Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews of places we have been (its really just our opinon)

HAL Rotterdam Private Tour Israel – 3 days 2 nights 10-29-11 through 10-31-11

Posted on by

Cruise Critic Roll Call – 27 days Athens to Ft Lauderdale

Sailing on HAL Rotterdam in October? We have a private tour organized.

Current cost is $990 for three days per couple – cost will go down based on our group (currently we are three couples)

hotels/entrance fees/meals/tips are in addition but should be reasonable

we have a private driver, van and guide for the entire three days and will be staying in town (off the ship) for two nights.

About our guide:

Adrian Wolf
two university degrees in addition to the official tour guide license (two year academic course).
served in the IDF (army) for six years, rank major and another 20 years of 40 days active reserve duty.
Lecture to various organizations and groups Member of the Israel Military History Association Have an intimate knowledge of the infra-structure and workings of the country.
Wrote a book A Chronology of Israel which is the standard English text-book used by tour guide students the tour guide who takes tour-guide students on a professional tour to show what/what not to do and say both a licensed guide’ and lecturer

the tour (as of now) – we are seeing quite a bit more than what HAL Is offering and of course being smaller group we are flex in what we do:

Day 1 29 October
Meet on the quay at Haifa port. Drive to view the Bahai’i Gardens in Haifa from the top and bottom of the Carmel mountain. We drive passed Megiddo where according to Christian theology the final battle will take place (Revelations 16:16). In Nazareth visit the Church of the Annunciation constructed over the site where the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mother she will give birth to the Messiah (Christos).
Drive passed Cana where the First Miracle took place (turning water into wine).

At the Sea of Galilee we visit the home of Simon/Peter, Church of the Multiplication, Church of the Primacy (where Jesus walked on the water), and Mt. of Beatitudes (where Jesus preached to the masses). Optional Baptism in the Jordan River.

Head along the Jordan Valley to visit one of the prime sites in Israel, Beit She’an, a magnificent Roman city. Learn of its importance in history, the bathhouse, cardo, theater and amphitheater where gladiator fights actually took place- the cages and tunnels have been exposed.

Drive along the Jordan Valley and learn about Israeli agriculture in the desert.

Jerusalem overnight.

Day 2 30 October
Jerusalem in detail
Get brief background to the history of the passed 4000 years. Learn about the basis of all three monotheistic religions.
Enter the Old City. Visit the Armenian, Jewish, Muslim and Christian quarters. This will include the Western Wall, via Dolorosa and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, homes of Jews before the destruction of the Temple in AD70. See remnants of the original Byzantine Church (4th century) and the gate of Jerusalem, where Jesus exited before arriving at Golgotha.
Options. Explore the tunnels in the City of David. Mt. Zion churches.

Drive around the city to see the various suburbs and learn about the political, economic and social problems.

Afternoon

A private tour of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum.

Evening – walk downtown Jerusalem, see the Walls of the Old City.

Day 3 31 October
Drive to the Dead Sea, visit Masada and learn of the Jewish War against the Romans. Swim at the Dead Sea. Time permitting we can drive to Tel Aviv and then to the port at Ashdod.

DHL

Posted on by

My history with this company isn’t very good. This is the only delivery service that has asked me for directions to their next stop. They are also the only one that chewed me out of not having my address on the house. Then I pointed out that it is on the light pillar in the middle of the front yard. Then he told me that was to hard to see I needed it on the house. I said if you look around, most of the houses here have the address on a pillar in the front yard. Very strange, but that isn’t the point to my post. I can now say they have topped my previous experience with them.

We were leaving for a trip to Canada when we saw some charges we didn’t make appear on one of the Credit Cards. We called the Credit card people and they were going to send us a replacement card in Canada. We called the Hotel and made sure both of our names were on the registration, so there wouldn’t be a question about if we were there or not.

The day they were due to deliver the card I went to the front desk and told them what I was expecting and they made sure everyone knew. They even called the other Hotel of theirs in town in case they tried to deliver it there. Late in the day we still didn’t have the card and I kept checking with the front desk checking on it. We called the company to find out what was going on. DHL told them we were not registered at the hotel. Further they told us it would be delivered that evening. So we stayed in that night and nothing happened.

In the morning we called and all they knew was that the hotel said we were not there. I talked with the front desk and a manager wanting them to tell me why they said we were not there. They all said they didn’t and that everyone was aware of the delivery. There was no one from DHL that had been to either of the hotels it seems. So we had the company redirect the delivery to our home address here in Seattle. It didn’t show up at home.

We called the company again and they said that they would issue us yet another card and would send it regular mail. We received that card just fine but that isn’t the end of the story.

