New to HAL

[Lisah101]

Someone mentioned something about a culinary experience or cooking class - I can't remember the correct terminology. Where do I find more information on those?

[SwissMyst]

Someone mentioned something about a culinary experience or cooking class - I can't remember the correct terminology. Where do I find more information on those?

 

All HAl ships now have a specially dedicated cooking demonstration area, location differs on different ships. They provide a whole variety of cooking oriented programs, some free, some for entertainment (cook off contests between staff members) and some for a fee where you cook up an entire meal as a team and then enjoy it.

 

These will be shown in your daily program you get the night before and are often on at-sea days. I don't think you have a lot of at-sea days on your itinerary so there may not be that many. They are not exotic or necessarily technique building classes, but fun to see how some of the items you have onboard are prepared - then think about duplicating the recipe 100 times. :cool:

 

Other times there can be culinary themed cruises -once we were on a Culinary Council Cruise where they were trying out new dishes created by the HAL Culinary Council Team (see their website) which was fun and later have seen some of these introduced into the main HAL menus.

 

On our last Rotterdam cruise, we had a particularly engaging young woman who ran these classes/programs - Claire -- and they were one of the delights of the cruise. We had staff cook-off contests, staff mystery box contests, dessert contests ... and the staff were hilarious with their quips, pranks and one-liners. Showed there was a lot of team spirit and good natured humor on that ship.

[summersigh]

As you can see - our first cruise was with HAL ... and yes ... it spoiled us. The service and care on the Ryndam was every bit as good as the Queen Mary.

Sailing Carnival is like the Wal-mart of cruising. (Yes I shop at Wal-mart for certain items :) although I also enjoy the department store for other items) but it seemed like many Carnival cruisers are determined to save a dollar by beating the system to the point of obsession. The CCL Cruise Critic boards are full of strands on how to sneak extra liquor/wine aboard. Families arrive at the port with cases and cases of sodas. Every excursion had multiple long stops for shopping. Every day there were long announcements on all of the shopping opportunities there were going to be on-board and at the next port. The food was marginal at best in the dining room. The Room Service breakfast menu includes no hot foods. On ... and on ... and on ....:o

We took this last CCL cruise because we wanted to go to Belize and the price was right. We've now seen Belize ... and we've seen the last of the inside of a CCL ship. It's our favorite HAL or RCCL from now on! ;)

[melody hounddog]

Wow! HAL sounds amazing. I'm partial to Princess, but HAL has so many cruises out of my home port, that I am going to have to give it a try.

 

Soooo.....if I love Princess, will I like HAL?

[SwissMyst]

Wow! HAL sounds amazing. I'm partial to Princess, but HAL has so many cruises out of my home port, that I am going to have to give it a try.

 

Soooo.....if I love Princess, will I like HAL?

 

Do you want to like HAL? ;) We are partial to our first loves so that can cloud one's later experiences when one immediately sees differences and while there are probably more similarities between HAL and Princess, there are differences too and these may or may not be deal breakers for you.

[SwissMyst]

As you can see - our first cruise was with HAL ... and yes ... it spoiled us. The service and care on the Ryndam was every bit as good as the Queen Mary.

Sailing Carnival is like the Wal-mart of cruising. (Yes I shop at Wal-mart for certain items :) although I also enjoy the department store for other items) but it seemed like many Carnival cruisers are determined to save a dollar by beating the system to the point of obsession. The CCL Cruise Critic boards are full of strands on how to sneak extra liquor/wine aboard. Families arrive at the port with cases and cases of sodas. Every excursion had multiple long stops for shopping. Every day there were long announcements on all of the shopping opportunities there were going to be on-board and at the next port. The food was marginal at best in the dining room. The Room Service breakfast menu includes no hot foods. On ... and on ... and on ....:o

We took this last CCL cruise because we wanted to go to Belize and the price was right. We've now seen Belize ... and we've seen the last of the inside of a CCL ship. It's our favorite HAL or RCCL from now on! ;)

 

Yikes, even though I have never sailed Carnival that is exactly how I pictured it. Yeek!:eek:

[Sir PMP]

Love that picture.

 

 

Can't wait to see the back pool..

[IRL_Joanie]

Yep, that's what caught my eye. Only one I've ever seen with the ship name on it.

I do have to wonder what the line with the noose hanging from the right side is for. Is that how misbehaving passengers are dealt with?

 

I had not even noticed the "Noose" until your reply.....LOL, Unruly passengers beware:D:D

 

Joanie

[Lisah101]

There was a mention of having to purchase tickets for shuttles or transportation at the pier to get into town. I've never had to do this on any of my cruises before, was this specific to one port?

