LIVE from the MAASDAM transatlantic cruise

[sansterre]

TransAtlantic 2014

Days 1-5 (Departed Ft. Lauderdale October 31, two sea days, San Juan - Puerto Rico, and Philipsburg - St. Maarten) We enjoyed fair winds and calm seas. From day one everyone helped themselves at the Lido and elsewhere. We learned from the Hotel Director that the Orange Alert changed....at least on the Maasdam. The serving spoons, tongs, etc. in the Lido were changed by staff every 20 minutes by two people. A disinfectant is on these serving utensil handles which lasts 20 minutes. They think it is just as effective as the old procedure which required 14 personnel. We also noticed that menus are simplified......no long, poetic descriptions are provided. Everything fits on one sheet of nice quality paper, a smaller piece of paper for dessert. The last two nights the dinner menu has been in the folders. The light brown dessert folders are no longer being used. Our Meet and Greet was nice and attended by more than 100.

San Juan - We were the only ship in port so we took the free shuttle around old San Juan and did a little shopping at Radio Shack (I forgot my laptop charger!) and CVS (the usual amenities).

Philipsburg - The Maasdam was one of three cruise ships docked here and the other two were behemoths. Therefore, we disembarked for a short walk around the dock area, took a few pictures, and got back on board within an hour.

Last 4 days - crossing the Atlantic Ocean, now headed 78 degrees toward Tenerife. We are headed into strong winds (class 6) but cruising is comfortable and we should reach our first port on time.

Entertainment - The Celtic Tenors are with us for the crossing! Today they did a coffee talk in the showroom and tomorrow they will perform their second program. We have had other good entertainment, a pianist, a flutist, a juggler. I’ll try to post their names in my next post. Guitarist Bill plays in the Mix and the Adagio Strings are just two, but they are good.

Edited November 8, 2014 by sansterre

[OVgirl]

Thanks for checking in. Looks like a good cruise so far. Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for your 'live from'. Very enjoyable to read. :)

 

If you know, would you tell us who is Captain and Hotel Director?

Sounds like all is well aboard the beautiful Maasdam.

Enjoy.

[TiogaCruiser]

Enjoy your cruise and am hoping you find some really great wool or specialty yarns on your port calls.

[POA1]

Thanks for your report!

[kazu]

thanks for posting and taking the time and $.

 

Looking forward to more if and when you have time and I hope you do.

 

We found the same type of code orange on the Prinsendam. Yes, the salt and pepper were in the little paper sacks but we could help ourselves and were told the same thing.

 

hoping the winds stay fair for you and the seas calm down.

[Himself]

Thanks for the update and I hope you have a good cruise.

[Scrapnana]

TransAtlantic 2014

From day one everyone helped themselves at the Lido and elsewhere. We learned from the Hotel Director that the Orange Alert changed....at least on the Maasdam. The serving spoons, tongs, etc. in the Lido were changed by staff every 20 minutes by two people. A disinfectant is on these serving utensil handles which lasts 20 minutes. They think it is just as effective as the old procedure which required 14 personnel.

 

 

Sounds like a good plan. I am sure the crew likes it, too!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for reporting in on your Maasdam cruise. This one is on my bucket list, so will be interested in how it goes for you.

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks for this interesting and informative report. Appreciate it that you are taking the time to post!

 

Hope you enjoy this fantastic cruise.

Would love to hear about the 5 star rewards and how the Maasdam does in that respect.

[cruisenfreak]

Looking forward to following you through your cruise. We board the Maasdam on 12/19. Mary Jane

[hpf]

Thanks for taking the time and expense for keeping us up to date on the Massdam. I'll be checking in for further updates. Enjoy your cruise.

 

Helen

[saatuk]

Sounds like a good range of entertainment. I hope they're all still there when I board at Civitavecchia.

[RuthC]

Entertainment - The Celtic Tenors are with us for the crossing! Today they did a coffee talk in the showroom and tomorrow they will perform their second program.

They are fabulous! I saw them on the Prinsendam where they not only played to a full house, but did a post-show entertainment in the Crow's Nest. Packed the place, too.

I thought them good enough that I paid for a ticket to hear them when they played at a local venue a few weeks ago.

 

Who is playing piano in the Mix?

[sansterre]

Sorry for duplicate post. I had trouble locating this thread but now have it bookmarked. Landfall at Tenerife, Canary Islands is just a day away!

Our hotel director is Owen Craig. We had dinner with him the other night. I met Captain Smit briefly but expect to see much of both of them this cruise. I need to check on the Piano Player's name and will respond to other questions next time.

