Maasdam is Fixed!! 04/21

[Preacher's Kid]

:eek::eek::eek:

 

I can't begin to imagine! And I thought sand fleas on the Cape Cod shoreline were horrible. Oh, yeah, and stepping on sea urchins in Maine.

 

I'll stay far, far away from the sea lice, thank you.

 

Karenlynne

[jbhcw]

Thanks for your postings while sailing on the Maasdam. November can't come quick enough! This will be our first HAL cruise and we are really looking forward to a longer cruise experience. Glad to hear most problems solved, keep the reports coming. Are you taking pictures? Thanks again.

[bambam]

Well, we never ventured into the water at HMC to test out the sea lice thingy... supposedly they are very samll and clear...there were times we saw a somewhat cloudy section of the water, and others told us that was the sea lice. what was amazing was some folks didn't see anything so they went in anyways...the lifeguards came and shooed them out of the water...so they got mad and went back to the ship... don't leave mad, just leave... I'll never understand, i guess...

 

great day at sea, lots of sun, very few clouds, baked again on the pool deck...

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, the life, ya know....

 

meals are fantabulous, one of the couples at our table gave up on the meals and decided to eat at the Pinnicle Grill for the rest of the cruise... again, I guess I'll never understand.:confused:

 

AC is working great... the Captain is a real person...seen him around the ship several times, sat down in the piano bar with a small gourp for about an hour, just chumming up with them... I expect him to walk by with shorts and sunglasses...:eek:

 

Dats all folks... St. Thomas tomorrow...ferrying over to St. Johns and doing Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay.. with 5 other ships scheduled to be in port...Trunk Bay may be a zoo...:rolleyes:

 

Hava Happy!!:D :D

[jhannah]

So glad the ship's mechanical issues have been addressed. Hope the rest of your journey goes smoothly.

[mariner]

Memo to self for next Caribbean cruise: Pack Caladryl Lotion or an ``alcohol'' astringent.

 

Yuck.

 

Keep making that lemonade. That's the spirit.

[cantw8]

Bam, I am home sick and reading your post pretending I am with you and Peebles, makes me feel a little better. Glad you both are having a good time.

Toni

[TedC]

Is there an extra charge for "sea lice" or are they "included"?

[dakrewser]

Is there an extra charge for "sea lice" or are they "included"?

 

And here I thought Seal Ice was something imported specially from the south pole!

 

:) -dave

[bambam]

gotta tell ya, this is one great lady of a ship.... Smooth sailing, no hitches...

 

We were in St. Thomas yesterday, and decided to ferry over to St johns and Trunk Bay. The good news...we were in St. Thomas...the better news: it took us 2-hours to get from the Crown BAy to Red Hook Ferry to St. Johns to Trunk Bay....Yes...if ya get a bad cabbie..ya get a bad cabbie... so what, we got to see more of St. Thomas than we had planned..ha ha...:rolleyes:

 

Trunk bay was nice...georgeous, in fact...tghat is until the strap broke on my snorkel mask...drat..ok...so I go rent one for 3 bucks...wheeeee, back in action...:D

 

Today we had the experience of a lifetime... we decided to follow some CC folks advice and go to Grand Pineapple Beach in Antigua... HONESTLY!!! about 12 of us went there, and to a person, we were debating on if we should go back to the ship or just die on the beach... What a place....what a beach...what snorkeling.... EASILY the best excursion we've ever taken...all for $45 pp and a $20 cab fare...

 

Tomorrow, its St. Maarten...more after that one folks... gotta go...;)

 

HAva happy!!:D

[JT3]

Bam it looks like you have the attitude to make one fine cruise.Glad your enjoying it and its great reading your updates.Party on.

[Grandma Bonnie]

Hi BamBam!

 

Thank you so much for your updates! You certainly are a terrifc person to keep us informed! It sounds like you are having a wonderful time! Enjoy and keep her in fine shape and running smoothly for us to board May 1.

 

It must be a marvelous feeling after reading some of the posts before you all left to be on board and have everything just right!! Your great attitude is certainly a huge part of it!!

 

Take care and have an apple martini for me!!

 

Bonnie

:) :) :)

[Sweetdreams]

Thanks for taking the time to keep us updated on the Maasdam. So glad to hear that you are having a great time!

[JohnR49er]

Went to Pineapple beach in November and agree 100%. I've been telling everyone who likes the beach to give it a try on their next stop there.

[JaniceB]

I think the cab rides in St. Thomas are taking longer and longer. I think it took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from Crown Bay to Red Hook in March.

[2VaCruzers]

Bruce...sounds like you're not going to want to come back to VA. Glad you are enjoying yourself. You've earned it.

[cvillehf]

Glad to hear that everything is going well on the Maasdam. We were on there 2 cruises ago when the generator first broke. It only made us late coming back, but the next group got the worst of it. I liked your comments about the Captain. I never met one that was so socialable. You can see him in shorts if you go to the gym about mid-afternoon. He is training for a marathon or triathalon, something like that.

[lknick]

Wrong string

[bambam]

Another fantabulous day in the neighborhood... a little rain in the morning (like...hmmm...30 seconds worth), off to the island-drive tour and catamaran excursion. Lots of little stuff to learn about, a beatuiful island, took a couple of rolls of film...yeah, i've heard of digitals... anyways, the best part, da bus had AC...wheeeeeeee....:D

 

Back on the Maasdam, she's the little ship that could, being parked next to the Triumph and the EoS. Princess is here too, don't know the name.

