HAL-Never Again

[rangeley]

Everyone has to realize that some people are just complainers. Nothing makes them happy. We love HAL and we tried Princess last year because of the itinerary. We didnt like it for many reasons but we still had a great time. The crew on HAL are the nicest sweetest people we have ever met. We wondered if they were just putting on a show being so friendly. One night we were walking on the promenade between dinner times, we notice the dining staff getting ready for the next dinner service. They were all alone and they were laughing and fooling around. Just happy people! I read a post once that a woman complained "they had the nerve to serve me lobster tails with the shell on". Well maybe she should go back home to her castle. As with any vacation you have to make the best of it. You are not at home where you can control everything. Nobodys perfect!! My fiance is a quad in a wheelchair. People don't even realize what its like to go on a vacation. Beds to high, islands we can only see from the ship because we can't get off, people who would push over his wheelchair rather than wait a second for him to move. We've seen it all!! But our motto is "just go with the flow." WE are on a dream vacation. How is it possible to have a bad cruise?? You're on a beautiful ship, scenery beyond your wildest dreams, tons of delicious food 24 hours a day and the one you love to share it with. It can't get much better than that!!! So for all the complainers, take a second, sit on your balcony, watch the sunset, and be happy to be alive!

[jhannah]

Everyone has to realize that some people are just complainers. Nothing makes them happy.

This is very true. I really feel sorry for these individuals. They are missing out on so many wonderful moments in life.

 

As to the woman who complained that she was served lobster tails with the shells on, did she not stick around? Our dining room steward has always returned and removed the meat from the shell for us. Every time. Had the tails been served outside the shell, she probably would have questioned if they were real or imitation lobster. :rolleyes:

[Fatfish]

Interesting thread this Monday morning.

 

Our HAL cruise was wonderful. But I have to agree with OP on one item.

 

We were seated one day at lunch in the dining room with a foreign family. It was extremely uncomfortable as they were just laughing and talking amongst themselves. We were there first, and had ordered, so ended up just waiting it out.

 

That brought on a discussion between me and DH. Would HAL seat a foreign-speaking couple/family with an english-speaking one? Would they know?

 

All I know is that if it ever happened to us for dining companions, we'd definitely change after the first evening.

 

Shay

 

This did happen to us on our first Hal cruise on the Rotterdam in 4/05......We were sailing from Rio to Lisbon so there were a fare amount of non English speaking people but we just changed our table...We had requested the 8pm seating anyhow and Hal changed us the following night.

[JDOUGLEJ]

I just have to put in my 2 cents worth. We have been on RCCL, Carnival, and Princess. WE HAVE NEVER MET A CRUISE WE DID NOT LIKE. Is everything always perfect? Definitely not and therein is the rub. There are always people that LOOK for reasons to complain, and they will find a reason. We start every cruise with the idea that little things that might be annoying will not ruin our cruise vacation. We will be on HAL next March for the first time. Our last cruise was with Princess and not once but twice while eating in the Lido we heard a couple complaining about almost nothing. Buffet selections that day and then extremely upset because there were not enough lounges by the pool. My goodness, how could anybody enjoy a cruise with such major distractions. I told DW they must be on a different ship. GET A GRIP!!!!:eek: If you don't like cruises then do something else with your vacation funds.:rolleyes: Isn't this a great country:p BE HAPPY :) and HAPPY CRUISING:D

[Copper10-8]

This is very true. I really feel sorry for these individuals. They are missing out on so many wonderful moments in life.

 

As to the woman who complained that she was served lobster tails with the shells on, did she not stick around? Our dining room steward has always returned and removed the meat from the shell for us. Every time. Had the tails been served outside the shell, she probably would have questioned if they were real or imitation lobster. :rolleyes:

 

 

Thanks Jim, learned something new. I always thought you had to eat the shell. Kinda tough on the teeth, know better now!

[Zeta3]

On our first cruise we were seated with a tour group from Japan none of whom spoke english. We smiled and gestured and things were just ifne. When we would see them in port or around the ship they were very friendly. On the last night on woman spoke to us as their spokesperson in English and said they were happy to have met us and enjoyed sharing meals with us. It was very touching that she and the group made that effort. I don't expect my tablemates ot entertain me so I guess not speaking the same language is not a big issue for me.