 

We have the following:

 

Barcelona (embark)

Marseille

Monte Carlo

Ajaccio, Corsica

Livorno

La Goulette, Tunisia

Valletta, Malta

Messina, Italy

Naples, Italy

Civitavecchia (debark)

[Love the beach]

There was a mention of having to purchase tickets for shuttles or transportation at the pier to get into town. I've never had to do this on any of my cruises before, was this specific to one port?

 

We have the following:

 

Barcelona (embark) There was a public shuttle (less $$) as well as the HAL shuttle to the outside of the port area.

Marseille

Monte Carlo--leaves you in town--we got the HOHO bus right at the pier.

Ajaccio, Corsica

Livorno--not sure about a shuttle--we did a private tour

La Goulette, Tunisia--took a ships tour here. There was a train right there at the port .

Valletta, Malta

Messina, Italy--pier is right in town

Naples, Italy---took a private tour here--not sure about a shuttle

Civitavecchia (debark)

--free shuttle to outside of port area which is right in town.

 

 

These are my recollections of the ports we visited. Perhaps others will chime in as well.

Found lots of info on the Europe ports board.

Have a wonderful trip--I want to go back!

Marge

[SwissMyst]

 

Barcelona (embark)

Marseille

Monte Carlo

Ajaccio, Corsica

Livorno

La Goulette, Tunisia

Valletta, Malta

Messina, Italy

Naples, Italy

Civitavecchia (debark)

 

VALLETTA is easy to do on your own - no shuttles needed - wonderful port stop. Try and read up on the history of the Siege of Malta in 1565 - thrilling and then you get to walk those same stones. If the ship comes in early in the morning, try to be outside to see this - magnificent port entry particularly haunting in the dawn light while the building are still lighted up. And be outside for the sail away too - stunning close harbor and fabulous architecture. Try a "Tropa-Mango-Mojito" from the Crows Nest and just enjoy this sight There is also a very good pharmacy in the cruise terminal building in case you forgot anything.

 

MESSINA - close to a HOHO bus stop - walkable, with caution - pickpocket city.

 

NAPLES (one of our favorite cities) easily walkable - just turn left when you leave the port area and head into this gloriously surprising city - take a look at Rick Steve's Walking Tour of Naples in his Mediterranean Cruise Ports book.

 

LA GOULETTE - you will need a tour or shuttle, industrial port

 

Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports covers a lot of your ports stops and would be a good investment if you want to get oriented to these stops as a cruise passenger which too often regular tour books do not even consider.

[Sir PMP]

Barcelona (embark)

Marseille

Monte Carlo

Ajaccio, Corsica

Livorno

La Goulette, Tunisia

Valletta, Malta

Messina, Italy

Naples, Italy

Civitavecchia (debark

 

 

Barcelona, Marseille, Naples, Ajaccio: pickpockets...

La Goulette: tour to Sidi Bou Said and Carthage

Messina: tour to Taormina!! It'll make your day..

Livorno: train to Florence, take bus 1 to the station from drop off point

Valetta: turn right and you'll find steps up to city center, if you turn left it will take 45 minutes to the ctr

Monte Carlo: walk up to the palace and Grace Kelly church or take train to Nice..

[summersigh]

take a look at Rick Steve's Walking Tour of Naples in his Mediterranean Cruise Ports book.

 

Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports covers a lot of your ports stops and would be a good investment if you want to get oriented to these stops as a cruise passenger which too often regular tour books do not even consider.

I totally agree with the use of Rick Steves

We spent a 3 weeks in Europe traveling on the trains with 22" suitcases and then sailing home on the QM2. We used Rick Steves' Europe Through the Backdoor books extensively and were never steered wrong by any of his "stuff". We had some delightful experiences at local eateries because of references in his books. Although you're on a cruise this time and wouldn't need one - the tips we got from Rick Steves' books on rooms led us to some wonderful B&Bs.:)

His web site might be useful for highlights of towns/cities you'll be visiting.

[SwissMyst]

......Although you're on a cruise this time and wouldn't need one - the tips we got from Rick Steves' books on rooms led us to some wonderful B&Bs.:)

His web site might be useful for highlights of towns/cities you'll be visiting.

 

Rick Steve's does have very good practical insights into Europe and independent travel. I have long enjoyed his columns in International Travel News (ITN)

 

This Mediterranean Cruise Ports is intended for cruise passengers. It is a good general book for first time cruisers, as it is padded with a lot of cruise ship related material that takes up the bulk of the book which is not much interest to more seasoned cruisers. But his cruise port tips are the reason to buy it, or at least check to see if your library has it.

