The LAFFNVEGAS LIVE From the Statendam Panama Canal Cruise

[Sea King]

Lisa is SO qualified to be a Cruise Consultant. She has the interest, enthusiasm and knowledge of the ships. I believe she'll do it some day when the time is right. Colleen

 

is there an 800# available to call in your votes:D

[Susie51]

Lisa, I'm glad the PC was just as you anticipated. Thank you for sharing your day with us. The video of the canal was fantastic! I hope I can do it again sometime.

[benchmarklearning]

Hi Lisa,

 

Congratulations on a great cruise so far...enjoying your daily updates.

 

2 quick questions:

 

We too are thermal suite addicts. Does the Statendam have the hydrotherapy pool? I don't see it on the deck plans.

 

We are looking at doing a B2B in Alaska in June (prices are phenomenal). Would we get too bored doing the same itinerary up and back. We are "ship people" and don't do many excursions. Port days are great thermal suite and exporations cafe days.

 

Thanks...now back to enjoying your cruise!

[catl331]

Lisa: please ask you friendly captain why they veered so much after the Centennial Bridge? It seemed unusual. I never saw another ship have tugboats sailing with them.

 

PANAMA BUNS: Just a tradition--part of the crossing--like Champagne on New Years Eve. Also like the Dutch Pea Soup on an Alaskan cruise. Ya just do it!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thursday Afternoon April 23rd, 2009

 

Good Afternoon from the Pacific somewhere off the coast of Costa Rrrrica.

 

We gain yet another hour of sleep last night and for the life of me cannot figure out why we changed so early. We are now in Mountain Time and only an hour ahead of West Coast time. I know that this is the same time zone as Cabo and all the many times we have done the Mexican Riviera Puerta Vallarta is actually in Central time but the Oosterdam does not change the time and the ships time is always an hour behind. I also remember when we cruised to Acapulco on the Zaandam that Acapulco was the same time as Puerta Vallarta meaning that they were Central time as well. I actually did not think we would change our time again till after Acapulco.

 

I spent the whole morning lounging in the Thermal Suite, I have now met a few ladies that also have a pass that I have been chatting with. So we have been discussing some of the gossip on the ship. I guess there are no passengers under the age of 18 but there is one baby on board that belongs to one of the Officers and his wife and baby are on board.

 

Oh as I mentioned earlier about the Thermal Suite that there was no Aroma Therapy Scents in the misters in the shower and that at least one of the Steam Rooms should also have aroma therapy. So as I checked out today to get my cabin card back the Spa Manager was at the desk so I mentioned to him that there still was no Aroma Therapy Mist in the Thermal Suite. His reply was well I checked it and it has been full. I replied well it has no scent then. He then said "oh well some times they do get clogged up, you should have said something" I told him I did the first day that "He" was conducting a tour while I was trying to relax. He did not reply to that. Then I mentioned that normally that one of the steam rooms in the Thermal Suite also has Aroma Therapy. His answer was a totally new one for me, he said "That the Steam Room Aroma Therapy is connected to the Aroma Therapy in the showers and if that Aroma Therapy is clogged then it also would not work in the Steam Rooms." OK I did not know that. Odd I have been going to the Green House Spa Thermal Suites quite a bit and never once experienced that. Plus usually if thereis a scent in one of the Steam Rooms it is not the same as in the shower misters. So we will see how soon this get corrected ;)

 

No mention of a Black and White Ball but they are having Prom Night tonight. At 10:00 PM in the Crow's Nest there is to be great music, dancing and lots of surprises so I think we will go to check that out this evening. So we will probably go to the Variety Show with the very funny Benji Hill and then the piano player Antonio Salci. I happened to know that next week one of the perfomers is a long time Las Vegas entertainer named Clint Holmes who performed/sung for years at Harrahs and oddly we have never seen him perform so guess we have to go on a cruise to see a local Las Vegas entertainer.

 

Captain just did his Noon time report, I missed what he said the air temp was but the sea temp is 86 degrees which is quite warm, between 3 and 5 today we will be doing our Scenic Cruising in the Golfo Dulce of Costa Rica and we should be seeing lot of Sea Turtles.

 

Tom just left to go up to the Lido fo a lunch, I think he was waiting for me. I am still sitting around in my bathing suit and have not showered and gotten ready for the day. Part of me is thinking about going out by the Aft Pool for a while to read before getting ready. I may actually wait till a bit later to shower and do my hair for when I get ready for Formal Night. I did stop to get a Caramello Iced Coffee drink on my way back to the cabin maybe that will hold me over till dinner.