[booklady26]

Here's the funniest complaint I've ever heard.

 

We had just gotten off the plane from FLL after sailing on a Princess cruise. We were waiting at the baggage carousel and were standing next to a young couple who had been on the same cruise as us.

 

She was whining to whoever had picked her up "The cruise was awful. They didn't even do ice sculptures."

 

You can't make this stuff up.

[hammybee]

On my first cruise, back when, we were seated with two other families with children, at a table for 12. One family did not any speak English and my grasp of their language was not adequate for a conversation. The other family prayed continuously, thoroughout dinner and condemed alcohol and the debauchery, they perceived surrounded them in the dining room and on the ship. The nearest table was chock full of over-served, loud and demanding passengers, practicing their F-speak, in between inhaling multiple entrees, every night.

 

It struck me then how fate had put so many people with tremendous differences in close proximity for a relatively longer duration, than might otherwise occur. It was then I accepted when cruising I am sharing my vacation with 2000-3000 others and the only things certain is that some of the others will be quite different from me and I have no control over them.

 

I have since likened cruising to riding a subway, in NYC. You just never know and it's never going to be all about me. At some point, along the way, I am going to have to compromize some things and either sit back and enjoy the ride or be miserable.

 

I have enjoyed all my rides.:)

[ISEA]

I just have to put in my 2 cents worth. We have been on RCCL, Carnival, and Princess. WE HAVE NEVER MET A CRUISE WE DID NOT LIKE. Is everything always perfect? Definitely not and therein is the rub. There are always people that LOOK for reasons to complain, and they will find a reason. We start every cruise with the idea that little things that might be annoying will not ruin our cruise vacation. We will be on HAL next March for the first time. Our last cruise was with Princess and not once but twice while eating in the Lido we heard a couple complaining about almost nothing. Buffet selections that day and then extremely upset because there were not enough lounges by the pool. My goodness, how could anybody enjoy a cruise with such major distractions. I told DW they must be on a different ship. GET A GRIP!!!!:eek: If you don't like cruises then do something else with your vacation funds.:rolleyes: Isn't this a great country:p BE HAPPY :) and HAPPY CRUISING:D

 

Amen! You can't sweat the small stuff. One day our room service breakfast was supposed to be delivered between 7:30am and 8:00am as we requested. We had an excursion that day at 9:00am. Well it didn't come until 8:10am. I was going to call the room service number when the waiter arrived with our food. I wasn't mad at all and especially not at him. He apologized for being late and I gave him a tip as usual. I figured the guy may have had a lot of deliveries that morning and he tried to get to them as quickly as possible. I'm sure he didn't purposely say I'm going to deliver room 6096's food late. I respect and appreciate the hard work the crew does for us all.

[Lynne Myrna]

i'm thrilled to learn that so many of you had excellent service...unfortunately this was not my experience....i have been on rci, princess, norwegian and celebrity before this one...

 

and as for looking for an excuse not to tip? hardly...i tip well for good service and i do not tip for lousy service...

 

in the meantime, i'm currently looking for a cruise in the spring...

 

be well, stay safe....

 

We had a great cruise on the Noordam 11/10......but.........

hey......everyone does not have the same experiences.....& HAL can't please everyone.....I hope in the near future, you'll have a wonderful cruise on another line of your choosing. Happy Sailings:)

 

Lynne:)

[Drew358]

Here is the link for the T-Shirt comment. She sounded really upbeat in her posts, I'm not sure she should be this picked apart from her negative review.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=12428013#post12428013

[cnvh]

I don't think most people got upset at the negative review, per se-- it was the "I told my server to bring me 3 lobster tails or else I was going to make a scene" comment. That's just plain RUDE, and bordering on threatening-- just poor behavior by ANY decent person's definition.

 

And since most people posting here are die-hard HAL fans who dearly love the HAL crew, those people feel protective towards the hard-working crew and take such comments personally. I don't see anything wrong with that, IMHO.

