HAL can't do teatime

[AirGorilla]

Folks, please help out this ignorant person! Please explain to me what Clotted Cream is. Is it anything like whipped cream?

 

Thanks very much!!

 

P.S. I DO know what a scone is, but am clueless about the clotted cream!

[hammybee]

It's similar to whipped cream but the fat content is about 60% versus 35%, +/-, for whipped cream. It's thicker but not as thick as butter and to me, taste a bit scalded.

 

And it does not come in the oh so fun "shoot it in your mouth" aerosol can.

My DH says I always was a cheap date :)

[AWED23]

Teatime on board the Cunard line is wonderful and a huge part of the onboard culture. Brewed, hot tea is served, and I think that afternoon tea was 45 minutes. There was a huge space for it in the Queen's Room. It was very sociable and relaxed. The scones are a dream, with real clotted cream - ah, poetry!

 

Should I be moving to Celebrity?

....YES,YES,YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AWED23]

These comments about the tea time on HAL are a bit of a downer; I have my first HAL cruise on the Prinsendam in June 2007 and tea time was something I really looked forward to.

 

What is anyone's experience concerning ordering room service for afternoon tea?

Have no fear Guienevere, You absolutely will enjoy the Prinsendam...Did 2 seperate cruises on her this year, 25 days RT from fort Lauderdale up the Amazon and later[July} the North Cape and up to Spitzbergen, 21 days.....Tea was done nicely, often in the Crows Nest and at other times the Explorers Lounge. the Prinsendam has become our favorite HAL dam ship!......

[dougnewmanatsea]

I can't stand the many little signs of cheapness showing up. Is Celebrity a step up that I might consider?

No. They are just as cheap as HAL and their tea is more like an afternoon snack buffet in the Lido. Nothing like Cunard tea at all.

 

You want Oceania or Crystal who, I hear, both do good tea, though I've not been on them (yet).

 

All American mass-market lines (yes, this includes HAL and Celebrity) are just not any good at tea.

 

I understand that Princess, which used to be owned by Cunard before Carnival stepped in, also provides a nice tea service.

Not exactly.

 

Princess and Cunard are both part of Carnival. Well, indirectly. They both were when Carnival merged with P&O Princess. At that point, Carnival was divided into four operational divisions: Carnival, Costa, Holland America and P&O Princess. Cunard now falls into the P&O Princess division and is just a "brand" of Princess.

 

As for tea, the Princess tea is not proper either. For one thing, it's done in the dining room, which is a major no-no. Tea is supposed to be given in a lounge.

 

Also, a word about "high tea". The fancy tea that cruise lines have (or claim to have) is "afternoon tea". "Afternoon tea" is eaten in a lounge at 3 pm by the upper and middle class; "high tea" is eaten at the dining room tableat 5 pm by the working class. It is "high" because it is eaten at the "high table" (the dining room table) whearas afternoon tea is eaten at the "low table" (the lounge table). Neither one is part of daily life any more but afternoon tea still exists e.g. in hotels, cruise ships, and perhaps upper-class residences, while high tea is basically extinct. More about this here.

 

Princess and HAL both make the big mistake of serving afternoon tea in the dining room. It should always be properly taken in a lounge.

 

And if the parties are held in the mornings, we no longer go to them.

Yes, what on earth is with cocktail parties in the morning, or even the early afternoon?

 

A few months ago on Celebrity, we had a "repeaters' cocktail party" was in between the two dinner seatings - that is, it was an after-dinner party for first sitting, but before-dinner for us (second sitting). Needless to say I was a bit surprised to be passed a tray of petits fours!

 

Is there a Whole Foods Market located in the Boston area?

Yes, on Saturday I am seeing a lady who works in one up there who was at my table aboard ROTTERDAM last year :) .

 

I'm not sure how much the Greeks (Celebrity) know about making tea

On my last Celebrity cruise the Hotel Manager was a Brit and it didn't help the tea situation. (Not his fault - tea is doubtless dictated by the corporate types in Miami.)

 

There is not much Greek left about Celebrity - just the deck and engine officers, and I have heard they may not be all-Greek for much longer either.

[AWED23]

Teatime on board the Cunard line is wonderful and a huge part of the onboard culture. Brewed, hot tea is served, and I think that afternoon tea was 45 minutes. There was a huge space for it in the Queen's Room. It was very sociable and relaxed. The scones are a dream, with real clotted cream - ah, poetry!

 

Should I be moving to Celebrity?

