bigbeergut

6 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I think that it is disrespectful to play ANY private music where others can hear it.  Especially on balconies!

 

In the past, we have had music, smokers, coughers (constantly hacking or blowing their noses), cell talkers, partyers, and conversationalist.   The older generation is so bad because they yell at each other to be heard.

 

The worse balcony offender, to date, that we have encountered was the man next door talking loudly on his phone.  I could hear his entire conversation to his bank, complete with account numbers, etc.  

 

Perhaps passengers do not know how much sound travels among those balconies.  When my husband and I are out on ours, we are either napping, reading, or having a glass of wine.  If we need to say something to each other, we whisper quietly.  Normally we try not to talk.

 

I say if you want to party with music, do so in the public areas!!!  

So what do you do?  Confront your neighbor or just give up and go inside?

5 hours ago, DRedmond said:

I'd like to piggy back another question on to this thread.. What time do the drinks reset at?  Is it Midnight or an arbitrary time like 6am for example?

I hope someone has the answer for this question 

We just got off the Rotterdam and there a lot of things I really liked about the ship.  However one thing I didn’t like were the crowds.  The pool deck area usually felt crowded and the Music Walk area also felt crowded.  I can’t speak to the other class of ships, but the Rotterdam delt significantly more crowded than any ship I’ve sailed on Royal or Celebrity.

Hooray,  10 for me 😀

11 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

What difference does that make ? 
is testing need for any Alaska or Pacific coastal course that begins or ends in Canada or USA .

 

Curiosity?  I’m surprised that Celebrity would have a testing requirement that wasn’t a government mandate.

1 minute ago, TraderSam said:

No I don’t believe this type can be shared in a link. The gift box remains open, if you get me.

ok if you can’t share it, but I guess I don’t understand the gift box concept.

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

lunch is 11- 1. Many options beyond burgers, including veggies. The bbq alone is worth the stop.

I’ll need to disagree with you on the bbq being worth the trip.  It’s a hassle to tender back and forth to the island with long waits while they fill the tender.  There’s absolutely nothing special about the food, you can find everything at the bbq on the ship with less of a crowd.  Let everyone else get off and enjoy the ship 

28 minutes ago, TraderSam said:

Just received a surprise open the Gift Box PUP opportunity. 🎁

 

Check your emails and spam folders people! 👍🏻

Can you post a link?

12 hours ago, prmssk said:

FYI - today they expanded the transatlantic and transpacific cruises that require testing so double check the website if you may be sailing on one. As an example the May 9 Eclipse from Honolulu to Vancouver was added. 

Does anyone have any idea if this a a U.S. or Canadian requirement?

On 2/21/2023 at 6:23 PM, richstowe said:

25 ? Seems low .

This comment appears to reference people smoking in the casino, not all smokers on the ship

Did the Woodwind increase the number of passengers they have onboard?  I have some friends that said it seemed crowded.

3 hours ago, RTR 21-0 said:

So sorry to those who have experienced this and thank you for reporting here.  We’re booked for May. Always travel with a sound machine but I told hubs to bring home ear plugs from work. Hmmm should we bring bungie ties for anything that moves and creaks and WD40 as well 😅

This sure sounds like Reduced Luxury, bring your own can of WD 40 to stop the squeaks 

6 hours ago, RuthC said:

Everyone? 
I don't see a problem. If you want to avoid smoke, then avoid the smoking areas. Problem solved. 

You are 100% correct and that is the problem.  The music walk isn’t supposed to be a smoking area but much of that area does indeed smell of secondhand smoke.

2 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

What's the 'inconvenience' in walking around the casino to get from point A to point B? If you're not playing (casino), no harm, no foul, right?

I think everyone else understands, that’s all that counts.

6 hours ago, KroozNut said:

And it's more exercise anyway to walk around, so no harm, no foul..

Whatever you say.  It must make sense to someone to inconvenience 2500 people so 25 people can smoke

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We decided we wanted an aft facing cabin on the Koningsdam so we are only in an aft veranda for this short 7 day cruise off the California coast. We are not doing the Club Orange add on either. We are planning on dining at least 4 nights in the specialty restaurants with 2 of them in the Tamarind so we saw no reason to do CO. First thing I noticed was how much less cost the HAL specialty restaurants are compared to Celebrity. 

That sounds like a good plan.  Club Orange is expensive for the shorter cruises.  Hopefully you’re getting some good advice from your travel agent on booking the specialty restaurants.  I forget the exact time but they open for booking a couple of months ahead of your cruise,  be sure to jump on them quickly because the 6:30 or 7:00 time slots go quickly with many people having the Have it All package.  You may have to eat early or late if you wait until you are onboard to book.  B2B cruisers can also book the restaurants during the preceding cruise which also makes it difficult to book onboard.  You should also note that your OBC can’t be used until you board.  Each cruise line has it’s own little quirks that you need to learn about.

