Ok I found you

[wcolucci]

Wow, sorry Orcone I just found these NEW boards yesterday and saw your request for my review, as I saw Exalthim's great review of the Maasdam I will be brief.


WHAT A BLAST!!

Great cruise, great ship, yeah some wear and tear that I noted on another post but outstanding crew and food and service and food and itinerary and weather

speaking of food, great every night, one night when we had rez for the Pinnacle,we cancelled and ended up w/ room service while playing a marathon game of Scrabble, (ok we snuck it outta the library...it WAS our honeymoon after all)....Room service was always delivered w/in half an hour and the quality was very good. We got the $14 preorderd wines and ended up having half in dining room half in room, so we'd order cheese and fruit every night to go w/ wine b/4 dinner. Pre ordered Wines were Caliterra, decent Chilean, and a good bargain tho we went a bit upscale for a few dinners. Some good white French wines and some terrific Cal Cabs. Sadly we did not get to the Pinnacle. I seriously overdosed on burgers and tacos. We are expecting (at 45 my first kid YIKES), so as it is my last vacation for a while I was on a mission to visit every port, eat everything in site and go back to the boat and ....eat again. My gym gear was 100% untouched, I slept later than I ever have in my life and was treated very well by a prefessional crew for 7 days. Don't know when, but I will get back on that ship.

Being in an S suite got to meet the Captain and officers a few times, great people and they'd remember you when they saw you during the day...ok they'd remember my wife....Peg at the Neptune lounge was super... coffee machine spoiled me for life...oh and they had food in there, I guess I ate some there too. I am proud to announce that I gained more weight than my pregnant wife on that cruise....that my friends is dedication and hard work!!

Kind of sad the more I write this, I am not sure how long it will be before I can crusie again what with the new developments in my life....This is my second ever, both in 2004, both w/ HAL and now I really am missing it!!

Oh well, I can always read these boards and count the ...ugh years(?) till I go again....

[Orcrone]

Wcolucci,

I'll state the obvious and say it sounds like a great cruise. Congratulations on your first child. I'm about the same age as you. DW and I have four between us that are 14 to 24 years old. WE'RE DONE!!!!! Don't give up your cruise dream. I went on my first cruise when my daughter was only two years old. Grandma and grandpa babysat for a week.

DW worries about our weight gain. Makes us book a room in the bowels of the ship and take the stairs all the time. I still put on 11 pounds last time. I understand about your gym gear going untouched. On our last cruise we didn't make it to the gym until the last full day, and then we went twice. Talk about too little, too late. But we did go jogging a couple of mornings. That's fun. A 20 knot breeze makes a big difference.

DW is talking about not eating in the DR for formal nights to avoid the dress up. Did you notice if the Lido has the same food as the DR on formal nights?

Once again, congratulations on your marriage and soon to be fatherhood.

[Tatka]

Congrats on future addition to your family Wcolucci,

We also had our son as a "free" cruiser 12 years ago. ;) Now he is my height, scary!!! I hope we won't become grandparents before 40! (We are 31 and 32)

Last year on Century I lost about 10 lbs. Believe me I ate a lot (yummy!!!) but I rarely used elevators and spent a lot of times running around the ship looking for my 11 years old son.

I am not overweight but because I am not into gym/sports any 10 - 15 lost pounds are always welcome. ;)

From now on we are trying to book lowest decks so we can automatically loose weight going to the Lido which is usually 7-8 decks up.