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Live: A grouch's Veendam Hawaii cruise, January 2015.

whogo

By whogo,
in Holland America Line

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whogo

whogo

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Posted

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }We will see if I can do another live cruise thread. It depends how my internet minutes and my mood hold up. If you are looking for news of my interaction with the captain, you won't find it here. I am never sure which one is the captain. Want descriptions of the Neptune Lounge? We aren't entitled. Want to hear beautiful descriptions of exotic ports? If only I had the ability! This ain't literachur. Want lavish praise of the hard working cruise? I am not good at gushing.

 

I have never had a bad cruise, but as a pessimist I always expect the worst. The advantage of being a pessimist is that things always turn out better than feared. Our flights did not arrive late or go down in flames. I even had a delicious in flight meal (that I brought from home). It's great! Things may continue to go well, but I will post anything that does not as long as I can remain anonymous. I am not looking for special treatment, good or bad.

 

 

Everyone else on board will have a different cruise than I do. I am bound to have a better cruise than my wife as I have a better traveling companion than she does. If you want honest, biased opinions that does not sound like HAL marketing, stay tuned. If not, get out now, you were warned. If you want rainbows and unicorns, I can post a spoiler.

 

 

Woke up January 20, 2015 to find the Veendam parked outside my room at the Wyndham. Parked? You won't hear nautical terms either, I am from the prairie. It was a short walk with wheeled luggage to the pier and a mass of humanity. Everyone arrived at 11:30. The hoard was handled efficiently and we boarded to find our room ready and in good shape. After a massive breakfast at the Boar's Head I was not ready for our regular Mariner's lunch in the dining room. We had a light meal at a surprisingly civilized, uncrowded buffet where it seemed all the staff were named “Lido”, there were many missing name tags.

 

 

¾ of our bags were delivered before we left the ship, DW took a left to tour the maritime museum, I turned right to visit the Midway. The aircraft carrier Midway makes an awesome museum with great docents, plenty of aircraft and interesting stuff and lots and lots of stairs. Seems I spent most of the day going up and down stairs. First hand experiences, recorded and live, gave me an idea of what shipboard life was like.

 

 

Muster drill was fairly painless in the shade in pleasant weather. Few cruisers wait in their cabins until ordered to their muster stations. We did a lousy job of keeping a walkway clear and roll was called too slowly for my liking, but we finished roll call before others. The drill lasted about 25 minutes unless you add in the 45 minutes of preliminary announcements.

 

 

We chose a bad time for any time dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room, as did everyone else. It involved a wait. For anonymity's sake I will not detail my experience with staff or the beeper. We ended up with delightful dinner companions, nice scallop appetizer and roast beef that was rare, just as I ordered it, excellent meal.

 

 

The captain announced before the 9:30 show that we had turned around to return to San Diego to give proper care to an ill passenger. He could not say how it would affect our cruise schedule. I was happy to see the Showroom crowd took the news well. I wish the passenger a speedy recovery.

 

 

The half hour performance showed off all the entertainers, a male singer made the best impression on me.

 

 

I woke at 5:30 to find us sailing southwest (that is toward Hawaii) and wondered if the ill passenger had been evacuated or if his condition had stabilized for better or worse. I overheard from a family member that the passenger had been evacuated.

 

 

Time for breakfast. Until tomorrow.

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qsuzi

qsuzi

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Happily, I won't be reading much of your thread because I'll be at sea. Have a wonderful cruise (sounds like you're off to a great start) on what I consider to be HAL's most improved ship.

 

Roy

 

Bon Voyage Roy

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whogo

whogo

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January 21, 2015

 

The captain announced during breakfast that we had docked in San Diego at 1:00 AM for the transfer of our unwell passenger to a waiting ambulance and on to hospital. I slept soundly through it all. The captain reported that the passenger was now in good spirits and his condition had stabilized. The decision to return to San Diego had been made in consultation with the Coast Guard and corporate medical personnel. The captain praised the work of the crew involved. It must have been a busier night than the captain had anticipated.

 

 

The captain also gave us the good news that barring unforeseen sea conditions we should reach Lahaina, our first port, as originally scheduled.

 

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Tue Jan 20 San Diego, CA 5:00pm

Wed Jan 21 At Sea

Thu Jan 22 At Sea

Fri Jan 23 At Sea

Sat Jan 24 At Sea

Sun Jan 25 At Sea

Mon Jan 26 Lahaina, Maui, HI 10:00am 11:00pm

Tue Jan 27 Honolulu, Oahu, HI 7:00am

Wed Jan 28 Honolulu, Oahu, HI 6:00pm

Thu Jan 29 Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI 8:00am 5:00pm

Fri Jan 30 Kona, Hawaii, HI 8:00am 5:00pm

Sat Jan 31 Hilo, Hawaii, HI 8:00am 5:00pm

Sun Feb 1 At Sea

Mon Feb 2 At Sea

Tue Feb 3 At Sea

Wed Feb 4 At Sea

Thu Feb 5 At Sea

Fri Feb 6 Ensenada, Mexico Noon 6:00pm

Sat Feb 7 San Diego, CA 7:00am

 

 

I forgot to stop by the Lido for a first breakfast of fresh squeezed orange juice and fruit. Second breakfast in the dining room was excellent, I will see how much of the breakfast menu I can work my way through, although eggs and bacon are hard to beat. Mrs. Whogo's team beat us by one point, we lost by four points at 11:30 trivia. Ouch! Phil and cruise director Marco have both run excellent trivia contests.

