The Snootiest Ship in the DAM fleet!!

[sail7seas]

Noordam is perfect, just the way she is.

 

 

I could not agree more and I am so sad they are making such drastic changes to our lovely Noordam. We love that ship......

Seeing as HAL will do with her as they may, let's just hope for the best and keep fingers crossed the refit goes well and the beautiful Noordam does not suffer, too much, from fiddling with her.

 

[Cindy]

Sigh...we think the Noordam is *perfect* just the way she is right now. Sometimes progress stinks!:p

[innlady1]

I could not agree more and I am so sad they are making such drastic changes to our lovely Noordam. We love that ship......

 

Seeing as HAL will do with her as they may, let's just hope for the best and keep fingers crossed the refit goes well and the beautiful Noordam does not suffer, too much, from fiddling with her.

 

 

 

That's what I don't "get", Judy. Whenever they "fiddle" with a ship, the results never seem to be an improvement but end up a disaster instead.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

That's what I don't "get", Judy. Whenever they "fiddle" with a ship, the results never seem to be an improvement but end up a disaster instead.

While I agree that was the case for the Veendam and probably the Rotterdam, to my surprise the three younger Vista's that had the aft lift and changes of moving the library to the Crow's Nest actually turned out far better than I expected. The Zuiderdam, Oosterdam and Westerdam all turned out just fine by adding those additional cabins and we have all learned to except the Explorations Cafe being up in the Crow's Nest so based on that they have had more success than failures.

 

I suspect that those in Seattle that look at all the numbers have figured out that in the long run adding the additional deck for cabins and Tamarind/Silk Den (Plus I suspect the Cabana Club ;) ) will bring in more revenue. Right now Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam do sell out more quickly and do not have to drop prices nearly as much as Zuiderdam and Westerdam in the Caribbean. They may think with making the 4 Vistas like the Signature Class it should boost sales but then again the newer ships may sell betters just for the fact they are NEWER ;) I also believe that from when they did add cabins previously on the Three Vistas HAL has a good idea of the additional revenue those extra cabins brought in so feel that doing this is a wise choice.

[innlady1]

The thing I like best about the Noordam is the location of Explorations...it is so warm and cozy. That's what I object to on this new refit.

I've never seen anyone in the Merbella shops on the ships we've been on recently so it seems that's not such a draw. Personally, I think the shops on Princess are waaayyyy better than HAL.

[SwissMyst]

Hate the layout on the Oosterdam, but luckily they have the great SS cabins so one can retreat in to their own world rather than the confusing mess of the public room deck plans.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

The thing I like best about the Noordam is the location of Explorations...it is so warm and cozy. That's what I object to on this new refit.

 

I've never seen anyone in the Merbella shops on the ships we've been on recently so it seems that's not such a draw. Personally, I think the shops on Princess are waaayyyy better than HAL.

Sheila, I totally agree the most time I ever spent in the ship's library was on the Noordam, we would go there just to relax and read and look out the windows. We were in Alaska both times on the Noordam and the to watch whales was much better down lower than up from the Crow's Nest. I can honestly say that was the number one thing I liked with the Noordam.

I agree that I hate to see them move the Explorations Cafe but over all during the day the Crow's Nest is a Non revenue earning area, actually probably not just day time some times the Crow's nest can be rather quiet. By placing the Explorations Cafe up there that area no produces more revenue that just the bar plus it brings more passengers up there that maybe one person wants an actual drink where the other person may want just a coffee plus those that do not have their own computer go up there and purchase Internet minutes.

As for Merabella I have been told that it does not take too many sales to pay the rent;) and I do know that if someone is looking at an expensive piece of jewelry they will bring it to you rather than you coming to the shop. Just because we do not see anyone in the shop does not mean they are not selling. I have a good Friend that use to work for the Shops on HAL, she is now on a different cruise line with a different company but Merabella definitely added to her income. The shops are owned by Starboard Cruises and it is their investment to place the shops on the ship and any cost of remodeling not HAL's, I am guessing that their investment must definitely pay off or they would not be spending the money.

[SwissMyst]

Always wondered about the connection between casino winnings and jewelry purchases and does anyone get a "1099" from HAL on the high seas" for those casino winnings? Or any other cruise line such as the very casino friendly NCL or Star Cruise Lines. Is someone coming off a ship laden with jewels better than coming off with suitcases stuffed with cash? Just sayin':confused:

[SilvertoGold]

Sheila, I totally agree the most time I ever spent in the ship's library was on the Noordam, we would go there just to relax and read and look out the windows. We were in Alaska both times on the Noordam and the to watch whales was much better down lower than up from the Crow's Nest. I can honestly say that was the number one thing I liked with the Noordam.

