Hawaii and Tahiti.....Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Greetings fellow readers!

 

What surprised us, was to find some very pointed questions regarding the shore excursions. They wanted to know if we booked theirs, or did we do our own thing on shore. And did we join a group independant of HAL, or go solo? And the best inquiry was about the prices. How did the ship's prices compare to those offered on shore? You can bet that we wrote volumns about the huge difference in costs, or should we say, over-costs. Perhaps HAL finally realizes that most seasoned passengers are not as afraid of the ship leaving them behind, or getting delayed in returning back on time. Of course, it only needs to happen once.......

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

I take this as a good sign that HAL is paying attention to what is going on and trying to determine why they are losing revenue. From reading the Grand Voyage blogs it is quite clear, most folks do their own thing and take independent tours.

 

I am also glad that HAL is doing the survey online and leaving room for comments. They are learning something from other cruise lines -Princess,NCL , etc.

[whogo]

Thanks for the reports, Bill and Mary Ann. I looked forward to them every day.

 

The survey requests for shore excursion details worries me and I am not sure I would answer them. Holland America may find a way to restrict access to independent excursions. Did not Holland America staff tally carry on wine bottles for a while before changing their wine policy?

[Cruzin Terri]

Thank you Mary Ann and Bill for taking us along on another fabulous journey. I'm always checking for updates and can't wait for your blog on your next world cruise.

 

As for the survey on the shore excursions I find that interesting. One day they will learn that there are many who do not fear "missing the boat" and know they can find better excursions at lower prices by doing their homework prior to the cruise.

Terri

[Johaz]

Knolselderij is celery root, not turnip.

[brownblonde]

Hi there, I have not had a chance to read all of your blog as we left for 3 weeks on the Veendam. I will go back and catch up.

We landed in San Diego 11/9 and found getting off very good. The air port was really great. We were in United area but flew out on Delta.

 

Yes the questionaire was in our email box.

I gave them a lot to read. The Veendam is OLD and needs many things repaired.

Our cabin was 78/79 degrees most of the time then got a fan to circulate that hot air.

They came many times but nothing happened but wine and candy Ha Ha.

Never had cold water in the sink faucet, maybe 2% of the time, another visit to the cabin many times but nothing repaired, really.

They know they have problems. Deck chairs bad shape.

They are cutting down on dining room service and the food very seldom came more then luke warm.

To our surprise we got our 100 day metal on this cruise, but it was 86 plus 21 so I guess that was the reason.

Just heard from someone on the Noordam and just about the same story. They think they are done with HAL.

Each time I went into the cabin I thought of those 100 plus days on the world cruise.

I just don't know how you do it. I love to cruise, but with problems on ships, yes we both got colds.

I heard a good one and I think how true, so much mold could cause some of the sickness.

I even had to have them come in and clean the dust bunnies from the light over the sink thinking this may help with the air conditioning as the vent looked dusty also.

Well we have decided maybe trying newer ships.

The port stops were great but HOT<HOT in Central America.

Will look forward to another year reading, as you post going around the world.

[Cruising Boomer]

Mary Ann and Bill,

 

Love your cruise review. We are on the Statendam for this cruise in 2/14. Friends who took the Noordam to the Eastern Med a few months ago were very disappointed that there were no lecturers on the cruise despite it being 21 days with stops in the Holy Land, Greece, Turkey, etc. They were told that HAL is not doing lecturers unless the cruise is over 30 days and because HAL is now breaking up cruises into several smaller segments that there are few of these. I cannot believe this and have been trying to get into out of HAL in Seattle without success.

 

It sounds like you did have lecturers. Our friends who took this cruise about 5 years ago raved about a lecturer who was a native Hawaiian. The lecturers on several of our cruises really enhanced the experience. Sure hope our friends were wrong about the change in policy! Did you hear anything about this change of policy?

 

Doug

[Calif. Cruisers]

I will be curious to hear how your compensation from HAL goes for the airfare down to San Diego. We were booked on the Vancouver to San Francisco leg but got off in Vancouver when they cancelled the SF stop. We were told that our airfare home would be paid for in the meetings on-board the ship, but now they are saying they won't compensate us. I would not trust HAL to follow through on anything they don't put in writing (as they don't even do what they DO put in writing.) We even have a letter that was given to us on-board that states "If you are unable to sail with us to San Diego Friday October 4th, our front office staff is able to assist you with making your necessary travel changes. We will reimburse you for any resulting travel change fees."

