Live from the Volendam - please join the Merry Widows on their cruise 😊

[rafinmd]

16 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

Interesting listening to the chatter; one of the ships has had the police there, and security is removing the luggage "and the female guest".  Yikes!!!  Not sure which ship, but it certainly sounds serious.

Just hope it's Odyssey; otherwise sailaway could be delayed.

 

Roy

[ger_77]

Bon Voyage; caught you!!!

[DeeniEncinitas]

26 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

Bon Voyage; caught you!!!

🌺Aloha!

Thank you so much for the photo! Was watching the livestream and right away saw Jacqui and Rich!! Couldn’t go fast enough to take a pic! 
Love the photo!

🌺Mahalo 

Denise🙂

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Have a fantastic cruise-and please, stay in one piece! 😊

[StLouisCruisers]

I was on the phone with DD and didn't get a screenshot but was definitely watching.  Told her I must watch the Volendam sail away because my friends were on board.  Thanks for the picture.  Great shot of Jacqui @kazu and Rich @richwmn!!  

[BetsyS.]

Jacqui - Could you please say where you and Rich are in the picture? TIA

Bon Voyage! 😊🥂

[DeeniEncinitas]

3 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Jacqui - Could you please say where you and Rich are in the picture? TIA

Bon Voyage! 😊🥂

I believe it is the aft area of the Sea View pool and bar! I could be wrong but that’s a great SAILAWAY area.

🌺

Mahalo

Denise🙂

[BetsyS.]

Thank you. I was wondering where they were in the line - on the left, right, or center.

[StLouisCruisers]

4 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Thank you. I was wondering where they were in the line - on the left, right, or center.

 

On the far left of the photo was someone Jacqui met on the ship, Jacqui's friend Debbie, then Jacqui with shorter hair and a skirt on, and then Rich is standing next to Jacqui.  He's the tallest person in the pic with the dark shirt and long beard.  Excuse me for butting in!

[POA1]

19 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Thank you. I was wondering where they were in the line - on the left, right, or center.

Rich tells you in his 134 Days thread. It's near the end of the current posts. He was near the aft pool, but moved. I wound up a photo of some random people when I snapped the back of the ship.

[ellbelle]

@kazu I made note of Riverside Hotel you happened to mention in a thread a while ago and after reading reviews we ditched our pay with points hotel and rebooked Riverside for 2 nights before our cruise last year. We were extremely happy with the location and nearby restaurants, easy Uber to Publix for last minute supplies, we plan to stay again next year. Thank you!

 

P.S. Hope your foot is on the mend!

[canadianbear]

13 minutes ago, ellbelle said:

@kazu I made note of Riverside Hotel you happened to mention in a thread a while ago and after reading reviews we ditched our pay with points hotel and rebooked Riverside for 2 nights before our cruise last year. We were extremely happy with the location and nearby restaurants, easy Uber to Publix for last minute supplies, we plan to stay again next year. Thank you!

 

P.S. Hope your foot is on the mend!

We always stay at the Riverside when cruising out of Fort Lauderdale.  Love the location.  Close to restaurants, water taxi stop, Starbucks, a pastry store right across the street and more.  We try to go a few days early as I enjoy their pool as well with bar service right there.  We were there one year just before Christmas and they had Las Olas Blvd closed for vehicle traffic for several blocks with Christmas market & entertainment right near the hotel. Was so nice walking there with no traffic. 

[BetsyS.]

Thanks for the reply! It's a great picture! 😊🥂

[kazu]

16 hours ago, ger_77 said:

Bon Voyage; caught you!!!

 

Thanks so much Gerry.

Sorry, behind - couldn’t post on CC  yesterday.  Multi quote and quote and reply wouldn’t work.  Hopefully today it is ok and I can catch up 🤞 

 

Nice sail away - delayed only by loading so very many supplies so I guess the ship should be well stocked.

 

[kazu]

18 hours ago, POA1 said:

@kazu

 

In the interest of being thorough, we stopped by the Boathouse restaurant behind the Riverside. They do a similar happy hour to the one at the Golden Lyon. No spinach and artichoke dip, nor the really good homemade tortilla chips. The overall menu is similar, and probably a little more extensive.

 

It's a quieter location on the New River behind the hotel. You'll miss out on the people-watching on Las Olas though.

 

The major finding is that the drinks were quite a bit more generous. (To make sure that the first one was not a fluke, we repeated the experiment a few times.)

 

Thanks Brian for your never ending research.  I’ll keep that in mind for next year.  That spinach and artichoke dip was so good though 🙂 

 

 

16 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Bon Voyage, Jacqui & Debbie!

 

Jacqui, please tell me you packed the bubble wrap!

 

Nope -  no bubble wrap.  I came home fine last time. Don’t hold a one off against me 😉. I have my walking sticks to help my foot.  Work pretty good.

[kazu]

we had a lovely view from our balcony at Riverside.

 

 

 

[1of4]

12 minutes ago, kazu said:

we had a lovely view from our balcony at Riverside.

 

 

 

I know I’m not up to date on this board but you changed hotels!

[shippmates]

Bon Voyage.  Hope you have a great time.  Looking forward to your review as I am on the Volendam for 42 days in November.

[seayourself]

I will be on Volendam  May 25- June 8th for my daughter's high school graduation trip! look forward to your review! 

[BetsyS.]

Jacqui - Good luck in the casino and at bingo!! 😊

[POA1]

15 hours ago, ellbelle said:

We were extremely happy with the location and nearby restaurants, easy Uber to Publix for last minute supplies, we plan to stay again next year. Thank you!

 

There is a downtown Publix on Andrews Avenue about a 0.6 miles/ 1 km walk away from the Riverside.  It didn't show up when @kazu did her search, so keep it mind.  (The short walking route is along the riverfront and through the park at Huizenga Plaza.  It's about 1 mile / 1.2 km by car.)

[kazu]

19 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

There is a downtown Publix on Andrews Avenue about a 0.6 miles/ 1 km walk away from the Riverside.  It didn't show up when @kazu did her search, so keep it mind.  (The short walking route is along the riverfront and through the park at Huizenga Plaza.  It's about 1 mile / 1.2 km by car.)

 

There’s also a drug storeand wine store in the same mall about 4blocks away.  Hotel told us about it and it didn’t show up on my research either.

[kazu]

34 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Jacqui - Good luck in the casino and at bingo!! 😊

 

Thanks Bino conflicts today with Mariner’s reception, Mert and Greet/wine tasting so I guess bingo will be tomorrow.  ‘Sigh’.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

I know I’m not up to date on this board but you changed hotels!

 

Yes ES has gone downhill from reviews and reports.  Riverside Las Olas is really nice.  Got a corner balcony room with lovely. Views of the boats and canal.  Breakfast is not included but it is very reasonable and well done.

Spanish omelette from yesterday with avocado, etc.  sans jalapeños for me

 

 

 

 

Bagel & lox for Deb and delicious coffee

 

[canadianbear]

@kazu

 I am so glad you enjoyed staying at the Riverside hotel-it has been our go to when we cruise from Ft Lauderdale.  The front desk staff are wonderful-when our flight got cancelled in November & we had booked 3 nights but didn’t get there so stayed only 2, they didn’t charge us for the night we missed.  Not sure if it’s because we’ve stayed there several times in the past or if it’s just their great customer service.