Maasdam: We Boarded on June 11, and Disembarked on June 25, 2005

[sail7seas]

:) We so looked forward to returning to "MY" :) Maasdam.

 

We had a few disappointments the week before we boarded so a little edge of our excitement paled but still, we headed happily into Boston from our home about 30 minutes away and were at Black Falcon at about 11:00. We quickly processed through Suite Check -in (HAL---PLEASE get rid of those horrid gold stickers that designate pax as Suite Pax. They are tacky and embarrassing and make me very uncomfortable. It's like a neon sign on our foreheads that we are in Suites....Can't you be just a little more subtle in expediting Suite priority embarkation???). After our docs were processed, we were directed to sit for a few minutes and told embarkation was about to begin.

 

(DH had a nice surprise when he 'ran into' a gentleman working for HAL in the terminal with whom he had gone to college. Though they had not seen each other in over 30 years, they each recognized the other immediately.)

 

We barely sat a few minutes and then were told we could board. DH and I were the first to cross the gangway. (I thought that just fine as, afterall, she is "MY" :) Maasdam.

 

We came to learn that we were very fortunate that embarkation began at the early time it did as that was the date USPH chose to arrive for a surprise inspection.

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WONDERFUL CREW OF MAASDAM WHICH EARNED A FABULOUS SCORE OF 96!!! PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, IMO, FOR A SHIP THAT IS 12-13 YEARS OLD.

 

That certainly speaks so well of the hard work done by Hotel Manager Dirk Verhey vanWijk (Who I came to call Mr. Dirk....I never could quite get my tongue around his lovely Dutch name). Bar Manager Twinkle (who is BEST. TOPS, GREAT and we were so delighted for her when we learned not a single point was lost at any of the bars she oversees (which is all of them); Maitre d' Tri who is a very favorite of ours and certainly Captain van der Loo must be commended for the wonderful job his crew is doing.

 

We went to Lido for lunch just after we boarded and while we enjoyed a wonderful lunch, I kept looking around hoping to see RuthC who had been invited aboard for lunch. We were not lucky to find eachother and I was disappointed. I very much hoped to meet her.

 

We roamed the ship a bit before we went to our cabin to see if luggage had arrived and to relax a few minutes before boat drill.

 

The ship looks beautiful to my eyes. She really is the beautiful and elegant ms Maasdam and I find her colors relaxing and rich and welcoming. (I think she is getting about ready for a fresh coat of paint outside but the inside pleased us very much.....as always). New carpeting has been laid in the lower level of the dining room but logistics prevented the upper level from getting recarpeted at the same time. I imagine that will be seen to at her drydock.

 

The flowers throughout the ship are gorgeous. Wonderfully arranged, large displays and I enjoyed each of them. Even in the Neptune Lounge, the flowers were abundant and fresh and beautifully arranged. A treat for the eyes. I don't know how it happened, but there were two bouquets in our suite instead of the usual one on the glass topped table. What a nice treat to have a lovely bouquet on my dressing table. Undoubtedly a mistake there were two but that certainly was a pleasant error. :)

 

The first two nights out we had heavy fog at night and heard the fog horn sound. We quickly became used to it and barely heard it sounding after the first several minutes.

 

We never saw or heard of any towel animals. If any stewards were making them, we did not know of it and doubt they could have been all that exciting or imagine we would have heard someone speaking about them.

 

It is getting late and seeing as it's our first night home, I shall stop now and will continue with more comments tomorrow.

 

If anyone has any specific questions, please ask and I'll try to answer.

[RuthC]

You must have so much to do at home; it was nice that you signed on to let all of us know about "your" Maasdam. I'm hanging on every word in anticipation of my own boarding in just three weeks! Yeah!

Did you happen to meet a lounge stewardess named Myra? She spotted me in the terminal and ran right over to greet me! She's lovely---nice, sweet, provides excellent service. She's one of HAL's true assets.

(btw---I took that "extra" bouquet from the PH for you. Thought they wouldn't mind. ;) )

I'm sorry that I didn't spot you on my walk through the Lido. Guess it wasn't meant to be this time.

Looking forward to all you have to say about this ship and your cruise.

[sail7seas]

Oh Ruth.....IT WAS YOU who got me the extra flowers!!! Thank you ;) I certainly hope the PS folks never noticed!!!

 

Yes, we most assuredly know Myra. She's a lovely girl and we very much enjoyed seeing her every evening in Ocean Bar (along with Paul when he had a break and would 'drop by') :)

She was in the Filipino Crew Show and was great!

