twentyknots

I too wouldn't think of moving into a cabin on any ship or hotel room without wiping down things that will come in contact with my hands. All knobs, pulls, handles, tv remote, light switches, etc. are wiped as soon as we enter the cabin, and again each day after the steward has cleaned. Takes maybe 5 minutes.

appreciate knowing port parking cost for 7 day cruise. Also any recommendation for hotel that will allow to park car and provide ride back and forth to the to fantasy. Thanks

 

$119 on Oct 6th cruise. Never tried hotel parking.

Noordam is the fourth sister to Zuiderdam, Westerdam and Oosterdam. Where you danced on Oosterdam, will be available on Noordam. :)

 

 

I guess I was wondering if HAL had stopped providing live music for ballroom dancing since we haven't cruised HAL in 7 years.

We're planning a cruise in March-April 2014 for our 20th anniversary and want to return to the cruising experience we were accustomed to until we began to cruise on Carnival a few years ago. We have cruised on Maasdam, Zuiderdam, and Oosterdam and loved them all. We especially liked the availability of ballroom dancing to live music. Does the Noordam have venues for ballroom dancing?

We've cruised HAL several times: twice on the Maasdam, once on Zuiderdam, and once on Osterdam. Six cruises on Carnival's Fantasy. The Fantasy is the oldest and maybe the smallest of Carnival's fleet, so definitely not a good comparison. No cruises on Princess yet but our plan is to cruise the Emerald early next year.

 

HAL is definitely a step up from our Carnival experiences. HAL has better food, better entertainment, an orchestra with ballroom dancing, formal nights where dress up is still the rule, much less smoking, a lot fewer kids, and passengers who look and act like they can afford to sail on HAL.

On a recent Fantasy cruise I told our cabin steward, Made, that I intended to tip him extra at the end of the cruise. I gave him a choice of $25 for sure, or I would play the $25 at the blackjack tables for him throughout the cruise and give him whatever was left. He didn't hesitate, taking the blackjack option. Aware that there could be a language problem, I made sure he understood that there was a high probability that he would get nothing. He excitedly gave me permission to bet it.

 

On the last night of the cruise his tip was up to $80 and I had decided to set a ceiling of $100 and a floor of $50 since it was late and we still had packing to do. My luck turned bad and the $80 gradually fell to $50, so I put 2 $25 chips in my pocket for Made, cashed out and left. The next morning I saw Made in the hallway and gave him the $50. He was so excited. We were happy his bet paid off.

You can make it at home. Just mix some choc cake batter or brownie mix in a microwave bowl and heat it for a few secs. Just off the Fantasy and tried it again hoping it would be better, but no luck. Still choc soup.

You'll get over it. I felt like that after a few cruises but gradually got to where I didn't mind when they were over. We actually look forward to going home on the last day. We have a great time cruising, but are ready to return home. Nothing beats home.

We've noticed it on the Fantasy maybe 3 of the 5 sailings and on other non-Carnival ships too. I think it's a peculiarity of cruise ships.

[quote name='jkm151']As of Jan. 15,2012, smoking will no longer be allowed in the cabins. It will still be allowed on the balconies. We are going on Noordam Mar.16 2012. Maybe you should rethink your decision. Happy Cruising!!![/quote]

As I said in earlier posts, the casino is a very important part of crusing for me. When it's extremely smokey in there it's hard for me to really enjoy it. Plus my clothes reek of smoke and permeate everything in the closet. We had an aft balcony reserved which we we looking forward too, but there is always the risk of our neighbors smoking, so all things considered, we decided to cancel. I like HAL very much, and really looked forward to the Noordam, especially the full walkaround promenade which Celebrity doesn't have. I will come back to HAL when the smoking policy changes to prohibit smoking in the casino and balconies.

[quote name='iancal']It seems to me that if you select a cruise line that allows smoking on the verandah or in the casino it is hardly reasonable that you complain about it when this occurs.

I am not a smoker but when we go on HAL we fully recognize that this may happen-and that we may get a cabin that smells of smoke. It is our choice...which is why we no longer select HAL very often.

