Tobysmum

They are separate things, but as the screen shot shows in the previous post, they can be reserved with one transaction. I did this for our visit in January. As the previous poster mentioned, you are prompted to reserve the Arizona Memorial tickets when you select the audio tour.

 

We really enjoyed the audio tour.

 

I would also just purchase your admission to Missouri and Aviation Museum once you get there. No need for a tour. They have a shuttle to take you to both places, and you can go at your own pace.

Thanks for the replies, as usual CC has come to the rescue👍 We've pretty much

decided to pre-book our tickets before we leave on the cruise (29 March) and we'll book the narrated tour. We did something similar on Ellis Island in NY a few years back and the experience was very evocative. I guess the only potential downside with booking so far out is that the day we choose may be pouring with rain but I'm hoping that it would still be warm - it is Hawaii after all 😛

Once again, thanks everyone for your help.

We will be in Hawaii for 3 days (April 16,17,18) and want to visit PH. A couple of questions - 1) on the official govt site (recreation.gov) it appears that you can order 'entry tickets' to the Arizona Memorial separately from 'narrated tour tickets'. Does ordering the audio tour option (Us$7) automatically give Arizona access or must this be ordered as an extra? We would hate to get there and be issued with an audio guide with no access to the memorial😛

2) Our priority is to see the Arizona, Missouri and the aircraft museum (not the submarine) Does it then make sense, to book a private tour - they all seem to be over US$100; a lot more than simply buying entry and walking around. Our preference for a tour would be maximum of around 20 people.

Any comments and/or recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Sydney airports (both domestic and international) are currently experiencing major traffic delays as roadworks are underway to improve traffic flow. Not sure how long it is scheduled to continue for - when are you arriving in Sydney? As previous posters have mentioned, it will make a difference if you are docking at White Bay rather than OPT. Sydney traffic can be very unpredictable - if the weather is bad i.e. Rain, you can add an extra 1 hour to your journey! I've lived in Sydney for many years and speak from experience😛

Welcome to our sailings. We are on these two also. I think you should go with 3142 as these aft cabins are relatively new having been added just a while ago (2 or 3 yrs, perhaps) 3126 has a door to the adjacent cabin so it might be noisy. They have huge windows. Here is a link to some posts from people who have been in them.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1784653&page=4

 

This is the roll call link for the Honolulu to Vancouver segment

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2042839&page=36

 

And the Sydney to Honolulu one

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2048597&page=34

 

There is a great group of people on this cruise and many events planned.

Thanks Teabag, I've had a quick look at the roll call - looks like a really active one :) and I'll definitely think about joining.

Thanks everyone for such quick responses:) Great feedback and I think I'll definitely make a change. Im thinking 3126 as its just that bit closer to midships and as neither of us are great sailors, the closer to the centre of the ship the better. We've had an interconnecting door situation on a previous cruise and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Btw, we're on the Celebrity Millennium which I realise is the name of the class of ship as well as the actual ship, so I guess my title to the question may not have been specific enough :(

We're really looking forward to trying Celebrity, and we're hoping that the weather will be kind to us.

Hi all

We are 1st time Celebrity, although not 1st time cruisers (Cunard, Princess & HAL previously). We have picked up a good priced trip from Sydney to Hawaii March/April this year and have booked 3044 (Oceanview). We now have the chance to change to either 3142 or 3126 and I wonder if anyone has a view on either of these cabins. The latter 2 seem to be opposite the Conference Centre and I'm not sure if that has the potential to be noisy at times, or if in fact it would be a quieter area of the ship to be in.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

They are given a list of who paid and who didn't.

I've read this on many different threads, and would really like to know if this is actually the case or hearsay. If it is true, it would seem to me to be somewhat unprofessional.

Hi all

Firstly a huge thank you to all on CC (roll calls and forums) who helped me in the 18 months prior to taking this cruise. I avidly read all the reviews, so it seems only right that I should write one on our return:)

This was our first time with HAL, having cruised twice with Princess and once with Cunard. My (our) thoughts are subjective, as my cruise experience may well differ from others on the same cruise. So here goes....and apologies for lack of brevity - I'm just not a bullet point type of person!

