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

[lovetocruise2020]

Haha, you're welcome! ^^ && thank you for taking the time to do that!

Thank you~ :p

 

Personally, I just go with whichever line offers me the best food LOL. I too have been on Carnival twice when I was younger. And my parents (who actually remember their experience) agree that Carnival has the best desserts.

 

Regarding food, I actually like the super gourmet-y kinds of foods, as well as simple ones. It depends on which taste better to me c:

 

 

So I was thinking about my two short little Carnival cruises last month/this month. Every night I had 2 shrimp cocktails, made me think of you lol.

 

And yes they still have the best desserts at sea!

 

But for us, HAL still is the best overall. I just wish they would steal some Carnival recipes like the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!!!

 

Thank you again, we are all so impressed with you! :)

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. The pics were very enjoyable.

[sonnyjane]

So I was thinking about my two short little Carnival cruises last month/this month. Every night I had 2 shrimp cocktails, made me think of you lol.

 

And yes they still have the best desserts at sea!

 

But for us, HAL still is the best overall. I just wish they would steal some Carnival recipes like the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!!!

 

 

Ha I had the chocolate melting cake on 4 out of 5 nights on my April Carnival cruise lol. The waiter started to like fun toward the end ;) the only night I didn't order it was the Grand Marnier soufflé night. Yum!

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Edited June 26, 2013 by sonnyjane

[lovely_serenity]

HAL started selling the hot chocolate in tumblers a few years ago -- to make money. The only place you could get it free was in the Lido -- instant stuff.

We have always been able to get Pea Soup in the Crow's Nest.

 

Great reports and great pictures.

Yeah I could tell, even though I had read that hot chocolate was supposed to be available on deck for free on CC, and it wasn't, it was pretty evident that it was just to nickel & dime some more :/

 

Thank you very much! :)

[lovely_serenity]

Sad to see your cruise end... Like all the others hoping you can take another soon!

Excellent report!

 

Aw~ ^^ thanks! I'm sad too, I really enjoyed writing it!

 

I definitely hope that I'll get to go on another one soon c:

 

Thank you! :D

[lovely_serenity]

thanks for taking us along with you! Wonderful wonderful thread. I will miss it very much. :)

 

And thank you for taking the time to follow and read my report! (: Thank you ^^ it means a lot.

[lovely_serenity]

I have been so impressed with your writing and your pictures. If you hadn't mentioned you were a teen, I would have thought you were about 30! I am saving this thread to convince my husband to go to Alaska. Thanks again.

 

Haha, thank you very much! LOL really? Do I sound like an adult when I write? :P Oo, what an honour to have been saved on your computer ;) I hope it helps in the convincing of your husband!

[lovely_serenity]

So I was thinking about my two short little Carnival cruises last month/this month. Every night I had 2 shrimp cocktails, made me think of you lol.

 

And yes they still have the best desserts at sea!

 

But for us, HAL still is the best overall. I just wish they would steal some Carnival recipes like the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!!!

 

Thank you again, we are all so impressed with you! :)

 

LOL I am so very touched that double portions of shrimp cocktail remind me of you :D It is indeed a great honour.

 

My parents said that HAL is one of their top favourite cruise lines too! c:

 

My mom said that the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake was her favourite dessert ever!

[lovely_serenity]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. The pics were very enjoyable.

 

Thank you for reading it c: I'm glad that you enjoyed my report!

[lovely_serenity]

Ha I had the chocolate melting cake on 4 out of 5 nights on my April Carnival cruise lol. The waiter started to like fun toward the end ;) the only night I didn't order it was the Grand Marnier soufflé night. Yum!

 

Mom said that she had a minimum of one chocolate melting cake every single night ^^

Edited June 27, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

I have an inquiry, do you guys prefer 2 or 3 pages of the daily On Locations in each photo?

 

Is 3 making the words & images look too tiny? Or is it okay?

 

Or would it be better to make it only 2 pages per pic so that it comes out bigger?

 

 

What do you guys prefer? :D Tell me before I upload some more!

[lovely_serenity]

**Actually you know what, forget it, I'm just going to take pictures of the paper stuff instead. Scanning is too time consuming, and it's sad how my photos are sharper than the printer's picture >_>'

Edited June 27, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

*Forget scanning, taking pictures of them is best!

 

 

Day 1 Papers and stuff

 

 

 

Upon arrival into our stateroom, we were met with the following items.

 

A LARGE page describing your next port/location:

 

(Front)

 

 

(Back)

 

 

A Room Service card you can hang on your doorknob:

 

(Front)

 

 

(Back)

 

 

This nice note:

 

 

As well as a few chocolate gold coins :)

 

 

**Cool note: The daily activities page with today's schedule on the daily On Location is perforated for your convenience. You can tear it off and bring it around with you easier c:

 

Unfortunately, I failed to collect every single Daily On Location, so I don't have Day 2 or Day 4. But hey, 5 out of 7 isn't bad right? ^^

Edited June 27, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Day 2 Papers & Fun stuff:

 

 

 

Aside from my birthday card, I also got this a few days later (I think I got this special birthday thing on Day 4 or something):

 

 

Hehe, I'm Ms. Sarah! c:

 

*opens up*

 

 

Okay, I thought it was nice and all, but I thought I'd get something complimentary for my birthday, not a minor discount ^^" Hehe, maybe it's just me who thinks like that.

