Volendam - Feb 28 - Mar 10

[Krazy Kruizers]

We spent a few days in Ft Lauderdale before the cruise - only 1 non rainy day.

Feb 28 - we arrived at Pier 26 at noon. As we entered the terminal, there was a sign board inidicating that all suite passengers were to identify themselves - we did and got our gold medallion stickers before we even got into line. There was hardly anyone in the terminal - many planes were delayed because of the snow storms up and down the east coast. The ship wasn't full - 1300 passengers. We breezed through check-in and security, boarded the ship, went right to the Neptune Lounge and was told that our cabin was ready. After we scanned our cards to get on the ship, there was a crew member making certain that everyone sanitized their hands. That was a challange as some of us had our hands full with various items like our folder from cheking in pier-side. Upon arriving at our cabin at 12:20, there was a notice about the port time changes for Dominica - we had gotten that notice back in January & I posted it here on CC so that others would be aware of the change. Some people claimed that they had never been notified by either HAL or their TA's that there wasn't going to be a stop at Cabrits. I did notice that some of these people complaining didn't look like they were the type to be taking any kind of a tour in Dominica much less an all day tour.

After dropping off our carry-ons in the cabin, we toured the ship just to see the differences between this ship and the Zaandam. Will post that later.

At the end of the evening show it was announced that the Catholic priest did not make it to the ship. Doug, our cruise director, asked if anyone was aboard who could lead the services the next afternoon.

Also, everyone who attended the show was given a free bingo card to play at the next day's Snowball Jackpot bingo.

Earlier in the day as we were walking around the ship, we noticed that one of the windows on the Lido Deck by the Lido Bar had a tempoary window with wooden bars across it to prevent people from getting too close to it. About a month ago, the crew were cleaning the windows when their machine crashed into it and shattered the window. Since it is made of a special enforced glass, it will be a few weeks before a new can be installed as it has to be specially ordered.

The suite cocktail party was in the Neptune Lounge from 7:15 - 8.

[Pincus]

Welcome back, KK -- and thanks!

Your reviews are always so helpful, and I look forward to them.

Pincus

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 1 - Nassau - Formal night

When we arrived it was quite windy and cloudy. But after a couple of hours the sun came out and it was beautiful until we got out to sea in the early afternoon. An announcement was made that the catholic services scheduled for the afternoon were cancelled as the priest still hadn't made it to the ship and no one on board the ship was able to perform the service. Everyone was assured that he would join the ship in St Thomas.

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Mar 2 - at sea - casual

Just like in January, we had a rainy day at times. But at least the seas were calm compared to January.

Among the activities today, an adult scavenger hunt began which will end on the last sea day. Will post about this elsewhere.

We spent a relaxing day reading.

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Mar 3 - St Thomas - casual

There were only 3 other ships due here today besides the Volendam. We were able to dock at Havensight. As we were heading into the bay, we say the Maasdam heading for Crown Bay. Immigration began at 8:15 with the tours first and then alphabetically next. As we didn't have any tours planned for today, just shopping, we left the ship at 9:40. They were still calling names at that time. While in town, we got to talking to some other people and we learned that the Maasdam spent 4 days going from Norfolk to St Thomas (never stopped at HMC) - will have to hunt the boards for the review of that cruise.

The old Yacht Haven hotel has finally been torn down - that was the old hotel that was at the beginning of the pier that had been destroyed by a hurricane in 1991. They are building a deep water marina that is to hold about 160 boats - they hope to have it done by fall.

In the afternoon an announcement was made that the priest still hadn't made it to the ship and they had no idea what had happened to him.

This was BBQ night - it was posted in the daily program but not announced until around 6 PM. Very few attended ( about 150 at most) - some people complained that they didn't know about it. There wasn't an ice craving or anything else scheduled as there was a good show tonight - we went - will talk about it later.

