ozcruizer

Sad that your travels came to a premature end, Kathie.  I have enjoyed following you and trying to answer your trivia questions.  Stay safe.

I am wondering why the Amsterdam can't be refuelled in Fremantle and supplies taken on and then sail to somewhere like Johannesburg to again refuel and then on to Fort Lauderdale.  OK, I probably don't know how long fuel lasts and of course there would be lots of sea days but surely that could suit most people from North America.  So sorry for you all that this cruise has been such a mess up.

Loved your photos of Sydney - even though I live here 🙂.  Morris & Sons is a great store for yarns.  Enjoy your sail to Townsville.  We were there not so long ago for the first time and found it a delightful place.  The cruise terminal is lovely with plenty of stalls.

The good thing is that we will have two days here to explore.  Oh yes, there is a bridge climb for $110, a bargain, compared to the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb, which goes for $600.   Wow.

I too thought Wow!  $600 to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Maybe as a shore excursion but it's just over AU $400 for the most expensive climb if you book yourself.

Going by the Cruise Mapper site, the Westerdam is positioned halfway between the Philippines and Vietnam so they are south of Hong Kong.  A cruise with nowhere to go 🙁

Thanks for sharing your wonderful video of your Maasdam cruise - lovely ship.  We did Sydney to Queensland and islands of PNG and back to Sydney before Christmas and it was a fabulous cruise too.  We were on the same cruise as you back in 2012 on the Volendam to Asia and I found myself on your video 🙂 

19 hours ago, Schlepporello said:

What is the EXC program, by the way?

And are the zodiacs on the ship or at the ports?

The zodiacs are on the ship - they are kept on the bow of the ship.

We did a round trip on the Maasdam from Sydney up the Queensland coast and islands of PNG prior to Christmas and loved it.  We had not been on this ship before and were very pleasantly surprised.  Yes, it's an old ship by today's standards but just as comfortable and well maintained as any of the other HAL ships (the newest ship we have been on is the Eurodam).  About 1200 passengers I think but it was a good number.  Depends on what evening entertainment you are looking for as there isn't a lot but there are plenty of EXC lectures and there is the opportunity for zodiac boat excursions which we loved (we are 70ish).  I'd do another cruise on the Maasdam any day.

21 hours ago, oakridger said:

Hi Copper10-8.  I'm loving the review so far!

 

Here is a burning question that I meant to ask my cabin steward when I was on Oosterdam three weeks ago........why are all the towel animals now blind (no eyes)???  A couple of days mine did have eyes that appeared to be hand drawn with ballpoint pen on paper.  Anything to do with the minimization of paper like the sugar packets?  Poor towel animals made me feel bad when they couldn't see!!!

 

😪

 

~Nancy

We had blind towel animals on the Maasdam recently, too!

We recently did a Zodiac boat excursion (we are in our 70s) while we were sailing around the islands of PNG on the Maasdam.  I was a bit nervous at first at the thought of boarding it but really, it was no more difficult than boarding a tender.  We thought it was great as we were able to look underwater at the many coral formations, using a special cone.  It cost US$99.95.

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

All six (2 "S" and 4 "R"-class) "small" ships should still have their full libraries although I'm not 100% sure about Maasdam since her "transformation" to EXC vessel. The Crow's Nest EXC program was never planned for those six ships, rather only for the Vista-class and up  

We have just done a cruise on the Maasdam, and thankfully it still has its library.  I could have sworn I was on the Volendam, they were so alike.  I hope HAL keeps those libraries as they are one of the best rooms on these ships.

On 12/9/2019 at 2:12 AM, WCB said:

 

 

Darkness came swiftly with a fairly decent sunset.  Dinner had yet another fish entrée called papeo, which turned out to be a white fish sautéed in a frying pan perhaps. And delicious again.  The veal cordon bleu was equally as good tonight. Thinking we may stump our waiter Tama with the “ananas” question, he answered…..pineapples.  Guess this word is also used in Indonesia as well, but spelled nana.  Who knew?  Tama was most pleased he knew the correct answer.

