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

[lovely_serenity]

ahhhh you are back! Great. Going to check it out now :D

 

Yayy! :D thanks! ^^

[Goldenfox]

Hi Sarah! Very happy that you're back safe and sound and thrilling us with your detailed report of your trip. I'm loving it so far! Can't wait to hear (and see) the rest!

[lovely_serenity]

Hi Sarah! Very happy that you're back safe and sound and thrilling us with your detailed report of your trip. I'm loving it so far! Can't wait to hear (and see) the rest!

 

Hi Goldenfox! (: thank you very much! I'm very happy to hear that you're enjoying my report so far! I will do my best to make it even better than my last! ^^~

[lovely_serenity]

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Same to you Sarah.

[lovely_serenity]

Same to you Sarah.

 

Thank you!

[monina01]

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! :)

 

you too Sara. Do you also celebrate on Januari 31st? Is year of the horse I think.

 

Glad you are continueing your installments on Cunard :D

[lovely_serenity]

you too Sarah. Do you also celebrate on January 31st? Is year of the horse I think.

 

Glad you are continuing your installments on Cunard :D

 

Thank you monina ^^. Yes I actually do! All of my relatives that live in the area get together at my aunt's house and we have a big dinner! It's really fun! (: Yup! Year of the Horse!

 

Glad you're still reading my installments :D I just recently did one yesterday! Spent 2-3 hours on them. Page 13! There's a lot LOL.

[erewhon]

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! :)

 

Same to you Sarah.

[AlohaPride]

You should see the way we celebrate the Chinese New Year in Hawaii. It's my favorite celebration here!

[lovely_serenity]

Same to you Sarah.

 

Thank you! (:

[cbr663]

Hi Sarah,

 

I just wanted to let you know that my DW and I spent yesterday evening viewing your entire "live" update of your Alaska cruise and were so impressed, we emailed out TA before we went to bed to book the cruise. We are so looking forward to cruising the Alaskan waters on the Volendam this May.

 

Thank-you for your wonderful pics and outstanding writing style.

 

Cheers

[lovely_serenity]

You should see the way we celebrate the Chinese New Year in Hawaii. It's my favorite celebration here!

 

Oo, how is Chinese New Year celebrated in Hawaii? Here in Richmond/Vancouver, since we have such a high Chinese population, there's a lot of gold and red all over the place! There are dragon/lion dance performances here and there and relatives gather together for dinner & the young ones get red pockets full of money c:

[AlohaPride]

We have HUGE block parties in Honolulu that take up a good square mile every Friday, Sat, and Sun the two weeks before and the week of New Year. All the major radio stations have stages with live bands all over the place. There are Lion dancing teams that bless all our major shopping centers (after doing their pole dances) and my girls love to "feed" the lions. There are four different parades in Honolulu, the major one has all the lion clubs and community organizations in it. The state has to sell permits for the fire crackers because people buy so many. LOL Kids of course get the red envelopes. It's good fun.

Edited January 12, 2014 by AlohaPride

[lovely_serenity]

Hi Sarah,

 

I just wanted to let you know that my DW and I spent yesterday evening viewing your entire "live" update of your Alaska cruise and were so impressed, we emailed out TA before we went to bed to book the cruise. We are so looking forward to cruising the Alaskan waters on the Volendam this May.

 

Thank-you for your wonderful pics and outstanding writing style.

 

Cheers

 

Hi!! :)

 

Wow! That's fantastic! :D Thanks for reading by the way! && I'm so happy that my report helped you guys decide on your trip! I'm just so thrilled! (: Have an absolutely wonderful time on your trip this May!! I look forward to hearing about it when you both return. (:

 

Thank you both very much for taking the time to read my report & booking a trip because of it :,)

[lovely_serenity]

We have HUGE block parties in Honolulu that take up a good square mile every Friday, Sat, and Sun the two weeks before and the week of New Year. All the major radio stations have stages with live bands all over the place. There are Lion dancing teams that bless all our major shopping centers (after doing their pole dances) and my girls love to "feed" the lions. There are four different parades in Honolulu, the major one has all the lion clubs and community organizations in it. The state has to sell permits for the fire crackers because people buy so many. LOL Kids of course get the red envelopes. It's good fun.

 

That sounds amazing! ^^ I had no idea that Chinese New Year was such a huge deal in Hawaii! We have some performances at some of the malls over here (some of which are brodcasted on the television on Chinese New Year Day). I've seen quite a few lion dances in which the "lion" was attempting to eat a cabbage, and when it succeeded, it destroyed the cabbage, threw the pieces everywhere and the guys inside the lion costume took the red pocket as part of their pay LOL. :D Wow, I don't even think there are many parades here... ever! o_o' I've seen the Christmas parades in Honolulu on t.v. before! They seem awesome! I wish there were more parades over here. (there are fireworks at least :P)

[lovely_serenity]

Great review! Thank you so much! Especially pictures are lovely:)

 

Thank you very much! :) thanks for taking the time to read it!

