Zuiderdam RSVP 2008

[Typhoon1]

Is it February yet ?

[M&D]

Hi guys,

 

Just got back from London this afternoon after the Queen Mary sailing and it was a blast, just like all the other RSVP cruises I have been on. The ship was gorgeous, the food was delicious and the crowd was enthusiastic. Again it was a wide range of cruisers from the more "mature" to the 20 somethings. It was actually quite a bit younger than I imagined that it would be. It was certainly different from the Caribbean cruises party-wise simply because all the parties with the exception of the sail away were held inside. So needless to say, they were packed, the music was great and everyone seemed to be having a blast.

 

The entertainment was top notch--Suzanne Westenhoffer, Margaret Cho, Amy and Freddy, RJ Helton, the Callaways, and more that I know I am missing in my fog of jetlag. The movie "Save Me" with Chad Allen, Judith Light and Robert Gant was "premiered" and should not be missed when it makes it to your area. A question and answer session followed the movie with only Chad not on board as he is in the middle of the California Aids Ride--Go Chad Go!

 

There was no "one" cruise director onboard as the duties were shared between several different people. Paul J Williams returned as Sister Helen for bingo and was a complete blast. I heard unofficially that Danny Williams resigned RSVP 2 weeks ago, but that is just gossip. The Memory DVD will be released online in a few weeks as I'm sure that is one of the many steps being done to save cash.

 

I did go to the "future sales" presentation and pointedly asked what was going on with RSVP while PlanetOut was in financial turmoil. I told them that there are many people who are "anxious" about what is going to happen to RSVP and some are hesitant to book and others have already canceled future bookings. Their response was that all cruises that have been announced are locked in and will "absolutely go" as planned next year. I asked about the comment that was made in the San Francisco paper and was told that what was said was a misquote. Instead of saying all 2008 cruises would be canceled, RSVP would not add any additional sailings should PlanetOuts financial situation continue to unravel and again was told that all 2008 cruises that have been announced will go. I also asked if anyone from RSVP read this or other bulletin board sites and they said they knew what was being said but it wasn't their corporate policy to communicate on sites like Cruise Critic. If they do read this board, I would encourage them to participate as their silence is not comforting!

 

I was told at this meeting that the QM2 had 2,200 people on board--not full, but heavy. The Zuiderdam next February was already 50 percent full and the only discount being offered on that cruise at the present time was 10% off if booked on board. Of course those of us who booked it during the Westerdam cruise received 450 off of balcony rooms if I remember correctly.

 

Also at the meeting we were told that RSVP has been/or is thinking of 3 day cruises from Los Angeles as well. They are also currently receiving bids on other cruises for next year but nothing was ready to be announced other than the cruises that are already on the website. The Tahiti cruise that has been posted was being sold on board--I know 4 people who booked it this week.

 

So all in all, it was a fantastic week--a once in a lifetime chance to cruise on an incredibly historic ship. The last night of the cruise I was talking to a bartender and he told me that he hoped I had a wonderful time. I told him it was fantastic and I hoped that we were a nice crowd. He rolled his eyes and said it had been one of his best weeks in 3 and 1/2 years working onboard. He talked about how friendly and polite everyone was and how much he enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the week. He did say they were a little concerned the week prior and the "leather party" had them worried. But after it was all said and done they all had a blast. :)

 

So I feel much better in saying...."See you in February on the Zuiderdam!" :D

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for the update Donny,

 

I too, feel much more comfortable saying "see you on the Zuiderdam next year". If we are neighbors again, we'll be sure to send over some cheese again.:D :D

 

Tony & Jerry

[monumax]

Thanks, M&D, for the nice report. I was looking forward to hearing what you would have to say about the cruise and RSVP's future. Will you be posting some photos anywhere? Looking forward to seeing you guys again on the Exotic Caribbean!

M&B :)

[M&D]

Tony and Jerry, I'll be hanging my head over the balcony again to see if we are neighbors!

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone again in a few short months.. :)

 

Mark and Donny

 

oh yea, I'll have some pics on flickr in the next couple of days... :)

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pa55313/

[dendren]

Great update on the QM2 trip Donny, am so glad to hear it was a nice trip. Would have loved to do it myself it I could have gotten the time. thanks for the trip report :)

[jimnbillnpa]

Hello EVERYONE!