There were about 100 people sitting in that meeting room who all heard that the return fare home would be paid for us- but now they are not doing that. They charged the airfare to OUR credit card.

How disappointing to be lied to. We made decisions based upon the information that was given to us. The airfare home from San Diego would have been much cheaper than the fare from Vancouver. We are now stuck paying it.

We flew to Vancouver then sat on a ship in meetings, then spent 1/2 a day in the cruise terminal and the rest back at the airport. Yuk! What a mess. There was no reason they couldn't have stopped in San Francisco.

Everyone who cruises on HAL should be aware that they cannot count on them to be honest with you. We have cruised HAL 3 times but probably never will again unless they correct this.

[WCB]

So sorry to hear about your problems with conpensation on the airfare on that particular cruise.

 

Since we were supposed to board in San Francisco, but could not, HAL arranged for our flight to San Diego, complimentary, and paid for all the luggage fees as well.

 

In addition, they gave us $100. per person as shipboard credit. The two days we missed sailing were paid back to us directly to our credit card, although, it took about 10 days before that happened. Better late than never.

 

Hope you can resolve your dilemma soon.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Calif. Cruisers]

It is very puzzling how they are so inconsistent in reimbursing individuals. We are shareholders and frequent cruisers. We only want what they promised us when we were on the ship and what was stated in the letter they gave us. Why would they pay for your airfare, but not ours. We were both basically inconvenienced by the same decision, not to stop in San Francisco. They were willing to pay your airfare, reimburse you for the missed days, etc. but the same offer is not being extended to us or the other 80+ people affected by the decision who left the ship in Vancouver. We are all in contact with one another so we have been able to keep tabs about what has happened with each person.

[DaveOKC]

This refusal by HAL is confusing to me, as I have found HAL to be very generous in offering OBC, etc. when a problem arises. I was on this cruise and had some other issues, which HAL addressed quickly and to my satidfaction (post cruise).

 

DaveOKC

[sheba2008]

Report # 12 October 14, 2013 Monday Hawaii & Tahiti...Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

Our port of call for today was Kona on the dry side of the island of Hawaii. The skies were hazy, which is the standard condition due to the sulphuric gassy smoke from the volcano that drifts with the tradewinds. They have dubbed the overcast with the name "vog".

 

This is also a town that requires the use of the tenderboats. We saw a special set-up for getting wheelchair-bound guests into the tenderboats in one of the ship's exits not being used for the rest of us. This is a nice option for these folks, since it is not always available on all of the ships. Years ago, while on the Maasdam, one of our tablemates, wheelchair-bound, had booked very expensive private vehicles for tours, with the understanding that they had this convenient process in place. Once onboard, they found they did not. Needless to say, this couple were very unhappy campers, since they had invested thousands of dollars for limos in each port. We do remember that the HAL staff worked things out for them, since the limos were booked through their shore excursion department.

 

Our plan for today was to go ashore and play it by ear......walking, browsing, and taking in the local atmosphere. It has been several years since we were here, but it pretty much looked the same once we began walking. Our first visit, we had taken a snorkeling excursion which found us swimming at Captain James Cook Memorial, literally the spot where he had met his untimely fate. The neatest thing happened........we had been surrounded with a pod of huge spinner dolphins. How exciting was that? Our guide instantly ordered all of us to come back to the boat. Turned out it is against the law to be in the water with these creatures. They can be dangerous, we understand, having the ability to ram and kill sharks. We asked no questions, just got out quickly.

 

A shuttle bus was running up the hill to Hilo Hatties, but we needed the exercise and walked there instead. We now have a growing collection of seashell necklaces, given complimentary from the store. They are celebrating their 50 year anniversary of the store's opening, and a few items are on sale for $19.63, the year they opened for business. There were some small shopping centers near here, but the main drag along the oceanfront is chock-full of the tourist shops and cafes. That's where we headed.

