Live from the Maasdam - March 28th Southern Caribbean

[jaspersmycat]

MANU is Kazu when auto correct is on.

[kazu]

Thank you for your thorough reports of your cruise.

 

Sorry about your Pinnacle Grill experience.

 

Do you recall the names of the "nice New Zealand wines"?

 

I did post one of them in the Around the World Wine Tasting post. Unfortunately, silly me, forgot to take a pic of the wines and the packs available. Sorry about that.

 

MANU is Kazu when auto correct is on.

 

LOL :D

[kazu]

I am glad that there has been an improvement - but, it is too bad about our experiences in the PG. I guess we talked enough to the powers that be and obviously they listened.

 

Too bad they hadn't fixed it sooner;):rolleyes: But I am really glad that our talking was not to no avail and things are better for those on her now:D

[LindaM]

Jacqui,

 

Thanks for the "wine report". BTW, did you read the post (somewhere on CC) where a person reported that Maasdam is going to be sold, along with Statendam???

 

Linda

[gigianne]

A first for me - I completed my on line cruise survey and today I received a reply from Seattle - proves to me that they are reading what I wrote. Hopefully things will improve for future cruisers on the M. (sounds like they already have)

[ippyndad]

Another great cruise on HAL, no hiccups worth mentioning. Appreciate all the time and effort by Jaquie and Georgina for all the info and everything they do. Post #188 by Jaquie IMO was right on, great name tags by Georgina. This was our 2nd Meet & Greet, will try to never miss any others this one was a pleasure

Thanks:D

[erewhon]

I did post one of them in the Around the World Wine Tasting post. Unfortunately, silly me, forgot to take a pic of the wines and the packs available. Sorry about that.

 

LOL :D

 

Thanks for your reply.

Somehow I missed your Around the World Wine tasting post.

 

Do you recall if it was the Private Bin Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc?

[kazu]

Thanks for your reply.

Somehow I missed your Around the World Wine tasting post.

 

Do you recall if it was the Private Bin Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc?

 

I did study the bottle in the hopes of finding it here (no such luck of course). I can't swear for sure but I think it was. (don't hit me if I am wrong though please). It was a really nice wine - at least to my taste (caveat - I am not a sommelier - just like good wine).

[kazu]

Jacqui,

 

Thanks for the "wine report". BTW, did you read the post (somewhere on CC) where a person reported that Maasdam is going to be sold, along with Statendam???

 

Linda

 

I did. The person reporting was on our cruise actually. I heard the Statendam but nothing about the Maasdam. I hope that it is NOT the Maasdam as she still remains a favourite ship of ours.

[erewhon]

I did study the bottle in the hopes of finding it here (no such luck of course). I can't swear for sure but I think it was. (don't hit me if I am wrong though please). It was a really nice wine - at least to my taste (caveat - I am not a sommelier - just like good wine).

 

Thank you for your reply.

[frankc98376]

Sorry to see that we weren't alone in being disappointed by the Pinnacle. I think that the Explore 4 simply overloaded the system. There were 900± advance reservations for Explore 4 on our Noordam sailing and more than 1,300 the week before. We were so disappointed with the meal - service more than food - during our first meal that we swapped our Amex one out for a lunch. It was much better at lunch.

 

Our breakfasts were good, but we are bummed that no one offered us prune tea. ;) I bet it's delicious hot, with a bran muffin and a bowl of Fiber One.

 

Oh, we definitely need to cruise on the same ship sometime. Would definitely be fun. I have been accused more than once of having no filter :cool:

[0bnxshs]

Jacqui, just wanted to add my thoughts to yours and others regarding our cruise.

 

First, thank you for all the work organizing the M&G. As usual, it was super and you know you are gaining a reputation for great M&Gs when certain long time HAL cruisers who've never been to one, not to mention minor celebs, show up! Also, thanks to Georgina for the very best in name tags to be had and to Bob for the fun magnets that made our cabins stand out and our refrigerators so decorated with great memories!

 

Overall, the cruise, and the Maasdam, was great! The ship was clean, the elevators were all operable and the restrooms were all open. Generally I don't even know, or care, who the Cruise Director is but Rick Barnes was not only everywhere, all the time, checking that every guest was happy but was a great lecturer too. If there was a passenger on board who didn't know who the CD was, they must have locked themselves in their bathrooms for the entire cruise.

