Dave's Live From Maasdam 6-17 Feb 2012

[Riversedge]

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!

 

This is exactly the tour that we wanted to do in St. Vincent. However I have called the number you quoted above and he did not get back to me. No answer from email either. We don't get into port until 10:00 a.m. so maybe this tour would not work for us anyways.

Linda

Edited February 7, 2012 by Lauren

[mudscraper]

Thanks for taking the time and expense to do a `live from` review. Your past reviews have been wonderful. Have a great cruise.

[Moose Tracks]

Looking forward to following your trip. Our friends are on board with you. So, if you meet Wendy & Marcel, Karen & David tell them Lynn says "HI".

Have a great cruise.

[mamaofami]

I'm so glad to hear they are checking attendance at the muster drill. On my last cruise, two weeks ago on Maasdam, no one took attendance. That cruise left the same day Costa had all its troubles. That was the first cruise I was on that didn't take roll call.

[RetiredMustang]

Monday, Feb 6., Ft. Lauderdale (continued)

After emergency drill, we had a drink at the Ocean bar prior to going into dinner. The CD, Anthony, announced that because of the dicey weather forecast, the Lido barbeque had been cancelled, and the sailaway performance by Lynn and the HAL Cats was shifted to the Crow’s Nest. We stayed put in the Ocean Bar until dinner time.

Dinner was the usual fine event in the Rotterdam Dining Room. The featured dish for us at least was the by-now traditional prime rib. I also had a seafood soup Provencal which was not bouillabaisse, but still quite enjoyable. The also had what DW reported to be excellent Red Velvet cake for dessert – I had the raspberry sorbet. During dinner, we did pass through a heavy rain shower, so it was a good call to move the HAL Cats!

We then tried a little slots action, but the silly penny slots I had found in the past, with lemmings or cheesy squirrels doing things if you got three of whatevers, were not to be found. I played a penny slot that had five reels and nine different ways of winning, and I hit 200 credits once ($2.00 – remember this was a penny machine, so I did not run out and book another cruise), but I really couldn’t tell which line earned what. So, I played jacks or better poker machines for a while.

We find ourselves going to the casino less and less these days, and may not do much gaming this cruise. Plus, the casino is still smoking allowed. I don’t want to start another flame thread, but just wanted to report that, and the fact that we were given written notice in our boarding package that cabins are all now non-smoking, with a $250 fine if you do.

I will also try to add each day some basic daily information, such as the MDR menu and what’s playing in the show lounge, etc., for those who may be interested in that info:

MDR dinner menu Feb. 6

Appetizers: Celebration of Fruit Cocktail; Crab Tower with Avocado Salsa; Carpaccio of Beef Tenderloin; Grilled Four Mushroom Crostini.

Soups and Salad: Seafood Soup Provencal; Cream of Chicken and Artichoke Soup; Chilled Carrot and Orange Bisque with Cumin; Heart of Romaine Lettuce Nicoise.

Entrees: Penne with Crisp Pancetta; Fillet of Cobia with Lobster Dumplings; Prime Rib of Beef au Jus; Bronx-Style Veal Chop (it was served over a pepper jack polenta with southern braised collard greens … which I would not have associated with the Bronx, but then I’m not a fancy chef, oh well); Chicken with Dried Cranberries and Orange Relish; Sweet and Sour Tofu.

Dessert: Sorry, I forgot to get the dessert menu (and we don’t get them delivered to the verandah cabins like in the deluxe suites – bummer.) I’ll try to remember to get that as well each day. I do remember that, in addition to the Red Velvet Cake, there was Viennese Apple Strudel with vanilla sauce.

From the daily Explorer

Showroom at Sea: Free $100 Giveaway Bingo, 9:00 p.m.; Your Cruise Director Anthony presents “Listen to the Music” featuring the Entertainment team on board Maasdam.

Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 8:00-9:00 p.m. and 10:30-11:30 p.m.; Dance Set 8:00 p.m.

MIX: Guitarist Chris, 5:00-6:00 p.m.; Piano Man David Anthony, 10:00 p.m. – close.

Explorerer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 8:00-9:00 p.m.

