Maasdam Nov. 16-26 Thanksgiving Cruise

;) Before CDRMark returns from his cruise this week with what we know will be a detailed report (thanks!), we thought we should note a few comments from our Thanksgiving Maasdam cruise. Our first cruise was last year on the Maasdam Holiday trip (Christmas & New Years). We thought on our second Maasdam cruise we would be much more observant about the ship and all the events. Guess what! Our opinion has not changed! Same "beautiful and elegant Maasdam," with friendly and helpful crew (and lots of new faces). We cruise for rest and relaxation ... so we can't report on games and activities. Our favorite event was lounging at the Navigation Deck Pool. More children than we expected in the embarkation line ... but the strange thing was once we were on the ship we never noticed very many of them. They must have been having a good time somewhere! Evening dinners were great (:rolleyes: they do the cooking, serving, and cleaning up) ... doesn't get much better than that! Wonderful table mates. Someone did a good job pairing the 4 couples. Breakfast in the Lido a little congested on port days (amazing how everyone wants to eat at exactly the same time). We made it to HMC this year. Dark and cloudy day with a few drops of rain, but still a wonderful experience. Ruth, we can't report on your Piano Bar - most evenings you couldn't get in the door. They sure seemed to be having a good time in there! We did enjoy the quiet Ocean Bar after dinner. Cabin Steward went above and beyond ... and left us the cutest towel "animals" each evening.

One last comment. Some of you will remember we always said we wouldn't cruise if we couldn't be on the LP deck. We just loved it there last year and that's what we booked for this year. A few days before our departure our TA called that HAL had offered us an "A Veranda" on the Navigation Deck for an extremely low additional fare. We decided to go for it so we could compare. You all know what comes next: NOW WE ARE SPOILED!

:p Happy cruising to all who are booked on future Maasdam cruises. And on your cruise survey card, please write "HAL, don't leave Norfolk!"

Happy cruising to all who are booked on future Maasdam cruises. And on your cruise survey card, please write "HAL, don't leave Norfolk!"

I am SO upset about HAL pulling out of Norfolk! I am in Richmond and it is only about 90 minutes down to our friends' in Hampton where we leave our car (no prking fees) and getted dropped off curbside at the terminal. Sure beats flying to a port.

I wonder if they might change their mind when Norfolk's terminal renovations are complete?