Maasdam.... Some Chit chat about our December 6, 2010 cruise......

[shandryl]

Wonderful review Sail!! :D Thank you for sharing!!

[DFD1]

Fredriksted is at the end of the dock. Good shopping and some restaurants near by. Christiansted is 25 or 30 minutes away on the other side of the island.

[brucory]

S7S,

 

So sood to hear about your trip!!!

 

Especially that you got to meet Copper John! I had wondered where he was? Great to hear of his appointment on your favourite ship!

 

It really is wonderful that the Maasdam continues to give you so much joy!!!

 

:D:D:D

[sail7seas]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I appreciate them. :)

 

Hope everyone has wonderful cruises on Maasdam and all the 'dam' ships. :D

 

[WeRockChalkKU]

sail7seas - Did you attend the Le Cirque dinner? If so, please share your experience with us. Or did you hear anyone's experience? We've booked it for our January cruise on Maasdam and are a little concerned since we've read various negatives about it.

 

Thanks for any input you have.

[airlink diva]

Great meeting you on board Sail7seas!

Good review!

I will also post one within the next few days or so. Return home and caught the flu (I put off the flu shot and now regret it!) and had a major setback with being pulled on the ramp to lead last night.

Had a great relaxing time on the Maasdam. Had a really great dining table with some great people. I also enjoyed the computer classes and think that's one of the best thing that HAL offers and encourage anyone sailing on HAL to take advantage.

Will check back later!!!

[rafinmd]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I appreciate them. :)

 

Hope everyone has wonderful cruises on Maasdam and all the 'dam' ships. :D

 

 

Just noticed your comments on the Windstar board. Going back to the days when it was part of HAL, have you ever been on one of their ships? It's a great experience.

 

Roy

[sail7seas]

sail7seas - Did you attend the Le Cirque dinner? If so, please share your experience with us. Or did you hear anyone's experience? We've booked it for our January cruise on Maasdam and are a little concerned since we've read various negatives about it.

 

Thanks for any input you have.

 

 

Yes, We did attend Le Cirque and here are comments I posted on another thread about our experience that evening.

 

We dined at Le Cirque this week on Maasdam and enjoyed it.

The menu is quite limited but happily for me included a delicious fish or I would have had a hard time ordering. I think the menu is a little too limited. I think they need to round it out with a few more choices. In effect, for a couple there are only two choices for entree if one or the other does not want the steak. It cannot be ordered for one - it is meant to be shared. If one does not want steak, they have a choice only of lamb or halibut.

 

There were three of us and the table had lovely orange (theme) flowers and as always the table was set beautifully but they are still awaiting delivery of Le Cirque dinnerware..... it's coming. :) We did hear Westerdam has theirs though.

 

We thought the salad delicious.... lots of layers of flavor and the lobster was very good.

 

My DH and the other gentleman at the table enjoyed the soup but I did not. I don't love corn to begin with and eat little to no butter or cream. I thought the soup had to have either or both as it was creamy consistency but later learned it is the pureed corn used as thickener.

 

The gentlemen shared the steak and I think they both liked it but not necessarily any better than the wonderful Pinnacle steaks they always enjoy.

 

My very large portion of halibut was very, very good. Way too much for me to eat but I really enjoyed it enough to return to Le Cirque just to have that again. It's not like any of the other fish servings I've previously had on any HAL ship.

 

I usually say No, Thank you to dessert but chose the three flavors of sorbet as the men were having souffles. I liked the sorbet and had a little of each deeply flavored scoop.

 

 

It was a lovely evening and we had absolutely perfect service.

We think Maasdam's Pinnacle one of the best in which we've dined. The current Manager is the very lovely Anca who has been aboard for months. She and her staff do a wonderful job IMO

 

 

 

 

Great meeting you on board Sail7seas!

Good review!

I will also post one within the next few days or so. Return home and caught the flu (I put off the flu shot and now regret it!) and had a major setback with being pulled on the ramp to lead last night.

Had a great relaxing time on the Maasdam. Had a really great dining table with some great people. I also enjoyed the computer classes and think that's one of the best thing that HAL offers and encourage anyone sailing on HAL to take advantage.

Will check back later!!!

 

 

Thanks, AirlinkDiva. I really enjoyed meeting you as well and was always happy when we happened to run into each other.

 

Really sorry to hear you've had the flu but hope you feel better soon. It had to be very hard for you to work the ramp last night during this busy travel season.

 

Thanks again for arranging the M & G. You did a great job. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Just noticed your comments on the Windstar board. Going back to the days when it was part of HAL, have you ever been on one of their ships? It's a great experience.

