Live from the Maasdam - March 28th Southern Caribbean

[TourGypsy]

I've never known them to do that for the mariners lunch but stranger things have happened. I don't think I'll bother with this lunch either on my upcoming Westerdam cruise even though I'll be getting my 300 day medal on this one.

 

They'll send it to your cabin anyway, but you'll miss your photo with the captain. :D

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I've never known them to do that for the mariners lunch but stranger things have happened. I don't think I'll bother with this lunch either on my upcoming Westerdam cruise even though I'll be getting my 300 day medal on this one.

 

You can go to the Mariners' Reception which usually precedes the luncheon and then not go to the luncheon. We do that now as the luncheon has become meaningless to us.

[POA1]

They'll send it to your cabin anyway, but you'll miss your photo with the captain. :D

 

I think they've changed it so that you now have to request it if you don't go to the luncheon. We missed our Maasdam tile because we expected to get it in the room when we missed the lunch.

[cruz chic]

They'll send it to your cabin anyway, but you'll miss your photo with the captain. :D

I don't like people making a fuss so that's another reason not to go.

[cruz chic]

You can go to the Mariners' Reception which usually precedes the luncheon and then not go to the luncheon. We do that now as the luncheon has become meaningless to us.

I've been known to do that too. I find people really like to "show off" their medals like they have won the Olympics or something at the lunch. It's just not me. If I could melt it down to make some jewelry then we would be talking:D;).

[Skipper's Mom]

Well, we have two more days to go on the Maasdam. We've been enjoying ourselves and our fellow CC members. Lots of laughs! The food has been generally good with only one or two bombs, so I consider that pretty darn good. Service has been excellent! :D

[BCEagle78]

Kazu,

 

Any sign of a return of the dreaded Noro Virus?

 

Will be embarking tomorrow on the next Maasdam voyage.

[kazu]

Kazu,

 

Any sign of a return of the dreaded Noro Virus?

 

Will be embarking tomorrow on the next Maasdam voyage.

 

All is good here on the lovely Maasdam. You should be just fine :D

 

The only bad thing is that now we have to get off :rolleyes:

[kazu]

Curacao - we arrived in Curacao early and do not sail until 11PM TONIGHT. yes, you heard me correctly - 11 pm. We have been here before so planned an easy day of browsing and relaxing. hot, hot hot!!!!! Very hot!!! no complaints from the kazu though,loving every minute of it.

 

We browsed for a bit and ran into a few roll call members and had a few laughs. Definitely some were on a shopping mission. I found a tablecloth and that was about it but browsing is always fun. We stopped at a spot on the dock (called Iguana) to have a drink and a bite and watch the bridge open and close.

 

We asked about the calamari and were told that it was fresh and good so we ordered a plate to share. OMG - it was huge. thank heavens we decided to share. And SO GOOD. And very reasonably priced. I would highly recommend this spot. We had checked out some spots that were further away and they were actually more expensive. Go figure!

 

DH went browsing and I caught up a bit with the free wifi and a drink and then we trundled off to browse and walk some more.

 

We were a tad loaded down so decided to return to the ship and drop off the stuff. I unloaded the Ipad and DH decided that he would stay on board. I headed back out and saw the Unesco sites and enjoyed a bit more of this port and returned to the ship afterwards. Unfortunately, it meant I had to walk by the pesky drummers again. There are some children that play the drums (I use that term loosely) to get $$$$. Really, all they are doing is banging them. It is very painful to the ears. You can even hear it on the balconies on the ship. Painful, painful, painful.

 

With our being in port until late in the evening, Cruise Director Rick had some nice stuff planned. There was a tropical bbq on the Lido/Navigation deck for those that wanted to eat. The On Location outlined the menu which included seafood paella so we all went up to check it out (me for the pics and the menu). Alas, no seafood paella - instead it was Mexican Rice. We planned to do our regular dining time so it was no big deal but some were certainly disappointed. It was quite the tropical bbq though and seemed to be very popular.

 

Later that night there was a tropical party planned. Our Cruise Director really got everyone going. He is very talented and full of ambition. The lights of Curacao were beautiful and of course the floating bridge is lit up at night so it made for a pretty sight as it opened and closed.

 

There was another ship in port that day (a German one, I'm sorry I couldn't catch the name of the line). They were docked in a less desireable spot. Maasdam had the prime docking location. The German ship arrived later than us and left much earlier (around 5 pm I think). Once again HAL won for length of time in a port.

