Halloween-dam cruise! Let the good times roll!!

[bepsf]

Yes, we want pictures!

 

Did you hear about the new sea-day pool-game our CC'ers invented?

"Speedo Swapping"

:eek:

 

...and something about an "Honorary Bear"?

(No, it's not Scotty...)

:D

[Grumpy1]

Well, Geez, Louise... what an impatient bunch! We're back home again and getting accustomed to fast internet once again. The connection on Westerdam was slower than anything I've ever experienced!

 

It was a great cruise with a bunch of really great people!... even the CC'ers:p

 

We actually made it to HMC. the supply boat came out first and took staff and provisions ashore. We were on the first tender over, got to our cabana, checked out the surroundings and Grumpy was just about to head for the water when the Cabana Boy came by... "So sorry, Ship has just recalled everyone to the ship... a very bad thunderstorm coming..." So back to the tender and back to the ship. They loaded some of the provisions on the tender, and the rest went back on the supply boat. Since the wind was from the northeast, the ship was docked on the protected side of the island and the seas weren't too rough where we were anchored. Coming to the island and after we left we were in 7.5 to 12 ft seas... definitely not good for tendering... but where we anchored, the seas were probably less than 3 feet.

 

The new tenders seem to handle rough water much better than the lifeboat tenders. They are easier to get on and off at the ship, and have a ramp that lowers from the bow at the HMC dock. The ramp is wide enough to allow 4 to 6 people to walk off side by side. With two stairways from the top deck and two aisles from the lower deck converging at the ramp, it really makes for a quick disembarkation, and also for loading the tender to return.

 

Even though we spent a half hour in our cabana, HAL decided we were entitled to a full refund. Grumpy was so giddy about his new found wealth that he took his Beloved Slinkie to the Shops on Board and blew it all on a new pair of earrings.

 

Dayum, that St Maarten place can be hazardous to your wealth! There must be 2000 jewelry stores in Phillipsburg! Slinkie didn't get into all of them, but she sure found some good ones. It's very interesting... the combination stores. Jewelry store and liquor store... jewelry store and clothing shop.. jewelry store and tobacco... Let no opportunity to separate the tourists from their dollars go untapped!

 

The "list prices" on the jewelry items were rediculously high, but discounts in the 70% range were not uncommon. The first price quoted was usually about 40% off, which isn't good enough. Just not responding was usually enough to bring it to 50 or 60% off. Grumpy usually then asks for the "brother-in-law price" usually good for another 10%. When one merchant only knocked off another 5%, Grumpy told him that he was really sorry that the salesman didn't like his brother-in-law. It worked....

 

CC'ers did themselves proud in the ship competitions... One of our couples, won the "marriage game" competition. One of the guys tied for the win in the talent show. Another guy was named an "honorary Bear" by the C B's:eek:

 

All in all, it was a really great cruise.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'm definitely not sorry I missed that tender ride back to the ship! I can do without 12' waves across my bow ... LOL:D .

 

I think you should win the prize for Best Bargainer, Grumpy ... wish I could take you shopping with me (and your wallet, too;) ).

 

Glad you're home safe and so happy a good time was had by everyone. Take a minute to relax and unwind and then get busy with a full review, photos, etc.

 

No pressure ... no rush!!!:)

[Copper10-8]

CC'ers did themselves proud in the ship competitions... One of our couples, won the "marriage game" competition. One of the guys tied for the win in the talent show. Another guy was named an "honorary Bear" by the C B's:eek:

 

Would really like more details on these events plus pics for blackmail purposes please;)

[cruznon]

Yes, we all are waiting for photos...we'll try to be patient. It's just that there have been so many tantilizing tidits coming back to all of us...can't blame us for wanting to see the visuals!

[KathieKata]

CRUZNON: You need to go into your "User CP" area and add what City and STATE you reside in. It's soooo much more fun when you know where people are from when the post.

It's up at the top left hand side of the page. About 1/4 ways down. :D

GRUMPY: I've been down that street with all the jewelry shops on it. It's like being in NYC's Diamond district. But even more shops!! Bargining is the name of the game.

Can't wait until you go on your 66 day cruise. I'll be looking forward to your WONDERFUL POSTS!!

[mechcc]

WOW! What a great cruise. Those 7 days went amazingly fast and were full of fun and wonderful people. We also made it to HMC on the first tender and since it was our first visit we are glad that we at least got to see what the cabanas are like and we ate most of the chips and fruit as well as drank some of the provided sodas. The CC group was just a perfect group of unbelieveable individuals.

