richwmn

January 24^th, 2024 – At sea, destination Mystery Island

Our location at breakfast was –

The current weather aboard Volendam, the temperature is 82°F / 28°C and it is raining. The humidity is listed at 83% with almost 17mph winds. The ride has been smooth since we left Lautoka.

Last night was typical, two sessions of trivia and my team was up near but not at the top. Sailaway at 4:30 was nice. The weather was kind, warm and not humid. One of the bands played at the Sea View Pool while we pulled away. The crowd wasn’t big, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was also nice that many of the ship’s officers, including the Hotel Manager and Captain, made an appearance and talked to the Guests. The band played at a sound level that didn’t interfere with conversation.

I have now been on Volendam for a month with three months to go. I would like to make a couple of observations. I do need to qualify these remarks by saying that this cruise, and the last one I was on, is a Grand Cruise which most likely makes a difference. The ship, Volendam, is in good shape. She is not brand new and doesn’t have some of the facilities of the newest ships but there is enough to do. The crew is constantly working to keep the ship in good order.

The hotel staff is as good, or better, than any ship I have been on. Part of this comes from the fact that it is a smaller ship and it is easier for the staff to get to know your preferences. The few interactions I have had with Guest Services were taken care of easily. My Cabin Stewards are wonderful and take very good care of me.

The beverage staff is also top notch. Again, with the smaller Guest count it is easier for the beverage staff to get to know everyone’s preferences. There might be one or two beverage stewards or bartenders that don’t know my drink preference. I generally get service quickly and correctly.

While the food might not be Michelin Star quality, it is very good. I admit that my normal meal choice is the Lido, but the food is tasty and in good portions. Again, the Lido stewards know what I drink with my meals and often it appears without having to ask. I did the Tamarind pop up, and Pinnacle Grill and both were good. I have had better steaks than what I had in the Pinnacle, but not often. Tonight will be Canaletto and I expect it to be fine.

Today’s Activities –

Today’s Menus –

On 1/22/2024 at 8:55 AM, esimon said:

Any way to identify a chartered cruise?

20 hours ago, esimon said:

Looking to book a cruise in 2025 that is currently going to be a charter. If the charter falls through, they’ll open it up to passengers, but I’m wondering what the group might be. Not too many groups that would keep me from sailing on a ship, but there are some just curious

7 hours ago, esimon said:

OK everybody can relax now I understand chartered cruises. I’m not trying to get on one. I’m trying to book in 2025 on a specific ship, that is currently chartered and I can’t get on it. My travel agent has informed me of this, so I’m not just making stuff up. If the charter doesn’t go through completely, they will open up spots on that ship. And I might want to book one. So I was wondering how to find out what the rest of the ship might be. that should end this chat thank you very much 

4 hours ago, esimon said:

Oh my God you don’t stop. If they don’t sell out the ship, they being the people who are planning the charter, they will give what’s left to HAL to sell. Or can the charter.  They the people who are doing the charter.

You have asked a question and given us no information to really base an answer on. The two resources listed in posts 2 & 3 give known Ship Charters. If you would give us the date and ship we may be able to give you additional information.

As far as the Charter itself, the Chartering Agency owns the ship for that cruise. If the cruise is not fully sold, HAL will not get the cabins back. The Charter Agency will enlist other big booking agencies to sell the additional cabins, or leave them empty. If the Charter is cancelled, any cabins sold as part of the Charter are canceled as well and any special entertainment is also canceled so that won't be a consideration.

The only way HAL, or other agencies, will sell a cabin is if a large Group is on the cruise which may effect your enjoyment of the cruise. Those Groups that are identified by the link in post #2 are the only ones known, but others may exist.

If we knew the Ship and Date we may be able to get more information.

January 23^rd, 2024 – Lautoka, Fiji

This morning we are again in Fiji. I visited here in 2019 aboard Noordam and had a good day. Our position at breakfast was -

The weather forecast was a rainy morning, clearing before noon --

Highlights for yesterday, we had two good trivia sessions both of which my team came close to winning. One we lost in a tie breaker. The music venues continue to have reasonable audiences, but not crowded. Those who chose to are able to dance, others just sit and enjoy reasonably good performances. The World Stage showed a movie last night (“Oppenheimer”), which I didn’t attend so I don’t know what kind of audience it had.

I really like the ‘feel’ of the smaller ships. I keep running into the same people and it is more a neighborhood than even the Vista ships. I am happy with the cabin I chose and hope I get to stay in it for the final leg from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal. I might not since the HAL web site currently shows that it is booked for that leg. However, I know that in the past for whatever reason this cabin has been set aside until late in the booking process. We’ll have to see what happens.

