Experiences on our 40 day Maasdam cruise which started Oct 7, 2019

[HokiePoq]

Thanks, Ken, for journaling our cruise.   I agree with your evaluations.  I too enjoyed the four star laundry...first time for us.  I have complimented the laundry staff several times in feedback.    The food exceeded my expectations.   The Lido outdid itself on our last sea day with a seafood lunch complete with jumbo shrimp, lobster, and crab legs.  And a bowl of fresh strawberries from Tasmania.  Tasmania was so green in comparison to the rest of Australia.   I pray that the mainland gets rain very soon and the fires are extinguished.  

Thanks again, Ken.

[Floridiana]

On 10/9/2019 at 7:39 PM, Etta1213 said:

KEN THE CRUISER - I'm interested in your comment about small portion sizes. 

 

I thought the portion sizes of the main dish were often too large on our recent Koningsdam cruise. I often took  a half portion. portion.  

[Floridiana]

On 11/7/2019 at 11:40 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Also, don’t know if this role splitting is isolated to the Maasdam cruise we’re currently on or if it’s occurring fleet wide. I guess only time will tell. 

 

The cruise director of the Koningsdam will join the Maasdam in Sydney in 2 weeks as the new CD. He left the Koningsdam in Fort Lauderdale 2 days ago. He is excellent.

[Ken the cruiser]

23 minutes ago, Floridiana said:

 

The cruise director of the Koningsdam will join the Maasdam in Sydney in 2 weeks as the new CD. He left the Koningsdam in Fort Lauderdale 2 days ago. He is excellent.

Wow! That was quick. We definitely weren’t impressed with our new CD, Warren, that got on the ship in Perth, but I guess he wasn’t impressing a lot of other folks either. 

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re just arriving in Sydney at 6:10 am and the Opera House is looking pretty!

[Ken the cruiser]

One final last tidbit if you like aft-facing cabins. There are only 2 Vista Suites, 205 and 220, on the Maasdam and their balconies have 270 degree views. Just in case you didn’t know. Happy sailing!!!

 

[bcummin]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your In-Depth Voyage, Ken.

Thank you for bringing us all along.

Safe travels home !

Barbara

[Sidney24]

17 hours ago, Floridiana said:

 

The cruise director of the Koningsdam will join the Maasdam in Sydney in 2 weeks as the new CD. He left the Koningsdam in Fort Lauderdale 2 days ago. He is excellent.

Good to hear that the CD joining Maasdam is excellent however must admit confused as to earlier comment that both CD and deputy CD report directly to newly created position of Production mgr.

Any update on this appreciated

[cat shepard]

Ken, thank you for this thread! You have provided a wealth of info & planted the seed for me to do a similar trip sometime in the future. I admire your dedication to posting!

[TiogaCruiser]

Thank you for taking us along. Like Cat, I think your thread is costing me a cruise Down Under. 😁

[ScottishMaid]

Thank you. This has been great and encouraging news for our January trip on the Maasdam.

[darstamp]

On 10/9/2019 at 6:43 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

I forgot to mention the underlying feeling we are also experiencing on the Maasdam is that of the days BEFORE the Lincoln Stage, Billboard, BB King, Peter Maxx, BBC Earth and all of the other vendor-sponsored venues invaded the larger HAL ships. 
 

Now, this is just us, but since the Maasdam pretty much stays in the Pacific and Alaska, we would love it if HAL would implement an “Old World” in-depth EXC program on one of their other smaller ships, such as the Amsterdam, and offer this platform on Baltic and Mediterranean-based cruises as enrichment lectures covering the ancient civilizations would be really cool!

Are you saying that the Maasdam doesn't have the Lincoln Stage, or any of the other offerings?  We are planning a trip to Baja next year and I was looking forward to them, especially the Lincoln Stage which I loved on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by darstamp
typo

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, darstamp said:

Are you saying that the Maasdam doesn't have the Lincoln Stage, or any of the other offerings?  We are planning a trip to Baja next year and I was looking forward to them, especially the Lincoln Stage which I loved on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

They have a piano and violin duet playing pretty much every night in the Explorers Lounge. They also have a piano player in the Ocean Bar and the Mix every night. But there is not a music walk on the Maasdam like there is on most of the other HAL ships and from what we read, I don’t believe HAL has any plans to create one on the Maasdam, which is now the oldest ship in their fleet.

