New Cruises in 2007

[NYC95]

I just returned from the Mardi Gras cruise. They let us know what was coming up in 2007 for those of you who are interested.

 

Caribbean Cruise: Feb-25 thru March 4th, aboard The Caribbean Princess. It

will embark from Ft. Lauderdale with stops in St. Martins, St. Johns, St.Thomas and The Princess Cays.

 

Barbados Caribbean Sail: March 18th thru March 25th., aboard The Royal Clipper. It will embark from Barbados and stop in Cabrits & Roseau Dominica,Antigua, Basseterre,St.Kitts,Iles des Saintes and Martinique.

 

Roman Mediterranean Cruise: August 9th thru August 19th (10 day cruise). It will embark from Rome (Civitavecchia) and make stops in Naples,Venice (overnight),Valleta Malta,Sorrento Amalfi Coast,Messina Sicily,Corfu Greece,Dubrovnik Croatia. This cruise is aboard ,The Westerdam.

 

Alaska Cruise: September 7th thru September 14th, aboard The Amsterdam.

Embarks from Seattle and stops at Glacier Bay,Juneau,Sitka, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert,Victoria,Seattle.

 

RSVP said they'll be more to come.

[thulewx]

I hope there is more to come - that schedule looks pretty much like the same schedule they've had for the last 10 years... minus their mex. riviera (to be announced later?).

Why can't they try one out of NYC or Baltimore? Or an LA to FTL via the canal?

[bepsf]

Thanks for the update!

 

...but are you sure that the Med Cruise is on Westerdam?

I believe Westerdam is scheduled to be in Alaska for the season - I think you must mean Noordam (I hope!)

Either way, I'm booking!!!

 

Glad RSVP are doing Alaska again. I certainly enjoyed my first Alaska cruise on Amsterdam. Although she's smaller than the Vista's - her Queen's Lounge will be more appropriate for the big indoor parties with it's flat main floor.

 

Phil--

 

Wish you'd been there w/ us on the Inaugural - You'd have had a blast, although Captain Card did appreciate you giving up your Penthouse!

;)

[thulewx]

Wish I'd been there too but I was busy setting up my new house in Georgia.

Did the Captain take over my penthouse? or was it just available for tours (heard about the cabin crawl :eek: )?

Found some photos of it on another site - looks pretty much like the one I had on Westerdam but the marble in the bath really didn't look like it went too well with the gold sinks. And I wish they'd get rid of that "hot tub" on the deck - it's the right size for a foot bath or sitz bath - not much else ;) .

Our cruise board for Hal-o-weendam sure has been quiet lately - guess we're all gettin complacent?

[bepsf]

Wish I'd been there too but I was busy setting up my new house in Georgia.

Did the Captain take over my penthouse? or was it just available for tours (heard about the cabin crawl :eek: )?

Found some photos of it on another site - looks pretty much like the one I had on Westerdam but the marble in the bath really didn't look like it went too well with the gold sinks. And I wish they'd get rid of that "hot tub" on the deck - it's the right size for a foot bath or sitz bath - not much else ;) .

Our cruise board for Hal-o-weendam sure has been quiet lately - guess we're all gettin complacent?

 

Yes, he and Ruth did - and I must say that Martha's portside PH was much nicer - the Starboard's sectional sofa looked like it came out of the 1973 LaZBoy Catalog.... :(

 

We did manage to squeeze 3 into Martha's veranda jacuzzi - Oh what fun!

:eek: :D

[NYC95]

The Westerdam might be schedualed for,Alaska, this season but in 2007 it's going to take RSVPers around the Mediterranean,according to the itinerary we received while on board last week. The prices for this trip start at $1395.00 per person.

[RMS Olympic]

Just returned from the Atlantis cruise to South America and freezing my...off in this cold weather.

Were you pleased with the RSVP operation on your trip? I loved the experience last February in the Caribbean, although the Westerdam was not a wow ship for me as compared to the Radiance of the Seas Atlantis used last October. Thats alot coming from me who dislikes big ships.

Tomorrow I am probably going to book the RSVP October cruise on the Diamond Princess...not sure this big ship lends itself to a gay cruise since it is so divided up into intimate spaces that prevents big group functions....then again thats right up my alley.

I have sailed the Sun class, but not the Grand Class and have not sailed Princess since they were swallowed up by Carnival Corp.

Will the RSVP experience still be good? Will the new owners modify the product , or is it too soon to tell?

Please share your thoughts.

Tom

[NYC95]

I thought the operation of the cruise was pretty much what it always is,however, I hated the fact that they had the costume gala inside,instead of up on deck. They held it in the Queens Lounge which was way to small for the event. It was too crowded and if you wanted to take a picture of someone's costume you would have to navigate yourself through a sea of people. It kinda reminded me of an,Atlantis, party which I didn't like. I fear this new management might be going for the younger market thus alienating

it's older and more loyal clientele.

 

I've already booked the Mexican Riviera cruise,Tom. I'll see you there.

[bepsf]

Hmmm - I wonder why the Masquerade Ball was indoors - was the weather bad?

