December 2019

[VK3DQ]

Hi Folks

 

Well we have just made a giant leap into the unknown.....Booked on Maasdam 

 

A 20 night ex Sydney cruise to New Zealand and then into the pacific  to Tonga and across the dateline departing 2nd December  2019 and back 23rd December just before Christmas the price is reasonable for a longer round trip 

 

The fantastic  three Elsie Jean and I  in an ocean view 

 

I hope I have done the right thing with this one .. anyone know the ship ??

 

Regards

 

John

Edited December 23, 2018 by VK3DQ

[VK3DQ]

Should read Departs 3rd Dec 2019

 

 

 

[NSWP]

11 hours ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi Folks

 

Well we have just made a giant leap into the unknown.....Booked on Maasdam 

 

A 20 night ex Sydney cruise to New Zealand and then into the pacific  to Tonga and across the dateline departing 2nd December  2019 and back 23rd December just before Christmas the price is reasonable for a longer round trip 

 

The fantastic  three Elsie Jean and I  in an ocean view 

 

I hope I have done the right thing with this one .. anyone know the ship ??

 

Regards

 

John

Smaller HAL ship, getting a little old, that is why it is here, lol. But good reports.  As long as it is being maintained.  At least you will not have all that water slide rubbish up top.  

[VK3DQ]

15 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Smaller HAL ship, getting a little old, that is why it is here, lol. But good reports.  As long as it is being maintained.  At least you will not have all that water slide rubbish up top.  

 

Correct and we have all three of the sisters down under   Pacific Aria , and Vasco da Gama will be here at the same time next December

 

We will be on Pacific Aria in April for a four day repo to New Zealand so that will be an interesting preview  but in a suite for that as opposed to an ocean view for the longer trip  I wanted to do the 50 day from UK on Vasco da Gama but it was just a tad more than I have to spend 

 

Regards

 

John

[SeaDog-46]

Congrates old "sparky" on booking HAL Maasdam. You are lucky to get on her at a good price.

HAL built  4   S Class  ships with the 4th being Veendam that is a little bigger at 57092 gt as opposed to Maasdam 55575 gt.

Massdam is not in Asia / Oceania because she is "old" Les,  but because HAL are looking to use her as a replacement to Prisendam that is being sold. They have or are fitting her with some rubber Zodiacs & her voyages around Asia are different to most usual cruises.  

I have done 44 days on sistership Statendam / Pacific Eden & hope to do a future cruise on Vasco.

45 years is an old cruise ship - see Albatros 20,018 gt ex Royal Viking Sea built 1973 - 20 years before Maasdam & still going strong in Europe.

As a 3 star mariner on HAL & after 50 days recently on Sapphire Princess I think on HAL, although very similar to Princess, the crew are just a little bit better.

John

[BuzzBuzzen]

Albatros is still a nice looking ship.

[MicCanberra]

I will be on the Maasdam at the end of January so can probably answer some queries on my return in mid February.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

S

45 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

Albatros is still a nice looking ship.

 

She called  Australia  home for 2 years as Norwegian Star .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Capricorn_Line

[MicCanberra]

Yeah, nice lines.

[NSWP]

Thankyou John for your clarification re Maasdam.     Plenty of those 'dam' ships in this region.

[MicCanberra]

LOL, yep, hopefully we get some more as well.

[hendies]

We are John and Darlene from Chilliwack B.C. about 1 hour away from Vancouver B.C. Canada. We are on the cruise before this one, and this one for a total of 37 days. So far looks like mostly Australians, and New Zealanders on this leg of the cruise. We have been on a lot of Holland America "Dam Ships", mostly doing collectors voyages, from 35-40 days plus up to 66 day cruises. The smaller ships can get you into places that the larger ships cannot go to in a lot of cases. Other cruise lines we have been on are Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, and MSC, but we still prefer Holland America over the other cruise lines, mostly because of the itinerary first, and then the food, ect....

The cruise industry has changed a lot over the last 25 years, and they all have one thing in common all of them are not the same as they use to be, and all of them are cutting back.... still a lot of fun though and a great way to get a sampler of a place and also to make a decision if you want to go back again for a longer period of time to check it out to see more......

 

Take care cheers,

 

John and Darlene 

[erewhon]

Maasdam is a great little ship with a great crew. We would have no hesitation in sailing on her again.

[MicCanberra]

Excellent news.