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Hawaii and Tahiti.....Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

WCB

By WCB,
in Holland America Line

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pbnjrockette

pbnjrockette

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Enjoying reading your reports---especially any comments about the Statendam--as we are sailing in January. Have read several negative comments and am encouraged to read that the ship seems to be in good condition.

 

Hope your weather improves...

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 6 October 8, 2013 Tuesday Hawaii & Tahiti...Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

Funny what a difference a day can make. Opening the new curtains this morning, we discovered that the sun was out. By 8am, the outside temps were already 82 degrees, which is about 20 degrees warmer than yesterday at the same time of day. Yep, we have finally reached the edges of the tropics.

 

If we had thought the breakfast service in the dining room had been slow the last couple of days, well, today was worse. Having had turned the clocks back one hour, many passengers must have gotten up early and decided to try the dining room for a change. By the time we arrived, about 8:30am, they had seated well over 200 guests, and we could not get our usual table for two. We would have to wait. Come to think of it, perhaps that is the reason why there is abundant seating in the lobby of the lower dining room. And all the seats were full of people patiently waiting to be escorted inside. Got to admit, this is the first time ever on any HAL ship to be turned away for lack of seating. Not a big deal, we decided to go for our walk until 9:15am, when we suspected that the room would empty out.

 

Gosh, it was warm and humid outside on the lower promenade deck. But with the heat, comes warmer seas, and warmer seas mean fish.....flying fish, lots of them. We love keeping an eye out for them as we walk. And you never know when something bigger may be underneath them, hunting them for breakfast. When we sail closer to shore, it is a treat watching the birds swoop down and scoop up these fish as they are airborne. Brutal, yes, but it is nature's way.

 

Once back in the dining room, we were promptly seated at a nice table, and waited on royally. Apologies were profuse from upper staff, although not really expected to that degree. It does take a few days for the staff to figure out the patterns of who goes to the Lido and who dines downstairs for breakfast and lunch. Then the waiters are distributed accordingly. If they guess wrong, then there appears to be a shortage of wait staff, which would never be admitted by management even if there was. And as long as you don't have an enormously long wait and cold food, then it really doesn't matter. Eventually, they get it right.

 

We understand that at least one dozen tours in Hawaii will be affected by the unfortunate US government shutdown. Since the national parks are closed, the visits to Pearl Harbor and Volcanoes National Park will not be available. This is too bad for those who have waited to see these sights for the first time, and may not have the chance to do so after this trip. We consider ourselves lucky, because we have been to these special places more than once, and had planned on different activities anyway. Of course, to see the volcano from the air is possible, if one chooses to pay from $250 to $600 for a helicopter flight.

 

This particular cruise has a feature newly added to the cruise line, where you can learn dances that have been showcased on the popular TV series "Dancing with the Stars". If we understand this correctly, one person will eventually be chosen fleetwide to receive the coveted mirrorball trophy...the award for the best dancer. We caught a few minutes of the ship's photographer's video of the dance class, and it was most entertaining. Lots of want-to-be Fred Astaires and Ginger Rogers among our crowd. If nothing else, it can be an excellent form of exercise.....a great way to work off the extra calories.

 

There was an Indian Buffet Lunch held in the Lido pool area today. That's the first time we have seen that theme. It did smell really good with all the aromatic spices used in Indian cuisine. Too bad we had eaten breakfast so late, or we would have sampled the fare.

 

Hawaiian lectures continued, as well as talks on camera and computer technology. Learning bridge and poker was offered. Even a class on how to decorate your flimsy blue HAL tote bags took place in the Wajang Theater. Again, while the group Tribute practiced in the showlounge, we peeked inside to listen to them. They were good, harmonizing familiar tunes. Their shows will be early this evening, because it is formal night, followed by the Black and Silver Ball with the officers and staff at 10pm.

 

In fact, yesterday, one of our dinnermates had requested an officer to join us for dinner this evening, but we were stood up. The first sign that it was not going to happen was when the wine steward collected the wine glasses from our table. Sure wish we had paid closer attention to when they did that, since we could have suggested that at least they could have served the wine despite the fact we had no special guest. It's done all the time on the grand cruises, and it would have been a nice gesture.

 

One more day at sea, and Honolulu, here we come. And the clocks went back one hour once again this evening. Nice.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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DaveOKC

DaveOKC

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Bill and Mary Ann -

 

If you meet anyone who has a cabin close to the Neptune Lounge on deck 10, ask them if they are experiencing vibrations in their cabin. We were in one of those a week ago and it was difficult to handle. Others we met in the same area had the same problem. Just wondering if they were able to fix the problem yet.

