Riverpig
December 31st, 2007, 03:02 PM
I have just gotten home from the Maasdam’s 9 day Southern Caribbean Christmas cruise, and would like to relay my thoughts and observations.
I was cruising with my DW, my three sons (all in their 30’s), and two daughters-in-law, a total of seven. DW and I had been on two previous HAL cruises, both on Westerdam, but this was the first time we were able to include our entire family.
THE SHIP
Maasdam is an attractive vessel from afar, and we found her equally attractive inside. Her décor is more classy and elegant than Westerdam’s, which is more garish and glitzy. She was perfectly clean, and well-decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees, wreaths, flowers, and gingerbread houses throughout the ship.
In nine days aboard her, none of us ever noticed any odors, unusual noises, vibrations, or mechanical problems of any kind. The fact that we arrived at all our ports-of-call an hour or two early indicates that her propulsion system is in fine repair. On Westerdam, we had noticed a constant rain of black soot from the exhaust stack, but on Maasdam only a nearly invisible white smoke came from the stack.
If we give Westerdam a ship’s rating of 100, then Maasdam rates 130-140. The only thing we missed were those marvelous outside elevators amidships on the Vistas.
THE CREW
The crew on Maasdam is simply fabulous. Their skill, friendliness, and cheerfulness while doing a tough job is a delight to all.
THE PASSENGERS
We expected lots of kids for a Christmas cruise (we had ours) and weren’t disappointed. Every age group was well represented, with seniors making up no more than half the complement. Everyone was having a good time, and the ship seemed lively and energetic.
I noticed one problem. At embarkation, we were notified that the Lido pool was for children and activities, while the aft pool was for adults only. For the first two days of the cruise two brats spent the whole day doing cannonballs into the aft pool, wrecking it for everyone. The authorities must have cracked down, because from day 3 on, I never saw these jerks again. Way to go HAL.:rolleyes:
OUR CABIN
We were in deluxe veranda suite 45, with the married kids next door in regular suites 47 and 49. I had selected this cabin because it is closest to the pool, and we loved it. The veranda was more than big enough for the seven of us to have sail away and sunset parties.
The cabin was beautiful, immaculately clean, and had tons of storage and space.
There were no weird noises, and the plumbing and air conditioning worked fine.
The were two slight problems with the cabin:
1. The light switches were in illogical places and were of varied design, such that even at the end of the cruise I would turn two or three other lights on or off before finding the switch I wanted.
2. The safe was on the bottom shelf of a cabinet, and we had to sit on the floor to use it. We are still just agile enough to do this, but others might find the safe unusable.
Suggestion to HAL: Remove the TV set. We never once turned it on, it takes up valuable counter space, and blocked our view of the ocean. Deep six the thing!;)
THE FOOD
We ate exclusively in the Dining Room or on our Veranda, and found the food varied from very good to superb. No dish disappointed or had to be sent back, and some, like the banana rum soup, the wild mushroom strudel, the wienerschnitzel and the duck a l’orange were wonderful and called for seconds.
ENTERTAINMENT
We never found time to see any of the shows, and the live music we encountered from time to time was tolerable.
SHORE EXCURSIONS
1. Our first port of call was Aruba, and I was interested in checking out the resort hotels as a possible vacation destination. DW and I took a taxi (readily available, $!0) to the Hyatt Regency on Palm Beach. The hotel was elegant and inviting, with lovely grounds. Palm Beach is a world-class stretch of sand, and we strolled on it for quite a ways looking at some of the other resorts. Our conclusion was that it was overcrowded and over-developed, and we will continue to go to Hawaii.
The kids took a 20 minute walk south from the port area, and spent the day at the Havanna Beach Club, a private beach with all the facilities on a nice piece of sand. The beach is located right at the end of the airport runway, and excitement was provided by the jumbo jets passing by ten feet overhead.
While we enjoyed Aruba, it was our least-favorite stop.
2. Next day found us at Bonaire, where we had made internet reservations (www.woodwindbonaire.com (http://www.woodwindbonaire.com)) for a day’s snorkeling on a private catamaran.The catamaran (the Woodwind) was based about five minutes walk down the shore from the cruise dock, and while there was some confusion getting everyone together (there were 19 snorkelers, all from Maasdam) we eventually set sail for Kliene Bonaire, an uninhabited island across the bay from the harbor. Our first snorkel was a drift along the edge of the wall on the NE side of Kliene Bonaire, and Dee, our hostess and divemaster, who swims like a seal, did a great job of keeping us herded together and out of trouble. An hour’s drifting brought us to No Name Beach on the north side of Kliene Bonaire. This wonderful undeveloped beach can also be reached by water taxi from the harbor.