 

Today's drink of the day is a hand Shaken Margarita I might have to have one of those a bit later by the aft pool.

 

Note to Dana aka Wilsonzoo, I know you asked about booking the Oosterdam in Vancouver, I have not had a chance to ask Leslie the Cruise Consultant about that and I will still do so. But I have a feeling it is not for the public but rather for Althletes and or officials of the Olympics.

 

I guess I will sign off so I can post this and start in on a new book. I just finished reading Janet Evanovich's newest "Plum Spooky" one of her between the numers novels. It was truly a laugh out loud book and if you have read the Stephanie Plum series it is definitely a very good one. :D

 

Signing off from the Beautiful and Elegant MS Statendam.

[themerle]

Can't wait to hear about what you see this afternoon cruising in the Golfo Dulce! Hope you enjoy this evening!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I will try to quickly answer just a few questions...

Christine have not yet had a plain Mojito on the ship but did have that Coco Blue Mojito the other night. Then about the Panama Buns. They are nothing that I would rave about, they are OK. I had two of them ;) They are a small roll with powdered surgar on the outside and a bit hollow in the inside that have just a tiny bit of manderin orange in a slight creme.

benchmarklearning you ask about the Thermal Suite Hydrotherapy Pool on the S and R Class ships it is just a small round jacuzzi in the same room with the heated ceramic beds. There are only 5 beds and only 2 steam rooms one tiny on and one that is larger. The jacuzzi probably seats 4 people at best and has absolutely no power in the jets. It is just hot an feels good. They claim in the tour that it is filled with minerial water:rolleyes: That I would like to see proof of.

Thanks to all of you that think I would make a good Future Cruise Consultant :D Yes I really do want to do this and maybe I just need to get my act together and do that video and get it sent in. I should have done it 3 years ago when there was a special HAL employee that was pushing me to do it. Even though they are not really hiring now I should just apply and keep bugging them.

Oh Chivalrygirl Val, you crack me up :D I know you will have such a good time with your son in DC, yes when you get back home we will have to have a chat on skype :)

[Himself]

Lisa:

 

Now you and Tom can say of going through the Panama Canal: Been there and done that!

[RevNeal]

I've greatly enjoyed reading through this thread to "catch up." And, I'm very happy to read that, after a less-than-stellar beginning to your cruise, things appear to be shaping up aboard the Statendam. And, most especially, I'm glad you had a great passage through the canal! It is, indeed, an incredible piece of engineering and a "must" experinece for all seasoned cruisers.

 

I'm looking forward to following you on the rest of your cruise as my mother and I prepare for the Ryndam and the Amsterdam in just two weeks time.

 

My best to Tom!

[gordons4]

Hi Lisa,

 

You probably missed my questions from a few pages back--my post got lost in the deluge of posts about somebody taking the battery out of the fire alarm.

 

Anyway, I contacted HAL and had one question answered (about possible repositioning cruises before/after the Olympics).

 

But my other question is about the thermal suite. We LOVED it on our Alaska cruise, but it didn't sound like it would have the same appeal on a hot, humid cruise. It definitely sounds like you're using it a lot. Could you please comment on how it compares to using it during an Alaska cruise?

 

(Okay, that all sounds real lame, but I hope you know what I mean.)

 

Thanks,

Sheri

[susanl9532]

Hi Lisa,

 

I also am thoroughly enjoying your posts. Just wanted to mention that I saw Clint Holmes in Las Vegas several times and really enjoyed his show. If you go please let us know how it was and whether or not he will be performing on any other ships in the future. I might book a cruise just to see him!

 

thanks, Susan

[pipedreams62]

[SakeDad]

Hi Lisa (and Tom)

So glad to hear you're enjoying the cruise. And we both know if you're meant to work on the ship it will happen.:D

If you go see Clint and get to talk to him you can tell him "hello from Stage Manager Nathan" We did several things with him here in Vegas and I think I told you he was my FIRST guest entertainer on the Eurodam. At the time I thought it was a sign I was meant to be there! He's a fabulous singer and storyteller. His wife, Kelly, also sings and is gorgeous and sweet. Don't know if Bill Fayne, his musical director, will be there or not but I'm friends with all of them. Go see him, you won't regret it. Can't wait to hear all about it in person.

[dmrcruise]

Lisa

Sorry to hear so many things are a problem on the cruise. Has there been any noro?

[reefisher]

Maybe this will clear things up. Most of the countries in the middle latitudes do not change to daylight savings. It would not do them any good. So when you go down to Central America and the Caribbean the time can be confusing.