 

We also received this mid-day (Day 2):

 

 

*turns over*

 

 

I'll show you the next page on Day 3, since it's the activities for Day 3 anyways.

 

At night, we got the usual next day port information:

 

 

 

(I tried to read them all, but always wound up falling asleep ^^" then again, I tried to read them right before bedtime LOL)

Edited June 27, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

the Daily On Locations for the next day:

 

 

(Opened up)

 

 

(Flipped around)

 

 

As well as the usual chocolate coins and Room Service card.

 

 

 

Day 3 Papers & Fun Stuff:

 

 

 

The next night, we got the same (sorry, I don't have the On Locations), except geared toward the next port of call: Skagway.

 

Here's the Loft activities for Skagway day:

 

 

And the Skagway information sheet. (These information sheets are almost double the size of regular papers o_o)

 

 

 

Plus chocolate coins & a Room Service card.

Edited June 27, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

From now on, I'm just going to take pictures of my stuff :)

[Vict0riann]

Thanks, Sarah, for the great photos. I think, too, that the best way to post them is by photographing stuff - better than a scanner. Did you have any professional photos taken? They are poor quality (not enough pixels?), and it really pays to re-photograph them, rather than scanning them into your computer. I do that too for any postcards I buy - especially in Europe when they say "No Photography" in a museum or church, and I want some interior shots I can add to my album. I like to have my pictures fill my computer screen, but most of the time, they just stay postcard size! We'll be sorry when this all ends. You must have set a record for views!

[lovely_serenity]

Thanks, Sarah, for the great photos. I think, too, that the best way to post them is by photographing stuff - better than a scanner. Did you have any professional photos taken? They are poor quality (not enough pixels?), and it really pays to re-photograph them, rather than scanning them into your computer. I do that too for any postcards I buy - especially in Europe when they say "No Photography" in a museum or church, and I want some interior shots I can add to my album. I like to have my pictures fill my computer screen, but most of the time, they just stay postcard size! We'll be sorry when this all ends. You must have set a record for views!

Haha, from my results, I can tell! ^^ scanning them takes SO long and the end result is so pixalated! We actually did have some professional photos taken, but wound up not buying any because we hated the format :/

 

For photographs, I scan them :p I don't know, it worked okay before! I guess my printer just hates me these days!

 

Aw thanks! I'm sad it's ending too! D: && lol, I wish! I think it made it to ~50 000 views ish. *proud* =^^=

[marvholly]

Thanks, Sarah, for the great photos. I think, too, that the best way to post them is by photographing stuff - better than a scanner. Did you have any professional photos taken? They are poor quality (not enough pixels?), and it really pays to re-photograph them, rather than scanning them into your computer. I do that too for any postcards I buy - especially in Europe when they say "No Photography" in a museum or church, and I want some interior shots I can add to my album. I like to have my pictures fill my computer screen, but most of the time, they just stay postcard size! We'll be sorry when this all ends. You must have set a record for views!

 

I have been really enjoying this review. Much wanting to do AK again w/more $$ for excursions.

 

RE: taking photos vs scan

 

Went to dinner this week w/a friend of 45 years who is a retired commercial phtographer. Spouse had passed away 18 months agol. Took a bunch of photos from my collection. Friend borrowed & stated dit was best to photo them vs scan. Also easier to clean up/edit/.....

[lovely_serenity]

I have been really enjoying this review. Much wanting to do AK again w/more $$ for excursions.

 

RE: taking photos vs scan

 

Went to dinner this week w/a friend of 45 years who is a retired commercial phtographer. Spouse had passed away 18 months agol. Took a bunch of photos from my collection. Friend borrowed & stated dit was best to photo them vs scan. Also easier to clean up/edit/.....

 

I'm glad that you've been enjoying my review! (:

 

Yay! :D Good to know that I've made the right decision! ^^ So I'm not alone on this!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing yours cruise experience, really liked being able to compare the menu descriptions with what the food items actually looked like.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I like the pictures better than the scanning of everything.

The pictures are sharper making it is easy to read everything.

[Krazy Kruizers]

*Forget scanning, taking pictures of them is best!

 

 

Day 1 Papers and stuff

 

 

 

Upon arrival into our stateroom, we were met with the following items.

 

A LARGE page describing your next port/location:

 

(Front)

 

 

(Back)

 

 

A Room Service card you can hang on your doorknob:

 

(Front)

 

 

(Back)

 

 

This nice note:

 

 

As well as a few chocolate gold coins :)

 

 

**Cool note: The daily activities page with today's schedule on the daily On Location is perforated for your convenience. You can tear it off and bring it around with you easier c:

 

Unfortunately, I failed to collect every single Daily On Location, so I don't have Day 2 or Day 4. But hey, 5 out of 7 isn't bad right? ^^

 

 

I see that the Volendam still has the old Cabin Breakfast menu.

[lovely_serenity]

Thanks for sharing yours cruise experience, really liked being able to compare the menu descriptions with what the food items actually looked like.

 

You're welcome! C: & thank you for reading it! I agree, it's always nice to know what you're getting into beforehand ^^

[erewhon]

I see that the Volendam still has the old Cabin Breakfast menu.

 

Curious as to why it's not available on the Volendam?