qwertz
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Posts posted by qwertz
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Some words on the dissapointing show: Mousse T. is a german DJ and record producer. He has been known for his remix of Tom Jones' "Sex bomb". The single was released in 1999 and climbed to #3 in the US and Germany, while reaching #1 in the UK charts. His first chart success, however, has been the single "Horny 98" (#28 in Germany, #2 in the UK), that you so fell in love with. It seems they hired some former/fading celebrity with some past internatinal publicity to his credit.
Mousse T. has been collaborating with Emma Lanford for some of his songs in the past and Mr. Stahlhofen is a less successful german artist, for example he used to be a part of the band "Söhne Mannheims". More information on any one of them ist available at Wikipedia, both in English and (more extensive) in German.
While this is not meant to be an excuse, it might help to explain why the artists have been booked.
Thank you very much for your marvellous and detailed live coverage. I am looking forward to your next post, which hopefully brings better news about the Elton John tribute.
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In Germany there is the tradition of the Advent calendar. Sometimes companies offer special deals by having their own Advent calendars, as does HL on their german website. The deals are not all about E2, but may be for other ships of their fleet as well or can be valid for all their ships (i.e. on board credits for drinks). Todays offer (free economy class air transport to Dubai / from Piräus for EUX 1609) does only apply for flights departing from Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
While this offer will appeal only to residents of these (or maybe neighbouring) countries, I have not found any rules on their site denying participation of other nationalities. Please note that the regulations *) state that you need to present the coupon to your TA and I am not sure whether every TA around the globe selling HL can accept these. So there might be a caveat here. If you want to be sure, you might want to check with HL before taking part.
Other than that the offers might well be worth a visit to the german HL-site or directly to the HL Advent calendar. While everything is in german, you should easily find your way around. Just click the "door" i.e. star symbol of the respective date, fill in your mail address (I don't recall wether you need to fill in any additional contact details the first time) and receive a coupon by E-Mail.
Maybe this way you'll receive just the offer you were waiting for to tip the scale for your (next) cruise on E2.
*) As an example I translated the rules displayed for todays offer: "This offer (Special # 4249) is not to be combined with any other rebates, coupons or OBC. It is only valid for the participant and it's worth cannot be payed out in cash. The offer is valid for one booking only and applies only for new bookings from 14.12.2015 to 29.02.2016. Availability is limited and will be handled on a first come first served basis. You will receive your coupon by E-Mail to the adress provided by you. You can print the coupon out and take it to your TA when booking or forward it to your TA by E-Mail. The coupon cannot be used for bookings made on board any HL vessel."
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@Travelcat: we will sail on "Mein Schiff 4". If I remember it correctly Europa 2 is not travelling the Atlantic in the autumn of next year. But then it is always nice to be able to raise the bar (bank account permitting) with a later trip.
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@TC2: Thank you for the details regarding the other cruise lines. It is good to know that the other lines takes these measures for their staff as well.
With our first cruise booked for October 2016 I cannot speak from real life experience but am definitely interested in this side of the cruise business, too.
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I'm interested in discussing the impact the new ships will have on luxury cruising. For example:
[...]
-- will new crew housing and facilities improve morale?
While Europa 2 is already in operation it gives an example how these improvements might look like:
The engineer responsible for the newbuild highlights that crew areas like fitness facility (at 0m28s), sauna plus relaxation room, club/disco, sundeck with jacuzzi and sort of a "living room" are not standard crew amenities. I suppose she is referring to smaller ships with her statement.
From 1m20s a crew cabin with double occupancy is shown. Improvements are an integrated lockable storage space, cupboard nearly double the size than standard, a fridge ("to avoid the crew improvising McGyver style solutions on their own") plus some details like a porcelan washbowl (no plastic) in the bathroom.
However, the difference is more often than not in the software than in the hardware of a ship, as noted in another thread. This is apparently true in the way the crew is treated as well. A good example are the official crew parties, that Hapag Lloyd organises. A former officer who sailed on Europa for four and a half years gives a nice report (translation by google plus some polishing):
Every few months, it says: Official Party Crew. And Hapag-Lloyd is willing to spend on these. The main difference (and advantage) to the other parties is the location. Personally, I have experienced two very successful parties, one in South Africa on land and another one at sea. The first took place at the winery Seidelberg in Paarl (near Cape Town), there was lamb on the spit and good wines, and the whole atmosphere was festive. Tony Böhmer, board member of HL, made a nice, encouraging speech at the opening. The uninitiated may wonder what attention the group gives its staff. Almost certainly the fact that Douglas Ward has been on board, the most famous cruise tester and editor of the Berlitz Cruise Guide, has been contributing to the size of the package. One of his (several hundred) evaluation criteria is also the satisfaction of the crew members. Nevertheless it was a great evening, even though we had to venture out into the surrounding hills (mountains would be exaggerating) late at night in search of the Swabian Poissonnier who was comatose lying around somewhere and processing the South African Red. He did not arrive with the last bus, but made his way back to the ship on more adventurous' paths. At the heart of the story are an uninvited guest by 5 clock in the morning and $ 50 bill for cleaning work on a terrace.
