Holiday Past/Present Cruisers Post Here

[Dixie Gal]

Costa Maya is the extra port.

[Jus10mom]

Looks like you could drive to either port easily, right? For $30 bucks, I'd do an extra day. I mean you cannot book and hotel AND get food AND see another port for THIRTY dollars anywhere. I'm Riveria deck on the Holiday on Oct. 10th--if an inside wouldn't bother you (and you might get an upgrade), I'd do that one and plan for the Holiday on the NEXT cruise! :)

 

Let us know what you decide!!!!!

[shecat]

Anyone scheduled to leave Saturday on the Holiday? I wonder what kind of weather the present cruisers encountered? Dixiegal I would do the Sensation for the extra day. Time flys on a cruise.

[Terri102066]

My family and I will be on the Holiday on Saturday's sailing. I don't have much concern about leaving Saturday, I know the cruise line will do everything possible to keep everyone safe. I am beginning to have some concern about when we get back will be have a cruise terminal to debark on or a car to go home in.

 

Terri

[Jus10mom]

Be very safe. Let us all know how you are!

 

Have a blast. I'm sure everything will be okay! What's up with HURRICANES THIS SOON! :eek:

[richcrow]

Be very safe. Let us all know how you are!

 

Have a blast. I'm sure everything will be okay! What's up with HURRICANES THIS SOON! :eek:

 

I don't know, but I hope that having them this early means that the hurrican season will be over with early. We are sailing on HAL Oct. 1st and looking at another cruise on Holiday before the end of the year.

[Jus10mom]

Last year we cruised about the Conquest on the Sept. 5th sailing. We had a fabulous beautiful sunny day swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman. The next day Hurrican Ivan wiped out the island. Check out this photo I snapped as we were leaving:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/188052630/188066100qbDlMa

 

I also bought a dvd of our excursion. The videoographer said sh'e put them in the mail to us that day. I never received it until last Dec. I figured it was a lost object. The package was so water damaged but the dvd worked fine. Can you imagine the stories that dvd could tell about what it went thru!!!!!

[Jus10mom]

Just looked at the website. Looks like the Holiday sailed for Terri but is going to Progresso instead of CostaMaya. Hope they post an review of their trip upon their return!

[melizard]

Last year we cruised about the Conquest on the Sept. 5th sailing. We had a fabulous beautiful sunny day swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman. The next day Hurrican Ivan wiped out the island.

 

 

Jus10mom,

I had some friends that cruised with you on this cruise. Me and my dh left the next day (Sept 6) on the Holiday. We had perfect weather the whole time. We were right in between 2 hurricanes though and had everyone worried about us back home. We are cruising on the Sensation this Aug and hopefully we'll be hurricane free again.

[Jus10mom]

It was a great time with FINE weather! We meet tons of folks on this board before we left and met them on ship. DH and I and another couple actually met the night before we boarded and were inseparateable all week long. We still talk all the time!

 

Did you enjoy the Holiday???? Good luck in Aug. Maybe we'll get all the hurricanes out of the way now! :)

[melizard]

Jus10mom]It was a great time with FINE weather! We meet tons of folks on this board before we left and met them on ship. DH and I and another couple actually met the night before we boarded and were inseparateable all week long. We still talk all the time!

 

Did you enjoy the Holiday???? Good luck in Aug. Maybe we'll get all the hurricanes out of the way now! :)

 

 

 

 

 

We loved the Holiday. It was our first cruise and it was our honeymoon. So we're fond of her. The staff exceeded our expectations by far. We met and hung out with several couples while on board and even went on a shore excursion with one couple. I hope your right about the hurricanes. It's scary to think there is another one on its way already...

[gadawg1979]

Hey how was the trip on the sailing that just got back from the denis cruise?

[Jus10mom]

Anyone????

 

I have a friend that is sailing on Monday on the Holiday.....look out Miss Emily. From the hurricane center's predictions on Monday looks as if it will be right over Mexico! She is totally freaking out.