Will post some tales and pictures later but for now I'm gonna go get some much needed sleep.

[RevNeal]

Welcome home, Maggie! Glad you had a wonderful time.

 

I think that those who've cruised with a group of CCers ... either in a formal Group, or just in a well-organized Roll Call group ... can attest to the fact that it really is a GREAT way to cruise! Sometimes it's nice to be all alone (either as a solo cruiser or with one or two other people), but other times it is GREAT to cruise with a GROUP of like-minded people with whom you have communicated via the boards. :)

[AAAAmerican]

WOW..>

 

 

Welcome

HOME!

 

Why doesnt the ms NoordamIV ever stop or at leasy try to go to the H M C ?

 

Then the ship would not have to have Two Rooster Calls... :cool:

[lisabrooke1130]

We're back (and at work, unfortunately)! Sorry that we, and others, didn't post much. We didn't bring a laptop and after hearing from Grumpy about how slow the internet connection was, we decided to spend our time and money elsewhere (like in the thermal suite, the hydropool, and on the massage table!!)

 

It was a great cruise, all-in-all. We loved finally getting to meet all of the CCers we had been corresponding with for months (18+ months in some cases). I think we all want to do it again sometime and Ziggy has agreed, in concept at least, to lead our motley bunch again. Thank you to everyone for making the cruise so much fun!!

 

We were the winners of the Halloween costume contest (me as a outlet and DH as the plug), that Grumpy mentioned earlier. We have no pictures of ourselves, but I trust others have plenty. It seemed like we posed for everyone. We will have a lot of pictures to swap in the coming weeks--Carolyn, CDR Mark's DW took over a 1,000!!!

 

Just a little funny story about our win at the Halloween party in the Crow's Nest. Just as we had been selected to win and were heading toward the DJ's booth to pick up our prizes, a wave of Chumley Bears started entering th Crow's Nest (apparently they had their own pre-party somewhere else). A couple of them ran up to us, dressed in the exact same costume (although theirs fit a bit more snugly, being that they were bears and all) and said "We are the gay version!!" It was too funny. We looked for them again later to take a picture, but alas never found them again (did I say that the Crow's Nest was packed to the brim once the Bears arrived?!)

 

Well, it's back to reality (and a turtleneck sweater--it is cold here--that is doing nothing to show off my fabulous tan!) Thanks again to Ziggy for making this all happen.

[HeatherInFlorida]

So good to start hearing from you all!

 

Lisa! Excellent! A plug and an outlet, huh? How did you ever decide who would be which???;) . I can't wait to see those pictures!!!:D

 

Again, a warm welcome home to this entire motley group. Hope you all recover soon.

[Ziggy7]

Hi Everyone,

 

We have returned!!! And we missed you all!!! Sure wish you could have been there cause we had the best time ever!!! This was a really wonderful group to cruise with!!!

 

I am putting together a day to day log for the group happenings but you will need to get the indivual goods from each one, as they made me promise "What happens on the Dam ship, stays on the Dam ship"! However I did have my toes crossed so maybe I can tell a little :)

 

The bad news is, I got the pleasure of sitting next to a whole family that was sick on our airplane ride home, and you guessed it, I'm feeling real bad this morning waaaaaaa!

 

I also have tons of pictures to upload and will post the link as soon as I can get feeling better!

 

Here is one picture of the winners of the Westerdam's Hall-o-ween contests, our very own Lisabrooke1130!!!!

 

More later my friends! Off to bed for me!!

 

[AAAAmerican]

WELCOME HOME

 

So glad to see you back home and I do hope your take the Ascorbic now 15,000 iu too.

 

Get a good sleep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. we all missd yall!:D

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

We have returned!!! And we missed you all!!! Sure wish you could have been there cause we had the best time ever!!! This was a really wonderful group to cruise with!!!

 

I am putting together a day to day log for the group happenings but you will need to get the indivual goods from each one, as they made me promise "What happens on the Dam ship, stays on the Dam ship"! However I did have my toes crossed so maybe I can tell a little :)

 

The bad news is, I got the pleasure of sitting next to a whole family that was sick on our airplane ride home, and you guessed it, I'm feeling real bad this morning waaaaaaa!

 

I also have tons of pictures to upload and will post the link as soon as I can get feeling better!

 

Here is one picture of the winners of the Westerdam's Hall-o-ween contests, our very own Lisabrooke1130!!!!

