MisterMatthew

Hi, everyone. And, a thank you to all. I guess i never thought bout the idea that some passport sites could be phony bologna. So far, it looks like the P.0. is a place to do business. I do still have my birth cert from my last cruise -- with the raised seal. OK. Get "extra pages". ?? Huh? -matthew

Hello. I hope everyone is well & their August is off to a fine start! I have done only one cruise in my life & it was in APRIL. It was to Mexico (aboard Zuiderdam). Depart: S.D., Calif Return: S.D., Calif ... and, thusly, this was what is called a CLOSED-LOOP cruise. So, a passport is not required. Okay, eventually, I see myself cruising more and such. How did you folks obtain your passport? I have seen companies that will expedite "things" for a fee. Otherwise, is it basically a situation where you need to physically go to a "regional" facility? ---- Matthew

My most recent experience was APRIL.. so, I cannot give a "recent" experience. Sorry for that. I sailed out of S.D., California. 2 weeks prior to sailing it said 3pm 1 week prior to sailing --- still said 3pm 48 hour prior to sailing -- still said 3pm I was new to H.A.L. (and, cruising altogether). I took a chance & got to the dock PRETTY EARLY. And, I was among the first 30 people to board. I even made mention to one of the check-in clerks "umm, I just want to be sure it is okay for me to board now?" .... and got a smile & a "go right ahead, Sir". ---- Matthew

I cannot speak for the Noordam. But, in April of this year, I sailed the Zuiderdam. I soon "realized" they were not available. Day 1.. "we just ran out". Day 2.. " I don't think we have any on this sailing". So, that was that. ----Matthew

The only logo that will appear on my attire.. would be "Callaway" on my polo golf shirt. --- Matthew

Those are the exact same channels I "got" while on Zuiderdam (in APRIL). ---matthew

I used this in APRIL for my cruise. Works great. Think of it as an "enabler" for boarding the ship. It's like red carpet. I was on Zuiderdam... and it took me approx. 5 minutes from the time I entered the building --- carry-on goes through the detectors --- check your travel documents --- to upstairs to check in --- and physically be aboard the ship. AWESOME. ---Matthew

I was on the Zuiderdam in April of this year. The food is a mix of "excellent" and "outstanding". I ate at the Lido, the MDR, and at Dive In (the burger place). What Gail / Marty said, above, is 100% true. The Lido will do anything they can to make you happy. ---Matthew

BB47 -- well, I do not recall seeing those. Then, again, I was not specifically looking for them either. It was one of my afternoons in which my goal was to scope out every part of the ship.... so, I ended up spending (maybe?) 35 minutes in the gym. I do recall the "free" weights, as I saw someone using those. ---Matthew

I was in their gym (in APRIL) and did not see any foam rollers. Umm, kettlebells?

I appreciate your feedback. Part of me is wanting to pursue a longer cruise. Perhaps one that is ESPECIALLY long. ----MisterMatthew

I brought onboard only one food item onto my HAL cruise -- it was Zuiderdam -- and, this was in APRIL of this year. It was not a meal. It was a sealed pouch of jerky.