[coontech]

I don't think they get back til today. I am anxious to find out how it went. We are going August 11 with two other couples. Both couples are 1st time cruisers, we are 2nd time cruisers....our first was on Holland America Zuiderdam two years ago. I am anxious to see how the Dennis trip went. We live in Pensacola and are very hurricane weary....

[gadawg1979]

opps I blush as I should have known that they would not be in until today. I guess that not all are like me and have to use the computers on the ship. I just cannot stay away.

 

 

Shane

[richcrow]

I don't think they get back til today. I am anxious to find out how it went. We are going August 11 with two other couples. Both couples are 1st time cruisers, we are 2nd time cruisers....our first was on Holland America Zuiderdam two years ago. I am anxious to see how the Dennis trip went. We live in Pensacola and are very hurricane weary....

 

coontech,

 

We did the Holiday back in Jan. and loved it. We are sailing on Zuiderdam on Oct. 1st. How was your cruise on Zuiderdam and what did you think of the ship?

 

Richard

[coontech]

Richard,

 

The Zuiderdam was our first cruise. We were overwhelmed with how big and how beautiful and ornate the ship was. The staff was just the best and knew our names immediately. We had a wonderful time. Have fun in October!

[Anton]

We were on the Holiday for the June 20 cruise. It was perhaps the best cruise we have taken - ever! This was our second time on the Holiday - the first was in October 2003. Over the years I have successively gone to larger and larger ships, but the Holiday has brought me back to the joy of cruising on a smaller ship. The best crew anywhere!

 

I also want to commend the port of Mobile. What a superb port staff and facility. The courtesy and friendliness was so refreshing. How many cruises have people been on where the indifferent or downright rude attitudes of the shore staff quickly bust your cruise balloon? This didn't happen at Mobile. It was all smiles and "come back and see us soon".

[shecat]

I see the Holiday made it back to Mobile. I hope all of our friends are ok in Cozumel.

[Anton]

I am worried about Cozumel. The eyewall passed directly over the island. The people there are so nice - it will probably take months to get back to some sort of normality.

 

I imagine those huge thatched roofs at Chankanaab and on the mainland at Xcaret are history now.

[blindref757]

I'm leaving out of Mobile on Holiday this coming Saturday. With the devistation in Cozumel, will Carnival still take us there, or might we see a different port? I noticed some cruisers got an extra "fun day at sea" in place of their scheduled port.

 

Speaking of Holiday, does it have the foul odor that several of the reviews I've read mention?

[Anton]

I haven't heard any damage reports yet, but Carnival wouldn't go there if there were problems such as electricity being out, damage to roads, etc. Unfortunately, the same type of problems might be expected on the mainland too. Keep an eye posted to the Carnival website, and make sure your agent is on top of things.

 

As for the smell.......on occasion you can detect a faint sewer-like odor. It isn't as bad as some make it to be. I guess most people get used to it after a day or so and it becomes less noticeable. It is most pronounced on the lower decks. The thing is that it only seems to be in the passageways, which leads me to think it has to do with less than desirable ventilation in the halls. I had cabin U38 on my first Holiday cruise and there was no odor in the cabin. We had a suite on our last Holiday cruise and had no odors anywhere <g>.

[blindref757]

Thanks for the info Anton, we are down on the Riviera Deck, so I guess we are in for some "stinkyness". Hopefully, we will not be in the cabin that much and we will be able to go get sunburned on a beach, somewhere!!!

[Jus10mom]

I've heard conflicting reviews. I think if you go with an open mind..hey, a cruise is a cruise is a cruise the way I look at it!

[Tater1800]

Speaking of Holiday, does it have the foul odor that several of the reviews I've read mention?

 

This drove me crazy at first. My problem was in the room. I then realized that either the sink doesn't have a trap or the water is sucked out of the trap. The best solution was to replace the sink plug after use.