NEW 2 CRUISIN

As you have probably already noticed, most of the Mediterranean itineraries are very "port-intensive".

Some of those ports also are a considerable distance from where the ship actually docks, and require additional transportation just to get to the actual "city" for sightseeing (Pisa, Rome, etc..)

We did a TON of walking in every city, even WITH private tours that were able to get us pretty close to the sights we wanted to visit.

My biggest fear would be the 2,000 year old cobblestone sidewalks, stairs, and roads that are often slick, uneven, and difficult to walk on. That said, I would try to select tours where most of the viewing could be done on a van or bus.

EVERYBODY should see the sights of a Mediterranean Cruise, so just be sure to make it as safe and comfortable for them as possible....and cherish the family time together! :)

http://www.cmport.com/ships-in-port/cruise-ships/season-current

at the first stop in Copenhagen Breakaway is coming from Rotterdam, maybe dry dock in Rotterdam.

Hoping for a fresh new ship in July.

We're on the Breakaway from Copenhagen in October, so I hope they do lots of great stuff on the ship!

Found this on the NCL website: https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/press-rele...019-deployment

Europe

Guest sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line can immerse themselves in the sights, sounds and flavors of Europe with five ships based in the region in summer 2018.

Norwegian Breakaway will depart her New York homeport on April 15 for the first time since her inaugural season in 2013 for a 12-day transatlantic voyage to London (Southampton).

Following her arrival in Europe, Norwegian Breakaway will undergo enhancements in dry dock and then journey to her new seasonal homeport of Copenhagen, where she will sail nine-day Scandinavia & Russia cruises through the summer season.

I’m not going to pretend to have the right answer for this situation, or point any fingers.....but it really is a sad story.

There’s a LOT of stuff for cruisers to take care of during the planning process, and something like this can easily get overlooked in the excitement of booking excursions and printing boarding passes.

Even after 20+ cruises, every once in a while I get the feeling I may have missed something and have to go back and look at it all over again to make sure.

With that much money on the line, I am sure I would have put that burden in the hands of a trained professional! HAHA!

My best to the family! So sorry things worked out the way they did!

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Just disembarked our first HAL 10 day cruise. I was surprised. The impression I got was HAL is still what Celebrity USED to be before cheapening the product to produce record profits.

 

I liked the service and food. The menus were varied. The entrees were not smothered in sauces and overcooked to cover the switch to lower grades of meat. Oh and the buffet served everyone. No grabbing a handle that someone got all ucky with something. There was multiple types of sushi daily on the buffet and an Asian section. Even the pizza was placed on a heated stone to keep it fresh.

 

The hamburgers at Dive In also topped Celebrity. Although they took longer to be cooked freshly, I got mine medium and hot instead of over cooked and sitting in a pan for a long period. They gave everyone a restaurant vibrator. While mine went off in the buffet, a server saw it and said she'd go get the order for me. That happened a couple of times.

 

Our cabin had an attendant and assistant who made up/freshened the room multiple times during the day.

 

The live music was excellent. In the Lincoln Center Stage there was a five piece quintet of three violins, a cello and piano. Their programs varied and were performed several times daily. Walk down the deck and there was BB Kings. High energy eight piece group. Their dance floor was packed at 11pm with more people watching from their seats. Then further down the deck was Billboard where two pianists played popular songs and took requests. One deck up was the Ocean Bar with a solo pianist. Then of course there was more live entertainment in the show room. Compare that to canned music and DJs pumping out loud music on the other line.

 

When booking I compared the number of days, cabin type and itinerary. HAL and Celebrity were about the same but HAL was $2,800 less. Of course we weren't forced to buy the liquor package as a free perk so I didn't drink as much on this cruise. I also found the obnoxious constant selling for things to do or buy were not present. Even their art vendor, Park West, was very low key and didn't take over areas as on the other line.

 

Oh and I saw a couple of motorized wheel chairs, people with walkers/canes but nowhere near the number I've encountered while on Celebrity. The majority of passengers weren't as old as I had been led to believe.

 

We sailed the Zuiderdam to the Panama Canal. Overall it was a very good cruise and I'd sail HAL again.

This is AWESOME!

THANKS for sharing ChucktownSteve!

We are on this same cruise at the end of the month. It is our first cruise on a HAL ship and we are excited for a different experience!

Sounds like a great time, and your post has us more excited than we already were!

Appreciate you sharing!!

:)

DH & I were on Zuiderdam 1/27-2/7/18. Attached are the images for the February 5th, 2018 issue of "When and Where". Hope it helps.

THANKS SO MUCH, Lcubed!

These are the first "When and Where's" we've seen as we prepare for our first cruise with HAL.

Nice to see a good selection of activities!

Appreciate you sharing them! :)

So.....are there NO shows in the main theater on this ship?

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Does anyone have recent Zuiderdam Daily Activity Papers they could share?

If not, do you know which shows/live entertainment they currently have in the main theater each night?

THANK YOU!

What senior discount?? Never heard of it.

Apparently HAL does not offer the option, as other lines we’ve sailed with did.

During the booking process, other companies will ask for age and State of residence, as there may be discounts/promotions for Seniors or people from certain States.

Ask your Travel Agent about them!

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If you book on certain on line websites, certainly they ask if you are a senior in case you qualify for discounts.

 

 

 

HAL does not have senior discounts nor military obc.

Thank You!

Our first cruise on HAL is coming up shortly.

On every other line we’ve sailed I’ve noticed the Senior pricing promotions on selected cruises.

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[i found one, saved as adobe PDF, but clueless as to how to post here. Sorry

quote=Mara Suung;55435891]I wish someone would!

Where did you find it, Mara? Online somewhere?