 

Rick's enthusiasm was reflected in the crew too. We found that most all the crew members were engaged in providing a positive experience to everyone they encountered. I think the MDR staff did a tremendous job and our meal experiences there were the best overall of all the HAL ships we've sailed. Even though we were moved to the lower dining room because the early fixed upper dining room was over flowed, our waiters adapted quickly to seeing us nightly at our fixed time and provided excellent service while still juggling open dining tables around us. The food and choices were generally good, cooked to order, hot things hot and cold things cold. Our wine steward was just precious and was very knowledgeable about the wines on board. We never had to look for her as she was always there even before we knew we needed her.

 

As Jacqui mentioned, Matt and Megan, the FCCs, were always around and the most helpful we've ever encountered. Matt even convinced my in-laws into booking on board, talking them into an inside cabin on Ryndam that he was sure they would love. Upon seeing its counterpart on the Maasdam (courtesy of its occupants) they were ready to relinquish their ocean view cabin immediately. These two really know their 'dam ships!

 

Our cabin (051), a Vista Suite on the Navigation deck (deck 10) on the starboard side was exactly what we expected having been in a nearby cabin on Ryndam previously. Well maintained, no stains on carpet, furniture or walls, and always impeccably serviced by our Room Steward. The a/c was adequate, but I like being refrigerated personally. The verandahs are very private. We liked that ours was underneath the overhanging area of the Lido deck above, providing extra protection to skin and room from almost all direct sunlight but if you like direct sun, you probably won't. We expected to hear a few early morning noises from above as it is located underneath the Lido serving area, and did. What we did not expect to hear was the midnight basketball games on the Sports deck above the Lido, but did. These went on sometimes until 3 am. We did find that while the large towels in the bathrooms were always clean, white and fluffy soft, many of our washcloths were stained with a rusty discoloration that was a bit off-putting.

 

I found the new internet system to be quite usable and generally perceived it to be faster than the old system. I did not attempt to connect on embarkation day but did the very next day and did not a problem doing so. I established my account on one of the ship's computers in the Explorations Cafe and found it easy and intuitive. After doing this, I used my Android tablet exclusively to connect and found the system mostly worked flawlessly. The new system uses Cisco wireless access points/repeaters, which seemed to provide a stronger signal than the old "cone" repeaters. I found I had strong signals in my cabin, the Crows Nest, the Explorations Cafe and the Lido buffet. Gone is the Internet Manager; the Librarian in the Explorations Cafe now helps those having troubles.

 

I'm not much into the entertainment on board, but we did find ourselves in the Explorer's Lounge most evenings. As we've come to expect, we found the ladies, both Ukrainians, were well schooled in the classics. The violinist struggled some outside of this genre although the pianist was excellent all around. Other members of our party enjoyed the guitarist, Larry, in Mix, but did mention that his repertoire seemed a bit limited for a 14 night cruise. We did attend 1 show in the main show lounge but left early as the sight lines are quite limited in the back of the upper portion.

 

Our disappointments were limited to 2 areas: the Pinnacle Grill and the Canaletto. We ate 2 meals in the Pinnacle, both dinners, one paid and one on the "Explore4" package. Our first meal, the second sea day of the cruise, took an agonizing 3 hours to complete for a table of 4. The venue was completely full (we had first seating at 5:30 pm) and there seemed to be only 2 waiters and several runners trying to keep up with everything. One of the 4 rib-eye steaks was so full of sinewy gristle that it was inedible. Gone are the selections of different salts and butters. Nearly every dish was served to the wrong guest and had to be jockeyed around the table. We felt that while the waiters and runners were trying, they just were not trained or supervised properly. Our second meal here, very near the end of the cruise, was better only in that it took 1 1/2 hours being that that venue was only half full this time.

 

For the Canaletto, our complaints were limited to just a couple of things: still the old menu and, the chicken was badly under-cooked. Service here was better and faster. To say the least, the MDR provided a much happier experience than either of these two venues.

 

Again, the cruise was all we expected and more. The Maasdam, once the issues in the Pinnacle Grill are addressed, is all everyone here fondly remembers her to be. We'll book her again, whole-heartedly and without hesitation.

[0bnxshs]

A first for me - I completed my on line cruise survey and today I received a reply from Seattle - proves to me that they are reading what I wrote. Hopefully things will improve for future cruisers on the M. (sounds like they already have)

 

I also got a reply that addressed my concerns specifically. Me thinks maybe they are really reading them..... :rolleyes:

[0bnxshs]

In case someone challenges their decision about giving the passenger a credit. Also, they may need it to figure out what went wrong so it can be rectified. If I were in charge of laundry, I would want to keep the evidence.

