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Dave's Live From Maasdam 6-17 Feb 2012

RetiredMustang

By RetiredMustang,
in Holland America Line

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Hello everyone,

I’ve decided to do another “live from” blog, this time from Maasdam as she sails a southern Caribbean itinerary 6-17 February 2012. We chose this particular itinerary because it visits three islands we have never visited before – St. Croix, St. Kitts and St. Vincent. We have researched all of the islands, and have shore excursions arranged, and are anticipating the cruise very much.

We drove to Ft. Lauderdale from D.C., arriving Sunday afternoon. We stayed at the Courtyard in Plantation, about 8 miles from the port down I-595. We learned when we arrived, however, that there is a huge construction project underway on I-595, and will give ourselves plenty of time to make our way to the port and ship in case of major delay or need to detour.

I see from the port web cam that Zuiderdam is in port and berthed at pier 26, across from the mid-port parking, with Maasdam berthed just north of there. So, that’s a good sign – our ship is here! I will post again after we board and get settled.

Dave

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lawyerrose

lawyerrose

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I'll be faithfully following your progress, as we're doing this cruise in March, too. What did you find to do in St. Vincent? I'm coming up dry there. Never been to many of the Saints on this trip, either, which is part of why we chose it.

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RMLincoln

RMLincoln

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Thanks for doing this blog Dave. We will be on this as part of our extended B2B2B March/April and want to learn all I can. We've never been to St Vincent or St Croix. Tell us about enteerainment on baord, shows, muscians, any comedians worth seeing... I read that the cast shows are down to two dancers... seems like a dratic cutback to me. And of course, how the food and service are now. Thanks for taking us along. Safe and healthy sailing to you all. BON VOYAGE!!

 

Wishing you a fabulous time and hoping we get to see the sailaway today! :) m--

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Coolcruise02

Coolcruise02

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Can't wait for your report. I'm really interested to hear about St. Croix! We were there in 1998. I didn't realize it was back on the port stop list. I hope the violence issues are all cleared up as it is a beautiful island!

Edited by Coolcruise02
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innlady1

innlady1

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Dave,

As always, I look forward to your "live from" threads! Hope you both have a wonderful time on the Maasdam! Were you one waving at sailaway today? I looked for you but the cam wasn't that clear!

Will anxiously away the report on St. Croix, St. Kitts, and St. Vincent. Had hoped to do that in February '13, but the Maasdam is going to SA instead. :(

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JJPacer

JJPacer

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I'll be faithfully following your progress, as we're doing this cruise in March, too. What did you find to do in St. Vincent? I'm coming up dry there. Never been to many of the Saints on this trip, either, which is part of why we chose it.

 

This is what we plan to do in St. Vincent

 

Wayne [baleine Tours] $85.00 pp. The tour lasts all day. Captain Wayne picks us up at the pier shortly after the ship docks, usually around 8:30-9:00 and brings us back at the end of the day in plenty of time to reboard the ship before sailing. The last stop on the tour is the black sand beach The tour also includes lunch at the Pirates of the Caribbean movie set (which is delicious). Drinks are at your expense at lunch. Rum punch and soda is provided on the boat, complimentary. Wayne takes a minimum of 12 and maximum of 24 passengers. The price per person, includes lunch. You can reach Wayne by telephone #315-608-7118 (New York) at any time, he call's it his Magic Jack number. After lunch and snorkelling we went to another beautiful area for snorkelling where the cliff plunges straight down 100 feet. The water was very clear and coral and fish were abundant.

 

Looking forward to reading your blog!

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ger_77

ger_77

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Bon Voyage - wish we were onboard with you, but reading your blog will have to suffice. If you see Copper John (head of security) onboard, please say Hi from Her Honour in Canada! Can't wait for your installments.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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(Note: It was a busy time with embarkation and all that goes on that day, and I am updating on Tuesday morning before arrival at HMC. I will keep this blog by dating my observations on the day they happened, even though I may not post for a day or so later, depending on internet connections. I will also occasionally post an informational piece, such as the wine packages lists, which I will just label and not date).

Monday, Feb 6., Ft. Lauderdale

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the Courtyard. We had thought to do a nice walk about the area, as we had done a couple of years ago, but it was lightly raining, so we just took our time.

