cruzzzed
January 16th, 2005, 11:03 AM
Just returned from a 10-day cruise aboard the Volendam with my wife, baby, parents and sisters. I’ll provide details about the experience through this log, but the top-line is that it was a terrific experience. The staff, with very few exceptions were incredible, and did everything in their power to make traveling with a one-year-old a great pleasure.
DAY 1 – Wednesday Jan. 5, 2005, boarded at Fort Lauderdale
Our Air Canada flight from Toronto arrived on time at 3 p.m. and we claimed our luggage and took the transfer bus to the terminal with no delay. We must have been among the last to check in; when we arrived at the cruise ship terminal, there was nobody else in line ahead of us. Check in was smooth, we got our picture taken and boarded the MS Volendam for the first time.
I’ve been on cruises twice before. For our honeymoon in 1998, my wife Laura and I took a Mediterranean cruise on Norwegian’s historic The Norway. That experience did not meet our expectations. Part of the problem is that with the world’s longest cruise ship in small European ports, we usually had to tender to shore, which took a lot of time. We also weren’t prepared for how long it would take us to bus or train into cities like Rome and Florence. But the real problem with that cruise was that we made friends with other Canadian honeymooners – a pair that managed to complain about everything. We got drawn into their pit of bitterness, and found that if we worked hard enough, we could find a lot to complain about, too.
We took our next cruise in 2002, a Caribbean cruise aboard My Travel’s Sunbird. This discount cruise line used to target British and Canadian vacationers, but now only carries Brits. I believe the Sunbird is a retired Holland America ship, and is one of the few non HAL ships with a Crow’s Nest. We decided ahead of that cruise to stay away from the complainers, and it paid off; we had a terrific time. Despite this being a discount line, we found the service and entertainment (though not the quality of the food) to be superior to that on NCL.
When we stepped inside our cabin on the Volendam, I could tell that wife Laura was upset. The crib we had ordered for our one-year old was not there, and our bed had been made up as two singles instead of one biggie. Worst of all, the room was stifling. While the air seemed to be pushing cool air into my parents’ and sisters’ rooms, air conditioning in our room was non existent.
There’s also that systemic cruise ship problem that while public rooms can be beautiful, standard staterooms are mostly drab and ugly. We had opted for an inside cabin so we could afford a 10-day cruise, which made the room seem particularly dank.
We complained (politely) about the crib, air and bed and headed off for the lifeboat drill. Baby Connor was quite unimpressed with wearing a life jacket in the Florida heat and voiced his displeasure vociferously. It was probably the only time anyone on the cruise ship heard him cry.
When we arrived back in our room 25 minutes later, our wonderful cabin steward Rachman had already set up the crib and re-configured the bed. It still felt hot, but cooler than before. Things were looking up as we put Connor down for a long-overdue nap.
We had requested an early upper seating (good for baby) and got a wonderful table right at the back of the ship along the window. The meals have all sort of blended together so I can’t remember what I ate on that first night – it might have been lamb. Food in the dining room was very good. A few items were exceptional; a few less so. In general, the soups were the most outstanding part of the meal. My only real complaint was that there was little in the way of spice. I can understand that they need to keep the food bland for most passengers, but even the items identified as spicy with a chile pepper icon were not hot.
When we returned to our room, the air was fixed and we had no more trouble with temperature during the rest of the cruise. While the rest of my family went to the show in the Frans Hal lounge, I put Connor in the stroller and tried walking him to sleep while I explored the ship. This was harder said than done, because everywhere I went, staff and passengers wanted to say hi to the little guy. In his brief life, he’s never had so much attention as he had during this cruise. By the end of the 10 days, it would be impossible to walk more than 20 feet from the cabin without someone hearing “Hi Connor!” or if I happened to be walking by myself, “Where’s Connor?” I’m not sure anyone knew my name, but I didn’t care. Connor loved it.
DAY 2 – Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005 – Nassau
A very brief stop at Nassau today – the boat was only in port from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. so there would be enough time to make the long journey to St. Thomas by Saturday. All seven of us headed out together with Connor in a backpack carrier. We walked to the Straw Market first, but it wasn’t open yet, so we journeyed to the other side of town to climb the 66 steps at the Queen’s staircase. These steps lead up through a tunnel carved into the rock. I heard a tour guide tell his group that it took 600 slaves six years to carve the tunnel. (That’s a lot of sixes.) After taking in the view from the top (quite impressive) I bought a Coke from a street vendor. At home I would never have a Coke at 9:30 in the morning, but on vacation, everything’s allowed. I also reconfirmed my belief that Coke tastes better in the developing world than it does in Canada or the States.
My parents and sister Stephanie hopped in a cab and headed to the botanical gardens, while sister Fiona, wife Laura, baby Connor and I walked back slowly towards the Straw market, poking our heads into various shops. Risers were set up through the town for
Junkanoo, the Mardi Gras of the Bahamas, which was set to begin the next day. We caught a glimpse of the parade floats being stored inside the cruise ship terminal and were sorry we were going to miss it. Met back up with the rest of the family at the straw market. Prices weren’t as low as I was expecting, but it being the first day of the cruise, we all bought something. Straw hats for the ladies, and a loud, red shirt for me.
After lunch in the Lido, Laura stayed in the room to put Connor down for a nap, while my sisters and I played Scrabble in the Crow’s Nest lounge. Despite me being a journalist and author, they whopped me. I’ll blame it on the fact that the ship was hitting some heavy waves and I was starting to feel a little sea sick.
