"Live from" ms Volendam to Alaska! My First HAL Experience

[lovely_serenity]

Thank you! I am still enjoying your review so much!

 

You're welcome! && I am very happy to hear that! :)

[lovely_serenity]

We have missed several embarkation lunches because the main dining room was closed due to special functions.

Did you remember to get your Tile at the end of the Mariner's Brunch?

Yes, yes I did :D You will see that a little bit later ^^

[lovely_serenity]

Some more fruits & cold cuts:

 

 

and muffins/breakfast pastries of all sorts:

 

 

As well as a large array of delicious looking, diluted fruit juices! :)

 

 

I grabbed a chocolate muffin, a chocolate milk and a mini box of Mini-Wheats (rather embarrassingly as a matter of fact). The cereals are located so very high up :( so it looks kind of awkward when I'm on my tip toes, reaching for a box of cereal .______. Hmpf.

 

 

Well, no matter. I still liked my chocolate muffin. Relatively moist and good, while the chocolate milk was delicious ^^ (the cereal was for Sis).

 

Once I had finished eating my muffin, I grabbed the mini cereal, put it in my camera bag & took my half filled box of chocolate milk for Sis. On my way out, I noticed that they had brought out some more stuff! It's the same breakfast parfait they serve in the MDR! Only.. without the stupid soup spoon ;)

 

 

I arrived back in the room to a freshly showered Mom & a bored-out-of-her-mind Sis. I sauntered over and placed the cereal & milk in her hands. :3 "You're welcome". ^^' "Thanks". And she downed the chocolate milk in one shot. She put the cereal in a drawer for later though, since it was quickly approaching 11am.

 

I went over to check out how much longer Bro & Dad were going to take. After knocking 8 good times, Dad opened the door. I waddled in and plunked down on his bed. Bro was still in the bathroom so I proceeded to tell the Mr.Monkey story to Dad. He laughed and gestured to the monkey hanging above Bro's bed. "She can have it if she wants ^^" I agreed. While I waited there, I noticed Dad & Bro's "An Invitation". They had put a little oil stain on it. Hmm :/ I definitely didn't want to keep theirs. Mine was all pretty and clean!

 

After a little while, I returned to my own room. Once everyone had finished getting ready, Dad & Bro knocked on our door and we were on our way. As we walked and walked down the hall to the opposite side of the boat, I called out to my dad: "What if we need to show them our invitation?" Everyone freezes and stops where they are. o_o ... (Dad:) "I don't have it. Do we need it?"

 

(*sigh* ;______;) Me: "It's okay, I have mine just in case" (,>_<) *sobs

 

We keep walking. We walk until we are at the aft elevators and go up to deck 4 where we are met with many crew members welcoming their loyal guests. I am not a Mariner, but Mom & Dad are. So that grants me an automatic let-me-in-too :D

 

I notice that they aren't looking for any invitations, nor are they confirming whether or not the guests are actual Mariners. o_o'

 

"Welcome, welcome! Table for..?" "Five!" I reply, but include that we'd like a table by the window.

 

We are brought into the restaurant where the Captain & other crew members who work at the Bridge and lined up, greeting people. I also notice that at all the tables, the tiles are placed. So pretty much, one per person! :0! <3 Ooo, don't mind if I do (:

 

I sit down and take a shot from my seat:

 

 

Notice the little white squares? Those are the ship tiles! I read online that each cabin is only allowed to have one, so this was a pleasant surprise to hear that we each get one! ^^

[lovely_serenity]

I took one more shot of the pretty table layout before I settled down:

 

 

Once everyone was seated, I picked up the ship tile for the first time, and opened it for all to see:

 

 

Ooo, interesting! (:

 

At this time, the servers began taking our orders (talk about fast! o_o give us a minute, will you?) I quickly took menu pictures before they'd take it away:

 

 

I was actually somewhat disappointed with the lack of choice regarding what we could eat. We all took a quick scan of the menu & ordered whatever, already assuming that today's lunch would probably be better than this one. We would later go upstairs to find out that we were right.

 

Well, I'll get back to that.

 

Something else that was nicely placed at our table upon arrival were these pretty glasses of champagne. Yes, indeed it is true that Sis & I cannot drink it but still, makes for a nice picture ^^

 

 

Our parents & Bro seemed to like it though c:

 

As we awaited the arrival of our food, I pulled the tile out of its case to check out what the actual thing looked like. I leaned it against my landscape lens that I had sitting on the table.

 

 

As I took it out, I noticed a little piece of folded up paper behind the tile. It was a certificate of authenticity. Wow HAL, pretty good ;) Good idea too.

 

As we waited, Bro & Sis started chomping on some bread. Meh, might as well take a shot, right?

