LILynn
October 7th, 2007, 01:45 PM
Wow - That was the best cruise I have ever taken. This was my first Holland America cruise - I have been on Princess, RCCL, Celebrity and Carnival, but I have never seen the level of service that I just experienced on this trip.
We had an amazing time. I loved the ports we went to (we started in Amsterdam and ended in Rome)but it was the people that worked on this ship that made the trip so special. The cruise director, Tom Faulkner was great. He was funny and entertaining. I loved the 2 cruise staff shows. After working so hard all day long, I cannot beleive how much heart and soul these guys put into entertaining us as well.
The food was the best I have ever had on any cruise. We did not go to the Pinnacle Grill as we really enjoyed the food in the dining room. There were tons of things to choose from and everything I ordered was great.
We wound up missing a port - Belguim, as there was and still is a mechanical problem with the ship. They tried to fix it by staying an extra day in Amsterdam but were not able to fix it. As a result the ship was not able to go as fast as it should have but we made it to almost every port on time (or close to it) and I guess they will fix it when the ship goes into drydock in a few weeks. For an older ship, it was in great shape and I loved the small size and therefore the intimacy as a result. I think I would be very hard to go on a big ship again after being on this one.
The entertainment was OK but after being port 12 out of 14 days I was really too tired to care. We had late seating and usually did not get out of the dining room till after 10PM. The only shows we made a point of going to were the 2 crew shows and the night they had a comedian.
One of my favorite moments was at the disembarkation talk when every crew member joined Tom the CD director on stage. I was really touched to see them all onstage and the audience was up on their feet cheering for them - and they so deserved it.
We did ship tours in a couple of ports:
La Corona - to Santiago de Campostela
Tarragon - to Montserrat
Sete - to Carcassone
They were all really good and I am happy that we did these.
We had private drivers in Amsterdam, Porto, Lisbon and Livorno - we found them from recommendations from people on the ports of call board. We were very happy with all of them. In Livorno we went to Siena, San Gimingnano and Volterra. I loved all three but we felt a little rushed so if I had to do it over I would have left out Volterra.
In London, Gibralter and Monte Carlo we did our own thing. In London, my cousin met us at the ship and showed us as much as she could (we docked in Greenwich so it was easy for her to meet us). That night she made dinner in her home and invited all of my cousins. I had never met them and that was truly one of the highlights of the trip. The next day we explred Greenwich as the ship left at 12:30 so we decided to stay close. In Gibralter we took a cab that was waiting at the port. I loved the monkeys! In MC we took the bus to Nice and St Paul de Vence. I loved St. Paul. If you have never been there and make it to this area it is well worth going to see - it was one of my favorite places on this trip.
If any one has any questions I will be happy to try and answer them, but I can see why those who sail this ship love it so much
Lynn
We had an amazing time. I loved the ports we went to (we started in Amsterdam and ended in Rome)but it was the people that worked on this ship that made the trip so special. The cruise director, Tom Faulkner was great. He was funny and entertaining. I loved the 2 cruise staff shows. After working so hard all day long, I cannot beleive how much heart and soul these guys put into entertaining us as well.
The food was the best I have ever had on any cruise. We did not go to the Pinnacle Grill as we really enjoyed the food in the dining room. There were tons of things to choose from and everything I ordered was great.
We wound up missing a port - Belguim, as there was and still is a mechanical problem with the ship. They tried to fix it by staying an extra day in Amsterdam but were not able to fix it. As a result the ship was not able to go as fast as it should have but we made it to almost every port on time (or close to it) and I guess they will fix it when the ship goes into drydock in a few weeks. For an older ship, it was in great shape and I loved the small size and therefore the intimacy as a result. I think I would be very hard to go on a big ship again after being on this one.
The entertainment was OK but after being port 12 out of 14 days I was really too tired to care. We had late seating and usually did not get out of the dining room till after 10PM. The only shows we made a point of going to were the 2 crew shows and the night they had a comedian.
One of my favorite moments was at the disembarkation talk when every crew member joined Tom the CD director on stage. I was really touched to see them all onstage and the audience was up on their feet cheering for them - and they so deserved it.
We did ship tours in a couple of ports:
La Corona - to Santiago de Campostela
Tarragon - to Montserrat
Sete - to Carcassone
They were all really good and I am happy that we did these.
We had private drivers in Amsterdam, Porto, Lisbon and Livorno - we found them from recommendations from people on the ports of call board. We were very happy with all of them. In Livorno we went to Siena, San Gimingnano and Volterra. I loved all three but we felt a little rushed so if I had to do it over I would have left out Volterra.
In London, Gibralter and Monte Carlo we did our own thing. In London, my cousin met us at the ship and showed us as much as she could (we docked in Greenwich so it was easy for her to meet us). That night she made dinner in her home and invited all of my cousins. I had never met them and that was truly one of the highlights of the trip. The next day we explred Greenwich as the ship left at 12:30 so we decided to stay close. In Gibralter we took a cab that was waiting at the port. I loved the monkeys! In MC we took the bus to Nice and St Paul de Vence. I loved St. Paul. If you have never been there and make it to this area it is well worth going to see - it was one of my favorite places on this trip.
If any one has any questions I will be happy to try and answer them, but I can see why those who sail this ship love it so much
Lynn