Cunard, oh yes Cunard....Went on the QM2 in Queens grill class...The dining was great!....Embarcation in NYC was great!.....Paper towels in Bathrooms?...NOT GREAT!....NO THING comparable to HAL's Lidos...NOT GREAT! Many mob scenes in and around casual dining area...Cold and impersonal personell in public rooms...NO, NOT GREAT!.......Cunard?...No wonder they are begging for customers. I just hope they get some quick so my Carnival stock doesn't suffer....LOL

[dougnewmanatsea]

Cunard?...No wonder they are begging for customers.

They are? That's news to me!

[AWED23]

Host Doug, you state that HAL makes the mistake of serving tea in the dining room....Sure you want to go with that or perhaps you might want to ammend it to, "occasionally" utilizes the dining room......??????...I believe that as a host you have an obligation to be accurate in your postings....Just an opinion, mine.....

[AWED23]

I am not a Tea person but there was once that it blew me away....At the original Raffles in Singapore last November...We were there for three nights pre cruise and my wife insisted on having "Tea time" at the hotel. She had been tipped off in advance by friends..After that first afternoon I pushed us around Singapore in such a manner that we were able to "Take tea" each day at Raffles....What an experience!...

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Host Doug,

 

I did indeed commit a major faux pas by saying that "Cunard owned Princess". I was confusing Cunard with P & O, another British line. It was P & O (Peninsular and Orient Steam Navigation Company), which purchased Princess in 1974. That was the British connection I was thinking of. The company became Princess/P & O, or is it P & O/Princess? In any case, Carnival purchased Princess/P & O in 2003.

 

But I digress. Back to tea. I like that well-known line by Henry James:" Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea." From The Portrait of a Lady

 

Karin

 

ps Doug, I meant to add that I wish you a pleasant evening on Saturday with the young lady you met on Rotterdam who works for Whole Foods. Have a lovely time!

[SDHALFAN]

They are? That's news to me!

 

 

Sorry Doug but I think that AWED23 may be right. For the past 6 months or so my snail mail box had been inundated with brochures from Cunard. I get a few brochures from Princess but Cunard is just dumping those things on me on a regular basis.

 

I am a dedicated HAL cruiser (gee what a surprise;) ) and have no interest in either Cunard or Princess so wish they would save a few trees and take me off their mailing lists.

 

Once I get that silver medallion from HAL early next year (just a personal goal - no particular reason other than that) I may look around for another cruiseline with some interesting itineraries but I would prefer to seek them out rather than be bombarded by brochures in which I have no interest at all.

 

Valerie:)

[dougnewmanatsea]

Host Doug, you state that HAL makes the mistake of serving tea in the dining room....Sure you want to go with that or perhaps you might want to ammend it to, "occasionally" utilizes the dining room......??????

OK, "occasionally" then. The point is that they do it - even if not every single day - and it is a mistake.

 

I did indeed commit a major faux pas by saying that "Cunard owned Princess". I was confusing Cunard with P & O, another British line. It was P & O (Peninsular and Orient Steam Navigation Company), which purchased Princess in 1974. That was the British connection I was thinking of. The company became Princess/P & O, or is it P & O/Princess? In any case, Carnival purchased Princess/P & O in 2003.

There you go!

 

P&O Steam Navigation didn't actually become anything - they spun off their cruise operations as P&O Princess Cruises plc in 2000. In 2003 this merged with Carnival Corporation. Now it is called Carnival plc and is half of Carnival Corporation & plc.

 

ps Doug, I meant to add that I wish you a pleasant evening on Saturday with the young lady you met on Rotterdam who works for Whole Foods. Have a lovely time!

LOL, now that I re-read my post I see I gave the wrong impression! It's not a date, it's a reunion of the people who sat at our table which we do from time to time, and the lady in question will be the oldest one there :) ! She's a retiree who works in Whole Foods part-time.

 

(I will have a lovely time though... Just not in the way I inadvertantly made it sound ;) !)

 

Sorry Doug but I think that AWED23 may be right. For the past 6 months or so my snail mail box had been inundated with brochures from Cunard. I get a few brochures from Princess but Cunard is just dumping those things on me on a regular basis.

Interesting. I'm a past passenger of both but I get a lot more Princess stuff than Cunard.

 

However, both Princess and Cunard send me a lot more direct mail than any other cruise line. Princess has been this way as long as I can remember... And they're plenty successful. So I wouldn't say that the amount of direct-mail stuff coming in is any way an indication that the cruise line has trouble attracting passengers.

[SDHALFAN]

 

Interesting. I'm a past passenger of both but I get a lot more Princess stuff than Cunard.

 

However, both Princess and Cunard send me a lot more direct mail than any other cruise line. Princess has been this way as long as I can remember... And they're plenty successful. So I wouldn't say that the amount of direct-mail stuff coming in is any way an indication that the cruise line has trouble attracting passengers.

 

Okay, so why are they constantly inundating me with their brochures if they are not having trouble filling all their staterooms?

