Ten Titillating Tidbits!!

[bobpell]

Back-to-Back on the Nieuw Statendam commencing Nov. 11 til Nov. 26, 2022. Second week was around American Thanksgiving.

1. Book drop-off in the hallway behind Crow's Nest bar. Lots of use.

2. First week 2547 s.o.b.. Second week (Thanksgiving) 2800 s.o.b., including 400 kids!! 

3. No night light or curling iron plug in in Signature suite washroom

4. No round bar of soap anymore in room washroom. Liquid hand soap dispenser on the wall.

5. Sign a paper receipt at the bar when you order a drink. Lots of extra work for bar tenders.

6. 12 laps around jogging track on deck 11 equals 1 mile.

7. Pinnacle restaurant second appetizer is $7. Ceasar salad was worth less than a buck!!

8. Chair Hogs on aft Lido Deck were rampant. Signs posted stating 30 min. or less to reserve a chair was ignored and not regulated.

9. In room food dishes or trays should be left in room. Dial 92 for in room tray pick up. Wheelchairs and scooters can't get by if left in halls.

10.Spa Swedish massage for 75 min. was $199 plus $35.82 auto gratuity.!

 

Added info cancer sticks were on sale at Seaview bar for $7us for 20(cough, cough)

 

400 kids flooded the usually quiet serenity invading the aft Lido pool during the second week. HAL officers observed but did not intervene causing many complaints to guest services. If you want a laid back, quiet HAL cruise avoid American Thanksgiving week. It was night and day from the first week.

 

 

 

 

 

[WriterOnDeck]

34 minutes ago, bobpell said:

9. In room food dishes or trays should be left in room. Dial 92 for in room tray pick up. Wheelchairs and scooters can't get by if left in halls.

 

 

Just to note that Covid cases may be in isolation in their rooms if they are in a verandah (rather than moving to a separate area), and they are instructed to put their trays outside the door, as no one may enter their room, and call for pickup.

[HappyInVan]

42 minutes ago, bobpell said:

10.Spa Swedish massage for 75 min. was $199 plus $35.82 auto gratuity.!

 

 

Phew!

 

I was on three HAL cruises this year. I resisted the temptation for a rub down. Who on earth would pay these prices?

[bobpell]

Thanks, WriterOnDeck

I did not know that about potential covid being the reason for dishes or trays in the hallway outside verandah rooms

Bob

[albingirl]

Very negative.  It's a shame.  Maybe you should go on adult-only vacations.  

[rodndonna]

2 hours ago, bobpell said:

 

400 kids flooded the usually quiet serenity invading the aft Lido pool during the second week. HAL officers observed but did not intervene causing many complaints to guest services. If you want a laid back, quiet HAL cruise avoid American Thanksgiving week. It was night and day from the first week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What could HAL have done in this case?  Is the aft one the adult only one (Seaview?)

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by rodndonna

[Sir PMP]

4 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

What could HAL have done in this case?  Is the aft one the adult only one (Seaview?)

 

Aft is adult only.

[rodndonna]

Just now, Sir PMP said:

Aft is adult only.

 

Thanks.

 

That would definitely be a downer for us.

[PACD_JG]

I'll add something I found interesting.  I don't think I saw a single Thanksgiving or autumn-related decoration on the ship.

[BetsyS.]

PACD_JG.     Did they have a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day?

[adoris]

Totally agree with comments regarding number of kids and the aft pool.  I was totally surprised at no Thanksgiving decorations.  There was Turkey and fixing for dinner but no mention of it being Thanksgiving dinner.  Only comment I heard on Koningsdam about it being Thanksgiving was a ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ from Chef Erick in the Lido rather than his usual ‘Good Mornings’.

[BetsyS.]

adoris.    Thanks for your answer. I'm glad they had a turkey dinner and fixings.

[idiebabe]

1 hour ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Just to note that Covid cases may be in isolation in their rooms if they are in a verandah (rather than moving to a separate area), and they are instructed to put their trays outside the door, as no one may enter their room, and call for pickup.

I was on NS the week before and Debarked on the 12th.  We had  2500 Onboard.  When you walk into an Elevator and drinking glasses or an ice cream bowl is on the floor and they are also left on an Artwork base it has nothing to do with Covid.  We had someone down the hall from us and they were putting their Trays out and they were coming and going from their Room.  They weren't Quarantined.  On some of the other Lines they are told to put them out in the Hallways and Carnival is one of them.

 

We didn't have 400 kids Onboard our Cruise but the 7 Night Sailings on HAL, IMO,  have now mirrored Carnival's. We saw more boobs and butts hanging out of their Bathing Suits to last me for quite sometime.  I'm still trying to get the vision of some of them out of my head! Yikes Chair Hogging was out of control, too!  

