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Fb_cruiser

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    On nieuw Amsterdam

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    We’re currently on Nieuw Amsterdam. Different people will have different experiences. For us, service has been excellent. No complaints there at all. We also ate at Canaletto on the first night and had no issues. The food was good and as expected. Yes, there are many children and young couples aboard; the children for the most part have been very well behaved. I much prefer that to the reckless scooter drivers we experienced on our first HAL cruise years ago where we we by far the youngest cruisers on the ship (as 40 year olds!). The entertainment has been up to par for HAL standards, which is to say poor, but we expected that going in. This is not RCCL. I will say that the band at BB King’s has been excellent. Everything else not so much. Overall, I’d rate this a very good cruise.

    Volendam Stuck in the Mud

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Fb_cruiser

    Passengers on the Volendam are reporting that it ran aground at 4am this morning on the Amazon about 30 miles from Santorem. Supposedly no damage to the hull and they’re trying to work themselves out. Hoping all goes well for them.

    Casino Blackjack- WARNING

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Fb_cruiser

    Same on the Westerdam I was on a couple of weeks ago. They paid 6/5 for blackjack on the $5 table and 3/2 on the $10 table. Rules can vary from table to table in any casino, so I make it a point to know the rules of the specific table I'm thinking about playing. That said, the 6/5 payout is not that big a deal. The odds of getting blackjack in any give hand in a multideck game are less than 5%. With roughly 50 hands an hour, that's 2-3 times that you'd lose $1.50 on a blackjack, or the equivalent of losing one hand an hour. You can easily make that up by betting properly (which I didn't see much of on our cruise). On the other hand, it makes taking even money on a dealer ace a no-brainer. Much more important is the fact that the casino was not using automatic shuffling machines. I was surprised to see that.

     

    You'd like this one. They had a blackjack game called "Fun Blackjack". Rules as I remember them are:

     

    - 3/2 payout on blackjack

    - Double down any time (even after you have 3 or more cards)

    - You win automatically and get paid on any 21 (not only first 2 cards)

     

    Nice huh? Here's the catch - NO KINGS in the deck!

    Somewhat live from the Westerdam

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Tendering this morning was different. Evidently no more priority tendering for suite guests- another one they should take off of the "benefits". Everyone basically was heading to the A deck. No one down there cared about tickets or room cards. Signs at stairway on Main deck directed all to A deck. In the past all went to Vista lounge and were given tender tickets- were called in groups and taken down. NS passengers always were able to go straight to the A deck and show room key. Pretty much pandemonium down there this morning- line snaking everywhere. Heard no announcements as I have in the past.

     

    I guess we got lucky. For the excursion we booked, the excursion boat pulled right up to the ship and we boarded there. No tendering necessary!

    My Cruise Memories Calendars Arrived!

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    That is some iPhone! And steady hand! Gorgeous calendar

     

    Sorry for the confusion. The photos in the calendar were not taken with an iPhone, they were taken with my pro Nikon DSLR. The photos of the calendar that I posted above were taken with my iPhone. The photos in the calendar came out amazing :)). The photos of the calendar (taken with the iPhone) not so much.

     

    What a great idea; which company did you use?

     

    I used Shutterfly.

     

    Thanks for all the nice comments!

    My Cruise Memories Calendars Arrived!

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Fb_cruiser

    Some of you may remember that I mentioned in a previous post that I uploaded some of the pictures I took on our recent Alaska cruise and created/ordered calendars online. First time I had ever done that, and I'm very impressed at the quality. Printed on card stock and look great! (Taken on my iPhone - look much better in person!)

     

    i-ddFkm4h-XL.jpg

     

    i-dMwmqwH-XL.jpg

    Somewhat live from the Westerdam

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Fb_cruiser

    Sitting here at the desk in the warmth of our NS looking at Johns Hopkins glacier out the window. We had to turn the heat up a bit yesterday.

     

    Went up to the bow and lasted about 5 minutes- it is BITTER cold and windy up there. Hope the wine reception goes well.

     

    May head up to the Thermal Suite to watch the last part of Glacier Bay form one of the heated loungers.

     

    Right now though it's time head up to the Lido to track Michael down with his Bloody Mary cart!

     

    Sounds like you're having a great time! Say hello to Frances and Verena for me!

     

    And just noticed that Achmad is your stateroom attendant - he was great!

    Cruise Memories 18 Month Calendar - CORRECTED LINKS!

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Fb_cruiser

    Thanks everyone for the extremely nice comments!

     

    Clearly, these photos weren't taken from an iPhone! Can I ask what kind of camera you used, and whether the majority of the photos were taken from the ship? Amazing resolution!

     

    You're right, these photos were not taken with an iPhone :), although I did get a few nice shots with my iPhone when I wasn't carrying my camera. I have a Nikon D300 with a couple of very good lenses.

     

    The majority of the photos were not taken from the ship. Most of the mountain photos (except Mendenhall Glacier and Mount Edgecumbe volcano) and the seagull were taken from the ship. The others (otter, seals, and whales) were taken from small boats on excursions in Juneau and Sitka. The rest were taken on land.

     

    I still have many pictures to go through, and will be adding more to the SmugMug site over the next week or so.

     

    Thanks again!

    Cruise Memories 18 Month Calendar - CORRECTED LINKS!

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    My apologies for the previous thread with the bad links. It was late last night... :)

     

    Here's the link to my calendar - share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN2zVkzaNHLmg

     

    If you can't get to that, here's a direct link to the photos I used for the calendar (plus some additional photos) from our Westerdam Alaska cruise last week - https://fballatore.smugmug.com/Alaska-Cruise-Share/n-5QtT4r/

    we get lost on the ships

    in Holland America Line

    Posted · Edited by Fb_cruiser

    It’s easy to remember. Entertainment in the front, dining in the rear, Lido buffet & pool up, and most other things near the middle on either the Promenade and Upper Promenade decks, or the Promenade and Lower Promenade decks (depending on the ship.)

     

    Scott & Karen

    Probably the best description of the ships' layouts I've ever heard!

    Do midship elevators on Westerdam block view?

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    We weren't in a stateroom adjacent to the mid-ship elevators on our most recent cruise, but we were on our previous cruise. I don't recall any of our view being blocked very much if at all. Considering a 180 degree view from your veranda, I wouldn't think that you'd lose any more than 10% of the view. The bigger issue is privacy as you can see from the above photo. Don't go out on your veranda unless you're "decent"!

     

    Enjoy your cruise!

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