Galley Slave

Have you heard any complaints or concerns about the condition of the ship-- especially plumbing, heating or AC problems?  We are considering a couple of cruises, want to be sure ship is in good working order.

Thanks for the info, have a great trip!  Hope the sun comes out more than it has here in Seattle.  The Times said 69% of the daylight hours in July had cloud cover.

My husband won’t let me book this cruise due to hurricane season in the Caribbean, anyone taken this cruise in October?

Thanks to all of you for your informative responses.  We are really late in planning a cruise for this year!  I think we will be repeating ports no matter which HAL cruise we choose.  We loved Flam, Alesund, Bergen, and Oslo.

I remember reading once that your favorite cruise was up to the North Cape.  Can you elaborate on this or tell me what  was so memorable for you?  We are looking at this cruise for July, but we have seen as far north as Flam, so not sure how the scenery changes as you go north.  Anyone who has been on this cruise is welcome to add some information for us.  I am not doing well with the Search tool on CC to find your original post.

Thank you for your upcoming reports.  We have two couples that are friends who will be onboard.   We almost jumped on with very short notice!  Hope you have smooth sailing and great weather!

We heard everything in the next cabin with a connecting door on the Koningsdam.  This included coughing, talking, television, spoons stirring in cups.  I would never book a connecting room again!

It sounds like there are more dogs on the ships.  If someone is allergic to dog dander, are they deep cleaning the cabins where there have been dogs?  This has also become an issue on airplanes.  I wonder how HAL is handling it.  Are passengers with dogs paying for the deep cleaning?

There are Metropolitan Markets on the way or near the pier. One is at 100 Mercer and one at 3830-34th West in Seattle. The one on Mercer is on the way, the other one a little beyond the port. Taxi should know which to use, traffic should not be too bad but there are a lot of closures in Seattle on weekends for road repairs. Lots of smoke from forest fires this week!

We have stayed at the Amsterdam Renaissance several times. They have a wonderful restaurant for breakfast. They also have a restaurant for dinner. It is about a mile to the cruise port. The staff is very helpful. Ask for a room facing the front of the building. It faces a former church that is used for weddings. It is very quiet. If you book on the Marriott website, click on the choice Special Rates and choose a Senior rate. It has elevators.

HAL is losing a lot of business to Princess and Oceania. Most of their cruises for the circumnavigation of Australia are sold out.

Has HAL announced a Christening Cruise or just a Premiere Voyage?

We used GeoIceland and were very happy with their follow up on e-mails and the tour. The tour was very inclusive and scenic.

We have had both connecting and non connecting cabins on the Koningsdam. It was so much quieter this year in a non connecting cabin. I think it depends on a lot of factors, like if one person is hard of hearing and their spouse shouts or if they get the cough that is prevalent. We could hear everything from our connecting cabin(7141) last year. We had 6199 this year and noise was never a problem.

I went on the HAL website looking to book on the Noordam for Dec. 2018. There are two PDF's, one after May 2018 for the Deck Plans. Wouldn't this indicate a dry dock and some changes?

There are one million cruise ship passengers leaving Seattle during the summer. Maybe the huge number of cruisers are creating the problem! The Pike Place Market was packed the other day. It is not like that before or after the cruising season. Maybe the cruisers are creating the problem that they do not like.

I have heard some say that they can hear their guests next door with the adjoining cabins on some of the HAL ships, was wondering if this is still an issue on the Koningsdam?

This was a big issue on the Koningsdam Christening Cruise. The engineers put strips of insulating rubber on the door frame which did nothing to cut down the noise. The couple next to us ended up with the respiratory bug that was going around and they coughed all night. The man was hard of hearing, so she always talked very loud. You could even hear the spoon clanging as they stirred their beverages. When the ship is full, there is nowhere to move to. This couple went up and got food at the late night Lido offerings and came back and talked into the night. We have had connecting rooms on other HAL ships and it was not an issue. A lot depends on who is on the other side of the door. If you are a light sleeper, do not book a connecting room!

What you really need to worry about is not having a connecting cabin. The sound travels through the connecting door. We could hear everything from the cabin next to ours, people talking and coughing all night.

Hello Galley Slave, It's funny but I was in Edinburgh a few weeks ago and I saw an Italian family staring intently at their street plan. I offered to help and they too were looking for Baxter's Place and until then I didn't know where it was as the hotel was new in 2016.