I called DHL and had them check for the package and they had no record. I called DHL Canada and they had no record of it. They looked at every package delivered to that zip-code in Canada – nothing showed. I called the company and said, are you sure you even sent us a package? They assured me they did but couldn’t give me the tracking number for security reasons. I didn’t get that, but that is ok.

After almost 3 weeks from the start of this there was a knock at the door and there was a DHL person with a package for me. You guessed it I am sure, it was the package that should have been delivered in Canada to us at the hotel. It had written on it that we were not registered at the hotel. Now that I had the tracking number I went online to see what this package had been through. I couldn’t believe the results.

There was an entry that showed it leaving for delivery in Canada. The next entry said “address information needed; contact DHL”. It said that same entry for 3 days in a row then it goes back to the Canadian DHL facility. The package sat in that facility for 8 days before it was delivered to me. And it shouldn’t have been delivered to me. They were told by the Company to return it to them 10 days before it was delivered to me.

That poor little package was in DHL’s hands for 17 days and, based on what I saw, they didn’t even try to deliver it to the hotel they just wrote on the package that we weren’t there.

I called the company one more time and told them what I had found out and recommended they get there money back from DHL and never use them again. I know I won’t use them EVER!

Remember even when I called DHL they couldn’t find any record of the package. It is no wonder that they had to pull out of USA and focus on International is it.

Rim Rock Cafe – Whistler

Posted on by

 

We happened to have a gentleman sitting in between Patrice and I on a flight back to Seattle and he worked at this restaurant. He told us that after we had mentioned we were going to be in Whistler. He highly recommended the place so we made note of it. We did in fact eat dinner there and we have to say it was one of the best dinners we have had anywhere in the world. I am not kidding and I do literally mean anywhere in the world that we have eaten. We have enjoyed great food everywhere we have traveled but this was special. Let me tell you what we had.

Appetizers:
Seafood Antipasto for one – chef’s sampler of smoked and marinated seafood
What a marvelous collection of tastes this dish has.

Beef Carpaccio – sliced beef tenderloin, pickled cipollini onion,shaved parmesan, capers and mustard
I must say I make this dish myself and this was even better than my version. We really enjoyed the pickled cipollini onion.

Main Course:
Venison – porcini mushroom crusted, truffle butter, spatzle and porcini cream
This was amazing. I don’t know what more I can say than look at what was served with a beautiful piece of Venison.

The service was perfect, as was the wine selection I might add. We ate more than I mentioned but I am getting hungry writing this and it is a very long drive to go there for dinner 🙂

Pan Pacific Mountainside – Whistler BC

Posted on by

As the name implies, you walk out of the back door and there are ski lifts right there. It is in a beautiful setting and it is very well kept too. The staff couldn’t have been nicer either. We stayed in a Studio and had great kitchen facilities.

We really felt at home and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere during our stay. The only thing that seems out of line was parking was on top of the room and was expensive! At most places you end up paying for parking but usually there is a discount, at least for guests. I know it is a minor thing but it is just annoying to me. Why not just add it to the price of the room and let me think it is free. It always rubs me when you find out there is add ins. Don’t even get me started with paying for Internet at Hotels.

Aside from the price for parking we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We went up on the lifts one day and took what they call “Peak to Peak”. Peak to Peak is the longest unsupported span in the world. The weather was just gorgeous while we were there also.

We look forward to staying there again next time we are in Whistler.

Black Rock Oceanfront Resort – Review

Posted on by

Black Rock Oceanfront Resort

The setting for this place is absolutely stunning. The views are just as good too. It is located on the west side of Vancouver Island in a town named Ucluelet. We stayed in a one bedroom Condo and the view was great there too. After you take everything in though things start going downhill from there. Everyone of the staff that we met seemed very good too but the place just didn’t seem to have its act together like it should. Let me explain our experience and you can be the judge.

Check-in:
We arrived about Noon and were told our place was almost ready. So we figured we would wait so we could check it out before we went into town to get anything we might need. Since it was lunch time we went into the restaurant to have lunch, (the restaurant is covered later). After a long lunch we went to the front desk and asked about our room, again it was almost ready. I should note that we did not receive any information about the resort when we arrived, or any of it’s facilities. We asked about WiFi and sat in the bar waiting for our room. It wasn’t until after we left that we found out that they had a Business Center, that would have been better for us. We arrived at Noon like I said and it was 3:30pm before we were given keys. Every time we checked – and I checked often, it was almost ready. Not a good way to start.