[AlohaPride]

That sounds amazing! ^^ I had no idea that Chinese New Year was such a huge deal in Hawaii! We have some performances at some of the malls over here (some of which are brodcasted on the television on Chinese New Year Day). I've seen quite a few lion dances in which the "lion" was attempting to eat a cabbage, and when it succeeded, it destroyed the cabbage, threw the pieces everywhere and the guys inside the lion costume took the red pocket as part of their pay LOL. :D Wow, I don't even think there are many parades here... ever! o_o' I've seen the Christmas parades in Honolulu on t.v. before! They seem awesome! I wish there were more parades over here. (there are fireworks at least :P)

 

Yes! They hang the cabbage from doorways. When the lion dances on high poles it's a story about him climbing a mountain in search of the flower of immortality. The drums are the lions heart beat. He finds the flower and chews it for a bit to feel what immortality feels like and then spits it out. We saw the lions dance last night. I have a bunch on videos on my Facebook. The Lunar New Year is HUGE here. If you like festivals, you should plan a trip here for that or Aloha Week. People in Hawaii really know how to celebrate lol

[monina01]

Happy New Year Sarah in this year of the horse. Have a wonderful celebration today and hope you got lots of Lucky red pockets :)

[lovely_serenity]

Yes! They hang the cabbage from doorways. When the lion dances on high poles it's a story about him climbing a mountain in search of the flower of immortality. The drums are the lions heart beat. He finds the flower and chews it for a bit to feel what immortality feels like and then spits it out. We saw the lions dance last night. I have a bunch on videos on my Facebook. The Lunar New Year is HUGE here. If you like festivals, you should plan a trip here for that or Aloha Week. People in Hawaii really know how to celebrate lol

 

I actually didn't know the significance of all of these thing, interesting! Happy Chinese New Year by the way! I'm planning on going to my Aunt's house with several of my other relatives for dinner tonight! I had no idea it was celebrated to such an extent in Hawaii! I should deifinitely suggest that idea to my parents. Haha

[petnumber1]

Hi Sarah,

 

Well, even though it's almost a year since you posted this review, I just found it and read the entire 48 pages of the thread in the last several hours. I am planning a HAL Alaska cruise for early summer, and your amazing reports REALLY helped me a lot! Thanks so much for taking all the time it must have taken for you to upload all those pictures and write the commentary. You are a brilliant writer and hope you will consider some profession that takes full advantage of your writing/observation talents. In my opinion, the world will be a much nicer place with you reporting on it! :)

 

Thanks again....and now I'm off to read your Cunard review!

 

Cheers!

Janet

[theloo]

I also just found this thread and enjoyed the food & ship photos :) About half way through, you had a very nice list of tips "so far." Any more tips?

[lovely_serenity]

Hi Sarah,

 

Well, even though it's almost a year since you posted this review, I just found it and read the entire 48 pages of the thread in the last several hours. I am planning a HAL Alaska cruise for early summer, and your amazing reports REALLY helped me a lot! Thanks so much for taking all the time it must have taken for you to upload all those pictures and write the commentary. You are a brilliant writer and hope you will consider some profession that takes full advantage of your writing/observation talents. In my opinion, the world will be a much nicer place with you reporting on it! :)

 

Thanks again....and now I'm off to read your Cunard review!

 

Cheers!

Janet

LOL Wow Janet I am very impressed! Thanks for reading it, and I'm glad that I have been able to be of help! Haha thank you very much for the thoughtful compliments (: You are too kind. ^^ Aw you're so sweet! Perhaps I will see if any professions in which writing is relevant to it.

 

Thank you! & thanks for checking it out!

[lovely_serenity]

I also just found this thread and enjoyed the food & ship photos :) About half way through, you had a very nice list of tips "so far." Any more tips?

 

I'm very happy you're enjoying it! Thanks for taking the time to read it! :) mm, if I were to add additional tips, I would say:

 

1.) Have at least one serving of hard ice cream in a waflle cone everyday

2.) Be sure to attend all of the themed teas, as well as one regular tea

3.) If you are disatisfied with your dinner serving team (and this applies to all cruises), get your team swapped on day one. They have a huge impact on the enjoymant of your trip.

4.) bring some sort of disinfectant wipes for your room, they'll come in handy.

5.) even if you've been to the port before, it never hurts to get off for a little bit!

6.) go to every night time show

7.) go randomly check out the Lido pre-dinner. At around 5, you can eat some dinner foods and see a preview of what you're going to eat that night! (If you're late seating)

8.) lying down on your bed when seasick > standing > sitting

9.) Bonine = best motion sickness medication

10.) bring a good camera for scenic cruises in places like Alaska

11.) it's cold there LOL

12.) the poolside Grill things aren't worth the long line up unless you've literallly got NOTHING to do ^^'

13.) play giant chess, its fun. Little chess is pretty cool too

14.) THERE'S HIDDEN BATHROOM STORAGE BEHIND THE MIRROR

 

And that's all I can think of at the moment, but I'll tell you if I come up with some more! :)

[theloo]

Thanks for the extra tips! I'm amazed at all of the foods and desserts you were to able to sample! That's interesting about the terrace grill. I had heard that was a decent place to get a snack, particularly after coming back from shore excursions before dinner. It sounds like you would recommend just waiting for dinner.