Crow’s Nest: DJ Armen, 10:30 p.m. – close.

More later,

Dave

[innlady1]

Ah ha! One of the Maasdam mystery fishes: Cobia!!! By the end of our cruise, that had become a joke with so many "mystery fishes" throughout the cruise!

[innlady1]

I'd love to know the names of the entertainers in the Showroom at Sea. One tall fellow with a British accent had an incredible voice...as did one of the women. Laura I believe? His name was Jordan (or something similar). Don't miss the performance toward the end of the cruise where they do classical music, opera, and the Adiago Strings play along with the HAL Cats.

[RuthC]

Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 8:00-9:00 p.m. and 10:30-11:30 p.m.; Dance Set 8:00 p.m.

The Ocean Bar closes down at 11:30 now? :eek: For real? :( Every night? :rolleyes:

That's outlandish! :mad:

I remember when most lounges didn't close until 1:00 AM, and the Piano bar closed at 2:00. Even in December, the Neptunes played until midnight on the Zuiderdam. Still too early, but better than 11:30. Geesh. What's a night-owl to do?

Or was this just a first-night early to bed?

[catl331]

Sheila: I had Wahoo and Cobia in restaurants for lunch in Bermuda. Tasty! I think they did have cobia on the menu in DR also.

[RetiredMustang]

All,

 

Another update:

 

Tuesday, Feb. 7, Half Moon Cay

The day dawned fair and bright, and we sailed into Half Moon Cay before 8 a.m. It turned out to be a glorious day in Paradise, sunny and warm with a cooling southeastly breeze.

We caught an early tender and did our personal tradition of walking the entire length of the beach, past the horse corrals as far as possible until the way is blocked by rocks. All told, it’s about 1.5 miles or a bit short of 2 kilometers each way. I took a photo of the two ships in port from the far end: small photo attached and higher-resolution on at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/showphoto.php?photo=23205

We shared HMC with Zuiderdam, but the island did not seem as crowded as we may have feard, although we tend to go early and later in the afternoon we noticed a lot of people on the beach.

Every time we come to HMC, there is something added and/or different. Over the years, they have added the cabanas, clamshells, grand cabana, horseback riding, petting the stringrays, kayaking, etc. The change this time was the Captain Morgan bar (the pirate ship). I had read a lot about it on the HAL board, and decided to check it out.

It seems to me to be a bit out of place on HMC. The idea of a pirate bar fits, and I’m always OK with another bar. It’s just that the construction seems rather large and overwhelming among the low cabanas, food pavilion buildings, etc. It is easily the largest structure on the island. Exterior photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/showphoto.php?photo=23206

But, I also went inside to look, and it is rather unexpectedly modest-sized, smaller than I would have expected from looking at the exterior. There is a long bar, accessible from any side. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/showphoto.php?photo=23207

At the far end, there was a stage where the HAL Cats were setting up. I had read on the threads that the band can get noisy; by the time they got playing, we were already back on the ship. However, we could hear them from our balcony on Maasdam, which was anchored off the point where the tenders enter the channel to the docks. So, it probably would have been too loud for these fogies if we had been actually inside the bar when the band was playing.

But, I digress. After our walk (and my side trip to photograph the pirate ship), we next did our second traditional thing on HMC – we snagged the best seats in the house at the I Could Stay Here Forever bar, at the front of the covered area, looking out to the sweep of the beach and the ships anchored off-shore. It is one of our favorite places.

We lingered and chatted with fellow passengers, and then made our way back to the tenders to return to the ship for lunch. The BBQ on the beach is usually good, but we decided we would rather have a salad or pasta at the Lido instead. Plus, we wouldn’t have to share with the island’s chickens or lizards.

After lunch, we relaxed for a while and then showered and changed to some non-beachwalking clothes, DW into a festive top and slacks and I into khakis and a Caribbean-y Tommy Fauxhama shirt. At about 4, we went to the Ocean Bar to claim seats before the rush of Happy Hour. Henry was setting up, but was kind enough to get us a drink each. More people came in and Henry offered them drinks, but almost all said they were waiting until Happy Hour.