I agree that I hate to see them move the Explorations Cafe but over all during the day the Crow's Nest is a Non revenue earning area, actually probably not just day time some times the Crow's nest can be rather quiet. By placing the Explorations Cafe up there that area no produces more revenue that just the bar plus it brings more passengers up there that maybe one person wants an actual drink where the other person may want just a coffee plus those that do not have their own computer go up there and purchase Internet minutes.

As for Merabella I have been told that it does not take too many sales to pay the rent;) and I do know that if someone is looking at an expensive piece of jewelry they will bring it to you rather than you coming to the shop. Just because we do not see anyone in the shop does not mean they are not selling. I have a good Friend that use to work for the Shops on HAL, she is now on a different cruise line with a different company but Merabella definitely added to her income. The shops are owned by Starboard Cruises and it is their investment to place the shops on the ship and any cost of remodeling not HAL's, I am guessing that their investment must definitely pay off or they would not be spending the money.

 

Lisa You are right on about the Crows Nest being such a non-revenue location during the day. On almost every cruise we have taken it is dead up there. Even as a Happy Hour location, it doesn't seems to attract a lot of pax there until 5 pm.

 

At first we weren't thrilled with the location of the Explorations Cafe up there (Westerdam), but find it is most likely a good move from HAL's point of view.

 

We are thrilled that the Tamarind will be added. The sooner the better. Although we will be getting 2 free Pinnacles as 5 stars, we would also go to the Tanarind without a doubt!

 

Love your new photo, Lisa. Looking good!

[sail7seas]

Lisa You are right on about the Crows Nest being such a non-revenue location during the day. On almost every cruise we have taken it is dead up there. Even as a Happy Hour location, it doesn't seems to attract a lot of pax there until 5 pm.

 

At first we weren't thrilled with the location of the Explorations Cafe up there (Westerdam), but find it is most likely a good move from HAL's point of view.

 

We are thrilled that the Tamarind will be added. The sooner the better. Although we will be getting 2 free Pinnacles as 5 stars, we would also go to the Tanarind without a doubt!

 

Love your new photo, Lisa. Looking good!

 

 

We may find they will permit Five Star Mariners to use their free dinners in Tamarind as well as Pinnacle. I suppose we can ask.

 

Five Star Mariners officially begins in just a few days...... January 5.

 

We'll be happy to have Tamarind and Silk Den but we think Noordam's Explorations so attractive and comfortable it saddens me to lose it. Saddens me to see Noordam reconfigured at all. Love her just the way she is. :cool:

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We may find they will permit Five Star Mariners to use their free dinners in Tamarind as well as Pinnacle. I suppose we can ask.

 

Five Star Mariners officially begins in just a few days...... January 5.

 

We'll be happy to have Tamarind and Silk Den but we think Noordam's Explorations so attractive and comfortable it saddens me to lose it. Saddens me to see Noordam reconfigured at all. Love her just the way she is. :cool:

 

Sail, I would be more than willing to bet that Tamarind will be included as is Pinnacle for the 5 Star Amenity. Why not Tamarind cost less ;)

 

The one thing to keep in mind is you can bet HAL's Bean Counters keep close watch on every little thing they do/give so that it brings in more revenue. You can bet that the new 5 Star amenities while yes giving a free Pinnacle they have figured out that those passengers will most likely go to the Pinnacle and will order a bottle of wine that they may not have in the Main Dining Room, or they may go an extra time since they had a free one. Same with giving the discount for Logo Wear or free day pass for the Spa, those things encourage extra spending. Everything we get is looked at that in most cases will generate more rather than less revenue. My guess is even the Internet minutes they figure far more people will sign up than normal giving then the extra $3.95 plus many may purchase more minutes.

Even that Free Wine tasting for 4 Star Mariners they look at this as an opportunity that more people will purchase more bottles of wine :D

[Joal]

Just came back from the NA today. Spent Christmas week on board. We were on it in 2010, also at Christmas.

I must say that I do not agree with the characterization of the NA as a snooty ship at all. We found no real difference between 2010 and now. The crew was very friendly and polite, and at no time we saw any behavior that would make us think they felt they were above or better than others.

 

I do not usually give a lenghty narrative of the cruise, but will only say that we had a most enjoyable week. The food was good to very good. The enterteinment, however, was really not that good, even by cruise standards. We enjoyed wonderful weather.

 

We would not hesitate sailing again on this ship. However, our next cruise will be on the Statendam (we have sailed on it before)) going to Hawaii and Polynesia.