[dakrewser]

I'm getting a sense that your building up to something with all of these folks who claim "no one told me." But keep it up - I love a good story!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi Dave

Not really building up to anything. There were a lot of old people on our first segment complaining about everything. (Older than us - we are in our sixties.) We even watched many people filling out the forms to remove the automatic tipping. It appeared that some of them were writing a story about why they were removing the tips.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 4 - St Maarten - Formal night

It was a beautiful hot and sunny day. There were only 2 other ships with us here today - big difference from January. We went to Orient Beach (ship's tour). When we got there we were warned about the rough waters and bad under tow. They weren't kidding. I can't swim so I waded in only a little way. We had a delicious lunch before it was time to get on the bus and head back. One couple wanted to stay but they were warned that there weren't any taxis where we were and that they needed a credit card to use the pay phones. And they were told that if they were able to call for a taxi, to allow the better part of an hour before one came.

When we got back to town, many of us opted to get off the bus and do some shopping. We have always gotten chocolate at this port. We went to the Belgium Chocolate store and were surprised to find that there wasn't any customers in there. Then we found out why. They have really raised their prices. When we were there in March 2004, we bought an 11 oz box of chocolates for $15. This year the box is 10.5 oz and sells for $28.

In just one year, Front Street has really turned into a beautiful area. The streets and sidewalks have finally been completed in either cement, tile, or omni stone. There are many new stores and the street was closed to traffic making it easy for everyone to get around.


For sail away there was a wine and cheese party of the Lido deck aft. Wine by the glass was $3.50 - any brand. The party was from 5 - 6. Besides the cheese fondue, this was your chance to get some good Edam and Gouda cheese as you rarely saw them offered any other time. They also had some Brie on bread which was available a lot of days in the Neptune Lounge. Since this was a formal night, many of the 5:45 dinners didn't make it to the party as they were getting dressed for dinner. We are also 5:45 dinners and were able to stay for a while as we had a 6 o'clock reservation for the Pinnacle. A couple of people came out all dressed up but left without anything because of the hot sun.

Pinnacle - the Amuse' was different than the ones we have had on the other ships. There was the usual salmon with a touch of wasabi sauce; shrimp on a garlic ciabatta with salsa; and a mushroom quiche. The rest of the menu was the same. Both of us had our usual filets but with different side dishes and different appetizers. I love the Northwest Clam Chowder Soup and DH always orders the Dungeness Crab Cakes. DH's mushrooms were prepared differently than before - instead of just a butter sauce they were served in a spicey tomato based sauce. For dessert I had my usual chocolate volcano cake and DH had his triple creme brulee'. The Pinnacle was staffed with 5 Indonesians and 1 European - no women. The wine steward was Indonesian.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 5 - Dominica - Casual night

Hot and humid today - 87 degrees - not much of a breeze.

Even though we have been here many times before, we decided to take a tour. We did the Panoramic Rain Forest Drive. It's shorter than the one we did a few years ago where we went to the Emerald Pool and Trafalca Falls. Here we went to Morne Bruce to look onto Roseau. We stopped at Symes-Zee Villa for a fruit drink and then at Tropicrafts to watch basket weaving. Some people bought baskets. Those Floridians are lucky - we have to fly and can't lug anything like that home on a plane.

After we got back to the pier, we walked around. We did notice that there were fewer vendors than when we were here 2 years ago. Also, the street in front of the pier is closed to all traffic except the tour buses and taxis from 9 until 3:30. Really made it great for the toursits. We wondered how the women we overheard last night made out with all their shopping. We were coming out of the gym and 2 women were trying to decide when to make their hair appointments - they were hoping that they could get all their shopping done in 4 - 5 hours! Obviously they had never been to Dominica before.

The Ocean Village (original Star Princess) was docked at the Woodbridge Bay Pier (freight dock). All their passengers were shuttled into town for free.

We had received a notice the evening before that all the verandahs on port side were to be cleaned today. That was done while we were on tour. When we got back and because we weren't on the sunny side of the ship, the water just layed in pools all day.

