Live from the Maasdam NE/C

[Landlubber54]

Serious or not, very funny. The thought of widow washing stewards is wrong on so many levels...especially if a crane's involved.:cool:

[Time2sail]

thanks for ALL of them. Looking forward to more:D tales of the "see" from tomc.

[cvillehf]

You said that the problem with the generator is not related to anything in the past, but when we were on the Maasdam at the beginning of April the same thing happened with a bearing. Captain Van der Loo explained the problem the same way in regard to the shaft having to be polished to get rid of scratches. I wonder how many more bearings are going to miss function?

[babyher]

TomC

 

*LOL* You are the best !!!!!!!!!!! *LOL*

 

 

The post about the mirror in the shower, reminds me of an old Alan King joke.

 

He said he hated staying at hotels with mirrors on the ceilings over the bed, becuase when he makes love to his wife, he invisions himself a young stallion in his prime, and then he looks up and sees this fat balding old man sweating like a pig and trying to catch his breath. :)

 

 

Once again thank you for sharing, i am enjoying these so much :)

[caribbean girl]

TomC

 

*LOL* You are the best !!!!!!!!!!! *LOL*

 

 

The post about the mirror in the shower, reminds me of an old Alan King joke.

 

He said he hated staying at hotels with mirrors on the ceilings over the bed, becuase when he makes love to his wife, he invisions himself a young stallion in his prime, and then he looks up and sees this fat balding old man sweating like a pig and trying to catch his breath. :)

 

 

Once again thank you for sharing, i am enjoying these so much :)

 

Okay, I get the picture, but waaayy too much information!!:eek:

 

tomc, don't they have a gym on the Maasdam anymore!! Naah, what the heck!! Go back and check on the bread pudding!!

 

Have fun!!

[tomc]

Don't know about the April bearing problem, unless it was the same one and they are just able to do the repair now.

 

* * *

 

Got this from the Sydney tourist internet manager re: how many ship visits have been occuring in the past few years. These are visits, not separate ships; I don't know how many ships are involved in this.

 

1999: 15 visits. 2000: 23. 2001: 42. 2002: 40. 2003: 46. 2004: 60. 2005 (This year) about 40. 2006 (estimated) more than 75 visits.

 

We're just leaving Sydney now, heading for Halifax. We've a whole flotilla of small boats accompaning us. In the U.S., H.S. would have blown them out of the water by now; up here, they're waving and we're waving back. When you are in Canada, check (for ask for) the C@P sites; these are free internet sites available for residents and tourists alike.

 

 

This post has come to you live from the Maasdam

where you don't have to shoot at friendly boaters like some other places I could name.

[tomc]

They escorted us out of town on a rail

That is, once they got their **** boats our of our way and let us go.

 

The natives are having a labor dispute, so who do they punish? HAL, its ship and the tourists (Canadian translation: $$) who are keeping them from having to eat dirt. They seemed so friendly while we were there and then, as we tried to leave, they blocked our ship and got real snotty. What seemed like a friendly flotilla got nasty when they pulled in front of us and prevented us from leaving.

 

Did it have anything to do with us? Nope.

How is the economy in Sydney? Lousy, getting worse.

Who is going to help save it? The cruise lines and tourists.

Who did they mess up today? The cruise line and tourists.

 

The local powers that be better step in and prevent any more idiocy like this in the future. A few people in boats who have a gripe might not realize that the future doesn't lie with them, but with the cruise lines who are bringing in the tourists. If they are also unhappy with the limited amount of time we have in this port, then arrange short tours that will maximize the time and we will love to patronize them.

 

 

This post is coming to you live from the Maasdam

Where these people don't realize that the HAL logo is a liner running over a boat.

[Time2sail]

Wow, H.S. doesn't sound so bad, now does it? Don't believe I would protest directly in front of a huge ship--:eek:

[tomc]

Mariners' Party tonight. As on the "up" trip, I am one of a few with a 100-day medallion and there are none with anything higher. I'm surprised that there are no 300-day people onboard, as usually there is one or two. Nobody was awarded a 100-day medallion, either.

 

 

This post came to you live from the Maasdam

where doing 100 days isn't a sentence, but a joy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Tom

 

Thanks for reporting in.

Sydney - if they keep that up, cruise lines might start to think differently about going there in the future.

[tomc]

Various...

 

The men's room near the outside pool is rather small. Not that you need a whole lot of room to take care of business, but while you are doing so, your backside has activated the hand-dryer. Thus, while your front end is in operating mode, your butt is getting dusted at the same time. Weird feeling.

 

A bunch of tiny pirates paraded thru the Lido whilst I was in the middle of reading with my eyes closed. (I call it reading, the Lido stewards often say I have fallen asleep.) One of the HAL Club people caught my eye with a "Hey, it's a job" smile. I do have to tell him that the pirate hat, or whatever it was on his head, is definitely him.