The shipThe NA was about the right size for us, and we never really felt crowded (apart from breakfast times at the Lido when the entire ship seemed to be looking for a table!) All the fittings and furnishings were in great condition, and maintenance seemed to be a constant task carried out throughout the voyage. It was nice to have 2 pools, especially as the roof could be closed over the middle one when the weather was bad. Loved all the framed photos lining the hallways, especially when my DH found one of the NA II which had been the troop carrier that had taken his dad to war in Italy. There were certainly enough seats at the various bars and nooks throughout the day and evening (that may have been due to the fact that our cruise didn't seem to lend itself to drinking and carousing!) The infamous vibration that is talked about was definitely there, although not in our cabin. We felt it most in the Signature shops, particularly the jewellery area. In fact one time the floor was actually bouncing! We actually felt it when we were walking through the lower deck corridors, mid ships.

Our cabinWe started off with 4138, which was a typical verandah layout. Lots of storage, and after I asked for more coat hangers, great hanging space. We didn't actually use the drawers under the bed, but thanks to CC I remembered that they were there if I needed them. Despite our many attempts to 'do the right thing' and recycle our towels (at least after our morning shower, ready for our pre-dinner one!) we gave up as our 2 stewards kept giving us new ones. I'm never as clean as when I go on a cruise! No problem asking for tablets of soap, and the shampoo seemed ok. I took my own conditioner - just in case! The hair dryer was great - I had expected one of those ones that click onto the wall, but it was a handheld dryer with enough power for my short hair. The flat screen tv was great, and I remembered to disinfect the remote control before we used it (thanks again to CC members!).

Now for the 'not so good' bit. From the get go, our cabin would fill with fumes. It wasn't all the time, but when it did it got right down into your stomach and made us feel quite ill. We mentioned it to the front desk and asked if someone from engineering could come and investigate. After a couple of times of asking, a Guest Relations lady came and acknowledged that yes, she could smell it, but she didn't know where it was coming from. May be somewhere near the air-conditioning vents? She advised us to keep the verandah door open if it was a problem!! Fine on good days, but not so good in a howling gale. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a constant problem, and as we were on a very port intensive cruise (24 days and 3 sea days!) it was only a problem when we wanted to relax inside. Anyway, we were eventually offered another cabin of the same type on deck 8 - under the Lido. Well, I hadn't spent 18 months choosing my location and deck to be suddenly under the Lido, with any noise issues that may have had so we decided to stay put - better the devil you know than the one you don't!

Our cruise visited Venice twice (after first 12 days, and then at the end of our trip, I think we were on a Collectors Cruise) and after the first Venice visit, we had a sea day. The fumes were so bad that we couldn't stay in the cabin, as when we sat on the verandah and came inside again we could hardly breath. So down to the front desk again, politely putting our case and we were offered another cabin. The ship had emptied out a bit so a bit more available I think.

Cabin # 2 - 6085. Now some of you may be already ahead of me:p As we were shown into the cabin I mentioned that it seem to be bigger than our original one - yes madam, its a suite!! Needless to say, we took it:D Trouble is that now we're spoilt - huge bathroom with double sinks, full size bath and separate shower, desk and dressing table, large sofa that converted to a bed, and large verandah with 2 lounge chairs and a big table! Whats not to like?! We thanked the front desk very much, and they moved our things the next day when we were on shore. However, we were never given an explanation of why and where the fumes were coming from originally. It seemed to be diesel related, and seems to be an engineering fault, or at the very least a design problem.I wonder if anyone else has experienced it?

As a footnote, we were actually given a very substantial credit off our final account, and a very nice letter apologising for our problems. However, still no reason given for the cause of the problem.

FoodMost nights we ate in the MDR, with Anytime Dining. No problems there, as we met some great people. When asked for our table preference we always said - put us anywhere you like! So we had tables of 4, 6, 8 and 10. All good fun. A couple of nights, after we'd made some new friends, we booked a table specifically for a time and number which worked well. The MDR service was pretty consistently good, although the wine selection was pretty average IMHO. We felt that Princess and Cunard had offered more variety of meals, as there were certainly days when our choice was pretty much down to one! Travelling for 24 days may have had a bearing on that as things did repeat a bit on the menu. There just didn't seem to be much imagination shown in the dishes on the menu.

We ate in Canoletto a couple of times and loved the food, although the service at times seemed to be on training wheels! The Maitre D was great though. Loved the lasagne:)

We tried Tamarind for dinner one night, and that was excellent. Great service, food and ambience.

We didn't try Pinnacle as we really didn't feel like having a dress up dinner when we didn't have to, and as we had to get up early most mornings, the MDR suited us.

We had a room service breakfast one morning which was good. Came on time and everything that we'd ticked was there.

