richwmn

February 16^th, 2024 – Fremantle (Perth), Western Australia

We docked in Fremantle this morning on time, and we have been cleared to go ashore. We will be here overnight, so there is no hurry to get anything done. Also, I stopped here last year on the World Cruise and I had a nice visit then.

We had the normal sea day trivia sessions yesterday, and my group did well in both. The theme of the evening session was ‘Nautical’ and had questions that would be expected. Most teams got 13 – 15 answers correct but one team did get a perfect score.

The World Stage show last night was again Daniel Mallari. He did music from Broadway shows and I think that his selection of songs was better suited to him than the first show, particularly Circle of Life and I’m Still Standing. He did a solo of Jesus Christ, Superstar and while he did fine, it didn’t quite sound right (to me) without the chorus. I do think he is a good singer with a good stage presence and did enjoy the show.

I don’t say too much about food. The reason is that I feel the food is very good and since I eat in the Lido mostly the meals are not ‘plated’ so pictures wouldn’t really show anything. I have been eating quite a few salads from the salad bar, which is well stocked. The breakfasts in the morning are well prepared, whether you talk about omelets, fried eggs, or pan cakes. It has been nice to have the Taco Bar stocked each day and available from 11:30am until 8:00pm. The burgers and hot dogs at the Dive In are good and available during the same hours.

Today in Fremantle is going to be hot, but should be a good day. Here are today’s activities, meals, and a few pictures from the ship.

19 hours ago, erewhon said:

@richwmn  Rich,  were the flies still troublesome at  Exmouth?

I didn't see many, but others that went to other areas said that the flies were a problem.

February 15^th, 2024 – at sea, destination Fremantle (Perth), Western Australia

Today is a sea day on Volendam, heading for Fremantle. We are currently in the Indian Ocean, headed south at about 19knots. Our expected arrival is tomorrow morning at 8am. The temperate is 73°F / 23°C under clear skies. The humidity is 89%, and the wind is at a little over 15mph.

If the cruises were linked together prior to boarding you can see the entire itinerary. I don't know the time frame or exactly what your PCC or Travel Agent has to do since mine handles it.

I am currently on Volendam for a B2B2B2B. I could see the first three as soon as I boarded. The last was booked about a month before boarding the first and was not linked, so I can't see it even though it was linked later.

I don't think this would be available if the cruises were on different ships.

February 14^th, Exmouth, WA, Australia

We are at our resting point, and the tenders have been lowered. Tendering ashore should begin in about 20 minutes, but I will wait for quite a bit later than that. The temperature is currently 79°F / 26°C with a humidity of 64%. The wind is less than 1mph and the skies are clear. Looks to be a nice day to tender ashore today.

The theme for last night’s trivia was ‘Mardi Gras’ and the questions were pretty good. We again managed to miss winning by one question. After trivia, I went to the World Stage and got there in time for Daniel’s final few questions on Exmouth. He seems to research the ports well and does a good presentation.

For the evening show we were again treated to the Grand Voyage Repertory Company, singers and dancers. Their shows have been good and seem to be over too quickly. All four of the singers have good voices, and all eight performers are accomplished dancers. I enjoyed the selection of songs. This group has been a good addition to the cruise and I look forward to their remaining shows.

I’m getting ready to tender into Exmouth, but first here are today’s activities and menus.

February 13^th, at sea Destination Exmouth, WA, Australian

It is Tuesday morning on Volendam. It is currently 81°F / 27°C around the ship. The humidity is 84% and with winds are about 9mph. The ship is moving in a westerly direction at 15 knots and we are expecting to arrive in Exmouth tomorrow morning at 8:00AM.

Yesterday we had a nice day in Broome. Trivia at 4:00pm was well attended, as was the session at 7:00pm. The theme for the late session was ‘The Olympics’ and Dani did a very good job of presenting difficult questions. Even at that, one team did get everything correct.

The performer last night on the World Stage was Daniel Hallari. He calls his music ‘Popera’ and describes it as pop songs sung in the fashion of opera. I found that, to my taste, his music was ok. He does have a good voice and a pretty good stage presence, but I was not particularly fond of a couple of his selections. Overall it was a good show and it looked like the audience enjoyed it.

Today is another lazy day at sea, proceeding to Exmouth in Western Australia. The sea has been calm for most of this voyage and Volendam has been very comfortable.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Stealing this from a friend on FB

39 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

@kazu  what are the odd symbols (instead of letters) that show up in your wine selections?

the odd symbols are characters that don't translate from the web site I copied the wine name from. I can't tell that they are messed up until I see them on the day.

It should show as "Mülheimer", not the umlaut over the u.

They show correctly in some places, but not in others.

Rich

1 hour ago, Bgwest said:

New here. Where can I find the description of FCD availability, cost and rules for use?

I’ve not yet stumbled upon it anywhere on the HAL website.