 

 

They seemed to enjoy it enough. c:

Edited June 11, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[erewhon]

Am so pleased to see the photo of the Volendam /Zaandam tile, looking forward to receiving ours later this year.

Thank you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are no longer impressed with the Mariner's Brunch and have actually not gone to some of them.

The menu is only sightly different than the one we had.

[aberthelot]

Hi guys! Sarah here!

 

This'll be my first "Live from" except with one minor change. This will be a Not-So-Live-from since it will include the same amount of detail as a "Live from", but I've already arrived back on land. (I didn't purchase an Internet package onboard)

 

So let's get started!

 

My cruise started on May 1, 2013 and would go on until May 8, 2013. We would board the ship in Vancouver (where I'm actually from) and sail up to Alaska.

 

 

The night before, I spent hours packing, repacking and making sure that I hadn't forgotten anything. You know, the usual.

 

This was to be my third cruise to Alaska. The first was on the Celebrity Mercury and the second was on the Disney Wonder. This trip actually wasn't our first choice. The first choice was to actually do a Mexican Riviera cruise on a Carnival ship, but wound up doing this instead after realizing how much hassle it would ensue. Had we gone with Plan A, it would have resulted in a schedule that looked something like this:

 

1. Wake up at 4am

2. Drive 3 hours to Seattle

3. Take a flight from there to L.A.

4. Arrive in L.A. and take a 30 min. shuttle to Long Island

5. Do the 7 day cruise

6. Finish the cruise and repeat the process backwards.

 

OR

 

1. Wake up whenever (maybe 9am ish?)

2. Drive our car and park at YVR (Dad works at Air Canada so he has a pass to a parking lot, it'll allow us to park there for free for as long as we want)

3. Catch the Skytrain and take it all the way to Station Waterfront, which is a ~12 minute walk to Canada Place (and that's carrying luggage) where we will meet our ship: ms Volendam!

 

When taking our laziness into account, we decided on the latter.

 

Introduction:

 

Traveling on this cruise would be me (16 at the time) (oh by the way, did I mention I'm still a minor? :p ) , Bro (20), Sis (14), Dad (51) and Mom (49). As I have mentioned earlier, my Dad works at Air Canada, which means we travel a lot. With 2 working parents, us kids were spoiled with trips at a very young age. My first cruise was in 1997. Yeah. I was literally 1. I've travelled my share of the world and could go on forever if I were to try and list them all. I mostly travel to Asia, around Canada, to the USA (mostly west coast) and on occasion, Europe. So as you can see, we're no rookies to traveling.

 

About Me:

 

The Volendam was to be my 7th cruise. So I've had my fair share of experience. Oh yeah, and another thing, I'm a foodie. When I cruise, food is a big deal to me. For me, quality counts, but I'm also a little bit weird in the way I judge. For some reason, at times, I could be completely satisfied with cold pizza, but complain about the fashion in which my filet mignon was cooked. :rolleyes: I don't know, maybe it's just me being weird like that.

 

About the ship:

 

 

A week before our cruise started, we received an email dictating that our embarkation would be delayed for 2 hours due to cases of gastrointestinal disease on board. This was a little worrisome since the ship would be coming directly from Japan & Shanghai where the animal flu is going around :eek:. We received this email ahead of time:

 

"Please be advised that we have recently been experiencing a heightened level of gastrointestinal (GI) illness on the ms Volendam. Therefore, the ship will follow a special cleaning and sanitizing protocol developed in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prior to our May 1, 2013 departure from Vancouver.

To enable us to complete a thorough cleaning in Vancouver, embarkation will not begin until approximately 2:00pm on May 1. We encourage our guests to delat their arrival at the pier until this time, as there is limited seating at this facility."

 

Okay, now that that's done, let us embark on our journey to the Great White North!

 

 

~By the way, please give a shout out if you're following :)

Hey Sarah,

I will be following your review. We cannot decide which cruise line to go with or which itinerary to take. I hope your review helps me decide. Thanks in advance!

[Opus Voyage]

Sarah, Thank you for such a great travelogue! You have done an awesome job - Lots of details & tips, personal narrative and I love the pics, especially the food! :D We are booked on the Volendam for September; you have piqued my anticipation! Looking forward to more from you!

[lovely_serenity]

Am so pleased to see the photo of the Volendam /Zaandam tile, looking forward to receiving ours later this year.

Thank you.

 

Hehe, you're welcome! =^^=

[lovely_serenity]

We are no longer impressed with the Mariner's Brunch and have actually not gone to some of them.

The menu is only sightly different than the one we had.

 

Was actually not impressed with it at all. The food was meh and the service was.. UGH don't get me started!

