New Mariner Specials - Vista Class

[ekerr19]

Just got this e-mail from HAL, here is the link for new specials on Vista Class Caribbean sailings.

 

http://crm.hollandamerica.com/broadbaseema/al4176/info_us.htm

 

I hope I attached it properly :(

[doone]

You attached it properly. Good prices, wish I could take advantage of them, but can't. Hope someone else here can.

[ekerr19]

doone-

 

I thought the prices were pretty good too. If the price for the Deluxe verandah on the Zui is for a Suite, it's a pretty good price...

 

I'm glad I attached it correctly :) I was wondering...

[doone]

Its an excellent price.

[bepsf]

The sound you hear is me scraping my pennies together for the fare...

[sail7seas]

Thanks for posting this, ekerr. I was so hoping there would be something for October. We are trying to find something in the Caribbean for early to mid October and a Mariner's special discount sure would be nice. We decided again Maasdam October 2 as Seattle was charging us full brochure rate.....nope, I don't think so!!! :)

 

I'll be keeping my eyes open for some special rates....fingers crossed. :)

[localady]

"We decided against Maasdam October 2 as Seattle was charging us full brochure rate.....nope, I don't think so!!! "

Sometimes I think Seattle needs to have their heads examined:/:eek: Why in heavens name would they do something so shortsighted and displease a long time Mariner??? It is common knowledge that No one pays "brochure rate", why insult a loyal customer???? That is, IMHO, biting off their nose to spite their face!:rolleyes:

[ekerr19]

Thanks for posting this, ekerr. I was so hoping there would be something for October. We are trying to find something in the Caribbean for early to mid October and a Mariner's special discount sure would be nice. We decided again Maasdam October 2 as Seattle was charging us full brochure rate.....nope, I don't think so!!! :)

 

I'll be keeping my eyes open for some special rates....fingers crossed. :)

 

Full brochure rate? Wow, I wouldn't think so either! There seem to be very few deals out there, especially for 2005... do they want mariners to start looking elsewhere?

 

We are still waivering booking our 2005 sailing on the Volendam due to the price - we're not getting a great deal, DH is not a happy camper - thinks we can do better.

[elmorejj]

Just read in the business section of the local paper that cruise pax is up 9% for the first quarter. Crystal cruises are up 5 times that amount Maybe some HAL pax have already decided that if they have to pay top dollar, they might as well go on a top of the line ship.....jean :cool:

[sail7seas]

We found a Zuiderdam cruise we thought we would take instead. TA told us which suite was available....I called DH to tell him price and suite number. Called TA back within thirty minutes. SHE STUPIDLY didn't hold it and it's gone. I cannot tell you how shocked I am at her doing something so dumb. I think she is in shock as well.

 

 

So.........we still have nothing booked for October and seeing as we want to do the Caribbean, the choices are limited then. Ships are still in Alaska and Europe.

 

TA better sit on the phone and pray for a cancellation or someone who doesn't pay their deposit on time. We give her way too much business for her to pull an idiot trick like that.

[RevNeal]

Volendam, Oct 17, has some of those over-priced large balcony cabins left. :)

 

Of course, if you're willing to go in an A or B you could get on the Zaandam on Oct 16 for CHEAP.

[ekerr19]

We found a Zuiderdam cruise we thought we would take instead. TA told us which suite was available....I called DH to tell him price and suite number. Called TA back within thirty minutes. SHE STUPIDLY didn't hold it and it's gone. I cannot tell you how shocked I am at her doing something so dumb. I think she is in shock as well.

 

 

So.........we still have nothing booked for October and seeing as we want to do the Caribbean, the choices are limited then. Ships are still in Alaska and Europe.

 

TA better sit on the phone and pray for a cancellation or someone who doesn't pay their deposit on time. We give her way too much business for her to pull an idiot trick like that.