[stormyc]

Oh, a lovely start, and so good of you - I know you must be tired.

 

LOL! I agree with you about the Suite Stickers! :D

 

That is so neat that your husband ran into his friend from college ...it IS a small world.

 

(So sorry you and RuthC missed each other...small world, maybe, but BIG ship. By the way, she's been 'acting up' while you were away - sooo glad you're back to keep an eye on her! :p )

 

The ship sounds just lovely, and I'm so glad you felt at home on her still.

 

Looking forward to hearing more and more... after you've settled in, of course. (I'm sure you're suffering from post-cruise depression, but we're so glad you're back... missed you.)

 

Thank you so much,

[Classynfun1]

I'm so glad to hear that you had such a wonderful time on *your* Maasdam! I definitely know how hard it is to return to the real world after the pampering the HAL crew provides. I'm sorry your favorite cruise director wasn't your ship this time, though...

[Bill S]

Welcome home, S7S! Thank you for your initial report----I could picture you and your DH boarding, lunching on the Lido and enjoying the lounge. I enjoyed your descripitions about "your" Maasdam. We enjoyed her in 2000-glad she is still doing well, especially in the CDC areas!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for starting your review.

A 96 - that is great!

How is Twinkle doing? How is her daughter?

Years ago instead of giving us those gold paper medallons to wear to designate suite passengers we used to get a priority embarkation card so that we could board the ship first.

 

[Robert AG99]

This will be our first cruise on any HAL ship. Hope we will come to know "your " Massdam and enjoy her as much as you obviously do. From you review so far I am sure we will meet some very competent and friendly crew to make our voyage a good one.

;);)

 

Robert & Cheryl

 

Massdam 09/17/2005

[sail7seas]

I'm so glad to hear that you had such a wonderful time on *your* Maasdam! I definitely know how hard it is to return to the real world after the pampering the HAL crew provides. I'm sorry your favorite cruise director wasn't your ship this time, though...

 

 

You're right, Classynfun..... We would have very much have liked to see John, but totally enjoyed Cruise Director Craig DiRocco with whom we sailed as recently as January on Veendam. He went out of his way to be very friendly and we saw him most every evening for a nice chat (....and maybe a cocktail as well :) He left the ship yesterday and we hope we are lucky to see him again soon on another 'dam' ship. :)

Yes...it is hard coming back to reality. Where was my room service menu last night? Whaddaya mean I have to get my own cereal this morning!!! Geeeez, this isn't fun at all!!

 

[sail7seas]

We returned from our walk around the ship to find our luggage had been delivered. Just as we started to unpack, our cabin steward (August is his name; Auggie is how he like to be addressed) knocked on the door in order to introduce himself. We liked him immediately and knew he would be a great steward and we were correct. He took wonderful care of us and I don't think I ever, in two full weeks aboard, asked for anything. He knew what we needed and he provided it. He never forgot to do anything; he kept our Suite in lovely condition. Most times when we came and went from our Suite during the day and when going to dinner, he was always easily available to anyone who wished to speak with him.

 

We finished unpacking and went to Sailaway Party at Aft Pool. It was a beautiful summer day and we very much enjoyed meeting up with some bar stewards we knew from other cruises. And that is where we saw Bar Manager Twinkle and could share hugs and hellos. Even the Hotel Manager came to sailaway and that is not always the case. Mr. Dirk (as I came to call him) was very friendly and certainly happy as he had such good news to share about the USPH Inspection.

 

We rested a while and then dressed for Neptune Lounge Suite Welcome Aboard. It didn't seem that even 50% of suite pax attended and that was fine. Not crowded and a chance to chat with those who were there. I was really surprised when Captain van der Loo asked if our toilet was working properly!!! Then I laughed. Someone must have reminded him that when we were aboard Maasdam with him a year and a half ago, for back-to-backs, in the same Suite that we were again back-to-back in, we needed the plumber almost every day for one repair or another. For over half the cruise our toilet did not work on that previous cruise. How fun of the Captain to go to the trouble to comment about it to us with such good humor. We assured him the plumbing was fine..... Alas, we made that assurance too soon. We got safely through day 12 and then WHAMMO....broken toilet. I considered calling the bridge to advise him as I was sure it would be the only thing on his mind even considering his out of service engine!!! I opted instead to see the Concierge about it. It was fixed in a reasonably amount of time and when we left, it was still working.

