duffer16

Really agree with you about the CO benefits being close to the X Retreat. I should have said that plus the connivence of the SD port are positives for us. Our last Retreat suite was in Feb. of this year and the Luminae did offer the MDR menu as an option. We were told the MDR option was a new change which we did not use. We liked the new Luminae menu so much that we ate all but two dinners there. With a Royal Suite we could have dined wherever and whenever we wanted. We tried two specialty restaurants early on and never went back. For example we found the beef and Italian food in Luminae to be superior. We had the best lobster dinner we have ever had including the ones we have enjoyed in Boston. To us the salads and appetizers and desserts were superb. Maybe things have changed and we were on the Solstice not an E class ship. We do think the Hal MDR food has caught up with and passed the X MDR in a big way. We are looking forward to quiet dining and thank you for pointing out CO was less crowded after 7:00pm. Any idea how busy the CO is at 8:30am? BTW like you we never use the Casino and now will not even go near it based on your smoke description.

Agree with the recommendation to try Oceania. We have been on Oceania several times and like the ship size and provided service. As said before for us the Celebrity E class have to many passengers. The Koningsdam size is an experiment for us but from what has been said about the smoking the number of passengers maybe immaterial. We have to date enjoyed all the Hal ships we have been on and do not have a favorite. Our favorite X ship is the Infinity. We are looking forward to seeing how this CO works out.

Thank you so much for the reply as we had no idea of the ship’s interesting history.

My wife Mary and I are Elite Plus on Celebrity and 3 star on Hal and have never cruised on an E class ship. Our problem with the E is the veranda and Retreat suites do not look appealing and the ships carry to many passengers. For my 80th we were on the Solstice last Feb., we got a good deal and splurged on a Royal suite. The room de-core was dated, lots of dust under the sofa, did not have enough electrical and USB outlets, old worn cover on the large deck for two chair, and deck hot tub was old with rust and chips. Believe the ships delay for its revolution is most likely the cause for my comments. The Retreat lounge was quiet but we have had better bartender service and complementary snacks in the Hal Pinnacle bar. The Retreat lounge is the former Michaels Club and to us needs to be Revolutionized. The hostess in the lounge was outstanding and seemed to be able to do more things to accommodate Retreat guests than Hals Neptune lounge person. The Hal Neptune lounge has a limited self-service bar but has great non-alcohol drinks, and delicious snacks that change throughout the day. We really liked the Luminae, meals and service. We ate dinner in two specialty restaurants and decided the Luminae was better. We have a Vista suite on 25 Nov on the Koningsdam with Club Orange and Hal basic amenity package. First Pinnacle class ship for us and we look forward to comparing it to the S class on X. Comments about the number of people in the CO dining are concerning to us as we are hoping that the CO will bring us quiet dining like we experienced in Laminae. We dine after 7:00 and have never had a noise issue in Hal or X MDRs. thus, we hope to find the same in CO. Agree with all the smoking comments and we may find that a deal breaker for anymore Hal cruises. We have not noticed any smoke in our Hal or X cruises to date. We have no preference on the Millenium class X ships versus the Hal non-Pinnacle ships. BTW our first X cruise was their first ship The Meridian on 10/091994--yikes!!

So glad you made it, at our ages we can not imagine what you went through. We got off the Solstice on 4 March. We did the cruise in celebration of my 80th B-day and were in an RS and also had Glenn as our butler and he was superb. By chance are you in the same #1624 RS that we were. We did dinner once in Tuscan and Murano and lunch once in Sushi on 5. We found the Luminae food better for our tastes. We liked the pasta dishes better and the filet was superior to the Murano chateau for two. Nitin was our superb Luminae waiter and we had the wine steward select our wine each night—fantastic. Be sure to talk to the Luiminae maitre d’ about basketball as he played professionally and as you can see is 6 feet 7 inches tall. Do not pass up the Luminae tomato soup on I believe the third or fourth night as all who tried it were raving about it the rest of the cruise. We did our nightly martinis in Michaels, a more sedate atmosphere for us.