"Live from" ms Volendam to Alaska! My First HAL Experience

[lovely_serenity]

and took a shot of the kid's club entrance (always deserted):

 

 

Which splits into teens (right) and kids (left)

 

I turned around and went into the lido buffet.

 

 

took a shot of the menus:

 

 

and tonight's layout of the casual dinner set up:

 

 

 

After that, I took a picture of the Bread Pudding you all love so much. :D

 

[lovely_serenity]

I made my way through the restaurant to the lido pool.

 

 

If you exit the other end of this area, go up the only flight of stairs you'll see. You will find the Crow's Nest.

 

I went back into the buffet and headed out to the aft of the ship, realizing I had (pretty much) no pictures of it.

 

 

So here's the view from the back of the Volendam in Skagway:

 

 

They have a pool there that is (I believe) heated.

 

I checked out the time and it was 3pm. Time for tea! I speed walked to the front of the ship, went down to deck 2 (my room), switched to the macro lens (for food) and descended to deck 5 where a line was forming in front of the main dining room. I poked around and noticed that my family had still not yet arrived. o_o? So I lined up for them. While I was lining up, my mom showed up (came out of the game room) and waved me over.

 

Apparently, Sis & Bro were playing a very intense game of chess and neither were willing to end the game.

 

First, Bro made a move. Take that! Check!:

 

 

Sis then moved into the defensive, Not on my watch!:

 

 

This went on for about 7 minutes until I started to complain. "Tea is starting now!" D: Mom & Dad told them to wrap up. They were pretty much at a stalemate, so Dad said that we were leaving without them. They grumbled and argued who won and eventually followed.

 

We lined up for tea and requested a table for 6, for 5 people, preferably by the window. We were graced with this lovely spot:

 

Edited May 20, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Oo, nice flowers :D pretty.

 

 

Shortly after being seated, we were all given hot water and were offered a various selection of teas from a big wooden box.

 

 

I opted for the lemon tea.

 

 

I liked it (: pretty good.

 

 

Tasted refreshing and citrus-y.

 

Soon enough, a server came over with the tray of goodies. One server would have cakes & desserts, and another would have little open faced sandwiches.

 

Here was mine:

 

 

Sis's:

 

[lovely_serenity]

Bro's:

 

 

Dad's (his was the best, both the chocolate cake and mushroom thing was awesome):

 

 

Mom's:

 

 

My seconds (LOL, sorry, too yummy):

 

 

And my thirds (I didn't really end up eating them, took a bite and gave to Sis):

 

 

We finished Afternoon Tea on a good note and started heading out. While we were in the middle of walking, I suddenly full stopped, made a sharp left turn and (rather embarrassingly) semi-crouched next to a table servers were cleaning around. I'm sorry, but this was WAY too pretty, not to get a shot of ^^'

 

 

I mean, roses in a glass, come on! :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

You have done a wonderful review.

Skayway is one of our favorite ports. The first time we were there (on another cruise line) back in the 80's, there weren't all those jewelry shops that you see there nw.

Your pictures are great.

We are very used to the fire alarms. The crew are always having to do some kind of a drill.

[lovely_serenity]

You have done a wonderful review.

Skayway is one of our favorite ports. The first time we were there (on another cruise line) back in the 80's, there weren't all those jewelry shops that you see there nw.

Your pictures are great.

We are very used to the fire alarms. The crew are always having to do some kind of a drill.

Thank you :)

Oh really? :0 I didn't know that, so what did you used to do back then?

I was kind of surprised, I wasn't expecting it 0_0, when I heard it, I immediately started to list all of the possible dangers that could be happening.

Edited May 20, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[travelingla]

You remind me of 'me' .:p

 

I love to take food pics.....my family :rolleyes: at me when I say -- WAIT, don't take a bite yet! Loving your pictorial diary.

 

We took this exact cruise/ship in 2006 and I did an extensive review here (under a different screen name I used back then) - this brings back such fond memories.

 

We will be on this trip in July with quite a few friends...... can hardly wait to share this experience with them - so I am thinking I can at least share YOURS with them now.

 

If you had not told us your age , I'd never have known how young you are - you take beautiful photos and write really well.

 

I look forward to exploring your blog a bit later -- thank you again for aiding our cruise addiction!

