spcl4cs_gal
August 30th, 2004, 10:42 AM
Well let’s see if I can make this a bit interesting…
My flight to Ft Lauderdale was scheduled to depart Toronto at 8:15am and since the airline was advising pax to be at the airport about 90 minutes prior to departure, I decided to stay the night at the hotel that is conveniently attached to the terminal I would be leaving from. This definitely saved me the trouble of leaving my house at some ungodly hour like 4am to get to Pearson International. I was flying with Skyservice, a Canadian charter airline that is operated by Conquest Vacations here in Toronto. Their Airbus service to FLL was cheap and convenient but after sitting in cramped seats with no leg room for the flight, I could easily see why the ticket wasn’t costing me an arm and a leg. Unless I am guaranteed the exit door row of seats in the future with that airline, I would never fly with them again…and if you have long legs, I wouldn’t advise it either. In the end we managed to get off the ground about an hour late but I have to admit that this was not the airline’s fault in the least. US Immigration was its usual headache and the line was backed up big time due to their lack of concern for pax who might just have a flight to catch on time. The whole US system of Immigration/Customs/Security is horrid in my opinion but I guess it all goes back to that infamous handful of Middle Easterners who got off by flying planes into tall buildings in NYC and it will more than likely get worse before it improves. Granted it doesn’t help either when the immigration officials decide to take their coffee breaks when the line of travelers is out the door either…another story for another time.
Arriving at Pier 26 was just as exciting as always, seeing the Zuiderdam parked and waiting for pax to board for a week of fun. I was set to pick up my docs at the pier and fortunately I had my booking number with me because HAL had no record that I was even scheduled to board that day. Not sure who should take the blame for that one but I suspect it should rest with HAL; my parents were supposed to have their docs sent to them prior to their Alaska cruise next week and only received them a few days ago because on HAL’s records they had noted the docs were for pier pickup. Anyway after that minor setback I boarded the ship around 2:30pm and settled into my cabin. I had stateroom 8103 on the Navigation Deck which was an A balcony room on the aft starboard side of the ship. The balcony was roomy enough but not as large as those in the totally aft A cabins and the only people who were able to look down at you were the ones from the Observation Deck, which wasn’t all that often. My room steward Nur was very efficient all week and a really nice guy to have a conversation with. He is fairly new to the Z so has until next year to head home. I guess it is fortunate that he has no wife and kids home waiting for him.
I opted out of the sailaway party at the aft pool this time and decided to just relax in the Lido pool area until dinnertime. I think it was Tatka who mentioned how hot and humid it is around that pool…and she ain’t kidding! The only opening is the roof and about the only time air circulates in there is when the ship is moving. Port days were murder. However it was interesting sitting there watching what kind of pax I would be interacting with for a week. I was surprised to run into a couple teacher friends of mine who were sailing with me; they had their daughter and in-laws with them (who paid for the cruise I might add). There was a group of teenagers on board who were always trying to pass for 18 year olds when they might have been 15; they could usually be found hogging the deck chairs, the elevators, and just about any other space they could find. Doesn’t it just tick you off when you get into the elevator on the Lido deck after a group of teenagers and find that you will now be stopping on each and every floor of the ship due to their games? I did see one of the ship’s security officers speaking with them once about running up and down the stairs so I guess it’s the same ole story with the parents not caring what their kids do. Drop them off at the nearest port I say!
I hadn’t signed up for any HAL excursions this time around but did go ashore in Cozumel for some shopping. Key West was a day to just relax around the ship and soak up some rays. We had the BBQ on Sunday evening in the Lido pool area and the deck guys were busy clearing deck chairs to make room for the set up of tables and BBQ stations starting at 3pm. A couple of women were miffed that THEIR shade was being denied to them because of this set up and they complained loud and long to anyone who would listen about being inconvenienced to the Nth degree. The guys putting away the chairs were only doing their job but they caught the brunt of this which was totally uncalled for. I told them that there was shade at the aft pool (aka - GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE) but these women said that there wasn’t enough. Please! You can bet if the BBQ had started one minute later than the scheduled 6pm that these same women would be growling about that too. Why can’t people just learn to enjoy themselves on these cruises?? :(
The one excursion that I did do was the stingray swim and island tour on Grand Cayman offered through Nativeway. This is one not to miss and anyone who will be doing the western Caribbean trip should book their day with Nativeway. It’s only $40 US for the whole thing compared to HAL’s $60+. Kirk was our driver to the turtle farm and Hell and always had a smile on his face. Eldon and Sharon, owners of Nativeway were fantastic, as was Alec our stingray guide. We were just boarding the bus to head back to the tenders after the stingrays when the skies opened up and we had a nice downpour. Fortunately it was over by the time we reached the tenders.