[sail7seas]

Sail, I would be more than willing to bet that Tamarind will be included as is Pinnacle for the 5 Star Amenity. Why not Tamarind cost less ;)

 

The one thing to keep in mind is you can bet HAL's Bean Counters keep close watch on every little thing they do/give so that it brings in more revenue. You can bet that the new 5 Star amenities while yes giving a free Pinnacle they have figured out that those passengers will most likely go to the Pinnacle and will order a bottle of wine that they may not have in the Main Dining Room, or they may go an extra time since they had a free one. Same with giving the discount for Logo Wear or free day pass for the Spa, those things encourage extra spending. Everything we get is looked at that in most cases will generate more rather than less revenue. My guess is even the Internet minutes they figure far more people will sign up than normal giving then the extra $3.95 plus many may purchase more minutes.

Even that Free Wine tasting for 4 Star Mariners they look at this as an opportunity that more people will purchase more bottles of wine :D

 

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

All of that is almost a 'given'. :D

 

But not a general true for everyone statement.

 

We go to Pinnacle or Tamarind and order wine every night regardless. We would have the same wine, the same number of dinners in Tamarind and Pinnacle and same internet so for us, it really is a nice 'gift'. We have been accustomed to doing all those things and will continue to but now we will be spending that little bit less. I think they came up with a nice Five Star 'package' and things that appeal to me far more than most of what is in the Four Star as pertains specifically to DH and me.

 

We never go to the Spa so that won't be costing HAL anything for us but others likely will enjoy it.

I'd buy more Logo things if they sold more Logo things specific to ship in the shops. It's all 'generic' to HAL but very little for specific ships which is too bad. IMO (And, yes, I get why. :D )

 

 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I'd buy more Logo things if they sold more Logo things specific to ship in the shops. It's all 'generic' to HAL but very little for specific ships which is too bad. IMO (And, yes, I get why. :D )

 

 

 

Oh Sail I agree with you 200% about this, Tom and I are both big on purchasing "Nice" Logo wear. The MAIN reason you do not see much in the way of logo wear is that every item that that has a HAL Logo on it HAL makes a bit more money from the profits of that item and if it has the ship name and the HAL Logo Holland America gets even more. That is why Starboard company that operates the shops has very few if any items that have both the name of the ship and HAL logo. Next time in the shop take notice. The other thing is that since they have to give more profits to HAL on these items they are not normally the really nice merchandise for the most part they are the cheapy $10 t-shirts. There was a time I think around 2009 that there were some nice Men's Golf shirts. Basically anything that is a bit nicer and more expensive you just do not see because that is considerably more money they have to share the profits with HAL. Actually both Starboard and HAL are to blame because it is being greedy on their part. If HAL did not demand the additional commission for the logo Starboard would probably produce more and sell drastically more and both would come out ahead including the passenger.

[kazu]

Just came back from the NA today. Spent Christmas week on board. We were on it in 2010, also at Christmas.

I must say that I do not agree with the characterization of the NA as a snooty ship at all. We found no real difference between 2010 and now. The crew was very friendly and polite, and at no time we saw any behavior that would make us think they felt they were above or better than others.

 

I do not usually give a lenghty narrative of the cruise, but will only say that we had a most enjoyable week. The food was good to very good. The enterteinment, however, was really not that good, even by cruise standards. We enjoyed wonderful weather.

 

We would not hesitate sailing again on this ship. However, our next cruise will be on the Statendam (we have sailed on it before)) going to Hawaii and Polynesia.

 

2010 was when we sailed her and this ship is on the Bottom of my HAL bucket list - each sailing is an individual experience - we were on for nearly 3 weeks and I found the crew not up to the usual HAL stuff (cold, aloof, scared, snooty, whatever)

 

I'm glad you had a good one and I know many do - but each will go by their own individual experiences. Did we have a bad cruise? no - did we have a great one -no!

 

this ship was one of the reasons we reverted back to the smaller ships and it shivers my timbers to see them making some of the medium sized ones bigger. Hal better make up it's mind what it wants to do = be a line that does smaller ships and caters to it's clients or just another mass market line with nothing to set it apart.

 

No worries -there are lots of options out there :D For now, for us it's the smallest ship in the fleet (and the only non HAL built ship). After that, we'll take it from there.:)

[sail7seas]

Oh Sail I agree with you 200% about this, Tom and I are both big on purchasing "Nice" Logo wear. The MAIN reason you do not see much in the way of logo wear is that every item that that has a HAL Logo on it HAL makes a bit more money from the profits of that item and if it has the ship name and the HAL Logo Holland America gets even more. That is why Starboard company that operates the shops has very few if any items that have both the name of the ship and HAL logo. Next time in the shop take notice. The other thing is that since they have to give more profits to HAL on these items they are not normally the really nice merchandise for the most part they are the cheapy $10 t-shirts. There was a time I think around 2009 that there were some nice Men's Golf shirts. Basically anything that is a bit nicer and more expensive you just do not see because that is considerably more money they have to share the profits with HAL. Actually both Starboard and HAL are to blame because it is being greedy on their part. If HAL did not demand the additional commission for the logo Starboard would probably produce more and sell drastically more and both would come out ahead including the passenger.

