Review HAL Rotterdam - Baltic Cruise June 2009

[D Ball]

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 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. 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.

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.)

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.

Thanks for sharing your report.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

[Nonny]

"D Ball" <dianakball@**********> wrote in message
news:225b93ed-fb16-45b5-ab48-

Excellent and very professional post. Thanks.

--
Nonny

.. . . on a darned diet
and ready to chew off
my own elbows.