 

I'm surprised she didn't hold it for you! Ouch! Is there anything else appealing? Revenal mentioned the Volendam... any thoughts? I've heard (and I don't know how accurate this is - but I have heard it) the Vol attracts a bit younger crowd and has a bit more of a party atmosphere - which may not be as appealing to some... however, since I've not sailed on her, I cannot say... I am looking forward to the 3/20/05 sailing, I just wish the prices were a bit better. :(

[driftwood]

Hi Laura! Glad to see you'll be riding the waves again soon! We booked the cheapie listed above in the superior extra good okay deluxe verandah (these things are beginning to lose meaning for me) right after we returned from the Maasdam in April, but I couldn't get anyone on the Boards to write to me after they discovered they were all doing b-to-b's [and we were not], I guess because it was so cheap. We are going to doodle around South Florida for a few days before and after--pearl10 hasn't been that far down, and I haven't visited Coconut Grove since the 1970's myself. Don't know whether to fly down and rent a car, or rent a car and drive down. Maybe it will depend on who's elected--I sure hate to fly now. Need a new pilot in the worst way.

[ekerr19]

Hi Laura! Glad to see you'll be riding the waves again soon! We booked the cheapie listed above in the superior extra good okay deluxe verandah (these things are beginning to lose meaning for me) right after we returned from the Maasdam in April, but I couldn't get anyone on the Boards to write to me after they discovered they were all doing b-to-b's [and we were not], I guess because it was so cheap. We are going to doodle around South Florida for a few days before and after--pearl10 hasn't been that far down, and I haven't visited Coconut Grove since the 1970's myself. Don't know whether to fly down and rent a car, or rent a car and drive down. Maybe it will depend on who's elected--I sure hate to fly now. Need a new pilot in the worst way.

 

Hi Doug! Good to see you on the boards again! We still miss our Maasdam "CC" buddies, were hoping to do a Spring Break "repeat" but decided to leave our Maasdam memories untainted by a follow-up... now we are looking at the Volendam. The price is still not that great - for some reason all the promos I'm getting are for Vista class... We may look at the Maiden Voyage of the new Noordam - I'd sure like to say I was on the maiden in 1984 and the final in 2004, then the maiden of the new Noordam... we'll see. Make sure you post a review of your trip on the Westerdam - I'd be very interested to see how you found the ship. Please say hi to Pearl10 for me!

[driftwood]

I reckon the offers for the Vista class are there because it takes more suckers to run the lollipop factory. Now we will see whether the view from the verandah is too high up to see any water--except in the clouds! I suspect I am an "S-class" kind of guy--a little elbow room but no mountain-climbing. After all, though, I am still sailing HAL, and hope to live to regret it--or die at sea!

 

What do you think of the new eyecorns for your messages? They seem rather arty compared to the old ones--leaving too little to the little imaginations. But maybe now I'm retired I'm getting old and cranky, too!

[CrabbyHarper]

Hey Driftwood! Nice to see you are retired now! And planning on another cruise. We are going on the Maasdam on Nov 9 - with my sister and her DH. Then we are hoping to take nine family members on Maasdam Apri 21 or May 1 - NOT over Easter!

 

One of these days I hope to catch up with you, Ekerr and the other great folks who made that April Maasdam cruise so special.

[driftwood]

I will say it again for public consumption: I don't think we will live long enough to enjoy ourselves again as much as we did with you all last Spring Break on the Maasdam! For although I might prefer a slightly larger ship--e.g. the Zaandam or Rotterdam--for my cat-swinging, I seriously doubt that WE will ever come across a more interesting or enjoyable group of passengers!

 

Once the dust has settled from the scraping together of IRAs, 401(k)s, and inheritance,--and certainly when I am old enough to draw Social Security (should there be any in a post-9/11 Apocalyptic world)--we will study to gather ourselves among you on YOUR choice of ships on YOUR choice of sailing dates once more! Retirement is even more enjoyable than I had hoped. I had thought of working until the end of this year, but there appears to have been nothing left for me to do.

 

Happily, we HAVE been able to share a meal at a splendid local German bistro (Das Waldcafe) with two of our former tablemates from the Maasdam, Babs and Gretchen, since we got back, so at least spiritually "the circle is unbroken." That was for us another advantage of sailing out of Norfolk--SOME of the people we met were virtually local!

 

We have recently more particularly been thinking of you, Crabbyharper, as we met a "Celtic Harpist" [i quote her business card], Ms. Ardie Boggs, who I believe is from up Pennsylvania way (although she must live down here now): she was entertaining very capably with a respectably large harp in the open air at the Saturday Morning Farmer's Market in Williamsburg, VA. And as we listened to her, we sighed inwardly to think of how wonderful it would have been to hear you play, had you packed your harp on the Maasdam. But even harpers/-ists deserve a vacation! And I assure you, the pleasure of your company could hardly be improved on, even by you! La ci darem la mano!

