richwmn

Medallions are received on the cruise that you hit the number of days. Star benefits are received on the next cruise. But HAL is not consistant

April 1st – at sea, destination San Diego, California April Fools Day on Volendam! Volendam is now in the North Pacific. Sometime in the last couple of hours we crossed the equator again. We are currently headed Northeast at 18knots. This is about the speed that was announced yesterday as our target to reach San Diego on time. The screen is again showing light rain with a temperature of 82°F / 28°C. The wind is almost 7mph and the humidity is 79%. We have settled back into a sea day routine. The ship has activities all morning for those who chose to attend. Yesterday I had a bridge tour. I had received an invitation to tour the bridge and I showed up at the appointed time. We were escorted in a group of 20 thru the gym to the bridge. My group was taken to the starboard wing and a cadet gave a very nice explanation of the function of each piece of equipment. There was another group of 20 on the port wing getting the same information. We then exited thru the office area back to the guest area of the ship. The evening’s entertainment was comedian Mike Robinson. Along with his helper, Lester, Mike has been a staple of Holland America entertainment for many years. While a good part of his show is the same each time, he does introduce new routines and the whole show is generally funny. The wisecracking Lester goes to the edge, but not too far in insulting a designated member of the audience. I have always enjoyed this show and will attend any time they are the headliners. Today’s activities and menus

March 31st – at sea, destination San Diego, California Happy Easter from Volendam Today is the first sea day heading back to San Diego. No more ports on the schedule. We are currently headed Northeast at 18knots. Our schedule is to cross the equator again sometime tomorrow. The weather display on the TV shows a light rain, but it was clear for the Easter Sunrise Service this morning. Several people mentioned that it was a magnificent sunrise to accompany the service. The temperature is currently 82°F / 28°C with a humidity of 78% and winds a 9mph. Yesterday was a very nice day in Nuku Hiva. The tender ride wasn’t too long but it was a little difficult exiting the tender. Those who were at Daniels talk the previous night knew what to expect. As usual, there were vendors set up right where we got off the tender and a few locals performing. Back on the ship it was another nice lazy day. At 4:30pm the Captain announced that we were about ready to leave and the sailaway party was beginning. I headed to the aft pool deck to find that it was already crowded. The beverage department was handing out wine, but other drinks cost. The Ocean Bar Band was again playing and sounding very good. A good number of the Officers and Staff were present and seemed to be having a good time. After the last tender was secured, we headed off in a very nice sailaway around 5:30pm. The show last night was the second installment of Lisa Harman. She put on another good show, playing a very good version of ‘The Entertainer’, along with singing a couple of Julie Andrews songs. Overall the show was good as she is a talented pianist and good singer. Last night we moved our clocks forward by another half hour to bring us closer to the time in San Diego. We still have two hours to make up over the next week. Tonight is our last formal night. Here are the activities and menus for today –

bet it is blocked by HAL's firewall

March 30th, -- Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia Good Morning from Nuku Hiva, our last stop on this wonderful Grand Australia and New Zealand Cruise. It is another beautiful day here. Yesterday was a typical day at sea, the ship provided a lot of activities for those who chose to participate. Many chose to use the loungers and relax by the pool or the promenade deck. I would say that a majority of the people around the ship had their eyes on their devices, either reading or playing games. I saw fewer people out and about playing cards or mah jong than last year on the World. I have not talked about food too much, nor have I provided pictures. As of tomorrow I will have been on Volendam 100 days and I have yet to use the Main Dining Room. Most meals have been in the Lido, where there is no attempt at presentation. The food has uniformly been, to me, very good and the service has been excellent. Since I generally sit in the same section, I don’t have to ask for drinks they show up shortly after I sit down. The World Stage show last night was the Grand Voyage Repertory Company in “Country Crossroads”. This group of eight singers and dancers, all of whom are very good. Of the eight, only four (two male and two female) sing lead and each seems to get about the same amount of time in the spotlight. The songs seem to be well suited to the person doing the lead. While the title of the show mentioned country, I would say that it was more country rock. As always, the show was high energy and well performed. This morning we are anchored in a nice cove, and I expect that open tendering will start shortly. The tender ride was announced to be 1km, so it will be one of the longer ones. There is a small town to walk around, and of course lots of trinkets to purchase. Today’s activities and menus –

It was not referred to as an atoll in the talks. "An atoll is a type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform. Atolls have a unique geology, so not all islands with a reef and a lagoon are atolls." (from Wikidiffs)

