table for 2, celebrating our 50th. What would you suggest? Thanks for your help.

[kelmac]

Hi Kelmac,

 

We will be on the Volendam, April 2. Would like to request a nice table for 2, celebrating our 50th. What would you suggest? Thanks for your help.

 

Once again, we prefer the upstairs "on the railing" tables for two. We had table 76 and it was very nice. These tables would work -- "A", 78, 76, 74, 72, 70 -- 75, 77, 79. I don't care for the tables for two down stairs.

Good luck!

 

Kel

[dsawyer]

Did you have table # 79 or #76? In your other post you said 79 and that is what I asked for. Probably both are okay.

[lougee1043]

dont know how good your poll is --becasue i will sail hal but not carnival even though its the same owner -- same with celebrity i will sail with them but not the other

[kelmac]

Did you have table # 79 or #76? In your other post you said 79 and that is what I asked for. Probably both are okay.

 

dsawyer,

 

Both, we did table 79 on the Zuiderdam and table 76 on the Volendam. You should be fine!

 

Kel:)

[dsawyer]

They emailed me back and said that my request was noted but there are no promises. :)

 

I emailed them back and said thank you for taking note of my request.

I guess we will now wait and see.

 

Thank you again for your information.

[Jim Gallup]

1. Has anyone noticed that as the average cruise ship tip has dropped by 50% over the past 30 years, all the best ship waiters decided to stay and work at home, thereby causing general service levels on ships to drop?

 

2. Has anyone noticed that as the average price of a cruise has dropped dramatically over the past 20 years, the average passenger dresses and behaves far worse?

 

3. Has anyone noticed that as the size of ships has increased, so has the (waist) size of the passengers?

 

4. Has anyone noticed that a 5 star Cruise Ship gives you very nice accommodations, transportation, quite good service, all the food you can eat, and reasonably good entertainment for $200 a day, while a 5 star hotel charges twice the money and gives you less than half of all that?

 

5. Has anyone noticed that the rising cost of fuel over the past 12 months has increased the ship's cost of transporting you by about $200 per week, but in many cases the cruise fare has not gone up by $200 per week?

 

6. Has anyone noticed that only ships that carry primarily American Passengers have Norwalk Virus outbreaks?

 

7. Has anyone noticed that when someone tries to jump out of an airliner, he is considered a nutcase and is taken away in handcuffs, but when someone jumps off a cruise ship, everyone wants to know what is wrong with the cruise line?

 

8. Has anyone noticed that cruisers push, shout, shove and struggle to be the first on the ship - hopefully to get the most for their money, but then push, shout, shove, and struggle to be the first off at the end of the cruise. Shouldn't they want to be the last ones off??

[kelmac]

They emailed me back and said that my request was noted but there are no promises. :)

 

I emailed them back and said thank you for taking note of my request.

I guess we will now wait and see.

 

Thank you again for your information.

 

dsawyer,

 

Yeah, that's their standard answer, but they have always honored my requests. Make sure you stop by the dining room when you board the ship and check on your table. Should be a card in your room with your table assignment on it. They will either have a "table map" at the entrance, or you can just wander through the dining room.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[dsawyer]

Thanks again for all your help.