En Route with Hank in Japan and the Westerdam

[Stateroom_Sailor]

4 hours ago, avalon1025 said:

Boarding yesterday was a subdued event.  I was even shown the crew gangway vs passenger which on the bright side meant I looked younger than my 53 years?  Ha!  First impressions:  Westerdam looks lovely and fresh and clean,  cabin steward is as usual, very nice. They asked if I wanted service once or twice a day.   Started meeting some nice fellow passengers in the Ocean Bar.  Ship was dead as we were in port.  Not sure if it’s my gut,  but the management on the ship just seems lazy and could care less.  No fanfare for boarding a new cruise,  no letter in my cabin about all the internet changes (thankful for CC!), nothing.  The little band in the ocean bar felt like some nice high school kids playing for their parents.  We will all make the best and make new friends and cocktail our way across the pacific.  Food in the dining room was fine last night : )

 

Is anyone doing a B2B in Alaska?  Looks like this cruise ends May 7th, the same day we embark Nieuw Amsterdam.  It will be interesting to see if Westerdam is fully restocked after landing in Vancouver.

 

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Our Signature Suite is serviced twice a day by truly excellent stewards.  Funny how all the billing errors are in HALs favor.

 

Hank, are you up for another 14 nights, see if the billing errors reverse on a different ship?

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

Is anyone doing a B2B in Alaska?  Looks like this cruise ends May 7th, the same day we embark Nieuw Amsterdam.  It will be interesting to see if Westerdam is fully restocked after landing in Vancouver.

 

 

Hank, are you up for another 14 nights, see if the billing errors reverse on a different ship?

ROFL.  I do not see anymore HAL in our future, although anything is possible.  If we tried to sum up the current HAL in a word it would be “OK.”  But, we can get better than “OK” so future cruises on HAL make little sense.  If HAL ever returns to its previous quality than we would also return.

 

We just returned to the ship from a wonderful few hours in Yokohama along with some decent food in Chinatown.  We are now looking forward to 6 consecutive relaxing sea days.  Upon returning to the ship terminal, we quickly passed through Japan’s exit processing.  For those planning to cruise in this land we would suggest having a few empty Passport pages.  The entrance/exit process can take a page for each cycle.

 

Hank

 

[Stateroom_Sailor]

11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

ROFL.  I do not see anymore HAL in our future, although anything is possible.  If we tried to sum up the current HAL in a word is would be “OK.”  But, we can get better than “OK” so future cruises on HAL make little sense.  If HAL ever returns to its previous quality than we would also return.

 

We just returned to the ship from a wonderful few hours in Yokohama along with some decent food in Chinatown.  We are now looking forward to 6 consecutive relaxing sea days.

 

Hank

 

 

I've read enough to know that even if we're content with our upcoming cruises, I would only choose HAL in North America.  I tend to work on my online business at night, so hopefully won't be as bothered by cuts to entertainment.  Then again I've only sailed on HAL for 3 and 5 nights, in which we went to most of the shows, music performances, and cooking demonstrations.

 

We're considering Viking Ocean next, Florida to Brazil.  It is actually cheaper per night than HAL!

[Hlitner]

15 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

I've read enough to know that even if we're content with our upcoming cruises, I would only choose HAL in North America.  I tend to work on my online business at night, so hopefully won't be as bothered by cuts to entertainment.  Then again I've only sailed on HAL for 3 and 5 nights, in which we went to most of the shows, music performances, and cooking demonstrations.

 

We're considering Viking Ocean next, Florida to Brazil.  It is actually cheaper per night than HAL!

You do realize there are no more cooking demos, Lincoln Center Stage performances are either gone, or on their way to gone, and the show might by the “HAL Story” or a BBC documentary?  Also no more crew shows.

 

Hank

[Stateroom_Sailor]

47 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

You do realize there are no more cooking demos, Lincoln Center Stage performances are either gone, or on their way to gone, and the show might by the “HAL Story” or a BBC documentary?  Also no more crew shows.

 

Hank

 

Most of this, yes.  I wasn't aware that there were no more crew shows.  I'm guessing that the "HAL Story" doesn't end with the current cutback situation!  I was in my late 30's when I first sailed HAL in 2018, 3 nights onboard before a cruise tour.  Naturally a 14 night cruise might have felt very different even back then, so it will be interesting to see how it goes now.

[Alphen]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

You do realize there are no more cooking demos, Lincoln Center Stage performances are either gone, or on their way to gone, and the show might by the “HAL Story” or a BBC documentary?  Also no more crew shows.