 

I may do our wash on our upcoming Prinsendam cruise, but there is no way I would ever trust a cruiseline with my wash----ever! We have gotten other people's clothing in our cabin. I like my clothes too much to take that chance!

 

When a washing machine is on it's last legs, sometimes it leaves stains on clothes. I've gotten stains on clothes by accidentally leaving something in the pocket.

 

FWIW, we have used the unlimited laundry service on our last 3 HAL cruises, paying for it twice, and not once had an issue with missing or substituted clothing or found stains or other damage done.

 

On the other hand, 2 of my mother-in-law's tops were badly stained by something in either the washer or dryer in the self laundry on this cruise.

 

Obviously, everyone's experiences are different. :)

[Vict0riann]

Hi, Rich, thanks for that. We are looking forward to being on the Maasdam for 42 days soon (6 months to go!). We have explore4, and you mentioned that you did, too, on your cruise. I had imagined that it would be the waiters that would be delivering our individual glasses of wine - (if we go that route) - and I wondered if you did, too. You mentioned a great wine steward, and we always like to get chummy with him/her and order our wine packages, tastings, dinners, etc. through them. Was the wine steward serving the individual glasses of wine, too? I hope so; I think the waiters have enough to do serving the food!

[0bnxshs]

Hi, Rich, thanks for that. We are looking forward to being on the Maasdam for 42 days soon (6 months to go!). We have explore4, and you mentioned that you did, too, on your cruise. I had imagined that it would be the waiters that would be delivering our individual glasses of wine - (if we go that route) - and I wondered if you did, too. You mentioned a great wine steward, and we always like to get chummy with him/her and order our wine packages, tastings, dinners, etc. through them. Was the wine steward serving the individual glasses of wine, too? I hope so; I think the waiters have enough to do serving the food!

 

Hi Ann! We had bought a wine package from the MDR wine steward. Her name was Gina and we adored her. We bought our "Around the World" tasting from her too. In fact, we had made a deal with her; my wife wanted to buy the glasses they serve the after dinner shots in (they are a box of 6) and she could only find a box with 5 glasses (the one with the blue bubble was missing). She said she would track one down within a day. I told her that if she did, we'd buy the tasting. The next evening she had the 6th glass, all clean and sparkling, and a ticket filled out with the tasting purchase for me to sign and a huge smile on her face.

 

I know what you mean about the work load though. The waiters still take orders for and serve individual glasses of wine and bar orders. I will say there was a lot of hustle in the wait staff because, despite being in the open dining area, our meals flowed smoothly and we were always done in a comfortable 70 to 80 minutes.

 

You might look for Evelyn too. I doubt you'll have to look far though as she too is well liked, thoughtful (she makes little hearts to put on the straws of sodas and such) and gracious.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy your cruise as much as we did ours. :)

[0bnxshs]

One thing I forgot to mention was that we've heard that the new contracts for crew limit them only to beer and wine consumption and no hard liquor. Some of them seemed perturbed by it; but of course, others didn't.

Edited April 16, 2014 by 0bnxshs

[kazu]

Hi, Rich, thanks for that. We are looking forward to being on the Maasdam for 42 days soon (6 months to go!). We have explore4, and you mentioned that you did, too, on your cruise. I had imagined that it would be the waiters that would be delivering our individual glasses of wine - (if we go that route) - and I wondered if you did, too. You mentioned a great wine steward, and we always like to get chummy with him/her and order our wine packages, tastings, dinners, etc. through them. Was the wine steward serving the individual glasses of wine, too? I hope so; I think the waiters have enough to do serving the food!

 

Ann,

 

I hope you don't mind me chiming in. We had Explore4 too. We chose to use our beverage cards in other venues and ordered a wine package from the Wine Steward for the MDR. The Wine Steward that we had (different than Rich's) was also very good and attentive. He quickly grew to know who would have one glass and who would be topped up.

 

I personally think you get better service if you let the waiters do the food and the wine steward the wine. Between the Explorations café, water and drinks, it's not hard to use up the $50 beverage card:D

 

That's just my suggestion though and my opinion. Service was very nice in the MDR - I let the waiters shine in what they do best (and yes they were highlighted in my survey) and the wine steward do what he does best :D

 

Enjoy the Maasdam - we always do. The ship was great and the staff wonderful:D

[kazu]

Jacqui, just wanted to add my thoughts to yours and others regarding our cruise.

 

First, thank you for all the work organizing the M&G. As usual, it was super and you know you are gaining a reputation for great M&Gs when certain long time HAL cruisers who've never been to one, not to mention minor celebs, show up! Also, thanks to Georgina for the very best in name tags to be had and to Bob for the fun magnets that made our cabins stand out and our refrigerators so decorated with great memories!