 

Our weather the first week was cool, cloudy, overcast. The only day we had rain was when we were in Quebec. It was such pouring, torrential rain that we were forced to skip the walking tour we had booked. The wind and rain were so strong it wasn't possible to open an umbrella. Our tour was to begin at 1:00. All morning we kept asking if it had been cancelled and we kept being told no decision had been made. It was obvious no one with any sense would venture out for a 3 hours walking tour in that weather. Well....the powers that make such decisions decided the weather was just fine for a stroll around Quebec. They did not cancel the tour. We did not go. We did not get a refund of the money we paid. We also did not get pneumonia.

The second week was very much better weather and our day in Quebec on the return visit was a gorgeous day.

 

We enjoyed the wonderful salmon bake on deck on our sea day. It was so delicious I had two pieces and enjoyed every bite.

 

We loved the scenic cruising on the St. Lawrence/Saganay River and the statue is so moving; really beautiful. Very lovely to view as they played Ave Maria. Captain swung the ship around so that pax on both port and starboard side had a view from their verandas.

 

It was a bit unusual that on the June 11 cruise, Boston to Montreal, the second formal night was on Wednesday. The cruise ended on Saturday so it would usually be on Thursday. Didn't really matter either way to us.

 

As to dress on formal night, we were happy to see that on the June 11 cruise well over 90% of the pax were dressed very appropriately. There were a few who couldn't seem to get their act together and observe that everyone else was following a dress code. Oh well....there will always be a few, I guess.

 

Mariner's Party was Thursday morning and there was a large number of people attending.

 

Almost all of the first week the Internet Cafe was down and it got to be annoying. My husband really wanted to contact his office. I wanted to send and check my mail. I asked the 'acting GRM' about it and she seemed only to focus on whether I had purchased a package. I wished to focus and how much longer would it be down. Were repairs being made? What did it matter if I had a package or not if the computers didn't work?

 

Finally on day two of our second cruise, the office called to tell me the computers were up and working again and they remained working the rest of our time aboard.

 

We never saw a newspaper brought aboard during our cruises. No papers delivered to Suites on port days; no papers in Neptune Lounge and I don't think there were any in the library. We received the New York Times summary every day but I miss when I don't see a newspaper for two weeks. A few times we passed a store selling a Boston Globe so we bought it but very much miss that HAL has eliminated delivering them to the suites. Pinching more pennies!

 

Time for a break. More later.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for starting your review.

 

A 96 - that is great!

 

How is Twinkle doing? How is her daughter?

 

Years ago instead of giving us those gold paper medallons to wear to designate suite passengers we used to get a priority embarkation card so that we could board the ship first.

 

 

 

 

Twinkle is WONDERFUL. She looks terrific. She has let her very beautiful hair grow and it looks really nice on her. Her daughter is doing very well......she's two now.

I remember the embarkation cards.....I still have a few of them. It has only been about 2 years since they started with the tacky gold stickers.

[CDRMark]

Welcome back and thank you for your excellent review. I look forward to the next installment.

We enjoyed our cruise on Maasdam so much last Fall that we have booked again. Only five months to go! She is elegant and wonderful. Thank you for sharing (both your experiences and YOUR Maasdam).:)

Our weather the first week was cool, cloudy, overcast. The only day we had rain was when we were in Quebec. It was such pouring, torrential rain that we were forced to skip the walking tour we had booked. The wind and rain were so strong it wasn't possible to open an umbrella. Our tour was to begin at 1:00. All morning we kept asking if it had been cancelled and we kept being told no decision had been made. It was obvious no one with any sense would venture out for a 3 hours walking tour in that weather. Well....the powers that make such decisions decided the weather was just fine for a stroll around Quebec. They did not cancel the tour. We did not go. We did not get a refund of the money we paid. We also did not get pneumonia.

This seems to be a continuing problem, especially with regard to shore excursions: the inability to make what should be an easy, customer service oriented decision. Something stops what should be an "easy A+" and makes it unsatisfying to the passenger. Odd that a line which gets so much so right can have such recurring problems here. Glad to see you were able to "go with the flow". I agree that the proper attitude helps. I wonder if anyone showed up for that tour....

 

Cheers

MarkB

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have noticed and have reported that over the last year we Suite passengers have not been getting USA Today in ports anymore. The only newspaper we got on our last cruise was the Miami Herald - compliments of the Miami Herald - HAL did not buy them. The Miami Herald gives complimentary newspapers to many of the hotels on the weekends.

And there weren't any other newspapers in the Neptune Lounge or the Library.