Tonight was the VIP/Who's Who cocktail party. It was held in the atrium on deck 3 from 7:30 - 8:15. Only about 70 - 80 people attended. One could have made a meal out of all the appetizers that were served - much better than the ones that were offered at the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party. Even the Pinnacle served some of their chopped salmon.

[sail7seas]

Wonderful Review, KK.


Thanks so much for sharing with us.

I'm really enjoying reading it.....as always.

[Gunzee]

KK, great review. Reading every word. Hope there's an excellent ending, cause I am going on the Volendam this coming Apr 9.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 6 - Barbados - Informal night

Just another wonderful warm and sunny day.

Since it was Sunday, only 98% of the shops were open in the terminal. There weren't any stores open in town. Our dining room stward and his assistant were never told that the stores in town would be closed. Edwin (our waiter) wanted to buy one last gift for his future bride - he was going home on the 10th and will be getting married in June. They were disappointed when they got to town.

Right outside the port gates is the Pelican Craft Market - a lot of small shops in a building that we saw being built a couple of years ago. Being Sunday, they were also closed.

We knew before we left on the cruise that nearly everything would be closed down so we booked a tour. We did the Green Monkey Eco tour which was great. It is a 1 hour drive out to the Wildlife Reserve. The tour is in the afterrnoon as that is the time the food is put out for the monkeys. We did see a lot of deer, tortoises, peacocks, huge butterflies, several monkeys, and a stray cat. Just as it was time for our tour to leave, more of the wild monkeys were coming into the reserve to get fed.

Tonight was the Paradise Ball in the Crow's Nest.

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Mar 7 - at sea - Formal night

There are 2 Mariner's parties this cruise. The first one was today for all those that dine at 5:45 and 6:15. The late seating dinners will have theirs tomorrow. When we got to the party, we were told that there was over 1100 Mariner's out of about 1300 passengers on this cruise.

The weather was warm and beautiful - calm seas on our way north.

If you went to the HMC presentation, you were given a complementary Bahama Mama drink.

Today was also the backstage tour and wine tasting at the Pinnacle for $28 per person - both at the same time. The daily program mentioned that they needed at least 18 people and no more than 32 in order to have the wine tasting. But it was cancelled after only 4 people showed up.

We went to the backstage tour. First the cast members had a question and answer session. Two of the 4 male singers are quite young - one is 19 and the other one is 18 - fresh out of high school. A third male - also one of the 2 lead singers tried out for American Idol but didn't make it onto the show. We can understand why - neither of the 2 male singers were good. The second segment of the cruise, the main male singer had his grand parents on the ship - will talk about that later.

There were lots of activities to keep everyone busy.

Tonight was the Farewell dinner - SUF and Turf was one of the entrees - everyone had a good laugh over that.

Tonight was also the Baked Alaska parade. We didn't stay for it. In fact many of the 5:45 dinners left by 7:15. We talked to a couple of people who did stay and they said that it didn't start until 7:30. They said that the upstairs waiters had to rush to serve the Baked Alaska and clean the tables in the areas where some people stayed before the 8 o'clock dinners came in.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 8 - at sea - Informal night

The late dining Mariner's had their party today.

Today was also the suite buffet. It was from 12:30 - ??? - whenever they got done serving crepes - around 1:45.

It was another beautiful sea day heading north.

Of course there was lots to do - ship building contest, etc.

Got our survey forms to fill out today - new question for us - we were asked to rate the follow arrangements. Wonder if this was because so many people have complained about the flowers on the Statendam???

Tonight was also the dessert extravaganza night from 10:30 until midnight.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 9 - Half Moon Cay - casual

The day started out warm and sunny. The waters at HMC were the calmest that we have seen in a while. BUT - the algae and debris that had been washed ashore was unbelievable. There was all kinds of plastic sheets, bottles (empty anti-freeze), plastic cans, lids, buckets, and even a broekm oar. The first part of the beach was fine. About 50 yards from the 'I wish I could stay here forever' bar the littered beach & water began and continued up to the last cabana. There were even a couple of places where you couldn't get in the water. It was evident that there had been a storm sometime between Monday and today (Wednesday). No attempt had been made to clean the beach.