I am enjoying the weather here, particularly with the reports of very cold temperatures where I would be if not here.

Today’s Activities –

Today’s Menus –

It is 11:30pm on Volendam.

I know I haven't been posting here, but I do read the Daily each day and I appreciate everyone who is keeping it going while I am on this wonderful cruise.

With that, good night all!

Rich

January 22^nd, 2024 – Suva, Fiji

Today’s position and breakfast was -

Last night was a full night. We had Beatles trivia at 7pm. Our team did very well and everyone had a good time. At 9pm we had the ABBA song bites that we missed some time ago. I thought we did well with 15 out of 17, but one of the teams was perfect. I took in the 7:30pm show and it was good. It was the Grand Voyage Repertory Company with a show called ‘Ever After’. Good singing and dancing and a good sized audience.

After the late trivia I sat in the Ocean Bar for a while and listened to that band. Both singers have good voices and seemed to be having a good time with the audience. Each song had a couple or two dancing. When I left the Ocean Bar I went up to the Crows Nest but it was a dark night there.

This morning I got a couple of things done, then took a walk into Suva for a while. It didn’t seem to have changed since the last time I was here. The weather was hot and humid. Not too bad a day for a walk.

Today’s activities –

Today’s meals –

January 21^st, at sea destination Suva, Vita Levu, Fiji

We are currently moving across calm seas and appear to be making good headway. No more announcements have been made about the incident last night, so it appears that everything has been taken care of.

It is currently 84°F / 29°C on the outer decks, and the ship seems to be comfortable inside. The humidity is 76% and the wind is at about 6mph. The skies are overcast, but the day looks nice.

I have now been aboard Volendam for a month. Like being anywhere else there have been some ups and downs, but on the whole it has been a great month. Volendam is a smaller ship that Zuiderdam from last year so it is a bit easier to get around, but Zuiderdam had a bit more to do. We are a year further out from the shutdown than the World Cruise last year and to a degree it shows. There are ways that this cruise seems more ‘Grand’ than the Grand World was last year, but contacts on this year’s World say the same thing. The crew this year has been outstanding again and it has been very easy to get to know Crew and Guests. Of course, personalities are different. Last year on the World I went to several Wine Tastings. They were presented by Jacque and I thought they were extremely good. I have been to a couple on this cruise, with another one today, and while they have been good, I enjoyed last year’s better. Totally on the presenter.

The entertainment has been, overall, good. Like food, entertainment is subjective. When talking to other Guests, one will love a particular performer while another walked out early. Every sailing has the same dynamic, not all entertainers fit all Guests.

Tomorrow Suva will be a repeat port for me. There will be many of those coming up. It is still a great cruise and much better than being at home.

January 20^th, Apia, Upolu, Samoa

It is Saturday evening aboard Volendam. I talked to several people who went ashore and most of them got caught in some rain. They all said they did have a good time with the tours they did.

The 4pm trivia was fun, made more so by the fact that we won. We left Samoa a bit late due to some stragglers, but not enough to worry about. The 7pm trivia was titled ‘Under the Sea’. It was interrupted by several announcements by Captain Bart about a possible problem in the engine room. The problem was taken care of in short order, before the end of trivia. We didn’t win this session, but had a respectable score. I must mention here that I am playing with a rather fluid team. We have a total of about ten or eleven players, and we split up differently each session based on when everyone arrives. It is a fun group both teams are generally near the winning score.

As usually happens, before and during trivia we discussed the entertainment for the evening. Tonight’s entertainment was again the impressionist Tyler Bryce. I mentioned after his first show that I wasn’t impressed with him and left after the first part of his show. Several people had mentioned that the first show had gotten better at about the point that I left. Because of that, I decided to check out tonight’s show. It started out better, and stayed good. He really is a good performer and the show tonight was very good.

Tonight we change the clock back one more time.

January 20^th, Apia, Upolu, Samoa

This morning we pulled into Apia on time and were greeted by a group of local dancers. It has been a dreary day.

Last night I had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill with several regular posters to the Daily. It was a fun evening with good food and talk. As it usually seems, the dinner lasted over two hours, but didn’t seem like it. We pretty much had the Pinnacle Grill to ourselves. The entertainment last night was another show by the instrumentalist.

As I said, today has been overcast and when I was ready to go ashore it was drizzling rain. Since I wasn’t really enthusiastic about this stop, I stayed on board and relaxed. I did have a good lunch and I’m looking forward to tonight.