 

Valerie:confused:

[dougnewmanatsea]

Okay, so why are they constantly inundating me with their brochures if they are not having trouble filling all their staterooms?

It's just the way Princess does business... And have for as long as I can remember.

 

Considering how profitable Princess is, I guess it must work.

[SDHALFAN]

It's just the way Princess does business... And have for as long as I can remember.

 

Considering how profitable Princess is, I guess it must work.

 

 

It isn't Princess that is sending me all the brochures, it's Cunard. I have had six brochures from them in the past two weeks. Princess hasn't been sending me any more than HAL has and Crystal only sends me one every six months or so.

 

Valerie:)

[AWED23]

;) ;)

Sorry Doug but I think that AWED23 may be right. For the past 6 months or so my snail mail box had been inundated with brochures from Cunard. I get a few brochures from Princess but Cunard is just dumping those things on me on a regular basis.

 

I am a dedicated HAL cruiser (gee what a surprise;) ) and have no interest in either Cunard or Princess so wish they would save a few trees and take me off their mailing lists.

 

Once I get that silver medallion from HAL early next year (just a personal goal - no particular reason other than that) I may look around for another cruiseline with some interesting itineraries but I would prefer to seek them out rather than be bombarded by brochures in which I have no interest at all.

 

Valerie:)

Valerie, I get a minimum of 3 flyers/brochures per week from Cunard....I have sailed on many different cruise lines and enjoyed almost every one..The first in an "Inside deluxe" on the original Love Boat, Island Princess in 1974....Was great!...The last on the Prinsendam was fabulous!....48 cruises now but I must admit that 26 [326 days] have been aboard HAL ships...Lucky for me they also have all been in suites. They are, for MY tastes the best on overall balance between luxury and value. Regent, Silver Seas and Seabourn are certainly better but We enjoy the demographics of those who are generally aboard HAL ships. Having said that I must admit that in 2007 We are going on Silver Shadow in January,Ryndam in April, 2 French Water Ways back to back in July and then on Regent Navigator in September.....I hope no body is chasing me!....You are from my very favorite city, San Diego. Correct?

[dougnewmanatsea]

It isn't Princess that is sending me all the brochures, it's Cunard.

Are you a Princess and/or Cunard past passenger?

 

I am a past passenger of Princess, Cunard, and HAL.

 

Personally, I would say I get mail from Princess on average once a week and from Cunard perhaps ever two weeks. No coincidence that these two brands (same people) send a lot more "stuff" than everyone else.

 

If you are a past passenger of HAL but not Princess, you might get a lot of Cunard stuff but not a lot of Princess stuff because they figure a HAL past passenger might want to step "up" to Cunard but not "down" to Princess.

 

If you're a Princess past passenger, I'm at a loss as to why I get so much more stuff than you do.

 

Anyhow, the point is, Cunard is part of Princess. They've always loved to send out direct-mail stuff and now they do the same for Cunard as well. I've been getting a flyer a week from Princess for years and years and this doesn't mean they're not successful; the fact that you get a lot of mail from Cunard doesn't mean they're not successful either, it just means that you are obviously somebody they want to target as a passenger. (I wouldn't be surprised if they judge how much "stuff" to send you by your age, cruising patterns, etc...)

 

Anyhow, I'm not sure how we got on this topic from tea, but digressing is part of the joys of Internet message boards :) !

[AWED23]

:D Now you have done it to me again. At 74 I admit that I am easily confused...Cunard is a step up from HAL?...Surely you jest.Tongue in cheek perhaps? When I was aboard the QM2 for 9 days I was in a Queens Grill suite. It was almost as large as the HAL suites but not quite. It wasn't their smallest but it was not a "Grand Suite" either. Our "Butler" was a very pleasant young lady from Holland. I asked about shoe service and was told that she would try to find ME some polish etc..Hmmm...Asked about a reservation in one of the alternative dining rooms and was told to see the concierge in her lounge.Hmmmm....Concierge let me know that she was busy and perhaps I might try calling myself and saving us all a lot of "bother". Hmmmm...I guess HAL has spoiled me.Room steward takes shoes when put out. Cleaning and laundry done promrtly AND GRATIS...The Concierges in the Neptune Lounges are uniformly prompt,polite and professional!...If a person is fortunate enough to be able to travel on the QM2 in the Queens Grill class then they will experience dining as only the Luxury class lines provide....But if you are in an ordinary cabin....oh oh and oops, not so good. The staff in the public rooms does not come even close to the friendly and gracious staffs on HAL, Silver Seas, Regent,or Seabourn. These are the only ones mentioned because they are the only other lines I have been on in the past 4 years....I guess I am just amused that you regard Cunard a step "UP"...IT is a 2 class line in my view so I guess I need to know which class you refer to..??..Isn't opinionating fun?..LOL

[dougnewmanatsea]

Cunard is a step up from HAL?...