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Last August our travel group of 4 sailed on the Reflection from Rome in Sky Suites followed by a cruise on the HAL Oosterdam from Venice in Signature suites. After the cruise the 4 of us agreed that the food choices and quality in the Oosterdam MDR was overall better than the Reflection Luminae. We had prime rib, beef Wellington and good steaks in the Oosterdam MDR and the HAL Lido Buffet was far superior to the Reflection OVC. We all much preferred the Retreat Suites experience and product over the suites on the Oosterdam. However, after very successful Retreat cruises prior to last year, we were a little disappointed in Celebrity and felt last year Celebrity had lost a step. From all I have read this year, it sounds like Celebrity may have lost another step or two. Going Forward we now have 4 Celebrity, 2 HAL and 1 Oceania future cruises booked. Where Celebrity is probably losing us is in the huge price increases, we are seeing for booking the Retreat on future cruises. In November we are doing our first Pinnacle Class HAL cruise on the Koningsdam and are very much looking forward to the experience of this newest HAL class of ships. Our TA was recently on the Rotterdam and raved about the ship and food over the Celebrity E Class ships. 

It will be interesting to see your perspective on the Koningsdam.  There are 2 things that disappoint me on the Rotterdam.  First is the noise level in the MDR,  it is much louder than anything I’ve experienced on Celebrity or Royal.  It seems like you are close to a waiter station with the constant noise of utensils and plates being stacked.  I suspect you’ll be in Club Orange so that won’t be an issue.  The second issue is smoking in the casino that allows second hand smoke to infiltrate into the music walk area.   If you’re sensitive to second hand smoke this may be an issue.  Other than those two things, I think you will enjoy the Koningsdam.   .

22 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. I am reading posts by passengers on the Zuiderdam HAL World Cruise having somewhat similar problems. It seems this is industry wide but manifesting in different ways on different lines.  I guess it is then our personal choice given the information to decide what to do. That said, I do believe the lines should be transparent and advise us as to cutbacks and changes in offerings so we are well informed. It seems that all of the negative feedback affects the overall experience and could be tempered somewhat with more information .

 
I dropped over and checked out the Zuiderdam World cruise live thread.  I hadn’t seen those negative comments at the beginning of the review.  In any case, I did not appreciate your extensive HAL experience, no need for me to give you any advice on HAL😀.  In any case, hopefully my perspective helps some of the less experienced cruisers.  

2 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. I am reading posts by passengers on the Zuiderdam HAL World Cruise having somewhat similar problems. It seems this is industry wide but manifesting in different ways on different lines.  I guess it is then our personal choice given the information to decide what to do. That said, I do believe the lines should be transparent and advise us as to cutbacks and changes in offerings so we are well informed. It seems that all of the negative feedback affects the overall experience and could be tempered somewhat with more information .

I think might get tired of things after 40 or  50 days onboard.  I’m currently on the Rotterdam on a B2B2B trip that is my first HAL experience.  I have prime rib, steak or filet almost every night and the quality was head and shoulders better than I have ever had in the MDR on Celebrity.  In fact I had lasagna last night because I was tired of having so much beef.  Just my 2 cents.  Good luck with your future cruises.

8 hours ago, Fisherjs34 said:

Just completed an 11day eastern caribbean cruise on Silhouette. The MDR food was average at best. I enjoyed breakfast in MDR but dinner was not good. Slow service, small portions and low quality meat i.e Sirlion. We had taken this ship a year ago and had beef wellington, prime rib ny strip with excellent service. The room and attendant were great. The mast grill and pool bar service slow. The ocean view cafe was decent for lunch. Overall Celebrity has lost a step in my view and I don’t feel inclined to give them another chance.

Welcome to CruiseCritic.  You may want to give HAL’s Pinnacle class ships a try, I think they have risen above Celebrity (or Celebrity has dropped)

I really wish they would eliminate smoking in the casino on Pinnacle class ships.  The second hand smoke is not contained to the casino and goes down to the Music Walk entertainment area.  Anytime I spend much time in the BB King lounge, I come away with a scratchy throat.  I don’t know how many people actually smoke and gamble but I haven’t seen anyone smoking as I walk through the casino.  I’m sure sure it would be a net gain in revenue if they eliminated casino smoking.

4 hours ago, Laminator said:

For the last 2 weeks they no longer are calling luggage tag colors for disembarkation. You simply leave at the times stated on your disembarkation. Many pax were unaware of the change and were waiting for their color to be called.

 

That’s odd.  I’ve been on the Rotterdam the last few weeks and they are calling out luggage tag colors throughout the morning.  The even add the disclaimer not to go by the time because the color groups may be called in a different order depending on how the luggage handlers move the luggage.

Sorry if I don’t understand, but exactly what is your question?  What do you think is in error?

18 hours ago, zitsky said:

I was joking maybe.  I’ve done final payment on two cruises already.  Based on these two I may decide on no more Celebrity cruises.  Partner doesn’t want Viking again.  People are too old.  (No joke).  Not sure what else we will do.

 Unless you’re a suite cruiser, perhaps one of HALs new ships would be a good fit.

On 2/17/2023 at 4:14 AM, montythecat said:

As far as I am concerned you can add no forward facing lounge to

infinity verandah cabins as a really strange design innovation

which has been widely criticised and has led to many people on

these boards opting for holidays on The Millennium and Solstice 

Class ships.

 

Agreed, or maybe even other cruise lines.