 

BTW, we took the Chilcoot Trail and raft trip on our first visit and then enjoyed the Saloon so we like Skagway. This summer we are on the White Pass RR with our group so looking forward to that excursion. Have you ever taken an excursion in Skagway? Most of the ports do require you to get out of town to really see Alaska.

 

Thanks again for your time and effort to share with us - looking forward to the rest of your review.

Edited May 21, 2013 by travelingla

[lovely_serenity]

After tea, we went back to the game room to play some chess. Sis & Bro started teaching me how to play and we went from there. From what I recall, Mom & Dad went to go watch some movie we didn't like, so we just hung around and played chess.

 

While Sis was teaching me how to play, some 30-40 y.o (Hispanic I think?) man came up and asked if Bro wanted to play a game with him. Bro was tired, so he politely refused. That was when he looked at us (Me & Sis) and asked if he could watch me learn how to play. 0_0 Excuse me? You, a man double my age, would like to watch me. That isn't uncomfortable at all! =_= Whatever. I said "I guess..." and ignored him. I focused my attention on learning how to play the game.

 

This is basically what I learnt:

 

Pawn goes forward 1 spot (2 max first move) & eats diagonally.

Queen pretty much goes anywhere (in a star shape),

Pointy-head Guy goes diagonally,

Mr. Light House goes in a cross shape,

King can move 1 spot radius and

Mr. Horse can move in an L shape. :D

 

Okay, now that I had the rules down, we started to play. Two moves later:

 

Me: Uhmm.. *moves* Check?

Sis: Wai-wai-wait WHAT? O_O WHAT? NO! *moves King*

 

Hehe :D that was funny. Bro thought it was hilarious since it was my first time playing and I checked her in 2 moves. LOL Beginner's luck ^^.

 

We hung around, ate some food here and there until it was eventually almost dinner time.

 

We quickly went back to the room and got ready (Smart Casual on all non-formal nights).

 

Here was tonight's menus:

 

 

 

 

After we ordered and were waiting, Sis & Bro ate some bread:

 

 

*chomp* c:

 

 

Soon enough, our appetizers had arrived. First was my Suprême of Fruit Galliano:

 

 

This was really good, don't really care for raspberries (as I have mentioned before) though.

[lovely_serenity]

You remind me of 'me' .:p

 

I love to take food pics.....my family :rolleyes: at me when I say -- WAIT, don't take a bite yet! Loving your pictorial diary.

 

We took this exact cruise/ship in 2006 and I did an extensive review here (under a different screen name I used back then) - this brings back such fond memories.

 

We will be on this trip in July with quite a few friends...... can hardly wait to share this experience with them - so I am thinking I can at least share YOURS with them now.

 

If you had not told us your age , I'd never have known how young you are - you take beautiful photos and write really well.

 

I look forward to exploring your blog a bit later -- thank you again for aiding our cruise addiction!

 

BTW, we took the Chilcoot Trail and raft trip on our first visit and then enjoyed the Saloon so we like Skagway. This summer we are on the White Pass RR with our group so looking forward to that excursion. Have you ever taken an excursion in Skagway? Most of the ports do require you to get out of town to really see Alaska.

 

Thanks again for your time and effort to share with us - looking forward to the rest of your review.

Haha, thanks! What I do is, as soon as the food is put down and he/she lifts their fork/spoon, I stare at them and go - Don't do it! =_= *glare* LOL. They immediately sigh and drop their utensil.

 

I'm glad that I can bring back (hopefully) nice memories of your last trip!

 

Wow, thanks! :D & I'm glad I don't sound too childish online c:

 

We haven't really taken much excursions in Skagway before. We have in theh other ports, but we found the White Pass one (the one we considered) a little expensive for just a long scenic ride only I(probably) would love. My family's pretty indoor-sy, so.. o_o yeah.

 

Thanks for considering checking out my blog c: it's a picture blog :P

 

You're welcome & I am currently prepping to post the next few installments, so look forward to it ^^ ~

[lovely_serenity]

This was followed by the Calypso shrimp cocktail which everyone but Sis ordered. It was pretty much what I ate from room service (the shrimp cocktail), but with different sauce. I actually liked this sauce better!

