Is Bigger Really Better or Do the Class(ic) Moves Still Count?

With the sea you get sky as well.

Bigger certainly is more fun to boast about, but in the end who do you really take home to meet Mom? Well assuming you don’t have me for a mom.

The MS Allure first off is coming up five years old this December, so no wrinkles yet, or at least only smile lines (and zip lines). The MS Rotterdam on the other hand has been in service since 1997, she is coming up eighteen in November, those pesky teens years almost behind her.

Small and swift the Rotterdam would win a sprint over the tall and bulky Allure, the Rotterdam being almost three knots faster fully loaded. But cruising isn’t a drag race it is all about, you know, grooving on down the line.

Maybe what the Holland America people need to make themselves aware of is that today’s senior citizens are a bit more hip then they were almost twenty years ago. I think they could make adjustments without giving up any of the classic quality of service they are known for.

Want to give me a short-term consulting contract HA? I just happen to have a couple of months free so color me “available”.

Surfing above the surf line

The “A” in Allure does stand for AMAZING.  After my in-cabin breakfast I went out and walked almost every inch of outside deck areas and took tons of pictures. At that hour of the morning it was pretty quiet so I could focus on the beautiful colors, shapes and designs around me. I even caught the wave machine in action and some surfers.

I had intended to organize my photos today but I seem to have carried away the mañana spirit from Espana. If I can get them organized I will get them posted to Flickr for your viewing.

Complete with infinity pool

The Allure has almost a thousand more crew than the Rotterdam has passengers. Think about it, two ships: one carries 1400 passengers’ maximum the other 6000. One is 1,187 feet long, the other 780 feet. And while I can’t find a height figure for the Rotterdam you have to admit that the Allure’s 236 feet above the water an impressive figure.

Older people like being recognized and Holland America does that in a five star manner. On the surface it is a very small thing but when weighed, worth its weight in gold, and I’m talking today’s gold prices. So the Allure and Royal Caribbean International comes up a little short in this area.

This is what happens when you screw up dinner reservations.

It is a solvable problem if that was one of their goals, but I doubt that is a priority for customers on the zip lines, wave machines and rock climbing walls. Though I have found this second time around with an RCI mega-ship that their guest services lines are much more tolerable. Now if we could just work a littler harder on eye to eye contact and those smiles (whether you mean it or not).