MS Maasdam FTL to Rio, January 23-February 15, 2015

[Mtn2Sea]

Glad you made it home safely. Really enjoyed your review. Stay warm!

[rafinmd]

Thanks, Krazy Kruizers, LorGraCr, Himself, Chief, Patti, Jacqui. Aberta Quilter and Mtn2Sea.

 

The internet worked pretty well (slow of course) on the cruise, with a few periods of outage but nothing too serious. The pricing is all by the minute, I took the 1000 minutes plan for $250. It was more than I actually needed, probably about right for my 28 days on the Prinsendam.

 

Roy

 

I have enjoyed everyone of your blogs and loved the photo's too so thank you once again for giving your time to keep us up to date with your travels.

 

Please let us know when your next adventure will be so I can look out for your blogs.

 

Susan

 

Ironically, my next cruise will be the day the Maasdam returns to Ft. Lauderdale on the Grandeur of the Seas March 13. I'll report on that on the RCI forum, and at http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com.

 

Next big trip is Crystal Serenity May 4-17, followed by a Prinsendam Kiel and Celtic Collectors May 20. I've set up a new blog address for that combo:

 

https://serenitytokiel.wordpress.com/

 

Cruise Critic companion threads will be on the Crystal and HAL forums, probably with a combined thread on the "Friends of the Prinsendam" forum.

 

I'll be back to the Maasdam August 15-22 followed by St. John to Portland on the tiny Grande Caribe. That will be blogged at my standard blog site

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com with a companion thread on the HAL forum.

 

My final (I think) trip of the year will be Eastbound QM2 transatlantic followed by a return on the Allure OTS 10/9 to 11/6. I'll report on that on the Cunard and RCI forums and at http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com.

 

I'll resume my circumnavigation of the Americas in January with a little detour, NY-Southampton-Ft. Lauderdale on QM2 and Queen Victoria, fly to Buenos Aires for the Crystal Symphony BA-Antarctica-Miami. That will be reported on the Crystal and Cunard forums and at http://aroundamericabitbybit.wordpress.com

 

Roy

[RuthC]

It's been a nice ride, Roy. Thanks for taking us along for it. Sort of a shock to the system, though, to know that you're not leaving one ship to board another! Going straight home after only one cruise must feel a little strange to you, too.

 

Now, it's snowing, so go get bread & milk. It's tradition, you know.

[ski ww]

Thanks for your interesting blog. Too bad you missed carnival or have you done that before? Catch you on your next adventure.

Allan

[kazu]

glad you are home safely Roy. hope you got the fridge stocked.

 

I will happily trade you your 5" of snow for ours ;)

 

Thanks for another great live from.

 

Try to stay warm now that you are back to reality - I bet your system is in real shock now that you are back That's a big change if weather for you.:eek:

[JimAOk1945]

I enjoyed reading your review. We will be on the Maasdam next year. We have never cruised on HAL and are looking forward to the new experience we will have.

 

I have two questions. Can you tell me about As You Wish Dining? Which level of the dining room is it and would we have trouble having a table for two each night?

 

Thanks in advance for you answers

[rafinmd]

I enjoyed reading your review. We will be on the Maasdam next year. We have never cruised on HAL and are looking forward to the new experience we will have.

 

I have two questions. Can you tell me about As You Wish Dining? Which level of the dining room is it and would we have trouble having a table for two each night?

 

Thanks in advance for you answers

 

Thank you. Your question is probably better asked on the general HAL forum. Technically, everyone on HAL has As You Wish Dining. In theory if you WISH for flexible dining you will get it and if you WISH for traditional dining, but it doesn't always work that way in practice. For the second time on HAL I was assigned flexible dining while I wasted fixed. In this case I spoke with the dining room manager on embarkation and was moved to traditional.

 

My only experience with the flexible dining was 3 years ago on the Zaandam. I generally chose to join others, I think once I asked for an individual table and it didn't seem to be a problem, so it's probably ok to do it regularly. If you can you would be wise to make reservations, I doubt you would have problems at all if you did that; you MIGHT have a bit of a wait if you walked in asking for a table for 2. Just my best guess.

 

Traditional dining is on the upper level, Flexible is generally on the lower level but I think may occasionally use tables upstairs if the demand warrants it.

 

Roy

[JimAOk1945]

rafinmd,

 

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer my questions. I see now that what I need to inquire about is the flexible dining option. I think that would suit us best.

 

Happy cruising!

Edited February 19, 2015 by JimAOk1945

[buckirj1]

Welcome home, Roy. Enjoyed your blog as always.

[Himself]

Thanks for everything Roy. As I recall you will soon be sailing again but not on a HAL ship.

When are you leaving and where are you going?

[LorGraCr]

Thanks for the informative reports. Enjoyed following your trip.

 

Do you know if the dining room manager Imam? was on board with you? He is the guy that remembered everyone's name and cabin numbers as you entered the dining room. Very impressive memory skills.:)

[rafinmd]

Thanks for everything Roy. As I recall you will soon be sailing again but not on a HAL ship.

When are you leaving and where are you going?

 

Thanks for the informative reports. Enjoyed following your trip.

 

Do you know if the dining room manager Imam? was on board with you? He is the guy that remembered everyone's name and cabin numbers as you entered the dining room. Very impressive memory skills.:)

 

Thank you, Rita. LorGraCr, I did not see Imam. He might have been at the door for anytime dining, if so I would not have seen him. Bagus was listed in the Cruise Log as Dining Room Manager, and the Manager assigned to my section was Dadan.

 

Himself, I'm on a B2B on the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore March 13-31:

 

Baltimore

Port Canaveral

Coco Cay

Nassau

Key West

Baltimore

Cozumel

Grand Cayman

Falmouth Jamaica

Labadee, Hati

Baltimore

 

After that is a May 4 TA on the Crystal Serenity to Lisbon, ending with a flight to Amsterdam and 28 days on the Prinsendam, Kiel Canal & St. Petersburg on the first half and around Ireland on the second half.

 

Roy

[RuthC]

... After that is a May 4 TA on the Crystal Serenity to Lisbon, ending with a flight to Amsterdam and 28 days on the Prinsendam, Kiel Canal & St. Petersburg on the first half and around Ireland on the second half.

THAT sounds marvelous! I'm ashamed to say that I'm sort of jealous of this plan.