The Room:
The condo was great and had a nice balcony looking out over the water. We brought some movies and tried to use the player in the condo but couldn’t get it to work. We called the front desk and they sent someone down and sure enough it was broken. They would have someone look at it the next day they said. Ok, so much for watching the movie… The next day we got ready to leave and put some items into the safe, but it wouldn’t lock. We called the front desk and they said 20 minutes and someone would be there. An hour later, we called again and were told he was on his way. After a couple more calls and 2 and a half hours later a guy showed up and put new batteries in the safe. While he was there I asked him about the DVD player. He agreed it was broken and said he would take care of it. When we returned He DVD player was replaced and worked just fine. A couple days later we were about ready to go to the front desk and check out when the phone rang and it was someone saying they were going to come over and look at our DVD player. I said that it had been taken care of a couple days prior and we were checking out.

The Restaurant:
Lunch the first day took 45 minutes to get served from the time we ordered. The food was good, not over the top by any means, and was COLD. It seemed that it had been plated and then sat somewhere. Not to impressive and the place wasn’t busy. I had Mussels and Clams at room temperature with some grit. Patrice had Seafood Chowder that was at room temperature with skin on the surface from setting so long.

They had a breakfast item on the menu that I just had to try. It was Eggs Schroeder, now when a place has a dish named after you,(yeah right), you have to try it. So the second day we were there we went to breakfast. I ordered Eggs Schroeder of course and Patrice ordered their signature dish. Yes she ordered “Eggs Black Rock”. My Eggs were great but…the dish Patrice ordered had 5 ingredients total, and one of those was Sausage. There was no Sausage on her plate. We sent the dish back. Meanwhile I ate mine and we still waited for hers to arrive. They did apologize and didn’t charge us for her dish. But it took us exactly twice as long as it should have to complete breakfast. They were now 0 for 2 and we decided we would not eat there again. Besides I enjoy cooking and we have a kitchen in the Condo.

Summary:

To the credit of the staff, both the restaurant and the Maintenance man, it turns out that they went to the General Manager and told her that they thought we weren’t having a stay like we should. She sent us a bottle of Champagne and a personal note that included her contact information.

Before we checked out I sent an email to the resort Manager explaining what we had been through and even made some recommendations to her. Now it took me some time to write this up and explain things properly in an email, and I didn’t do it just because I am such a nice guy, (although I am). We did it to provide feedback, which is hard to get when you run a business, and…In the past, whether it be good or bad feedback, we have always either got a discount on a future stay, or a discount on our bill. It is always good to know you aren’t wasting your time and that what you said didn’t go into a black hole. We were happy to learn that our email was the topic of her Management meeting. It is good to know you didn’t waste your time and that actions were taken as a result of feedback. We also learned that  that there were some changes in personnel at the restaurant that were underway prior to our email.

There are a number of places to stay in that general area and as beautiful as this place is, by no means is it a 5 star experience by any stretch. That is the downside. On the upside, they responded before we officially complained and took action when we went through official channels too.

For our next trip there we will check this place out for another stay.

WiFi Hot Spots – Traveling Locations

Posted on by

When we travel we use the Internet A LOT! Sometimes it can be very frustrating to find a place quickly and even if you ask someone they don’t always know. We have found good WiFi even when people have told us there was none available.

The purpose here is to keep an updated list as best we can of where you can find WiFi. As people send us other information about places we will try to keep this updated also.

NORTH AMERICA
Alaska – Traveling on a Cruise ship in most ports, at least in Southeast Alaska Seaport Cyber has been good for us. Most times you can use it directly from the ship with pretty good quality and it isn’t that expensive to use. They usually have office locations in the ports also.

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
Columbia, Santa Marta – Santa Marta Digital – Look for access on your PC by that name, it is free WiFi

Costa Rica, Puerto de Caldera – Wellcome SPC – Look for access on your PC by that name, it is free WiFi
Costa Rica, Puerto Limon – On shore there are many locations close to the port docks. Look for signs.

Mexico, Cozumel – End of Pier, Three Amigos, sometimes they charge but not always, so check. They like to play LOUD MUSIC so be aware of that.

Panama, Panama City – Just off dock at Alberto’s, buy a drink and it is free.

Roatan, Mahogany Bay – Look for the Red Roof, Crazy Ice Gelato. Buy something and they will give you the password

EUROPE

Denmark, Torshavn(Faroe Islands) – Library free, Bar/Coffee shop free

Iceland, Reykjavik – unknown
Iceland, Isafjordur – Everywhere

Norway, Bergen – Burger King (coffee, Fish Market Bar free
Norway, Flam – NONE
Norway, Kristiansand – Library free