M/S Holiday - Review - Part 1

[phinfan63]

M/S Holiday, August 23 – 28, 2004

 

 

 

Although the Holiday is small and one of the oldest ships in the fleet, it was well maintained and someone was always cleaning ( I even walked into a glass partition one day – that’s how clean it was). Apparently, there is a bent prop shaft (or something like that), which causes a lot of vibration, but it didn’t bother us any. In fact, it was kind of nice at night – rocked you to sleep. Previous cruisers may notice this a little more than us 1st timers though.

 

 

 

Personal Observations

 

 

• Rooms were a pleasant surprise. There were 3 closets, one with shelves (lots of space) and there were 4 drawers too. BEST TIP that I got from these boards was the over-the-door shoe hangar. There is very little counter space and this allowed all toiletries, suntan oil, etc. to be within easy reach and not taking any valuable space.
  
• Cigarettes, Liquor & Perfume – great prices on the ship. EX: Carton of cigarettes was $19.95 (very limited selection especially for menthol). Liter of Crown Royal was $17.99, large bottle of Opium perfume for $65.00
  
• S&S cannot be checked on the TV – you have to go the purser’s desk.
  
• The Holiday does not have a cam that can be watched on TV either
  
• LADIES be warned – the showers are small and it takes some acrobatic skill to shave those legs J. Showers had great water pressure though – just be careful because the water gets VERY hot.
  

 

Sunday, August 22

 

Left Memphis at 9:15 and arrived in New Orleans around 3:30. Very easy drive, no traffic to speak of. Checked in at the Hilton Riverside – we had the Hilton Cruising Package for $99.00 and free parking for the week. They told me when I checked in that there was a $22.00 charge for the first night of parking and the rest of the week was free. As far as I can tell though, I was not charged the $22.00.

 

 

 

Once we were settled in our room, we headed out to Pat O’Brien’s for the wonderful Hurricanes there. We sat on the patio and had a lot of fun. It rained though so we were very wet (3 hurricanes helped us not to care too much though). Went to Bubba Gump’s for dinner. This would not be my choice but someone else in our group wanted to go there so.. what the heck. I wanted good gumbo and figured they would have it – NOT. The gumbo was not that good but one of the girls had fried shrimp that was excellent. Weaved our way back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

 

 

 

Monday, August 23 – Embarkation Day

 

So much for the good night’s sleep – Woke up at 5:15 – hate that! Went out on the patio by our room and I could see the ship! Too early though, no one to share the excitement with L. We drove our bags to the pier about 1:00 and we were on the ship by 1:30 – 1:45. Headed to our cabin (M21) and dropped off our carry on bag and then went straight to the Lido Deck for lunch and the drink of the day (Funship). There were pretty long lines at the buffet, so I opted for the pizza. It was pretty good although they could put a little more toppings on it. I am a pizza fanatic so I enjoyed it anyway. Went back to our room around 3:00 and put our toiletries away. Our other luggage showed up at 3:30 as we were headed to the Muster drill. Muster went well, it only lasted about 20-30 minutes. Went back to the room and put away everything (I’m very anal about this – I want everything put away before I can really enjoy myself). Met our cabin steward, William. He was wonderful – our room was always clean and had ice replenished regularly. Got cleaned up and went to dinner. We had table 275 in the Seven Seas Dining Room. Our waiter was Ronald and asst waiter was Marcin. They were a lot of fun and made sure we had everything we needed/wanted. I had the filet and it was cooked to perfection.

 

 

 

Tuesday, August 24th – Sea Day

 

We ordered room service for 7:00 – 8:00 and it arrived about 7:45. I didn’t think my friend was going to make it. We woke up about 6:45 and she was not doing well without her coffee. After that day, we made sure to just put a specific time. It was always delivered on time too. Our group chose to get some sun today so we grabbed lounge chairs, foo foo drinks and proceeded to get burned. Oh fun! There were a lot of lounge chairs and never saw a problem with anyone saving them.

 

 

 

Tonight was formal night so we headed back to the room around 6:00 to get ready. Dinner was wonderful tonight. Most of us had Prime Rib and it was superb. One of the girls in our party had the lobster but she said it wasn’t very good. I also tried to Pumpkin Soup (another tip on the boards) it was very tasty. The Caesar Salad also got raves from everyone. Had pictures taken and headed for the Reflections Disco. It was suppose to be 60’s, 70’s & 80’s music. We left around midnight due to the mostly rap songs (definitely not that era) that were being played.

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 25th – Playa Del Carmen/Calica

 

We docked at Calica around 8:00. This is not a very pretty picture when you first disembark since it is a lime quarry and about 10 booths/kiosks. Took a cap ($10.00) to town. Ocean was very pretty but the town was typical tourist Mexico. Store after store with the locals trying to get you to come in “their” store. Went to Senor Frogs for some shade and a snack. We had chicken nachos that were very good. Carnival extended our stay here until 11:00 – 15 hours in Playa is way too long. We were back on the ship by 2 or 3. Bought a bottle of liquor in port and had no problem bringing it back on ship and taking it to my room. No one said anything.

 

 

 

Cleaned up and went to Dinner. Chateau Briand was the choice for the night. It was not as good as the previous dinners and I ate very little of it. One of the girls had fried shrimp that was very good. One of the others had the lamb and thought it was pretty good too. Went to our favorite bar on the Lido deck for a few nightcaps. Grabbed a couple lounge chairs and laid up on deck and watched us sail away from Calica. Beautiful night but a little cool. Stopped at the casino and my friend won $80.00 at the slot machine.

 

 

 

 

 

Part II to follow

[Cotton]

OK, so far so good. Headed to part two now.:)

[phinfan63]

YOu were right, I loved it. The Holiday seemed like a really "big" ship to me - I'm not sure we ever did get our bearings. It was a great 1st cruise and plan to do it again as soon as possible.

 

Thanks for all your help over the last couple months!

[Kay D]

There you are in New Orleans with some of the BEST RESTAURANTS IN THE USA and y'all went to Bubba Gumps???? Too bad you missed the real NO food!!

[phinfan63]

I totally agree. I had so many great suggestions for places to eat. We had two rather spoiled prima-dona types with us and it just seemed easier to go with the flow. I wouldn't do it again though. In my defense though, I had never eaten at Bubba Gump's so I had no idea. She raved about the place but I can't imagine why. It didn't impress me at all.

 

Oh well, live and learn :)