 

Hank

Has it occurred to anyone that discontinued crew shows might not be a cutback,  but due to staffing shortages on one hand and legal hour limits for staff on the other hand?

 

Program with Americas test kitchen was ended before Covid and they are also looking at port to table demos that we currently have on our cruise, but depending on staff availability and not every gifted chef is also a gifted entertainer!

 

Also, Lincoln Stage is only discontinued in its current form, but will return during or after the summer to the fleet, but in another form, on the MainStage. This change has been stated by HAL in its changes on entertainment earlier this year, so nothing new there. Production of the new format is ongoing at this moment as we learned on our current cruise.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Alphen

[Hlitner]

Getting back to this specific cruise, the Captain just informed us to expect a pretty rough crossing to Kodiak, with forecasted 5 meter seas.  There is a major storm developing to our north, that is expected to move east and stay with us as we cross the Pacific.  A good chance we will have plenty of Rock and Roll onboard.  This all ties in with the cancelation of Kushiro, as the Captain is planning on a more southern route to avid the worst of the forecasted storm.  

 

We appear to have increased our inventory of booze, so I guess we will be well “fortified” in the event of rough seas 🤯

 

Hank
 

 

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

15 minutes ago, Alphen said:

Has it occurred to anyone that discontinued crew shows might not be a cutback but due to staffing shortages on one hand and legal hour limits for staff on the other hand?

 

Program with Americas test kitchen was ended before Covid and they are also looking at port to table demos that we currently have on our cruise, but depending on staff availability and not ever gifted chef is also a gifted entertainer!

 

Also, Lincoln Stage is only discontinued in its current form, but will return during or after the summer to the fleet, but in another form, on the MainStage. This change has been stated by HAL in its changes on entertainment earlier this year, so nothing new there. Production of the new format is ongoing at this moment as we learned on our current cruise.

Sounds like HAL is “looking” at many things and delivering next to nothing.  We are living in the now, and the “now” on this particular ship at this particular time is nowhere near the standard we have expected from HAL or any other line that we cruise.  Perhaps the new HAL marketing campaign should be entitled “Promises, Promises.”  As stated in an earlier post, what we have here is, at best, just OK.

 

If and when HAL delivers on what you forecast, we might return.  For now, based on what we have experienced in the past 4 weeks on this vessel, we would not recommend that any of our friends book HAL until there is tangible proof of improvements in entertainment and cuisine.

[Alphen]

2 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Sounds like HAL is “looking” at many things and delivering next to nothing.  We are living in the now, and the “now” on this particular ship at this particular time is nowhere near the standard we have expected from HAL or any other line that we cruise.  Perhaps the new HAL marketing campaign should be entitled “Promises, Promises.”  As stated in an earlier post, what we have here is, at best, just OK.

 

If and when HAL delivers on what you forecast, we might return.  For now, based on what we have experienced in the past 4 weeks on this vessel, we would not recommend that any of our friends book HAL until there is tangible proof of improvements in entertainment and cuisine.

So you are saying that things like staff shortages, program changes and such should only be outside cruise ships in the real world and not with HAL specifically and this way, should not exist on board?

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Our Signature Suite is serviced twice a day by truly excellent stewards.  Funny how all the billing errors are in HALs favor.

Of course it's just a coincidence. 🤣

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Sounds like HAL is “looking” at many things and delivering next to nothing.  We are living in the now, and the “now” on this particular ship at this particular time is nowhere near the standard we have expected from HAL or any other line that we cruise.  Perhaps the new HAL marketing campaign should be entitled “Promises, Promises.”  As stated in an earlier post, what we have here is, at best, just OK.

 

If and when HAL delivers on what you forecast, we might return.  For now, based on what we have experienced in the past 4 weeks on this vessel, we would not recommend that any of our friends book HAL until there is tangible proof of improvements in entertainment and cuisine.

No, I've already come up with what should be their new marketing slogan earlier in this thread.

 

"The cruise line that guarantees you a good night's sleep before your next day's great adventure."

[Hlitner]

This evening was special and let me explain.  Went to,dinner at 7:30 and shared a decent table with an English couple and a couple from Singapore.  It was another delightful dinner, not because of the mediocre food, but our interesting table mates.

 

After dinner we went to the main stage for the 9:30 Step One show only to discover it was cancelled due to ship movement.  No surprise to us since this was the third Step One show cancelled on our cruise.  What a job!