We ate breakfast in the Lido most mornings as it suited us to get up early, have breakfast and get off the ship. The MDR would have been too slow. Selection for B'fast was quite good, although I found the boxed cereals a bit uninspiring. I felt like I was back at kindergarten when I saw Fruit Loops! The only time I saw good quality muesli was on the last morning when some packets suddenly appeared! Where they had been hiding I have no idea!. Wasn't really impressed with the quality and selection of fruit either - given that we had seen lovely fruit and veg in markets all around the Med. it hadn't made its way onto the ship. Small bowls of 3 types of under ripe melon and a token grape don't make a fruit salad in my opinion.

I loved the salad bar, and had no problem with someone serving me. Im all for preserving a great level of hygiene. Once I realised that I could ask for salad dressing in a small side bowl, instead of having it drawing the salad it was all good!

There were pre-made sandwiches - and I can definitely state that they were NOT refrigerated. Just sitting out during lunch.

No trays didn't seem to be a problem as the staff were always there to help if needed.

The staff in the Lido were lovely - always smiling, courteous and willing to help.

EntertainmentThe song and dance shows in the Showroom at Sea were all great, although a bit loud! I know that they weren't to everyones taste but I really enjoyed all of them. My only issue would be that they were mostly repeated during the second 12 days. There was magician and contortionist (pretty average), a pianist (ok but not spectacular) and 'Dancing with the Stars' which was good for a laugh. There was a comedian but we didn't see him

BBKing Blues Band was fantastic, although the audience didn't really appear until their last set - I think most people went to the shows first. Once again, they repeated all their songs in the second 12 days.

Tried the karaoke once - supporting a fellow cruiser! - and it was a soulless room. Seating was all around the side and not a great deal of it.

Adagio were to put it simply - boring. The violinist was particularly great and as my DH is from a musical background I accept his comment that she was of high school standard. Whenever we walked past on the way to somewhere we could see people sitting with glazed eyes and half asleep!

Our Cruise Director was Dave (can't recall his last name) and he was very good. Although I did think that he had a hard road to travel at times as it was hard to get people engaged at night. He ran a couple of game shows, and hosted Trivial Pursuit. His co-host was Joel, a young NZer who has a long way to go before he gets to be a Cruise Director I think!

Tom, our Destination Specialist, was ok. He have talks before each port, and was available for questions for a couple of hours prior to the port and portside. We spoke to him a couple of times and he wasn't exactly super friendly. It would have been useful for the destination talks to be have been available on the tv but for some reason they weren't. Not everyone could make the talks in person.

Ports, TenderingI won't go into the individual ports as it would take too long, but the tendering process was great. Much better than Princess. No preference was given to those booked on ships tours, and it was first in for a ticket, best dressed. We docked at exactly the time stated and the vessel seemed to be cleared quickly and we could get off as soon as we wanted.

Life boat drillI'm not sure that I'd like to experience an emergency using this method! Big groups of people assembled in front of 3-4 crew members, who then proceeded to call out cabin numbers and names. All this went on while people were still finding their group, and walking in front of the crew. Passengers talked, and all in all it was bit of a mess. Not sure what a solution might be - maybe scanning our cards?

[B]Embarkation and Disembarkation[/b]All went really smoothly, particularly getting off the ship. It was great to be able to wait in your cabin before getting off instead of congregating in lounges as on Princess. Made the whole process quite easy.

SmokingWe don't smoke and were a bit apprehensive about HAL's policy. Yes, there were times when it wasn't great on the back deck of the Lido as the areas for smokers seemed to creep into most of the deck. We don't gamble so the Casino didn't worry us, except to say that it was a nuisance to have to walk through it to get to the showroom. Interesting that when they had a smoke free Casino night, it was packed!! We were lucky that we didn't have smokers either side of us in our cabins, but we did have a friend who wasn't actually able to use her verandah at all during 24 days due to smokers either side.

The IncidentI've included this as it had a huge impact on the passengers for the 1st 12 days. At 7.15 on about the 6th day out we encountered a major squall which totally broadsided the ship. We were in our cabin, DH in the shower! The ship started to lean/list and continued to do so for 4-5 minutes. The scary thing was that it didn't right itself but continued to lean at an alarming angle. There was chaos in the MDR, Lido and Tamarind. Glasses, plates, meals, people all slid to the floor. The Captain was dining in Tamarind and sprinted to the bridge (we know because we had friends dining there at the time). Friends in a cabin on the low side deck 6 watched the sea get closer and closer to their balcony railing. You can imagine what it was like in the MDR with the huge glass windows filling with water. The Captain came on the speakers after about 5 minutes and said that we'd encountered 65-70 knot wind gusts, and he turning the ship to run with the wind. You could feel the NA straining to turn, and finally we got back to upright and the stabilisers were deployed. More announcements followed, calming everyone down, and then we went to dinner. It was a Gala night so there were many 'refugees' from the Lido who weren't able to eat there - broken glass and plates everywhere so the dress code was relaxed!! The staff were great - and although clearly flustered managed to get our meals out to us.