 

 

We have yet to be led directly to a table in the dining room, there is always some delay. Anyone heard of cobia? I had not either, apparently a freshwater fish, the flesh is firm and a bit bland. The accompanying snap peas were the hit of the meal. I expect to be given a beeper again tonight, our preferred dining time was not available for reservation. As You Wish has always been a poor name for the dining options, I call it As Hal Wishes.

 

 

Continuing my perfect record, we lost again at food trivia in the Mix. With staff showing up fifteen minutes late we were all treated to a drink. Nice gesture.

 

 

Delightful dinner companions after a ten minute wait for a table (no beeper) and good food. Open seating is working well for meeting a diverse group of cruisers. Rainbow trout with a corn flake coating was excellent. Still time to lose again, this time at Broadway Name That Tune with piano man Lee. Trivia and eating are the theme of this cruise. I have spent some time reading, too. Weather has been a little too cool for sitting on deck. Stairs and announcements have decreased.

 

 

Hawain comedian Kermet Apio was funny, explained some of his jokes for the under 30's who were not really in attendance. The late show crowd was ready for bed instead of comedy. Good show.

 

 

I can't think of a gentle way to put this. There are a lot of old and infirm people on this cruise. I have been concerned for their safety, glad I'm not responsible for it and know some of the spouses are overwhelmed. I hope all goes well for them.

 

 

Off to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted
January 21, 2015

 

The captain announced during breakfast that we had docked in San Diego at 1:00 AM for the transfer of our unwell passenger to a waiting ambulance and on to hospital. I slept soundly through it all. The captain reported that the passenger was now in good spirits and his condition had stabilized. The decision to return to San Diego had been made in consultation with the Coast Guard and corporate medical personnel. The captain praised the work of the crew involved. It must have been a busier night than the captain had anticipated.

 

 

The captain also gave us the good news that barring unforeseen sea conditions we should reach Lahaina, our first port, as originally scheduled.

 

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Tue Jan 20 San Diego, CA 5:00pm

Wed Jan 21 At Sea

Thu Jan 22 At Sea

Fri Jan 23 At Sea

Sat Jan 24 At Sea

Sun Jan 25 At Sea

Mon Jan 26 Lahaina, Maui, HI 10:00am 11:00pm

Tue Jan 27 Honolulu, Oahu, HI 7:00am

Wed Jan 28 Honolulu, Oahu, HI 6:00pm

Thu Jan 29 Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI 8:00am 5:00pm

Fri Jan 30 Kona, Hawaii, HI 8:00am 5:00pm

Sat Jan 31 Hilo, Hawaii, HI 8:00am 5:00pm

Sun Feb 1 At Sea

Mon Feb 2 At Sea

Tue Feb 3 At Sea

Wed Feb 4 At Sea

Thu Feb 5 At Sea

Fri Feb 6 Ensenada, Mexico Noon 6:00pm

Sat Feb 7 San Diego, CA 7:00am

 

 

I forgot to stop by the Lido for a first breakfast of fresh squeezed orange juice and fruit. Second breakfast in the dining room was excellent, I will see how much of the breakfast menu I can work my way through, although eggs and bacon are hard to beat. Mrs. Whogo's team beat us by one point, we lost by four points at 11:30 trivia. Ouch! Phil and cruise director Marco have both run excellent trivia contests.

 

 

We have yet to be led directly to a table in the dining room, there is always some delay. Anyone heard of cobia? I had not either, apparently a freshwater fish, the flesh is firm and a bit bland. The accompanying snap peas were the hit of the meal. I expect to be given a beeper again tonight, our preferred dining time was not available for reservation. As You Wish has always been a poor name for the dining options, I call it As Hal Wishes.

 

 

Continuing my perfect record, we lost again at food trivia in the Mix. With staff showing up fifteen minutes late we were all treated to a drink. Nice gesture.

 

 

Delightful dinner companions after a ten minute wait for a table (no beeper) and good food. Open seating is working well for meeting a diverse group of cruisers. Rainbow trout with a corn flake coating was excellent. Still time to lose again, this time at Broadway Name That Tune with piano man Lee. Trivia and eating are the theme of this cruise. I have spent some time reading, too. Weather has been a little too cool for sitting on deck. Stairs and announcements have decreased.

 

 

Hawain comedian Kermet Apio was funny, explained some of his jokes for the under 30's who were not really in attendance. The late show crowd was ready for bed instead of comedy. Good show.

 

 

I can't think of a gentle way to put this. There are a lot of old and infirm people on this cruise. I have been concerned for their safety, glad I'm not responsible for it and know some of the spouses are overwhelmed. I hope all goes well for them.

 

 

Off to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.

 

At 54 I'm scared to death about having so many sea days and being so far away from land in case of any medical emergency. I've got to hand it to people that are in somewhat bad shape throwing caution to the wind. Thanks for the update.

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