 

To simply explain it:

 

Miami GMT-5hrs and they have DST

Aruba GMT- 6hrs and they do not have DST, so they are the same time as Miami when Miami is in DST

Panama GMT -5 hrs and they do not have DST (EST)

Costa Rica GMT- 6 Hrs and they do not have DST(CST)

Central Mexico Puerto Vallarta and places east GMT -6 hrs they DO have DST (Cetral daylight savings time)

Cabo San Lucas GMT -7hrs GMT They have DST (Mountain Daylight Savings)

San Diego GMT - 8hrs They have DST (same as LV) (Pacific Daylight Saving)

 

BTW thanks for the 4/3/09

Statendam Panama Canal, San Diego Capture of the wave, even though there were only four of us. And thanks for the web cam capture through the CANAL. Much appreciated, Thanks again.

 

Jim/San Diego

[reefisher]

Aruba GMT- 4hrs no DST , they are ahead of our EST, but the same as Miami during DST.

[reefisher]

Aruba GMT- 4hrs no DST , they are ahead of our EST, but the same as Miami during DST.

[Northshorecruisers]

Thanks Lisa for writing. It's great that you are having a great time. Having sailed with you I'm sure you could have a great time in a canoe.

 

I have not checked CC in about 36 hours so I'm a few pages behind. I'll get caught up this weekend.

 

One thing that struck me is how people have said that the FCC needs travel agent background. Lisa - don't know if you purchased future cruise deposits on our October 2008 cruise - but I didn't think the person really knew much. When we said we wanted to book Jan 2010 on the Oosterdam, she asked what area of South America we were most interested in. When I said that I had it on some very good sources that the Oosterdam would be back doing the MR at that time - she seemed very puzzled. So - we just bought open reservations and waited for HAL to release the trips.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thursday April 23rd, 2009

 

Good Evening from the MS Statendam,

It is our 2nd formal night and our 7th evening on the ship, for almost every cruise this would have been our very last night since we normally only do 7 day cruises. I will definitely say that a 14 day cruise has a totally different feel than a 7 day cruise and a different feel than when you are doing a B2B. While it is fun to do the turn around day and the last night is nice knowing you are not getting off, this has an altogether different feel. I feel quite fortunate that we are able to get the chance to experience this before I do return back to the work force.

 

This afternoon while it was cloudy and overcast it was still quite warm so we decided to go lay out by the aft pool, I have to admit it was quite busy near the pool yet no one was ever in the pool but rather laying on the lounge chairs around the pool. As a matter of fact I have seen no one ever actually in the aft pool but many have been swimming in the Lido Pool. There has actually been 4 or 5 there every morning as I have walked thru going to the Spa. While relaxing in a lounge chair I decided to have a Margarita while reading so I held my glass up before the first sip and said "Hola" to all the Yummers wishing they were here. I especially thought of you Sher. Christine I plan to have a regular Mojito for you tomorrow and Karin, Tom has been having plenty of Wang Wangs just for you. So we have been thinking of all the many good friends we have met thru CC and cruising HAL.

Tonights dinner menu I did not think was anything special like you nomally see on one of the two Formal nights on a 7 day cruise but it did have several more items I have not seen before on a HAL menu. For instance I had the Salmon Lasagna and another item was a Grilled Chili Seasoned Tuna on Skewers with Sobo noodles. The soup I had was a Tomato and Zuccini Bisque. We did not finish tonight till about 7:25 so we walked around a bit and decided to come back to the room so I could write to all of you and Tom could read. At 9 we will go back down to see the show then go to the Prom Dance up in the Crow's Nest.

Also I wanted to mention that we have had LIVE music everynight in the Dining Room, the Rosario Strings have been performing. I have not seen the Live Music during dinner for several years. I do not even remember that when we were on the Amsterdam last June for Alaska, I actually cannot tell you the last time we has this.

 

Earlier today Captain Consen said tomorrow we will have to tender due to a high amount of cargo ships that will be in Puerto Caldero. The tour we chose doe not leave till 10 AM and we are to meet in the Van Gough Lounge at 9:50. I think we will go down there at 9:30 due to the change with tendering.

One question from earlier someone asked was about why the Statendam did the strange turn before approaching the San Miguel Locks and that is because they decided to change locks on us. They first announced we were to be behind the Serenade of the Seas on th right side lock then changed their minds and placed us on the other lock so the ship basically changed lanes to line up to go into the other lock. It does make for an interesting little video, many thanks to John and Rich.

 

Tonight before we came back to the cabin we did a walk around and while I am guessing people are either in the show lounge or at dinner it sure seemed quiet all over. No one was in any of the lounges or even the casino, you would think you would have seen the people that left early dining and were waiting to go to the show at 9 that would be out and about but we saw no one.