Monday, April 11, 2022 Okay, all of port days are now in the rear view mirror. It will be two days at sea. And, then returning to S.D., California. I woke up early and got to the Main Dining Room early. If you remember, I did not choose a specific dining time. I chose "OPEN". I was at the dining room before it opened. So, I would be the first one in. They had this item (I'm using GOOGLE right now to recall the official name.) (Be right back.) (I'm back.) It is called a Pannekoeken. It's a pancake with bacon and apples in it. I'm trying to remember if I got this earlier in the cruise. I may have. Anyhow, really really good. I drizzled on the maple syrup. Not until it was covered, but until it was drowned. Yes, indeed. A lowfat food. (Rolling my eyes here.) The seas were somewhat rough today. But, that would change later. I went back to my room and finished a movie that I started the previous night. Today was sort of quiet. I went downstairs to the SERVICES desk & inquired about the process to disembark and luggage procedures. I kind of had the general idea, but wanted to confirm. In the end, I just self-carried my stuff. (( There is some sort of colored AND numbered tag you're supposed to obtain.. if you want the crew to assist. And, you leave your dirty dirty dirty clothes laying out in the corridor of your room. Okay, I'm joking. You leave your luggage out in the hallway. Lol. Anyhow, I didn't do any of that in the end. I saw Wadee upstairs on deck 9. She is one of my favorites at the Lido. I expressed a bit of anxiety as the cruise would be ending in about 36 hours, and 19 minutes. Alright, as the afternoon turned into sunset, and the night -- the seas were acting up. Plenty of pitch-and-yaw. Or, pitch-and-roll. I would not call it severe. But, certainly acting up. This night will turn out to be the MOST "rough" of them all. At a certain point, while back in my room, I could listen and hear the hangers SLIDE across the closet bar from side to the other --- and back (as the ship rolled). For a good six minutes I did not know what the sound was. Lol. I checked my statement. I was pretty sure that Room Service was complimentary, and it was. I was pretty sure someone told me that "soda" is not included in Room Service, even if you had a beverage package. Well, it turned out that the all the sodas I got in Room Service, I was NOT charged for. Also, I had 3 sodas from the fridge in the stateroom. I think some people call it a mini-bar???? And, those sodas I was never charged for. I got a so-so night's sleep. I got up at one point -- which was about 1:45AM, and went to walk around the ship. Yes, outside as well. Both pools had the water sloshing around. Oh, it was sloshing baby! Well, the aid of some diphenhydramine, put me to sleep with more ease. ---Matthew Then I went.

Mary, I certainly enjoyed the ship. I made many inquiries, in a friendly manner, with crew members. Some examples were onboard "life' for the crew. And, the loading / unloading of food, drink, product, and such. Also, how crew dresses at night versus the day time. I may be somewhat weird (?? LOL), but am intrigued by ALL OF IT.

This evening, I ordered room service for the first time. This involved a multitude of telephone calls. If you have been following my post / Trip Report ... then you know 2 things: 1) I have not kept things up to speed, and some of you have been hanging. Sorry! 2) I mentioned a while back that there was going to be a "multitude of telephone calls". So, I called... and placed my order. It was more afternoon (-vs- evening). I opted for the roast beef sammich. My family has often used the word sammich for sandwich. I opted for the sammich, and a quesadilla. Was Mister Matthew especially hungry. Nope. But, I figured it was complimentary --- and, it would allow me to try a couple things. Plus, I could nibble on leftovers later that night. I also got (cans) of coca cola and ginger ale. The person that took my order mentioned that there were "4 orders ahead of you". He said that instead of mentioning an estimated wait time. Not a big deal at all. I washed my hands, and worked for a little while on the Crew Member comment cards again. Well, about 20 minutes later, a knock at the door. And, I was about to take the tray from his hands into mine (at the door). With confidence, the delivery fella said "No, no.. and brought it in & placed it on the dining table for me. I gave him a combination of 3 things.. mexican pesos, u.s. dollars, and my verbal thank you. Oh, my room does not have a formal dining table, lol. It is a moveable table, which is rectangular & about 32 inches wide. Quickly, I began eating. The roast beef sammich was nothing great. It really was not... sort of dry. Like, every part of the sammich was dry. It came with potato chips. Not a big deal. I guzzled the ginger ale in (roughly) 16 seconds. I, then, put the sammich plate aside and I (( Phone ringing. )) Hello? "Yes, sir.. I am calling to check on your food order, is everything to your liking?". I told him yes & thank you. We hung up. I, then, put the sammich plaste aside and I began consuming the quesadilla. It was pretty solid. Came with melty cheese.. and a dollop of guac, s.c., and pico de gallo. The cheese inside was still warm. I know, sometimes, with room service orders there is a concern of food temperature. I finished the quesadilla, and watched the daily weather on the television. I also, began to watch a movie. They let you choose from (about?) 40 selections. Comedy, adventure, drama, etc, etc. Many classic movies too. All of the movies are free. And, you can start, stop, pause, as you wish. (( Phone ringing. )) "Yes, sir. This is Room Service, may we return to your room & remove the serving tray for you?". Now, the tone in his voice was still friendly. My hypothesis is that they were not running low on those trays. But, they just wanted to graciously get it out of my way. Well, I ended up responding... "You called me for that?". Thusly, I did not completely compute their process & kindness in an immediate manner. But, I did say "Well, it's fine.. you can get the tray in the morning if that is alright?". He complied. In addition, I was NOT going to place it out in the hallway. People need to walk. And, there are wheelchairs that utilize the narrow corridor. ---- Matthew