 

Overall, the cruise, and the Maasdam, was great! The ship was clean, the elevators were all operable and the restrooms were all open. Generally I don't even know, or care, who the Cruise Director is but Rick Barnes was not only everywhere, all the time, checking that every guest was happy but was a great lecturer too. If there was a passenger on board who didn't know who the CD was, they must have locked themselves in their bathrooms for the entire cruise.

 

Rick's enthusiasm was reflected in the crew too. We found that most all the crew members were engaged in providing a positive experience to everyone they encountered. I think the MDR staff did a tremendous job and our meal experiences there were the best overall of all the HAL ships we've sailed. Even though we were moved to the lower dining room because the early fixed upper dining room was over flowed, our waiters adapted quickly to seeing us nightly at our fixed time and provided excellent service while still juggling open dining tables around us. The food and choices were generally good, cooked to order, hot things hot and cold things cold. Our wine steward was just precious and was very knowledgeable about the wines on board. We never had to look for her as she was always there even before we knew we needed her.

 

As Jacqui mentioned, Matt and Megan, the FCCs, were always around and the most helpful we've ever encountered. Matt even convinced my in-laws into booking on board, talking them into an inside cabin on Ryndam that he was sure they would love. Upon seeing its counterpart on the Maasdam (courtesy of its occupants) they were ready to relinquish their ocean view cabin immediately. These two really know their 'dam ships!

 

Our cabin (051), a Vista Suite on the Navigation deck (deck 10) on the starboard side was exactly what we expected having been in a nearby cabin on Ryndam previously. Well maintained, no stains on carpet, furniture or walls, and always impeccably serviced by our Room Steward. The a/c was adequate, but I like being refrigerated personally. The verandahs are very private. We liked that ours was underneath the overhanging area of the Lido deck above, providing extra protection to skin and room from almost all direct sunlight but if you like direct sun, you probably won't. We expected to hear a few early morning noises from above as it is located underneath the Lido serving area, and did. What we did not expect to hear was the midnight basketball games on the Sports deck above the Lido, but did. These went on sometimes until 3 am. We did find that while the large towels in the bathrooms were always clean, white and fluffy soft, many of our washcloths were stained with a rusty discoloration that was a bit off-putting.

 

I found the new internet system to be quite usable and generally perceived it to be faster than the old system. I did not attempt to connect on embarkation day but did the very next day and did not a problem doing so. I established my account on one of the ship's computers in the Explorations Cafe and found it easy and intuitive. After doing this, I used my Android tablet exclusively to connect and found the system mostly worked flawlessly. The new system uses Cisco wireless access points/repeaters, which seemed to provide a stronger signal than the old "cone" repeaters. I found I had strong signals in my cabin, the Crows Nest, the Explorations Cafe and the Lido buffet. Gone is the Internet Manager; the Librarian in the Explorations Cafe now helps those having troubles.

 

I'm not much into the entertainment on board, but we did find ourselves in the Explorer's Lounge most evenings. As we've come to expect, we found the ladies, both Ukrainians, were well schooled in the classics. The violinist struggled some outside of this genre although the pianist was excellent all around. Other members of our party enjoyed the guitarist, Larry, in Mix, but did mention that his repertoire seemed a bit limited for a 14 night cruise. We did attend 1 show in the main show lounge but left early as the sight lines are quite limited in the back of the upper portion.

 

Our disappointments were limited to 2 areas: the Pinnacle Grill and the Canaletto. We ate 2 meals in the Pinnacle, both dinners, one paid and one on the "Explore4" package. Our first meal, the second sea day of the cruise, took an agonizing 3 hours to complete for a table of 4. The venue was completely full (we had first seating at 5:30 pm) and there seemed to be only 2 waiters and several runners trying to keep up with everything. One of the 4 rib-eye steaks was so full of sinewy gristle that it was inedible. Gone are the selections of different salts and butters. Nearly every dish was served to the wrong guest and had to be jockeyed around the table. We felt that while the waiters and runners were trying, they just were not trained or supervised properly. Our second meal here, very near the end of the cruise, was better only in that it took 1 1/2 hours being that that venue was only half full this time.

 

For the Canaletto, our complaints were limited to just a couple of things: still the old menu and, the chicken was badly under-cooked. Service here was better and faster. To say the least, the MDR provided a much happier experience than either of these two venues.

