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"Live from" ms Volendam to Alaska! My First HAL Experience

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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Sarah,

 

The captain made the correct calls to control the illness. We had to wait about three hours after we arrived at the ship terminal before boarding. DW stayed in the terminal, but I boarded a free bus which delivered ship passengers to a very nice large Kobe department store. Buses arrived later to take us back to the terminal.

 

We shortly boarded the ship, but had to wait in the Lido until our cabin was fully cleaned and made ready. The continued health precautions were not really bothersome, especially considering their purpose. All were continually encouraged to wash hands and use the sanitizing dispensers. The "code red" was lifted after about 8 days, but then reinstated two or three days later. But no, these things were not negative for our 17 day cruise.

 

Our main dining room food was , over all, so-so. At least I thought that. It appears to me that all cruise lines are economizing on food. We do not eat for quantity, but for quality, so we do miss the quality we recall from previous cruises. We have cruised on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and HAL. We suspect they have all cut back.

 

I talked to the pianist one time and suggested that she might reduce her volume a bit. Maybe she did. I am not a true musician, but our daughter is a violinist. Well, after years of study and a college degree in classical violin, she now plays mostly old time country fiddle music. Her group, The Wilders from Kansas City played all across the country and Europe. Their last gig was in Canada in a Calgary festival, I believe.

 

They tell us "You can't take it with you." so we booked a Neptune suite, which was generally nice.

 

On earlier cruises, all had guest talent shows. After three or four cruise, DW talked me into joining them. They were fun, but then karaoke contests seemed to completely replace talent shows. They are OK, but one is limited to the karaoke CD's available. Plus most running the show will not adjust for the singer's pitch.

 

Now I quit. If you want you can read my Volendam review.

 

Bob :cool:

 

We do have another HAL cruise booked on the Noordam for October 31. This, as many other of our cruises have been, is a Trans-Atlantic. We enjoy these, and have the time because I am retired.

 

Bob

 

Yeah, we did too. Everyone was in the Lido (the food lines were stupidly long) and it was pretty hard finding seats. We were lucky to arrive at one of the only empty spots in the whole area. They slowly cleaned all of the cabins and made announcements of which cabins were okay to enter. Our embarkation time was pushed a couple of hours later so we didn't get any Mariner's embarkation lunch. :( We had to sanitize all the time, it wasn't optional lol. And for the first 48 hours, no one was allowed to serve themselves food. It was kind of inconvenient, but nonetheless understandable.

 

Regarding food, it seemed kind of hit and miss. Some delicious, a few yucky, some so-so. Overall average was not bad. From our experience, Celebrity & Disney seem to have the better of the food (of non-luxury brand cruises).

 

Yeah, above I have a post (pg 44 upper to midway), I've uploaded some videos of our musical acts on board. Included is Adiago. If you watch it, you can see how they played! I think they were pretty even. && about your daughter, that's pretty awesome :cool:.

 

On board, we had 2 outside cabins. Pretty nice and roomy :)

 

I've watched a few karaoke contests on board ships and I find it's no fun if no one is good LOL. The Disney one is even worse since they're just children singing :D.

 

I already read it haha. It took a while to find it but I did! While in the process, I noticed that in my CC review (right above yours), I forgot to rate the overall enjoyment! D: Oops.

 

I have a question, when you're out in the middle of the sea, are waves choppy? Because I tend to get motion sickness :/ && I have a cruise booked for November! It'll be west Mediterranean :) I have to skip some school though.

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Bobblsc

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Yeah, we did too. Everyone was in the Lido (the food lines were stupidly long) and it was pretty hard finding seats. We were lucky to arrive at one of the only empty spots in the whole area. They slowly cleaned all of the cabins and made announcements of which cabins were okay to enter. Our embarkation time was pushed a couple of hours later so we didn't get any Mariner's embarkation lunch. :( We had to sanitize all the time, it wasn't optional lol. And for the first 48 hours, no one was allowed to serve themselves food. It was kind of inconvenient, but nonetheless understandable.

 

Regarding food, it seemed kind of hit and miss. Some delicious, a few yucky, some so-so. Overall average was not bad. From our experience, Celebrity & Disney seem to have the better of the food (of non-luxury brand cruises).

 

Yeah, above I have a post (pg 44 upper to midway), I've uploaded some videos of our musical acts on board. Included is Adiago. If you watch it, you can see how they played! I think they were pretty even. && about your daughter, that's pretty awesome :cool:.

