btoohill

On 9/22/2021 at 4:35 PM, new_cruiser said:

I guess it's not unexpected but it is disappointing. The Israel and Egypt stops are gone from our October itinerary due to COVID restrictions. I was so looking forward to seeing the Pyramids for the first time and while I've been to Israel multiple times before, I'd never gotten up to Haifa. The new stops are Rhodes, Agios Nikolaos Crete, Santorini, Mykonos, Monemvasia and Nafplio. We've been to Rhodes, Santorini and Mykonos before but at least three of the stops are new. 

 

With this change, both parts of our Star Collector have lost something called out in the cruise name (Greece, Israel and Egypt: Footsteps of the Faith in the Holy Land has no Israel and Egypt while a Piece of Greece, a Slice of Sicily and the Corinth Canal lost the Corinth Canal due to it's closure). I've toyed with cancelling and rebooking just the Nov 4 Athens to Barcelona portion and extending our land stay in Athens 10 days but my husband wants to stick with the cruise. It is 15 years since we've been to Rhodes, Santorini and Mykonos so revisiting them wouldn't be bad. 

 

If we stick with the cruise, they are giving us $500 non-refundable shipboard credit ($250 per person) and $250 pp Future cruise credit - but that's only good for cruises departing before the end of March 2022 (which seems pretty stingy - not even a year - just 6 months validity). I'm booked solo on a cruise before the end of March but my husband isn't likely to cruise again in that timeframe. I haven't inquired yet whether his half of the Future Cruise Credit can be applied to my cruise. I guess they didn't have to give us anything so I can't complain too much.

 

FYI for anyone in a similar situation who has purchased excursions on-line before a port change: I had to call to get the excursions cancelled for the ports we aren't going to. They don't do that automatically until you board and until they do you can't see the excursions for the new ports which would "conflict" with the excursions that aren't happening. The Windstar agent claimed that that didn't matter because the cruise was so close that the excursions for the new ports wouldn't have been uploaded. I knew that wasn't true because I could see some for days we hadn't booked excursions on the old itinerary. I told him some of the excursions we had booked were expensive so I preferred to have them cancelled now (there was an overnight in Cairo). So he cancelled the excursions and the new excursions populated on MyWindstar. 

We are on both this cruise and the one before it which was supposed to go to Turkey and the Corinth Canal.  Those ports were cancelled and that new itinerary is exactly the same as the itinerary which is replacing Haifa and Alexandria.  So we are now taking the same cruise itinerary back to back.  We are obviously very disappointed but there isn’t much we can do about it at this point.  I will call and get our excursions canceled.  Thanks for the information.

We fly to Bridgetown, Barbados tomorrow, March 13, from Washington Reagan via Miami.  We board the Odyssey Saturday morning and are on for the 14 day Caribbean cruise plus the transatlantic which ends up at Barcelona where we disembark on April 22.  We fly back to Washington the same day.  We're washing our hands frequently and have sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer which we will deploy liberally.  I am training myself not to touch my face.  We're assuming that Seabourn will be diligent in screening passengers and crew and in cleaning the ship.  Hopefully all the passengers will be following the same preventive measures that we're taking.  We're still excited for the the trip.  Right now, I think staying here in Northern Virginia might be more dangerous than boarding the Seabourn Odyssey.  There are currently 11 cases in Virginia, with a possible two more.  Hopefully, while we're gone, with all the measures being put in place, the spread of the virus will slow.  Time will tell.  My husband is in his 70's and I am 69.  However we are in excellent shape and both run and exercise regularly.  We intend to enjoy our trip to the max and are trying to be diligent without over-reacting.  

I agree, replace the casino with the sushi restaurant.  

Is anyone else experiencing difficulties.  It's been really slow whenever I tried to access anything in the past few weeks and now it's not providing anything at all.  It's just spinning.  IMHO, they need a new web site team to overhaul the site and make it much more efficient.  A site with less glitz and better performance would be appreciated.

