richwmn

January 7^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

It is Sunday morning on Volendam. The weather is still very nice, with a current temperature of 70°F / 21°C, the humidity is 72% and the wind is East at 21.7mph.

The voyage so far has been uneventful and very nice. The crew is very eager to take care of us, as always. I won’t deny that a few problems have come up, the most major of which is the lack of “Live TV” since before this voyage began. Not a big deal for me but seems to be a problem for some.

We have four “House” entertainers. These are the Ocean Bar Band, the Cocktail Piano Player, the Piano Bar Pianist, and a Classical group. They each do several 45 minute sets each day and each is very good. The trivia master has done well in providing a challenging game of trivia two to three times a day. The Officers are out and about interacting with Guests and there have been several smallish gatherings which they attended.

Today’s Activities –

Today’s Menus –

25 minutes ago, POA1 said:

This particular setting toggled off for one of our phones. It's under network and internet. I think I had to enable data roaming as well. (My troubleshooting was not super rigorous. I just made Michelle's phone look like mine. I had wifi calling working previously. She left Apple and came over to the dark side last year.)

 

 

I don't know if that will help, but it's worth a shot.

Nice call - I never turned off WiFi Calling since I use it at home as well, but something did. Now to see if it connects.

To update -- I turned on WiFi Calling and shortly after received two pending text messages and was able to call @POA1

Just to add to the information on this. I am currently on Volendam. The internet has been fine, at least for me.

Although my carrier supports wifi calling and texts over wifi, I have been unable to use either -- I was able to last year on Zuiderdam with the same phone / carrier set up. In the past it has been ship specific as to whether or not I can use wifi calling.

January 6^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

Looks like I failed to change the date for yesterday’s posts. Once you are settled into the ship’s routine it doesn’t really matter until getting near the end of the cruise.

As I mentioned last year, these first few days heading into Honolulu fall into a routine and I’m fine with that. Wake up, go to breakfast. The Lido crew is great as always. The ship’s position at breakfast this morning.

After breakfast it was a pretty full day. We had trivia at 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm. I played each with basically the same group of people and we managed to miss one question more that it took to win. It is still always fun.

The days are relaxing, the food is good, and the service is great. This is a nice place to be right now.

Lido dinner won't load right now, I'll try again later.

January 4^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

It is around 10am on Volendam and the seas are much more calm than yesterday. It has been a nice relaxing day at sea for me. Lido breakfast opened at 7am and I was there very shortly after. The same smiling faces greeted me and I had a good breakfast. Captain Bart walked thru the Lido around 7:20am and greeted everyone.

Although it is not really a big deal to me, the Satellite TV feed hasn’t really worked since around the beginning of the Holiday Cruise. It did work long enough to show the two college playoff games but little before or after. We will have to see about the NFL and the College National Chamionship. The channel lineup changed in San Diego on the 3^rd. These are the channels we are now supposed to get: BBC News, FOX News, MSNBC, Sport 24, Sport 24 Extra, NFL Games (many listed), NCAA Football, Prime One, Prime One Favorites, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Bow Camera, Aft Camera. The Bow camera works with music playing. The Aft camera is using the same music.

At 11am the Captain and Staff are holding a reception for 3* Mariners and above in the Lido Pool area. Should be another chance to put faces with people. Then at 2pm those CC members that join ‘The Daily’ each day are going to meet in the Crows Nest.

Specialty Menus

Canaletto

Room Service

Pinnacle Grill

Pinnacle Grill Lunch

2 hours ago, roupa said:

Might the outside access mean no privacy/be noisy/busy with the sliding door open?

Leaving your Lanai sliding door or Balcony door open disrupts the HVAC for cabins around you and you are asked to keep them shut.

2 hours ago, erewhon said:

@richwmn  DH said that Volendam will be visiting Timaru, was this always on the itinerary or is this a change of plan?

from a change notice dated 8/16/23

Additionally, our call to Oban, Stewart Island, New Zealand scheduled
for Thursday, March 7 has been replaced with a call to Timaru, New Zealand on
Friday, March 8. To accommodate this change, our call to Port Chalmers has
been moved forward one day to March 7.

January 4^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

Thursday evening on Volendam, the ship is still rockin’ and rollin’ a bit, but not as much as last night. We are now about 28 hours out of San Diego, on the way to Hawai’i.

