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Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

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2026 May 30; Southampton. Review and Verdict.

June 2, 2026 / / 6 Comments

2016 May 30, Southampton, England.

Rotterdam is not that far from Southampton and thus we sailed yesterday at a warp speed of 7.5 knots through a smooth and flat sea. Sun had been shining all day but today was overcast although still warm, so good weather to travel home in. Tomorrow and the day after most of the UK is expecting torrential rain, always a sort of follow up to very warm days here, but it seems that our region of Norfolk (already the driest county in the country since times immemorial) will miss most of it.

By 05.30 am. we were docked and by 07.30 all our luggage was ashore and we could disembark by 07.45. hrs. We were ordered to leave the cabin by 07.30 hrs. but when we complained about this, the Concierge Desk said that they could easily extend this to later. If you can…………………. why even say 07.30 hrs. ?  It is nice to go back to the cabin to brush your teeth after breakfast (which runs to 08.30). That would have been a perfect ending to the cruise.

And so I come to my last blog for this cruise which is my review of these 5 days and the verdict. It is as usual a very personal verdict  as I am not beholden to any secondary interest in the background nor do I feel the need to please anybody. But  if you decide to take a cruise on MSC  I hope what I have discussed  in the past 5 days and now below, will help you with making a well-balanced and informed decision.

The verdict.

We knew that the ship was a high density ship, although it had a good space ratio, due to to the sheer number of people. Most guests will always be milling around in the same area. What we had expected happened, but which helped to see how the ship operated, was that instead of the 4000+ lower bed capacity, it went up to 6200, due to the school holiday time in England. So it was a full house, a REAL full house.

Unless you like mayhem all day long and dense groups of people being together, then MSC is only workable when booking a cabin in the Yacht Club. And that Yacht club is not on all MSC ships, only on the bigger ones. And we needed it badly to keep our sanity.

So lets start with that Yacht Club, as it was really, really good in general.

The dining and the day lounge were perfect with attentive and impeccable service. Over the whole 5 nights, we only came across one issue in the Dining room. They had run out of Port Wine. We found that out on the second night when I wanted a cheese plate. The service being  6-7 star I was expecting that it would have been resolved the next night but it was not. On the one but last night, the neigbouring table asked for Port Wine as well …… still not available, e.g. not on board. They were offered a good quality sherry instead but that is not the same.  I had really expected that Beverage would have  run ashore in Zeebrugge or Rotterdam to get a few bottles as the supermarkets were very close by. We even did that on the Prinsendam (5 star) and I was told the same also on Azamara (6+).  This did not spoil the cruise of course but it showed that they focussed on the product but did not think outside the box. For the rest, perfect dining experience.

Day lounge: Drinks are all included (except some very top premium drinks and wines) and service in the Bar is extremely fast, good and with attention to detail. There is a buffet with nibbles all day long and changed several times a day and there is constant  live (background) music from 18.30 to 23.00 hrs. I wish we would have that on every 6 or 7 star ship that we sailed or will sail on. The is the one aspect where The Yacht Club really stands out.

The Glare: (how many crew react: Smile/greet) when I look at them: 100%.  Perfect score.

Cabin  service was slightly less good. Officially there is a butler and a cabin steward but most of the work is done by the cabin steward who seem to have more cabins than he/she  can really handle. The Butler concentrates on the paper work (very little), the mini bar, running errands, escorting to the evening shows  and also butlers in the day lounge. Every day there was something missing or not completed. To my opinion due to  too many cabins.

There is something called a “perfect cabin setup” to ensure it is 100% faultless each day. But if you are under time pressure you can’t.  That was confirmed to me on Southampton day when suddenly our cabin steward got help from a 2nd person.   A butler was there but it was not our “personal butler”,  as our butler was constantly called away by the Concierge Desk to run errands. Those “errands” gives the service that makes the Yacht Club product so good but it is not personal.  Our butler only showed up from somewhere when it was time to take us ashore for disembarkation.

There was a line of about 500 guests trying to disembark at the same time, but with the butler we by passed it all as she took us all the way into the terminal and helped locate our suitcases. That was a perk we have never seen before but with 6000 people trying to get off, it made sense, although it is very time consuming for the butlers. I would have been happy to say goodbye at security.

Main irritating thing for our cabin was on Rotterdam night, when our fruit suddenly disappeared with still a sea day to go and he also took away our front door cabin operating card. The cabin has a hotel lock, so you need to insert your cabin key to get the light on and to get the air conditioning going and keep it going. Our windows were baking in the full sun all day and it made the cabin very warm, so we had arranged via the butler to have a dedicated card. (your own credit card or related does not work it has to be programmed) to keep inserted and keep the cabin cool. He took the card out and yes our cabin had started to warm up again while we were away  So we had to get that card back.
Talking about A.C: a good thing is that when you open the balcony door, the A.C goes off, stopping guests from sleeping with the AC on and the balcony door open. And that is good for saving energy and keeping the temperatures down in the hallways.

An irritant was the MSC Foundation. This is a MSC setup that provides help and support for all sorts of good things in the world. They have a big “outlet store” in the ship, among the shops so you can see what they do. But without telling us they added on day 3, 1 pound to each charge account. So that is 6200 pounds for everybody. The money is for us absolutely not the problem but I do not like to be charged for something I did not order nor perviously agreed to.  I looked through all the whole “App” but nothing there to alert you that it was coming. According to the Concierge Desk, “it was on the pre cruise paper work”. But I could not find anything on line either. MSC does not issue paperwork, it is all supposed to be on the website or on the “App”. They offered to take the money off, and we said no as that was not the  point. But it was irritating that they took money without prior consent.

The cabin itself 16005, was well appointed and the only thing I missed was a power socket away from the desk so I could work on my laptop and charge at the same time. There are 4 sockets at the desk. Two European and two American and two USB ports. Then at each bedside there is another USB port but not so easy to reach as it is located under the rim of the lamp base, meaning it takes some poking around to find the hole while hoping that you have your USB plug the right way around as you cannot seen the socket unless you go on your knees to look under the rim.  There are no hooks in the cabin to hang up your coats if you are on a cruise with colder days. So it has to hang on the back of your chairs. (straight backed but with very little padding)  Another thing we like is a small light in the bathroom so you can see if you have to go in during tthe night. Not there, but the magnifing mirrow has a light and we left that on all night, with the door slightly ajar. Luckily not moving ship this cruise.

The only BIG ommission we had and we are very irritated about it: is that we missed the “Welcome Briefing.” We found out that the idea was, that the butler who brought you on board, would ensure that you received a 1 on1 briefing with him/her or another butler about all the perks that came with the Yacht Club. We did not get one, although we were for more than 30 minutes in the Lounge having our welcome on board drink, but the butler taking us on board did not mention  that is was supposed to happen and nobody came over.

With all the perks going, the Concierge Desk / Butler does not offer anything. They expect you to know from the briefing, or that you will to ask, and ask, and ask.  We had to piece this all together during the first 3 days and when we mentioned it at the Concierge Desk, they were fully taken aback, “startled” is the word, but they did not apologize nor still offer to do a session. And that gave me a firm indicator that they were running on auto pilot within their system. Convinced that their product was wonderful but not stepping outside the box to ensure that it remained that way. We saw the same thing at Silverseas and Azamara.

