"Live" from the Noordam T. A. 2013

Just as I turned off the computer last night, I saw the Captain again!

 

This time we spoke briefly about the dry dock.

 

New carpeting is at one end of the Promenade deck (I peaked-It's brown with short darker brown stripes.)

 

There will be 40 + new cabins on the Observation deck behind the Crow's Nest.

 

 

 

This morning I was awoken at around 8 a.m. with a few blasts over the speakers and a very quick "Brightstar" announcement. :(

 

The was a cheese buffet on the Lido pool deck from 12 until 1 :30. I've never seen a cheese buffet before. It looked good and there was a small line up.

 

Lots of small children on this trip. A very few teens.

 

We have the early seating for dinner. Great service! Lots of wine stewarts in our area of the dining room. Tonight was formal night and all the tables had people at them, unlike last night when it looked half empty (or half full).

 

Over cast and windy today. 34 knot wind blowing from southeast. Very wavy. Whitecaps on some waves. We are boogie-ing along at 18 knots.

 

Service has been fantastic. Lots of happy staff and crew. The light in the atrium is working very nicely and changing colour, which I love.

 

Mike has gotten to the spa, which has been crowded. I had a nap. Which I must have really needed after sleeping very soundly for over 12 hours. It's these amazing beds and poofy pillows.

 

All public washrooms seem to be working. No flush problems on the 8th deck. No air conditioning problems either. If it warms up, we might actually use the AC. :D

 

 

I was thinking of you all earlier at Sailaway time.

 

"Live" and well rested from the Noordam.

 

Cathy (Sheila I will say hi when I see Mark.)

 

PS... no problem with internet speed or logging on. :D

Sounds like things are going great. Smooth sailing!!

Jumping on for the ride!

There will be 40 + new cabins on the Observation deck behind the Crow's Nest.

That's odd - the deck plans I saw about a month ago on the HAL site (and are no longer available) showed about 18 VA and 8 J cabins, with a Retreat/Cabana Club on top. I don't see how they can possibly put 40+ cabins in that space unless they are abandoning the idea of a Retreat and going with two decks of cabins instead. Are you sure he said 40+ cabins and not 40+ people?

Will be riding along with you on the CC boards, as I'd love to do a TA in a year or two. Stay well!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

I found the deck plan after May 6. According to it there will be 18 VA and 7 J on deck 10. There's no way there could possibly be 40+ cabins put in there.

See: http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/deckplans/no_2.o.pdf

Glad to find this thread as we will be aboard for the return TA this fall. Hope you have lots of time to write and tell us all about your great cruise.:)

 

Cheers!

Cathy, Thanks for taking us along. Looking forward to your cruise experience.

You were missed at Sailaway.

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Roy

I found the deck plan after May 6. According to it there will be 18 VA and 7 J on deck 10. There's no way there could possibly be 40+ cabins put in there.

Update: they are now planned as 18 VB and 7 K

See http://www.hollandamerica.com/main/DeckPlansFull.action?ship=no_2&deck=o

With a Retreat on top of the new cabins:

http://www.hollandamerica.com/main/DeckPlansFull.action?ship=no_2&deck=s

I found the deck plan after May 6. According to it there will be 18 VA and 7 J on deck 10. There's no way there could possibly be 40+ cabins put in there.

See: http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/deckplans/no_2.o.pdf

 

The VA/J setup was before the recategorization. Look at the actual interactive deck plans "after" whatever date. Those rooms will actually be VB and K

The VA/J setup was before the recategorization. Look at the actual interactive deck plans "after" whatever date. Those rooms will actually be VB and K

See my post just before yours. :D

...snip... "Live" and well rested from the Noordam.

Cathy

 

You'll really be well-rested if you sleep as much as we did in November! Nothing beats *dam's bedding!

 

Have a wonderful, relaxing cruise and give Mark a hug for me!

 

Thanks for doing a "live from" thread - love it. We missed you at sailaway but we're keeping the tone going:cool: and Chief keeps trying to keep control:D

Looking forward to your thread, someone reported that the fresh OJ has been eliminated, would you be kind enough to check out to see if there is fresh OJ in the Lido for breakfast?

It was great hearing those extra toots during the sailaway Friday, and your sign (Thanks Lou & Dave) was spotted by us!

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and loves those live-threads!

We were all waving at you vigorously as you left:D

 

Looking forward to following along on your live thread.

 

Have a great time:)

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. From your posting, it seems to most definitely have started off great! I will be watching for updates.

I missed the sailaway as I was on the road, traveling to northern CA. I am glad they were able to zoom in on your sign!

Another thank you for taking us along. We did a TA a few years ago and it was one of our best cruises. Enjoy!

Just as I turned off the computer last night, I saw the Captain again!

 

This time we spoke briefly about the dry dock.

 

New carpeting is at one end of the Promenade deck (I peaked-It's brown with short darker brown stripes.)

 

There will be 40 + new cabins on the Observation deck behind the Crow's Nest.