This trip couldn't have been better IMHO. The captain did a superb job to make sure we saw as much as possible including the Greenland ice field on the way over and the Prince Christian Sound on the way back. The itinerary was fabulous. We thought all the dining venues were really good. We never did Canaletto but we did the Pinnacle twice. We ate all our other dinners in the MDR (fixed dining). We enjoyed the food. We never had any trouble finding something we'd enjoy and never had to resort to the daily standard selections. We especially enjoyed the salads and the lamb dishes. Our waiters and wine steward were conscientious and helpful. They felt like family at the end of the cruise. We enjoyed the Pinnacle and also really enjoyed the cellar master dinners and the lucky Irish lunch. Sam, the Cellar Master was the best we've encountered on HAL. We did all the premium wine tastings and learned a lot about wine. The entertainment was also the best we've encountered on HAL. I agree with a previous poster that HAL had an A team on this Voyage. We had only taken 14 day cruises before this and worried whether this would be too much time on a cruise but we could have stayed on longer and have now put the grand voyages on our list of things to do. We had an aft balcony cabin and loved it. Although the weather wasn't always conducive to sitting on it for extended periods of time, we still went out there regularly to check the weather and watch sail ins and sail aways. That $20 laundry deal was terrific -- I've always done our laundry in the sink when we traveled before but it's amazing what you can fit in one of those bags!!! I've read so many complaints about the wine list and prices on HAL but we found the selection to be very good and the prices are comparable to what we'd pay for the wines in our local restaurants (we live in the DC metro area). And the wine stewards weren't trying to upsell you and their recommendations for us were right on. I took a couple of the computer classes and they were good. Barbara, the culinary center hostess was entertaining and engaging. Babs was very interesting and helpful in her port talks.

We're still savoring the experience and are looking forward to another voyage in the future.

We are keen to book the 3 in 1 package once we board being Aqualina, Prime C and Chef's Table, however, do you get to choose which CHef's Table you prefer - also what happens when you cant eat any sort of fish to include shell fish. We haven't yet decided which one we would choose as I cannot eat fish - if we tell the MD will they change the fish dishes?

 

I guess though that would mean changing the wine pairing - it may be I would just have to miss those courses with fish.

What's the 3 in 1 package. I haven't located it on the website. Thanks, Barbara

We were on the Prinsendam in August 2014 and we anchored in the Fjord and tendered into the town of Flam. There were several other cruise ships that arrived and tendered in as well.

I just looked at the HAL site and see that the 2015 version is sold out, at this early date.

 

This cruise is priced lower than the VOV, Voyage of the Vikings, a 35 day TA, or as east or west bounds, that sails in July. This might have something to do with it being so popular to be sold out now for August!

this cruise isn't sold out yet, there are still veranda cabins available. The Neptune suites are sold out. I didn't check any of the other categories but you can still reserve veranda cabins on both the navigation and veranda decks. I looked at the whole cruise, not either of the two segments separately.

It will work fine. Once they know what size table you need and what time you usually show up, just ask for a reservation. We've had luck with open dining. Only once was there a problem when we had a lot of families who wanted to eat early.

 

Another trick is to go to the open dining deck about 15 minutes into fixed seating and if there is no table ask them to check with fixed for people who are elsewhere for the evening. You need to be calm, but firm for this one.

We booked the Voyage of the Vikings cruise starting July 25 2015, when we were onboard a HAL ship in mid-August 2014. When we made our reservation, we were waitlisted for early fixed seating and given anytime dining. After we returned from the cruise, I called and was told because it is a popular cruise that fixed dining filled early. I asked about where we were on the waitlist and wasn't given a definitive answer. I was told to call once final payments were made. I'll do that but I'm not optimistic. I think HAL has significantly reduced the numbers of tables for fixed dining and wouldn't be surprised if they eliminate fixed dining all together at some point. I think they must have determined that it is more cost-effective to do any time dining only.

We like to sit at a table for two and eat early. So, based on reading the posts on this board, we will endeavor to make a reservation for around 6-6:15 every night in hopes of getting what we want. One of the posts said that they will only take reservations for early or late slots and that during the "prime time" after 6:15 or so and before 7:30, that it can get quite busy and waiting is common unless you are willing to be seated with a group. We won't be amused if we can't make a reservation or can only be seated with a group.

But, we're willing to give open dining a chance and we'll see how things turn out.

It's called the Cellar Master package. It is available on line on the HAL website to order. It has different pricing depending upon the length of your cruise. For your 35 day cruise, you would get 2 pinnacle grill dinners I believe.

 

just go to indulgences and you should see it there :)

This is why I love this forum. I learn helpful stuff.

Best,

Barbara

Had this on our last cruise (just got off a few days ago).

 

The gift was coasters. They are actually very nice and used in the Neptune Lounge on the P'dam.

 

If you get a discount on the wine packages, it can be more economical to do each thing individually. Worth calculating.

 

It's fun and there weren't a lot of people at the Admiral tasting.

 

If you like wine tasting, look for the Wines around the World wine tasting. If it's offered, it's worthwhile as they offer much different wines than the standard wine tastings.

 

I highly recommend the Cellar Master dinner. It was very good both times on our cruise.

I don't remember seeing or being offered anything like the package that you guys are talking about on any of our previous cruises. What's it called and where do you get it? We're going on a 35 day cruise next summer and a more comprehensive package would be great. We have bought the 7 day wine package before which works well for us on a 14 day cruise. but I imagine that we'll need at least 2 of them for our upcoming cruise.