 

Jim here from Harrisburg. Sorry I haven't been around. Bill and I have been hella busy with everything from parents to day jobs to the gallery. Made it down to Rehoboth last weekend (driving around the NASCAR race times @ Dover). Hopefully we can spend more time at the house this summer than in the past, but it's not looking good. Oh well, if we can get down every two or three weeks it's better than most people can do.

 

Donny-great to hear from you and your news from the QM2 meeting. Sounds like you and Mark had a fabulous trip. I must admit, we haven't really been paying much attention to the Planet Out story. We knew Jeff had resigned, as we had become friends with his administrative assistant on Caribbean Princess. She had e-mailed us last month to tell us she and her boss (Jeff) were no longer with the company. I guess since we've been so busy, we haven't put a whole lot of thought into the ramifications of these changes.

 

Before we worry about Zuiderdam, we have the Alaska Gold Rush to look forward to on HAL Amsterdam. So we'll let you know what we hear on THAT voyage.

 

RON!!!-You go girl! Get yourself a nice big de Ville, preferably '95 -2000. Now THAT'S a REAL boat!!! I have a GREAT pic of you and me and Flash at the cruise critic party, not even sure who took it.

 

Anyway-good to see you are all alive and well and looking to the future. It will be another fantastic Caribbean experience. And the zip lines-we need to get in on this. Is it a ship excursion or is it private booking?

[monumax]

Hey Jim!

Did you and Bill eat at Dos Locos at its new location in Rehoboth? Bob & I were down over Memorial Day weekend, and it had just opened. Joe and Darryl were a "little" frazzled, dealing with assorted problems and huge crowds. They have signed up for the Exotic Caribbean cruise, as have we.

We will be returning to Rehoboth June 29-July 7. We stay at the Lighthouse Inn with our good friends Matt & Jerry. Going to the Love Dance on Saturday night. We also enjoyed the new restaurant Pig and Fish next door to Cloud 9 (where the old Sydney's was).

I've been doing some research on private tours that would include zip-lining on Roatan and cave-tubing on Belize. I'm not that excited about the tours that HAL is offering.

[jimnbillnpa]

max! great to hear from you-haven't been to new Dos Locos yet. I was down last week and peeked in one morning. I get my hair cut next door at Beachcuts. (Robb-he's great if you ever need a quick trim.) Called Joe and left a message-they must have been recovering from the weekend. Bill stopped in last Saturday night to say a quick "hi" and said Joe was totally on autopilot. They must have had killer weekend since it was NASCAR at Dover. And Pig-well, that just sounds interesting. I can't imagine what that might be in Rehoboth. Need to check it out. But I'm getting off track here.

 

Very interested in the ziplines and cave tubing. Bill is a bit hesitant because it's not an HAL sponsored excursion. On the other hand I know just from this board and the RSVP Panama board that Janet&Maria and Mark&Donny and others did some great excursions on the Panama cruise. Please keep me posted on what you find. Anyone else too!

[CadillacRon]

Hey Jim.

We are ready to book the Zuiderdam. Actually I was ready to book before the last cruise was over, but Flash insisted we pay for the one we were on before we booked another. I just wish we could join you and Bill in Alaska. We sure had fun on the Caribbean Princess. Looking forward to meeting Bill on any cruise.

As far as getting another Cadillac...with gas prices so high I'm thinking Toyota or Hundai.(sp?)

Hope all of our friends from CP will be there again...it was amazing.

Ron

[Typhoon1]

Back to page 1.

[Typhoon1]

again

[monumax]

Typhoon,

I was very puzzled by your last two posts, until it finally entered my thick head that you were bumping this thread back to the first page!

Good job!

I keep checking this site periodically to see if anyone is posting, but there hasn't been much to talk about lately. We were holding off getting our airline tickets to see for sure if the cruise would indeed happen, but now that things seem definite we are looking into our air arrangements.

Looking forward to going to Rehoboth Beach Delaware at the end of this week for 8 days and shopping for beach/cruise clothes. Yay!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

[Typhoon1]

Just trying to keep the thread alive Max. We booked our air back in April, so it's probably safe to do. I know there are several others that have booked air also. It looks like the two upcoming cruises are going to do okay.