When everyone was back aboard Woodwind, we sailed across the bay to our second snorkel site, a shallow coral reef along the coast of the main island. This snorkel was every bit as good as the first one. Dee served a fine lunch and beverages of all kinds on the cruise, and we all had a wonderful time. We got back to the Maasdam in mid-afternoon, and after changing clothes I went ashore to explore Kralendijk, the main town. It was Sunday, and everything was closed! I was told that cruise ships only come to Bonaire about once a week, and I was pleased to find that the local merchants were willing to forfeit a payday rather than open on Sunday. One nice restaurant on the oceanfront was open, and some of the kids went there for dinner since we didn’t sail till midnight. They reported having an excellent evening. We all loved Bonaire.
Suggestion to HAL: Schedule more late night departures so that we can sample the cuisine and nightlife of these exotic ports.
3. Next was Curacao, and I was the only passenger who had signed up for the Animal Encounter dive. There was no minimum for this trip so I was able to go by myself. They put me in a taxi to the Sea aquarium, a 10-minite drive across the high bridge, and once there my guide and I donned our scuba gear and jumped into the aquarium’s main lagoon. I had a bucket filled with sardines, and my guide showed me how to safely hand feed the huge sharks, rays, turtles and groupers that swarmed around us. This proved a unique and wonderful experience, and was the highlight of the whole cruise for me.
After the dive, I had about an hour to explore the rest of this nice Seaquarium, and then taxied back to the ship. It was Christmas Eve in Willemstad, and every last island resident was downtown doing their late Christmas shopping. The scene was wild and vibrant, but I found Willemstad prettier from afar than up close.
Upon departure, Maasdam displayed her maneuvering capability by backing down the narrow congested channel to the open sea.
4. A day at sea (Christmas) was followed by a visit to Grand Turk. They have built a new cruise ship pier at the south end of the island, and it is a delight. One son and I had signed up for a two-tank scuba dive and we only walked 100 yards along the beautiful beach from the pier to our dive boat. There were 13 divers from the Maasdam and we did two spectacular dives, one on the wall and one on the coral gardens, with a dive crew and boat that was first rate. The beaches and waters of Grand Turk are gorgeous. We all loved this relaxed, low-key island, and rated it much the best of the cruise.
5. Our final call was at Half Moon Cay. The weather was perfect, the wind calm, and we had the island to ourselves, which was a treat since Maasdam is a smaller ship to start with. We had reserved the blue cabana, which served as a great base of operations for us as we went about our various shore activities. This cabana is right in front of the food court, and sees a lot of traffic. If more than one ship is in I would recommend one of the more distant cabanas, but on this day it was perfect. Drinking Bahama Mommas, swimming in the crystal clear waters, and lounging in a beach chair all day is what Caribbean cruising is all about. We loved it!
HERE ARE THE SPACES ON THE SHIP WHICH WE LIKED:
1. The Crow’s Nest - We had cocktails and hot appetizers here every night before dinner, and some of us spent the better part of Christmas Day drinking eggnog in this most-inviting lounge.
2. The Casino - The Romanian staff here is terrific, and we all spent too much time here enjoying the craps and blackjack games.
3. The Explorations Café - HAL has done a wonderful job of merging a library, coffee shop, game room and business center into one beautiful and inviting space
4. The Ocean Bar - Another beautiful lounge with a terrific ocean view and very comfortable, relaxed seating. This lounge has perhaps the most pleasing décor on the ship.
HERE ARE THE SPACES ON THE SHIP WHICH ARE A WASTE OF VALUABLE DECK SPACE:
1. The Gym - I use the stairs instead of the elevators when traveling around the ship, and thus don’t feel guilty about not working out.
2. The Spa - the womenfolk report that the prices here are too high to be of any use.
3. The Lido Restaurant - Why anyone would eat in this hurly-burly when the restaurant is open is beyond me, but by all means keep the ice cream stand and the hamburger stand near the pool.
4. The Photo Gallery - Come on HAL. This is the digital age. Just post the pictures on a web site for us to browse when we get home.
5. The Art Gallery - The many galleries on Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale sell the same stuff cheaper.
6. The Shops - One nice sundries shop would do nicely.
7. The Pinnacle Grill - The menu is boring and the food no better than in the dining room.
8. The Piano Bar - I never did find this place. If HAL is so ashamed of it that they hide it away, why not replace it with a Cigar Bar?
9. The Escalator - What on earth is the purpose of this thing?
OUR GREATEST GRIPE:
All the junk mail! Please, HAL, cut out the useless paperload in our mailbox. All we want to see is the daily activity schedule and those lovely engraved invitations to champagne brunches and cocktail receptions.:p
CONCLUSION
We all had a marvelous cruise, and for my family, this was the best Christmas since the kids were little. Thank you HAL.:)
For anyone who has read this far, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I was cruising with my DW, my three sons (all in their 30’s), and two daughters-in-law, a total of seven. DW and I had been on two previous HAL cruises, both on Westerdam, but this was the first time we were able to include our entire family.