I had all of my breakfasts brought in through room service and all dinners in the Vista diningroom. Room service was always very prompt, arriving no more than 5 minutes after the time I checked off on the breakfast card. Dinners were nice with an adequate selection of things to choose from each night; loved the baked Alaska at the Farewell Gala on Thursday night. I had the 8:30 seating at Table 162 which was a table for four. Gus was our table steward and, like everyone has mentioned, the service was good but slower than normal. Shy was working at the table behind mine and it was interesting watching a little guy like him hustling in with a tray of twelve dinner servings without dropping one. :) My table mates were nice and friendly which made dinners all the more enjoyable.
Friday was spent at HMC in the green cabana (YAY). Mario was my cabana boy for the day (take note Lois and company! :) ) and was just great. I think he was wilting a bit from the heat and the fact that he had only 2 hours sleep from the night before, but he still managed to stick it out until the last tender. The rain started between 2:30 and 3pm and we all got soaked to the skin before boarding the tender back to the ship. It sure felt good on a hot sunburn however. Can’t wait to head back there in March for the stingrays and horses.
Disembarkation Day arrived sooner than I wanted it to and I find it’s always depressing watching Ft Lauderdale appear on the horizon in the early morning hours. However things went fairly smoothly and I was headed back to the airport by 10:30am. The lineup to get through security was nuts at the airport but we all managed to catch our flight on time to head back to Toronto.
Is it March yet???
Cheers!
My flight to Ft Lauderdale was scheduled to depart Toronto at 8:15am and since the airline was advising pax to be at the airport about 90 minutes prior to departure, I decided to stay the night at the hotel that is conveniently attached to the terminal I would be leaving from. This definitely saved me the trouble of leaving my house at some ungodly hour like 4am to get to Pearson International. I was flying with Skyservice, a Canadian charter airline that is operated by Conquest Vacations here in Toronto. Their Airbus service to FLL was cheap and convenient but after sitting in cramped seats with no leg room for the flight, I could easily see why the ticket wasn’t costing me an arm and a leg. Unless I am guaranteed the exit door row of seats in the future with that airline, I would never fly with them again…and if you have long legs, I wouldn’t advise it either. In the end we managed to get off the ground about an hour late but I have to admit that this was not the airline’s fault in the least. US Immigration was its usual headache and the line was backed up big time due to their lack of concern for pax who might just have a flight to catch on time. The whole US system of Immigration/Customs/Security is horrid in my opinion but I guess it all goes back to that infamous handful of Middle Easterners who got off by flying planes into tall buildings in NYC and it will more than likely get worse before it improves. Granted it doesn’t help either when the immigration officials decide to take their coffee breaks when the line of travelers is out the door either…another story for another time.
Arriving at Pier 26 was just as exciting as always, seeing the Zuiderdam parked and waiting for pax to board for a week of fun. I was set to pick up my docs at the pier and fortunately I had my booking number with me because HAL had no record that I was even scheduled to board that day. Not sure who should take the blame for that one but I suspect it should rest with HAL; my parents were supposed to have their docs sent to them prior to their Alaska cruise next week and only received them a few days ago because on HAL’s records they had noted the docs were for pier pickup. Anyway after that minor setback I boarded the ship around 2:30pm and settled into my cabin. I had stateroom 8103 on the Navigation Deck which was an A balcony room on the aft starboard side of the ship. The balcony was roomy enough but not as large as those in the totally aft A cabins and the only people who were able to look down at you were the ones from the Observation Deck, which wasn’t all that often. My room steward Nur was very efficient all week and a really nice guy to have a conversation with. He is fairly new to the Z so has until next year to head home. I guess it is fortunate that he has no wife and kids home waiting for him.