 

 

Then came Dad & Bro's Glacier Bay Seafood Cake:

 

 

Kind of squishy and falls apart, but it was still pretty good.

 

Next was Mom's Goat Cheesecake with Red Onion Jam:

 

 

I thought it was good, kind of odd, but nonetheless good. I thought the onion and the cheese complimented each other well, but I felt like the cracker was just... there. It didn't really add anything to it. But that' just me. c:

 

Today, nobody ordered any soups or salads, so we went straight for the entrées. Today, Sis couldn't find anything she liked, so she ordered another medium rare 8 oz New York Striploin Steak. I didn't bother to take a picture of it because I had already done that last time.

 

Dad ordered another "cake" (Notice his whole meal is full of cakes? Seafood Cakes, Goat Cheesecakes and now Crab Cakes! :D) He ordered the Baked Crab Cakes:

 

 

I also found this pretty squishy too. Breaks apart too easily and had much too much moisture inside. Don't get me wrong, it tasted alright, it was just the texture I disliked. It reminded me of wet tuna salad (the texture).

 

Bro, Mom & I ordered (medium rare as per usual) the Lamb Loin with Artichokes and Red Wine Kalamata Olive Sauce:

 

 

This was just simply chock full of awesomeness. Lamb is literally on the top of my favourite meats list (along side with beef :D) so this was nothing less than delicious to me. I did think that it could use a little bit more seasoning though. Good but could be better.

[lovely_serenity]

We finished up and then went straight to the dessert menu:

 

 

 

Bro got the Cookies N Cream Frozen Yogurt,

 

 

as well as the Orange Sorbet (yup, he must have a sorbet for every day):

 

 

Both good (as usual), but I thought it looked pretty awkward, floating in the cup there. At least fill the cup, would you? ^^'

 

Mom ordered the Crème Brûlée (which she MUST order at least once on each cruise):

 

 

Which I thought was okay. Not bad, but not my thing. To me, it lacked in the brûlée department, as in it didn't have enough torched sugar on top. It was pretty much just custard. Meh. Okay. (to me)

[lovely_serenity]

Dad got a Hazelnut Mousse Cake (he likes hazelnuts):

 

 

(I don't really like mousse) I thought it was okay, pretty too :D

 

He also got a cup of Rocky Road ice cream:

 

 

Here was Sis's dessert, I thought it was beautiful :D. The Strawberry Sundae:

 

 

She loved it. Especially since her favourite fruit (berry I guess?) is strawberries.

 

Finally (one of my favourite desserts on board) was mine. The Chocolate Cake with Blueberry Cream w/ a scoop of Cookies N Cream Frozen Yogurt & Rocky Road:

 

 

The cake was warmed and the cream was delicious. For some reason, nobody else (except Sis) agreed with me that it was awesome :( I loved it. Bro, Mom & Dad said it was "meh". Hmpf! >_> I loved it.

 

After dinner (and my after dinner peppermints :D), we went to the Franz Hal Lounge for our first ACTUAL night show. As in, with singers and dancers and whatnot. Tonight's performance was called "Northern Lights" which would consist of the Singers and Dancers of the Volendam and their rendition of popular classics & songs.

 

 

While we waited for the show to begin, I took a couple more pictures of the theatre.

 

[lovely_serenity]

Mom & Dad's drinks:

 

 

Some chairs:

 

 

The upper floor. They actually kept encouraging people (by blocking off deck 5 entrances) to sit on the lower floor. Don't know why :/

 

 

Finally, the lights dimmed and cruise director Brett Rudolph came out on stage. He does this every show. Talks a little and then introduces the act.

 

This actually caught me by surprise. We actually had no clue that tonight's act would be singing and dancing. It was a guess, so it began fast, like a punch in the face. The curtains pulled and suddenly we saw this:

 

 

Singing at full blast, something about "We're going to Alaska" (which is funny since we were now on our way to Glacier Bay :D) and dancing everywhere.

 

Note 1: They were pretty good at singing. Not 10/10 but like, 8/10.

