maxie99

Good Morning All,

Long time lurker but first time poster. Have never taken a cruise in our lives but my wife and I have our fist planned on the Zaandam to Alaska in May.

 

I agree with the sentiment but with one caveat. That is that what is considered to be rude is not universal and there are sometimes cultural differences. We are Ex Pat Brits, who spent time in Germany while in the Forces. In the UK queuing or lining up is the norm but in Germany when a bus or tram arrived it was a free for all. They weren't being rude, just different.

 

When I grew up, eating a meal with a fork alone was the height of bad table manners, yet in North America its the norm. I was even raised to push my peas onto the back of my fork with my knife. As my mother would say, if caught using it to scoop food "It's a fork not a shovel". After 30 years in Canada it doesn't bother me but it did for quite a while. I still eat the way I was raised but reserve my judgement of others who are different.

 

Don't even get me on to the Japanese way of sniffing because blowing one's nose is considered to be rude. :D

 

As I said before we are virgin cruisers ( unless you count time on troopships/ landing ships), so to speak, but surely cruise passengers are from multicultural backgrounds and they may not be actually being rude, or perceiving that they are rude. OK perhaps not on an Alaskan cruise, which I would expect to be more homogenous than most with regards to its self loading cargo.;)

 

I guess my point is that in many cases rudeness, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and I'm not willing to stress over something to the point where it spoils our long anticipated trip.

 

 

BTW and on the main topic, I will join my wife or vice versa in a line if I really cannot be with her at the beginning but try to avoid it so as to not have to deal with upset folks. If the line is for something that has limited supply and is first come first served then absolutely not. My wife will just ask for 2, with the other for her husband :D

- welcome to CC, dam style, funny about the peas, that brought out a memory about my grandmother, when I was young, she said the same thing,,:)- let us know how your first HAL cruise was, I did the Alaska trip on the zuiderdam last sept, fantastic:D

I was at the fallsview casino in Niagara falls for dinner and ! and they had caviar on the menu, I understand casino prices are high, but give me a break,, they quoted me Canadian caviar was 250$ and Russian was 500$ for 1 oz.,,, that's makes my may 16th cruise on the maasdam even more special,, I might even order caviar more than once----:)-:)

wowwow

there she is

it looks like the other cam has left for the day,, this cam is fantastic

The pilot takes command of the ship and guides it into (or out of) the harbor. Local pilots are much more familiar with the conditions in their home ports than ship captains.

thks ,fellow maas ta. 99"---;)- but I meant,, on a ship like this, is it the normal routine

question ??, does the pilot go out and do what pilots do..???

For the benefit of anyone coming late to the thread, here's what we're gawking at:

 

 

 

 

Stad Amsterdam, built new in 2000. That's right, a modern clipper.

thks Alca, I just got back and what a site,,, J

Just a few of us this afternoon - only 163 on the FLL cam and 76 on the PE cam. I guess everyone else is busy or at work. Sigh, the benefits of being retired! LOL

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

:D-- im at work,, but im a team of one, lol:eek:

Sitting at baggage claim at FLL. Waiting for transfer to ship. A beautiful day for sailing. I did request a wave. Top deck . Port side near Crows nest. Wearing a pink top and waving an orange pinwheel

Have a great time Angelcat and take care of her , I'll be on her in 6 weeks-ish, its been 16 yrs. since my maasdam TA cruise, it was amazing, as alcarondas will remember :eek:-:eek:--thks alca, on posting the maasdam storm photo last month, now i have proof,,

That's what I was thinking - aren't they duty free onboard? I also watch Border Security and it is amazing what you learn from it! Declare e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g; if you're not sure, answer yes.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

your so right, to think back, iv many times never even thought of declaring a half uneated apple or banana from the the lido when flying home into Pearson

in Toronto:eek:

I was in VQ10009 last year,, a lovely and quiet room , except one evening, I was on the veranda and they where cleaning the floors up on the cabanas, and I got splashed somehow, as I had a cabana ,I called out there names and jokingly gave them heck, we joked about it the rest of the cruise,, :)

I have to say that I, too, would probably enjoy it more on some bits of Melba toast than on the blinis, which have almost too much flavour. But it's tasty, however it comes!

 

On Maasdam:

 

Ann, im sold, im going on the maasdam, may 16, and I was shy to order only for one, but this time im going for it, thks---Joanie--:D:eek:

in Jan. I was in a M-inside,, big mistake, as soon as you open the door, you walk into the bed, no hallway, the dresser was half the size and no couch, did have that orange chair and table--but all was not lost, I booked a cabana, ---:)

They work at it. They may have access to our security photos as a learning aid. It is pretty amazing when you consider that we all look alike.

luv that,, lol:D

Just about all ships singling up now. Hard to know who will follow who.

you should have seen them this morning at 5:30 ish,, they where all lined up in a row, out at sea, and the coastguard had to tell them to hold there horses and slow down a bit,, :eek:

Years ago we knew a dining room steward and asked him what he did during dry docks. They had a lot of cleaning or other jobs to do -- sometimes 12 hours a day. Depending on what work was being done on the ship, there were times when they had no air conditioning and worked in hot conditions.

And they do miss their tips.

your right KK, a bartender once told me when the maasdam was in dry dock in 99, in Mobil Alabama, , it was 12hrs of cleaning and no AC so some of them slept out side on the deck,,

im leaving on the maasdam, 7 days, may16, Montréal to Boston, thks, I've never been more east than Toronto in Canada,, so this trip is very necessary. Joanie

I've said it before -- If I have to go, I'd much rather it be while I am happily traveling somewhere than having a massive coronary slumped over my desk at work, or killed in a wreck during my daily commute (which is hands-down the most risky behavior I engage in....)

-- I so agree, you will never know when that mac truck is about to hit, as we say up here,

No US passengers?

oh yes, you guys made up the rest of the pass. --but iv never been on a cruise with that many Australian's and new Zealanders,, all bent on having a good time, -

:)-, ahhh, every time I see my Zuidi, I smile, last sept, on my Alaska cruise , I had a blast, so much fun, I was told there where , approx., 700 canucks, 500 ausies, 200 kiwis, and a smattering of Irish and UK,, there where parties everywhere and all where welcome--:)

very good info, some times, I like to have a quiet meal to my self,

last month, I won 1000$, on the NA, but it took me 950$to get it, it was fun, and I did cash out and went right down the front desk to apply it to the room acc. --:),,

I've been in may, which is coming out of winter,, I've been in sept.,which is coming out of summer,,, I luv Sept., the rain, mist, fog, and sunshine seems so much warmer, and the leaves are still on the trees, so there's more colour to the scenery--

thank you so much for your report,, I've never thought I would be interested in south America, ---you have changed my mind--:)-- and thks, for your pics of the ship, I will be sailing on her in may--:) :)