The next day the whole ship was full of 'where were you when the ship tilted...'!! The Captain made himself available by walking around the back of the Lido and answering people's questions. The one question that he could answer satisfactory was how did it happen in this day and age. Clearly the radar picked up the storm, (we could all see it approaching) so why wasn't the ship moved so as not be broadside on to the wind? It makes you realise just how vulnerable these huge slab sided vessels really are - goodness knows how the Allure of Seas would have coped. The angle of the lean/tilt was confirmed as 14 degrees, which doesn't sound much but its pretty scary when you're experiencing it. Thoughts of the lifeboat drill come to the surface.

Well, thats pretty much it - so sorry its so long winded but I do tend to write stories! There is so much more to say and Im happy to answer anyone's questions about anything I've missed.

Would we cruise HAL again?We're not brand loyal, and are pretty much itinerary and price driven. Travelling from Australia makes our trips pretty expensive to start with. I'm not sure that we would do HAL again, and thats down to the smoking policy. Although we are lucky and could use our verandahs, others were not and I don't want to take that risk again. I didn't like half the back deck being given over to smokers, so as this is entirely my problem (and DH) we would look at lines that are smoke free.

We loved the ship, crew and experience - just the smoke we didn't like!

Thanks again to all on CC - the Roll Call was fantastic, we made some great friends, and the tours that we and other organised and went on were wonderful - and so much cheaper than HAL's:D

Jill

Thanks to everyone on the CC site who have been so helpful over the past 18 months as we've planned our cruise. We leave Sydney today for the long flight to Europe, then some time sightseeing in Italy, Switzerland and Barcelona before embarking the NA on Sept 13 for a 24 night Magic of Mediterranean cruise.

First time on HAL so really looking forward to experiencing all the wonderful things that make HAL distinctive.

I'll definitely post a review when we get back in October.

Jill

I've never had gel nails, and believe the shellac nails I had done on the ships are not the same. They aren't as hard, and leave a little flexibility in the nail. I like that.

 

The color will chip off on its own eventually, especially with a little help picking it off. ;) You can also take it off yourself the same way the technician did:

Get out ten cotton balls, ten pieces of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around your finger to the knuckle, and some nail polish remover with acetone.

Soak one cotton ball with the remover, place on the nail, then wrap it in foil. Do all ten nails. Let them sit for at least 10 minutes. This will soften the polish.

Then, one at a time, remove the foil and wipe clean with the cotton ball. Use more remover as necessary.

Thanks Ruth. Yes, I've had shellac in the past and it has been removed as you've mentioned in your post. I've also removed it myself with less than successful results! The main problem that I encounter is wrapping them tightly with the foil, particularly on my right hand - my left hand doesn't seem to as co-ordinated as my right:(

As a couple of others have mentioned shellac is more flexible and easier to manage. I think I'll go ahead and pre-book. I can always reschedule once we get on board if I find that the day or time doesn't suit.

Many thanks for everyones input - I know its not exactly a major problem in the scheme of things, but every little thing helps when you're going to be away from home for 6 weeks.:D

My daughter had a shellac pedicure on the NA and she loved it. It also lasted a long time. However, I don't recommend an acrylic fill done over gel nails. My manicure looked awful after about a week. It also took over an hour for my regular nail lady to file down the acrylic to redo my gel nails. This was in no way the fault of the technician. I believe the products they are obligated to use were at fault. After a week, I understood why the technician was so curious about gel nails. They look as good one month later as the day they were done. That was not my experience with acrylics. So I do recommend the shellac mani/pedi but not the acrylics.

Thanks for the reply - I'm gaining in confidence that I'll be able to have my nails redone before I get back to Oz!

Is a shellac manicure the same as a gel? And does it require professional help in removing it?

I think, strictly speaking gel and shellac are different (according to the wonderful world wide web!) and its to do with the coating. I've checked the Spa menu for our cruise on the NA and it specifies 'shellac' so I'm taking that to be what Ive had done here in Oz. It does need a professional to remove properly so hopefully I'll be encouraged by Ruth's reply (thanks Ruth:)) and go ahead and book.

Any thoughts as to whether I should book now or wait until we board? Do the spa spots fill up quickly?