What was different to Silverseas, Azamara and even Cunard and Fred Olsen, is that you have to pay for your shuttle service in port when in the posh Yacht Club. And that is something that should not be. You get preferential tender service but you have to pay extra for a port shuttle. Nobody we spoke to in the Yacht Club raised their eyebrows if the ticket fare would have gone up by a few pounds to make it included. But it is irritating to have been sold a posh product and then having to pay for transport. MSC could do much better here.

Back to The Glare:

In the Yacht Club, 100%. Always a friendly meet & greet always immediatelly at your side to ask if you want something to drink . This is on the same level as Azamara and Silver Seas.

In the ship 0%. Not a single crewmember looks at you, smiles when walking by, or wishes you good morning or a good day. They are simply too busy and too stretched for time. When you approach them, they help you, help you very efficiently, and then move on to the next person in line, as there is always somebody in line behind you. We saw a few times some very senior hotel staff  in the ship but they were everytime in a huddle, jabbering away in Italian and totally oblivious to the guests around them.

The whole cruise is run by App. There is the daily program and your personal agenda, digitally on the phone, which you can also see on your TV. They have a lot of TV channels, including all BBC reg channels , German, Italian and the movies are not too old. That is really better than many other company’s such as Cunard, Fred Olsen etc. which only show Sky News as British News. Compliments there.  Only complaint was there was no music channel.  Only some sort of barbed wire music on the Bow Camera , which on Holland America it is were they also make the Cruise Director’s  announments.  It is very nice that they are only are only made in the hallways  (Fred Olsen please note) and not in the cabin but it would be nice if you had the option to flip the TV on and go to the bow channel.

On day three we found out that if you do not like the App, then the Concierge Desk will print out the complete daily program for you but they do not offer it. We saw the hard copy’s and then found out that repeat guests had figured that out during a previous cruise.

In the ship there is a large emphasis on retail. Nearly everything has a sales handle and not a service handle. Not my piece of cake but the 6000 guests marching around down stairs did not seem to mind so the product works.

Would I recommend MSC, from my point of view, who likes good service in general and lack of crowds: NO.

But if decide to you go, book the Yacht Club, Day Lounge, Dinning and the private sun deck (with bar and small buffet, and small swiming pool with life guard) are VERY Good. So for that one YES. (We met several guests, who purely live in the Yacht Club and only go down for the Shows and the Spa)

Will we return ? NO.

First of all, we have seen the product now and it is not ours. Secondly I did not like the Concierge Desk. They are really convinced that they are God’s gift to the world and will obfuscate any question they cannot directly answer or do not want to answer. I prefer a straight “I do not know” instead of going around the houses. Plus we never got our boarding meeting on embarkation day and you really need that to find out what the Yacht Club can offer.

Dresscodes: in the Yacht Club. Everything is casual, very casual, except the evenings, then it is smart casual. With that you seem to comply if the gentlemen switch from shorts to a long pair of trousers. They do theme nights but it is not in the pre cruise communication. So Lesley sent an email to MSC asking if there would be a white night (we had heard about on Face book) during this 5 day cruise. There was, so we brought white clothes. The white night popped up on the App for the first night, then disappeared again and then popped up again for Rotterdam night. They put the hour back to the UK on that evening as well, so people could/would stay out longer. On longer cruises they also do formal nights, so we asked the Concierge Desk how that worked, as it was not on the website.

The Answer was:
We do not pre-publish theme nights, we decide during the cruise what we are going to do.

So taking all your formal gear with you is a gamble as during the cruise you might not even HAVE a formal night. The first night was a 60’s.70’s. 80’s theme night and nobody knew about it. I overheard a few ladies in the staircase say that they would have loved to bring their “Abba Gear” with them. For the evening, for the show and for the Disco………………….   MSC really has to do better here.

Final: The Yacht club Dining and Lounge service is extremely good and on par with 7 star cruise ships. Cabin service slightly less but still good.   Outside the “Yacht club bubble”, everything is Sales Driven and with only the basic free / included service in the dining rooms and Market (Lido) Restaurant. Speciality Resturants start at 55 pounds a person.  Also being charged in pounds adds more as when you look on the MSC web site it say $55  so they make more money there.  The Cruise staff seem to do a great job with their activities but with such a crowded ship, not all who want to can participate.

Our next cruise is in coming July with the Sky Princess, Princess Cruises also from Southampton. This is a 3000+ ship, so also a lot of people . But it will not be  as bulky as the MSC Magnifica, where you have to live in splended isolation , far from the Maddening Crowd. I will hope that you will then follow our escapedes again.

 

 

2026 Feb 19; Barcelona, going home and Verdict.

February 22, 2026 / / 8 Comments

By 05.45 hrs. some 20 sleepy guests had assembled in the lounge and were by 06.15 on the coach to the airport. The check-in was already open so we could flow straight through. Although early in the morning, Bacelona airport was already very full, with early flights going to the USA and Far East via various hubs in Spain or Europe. That was maybe the reason why we were taken so early to the airport as our flight was not until 11.10 hrs.   But all went well, and flying via Amsterdam brought us back to England by 17.00 Hrs.

The verdict.

This was a very nice cruise on a beautiful ship (if Nordic laid-back is your taste) and with very good service. The weather was not that great but then we do not go on a cruise for sunny weather or to bake in the sun.

The organisation for pre boarding and leaving the ship also went very well, if you keep an eye on the Italian penchant for making everything chaotic.

The drinks package of $ 25,– a person a day, was well worth having, if you enjoy cocktails and drinks in the evening. Wine, Beer and soft drinks are included with lunch and dinner.

There is only one announcement a day, the arrival announcement. For the rest is all quiet, except that on sea days the Captain seems to do a noon time “Voice from the Bridge” announcement. There is all day, soft classical music wafting through the public area’s. Whoever choose the music, did a good job as it was never irritating.

The ship has self service laundry’s on each deck and they are free. They come with Iron Board, a settee and a TV for when you get tired of looking at the the washing machine program. Much appreciated by myself as I always need an ironing board for my shirts after travelling. (Even after having done a training class on U-tube……………….)

There is the Viking Society for repeat guests but there are no medals or tiered levels based on days sailed. You simply get more discount if you sail more. They do throw a party each cruise and it comes with a short show by the Cast.

The Glare, testing friendliness. I do this every cruise, as standard. Looking each officer and crewmember straight in the eye when passing by, with a sort of open eye stare and observe the reaction. The crew  all scored 100%,; all cheerful and friendly. And looking at their body language it seemed to be a happy crew.  Officers were less; only very helpful and friendly when approached but not always when passing by or just being around in general. That gives a total score of 80%.

I did not see any engineers this cruise but the deck department did not always make the cut and also Front desk was lacking. Not when at the desk, “all smiles and concerns then”, but when they walked by.  Special compliments to General Manager Emma Harking from England. So far the most active and the most omni-present Hotel Manager I have seen on our last 10 cruises.