 

I really liked the creativity around the longer stay that the cruise director did. Everyone was having fun and a lot of people obviously stayed up late. Our Indonesian show was that evening as well at 11 pm. It worked out well with the long day as many were up to see the ship leave so went straight to the show.

 

Have to mention that it was VERY windy in Curacao. There was apparently a huge front around Jamaica and other islands and we were catching the tail end. Fortunately by the evening the winds had died down as the Captain backed the lovely Maasdam out of Curacao.

 

to be continued....

[kazu]

A bit out of order but with two sea days - Bingo was back in action.

 

So, on the last sea day we headed down for our last game of Bingo.

 

Turned out it was not for money but for the Cruise as a prize.

 

We were going to leave but then the three of us (shrimpboat123's DW, Rotary & myself) decided oh what the heck, might as well play.

 

Well, standing up (one number away and you stand) were both shrimpboat123's DW & Rotary along with a number of others - (btw did you notice that kazu was NOT standing?)

 

Another number called and it was Rotary who yelled Bingo. congratulations to Debbie who has won a free cruise. We are all so happy (and a tad envious) for her and her DH.

 

Well done indeed ;):D

[kazu]

Well' date=' we have two more days to go on the Maasdam. We've been enjoying ourselves and our fellow CC members. Lots of laughs! The food has been generally good with only one or two bombs, so I consider that pretty darn good. Service has been excellent! :D[/quote']

 

 

Totally agree, the food in the MDR has been very good as well as the service.

 

There has only been one really big bomb - more on that one later - and it is a shame as everything else on this ship has been absolutely fabulous :D

[kazu]

Yes, we have had them on this ship and guess who the star is - none other than our own Cruise Director - Rick Barnes. He is a fabulous speaker and brings everything to life. It's pretty hard not to enjoy his lectures. They are interesting, educational and the last one was quite thought provoking.

 

You can feel his energy and excitement when he speaks and he is a fabulous lecturer :D

[Vict0riann]

kazu, great to hear you are liking your CD - do you know how long he's going to be on board?

[gigianne]

As Kazu said in her post - Rick Barnes is one awesome Cruise Director - he was there to welcome us when we boarded on the 28th and he was there this morning when we disembarked the M. In between he was everywhere!

He is only on the M for a month (so- the next two cruises). I hope others get to enjoy him on one of your cruises - he is dynamic!

[kazu]

Well our sea days were upon us before we arrived at HMC and much to our surprise we received an invitation to a Canadian party. Yes, they had a party in the Crow's nest for Canadians. This is the first time I had seen this and it was really quite nice.

 

They had lovely munchies and the rinks were buy one get one for a $1 (happy hour prices).

 

The Crow's Nest was packed so that tells you how many Canadians there were on the trip.

 

Of course, we brought one of our Canadian flags and a certain roll call member (whose name will remain anonymous to protect the innocent unless they want to admit it) had great fun waving the Canadian flag.

 

It was a nice gesture by the ship and apparently they had done it for a couple of other nationalities as well:D

[kazu]

As Kazu said in her post - Rick Barnes is one awesome Cruise Director - he was there to welcome us when we boarded on the 28th and he was there this morning when we disembarked the M. In between he was everywhere!

He is only on the M for a month (so- the next two cruises). I hope others get to enjoy him on one of your cruises - he is dynamic!

 

hey nice to see you posting my friend :D That means you made the airport in plenty of time and will catch that flight to get you home. Awesome:D

 

Safe travels. We will miss you two:(

[POA1]

Thanks for the great trip reports, Jaqui. Hope some of this warm weather follows you home.

[kazu]

Thanks for the great trip reports, Jaqui. Hope some of this warm weather follows you home.

 

thanks:D there is more to come - including a WINE report ;) stay tuned

[POA1]

thanks:D there is more to come - including a WINE report ;) stay tuned

 

Excellent! Always looking for more reference materials.

[kazu]

OK, I HAVE to share this story with you all.

 

DH and I along with another roll call member secured the S cabins at a sale price. How could we say no?

 

So, along with that comes one of the things we always enjoy - breakfast in the pinnacle grill. More on the Pinnacle later. But the hiccups kept growing here at breakfast.

 

Anyways we were sitting with our roll call friends and the lady orders tea every morning. You would think by day 10, they would have that figured out but she refused coffee and asked for her tea.

