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Hopefully "Live" Zuiderdam Panama Canal 2015

Mtn2Sea

By Mtn2Sea,
in Holland America Line

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1ANGELCAT

1ANGELCAT

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Question? I see lounge chairs along the beach. Can anyone lounge there or are those reserved. We will be on the Nieuw in 2 1/2 weeks on a 14 day. Tried to order clamshells almost a year ago and we're wait listed still.

 

Thanks to anyone who can answer.

 

PS love the photos!

 

 

The lounge chairs are free. 1st come , 1st choice. Enjoy your cruise and congrats on becoming 4Star. Love the free laundry and the 50 percent disc for the PG, Tamarind, Canaletto.

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Mtn2Sea

Mtn2Sea

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This evening has proven to be quite interesting. We've been in open seating for dinner on numerous cruises and generally don't have a problem in getting a table for two if we get to the dining room prior to 6:00 PM. Tonight we arrived around 5:45 and found a line waiting to get a table assignment. Several couples ahead of us agreed to a shared table after being told a table for two was not available. We were initially told only shared tables were available; however, while we were talking the dining manager was informed that a table for two was available upstairs in the fixed dining room because a couple was dining elsewhere. We readily agreed to walk the stairs to the other dining room. We again received excellent service from the dining room steward. Here's tonight's menu.

 

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I chose the salmon from the everyday menu and DW chose the pot roast. They were both very good. I had the rum cake for dessert.

 

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After dinner we returned to the cabin for a short time and left in time to get a good seat in the showroom. Our cabin is near the aft section of the ship on deck 5. We walked to the midship elevators and got on one of the outside elevators to go to deck 2. The elevator took us to deck 2, but the doors would not open. Fortunately, a sign on the wall tells you to use the phone to call if a problem arises with the elevator's operation. While we waited 5-10 minutes inside the elevator, we watched passenger after passenger head towards the showroom - so much for getting there early. We saw a technician look our way as he was climbing the stairs. Shortly thereafter, we could hear noise above us and then the doors opened. We shouted our thanks and headed for the showroom.

 

When we got to the lower level of the showroom, we quickly realized we weren't going to find a seat. We made the decision to go to the upper level and, as the previous night, found seats on the very back row. Tonight's show was a comedy performance by Carl Guerra. He did an excellent job of keeping us entertained. He ended the show by bringing three audience members up on the stage for a little performance - a great ending to the show. Here's a photo of the group in the middle of their "play".

 

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Until later.

 

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snonomo

snonomo

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I am going to be hanging on your every word.

As I said, it will be our first cruise.....and it is the same as the one you are on, on the same ship, leaving March 6....except ours is only 10 days, so we will not be stopping in Cartagena.

But I am so excited to get this 'preview'.

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Mtn2Sea

Mtn2Sea

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I am going to be hanging on your every word.

As I said, it will be our first cruise.....and it is the same as the one you are on, on the same ship, leaving March 6....except ours is only 10 days, so we will not be stopping in Cartagena.

But I am so excited to get this 'preview'.

 

Thanks for following along. If you have any questions I may be able to answer, just let me know.

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Mtn2Sea

Mtn2Sea

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Great review and wonderful pictures...we've had snow and ice here..and under another winter weather advisory...so am enjoying these pictures:):):)

 

Your post reminded me of someone's comment made on HMC yesterday. A woman stated she had called her mother in Wisconsin, who commented on the cold conditions. Our fellow passenger responded by saying, "I hate to tell you, but there's over 100 degrees difference between your weather and mine." Sounds like it's time to plan a cruise!

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natski

natski

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Awsome Job you helped very much for us to get even more excited for our upcoming Hal cruise (#4)

I really liked the scanner idea that would be new to us and sounds like it works well

Thanks again for your report well done , have a wonderful time hope to see more once you are back and or we are back lol

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Skoogs

Skoogs

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Your post reminded me of someone's comment made on HMC yesterday. A woman stated she had called her mother in Wisconsin, who commented on the cold conditions. Our fellow passenger responded by saying, "I hate to tell you, but there's over 100 degrees difference between your weather and mine." Sounds like it's time to plan a cruise!