The food was without exception presented and cooked to a very high standard, I just found that for the quality of the cruise and standard the choices were a bit limited in the World Café for the rest nothing what so ever to remark.

So do we recommend Viking? Please read the daily blog and if you want to have a laid-back cruise with good food, nice crew and very little challenges, then yes.   This was a 7 day cruise and the ticket price included flights from our preferred local airport in England.

We had booked the lowest standard cabin, which is still an outside cabin with balcony, as we did not have any idea about what Viking was all about.  Total cost came to £5,468.00 UK pounds, or 4567 in euros or 5490 in US dollars. That gives a British per diem, per person of  290 pounds a day.   AND WE THINK THAT FOR THE SERVICE PROVIDED, WHICH HOVERS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 5* AND 6*, IT IS VERY GOOD.

So we have booked another cruise , on the Viking Polaris in 2028 with what Viking calls The Northwest Passsage but it is more of poking the nose in (Baffin Bay) and then going back again. That is a 13 day cruise from Nuuk in Greenland and as it is a sort of Expedition ship and with difficult flights and a higher cabin catagory, a lot more expensive. But one only lives once…………… and thus we do it while we still can.

Our next cruise is in April, when we do a 5 day return to the ms Borealis (ex Rotterdam VI of Holland America) as My Lord And Master wants to see the latest upgrades they have made. It looks like that Fred Olsen has now completed / restored all what Holland America had but some of it went sort of by the way side after Covid.

I hope you will join us then.

 

Day 1, 2025 Dec. 17: At Sea.

December 18, 2025 / / 1 Comment

And Yes, it was wobbly during the night but the captain explained at lunch time that he was trying to keep up the speed as much as possible and had been running between 18 to 20 knots at times. This with the intention of getting to Lisbon as early as possible. The earlier he would be, the easier it would to get into the river Tagus, and from there into the shelter to the dock.  He did not explain that there is a low sand bar at the entrance of the river and if the swell gets too high, this swell builds up over the bar. This results in a higher top of a wave but also into a deeper trough which reduces the depth of the fairway considerable. That might mean you cannot go in even when the weather itself allows it. This is very hard to explain to guests without a 30 minute dissertation on it, so I can understand that he kept it neutral.

Captain William Sharples Commander of the ms Queen Victoria

The Captain is William Sharples and is somebody I do not know as he is from the generation after me, (I am getting old……) so I never saw him at the simulator or met him in a port somewhere.  But at least he is trying to communicate and explain what is going on.  So I expect that tonight, if the waves allow, he will speed up again, a bit of inconvinience late at night but will not be as bad as cancelling a port. The local authorities in Lisbon have already announced that if the ship comes in early, they will not come out early, so going ashore will still be at the regular arrival time.

So what are we doing this cruise, Southampton – Lisbon (19 Dec.),  Funchal (21 Dec.),  Santa Cruz de Tenerife (22 Dec.), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (23 Dec.), Arrecife (24 Dec.), At sea (25,26,27 Dec) – Sout- hampton (28 Dec.) As you can see, Christmas and Boxing Day are during the last 3 sea days.

Going back to our cruise.  Breakfast in the cabin  is possible until 10 am. and is setup in the cabin by the Butler. This level cabin, does not have a high table for eating from, so it is set up on the small cocktail table.  But the breakfast came on time and was of good quality.

Our Christmas tree

A most peculiar item arrived in the cabin last night. This seems to be our christmas tree. It is a small fir tree but no baubles nor even a bit of angel hair to make it festive. The cabins, one class up, which are the named suites like Laconia and Carinthia, have a full size tree full with decorations. So  we seem to be entitled to a tree much smaller but without a single decoration………….. The mind boggles.

This is our cabin 6109, see below, located midships right off the center staircase. So in bad weather (with 5 decks above and 9 decks below) it is about the most stable area of the ship. The bathroom is made up of two sections. A wash basin area with toilet and then a separate area for the shower and the bathtub. Next to it is the walk-in wardrobe.  The wash basin area has a door from the sitting room area to reach the toilet and a door also from the bedroom area.  None of the cabins in Queens Grill class have  a complete separation between the sitting area and the bedroom area; this is only the case with the very top suite.  The entrance has a desk to the left and a small bar with basin to the right. There is a glass storage area and a fridge. With the cabin comes complimentary (standard) drinks, still and sparkling water, and 2 bottles of spirits.  This is refreshed every day by the Butler. It also comes with fresh flowers but for our cabin this has been reduce to a single flower in a cabin. But a long lasting flower. Then there is the option for fresh fruit.  But this is only on request. It is not offered.  So if you ever book a cruise, with this class cabin, check the list of amenities in the Cabin booklet “Voyage Guide” or the Cunard website. (The same goes for  borrowing DVD’s,  see story below, no note in the cabin, so you have to know.  Then the menus for the coming day for the Grills is given to the cabin, so you can scrutinize it at your leisure.  There is a elaborate in- room-service menu but I have not been able to find out if is the same for all cabins or that the availability depends on the cabin class.

Our cabin from a Cunard photo.

Being a sea day meant lectures in the Royal Court Theatre, so we debated to go and see them and then realized that Cunard broadcasts them live and runs a replay on the tv. And, at least today, the lectures from last cruise were also still running on the tv.

So when went for a walk instead. As is similar for most ships, the public rooms are on Deck 3 and 4, apart from the Lido restaurant (deck 9), the kiddies place on Deck 10 and then the Grills on Deck 11.   Between the grill restaurants is a small lounge reserved for Queens & Princess guests with a desk occupied by the concierge. We went to see her, as we had found a challenge in the cabin. The DVD player was not connected. Cunard, at least on the Victoria, has not upgraded their TV system yet. So you cannot see your On Board Account on the tv., nor have an tv entertainment system with a large movie library. A few movies (english, japanese, german, spanish) run as a loop, but not continiously,  and then there are a number of news channels. (Weather depending)  so when the ship came out, a Dvd player was installed and you could get DVD’s from the concierge.

I think that sometime in the past, quite a while ago, a guest took out the adapter (2 pin european to 2 pin American) for own use and did not put it back. Since then the Butler has tried to fix it but did not get anywhere as she ran into onboard “Red Tape”. As that is the same within every company I knew at once what was going on. The Butler is part of Housekeeping, so she called Housekeeping but they do not have adapters as they are kept by the Front Desk / Pursers desk./ Guest services. Housekeeping calls the Pursers office, who says ———- it is your cabin, and thus your problem. And thus nothing happens.

So I went on  a mission to get an adapter. I went to see the concierge, a lovely lady from Bosnian background and explained the conundrum. (11.00 hrs.) She at once called the butler to fix it. I saw the butler after lunch, who of course explained that she could not do anything, she had tried before. So back to the concierge to defend the butler. Now I explained who I was before retirement and also explained what is in the Carnival Safety Management System and directives, e.g. that “adapter control” lies with the Pursers Desk. She went on the phone again. The message delivered must have come through somewhat garbeled as a gentleman from the Pursers Desk showed up with a European extension lead and a adapter from European to English British. 10 for effort, 0 for results.  He left and shortly after, a lady from the front desk showed up, accompanied by the ships electrician to fix the problem.  The electrician looked at the DVD player and said, “you only need a adapter, there is nothing wrong”……………. Yes we knew that. Electrician and Pursers desk Lady disappeared again with the promise to get the right adapter.  When we came back from dinner, there was an adapter on the table, delivered by the Butler. But the story does not end here, so the saga will continue to tomorrow.