The other party also took place in warm climes, however, on board on the outdoor terrace of the beautiful Lido Café. For this purpose they had closed the café for guests at 10 pm and everybody partyed wildly. Official highlight was the auction of numerous objeczs of native art, which had been acquired in Madagascar in exchange for old hotel laundry and worn uniforms. The unofficial part dealt with music, acclimatising among each other and enjoying the fantastic atmosphere: mild 25 degrees, tropical air and a slight, pleasant wind in more exposed parts of the terrace. And a small but subtle difference to Parties on land: After the event, at 4 o'clock in the morning, everybody who was still there, from the maitre to the Commis, quickly helped to bring the room back in shape for the breakfast guests.
You can find his entertaining read about working and living on a cruise ship at www.kreuzfahrtjobs.de (in german).
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While researching for our first cruise I stumbled on a one hour
(with the exception of the kids areas which will be covered in an upcoming video). The video is in german, however the pictures will speak for themselves. Most of it has been done on a day when only 30 pax booked b2b where still on board (or enjoying a port day in Lisbon).If you do not have a full hour to spare simply jump to the respective parts:
Deck 10:
Deck 9:
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(he's having a laugh at the monitors w 4:3 aspect ratio)-
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Deck 5:
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Deck 8:
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(has been remodeled two years after the launch to make for a more cosy atmosphere)Deck 4:
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(smoking lounge)-
(prices for different sizes at 45m12s)-
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(before lunch)-
(both closed during filming; one of the MTBs for the excursions can been seen)-
(still being readied for lunch, the crew shuts their own musiv off within seconds after him entering; he whines about the display for the days menu not having retina resolution)-
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Just today another
during his 2 night stay has been published.A third one about the offerings for kids and teens has been promised and I suppose we will see some impressions about the suites in an upcoming video as well.
Mein Schiff 4
in Luxury Cruising
Posted
Just back from Mein Schiff 4 and I agree with many of the points that Floridiana has made. I will add some aspects to her good take on Mein Schiff and express some different views. Please bear in mind that this has been my first cruise so I have no other point of reference.
Junior suite and perks
Junior suites are roughly 1.5x the size of a standard balcony stateroom at 26 m2 plus a balcony of 8 m2. We liked that all of the suite felt spacious, including the bathroom and the veranda. On top of that extra space suite pax get a couple of perks, some of which we liked a lot:
The X-lounge features both an indoor and outdoor area, facing to the bow of Mein Schiff 4. A concierge is there to help you including booking excursions and you'll find freshly printed german newspapers right on time for breakfast. Service is charming and unobtrusive, though not flawless.
A nice buffet with snacks on small plates & fresh fruits is available all during the day, including complimentary caviar and champagne (Pommery). The lounge opens for breakfast which is available from 7 to 10 am. While most of it is buffet style your omelett, eggs benedict etc. will be served.
The X-lounge used to close at 7 pm but a dinner option with four courses has been introduced just a couple of month ago which we often chose if we had no reservation for one of the specialty restaurants. You choose the main course which is served at your table whereas starters, soup and desserts are buffet style.
Passenger information system & WiFi
The on board information system can be accessed once you connect to the ships WiFi network. This web based system is free of charge so all your devices from smartphones to notebooks are good to go without downloading any apps. You get the same information as on the TV in your stateroom but we found it far easier to use via browser. Booked excursions, account balance etc. are password protected. Signal quality is good throughout the ship including outside areas and even our suites balcony. Good handover between access points without the need for a new login.
BUT logging into the internet is cumbersome and has you clicking through five screens even if your browser fills in your credentials. That would be ok if afterwards you could surf for as long as you'd like. However, there is a forced logout roughly every 45 minutes with you having to repeat this process over and over again. This occurs at fixed times so it may happen just a few minutes after logging in that you are kicked out again. It is terribly annoying.
Food & drinks
According to my wife (I drink tea only) the machine made "coffee" in the self serving restaurant Anckelmannsplatz as well as the 24h cafeteria does not deserve its name. A different type of machine at the bakery station ("Backstation") brews a drinkable alternative. Good coffee is available in the serviced restaurants and bars, but the best has been served in the X-lounge. She did not try the for pay coffee lounge.
We rate the quality of the food and of the service at the three Atlantik serviced restaurants as (very) good but not excellent. In any case the quality of the food is notably better in the for pay restaurants. This holds true for the service as well, to a large part probably due to a better staff-ratio.