It was still raining when we finished, so we decided to check out and go to the nearby Westfield Broward Mall to do a bit of walking, and shop for a few minor things we needed. We walked about there for a bit (but were nowhere in the class of the fast mall-walkers that we had to keep an eye out for). About 10:30 or so, we noticed out a mall entrance that the skies had opened and it was a huge downpour happening. So, we did some more strolling about until it let up.

That meant we arrived at the port about 11:30, and had no problems getting there, despite the construction on I-595. We showed our ID at the port gate, and were directed to go straight on to Maasdam.

I had said that I had seen on the port web cam that she was at the pier ahead of pier 26, where Zuiderdam was berthed. The ground cam was not working, actually, but I was able to zoom the satellite portion of the site and easily see the ships. Maasdam was at pier 25. I dropped DW and the bags, tipping the porter who was immediately available to help. I then drove a short ways back to the mid-port garage. A data point – we normally arrive at the garage on a weekend about the same time of day and have no trouble finding a parking spot, usually close to the elevators. This time, I had to go up another deck or two before I spotted a single open space.

-----

Checking in process. This was pretty simple, but a bit different from previous times at other Port Everglades terminals. The entrance was at ground level. A HAL rep greeted us and took our cabin numbers. (For reference to a couple of points later, we are 4-star Mariners, but are in a “B” class verandah cabin instead of a deluxe suite as we had been in the last few cruises. So, we have 4-star perks, but no deluxe verandah perks).

The HAL rep gave us badges with a blue card bearing a white “S” which we believe meant “Suite”. He was handing numbered cards to other passengers. Another HAL rep gave us the medical questionnaires and told us we could proceed through the metal detectors and upstairs as soon as we had filled them out in the next room. The next room was a waiting area, with passengers waiting for their numbers to be called; a couple of numbers were called while we were filling out the forms. We then got in line and went through the metal detectors and up the escalator.

There we found the usual check-in counters. There was a separate line for Suites and 4-stars, and we were directed to that (open) line, and were processed immediately. We then went past the photographers and up another escalator to the brow to board the ship.

So, our surmise was pretty much validated that they use the Suite badges to also identify 4-star Mariners for check-in purposes.

---

Once on board, we went to our stateroom, which was ready. I left DW to await the luggage while I went to do chores. I went first to the Lido to make a reservation for Canaletto on the final evening, and was successfully early to get a table by the window (so we can take in the views of … um, dark over the ocean).

Next, I went to the front desk to make sure the arrangements for Wednesday’s CC M&G had made it from Seattle to Maasdam (they had). I went to the dining room to see if I could find our table for early fixed dining. I thought I had spotted it, but there were only a few tables with numbers one them; if the usual numbering convention was correct, we were at a 4-top at a serving station. I later went back to the Lido reservations desk, as I knew he had a diagram on his computer and asked him to look up our table. It was indeed the one I thought, but he told me it was reserved for just us two. We had requested a two-top, as we had for the past few cruises. We had gotten one each time we were in a deluxe suite, but we were happy to see that the 4-star with deluxe suite request was honored as well. Yay!

We then got busy for the rest of the afternoon, unpacking primarily, and suffering suiteus envy as we missed the room we had had in the deluxe or superior suites of cruises past. But, we soon sorted everything out and got things put away, and the verandah cabin is actually as comfortable as we remembered. But, we do miss the larger bathrooms with the double vanity (forgot the shoe holder so things are cramped around the sink).

We went to the Ocean Bar and introduced ourselves to Henry the bartender, who imparted the vital intelligence that happy hour starts Tuesday, with second drinks of the same thing for an extra dollar from 4:30 to 5:30. I’ll try to find out if they have a similar happy hour in the Crows Nest for late diners as they have done on other ships.

Passenger Emergency Drill. At 3:55 the cruise director announced that the passenger emergency drill would occur at 4:15. He did indeed say that anyone who refused to participate would not be allowed to sail. We went to our station, and the boat captain (who turned out to be our wine steward at dinner) was taking roll. (see attached photo). She went through the list several times until every single passenger assigned to the station was signed off, and then reported to a ship’s officer that the boat was accounted for. So, yes, HAL really is taking this seriously (and for the most part, so are the passengers .. there were a couple of people who brought their drinks and one guy with his laptop and cell phone going, but even they rogered up when their cabin number was called).

I will continue with the first day’s descriptions later,

Dave

1773884084_PassengerEmergencyDrill.jpg.5c214af20941fad91a663ea3068729b7.jpg

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