Dance Class in the Queens lounge. They show it at the same time on the screen in the lounge so everybody can see the dance team at all times. Topic today was the Cha Cha Cha.

Leaving the cabin, we passed by the Queens Lounge where a dance class was in full swing and then to the shops. The ship has two atriums, the big one in the center From Deck 1 to Deck 3 that is where you come on board, and then there is a small one behind the Royal Court Theatre near the bow. This one goes 2 decks up. On deck 2 there is on portside the casino and on the right side the Golden Lion Pub. One deck up are the  shops all around this open top of the atrium.  The location of these amenities  here is of course on purpose, every day, those guests going to see the show or lecture, will have to walk through one of these two area’s and might thus be tempted to have a closer look.

The staircase in the small atrium with the staircase going up from deck 2 to deck 3 (and going back down as well). If I would get a dollar for each photo taken on these steps, then my wife would be very happy.

I think due to the wobbly weather, the Golden Lion Pub was half empty (normally it is always full, often with people who camp out there all day long) and so we decided on a pub lunch. To our utter amazement Cunard had decided to “re-imagine” the pub lunch with the aim to raise regular pub-grub to a level of cullinary heights. Which heights Mr. Michel Roux, world famous chef, wanted to achieve I do not know apart from the fact that you now have to pay for half of the dishes. Lesley had Fish and Chips with the strangest batter we have ever seen. I decided on the Ploughmans lunch and I think if a regular Ploughman would see it, he would have run out the door, cursing, screaming or sobbing, depending on his philosphical state of mind.   So we will not even dare to go for the paid dishes.  But they have beer on draft, and also Cunard now has its own beers, a pilsener, a ruby amber and a stout. (= a sort of Guiness but not as dense) They offer this also as a Flight of Beer, with 3 small glasses, and charge the price of 1 pint $ 7.50  which is reasonable.  I prefer a Guiness over the Cunard Stout but the Red Amber pale ale is very nice.

A full Queens Lounge for the afternoon recital. Please note the banners hanging from the ceiling in black and white, denoting the colour theme for this formal night.

Then it was time to move from English Culture to the music world and listen to a piano recital in the Queens Lounge.  On the keyboard Maestro Robin Collvill. he advised that he had been around for a while (playing piano for about 70 years) and still learning. We listened to a series of pieces varying from Grieg, to South American Tango and back to French impressionists. Very, very good and soothing to listen to, as could be seen from a number of the grey haired crowd who where revisiting former concerts……………..

Today is the first formal night, called Black and White. The 2nd one is formal- any colour goes and the 3rd one is Red and Gold. Also Cunard, while trying to keep up tradition, is finding it harder to keep the dress code going. Hence we received a special letter from the Captain, asking the guests to conform with the dress code or restrict themselves to the non dress code area’s. ( deck 9 with Lido and Wintergarden, deck 2 with the Golden Lion and the show lounge)  We love dressing up and have brought a different formal outfit for each formal night.  But this being Cunard and a mainly British crowd, (the germans are coming for christmas and new year, but they also dress up) 90% was dressed to the hilt. Even the Golden Lion crowd was predominantly in a Whistle-and-Flute….

Cunard christmas decorations are very nice and in the sb. forward corner of the Queens lounge they have setup a small christmas village.

While the wobbly weather continues during the evening, it will lessen tomorrow morning when we are past Cape Finistere on the North West corner of the Iberian Peninsula, the Commodore Club (Crows Nest on Holland America and Observation Lounge on many other companies) was half empty so we had ample seats to choose from, to listen to the Lady Piano player. And yes, all guests were dressed according to the Captains request.

Then after our usual good dinner in the Queens Grill, we went to the show lounge to see a performance from Aled Jones, This guy used to be a very famous choir boy singer (with 11 Cd’s) and managed after his voice broke to transform into a good classical singer (now up to 42 CD’s). I do not know famous he is in the USA, but he is in the UK, presents classical programs on the Radio and this winter he is also in the musical ELF in London. His show was very good and kept us well entertained. He is transfering in Lisbon to the Queen Anne, so he is keeping his fingers crossed that the Captain’s plan of “running away from the bad weather” is working out. I get the impression that most of the guests on board are repeat guests so with them the need to see Lisbon once again is not so much of an urge.

We will have another wobbly night and by tomorrow the wind is supposed the go down from 50 knots to about 35 knots and the swells should settle as well. At the moment we have two wave systems interferring with each other, which on occasion, causes the ship “to lurch” as stabelizers can only deal with the sideways motion (and are doing that very well)  The Captain will keep the pedal to the metal as much as possible to get into Lisbon before the wave system comes too far down and makes sailing into the Tagus River impossible.

 

Day 0, 2025 Dec. 16: Southampton. Joining the Queen Victoria.

December 17, 2025 / / 6 Comments

My Lord and Master had decided in her infinite wisdom that we were going away for Christmas on a cruise. A combined Christmas and New Years cruise was not possible as we had also booked New Year (3 nights) at our favourite hotel where we have been going for 7 years now, and if we would cancel we cannot get another booking (at least not in the same large room) as the hotel is very popular. It is the only New Years Hotel far and wide that insists on Black Tie for New Years Eve and does not allow bookings for just one evening. Thus you get a sort of community and atmosphere that is “all in the same boat” for 3 days.

The ms Queen Victoria, sister to the ms Queen Elizabeth. They are an enlarged Vista Class of Holland America, what HAL calls the Signature Class. But with the Queens & Princess Grills diningrooms up top, instead of just one restaurant, the lay-out is considerably different.

The number of ships sailing from the UK and who do a Christmas-only cruise is very limited and thus the decision was that we were going on the Queen Victoria. Not directly our favourite choice since the double – not so good–  experience on the Queen Anne (see the write ups on this website). However the Queen Victoria has a nice lay-out and as an enlarged Holland America Vista/Signatuture Class ship it is some what smaller (2000 guests) then the Queen Anne (HAL Pinnacle Class but with 500 extra guests). To add to the festive feeling it was decided that we would travel in the Queens Grill and we booked a Penthouse (Q3) which is in the center of the ship. With a cruise going to the Canaries it is not directly a good a idea to have a cabin in the bow or the stern, even while we are better sailors than most of the guests on board. 40 years of wobbly weather training never leaves you. It is the same like swimming or bicycling, the routines always remain with you.

As the trains in england are highly un-reliable to travel if you need to be somewhere on time, we drove down to Southampton the day before. We had an arrangement with the Hilton hotel for a “cruise arrangement”. Stay overnight and then have parking rights for the 12 night cruise. Cost is about 5 pounds a night for the parking and the whole arrangement includes a taxi to and from the ship.