 

More later my friends! Off to bed for me!!

 

[lisabrooke1130]

Thanks for posting the picture Ziggy, now get back to bed!!!!! I am so sorry you aren't feeling well--that's no way to end a vacation. I hope with some rest and some TLC from Jim, you'll be feeling better very soon.

 

Heather--hopefully you can see from the picture why the plug should be worn by the male partner (don't ask me how the Chumley Bear couple decided who wore what!) Anyway, the plug is a bit phallic and Brooke had a good time using his "plug" in that context! LOL!!

 

This picture reminds me that Ziggy had brought us all glow-in-the-dark necklaces, which was a great idea. We all really stood out in the dark Crow's Nest. And, the necklaces served as a great night light for two nights afterward, as they lit up our cabin just enough to get to the bathroom at night without tripping over something!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Can you believe that I'm actually speechless????? Well ... not exactly speechless, but I gave it alot of thought and anything I say would probably be ..............

 

Deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted:D :D :D !!!.

 

So I will simply say ..... Congratulations Brooke and Lisa!!!!!

[mechcc]

Suitcases are unpacked and it’s time for a short review of the HAL-O-Ween Dam Cruise. By far the best part of this cruise was and is the absolutely wonderful and terrific people that made up this group. Thank you Debbie, for all of your hard work as our leader, and another big thank you to all that contributed time and efforts to make it so much fun and memorable. If I mentioned everyone that contributed, this post would be way to long. As a group, we all got along well and the party started on Friday night before the cruise and ended with breakfast just before disembarkation. Somehow, there always seemed to be a gathering somewhere and tons of laughter, not to mention hot tubing, dancing, eating, and drinking. We had a least one planned event each day and many more on sea days. What was nice is no one was expected to be there but it seemed everyone participated in most events. We did feel a little overwhelmed on one day and took some time to hibernate in our cabin.

Since we were so busy with the group we did little of the on-board events. On the first sea day we did go to the cooking class, which is different then the cooking demo, as we actually cooked with Marcus, the Pinnacle Grill Chef, and cooked a tuna appetizer, beef tenderloin with a creamy mushroom gravy, and the 3 flavored cream brulee served in the dining room. We didn’t see any of the shows but got the pleasure of listening to Dru sing in the competitions.

As for the food – some was outstanding and some was good. We normally ate breakfast on verandah and lunch at the Vista Dining Room. Was glad to see daily menus change for lunch and it was always good. We ate at the Pinnacle one night after having to practically beg to get our friends reservation changed from their ship assigned time of 5:30 to the same as ours of 6:00 on the same night and be seated together. We had tried to change the dates but that was out of the question. Glad the Pinnacle was complimentary, as I don’t think it is worth an extra $30 per person plus an additional tip. We ate in the Lido a few times and okay, it’s a buffet and not my favorite venue and the food is okay.

Service was mixed. Uman was our cabin steward and was exceptional as our cabin was always in perfect order. He even cleaned our cabin up after a party where seafood was served and managed to remove the fish smell during the short time we were at dinner. And he did the same thing to Jim and Ruth’s cabin that was next door. Michelle and Rencel in the Neptune Lounge always provided pleasant and wonderful responses to our requests (and we had many on this cruise). The dining room service was professional and all our requests were met but the service was just not personable. We really feel RCL does better in this area then HAL. Room Service was late several times with requests – to include getting food and extra glasses to us for our in cabin party. Several times it took more then 30 minutes to get our requests. Lido service was usually good with Iceman being a lot of fun. Another individual who made my time special was Walter, the Beverage Manager, as he tried to ensure I had my Bombay Sapphire at all of the bars to include sending a bottle to Half Moon Cay just for me (or so he told me as we arrived back from our short excursion to the orange cabana).