There is a gourmet package available for 75 Euro per person to sample each of the specialty restaurants. Included are a four course dinner in both the Surf & Turf and the Hanami and a six course meal at Richard's. Signature dishes in each of the restaurants demand an extra fee, ie. Shabu Shabu in Hanami and Wagyu beef at the steakhouse. Drinks are not included in any of the specialty restaurants.
We do not drink wine but liked the cocktails.
The included alcohol for example Jim Bean or Johnnie Walker are usually household names in Germany. High quality liqueur is available and reasonably priced like 4 to 6 Euro for a good single malt scotch (4 cl). Have a look at the different bars as there are some whiskys available which are not included on the standard bar menus and not all venues carry the same bottles.
Spa & pools
There are several saunas with different temperatures available, some of which feature big one way mirrors for a great view. The relaxing area is facing to the bow and has outside loungers as well. This being a predominantly german ship you should be aware that people are naked in the mixed saunas and some like to tan in the nude while relaxing outside, too.
Massages have been a mixed bag. Both my wife and I had three massages each and both of us like them to be done as close to medical standards as possible as opposed to just a caressing with annoying spherical music in the background. She can recommend Gernot, who did a good one and seems to have taken a comprehensive education to give medical massages. Another one of hers was ok and one not so good. For me it has been two ok ones and one miss.
We did not try the gym, courses or beauty parlor.
The longest pool at sea is great for swimming laps at off times but can be crowded during the day. On sea days it can be challenging to find free outside deckchairs unless you arrive early, especially when looking for ones in the shade, but you could always find a place in one of the two hot tubs without them getting crowded. There is a smaller indoor pool which we did not use.
On-board activities
Entertainment
The Klanghaus, advertised as the only concert hall at sea, is a really nice venue. I listened to a piano trio there.
The main act during this cruise was solo pianist Joja Wendt who performed for one evening. His show in the main theater was quite entertaining and he did a good job of working with the audience, but he included many popular pieces and would be the wrong choice if you mainly wanted to listen to classical piano pieces only.
The only other show we saw in the theater has been the crew show which we liked a lot. More seasoned travellers mentioned that the number of acts used to be higher on past cruises but that did not spoil things for us. Cruise director Stephan Zimmermann did a tremendous job as a host.
Itinerary
We had chosen this Atlantic crossing from Mallorca via Gibraltar and the Canary Islands to the carribean specifically to include a lot of sea days and for us this has been the right decision. The choice of ports (Domenica, St. Kitts / Nevis, St. Maarten, Tortola) were interesting to us but this being our first time to the carribean everything was new and exciting anyway.
Excursions
Being lazy we did not venture on our own and had booked excursions at all ports. We feel that on average they were neither cheap nor a rip-off but bear in mind that we did not research local guides and tour operators and thus cannot judge prices in comparison.
All in all we were satisfied with the tours with the exception of the tour by cable car to the top of Mt. Teide on Tenerifa. Upon approaching the valley station we were told that it could not operate due to wind conditions. That would have been ok if it just happened. But later we learned that this information had already been available at the time our trip was about to start.
The main reason for choosing that trip forfeited before we got rolling we would have liked to be given the chance to decide for something different than an artificially elongated bus ride trying to make up for the time usually spent on Mt. Teide. Not only us but a lot of the participants of this trip complained and it seems the fare of the cable car tickets got reimbursed to at least all who did.
Fellow travellers
on our Atlantic crossing started with young babies but the majority of guests were 50+. There were only a small number of kids aboard for a ship of this size all of which seemed to be younger than six years as there were no school holidays in Germany. I can't judge whether TUI cruises is especially LGBT friendly, but there have been a number of gay and lesbian couples on board.
Most of the travelers being germans acted true to the cliché and on average weren’t overly outgoing types.
To wrap things up: Is it worth the money? Would we recommend it for someone who does not speak german?
TUI markets Mein Schiff as premium but not luxury and in our view this is exactly what you get, with the X-lounge and the specialty restaurants being above average. We would expect service to have fewer glitches, better food in the buffet restaurant and generally some more bells and whistles on a true luxury cruise. Having said that, we truly loved our time aboard and think that it is worth its price. The same holds true for our junior suite with its included perks, which we found very nice indeed.
As already noted by Floridiana the Mein Schiff fleet caters almost exclusively to cruisers who speak german. We have not seen any information in english with just two exceptions during our cruise. The first one being english language subtitles in the emergency drill video and the second one an announcement via PA for a crew drill.
However, you would not expect information in english to be available everywhere when travelling in Germany on your own either. I suppose your experience on board would be similar in a way. The staff usually speak english as a second language at least and with some of them it is better than their german. Many germans can speak at least some english, too, and are happy to practice when being approached. But do not expect to find someone to exchange witty remarks with easily.