THE SHIP
Maasdam is an attractive vessel from afar, and we found her equally attractive inside. Her décor is more classy and elegant than Westerdam’s, which is more garish and glitzy. She was perfectly clean, and well-decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees, wreaths, flowers, and gingerbread houses throughout the ship.
In nine days aboard her, none of us ever noticed any odors, unusual noises, vibrations, or mechanical problems of any kind. The fact that we arrived at all our ports-of-call an hour or two early indicates that her propulsion system is in fine repair. On Westerdam, we had noticed a constant rain of black soot from the exhaust stack, but on Maasdam only a nearly invisible white smoke came from the stack.
If we give Westerdam a ship’s rating of 100, then Maasdam rates 130-140. The only thing we missed were those marvelous outside elevators amidships on the Vistas.
THE CREW
The crew on Maasdam is simply fabulous. Their skill, friendliness, and cheerfulness while doing a tough job is a delight to all.
THE PASSENGERS
We expected lots of kids for a Christmas cruise (we had ours) and weren’t disappointed. Every age group was well represented, with seniors making up no more than half the complement. Everyone was having a good time, and the ship seemed lively and energetic.
I noticed one problem. At embarkation, we were notified that the Lido pool was for children and activities, while the aft pool was for adults only. For the first two days of the cruise two brats spent the whole day doing cannonballs into the aft pool, wrecking it for everyone. The authorities must have cracked down, because from day 3 on, I never saw these jerks again. Way to go HAL.:rolleyes:
OUR CABIN
We were in deluxe veranda suite 45, with the married kids next door in regular suites 47 and 49. I had selected this cabin because it is closest to the pool, and we loved it. The veranda was more than big enough for the seven of us to have sail away and sunset parties.
The cabin was beautiful, immaculately clean, and had tons of storage and space.
There were no weird noises, and the plumbing and air conditioning worked fine.
The were two slight problems with the cabin:
1. The light switches were in illogical places and were of varied design, such that even at the end of the cruise I would turn two or three other lights on or off before finding the switch I wanted.
2. The safe was on the bottom shelf of a cabinet, and we had to sit on the floor to use it. We are still just agile enough to do this, but others might find the safe unusable.
Suggestion to HAL: Remove the TV set. We never once turned it on, it takes up valuable counter space, and blocked our view of the ocean. Deep six the thing!;)
THE FOOD
We ate exclusively in the Dining Room or on our Veranda, and found the food varied from very good to superb. No dish disappointed or had to be sent back, and some, like the banana rum soup, the wild mushroom strudel, the wienerschnitzel and the duck a l’orange were wonderful and called for seconds.
ENTERTAINMENT
We never found time to see any of the shows, and the live music we encountered from time to time was tolerable.
SHORE EXCURSIONS
1. Our first port of call was Aruba, and I was interested in checking out the resort hotels as a possible vacation destination. DW and I took a taxi (readily available, $!0) to the Hyatt Regency on Palm Beach. The hotel was elegant and inviting, with lovely grounds. Palm Beach is a world-class stretch of sand, and we strolled on it for quite a ways looking at some of the other resorts. Our conclusion was that it was overcrowded and over-developed, and we will continue to go to Hawaii.
The kids took a 20 minute walk south from the port area, and spent the day at the Havanna Beach Club, a private beach with all the facilities on a nice piece of sand. The beach is located right at the end of the airport runway, and excitement was provided by the jumbo jets passing by ten feet overhead.
While we enjoyed Aruba, it was our least-favorite stop.
2. Next day found us at Bonaire, where we had made internet reservations (www.woodwindbonaire.com (http://www.woodwindbonaire.com)) for a day’s snorkeling on a private catamaran.The catamaran (the Woodwind) was based about five minutes walk down the shore from the cruise dock, and while there was some confusion getting everyone together (there were 19 snorkelers, all from Maasdam) we eventually set sail for Kliene Bonaire, an uninhabited island across the bay from the harbor. Our first snorkel was a drift along the edge of the wall on the NE side of Kliene Bonaire, and Dee, our hostess and divemaster, who swims like a seal, did a great job of keeping us herded together and out of trouble. An hour’s drifting brought us to No Name Beach on the north side of Kliene Bonaire. This wonderful undeveloped beach can also be reached by water taxi from the harbor.
