Review Volendam Nov 13-23 Part IV

Today was at sea, so we both relaxed again by the aft Lido pool. A few things at this time….

If you sit at either pool area make sure you are not too close to the glass doors. Directly over your head will be a speaker hidden in the overhead area. When there is an announcement over the PA these speakers are VERY loud, that or the Captain and the cruise director(Scott) have a contest as to who can speak the loudest. As with all HAL cruises the activity level at the pools is kept to a minimum with the occasional game being played. There is a live band at the main pool and piped music at the aft pool. The deck servers are present but are not overly pushy. Remember in part I that I mentioned Carlos, the wine steward from the main dining room? Well as it turns out he does double and triple duty as do all the crew members because on the aft pool area he was a drink server and not looking too happy.

The Taco/pizza food area is forward on the starboard side of the Main pool area along with the hot dog/hamburger grill. I tried the pizza for lunch and it was not that bad.

I also like to eat lunch in the main dining room at least once during a cruise and enjoyed my meal very much. The expert use of dinner leftovers means that you will see items that are familiar from the last menu for lunch. For example if they have too many baked potatoes rest assured that you will see potato soup at lunch. But it is done very well and I for one did not mind. Some say this is a cost cutting thing, but it just makes good sense. If HAL really wants to save money here are some good ideas. Enough with the chocolates every night on the bed, I can only eat so much, and stop sending me a copy of the New York Times with room service if you place one on the door everyday anyway. And everyday along with the daily activity sheets there is an insert for that day’s sale in the shops. My DW spends enough without extra "sale" sheets to look at during breakfast. (That would be a cost cutting feature for me).

And ladies, don’t worry about dragging your shampoo and conditioner along as HAL provides some very nice (according to my DW) bottles direct from the spa (available for purchase of course). Really they are good items, along with special soap for the ladies as well as body lotion and some other stuff I do not know what they use for. I bring my own soap so can’t attest to the soaps magical properties.

Also, the towels HAL provided us with were all extra large and thick. And don’t forget if you need or want clean dry towels for your next use, just leave them on the bathroom floor and they will be replaced by your steward. Oh, they do provide ice every day in a very nice ice bucket, look for the ice tongs in the lid to the bucket.

I just read a comment about the toilets not flushing. The same thing happened to us only once. The dang thing would not flush. About 5 minutes later the toilet flushed on it’s own and there were no further problems of any kind with the plumbing.

Although I carry hand disinfectant in my pocket, HAL provides stations everywhere. Upon entering the main dining room a steward greets you and then squirts a small amount on everyone’s hand before they go in. At the Lido buffet lines on both sides they have a stand up model for you to use. I heard of no illness on this cruise.

Formal night tonight so we dress up and head to our spot in the Ocean Bar and Henry has our drinks to us in no time. The appetizers need some work as they are presented on stale/damp saltines, and very honestly are not all that good. I mentioned this once and it never was corrected. One minus point. The bartender was able to provide us with a dinner menu each night to look over and I never thought to keep a copy for my album. However I did keep the one for the Farewell Dinner (more on that later).

Dinner this night was Prawns for that were so good. We left early for the Lido where I smoked another cigar (Nat Sherman) and had hot tea with a very nice layered cake. My darn leg hurt so bad I turned in early and fell asleep quickly thanks to that bottle of wine with dinner and a few glasses of port. ZZZZZZZZZZZ

And yes we had both a waiter and helper at our table for two.

Sunday and I am up early to accept room service and dressed for our visit to Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-ee-ka). Off the ship by 8:00 AM and met up with BENO across from the dock area. There were a total of 8 of us in the van plus Beno’s nephew Brandon, who is planning on being a tour director in the near future.

The tour Beno conducts is very worthwhile, he includes many wonderful sights and gives a nice verbal account of his home island. Dominica is a very beautiful island nation and the youngest of the islands in the Caribbean; hence it has the tallest mountains. The lush landscapes and wide vistas make this one of the most stunning islands we have been to yet. It would be nice to spend a few day here seeing all the sights.

Beno took us first to the Emerald Pool which we did not swim in, however it is in a most beautiful setting in the rain forest. The walk was not too bad on my legs and we made it back to the van with no problems. It is however a lot of up and down twisty trails so you need to be able to walk a good distance without hurting so use your best judgment.

We then stopped at a local fruit stand on the side of the road and sampled some Coconut milk along with coconut candy, so good, also pineapple and very tiny bananas.

The stand is called "It’s nice to be nice" and they were. The people we encountered were very friendly and helpful on this island.

Next stop was Trafalger Falls; we did not hike to the falls due to my leg and the fact that is a far walk to get a good view. So we just hung out at the visitors center and I had a local beer. The scenery is outstanding, affording views of the mountain peaks in all directions. We ended the tour with a stop Beno called a "Kodak" moment, for a view of Roseau that is spectacular.

Dominica is trying to become a tourist stop since there are not many opportunities for the locals on this island. The population is about 70,000 and I only hope they can do this without the outside commercial growth that is so common on the other islands. Dominica would make a great eco-tourist destination and would help ensure it stays as it is.

Anyone who visits Dominica should hire Beno for a tour since he does such a great job, and is very knowledgeable of his home. And at $40.00 per person is money well spent.

Back on board we lunched in the Lido and then returned some books to the very well stocked ship’s library and rested up for dinner. (more food) Ship sets sail at 3:00 PM and arrives in St. Thomas in the morning. Since we are returning to U.S. soil EVERYONE must clear customs before anyone can get back on the ship later. That’s what they said. They let you off but maybe not back on, go figure.

Roy