 

When the teapot came, she asked me to feel her tea. I told her I was going to contaminate her tea. She said no, I'm serious!. So I touched her teapot and it seemed cold. With her insistence, I stuck my finger in and it was ice cold. I didn't think it was tea. We thought maybe they had given her iced coffee.

 

So, she poured a dribble in her cup so we could figure out what it was. We were still at a loss. So she tasted it (much to her dismay after).

 

In her teapot was PRUNE JUICE. Yes, I kid you not. Prune juice in her teapot. It's a good thing she didn't take a big gulp.

 

We had a few jokes about that one that day you can be sure!:D

[POA1]

I hate when things go wrong, but when they do, I always hope that there's a good story to go with the mishap. Prune juice tea definitely qualifies. Hot prune juice would have been funnier, but any old prune juice is still a smile getter.

[kazu]

Well for you wine lovers, I am sure you are familiar with the standard Navigator Wine Tasting and the Admiral Wine tasting and of course this ship had that.

 

HOWEVER they also had the WALK AROUND THE WORLD WINE TASTING

 

This was new to DH and I so if it's not new I apologize. We really liked it.

 

Cost was $25 pp plus the $15 gratuity.

 

Rather than sit at table where the wines were already poured, we were invited to walk around and taste the ones that we wanted. Once we found the ones we liked we could go back and refill :D Of course we had the tasting notes if we chose to fill that out.

 

They had some decent wines for this (better than the admiral package IMO) and they also had a raffle for a bottle of wine (no, we didn't win) included.

 

They had wines from Italy, France, USA, Chile and Down Under :D (Two wines from each category - one red and one white).

 

It was not a crowded venue - very nice with nice munchies to go with the wine as well.

 

Here's what they offered for this wine tasting: Muller Thurgau, Chianti Melini, Laboure Roi Pouilly Fuisse, Chateuneuf du Pape, Stags Leap Chardonnay, Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon, Errazuris Late Harvest, Merlot Errazuriz, Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc & Peter Lehman Shiraz.

 

I liked it as I can't drink many reds so I could just taste the whites. DH could try both.

 

By the way, the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc won out for me.

 

There were a few other roll call members there as well and they also gave it a thumbs up:D

 

If it's offered on your cruise, give it a try - certainly better value IMO than the Premier/Admiral wine tasting which is more expensive!

[lstrong]

Kazu, the around the world wine tasting sounds really good--thanks for the description. On Maasdam May 24th. Looks like I'll miss your great CD. Darn, it's been a while since I've sailed with a memorable CD. So enjoyed your posts. Thank you for the time and effort!

[kazu]

Well for you wine lovers, I am sure you are familiar with the standard Navigator Wine Tasting and the Admiral Wine tasting and of course this ship had that.

 

HOWEVER they also had the WALK AROUND THE WORLD WINE TASTING

 

This was new to DH and I so if it's not new I apologize. We really liked it.

 

Cost was $25 pp plus the $15 gratuity.

 

Rather than sit at table where the wines were already poured, we were invited to walk around and taste the ones that we wanted. Once we found the ones we liked we could go back and refill :D Of course we had the tasting notes if we chose to fill that out.

 

They had some decent wines for this (better than the admiral package IMO) and they also had a raffle for a bottle of wine (no, we didn't win) included.

 

They had wines from Italy, France, USA, Chile and Down Under :D (Two wines from each category - one red and one white).

 

It was not a crowded venue - very nice with nice munchies to go with the wine as well.

 

Here's what they offered for this wine tasting: Muller Thurgau, Chianti Melini, Laboure Roi Pouilly Fuisse, Chateuneuf du Pape, Stags Leap Chardonnay, Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon, Errazuris Late Harvest, Merlot Errazuriz, Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc & Peter Lehman Shiraz.

 

I liked it as I can't drink many reds so I could just taste the whites. DH could try both.

 

By the way, the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc won out for me.

 

There were a few other roll call members there as well and they also gave it a thumbs up:D

 

If it's offered on your cruise, give it a try - certainly better value IMO than the Premier/Admiral wine tasting which is more expensive!

 

oops - I just realized I said a $15 gratuity - of course I meant a 15% gratuity - sorry about that:o

[gigianne]

I am the prune juice in the teapot lady - what a shock that was. The Pinnacle staff (same every morning) tried to pour coffee for me and after 11 days still couldn't get it right. Meanwhile in the dining room the dining room stewards got it right every night and did not have to ask me again after the first night. The service in the dining room definitely shone far above what we received in the Pinnacle!