 

DaveOKC

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Spinner2

Spinner2

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Bill and Mary Ann--Can I ask a favor of you? You have several people on your roll call who are continuing onto the next cruise, the 31-day to South America. Since the time they boarded for your cruise we have had to change the Meet/Greet date from what they were told and I don't have cabin numbers for them. When/if you have another CC Meet/Greet could you let those staying aboard after November 3 that the Meet/Greet will be the day AFTER Cabo on Nov 6; still 1 pm, Crow's Nest, but not, as planned originally, the first sea day after San Diego. Thanks if you're able to do it; it's ok if not; I'll try to catch them at the original time and let them know about the change.

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 7 October 9, 2013 Wednesday Hawaii & Tahiti...Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

The natives are getting restless. All the passengers and probably lots of crew members are looking forward to a two day stay in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. All the history that could be presented on all of the islands we will be visiting will be wrapped up today. Then for several days in a row, we shall be in a Hawaiian port. So if we did not take the time to learn the hula onboard, then we shall be out of luck. That is, until they teach the Tahitian style of the hula. Now that is something to see.

 

Some of the upcoming ports will require the use of the tenderboats. We have done this many time before on every cruise. However, for the first time we have seen, the First Officer on this ship delivered a tender procedure presentation in the showlounge this morning. Perhaps it has become necessary to educate passengers on safety and common courtesy while boarding and exiting the boats. Hope this is televised later in the day, because we want to know what we may be missing.

 

By the way, the breakfast service in the dining room was smooth as glass today. Go figure. We're thinking that because of the backup yesterday, many folks went to the Lido instead. Hey, this works for us....better service and hot food. And we were in and out of there early enough to get in our daily walk before it got too hot. Again, the weather was nice and warm, in the high 80's, and humid. The big event during our walk was seeing one lone bird, a masked booby we believe, diving for flying fish.

 

A strange thing happened at the aft pool today. Has anyone ever heard of a reason for the water in the ship's pools to be kept low? Such as 6 to 8 inched below the tiled coping line? We noticed this while starting the Panama sailing last spring, after the world cruise ended. Up until then, the water covered the tile decking, giving the sunlovers a place to sit on the teak seating surrounding the pool. It was relaxing to put your feet in the couple inches of water to cool off without getting into the pool itself. As many of you know, sometimes when the ship gets into rough seas, the water in the pool will overflow over the decking. That creates a dangerous situation for all. That's our take on it, but a lady that paid a single supplement (200 %) for a veranda room, complained bitterly that she never would have booked this trip if she had known the water level in this pool would be so low. We know, it is a very tiny detail, but it really annoyed her. So much so, that she drew us into the discussion with another friend of hers. Our suggestion was to see the guest relations person on the ship, and no one else. He or she would be able to research the exact reasons for this change. Judging from her deep tan, we know we will be seeing this complaining lady at this pool everyday. So we should be able to find out what she learned. She was told two different things from the bar and pool staff. One was that the new pool level was required by the Center of Disease Control, and the other was rules from the US since we were sailing in US waters. No we're not.....we are in international waters now, and we have been since leaving San Diego. The veranda gal stated in no uncertain terms that she would not accept a bottle of wine, flowers, or strawberries for the inconvenience. Will have to follow up on this mystery.

 

It has taken us almost a week, but we finally did take some time to enjoy the sunshine at the aft pool this afternoon. In fact, it was down right hot, with an occassional breeze to help cool us off. The water in the pool must still be cold, because few people were using the pool. Most all of the lounges were empty, but held used towels with a book or other personal item left behind. We're keeping an eye out for the deck stewards to remove such items after 30 minute or more period.

 

Upon checking out the dinner entrees in the Lido, we were disappointed to find few tantalizing dinner choices. So we got creative by ordering caesar salads with grilled chicken on top, dressing on the side. Now that is the secret to a very good, crisp salad. It seems that when you order the alternate chicken or steak entree, it is cooked fresh. Topping off the meal, we ordered the whimsical watermelon pie, usually served once on a trip of this duration.

 

It seems that none of our tablemates have booked a ship's tour tomorrow. We plan on spending the day walking to our favorite spots and hopefully relaxing at a fun place for lunch. Dinner plans include meeting friends at Aloha Tower, who are spending a month vacationing in Oahu. With sunny skies predicted, it should be a fine day in Honolulu.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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ger_77

ger_77

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"she never would have booked this trip if she had known the water level in this pool would be so low."

 

I'm shaking my head here.....some people never cease to amaze me...

