ozcruizer

Is Something in the Water the book by Catherine Steadman, Diane?  Looks very interesting.

Thanks, Daphne

Loving following your blog and even more so now that you've introduced photos.  We did the Panama Canal years ago when passenger ships were operating from Australia to Europe - a never to be forgotten sight.  

I will be watching the webcam here in Australia - 1.00 pm, tomorrow, Wednesday!  What a wonderful voyage it will be.

40 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Morning (I think) Oz ; I should have said 21 April, not May! The 2019 HAL schedule I have, shows her doing a 14-day round-trip Sydney on 07 Apr. followed by the trip to Vancouver. But, perhaps that has changed already and the one you're looking at is correct. Schedules do change so it wouldn't surprise me if you got it right and I'm putting out bogus info

 

4/7/2019	Sun	SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
4/8/2019	Mon	At Sea (Tasman Sea)
4/9/2019	Tue	At Sea
4/10/2019	Wed	Milford Sound
4/11/2019	Thu	Port Chalmers (Dunedin)
4/12/2019	Fri	Akaroa (Christchurch)
4/13/2019	Sat	Picton
4/14/2019	Sun	Wellington
4/15/2019	Mon	Napier
4/16/2019	Tue	Tauranga (Rotorua)
4/17/2019	Wed	Auckland
4/18/2019	Thu	Waitangi (Bay of Islands)
4/19/2019	Fri	At Sea (Tasman Sea)
4/20/2019	Sat	At Sea
4/21/2019	Sun	SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

Thanks, John.  It is almost midday here now! The information I have is actually a bit confusing but it does look as though Noordam finally leaves Sydney on 4/21.

59 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

It would be nice if she did Caribbean cruises again -- but sadly I don't see that happening for a while.

If HAL sends the Zuiderdam to Australia, then I am happy for Noordam to go to the Caribbean, LOL.

38 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

On 21 May 2019, she'll depart Sydney, NSW on her 22-day journey north-east to Vancouver, BC via, among other port calls, Honolulu, Oahu and Nawiliwili, Kauai

Actually, John, Noordam leaves Sydney for Vancouver on April 7 2019, according to the ***** site.  Please correct me if that is wrong.

We are booked on our fourth cruise on the Noordam for 24th February from Sydney, via Melbourne and Hobart and then across the Tasman to New Zealand, ending in Auckland.  None of the ports are new to us (we live in Sydney) but we are still excited about being on the Noordam again.  Our first cruise was when the Noordam was based in the Mediterranean, and then the next year we boarded her in Honolulu for her inaugural cruise to Sydney.  The last cruise was only in Australian waters but we enjoyed it as we had not been to South Australia before (except briefly on a rail trip).

I just want to say a bit belatedly how much I enjoyed reading your blog along with the wonderful photos.  We probably won't ever do that cruise (DH says no) but it certainly gave a very good idea of what such a cruise is about.  Incidentally, the Zaandam was our first ever HAL ship back in 2007.  Can't wait for your next cruise!

Ozcruizer

We were on the Noordam last January and thought the furnishings were looking faded and frayed.  Love the ship but something needs to be done about cabin decoration.  I understand the dry dock is not for another year - not soon enough.  I also commented on the state of the cabin but it seems nothing has changed, sadly.

Ozcruizer

Art deeko is the New Zealand accent!  We pronounce it decko in Australia.

Ozcruizer

2 hours ago, whogo said:

 

 

I sat through three numbers from tonight's rock violinist, Yoomia. She talked too much, yelled in the microphone to get us to yell that we were having a good cruise. I could not pick out a melody in her songs, when she started talking about designer shoes and being a shopaholic I high tailed it out of there.

 

 

 

I think Yoomia performed on our last Noordam cruise.  Well, I can't remember her name but I sure do remember one performer who talked almost non-stop about her shoes and her dress.  Does she really think people are interested?  

Ozcruizer

Those toilet signs always amuse me too.  There was a new one on the Zuiderdam recently - a circle with a slash on it which included not flushing bottles away.  What does HAL think we are?  😂  Enjoying your blog and enjoyed your thoughts on Sydney which is where I live.

Ozcruizer

Good to hear you enjoyed your Zuiderdam cruise.  We were on the Zuiderdam NY to Quebec in September and loved it.  We too liked the captain and his sense of humour.  It was our first cruise on the Z although our tenth HAL cruise and it sat up there with the best.