When everyone was back aboard Woodwind, we sailed across the bay to our second snorkel site, a shallow coral reef along the coast of the main island. This snorkel was every bit as good as the first one. Dee served a fine lunch and beverages of all kinds on the cruise, and we all had a wonderful time. We got back to the Maasdam in mid-afternoon, and after changing clothes I went ashore to explore Kralendijk, the main town. It was Sunday, and everything was closed! I was told that cruise ships only come to Bonaire about once a week, and I was pleased to find that the local merchants were willing to forfeit a payday rather than open on Sunday. One nice restaurant on the oceanfront was open, and some of the kids went there for dinner since we didn’t sail till midnight. They reported having an excellent evening. We all loved Bonaire.
Suggestion to HAL: Schedule more late night departures so that we can sample the cuisine and nightlife of these exotic ports.
3. Next was Curacao, and I was the only passenger who had signed up for the Animal Encounter dive. There was no minimum for this trip so I was able to go by myself. They put me in a taxi to the Sea aquarium, a 10-minite drive across the high bridge, and once there my guide and I donned our scuba gear and jumped into the aquarium’s main lagoon. I had a bucket filled with sardines, and my guide showed me how to safely hand feed the huge sharks, rays, turtles and groupers that swarmed around us. This proved a unique and wonderful experience, and was the highlight of the whole cruise for me.
After the dive, I had about an hour to explore the rest of this nice Seaquarium, and then taxied back to the ship. It was Christmas Eve in Willemstad, and every last island resident was downtown doing their late Christmas shopping. The scene was wild and vibrant, but I found Willemstad prettier from afar than up close.
Upon departure, Maasdam displayed her maneuvering capability by backing down the narrow congested channel to the open sea.
4. A day at sea (Christmas) was followed by a visit to Grand Turk. They have built a new cruise ship pier at the south end of the island, and it is a delight. One son and I had signed up for a two-tank scuba dive and we only walked 100 yards along the beautiful beach from the pier to our dive boat. There were 13 divers from the Maasdam and we did two spectacular dives, one on the wall and one on the coral gardens, with a dive crew and boat that was first rate. The beaches and waters of Grand Turk are gorgeous. We all loved this relaxed, low-key island, and rated it much the best of the cruise.
5. Our final call was at Half Moon Cay. The weather was perfect, the wind calm, and we had the island to ourselves, which was a treat since Maasdam is a smaller ship to start with. We had reserved the blue cabana, which served as a great base of operations for us as we went about our various shore activities. This cabana is right in front of the food court, and sees a lot of traffic. If more than one ship is in I would recommend one of the more distant cabanas, but on this day it was perfect. Drinking Bahama Mommas, swimming in the crystal clear waters, and lounging in a beach chair all day is what Caribbean cruising is all about. We loved it!
HERE ARE THE SPACES ON THE SHIP WHICH WE LIKED:
1. The Crow’s Nest - We had cocktails and hot appetizers here every night before dinner, and some of us spent the better part of Christmas Day drinking eggnog in this most-inviting lounge.
2. The Casino - The Romanian staff here is terrific, and we all spent too much time here enjoying the craps and blackjack games.
3. The Explorations Café - HAL has done a wonderful job of merging a library, coffee shop, game room and business center into one beautiful and inviting space
4. The Ocean Bar - Another beautiful lounge with a terrific ocean view and very comfortable, relaxed seating. This lounge has perhaps the most pleasing décor on the ship.
HERE ARE THE SPACES ON THE SHIP WHICH ARE A WASTE OF VALUABLE DECK SPACE:
1. The Gym - I use the stairs instead of the elevators when traveling around the ship, and thus don’t feel guilty about not working out.
2. The Spa - the womenfolk report that the prices here are too high to be of any use.
3. The Lido Restaurant - Why anyone would eat in this hurly-burly when the restaurant is open is beyond me, but by all means keep the ice cream stand and the hamburger stand near the pool.
4. The Photo Gallery - Come on HAL. This is the digital age. Just post the pictures on a web site for us to browse when we get home.
5. The Art Gallery - The many galleries on Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale sell the same stuff cheaper.
6. The Shops - One nice sundries shop would do nicely.
7. The Pinnacle Grill - The menu is boring and the food no better than in the dining room.
8. The Piano Bar - I never did find this place. If HAL is so ashamed of it that they hide it away, why not replace it with a Cigar Bar?
9. The Escalator - What on earth is the purpose of this thing?
OUR GREATEST GRIPE:
All the junk mail! Please, HAL, cut out the useless paperload in our mailbox. All we want to see is the daily activity schedule and those lovely engraved invitations to champagne brunches and cocktail receptions.:p
CONCLUSION
We all had a marvelous cruise, and for my family, this was the best Christmas since the kids were little. Thank you HAL.:)
For anyone who has read this far, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!