You can book onboard. In our experience, the $15 wine tasting is well attended but the subsequent and more expensive wine tastings are much less well attended. We enjoy attending them and it's a fun activity on sea days. We also attend the cellar master dinner which is held in the Pinnacle and pairs a multi-course menu with wines.

The admirals package is the same price as it was on our 8/5 trip, but it looks like some of the wines are different. We were satisfied with the wines we had.

We've booked the 14 day "North Cape Explorer" (Norwegian Fjords) for next June. Would love to hear more about your experience if you have time to comment further and/or write a review.

I'm writing a review which hopefully will be posted soon.

We just got off the Prinsendam this past Sunday 7/24 after two weeks cruising the Norwegian Fjords. We had a marvelous time and love this ship. First we love the size of the ship. The crew is friendly and you get to know many of them over the course of a 2 week voyage. We thought the food was very good. We had early fixed dining and got to know our waiter and busboy along with the wind steward. We went to the Pinnacle 2 times, Canaletto once, and also enjoyed the Cellar Master's dinner which is in the Pinnacle.

This ship has character -- it really seems like you're on a cruise ship of old which I find enjoyable. We got into our rituals like: walking the promenade deck, sitting on our balcony, enjoying the cozy chairs in the library with a coffee from the coffee bar, wine tastings, happy hours in the Crow's Nest (fabulous panorama across the bow of the ship).

The ship is old but they work hard at keeping her up and we had no problems with AC, plumbing, or bad smells which indicate underlying problems.

We are looking forward to cruising on her again soon.

We are so excited. We leave tomorrow evening for 4 days in Amsterdam before the trip. My husband was born there during the war and it'll be fun to hear him use his Dutch. We love cruising particularly on smaller ships, we we're excited to be back on the Prinsendam again. And the itinerary does sound great. May everyone's travels be wonderful and fulfilling!

We will be doing French Waterways tour with Tauck in a few weeks and trying to get some planning done! Did anyone doing this tour use their AT&T cell phones and was it easy to add the phone plans for European travel? Is there an alarm clock on the ship? How is the wifi on the ship(I have an ipad mini)? I hear that Tauck usually does little extra surprise treats on their trips-do they? Does the ship have washcloths(in all our European land trips found that most hotels don't)? Do they restock the rooms with toiletries(trying to decide if I should carry my own shampoo)? Should I bring my own umbrella? Sorry to bombard with questions, but new to river cruising and Tauck! Thanks for any help!

I can answer some of your questions. I can't remember if I had Verizon or AT&T at that time but I think they can easily switch international service on and off as long as your phone is capable. I don't know about wifi. I sent email over my phone to touch base with folks. But I am on email 24/7 when I'm home so I use vacations to detach. Tauck does provide special treats. They were nice and unexpected. There was a washcloth. They replace the toiletries and they were nice. They did have umbrellas on board. I brought my own small umbrella as well. Tauck works with Scylla (Swiss company) who operates and manages the boats and services on the boats. It's a world class organization and they have the same values as Tauck. I'm a big fan of Tauck, been on 5 Tauck tours internationally as well as the river boat trip. We did the French Escapade trip from Monte Carlo to Paris. it was awesome. We intend to do more riverboat trips and I believe Tauck is excellent value and worth the price.

You have to try the hot dogs!

Is there anyplace where you can see if there will be Dive In on your ship? We're on the Prinsendam starting 8/10/14 and were curious if Dive In was there yet.

Has anyone taken that cruise? We are going in July northbound Monte Carlo ending in Paris.

 

Thanks.

We took this trip and loved it. We have taken a number of Tauck trips but this was our first river cruise with them. We loved sitting on the sundeck watching the French riverside scenery go by. The excursions were informative and interesting. The food was excellent. There were a number of special surprise treats provided along the way that added to the enjoyment. There are a number of low bridges that you have to pass under which added to the excitement. We really enjoy the Tauck experience. Feel free to ask me any specific questions.

We took a Tauck river cruise a year or so ago and there vegetarian options at every meal. We have also taken a number of Tauck's regular tours. They ask for dining preferences and it's a good to tell them in advance about your dining preferences. They'll make sure there are vegetarian options. On every trip I've taken with Tauck, we've had vegetarians in the group and they were well fed.

Walk the promenade deck. HA is one of the only lines that still has a wrap around promenade deck. Walking that deck for exercise or strolling or just sitting on a deck chair gives you that sense that you're really at sea on a ship. Take advantage of it day and night. It's wonderful to walk it after dinner and see the stars...