Sunday, April 10, 2022 ... I did not go back into Puerto Vallarta today. And I, now, sort of regret it. I was told by a handful of my fellow cruisers that it is not often that a ship stays at port overnight (i.e. affording two days of visiting). I spent time at the pool, as well as other areas. I ran around Deck 3. Okay, it was not a run, nor even a sprint. Can we say brisk walk. Oh, about the pool... I saw several people GET INTO HOT WATER WITH THEIR SPOUSE! 20220403_134405.mp4 The ship is constantly doing maintenance. Like in an "ongoing" manner. I am not trying to say that the ship is in poor quality & so forth. There was signage taped to the railing of the run-around deck (the brisk walk-around deck) that read "Caution, fresh varnish". Part of me is kind of curious to see more parts of the ship. Such as portions that the public don't normally GO INTO. I'm curious as to how things work, how things all come together. It fascinates me. Do any of you watch that t.v. show Modern Marvels? I think there is a similar cable show too. But, perhaps you know what I mean. ----Matthew

Triple scary. I think they would let you transfer to another room. Or, another ship. Yowza. -- Matthew

Roz, good to know.

Well, I had a fair amount of "worry" before sailing. Plus, it was my first cruise ever. Now, I believe I was very fortunate to be on a HAL ship! ---Matthew ((( Oh, the only reason I asked "that" was on account of you mentioned be sure to consider a future deposit thing-a-ma-jig. Lol. ))))

Thank you everyone. This is excellent information. I do appreciate it!! ----Matthew

Mary, do you work for HAL?

That was an error on my part. Thinking more about it -- I cannot remember it being open during lunch time. Sorry.

In the Main Dining Room, I had 5 different servers. (No, not all at the same meal!). Anyhow, one of them was named Wishnu. I greeted him & got the pronunciation correct. He, did go on to say that "Wishy Washy is also fine!" -----Matthew

Background: I have only done one cruise, it was on HAL Zuiderdam. It was great! I did not purchase the cruise, I won it via a casino. So, paid for taxes & daily $15.50 crew appreciation. I went solo. I am eager to cruise again. QUESTION 1: If you cruise solo, do you, basically, just pay the amount (as if 2 persons were cruising)? QUESTION 2: If I book a cruise through a travel agent --vs-- my Cruise Consultant @ the HAL Call Center, is there ever a chance of obtaining a BETTER price? QUESTION 3: If I find a cruise that I want to sail on... and it is in the future (such as 8 months, 12 months, 24 months away), what amounts of money does HAL want? And, when? I do understand this is somewhat vague. So, let's use a hypothetical: There is a "XYZ" cruise in JULY, 2023... and it is $5,000 total cost. ----Matthew