Ozcruizer

The Volendam lost power back in 2012 when we were headed for Singapore.  We must have drifted around for a good hour before we were underway again and it did cause us to arrive late in Singapore.  All part of the experience, I say (unless passengers have to be rescued from a stricken ship).

Very much enjoying your posts. Going by Captain Albert's blog, Captain Henk Draper will be captaining the ship as from October 10. We did Hawaii to Sydney in 2015 and he was the captain. He was King Neptune for the crossing of the equator and we loved his accent. Wait until he says "meteorological"!

I have just seen and enjoyed your blog. We were there two years ago on a repositioning cruise on the Volendam but as we had not booked an excursion and the wind almost blew you horizontal, we did not see very much of the island, but it certainly was not a place I would choose to live.

We were on this cruise and were wonderfully surprised by the condition of the ship and its refurbishments. We've done a few cruises on the Noordam and I have to say it came in second to Zuiderdam. Bring on the next dry docking for Noordam!

We had booked a hotel in NY that would be close to the Manhattan Terminal but of course it was changed to Brooklyn. No worries, at least we got to go over the famed Brooklyn Bridge. This was our first cruise as 4* Mariners and so we had preferential embarkation with the suite guests so we had a lot of time to settle in before sailing. The sight of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty will never be forgotten by this pair of Australian cruisers.

The crew were, as always very attentive and forever cheerful. We did not take part in a lot of onboard activities as we were unfortunate enough to have caught colds and so took time to rest up for the next day's port. We did attend most evening performances on the Main Stage and on the whole, they were quite good. Those dancers are simply amazing.

Loved Boston and found it a lot quieter than NY. Loved Bar Harbor - could have spent longer there. Sydney (the namesake of where we live in Australia) a bit ho hum away from the pier but we did see an interesting performance by some local musicians. Charlottetown - of course went to see Lucy Montgomery's home but as it was raining we did not see much of Charlottetown unfortunately. Saguenay - it absolutely blew a gale there and if it hadn't been for an already booked excursion, we might have given it a miss. Quite a number on board did in fact stay on board. Quebec - well what can I say. Simply beautiful and so glad we stayed in port overnight. We did our own thing there and saw a lot. The next day we took the excursion which ended up at the airport - we visited a sugar shack and visited a town called Wendake with a picturesque waterfall. Flew from Quebec to Montreal where we stayed overnight. We had an afternoon flight for the long trek home but we spent the morning exploring Montreal - also beautiful.

Given the distance we had to travel to do the cruise, it's likely we will not do it again, but it's now off my bucket list (including NY and Niagara Falls which we visited while there) and I'm so glad to have done it. Would love to do another cruise on the Zuiderdam though.

Loving reading about your cruise to Alaska - we were there two years ago.

I have used a CPAP for about 10 months now so mine is relatively new and I have taken it on a cruise without problems. I really don't know what I'd do if mine broke down but perhaps you could have it serviced as a safeguard before you travel?

Thank you, Boulders! That was quickly solved and I obviously didn't look hard enough on the HAL site.

We have booked a HAL excursion for our September 13 cruise from New York to Quebec and now wish to cancel it as we've decided to do our own exploring. I cannot find anything on the HAL site (to be expected, I guess ;p) and phoning Seattle is not the easiest because we are in Australia and there is the time difference aspect. Any help would be appreciated.

We had the only aft deck cabin we've ever had and that was on Deck 8 of the Eurodam. Loved it but one night we heard a terrible din above us where deck chairs and furniture was being moved. We reported it and had no further trouble. I would not hesitate to have such a cabin again.

Looking to sail out of NYC next Sept. to Quebec. Does anyone know what kind of shape Zuiderdam is in? I've sailed her, but a long time ago.

Are you sailing 13-23 September? That is the cruise we're doing! I can't tell you anything about the Zuiderdam, never having sailed on her.

Thanks, everyone, for your replies on my questions about NYC. I'm sure they will come in very useful when we get down to the finer points of booking!

We are booked on a 10 day cruise from New York to Quebec in September, our first cruise since becoming 4-Star Mariners and we are very much looking forward to it. Coming from Australia, this part of the States and Canada is completely unfamiliar to us. Does anyone know where cruise ships depart from in New York? Some reasonable hotel recommendations would also be helpful. :)