 

Roy

 

 

 

Hi Roy.

We have never sailed Windstar but because of Windstar's close association with HAL for so many years we know lots of crew who worked those ships and ultimately came to HAL. Some (many) are still at HAL but it was fun for us in Barbados to see two Windstar crew we knew from HAL who had migrated to Windstar. We only sail HAL so not likely we'll be on one of those pretty sailing ships though Wind Surf really did look pretty all lit up as we sailed out of Barbados.

 

[jena1]

Sails, DH an I were also on the Dec 6th Maasdam, and we fell in love with her! We thought she was in very good condition and extremely beautiful. the crew was wonderful, as usual for a HAL ship, but what we loved the most were the small lines at embarkation and debarkation. Lines were short at the Lido and every where else. What a pleasure! We have been in a few HAL ships but now are thinking we should try another S ship. Sorry didn' meet you and Copper 10.

The food was very good and the service superb. We had a verandah cabin, 220, all the way to the aft port side and the balcony was HUGE. Someone in CC had mentioned it (also 205 starward) so we switched to it

and were very happy about it! All in all we had a fantastic cruise.

[Lizzie1213]

I enjoyed your review.

 

I hope you feel better soon.

[Ocean Travler]

finally catching up on CC posts

 

ironically, I was also on this cruise (albeit not in "Suite Country")

 

agree with many of the comments posted by S7S, but not necessarily all

 

the crew was fantastic .. friendly, helpful in every way and just a pleasure in every other respect

 

the ship was in excellent condition .. maintained as well as can be expected given her age but spotless (as confirmed by the 99 from USPH) .. hopefully, upgrades will be made at dry dock next year to modernize some of the public areas

 

went to Pinnacle for dinner once .. excellent .. IMHO, the "best value" on board .. other than Happy Hour:) .. highly professional servers .. really didn't get to speak with the Manager but it was obvious from the operation of the restaurant that she was highly skilled since it ran so smoothly

 

enjoyed most of the ports with the exception of St. Croix and St. Vincent

 

what I found disappointing was the food in MDR .. Lido was fairly consistent .. in my opinion an 8+ ..

 

the food in MDR though was not as good as last year when I sailed Maasdam .. the dining room team I had was wonderful as was the wine steward .. the food was delivered correctly (and warm) to everyone at our table but it wasn't the same quality that I remember from my previous cruise .. quite honestly I believe a different supplier is being used

 

the bar staff was great .. which is probably the reason why my bill wound up at the level it did:)

 

Maasdam is a wonderful ship .. she's also a "happy ship" .. the smiles from everyone were genuine and there's a "warm feeling" from the moment you step on board that you're in for a terrific vacation

 

unfortunately, the cruise did end ..

 

overall, I would rate my experience a "9"

 

think it's time to book another cruise

[DaveOKC]

S7S - glad to read such a positive review of the Maasdam from a seasoned cruiser! We are going on a 13 day cruise on her in Oct. and are really looking forward to it (we were on the Maasdam three years ago and really enjoyed her).

 

We will be in suite 043 and was wondering if you had any comments on that location (I know it is a bit away from the NL, but we liked being under the Lido dining area rather than the pool).

 

Thanks

 

DaveOKC

[innlady1]

I hope she is still aboard when I board her in mid January!:D

 

And, that she was, Kathi! Linda is a vivacious CD...tons of energy!

Sail...just reading some "old" posts and have enjoyed your report on your 30th Maasdam cruise...so interesting to read your insight.

 

We thoroughly enojoyed our 14 days on board...so much so that we've booked her again next January....the "frosting on the cake?" I understand Copper John will be on board. How cool is that???

[sail7seas]

:) I did a double take when I saw this thread back up at the top of the thread lists.

 

Happy you enjoyed reading it, Sheila, after your recent Maasdam cruise. And VERY happy you enjoyed your cruise on Maasdam and have, indeed, booked another. That's the best possible recommendation.

 

 

 

 

DaveOKC...... We have never personally stayed in Suite 043 but every suite on the "S" ships are identical in size. The only difference is the direction the bed faces. Because of shared plumbing, bathroom to bathroom, it alternates if bed faces forward or aft. We are (almost) always port side and usually the same cabin on Maasdam when it is available. We love those suites and think most people are happy with them. The verandas are very large, the cabin spacious with lots of storage and bathrooms with whirlpool tubs are big by most ship's standards.

 

Hope you have a great Maasdam cruise....

We look forward to returning to her in June. :)