Today’s Activities –

Today’s Menus –

January 18^th, Pago Pago, American Samoa

I left the ship today about 11am and found a cab driver to give me a quick tour of the area. After leaving the dock area I immediately realized that I have been to Pago Pago before and recognized many of the landmarks. It is a nice area and looks like it is kept in good condition. There is a large high school near the dock and an elementary school, also large, a little further out. In the other direction there is a large StarKist tuna processing plant. I had a nice ride around and enjoyed my day ashore.

CC is not allowing me to upload pictures right now, sorry.

3 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

The cabin description for my Large Oceanview on Zaandam says there's a "mini-bar" in the cabin.  Doesn't that indicate that there's a fridge?

The 'mini bar' on Volendam where I'm currently sitting in an Ocean View Cabin, and Zaandam consists of 6 cans of Coke brand sodas, 2 liters of water, glasses, and an Ice Bucket. A fridge / cooler is available for rent at (last I saw) $2 per day.

Once on board consider providing photos to Halfacts so that others might benefit. Instructions on their home page.

All cabins on Zuiderdam have a fridge.

The only cabins in the HAL fleet without a fridge are Insides and Outsides on Zaandam and Volendam

January 18^th, Pago Pago, American Samoa

We are now tied up and shortly there will an announcement that we are able to leave the ship. It is currently 83°F / 28° C with clear skies. The humidity is around 81% with 10 mph winds. It looks to be a pretty day.

We had a welcome group of dancers from a local high school entertain us for a few minutes. This is a commercial port but they have set up a few tents with information and tours. It is interesting that most of the commercial ports are now using containers to act as barriers keeping Guests in select areas of the port.

The big thing last night was a ‘Campout’ that took place around the midship pool. The Ocean Bar Band set up on the port side forward and played starting at 8pm. The event was well attended by Guests, staff, and Officers. In addition to normal offerings, they had cotton candy and smores. It was a nice evening and a good addition to the cruise.

On Board Activities for today –

Our menus for today –

Some views of Pago Pago from the ship

January 17^th, at sea destination Pago Pago, American Samoa

Another sea day on Volendam. It is currently 84°F / 29°C with a light rain. The humidity is 75% with 18mph winds. We are scheduled to arrive in Pago Pago tomorrow morning at 8:30am.

We had our normal trivia sessions yesterday. For sea days the early session is at 1pm and is general knowledge while the later session is 7pm and has a theme. None of the teams that I talk to did very well with the general but we all did better with the themed trivia which was toys and games. For the most part, the toys and games mentioned were from the 50’s, 60’s, and maybe 70’s so we all felt at home.

The Ocean Bar Band and Cocktail Pianist played their normal sets, as did the Piano Bar Entertainer and the String Trio. The Dance Band backed Michelle Montuori on the World Stage, so they didn’t have their normal sets. I didn’t go to the World Stage, but the reviews I heard were mixed. Kay performed well as always, I didn’t sample the other venues.

As we move along the ride has been pretty smooth. The Ship’s Officers have been out and about and seem to be accessible to the Guests. The Captain’s noon time announcements have been fun. I have had an opportunity to talk to Captain Bart several times and he has been easy to talk to.

For the activities today we have –

And our meals today –

21 minutes ago, kluv2cruz said:

Ah! That explains things. Do you know how I can see that I did actually receive OBC (hence the name “ON BOARD credit” hahaha)?

If you use a travel agent they will have to provide that information, and it will be the total - not broken down by type. If you booked directly with HAL or a PCC it will show on your payments page (to the best of my memory), also as a total.

49 minutes ago, kluv2cruz said:

Where do you go to see the OBC showing up? I have multiple bookings and got confirmation that it has been applied but what I assume is the AARP confirmation said “teacher appreciation benefits offer $100” (which I also applied for - received 2 emails confirming the same wording but 2 different reference #’s.) 

 

How many days from receiving an email confirming it’s been awarded until you can use the OBC for say an excursion? (This is what I tried to do to confirm the AARP & teacher OBC but it didn’t show up.)

 

Thanks!

HAL doesn't allow OBC to be used until you are aboard the ship. It's not available for booking excursions, etc, before the cruise.

January 16^th, at sea destination Pago Pago, American Samoa

Another day at sea on Volendam. We have had mild seas on the way to Pago Pago. Our position at breakfast this morning –

I already mentioned the King Neptune Ceremony yesterday. It appeared that everyone was having fun. I had a certificate delivered to my cabin shortly after the ceremony concluded.

The 7pm trivia was advertised as ‘Disney’, but it was limited to Disney movies not the theme parks which I would have preferred. For our group it was not the best category. We did manage to eek out 8 points from the 17 offered. We had no idea who voiced a character, which character was the villain in a particular movie, or which actor did a particular character. We were able to guess which princess had a raccoon as a pet, and which movie shot Julie Andrews to fame.