March 29th, 2024 – at sea, destination Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia Good morning and I hope everyone has a great day on this Good Friday. Volendam is currently heading Northeast at 14 knots toward our final stop on this Grand Voyage. After we leave Taiohae we will have all sea days until we reach San Diego on Saturday, April 6th. The TV weather shows that we are currently having light rain, although I didn’t see it a few minutes ago when I captured our position. The temperature is 82°F / 28°C with a humidity of 77% and winds at a little over 8mph. So a little about yesterday. We were at Fakarava on the island of Tuamotu in French Polynesia. It is a very small island which from the ship looks like a long, curved, narrow strip of land in the middle of the ocean. It is almost a circle so the inside cove is well protected. The main features are some very nice beaches and, of course, shopping. Since it is a small island, it is a tender port. I didn’t attend either trivia session yesterday, other things got in the way. We had a pretty nice sailaway at 5pm with a small crowd. The band didn’t play, but the ship provided extra speakers for the piped in music. Whoever selected the music did a good job and everyone seemed to enjoy it. On the World Stage last night we had Patrick McMahon, a country and western singer from Australia. He put on a very good show, with a minimum of talk and a good selection of songs. He is a talented guitar player and singer. I did enjoy the show and will attend again. Today’s activities and menus –

Greetings from French Polynesia, hope y'all have a great cruise!

March 28th, 2024 – Fakarava, French Polynesian I know it sounds repetitious, but it really is another beautiful day today – just maybe a little bit warmer than most would want. For the most part, the weather has been really nice the entire time I have been aboard Volendam. Yesterday was day two in Pape’ete, and I got off the ship and walked around a little bit. Since I was just here a year ago, nothing has changed. When you get off the ship there is quite a bit of shopping and a Burger King. It is an easy port to walk around. Back on the ship, it was a nice relaxed day. Like every day when the ship is in port, the on board experience is very nice. The meals were good, and the service was great. The 4pm trivia went well, and again we tied, but could have won outright. After trivia, there was a nice sailaway party featuring the Ocean Bar band. The special for the party was a pineapple shaped container with unlimited Piña Colada for $18. I passed on that. The World Stage featured Lisa Harman, a very talented pianist and singer. She did a couple of songs by Elton John, and a very good rendition of Barbra Streisand. She had a good mix of talk and singing and presented a very good show. She will have two more shows on this cruise, and will remain on the ship at least the first part of the canal transit. This morning was are tendering into Fakarava, another small island. The main feature here seems to be beaches and snorkling. Today’s activities and menus

March 27th, 2024 – Papeʻete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (day 2) Good morning! We have the rest of the day here and one more stop in French Polynesia and then we are heading back toward San Diego. It is another pretty day here, and it is expected to remain the same. Yesterday was a lazy day. Plenty of things going on around the ship. Most of the venues had something going on and the Casino seemed to be open for the evening. So I always talk about trivia, and we did have two sessions yesterday. My group did very good at both sessions. The late session theme was ‘Mythical Creatures’. Our host showed pictures of various Creatures of fantasy and legend and had us identify them. The creatures included Pegasus, Phoenix, Minatour, Unicorn, Wearwolf, and twelve more. After the evening trivia session ended I headed to the World Stage for the show which was provided by a group from Pape’ete. They showcased local music and dancing. The show lasted the normal 45 minutes and was high energy and very good. As I mentioned on the Daily Thread, the internet is currently out for Guests so I’m not sure when this will be posted. Today’s activities and menus

Volendam is starting our second day in Pape'ete. It seems that an update was done to Navigator last night and the ship's internet is down for Guests. No idea of when it will return. One couple had only purchased a day pass, and another complained that they had to work today.

March 26th, 2024 – Papeʻete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (day 1) Good morning from another beautiful day in French Polynesia. It was a very nice sail in this morning. We are berthed and have been given clearance to go ashore. We have two days here, so no hurry to do anything. Yesterday was a very nice day. The temperature was comfortable aboard the ship. I actually didn’t go ashore, but from the ship the island was very pretty. I know that I mention trivia every day, but that is something I have participated in since my very first cruise. We had two sessions again and did well with both. We were surprised with a win in a tie breaker for the early session. Usually when we tie, we lose the tie breaker. The late session was ‘Finish the Lyrics’, and most of the songs were familiar. Despite that, we only got 8 right while the winner got 16 points. We were missing four of our regular players due to other activities, and they might have helped. After trivia I talked to the Shops Director for a few minutes and ended up at the World Stage just after the show started. The show was the second performance by David Copperfield. I was still skeptical and to some degree expected to leave fairly quickly. I was again pleased with the show. As I mentioned before, he is a better singer than comic, even though he was billed as a comedian. I would enjoy the show more if he stuck to singing rather than comedy. Today’s activities and menus – Berthed in Papeʻete

