RedneckBob

Have a great cruise! We were really impressed with the N Statendam and staff last week!

Which ship in December on Celebrity? We are trying the Ascent. Dont know about food in MDR. Never dined there. We were lucky to dine at Speciality restaurants six of seven days. They were are excellent except for Canelltto. Disappointing. I had forgot the variety of foods at the Lido Restaurants compared to other cruise lines. The deli/pizza grill was good but only ordered once. Took over an hour to get a pizza!

Thanks for the Fleet Update and General Info from all contributors! Todays day! Nothing like having a large Charlie the tuna sandwich with a hostess twinkle while driving to put you to sleep. Another update from my N. Statendam cruise last week. Good to see HAL has restarted having professional entertainers in the showroom like comedians, magicians and singers. In fact the magicians show was so popular that the showroom was full 15 minutes prior to its start and the cruise director had to keep announcing that there were no seats left and please leave and return for the late show; no seating on stairs or in aisle.

Please add RedneckBob to the 11/02/24 sailing, Eurodam, 15 day, Caribbean. Thanks!

Oh, I forgot. I guess I must be last to know but HAL does not have specific boarding times any longer; at least no assigned boarding times on this cruise.

It was either the Ninadam, Pintadam or Santa Mariadam, 1492. Would you believe the Emerald Seas, 1976!

Thank goodness for a lounge chair to drink a lounge chair in the PM!

Thanks for the Fleet Update and General Info from all contributors! Shoutout to HAL for excellent embark/disbark on last weeks N Statendam cruise. Don’t tell anyone but once we got off the Celebrity Reflection at 9:20 am, we walked to the HAL terminal and were able to checkin our bags and selves and at boarding area at 9:40 am. Boarded at 11 Am. As far as disembarkation we were with 4/5 star mariners which was Pink1/2 bag tags. We had decided to be last off so we stayed in cabin. But at 7:20 AM, that’s right 7:20 AM our Pink bag tags were called. We decided to go ahead and get off ship. No one was disembarking and very few passengers in terminal. Bottomline is that we left the cabin at 7:25 am and were leaving port by 7:50 am after getting car out of main garage and pick up bags at wife at terminal. I guess everyone was surprised that color bag tag disemabarkation started so early that no one was ready to leave!

Did he go through the same speech as I described?

Go Bolts. Been following the team since they played at the Florida Fairgrounds!

Jeep 4 X 4 Day. Why not just call it Jeep 16!

This drink is named after a WW1 gun. Does that mean after several drinks it has a real kick! 😀

Thanks for the Fleet Update and General Info from all contributors! As y’all know I was cruising on the N. Statendam last week and towards the end of the cruise we had the medal ceremony. It was quite something to see but not what y’all might think. I call it; The Grand Medallion Presentation. I knew from the start of the cruise I would like the Captain, Captain Werner Timmers. He started at HAL about the same time we did, over 40 years ago. So we were invited to the medallion / medal presentation which was held at the Rolling Stone Lounge. There were only 14 five star passengers out of +2900 passengers. A total of 5 silver medals and 2 gold medals were presented. Sounds dull doesn’t it. But wait there’s more. Captain Timmers was something else. He began by welcoming all of us to the ceremony and then proceeded to say the following ( the best I can remember). I hope some of you will not be upset at what he said but he talked just like RedneckBob talks, just in a Dutch accent instead of a Southern accent! ”Welcome everyone to the medal presentation. HAL is very proud of your loyalty to the company but we know when you get home you take the medals and stuff them into the back of your dresser draw. The Silver is not real silver so it’s not worth anything. You can make into an earring but since you have only one you could use it when you are a pirate. Then if someone attacks you, you can swing it around and hit the person in the head but since it is not a heavy medal it may not hurt much. But the gold medal is special. If you wear into any Caribbean port to shop every shop owner will recognize the gold medal as someone who has sailed many days, has shopped and bought many tee shirts and is in no mood to buy another tee shirt. Now if you are in Paris this Summer for the Olympics take your gold medal, run into a bar, and yell out, I won a gold medal, and you will be guaranteed a free drink, I Think!” Do I need to say anymore. Does that sound like RNB. One more medal story. 20-25 years ago while at my first HAL medal presentation in the main showroom, a couple next to me received the gold medal, more than 500 days on HAL. When the couple returned to there seats I told them congratulations. The man replied, “This gold medal cost me so much I could have bought two Mercedes for what this medal costs me!”

Don’t think so. I believe my Robertus has been on NS three months.

Wow, I just missed you and overhead Fred and sailingdutchy by one week. NS was great!!!! Say hello to the Pinnacle Grill Manager for me, Doddie. He was excellent along with two waiters Robertus and Anam! Of course They will not remember me as RedneckBob but as ….?

This is my favorite drink at Orient Beach, St Maarten! Goes with the environment!

Bob, formerly know as RedneckBob will no longer be posting on the Cruise Critic due to lack of material! 😩😩😩! Is this April 1?

Sorry he was not there. The PG Manager was Doddie and he is there thru August. But don’t worry he is excellent! We were with him for 35 days in 2019 on a South Pacific cruise along with two servers in the PG, Robertus and Anam, also both excellent!

Thanks

Thanks. We did!

Went outback on Lido Dedk to give the big wave. It was a little dark!

Thanks Roy!

Who is Tabor?

Thanks! Got interesting story to tell tomorrow about medallion presentation on ship this week

Though I’m nuts about squirrels can’t beat that PG filet!