richwmn

All of the cocktails are pretty standard and should be available on HAL ships, as well as your local bar/pub, if the bartender wants to pick up the guide many bars have. About half the wines came from the wine lists currently on Zuiderdam, the others probably are not available. Some of the meals may be available, but they were not chosen from any HAL source.

Lido menu now available

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.

January 26th – 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

A little later than the previous pictures

Somewhere in the South Pacific The pictures don't do justice to the view!

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.

today's activities and menus

January 24th – 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

The activities and meals for yesterdam

We are currently in Uturoa. Here is the view from my balcony and the Lido aft earlier today.

and also to KopyKat. Happy birthday to both!

January 22nd – 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.

I didn't notice the break in itineraries for Westerdam. I think you are correct and have updated the source. Thanks again for keeping up with this. Also, Zuiderdam made the short jump to Moorea overnight and we will be here until 4:30pm

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.

January 21st – Papeete We are docked and should receive clearance to disembark in a few minutes. Here is the view from the ship.

January 20th – 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.

Yes, my answer is from my own experience and that of many others who have posted the same thing on CC and FB. from the HAL FAQ https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/mariner-society.html Are any onboard charges excluded from the onboard purchases bonus? All casino charges, cash advances, Future Cruise deposits, and associated fees are excluded. All other onboard purchases, for example, Crew Incentive Charge, Beverage Service Charge, taxes, shore excursions and all gift items purchased online or through Ship Services count towards bonus Cruise Day credits. bolding mine

What @leerathjeshowed is the 'Guest Copy' that the travel agent receives from HAL. In my experience outside agencies and even some PCCs don't provide the 'Guest Copy' unless you know about it and push them to send it. Before I settled on my current agent I had several that didn't know what I was talking about and seemed unable to provide it. My current agent knows that I want to see it and sends one each time there is a change

According to Navigator his first name is Arthur, wife Linda

Just a quick note here to say that all is going well on a lazy sea day. It is nice to see others cruising, and what is going on across our group. I hope everyone has a great day.

January 19th – At sea Yesterday was our first port day and a good one. I waited until open tendering and boarded the tender shortly after showing up. The tender ride was short and calm. Upon arriving there was a small port area with a lot going on, the typical restaurants, bars, and vendors selling ‘authentic’ goods from the area. A group of local musicians was also playing for our enjoyment. After a short visit, I went back to the area to load the tenders for the return. It was a bit disorganized and I missed the first opportunity, but a second was waiting to unload as soon as the first one left. The ride back was also uneventful. The first trivia yesterday was at 6:30 pm. I have a small group that I have been playing trivia with which has about 8 members total. Last night was the first time we had everyone there, so 1 didn’t play. This was a general trivia and we did pretty well. After trivia 3 of us headed for the Pinnacle Grill for dinner. The food and wine were both good and with good conversation the meal lasted around 2 hours. After dinner I went to the final trivia at 9pm which was the music of Michael Jackson. Not my strong suit and I was the only one there. As a point of reference, the total number of players was about 12. Our host did a good job and everything went well. Last night I slept very soundly and didn’t wake up at all until almost 7am. I took care of some things happening at home, and now it is approaching time to get moving. Today’s activities and menus:

same for me (and others) on Zuiderdam for holidays and World Cruise

@Dobby36@0106 I would contact the Mariner's Society and ask about the difference. Since I only travel solo I don't have the advantage of someone else's spending. I only know what the documents say the rule is. The only thing I can think of would be if your account are not linked on board, but that is supposed to happen automatically. Sorry I can't be of more help.