[darstamp]

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

They have a piano and violin duet playing pretty much every night in the Explorers Lounge. They also have a piano player in the Ocean Bar and the Mix every night. But there is not a music walk on the Maasdam like there is on most of the other HAL ships and from what we read, I don’t believe HAL has any plans to create one on the Maasdam, which is now the oldest ship in their fleet.

I'm really sorry to hear that.  Is there any dancing?  disco?  if not, not sure my group would want to go.

[Ken the cruiser]

Remember, the Maasdam has been redesigned as an expedition-like ship offering 4-5 in-depth EXC lectures on sea days and zodiac tours when they’re in ports that make sense to offer them. If you want to take a HAL cruise that offers all of the Music Walk type venues, you may want to steer clear of the Maasdam. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Enjoying reading all the tid bits you are giving us on the Maasdam.  It has been quite a while since we sailed on her.

[Sidney24]

On 11/17/2019 at 7:22 AM, darstamp said:

I'm really sorry to hear that.  Is there any dancing?  disco?  if not, not sure my group would want to go.

The itineraries of the Maasdam are great HOWEVER its a holiday and I agree we do not need to many lectures. Many go to the same places often and therefore lectures are of little interest to them. At least its good to see HA trying something different although I cannot see it lasting long.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Sidney24 said:

The itineraries of the Maasdam are great HOWEVER its a holiday and I agree we do not need to many lectures. Many go to the same places often and therefore lectures are of little interest to them. At least its good to see HA trying something different although I cannot see it lasting long.

Maybe, but my guess is since HAL spent close to $100K on each of their 10 outboard diesel powered zodiacs plus all the other funds to make it expedition-like, they're probably going to continue to focus on their in-depth EXC programming on the Maasdam year round, regardless of the season, until they sell it.

 

Remember, there is nothing for children to do on the ship anymore as they have removed Club HAL. But with HAL it's hard to tell what they're going to do next.

[HokiePoq]

On 11/16/2019 at 3:22 PM, darstamp said:

I'm really sorry to hear that.  Is there any dancing?  disco?  if not, not sure my group would want to go.

Yes, there is dancing in the Ocean Bar.  There is a quartet that plays nightly there. They are quite good.    Several danced each night...but seas were rough which probably limited the numbers.    More current music and dancing in Crow's Nest with a DJ each night at 10:30.  We did not make it there at that time to report.   

Edited November 18, 2019 by HokiePoq

[HokiePoq]

On 11/15/2019 at 1:40 PM, Floridiana said:

 

The cruise director of the Koningsdam will join the Maasdam in Sydney in 2 weeks as the new CD. He left the Koningsdam in Fort Lauderdale 2 days ago. He is excellent.

Very interesting.  Warren only joined the Maasdam over half way through the thirty day cruise...at Perth.   We were told he'd come on in Darwin but had trouble with his visa, apparently, and didn't come on until Perth.   Kay was both travel expert and CD for most of the cruise.   When I submitted a scheduling suggestion through feedback on Navigator, I was told that Seattle determined these things.  Kay did an admirable job filling both positions for the majority of the cruise.   Some of the information in the travel talks was incorrect but she was well received. with SRO at her presentations.   Warren must have been only an interim appointment as I can't imagine he'd be removed in such a short time.....unless it's his visa that's the issue.

[Ken the cruiser]

I was revisiting some of our "happy times" cruising with HAL up until 2019 and came across my very first "Live From" thread that covered this amazing In Depth EXC cruise on the Maasdam visiting a few New Caledonia Islands before going on an awesome 30-day circumnavigation of Australia!

 

Unfortunately, we have not cruised with HAL since then, but have had some awesome experiences with Celebrity, Princess and NCL, and thought I'd extend an invitation to anyone interested to tag along on my Live From thread of our upcoming 17-day Japan circumnavigation cruise on the Diamond Princess.

 

For those interested I also have some recent Live From threads in my expanded signature below, with the NCL 38-day B2B cruise from Athens to Cape Town by way of Dubai last Fall being one of our most awesome cruising experiences we've encountered since our Australia circumnavigation cruise on the Maasdam!