It would not be on the website. The availability to purchase FCDs is only when you are aboard a ship. I don't have a current brochure available, but you buy one for $100 (or more if you wish) and get a reduced deposit and on board credit. The $100 FCD is good for cruises up to about 21 days. You can 'top it off' for longer cruises.

February 12^th, 2024 – Broome, Western Australia

Super Bowl Sunday on Monday morning aboard Volendam!

With the Super Bowl on the TV in the background, we begin our Monday morning in Broome. The position map shows us to be a little more off shore than we are, but there is a long dock that separates us from the main land. Fortunately, the dock is large enough for the shuttle busses to come all the way to the ship. Because of tides the gangway didn’t open until 7:45, but people were lined up for at least an hour to be the first ones off the ship.

Last night I took another break and didn’t do much other than the two trivia sessions, which both went well. The evening session was pictures of celebrities from years ago that we had to identify. It proved to be very interesting.

I did attend the Port Talk on Groome and Exmouth. Daniel is a good speaker and gave us quite a bit of good information about both ports. If you are so inclined, there seems to be plenty to do, and a good variety, in both ports.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Some early pictures of Broome –

9 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Did the room service club sandwich always come with Swiss cheese? I thought it was a kind of processed American cheese. Swiss would be a big improvement from what I remember!

I rarely order from room service, and when I do it is just a BLT. Someone else will need to answer this.

Volendam Super Bowl Crowd

On Volendam --

I am currently on Volendam, and we just docked in Broome, WA, Australia.

The Superbowl is scheduled to start at 7am (in just less than an hour) with kickoff at 7:30 and will be shown in the World Stage as well as on Cabin TVs.

The same was true last year on Zuiderdam.

I will watch at least part of the game, but probably not all.

Hakata-Fukuoka City, Japan Fukuoka 08:00 - 23:00

February 11^th, 2024 – at sea, destination Broome, Western Australia

Another nice day aboard Volendam. The temperature is 84°F / 29°C under broken clouds. The humidity is at 81% and the winds are about 10.6mph. We are traveling west at 21 knots to arrive at Broome tomorrow morning at 5:30am.

I already talked about Darwin, so I will continue with the evening. Other than trivia last night, the topic was Europe, I didn’t do much. The World Stage had a move, ‘Moulon Rouge’, and the other venues had the normal performances

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

13 hours ago, RuthC said:

It was memorable for everyone who was there that night. Loads of fun for those who filled the room.

43 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Past experience would tell me that this isn't true but there is no doubt that you really enjoyed the evening because you were part of the show. 

You can't seem to grasp that there might be enough people that like the Piano Bar Concept enough to fill the venue. Each person in the venue has the choice, when seeing the type of entertainment being provided, to stay or leave. This goes for both the Piano Bar Concept and the Two Piano Concept. @BarryFromBoston Barry played for 38 days on my Voyage of the Vikings a few years ago. For most of the 38 days he filled the venue. I talked to some friends earlier today who were also on that cruise and they chose to be elsewhere. Each person makes their own choice and no cruise line can please everyone in every venue. You don't have to like the Piano Bar concept, but please allow those of us that do to enjoy it, just like we have allowed you to enjoy the Two Piano Concept for the past few years.

Current room service menu

February 10^th, 2024 – Darwin, Northern Territory, Australian

Well, it appears I failed to change the date on my post yesterday. Sorry. Today we are in Darwin and have been here for quite some time at this point. Here is today’s weather and location.

The first thing I did yesterday was to listen to Trevor Knight’s third presentation on horses. This one was his way of training horses, and it was very interesting. He also talked a bit about training dogs, which I also found interesting. This is a subject that he is well versed in, and he has a good means of presenting it.

So, to catch up with last night. I had dinner last night in Canteletto last night with several regular Daily posters. We had a nice dinner with good conversation. The service was wonderful and we took about two hours. We finished in time to head to the World Stage show.

The World Stage show last night was the third and last from Trevor Knight. He was in good form and I enjoyed the show. I might have been a bit more pleased if he had a little more singing and less talk, but the mix was really fine.

Yesterday, in his port talk, Daniel said that we would have an orderly process thru immigration today. In truth, it went a lot better than he imagined. It was only a few minutes after he called for deck 1, that he called for deck 2. Very shortly after that he called for deck 1, 2, & anyone ready. Another very short wait and he said anyone who was ready could proceed, and I went. I got into the terminal and walked quickly to the shuttle and got on. I was off the shuttle in Downtown Darwin very quickly.

After I walked about Downtown Darwin for a while I went back to the shuttle stop, and might have headed back to the ship except that the HOHO bus was sitting there so I went over, bought a ticket, and got on. I went around most of the route of the bus and saw the sights with some good commentary. I got off at the cruise terminal stop, the last one before completing the circle, and was walking back toward the ship when I ran into @Cruising-along Carolyn & Henry. They were waiting for what they thought was a different HOHO company, but when the next one from the company I had been on came by, she asked and they were on. I joined them for another round and found that the section between the cruise terminal and the starting point was very interesting and I would have missed it. We continued back to the cruise terminal, and returned to the ship.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

8 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I have no desire to attend a performance where you or any other guest is part of the performance and listen to you or any other guest play games.  I'm sure it was memorable for you but not so much for the other guests.