In the Carnival scheme of things, yes, it's supposed to be. In the US market, it goes something like this:

 

Carnival -> Princess -> HAL -> Cunard -> Seabourn

 

We're talking theory here... Not reality. Who has a better product in real life? I'd say HAL, without question, with the exception of entertainment and enrichment which is much better on Cunard.

[SDHALFAN]

Are you a Princess and/or Cunard past passenger?

 

Nope, I have never had the slightest interest in either line, that's why I get so ticked off about all the stuff they are sending me. Oh well, at least I get some exercise while hauling it all out to the recycle bin.

 

Valerie:D

[dougnewmanatsea]

Nope, I have never had the slightest interest in either line

I'm sure that's it then. They think HAL past passengers will be more interested in Cunard than in Princess, so they send you more mail.

 

As a past passenger of both, trust me... Princess send out even more direct mail for themselves than for Cunard.

[Gerd]

Dear all,

 

I am surprised to see in witch direction this threat is drifting. Initially it was “HAL can't do teatime”, but you are all right.

 

Hal is not really the cruise line with advertising E-Mails / and also not really a fully communication source.

And if you live outside of the US, then you are on your own……

 

They do not send anything to you, and even being close to 100 very appreciated HAL cruising days, they are not able to send me its Mariner Society News !!!

 

But hello, today while the Internet can do almost everything, its HAL excuse for no shipping to non-US residents (because extended postal cost), is not understandable. It is a shame to see that HAL Web-Master does not takes action to fix this stupid – and not really existing barrier.

 

Just now, it’s HAL web-side http://www.hollandamerica.com/mariner/mariner.do shows up with an empty page…..

 

We have had a time; one was able to login via the Mariner Member Number, than one could download the PDF file. But the last one was spitted into multi-selective pages, which disabled the possibility to download it.

 

Why they cannot establish continuity and logic in there Web performance ?!?

 

 

 

 

But even while some HAL behavior bothers me really, I don’t want to stop to go cruising on those marvelous HAL vessels…..

 

 

Cannot wait any longer to go on my next cruise in March 2007

 

Save cruising

 

G E R D

 

 

 

 

 

Our marvelous cruises :

 

MS Ryndam – Wayfarer – March 1997

MS Noordam - Transatlantic Island Hook - April 2001

MS Volendam - Southern Caribbean - April 2002

MS Volendam - Westfarer Caribbean - April 2004

MS Prinsendam - Windmills & Waterford – September 2004

MS Westerdam - Western Caribbean - April 2005

MS Statendam - Hawaii Circle - September 2005

MS Rotterdam - Vikings and Czars – July 2006

 

94 days - 25'425 Nm

 

 

 

Future Cruise :

 

MS Veendam - Southern Caribbean – March, 18 2007

 

:)

[Blackneto]

 

But hello, today while the Internet can do almost everything, its HAL excuse for no shipping to non-US residents (because extended postal cost), is not understandable. It is a shame to see that HAL Web-Master does not takes action to fix this stupid – and not really existing barrier.

 

Just now, it’s HAL web-side http://www.hollandamerica.com/mariner/mariner.do shows up with an empty page…..

 

We have had a time; one was able to login via the Mariner Member Number, than one could download the PDF file. But the last one was spitted into multi-selective pages, which disabled the possibility to download it.

 

Why they cannot establish continuity and logic in there Web performance ?!?

 

As someone who deals with issues like this for my customers on a regular basis, I can tell you it boils down to one thing: Management Buy-In.

If the manager in charge of the website, be it a one page info website or a fully loaded e-commerce site, does not feel it's worth the expense to give the visitor a pleasant experience then the website will be crap.

 

The company I'm contracted to is a major insurance company. when the WWW became popular for business they lacklusterly put up some simple web pages. Thier reasoning was that the agents provide the business, why should we spend money on this.

When other insurance companies like progressive, geico and others fully invested in providing accurate and easy to navigate webservices they profited. My company has been playing catch-up in this area ever since.

 

So someone at HAL probably doesn't beleive that providing anything other than what they have is worth the time and expense involved to provide a cohesive web experience.

Or like the company in my example, they are trying to play catchup.

[kakalina]

Lets get this back on track.

Anyone tried the amzingly wonderful butter cake at the High Tea?? Wow it is soooo good.

[Stevesan]

Lets get this back on track.

Anyone tried the amzingly wonderful butter cake at the High Tea?? Wow it is soooo good.

 

Huh????

 

Actually, some of these folks, including our host, need to get a chat or IM room. :rolleyes: