richwmn Goes around the world in a daze

[kochleffel]

On 1/17/2023 at 12:55 PM, richwmn said:

Rabbi Starr

 

Did you happen to learn his first name? There are more Rabbi Starrs (Rabbis Starr?) than one might think.

 

[richwmn]

10 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

 

Did you happen to learn his first name? There are more Rabbi Starrs (Rabbis Starr?) than one might think.

 

According to Navigator his first name is Arthur, wife Linda

 

[richwmn]

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 20^th – at sea toward Papeete

 

The floor mat in the elevator tells me that it is Friday today. It is another good day at sea, tomorrow will be Papeete, French Polynesia.

 

As normal, the day started out with a very good breakfast in the Lido. This morning they were out of apple juice and I was told we would be getting supplies tomorrow in Papeete. It has been a beautiful day and things went quickly.

 

Although I wake up pretty early each day, it seems my activities start after noon. At 11:30 the lido opened and I got my lunch. It was a quick lunch because at a little after noon (after the Captain’s announcements) the people who have been taking Ukulele lessons for the past week or so did a short concert at the Lido pool. One of my trivia partners was part of the group so I wanted to make sure I was there. The whole group played for a bit, then a smaller group played a couple more.

 

Right after that it was time to go to the Crows Nest for the first trivia of the day. As usual we did ok, but not enough to win. The questions were pretty good and as usual it was fun.

 

Following the trivia Mike West gave his final speech. It was on the engineering of the Titanic. It was a fairly intense treatment of the construction of the ship. As usual, Mike was a very engaging speaker and did a good job of presenting the information.

 

At 4pm it was back to the Billboard Lounge for a Music Trivia featuring music of the ‘50’s. My group did pretty good, but one group got a perfect score. We got 14 of the 15 song titles right and most of the artists.

 

The next hour or so was relaxing. Then at 6:30 we had sports trivia. This was not exactly our cup of tea. We did ok, but were far behind the winner. On the other had, we did have fun.

 

At 7:00pm I joined some new friends for dinner at Canaletto. We did the shared version and we were able to try two appetizers and three entrees. All the food was good and the service was very good. After dinner I retired for a short while to my cabin.

 

The show on the main stage tonight was Classique, featuring the Zuiderdam singers and dancers. The group consisted of 4 singers and 4 dancers. All seemed to be very talented performers. The only down side was that the background was canned rather than a live performance. While I understand that using a pre-recorded track adds to the performance because it is consistant, I rather enjoy the live music.

 

Time to call it quits for the evening.

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 21^st – Papeete

 

We are docked and should receive clearance to disembark in a few minutes. Here is the view from the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

Evening after a day in Tahiti

 

It has been an interesting day. It started with a lazy morning, then a walk around Papeete. The area around the dock is very pretty. As always, there were quite a few people lined up to sell excursions around the area. Some seemed rather reasonable. There is a nice park a short walk from the ship where they were set up.

 

Aboard the ship, things continued as normal. We had a full day of activities including 3 sessions of trivia which were not well attended. Most people were taking advantage of the port. There was no competition for seats at the lido, so meals went easily.

 

Zuiderdam, according to the current HAL website, has a lower berth capacity of 1,964. I have been told that we are currently carrying between 1,300 and 1,400 passengers. So we are no where near full. Venues have been full but not crowded. The entertainment has been good for the most part.

 

Tonight the entertainment on the Main Stage was ‘The Spirit of Tahiti’, a presentation by a local group. It consisted of a small band, two singers, and maybe a dozen dancers. It was a high energy performance with traditional Tahitian dancing accompanying the singing. It lasted a full hour and was delightful.

 

I know it is late, but here are the menus and activities for today.

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Definitely see some improvements in the menus for the GWV - jumbo chilled shrimp (no surcharge & not dressy night) and chilled soups - Yum 🙂 

[lobsternight]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Definitely see some improvements in the menus for the GWV - jumbo chilled shrimp (no surcharge & not dressy night) and chilled soups - Yum 🙂 

Chilled soups yay.  Never had it until started cruisimg and love them  especially blueberry  

[leerathje]

21 hours ago, richwmn said:

 

 

Zuiderdam, according to the current HAL website, has a lower berth capacity of 1,964. I have been told that we are currently carrying between 1,300 and 1,400 passengers. So we are no where near full. Venues have been full but not crowded. The entertainment has been good for the most part.

 

 

I'm curious:  Do you expect the number of passengers to increase as the cruise continues?

 

L.

 

[richwmn]

January 22^nd – Mo’orea, French Polynesia

 

One month ago I boarded Zuiderdam for this long adventure. Over the course of the last month I have had a great time, and I have been happy to be on board. The crew has been great, the meals tasty and plentiful, and the entertainment very good. I am very pleased with what has gone on so far.

 

Today we have been in Bahia D’Opunoha, Mo’orea. It was a pleasant area just a short tender ride from the ship. Right off the tender there were two ladies dancing, then you entered a market place with various items. There were also representatives selling tours that seemed reasonable. I enjoyed a walk around the local area then returned to the ship.

 

In general, not much that I want to participate in happens until after lunch. Sometimes a presentation happens at 11 that looks interesting and I will attend those. Two of the speakers that were very good left the ship yesterday in Papeete and I suppose new ones boarded but I haven’t seen them yet.

 

There were two sessions of trivia scheduled for today, the early one was general knowledge and the late one had a theme of Oceans. My group did well on the early one and won the late session. Grand prizes were handed out (just kidding).

 

Following trivia I had dinner in the Main Dining Room with a couple of new friends. The service was very good and we were visited by the Dining Room Manager. We did have one problem. I ordered a drink and was charged for it. The Manager tried to make it right by trying to get the drink for me, but brought the wrong thing. At least the charge has been reversed already with no hassle.

 

The show for tonight was ‘The Comedy of the Biddy’s’. This is a group of 3 ladies who are dressed older than I think they are, who sing, dance, and tell jokes. They are talented in all three aspects. The 9:30 show that I attended was an adult version, I don’t know if the earlier version was any different.

 

I hope everyone is having a great time, I know I am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

The activities and meals for yesterdam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smitty34877]

I am so glad that you are enjoying yourself  on the World  Cruise. It sounds like great fun with plenty to keep a person busy.Thank you for taking us with you.

[Rowsby]

error....sorry....:)

Edited January 24, 2023 by Rowsby

[richwmn]

January 24^th – Leaving Uturoa, Heading for Tonga

 

After an overnight in Uturoa we now have 3 sea days and the international date line between us and Tonga. Uturoa is a nice place to walk around and we had good weather for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Menus and Activities for yesterday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

today's activities and menus

 

 

[Sharon in AZ]

The Chinese New Year menu in the Lido looked wonderful!

[richwmn]

Today has been a bit lazy. Although a full slate of activities was scheduled for the morning, there was nothing that interested me. I’m sure that I would enjoy several of them, just not interested at the moment. We had trivia at 1pm, 4pm, and 6:30pm. All went pretty good, all were a little more difficult than the typical cruise trivia. My group did ok, we have tied for first twice and lost in the tie breaker.

 

One of the lecturers today was from a Geology Professor who talked about plate tectonics. It is an interesting subject and the presenter, Dr Bruce Nocita, seemed to know his subject. Lots of technical information and a reasonable presentation.

 

The Main Stage Presentation this evening was Barry Seacrest. He plays the saxophone and is really an accomplished musician. All in all a pretty good presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I like your writing style.

[aliaschief]

Rich, thanks for sharing your World Cruise with us. Now that you have been on your cruise for awhile I have a question. Being this is a World Cruise do you feel that food, entertainment and everything in general is at a higher level then any other cruise?

Maybe a hard question to answer but would be interested to hear about  your thoughts, senses or feelings so far?

Thanks. B.

[REOVA]

29 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Rich, thanks for sharing your World Cruise with us. Now that you have been on your cruise for awhile I have a question. Being this is a World Cruise do you feel that food, entertainment and everything in general is at a higher level then any other cruise?

Maybe a hard question to answer but would be interested to hear about  your thoughts, senses or feelings so far?

Thanks. B.

Probably too early to respond with being less than 1/4 in and many sea days. Might need to do segment reviews. 🤔 The GWC usually has more activities and speakers than in general but towards the later part there should be a special "surprise" event planned in one of the ports. Also later on as you spend more time on the cruise you can get a feel of whether it's same routine/different day or great to be on the ship. We knew some people ready to get off while others sail annually, no matter where. I would also be interested in a first time World cruisers perspective. 

[WriterOnDeck]

Just now, aliaschief said:

Rich, thanks for sharing your World Cruise with us. Now that you have been on your cruise for awhile I have a question. Being this is a World Cruise do you feel that food, entertainment and everything in general is at a higher level then any other cruise?

Maybe a hard question to answer but would be interested to hear about  your thoughts, senses or feelings so far?

Thanks. B.

I'm not Rich but am on the GWV and can compare it to 51 days on the Westerdam a couple of months ago. The food choices are definitely better. E.g., at dinner in the MDR there is a shrimp cocktail on the menu each night; on the Westerdam it was extra charge. Both had lecturers for the long sea passages and cultural groups. But there are more sea day activities on the world cruise. We should get free shuttles in ports on the GWV where we had to pay on the Westerdam. Lots more special theme dinners, etc.

 

Our not-so-surprise night will be in Amsterdam for the 150th HAL anniversary.

[richwmn]

January 26^th – Somewhere in the South Pacific

 

Today will be another lazy day. The highlight for the day might be a Derby Day, where 6 of the staff act as jockies and guide their ‘horses’ to victory. Following the Derby there will be a pub crawl. There will, of course, be trivia and other games.

 

The port talk by Ian will be on Auckland & Tauranga NZ. Presentations will be ‘The Early Days of Geology’ and ‘Differences Between Spoken & Written Language’. If these presentations follow the previous ones, they will be well attended.

 

Lido menu is not available yet

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

It is funny that @aliaschief and @REOVA would mention my thoughts as a first time World Cruiser. I started thinking about this yesterday and had planned on doing something on the sea day today.

 

First a little about me and my cruising history. Some of this is known, but I think that it might be important as a basis for my comparison.

 

My first cruise was in 2000 on Zaandam. I had an outside cabin on the promenade deck. I was very happy with that location, and have tried without success to get the same cabin again. Since then I have done at least one cruise every year except two, and building to two or three a year until the shutdown. I have at least one cruise on each ship HAL is currently sailing with over 30 cruises and almost 500 days. With the exception of seven days each on Zuiderdam, Eurodam, and Nieuw Amsterdam all the days are in outside cabins. I have also completed two longer cruises, Voyage of the Vikings at 38 days and a previous trans Pacific at 40. Prior to this cruise I had more days on Zuiderdam than other ships. Since the shutdown I have completed two cruises (Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam) and achieved five star status.

 

So on to the current cruise. I booked the World Cruise maybe a year and a half ago when Zaandam was scheduled to be the ship. I had the same cabin as my first cruise and was very happy. Like others, when the change was made to Zuiderdam I was not really happy but decided to go with it. I was surprised to be assigned a cabin (4058) right away while returning World Cruisers were placed in a guarantee status. I was also on the previous 12 day holiday cruise so that might have factored into the decision.

 

Part of the reason for booking the holiday cruise was that I had read in the past about World Cruise embarkation being very hectic and I wanted to avoid it. The in transit process went well until I got a call asking why I wasn’t in my new cabin. I had been upgraded to a verandah (5048). I moved quickly and was settled in. I mention this mainly because the verandah experience is, in itself, a bit different.

 

With all that in mind, here goes. First the ship itself. Zuiderdam went thru a dry dock a couple of weeks before the World Cruise started. To me she looks very nice, but I’m sure some will find places they feel should have some attention. I have always hated the seats at the Lido Pool bar and they are still there. Other than that, Zuiderdam is a fine ship. I will add here that the Master (Captain Freher) is always out and about and is very approachable. I have run into him in various public places and he has always responded to a greeting.

The first crew most of us interact with is our cabin stewards. For this cruise I have had two sets. For the holiday portion I had a repeat plus my first female cabin steward. They did a great job and I was a bit sorry to change cabins because of them. With the new cabin came new stewards. They have also done a very good job. To me, they always seem to do more than I need but it is still nice.

 

The general crew. I have read many times in the past that the crew on the World Cruise was ‘hand picked’ as the best in the fleet for their positions. Overall, I think this is true. Almost all the crew I have interacted with have been very good. Almost every crew member I have talked to more than once calls me, and for that matter everyone around me, by name. Everyone seems to have picked up on my preferences very quickly. I don’t know that I have found that quite as much on short cruises.

 

Now to the restaurants. My go to on all cruises has been the Lido. For the most part I eat along and early. The Main Dining Room is a bit slow for eating alone and the Lido works out for me. The food selection has been good and it is tasty. I haven’t been disappointed in any of the food I have received. The main sections I eat at for breakfast are the omelet and fried egg stations. For lunch and dinner, the Harvest section along with the Italian and Salad stations.

 

I have taken meals in the Main Dining Room twice, sharing a meal with people I have met on the ship. The meals were good, nicely plated, and served at a pace that went along with the time we enjoyed. There was plenty of time to chat between courses.

 

I also ate at the Pinnacle Grill once and Canaletto once each. Both provided excellent service and good meals. Both also managed to pace the courses so we had time to eat and chat.

 

I’ll take a quick minute here to comment on serving sizes. Many people have commented that the serving size in the specialty restaurants and Main Dining Room were too small. I find that they are pretty much just right. When I leave those restaurants I fell pleasantly full. At the Lido they will pile on as much as you want, and sometimes large servings even if you don’t ask. On all my cruises I have been overfull many times leaving the Lido.

 

So now we get to where the World Cruise is really different. On the typical cruise, at least under maybe 21 days, the activity staff numbers two or maybe three. On this cruise there seem to be at least five or six. At least three different staff members have done trivia sessions regularly, with a ‘sports director’ doing one. These positions are in addition to Ian, the Cruise Director (or what ever he is called now). There are multiple activities each morning having to do with crafts, along with pickleball and bridge. Each sea day we have had two or maybe three presentations on various subjects by good speakers. The speakers we had for the first part of the cruise left in Papeete and were replace with different topics. The entertainers, again very good, had a turn over in Papeete as well. As far as the entertainers, we had the same turnover on the Voyage of the Vikings and my earlier Trans Pacific. I know that on the VoV we had four sets of entertainers. I don’t remember how many on the Trans Pacific but I do remember that the last week to 10 days the entertainers were from Australia.

 

So in conclusion, for me it seems that the biggest difference between a regular cruise and this World Cruise is the number and quality of activities, along with slightly better entertainment. We will see if this trend continues.

 

[aliaschief]

6 minutes ago, richwmn said:

It is funny that @aliaschief and @REOVA would mention my thoughts as a first time World Cruiser. I started thinking about this yesterday and had planned on doing something on the sea day today.

 

First a little about me and my cruising history. Some of this is known, but I think that it might be important as a basis for my comparison.

 

My first cruise was in 2000 on Zaandam. I had an outside cabin on the promenade deck. I was very happy with that location, and have tried without success to get the same cabin again. Since then I have done at least one cruise every year except two, and building to two or three a year until the shutdown. I have at least one cruise on each ship HAL is currently sailing with over 30 cruises and almost 500 days. With the exception of seven days each on Zuiderdam, Eurodam, and Nieuw Amsterdam all the days are in outside cabins. I have also completed two longer cruises, Voyage of the Vikings at 38 days and a previous trans Pacific at 40. Prior to this cruise I had more days on Zuiderdam than other ships. Since the shutdown I have completed two cruises (Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam) and achieved five star status.

 

So on to the current cruise. I booked the World Cruise maybe a year and a half ago when Zaandam was scheduled to be the ship. I had the same cabin as my first cruise and was very happy. Like others, when the change was made to Zuiderdam I was not really happy but decided to go with it. I was surprised to be assigned a cabin (4058) right away while returning World Cruisers were placed in a guarantee status. I was also on the previous 12 day holiday cruise so that might have factored into the decision.

