Recent Noordam cruise video a disappointment...

[seafun]

Hi folks -- I just took the very enjoyable Noordam Nov 7-17th Southern Caribbean cruise and had a wonderful time, enjoying the ship, the staff, most of the food, the excellent service, and several outstanding shore excursions at several ports of call.

However -- I thought we were told onboard that the ships' video was "3 and 1/2 hours" and included something to the effect of "Above and Below the Caribbean" included with it.

I got about 1 hour of video of my cruise, maybe a little longer, but not much, with no additional footage of "above and below the caribbean" and no way to advance or select chapters of the video. For $39.99, I was fairly disappointed. (And I won't even go into the ultra cheesy background music that sounds more like a bad "art film" soundtrack from several decades ago :o.)

Anyone else have similar or different experiences when buying the cruise video?? Thanks for your input.

Did I just get a defective DVD, or is everyone else's the same way?

I really enjoyed most of the cruise, and had several shore excursions that were some of the best ever (aerial tram ride and zip lining through the jungle on St. Lucia (ships excursion), taking Speedy's ferry to Virgin Gorda on Tortola to visit the Baths there (on my own), the wave runner/aqua trax on Half Moon Cay (ships excursion). I didn't expect those to be on the video, but I did expect more than what I got. What's the consensus out there?? Anyone care to share?? :)

[geshaw30]

You're right about the cheesy video. As a matter of fact I posted a warning on that very subject on my October Noordam cruise review. Money poorly spent on our part.

[Pete Jackson]

Yes, certainly some cruise videos are better than others. It's important that they show it at the photo desk so that you can check it out before buying it.

 

For example, on the Prinsendam 2005 cruise, there were wonderful shore excursions in Iceland (some of which we took) with attractions ranging from volcanos, geothermal activity, mystical fjords, breaching whales, and enormous hot mineral bathing pools. But the cruise video was all about the shops in the ports! No sale!

 

But the cruise video from our 2003 Ryndam Antarctic cruise was wonderful, a great production job. Of course, it helps when you can make a great video without even getting off the ship.

[rebeljohn]

We sail the Noordam next week, but we have learned our lesson about cruise videos...........We've bought two, one from HAL and one from Carnival, and were disappointed in both. Now, we make our own.........

 

Thanks for the warning, and I'm glad you enjoyed your Noordam cruise........

 

What did you do in Martinique?.............

[tomc]

As a broadcaster who has done videography, I think those videos the onboard photo department makes are just awful. There is little of professional quality, IMO.

[kryos]

Just a note for clarification ...

 

Are you sure you weren't confusing the cruise video with the ports video that the shore excursion desk often sells?

 

We had a similar situation on the Statendam. There were actually two separate videos ... one was what you bought -- a video taken during the actual cruise by the ship's photo department. Then there was a second DVD set you could buy that the shore excursion department sold. It was a multi-DVD package that I think may have contained two discs. It was professionally shot by either an outside firm or a HAL contractor, and it covered the destinations on our itinerary. It was NOT shot during the cruise, however.

 

Something called "Above and Below the Caribbean" sounds like it would have been a segment of the shore excursion department's offering for your Caribbean ports.

 

Just wondering ...

 

FWIW, I too bought the cruise video ... and the only thing that convinced me to buy it was the short amount of footage contained therein of the Royal Canadian Air Force's Snowbirds aerobatics team. The awesome formation aerobatics on there made the video worth the money. Had that footage not been on there, I probably wouldn't have spent the $40 bucks either.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[seafun]

Rita, I think you may have provided the answer. I was going by what I heard on the ship's announcements, so it's quite possible I got the two videos confused.

I didn't realize there was another video available at the Shore Excursions desk. Thank you for letting me know I hadn't gone nuts!

Rebeljohn -- The sail/volcano tour I wanted to take in Martinique was cancelled, so I just walked around downtown, shopping and taking photos, and had a great time.

But let me explain a bit, since there have been many complaints about Martinique... It is French. As in people speaking French and using the Euro for money. I do speak some French so I enjoyed it very much.

I was able to take photos of many highlights in the downtown area, including a wonderful indoor market brimming over with stalls of fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and local handcrafts.

I also found my way back in the streets about ten blocks to a supermarket ("supermarche" -- soo-pair mar-SHAY :) ) where I made a beeline to the French wines. I bought a bottle of Sancerre from the Loire valley and a dry Rose for 2.97 and 1.97 Euros respectively. The supermarket has a very liberal conversion rate (unlike many shops in Martinique) and I got both bottles for under $6.00 US total!! :D

So if the wine supply has run low by that point in your trip :rolleyes:, a journey to the "supermarche" makes a fun and affordable field trip in Martinique! A votre service...

[newlaxfan]

I bought the cruise video of our south Caribbean cruise on the Westerdam, and got the destinations video free with it. (Or maybe it was the other way around!) At any rate, I was disappointed with both.

 

The video of our actual cruise had clips of only a few events -- boarding, the sailaway, the introductions of the staff in the theatre, and some games at the aft pool. It had stock footage in it of the galley, the bridge and the engine room. I think that was it. I thought there'd be more footage of the different events that went on, or even just people hanging out at the family pool or at some of the workshops, etc. There wasn't.

 

The destinations video was disappointing too. I liked the HMC part of it but it seemed that for the Aruba and Curacao parts, the videographer didn't get very far from the cruise terminal. There certainly wasn't anything of the various beaches on the islands or anything like that.

 

Definitely disappointing. I don't think I'll bother buying one again.

[jhannah]

I've never seen a video playing in the photo center that I would spend $9.95 for ... let alone 4 times that much.

[newlaxfan]

It was a gift for my parents, who paid for the cruise for all 13 of us. I figured it was the least I could do!

 

Fortunately 3 of us are in the cruise video so that much was good.

 

Unfortunately, if you haven't seen the videos, you don't know what you're getting, but I thought it was worth a gamble on their behalf.

[seafun]

It seems the vast majority of us would give a "thumbs down" to buying the videos.

Although I was amused to find a quick shot of me in the middle of the Galley tour on mine -- proving that I was actually on that sailing...:rolleyes:

I guess I realized later, that I was hoping the video would capture all the fun, show all the sights, remind me of all the good times, recap all the beautiful views, (oh and maybe picture all the food as well :)) etc. and preserve them for posterity.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, lol. ;)

[FireIce0010]

We purchased one of the videos last year aboard a HAL ship and it was a waste of money. Never again.