After trivia ended I made it to the 7:30pm show on the World Stage. It was the second (of 15) shows by ‘The Grand Voyage Repertory Company’ and was titled ‘Encore’. It was another show of singing and dancing by talented, enthusiastic group of performers. I did enjoy the show.

After the show ended I went to the Ocean Bar and listened to Kat play the piano for 30 or 40 minutes. She plays a nice mix of background music at a level that allows the crowd to have conversations. She is a talented musician and is easy to talk to.

I ended with a similar amount of time in the Crows Nest for the ‘Dance Band’. Again, the group seemed to be good musicians with a nice mix of danceable music. For each song at least one couple was dancing, sometimes two or three. Again, the music was not overpowering and it was easy to have a conversation while they played.

I should also mention that we were able to watch to final NFL Wildcard Games yesterday, so those who are into sports were happy as well. The Mix had a good crowd for the games.

Today’s Activities –

Today’s Menus –

18 minutes ago, Niagarawine said:

I was all set t book, then looked at port fees, 1900 dollars. Why so high

In addition to what @Gunther1 mentioned, Cruise Ships pay extra for a guaranteed time slot during daylight hours to provide the best experience for their guests.

Some pictures of the King Neptune Ceremony this afternoon. Captain Bart announced that we crossed both the Equator and the International Date Line at 8:03 this morning.

January 15^th, at sea destination Pago Pago, American Samoa

Good morning, Volendam departed late from Kiritimati (Christmas Island), but not to worry we have plenty of time and should arrive at Pago Pago on time. Our position at breakfast appears to have been at the intersection of the Equator and International Date Line. The Date Line takes a few liberties in this area.

So now Volendam is truly in the South Pacific, and will be for quite some time. The weather has been beautiful, with comfortable temperatures and scattered clouds. The mood on board is festive and everyone seems to be having a very good time. The staff has been very attentive and everything is going well.

Volendam had the NFL games this past weekend and as far as I could tell an even distribution of fans for each team. For the Rams / Lions game yesterday there was a good crown in the Mix where the game was on the TVs. We are scheduled for two games today, Steelers / Bills at 11:30am ships time, and then Eagles / Buccaneers at 3:00pm.

Last night the World Stage hosted a move – Murder on the Orient Express, one showing at 8pm. Trivia went on as usual and had a good level of difficulty. One thing I have noticed is that there have been few, if any, perfect scores. Most winning scores have been around 14 out of 17 points.

Looks like we will have the King Neptune Ceremony at 2pm today. This is always a fun time around the Aft Pool, and a very messy one.

Today’s Activities –

Today’s Menus –

4 minutes ago, Minouli123 said:

The itinerary is as follows:

 

Mon Jan 15: at sea

Tues Jan 16: at sea

Wed Jan 17: St Maarten

Thurs Jan 18: St Thomas

Fri Jan 19: at sea

Sat Jan 20: Nassau

Sun Jan 21: Port Everglades

thanks!

7 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

@richwmn, sorry to interrupt your flow but I just pulled up the PEV webcam.  NS will sail soon, and AIS now shows a destination of St. Marteen, ETA 1/17 at 0815.  If we can't get an itinerary, perhaps we can take it a port at a time.

 

Roy

I just found that as well on Marine Traffic. Thanks

58 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

What was the problem with the tendering? How did they get everybody back? Didn't those pax scatter once they got ashore? 

You don't sound particularly miffed about it. Maybe the expectations were low?

Is Easter Island on the itinerary too?

(My word-processing program was running a special on question marks. Sorry.)

The problem with tendering was that the water level due to the tide was getting too low for the tenders to operate. This is a port that doesn’t receive ships often so there was a bit of trial and error to get a good path to the tender dock.

As far as getting people back, it is not a big island so most people are close to the dock. The ship sounds the horn and most people recognize that means to return to the ship.

You are correct that I was not particularly upset when the tendering process stopped. The island really doesn’t have any attractions, has a population of around 2,000, and has a nice beach area. Not on the top of my lists.

I don’t think that Easter Island is on the itinerary.

January 14^th, 2023 – Kiritimati (Christmas Island)

Well, it has been an interesting day. We were a bit late getting started with the tendering, and now it has been suspended after about 2 hrs. We are now trying to get everyone back aboard. I was waiting for open tendering, but never heard an announcement, so I didn’t get ashore. Here are some pictures from the ship, along with the Local Market that was set up on the Lido.

1 hour ago, POA Cruiser said:

NS has a full ship charter by the Royal Bank of Canada.

Would you happen to have the itinerary so I can update 'The Daily', Thanks.