 

Part of the reason for booking the holiday cruise was that I had read in the past about World Cruise embarkation being very hectic and I wanted to avoid it. The in transit process went well until I got a call asking why I wasn’t in my new cabin. I had been upgraded to a verandah (5048). I moved quickly and was settled in. I mention this mainly because the verandah experience is, in itself, a bit different.

 

With all that in mind, here goes. First the ship itself. Zuiderdam went thru a dry dock a couple of weeks before the World Cruise started. To me she looks very nice, but I’m sure some will find places they feel should have some attention. I have always hated the seats at the Lido Pool bar and they are still there. Other than that, Zuiderdam is a fine ship. I will add here that the Master (Captain Freher) is always out and about and is very approachable. I have run into him in various public places and he has always responded to a greeting.

The first crew most of us interact with is our cabin stewards. For this cruise I have had two sets. For the holiday portion I had a repeat plus my first female cabin steward. They did a great job and I was a bit sorry to change cabins because of them. With the new cabin came new stewards. They have also done a very good job. To me, they always seem to do more than I need but it is still nice.

 

The general crew. I have read many times in the past that the crew on the World Cruise was ‘hand picked’ as the best in the fleet for their positions. Overall, I think this is true. Almost all the crew I have interacted with have been very good. Almost every crew member I have talked to more than once calls me, and for that matter everyone around me, by name. Everyone seems to have picked up on my preferences very quickly. I don’t know that I have found that quite as much on short cruises.

 

Now to the restaurants. My go to on all cruises has been the Lido. For the most part I eat along and early. The Main Dining Room is a bit slow for eating alone and the Lido works out for me. The food selection has been good and it is tasty. I haven’t been disappointed in any of the food I have received. The main sections I eat at for breakfast are the omelet and fried egg stations. For lunch and dinner, the Harvest section along with the Italian and Salad stations.

 

I have taken meals in the Main Dining Room twice, sharing a meal with people I have met on the ship. The meals were good, nicely plated, and served at a pace that went along with the time we enjoyed. There was plenty of time to chat between courses.

 

I also ate at the Pinnacle Grill once and Canaletto once each. Both provided excellent service and good meals. Both also managed to pace the courses so we had time to eat and chat.

 

I’ll take a quick minute here to comment on serving sizes. Many people have commented that the serving size in the specialty restaurants and Main Dining Room were too small. I find that they are pretty much just right. When I leave those restaurants I fell pleasantly full. At the Lido they will pile on as much as you want, and sometimes large servings even if you don’t ask. On all my cruises I have been overfull many times leaving the Lido.

 

So now we get to where the World Cruise is really different. On the typical cruise, at least under maybe 21 days, the activity staff numbers two or maybe three. On this cruise there seem to be at least five or six. At least three different staff members have done trivia sessions regularly, with a ‘sports director’ doing one. These positions are in addition to Ian, the Cruise Director (or what ever he is called now). There are multiple activities each morning having to do with crafts, along with pickleball and bridge. Each sea day we have had two or maybe three presentations on various subjects by good speakers. The speakers we had for the first part of the cruise left in Papeete and were replace with different topics. The entertainers, again very good, had a turn over in Papeete as well. As far as the entertainers, we had the same turnover on the Voyage of the Vikings and my earlier Trans Pacific. I know that on the VoV we had four sets of entertainers. I don’t remember how many on the Trans Pacific but I do remember that the last week to 10 days the entertainers were from Australia.

 

So in conclusion, for me it seems that the biggest difference between a regular cruise and this World Cruise is the number and quality of activities, along with slightly better entertainment. We will see if this trend continues.

 

Thank you Rich very much appreciated and well said. B.

[robotpony]

30 minutes ago, richwmn said:

I’ll take a quick minute here to comment on serving sizes. Many people have commented that the serving size in the specialty restaurants and Main Dining Room were too small. I find that they are pretty much just right.

 

I have to second this; I've heard many complaints about portion sizes but for us it usually means we can consider dessert (where at most land-based restaurants, especially in the US, dessert is an improbability given the huge portions). It's refreshing to sample a variety of food with modest portions, especially given the variety.

 

Also, thank you for these reports; they have been helpful in getting us excited for our upcoming longer cruises on the smaller ships. We weren't sure that they would fit us at our age, but they sound just about right!