[thomasale]

Joisy! :)

[JDOUGLEJ]

:cool: Not picking anybody apart. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I just happen to think that people should not expect everything to be perfect on a large cruise ship. Regardless of which cruise line. Keep the right attitude and things seem to have way of coming out for the best. Minimize the negatives and accentuate the positives. Something like that, anyway. IS IT HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY:confused: KNOW WHAT I MEAN:rolleyes: I WOULD NEVER LET ANYTHING RUIN OUR CRUISE VACATION:) , AND GUESS WHAT? WE ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, HAVE A GREAT VACATION. Looking forward to the Noordam in March.

[Seago2]

Joisy! :)

 

LOL, you're going to get busted for that... :D

[Gerd]

Hello everybody,

 

You are all right; you will always find bellyacher on any corner of the world, so why not also on a Cruise-Ship.:mad:

 

 

On one of our cruise, on a 6 person dining room table, we had a very old and hard of hearing couple, and a barrater couple. They were really funny, because any, and really any piece brought to our table was wrong for them. Name it; to hot, to cold, not enough, wrong quality, again rules, and so on. They even mentioned that everything on the vessel was bad.

 

They finished up, to be served exclusively by the MaitreD. He did a marvelous job while trying to satisfy this couple – but it was obviously not possible !:confused:

 

But it was not only this, what really deranged Anna and myself. It was the added remark. After each complaint, they loudly mentioned, "….….. – as on each and every HAL cruise".

 

O.k. after a while, we understood the message, so I asked, "please tell me, how many Hal cruises you did already" ? Again the above-mentioned phrase, but surprisedly we learned, it was there 23 or something cruises on HAL !?!

 

This leaves me astonished.

 

After the next explosion, I was obliged to say "Because each and any HAL cruise is a fiasco for you, you must me either masochist or idiot to be again here.

So please tell me, why the hell you do not stop to book them ??? "

 

 

 

 

 

We asked, and got from the MaitreD a new table.

 

Holidays, and especially Hal cruises are for us a perfect manner to spent our vacation.

Ok, sometimes with small irritations – but nevertheless, we did have 9 marvelous Holland America Line Cruises !!!

 

 

 

 

Happy cruising

 

Anna and Gerd

 

 

 

Our marvelous cruises :

 

MS Ryndam – Wayfarer – March 1997

MS Noordam - Transatlantic Island Hook - April 2001

MS Volendam - Southern Caribbean - April 2002

MS Volendam - Westfarer Caribbean - April 2004

MS Prinsendam - Windmills & Waterford – September 2004

MS Westerdam - Western Caribbean - April 2005

MS Statendam - Hawaii Circle - September 2005

MS Rotterdam - Vikings and Czars – July 2006

MS Veendam - Southern Caribbean – March 2007

 

106 days - 29'683 Nm

 

 

Future Cruise :

 

=>> MS Volendam, April 1st 2008

[SDHALFAN]

On our first cruise we were seated with a tour group from Japan none of whom spoke english. We smiled and gestured and things were just ifne. When we would see them in port or around the ship they were very friendly. On the last night on woman spoke to us as their spokesperson in English and said they were happy to have met us and enjoyed sharing meals with us. It was very touching that she and the group made that effort. I don't expect my tablemates ot entertain me so I guess not speaking the same language is not a big issue for me.

 

 

Thank you so much for posting this because I was thinking to myself: I honestly would not mind being seated with tablemates who spoke a language other than my native tongue - English. I would see it as an opportunity to learn about them and their culture, even if we had to resort to sign language. It is always possible to point to something and say (for example) table, or waiter, or salad and then have them say it in their language. If all else fails then a warm smile knows no barriers.

 

I speak fairly fluent French but my Spanish is sadly lacking (and then some) but on a recent long cruise (GWV) I met this Spanish family from Madrid. The daughter spoke fairly good English but the others were less than fluent so I tried out my unbelievably awful Spanish on them (believe me, their English was better than my Spanish). They were so happy that I even tried and the father tried to tell me that my Spanish was good - oh what a sweet man, and so deluded:D . I am trying to learn some Indonesian and always ask the stewards on my various cruises to teach me a new phrase, as a result of which when I greet one of them I have never met before with a Selamat Pagi (good morning), for example, they are absolutely delighted that I have taken the time to learn their language.

 

We are all sharing the same world - we are different, of course, but that does not mean than we cannot embrace the differences and learn so much from them.

 

Valerie:)

[cruisinjudy]

VAlerie,

Great idea! I have an Indonesian neighbor. I will have to have her teach me a few words before our next cruise in February!

