mikeange

I am being told the the boarding process for the Koningsdam in Florida is now by deck. In other words, Deck 8 boards at this time, Deck 6 boards at that time, etc., etc. Suites board at any time they choose. Is this accurate? This would be something new to me on HAL as I sailed the K'dam last winter and it was not set up like that. Thanks in advance.

I know we get credit towards mariner status on HAL from previous RSVP cruises, but does anyone know if you get the 3 or 4 star mariner discounts on the rsvp cruise. These are at the specialty restaurants, wine packages, explorations café, etc. Now that we have 4 stars, it would make it easier to make a decision on the cruise next February.

I am a Star Mariner and we received my Mariner discounts in the specialty restaurants, explorations cafe, as well as no-cost laundry. We did not have wine/drink package discounts available because it was our understanding that such packages are not offered on group charters like RSVP. Four star Mariners also get priority embarkation at boarding as well as priority disembarkation in all the ports.

Already looking forward to February but we will also be on the Kdam in October out of Rome.

Even with many unknowns, still very excited re new HAL Ship

Thank you very much. I did not think of trying that!

I am sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere but I can not find info on the pricing of the new FA and FB family cabins on the Koningsdam. AAre they expected to be more expensive than a category C or comparable to a category F?

Thanks for any assistance.

Mike

Full disclosure. I used to really love formal nights bringing a tux for formal night and a suit for when there were semiformal nights. I don't anymore and haven't in years. I don't sail Cunard because of it. I am happy with the change.

I saw the handwriting on the wall last fall when we did a transatlantic on the Noordam. We had planned to not bring formal attire and just eat in the Lido, Canaletto, or just discreetly try to eat in the MDR with black dress shirts/ties/slacks. Shortly before the cruise we went with a Neptune. Because of this, I told DH we need to bring suits as there may be functions that truly warrant it (ultimately there were not). We were expecting four formal nights which was changed at the last minute to three. What stunned us was the lack of people in the MDR on formal night. Yes there were people in the dining room but if it was half full that was alot; and a good number of those were barely meeting the formal dress code. Guess what, the passengers voted with their feet, the Lido was packed....every formal night. I said to DH that if this is happening on a transatlantic with a clientel that skews older and more traditional, even for HAL, formal night is on its last wheeze.

But to those who want to dress with suits, gowns, tuxes, cocktail dresses, etc. I would not let this change in the dress code inhibit me from dressing in such a manner. It is your vacation too and if you like that....go with it and enjoy!

In fall 2014 we used HAL for our pre-cruise hotel and we stayed at the Melia Sarria. We liked it very much. Breakfast, if not included, is a bit pricey but I have to say that it was an excellent buffet. We loved the neighborhood; adjacent to Avenida Diagonal as well as a residential neighborhood with lots of local restaurants and tapas bars. It is a short walk to the Metro as well as the HOHO bus. Loved the room. Well appointed but like most European hotel rooms, a liitle tight by most US hotel standards outside NYC.Would definitely consider staying there again.

We will miss you on this cruise. Feel Better!

We sailed in March 2014 on the Celebrity Summit. It was our first time on Celebrity since our sailing on the Century in 1996. We loved both sailings but have been hooked on HAL for years and years. We look at Celebrity and HAL as the Macy's and Gimbels or Buick and Mercury of cruises. There are way, way, way more similarities than differences. The most notable difference to us was that HAL to us had a far superior Lido at all meal times and we liked the MDR deserts way better on Celebrity.

We haven't been on the Noordam in a number of years but will be doing her upcoming transatlantic sailing in October. While there is always a first time, we have yet to sail on a HAL ship with bad maintenance or poor service.

I think you'll be fine.

There are a couple of major issues that might work against your idea. First, from a logistics perspective, you are assuming that the the number of passengers choosing formal and non-formal dress matches the ratio of the seating capacities of the two dining venues. If the two dining rooms can seat approximately the same number of people, what happens on a given cruise if 80% of the passengers want to dress formally?