 

All is going great. The folks goin on the 05/01 sail to Southern C, you take good care of her. There's a group of 8 of us CC folks that are going to look at doing the 11-dayer next spring.;)

 

Dats all til tomorrow...San Juan and the Rain Forest Drive tour.:cool:

 

Hava Happy!!:D

[RuthC]

bambam, I gotta tell ya, I won't be anywhere near any of your ports, but you sure are making me anxious to board the Maasdam. :)

 

Will July never get here? :rolleyes:

[bambam]

Hi folks, had another great day..in San Juan, did the rain forest tour, saw lots of great flowers and vegetation, took a couple rolls of film..and then, boom, it started to rain...

 

Imagine that, rain in the rain forest, who'd a thunk it...

 

Actually, we just got out of the evening show staring Matilda...Unbelieveably funny...I haven't laughed this hard in years...

 

Now for the not so good news: at 12:35 this afternoon, the Captain came on the loud speaker and announced that one of the generators has a damaged camshaft. He said he has all the confidence that the damaged part could be repaired by 5:00pm. I have to say that at 9:00 tonite, there was some serious grinding going on, but I suspect they were trying to balance out the repaired camshaft. It is now 11:30 and everything is going great...:)

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and agree with some of the other postings...maybe it is time for the Maasdam to find a port and get her engines fixed once and for all.:(

 

I will also state that this problem, as we were leaving San Juan, has not impacted our cruise, the service, the staff, the food, the room AC, nor has it impaired our ever-growing friendships we have made while on board.

 

To the May 1 cruisers, make of this fine lady what you will. I ask if you think the glass is half/full or half/empty. If you want to make yourself miserable, you can find a lot of things that will enable you to succeed. If you want to have fun, make friends with the crew, make new friends wil your sailmates, walk around the Maasdam with a smile on your face, say hi to everyone...this has been one of the best cruises we have taken... and it is ALL about the attitude...

 

We have 2-straight days of sea days ahead of us, so I will be checking back...had to buy another 100 mins...:rolleyes:

 

If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer...or get the answer...

 

The Maasdam is sailing fine now...you May 1ners, get those bags packed...it your turn to enjoy the little lady that can!!

 

Hava Happy!!:D

[rocks]

SOOOOO wonderful of you to take time to post! SOOO glad you are having a good time!

Wondering which lounge has been your favorite place to hang-out?

Your favorite Bartender or servers?

Any other shows that were good? (don't ususally go to them unless I hear they were not to be missed-thanks for the Matilda info.)

Also, what time is the show for 2nd seating over? Us May 1sters are planning a meeting around 10:30-10:45...will those at the show be able to make it?

Hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful!

THANKS again for posting!

rocks

PS: If you can, please let us know if you will make it to Norfolk at the scheduled time.

[CDRMark]

Thank you for all your great posts.

We enjoyed our Maasdam cruise so much last November, we have booked her again for this Fall. My expectations are still as high as ever.

Cheers

MarkB

[bambam]

OK folks...the Captain came on at 9:30 this morning, said the camshaft was fixed and on-line at 9:00ish last nite...we are now doing 19.5 knots and have comparatively smooth sailing... burning like bacon on the back pool deck too.....sizzle...:cool:

 

We have the late dinner sitting, so we don't get to the show until 10:15, and it usually is overwith by 11:15pm. As for show quality...Anne Francis and Matilda are not to be missed. Have to say that the cast shows are something to be desired... the lead singers are fairly decent..except for one youngster..she really does need to find another career...

 

As for lounges, our gang meets in the Ocean lounge every nite from 7:30-8:30, and we listen to the nice and easy music of the group that plays there. We get really great service there, chat about our day at the ports, and we get our hours-de-vours served right to our tables. Usually, theres 8-10 of us there every night. When the music stops, thats our cue to go eat.:p

 

We've closed the Crows Nest several nights. Renaldo is our bartender...give him a little green and he'll treat you like a king/Queen...;)

 

Thats about all now. May 1st sailers...she in fine shape, we are due in at Norfolk early in the am...I suspect around 3-4 in the morning. So be READY!!!

 

Hava happy!!:D

[Sweetdreams]

:) Thanks for keeping us updated on the Maasdam. Sounds like you having a great time. Countdown clock is tickin' away!

[bambam]

As many of the May 1st sailors are probably on their way, this will probably be my last post while on the Maasdam. I have to sy I've had a blast. Didn't get a bad meal the whole trip, the Pinnicle is defintely worth the extra bucks...best Rib Eye steak I've had in a very long time.... If you order the Porterhouse, you better bring an extra leg...its a half a cow... almost obscene, the amount of meat they give ya.:eek:

 

The crew is great, always smiling, always saying hi. Not that pushy around the pool decks (for the drinks)...after saying no a couple of times, they leave you alone.;)

 

The shows were very good and sort of ok... Turns out the middle show by the cast was not so good as the #2 singer was out, so one of the dancers filled in for her...she needs to stick to dancing...:o

 

The seas are really calm out here...we are off the coast of NC not at the outer banks yet, its about 80 degress, not a cloud in the sky. We are still doing 19.5 knots, so the engine repairs in PR did the trick, and we are due in Norfolk in the very early AM (3-4 am)...

 

Have a great sail folks...its been a blast!!:D