It turned out to be somewhat of an Unhappy Hour. A bar waiter came on duty about 4:20, and another about 4:30. But, what with the by-then crowd all trying to order at the same time and Henry trying to fill drink orders all at once, several customers were getting unhappy that it was taking so long.

So, having finished our drink, we went to the MIX to see how that was going. Our only previous experience with MIX was last year on Ryndam, and it was always mostly deserted. This time, there were more customers. And, while the guitarist on Ryndam blasted away, with a few patrons huddled against the far wall, on Maasdam Guitarist Chris was playing background music as it should be – in the background and not drowning out conversation. In fact, Chris was very good, playing soft folk songs that reminded me a little of Bob Segar (or Pete Seegar, so far as that goes). A quite pleasant time before dinner.

Most of the dishes at dinner were Caribbean-themed (menu below), although DW had an Italian-style pasta dish. As described above, dinner was smart casual. In fact, there are only two formal nights scheduled – Weds. Feb. 8, the sea day between HMC and St. Croix, and Feb. 15, the first of the two sea days between St. Maarten and Ft. Lauderdale.

After dinner, we took in the 8:00 show, a comedian named Noodles Levenstein. He was funny and entertaining, mostly observational humor including, of course, cruising (cabins, food, etc.) He drew a pretty full crowd, and gave a good show.

After that, we turned in, since we are early risers anyway, and were going to set the clocks forward one hour overnight.

MDR dinner menu Feb. 7

Appetizers: Fruit Ceviche; Seared Ahi Tuno Carpaccio; Eggplant Caponata; Caribean Fish Cake and Crispy Shrimp.

Soups and Salad:Caribbean Pepper Pot Soup; Curried Breadfruit Soup; Chilled Guanabana Soup; Great Sound Salad.

Entrees: Pasta Parcel with Zucchini Ribbons; Avocado Citrus Salas; Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Roasted Corn Salsa; Caribbean Braised Beef Pot Roast; Island Spiced Rack of Pork; Caribbean ‘Jerk’ Chicken Breast; Curried Vegetable Cutlet.

Available Daily: French Onion Soup ‘Les Halles’; Classic Caesar Salad; Grilled Coho Salmon; Perfectly Grilled Breast of Chicken; Top Sirloin Center-Cut Steak; Baked Potato, White Rice, Steamed Vegetables.

Dessert: Frozen Calypso Espresso Torte; Key Lime Pie; Glazed Pineapple Bavarois; Lemon Torte no sugar added; Vanilla Ice Cream; Coconut Ice Cream; Watermelon Sorbet; Heath Bar Crunch Frozen Yogurt; No sugar added Chocolate Chip Ice Cream; No sugar added Vanilla Ice Cream; Brownie Hot Fudge Sundae.

From the daily Explorer

Showroom at Sea: The Comedy of Noodles Levenstein, 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m.; Dance Set 8:30 p.m. Happy Hour: Buy one drink, receive the second for just $1, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

MIX: Guitarist Chris, 5:00-6:00 p.m. and 7:00-8:00 p.m.; Piano Man David Anthony, The Music of Nat King Cole, 9:00 p.m. – close. Champagne Happy Hour: All Sparkling Dreams $6.95, 2nd glass for $1; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Explorerer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 7:00-8:00 p.m. and 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Crow’s Nest: DJ Armen, Latin Night 9:00 p.m., Party Time 10:o0 p.m. Happy Hour: 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. and 10:30 – 11:30 p.m.

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Forgot to attach the small-format photos. Here they are.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

The Ocean Bar closes down at 11:30 now? :eek: For real? :( Every night? :rolleyes:

That's outlandish! :mad:

I remember when most lounges didn't close until 1:00 AM, and the Piano bar closed at 2:00. Even in December, the Neptunes played until midnight on the Zuiderdam. Still too early, but better than 11:30. Geesh. What's a night-owl to do?

 

Or was this just a first-night early to bed?

 

Ruth,

 

I'm sorry, but I don't really know. I just copied what was in the daily Explorer. Plus, DW and I are not night-owls, so don't know of personal knowledge. I'll try to find out from some who is.