I opted out of the sailaway party at the aft pool this time and decided to just relax in the Lido pool area until dinnertime. I think it was Tatka who mentioned how hot and humid it is around that pool…and she ain’t kidding! The only opening is the roof and about the only time air circulates in there is when the ship is moving. Port days were murder. However it was interesting sitting there watching what kind of pax I would be interacting with for a week. I was surprised to run into a couple teacher friends of mine who were sailing with me; they had their daughter and in-laws with them (who paid for the cruise I might add). There was a group of teenagers on board who were always trying to pass for 18 year olds when they might have been 15; they could usually be found hogging the deck chairs, the elevators, and just about any other space they could find. Doesn’t it just tick you off when you get into the elevator on the Lido deck after a group of teenagers and find that you will now be stopping on each and every floor of the ship due to their games? I did see one of the ship’s security officers speaking with them once about running up and down the stairs so I guess it’s the same ole story with the parents not caring what their kids do. Drop them off at the nearest port I say!
I hadn’t signed up for any HAL excursions this time around but did go ashore in Cozumel for some shopping. Key West was a day to just relax around the ship and soak up some rays. We had the BBQ on Sunday evening in the Lido pool area and the deck guys were busy clearing deck chairs to make room for the set up of tables and BBQ stations starting at 3pm. A couple of women were miffed that THEIR shade was being denied to them because of this set up and they complained loud and long to anyone who would listen about being inconvenienced to the Nth degree. The guys putting away the chairs were only doing their job but they caught the brunt of this which was totally uncalled for. I told them that there was shade at the aft pool (aka - GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE) but these women said that there wasn’t enough. Please! You can bet if the BBQ had started one minute later than the scheduled 6pm that these same women would be growling about that too. Why can’t people just learn to enjoy themselves on these cruises?? :(
The one excursion that I did do was the stingray swim and island tour on Grand Cayman offered through Nativeway. This is one not to miss and anyone who will be doing the western Caribbean trip should book their day with Nativeway. It’s only $40 US for the whole thing compared to HAL’s $60+. Kirk was our driver to the turtle farm and Hell and always had a smile on his face. Eldon and Sharon, owners of Nativeway were fantastic, as was Alec our stingray guide. We were just boarding the bus to head back to the tenders after the stingrays when the skies opened up and we had a nice downpour. Fortunately it was over by the time we reached the tenders.
I had all of my breakfasts brought in through room service and all dinners in the Vista diningroom. Room service was always very prompt, arriving no more than 5 minutes after the time I checked off on the breakfast card. Dinners were nice with an adequate selection of things to choose from each night; loved the baked Alaska at the Farewell Gala on Thursday night. I had the 8:30 seating at Table 162 which was a table for four. Gus was our table steward and, like everyone has mentioned, the service was good but slower than normal. Shy was working at the table behind mine and it was interesting watching a little guy like him hustling in with a tray of twelve dinner servings without dropping one. :) My table mates were nice and friendly which made dinners all the more enjoyable.
Friday was spent at HMC in the green cabana (YAY). Mario was my cabana boy for the day (take note Lois and company! :) ) and was just great. I think he was wilting a bit from the heat and the fact that he had only 2 hours sleep from the night before, but he still managed to stick it out until the last tender. The rain started between 2:30 and 3pm and we all got soaked to the skin before boarding the tender back to the ship. It sure felt good on a hot sunburn however. Can’t wait to head back there in March for the stingrays and horses.
Disembarkation Day arrived sooner than I wanted it to and I find it’s always depressing watching Ft Lauderdale appear on the horizon in the early morning hours. However things went fairly smoothly and I was headed back to the airport by 10:30am. The lineup to get through security was nuts at the airport but we all managed to catch our flight on time to head back to Toronto.
Is it March yet???
Cheers!