I have stayed a lot in Hilton hotels during my sailing life and I always found the service very good with nice rooms. So we were surpised that the rooms in this Hilton do not have small fridges. We got 2 bottles of still water but they were warm from standing in a warm room for one or more days. Why NO in England ?, but YES in the USA and YES in the Netherlands?  Why will remain most likely a mystery forever. It is even stranger if one takes into account that Hilton Garden Inn, that is one step down from regular Hilton, do have them………………….. The dinner in the in-house restaurant was good and to my delight they had a least 4 different craft beers on tap, so that made the evening.

Thus the next morning we were picked up by the taxi at the arranged time and driven to the ship. Cunard has a priority check inn, for Queens and Princess Grill and Diamond & Platinum level repeaters. It is just that the separation line stops just outside the terminal entrance. Thus if a long line is forming (and it always does, before they open the doors at 11.00) you have to push yourself forward to get to the “priority  ‘line”.  So we did.

A local brass band playing in the Atrium bringing everybody in the Christmas mood. Note the nice Christmas decorations. Cunard is one of the best in the industry for this.

Either Cunard is the most suspicious company there is, or very focussed on support, but our booking paper was checked 6 times before we made it to the jet walkway; and then scanned when coming on board. Boarding started at 11.30 and being first, it went very smooth. Then you are told to go to your muster station first, before you can go to your cabin. (Top cabins were already done, the rest of the cabins by 13.00 hrs.) For us that worked out fine as our station C, is aft of the atrium and so we took the stern lifts to deck 6 and then walked forward. On embarkation day the midships staircases are full with those coming on board and totally focused on doing that. There are bell boys and lift operators to help but it is still chaotic. It seems to only the very experienced cruisers walk forward or aft and take those lifts which are hardly used at all on boarding day.

Cunard staff were standing at the entrance with baskets of chocolate sweets to hand out. A very nice guesture but hardly functional if you are pulling a trolley, still holding your embarkation papers and carrying a coat or a holdall. So guests stopped right in the entrance, to put their papers away, dropped their trolley and then peering with bi focal or tri focal lenses, scrutinized what was on offer and then to pick one or two or three, put away in the pocket and picked up the trolley again. This all to the annoyance of security who tried to get people away from the gangway. With our first flow it was not much of a problem but when the rest of general boarding started it was quite interesting to observe. This was all accompanied by a 4 piece brass band playing in the Atrium with jazzy type of Christmas music. Luckily the atrium is 3 stories high and thus the very loud sound dispersed nicely up into the ship. They were relieved by the in house guitar player and hence there was music during most of the embarkation period,.

A local gospel chair performing in the Queens Lounge. A pity it was such a short performance as they were really good.

Then it was time to go for lunch and get our table assignment for the duration of the cruise. When coming back to the cabin, the first 2 suitcases where there and the Lady Butler Ludmila and Mark the Cabin steward arrived. The cabin includes free drinks, replaced every day, when empty. ….  Then the cabin steward found the 3rd suitcase, so we could unpack everything. This Penthouse sized cabin (Q3) has a walk-in wardrobe with enough storage space for a month or longer. (and then there are 2 more secret drawers under the bed, which on most ships are full with the spare linens of the cabin steward, but not here) So far we are very impressed with both of them, with the professionalism displayed. Lesley then went for the 15.00 hrs. Gospel singing by a choir from the shore side with a performance at 14.00 hrs. and 15.00 hrs. They were very good but only sang for 20 minutes. I do not really understand why Cunard does not try to make it a bit longer, as these groups must be used to 45 minutes sets like all entertainers. We had the same on the Queen Anne maiden voyage when an Invictus – military band played for 15 minutes and then never to be seen again. The mind somewhat boggles.

Cunard, welcome on board for the first night. Real champagne, chocolates and canape’s. 

With the cabin comes a bottle of champagne (real champage, not sprankling wine) as  a welcome on board greeting and then also daily canape’s. In the meantime there was the boatdrill announcements by the captain and then a sailaway message with the obligatory “wash your hands” part. What was new, and I think very good, was that the Captain was requesting guests not to pile into the lifts with too many people, as standing close together is a very good way of passing a flu bug on. Hopefully they will all remember, we certainly will, although we have planned not to use lifts at all this cruise. With making soo many cruises in a bi-monthly cycle, evidence of doing so is growing considerably around the middle;  and we still have a significant number of them to nake in the coming in the future. So daily staircase exercise it will be.

The champagne and camapes served as cocktails in the cabin and this was followed by a very nice dinner in the Queens Grill. Compared to the Queen Anne service was much better, not rushed and with attention to detail, and the head waiters had time to come around for  a little courtesy chat, which is always appreciated. Apart from showing that the crew is friendly it is also an excellent way to find out what is going on and to stop a “challenge” from becoming a “problem”.  The Grills have open sitting and by going in at 19.45 there is ample time to make the 21.45 2nd show. That was a revue show  “Be our Guest” and it was very good. Cunard has not yet entered the stage of LED background lighting yet, so they still had to use some (marginal) props but it came with a 7 piece live orchestra and that is something you do not see very often anymore on the ships.

On departure the Captain had warned that it was going to be a wobbly night with another depression rolling in from the Atlantic. When I checked yesterday it looked like that we could sail southbound away from the area and would have reasonably good weather. (Lets say no more than 5 meter waves). But the ships sailing 1 to 3 days after us are going to have great fun with 30 feet waves rolling into the Channel.  Not nice for Christmas. We will see tomorrow if the weather is following the forecast. One thing is sure, it will be raining all day.

 

2025 Sep. 27 Azamara Cruise. Final Review and Verdict.

October 7, 2025 / / 4 Comments

We made it safely home from the Fusina cruise terminal as we had booked our own transport. The ship offered transport (to be bought separately) to the airport by coach which did work quite well.  (At least we saw them all back in the Airport). It was just interesting to see how the local ground staff managed to change something so simple as boarding a coach into a mass of confusion; including blocking the exit to the outside for those not involved.

We had organised our own transport. Azamara does offer direct transfers from the airport to the ship  but not a pick up from a hotel after an overnight.   A good job we did so, as our flight got moved at the last minute due to a strike of klm ground staff so we did not arrive at our hotel until midnight the night before our cruise.  Then it is better to get your own transport directly to the terminal yourself.

Our verdicts in a nut shell: (and this is the personal opinion of me and my wife)

Azamara Website is not good at all

Shoreside Customer service is  not good either. It was very hard to get answers out of them when phoning. Everybody blamed it on the split up from RCI, but that is were Management Leadership steps in and ensures that the transfer is smooth and painless.

Shipboard service is very good; up to excellent as long as it does not has to do with shore side. It seems that the hands of Guest Relations are tied when trying to deal with issues on board generated by the shore side. It seems that they can not even correct the letters sent to the cabins on boarding day.

The Glare:  100%.

For those who do not know what this is: as long as I have been in a management position on the ships, I have tried to improve the friendliness of my crew members. (It takes 17 muscles to smile and 30 to frown ……..so why don’t you smile…..) I do this by gazing straight into a officers or crew members eyes when I meet them and note the reaction. I have continued to this during all the cruises (From the captain downwards) that my wife and I are now making. It is not fool proof but it gives a pretty good idea of how friendly a ship/company in principle is. All companies claim to be friendly but it does not always work out in real life. Especially officers (often very Senior) do not seem to get  the message all the time.