Note 2: They change fast clothes :P

Note 3: Those poor dancers! The stage on the Volendam was SMALL! As in, you're concerned as to whether or not they'll accidentally fall off of it! D:

 

Anyways, I got quite a few shots of the show. What? :P All they said was no flash photography and no video taking! I'm actually quite surprised that my pictures of them aren't worse! They were moving everywhere after all.. ^^ This is the first time I have a camera that can get non-disgusting shots of people running around. Still, sorry for the blurry ones :/

 

First up were the main singers. They were singing some love song, I forget what it was o_o.

 

 

They were followed by non-main singer lady. She was singing about going for adventures in the wilderness or something along those lines LOL. I forget ^^'

 

[lovely_serenity]

Main singer man came back out and sang (I remember! :D) his rendition of "I Believe I Can Fly":

 

 

They had like 5 more people more out with one of those kites.

 

The next one was pretty funny, they were singing a song about Canada ^^ They were supposed to be big-butted RCMP officers. The one girl looking up there was supposed to be the goofy one that was terrible at her job (:

 

 

They followed this by doing a little (Canadian LOL) Romeo and Juliet styled love story (main singer lady & man):

 

 

For some reason, a moose was involved, LOL

 

 

Next, not-main singer man sang about being a sad miner with no gold. Suddenly, non-main singer lady came out with seductive lumberjack ladies and sang Beyoncé's "Single Ladies":

 

 

Unfortunately, the poor girl sounded so out of breath :/ Hard song choice.

 

When that finished, both singer men came forward and started to rap about "being a lumberjack". It was really funny (:

 

[lovely_serenity]

They wrapped it up with some 80's retro performance and ended it there. Here's their final pose:

 

 

Everyone clapped and cheered. After that, we all filed out of the theater and headed up to the Lido for our midnight snack. Tonight's theme was Indonesian :)

 

I ran around taking pictures whiles everyone else picked up food.

 

This one was really good. A bit spicy! ^^

 

 

This one was really good too! :P

 

 

I didn't try these~

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

And just because I happened to be there, I took a few more drink station shots. Here you can see the syrup they use to make to "iced tea":

 

 

 

Everyone with food went and settled down at a table. That's Dad right there LOL. Thanks pole.

 

 

We plopped all of our food down:

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

(from yellow clockwise: vanilla, coconut & pineapple)

 

 

(Sis takes photo of me eating my ice cream)

 

 

Our other foods:

 

 

(friend bananas! could've been crispier :/, still yum)

 

And the seafood pasta:

 

 

And we chow down. We end up sitting there talking until 12 o clock at night.

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

(Heh, we liked that funny ice cream server in the background. He looked like Dopey from Snow White and said "you're welcome" super perky :D)

 

After that, we went to our rooms to change into comfy clothes, and headed back to the games room for chess while I fret about what to do tomorrow (I read the planner and knew 2 things I wanted to do overlapped tomorrow). I played a game and then fell asleep on the table (LOL oops) while Dad & Bro played their game. I woke up groggy and muscles hurting to waddle back to our room to sleep.

 

We were met with this indecent looking squid which we quickly destroyed since it looked ... wrong. o_o

 

 

We destroyed it, brush our teeth and went to sleep with plans of waking up early the next day, since it was Glacier day (:

 

 

 

End of Day 4

Edited May 21, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[nana51]

I can hardly wait for tomorrow's pictures. Loving your review and how wonderful you and your family love being together. So sweet.

[monina01]

thanks so much for risking your life (TWICE!!!) for us :D ...much appreciated!

 

Ieeuwwww....that was supposed to be a squid??? What were they thinking?? (on the other hand...I don't wanna know....)

[JamesEM]

Thanks for all the great photos.

[Vict0riann]

More! More!

[lovely_serenity]

I can hardly wait for tomorrow's pictures. Loving your review and how wonderful you and your family love being together. So sweet.

Haha, thanks! (: It's on it's' way. Actually yeah, we're pretty close knit ^^. In actuality, my brother hung out with us (so much) only because everyone else near his age were either 10 years older or younger than him LOL

[lovely_serenity]

thanks so much for risking your life (TWICE!!!) for us :D ...much appreciated!

 

Ieeuwwww....that was supposed to be a squid??? What were they thinking?? (on the other hand...I don't wanna know....)

You're most certainly welcome! LOL

I know right? My mom had the same reaction when she saw it. ^^ They should really stop making that..

[lovely_serenity]

Thanks for all the great photos.

You're welcome ^^