While you claim to speak for 'the other guests', you really don't. If you don't like the piano bar as defined by @BarryFromBoston Barry, Striker, and others there are plenty of people that do. I have sailed with Barry several times, and each time his piano bar was the last venue open in the evening with a sizeable crowd.

Also, if you don't like 'sing-a-long', you shouldn't attend many of the performances on the World Stage. Just a few minutes ago I left the World Stage on Volendam where Trevor Knight was the performer and encouraged the audience to sing with him. Annie Francis has done several shows and also encouraged the audience to sing. There have been plenty of others.

Many people enjoy the sing-a-long aspect of shows. If you don't, you have the option to avoid that venue and go to another type of entertainment.

February 8^th, 2024 – At Sea, Destination Darwin, Northern Territory, Australian

Another day at sea, and another good day. It is currently 82°F / 28°C with 77% humidity and winds at almost 16mph. The skies are overcast. The ship is moving east at 11 knots toward Darwin, where we are expected to arrive at 5:30am. Our schedule changed due to predicted tides. We will be leaving Darwin at 3:30pm.

After breakfast yesterday I attended a presentation by Trevor Knight on horses. In addition to being a good singer and story teller, he is very knowledgeable about horses and put on another good presentation. He will be doing one more shortly, and performing again tonight. Lunch in the lido, followed by general knowledge trivia. We then had a matinee performance by Annie Francis, and she did not disappoint. She had a nice variety of songs and the chatter between songs was short. Not too long after her show, it was (of course) time for dinner, trivia, and the evening show which was another round of the Biddies. That show was also good and ended a busy day.

We did change our clocks last night by 30 minute to match the time in Darwin. I had a good nights sleep, and a good breakfast again this morning. It looks to be another pretty day aboard Volendam.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Since I am dining in Cantaletto tonight, here is that menu.

February 8^th, 2024 – At Sea, Destination Darwin, Northern Territory, Australian

It has been a very good day so far. I slept in a little bit due to a time change last night. Breakfast was good, like always. It is currently 84°F / 29°C under broken clouds on the outer decks of the ship. The humidity is 73% and the winds are almost 8mph. We are headed southeast at 13knots which should get us to Darwin on time.

As always, the trivia sessions were good last night. We didn’t win but were close to the top for each. The early session is always general knowledge, the late session yesterday was Inventions. The questions covered a large area and were good.

As I mentioned last night, the Lido was set up for a special Indonesian meal. I didn’t participate but those who did said that it was excellent.

The show last night was another performance by the Grand Cruise Repertory Company, or at least part of them. The singers did a show highlighting the hits of Broadway. Each singer had a solo song, the two women did a duet, and the rest were performed by all the singers. Their voices are good, and there was a minimum of dancing. The World Stage was packed and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Tonight the Lido is set up for a special Indonesian Meal

February 7^th, 2024 – Komodo Island, Indonesia

Today we are sitting in Slawi Bay, Komodo Island. We arrived on schedule at 7am and began the task of lowering the tenders. This port has restrictions and only those with excursions can go ashore, but it doesn’t have to be a HAL excursion.

The temperate is currently 82°F / 28°C with 75% Humidity. The wind is low at 5mph, and the sky has scattered clouds. We are sitting in a protected by and the view is beautiful.

Yesterday was a sea day, the last of several. After spending the day here we will head back to Australia with another 3 sea days. As I mentioned before, sea days fall into a routine. Breakfast, doing this report, any lectures that seem good, lunch, trivia, entertainment, dinner, trivia, show, music. Each of the musicians seems to have a following and each continues to have a bit of a crowd.

Trivia for the early session is always general knowledge. For the early session my group split into men vs women. Just to let you know, we have a group of 10 or 11 and we split up differently each session based on who/how many show up. The men won our internal contest by 1 point. For the evening session the topic was board games. We did rather well and ended up tying with 4 other groups. Of the 5 groups, we tied with one other in the tie breaker, so we ended up as co-champions.

The show last night was a second show by Trevor Knight. This was a tribute to John Denver and was really good. Trevor seems to have known John and has many stories about him. He is also very good at singing John Denver’s songs. The time went by quickly and we were out for the evening.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Komodo Island

24 minutes ago, oakridger said:

 

I'm happy to hear about how HAL is trying out new things to improve the experience.  I realize that you are on a Grand Voyage, but I'm hoping that the successful programs/food items will be integrated into the "regular" itineraries.

 

Thanks Rich!

 

~Nancy

We had a night like this at least once on the World Cruise last year. It is a nice alternative.