So I am very happy to note and very impressed that the Azamara Onward Scored 100%. During the whole 9 days I did not meet a single person on board (Including Sr. Officers and Engineers) who did not smile or did not greet.   VERY IMPRESSED and kudo’s to the whole on board team. Because of this (and the Greek itinerary of small ports coming up in 2027) we have booked another cruise  on the Azamara Onward.

Details:

What is wrong with company and website ? Well it gave the wrong information at the time of booking. If you do that as part of the booking process, it becomes proof of what is booked and what you are entitled to. It still advised things that had already changed on board. When we tried to find out details about where the ship was docked and how certain things  worked, the person who answered the phone, just read back what was listed on the website.

Because of the promises on the website we paid for a  higher level cabin, to get extra perks/amenities. Only to only find out, when boarding, that these were not provided anymore.

Based on the website write up, we decided to book a Verandah Plus cabin instead of a regular Verandah. Deck 8 forward  (there are 4 of them, 2 on the portside and 2 on the starboard side)

This came with: as listed on the website.

Priority Boarding ——————  We were not on the priority boarding list

Newspaper in cabin (*) …………………..  Discontinued

Flowers in the cabin………………………..  Discontinued

Spirits in the cabin (**)……………………   Not defined what we would get

Bathrobe and slippers (***) ……………………   No slippers. We got them after we complained to housekeeping

Fruit in the cabin…………………………….   Seemed to have changed to on request.

(*) this was also still on the welcome letter in the cabin but they had stopped that at least 2 months before.

(**) we were expecting a bottle each. But you get one per cabin. Some cabins have 4 beds, you pay for four people but still only get one bottle. Except for the four top suites, there it is 2 bottles. (When looking at You Tube, there was a video from post Covid when it was still 3 bottles.)  In principle I do not even know why they bother as most spirits are included in the basic Drinks Included “complimentary” package. But if you provide/ advertise a perk, you have to do it right.

Very confusing directions to get Fusina. All information says: go to a Ro-Ro terminal but the important part that is omitted is that once you come close to the entrance you have to keep to the righthand side and security will direct you through a not-used ferry gate to a side road going to the Terminal. Once through, you get the first sign saying “cruises”.  Luckily most taxi’s know it but there was a couple who had rented a car themselves and ended up in the queue of the boarding/ticketing lane for a ferry and could not get out anymore.

The website is very unclear of what the “complimentary” drinks include. Hence I published the on board listing on one of the days write ups. We had the premium package included as part of our booking but we really did not need it. So we would not have been very happy if we had bought it (At $ 31.95 a day a person) and then would have realized that we did not need it. We spoke to a Canadian couple who were rather pi……d off because of this. (Then they tried to upgrade to the Ultimate package $ 39.95 a day, just to make it worthwhile. So they expected that they could just pay the difference of $ 8,– a day. No, they had to pay the full price so they would each be paying $ 31.95 + $ 39.95 a day………………….)

The cabin (8800) had been in someway converted in 2022 and they had forgotten to install 2 ceiling spotlights above the mirror. The asst. housekeeper was really startled about it but found a desk lamp somewhere in a locker that we could use. Good and appreciated gesture but it should not be necessary. Housekeeping was going to try to get the Electricians to put 2 ceiling lightspots in. If it works, then future ladies sitting behind the desk can be grateful to us when putting on their make up.

Other Observation & Suggestions for improvement:

*Guest Services. We had a meeting with both the Concierge and the Guest Relations Manager  about the discrepancies between the Azamara Website & perks and although they felt very sorry for us, nothing was done. We did not request anything, we will take it up with the office, but it would have been nice to have seen a token of concern. Holland America (5 star) does chocolate covered strawberries, Celeystial (3 star) does flowers etc.etc. But Azamara which hovers somewhere between 4 and 6 star, only smiles.

*Tender service. It was very bad in Hvar. This was a 4 tender distance and only 2 tenders were in operation causing (during our return to the ship) 50 guests to sit and wait in a hot tender. The other 2 tenders were housed.  I hope that will be better next cruise when each of the ports we visit, will be a tender port.

Special compliments to the Food &Beverage Manager Laze, the Exe Chef and the Lido Sous Chef who actively walked around the Lido  restaurant (Windows Cafe) to talk to the guests.

Final note: There are 3 drinks packages available.

1.  Complimentary package (everybody gets this)

2. Premium package ($31.95 a day a person)

3. Ultimate pacakage ($39.95 a day a person)

We had the 2nd level included with our cruise booking. But we found that what was included “complimentary” was more than enough. We used the package only a few times, when Lesley wanted a Bombay Saphire Gin instead of the basic gins.  So in our opinion it is not worthwhile to buy the two top tiers of the drinks package unless you want to have a upscale gin, whisky or cognac each evening. For the average drinker there  is more than enough varation in beers, cocktails, wines and soft drinks available.

Our next cruise with Azamara is to the Greek Islands and we hope that by that time the Head Office has sorted out their communication problems and we can trust their website.

 

 

01 Aug. 2025 Going home & the Verdict

August 9, 2025 / / 11 Comments

My final installment of the cruise comes a bit later then intended because when I got home, real life hit at once. I volunteer as a Director for our Apartment Building and it seemed they all waited until “I came off the ship”. Hence a weeks delay.

This morning the ship docked at Bremerhaven just before 7 am. shortly followed by the ms Amadea also from Phoenix Reisen. There were no disembarkation announcements  as everything was in the Daily Program  and everybody followed those instructions.  Internationally they call this “Silent Disembark” and there was also a “Express Disembark” where you roll your own suitcases of the gangway before regular disembarkation starts. I did not get the impression that this was very popular as it seemed that most guests first wanted to have breakfast. Disembarkation started from the top deck downwards at 08.30  but with only 900 guests everybody was off by 09.00 hrs. or shortly after.  The only challenge we had was waiting for a taxi as we got the impression that the “taxi world” thought that disembarkation was starting at 09.00 and not at 08.30 hrs. By 09.00 long convoys of taxis were approaching the dock to deal with the growing line of waiting cruise people. We made it back to the hotel by 09.30 and after retrieving our car and saying farewell to our Dutch Friends (he drives a bit faster than I do, so we do not drive in convoy)  we set off for the night ferry back to England. If all goes well, we will be home again by 10.00 hrs, tomorrow morning.

The Atrium where you come in and go out. The gangway connection is via the outside Promenade deck. The Mermaid is still from Royal Viking days, the Piano is from Phoenix and to get that piano in, they had to remove the Atrium sculpted glass pole installed by Holland America. I wonder if the company saved that one as it was a beautiful piece of art.

The Verdict.

Starting with the most important question: did we enjoy the cruise ?
Yes we did, we enjoyed it very much. Good atmosphere and traveling with fine friends made it a very positive and pleasant experience,

Would we take another one?
Maybe, if they go to a place we have never been. The “maybe” is mainly because it is such a long journey by car to Bremerhaven.