 

Dave

[catl331]

Dave, thanks for the pics. We usually are the first ones off at H.C., do a little walking, take a pic of the ship etc. Last time we went back to ship and ate at Lido. Where did those chickens come from anyway?

 

I like the "Hi" pic. J says we have 3 formal nites scheduled. Did you have that but now have two?

 

Weather here has been warm and cloudy with some showers. We are happy to get some rain. Very Dry here. Hope you have a sunny trip. Carol

[innlady1]

On our recent 14 day cruise, we had three instead of four. Are you on for 14 nights, Carol? Perhaps Dave is on the shorter version (10 or 11 days).

[musicismylife]

Thanks for taking us along again this year Dave. I always enjoy your reviews and all of the information you share.

[IRL_Joanie]

Dave, thank you for this wonderful Live From Blog!! You always make us feel as if we are there with you and this is no exception!!

 

Joanie

[monina01]

I love your live blog!!!!!! Thanks for posting this.

[erewhon]

Dave,

Thank you for taking us cruising with you.:)

[morbeus]

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

Thanks for doing this Dave! I'm looking forward to hearing more. I'm going on my first 4-Star cruise in April on the Maasdam and I was curious how they handled the "Priority Checkin" reward. When I boarded my last cruise I mentioned I was reaching 4-Star status during the cruise but the lady just sent me down the regular line. How did they identify you as a 4-Star member? Were you wearing your pin? Or is it mentioned on your Express Docs in some way? (I believe I remember her looking at Express docs as she handed out number cards)

[jtl513]

Or is it mentioned on your Express Docs in some way?

It's in your records at HAL, so it will show on your Boarding Pass page and on the key-card that you are given. Check your OnLine CheckIn to confirm. The symbol should show on the Summary page, next to your name, etc Edited February 8, 2012 by jtl513

[Bellair]

Many thanks for your time in compiling these reports Dave. We are on this ship soon & have never sailed out of Fort Lauderdale (but sailed in Nov 2011 from Europe)

Great info on boarding procedures

Have a wonderful rest of the cruise

 

Noel

Australia

[RetiredMustang]

Wednesday, Feb. 8, At Sea

This morning we held our CC Meet and Greet at 10 a.m. in the Crow’s Nest. We had 18 people sign up, and 8 attended. The CD, Anthony, came as well, but Copper John was not able to make it. We talked on quite a few topics with Anthony, one of which was the renewed emphasis on the emergency drill. We all told him we much appreciated HAL going back to the roll call and paying more attention to the drills. He did say that the recent situation when Westerdam put passengers ashore for refusing to attend the drill had made the passengers on all the other HAL ships pay much more attention. (Maasdam did not put anyone ashore for refusing to attend the drill).

There was an art auction in the Ocean Bar at 1:00 p.m., but we were able to be elsewhere. There were a good many events going on during the at-sea day, including some new ones on us (learn how to play the steel drum, for instance). But, about the only one I took in was a meeting of veterans. We also found time for a specialty coffee at the Explorations Café.

It was the first of the two formal nights, and the night of the Captain’s Welcome Toast. We had not attended a Captain’s toast in years, so decided to do so after dinner. Captain James Russell-Dunford introduced a few of his key officers and staff, and in what I thought was a very nice touch, his employee of the month as well, who got a nice round of applause from the crowd.

To address some of your questions and comments:

Carol and Sheila – we are on the 11-day itinerary (we chose it over Maasdam’s 10- and 14-day ones because it goes to 3 islands we have not visited before). Our cruise documents showed 3 formal and 8 smart casual nights, but the embarkation day daily Explorer showed the cruise’s full itinerary, with only the 2 formal nights I listed before, and 9 smart casual nights. This is a very port-intensive itinerary, with 6 port days in a row, so maybe the Hotel Manager decided to forgo the middle formal night. It seems the logical day to have held it if it were to be held is Sunday, after departing Barbados.