...MORE TO COME...
DAY 1 – Wednesday Jan. 5, 2005, boarded at Fort Lauderdale
Our Air Canada flight from Toronto arrived on time at 3 p.m. and we claimed our luggage and took the transfer bus to the terminal with no delay. We must have been among the last to check in; when we arrived at the cruise ship terminal, there was nobody else in line ahead of us. Check in was smooth, we got our picture taken and boarded the MS Volendam for the first time.
I’ve been on cruises twice before. For our honeymoon in 1998, my wife Laura and I took a Mediterranean cruise on Norwegian’s historic The Norway. That experience did not meet our expectations. Part of the problem is that with the world’s longest cruise ship in small European ports, we usually had to tender to shore, which took a lot of time. We also weren’t prepared for how long it would take us to bus or train into cities like Rome and Florence. But the real problem with that cruise was that we made friends with other Canadian honeymooners – a pair that managed to complain about everything. We got drawn into their pit of bitterness, and found that if we worked hard enough, we could find a lot to complain about, too.
We took our next cruise in 2002, a Caribbean cruise aboard My Travel’s Sunbird. This discount cruise line used to target British and Canadian vacationers, but now only carries Brits. I believe the Sunbird is a retired Holland America ship, and is one of the few non HAL ships with a Crow’s Nest. We decided ahead of that cruise to stay away from the complainers, and it paid off; we had a terrific time. Despite this being a discount line, we found the service and entertainment (though not the quality of the food) to be superior to that on NCL.
When we stepped inside our cabin on the Volendam, I could tell that wife Laura was upset. The crib we had ordered for our one-year old was not there, and our bed had been made up as two singles instead of one biggie. Worst of all, the room was stifling. While the air seemed to be pushing cool air into my parents’ and sisters’ rooms, air conditioning in our room was non existent.
There’s also that systemic cruise ship problem that while public rooms can be beautiful, standard staterooms are mostly drab and ugly. We had opted for an inside cabin so we could afford a 10-day cruise, which made the room seem particularly dank.
We complained (politely) about the crib, air and bed and headed off for the lifeboat drill. Baby Connor was quite unimpressed with wearing a life jacket in the Florida heat and voiced his displeasure vociferously. It was probably the only time anyone on the cruise ship heard him cry.
When we arrived back in our room 25 minutes later, our wonderful cabin steward Rachman had already set up the crib and re-configured the bed. It still felt hot, but cooler than before. Things were looking up as we put Connor down for a long-overdue nap.
We had requested an early upper seating (good for baby) and got a wonderful table right at the back of the ship along the window. The meals have all sort of blended together so I can’t remember what I ate on that first night – it might have been lamb. Food in the dining room was very good. A few items were exceptional; a few less so. In general, the soups were the most outstanding part of the meal. My only real complaint was that there was little in the way of spice. I can understand that they need to keep the food bland for most passengers, but even the items identified as spicy with a chile pepper icon were not hot.
When we returned to our room, the air was fixed and we had no more trouble with temperature during the rest of the cruise. While the rest of my family went to the show in the Frans Hal lounge, I put Connor in the stroller and tried walking him to sleep while I explored the ship. This was harder said than done, because everywhere I went, staff and passengers wanted to say hi to the little guy. In his brief life, he’s never had so much attention as he had during this cruise. By the end of the 10 days, it would be impossible to walk more than 20 feet from the cabin without someone hearing “Hi Connor!” or if I happened to be walking by myself, “Where’s Connor?” I’m not sure anyone knew my name, but I didn’t care. Connor loved it.
DAY 2 – Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005 – Nassau
A very brief stop at Nassau today – the boat was only in port from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. so there would be enough time to make the long journey to St. Thomas by Saturday. All seven of us headed out together with Connor in a backpack carrier. We walked to the Straw Market first, but it wasn’t open yet, so we journeyed to the other side of town to climb the 66 steps at the Queen’s staircase. These steps lead up through a tunnel carved into the rock. I heard a tour guide tell his group that it took 600 slaves six years to carve the tunnel. (That’s a lot of sixes.) After taking in the view from the top (quite impressive) I bought a Coke from a street vendor. At home I would never have a Coke at 9:30 in the morning, but on vacation, everything’s allowed. I also reconfirmed my belief that Coke tastes better in the developing world than it does in Canada or the States.
My parents and sister Stephanie hopped in a cab and headed to the botanical gardens, while sister Fiona, wife Laura, baby Connor and I walked back slowly towards the Straw market, poking our heads into various shops. Risers were set up through the town for
Junkanoo, the Mardi Gras of the Bahamas, which was set to begin the next day. We caught a glimpse of the parade floats being stored inside the cruise ship terminal and were sorry we were going to miss it. Met back up with the rest of the family at the straw market. Prices weren’t as low as I was expecting, but it being the first day of the cruise, we all bought something. Straw hats for the ladies, and a loud, red shirt for me.
After lunch in the Lido, Laura stayed in the room to put Connor down for a nap, while my sisters and I played Scrabble in the Crow’s Nest lounge. Despite me being a journalist and author, they whopped me. I’ll blame it on the fact that the ship was hitting some heavy waves and I was starting to feel a little sea sick.
...MORE TO COME...