 

DW and I then walked over to Billboard to catch the end of the set performed by the two players/singers who were having a good night.  At 10, we went to the Rolling Stone Lounge to catch the last set (which ends at 11) of the excellent Rolling Stone Lounge Group.  They did a terrific third set to about 20 awake passengers.

 

But then the magic happened.  About 10:50, they played their last song which was a request for Purple Rain.  A couple ( he in his 70s and she a bit younger) got up to dance and put on a show that would have shamed the Step One dancers.  This older couple had no problem with the seas, and put on one of the best dance performances I have ever seen on any ship.  They danced, did lifts, and moves beyond description, all, on a night when the young healthy professional dancers could not perform.  It was the best entertainment we have seen on this cruise, and happy that DW and I were among the few awake to see it.

 

As to the Step One dancers, we wonder if we will even see them again on this voyage.  We only have 13 remaining nights, and the ship is likely to move on many nights.  Perhaps HAL has a dozen BBC documentaries to fill those evenings.  They are a good dance group, but since boarding the ship in March, they have cancelled 3 out of 6 shows (at 9:30).  I suspect that the folks in Seattle who decided to rely on small group,dance companies were not aware that ships,move upon the sea and dancing on a moving ship is a tough business.  Leave it to 70+ dancer to show the way.

 

This has me thinking about a solution to the lack of entertainment.  Perhaps HAL should solicit acts from among the passengers who could work for free lobster tails.  
 

Yesterday I mentioned that we were again overcharged for drinks. HAL, following a message from me, again corrected the errors without comment.  The onboard staff seems competent at correcting errors (only after pointed out by passengers).  But the question that remains is why we keep seeing these accounting errors.  I sometimes think we are in a contest with HAL called , “find the billing errors!”  Those that spot the errors are rewarded, but others simply pay the extra price without having a clue.

 

Hank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[albingirl]

21 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

This evening was special and let me explain.  Went to,dinner at 7:30 and shared a decent table with an English couple and a couple from Singapore.  It was another delightful dinner, not because of the mediocre food, but our interesting table mates.

 

After dinner we went to the main stage for the 9:30 Step One show only to discover it was cancelled due to ship movement.  No surprise to us since this was the third Step One show cancelled on our cruise.  What a job!

 

DW and I then walked over to Billboard to catch the end of the set performed by the two players/singers who were having a good night.  At 10, we went to the Rolling Stone Lounge to catch the last set (which ends at 11) of the excellent Rolling Stone Lounge Group.  They did a terrific third set to about 20 awake passengers.

 

But then the magic happened.  About 10:50, they played their last song which was a request for Purple Rain.  A couple ( he in his 70s and she a bit younger) got up to dance and put on a show that would have shamed the Step One dancers.  This older couple had no problem with the seas, and put on one of the best dance performances I have ever seen on any ship.  They danced, did lifts, and moves beyond description, all, on a night when the young healthy professional dancers could not perform.  It was the best entertainment we have seen on this cruise, and happy that DW and I were among the few awake to see it.

 

As to the Step One dancers, we wonder if we will even see them again on this voyage.  We only have 13 remaining nights, and the ship is likely to move on many nights.  Perhaps HAL has a dozen BBC documentaries to fill those evenings.  They are a good dance group, but since boarding the ship in March, they have cancelled 3 out of 6 shows (at 9:30).  I suspect that the folks in Seattle who decided to rely on small group,dance companies were not aware that ships,move upon the sea and dancing on a moving ship is a tough business.  Leave it to 70+ dancer to show the way.

 

This has me thinking about a solution to the lack of entertainment.  Perhaps HAL should solicit acts from among the passengers who could work for free lobster tails.  
 

Yesterday I mentioned that we were again overcharged for drinks. HAL, following a message from me, again corrected the errors without comment.  The onboard staff seems competent at correcting errors (only after pointed out by passengers).  But the question that remains is why we keep seeing these accounting errors.  I sometimes think we are in a contest with HAL called , “find the billing errors!”  Those that spot the errors are rewarded, but others simply pay the extra price without having a clue.

 

Hank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your reports. Some of the best entertainment we ever had was watching a few older couples dancing in the Ocean bar at happy hour. Exquisite dancing during transatlantic crossings with some wave action. Such lovely performances. 

[bcummin]

Thank you, Hank, for sharing so much.  Sorry that you are missing Kushiro.  Our 2022 Grand Africa Voyage did have a Crew Talent Show.

Wishing you a safe crossing and travels home.