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

[JamesEM]

After attending two Mariner's Brunches, DW and I now trash the invites and proceed directly to the Lido.

[lovely_serenity]

Hey Sarah,

I will be following your review. We cannot decide which cruise line to go with or which itinerary to take. I hope your review helps me decide. Thanks in advance!

 

Oh, thanks for following! :D && I hope that my review/report will be of help to you! ^^

Edited June 12, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Sarah, Thank you for such a great travelogue! You have done an awesome job - Lots of details & tips, personal narrative and I love the pics, especially the food! :D We are booked on the Volendam for September; you have piqued my anticipation! Looking forward to more from you!

 

Awh, you're welcome! :)

 

Thank you! Your thoughtful comment makes writing this worth the work (:

 

Oh for real? :D Well I hope you are able to take something away from my report that could maximize your enjoyment during your trip. Have a wonderful trip & more is on its way! ^^

Edited June 12, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[CruiseWhere]

Wonderful in depth reviews with pics!!! Thank you!!

BTW~I just retired from AC Nov 1st;)

[lovely_serenity]

After attending two Mariner's Brunches, DW and I now trash the invites and proceed directly to the Lido.

 

Now I know why -_-' the brunch wasn't even good! But, how would you get your ship tiles then?

Edited June 12, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Wonderful in depth reviews with pics!!! Thank you!!

BTW~I just retired from AC Nov 1st;)

 

Thank you :) ~

 

&& OMG really? :0 what section did you worked in? (Going to tell Dad about it :p)

Edited June 12, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[CruiseWhere]

Thank you :) ~

 

&& OMG really? :0 what's your name (first) & the section you worked in (ie. baggage, ramp)? I want to ask if Dad knows you ;P

 

In YYZ, CSSA..WD, CP, AC

[lovely_serenity]

In YYZ, CSSA..WD, CP, AC

 

LOL, I only know that YYZ is Toronto, I'll ask Dad what the rest means after he gets off work ^^

Edited June 12, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[JamesEM]

Now I know why -_-' the brunch wasn't even good! But, how would you get your ship tiles then?

 

I have gone to the front desk and asked for one to be delivered to my cabin, also I have gone to the MDR and asked for a tile, both ways worked.

Edited June 13, 2013 by JamesEM

[lovely_serenity]

We waited and waited for our food, and it was pretty evident that the place was understaffed. Not only was it understaffed, it was staffed by grumpy looking servers. At one point, this guy holding plates was grabbing stuff from the table behind us, back up and elbowed Sis in the head. Usually, they'll be like: ":O!! OMG Are you okay?? I'm so sorry!", Right? ...

 

=___= WRONG.

 

What actually happened was far from what I expected. He knocked Sis's head, quickly glanced over his shoulder >_> and muttered: "sorry." Then walked away. -_-

 

o_____o ... Uhm, Sir. That is SO wrong. YOU ELBOWED A CHILD IN THE HEAD. HAVE SOME MORE DARN CONCERN!! It wasn't even a tap either! Sis's head bounced forward, leaving her like this: 0_0?!?!

 

Gosh man, your actions will reflect HAL, so please make sure you keep your manners up to standard! Dad saw and he was ready to get angry because he thought the man didn't even apologize. UGH. Seriously =_=.

 

Any who, our appetizers arrived. Here was Sis & Mom's "Apple and Pear Gazpacho":

 

 

This was alright. Nothing amazing. Refreshing though.

 

and Dad, Bro & My "Warm Salmon and Mixed Green Salad":

 

 

First of all, the salmon was room temperature LOL. Secondly, the little chickpeas thrown all over it were pretty yucky ^^'. Thirdly, there were WAY too many greens for this to be considered an appetizers. It really wasn't that good. I felt like it was a waste of stomach space >_>"

 

After this, our entrées arrived. Dad, Sis, Bro & I ordered the same thing. The "Braised Beef Short Ribs with Roasted Garlic Cloves":

 

 

Not bad. Not great, but alright.

 

And then Mom's "Butter Basted Basa Fillet with Leeks":

 

 

Mom seemed to enjoy it c:

 

We finished up our food and dessert arrived. (Everyone gets the same one.. there is only one type anyways o_o). Here is the "Key Lime and White Chocolate Tart":

 

 

It was okay, it wasn't too sour. The differences in texture was kind of.. awkward to eat. It was like a rock hard shell that cracks if you stab with a fork, simple filled with creamy jell-o stuff, smeared on top. Meh. Edible.

 

We wrapped up our meal, took our ship tiles and got out of there. As we left, we laughed that "normal lunch today was probably better than what we just had!" ... o_o .. I really think it was.