Shore excursions – We did the semi-submersible and snorkeling at Grand Turk and thought is was alright but the snorkeling was not that great. Margaritaville looked like fun but we went by after our excursion and ate there – expensive but that’s to be expected. The few shops in the area were nice and will be even better as the port becomes visited more often. At Tortola, we did the Virgin Island Sail Away and Snorkeling. Loved the sailing over but the snorkeling site was again a disappointment. Sailing back was beautiful and made even more so because the rum punch flowed freely and was anything but weak. Do recommend this excursion if you like sailing but not if you really want to snorkel. On St Martin, we did the Fantastically French and Delightfully Dutch tour. And it was really a shopping tour with three stops – one on the French side in the shopping area for 45 minutes, one at a scenic overlook for 5 minutes and the last one in downtown Phillipsburg at the start of the shopping street with directions on how to get back to the ship on your own. We continued on the bus back to the ship. Have sworn off all bus tours in the Caribbean and Mexico as they all seem to promise so much but end up being shopping tours. Half Moon Cay and “Orange” Cabana was short but sweet. Note on the “Orange” color is that we believe the color name has been changed to “Peach” but personally, I would describe it better as “Coral” and was a pleasant color and not the harshness of the expected orange. Upon arriving back in Ft Lauderdale we did the Everglades Air Boat ride and in a one word description it was “cheesy”.

Did I say this was going to be a short review? Anyone on the cruise will tell you that I can’t keep it short when it comes to talking. Again it was a wonderful cruise, with the usual few bumps but incredible because of the group. Lesson learned is that next time we do a group cruise we will book a back-to-back to have another cruise to relax. Loved everyone and look forward to cruising with all of you again.

Debbie – get out the NyQuil and get better. We have a Ladies Only Cruise to get ready for.

[ekerr19]

I was so glad to find this and read the reviews, thoughts, comments etc. I'm really happy everyone had such a good time!!! I wish we could have managed to go as planned too, but it just wasn't in the cards for us.

 

I can't wait to see all the pics, and knowing Debbie, Janice, Rita and Maggie, there will be some doozies, lol!!! I can't wait to see them!!! :D

 

Welcome back home everyone- Ziggy, I hope you are feeling better soon, it's a bummer when that happens on a plane, especially if it's a full flight.

[slineberry528]

Enjoyed reading about the cruise. The costumes were great. Wish we could have been there also.

[stanford's girl]

Brian, it will interesting to see what Scotty's cell bill is this next month. You will have to ask him and report in to what it was.

Just got in from FTL as we stayed an extra day. I'll report more tomorrow but it was a great cruise with wonderful people. :D

 

I talked to the guys who put the cell system in and they said it would be $1.99 a minute.

[stanford's girl]

One thing he mentioned is that the ship was not intending to announce this to passengers until next cruise - I'm beginning to wonder how many folks are going to pick up the phone and start chatting away without knowing how much the cost is?

:confused:

The great thing about that was until the guys signed off on the job, the system was in test mode and it didn't cost a thing.:cool:

 

 

[kryos]

I talked to the guys who put the cell system in and they said it would be $1.99 a minute.

Ouch!

 

That price will definitely keep any cell phone conversations short. At $1.99 a minute, long drawn-out calls could wind up costing more than the cruise!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[HeatherInFlorida]

Maggie, I just loved reading your review!:) Thank you! I have to say we did the "Sailaway" on Tortola and I loved it strictly for the sailing ... I never did try the snorkelling. And I loved the little beach they took us to. Knowing I don't drink, try to imagine when I took a gulp of that rum punch having gotten an answer "no" when inquiring whether there was alcohol in it!!!!

 

Janice, welcome home! Do you have a little rain out your way???

[stanford's girl]

 

Janice, welcome home! Do you have a little rain out your way???

Thanks Heather and it was wonderful to finally meet you and Ray in person!:)

Yikes, do we have rain!! :eek: It looks like it's going to stay that way for the next ten days too. The heavy stuff is supposed to stop today around 1 or 2.

I'm doing laundry and cleaning house all day. My boys weren't the best housekeepers while we were gone and it'll take me all day to get our clothes from the cruise done. :(

I'll post a quickie review as soon as I can. Oooohhh, the stories that I could tell!! :D

[crystal808]

Oooohhh' date=' the stories that I could tell!! :D [/size']

 

Janice:

 

I think, assuming my memory is correct, that it would be very appropriate for you to tell...almost...ALL the stories you remember!! :eek: :D

 

'Twas a pleasure meeting you & Willie!

 

Paul

whose memory may be just a wee bit fuzzy...;)

[Old As Dirt Mom]

 

I'll post a quickie review as soon as I can. Oooohhh' date=' the stories that I could tell!! :D [/size']

 

Please, Janice, do tell!;)

 

We are very much looking forward to all the reviews yet to come.:) Thanks to all of you 'Weendammers for taking us along on your wild and crazy ride! Appreciate all the updates and info from everyone.

 

Rain, you say? Yes, we have a little rain here, too:eek: All hands to the sump pumps!

 

Karin