 

The second issue is that you have assigned formal dress to the fixed seating diners and casual dress to flex time passengers. What happens to those passengers who want the convenience of flex time but like to dress up? Conversely, why should someone who enjoys eating at the same table at the same time every evening be made to dress up?

 

Good to see some alternatives suggested, but I think your idea needs a wee bit more work.

On the first issue of logistics, HAL knows how many choose fixed vs. flexible dining. If there is an excess, of fixed dining requests, the passenger is told that a sitting or seatings are booked and only flexible dining is available. But the dining room is assigned based on the requests for fixed and early/late seating. Usually 15 minutes after a seating time, a vacant table opens and I have been walked from the open seating dining room to the fixed seating dining room. The same could still happen.

As for the second issue of folks who want flexible dining and formal attire, nothing would stop them from wearing formal attire in the resort casual dining room; only the reverse. Additionally, they could see if there was any availability in the formal dining room as the likelihood would exist that there would be some passengers in the fixed seating who would prefer not to do formal night.

A little extra work for HAL but it would put an end to all of this and preserve the existence of formal night for all those who enjoy it.

As it stands, because the public voted with their feet there are very, very few fine dining establishments that require jacket and tie, or even jacket only for that matter anymore. No one is prohibited from wearing a jacket or jacket and tie but it is not required. I would hate to see this happen with HAL, particularly with the under 50 crowd voting with their feet to other lines. Anecdotes aside, demographics are not on the side of formal night.

I keep saying that HAL should simply make the traditional, assigned-dining-time MDR the dining room for formal night and the non-traditional, eat-at-whatever-time-you-want-dining room to be resort casual for the length of the cruise. If you want a formal dining experience, pick the traditional dining room. If you want a resort casual dining experience, pick the non-traditional dining room.

Everyone could be accommodated. No one would be forced or coerced to participate in formal night. No one would be exiled to the Lido which has a similar but not exactly the same menu as the MDR (no lobster, no veal chops or other higher-end items, different desserts) not to mention no table service. No one would be eating dinner on the couch in their stateroom. No one would need to be scolded to comply or go elsewhere.

There would be no more tsk tsk tsking that this one or that one is not attired properly. There would no more need to suggest the folks who want to be resort casual sail on NCL/RCI or that the formally inclined migrate to Cunard, where they really get into formal night and dress accordingly.

And before anyone responds how formal attire is for the entire evening including the shows and the casino, have you been on any cruise ships that still have formal night lately?

Just sayin' .

We've lost the lounge benefits with Continental/United and American. We are now losing the cruise benefits for a small onboard credit.

Amex is now specializing in what I call unbenefits; benefits that sound good on paper for marketing purposes but cost Amex next to nothing and/or are probably little used by cardmembers.

For example, the companion air program. Buy a full fare business or first class ticket and get a free companion ticket. That can be beaten almost all the time with a regular non-refundable ticket. Or, stay at one of the Leading Hotels of the World, which are admittedly all fine properties but extremely expensive, and get a Free early checkin/late checkout!! Another one is the purchase protection that so many other cards give.

I booked in June the October Noordam transatlantic and it wasn't until I directly questioned the issue did I find out of the changes to the program. And this was after having booked a 19 day western-Med with the same Amex travel consultant on the Nieuw Amsterdam for last fall.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to justify the cost of the card.

I take a number of meds and to avoid bringing the actual bottles, I bring that actual pills in little 2 inch by 2 inch or so Ziploc-like bags I got at W*****t. However, I bring the paperwork I received from CVS when I last filled the script. It takes less space, provides the info the powers that be may want (all the info that would be on the label and more), and so far has worked. Hope it continues to.

I take a number of meds and to avoid bringing the actual bottles, I bring that actual pills in little 2 inch by 2 inch or so Ziploc-like bags I got at W*****t. However, I bring the paperwork I received from CVS when I last filled the script. It takes less space, provides the info the powers that be may want (all the info that would be on the label and more), and so far has worked. Hope it continues to.