 

 

 

This morning I was awoken at around 8 a.m. with a few blasts over the speakers and a very quick "Brightstar" announcement. :(

 

The was a cheese buffet on the Lido pool deck from 12 until 1 :30. I've never seen a cheese buffet before. It looked good and there was a small line up.

 

Lots of small children on this trip. A very few teens.

 

We have the early seating for dinner. Great service! Lots of wine stewarts in our area of the dining room. Tonight was formal night and all the tables had people at them, unlike last night when it looked half empty (or half full).

 

Over cast and windy today. 34 knot wind blowing from southeast. Very wavy. Whitecaps on some waves. We are boogie-ing along at 18 knots.

 

Service has been fantastic. Lots of happy staff and crew. The light in the atrium is working very nicely and changing colour, which I love.

 

Mike has gotten to the spa, which has been crowded. I had a nap. Which I must have really needed after sleeping very soundly for over 12 hours. It's these amazing beds and poofy pillows.

 

All public washrooms seem to be working. No flush problems on the 8th deck. No air conditioning problems either. If it warms up, we might actually use the AC. :D

 

 

I was thinking of you all earlier at Sailaway time.

 

"Live" and well rested from the Noordam.

 

Cathy (Sheila I will say hi when I see Mark.)

 

PS... no problem with internet speed or logging on. :D

 

Thanks for your live from, Kathy...and have a wonderful journey! I always hate to read about a Bright Star alert.

And thanks for saying hello to Mark!

What night is it?

 

Actually got to the Lido for breakfast. Yes, the orange juice was fresh.

 

I think I finally found the raisin buns everyone talks about. They were at the Dutch/Waffle station. Just like Hot Cross buns without the white "cross" on top of them.

 

We sat around and watched as they did the switch from full service to serve yourself. Off went the salt and pepper packets, on went the rolled cutlery in the napkin. Away went the tables at the beverage stations.

 

We lead such an exciting life in between sleeping and napping and sitting on the balcony.

 

 

For anyone familiar with her, Anya from the dining room (asst. manager I think) She is headed for the Veendam at the end of this cruise.

 

Cruise Director Shane had a shocking announcement this morning!!

 

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is your cruise director Shane. ... and this afternoon at 4, we have Bathrobe Bingo. Wear your bathrobe and get a free card." :eek:

 

LOL I almost fell off the chair I was laughing so hard.

 

 

Just thought I would share that little gem with all of you.

 

See you later. I'm headed for the heated lounger in the spa.

:D

What night is it?

 

Actually got to the Lido for breakfast. Yes, the orange juice was fresh.

 

I think I finally found the raisin buns everyone talks about. They were at the Dutch/Waffle station. Just like Hot Cross buns without the white "cross" on top of them.

 

We sat around and watched as they did the switch from full service to serve yourself. Off went the salt and pepper packets, on went the rolled cutlery in the napkin. Away went the tables at the beverage stations.

 

We lead such an exciting life in between sleeping and napping and sitting on the balcony.

 

 

For anyone familiar with her, Anya from the dining room (asst. manager I think) She is headed for the Veendam at the end of this cruise.

 

Cruise Director Shane had a shocking announcement this morning!!

 

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is your cruise director Shane. ... and this afternoon at 4, we have Bathrobe Bingo. Wear your bathrobe and get a free card." :eek:

 

LOL I almost fell off the chair I was laughing so hard.

 

 

Just thought I would share that little gem with all of you.

 

See you later. I'm headed for the heated lounger in the spa.

Soooo, I guess the bathrobe bingo says OK to wear the bathrobes out of the cabin?????:D

Talk about putting a question to rest!!!:rolleyes:

 

Cruise Director Shane had a shocking announcement this morning!!

 

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is your cruise director Shane. ... and this afternoon at 4, we have Bathrobe Bingo. Wear your bathrobe and get a free card." :eek:

 

LOL I almost fell off the chair I was laughing so hard.

 

 

.

 

waaaahhhaaaaaaa........:D did anyone bring a snorkel too? :D

What night is it?

 

Actually got to the Lido for breakfast. Yes, the orange juice was fresh.

 

I think I finally found the raisin buns everyone talks about. They were at the Dutch/Waffle station. Just like Hot Cross buns without the white "cross" on top of them.

 

We sat around and watched as they did the switch from full service to serve yourself. Off went the salt and pepper packets, on went the rolled cutlery in the napkin. Away went the tables at the beverage stations.

 

We lead such an exciting life in between sleeping and napping and sitting on the balcony.

 

 

For anyone familiar with her, Anya from the dining room (asst. manager I think) She is headed for the Veendam at the end of this cruise.

 

Cruise Director Shane had a shocking announcement this morning!!

 

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is your cruise director Shane. ... and this afternoon at 4, we have Bathrobe Bingo. Wear your bathrobe and get a free card." :eek:

 

LOL I almost fell off the chair I was laughing so hard.

 

 

Just thought I would share that little gem with all of you.

 

See you later. I'm headed for the heated lounger in the spa.

 

Bathrobe Bingo is pretty standard :D Yes, there is a line up in the showroom of people in their bathrobes to get that free bingo card:D