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 Ananas is Dutch for pineapple, hence the Indonesians knowing the word

We got off the Maasdam last Tuesday in Sydney after a wonderful cruise to Queensland and PNG.  We were also on Deck 4 (or "a" deck as the recorded voice in the forward lift said!) - we were quite happy down the bottom with our oceanview cabin.  No problems with the air conditioning and very attentive cabin crew.  Although a small ship (our first time on Maasdam), we liked it very much and would be happy to sail on her again.  We did the Zodiacs once and that was incredible.  Ryan Whittaker was the captain and Warren the Cruise Director.  We also saw Jamie Allan, the magician/illusionist.  Enjoy the rest of your cruise, John.

4 hours ago, erewhon said:

Sorry that you missed Kangaroo Island, due to weather conditions, we also missed the Island during an Australian Circumnavigation cruise.

Shame you missed Kangaroo Island.  We visited there while on a Noordam cruise in 2018 and I seem to recall that the water was quite rough when we were on the tender.  Still, safety comes first.

A similar thing happened when we were on the Volendam in 2012.  The lights and aircon went off and we were in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.  We were without power for an hour and the ship did a 180 degree turn.  Fortunately the problem was fixed and we were on our way to Singapore with no further issues.

11 hours ago, forwardho said:

Can you provide the link to the web cam?

Yes, it's webcamsydney.com.  Looking forward to seeing the Maasdam at the Overseas Passenger Terminal early next Saturday because we will be on it a few hours later.

Here is a pic of Noordam (taken from Webcam Sydney) passing under the Harbour Bridge.

From the Cruise Ship Tracker site, I see the Noordam is on her way.  I am watching the webcam to see her come under the Bridge.  Love the Noordam and hope to cruise on her again before she leaves Australian waters.

I have a CPAP machine and have always had to use an extension lead whether in an Oceanview or balcony cabin.  There are no power points next to the bed.  I don't know the situation in higher categories.  

We've never had an uncomfortable bed in 11 HAL cruises.  I too hate hard beds.  Going on the Maasdam in 8 days for the first time and know the bed will be just as comfortable as on previous cruises.

6 hours ago, daisybertie said:

The Maasdam coming into Fremantle on a beautiful sunny morning. My niece was thrilled because someone in a yellow dress on a verandah waved to her! Thank you.

Getting very excited here in Sydney because we will be boarding the Maasdam Saturday week.  We haven't done a cruise on her so looking forward to it.

Looking forward to following your cruise around Australia.  We will be joining the Maasdam on November 16 for a 17 day cruise up the Queensland coast and a few islands off New Guinea.  So looking forward to it as for a bit it looked like we would have to cancel due to medical issues.  Although we are Australian, still looking forward to visiting places in Queensland we have not been to previously. Also looking forward to cruising on the Maasdam as we have not cruised on her before. Enjoy your cruise!

On 8/1/2019 at 12:40 PM, sansterre said:

I'll have a difficult time getting DH to seek out yarn shops.  But you know if I see one, we will definitely stop!  Last year (did I mention we did the Voyage of the Vikings last year?) I bought yarn in the grocery store in Nanortalik.  It was wool and made in Greenland!  It was a bit coarse, but knit up into several hats.

I also bought some beautiful yarn in Scotland which I brought with me on this cruise.

We don't go to Scotland this year, but have three stops in Ireland this time.

I just realised I met you on the Volendam three years ago on the repositioning cruise from Vancouver to Hong Kong!  We had a little craft group going and you were knitting.  I was doing patchwork.  Enjoying your posts but have a lot of catching up to do.  

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

They have taken the place of the blue ones and everyone, no matter what cabin category, is getting one! The new ones are much nicer and sturdier and have a zippered closing

Thanks for the info, John.  We'll be on the Maasdam in November so looking forward to this classy-looking bag!

Your wonderful photos bring back lovely photos of our leaving Vancouver on the Volendam in 2016.  Looking forward to your posts and photos!