Was it worth the money?
Yes, this is a 4 star product and the cost was in line with it. 4 Star, which I measure on what is available on the buffets for choice. Which is limited compared to 5 star.

What is available for the guests to enjoy who do not go on tour and stay on board. Not much as all the cruise staff is on tour-bus-duty,

What is available  in the cabin with bedding, shower amenities, linen quality, change of linen ( new bedding only once in the 7 days)

Is it worthwhile to book a suite? Yes according to my wife and I. Also my Dutch friends who upgraded  after their initial booking found the cabin with separate sit and bed area very nice. Then there is a large number of amenities/gifts that come with it. Shoulder bags, logo coffee cups, logo water bottles, logo pins, logo pens, full fridge with free drinks, and nibbles,  A posh box with shower amenities for him and her, The Gold / concierge Room,  Two TV’s in the cabin. (including international programs), special luggage labels, champagne (by the end of the week we had had 3 of them) Attentive cabin service. Voucher for free massage, voucher for champagne breakfast. Early booking option for specialty Restaurant.   We thought it was well worth the money.

What is REALLY different to other (main stream) companies.
A. No announcements in the cabin. Only announcements made are for scenic cruising. Arrival announcement Yes, only one and not in the cabin. All announcements also come over the Bow View Channel so you can just switch it on. Every German reads the daily program and is on time for whatever they are involved in. Compare that with a lot of company’s who are very irritating with announcements in the cabin such as: Fred Olsen, Saga, Celebrity etc. etc. But this was a “peaceful cruise” and if you wanted noise, you went and found it, the peace in the cabin was never disturbed.

B. Official ships tour guides on every bus, in addition to the local tour guides, It is something that company’s used to have in the “good old days”. It must be appreciated by the guests when on tour. This is not the same as we see with other company’s where they put a “crew escort” on board for a free-bie and who then sits the whole tour in a corner on the cell phone or runs off as soon as the bus stops. No these were the professional ships cruise staff, in uniform and helped the guests off the bus and supported the guests in every way needed.

C. Germans on Phoenix do not go for cocktails, they go for after dinner drinks. Thus there is no pre dinner cocktail music in the lounges until about 20.00 hrs. After dinner there is music for the rest of the evening and the lounges are full.

D. Everything starts exactly on the time indicated in the daily program. So if there is a get-to-gether or a party, guests arrive early, so everything can start exactly on time. Dining room from 18.00 – 20.00 hrs., then the serving starts at 20.00 hrs. but guests will have walked in from 19.40 hrs. or so, to find their table and to be ready for the menu.

The Glare.
If you read my cruise reviews on this site, you will see that I always have this entry. “The Glare” is something I do when I walk through the ship. I look each Officer and Crewmember straight in the face with my blue piercing eyes and then wait for the crewmember to acknowledge. The ms Amera crew were extremely good, during the whole voyage, from captain to waiters, sailors to front desk etc. etc. everybody smiled said hello or reacted in another positive way. The only one who failed (3 times) was the Ship’s doctor but  he was walking around as if he was on another planet altogether anyway.

Very friendly Captain and deck officers, very friendly Hotel Manager and very friendly and capable waiters (kellners) & cabin stewards and Front Desk attendants. Nice cruise staff but we did not see them very much as they were each day out on tour and then with a maximum of 10 hrs. a day being allowed to work, there is not much time left.

Mr. Uwe Noster, the man of the Gold & Silber level / concierge was a very gregarious man and very helpful, but although he said that he had “desk hours” we were never able to find out when as the hours were not posted in the daily program and also not on his desk itself on deck 8 Atrium.

The Crowsnest, or Panorama Lounge.  The only lounge completely left as is from the Royal Viking Days.

Other Compliments.
*The “Schone Ausflugge” lunch on the first and last day on the top deck midships. Apart from the free beer, it was just very nice to be present and enjoy it. Regardless of nationality and background. Holland America has the “orange party” but they tend to cut if off after a few songs but here it just went on………… ………………………….Wunderbar.
*Tea in the afternoon. Much better than expected on a German ship and a lot of guests did partake in it.
*Real ships escorts on the coaches. Much appreciated by those on tours.
*Maintenance. For a 37 year old ship the ms Amera looked very good. As was with Holland America keeping the underside of the balconies up to standard was a battle that one could not win, but the old Lady looked very good, both inside and outside. And it seemed that the crew were genuinely proud of her.
*Duo in the Piano Lounge, very good and enjoyable.
*Service in the dining room and lounges, quick, friendly and always with a smile (and automatically a jar of peanuts) .
*Cabin service for our section (10 suite cabins) very good and un-obtrusive..
*Gold Room, very nice for snacks and coffee drinks if you used it. It was under used, so I would not be amazed if Phoenix takes it away. Before Hal it used to be the Staff Captains cabin but if it stays it is a very nice perk.
* Very reasonable bar prices and a very good wine list

There was a promotion for a drink or cocktail every day. A pint of Guinness for Euro 4.20 / 3.64 pounds / 4.89 US is not bad at all

Points for improvement:
*Get better cast shows and have them choreographed by somebody who knows how to do that. This was awful. Full Stop.’

The backing music (click- track) was too thin and needed padding out and the lighting was from a bygone era. The spotlights on the side of the sound booth were not used while with HAL they formed an integral part of the show.

The cast (no doubt talented) were not good enough. It was a pity that the talented trapeze girl had to work in this show set-up  and in a show lounge with such a low ceiling. If somebody from Phoenix reads this, then please look on U-tube and you will be able to see what can be done with such a small stage as Holland America managed it.

*Tender service. It ran extremely well with no delays but antics of some of the drivers…. e.g lack of docking experience…… could be dangerous during windy weather.
*It would help if what is included in the “Gold service” or “Silber service” would be completely listed. There is some under the cabins specifications when you book, there is some that we found out when googling a travel agent site and some we only found out when we got there.
*Same for the suite cabin amenities. Nowhere does it say that you get slippers in the cabin or umbrella’s so we brought them with us,
*Maybe an ice bucket in the cabin for the suites” Our steward found a way around it, but with a double suite, it should be a standard thing.

Can a non German speaker survive?

YES, all the crew speak English and often better than their German. English menus are available in the Dining room, and with Google Translate it is not difficult to translate the German Daily Program.  The only thing you have to get used to, is that the cruise is driven by the Daily Program and that there are no reminders for those who do not read programs, or expect to be reminded by announcements. Phoenix really expects that as you have a brain that you use it.  I loved that part of the operation as I hate interfering announcements.

During my posts, there is always more texta than photos. My Dutch firends have also a blog running for the friends back home when they are travelling. that has more photos than (dutch) text. This is the link:

https://www.polarsteps.com/RuudvanD/18239437-bremerhaven-en-cruise-amera-naar-noorwegen?s=ea486edc-5129-47a0-a9ae-e71c3a170923

A very nice touch was the thank you letter, see below, we received 7 days after the end of the cruise, something I have not seen any other companies do, apart from trying to have you book another cruise. This felt quite personal as the Captain and Cruise Director laid the link between the ship and the guest, instead of just some vague general / letter / email from somebody in the head office.

