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Old 4 Jan 20, 12:56 PM  
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#11
CC71
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Originally Posted by KarenG View Post
Hi all

Trying to find an itinerary that ticks a few boxes and meets our prescribed dates and can only find one with HAL.

We’ve cruised with DCL, NCL, Celebrity and love them all for different reasons (dining, value for money, entertainment, beverage package!).

I’m worried HAL may be too ‘old’ or ‘formal’ for us. It’s a two week cruise so I don’t want to dislike being onboard even though it’s the ports of call that are most appealing.

Appreciate any thoughts :-)

Thanks
Karen
Hi Karen
We have cruised with NCL and Celebrity too and tried our first HAL cruise last September on the Koningsdam, one of their newer ships and we had a fabulous time. I am late forties and my husband is late fifties but we are both fit and active. The crew were amazing, so friendly and the bar staff were awesome and would prepare our favourite cocktails when they saw us approaching! The food was great too, the buffet was especially good as the variety was great with lots of pan Asian choices which we especially liked and were freshly prepared in front of you. We went for second sitting dining as we were with family and again really enjoyed the service and food. They have gala nights now, rather than formal, so a summer dress or chino trousers that kind of thing. We like to dress for dinner but it was nice not having to pack formal clothes on a fly cruise. Another great food option was the New York Deli for freshly prepared panini and pizzas and the ‘Dive In’ for really good burgers and hot dogs, again freshly prepared and cooked to order - no up charge either! I loved the skinny burger wrapped in romaine leaves rather than a bun

Entertainment was good too with the Rolling Stone Rock Room and BB kings, plus Lincoln Centre classical recitals.

Apologies for the essay!
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Old 4 Jan 20, 02:44 PM  
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I could have written this thread OP! I'm hovering over booking the 14 night Taiwan and Japan on the Westerdam? It leaves on the 29th Feb! So last minute (for us!). It's a very good price! And I like the stops as they seem different to a lot of other itineraries I've looked at! We are 55 and 58! Young at heart and active! I have teens still at home so definitely don't feel old! 😉!

I'm not sure what is stopping me booking to be honest! I'm not sure whether it's because it's a leg of a much longer cruise and on CC most are doing the whole 30+ days! Might feel cliquey? They also seem much older? Will we be bored! I just don't know! 🤔.
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Old 4 Jan 20, 03:46 PM  
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Originally Posted by Jan View Post
The reason for them putting the buffet food on the plates of guests is to stop guests overloading plates and not eating half the food. Also it is more hygienic that way.
I do understand that, but none of the other 22 cruises we've been on has done that, just this one.
I found it frustratingly slow (usually expect a buffet to be a quick meal, but not here!) when all you want is 1 item and the other 6 people in front of you want some of everything, or someone thinks it's ok to go to the front of the line as they forgot something when they were in line, or I just need some cheese to go with the baked potato I got from another station that is now stone cold as I waited so long...
I like the concept, but you have to have staff for it to work well IMO
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Old 4 Jan 20, 03:53 PM  
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Originally Posted by catlady View Post
I'm not sure what is stopping me booking to be honest! I'm not sure whether it's because it's a leg of a much longer cruise and on CC most are doing the whole 30+ days! Might feel cliquey? They also seem much older? Will we be bored! I just don't know! 🤔.
our cruise was the last part of a longer journey and like you, most on the groups seem to have been doing the whole route but we didn't notice any cliques at all, in fact I'd say the passengers were probably the nicest we'd been on a ship with - didn't seem to be any rude or pushy people at all that we saw and we do notice manners!
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Old 4 Jan 20, 07:06 PM  
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Originally Posted by dee slack View Post
our cruise was the last part of a longer journey and like you, most on the groups seem to have been doing the whole route but we didn't notice any cliques at all, in fact I'd say the passengers were probably the nicest we'd been on a ship with - didn't seem to be any rude or pushy people at all that we saw and we do notice manners!
Thanks that's really useful to know. .

Did you find drinks expensive? We don't drink much but I like the odd cocktail and dh wine?
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Old 4 Jan 20, 07:23 PM  
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Originally Posted by Jan View Post
Ooh, I love that!
My husband would hate it! I think I would too 😢

I’m happy to put a nice dress on but I don’t want to be forced to.
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Old 4 Jan 20, 07:26 PM  
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CC71 - your essay was very helpful for me!

Cat lady - if you book and go please report back!

Thanks to you all for your insight!
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Old 4 Jan 20, 07:46 PM  
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Originally Posted by catlady View Post
Thanks that's really useful to know. .

Did you find drinks expensive? We don't drink much but I like the odd cocktail and dh wine?
I don't drink alcohol so can't really help I'm afraid. Hubby does and he ordered full bottles of spirits to drink in the cabin as they worked out much cheaper, and he also had bottles of craft type beer as they had offers on those a lot.
We ended up getting the free DVD rentals and watching them in our cabin with the Pepsi I took on board and hubby's drinks.
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