March 25th, 2024 – Huahine, French Polynesia This morning we had another beautiful sail in to a Polynesian port. Huahine is a group of two small islands, and our tenders are taking us to the smaller of the two. It is currently 82°F / 28°C with light rain. The winds are about 12mph and the humidity is at 78%. Yesterday was day two in Moorea. It was a nice day for me on board the ship, as Moorea is a rather small port and I had visited previously. It is very relaxing to stay aboard the ship while the majority of the Guests are ashore. The two trivia sessions yesterday were both interesting. I didn’t mention that my group is down to 7 now, so we generally don’t make two teams but one member doesn’t play. The early session we did well, but again lost by one incorrect answer. The evening session was to identify birds from images. Most of the group decided that they wouldn’t do well with the images and went to the information lecture on the port. Paul and I took one for the team and showed up. We ended up getting 13 points. I would like to say that I helped, but really Paul was the one who surprised himself and got a majority of those points. After the early trivia session ended, I headed to the Seaview pool where the sail away party was just getting underway. As has been the case for several ports, the Ocean Bar Band was set up and played two sets for those who attended. The bar staff was, of course, well represented and everyone had a good time. We had a little bit of rain around 5pm when we actually started moving, but that didn’t last long. When the late trivia session ended, the Grand Voyage Repertory Company had another show. This show was titled ‘Guitar Rock’. While the group didn’t actually play the songs, they sang and danced to some iconic rock songs for their 45 minute show. They always put on a very good, energetic show and seem to be having fun while doing it. They have two more shows before the Grand Voyage ends in San Diego. It is a little before 9am, and open tendering has now been announced. The tender ride is less than 500 meters, so it will be a quick ride. Here are today’s activities and menus –

The casino hasn't really been busy and I haven't really noticed any smokers, but then I haven't really looked for them either.

I got a very nice upgrade for the World Cruise last year

March 24th, 2024 – Bahia d’ Opunoha (Moorea), French Polynesia (day 2) Woke up this morning to the same view as yesterday. We are again in Moorea, and it is another beautiful day. Tenders started up this morning at 7am and will be going till about 4pm. The temperature outside is 88°F / 31°C under clear skies. The humidity is at 70%, and the wind at a little over 8mph. Here are today’s activities and menus –

March 23rd, 2024 – Bahia d’ Opunoha (Moorea), French Polynesia Good morning from Moorea, on our first of two days here. The temperature is 84°F / 29°C with only a few clouds. The humidity is 68% and the winds are a little under 4mph. It looks to be a good day here. I had some good news yesterday. When I booked the final, Fort Lauderdale to Montreal segment of this cruise, it was just before final payment and I could only book it as a guarantee. I was checking yesterday and found that I am remaining in my same cabin all the way to Montreal! Yesterday was a very nice day in Bora Bora. It was a short tender ride, and the local population had a nice setup for greeting us. The tender dock is also within a short walk from quite a bit of interesting things to do. All the people were very friendly and seemed happy to have us. We did have two sessions of trivia yesterday. The early session was interesting and we did well, but again just missed winning. The late session was all about Elvis. Dani had a nice mix of questions. Some examples, the name of Elvis’s home and where it is, also his middle name, did he serve in any military. She also had questions about two songs and a movie or two. The only question we missed was which of his movies did he not sing in. One team did manage to get all the questions correct and win outright. At the same time trivia starts, Daniel is usually on the World Stage taking questions about the next port. Since trivia only lasts about 15 minutes, I generally make it to the stage early enough to catch the last couple of questions. I have really enjoyed the way Daniel handles the questions and his natural sense of humor. The show last night was the second by Andy Buenger. He is a very talented musician and gives a good amount of humor in his presentation. This morning we arrived on time in Moorea, and the tenders went out quickly. As this is an overnight port, the tenders will be running until midnight and begin again tomorrow morning at 7am. It looks to be another nice day in the South Pacific. Today’s activities and menus –

If I might go back to Lifeboat Capacity for a moment. Here is a picture of the capacity label on the tender I rode today from Volendam. Note that as a lifeboat the capacity is 150. There are 16 lifeboats on Volendam for a capacity of 2400. Volendam's capacity with all triples and quads full is 1718 and crew compliment is 647 so the total is 2375 so the Lifeboat capacity alone will cover the full passenger compliment and crew. As someone mentioned, any lifeboat or lifeboats may not be able to deploy, so the rafts should cover that situation. In addition, I don't believe I have ever seen a HAL ship filled to full upper berth capacity. Very few cabins have 3 or 4 passengers and all HAL ships carry quite a few solo cruisers.

Have a great time! Hope everything goes well for the 3 of y'all!