 

 

Some people see the pool as half empty, others see it as half full. ;) LOL

Others just see themselves fortunate enough to be able to spend time on a cruise ship.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 8 October 10, 2013 Thursday Hawaii & Tahiti....Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

Guess what we did on the ship today? Next to nothing! Now was the time to spend as much time ashore as we could, of course.

 

The Statendam sailed quietly into the port around 7:30am this morning under sunny skies and very promising temperatures. The passengers were invited to the bow of the ship to participate in a traditional Hawaiian chant as we sailed into port. We had hoped to listen and watch this from the comfort of our stateroom, but we could only watch, since there was no sound on the TV channel. We looked for the radio button on the headboard to listen to the chant on channel 5, but this ship must have removed the radio. It was gone.

 

Since we did not feel the need to book a tour here, we went to the dining room for a leisurely breakfast. Over the years, we have participated in most all of the tours at least twice. Glad we did, because the most important sites were closed anyway today. It appeared that the early excursions were slow starting, because the ship was not cleared by the local authorities until well after 9am. We watched from the lower promenade deck as the folks made their way down the gangway. As usual, the ship's photographers were snapping pictures right and left as the passengers were getting "leid" with colorfully-flowered leis. Nice way to welcome us.

 

Our initial plan for this morning was to walk to the Ala Moana Mall, the largest one in all of Hawaii, to do some necessary shopping. But we made better time than we thought, and decided to walk further to Waikiki Beach and the Hawaiian Hilton Hotel. No doubt about it, the sun was out full bore, and it was hot. The only savior was the nice breeze that popped up often.

 

Ala Moana Park is on the way to Waikiki. It is a public park with washroom facilities, picnic benches, and a nice stretch of beach. The only downfall is that it is a magnet for some homeless people. They have set up puptents and have their shopping carts parked near them, full of their belongings. Many of them must have cell phones, because they seemed to appear to be talking to themselves. But then, you see many folks talking to themselves these days. In the old days, if you passed someone talking away with no apparent phone, you would steer clear of them right? Now everyone does it, and it has become normal.

 

The Hawaiian Hilton complex was jumping with vacationeers. No lack of tourists in this town, which was good to see. The grounds in and around the hotel are under construction with remodeling. There has not been a time that we have visited here that something was not being re-done. The part we like the best are the koi ponds, fountains, and surrounding gardens. The penguin enclosure is still there, but some of the outdoor restaurants have been removed. A favorite store in the complex is the ABC souvenier and supply retailer. This place was full of hotel guest buying snack foods and beverages to take to their rooms. Can't blame them, since the last time we dined in their buffet breakfast venue, we found it to be quite pricey.

Time was flying by, and the beach was calling us. That is one sight that we never tire seeing....Waikiki Beach. The palm tree-studded sand is kept clean as a whistle, and the azure blue water is stunning and inviting. Wish we had time to take a swim, but with shopping to do and lunch to be eaten somewhere close, we could not linger too long here. Maybe we will come back tomorrow.

 

It didn't take long to backtrack to the Ala Moana Mall. Shopping for slacks was a total failure, even though we only were able to check out a few stores. It's very difficult to find women's slacks for talls. Most of the stores only sell them through their internet. Will try again tomorrow.

 

Ruby Tuesday was our next destination, located on level four of the mall. They have the best burgers and ice cold sodas. And it was an excellent spot to relax for awhile.

 

It took us about 50 minutes, walking slowly, to get back to pier two and the ship. We had a couple of hours to freshen up, and go off again to meet good friends at the Aloha Tower. They are spending the entire month of October on vacation here, giving us the perfect opportunity to meet them for dinner. We met at a famous brewery, and spent hours sharing news since we saw them last on the 2013 world cruise. And to make our day even better, we ordered pizza.....it was delicious. The beer could have been colder, but even at 8pm, we bet the temperature outside, where we dined, was still in the 80's.

 

We all walked back, us to pier two, and Waikiki Beach for them. Gosh, they are troopers for sure, since one of them just turned 80.

 

One more full day here, and we head for Maui.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 9 October 11, 2013 Friday Hawaii & Tahiti...Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

A funny thing happened late last night. The Grand Princess was docked at the Aloha Tower yesterday. Initially, we were to have docked there, but obviously, the bigger ship won out. Around midnite, one of us looked out the cabin's window to see what looked like an empty pier behind the clocktower. Guess the ship had left the port. However, upon waking up this morning, we were surprised to see the ship was still there. Must be losing it........ But wait, upon checking the ship's name with binoculars, we discovered that it was the Star Princess, a sister ship, who must have quietly sailed into port very early this morning. Yes, in fact, the Grand did leave after 11pm, and thankfully, we are not losing it!