 

Agree, good recommendation to visit his website because his book indicates he has free downloadable "iTune" walking tours in many of these port cities as well. Sounds like you can put them on your iPod or iPhone and listen to them while you do your touring. I am heading over to his website myself as we go to some of new ports for us on our next Mediterranean cruise.

[summersigh]

:o After rereading my post ... it DID sound as though I was advising against buying the Rick Steves Med Cruise book. That was not my intention - in fact, I totally intend to pick one up for us before we do the Med cruise we hope to a year from now.

Where I wasn't clear was that the regular Europe "Through the Backdoor" books probably weren't going to be needed.

Thanks for catching that! :D

[Tampa Girl]

As someone else has already mentioned, their cold soups are delicious. Try the blueberry soup - wonderful!

[SwissMyst]

As someone else has already mentioned, their cold soups are delicious. Try the blueberry soup - wonderful!

 

On our sailing to Indonesia they featured cold nutmeg soup that used fresh nutmeg and it was so hauntingly delicious I did order it again for dessert. Then later they used just regular powdered nutmeg and it was still very good, but not the powerful punch the few fresh gratings offered.

 

Adding more and more of those small, fresh touches is the right way to go. Which is what we have been seeing more and more of on HAL ships -food flavors are brighter, more varied and more fresh accompaniments.

[bar_20]

HAL is a step up in maturity. It's like going from a rock concert to a symphony. It's all music but the people playing the music and the people attending are different. Personally I like both but as I get older I tend to distance myself away from the rock concerts as my music tastes change. If you're a girl, think back to the time you put your Barbie dolls away and moved on to real Ken's. LOL

[Lisah101]

Those are great analogies!

 

It will be nice to not run and hide from the "how much beer can I drink in a day" crowd. Or worry about someone stealing your room service breakfast order from the door. It happens so much, it wasn't even worth trying anymore. Besides I love poached eggs and couldn't get those through room service, along with the ones that brought speakers for their Ipod to the pool and were allowed to blast music. I'm more a quiet person and if I sit on a lounge chair, its to get a little bit of sun, read my book and relax.

 

Are chair hogs an issue?

[SwissMyst]

......

 

Are chair hogs an issue?

 

Chair hogs are always an issue on every ship, but usually you can find empty seating somewhere or you can ask a deck steward to remove items if someone has left them for more than 30 minutes, I think is the posted rule.

 

One nice feature though is HAL ships seem to have as much outdoor space to enjoy, as they do have plenty of private nooks and cranny public space indoors too.

 

There are small aft decks as well with deck chairs that you enter from the passenger cabin hallways which we found quite wonderful on the Rotterdam, besides the standard Lido pool areas.

 

And depending upon the ship there can be a lot of deck chairs on the wrap around promenade deck that are under the covered walkway if you want more shade or sun depending upon which side of the promenade deck you choose.

 

If the ship has "lanai" cabins, then a number of those promenade deck chairs will be reserved for the exclusive use of the adjoining lanai cabins and will have a small metal "reserved" sign on them. Look carefully because scattered through this line of lanai cabins will be a few open deck chairs for anyone to use.

 

The trick though is to feel comfortable taking the empty deck chairs where there are just the ships's blue towels left behind. This makes them at first glance look occupied, but in fact are not.

 

We finally just started picking the towels when there were no other personal items left behind, and dropping the towels in the bin on the deck for used towels and then claiming the chairs as our own.

 

We never had an incident over this and later often saw people just walk off and leave the towels behind as they gathered up all their personal belonging indicating indeed they were through with that chair.

[Cruzinram]

Thinking of doing a HAL cruise. Can you tell me what type of entertainment I should expect in the theater. I have heard that HAL has quality top notch entertainment. In some cases, very well known music acts. Where could I find a daily from one of the ships? thxs

[SwissMyst]

Thinking of doing a HAL cruise. Can you tell me what type of entertainment I should expect in the theater. I have heard that HAL has quality top notch entertainment. In some cases, very well known music acts. Where could I find a daily from one of the ships? thxs

 

Sorry, but you might have HAL ships mixed up with some other cruise line. The evening entertainment is not one of its strong suits. It can be pleasant, aimed at the middle of the road and we always enjoy going, but I would say HAL puts its money and emphasis elsewhere than strong evening show productions. Which is perfectly okay with us but you need to know this up front if this is a key part of making a cruise line choice.