The children's water area was up and running compared to when we were here in January. In January we had about 50 children on board and the water spout, etc. weren't turned on. We had 7 children on this cruise and everything was operating.

The new Half Moon Cay Saloon by the children's area is finished. There were chairs and tables there but the bar wasn't open. We were told that it is opened only when there are a lot of people on the island - usually when there are 2 ships scheduled to be there on the same day. Only about 1/2 of our ship went ashore.

We have sat many times on the deck at the 'I wish I could stay here forever' bar and this was the first time that the crew set up a portable bar on the open deck to make pina coladas.

We left around 12:30. By 1:30 the clouds moved in and most of the people had come back to the ship.

By 7 - 7:30 the winds and rain began to hit us from the starboard side making the ship rock a little. By 8:30 we had gale force winds - 8 & it was pouring. Within a couple of hours we were out of the storm and had a smooth sail into Ft Lauderdale.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mar 10 - Ft Lauderdale - casual

This was disembarkation day for all but 116 of us. The evening before all of us staying on for the next cruise received a letter indicating that we could have breakfast by ourselves in the lower level of the dining room until 9. Dining on the upper level was over at 8 for all other passengers. That was a mistake. Service was slow and when we did get our breakfast it was cold.

Our letter also indicated that we could make reservations for the Pinnacle for that evening for $10 per person.

Disembarkation began at 8:10. At 10 all intransit passengers were called. We sat in the terminal until 10:25 when the ship was cleared. There were a few stragglers we had to wait for that didn't leave when their numbers or letters were called.

We had the ship to ourselves for an hour before the other passengers came on board.

Two suites got new carpeting today - their rooms weren't ready until nearly 3. Our verandah was washed down again today.

We watched lifeboat #2 nearly get smashed by a freighter. It's engine died while out on manuvers. Fortunately a skiff from the Enchantment of the Seas was handy and attached a couple of ropes to #2 lifeboat and pulled it out of the way of the freight with just a few feet to spare. The crew tried to get tender #10 down to help but it takes a while to get a tender into the water. Tender #10 then took over and pushed #2 over to the side of our ship while they worked on her engine.

A left a few minutes after 5 - the waters were a bit choppy for a couple of hours. For a couple of hours we had a race with the Enchantment of the Seas. She was the first ship to leave Ft Lauderdale and we were #3. We pulled ahead of her, then she pulled to our port side, then she pulled ahead and crossed in front of us.

Captain Wieger Van der Zee returned from vacation today. We were told that he is the original captain of the Volendam. We also learned that he will be leaving the ship in Curacao for a meeting in Seattle. Then Captain Visser will take charge of the ship again.

[HDBoy]

Thanks for posting. Excellent review.


HDBoy

[sail7seas]

There was an annual senior officer/management conference in Florida.....thus the reason the Captains were 'trading off'. Even if on vacation, they often come to the Conference and then return to the ship for a few days in order to allow the current Captain to attend the conference.

[lcruiser]

GREAT REVIEWS!!!!!!!!! Thank you......

[palmgirl]

Tonight was the Paradise Ball in the Crow's Nest.


What is the Paradise Ball???

[Krazy Kruizers]

Paradise Ball is just like the Black and White Ball that is on cruises longer than 10 days. The Black and White Ball is held on a formal and usually all the gentlemen and ladies dress in black and white formal wear. The officers (both male and female) are dressed in "whites" - their formal attire. The cruise staff (like the cruise director and all his/her assistants) also dress in formal wear.

So instead of a Black and White Ball we had a Paradise Ball - since we were in the Caribbean. It was held on an informal night but the passengers weren't expected to dress formally but the crew did.

The Crow's Nest was decorated in a paradise island instead of the usual balck and white theme. I thought it was more colorful than the black and white.