(( I will get to the 7,8,9, and 10th day very shortly.. or, you may slightly scroll down. )) Day 6 As I mentioned, on my previous post ... day 6 was to be in Mazatlan. I never got off the ship. I slept in (really, really slept in). So, I spent the afternoon doing a bit of writing. A lot of writing some may say. I obtained, from the GUEST SERVICES counter, some comment cards. And, I began. By the afternoon was done.. I had 7 cards filled out. This was for taking time to recognize crew members' efforts & so on. I recognized 4 people with the 7 cards. One crew member.. I wrote four pages worth of information. It was important for me to take special care in this pursuit. I did not feel it would be appropriate to simply point out a person & utilize a single sentence. You may notice that I type quite a bit -- "here" on my post. Lol. Okay, back down to GUEST SERVICES, and dropped them off. Day 7 By the time I got outside, the ship was already in Puerto Vallarta. I watched the docking via the channel on the in-cabin television. It lets you view the Bridge and Aft webcams. Nice. Also, there is something that will give you the weather forecast for the current day & the upcoming days. Puerto Vallarta was scheduled to be 83 degrees, and with 76% humidity. This is, of course, a much higher humidity level than what I see here in the Mojave Desert. But, it felt very comfortable. I did not eat at the Lido for breakfast, juice had some juice. There was a lot of chatter with the Lido crew of who is going ashore & at what times. Plus, at least one of them saying "maybe we will see you". It turned out that a good handful were going -- on account of there is a Walmart just 4 minutes away, by walking from the ship. Okay, I went to DIVE IN, for a bite. It turned out, that I was really missing out on these juicy burgers for the first half of my cruise. They are wonderful, and juicy. I got the cannonball each time. Great! Oh, and of course the crispy french fries. another g I finally went ashore at around 1:15pm. At the port, you disembark.. and walk a very short distance to a little shopping plaza. And, on the other side, is a Shell Station, a Walmart, a Sams Club, etc. Then, 1/2 a block further is an indoor shopping center. I went to the Walmart & got a tall water. I've been in Walmart's before, but figured -- what the heck I'll go in & have a look. Well, I am halfway to the Walmart & three voices call out "Is that Matthew!?!?!?!". It was Mark, Anj, and another person from the Lido. I said "aren't you supposed to be working" in a sarcastic tone. They all laughed. They told me that the trip to Walmart was kind of important to them -- as they could get items that some ports would just not have ---- so, time to stock up. I went to the indoor shopping mall. It had a big store called LIVERPOOL. I guess that is a department store in Mexico? I walked around for about 80 minutes. There was a place (In Puerto Vallarta) that I read about -- about a month earlier -- and, it had very good reviews for the El Pastor tacos. I wanted to make sure that I made a trip there. The distance was (I believe) about 6 miles. The name of the small eatery is Pancho's Takos. Yes, they spell it with a "k" there. Lol. So, I got a taxi cab. There are tons and tons of taxi cabs in Puerto Vallarta. All of them (seemed to be?) the same company with the white & yellow paint. All clean. The place is small. Really small. It is in the Zona Romantica area of town. They don't advertise. They don't have reservations. They take cash only (pesos, or american $). And, to get a table -- you just form a line on the sidewalk. With my research, I learned that they are not open on Sundays -- so, this was my day to go. You are handed a card that lists the entire menu. Circle what you want and write down how many. I read that the fondue was really good as well were the (of course) tacos. I waited in line about 15 minutes, and then got a table. I was about 9 feet from the volcanic heat from the guy cooking/carving the el pastor. Awesome. g Of course, it's traditional, to have that pineapple atop! I ordered two pastor tacos, and the fondue, and a quesadilla. Oh, and two cans of pepsi. So much food, But, I did not know when I would ever be back --- time to get busy! The fondue choices were with mushrooms, or with chorizo. It was especially good. Got the SHROOOOOMS. Next time I am in town -- will get the other. Play the video, I dare ya! 20220409_170346.mp4 The tacos were filling. Really filling, just stuffed with meat & all the goodness of onion, cilantro, etc. The wedges of lime made them even better. Oh. Oh. Oh, you see that plate of condiments. Well, just to let you know.. the sauce, in the upper right. Yes, the orange colored one. We can simply give that one the nik-name K-Y-A-G. Oh, dear lord. Kiss - your - *** - goodbye. I had tears running down my face. It was good though. -------Matthew