Just back from the Maasdam 3/10 sailing

[alex_drew]

Just a few comments about a great cruise experience. Drove down from Alexandria, VA to Norfolk the day before and stayed at the Radisson, which I would highly recommend. The staff is very friendly, they host a very nice cocktail party the night before the cruise so you get to meet others going on the Maasdam. We loved running into people we knew all week long -- this is really great. They also provide in their "park and cruise package" a full buffet breakfast (including tax and tip) in the morning and, of course, your parking is included with their package. We felt very comfortable leaving the car there for 10 days. When you check in they ask what time you want to go over to the ship in the morning and I signed up for the first available slot, 11:40 am. This was the easiest/fastest embarcation ever! We were on board having lunch by 12:15 pm. We were allowed to go to our room around 1 pm. We had excellent service the entire cruise from our cabin attendant to the young man who dispenses mints after dinner...everyone went out of their way to make sure everything was perfect for us. I felt bad for those who suffer from seasickness because the first couple of days out were very rocky and a lot of people were sick, but my husband and I are very lucky to not have that problem.

 

Now, the most well-kept secret of the entire cruise (not well advertised at all) is that for $1 per taste (but it is a very healthy taste - almost as much as you would get if you ordered a glass of wine) you can sample the premium wines onboard. Where you would pay around $8 for a premium glass of wine with a meal, from 11:30 am to 2 pm in the atrium (next to the front desk) you can "sample" all of the wine you want for $1 per sample. Manny is the wine steward at the atrium and he is wonderful. Evidentally this program is only on the Maasdam at this point. There is no pressure to order bottles of wine for your table or to order the "packages" of wine. You can just sample anything and everything that you like...and then, of course, we did end up ordering some of those wines at dinner a couple of nights, but it is a great way to try different wines and see what you might like.

 

Something else you might want to know is that you can order room service breakfast on the day you disembark...

 

We signed up for the express disembarkation (you don't put your bags out the night before and you carry your own bags off the ship) today and we were told the ship was expected in port at 8 am and disembarkation should start at 8:30 am. Well, we ordered room service and it was delivered a few minutes after 7 am... We were just starting to eat when they announced at around 7:15 am that if you had Express Disembarkation you could leave right then. Needless to say, we never finished breakfast or their wonderful coffee, we just threw everything that wasn't packed into a bag and left. We were off the ship and had cleared customs in about 2 minutes. Didn't want to wait for the shuttle from the Radisson, so grabbed a cab and were on our way home by 8 am.

 

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them. We would definitely sail out of Norfolk again, this was truly a great cruise experience for us.

[obriendan]

Thanks for your report. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[FranD]

Anxiously awaiting boarding the Maasdam on 31 March! Thanks much for posting, especially the wine tasting tip!! Look forward to anyother comments you may have. Cheers!

[wwinfl91]

Wish I had known about the wine tasting when we were on the Maasdam last year. I saw the table where they had set up but I never stopped to ask about tasting any of the wine. I will keep my eyes open on my next HAL cruise.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[dbullsfn]

I second that post about the rocky seas. The first day at sea, Friday, saw me in bed the whole time, except for the Fun 21 blackjack tournament. But by Half Moon I was up and roaming. I read the cruise log yesterday and we were early at every port. About leaving port though, they do need a better schedule. Kim and I were on deck about 1:30 Wednesday night and we were off San Juan, but didn dock untill 6:30. I would have loved more time on St. maarten, I thought that was the nicest of the islands. What was your favorite port alex?

[dakrewser]

We were just starting to eat when they announced at around 7:15 am that if you had Express Disembarkation you could leave right then. Needless to say, we never finished breakfast or their wonderful coffee, we just threw everything that wasn't packed into a bag and left.

 

??? Why would you abandon a lovely meal to rush off? Once the announcedment is made you can leave anytime...

[Hape]

We are taking our second Maasdam cruise out of Norfolk October 26th and was interested in your comment on the express checkout. We didn't take it last time but are strongly considering it so we can drive back to New Jersey earlier. Our last cruise in December was excellent, it was the 11 day cruise, and now we will be taking the 10 day itinerary. We stay at the Holiday Sands and their package is also very good. Now we are really looking forward to our next trek to Norfolk.

[alex_drew]

Dakrewser,

 

I kept telling my husband that we didn't need to rush, that we could take our time and leave whenever, but he was anxious to get the drive home underway, plus, I think he was concerned that since we were hauling all of our stuff (waaaay too much stuff) ourselves, that once everyone else started to disembark that it would be difficult to negotiate around all of the other passengers...as it was, there were no other people blocking the halls, stairs, etc., we actually got an elevator immediately and were on our way.

 

Dbullsfn,

 

My favorite port is probably the one I'm in at the time...but we did Eli's Eco tour in Antigua and that was the highlight of this cruise.

[dbullsfn]

Antigua was fun. I really enjoyed Nelson's Dockyard and the surrounding defensive fortifications. I rented a car and drove all over the Island for like $50 all day. The funniest part of Antigua was dodging the herds of goats running down the road. I even had to whip out the camcorder because noone wil lever believe it.