 

 

What they may lose on each individual item, they would make up for in volume. We surely are not the only people who want ship specific logo items. If they offered them, many of us would buy at least some.

 

IMO

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

What they may lose on each individual item, they would make up for in volume. We surely are not the only people who want ship specific logo items. If they offered them, many of us would buy at least some.

 

IMO

 

My opinion too ;) Ideally what would be perfect is for Holland America to totally get rid of a third party operating the shops and do like Princess has done and own and operate their own shops. they then can control profits and offer items that consumers /passengers want to buy. Princess has the best shops at Sea, with items that passengers actually want to purchase. They have plenty of nice logo wear with the Princess logo and name of the ship or at least they did three years ago :o But I do not have reason to believe that has changed. Prices were actually less for items like cosmetics because they took out one of the middle men. My guess is they are over all making more money because they can drop the prices ever so slightly but still be charging a slightly higher profit margin over what the others are paying. The only variance is the buying power of Starboard, Starboard is quite big and has shops on most of the RCI (including Allure and Oasis) and older Celebrity Ships as well as all of the Carnival ships. The shops on Celebrity's Solstice Class ships and a couple of RCI ships are operated by a company that is Headquartered in the UK that also operates the shops on P & O and Cunard. Sorry my mind has gone blank of their name and I should know it because a good friend works for them :o

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sail I think you and I have gotten way off topic here, but maybe that is not such a bad thing :D

[sunviking90]

Wow! As someone who doesn't have time to read these boards everyday, I often find when I start reading a thread at the most recent pages it has little to do with the original title, but this thread takes the cake! It has gone from a cruise review, to a discussion of lifeboat drill procedures for people needing assistance (glad that unpleasantness is over) to a discussion of Noordam changes, and now to logo wear.

Some of this discussion is very interesting, and it is a shame some of us would miss it as it buried in unrelated threads.

[innlady1]

Lisa, as I said in an earlier post, I found the Princess shops to be way better than those on HAL...actually, that was one of the best parts of the cruise...sad to say. As an example, the shop with fragrances and cosmetics was HUGE...as big as some I've seen on the islands. And, I recall a lovely sportswear shop. A great variety.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa, as I said in an earlier post, I found the Princess shops to be way better than those on HAL...actually, that was one of the best parts of the cruise...sad to say. As an example, the shop with fragrances and cosmetics was HUGE...as big as some I've seen on the islands. And, I recall a lovely sportswear shop. A great variety.

Sheila, I agree, I know I was so impressed with the shops on Princess. I will state that the shops are NCL were slightly better than HAL's shops but not by much. The prices seemed higher but Past Passengers received a 10% discount on almost everything so with that the prices were pretty good :) I believe NCL shops are operated by Columbia Emeralds Jewelry chain.

I remembered the name of the company the does the shops on Solstice Class Ships and Cunard, it is called Harding Brothers but I was not impressed with the shops on the Solstice at all so unless HAL does like Princess or even hires Princess I do not see am improvement coming for the shops.

 

[solocanadian]

I fondly recall when Alders International used to operate the shops for HAL. They specialized in Ellizabeth Arden Cosmetics, Decent brands of Liquor and beautiful Lladro figurines. The Alders Manager would live in Vancouver during the Alaska season and then return to FLL for the winter. Had him to dinner at home a couple of times with a Vancouver friend I met on Roteerdam IV years ago. Was always the recipient of a lovely Arden gift bag as a hostess gift and wine & rum when I cruised - oh thoses were the days.:D

[Copper10-8]

I fondly recall when Alders International used to operate the shops for HAL. They specialized in Ellizabeth Arden Cosmetics, Decent brands of Liquor and beautiful Lladro figurines. The Alders Manager would live in Vancouver during the Alaska season and then return to FLL for the winter. Had him to dinner at home a couple of times with a Vancouver friend I met on Roteerdam IV years ago. Was always the recipient of a lovely Arden gift bag as a hostess gift and wine & rum when I cruised - oh thoses were the days.:D

 

Rotterdam IV sailed for HAL from 06 June 1908 until 28 December 1939. You must have been very, very young when you and your Vancouver friend sailed her!;) Happy New Year from Willemstad, Curacao!:)

[mamaofami]

Happy New Years John.:)

[sail7seas]

Copper,

Lucky you to be in Curacao for New Year's Eve....... A Late sailaway tonight? Hopefully some crew will get some time off to enjoy that wonderful port.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Copper, to you and all Maasdam's Officers, Crew and Staff. May you all have the best of everything in the New Year. Good health, Happiness and Safe Sailing.

 

 

 

psssst..... I think she might have meant Rotterdam V. :D