 

Again, the cruise was all we expected and more. The Maasdam, once the issues in the Pinnacle Grill are addressed, is all everyone here fondly remembers her to be. We'll book her again, whole-heartedly and without hesitation.

 

 

 

A very good synopsis Rich - glad that the internet did you better than I.

 

So much for blaming our Pinnacle on a table for 8 - your table of 4 took the same amount of time on the first PG dinner as well!:eek:

 

I too, can normally not remember nor care who my CD is (except for toodle lee doo) - but in this case, I will never forget Rick. He was totally incredible. HAL should get him to mentor every CD in the fleet. He is awesome (and I hate that word)!

 

If I may, I would like to re-iterate my thanks to Georgina (gigianne) for her fantastic name tags. and to Bob (2xayear) for his marvelous magnets. Little touches like that make a roll call and a cruise special and I thank them both very much.

 

If I may as well, It was so nice to reconnect with people we had cruised with before and meet so many great people.

 

For those who avoid roll calls or meet and greets I will offer one small word of advice - DON'T. there are a lot of fantastic people out there and if you don't go you won't meet them.;) We have met so many great people thanks to cruise critic and roll calls and it's our pleasure when we can sail with them one more time :)

Edited April 16, 2014 by kazu

[Vict0riann]

You're both right - I agree that the wine stewards should be doing all the drinks and leave the waiters to the food part of the meal! I am watching prices very carefully, and I'll be perfectly content to let the explore4 go, if the cruise price itself goes down proportionately! This last sale, our cruise was down about $100 compared with what we are paying, so not worth it for 42 days! However, we will have a hard time to imbibe $50 worth of drinks every day (as Cruz Chic said, we'd end up having to join AA!) I would really prefer to just purchase wine packages as we need them!

[smitty34877]

Jacqui! We had her on the Prinsendam and then last year on the VOV. Anytime I need to get a family member to laugh they get a "todaloo for now".Then we all groan....!

[kazu]

Jacqui! We had her on the Prinsendam and then last year on the VOV. Anytime I need to get a family member to laugh they get a "todaloo for now".Then we all groan....!

 

I swore if she todaloo'd one more time I was going to todaloo her if you get my drift.

 

Tiresome, tiresome and annoying. May she NOT be back on the Prinsendam in September please

[kazu]

You're both right - I agree that the wine stewards should be doing all the drinks and leave the waiters to the food part of the meal! I am watching prices very carefully, and I'll be perfectly content to let the explore4 go, if the cruise price itself goes down proportionately! This last sale, our cruise was down about $100 compared with what we are paying, so not worth it for 42 days! However, we will have a hard time to imbibe $50 worth of drinks every day (as Cruz Chic said, we'd end up having to join AA!) I would really prefer to just purchase wine packages as we need them!

 

you are in a different situation than we were as we just had the $50 beverage card. I gave up my Explore4 on the P'dam for a better price. After all, there are ports so you are not going to be able to use it all the time.

 

hmm - you are in a tough spot. I don't need to tell you to calculate how much you will really use and then wait and see what the price does.

 

It's a shame you can't use it as a beverage card and buy a bottle of wine.

 

That would be the perfect solution.

 

Ah well, if life were perfect, things would be easy wouldn't they.

 

NO matter what you decide, have a great cruise :D

[Cinder Again]

Great report, Jacqui. Wow...either you have a different Hotel Director than we did in January or the complaints from passengers on earlier cruises did some good!

I agree, Sheila. It sounds like a different CD (WASH YOUR HANDS!) and HD then we experienced, but it doesn't sound like the internet is appreciably better in the last 3 mos. Who is your Captain, Kazu?

I know people thought I was crazy to complain about no pizza, but I'm happy to hear they listened (if they did!)...

As far as the tea goes, we had the same issue, and generally we were finished eating dessert before they got around to taking after dinner drink orders. We didn't have the little pots either, EXCEPT the one night we ate upstairs with the 8:00 seating. That night, the pots showed up automatically. The problem with as you wish dining is that you can't ever "train" your servers to know your preferences and be reactive. We got so we'd order dinner and after dinner drink orders at the very start of the meal, so they could arrive on time. No slam against staff, they were working super hard, and seemed over extended.

[gigianne]

Kathy - we were anytime dining but - reserved at the same 2 top for the entire cruise. When the waiter first brought me a cup and a bag I questioned where the pots were - they were short of them but every night thereafter I had a jug of hot water that we improvised as a tea pot - it did the trick. I did feel bad for others who obviously hadn't spoken up and just had the bag in the cup. That is not what we pay for when we cruise HAL (or any line for that matter)