Anniversary planning on the Westerdam

[celticGreen81]

On the Westerdam in early September for a 7-night cruise to Alaska. First cruise as an adult, and 2nd cruise overall.

 

What sort of things have y'all done on your cruises to celebrate?

 

It's our first wedding anniversary. I have wine, flowers, and such for embarkment day. We have specialty dining a few nights, and at Pinnacle for our actual anniversary.

 

I'm planning a couples massage and hydropool access.

 

Are there obvious things I'm missing, that a more seasoned HAL cruiser would plan?

 

Appreciate your thoughts & time!

[Torquer]

If you and your spouse aren't embarrassed by it, be sure to let the dining room manager know about the day of your anniversary.  For desert, they will make you a nice little cake and a group of waiters will bring it to your table and sing you a festive song.  BTW, does anyone know the words to the song and what it translates to in English?

 

We always stay in a suite, and my wife tells the Neptune lounge concierge about birthdays and anniversaries.  They usually do something like putting signs and/or balloons on our room door, and one time we got complimentary flowers.  Don't know if non-suite guest relations would do something like that if you are not in a suite, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

[tuolumne couple]

Happy Anniversary! Let your travel agent know and assign a wedding anniversary date to your itinerary and you will likely get an anniversary note from the Captain. It is a special keepsake.  

[USN59-79]

Coincidentally, we are also celebrating our anniversary on our next cruise on the Westerdam; for us it is number 60.  I hadn't thought about letting the TA know, but will let the Pinnacle Grill manager know.  The anniversary is three days after we board when the ship will be at Nagasaki.  We were married in Taipei and have friends and relatives there, so plan to fly on EVA from Seattle to Yokohama with about a week stopover in Taipei.  We are looking forward to this, but realize that it all depends on how the pandemic affects cruise ship stops in Japan this coming Spring.

Ray

[StLouisCruisers]

Here are the words to the birthday song.

 

Panjang umurnya

Birthday Song

(Bahasa Indonesia)

Panjang umurnya
Panjang umurnya
Panjang umurnya
Serta mulia
Serta mulia
Serta mulia

[tuolumne couple]

1 hour ago, USN59-79 said:

Coincidentally, we are also celebrating our anniversary on our next cruise on the Westerdam; for us it is number 60. 

congrats on your 60 years! Wonderful!

 

[USN59-79]

4 hours ago, tuolumne couple said:

congrats on your 60 years! Wonderful!

 

Thank you.  I married my Chinese teacher while stationed there.  This was when interracial marriages were illegal in many states.  We were forced to get counseling from the Navy Chaplain who commented "You know, marriages like this don't last very long..."  The Navy Legal officer mentioned the illegality of such marriages in certain states, but said he would make sure that I wasn't transferred to such a state when we left Taiwan and a year later the Supreme Court overturned those laws.

[Btimmer]

We celebrated our 50th on the Maasdam in 2018 off the coast of Ecuador with a dinner in the Pinnacle cooked by an Ecuadorian guest chef.  My wife still fit in her wedding dress and we have a nice picture of him and us as a memento.  Just let the staff know it's your anniversary and wonderful things will happen.

[tuolumne couple]

9 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

Thank you.  I married my Chinese teacher while stationed there.  This was when interracial marriages were illegal in many states.  We were forced to get counseling from the Navy Chaplain who commented "You know, marriages like this don't last very long..."  The Navy Legal officer mentioned the illegality of such marriages in certain states, but said he would make sure that I wasn't transferred to such a state when we left Taiwan and a year later the Supreme Court overturned those laws.

so happy you had and have the support and love of each other and had support when little was found during that time. so happy for you both! congratulations once again!

[tuolumne couple]

9 hours ago, Btimmer said:

We celebrated our 50th on the Maasdam in 2018 off the coast of Ecuador with a dinner in the Pinnacle cooked by an Ecuadorian guest chef.  My wife still fit in her wedding dress and we have a nice picture of him and us as a memento.  Just let the staff know it's your anniversary and wonderful things will happen.

what a great story. yes, an anniversary makes for a magical time for sure. Your 55th is coming up next year. any plans?

[Btimmer]

1 hour ago, tuolumne couple said:

what a great story. yes, an anniversary makes for a magical time for sure. Your 55th is coming up next year. any plans?

Nothing planned yet.  We might be motorcycling in Europe.

[kacurl]

We were on the eurodam to Tahiti for our 40th and the kids surprised us with a vow renewal package. It was so unexpected and wonderful. There were 2 other couples and we said our vows last as we had been married the longest.  There were hors d'oeuvres,, champagne, even our own individual cakes.  Of course I cried reciting my vows, just as I did 40 years before!

[sailingdutchy]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:10 PM, Torquer said:

 @Torquer  festive song.  BTW, does anyone know the words to the song and what it translates to in English?

 

To add a little more history about the celebration song  @StLouisCruisers  the tune and meaning of this song are from the original Dutch song  " Lang zal ze leven  "  ( Long may she or he live ...)  and because Indonesia was once called the Dutch Indies  (1816 - 1948 )  the people in Indonesia have taken over this tune and set it to words in Bahasa .

So I always sing it together with the crew but than in Dutch and add at the end of the song  : " hip , hip, Hoera !  3x "........

 

Tony 

 

[tuolumne couple]

33 minutes ago, kacurl said:

We were on the eurodam to Tahiti for our 40th and the kids surprised us with a vow renewal package. It was so unexpected and wonderful. There were 2 other couples and we said our vows last as we had been married the longest.  There were hors d'oeuvres,, champagne, even our own individual cakes.  Of course I cried reciting my vows, just as I did 40 years before!

how sweet and how fun! I so want to renew on board. will have to look in to that. we just got back from a tahiti trip three months ago, we were blown away!

[celticGreen81]

Just wanted to circle back and thank y'all for the ideas and memories. I appreciate it!