Willkommen zu Hause
Sehr geehrte Frau Schoonderbeek,
sehr geehrter Herr Schoonderbeek,
Reisenleiter Herz

vor wenigen Tagen haben wir Sie an der Gangway von MS Amera verabschiedet. Hoffentlich hatten Sie eine angenehme Heimreise und sind gut nach Hause zurückgekehrt.

Dem gesamten Schiffsteam rund um Kapitän Dariel Valdes und Kreuzfahrtdirektor Joe Liemberger war es eine große Freude, Sie an Bord zu umsorgen und mit Ihnen gemeinsam schönste Reiseziele erleben zu dürfen.

Wir hoffen, dass Sie sich bei uns rundum wohlgefühlt haben und die Reise Ihren Wünschen und Erwartungen entsprochen hat. Am meisten würde uns freuen, wenn Sie sich noch lange an viele schöne Momente und Erlebnisse Ihrer Reise erinnern.

Auch der schönste Urlaub ist irgendwann zu Ende, und nun wünschen wir Ihnen, dass Sie ganz entspannt in Ihren Alltag zurückkehren.
Vielleicht schmieden Sie ja schon wieder Pläne für die nächste Auszeit.
Dem gesamten Phoenix-Team an Bord wie an Land wäre es eine große Freude, Sie recht bald wieder mit einer neuen Reise begeistern zu dürfen. Seien Sie stets an Bord von MS Amera oder einem der anderen Schiffe von Phoenix Reisen auf das Herzlichste willkommen!

Wir wünschen Ihnen alles Gute und senden Ihnen herzliche Grüße.

Willkommen an Bord! – Willkommen zu Hause!

Ihr

Michael Schulze
Direktor Schiffsreisen
Bonn, den 08.08.25

2024 August 23 4 day taster cruise Celebrity Apex Review.

September 5, 2024 / / 2 Comments

Good morning,

our travels continue and after the Silver Spirit we have now tried Celebrity Cruises with the Celebrity Apex with a 4 day taster cruise from Southampton o Southampton. We tried the Celebrity Eclipse and Celebrity Silhouette before so now we had the chance to see the newest class of Celebrity ships.

This review can be found to the right of this post under the header:

My Cruises and Reviews

Please click on it, and then go one more time to the right and you will see the name of the ship and click again.

I hope you will find it interesting and maybe diverting.

 

2024 July 02 ms Silver Spirit Cruise Review

July 2, 2024 / / 7 Comments

Good morning,

our travels continue and after the Queen Anne we have now tried a new companyfor us:  Silver Sea with a cruise on board the ms Silver Spirit.  Reason for this company/ship was that it made a round voyage from Southampton so we did not have to fly,

This review can be found to the right of this post under the header:

My Cruises and Reviews

Please click on it, and then go one more time to the right and you will see the name of the ship and click again.

I hope you will find it interesting and maybe diverting.

 

2024 June 05 Queen Anne Maiden Voyage review

June 5, 2024 / / 19 Comments

Good morning to All,

I have been quiet for an awful long time, mainly due to all the work on the 5 Holland America Line history books.  Part II & II were presented to the CEO of HAL, Mr. Gus Antorcha.  Part III (photo book covering the periode 1872 – 1922) was published in December 2023 and now I am working on Part IV and Part V. These together cover the HAL period in photos between 1922 and 2023.

But since I am retired, my Lord and Master, Lesley, has decreed that we should make cruises. Nothing against that and we have decided that we would try all the different cruise ships calling at UK ports, to avoid flying as much as possible.

We just completed the maiden voyage on the ms. Queen Anne of Cunard, a ship that could have been the 4th. Pinnacle ship of Holland America. More reviews will follow.

This first one, can be found to the right of this post under the header:

My Cruises and Reviews

Please click on it, and then go one more time to the right and you will see the name of the ship and click again.

I hope you will find it interesting and maybe diverting.

 

 

 

 

2022, March 31: ms Volendam to help with the Refugee Effort in Rotterdam

April 2, 2022 / / 12 Comments

Good morning, You might find the below Press Release of Interest.

Holland America Line Ship Will Become Temporary Home for Ukrainian Refugees in the Netherlands

 
Volendam will house and feed up to 1,500 people as part of government’s commitment to help families

 

Rotterdam, Netherlands, March 31, 2022 — Holland America Line‘s Volendam will be used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees as part of an agreement announced by Netherlands and City of Rotterdam government officials. The ship will dock in Rotterdam for three months to provide a temporary home for approximately 1,500 Ukrainians, part of a larger commitment from the Netherlands to accommodate 50,000 people who fled the war in their homeland.

 

“We are in a unique position to accommodate the immediate need for food and housing, so we felt it was very important to work with the City of Rotterdam and charter this ship,” said Gus Antorcha, president, Holland America Line. “Our company was founded in Rotterdam around the mission of helping immigrants find a better life. So today we’re proud to be a small part of a similar mission for Ukrainians who have tragically been displaced.”

 

Under the agreement to charter Volendam, Holland America Line will provide three hot meals per day, private stateroom accommodations, housekeeping services, use of public spaces, fitness facilities, internet access, and other necessities. Volendam will be staffed with approximately 650 crew members.

“We are known for our service and hospitality, and our team is ready to welcome our new guests as we would welcome guests into our own home,” said Captain Ryan Whitaker. “It will truly be an honor for us to make Volendam a comfortable and caring environment for these families who have been through so much.”

Volendam was scheduled to return to service May 15, with voyages from Rotterdam to Norway, the British Isles and Iceland. To accommodate the three-month commitment, Holland America Line will cancel three of those voyages and resume service on July 3 instead. Guests on canceled cruises are being notified today and will be accommodated on similar itineraries.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience this will cause to guests booked on the three canceled cruises,” Antorcha said. “We hope they understand the unprecedented nature of this situation and why we felt it was important to work with the government on this initiative in support of these families in need.”

Volendam will be docked at Merwehaven, a cargo port on the north side of the River Maas in Rotterdam. Remaining docked will ensure Ukrainian families can transit easily to and from services in Rotterdam.

 

Holland America Group has already been working with its own team members who are Ukrainian. A $1 million emergency assistance fund provides direct financial support. Team members from the region also receive counseling assistance, free internet service to communicate with family, and scheduling accommodations such as early disembarkation or an extension to remain on board as needed.

 

The family foundation of parent company Carnival Corporation’s chairman Micky Arison and his wife Madeleine also announced a pledge of $3 million to charities helping Ukrainian refugees. In addition, Holland America Line will look to raise awareness and funds through its On Deck for a Cause program, in which guests on every cruise may take part in a non-competitive 5K fundraising walk. The money raised will go to Direct Relief.

“We stand for peace and our hearts go out to everyone whose lives have been upended by the invasion of Ukraine,” said Arnold Donald, president and chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation & plc. “We have crew members from 145 countries and we sail with guests from nations around the globe, so we feel deeply the impact of this humanitarian crisis and we join many others in supporting relief efforts.”

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