Barbara

Edited April 25, 2023 by bcummin

[Essiesmom]

Hank, since you like pizza so much, I believe you should contact Bill and Mary Ann,  currently on the World Cruise, as they are always looking for pizza in port.  Get them to give you a list of the best pizza places they have found in distant ports.  EM

[JennysUncle]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Yesterday I mentioned that we were again overcharged for drinks. HAL, following a message from me, again corrected the errors without comment.  The onboard staff seems competent at correcting errors (only after pointed out by passengers).  But the question that remains is why we keep seeing these accounting errors.  I sometimes think we are in a contest with HAL called , “find the billing errors!”  Those that spot the errors are rewarded, but others simply pay the extra price without having a clue.

Hank, since you are going to be aboard for another segment, why not ask the bartenders how this happens? Then maybe you could "head them off at the pass" and save your self having to continually contact guest services.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This has me thinking about a solution to the lack of entertainment.  Perhaps HAL should solicit acts from among the passengers who could work for free lobster tails.  
 

 

That's a great start.  Next HAL could offer a "Be It All" package, where passengers get an unlimited audition pass.  Back are the shows, and even a play or musical by the end of a 14 night cruise.  The ships could even compete against each other to see who has the best talent, and the winning ship gets a victory toast.

[cccole]

Is it possible to arrange an "after hours club"?  Why not ask all of the people you like to dine with if they will meet in a certain place on the ship?  Even if it's only the "20 awake passengers" it would be fun.  It could be a huge hit.  BYOB,  maybe someone can bring music, and voila...you have an after 11 p.m. party.  If there are so many people disappointed in the bars closing down there could be a great response.  Even if it's only a few people enjoying a beverage, laughing, and talking it's fun.  What do you have to lose?  JMO. Cherie

Edited April 25, 2023 by cccole

[Hlitner]

7 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Hank, since you like pizza so much, I believe you should contact Bill and Mary Ann,  currently on the World Cruise, as they are always looking for pizza in port.  Get them to give you a list of the best pizza places they have found in distant ports.  EM

We have a week of sea days until we get to Kodiak.  Unless somebody learns how to make decent pizza dough, we are in trouble 🤧

[Destiny0315]

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

17 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

Expand  

You do realize there are no more cooking demos

No I realize there are, Chef Jacques Torres onboard the Zaandam last Thursday 4/20.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

3 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

No I realize there are, Chef Jacques Torres onboard the Zaandam last Thursday 4/20.

 

There are 5 sailings with celebrity chefs, luckily ours is included.

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/02/holland-america-line-extends-celebrity-chef-culinary-cruises-to-2023/

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Destiny0315 said:

No I realize there are, Chef Jacques Torres onboard the Zaandam last Thursday 4/20.

Welcome to the world of HAL where customers have little clue as to what they get on any specific cruise.  Consider we had a terrific Lincoln Center group in March but have had nothing but a dark room for the past 3 weeks.

 

No cooking demos on this ship, no crew shows. Little entertainment, etc.  We will be sticking to cruise lines that deliver a more predictable product

[Destiny0315]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

Welcome to the world of HAL where customers have little clue as to what they get on any specific cruise.  Consider we had a terrific Lincoln Center group in March but have had nothing but a dark room for the past 3 weeks.

 

No cooking demos on this ship, no crew shows. Little entertainment, etc.  We will be sticking to cruise lines that deliver a more predictable product

I can't disagree with your statements and it is just more evidence of the inconsistency from cruise to cruise and ship to ship compared to the past in the planning and implementing for food/drink and entertainment. The service element seems to be still there but it just becomes harder to achieve because of those inconsistencies. 

[cccole]

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Welcome to the world of HAL where customers have little clue as to what they get on any specific cruise.  Consider we had a terrific Lincoln Center group in March but have had nothing but a dark room for the past 3 weeks.

 

No cooking demos on this ship, no crew shows. Little entertainment, etc.  We will be sticking to cruise lines that deliver a more predictable product

?  So Chef Jaques Torres is not onboard the Zaandam? Yikes.  No cooking demos? Yikes.  Hoping you can endure the rest of your adventure.  Cherie

[Destiny0315]

4 minutes ago, cccole said:

?  So Chef Jaques Torres is not onboard the Zaandam? Yikes.  No cooking demos? Yikes.  Hoping you can endure the rest of your adventure.  Cherie

Hey at least their Uber Captain has got them to most of the faraway places that were advertised.🙂