 

On board, we had 2 outside cabins. Pretty nice and roomy :)

 

I've watched a few karaoke contests on board ships and I find it's no fun if no one is good LOL. The Disney one is even worse since they're just children singing :D.

 

I already read it haha. It took a while to find it but I did! While in the process, I noticed that in my CC review (right above yours), I forgot to rate the overall enjoyment! D: Oops.

 

I have a question, when you're out in the middle of the sea, are waves choppy? Because I tend to get motion sickness :/ && I have a cruise booked for November! It'll be west Mediterranean :) I have to skip some school though.

 

Your photos made the food look better than it may have been.

 

Sometimes karaoke can be good.

 

All our trans-ocean cruises have been with good seas, sometimes in 10 to 12 foot waves, but still OK. The large waves do give the ship some motion, but I like at least some motion.

 

We are former sailboat sailors. We kept a 22 foot boat at our sailing club here on Beaver Lake. We also leased larger sailboats from time to time on the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We did generally stay within sight of land on the gulf. Our leased boats ranged from 30 feet to 52 feet.

 

I have read of many remedies for motion sickness. You might want to look some up. The Mediterranean can sometimes be a bit choppy.

 

There is a lot of history throughout the Mediterranean Sea area. But there is also a lot of unrest there now. I'm sure your parents will make the correct decisions however.

 

Thank you once more for all your excellent posts.

 

Bob :cool:

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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Your photos made the food look better than it may have been.

 

Sometimes karaoke can be good.

 

All our trans-ocean cruises have been with good seas, sometimes in 10 to 12 foot waves, but still OK. The large waves do give the ship some motion, but I like at least some motion.

 

We are former sailboat sailors. We kept a 22 foot boat at our sailing club here on Beaver Lake. We also leased larger sailboats from time to time on the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We did generally stay within sight of land on the gulf. Our leased boats ranged from 30 feet to 52 feet.

 

I have read of many remedies for motion sickness. You might want to look some up. The Mediterranean can sometimes be a bit choppy.

 

There is a lot of history throughout the Mediterranean Sea area. But there is also a lot of unrest there now. I'm sure your parents will make the correct decisions however.

 

Thank you once more for all your excellent posts.

 

Bob :cool:

 

Yeah, the food looks prettier in the pictures than in real life ^-^' Well it's okay, I wrote about whether or not they were delicious though :).

 

Yeah I guess, but I'm usually more or a watcher than a singer.

 

Do you think that to someone prone to motion sickness, that the average amount of motion would be handle-able? I honestly prefer no motion at all LOL. :D

 

Oh, that's awesome! Then you must be completely immune to motion sickness then! Haha, lucky! ^^ That's really interesting, I haven't really been on the water much aside from cruising and the occasional canoe/ducky boat on the lake :p, so I can't say the same.

 

Yeah, we take half a Bonine every night during dinner so that we won't pass out during the day. We've pretty much gone through every remedy in the book since all 3 of us (my siblings & I) used to all be prone to motion sickness. For my brother it has significantly decreased, but for my sister and I, we've only improved a very minor amount. This applies to cars, buses, planes and ships. I get sick on pretty much anything that moves, so being one who travels so often, it isn't that good of a combination ;).

 

Fortunately, the area that we will be sailing is farther into the interior to the east, so most of the waves hopefully won't come in. (ie. Greece area)

 

Indeed, there are calls of war & missile launches and whatnot, but if anything actually happens, we will still be going, but the cruise line will probably just change the itinerary and sail somewhere else around Italy. Not that I'm complaining ^^~

 

You're welcome, I'm glad you're enjoying them! && thank you for reading! (:

 

Sarah

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Do you think that to someone prone to motion sickness, that the average amount of motion would be handle-able? I honestly prefer no motion at all LOL. :D

 

Yeah, we take half a Bonine every night during dinner so that we won't pass out during the day. We've pretty much gone through every remedy in the book since all 3 of us (my siblings & I) used to all be prone to motion sickness. For my brother it has significantly decreased, but for my sister and I, we've only improved a very minor amount. This applies to cars, buses, planes and ships. I get sick on pretty much anything that moves, so being one who travels so often, it isn't that good of a combination ;).

 

Fortunately, the area that we will be sailing is farther into the interior to the east, so most of the waves hopefully won't come in. (ie. Greece area)

 

Sarah

 

Given your motion sickness, I would not advise a trans-ocean cruise at this time. It could be that fairly calm seas would prevail, but the probability of heavy seas is significant.

 

My best to you for your next cruise.