 

Our first stop was at Hulihe'e Palace, the former vacation home of Hawaiian royalty. Today it has been restored and turned into a museum. Two things turned most people away as we sat on the seawall in the garden area. One was the fact that it cost $8. to enter (not really a bad price), and the next was that shoes had to be removed. With no benches available, we saw nobody attempt to go inside.

 

The better place to be was where we were sitting, watching the surf roll over the volcanic rocks. Much to our delight, several large green turtles were floating by us munching on the green algae growing on the rocks. From what we have read, they are on the endangered species list, so it was cool to see them thriving here.

 

Continuing up Alii Drive, we wandered in and out of boutiques and cafes, checking out the menus. Wood-fired pizza was our choice for today, but we could only find one restaurant that served it. Turned out, that place had gone out of business. One store caught our attention...it goes by the name of Donkey Balls Factory and Store. Now that is truly funny, and we had to find out more. Humor is their name, goumet chocolates are their fame. Basically, they are chocolate-covered macadamia nuts in many different flavors with quirkey names. For instance, a chocolate-coated, powder sugar-covered mac nut is called Dirt Balls. Cayenne-infused balls are called something like Balls of Fire...so on and so forth. Now to promote sales, the qualities of the macadamia nuts are reported to have the highest amount of monounsaturated fat of any known seed. That promotes insulin resistance, helping the body use fats as energy. Besides vitamins and minerals, they are said to be high in calcuim, potassium, iron, riboflavin, and niacin. Crazy? No, it's nuts! Too bad that the chocolate-covered ones are 200 calories for 1/4 cup. Ouch!

 

After perusing many menus along the way, we ended up at Poncho and Lefty's Mexican Cantina. We had eaten there the last time, and remembered the food was excellent. It was even better today, since the chicken on the taco salad had been marinated in pineapple juice, then grilled until crisp. Very tasty. Our waitress, perhaps owner, was delighted that we were happy with our entrees. She explained that the change from pulled chicken to grilled was recent and it appeared that most everyone liked it much better.

 

The last tenderboat was leaving at 4:30pm, so we had to continue our walk. We did make a brief visit to the oldest church in all of the Hawaiian Islands......Moku'aikaua Church. It is constructed of white coral and lava stone with a ceiling made from koa wood. Another stop was at a small craft and veggie market. We purchased a bag of lemons for $1.00. We like our room sodas with slices of lemons.

 

Another new discovery for us was finally tasting their famous shave ice. Assuming these were strictly snow cones that we remember from visits to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in California, we were pleasantly surprised to find they were much different. Actually, it was worth the price just to watch how they were made. We ordered one to share that included ice cream in the center. Taking the suggestion of the vendor, we had volcano flow ice cream with the Monkey Business ice. That was shaved ice drizzled with root beer and banana syrup. It was so good and refreshing, we certainly will have one of these the next time we come.

 

There was a big backup of passengers waiting for the next tenderboat. So we went back to the seawall to wait it out. The locals were swimming and paddling on boards. Some had their dogs, who were having fun retrieving frisbees and bottles. One was even chasing small crabs on the volcanic rocks. By the way, we discovered that the famous Ironman Triathalon had taken place here on Saturday, two days ago. Seems that this little beach was the swimming venue that the atheletes use for the 2 mile swimcontest. No wonder that there was a big sale on all the Triathalon t-shirts and souveniers being sold nearby.

 

Right before we boarded the tenderboat, the head security officer stopped us and asked if I was WCB, introducing himself to us as "Copper10-8". It was a nice surprise to meet him, because we have been following many of his posts on Cruise Critic. He is a great source of correct information regarding all of the HAL ships.

 

We got back to the ship by 4pm, downloading photos, and cooling off until sailaway time. There was no party on the aft deck, but we did go to deck 12 and watch the sun set after 6pm. It was gorgeous, as they almost always are in this part of the world. Hope to see more of these as we head south towards French Polynesia.

 

Have a few days at sea now as we head for Fanning Island,a first for us.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

We did the same cruise and loving this review.

Lava? We didn't see any lava but the party was still going, they didn't mention it because they wanted to sell the drinks, haha

Did you know a Belgian (from my country!) won the Iron Man, Frederik Van Lierde, I'm so proud to be a Belgian.

 

Linda :)