 

Alaska should sell out. Now that the QM2 is behind them, hopefully, RSVP can get themselves back on track. February will be here before you know it.

[jimnbillnpa]

Hey Gang!

 

Max!! Are you going to be at the beach July 4th? Ran into Jerry from the Lighthouse at a friend's store on route 9. Ask him about the Veggie Shack. Bill and I will be down for a wedding 7/7/07 @ 7:00pm

 

Ron-my buddy in Boca Raton traded his Escalade in for (get this) a PRIUS!!!! It's the responsible thing to do these days.

 

Okay, okay I need to get back on track here. typhoon-haven't booked air yet-we've been busy trying to get ready for two trips to Seattle, one in July for family and another in September for the Gold Rush cruise. A decent thread has already started on that. I only just checked in tonight-is the other Caribbean thread still goiing that was the leftover from the past Caribbean cruise? I need to check. I know Matt and Donny & Mark were contributing a lot.

[jimnbillnpa]

Apologies to Matt and Donny. I see they have both contributed earlier in this thread. I need to stop logging in so late at night after a hard day. And as for the old Caribbean Princess thread, IT'S GONE!!! Searched and looked for threads I was in and it's no longer there. That's a shame since it was so big. I know there were well over a 1000 posts. Did everyone just get bored or do they pull a thread off after so many months past the actual cruise?

[Boytjie]

Apologies to Matt and Donny. I see they have both contributed earlier in this thread. I need to stop logging in so late at night after a hard day. And as for the old Caribbean Princess thread, IT'S GONE!!! Searched and looked for threads I was in and it's no longer there. That's a shame since it was so big. I know there were well over a 1000 posts. Did everyone just get bored or do they pull a thread off after so many months past the actual cruise?

 

It's still there, just back a couple of pages. Matt was the last one to post to it on May 4th.

[monumax]

Yes, in just 6 more hours we will be heading to Rehoboth and staying until Saturday the 7th. We will be staying at the Lighthouse Inn, so I'll be sure to ask Jerry about the the Veggie Shack. I NEED A VACATION!:cool:

 

I have the 2007 Caribbean Cruise thread bookmarked, and occassionally I check it out to see if any more posts have been added. I guess there is no reason to anymore. :( It's sad, but now we have this cruise to plan!:)

[CadillacRon]

All this talk about booking airfare for the cruise...one of the most wonderful things about living in Fort Lauderdale is that my RSVP vacations are just a 10 minute drive from home. Of course there is a price to pay...stinky hot summers, hurricanes, outrageously high property taxes etc.

However, the fact that we don't have to deal with flying makes these cruises an easy sell at our house. An April trip to Hawaii for my parents' 50th anniversary confirmed that. By the time we got back to Fort Lauderdale we needed a vacation.

We still haven't booked yet. But it's coming. And we are on a campaign to recruit a whole pack of our friends to join us. Beware.

Ron

[Typhoon1]

Better get with the program Ron, someone reported that the cruise was 50% booked. If you wait too long, all the good cabins will be gone.:eek:

 

It's probably going to cost more now. Donny reported they were only offering a 10% discount on board the QM2.

[M&D]

Hey guys, we are still alive and well....working lots to pay for all these damn crusies! Our next one is Alaska the week after the RSVP Alaska cruise. Would love to do that too but that is pushing the envelope a little. It would be great to drag all my family on the RSVP cruise but I don't think they could handle it! So we'll be doing the "straight" thing and looking for the FOD meetings ourselves.

 

After flying in and out of Ft. Lauderdale the past few years we have discovered that the best fares seem to pop up about 3 months from the wanted air travel date, give or take a few weeks. I've already started looking but I know the prices will come down.

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone again in February! Have a great RSVP Alaska Cruise! Maybe we'll see some of you around Seattle somewhere when we arrive on the 15th.! :D

 

M&D

[Typhoon1]

Wishing you all a happy Independence Day.

[Typhoon1]

One more time.

[Typhoon1]

Happy Friday the 13th.

[Typhoon1]

Once more