We've been looking all over and have had no luck....

Would you be able to share the website address so we can see them too, if possible?

Our Zuiderdam cruise is coming up at the end of the month!

THANK YOU!

:)

Senior Discount ? Huh? What Senior Discount:? I get told here all the time how old I am but I never got any HAL Senior Discount ! But I would happily accept same were it made availa ble to me. :)

Maybe you're too old to qualify for it?? HAHA! :eek:

All kidding aside....We haven't sailed on HAL yet, have no kids, and are too young to take advantage of any Senior Discounts, but the three examples I provided were witnessed on our past cruises with other lines.

We did, however, get extra sets of keys on our Celebrity cruise so our "inside cabin sailors" could have access to the balcony cabins in our party.

Sorry for the confusion!

It seems pretty similar to families who sail in two cabins and book one parent in each cabin and then once on board put the kids in one cabin and the adults together in the other.

Some families do a similar move to get the Senior discount.....one Senior booked into each cabin and then they switch cabins once they board.

We got extra sets of keys once so we had access to each other’s cabins with no problem.

GOOD LUCK!

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So, I went to the check-in process and it did the same thing. Everything was filled out and I was able to print. Phew.....that had me a bit worried for a minute! Thanks!!

Awesome!

Glad it worked!

Enjoy your cruise!!

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Good Morning-

 

I went through the online check-in yesterday for my cruise in April. When I logged in this morning to the HAL website it doesn't show me as being checked-in. Does this take some time to process?

I found the same thing, but we were actually fully checked in and able to print our documents!

It’s our first cruise on HAL, so I just assumed it was a “quirk” of the system.

It made us scroll through the whole checkin process and it was all filled in properly. Just had to go through the motions to get to the “print” button!

Good Luck!

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You pay $7 a day for the whole cruise per stateroom for unlimited laundry. So $50 for the week

Thank You!

Interesting proposition!

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I was on the cruise right before yours and I totally agree that I would sail on the Zuiderdam again. Ship is spotless and beautiful. Service and food were also very good. Lunch in Pinnacle grill was great but dinner was disappointing. We were in a Signature suite and had plenty of room and storage. Six of us traveled together and no complaints the 11 days on the Zuiderdam................I am sure you will enjoy your cruise as much as we all did.

Great to hear!

We’ll be on our first HAL cruise on the Zuiderdam next month!

Looking more forward to it every day!

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Ok....I’ll bite!......What’s the hot laundry tip??

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We were thrilled to sail on the EPIC twice...because it was doing the Mediterranean itinerary we wanted.

We loved everything about it, from the different rooms to the great entertainment!

ENJOY and HAVE FUN!!

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WOOHOO! Awesome news!!

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Its easy, go to the central station and take any northbound train (track 1-4 and 9-10) and get off at Østerport.

 

Here you walk to the pedestrian bridge at the far end of the platform and walk right.

Then you reach the bus station for the 25 and 27 bus to Oceankaj.

 

If you need a elevator then its better to get off at Nørreport and get the 25 bus from there.

THANK YOU DANISH VIKING!

We'll have our cruise luggage with us...is it common to bring luggage on the public bus?

Do you think a taxi from the Hotel would be worth looking into?

I was going to check with the Hotel before we arrived.

Appreciate all of your excellent info!

Hi all - I just called the shore excursion department and they said that since I prepaid, I will receive $50 OBC after each excursion takes place during the week. I know there was some conflicting information, so I will report in again after our cruise next month. Happy sailing!

Thank You!

It is our first time opting for the Shore Excursion Credit, and i booked my excursions online - like i have done every time in the past - assuming the discount would be applied when I went to pay.

It was not.

Now I will have to call, as you did, and see what they say. I may just cancel and re-book if it turns into a hassle. (Not really sure I trust they will give the credit AFTER the tour.)

We just like having everything paid for in advance......

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When I asked about why sometimes we were at the Mega Pier and sometimes at the inside pier, a ship's official told me that PASSENGERS love the inside pier, but it's harder to maneuver into and out of than the Mega Pier. So while passengers all want to be inside, the ship's staff/pilots actually prefer the Mega Pier and if they are offered the choice, will always take the easier for the ship Mega Pier.

Thanks ELLIEANNE! That absolutely makes sense!

My original question came about because we have only been at the Mega Pier, but then saw an online photo of the Zuiderdam at the inside pier and thought "how cool would that be???" Step right off the ship and into town....making even easier for folks with mobility issues.

I suspect we'll be at one of the mega pier locations, so not getting our hopes up! :) Still out favorite port of the ABC islands!!

We recently stayed at the Comfort Hotel Vesterbro. It is a 5 minute walk from the train station and about 10 minutes from Tivoli Gardens. Great room and breakfast. Also the bar had a wonderful live band and had us dancing one evening until late, late, late!

After much research, we are booked at the Comfort Hotel this Fall.

Previously, I was able to book the Hilton by the airport with points, but now that that is no longer an option, we decided to stay near center city.

The only thing I have to figure out now is how to get from the hotel to the ship on cruise day??

Thanks for the replies all!

Now that I see the pictures above, I remember we saw them building the second "mega pier" while we were there last year!

Looks like we'll just have to wait and see where we wind up docking!

Appreciate the assist!! :)

Does anyone know where Holland America docks in Curacao? :confused:

We'll be on the Zuiderdam this Spring, and wanted to check....

From what we've seen when we visited Curacao on other lines, one ship usually docks out at the "Mega Pier", away from town, but sometimes we've seen others that pull right into the inlet and past the floating bridge to dock right along side the main shopping area!

I'm hoping our ship parks inside the floating bridge!

Nobody on our Roll Call could find the answer.

THANK YOU! :D