 

After breakfast, we headed back to Ala Moana Mall, reportedly the largest open-air shopping complex in the world. Who knew? Anyway, today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday as far as finding a pair of slacks. White or off-white was the preferred choice, and they simply do not exist this time of year....not even in Hawaii. If you do find some that are on sale, then the sizes are impossible, like 2 or 4. Like....get real! We did not come back empty-handed, since something else caught our eye....a non-conservative animal print pair of palazzo pants. Enough shopping for us for awhile. Actually, we found this small shop while exploring the Ward complexes on our way back to the ship. Never realized there was a series of stores right off of Ala Moana Blvd. Sometimes it is nice to go off of the beaten path.

 

Lunch today was not where we had planned to go. While at home, we often go to California Pizza Kitchen, but there was a long line waiting. The same was true at Bubba Gumps. We ended up at a place called Islands, where we were able to find seating in the bar area. This was our day for a fun lunch....chips and salsa, and chicken quesadillas. We love Mexican cuisine, and are always commenting that the ships should serve more of it.

 

All aboard time was 5:30pm, with a sailaway party on the aft deck at the same time. We did attend and found the deck to be very crowded with guests by the time the Statendam finally dropped the lines and sailed away after 6pm. The sun set about the same time, lighting up the dark clouds that hung strangely in the evening sky. The deck waiters passed around some sliced hotdogs, but not in copious amounts. The drink of the day was called the chi chi, a coconut/pina colada concoction with vodka for $5.95. Not a lot of takers however.

 

The theme at the casual dinner was surprise.....Hawaiian, with the suggestion of wearing your island shirts. At each place setting was a lei made of plastic. That reminds us. During the sailaway, we witnessed two ladies tossing their real leis over the aft railing on deck nine. They did this while standing on the back end of a lounge. Crazy. Anyway, the leis blew back towards the ship and more than likely landed on the lower promenade deck in the faces of unsuspecting folks who may have been enjoying a cigarette. Aren't there rules about throwing things overboard? Remember when the movie "Message in a Bottle" was popular? Well we saw more than one beer bottle go overboard back then. That was stopped for sure.

 

Tomorrow, we shall be in Maui, where we will need to use the tenderboats. That's always an adventure.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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retafcruiser

retafcruiser

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During the sailaway, we witnessed two ladies tossing their real leis over the aft railing on deck nine. They did this while standing on the back end of a lounge. Crazy. Anyway, the leis blew back towards the ship and more than likely landed on the lower promenade deck in the faces of unsuspecting folks who may have been enjoying a cigarette. Aren't there rules about throwing things overboard?

 

Yes, but I am guilty of throwing flower leis as well. Of course I was careful that we were moving fast enough and that the apparent wind would land them in the water. After you have lost 2 loved ones and buried their ashes at sea, it can be comforting to throw them some flowers.

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AlohaPride

AlohaPride

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Actually, we found this small shop while exploring the Ward complexes on our way back to the ship. Never realized there was a series of stores right off of Ala Moana Blvd. Sometimes it is nice to go off of the beaten path.

 

Lunch today was not where we had planned to go. While at home, we often go to California Pizza Kitchen, but there was a long line waiting. The same was true at Bubba Gumps. We ended up at a place called Islands, where we were able to find seating in the bar area. This was our day for a fun lunch....chips and salsa, and chicken quesadillas. We love Mexican cuisine, and are always commenting that the ships should serve more of it.

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

Ward Centers is a very popular shopping and entertainment center with a lot of little boutiques. A block away, Ala Moana is the largest open air mall in the world, and it's getting bigger with four stories, and four wings with a center stage/court area. I'm not really surprised you couldn't find socks because we tend to wear sandals/slippers year round ;) LOL My guess would have been to shop at Nordstrom or Macys for your socks.

 

Funny story, when I read you went to Ruby Tuesday's for your burgers on Thursday I was going to post that you should try Island's for burgers instead. They are AH-Mazing. Then I read you went to Island's and had Mexican I thought, "Oh no! They should have gone to Wahoo Fish Tacos at Ward!!" LOL Next time you must try Wahoo's.

 

Glad you enjoyed your stay on O'ahu and I hope you'll come back soon.

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regnig

regnig

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I'm not really surprised you couldn't find socks because we tend to wear sandals/slippers year round ;) LOL My guess would have been to shop at Nordstrom or Macys for your socks.

 

 

Bill wasn't in search of "socks", they were looking for "slacks" as they forgot to pack them! :D

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