 

Bob :cool:

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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Given your motion sickness, I would not advise a trans-ocean cruise at this time. It could be that fairly calm seas would prevail, but the probability of heavy seas is significant.

 

My best to you for your next cruise.

 

Bob :cool:

 

Oh alright, thanks for the advice! I was actually quite curious because my dad's colleague had mentioned to him that he had experienced little to no waves at all on his most recent trans-atlantic voyage. I just wanted to hear what your opinion of it was! :)

 

Thank you!

 

Sarah

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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Lovely Serenity: Are you going back on the Volendam next year? The 14 Day cruise out of Seattle is a wonderful cruise!

 

Haha no, unfortunately not. This coming November I'm going on the Cunard QE & next year (although I am going to Alaska again next year) I will be going on the Disney Wonder instead for a family reunion cruise. (:

 

That sounds awesome! I'd love to do a 14 day cruise to Alaska at some point. Though I'm prone to motion sickness, so I'm a little worried about departing from Seattle. I heard that for Seattle, the ships steer around the outer part of Vancouver Island and there is a lot of motion over there! ):

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Oh alright, thanks for the advice! I was actually quite curious because my dad's colleague had mentioned to him that he had experienced little to no waves at all on his most recent trans-atlantic voyage. I just wanted to hear what your opinion of it was! :)

 

Thank you!

 

Sarah

 

The first Transatlantic cruise we did was years ago on the QEII -- we had a very smooth sailing. But the cruises before us and after us had rough seas.

The next couple of times we had some rough seas.

It is hard to predict what will happen.

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Krazy Kruizers

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Haha no, unfortunately not. This coming November I'm going on the Cunard QE & next year (although I am going to Alaska again next year) I will be going on the Disney Wonder instead for a family reunion cruise. (:

 

That sounds awesome! I'd love to do a 14 day cruise to Alaska at some point. Though I'm prone to motion sickness, so I'm a little worried about departing from Seattle. I heard that for Seattle, the ships steer around the outer part of Vancouver Island and there is a lot of motion over there! ):

 

 

Yes -- the Amsterdam's 14 day Alaskan cruise does head straight out to the Pacific both leaving and arriving back in Seattle. The first we did this cruise -- leaving Seattle we did stay in the Inside Passage all the way to Ketchikan. But the next year HAL changed that.

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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The first Transatlantic cruise we did was years ago on the QEII -- we had a very smooth sailing. But the cruises before us and after us had rough seas.

The next couple of times we had some rough seas.

It is hard to predict what will happen.

 

I see, but when you say rough seas, are the rough seas better or worse than the rough seas experienced near the coastside? Since I'd assume that the waves get bigger & crash into the shoreline, making more motion closer to land.

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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Yes -- the Amsterdam's 14 day Alaskan cruise does head straight out to the Pacific both leaving and arriving back in Seattle. The first we did this cruise -- leaving Seattle we did stay in the Inside Passage all the way to Ketchikan. But the next year HAL changed that.

 

My guess is so that they can keep within their time frame of the cruise since, it would technically be faster for them to go north through the Pacific, as opposed to weaving around in the Inside Passage. More likely due to the fact that Seattle is farther south than Vancouver and they still have to hit every port within 7 days.

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lovely_serenity

lovely_serenity

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Are you packed yet??

Haha, no not yet. If I started packing now, I'd have no clothes for school! :D BUT, my parents just came back from their 6 night Shanghai trip and has our new tailored gowns for our cruise!! :) I shall post them on the "Post your dress part 2" thread soon!!

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lovely_serenity

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I'm so excited for you! Great job on this, and i look forward to reading/seeing your next cruise stories and pics!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Thank you very much! :) I will most definitely try to make my next trip report better than this one!

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lovely_serenity

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Somehow, I missed this the first time around. Looking forward to your next thread on your Med cruise. Have a wonderful time. What a great itinerary.

 

Haha, is that so? :D Well, thanks for looking forward to it! I'll do my best! & Thanks! :) I agree, I'm very excited! It's my second time travelling to Europe!

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Haha no, unfortunately not. This coming November I'm going on the Cunard QE & next year (although I am going to Alaska again next year) I will be going on the Disney Wonder instead for a family reunion cruise. (:

 

That sounds awesome! I'd love to do a 14 day cruise to Alaska at some point. Though I'm prone to motion sickness, so I'm a little worried about departing from Seattle. I heard that for Seattle, the ships steer around the outer part of Vancouver Island and there is a lot of motion over there! ):

 

There canbe a lot of motion. I have experienced rough seas and very calm seas.

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