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Ladybentley

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  • Posts

    198
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About Me

  • Location
    Auckland, New Zealand
  • Interests
    Genealogy, gardening, cooking, reading, travel
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Holland America
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    anywhere

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  1. We visited Kristiansand a few years ago and thought it was a very pretty town. It was easy to walk around from where we were docked by the fish market. We walked into the centre of town to the Cathedral where they used to give free organ concerts at 11am and 3pm on days when cruise ships are in. I don’t know if they still do. The Cathedral itself was very attractive with a beautiful ceiling in light Scandinavian woods. Next we walked through the old town of terraces of old, white wooden houses, called Posebyen. Then we went over to the waterfront and saw the Christiansholm Fortress with 8 big cannons. That led on to a series of delightful parks and gardens with lots of statues and even large sand sculptures. There was a lovely fountain with three connecting ponds, each with a big modern stone fountain. There were lots of flowers everywhere. The fish market is also worth a visit. Later my husband took a walk out to Odderøya Lighthouse. We thought it was a very nice place to visit.
  2. I wrote to both four days ago and still haven't had any response other than the form letter. I live in hope....
  3. I’ve also sent a letter to both, saying we always used to look forward to lunch served to us in the MDR on the first day. It was part of the thrill of being on a ship again. I said that although we have two cruises booked later this year, reading about the continual HAL cutbacks has made us realise that they will probably be our last HAL cruises. In fact, we’ve already booked a cruise on another line for next year. HAL seem to be eliminating nearly everything we used to enjoy – classical music, a show every night, hors d’oeuvres before dinner, the Royal Dutch tea, cabin turn down service, etc, etc, to say nothing of all the other reductions in service. Such a pity as we love HAL ships and like their itineraries but as they are clearly on a path of downgrading the cruise experience, we will go elsewhere.
  4. Several years ago, family members booked the connecting cabins 2633 and 2635 on the Zaandam, sister ship to the Volendam. They were very disappointed to find that they both have a significant amount of vibration. They eventually got used to it but weren’t happy. So perhaps check out what those cabins are like on the Volendam. We had an inside on Deck 3 years ago on the Volendam and were happy with it. Good size and only a few steps to get out onto the Promenade deck.
  5. Thank you. I'll be posting reviews after the cruises. We're looking forward to the cruises and are hoping that HAL will bring back things we've loved in the past.
  6. We book mostly for the itinerary which is why we like HAL but we do want a good overall cruise experience. That means a comfortable cabin, good food, and some decent entertainment. In the evening we do enjoy a cocktail, a nice dinner with good service and an entertaining show. Surely not too much to ask from a 4 star cruise line and what we’ve had in the past. We have two HAL cruises booked for later this year but have concerns when we read of the loss of the Lincoln centre and classical music, fewer cabin and serving staff, no more hors d’oeuvres served before dinner, and other general cutbacks. We will see what we get. But if these cruises prove disappointing, we may not book with HAL again.
  7. Since booking our first cruise in some years because of Covid, we're very dismayed to read about all the cutbacks including the loss of classical music. That combined with shows no longer being given every night make us think we could be looking at very boring evenings. We booked for the itinerary but are already starting to think this may be our last HAL cruise.
  8. We're doing this cruise next year - with a few itinerary changes. So thanks very much for all the helpful information you've posted. Really great and much appreciated. Your threads are terrific!
  9. Thanks for the explanation and the link. I understand better now. I've played all my life. My father bought a traditional Mah Jong set in Hong Kong in the 1950s. Maybe there will be some other traditional game players on our two cruises next year. Looks like you could play the traditional game with the sets provided if you remove the Joker tiles. Here they're optional and we only use four of them. We call them Looseys.
  10. For a non-American, could you please explain American Mah Jong? And what are these cards you refer. I play weekly in a Mah Jong club in New Zealand but get the feeling that perhaps we play differently to you.
  11. Family members were in cabins 2633 and 2635 on the Zaandam some years ago and found there was quite a lot of vibration. We noticed it on the corridor when visiting them. Think they got used to it but we wouldn't have liked it. But we do love the Zaandam.
  12. As suggested by SueMo above, think about staying in a hotel overnight. We did that a few years ago as did some others and found it much less stressful as well as costing no more. The ship’s tour is very expensive. We were able to buy better seats at the Tattoo than the ones very high up that those on the ships tour had. And it gave us much more time in Edinburgh. We took a bus into the city from the Queensferry pier on our first morning, taking a small overnight bag with us which we dropped off at the hotel. We’d bought a two-day HoHo bus ticket which we took up the Royal Mile late in the afternoon to get off near the restaurant where we’d booked dinner. After dinner it was a short stroll to the castle. Actually on our cruise HAL had a problem with the tenders which meant their tours were very late and they had to race up the hill to barely get into their seats before the Tattoo started. In fact, they missed the early part when the Scottish clans were welcomed onto the esplanade. After the performance we joined the enormous crowds walking back down to our hotel. It meant we had lots of time to continue exploring the city the next day as we were up and about by 9am. That gave us time to go out to see the Britannia at Leith and do more of the HoHo tour before taking the bus back to the pier late afternoon. We felt we had a much better experience than spending so much time shuttling back and forth to the ship four times in two days.
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