We didn't even have the daily Times Digest.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we were in Sitka in 2003, the same thing happened - pouring down rain - winds were up. No tours were cancelled. Poeple coming back from the Sea Quest tour were complaining because they had paid nearly $100 and saw nothing but a couple of sea otters - nothing else - no whales, etc. Some of the people wrote complaint letters to the shore excursion desk - but they still didn't get their money back.

That was one time we hadn't sign up for a tour.

[sail7seas]

Any explanation for why they didn't provide the Times Digest? We would have been news starved without at least seeing that each day. I hope they don't get it into their heads that they'll stop providing the Times. Bad enough we can't have some news on TV. VERY little news from CNN on the ships. It's mostly feature stories and once in a while they'll offer up a news tidbit. The coverage of the Michael Jackson verdict was laughable!

[sail7seas]

Now that I think of it, it seems to me we heard from someone aboard that they cannot buy Fox News feeds for some reason. I only heard the tail end of a brief comment about it.

 

Anyone know the 'rest of the story'? Has anyone explained to you why they don't show Fox?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were told that it had something to do with the satelite connection. It had gone down about 3 - 4 weeks before we got on the ship and still wasn't fixed 2 weeks later when we left.

Funny - so many people have been on the Zuiderdam the last few weeks and no one has mentioned whether they got a Times Digest or not.

The International CNN is bad. We were told by Jim Deering that it is too costly to have our CNN.

[adamsmark]

News shouldn't have been any problem on this port-intensive cruise, was it? Why would the Times Digest be of any importance at all when U.S. or Canadian English language newspapers of all kinds would be available almost everyday in every port.

[Esme]

Sail - could you not have picked up the Canadian Newspapers that would have been available in all the Cdn. ports, like The Globe and Mail, National Post, Halifax Herald, Montreal Gazette, etc. ?? They all cover US and Canadian news.

[sail7seas]

Sail - could you not have picked up the Canadian Newspapers that would have been available in all the Cdn. ports, like The Globe and Mail, National Post, Halifax Herald, Montreal Gazette, etc. ?? They all cover US and Canadian news.

 

Yes, of course, we can buy newspapers. You may have seen my reference to purchasing the Boston Globe. We prefer having U.S. papers when possible.

My point is the product Suite pax buy has been diminished. We used to get newspapers; we no longer do. I liked it better when the convenience/ease we purchased was provided.

[Odd Ball]

Now that I think of it, it seems to me we heard from someone aboard that they cannot buy Fox News feeds for some reason. I only heard the tail end of a brief comment about it.

 

 

Anyone know the 'rest of the story'? Has anyone explained to you why they don't show Fox?

 

This is only a logical guess. Those TV stations are owned by Time Warner (they were once owned by Ted Turner).

It is possible there is a contract for a "Time Warner" package and only Time Warner stations can be shown.

[Odd Ball]

Yes, of course, we can buy newspapers. You may have seen my reference to purchasing the Boston Globe. We prefer having U.S. papers when possible.

 

My point is the product Suite pax buy has been diminished. We used to get newspapers; we no longer do. I liked it better when the convenience/ease we purchased was provided.

 

 

 

 

Is it possible you just noticed? The USA Today papers have been gone for awhile, as Krazy Kruisers pointed out. I don't recall if the Times paper was still deliverd or not.

[sail7seas]

Is it possible you just noticed? The USA Today papers have been gone for awhile, as Krazy Kruisers pointed out. I don't recall if the Times paper was still deliverd or not.

 

Yup... :D It's possible. We have had newspapers delivered to us during the last 15 months on HAL ships.....it was either Rotterdam, Zuiderdam, Veendam or on some of our Maasdam cruises during the previous year and a half.....or some combination of those ships. We absolutely have had papers delivered to us within that time period.

Which ships were you on that you noticed you did not receive one during your cruise(s)?

[birdog16]

Suite Check -in (HAL---PLEASE get rid of those horrid gold stickers that designate pax as Suite Pax. They are tacky and embarrassing and make me very uncomfortable. It's like a neon sign on our foreheads that we are in Suites....Can't you be just a little more subtle in expediting Suite priority embarkation???).

 

WOW, I quite surprised that the special attention is not welcomed?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Statendam - Oct/Nov 2004 - got a USA Today paper the first day the cruise began - nothing after that for 21 days.

Westerdam - Jan 2005 - no papers.

Volendam - Feb/Mar 2005 - USA Today only in St Thomas.

Zuiderdam - Miami Herald - Ft Lauderdale only.