Jumped Ship Today 2/7/14...Maasdam to Noordam

[mamaofami]

Sheila, hope you're having a great time today in my favorite port. We have rain, snow, and sleet here. You picked the best time to go away.

[boards]

Maybe Innlady might meet some passengers off the Maasdam today since their both in same place today and she could enquire as to how things are now.

[innlady1]

Sheila, hope you're having a great time today in my favorite port. We have rain, snow, and sleet here. You picked the best time to go away.

 

Thanks, Carol. We are! It's our favorite port, too. We're sitting in the Rif Port (near that infamous shop, Memory Lane)...DH reading a book; me on the computer. As the other poster said, the Maasdam is in port today, too. Way down in the back where we were once before. Noordam is at the Mega Pier which I prefer...except the sailaway is pretty when docked past the swinging bridge.

Things are great on the Noordam. Mostly I notice the huge difference in the "attitude" of the staff.

LOL...we've been offered water & lemonade in port and in the Lido every day. They even roll a cart around the Sea View Pool with water, lemonade, and iced tea.

There was a Captain's cocktail party in the Cabana Club last night. Very nice but very windy. The tradewinds in the ABC's are in full force. But that creates a very nice breeze in these high temps.

Three formal nights on this 10 day. We only had two on the Maasdam 11 day cruise...guess they decide for themselves on board.

[mamaofami]

Sheila, how could I ever forget that shop? ! Hope you make your way over to our favorite restaurant whose name escapes me. Have fun.

Edited February 13, 2014 by mamaofami

[POA1]

Sheila, how could I ever forget that shop? ! Hope you make your way over to our favorite restaurant whose name escapes me. Have fun.

 

I'm curious as to the name of this restaurant. We're going to be in Curacao on the Noordam in early March and we're looking for things to do.

[mamaofami]

I know how to get there when I'm there but can't remember the name.Sorry.

[innlady1]

Carol...we planned to go over and check it out but it was very, very windy earlier and we were afraid they would close the swinging bridge and we'd be stuck over on the other side! So we stayed on the ship for the Caribbean barbeque and it was incredibly windy up on deck...stuff was blowing all over the place...

[CHOPPERTESTER]

Carol...we planned to go over and check it out but it was very, very windy earlier and we were afraid they would close the swinging bridge and we'd be stuck over on the other side! So we stayed on the ship for the Caribbean barbeque and it was incredibly windy up on deck...stuff was blowing all over the place...

 

Do they still have the ferries that go back and forth (just north of the swing bridge)? I can't remember if there was a charge or not. We took them once going to town when the bridge was open.

Edited February 15, 2014 by CHOPPERTESTER

[innlady1]

Do they still have the ferries that go back and forth (just north of the swing bridge)? I can't remember if there was a charge or not. We took them once going to town when the bridge was open.

 

Yes, they do. We took it when the bridge was open quite a long time to let several boats through.

[mamaofami]

Sorry your cruise is almost over. Enjoy the warm weather while you can. I hear Boston is in for about a foot of snow today.

[GlennG]

I'm relatively new to the world of cruising, so it's interesting to note how different our experiences can be on the same ship and same cruise. My wife and I recently returned home from an eleven day cruise (January 27th to February 7th) on the Maasdam. Unlike some of the posters, we probably had our best cruising experience on this specific cruise. We were fortunate in having a vista suite on Deck 9. It was a wonderful stateroom that was superior to any of the verandah staterooms that we have had on the Noordam, Oosterdam, or Zuiderdam. Our experiences in the Main Dining Room were also noteworthy. We've never received better service than we did on the Maasdam. In short, the crew, from the officers to cleaners and dining room attendants, were wonderful and we appreciated their efforts on our behalf. Having said the above, however, we were a wee bit embarrassed by some of the public washrooms. The cracked sinks and non-functioning urinals (for the entire duration of the cruise) need immediate attention. The Internet was also non-functioning. In short, I think that the Maasdam is showing signs of age, and needs serious renovation and repair. However, as stated previously, the service from the caring a committed crew has never been better. I can only hope that Holland America Line will take the time and resources to repair some of its critical infrastructure.

[Copper10-8]

Do they still have the ferries that go back and forth (just north of the swing bridge)? I can't remember if there was a charge or not. We took them once going to town when the bridge was open.

 

Both ferries (Havendienst 1 and Havendienst 2) are still performing their free service when the Queen Emma Bridge is closed for outbound/inbound shipping traffic

 

[innlady1]

I'm relatively new to the world of cruising, so it's interesting to note how different our experiences can be on the same ship and same cruise. My wife and I recently returned home from an eleven day cruise (January 27th to February 7th) on the Maasdam. Unlike some of the posters, we probably had our best cruising experience on this specific cruise. We were fortunate in having a vista suite on Deck 9. It was a wonderful stateroom that was superior to any of the verandah staterooms that we have had on the Noordam, Oosterdam, or Zuiderdam. Our experiences in the Main Dining Room were also noteworthy. We've never received better service than we did on the Maasdam. In short, the crew, from the officers to cleaners and dining room attendants, were wonderful and we appreciated their efforts on our behalf. Having said the above, however, we were a wee bit embarrassed by some of the public washrooms. The cracked sinks and non-functioning urinals (for the entire duration of the cruise) need immediate attention. The Internet was also non-functioning. In short, I think that the Maasdam is showing signs of age, and needs serious renovation and repair. However, as stated previously, the service from the caring a committed crew has never been better. I can only hope that Holland America Line will take the time and resources to repair some of its critical infrastructure.

 

Just noticed your post to the thread I started. You are absolutely correct...the Indonesian and Filipino crew were outstanding as always. Thank goodness for their faithful service.

[Ineke]

Just a tid bit for those of you who like Indonesia food. The Terrace Grill on NADM, in Dec 13/Jan 14, had the most extensive menu we've seen on HAL ships. Besides the usual burgers and hot dogs, they served turkey burgers, bratwurst, Dutch "Broodje kroket" and something known in Bahasa-Indonesia as Sate Ayam (skewered chicken in peanut sauce). Hope it'll spread to the Terrace Grills on the other ships!

 

This is interesting. We were on the Eurodam in January, and had been looking forward to our 'croquettes' fix - love them! But there were none to be had, menu changed completely, to our great disappointment. We also moticed that many of the familiar Dutch items usually available in the Lido were not there either. Good thing they still had jenever, so hubby was happy.

[peug]

I'm trying to imagine what the excuse is for no hamburgers at the grill? Huh? What is that about?

No pizza? :confused:

 

They were redoing the poolside grill and you could get the burgers inside for a couple of days. There was a new name for the grill and a new menu when it reopened. We were also very disappointed in the Maasdam this time and it was our fav HAL ship. 21 days of warm/cool showers made me grumpy. We did get an onboard credit for our problem. I asked about the pizza and was told they had no way to make it. What? No ovens? They had French bread pizza at 11 every night and everynight it was sauce with green peppers and onions. Yuck.