Jump to content

'Twas the Cruise During Christmas - Zuiderdam 2018


POA1
 Share

Recommended Posts

5 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

His show started a little slow, but about 12 minutes in, I was laughing out loud.  His improv was great. There was a family from Alabama who he riffed with. One of the performers from Island Magic was sitting behind us and at one point, he honestly doubled over in laughter. Between his laughing and Michelle's, I was dying. Michelle and I were wondering if he worked at Pleasure Island's Comedy Warehouse.  Now we know. Question: Are you an original cast member? I see the 1972 in your CC user name.

No, never been a cast member - it's more fun being a guest!  But, I was a regular at Comedy Warehouse until it closed.  1972 was the year of my first trip to WDW, as a kid with my parents & brother.  

 

Sue/WDW1972

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

You've got the Trini's from Island Magic on Zuidy? Awesome! :classic_biggrin: If you happen to run into Dereck (the big guy) and/or Opal, please tell them I said hi, Thank You! Derick can usually be found listening to the BB King's at night and/or having lunch/dinner in the Lido in what's known by the crew as the "fish bowl" (the central area adjacent Canaletto and the fwd beverage station)

 

 

 

We ran into Derek at BB King tonight and told him you said hello. He said you were a great guy and we should tell you "Hi" back.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Internet is back to being very fast. The speed picked up during first seating and is great now that it's late.

 

Our clean, bright entertainments for the day included the choral presentations from the Filipino,  Indonesian, International and combined choirs. The Filipinos were good, but the Indonesians brought it to the house with two guitars, a pianist and a musical director. There were also performances by the Zuiderdam singers and dancers. It was a full house - standing room only (Really! Not just a metaphor) and most everyone in the audience stayed until the end. As far as I could tell, six to eight people left early. The show started at 10:30 PM and ran for about 50 minutes.

 

We were seated along the aisle and when the curtain went up on the choir, a bunch of crew members scampered down the steps and began filming on their phones and cameras. (Clearly realizing that the network will speed up once everyone goes to sleep.) We're really impressed that people who work as hard as the crew can take time out of their long, busy days to put this kind of a show together. If you've been to the old crew shows, this was a notch above.

 

We gained our hour back tonight, so it's almost midnight and time to turn in. Santa's coming tomorrow at the supremely civilized hour of 10:30 - but he knows if you're awake.

 

Merry Christmas all!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, RuthC said:

Perfect.
Some people don't realize that just because you think of something to say, doesn't mean you have to say it.

 

We had normal reactions to tonight's corsage. Lots of compliments and good wishes. The woman the other night might have been an outlier. Or a witch. Not sure.  Merry Christmas Ruth!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

zuiderdam-christmas-2018-sm.jpg

Some of you are several time zones ahead of us, so an early Merry Christmas from the Zuiderdam!  The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the moon accurately waning and just about 92% full.  It cost a big chunk of our research budget to get a helicopter out here into the Caribbean Sea’s Windward Passage, but you, our loyal readers, are worth it!

As is the case with most of the images in my “Live From’s,” you can click the image above to get a large version.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

2018-12-25-Sea-Day-Card-sm.jpg

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Zuiderdam!  We're meeting Michelle's dad for breakfast at 8:30 this morning. Now that we're clear of the second gala night, we can finally indulge in pastries and I wants me some Ensay Mada.  I had my tuxedo made back before our 2003 cruise and it still fits. Not with a lot of room to spare, so I needed to be relatively good to make the whole thing work.

 

I was a little worried that DFIL was going to miss the little time change card so I got up at 7:00 just in case I needed to run interference. I'm guessing he changed his clock because we've not heard a peep out of him. Either that, or he got tired of waiting and is already upstairs eating.

 

Santa comes at 10:30 AM. I don't know if we'll get the cool arrival by boat that @Copper10-8 posted about becuse we're at sea. We had a mini-Santa last night, courtesy of the Yum Yum man. He wasn't stout and round, but he made up for it with extra "jolly."

 

 

 

Map-2018-12-25-Sea-Day.jpg

 

 

Attention Easter Egg Spotters:  Our table flowers changed to poinsettias Christmas on the map eve.

Edited by POA1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

wayback-red.jpg

 

Special Wayback Supplemental - HAL Tote Bags

 

Going hardcore for this one. Our Holland America Tote Bags, 1994 to present. (We also have come Collector's Cruise ones, but these are the regular ones.)

 

1994 Jazz Cruise out of New Orleans on the old Noordam (Our first cruise)

 

Note the slogan: A Tradition of Excellence. Wish I could find and "It's good to be on a well-run ship" tote.

 

HALtote1994.jpg.abda6a3ad62e6e83dad521350d04cf33.jpg

 

The early-to-mid 2000's Signature of Excellence Tote

 

HALtoate2003.jpg.53128cd1219bc8ca4d9077ed232d2735.jpg

 

Today's Savor the Journey Tote

 

HALtote2018.jpg.1049371c0dd66ece901abd723a29eec9.jpg

 

For size comparison, look how much smaller the old tote was. Clearly, we're carrying a lot more crap today. The '94 tote is quite a bit heavier than the SigEx tote. It's more like cotton duck canvas.  The mid-2000s tote is heavier than the current one, but still made of cotton canvas. The current one is synthetic, but has a bigger carrying capacity. My guess is that the 2020 Oprah tote bag will have wheels, but be made of a lighter weight plastic.

 

sizecomparenow.jpg

sizecomparethen.jpg

Edited by POA1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our day of clean, bright entertainments begins with a visit to the Main Stage (formerly the Vista Show Lounge) to see Santa's arrival.  Michelle and Poohby Joe are all atwitter.