 

Tomorrow night we are going to the Pinnacle at 7 PM We have noticed that on this ship the Pinnacle is never ever busy. While talking with Leslie the Future Cruise Consultant who's desk is right outside the Pinnacle she made comments that they are not very busy on this ship and has often heard people comment that they cannot see paying extra when the dinner is very good in the main dining room. We personally enjoy the Pinnacle and while I have heard of some that only eat in the Pinnacle we find it to be a nice treat to do at least once during a cruise. We chose to go tomorrow night to celebrate and kick off a 2nd week of cruising. We made sure we told our Dining Room Servers that we would be gone tomorrow night.

 

Well, I think I have written about all that I wanted to

write about or at least can remember at the moment.

 

I will try to answer some questions later but I am running late and need to go to the 9 PM show :)

 

Signing off from the Beautiful and Elegant MS Statendam.

[themerle]

Lisa, what about the scenic cruising in the Golfo Dulce? Did you see the turtles and birds? Tell us about it. Also, waiting to hear about your evening. Hope you enjoyed the evening.

[gentlemancruiser]

Thursday April 23rd, 2009

 

This afternoon while it was cloudy and overcast it was still quite warm so we decided to go lay out by the aft pool, I have to admit it was quite busy near the pool yet no one was ever in the pool but rather laying on the lounge chairs around the pool. As a matter of fact I have seen no one ever actually in the aft pool but many have been swimming in the Lido Pool. Earlier today Captain Consen said tomorrow we will have to tender due to a high amount of cargo ships that will be in Puerto Caldero. The tour we chose doe not leave till 10 AM and we are to meet in the Van Gough Lounge at 9:50. I think we will go down there at 9:30 due to the change with tendering.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful and Elegant MS Statendam.

 

Lisa,

I should warn you the tender service can be verrrrryyyy long at the begining, so don't expect it will be as quick trip ashore like HAL's other ships. There are only 4 tenders and if it's a long ride to the pier there will be delays

 

The last cruise docked in Fuerte Amador for our shore excursions, we had to tender so they moved all of the tour times up. Our was moved from 8:40 to 8:00, so we arrived in the VanGoah lounge at 7:45 to make sure we were on time. Our tour didn't get called to leave the lounge until 8:45 and we didn't get into a tender until 9:10, then it was a 20 minute ride. We were finally on the bus for our tour by 9:40!!!!

 

The aft pool is saltwater & it's never been that busy.

Bruce

[Sea King]

 

Thanks to all of you that think I would make a good Future Cruise Consultant :D Yes I really do want to do this and maybe I just need to get my act together and do that video and get it sent in. I should have done it 3 years ago when there was a special HAL employee that was pushing me to do it. Even though they are not really hiring now I should just apply and keep bugging them.

 

IMHO, it's never too late:eek:

 

by all means, send in the video and then keep calling and writing .. keep "bugging" until Seattle says "yes" ..

 

but don't put all your eggs in one basket .. remember, Miami is the place decisions are really made not only for HAL but for Princess ;) and the rest of the Carnival family

 

remember, hiring freeze or not .. there's "always room" for a go-getter:D

[gentlemancruiser]

 

BTW thanks for the 4/3/09

Statendam Panama Canal, San Diego Capture of the wave, even though there were only four of us. And thanks for the web cam capture through the CANAL. Much appreciated, Thanks again.

 

Jim/San Diego

 

Jim

Thanks for the information, I started to look it up but got distracted.

I'm sorry we missed the cabin crawl. We didn't have anything we could contribute and we are not big drinkers to everyone decided to pass. I've posted a couple of our pics on another forum.

Bruce

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Thursday April 23rd, 2009

 

........and Karin, Tom has been having plenty of Wang Wangs just for you.......

 

 

 

 

Tom, thank you and keep up the good work:). Tonight I will be on the Amsterdam, thanks to my DH, and will toast the two of you with a Wang Wang of my own!:) Three days of Wang Wangs coming up for me:D Aren't we all just the luckiest people?

 

Karin

[SDHALFAN]

Tom, thank you and keep up the good work:). Tonight I will be on the Amsterdam, thanks to my DH, and will toast the two of you with a Wang Wang of my own!:) Three days of Wang Wangs coming up for me:D Aren't we all just the luckiest people?

 

Karin

 

Hi Karin:

 

I know this is Lisa's thread and I know that she won't mind me hijacking it for just a second to wish you BON VOYAGE! Have a wonderful trip and one day you, Lisa (and your respective husbands) and I really do have to enjoy a cruise together.

 

Valerie:)