D Ball wrote:
>Hi, Rosalie,
>
>As always, your review's a great read. I hope you are planning to do
>your usual bit by providing a detailed port report, especially as you
>went to so many interesting places and can also offer your
>granddaughter's perspective.
I haven't thought that far ahead. I'm still a little jet lagged and I
have a cold -- I just got home on the 28th.
>
>I am a little suprised by your reaction to the ms Rotterdam--I thought
>it was a striking ship in many ways, and the cabin accommodations were
>so comfortable and smart. But I have not sailed any other HAL ships,
>so I realize you are offering a comparsion to those.
I loved the other two ships, so this one was only slightly less than
they were and still a nice ship. Much better than Grandeur of the
Seas which I really didn't like.
I'm not sure, since this ship was newer, whether they addressed the
theatre seating problems of the other two ships or not as I only saw
one show and that one from the balcony. On the Maasdam and Statendam,
the floor was flat and seating was on couches which meant that if
someone tall was in front of you, you couldn't see the stage. The
balcony did seem to have better sight lines as the other two ships no
matter where you sat they have railings or something right in the way
of seeing anything. You either had to crane your neck or scrunch down
in your seat.
>Didn't you think
>the NYTimes-powered library/internet/music cafe was good-looking and
>wonderfully functional? It's my favorite indoors "kick back and relax"
>place on any ship I've sailed so far.
>
The library/internet cafe area was more or less the same on all three
ships which was why I didn't mention it. On the Maasdam and
Statendam, I would often take my computer to dinner and go up to the
library and plug it in so that I could do email while Bob went to the
show.
One of the problems with the Rotterdam was that the plugs were not
where I expected them to be and sometimes when I found them, they were
pulled out of the wall with wires hanging out. Also sometimes I could
only log onto the internet when I was sitting right over the printer
as elsewhere there was no conductivity.
I don't know if the ship has been maintained as well as it could be -
there was a huge crack in the lower dining room window. OTOH, the
windows were generally kept clean enough so that I could usually take
photos through them.
>I wonder if the economy/increased popularity of third-party tours has
>caused HAL to get more strict with the St. Petersburg debarkation
>process with the hope the online lore of their practice will scare
>more pax into booking the HAL tours? I remember being warned they
>might give us a hard time, but we encountered no significant
>difficulty getting off to meet our private tour, and the process
>certainly wasn't as regulated as you describe. (This was a few years
>ago, so dated lore.)
>
This is what the Alla web page said:
>*
>*# Disembarkation in St.-Petersburg is very easy and fast process and the way how it will go in your particular case depends very much on your knowledge and understanding the rules:
>*
>*a) All passengers onboard are equal and each passenger has the right to disembark the ship at the time which will make it possible to meet the guide/representative of the tour operator and start the tour on time indicated in the tour ticket.
>*
>*b) There is no difference for the Russian immigration office/officers between the passengers based on the tour operator they have booked their tour with. The only duty of the Russian authorities is to check the documents of the passengers (passports, tour tickets or visas) but not to sort the passengers due to any characteristic.
>*
>*c) The main document for each passenger to disembark the ship is the tour ticket. Tour ticket is unique document for each Russian tour operator and might have different look and design. But tour tickets of all tour operators should contain the following information: name of the passenger, citizenship, name of the ship, valid date of use, tour program of the day and starting time of the tour.
>*
>*# Cruise line administration might try to create different obstacles on the way off the ship for the passengers booked tours independently. There could be different ways of providing passengers with false information regarding disembarkation in St Petersburg, but the most common way is the informative letter brought into the cabins in few days prior arrival to St Petersburg. The information might be of the following sort:
>*
>*a) tourists booked tours independently are asked to gather at a certain place for disembarkation together where they will be waiting for the “special invitation” for disembarkation which might be after 9:30am. Please, don’t follow such instructions. For correct actions please read carefully ##1, 2, 3.
>*
>*b) Tourists can be given round-shaped stickers (just like the tourists who booked the cruise sponsored tours) with a number which will be far away from 1 to 10 and which later will indicate the order of disembarkation of the groups. Stickers with first numbers will be given to the passengers booked cruise sponsored tours and the last numbers of stickers will be given to those attending private tours. After clearance of the ship passengers are invited to disembarkation in accordance to their stickers’ numbers. Thus, tourists who have booked private tours will be invited to go ashore after all cruise line sponsored groups have left the ship. It might be after 9:30am. Please, don’t wait for the special invitation. When disembarking the ship you won’t need any stickers. For correct actions please read carefully ##1, 2, 3 and pay attention to what you will be really asked for at #4.
>*
>*c) cruise information might announce of the “new rules” for disembarkation set up by the Russian immigration authorities due to which disembarkation for private groups is allowed only after a certain time. For your correct actions please read carefully ##1, 2, 3.
Actually HAL specifically said that NO ONE could get off the ship if
they did not have either a Visa or were on a HAL tour. They didn't
even admit to the possibility that an independent tour was possible.
I don't know whether the mix-up with our photos (which had not been
resolved yet) kept the people at the gangway from checking to see if
we had stickers or not.
>Note, even if she had been interested in moving up, I doubt HAL would
>have allowed your granddaughter to participate in the teen program--in
>our experience, HAL (and other lines) strictly enforce the children's
>program age requirements. That has caused several "grumpy" cruises for
>our kids at various times over the years when they were right on the
>cusp of the next age group.
I talked to one of the teenagers (age 16) who was there with his
grandparents, and he said no one monitored the teen group and there
were even some who were 18 there (upper limit was supposed to be 17),
and that no one would think anything about it if she went up there.
The teens are pretty free to come and go as they please.
>
>Thanks for sharing your report.
>
YW
>Diana Ball
>Austin, TX |