 

Baltimore Bob's success at photography with HIS overpowering Canon inspired me to acquire recently a slightly used Olympus E-20 and a dedicated flash (a less expensive alternative to Bob's outfit) for our next cruise. Now if anything goes wrong, it will be ALL MY FAULT! But as my favorite subjects--YOU--will not be on the ship, it is a little like "closing the barn door after the horse is gone." Never mind, we are all young yet! I hope you have all been able to go over to Bob's photo site to enjoy his pictures--they certainly took my breath away!

 

It sure is good to hear from you both again! I'll be watching the boards for you!

 

Love, Doug

[ekerr19]

Doug-

 

Do you have the link to Bob's photo site? I haven't seem them yet... our kids are still in touch with theirs by occasional email. We sure do miss our group of happy cruisers.

 

We booked the Volendam for 3/20 - the Maasdam sailing for the same day (but 11 days overall) out of Norfolk was over 5k for all of us - a bit too rich for my blood.

 

We just heard from Bill & Joanne's son, Tim. He called the other day. Sounds like they are doing well too. I haven't touched base with Kim lately, but was having problems with eMail when Comcast converted and I know I missed a few of her messages.

 

Congratulations on your retirement! We will have to see about taking another cruise together in the future - we certainly plan to continue to try and do as many as possible! We're going for the cheap cabins so we can do two next year.

[driftwood]

Hi Laura! Yes, I still have Bob's link, and I will get it to you right away! He told a few of us to pass it around to our fellow pax but not to post it on the boards, so I won't give it here! Eighty-five pictures!

 

I will, however, repost MY email address, so you may write me directly if you like: dreynolds@aol.com

 

"You never outgrow your taste for Spam!" Never mind, now I am retired I can spend all day and all night deleting--or forwarding--spam.

 

Seems like there was a recent offer for my floating skyscraper Westerdam where "extra pax in the same cabin (after 2 adults)" was--some sort of reasonable markup. Of course I can see where that might not be such a hot idea if you want to relax . . . .

[ekerr19]

Hi Laura! Yes, I still have Bob's link, and I will get it to you right away! He told a few of us to pass it around to our fellow pax but not to post it on the boards, so I won't give it here! Eighty-five pictures!

 

I will, however, repost MY email address, so you may write me directly if you like: dreynolds@aol.com

 

"You never outgrow your taste for Spam!" Never mind, now I am retired I can spend all day and all night deleting--or forwarding--spam.

 

Seems like there was a recent offer for my floating skyscraper Westerdam where "extra pax in the same cabin (after 2 adults)" was--some sort of reasonable markup. Of course I can see where that might not be such a hot idea if you want to relax . . . .

 

Doug- thanks, I will email you! We had a Comcast conversion right when we got back that I still have issues with - they said I needed IE 6.0, but I didn't really see the benefit of going beyond 5.5... so MS, and Comcast are not happy with me!

 

Driftwood/Pearl10 - Gosh, if we could be on the voyage with you... our oldest wants to go Christmas/New Years 2005 - let's please talk - see if it may be a possibilty? We can even do a 7-day, since we'd be bringing all of them (kids)!

[driftwood]

We would probably be ready for another cruise by the end of 2005, and we sure would like to be on the same ship with you all. If it runs as our Rotterdam New Year's cruise did a while ago, the Christmas cruise may have as many as 800 young people aboard--when we got aboard for the New Year's Cruise, the crew could scarcely climb out of their bunks! So that cruise was slightly more sedate, although I think there were still about 300 young ones.

 

pearl10 is interested in a 10-day "fly and flop" tour in Guatemala or Costa Rica next year, though, so we will have to have a chat when she wakes up. Until October 2004 I won't much have a handle on how rich I'll be, but that has never stopped us before . . . .

 

I don't know why I don't have your email address, but if you are going to fight with your ISP's I suppose it's just as well. I have an old Macintosh G3 which I have souped up to its limit, but it still runs at only 400MHz. IE for Mac has only reached version 5.2 so far, so your experience, alas, is Greek to me! Tell your husband I wish I could dance half as well as he does!

 

I still have Bob's photo album on my "Favorites" list, so I can let you have the site address as soon as I have your email address. But for now, get some sleep!

 

Love,

 

Doug