I was on the Eurodam if February 2013 that was a PARTIAL charter by a Christian group. There were 600 church folk who largely kept to themselves with their own activities. The bars and casino were not closed. I can not speculate what the sailing in question would entail. That being said, the funniest line I heard during the two weeks I was on the ship, back to back, was one of the Christian passengers commenting to another how in the main theater the preacher was really on his game and that

they be churchin'.

Check out POA's link. It should make it all clear to you.

Readers, please substitute Open Seating for As You Wish dining. I hope the message in the posts is still clear.

Open Seating with Dressy Casual attire, Traditional Assigned Dining Times With Formal attire. No forcing or coercion in order to get the Full MDR menu. No exiling folks to other parts of the ship or other lines. No shorts, no cutoffs, no baseball hats!

And for the benefit of all, no need for threads on formal night as all would be accommodated.

Correct.

 

No, that's "open seating".

 

"As You Wish" is the umbrella term that includes ALL the various dining choices, from fixed or open seating, to the various specialty restaurants, to the Lido and room service. Fixed seating is as much "as you wish" as open seating is.

In HAL's 2014-2015 cruise atlas pg 17 "Our tables are set for drama and delight, whether you choose a traditional pre-set seating and dining time or the freedom each evening to dine "As You WIsh"."

My husband and I are wondering about this as well. Packing a suit and dress shoes take up a lot of room so he is considering the rental. If anyone has rented before can you tell us a little about the experience and the tux?

 

Would the tux pass as a dark suit without the cummerbund and bow tie? He's just not a tux guy but usually brings his own dark suit, shirt, tie and pocket square. For us the issue isn't about dressing up but packing a suit and dress shoes when the space can be used for something else.

 

And personally I love this idea of the two separate areas of the MDR based on how you dress. I would gladly give up my table and scheduled time on formal nights to be a part of the festivities.

We had a number of times the online tux rental worked like a charm, including shoes, shirts and accessories. We had a number of times it did not and the fix was not always quick, hence the duct tape or staples.

It is my understanding, although I am not certain that they now also rent dark suits through cruiseline formals.

:confused::confused::confused: "Fixed" IS "as you wish".

Fixed is not As-You-Wish. I did not to confuse, my apologies.

Fixed means early or late sitting in usually the upper dining room. Fixed means dinner at 6 or 8:30 every night at the same table with the same tablemates and same waiters. It is the traditional on board dining experience.

As-You-Wish is not fixed, meaning unchanging, and is normally in the lower dining room. You show up whenever you want between 6 and 8:30 or 6 and 9; whatever the dining times are. You are given a table be it large or small depending on your wishes as well as availability. If everyone shows up at 7pm and you want a table, you may be asked to wait and be given a pager. It is not the traditional way dining was handled on cruise ships but passengers, especially younger passengers, loved it.

For the cruiselines, it involved adapting to customers changing tastes. One dining room would be run like a banquet hall; all the appetizers are available at one time, then 2nd courses, then mains. One dining room would be run like a restaurant; appetizers would be coming out for some folks while others may be on their mains or desserts.

No one is "forced" to dress up if he/she doesn't want to. There are at least three options HAL offers so no one has to do what they don't want. Those options were started for just that reason. HAL even offers the same food in the Lido and room service as offered in the dining room!

Take your pick: dress for dinner and go to the dining room, or, don't dress for dinner and dine elsewhere.

The food in the Lido on formal nights is close, but not exactly what is served in the MDR. On our 19day western Med cruise last fall, you were not going to find the lobster, the veal chops, or the same desserts as in the MDR on the Lido buffet. So if you want the FULL MDR menu, you are, in effect, forced to go to the MDR or eat in your stateroom, and unless one has a grand stateroom how pleasant a dining experience that would be.