[SDHALFAN]

VAlerie,

Great idea! I have an Indonesian neighbor. I will have to have her teach me a few words before our next cruise in February!

 

Oh Judy, please do. Just ask her to teach you good morning and thank you, for example, because you have no idea how your Steward's face will light up in pleasure that you have taken the time to learn at least a few words in his language. Believe me he will appreciate your effort and you will have made yet another new friend.

 

Selamat malam and selamat tidur (goodnight and sleep well)*

 

Valerie:)

 

* my spelling may be off but I do know how to pronounce these words correctly;) .

[Copper10-8]

I make it a point to pick up some Indonesian words every cruise we go on. I just ask the guys "how do you say that in Indonesian" and ask them to write it down (got a lot of napkins;) ). Most of it really like it when you show some interest in their language and aim to please:

 

Here are some words Brian and I posted here a little more than a year ago. Also, Kakalina, is very proficient (much more than I) in the language!

Selemat pagi - Good morning

Selemat siang - Good day

Selemat sore - Good afternoon

Selemat malam - Good evening

Selamat tidur - Good night/sleep well

Makan - to eat

Minum - to drink

Terima kasih - Thank you

Terima kasih banyak - Thank you very much

Kembali - You're welcome

Silakan - Please

Apa kabar - How are you?

Bagaimana kabar anda? - How are you doing?

Kabar baik/Khabar bagoos - I'm good

Nama saya John - My name is John

Ini istri saya/suami saya - This is my wife/husband

Nama istri saya Maria - My wife's name is Maria

Saya cinta istri saya - I love my wife:)

Nama bapak siapa - What is your name?

Saya dari Inggris/Amerika Serikat - I'm from England/America

Saya orang Inggris/Amerika - I'm English/American

Sampai bertemu lagi - Goodbye

Siapa namamu? - What is your name?

Selamat Makan - Enjoy your meal

Enak sekali - Delicious

Sup dingin - The soup is cold;)

Palayang saya bagus baik - The waiter (DR steward) is very good!

Sampai jumpa/Sampai bertuma lagi - Goodbye

Selamat jalan - Bon voyage

Sampai jumpa besok - See you tomorrow, dude!

Sedikit saya - A little bit

Hari ini indah/cerah sekali - Today is a beautiful day

Kamu gila - You're crazy (always gets a response!)

Saya tidak gila hari ini - I'm not crazy today

Hati hati - watch out!

Saya Polisi - I am the police

Hati hati, saya tilang kamu - Watch out, I will write you a ticket

Jangan Ngebut kamu - Don't drive too fast

Angkat tanean - hands up

Toetoe Pinto - Close the door

Kamu bermasalah - You're trouble

Selamat Hari Natal - Merry Christmas

Selamat Tahun Baru - Happy New Year

[maxout]

Here's a little site where you can hear some of the phrases spoken.

 

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/indonesian/percakapan/indonesia7days/indo7days_fs.htm

[jtl513]

An interesting list, Copper! How about a pronunciation guide on a few of them I'd like to try for starters in 2 weeks:

Selemat malam - Good evening

Terima kasih banyak - Thank you very much

Silakan - Please

Sampai jumpa besok - See you tomorrow, dude!

Kamu bermasalah - You're trouble

Selamat Hari Natal - Merry Christmas

[maxout]

An interesting list, Copper! How about a pronunciation guide on a few of them I'd like to try for starters in 2 weeks:

Selemat malam - Good evening

Terima kasih banyak - Thank you very much

Silakan - Please

Sampai jumpa besok - See you tomorrow, dude!

Kamu bermasalah - You're trouble

Selamat Hari Natal - Merry Christmas

 

John, check my link above.

[jtl513]

Here's a little site where you can hear some of the phrases spoken.

 

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/indonesian/percakapan/indonesia7days/indo7days_fs.htm

Thanks for that! I got a couple of the ones I was asking Copper/John about.

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

John and Copper,

I think it would be great if you two would start a new thread with some of those same Indonesian phrases and the seasite link. What a nice thing to reach out to our hardworking crewmembers with words from their native tongue!

I'm sorry I didn't make the effort previously to learn a few key words and phrases for past HAL voyages. I surely will in the future! Thanks!