Noordam - A Passage to New Zealand

[ivmama]

Thank you for all the information. 

[0bnxshs]

Hi Rich!  Great to see you blogging again.

 

Good to see an officer (I think) at the M&G, can you tell us who it was?

 

Hope you have some great sea days along the way to Hawai'i.  I wonder if the next dry dock, scheduled for next year in Singapore(?) might complete some of the changes to the Crow's Nest, etc?  (Biting my tongue as I type this!)

[zelker]

The Hotel Director and Cruise Director came because when I set it up, I requested both for our large roll call.  I had around 90 sign up for this one and close to 70 came which was great!  I have another one planned after people embark in Honolulu which should be bigger.  😊

 

[richwmn]

Internet seems a bit slow this morning, it is a little after 8 am here on the Pacific. Here are today's activities

Edited October 15 by richwmn

[richwmn]

The post of today's activities took quite a bit to upload the images. I made these a little bit smaller, hope they are still ok. This morning I took the Photo Gallery, Exploration Cafe, and Microsoft Studio

 

Photo Gallery

 

Exploration Cafe' and Library

 

Microsoft Studio

Edited October 15 by richwmn

[BarbarianPaul]

Thank you Rich for today’s posts! Ship looks great and onboard activities look good!

Has anyone been to any of the lectures? Generally, I’ve found that their quality is at best fair, but hope springs eternal, and am hoping that HA might perhaps up its game for our cruise, with its many sea days. Also, are the EXC talks given by an actual EXC guide, or another member of the shore excursions staff?

 

Lastly, did anyone watch the production show last night? How was it?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time out of a relaxing sea day to answer...

[RuthC]

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like the library is effectively gone. So disappointing. 

[kazu]

3 hours ago, richwmn said:

Exploration Cafe' and Library

 

Oh CRAP,  there is no library.  So sad.  I’ll have to plan accordingly for our Transpacific next year 😞 

Another exciting improvement by Ashford 😞 

 

Thanks for posting though.  It is really appreciated 🙂 

[michael620]

4 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Oh CRAP,  there is no library.  So sad.  I’ll have to plan accordingly for our Transpacific next year 😞 

Another exciting improvement by Ashford 😞 

 

Thanks for posting though.  It is really appreciated 🙂 

It is more of a book exchange than a library. I will bring one “real” book and leave it for others when I am finished. All other books will be on my kindle. 

[DeeniEncinitas]

So sad to see what they call a library 😞

I will be downloading my books on my iPad to take!! So many empty shelves where some nice books could go!!!

Denise😊

 

[zelker]

The few books we saw walking by look to be the more informational/travel type that you now find in the libraries that have been moved to the Crow’s Nest.  Definitely NOT like the great libraries still found on Amsterdam, Volendam, etc.  DH’s theory is that most everyone reads on a tablet these days so the libraries we love are passé... suspect he’s right.  So yes, load up your tablets and eReaders or you’ll be disappointed. 

[TiogaCruiser]

Thats a storefront display, not a library, Mr. Ashford.

 

Thanks for posting.

[aliaschief]

Great reporting Rich. I was surprised Northern Lights made the cut!

Off to Roma tomorrow to embark Rotterdam for 32 days.

 

Life is good!😀

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise and I do hope you will be staying in beautiful New Zealand for a few days upon your arrival.

[Himself]

38 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Thats a storefront display, not a library, Mr. Ashford.

 

Thanks for posting.

It seems a few people do not like Mr. Ashford. Stein is a hard act to follow.

[Alberta Quilter]

Hi Rich,

 

Thanks for the photos and reports!  Not that I'm going to be on the Noordam anytime soon but are there jigsaw puzzle tables somewhere on the ship?  Just wondering if they're keeping them or getting rid of them.

 

Thanks!

[erewhon]

Thanks for posting the photos, so sad to see the downgraded library.

[richwmn]

A bit of a delay, but here is the MDR menu for tonight

 

[richwmn]

and let's see if the Pinnacle Grill menu will load

 

[erewhon]

Thanks for posting the menus.

Are there still fruit crisps available?

[michael620]

1 hour ago, erewhon said:

Thanks for posting the menus.

Are there still fruit crisps available?

I don’t see the king crab legs on the menu anymore 😞

[DeeniEncinitas]

Thank you Rich for the menus!

I miss a few things in PG. No Caesar Salad

French onion soup also no king crab legs?Still Lobster bisque so I’m happy. The caviar is the same in price and for what it is worth a fair price! For my DH retirement in June I bought 6 oz. for a small dinner party and don’t ask the price

for Ossetra Malossol wish I got it for HAL price! We enjoyed it on the Maasdam.

Appreciate you doing this for all of us!

Looking forward to NZ!!!

Denise😊

[Himself]

29 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Thank you Rich for the menus!

I miss a few things in PG. No Caesar Salad

French onion soup also no king crab legs?Still Lobster bisque so I’m happy. The caviar is the same in price and for what it is worth a fair price! For my DH retirement in June I bought 6 oz. for a small dinner party and don’t ask the price

for Ossetra Malossol wish I got it for HAL price! We enjoyed it on the Maasdam.

Appreciate you doing this for all of us!

Looking forward to NZ!!!

Denise😊

I saw Caesar's salad on the Pinnacle menu!

[DeeniEncinitas]

19 minutes ago, Himself said:

I saw Caesar's salad on the Pinnacle menu!

Hummm... I could be wrong but Himself I rechecked Rich’s menu didn’t see it’ I love their tossed Caesar salad and had it often in the Maasdam on our last cruise.

Sounds like even if it isn’t on this menu they still have it. I did see wedge lettuce on Rich’s menu 🙄 

Denise😊

[Castaway45]

There are a few puzzles but nowhere to lay them out.  I saw a couple of ladies doing one on one of the Microsoft Studio tables last night but there was no sign of it this morning when I attended a computer class.  You can bet they didn't finish it in one evening.

 

[richwmn]

A quick note on entertainment.

 

I didn't attend the production show last night but talked to several people who felt it was very good.

 

Billboard - I went by for a bit last night. I thought that the piano players / singers were ok. They were doing a set based on the '70's and maybe that just wasn't the right period for them. Also, they kept trying to get audience participation from an audience that didn't feel like helping.

 

B. B. King - Listened for a couple of minutes last night and they sounded good. They are off tonight so I'll try again tomorrow.

 

Tim Kaminski, the comic for tonight. Overall, a pretty good show. The Main Stage (now called the World Stage) was close to full and everyone seemed to be having fun. The main act took a bit of time to set up, getting about 14 people from the audience to participate and giving them instructions, but he made that a bit funny as well.

 

All trivia was handled by the Assistant Cruise Director. There were three today, 2 general and 1 movie themes. All were well attended and were appropriately difficult.