 

We went up a floor to check out today's lunch menu. Here's what it looked like:

 

 

In all seriousness, we should have gone down there, taken the ship tiles (& champagne) and ate upstairs LOL. The MDR lunch menu was SO much better than the stupid Mariners Society Brunch menu. *sigh* -_-"

Edited June 13, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

We headed up to deck 9 since the daily On Locations said that starting at 11:30am, there's going to be "The Great Alaskan Cookout". Supposedly "an outdoor feast of Alaskan delicacies including various smoked fish and shellfish. Featuring Alaskan Amber beer on tap".

 

We arrived on deck 9 by the buffet, so I took some shots of the buffet lunch menu:

 

 

 

We went through the buffet to poolside where the Alaskan Cookout was going to be. Here are the shots I took of the barbecue thing c:

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

We eat some clams and stuff and then we go back to our rooms to rest a bit & put away the ship tiles I have in my camera bag. While in the room, I take one more shot of Mr.Monkey #2 (Dad & Bro's room one).

 

 

I also notice the new mail in our mail slots! They're responses to the papers we filled in last night that'll let us disembark quickly and with ease. We are put into the Expedited category (since we have our own ride home already).

 

 

After a little while, we went back upstairs to play some ping pong (Sis With Bro):

 

 

and eat some delicious fruit c: (pineapples and watermelons):

 

 

super sweet and yummy ^^

[lovely_serenity]

I have gone to the front desk and asked for one to be delivered to my cabin, also I have gone to the MDR and asked for a tile, both ways worked.

 

Oh yeah! o_o good idea LOL. We should do that instead! The Mariner's Society Brunch turned out to be a complete flop. The service and food were meh.. and the food in the main dining room would've been way better.

[lovely_serenity]

Once my fruit and our clams were devoured, we headed back outside to the pool area. BUT, not before taking one more dessert shot c: Here's some vanilla mousse/pudding with a grape on it & jell-o with a pear slice on top. :D

 

 

We went out to the pool area and prepared to exit to the Crow's Nest side elevator. When we were about to leave the pool area, something caught our attention. The taco bar had been magically turned into a Mongolian BBQ site!

 

 

That basically means that you grab whatever you want, give it to them to cook and then eat it.

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

Those pair of running legs you see above are Sis's legs ^^

 

Personally, Mongolian grills are common where I eat, so it wasn't really one of those "OMG!" moments.

 

 

Sure I could have tried some, but I was already kind of full. Afternoon Tea was going to be happening soon anyhow. It was a special tea today, it was the "Indonesian Tea Ceremony". :D I was very much looking forward to it!

 

I turned around to leave, but then saw the pizza. ... *shrug* might as well take some more shots while I've got the camera up c:

 

 

 

 

All the while, the whole ship looked like it had been covered by a blanket of snow. Ever single window looked as if it'd been painted white. At the moment, we were cruising through an extremely thick layer of fog. (Heh, told you I should have taken those photos this morning! I was right! The weather changed drastically! I first noticed it during brunch, already then, we could tell that we were approaching fog.) By now, you couldn't see a thing through any of the windows.

 

As we sat and (Bro & Sis) ate pizza and what have you, I saw that the ship had finally emerged from the fog! :0! I hopped up and called to my family that I would be right back & dashed through the automatic sliding doors toward the Crow's Nest.

 

(Speaking of doors, Dad had mentioned that he had seen one door that didn't open all the way. It would open 3/4 of the way and then stop. It was obvious that it was busted. He had seen a great deal of people ranging from adults to kids, run into the partially closed doors. BAM! Right in the shoulder! :/ Someone should fix that..)

 

I dashed up the stairs to deck 9 (oops, earlier if I said lido on deck 9, I meant 8 ^^) and hopped out the doors. This was the first thing I saw.

 

 

I actually saw this on day one, but never got a chance to take a picture of it due to the heavy traffic of people. It would've been rude of me to plunk myself right at the door to take a picture, right? Now it was all clear to take! :)

 

I turned to my right and took a shot of the first (and only) thing I could see:

 

 

While I took pictures, there was another man with a camera that looked similar to mine, doing the same thing. I glanced over (noticing our matching camera straps that say Canon) and said:

 

"Hey! Our cameras look the same! :D"

 

He looked momentarily confused before he looked down, looked at mine and said "Yeah! :D It's just that mine is an older model! ^^"

 

I recall that he spoke with an accent, an Australian accent I believe :P or.. German.. maybe Irish. o_o I don't remember LOL, I just remember that he had an accent of some sort.

 

I noticed that our cruise had been predominantly occupied by European people, Australian people and a few clumps of Chinese people from Vancouver. ^^

Edited June 13, 2013 by lovely_serenity