Navybikermom

@jeph and I were in the Ocean Bar with our yellow name tags on. He walked around a few times but must have missed you - darn it! I was also at the Sail with Seth cocktails. Sitting at the far end near Glenn. See you at the next one!

I am also on this leg and have enjoyed your posts. Our roll call is meeting at the Ocean Bar at 4 pm on Monday. Please join us so we can see the face behind these hilarious posts!

I’ll be eating in the Pinnacle next week on the Zaandam so I will check the fine print. It irks me that their sides are for two people. What about those of us who travel solo and don’t want a pound of asparagus or a giant potato with their meal? I’m only eating there because I ended up with the HIA deal and have two free dinners. I really want to try the clothesline bacon! I guess they gave me the HIA because the cruise was rescheduled a few times due to Covid. Their way of apologizing? 🤷‍♀️

You are probably doing nothing wrong. They might not have posted the complete schedule yet. I had checked the When & Where last week and there was nothing there yet for my upcoming cruise.

I noticed one listed in the Navigator for my cruise this coming weekend on the Zaandam. It was listed for 9pm in the Crow’s Nest. I have cruised 9 times and don’t recall ever seeing that on the list of events, so I’m looking forward to my first Orange Party!

That’s the same menu posted in the Navigator, so they must be the same on all the ships. Thank you for posting it! I’m on the Zaandam next, and that crispy cauliflower dish and tomato bisque soup sound delightful for lunch!

I’ve cruised once since my post here, and am heading out on two more in the next few months 😁

I usually travel solo and always have an early dinner at a large table. I’ve met so many wonderful people and sometimes have been able to have a companion or two when wandering around a port city (instead of a set excursion). I’m pretty tolerant of people’s different beliefs and behaviors, I don’t push mine, and if someone feels the need to dominate the conversation, then I just keep to myself and drink more wine 😉. Only once have I had a “situation” and it was due to a very disagreeable man at lunch in the MDR. He and his wife (who both appeared to spend more money on cruises than what little teeth they had) were very rude and loud. I was so disgusted at the way he treated the server over a trifle matter with his food that I just got up and left. I asked the staff to never seat me with those two again.

Mine was also the Pusser’s Painkiller, until I had two on the NA in March that tasted awful. Not sure what was missing, but they were definitely bad. Maybe they had to substitute something.

I received an email from Holland America today that said due to restructuring of roles, Seth will be leaving Holland America, and therefore my “Sail With Seth” that I signed up for was cancelled. He would have been on the Zaandam, Canada/New England itinerary, Sept 3-10. So very sad to have missed out on this! They said I would be getting two special cocktail parties and the chance to win some extra dinners, etc., and then a $25 refund. 😕

Hopefully they have the almond cookies!

I agree! Prinsendam was my favorite, so now since she’s gone, the Zaandam is now my favorite. I have two cruises coming up on Zaandam and am really looking forward to it. I haven’t been on the Pinnacle ships, and the only reason I would want to is to experience the Dutch Cafe. I’ll stick with the little guys for now…

I think I’m bringing a box of cereal AND a box of triscuits on my next cruise. The tasteless cereal in the “hotel” dispensers just doesn’t appeal to me, and I do love a good cracker with cheese. I really missed that on my last cruise.

I got mine approved for my Sept 3 Canada/NE and Jan 5 Panama Canal. HAL sent me an email and so did my TA. She said if she ever gets a chance to chat with a HAL business development rep, she’s gonna suggest they link this to the Mariner accounts so it will just be automatically added each time.

I booked the same cruise for January so my TA asked another client who has done that same trip several times and starboard was their favorite side. However, the others have mentioned being out and about on the ship, which makes sense - you won’t necessarily watch the whole transit from your room unless you have a coveted aft cabin. ☺️

Thanks for posting this! I got it for my last cruise but didn’t realize it was still ongoing. I submitted it for my two upcoming Zaandam ones ☺️

I watched that show too! Not enough about the inside of the ship, but I do enjoy watching those shows. The show following was a Viking longship on a river cruise, and that was really interesting.

I did a great winery tour on PEI - Rossignol winery. I still have their stemless wine glass. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of their wines. They make great liqueurs from native fruits. The raspberry is sooooo good. I booked it again for my cruise this fall. You have to see a few lighthouses on the tour first, but the winery is worth it.

Ours is set to 78. We live in the South and the summers are quite hot and humid, but we moved here because we don’t like to be cold so we don’t want the A/C set any lower than that. 😁

I noticed some strange inconsistencies- like calling the Princess ships “Holland America ships”, and calling the dining room a large “buffet-style on the Promenade Deck”… 🤔 The Princess ships belong to Carnival, and the buffet is the Lido - on the Lido deck… it’s almost like no one proofed it for things like that. But, still a good read. I will regard the Zaandam in a different light when I sail on her this fall!

Just got mine delivered today!

I had the same problem when I cruised in March. I finally called HAL and they told me to just keep trying. I did and it did finally work. However, if it hadn’t, I could just have done it at the cruise terminal.

I will be on the Jan 5 - 21, 2023 Zaandam sailing through the Panama Canal. 16 days from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego. This one has been on my bucket list for a long time!

My son and I were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in March and masks weren’t mandatory, except for embarkation/disembarkation, air planes, tours. We didn’t wear our masks where we didn’t have to. Never got Covid. We haven’t worn masks for over a year now, even in hospitals and doctor offices where we live, and still haven’t gotten Covid. Since I’m vaccinated and boosted, I’m not worried about getting it, since it is likely to be a mild case anyway. Stop picking on people who wear masks, and stop picking on those who don’t - where they aren’t mandated.

In 2019, I just got off the ship in Sydney and wandered about. There was a small indoor flea market sort of place that had some nice things, and it was close to the pier. I plan on doing that again this fall. Sure wish they had managed to stuff a Dutch Cafe on the Zaandam - I like the smaller ships but really wanted to try that Cafe. 😕