thasmin
July 9th, 2009, 12:28 PM
Report from Zaandam - Alaska (Seattle) Jun 26th for those interested:
The ship: Actually is in fine shape, though yes as others mentioned the carpet could use some updating. No significant "rust" or "breakage" around - though there are one or two fixtures out by aft pool that don't work and will surely be removed at dry dock. Our cabin was also fine shape (cat H outside), though, yeah that sofa thing was looking pretty tired and won't be missed.
Hits: Explorers lounge and library - one of the best libraries I have seen at sea - a very popular place. Misses: The art / decor collection is pretty random, and not as impressive as on other HAL ships. Music is the theme - but they don't go all the way with this. So it's kind of musical, but not really.
Food: I thought the food was really very good - though I will admit that as the cruise went on it seemed to go down in variety and also in quality. The cuisine I thought started out fantastic, with great desserts too - but the desserts really faltered by day 5. At the lido they just kept putting out the same dessert squares over and over again - they were getting stale! Master Chef night was annoying, but the meal was actually pretty good that night. Lido dining was otherwise fine for what it is, and was never overwhelmingly crowded. That last day though - all they served was "leftovers", especially salmon - YUK!!
Hits: All agreed that the beef dishes in main dining were superb. Consistently perfect. Misses: I hate salmon - so serving it 3 or 4 different ways on virtually every menu at the expense of other dishes was pretty lame from my perspective.
Service: Overall very good shipwide - though we were moved by the dining captain after our first night (traditional) - we were frankly happy where we were but they had put us at a larger table that they wanted to use for a big party. The table they moved us to was unfortunately served by an indifferent and less experienced waitstaff team, and 3 out of the 7 nights I considered our service to be lacking. (Never checking back to see if things were OK, not offering coffee after the meal, denying a simple request to have a small portion of pasta already on the entree menu served as an appetizer, waiter never even welcomed us or introduced himself after we were moved to his table - I didn't even know his name - never said anything the whole week other than "OK what can I get you sir" - etc.) Probably I hate to say this the least enjoyable dining service I have had in main dining on a cruise - but that's not to say it was totally awful - Just that you expect more from HAL.
Misc: Extremely rough seas from Seattle day 1-2. A whole ship full of seasick passengers - ship like a ghost town. Weather did not cooperate so much this trip, but that's the risk you get. A big miss: I booked this cruise for Tracy Arm, and the captain didn't even attempt to enter it. I knew I probably wouldn't get all the way in, but to not even have tried after having travelled so far. I was crushed. Endicott arm was a lame substitute - pleasant, but little different from anywhere else in the inside passage. I didn't want that to affect my overall experience too much, but it did. So instead of glacier bay or Hubbard, we got kind of a boring sea day in the fog. We did our own port excursions, because we are kind of independent like that. Used city buses in Juneau and Ketch, and walked in Sitka.
Poker: A 2/4 limit live dealer game, with some silly house rules, but otherwise a standard game at 10% - $5 max rake.
thomas
The ship: Actually is in fine shape, though yes as others mentioned the carpet could use some updating. No significant "rust" or "breakage" around - though there are one or two fixtures out by aft pool that don't work and will surely be removed at dry dock. Our cabin was also fine shape (cat H outside), though, yeah that sofa thing was looking pretty tired and won't be missed.
Hits: Explorers lounge and library - one of the best libraries I have seen at sea - a very popular place. Misses: The art / decor collection is pretty random, and not as impressive as on other HAL ships. Music is the theme - but they don't go all the way with this. So it's kind of musical, but not really.
Food: I thought the food was really very good - though I will admit that as the cruise went on it seemed to go down in variety and also in quality. The cuisine I thought started out fantastic, with great desserts too - but the desserts really faltered by day 5. At the lido they just kept putting out the same dessert squares over and over again - they were getting stale! Master Chef night was annoying, but the meal was actually pretty good that night. Lido dining was otherwise fine for what it is, and was never overwhelmingly crowded. That last day though - all they served was "leftovers", especially salmon - YUK!!
Hits: All agreed that the beef dishes in main dining were superb. Consistently perfect. Misses: I hate salmon - so serving it 3 or 4 different ways on virtually every menu at the expense of other dishes was pretty lame from my perspective.
Service: Overall very good shipwide - though we were moved by the dining captain after our first night (traditional) - we were frankly happy where we were but they had put us at a larger table that they wanted to use for a big party. The table they moved us to was unfortunately served by an indifferent and less experienced waitstaff team, and 3 out of the 7 nights I considered our service to be lacking. (Never checking back to see if things were OK, not offering coffee after the meal, denying a simple request to have a small portion of pasta already on the entree menu served as an appetizer, waiter never even welcomed us or introduced himself after we were moved to his table - I didn't even know his name - never said anything the whole week other than "OK what can I get you sir" - etc.) Probably I hate to say this the least enjoyable dining service I have had in main dining on a cruise - but that's not to say it was totally awful - Just that you expect more from HAL.
Misc: Extremely rough seas from Seattle day 1-2. A whole ship full of seasick passengers - ship like a ghost town. Weather did not cooperate so much this trip, but that's the risk you get. A big miss: I booked this cruise for Tracy Arm, and the captain didn't even attempt to enter it. I knew I probably wouldn't get all the way in, but to not even have tried after having travelled so far. I was crushed. Endicott arm was a lame substitute - pleasant, but little different from anywhere else in the inside passage. I didn't want that to affect my overall experience too much, but it did. So instead of glacier bay or Hubbard, we got kind of a boring sea day in the fog. We did our own port excursions, because we are kind of independent like that. Used city buses in Juneau and Ketch, and walked in Sitka.
Poker: A 2/4 limit live dealer game, with some silly house rules, but otherwise a standard game at 10% - $5 max rake.
thomas