 

 

SAM_3279_LUCiD.JPG.80bce05c6f14978c089b65ddeacf133c.JPG

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Merry Christmas, Brian, Michelle, and Poohby Joe. Thanks for the reports. Hope the Santa arrival is going well, and he brings you lots of toys.

Any report on what was included in the 'special dinner' in Canaletto last night? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, RuthC said:

Merry Christmas, Brian, Michelle, and Poohby Joe. Thanks for the reports. Hope the Santa arrival is going well, and he brings you lots of toys.

Any report on what was included in the 'special dinner' in Canaletto last night? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know.

 

I'll swing by and check. I forgot to look yesterday. And a very Merry Christmas to you as well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Any report on what was included in the 'special dinner' in Canaletto last night? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know.

 

This is just a phone photo. I'll scan the menu later, but as my special gift to you, I wanted to upload it right away. Thanks for reminding me. It slipped my mind completely. 

 

I thought for sure that you were on to something with the Feast of the Seven Fishes. It was more like two fishes (barely) and various regular Italian dishes. 

 

IMG_20181225_113824.jpg-489437020_PerfectlyClear.thumb.jpg.9e12122d74d63598fdfa537344679be1.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was just on a research expedition to secure scans of the bar-specific cocktails menus. For the most part, the center pages are the core bar list and the front and back end pages have drinks that were designed for the bar. This will make more sense once I post the scans. 

 

The Lido Pool Bar and Sea View Bar do not any special drinks, but the Pinnacle Bar, Ocean Bar, Billboard Bar, Gallery Bar, and Crow's Nest do. The BB King bar has its own list altogether. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Getting ready for school...

 

We have the cocktail mixology class at 3:00 PM. It's the Christmas cocktail series. We've tried them all. Some definite winners, some "meh." We're going to learn to make three of them. I'm not sure which ones we're making. The class is being held in the Gallery Bar, and taught by Alvin from the Billboard Bar. (The older of the two Alvins in Billboard Onboard's bar.) He's one of our regular guys, so we plan to study really hard and be good listeners.  I wonder if there's going to be homework?

 

After that, we have to pack. We're packing machines, so that should go pretty quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I managed to catch one of the America's Test Kitchen demos, "We Love Chocolate" this afternoon. Very good and a step up from the regular culinary demos from before. (Except the guest chef demos, which were excellent.)

 

Sadly, I have not been able to fit any Oprah activities into my jam packed days of clean, bright entertainments. Perhaps next cruise.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Merry Christmas!

 

Wow, you certainly are doing so much research on our behalf (or is it behalves?) I wonder how your DW, Michelle, feels about it all?  When we got back from FLL after the inaugural NS cruise, my DH, Pat, emailed one of our daughters that he didn't want me to do a Live From again, as he was neglected.  Perhaps I should have ordered him a wrist corsage so he would know he was important to me!  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Vict0riann said:

Merry Christmas!

 

Wow, you certainly are doing so much research on our behalf (or is it behalves?) I wonder how your DW, Michelle, feels about it all?  When we got back from FLL after the inaugural NS cruise, my DH, Pat, emailed one of our daughters that he didn't want me to do a Live From again, as he was neglected.  Perhaps I should have ordered him a wrist corsage so he would know he was important to me!  

 

Merry Christmas, Ann! 

 

Michelle is fine with the "Live From."  I'm never on Facebook except for business, so it evens out. She also likes to read about her vacation after the fact.  Flowers are always a good idea.

 

Pre-packing nap time now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

Getting ready for school...

 

We have the cocktail mixology class at 3:00 PM. It's the Christmas cocktail series. We've tried them all. Some definite winners, some "meh." We're going to learn to make three of them. I'm not sure which ones we're making. The class is being held in the Gallery Bar, and taught by Alvin from the Billboard Bar. (The older of the two Alvins in Billboard Onboard's bar.) He's one of our regular guys, so we plan to study really hard and be good listeners.  I wonder if there's going to be homework?

 

After that, we have to pack. We're packing machines, so that should go pretty quickly.

 

YIKES - you have to pack?  

 

that doesn't mean you have to get off the ship, does it 😉 

 

I've so enjoyed your live thread.  It's sad to realize it will soon be ending.

 

Safe travels home in that 10 minute taxi ride 😄 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

Sadly, I have not been able to fit any Oprah activities into my jam packed days of clean, bright entertainments. Perhaps next cruise.

 

Perhaps. 😉

 

Just wanted to say I've really enjoyed your cruise adventure. It's not QUITE like being on a dam ship, but it is the next best thing.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, kazu said:

 

YIKES - you have to pack?  

 

that doesn't mean you have to get off the ship, does it 😉 

 

I've so enjoyed your live thread.  It's sad to realize it will soon be ending.

 

Safe travels home in that 10 minute taxi ride 😄 

 

 

Yes, we're off tomorrow. On the plus side, I have all the menus and photos to pack, so I can easily milk this thread for a few more days. It's a bit easier with my office set up. Two monitors, really fast Internet, and all the comforts of home. Nobody to wait on us or cook for us though. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, cruisemom42 said:

 

Perhaps. 😉

 

Just wanted to say I've really enjoyed your cruise adventure. It's not QUITE like being on a dam ship, but it is the next best thing.

 

 

Thank you very much. It's always fun to do these. Dirty little secret: The live threads help me to remember what happened on our trips It may seem like I have good recall, but it helps to have it written down. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...