So today was a ‘day at sea’, one of several before we get to Honolulu. So we start off with, as usual, breakfast. I must say that I did sleep in a bit this morning and got to breakfast about 7:30am, and the Lido was pretty crowded. I did manage to get my food and a place to sit. The people at the Lido have gotten used to me and that makes the order a lot easier.

At noon on the World Stage they had a shopping show. “Learn everything you need to know about shopping onboard.” Everyone who attended was promised Port Maps, a VIP card, Coupons, and a $200 Good as cash voucher. This seemed like a reasonable return for a little bit of time. The port maps were for Honolulu and and Hilo, along with some attempts to get information about the Guests that were attending. Since I’m not really a shopper, the speech didn’t resonate with me, although he seemed like a good speaker who enjoyed his subject.

I didn’t stay for the entire presentation, but went to lunch instead. I got some salmon, along with rice and peas and corn. A nice lunch and and a reasonable amount of food. The lunch was tasty and filling.

After lunch I headed to my cabin to relax for a bit. I had it in my head that the CC M&G was for 2:00pm. At 1:15pm I checked and found that I was already 15 minutes late because it was scheduled for 1pm. I hurried up to the Crows Nest to get there in time to hear the ask if I was there to be acknowledged for the Photo Book. The Crows Nest was pretty full with Cruise Critic members who all seemed to be having a good time.

Trivia at 7pm was about art, not pictures but facts about art and artists. I did pretty good but was no where near the winner.

After trivia I headed for the World Stage. Today’s entertainer was Michael Bennett, a comedian from New Zealand and Australia. His show was very funny and was very much enjoyed. He had a very full crowd that appreciated his humor.

Everyone seems to be enjoying the cruise so far, and the staff is doing a good job of taking care of our needs.

A reminder to Dailyites aboard Volendam

Get together 2pm tomorrow in the Crows Nest

18 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

Does shareholder OBC show up on the HAL Invoice/Guest Copy?

Only in combination with any other HAL/CCL OBC you might have. You will see the total, not individual line items.

January 4^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

Last night was a very good night with good entertainers. During his announcement, the Captain said it would be a rough ride and it was. For quite some time I heard a loud banging. I finally realized it was the outside door, about four feet from my cabin door. I got up and made sure that it was closed tightly and no more problems. The ship did have a lot of motion all night continuing until now.

I had a good nights sleep and woke up later than I expected. Walking to breakfast was not the easiest, but breakfast was good. By the time I got there, the Lido had a good crowd, but no real lines.

The weather will be rough for the next couple of hours, I guess. They have canceled outdoor activities for the morning. At 2pm we have the M&G in the Crows Nest. We also have trivia at 1pm and 7pm. Lots of other activities for the day, it looks like it will be a full day.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Good morning from Volendam, somewhere at sea.

For those thinking about longer cruises it looks like the rules are changing a bit.

Friends on the World Cruise have been told that their accounts would be settled every 30 days as well.

San Diego at Sail Away today

5 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

We've never done a B2B, although our upcoming 28-day Asia cruise has pax coming and going at various stages. I'm curious: what is the "In Transit Procedure"?

This is mainly in the US and maybe Canada. The ship must reach a zero count of Guests before they can start boarding for the next cruise. To accomplish this, all continuing Guests (In Transit) must gather in some location like the theater or World Stage depending on how many. After all departing Guests are off the ship, the continuing Guests are escorted off the ship in a group, go thru immigration, then are allowed to be the first to board for the next cruise. With only 47 people involved, this went very quickly today, maybe ten minutes off the ship. I did one in Fort Lauderdale with maybe 200 continuing Guests and it seems like it took an hour, but might have been less.

January 3^rd, 2024 – San Diego Turnaround Day

It is a little before 11:00am on Volendam. We have completed the ‘In Transit’ procedure and the Cabin Stewards are busy getting the cabins ready. The ‘In Transit’ procedure went very well. We had a total of 47 Guests staying aboard and with the exception of one couple, everyone was on time in the theater. That couple was reached in their cabin and arrived quickly. After that there was only a short delay before we were escorted off the ship. The facial recognition went well this time, and it was a very short wait until we were allowed to return to the ship.

