castellina

I am curious. I always thought that travel agents were not supposed to be on the cruise boards. It seems odd to me that a travel agent is so willing to dis one of the cruise lines in favor of another. I guess policy has changed.

On our December 18 day Hawaii cruise, there was no suite luncheon. I asked and was told there would not be one which surprised me. But the whole Neptune suite/lounge experience was mediocre. Sad but true.

We were on the Veendam Hawaii cruise in December. The "S" class ships are definitely our favorite and would never consider one of those mammoth 3,000 and up ships. Not interested in cattle cars. The crew on our cruise were fantastic and upbeat and always greeted us often by name. The captain was the best we ever had. Oh and by the way we love longer cruises and are neither in walkers nor wheel chairs. Although some day that might happen. It is appalling to me how disdainful this Board is of older cruisers.

I have to agree 100% about the "brown water" description for their coffee. We have resorted to buying Via packs from Starbucks and all we need is hot water to make coffee. While it might not be ideal, those of us who really love our coffee need a little more than the brown water when we are on a cruise.

Veendam's Pinnacle has windows. We sat at the window a few weeks ago. Pinnacle was very mediocre, but by golly, it has windows.

Gosh. I would be looking for the positives for my upcoming cruise. Funny that people look for negatives before boarding. Sad commentary, but I guess they don't call this Cruise Critic for nothing;)

Several years ago, on the Statendam, the ship sailed by Kilauea and rotated so everyone could see the lava flow. We thought it was fantastic! How many times can you see something so spectacular. The last few cruises they have not done that--and we miss it. Sorry that some people are so blase to be bored by nature's spectacle.

We were on Amsterdam for Christmas last year. Yes, Santa did arrive and had gifts for all the children in the show lounge. Everything was decorated including the rails in the dining room. Most amazing decorations were in the Lido with a train, and on the 4th deck with Nutcracker soldiers and beautiful sleigh with presents . It was pretty spectacular and if you love Christmas, you will love a holiday cruise.