My proposed solution eliminates any forcing or coercion. One dining room is formal, the other resort/dressy casual...not cutoffs and baseball caps. If formal night is as popular as these threads would suggest, the formal dining room will be overwhelmed and HAL will be walking diners down to the underutilized "dressy casual" dining room. There will be no need for any Maitre'd to enforce, enforce, enforce. There will be no reason to exile people elsewhere.

And if there was a mass movement from dining room to dining room on those nights, HAL would clearly be able to see exactly what their passengers want because there would be a preponderance of passengers moving to or from a particular dining room.

Additionally, just like now, changes from fixed to/from as-you-wish are limited by availability.

When I read these dress code threads I always wonder why no solution is put forth short of eliminating formal night or the implicit suggestion of a TSA-like fashion police force enforcing, enforcing, enforcing.

I used to love formal nights. I would bring suits, tuxes, dinner jackets, etc. As time has worn on I just don't want to do it anymore. And aside from a very vocal and determined minority, most cruisers don't seem to want to either. With the packing issues and airline policies, it is just not worth it. I mean to offend no one.

I stopped with the tuxes because of cost as well as the consistent mistakes with the on-board services. I was forced to "alter" too many tuxe sleeve and pant hem with duct tape and/or staples I was also dismayed with most passengers simply trying to meet the absolute, absolute minimum necessary to meet the official dress code. You all know what I am talking about; the couple showing up he in his Kohl's navy blazer, khaki dockers, and boat shoes while she is in a pair of black knit pants that can be rolled up in a ball along with some kind of a sparkly top equally rollable, multiple scarves or pins for multiple formal nights, and strappy little casual shoes. This is hardly the formal night that would have come to mind years ago. Times change.

But anyway, my suggestion is very simple and would accommodate everyone. Just like there is traditional fixed seating dining in one MDR and non-traditional "as-you-wish" dining in the other. Simply have a traditional ball gown/cocktail dress and tuxes formal night in the "traditional" dining room and a resort casual dining experience in the other MDR that has "as-you-wish" dining.

This would accommodate everyone. These tedious dress code threads would simply go away because everyone would be accommodated. And before someone says that the existing formal attire dress code is expected to be maintained for entire evening, we all know that is not the case.

Those who demand compliance with a formal dining experience would not need to suggest that those who do not want to comply should go on Carnival or some other less formal line. Those who want a less formal experience would not need to suggest the formal folks migrate to Cunard.

Everyone could enjoy HAL and their wonderful MDR and get along!

We used HAL's transfer from the airport in Venice to our hotel last fall. There was a HAL rep just outside of baggage/customs. She was easily identifiable.

HAL could not have done a better job. The escorted us to the private water taxi. The water taxi took us to a drop off near the Rialto bridge from which the HAL rep walked us to the hotel. We were unable to be dropped off right at the hotel's launch due to high tide hence the drop off at the Rialto bridge.

If your experience is anything like what we experienced, you will not be disappointed.

The escort to the ship from the hotel was just as great. Very organized and worth every penny.

Yes, Boytjie should get paid by RSVP for his hospitality (or at least a huge discount on their cruises).

 

He's very charming and would make an excellent cruise director if he ever wanted to change careers.

Yes he is quite charming but who knows, maybe he already is on the payroll in one form or another! lol

We were originally booked on the Divina but switched to the March Atlantis because of the already-known issues with the Divina and concerns with getting accurate information. We did not change because of the RSVP product. We had a great time on Celebrity with Atlantis. Celebrity is a great line. But our hearts are still with RSVP so this year we had booked the February 2015 Atlantis cruise on Celebrity but have now switched to RSVP since they are again on a good cruise line. We love RSVP and really missed the many folks we have come to know since our first RSVP cruise in 1997 (we've missed 3 years in that time).

Peter..you mentioned the meet and greet and making folks feel comfortable and welcome. On the 2013 Eurodam sailing we came to the meet and greet for the first time and all I can say is that you and the rest of the regulars made us feel quite welcome. Everyone seemed very friendly and personable. We are already looking forward to the meet and greet and I'd like to thank you in advance for organizing it again.