 

Re: Westerdam vs Noordam charter...

I simply made my comment going by what HAL's Destination Calendar has for 2007:

http://www.hollandamerica.com/dest/calendar.do

It might be right & it might be wrong...

 

...but I'm hoping you're wrong simply because if it's Noordam, we get the new improved Explorations (internet) Cafe, the larger grillroom, a larger aft lido and RSVP gets 30 more staterooms to sell;)

[RMS Olympic]

I booked both the Mexico cruise for this October and the feb caribbean cruise........look out Princess......I'm back!

NYC95.........hope Princess is as good today as it was in the past.

Should be interesting to see how all the show lounges are filled with different shows.

Now to figure out how to pay for all this........traveling as a single and taking the cabin alone gets very pricey..ouch.

Now if only the dress code could be relaxed like Atlantis. I never thought I would say this but I loved wearing a nice shirt with jeans to dinner on Atlantis...and even shorts in the lido at night when it turned into a dinner option.

Now I have something to look forward to!!!!!! whoooopy!

[M&D]

We were on the RSVP Panama cruise and we are already booked on the RSVP Caribbean Princess cruise next March. I've done 4 RSVP cruises, my partner has done 3. We have toyed with the idea of trying Atlantis but after talking to some folks who were on the Atlantis cruise that finished the same day RSVP did, we decided that Atlantis just wouldn't fit our style quite as well. They told us the Atlantis white party goes from midnight until around 10 am the next day and that just isn't our style. By 10 am, I'm up, showered, shaved, finished a workout and had breakfast. If I danced till 10 am, I would be 3 days recovering--getting older has a way of slowing you down a little! But to each his own....RSVP just fits us better.

[Brooklyn Pistol]

Just back from the Panama leg of RSVP. The operation was, as NYC95 said, pretty much the same. A few changes though, some minor party changes, and "open seating" fro dinner meaning NO table reservations - NO exceptions. It began as a nightmare for us as we were a party of 23 travelling together (8 returns & 15 newbies) so we wanted to sit together. It worked out better as we navigated our way through it thanks to Robert (Maitre'd). He said it was a nightmare for him too. Unlike NYC's cruise our costume party was outdoors, as it was in the past. Maybe it had to do with the weather (we'd heard our week had better weather). And RSVP did a great job announcing that we'd have a live feed of the Oscars on board, which filled up the Vista Lounge AND the Queens Lounge. HAL put out tables of hot food so no one missed dinner and went hungry. How fun/bizzare: tuxedos>oscars>"drawers".

 

Bepsf - The Westerdam will be in drydock later this year and will have the aft "added to." By the time it sails on the Rome cruise, it'll have a "bigger booty." We were told that it only takes a couple of weeks to add the rear section (I guess the same time for some enhancement surgery!).

 

We had a blast on the RSVP cruise. Our group was fun, the ports were interesting, the parties really nice, and loved having more days at sea. It seemed to have a more mature crowd than usual. The energy level was about the same.

 

Joe

[dendren]

Really enjoyed the Panama cruise myself, and the open seating *was* different than in the past. I actually prefered the way they did it this year, walking up, saying how many in the party and being seated. Last year there were so many "reserved" tables that as our group ebbed in flowed with the number of people it got hard sometimes to sit together. I also hated seeing single travelers ending up eating alone. With the set up this year it didn't matter (for us) if we had 4, 5, 8 or 10 people. We were always put at a table quickly and efficiently. Also, had a couple of times where we were asked if we minded a single traveler joining us and it was nice to meet a new person for dinner. With 23... yeah, would have been a bit more difficult I'm sure tho.

 

The one thing RSVP is still lacking is in their entertainment. Atlantis had Joan Rivers and Charro... we had Crystal Waters lip synching 3 (4?) songs at a very bizarre inside party. Crystal needs to learn to start her mouth moving when the words start :P

[bepsf]

Really enjoyed the Panama cruise myself, and the open seating *was* different than in the past. I actually prefered the way they did it this year, walking up, saying how many in the party and being seated. Last year there were so many "reserved" tables that as our group ebbed in flowed with the number of people it got hard sometimes to sit together. I also hated seeing single travelers ending up eating alone. With the set up this year it didn't matter (for us) if we had 4, 5, 8 or 10 people. We were always put at a table quickly and efficiently. Also, had a couple of times where we were asked if we minded a single traveler joining us and it was nice to meet a new person for dinner. With 23... yeah, would have been a bit more difficult I'm sure tho.

 

The one thing RSVP is still lacking is in their entertainment. Atlantis had Joan Rivers and Charro... we had Crystal Waters lip synching 3 (4?) songs at a very bizarre inside party. Crystal needs to learn to start her mouth moving when the words start :P

 

You know, when I was on RSVP Alaska - I overheard a few compliants about the reserved tables, so I wondered why they wouldnt go to the Maitre'd and get a table reserved too?

 

Yeah, entertainment has been an issue for RSVP - I guess the boys from Minneapolis just dont have the celebrity contacts that the LA boys do. Hopefully the SF/Planetout.com folks will do better...