 

Are you taking just an overnight bag then? I ask because it's a steep climb uphill from the pier to the railway station and would be difficult with heavy luggage. Having said that Waverley Station is a short walk from your hotel particularly if you use the back exit which opens onto Calton Road - check it out on Google maps. If you got the shuttle bus from Queensferry, you would arrive at the opposite end of Princes Street from your hotel - actually in Charlotte Square. However it would be a short walk down to Princes Street where you could pick up a #22 bus which would take you close to your hotel. Personally I would use the second option. Once you've dropped off your luggage I'd just jump back on another #22 which will take you to Ocean Terminal in around 10 minutes. Traffic will be heavy in that part of town but the worst areas are around the Royal Mile. You would then get back to your hotel on the bus again and still have plenty of time to get ready for the evening IMO.

Thanks for all of your helpful information. We are just taking overnight bags, but your suggestion about the shuttle bus and bus #22 is a good idea. How many GBP do we need for the shuttle and the bus?

It would be helpful to know when you'll be in Edinburgh and also how mobile you are. I am more than happy to help give you some suggestion depending on whether you will need to use public transport or are happy walking.

 

BTW Dai, sorry but The Royal Yacht Britannia is at Ocean Terminal in leith not at Newhaven Harbour. A #22 bus from the Balmoral takes less than 15 minutes to the terminal.

We are arriving at South Queensferry during the Fringe Festival at 8am. We need to drop our luggage at 1-3 Baxter's Place in Edinburgh and take the bus to the Britannia. Would we save time by taking a shuttle to the city from the port instead of the train? Will the bus to the Ocean Terminal come closer to the hotel than going back to Waverly Station? We are spending the night in town and now wonder if it would be better to see the Britannia the next morning in order to get there earlier. I already have the tickets, so would need to see if they would honor them the next day. It is hard to figure this out with the mention of crowds and traffic. We are going to the Tattoo that night, but feel there would be time to have dinner and get there on time. Thank you for all of the help!

Sydney port website lists October 21st 2018 Maasdam is booked at White Bay Cruise Terminal, November 23rd at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, which would fit for a Circumnavigation cruise, then December 21st 2018, January 3rd and January 18th 2019.

Of course she could be replaced with another ship, but it would have to fit under the Harbour Bridge.

Thanks for the information. The circumnavigation cruise was posted last year on March 31st, so we should know in a couple of weeks. The Oosterdam was able to get under the bridge when we went to NZ from Sydney.

According to the Port Otago website, Maasdam is booked to berth at Port Chalmers on December 14th, 2018 and again on January 10th 2019.

Does this mean that the Maasdam will be doing the circumnavigation of Australia in October 2018? Trying to figure out which ship will do this cruise. It was sold out this year, so I wonder if they will put a larger ship on this route.

Just be sure that you do not take a connecting cabin. The acoustics on this ship are not as good as they are on the other ships. We could hear every word and cough from the adjoining cabin all night. The people went to the Lido and came back with food and talked long into the night.

We took the bus up to the Stegastein Viewpoint in the afternoon. The view is beautiful on a nice day. I booked the tickets online at the Visit Flam website. It takes about an hour and a half, so a nice way to spend some time in the afternoon.

Morning Jacqui,

I know you have used Spain Day Tours in the past and I know they are a good company.

Which would you choose , Cadiz to Seville or Malaga to Granada.

We are in Cadiz on Palm Sunday so I'm not sure if that will impact opening of attractions

Also, when do you make payment to them ?

Thanks. Kathy

 

 

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We took the Spain Day tour from Cadiz to Seville in May. The guide spent way too much time at the Alcazar Palace going into too much detail. We left the group before tour was over and tried to find a place for lunch. We did not have time to go to the cathedral due to the long lines. If you take this tour, watch the time and try to get to the cathedral on your own before you meet up with the group. I was disappointed at not getting to see the cathedral and a little under whelmed with the Alcazar Palace. If you had taken the HAL transfer to Seville, there was a long line to get into the Palace which we avoided by taking the tour. There are more restaurants out on the main street, the ones in the old part of town seemed very slow. We ended up just grabbing something quick, but still missed the cathedral.

We had a thank you for sailing with us credit that we had to use by next week. It is a long way off (August 2018) but we are booked on the Koningsdam and will be overnighting in Scotland for the Tattoo concert.

We joined the Friends of the Tattoo and got our tickets online in November. The cost of joining, tickets and programs turned out to be $141 per couple. This is much less expensive than HAL is charging. There is a new Marriott Courtyard opening in February, which you can book early and it is fairly reasonable.

We will just stay in town overnight and not have to tender so many times which gives us more time in Edinburgh the next day. The website for booking and e-mailing the Tattoo office were wonderful. I downloaded a map of the seats and together we picked out our seats. On the Rick Steves' website you can get recommendations for the best view and the advice to get aisle seats to speed up your departure.