March 22nd, 2024 – Vaitape, Bora Bora, French Polynesia Good morning from our surprise port. When this cruise was first announced, Bora Bora was part of the itinerary. However, it was pulled because the local government wanted to restrict visits to cruise ships smaller than Volendam. Several days ago the Captain announced that due to ongoing negotiations, our stop here was reinstated. The temperate is 82°F / 28°C under scattered clouds. The humidity is 69%, and the wind is just under 6mph. We are currently in our position for tendering and the tenders have been lowered into the water. Yesterday was a fine day at sea. As usual, there was plenty going on for those that wanted to. Plenty of people did laps around the promenade deck, others were on the loungers around the pool. Various talks and presentations were available. We didn’t have an early session of trivia. What we did instead was have our monthly safety drill. It went without any problems, and the ship carried on. The process post covid is very easy and took very little time. We did have a late session of trivia, with a theme of ‘Dutch’ to complement the ships Orange theme of the day. Shortly before 7pm, the Captain showed up and announced his intention to play again. I don’t know how he ended up doing but the winner was a Dutch couple who got everything right and was awarded a bonus point for humming the National Anthem of the Netherlands when the question concerned it. It was a very entertaining session of trivia. Shortly after trivia ended the Crows Nest was filled with people for the Orange Party. The Ocean Bar Band was the entertainment and was very good, keeping people on the dance floor for most of the evening. The Captain and his wife showed up, him in a bright orange shirt, her in a very nice orange dress. Several people who failed to bring, and didn’t want to purchase, anything orange showed up with their life vests around their necks. Many people were wearing orange wigs. It was a good time for all. When the Crows Nest Party broke up, I headed in but heard music from the Ocean Bar. I was pleased to find the Dance Band playing there and stayed a few minutes to listen to them. They are also a very good band. Today’s activities and menus – Bora Bora from the ship --

HAL and Princess outsourced their websites to the same group in 2016, so both are managed by the same, outside, group.

March 21st, 2024 – at sea, destination Bora Bora, French Polynesia In my previous post for today I failed to mention the show last night. In the World Stage last night we had the second show presented by Celtic Grá. They are a four piece group that was backed by three members of the ship’s entertainment staff. The band is a lead singer (Rebecca Harkin), with a piano player, a fiddle (violin) player, and a dancer. For most of the show, the female lead singer is the star of the show. Rebecca is a very good singer, with a good amount of talk between her songs. The piano player and fiddler are also very good. The dancer is an entertaining portion of the show. For a few minutes in the middle of the show, Rebecca leaves the stage and the band did a short piece which was also entertaining. It was a very nice evening in the World Stage.

March 21st, 2024 – at sea, destination Bora Bora, French Polynesia Good morning from Volendam. We are currently sailing Northeast at 13 knots toward Bora Bora, our surprise port. The TV weather information shows light rain, although I didn’t notice it when I was at breakfast. The temperature is 82°F / 28°C with a humidity of 76%. The winds are at 13.4mph. Yesterday we were supposed to call at Cook Island. Due to the sea state we were unable to use the tenders to get to the island so we ended up circling the island then getting an early start toward Bora Bora. The staff did a good job of changing from a shore based day to a sea based day. Additional activities were quickly added and a list was distributed to the cabins. Due to a comment yesterday, and the fact that one was happening right away, I decided to give the Tech talk another listen. I followed that with the Coffee talk between Daniel and the Staff Captain. I will address the tech talk shortly. The chat between Daniel and the Staff Captain was entertaining. Daniel is a natural comic and doesn’t realize it. The Staff Captain has an interesting background and provided insight into the decision making process that led to skipping Cook Island. After the Coffee Chat, I went up to the Lido Deck for lunch, then to my cabin and relaxed a bit. I got a little bit involved in things and missed the 4pm trivia session. During the morning announcement the Captain announced a ‘free drink’ hour between 4 and 5 pm in all the bars aboard, so at 4:30 when I realized what time it was I went up to the Ocean Bar, which was overflowing, then on to Mix. My trivia team was still there and let me know they had done fine. I saw @cruising sister and @Cruisercl sitting at the bar and had a discussion with them about my earlier comment about the Tech person. In an earlier comment I mentioned that I felt the tech presenter was doing a ‘sales pitch’ for certain apps / products. I later amended that to ‘validating a purchase decision’. I keep up with tech, and have for a very long time. I get frustrated when presenters focus on one product to the exclusion of other similar products. This causes one program to thrive while other similar products, which might actually be better, don’t get used. Today we get to do the safety drill again. This is required every thirty days on extended cruises. We are supposed to watch the TV presentation again, then report to our life boat, and finally the Captain will make an announcement about 2pm about the lifeboat proceedure. Today’s activities and meals –

here is a link to the Noordam deck plan on the HAL site https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/inventory-assets/ships/NO/pdf/hal-no-deckplan.pdf each deck has an explanation of the symbols used for quads, triples, hc, and other classifications.

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