A couple of very nice touches --

While in line waiting to re-board we were given a pin –

And the welcoming arch put up for the voyage –

January 3^rd, 2024 – San Diego Turnaround Day

After a very nice evening last night I woke up a bit early this morning. We were not yet in San Diego, but close. With most people leaving there were many people saying goodbye to the crew.

Our position at breakfast –

Menus for today –

27 minutes ago, JRG said:

I kind of like the idea of making a Trivia question, or set of Trivia questions surrounding the whole history of the PVSA. 

 

For Example:

 

Why is Vancouver considered a Distant Port?

  a)  Its too far to swim too from the US

  b)  It's the law, period.

  c)  something to do about a 10-hour rule made a long time ago.

  d)  all of the above.

 

Why not, when was the last time HAL updated the Trivia Questions anyways?

 

 

 

 

e) None of the above -- Vancouver is not a distant port.

On all the cruises I have taken recently, the Trivia Questions have been generated by the staff, generally the staff member doing the trivia. So the last time the Trivia Questions were updated on Volendam was today.

January 2^nd, 2024 – At Sea Destination San Diego.

Another lazy day as we end the holiday cruise and head toward San Diego. To answer a question from yesterday, the pianist in the Mix is Eli Moore, and the Cocktail Pianist is listed as Cat on the Keys.

Our position at breakfast was –

Overall this has been a very nice holiday cruise. The entertainment has been good, the staff excellent as usual, and the food very good. Volendam is a nice sized ship and it is easy to get to know the crew and guests.

Both trivia sessions yesterday were very good. The 7pm trivia was full and overflowed into the bar area so the questions were shown on the screens in the bar as well. A little after trivia started the screens changed to the Rose Bowl and a huge cheer went up from the crowd. Many of us had been told that we would not be able to see any college playoff games. We also got to see the entire second game.

Today’s activities –

Today’s menus –

Many years ago a member posted regularly the officers on HAL ships. HAL requested that the member discontinue the practice. He did.

January 1^st, 2024 – At Sea destination San Diego

I just returned from a wine tasting. This was the second I have been invited to and was Old World Wines. It was again very interesting and a very good presentation.

The big thing, though, is that one of the entertainers was at my table and I had a chance to talk to him after the tasting. The current Ocean Bar band will continue thru the Grand cruise and they are very good. In addition he said that both the piano players will also be continuing. They are also good entertainers. It appears that the Classical Duo won’t be returning but he didn’t mention if they would be replaced. The Cruise and Travel Director is staying but is dropping one title and someone else will be handling that task. I think this is very encouraging for the Grand cruise.

January 1, 2024 – At Sea off western Mexico, destination San Diego

I’m getting a bit of a late start today. I woke up a little bit late this morning, about 6:30am and was at breakfast right away. Everything was good and the Lido stewards had their normal smiling faces on. It seemed that more people than normal were eating breakfast early this morning, I’m not sure why since the ship had really good attendance at the Lido party last night at midnight.

Speaking of the Lido Party, it was excellent. The Ocean Bar band started playing at 10pm and I don’t think they stopped until just before midnight. They played a nice mix of songs that everyone seemed to enjoy. The party rocked past midnight, when the ship’s bell was tolled to ring out the old and ring in the new. Everyone was given a glass (or 2) of sparkling wine just before midnight to toast in the new.

Earlier in the day was a pretty standard day. Manzanilla was nice and I had a great walk. Trivia was good at both sessions but my teams still seemed to come up just short. Since there are no prizes, it is just as well. I forgot that there was a different comic on the World Stage last night, so I didn’t go. Reports were that she was very funny. I looked and unfortunately she doesn’t appear again.

Reports from all over were that the meals in the Main Dining Room were very good to great. Everyone is having a good time.

This morning is lazy. The Cabin Stewards were running late and I told them to leave my cabin alone. I hope that helps make their day just a bit easier. It seems that they might have had fun last night as well. I would also say that it looks like some crew members might not have gotten any sleep last night. Prior to the party, all the lounge chairs were removed from the Lido Party area. They were back in place you 7am, and the party didn’t end until 1 or so (I left just past midnight).

The ship is in fine shape and will be ready for the next adventure, the Grand Australia and New Zealand.

Today’s activities –

Tonight’s menus –

Happy New Year from Volendam 

Happy New Year to the east coast!

Happy New Year from Volendam to the east coast!