 

We have one more booked on a Pinnacle Class Ship and then we're back to the other Class Ships and longer Itineraries.  No more quick 7 Night Get-a-way Cruises on HAL!

[SilvertoGold]

Trays in hallways: agree, an annoying thing.  Our experience is that when you call, they don't arrive very quickly most times to pick them up..  If you leave the cabin, they can't get in to pick up your tray without the room steward letting them in.  So, sometimes the tray sits in your cabin for quite while. And the room stewards don't think it is their job to take the trays, although some will do it on turn-down.

Edited November 27, 2022 by SilvertoGold

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Just to note that Covid cases may be in isolation in their rooms if they are in a verandah (rather than moving to a separate area), and they are instructed to put their trays outside the door, as no one may enter their room, and call for pickup.

The people who are in isolation have a stool outside their cabin on which to place their trays, however; they don't put them on the floor. 
This raises the level of the tray above the wide part of a scooter, so the scooter can more easily get by. 

[bobpell]

I do remember our Med cruise on the Carnival Legend/Sunshine and commenting on their wide hallways compared to HAL ships. Then we entered our suite on Carnival, and the balcony was very narrow.

Any tableware or trays on HAL ships left in a hallway are cause for concern for mobility challenged individuals and HAL has lots of those for sure

Bob

PS...We will not be sailing again over American Thanksgiving. 

PPS...signs along side of the hot tubs at the aft Lido pool state you have to be 16 years or older. Many 6–10-year-old kids were ensconced in the two tubs with no visible parent in sight over multiple days

Bob

[PACD_JG]

[bobpell]

Thanks RuthC

We saw the dishes and trays in the hallways but no stools

Bob

[PACD_JG]

Very tasty.  But portions were very small, especially for a meal that usually puts me in a fetal position on the couch.  And service was incredibly slow.  We had a 7:45 PM reservation and we had to rush through dessert to make the 9:30 show.  And lots of folks didn’t have reservations, creating a hot mess at the entrance.

Edited November 27, 2022 by PACD_JG

[REOVA]

7 minutes ago, bobpell said:

Thanks RuthC

We saw the dishes and trays in the hallways but no stools

Bob

When we were quarantined, we were told not put things in the hall nor did any rooms have stools (I think it was done only in the quarantined section of the ship where that was closed to general pop.) If you are quarantined in your own cabin they ask you to call guest services and someone will take trays, trash bag, towel bags exchanged at the doorway.  Leaving trays, dishes, glasses etc in halls, elevators, planters, pool side, Lido buffet...is just a lazy cruiser. (They want to enjoy their cruise at the expense of others...but we have the same people back at home so no surprise).  If you can carry your drink from a bar and finish it in the elevator, you can carry it to room or drop off for appropriate disposal. 

 

Thanks for the tidbits. Shows that HAL(and others) has 2 types of cruises and the short 7 day or Holiday cruises are where you find this activity more. We've done 20-100+ day cruises, which we prefer, and may have a few of these issues but not as much, even with kids onboard. The prominade deck (walking no jogging) is only a few laps for a mile but they've made it narrow with blind turns and tender heavy view on Pinnacle ships. They still have bar soap if you are in Neptune suite. 

[REOVA]

3 hours ago, bobpell said:

 

3. No night light or curling iron plug in in Signature suite washroom

 

 

 

 

 

I thought they had a multiple socket plug that you could switch voltage on. It looks like European outlet but you can fit US plug. Was it not in your cabin? 

[Seasick Sailor]

You can ask for bar soap in any cabin. I bring our own as we prefer ours.. Although I do like all the Elimis products.

[bobpell]

Yes, REOVA those plugs were available in the sitting area between the bed and the washroom

My wife was musing over the lack of plugs in the washroom itself.

PS. After 458 days on HAL over the last 12 years we are making a huge leap to Princess mostly to see if their entertainment is better and to compare their culinary delights

[BetsyS.]

PACD_JG. Thanks for the picture! 😊  It looks delicious and I'm glad you liked it.

Sorry about portions and service, but it's good that HAL made the effort to 

serve a traditional turkey dinner.

[REOVA]

9 minutes ago, bobpell said:

Yes, REOVA those plugs were available in the sitting area between the bed and the washroom

My wife was musing over the lack of plugs in the washroom itself.

PS. After 458 days on HAL over the last 12 years we are making a huge leap to Princess mostly to see if their entertainment is better and to compare their culinary delights

We haven't sailed Princess in over a decade but used to sail when our family was younger as they had more kids on board 🤣 will be curious to hear if they've made the same cuts and change to their entertainment and your comparisons.