[mariner]

Who took over as captain after Captain Henk headed for the senior management meeting?

[Oakville]

Your comments were really appreciated.

[alex_drew]

Mariner,

 

The Cruise Log that you get at the end of the cruise says "on behalf of Captain Arjen Van Der Loo" so I assume that is correct...

[lenetere]

I really appreciate the good info from this board. Our docs had indicated that there would be only one informal night on the 10-day cruise. I read here that there would be two. Sure enough... two.

 

Alex_Drew, you are so right about the wine tasting being a best-kept secret! A really good reason to hang out in the atrium at mid-day. :)

 

We also had the Express Disembarkation. We didn't finish breakfast either. As much as I love that HAL now allows you to stay in your cabin until you leave, we'd chosen Express so that we could get off as early as possible. We were home just a little after noon. Last year when we left the Maasdam, we weren't even off the ship at noon!!!

 

Lene

[Sweetdreams]

Really appreciated the Maasdam review. We leave Norfolk on 5/1. Is it possible to book the shuttle at the Radisson before arriving for ceck-in? We will probably check-in just in time for the pre-partying & don't want to get a late shuttle time that is too late.

[alex_drew]

Sweetdreams,

 

I don't know if they will allow you to pre-book or not, but most of the other passengers had checked in before we did and they chose a later time so that they could go straight to their rooms upon arriving at the ship. Since the Radisson allows a 2 pm check-out for cruise folks, most of the others were taking advantage of that and not rushing over. I, on the other hand, was perfectly happy to go early and sit upstairs to the Lido and have a glass of wine and a snack while waiting for our room to be ready...

[Babs1121]

Great review. I was wondering what kind of shape the ship is in? Do they have the new mattresses and bedding in the cabins? Thank you

[alex_drew]

Babs1121,

 

Yes, they have the new mattresses and bedding. The mattress was a dream...I LOVED it! The sheets are a dream, and the new curtains, sofa upholstory, etc., look great! The ship itself is showing some wear, but nothing major (as far as I'm concerned). I still think Maasdam is a beautiful, elegant ship. The captain mentioned that Maasdam is scheduled for a major "makeover" (probably not the word he used) in January 2006 (I think that was the month he said). He said they would take the entire ship apart piece by piece and hoped that after they were finished there wouldn't be any pieces left over... He was being very amusing, but clearly it is a major renovation that he was referring to.

[jbhcw]

Thanks so much for your review! We sail in November and all these little bits of information are so helpful. Will remember the wine tasting!

[cvillehf]

My info said one semi-formal night on the 10 day cruise and someone on here said 2. Which is it? Last year they said 2 and there was only one. Could some one who has been on the Maasdam recently for 10 days let me know as we leave next week.

[cheric]

We got off the Maasdam eleven day on 3/10 and there were three formal, two semi-formal and the rest were casual (no tank tops, shorts). DH wore his sport coat on the two semi-formals.

[dbullsfn]

Cville, on the 3/10 sailing there were 3 formal and 2 informal

[peaches from georgia]

My info said one semi-formal night on the 10 day cruise and someone on here said 2. Which is it? Last year they said 2 and there was only one. Could some one who has been on the Maasdam recently for 10 days let me know as we leave next week.

No big deal to worry about. Sometimes one cruise is different than the next. If you are a male you will be taking a jacket for at least one informal night anyway, so take 2 shirts along in case there are 2 (or take one shirt and have it laundered on the ship if it needs it). My DH wears his jacket with a sport shirt on most of the casual nights anyway and many gentlemen do the same, so take your jacket and enjoy it any number of nights.

 

Girls- I don't see much difference in informal night vs casual night in the way most of the women dress. I think most women dress very nicely, country club casual, on casual nights and informal nights are only slightly more dressy.

[Sweetdreams]

Thanks for answering all my questions about the shuttle, etc. Did you enjoy the ports & any tours you arranged?

[Sweetdreams]

I often read threads about the formal/informal/casual dress code attire. I was curious though specifically about ladies formal wear. Though I love shopping...I've done quite enough already....11 days...I had to be prepared for anything. But I choose formal dresses that are not floor length. Would you describe what you recently experienced viewing the ladies? Thanks.

[alex_drew]

Sweetdreams,

 

Loved the ports. The two excursions we really enjoyed were very different. One was Eli's Eco Tour in Antigua and the other was the ship-sponsored walking tour in San Juan. I had tried doing a walking tour on my own a few years ago, but since I don't speak Spanish I missed a lot since most of the plaques describing a statue, etc., were in Spanish when I was there before. I'm sure it would depend on your particular guide, but we had a man named Oscar for our tour and he was absolutely wonderful.

 

Also, I wear both long and short formal dresses. I think there may be more long formal dresses on Maasdam because it is an older crowd and I think they tend to wear longer dresses, but I didn't really pay that much attention to the lengths.