Thanks for your replies.

We're soon to begin our 1st HAL cruise - 24 night Magic of Mediterranean on the NA - leaving Barcelona on Sept 13 and getting very excited! I very rarely have manicures but treat myself prior to special occasions (and I figure that 6 weeks in Europe is special!). I've just had a shellac manicure in Sydney which should last 3 weeks or so. This lines up with one of the rare 'at sea' days on the cruise. Has anyone had a shellac manicure recently on the NA, and if so how was it? Would you recommend a particular beautician in the Spa? I'm really hoping the answers are positive as my nails could look really tatty at the end of 6 weeks without re polishing:)

Thanks

I can't answer your question directly, but I doubt there would be much of an obstruction. Nieuw Amsterdam is essentially a twin of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.

 

Cunard has pages on their FAQ dealing with this issue:

 

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/qv_obs

 

Roy

Thanks Roy, I hadn't realised that NA is virtually a twin of QE and QV. Interestingly we were looking at QV but she didn't cover all the ports we wanted to see.

Have you seen this thread? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1895592 There are tons of pics and comparisons of balcony cabins. Look at post #113.

Oh my goodness! Thank you so very much for giving me this link - it is exactly what I've been looking for. I have tried to find answers through previous posts, but this is pure gold!!:D

If view is a major concern of yours, pick something other than an obstructed view.

Thanks - I take your point. My concern however, is that never having travelled with HAL before (and being very new to cruising) I'm not sure what cabins do give an 'obstructed view'.

Firstly thanks for advice given previously regarding cabin selection for next year's 'Magic of Mediterranean' on Nieuw Amsterdam.

We realise that any verandah cabins positioned midships will inevitably be looking down on the lifeboats (and that the higher up the ship you go the lesser the impact).

We're thinking of a midship cabin on Deck 5 (5061, 5057, 5083 all available), and I'm concerned that we will be quite 'up close and personal' with the top of the lifeboat below! As the cruise is port intensive, and full of beautiful views, will this be a problem?

An alternative would be to take an aft cabin, higher up so we might feel more ship movement, but not be directly over the lifeboats.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thank you

I would avoid 8036. It is under the Lido Pool and there could be noise from chairs etc.

if you are prone to motion sickness you should stay low and mid ships. Of all those cabins 5083 would be my choice.

Are those the only cabins available 14 months out

Yes, apparently all other verandah cabins are sold - although it does seem hard to believe at this early stage.

Hi, we're a couple from Sydney, Australia, and thinking very seriously about booking for 'Magic of Mediterranean Cruise', Barcelona to Venice on Nieuw Amsterdam next September (2015).

We're not very experienced cruisers, having done one with Princess and one with Cunard before.

The cruise seems very popular and cabins are limited, even at this early stage, so any advice would be much appreciated. We're planning on booking a verandah cabin.

1) Would it make any difference if we were on the port or starboard side of the ship? I'm thinking that as there as so many ports to be entered, it will work out pretty evenly either side.

2) As we're not great sailors and are a bit prone to motion sickness, we're trying to get as close to midship as we can. Deck 5 (5057, 5061, 5083) are all possibilities, and this seems to be a good option. Does anyone have any thoughts about either the deck itself or those cabins in particular?

Other possibilities are Navigation Deck - 8036; Upper Verandah - 6142 (aft) and Rotterdam - 7118 and 7119 (also aft).

3)Is the ship quite stable and/or should we be expecting mostly smooth sailing in the Mediterranean at that time of year?

Sorry for all the questions but before we commit to booking we'd love the help of the CruiseCritic fraternity! We've always had great help in the past:)

Thanks

I've been reading this thread with a sigh of resignation! 'Down Under' in Oz I've been unable to glean any information about 2015 cruises (specifically Mediterranean - Queen Victoria) from the Cunard phone line. The official response is 'Cunard are still working on the schedule and it will be available in a a month or so'. The thought that springs to mind is that Cunard are still working on prices as our dollar moves around a bit. We can, with great difficulty and subterfuge, log onto US and UK travel agent sites and look longingly at prices and schedules. We've even got as far as seeing the cruise that we would like to book for, and can only hope that by the time Cunard Australia makes it available, that cabins will still be there to book!

We're seriously thinking of using a friend's USA address and booking through them.

On a lighter note - its so lovely to be back reading the posts on the forums. We did our 1st ever Cunard cruise on the QM2 last year (2nd cruise ever!) and absolutely loved it. Reading the forums became part of my daily routine, and it was great to meet some of you on board. :)