Also, Carol, about the chickens -- DW talked to a Bahamian HAL employee who works the HMC island, and was told that when HAL originally hired the Bahamian crew, the crew brought some chickens with them. At some point, HAL decided that the chickens had increased to the point that they should be collected and removed. But, apparently, enough passengers had commented on their surveys that they enjoyed seeing the chickens that HAL relented. I take that tale with several bits of salt, because I’m not sure HAL could have eradicated the chickens even if they tried (the birds are smart and about half-wild and some probably would escape the round-up on remote parts of that island). Plus, the island probably has had chickens since the days of the Spanish explorers.

Ruth, looking over the past two days’ Explorers, I see that the Piano Man is from “9:00 p.m. to close”, so it seems it was just the initial day with the earlier scheduled ending; it looks like you would be able to close the MIX each night with the Piano Man if you wished.

Joanie – good to see you posting! I read the thread that kazu started, and am glad it turned out OK. I’m taking photos of the cabin (B180), public spaces, etc. I will try to upload medium-resolution files to the CC photo gallery one day in port when I can get a high-speed connection, or will at least email high-res ones and clobber your inbox after I return home.

Morbeus – The HAL rep at the pier had a list of all expected passengers – our names were listed as well as a column that said we were 4-star status, so they already knew and we did not have to say anything.

MDR dinner menu Feb. 8

Appetizers: Chilled Lychees with Kiwi Wedges; Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail; Mille-Feuille of Duck Pate’; Steamed Manila Clams in White Wine .

Soups and Salad: Dos Frijoles Soup; Cream of Four Mushrooms; Chilled Sour Cherry Soup; Salad Caprese.

Entrees: Fettuccine Frutti di Mare; Brazilian Shrimp Salad; Crispy Sweet-and-Sour Shrimp; Alaskan King Crab Legs; Oven-Roasted Rack of Lamb; Pheasant Breast in Sage Walnut Sauce; Truffled Mushroom Risotto .

Dessert: Chocolate Souffle’, Fruit Glazed Cheesecake; Tiramisu; Black Forest Cake no sugar added; Vanilla Ice Cream; Rum Raisin Ice Cream; Orange Sorbet; Raspberry Frozen Yogurt; No sugar added Neapolitan Ice Cream; No sugar added Vanilla Ice Cream; Amaretto Java Sundae.

From the daily Explorer

Live Champagne Art Auction: 12:30 p.m. Preview, 1:00 p.m. Live Auction, Ocean Bar

Royal Dutch Tea: 3:00 p.m., Rotterdam Upper Dining Room

Showroom at Sea: Captain’s Welcome Toast, 7:45 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.; Bob Mackie’s Broadway, 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m.; Dance Set 8:30 p.m. Happy Hour: 4:30-5:30 p.m.

MIX: Guitarist Chris, 5:00-9:00 p.m.; Piano Man David Anthony, Name That Tune, ‘50s and ‘60s, 9:00 p.m. – close. Champagne Happy Hour 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Explorerer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 7:00-8:00 p.m. and 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Crow’s Nest: DJ Armen, Ballroom Dancing 9:00 p.m., All Request Night 10:00 p.m. Happy Hour: 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

More later,

Dave

[IRL_Joanie]

QUOTE: "Joanie – good to see you posting! I read the thread that kazu started, and am glad it turned out OK. I’m taking photos of the cabin (B180), public spaces, etc. I will try to upload medium-resolution files to the CC photo gallery one day in port when I can get a high-speed connection, or will at least email high-res ones and clobber your inbox after I return home. " UNQUOTE

 

Clobber away at me when you get home, I can take it:)

 

Thank you my friend. Am feeling much better knowing what it is not!! Now dealing with what it is will be the next hurdle and getting the blood thickened a bit will definitely help me feel better and almost my old self:)

 

Joanie

 

Edited February 9, 2012 by IRL_Joanie

[catl331]

Thanks Dave. Love that menu. Would have a hard time picking just one! I have a plan to not over do on the food this trip but after seeing your menus, I am already salivating. Oh well,. c.

 

p.s. any Tai Chi??

[Riversedge]

Dave, we're enjoying your posts so much. Thanks so much for all the information. You are increasing our anticipation and excitement of our upcoming cruise!