To me it would be similar to selecting a seafood restaurant and then complaining that there was too much seafood on the menu.[/quote]

I think you're right. As much as we looked forward to the jan 23 cruise on the Noordam, we've decided to cancel our booking. I should have checked into the smoking policy before I made the reservation. The casino was wonderful on the Celebrity Solstice. Our airline tickets were made with dividend miles, so we've lost those free tickets unless we find another cruise out of FLL on Jan 23 that's suitable. Celebrity has the Equinox leaving FLL on Jan23, but at this time there are no cabins available we want. Maybe after the penalty phase begins there will be more cabins available.

Let me say a few things about my previous comments and I'm done with this thread.

I appreciate all of the comments, even those who were upset with me for expressing thoughts that many of us have when surrounded by smokers. I did not mean to offend anyone and I apologize if I did.

 

Even though I understand that smoking is permitted in the casino and other places on HAL ships, and smokers are well within their rights to smoke in those designated places, some of us nevertheless react negatively to it. That does not mean that I would actually slap someone's cigarette out of their mouth. What I said was that I "want to" sometimes. They are two entirely different things. Most of us get upset from time to time and have confrontational thoughts, but we don't act on them. It might be legal for me to come to the casino without bathing for several days with terrible BO, but it would be rude and insensitive. Could I chew tobacco there and spit in a cup? May be legal, but disgusting, and I suspect some would have some harsh thoughts about what they want to do about it. Most of us have experienced times when people exercise their rights but their legal behavior to many of us seems wrong, rude, and inappropriate, which brings me to my statement about contemporary society regarding smoking. Obviously I did not mean that I think that casinos in America have banned smoking. Of course not. I've been to Las Vegas recently. I meant in general society has in recent years taken the position that second hand smoke is dangerous , it stinks, and it causes an allergic reaction for many. Restuarants, hotels, business offices, cruise ships, and public places of all kinds are announcing changes to their smoking policies. Remember just a few years ago when smoking was permitted in hospitals? Today we can't imagine that we allowed it. It's just a matter of time before all cruise ships prohibit smoking throughout the ship.

As a (mostly) ex-smoker, I will tell you freely that the casino area is going to smell of tobacco smoke, stale or otherwise. If you really have a hard time dealing with that, you are in the wrong place.

 

So far as the swimming pool area (outside) goes, the bar near the lido on the starboard side is a smoking area as is pretty much the entire side near the bar. If it bothers you, enter the pool area on the port side and it won't be an issue.

 

I can deal with the stale smells; it's having 2 chain smokers on either side of me at a card table that gets to me. I want to reach over and slap the cigarette out of their mouths. It's so rude and inconsiderate that I feel as if they've forfeited their rights to civility.

As for the pool, I don't spend any time there anyway. I'll just hope that my verandah neighbors don't smoke.

We're booked on the January 23, 2012 sailing after being away from Holland America for several years. We have reserved VA 6162. I understand that Holland has made some recent changes in their smoking policy and prohibits smoking in cabins and in certain public areas. On some recent reviews I was concerned to read that several posters referred to very smokey conditions in the casino and pool area. We have been sailing recently on Celebrity ships and have enjoyed smoke-free conditions in most public areas including the casino. I guess I just assumed when I booked Holland that it had followed these contemporary society changes with regard to smoking but it seems I was wrong, if I am to believe these reviews. Gambling is a big part of my crusing experience and I spend several hours each evening in the casino at the blackjack tables. If I am surrounded by smokers at the table it becomes unbearable. I would appreciate hearing from those who are non smokers and who have sailed recently on the Noordam and spent considerable time in the casino. My hope is it is not as bad as I now think it might be. We have until Nov 8 to make our final decision before penalty.

We live in NC and sometimes cruise out of Charleston and Norfolk, both of which are 4-5 hours driving time. For those cruises we leave same day and plan to arrive around noon. We've done this several times and it has worked well for us so far. I have no interest in staying in Charleston or Norfolk any longer than I have to.

 

When embarking in Florida, we usually book an early morning flight out of Charlotte, NC on USArways on the day of the cruise because they have many flights usually leaving just an hour or two apart. My backup would be to try and get on another flight ASAP if something happened to our booked flight. If it's in the winter I will often leave a day early because of the potential for ice storms. When embarking from the west coast, we always leave a day early. I don't like leaving a day early because it's such a logistical hassle. It's bad enough to fly, retrieve the luggage, get transportation to the ship, and go through the boarding process without having to extend that miserable process by going to a hotel in between.