I'm in Wisconsin, and it's cold, real cold. :(

 

I love the Zudi, my DW and i have taking the Partial Panama (10 day) 3 years in a row, great time, every time. Thanks for you reports and enjoy!

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Mtn2Sea

Mtn2Sea

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Our Meet and Greet this morning was a great success, even though only five of us showed up. We were actually outnumbered by ship officers. At first, I thought it was a little awkward having so few CC members present, but once the conversation started, we had a great time.

 

I don't remember all the positions present, but we had the captain, hotel director, culinary manager, guest services director and at least two others. Our captain, Michiel Willems, is 42 years old (which seems so young to us roll call members). The captain is very personable and answered numerous questions. For example, we learned HAL's new ship that is scheduled to be launched next year is too big for the Panama Canal, so it'll have to wait until the new canal is finished before it can transit through Panama. We also learned a second Pinnacle class ship is scheduled for 2018, which means more smaller ships will be gone from the fleet. HAL has 15 ships and 30 captains. They are on a ship for three months and then off for three.

 

The captain also discussed the Zuiderdam's upcoming dry dock in Palermo that will last two weeks. The first major "upgrade" will be addition of cabins near the Crow's Nest. Another major upgrade will be the addition of scrubbers in the exhaust system. The other improvements will be replacing carpets, etc.

 

On a more personal note, we learned our captain at one time had been saving money to buy a sailboat, but when he got enough money to buy a boat, he decided to buy a house instead. (As a former sailboat owner, I can tell you we have a very smart captain!) Although originally from the Netherlands, our captain now calls Romania home, where he and his wife are renovating a house in the countryside. I think all attendees were very impressed with our captain, even though he's so young.

 

One of the strangest things that occurred at the meeting was, after one person mentioned her first cruise was on the old Rotterdam, CC member Iowaboy began telling about his first ship, which sailed from Montreal to Rotterdam. That caught DW's attention because, when she was 17, she had the opportunity to be a summer exchange student with the American Field Service and had traveled to Europe in a converted German warship named the Seven Seas from Montreal to Rotterdam. DW began asking questions and, lo and behold, she and Iowaboy had been on the same voyage to Europe over 50 years ago! Needless to say, they both excitedly shared stories from their experience as exchange students. Today was the first time DW has accidentally met up with one of the 750 students that went across the Atlantic all those years ago.

 

Special thanks goes to Phyllis (Kenphy) for organizing our Meet and Greet. Although the group was small (our last M&G had over 100 attendees), this by far was the best M&G we've attended. The conversation with the captain was so informative and the opportunity to have such a small group meet with the captain and his crew in an informal setting will always be a highlight in our cruising memory. Of course, DW will always remember meeting her fellow exchange student Gary (Iowaboy).

 

After we finished talking with Gary, DW and I went to the Exploration's Lounge to check out the library. This is the first time we've been on a Vista ship where the Exploration's Lounge has been relocated to the Crow's Nest area. Personally, I like the old area. After checking out some books, we went to lunch in the main dining room. We both had the veal dish, which was very tasty. Here's today's lunch menu.

 

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Time to get back to my library book. Until later.

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ger_77

ger_77

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Enjoy your last days as a 3* Mariner! We were on the sailing before yours and thoroughly enjoyed our time onboard the Zuiderdam. If either you or your DW like chocolate, you have to try the Chocolate Brownie Stack for dessert at dinner. Seriously, I saved all my calories from daytime (ate salads and protein during the day) to indulge in dessert - oh my, I can still taste it!

 

What do you think of CD Hamish - woo hoo! ? We found him to be a little lackluster compared to Mario Vines who was our CD on the Nieuw Amsterdam for our T/A. The BB King Blues Club has some wonderful music every night - just a suggestion.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Edited by ger_77
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Mtn2Sea

Mtn2Sea

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Did anyone comment on the glass bottom boat tour at Half moon Cay? I wanted to book it for our friend but most of the reviews are so negative.

 

Or has anyone else 'tuned in' here gone on it recently?

 

Sorry, I didn't talk to anyone who went on the boat, but I suspect the negative reviews are pretty accurate since you need some good reefs to make such a tour good and I don't think HMC has much going In the reef department.

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