 

Wanda the Worrier mentioned at supper that she worries a lot. Well, knock me over with a feather; I never, not for a moment, ever suspected such a thing. I just replied, "Oh." Then she started worrying over some item on the menu.

 

The Hat Lady wanted to wear her hat filled with HAL and other pins/buttons for the formal Mariner Medallion photo this evening. I'll find out when we get our pictures if she prevailed. I hope not; it looks like that guy's hat from M*A*S*H with all the fishing lures in it.

 

I went to Catholic Mass today and, right at the opening prayer, the voice of God came from the skies. Actually, it was the Captain, a little exasperated, telling us about the a-h Sydney fishermen and their "let's mess the Maasdam" tactics to get publicity in an attempt to get back at some fishing policy they don't like. He finished and the priest continued on as if nothing had happened. I'd had said something (now how did you know that?). Not sure what, but I'm sure the words would have come.

 

 

This post came to you live from the Maasdam

where even God takes second place to the Captain

[Landlubber54]

I am not really learning a "dam" thing, but this thread is better than the dearly departed tp thread of a few months ago...:cool:

[Copper10-8]

Tom, I'm still laughing about your "intruder" in the mirror:D Awesome!

[cruznon]

Thanks for sharing your trip with all of us....it's been great!

[sail7seas]

Tom....

 

Thank you so much for all the fun. This is a GREAT thread and so many of us are really enjoying it.

Has anyone aboard Maasdam been commenting to you about it? I wonder if any of them are enjoying it along with us. :)

[sail7seas]

Lisa....

 

WE had no Dutch Night on our Maasdam cruises. The closest we had to the items that once appeared on the menu for Dutch Night was the wonderful pea soup and there was nasi goreng....I never saw any bami goreng while we were aboard. It is possible it was offered at lunch, but I hardly ever went through the buffet line so would not have seen it. It was never on the dinner menu.

:( Definitely no Dover Sole.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Westerdam, Volendam, and Zuiderdam all had Bami Goreng on the menu in the main dining room. Most of the time it was offered at a time when we were doing something else.

[McDebbie]

This post is coming to you live from the Maasdam

Where these people don't realize that the HAL logo is a liner running over a boat.

 

Oh my, I never realized that either! :D

[ahoymatey3]

Lisa....

 

 

WE had no Dutch Night on our Maasdam cruises. The closest we had to the items that once appeared on the menu for Dutch Night was the wonderful pea soup and there was nasi goreng....I never saw any bami goreng while we were aboard. It is possible it was offered at lunch, but I hardly ever went through the buffet line so would not have seen it. It was never on the dinner menu.

:( Definitely no Dover Sole.

 

 

 

 

Did you get the hats?

[sail7seas]

On our recent Maasdam cruises......No Dutch Night; no hats.

 

On our Veendam cruise in January.....We had Dutch Night and got hats. :)

[tomc]

We're in Halifax where we pulled up to the floating gas station and asked to fill 'er up. The fuel boat had three pumps (as in a shoreside station, for various octanes): QM2, cruiseship and tramp steamer. We chose the middle grade. They offered to do our windows, but we said they were already done.

 

I noticed a 19-car passenger train pull into the Halifax railroad station. It's right next to the pier, so I ambled over and found the conductor.

tomc: I didn't realize that passenger trains stopped in Halifax.

Conductor: They d*** well better, or there'd be a h*** of a splash.

 

A bagpiper was performing by the inside pool for some time. Then he walked thru the Lido restaurant during lunch. After a while, he walked thru it again. For those who might object to the steward ringing the chimes to alert us to supper, which would you prefer??

 

Quote of the day, overheard in the Lido: "I've had my hair dyed so many times, it would take an archeologist to discover its original color."

 

 

This post is coming to you live from the Maasdam

where Haligonians are not the same as Halogens.

[dakrewser]

A bagpiper was performing by the inside pool for some time. Then he walked thru the Lido restaurant during lunch. After a while, he walked thru it again. For those who might object to the steward ringing the chimes to alert us to supper, which would you prefer??

 

A piper in the Lido could make it easier to find seat!

[sail7seas]

Actually, we thought it was really fun and we enjoyed it. He wasn't there all that long. He walked through Lido pool and into Lido. Went up one side and down the other maybe two or three times and then was gone. I thought it was fun at lunch docked in Halifax.

 

[Lisa63]

I am in tears from laughing so hard at these wonderful posts! Clean our windows...no thanks, they've already been done. Bagpipers in the Lido. Passenger train. Liner running over a boat. :D

 

Tom, thank you again for your comments. I look forward to each instalment.

[babyher]

I guess as long as the bagpiper wasn't being followed by a guy playing the accordian it wouldn't be too bad :)