Ruth, we were also on the Prinsendam and at the Coffee Talk I asked the three tenors if they recalled that night on the way to Murmansk and coming into the lounge at midnight singing Oh What a Beautiful Morning. They all did and said they would never forget it either. Matthew even remembered the piano player who was excellent and entertained all of us until after 4. Then, one of them said that Murmansk was forgettable.

[sansterre]

Day 10- OK - I lied........just after making my last post, the strangest thing happened - the Maasdam lost all power. Lights, TV, and engine - everything stopped at about 12:15 p.m. Captain A. Smith came over the PA system after just a few moments and stated that we were in deep water and there was no reason to worry. He suggested we find a place to be comfortable while they check things out. After 8-10 minutes the lights came back on. I tried to turn on the television to see what direction the ship was headed and our speed but the TV was not working. Approximately 1:15, an hour later, while we were playing trivia, the staff captain announced the ship had resumed power and was moving at 12 knots, but there was no steering. Around 1:30 the steering resumed and we were assured that we would make Tenerife around 9 a.m. which earlier than the itinerary listed but slightly later than expected before the glitch. I do not know why power was lost but will report anything I learn. One of our trivia friends checked his GPS and said that the wind and waves turned the ship so we were headed back towards Ft. Lauderdale during most of that hour.

 

The Piano Man is Tom

Our Cruise Director is Mark B.

Our Staff Captain is a woman :-)

The ship seems to be a happy ship, staff has been very pleasant throughout the crossing. We have had great service in the Dining Room; the food is good although the beef isn’t as flavorful as in past years.

I think the only benefit we get with 5 star is a second Pinnacle Dinner - we think any cruise gets 2 Pinnacle Dinners whether it is 7 day or 42 days. However, we are very pleased with a table for two (really could seat 4) near the window in the DR. The hotel director, C. Owens, said either he, the captain, or the staff captain are trying to have dinner in the dining room every night. He likes to do that and said the captain and staff captain enjoy it too.

Tioga Cruiser - I will look for yarn, but right now have lots of projects under construction or just sitting there back home.

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks for the great report! Sounds as if you have a great senior management team and that will take you a long way towards an outstanding cruise.

 

As 5 stars, you should be getting a couple of VIP parties, a Captains's dinner and possibly the Carbaret lunch. Hope you will report!

[RuthC]

The Piano Man is Tom

Thank you for that information. He's a new one to me.

 

I hope the seas were fairly calm when the ship was without power. That could be such a dangerous situation in stormy seas. Glad it was returned to normal without incident, and quickly.

[Folk Singer]

Thanks for checking in. Looks like a good cruise so far. Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

 

 

We also. Really like the Celtic Tenors.

[aliaschief]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. Wish we were with you again and playing Trivia.

[sansterre]

Days 11, 12, and 13 The Canary Islands did not disappoint. The weather was cloudy with a little rain on Tenerife where we enjoyed a 7 hour tour. We saw Agatha Christy’s house, and many other points of interest. However, the volcano was barely visible until we drove above the clouds near it’s base.

In Las Palmas we took the double decker, Hop On Hop Off bus. It was 18 Euros and had earphone connection to a descriptive tour in English which lasted 90 minutes. We would have liked more details of what we were seeing, but the classical music background was pleasant, as was the weather.

Arrecife -from the dock we knew it was like no place we have ever been. All buildings are painted white by law, except for a brand new IKEA store (blue and yellow) and a new McDonalds (brown). We learned on our 5 hour HAL tour that the entire island is volcanic but amazingly the black stone is used not only for jewelry, but for agriculture- mainly potatoes and wine. After the park’‘s Visitor’s Center, our bus took a one-lane road through the many volcano craters; there were fantastic views one right after another. That road led to the camel ride which was a fun way to end a great excursion. 90% of the residents work in tourism. It is easy to see why this amazing island attracts so many tourists.

 

This is a sea day as we make our way NE at a speed of 15.1 knots to Tangier, Morocco on the African mainland. Seas are fair and sky is overcast this morning. Tonight’s entertainment is Woytek, clarinet virtuoso. The internet is incredibly slow and I’ve given up on getting on AOL. Even if I did get on AOL, I could not send out messages. Hopefully I can continue to post on CC. If it works well, I’ll try to post a photo or two.

[Susie51]

Thank you for continuing to post. I appreciate your time and effort to do this for us.

[Folk Singer]

Great report and thanks.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info..

[sansterre]

Almeria and Valencia Beautiful weather both days. We were in Almeria on a Sunday so some stores were closed. DH and I took a taxi around town for an hour with Franscisco. It cost us about 20 Euro. It is a lovely town and huge castle/fort up on the cliff.

Today we are in Valencia. It is a large freight port and quite a distance from the center of town. There is blue sky, but lots of wind so it is sweater weather.

Enjoyed a great English comedian/singer last night names Hilary. Tonight is a variety show but I don't recall all the participant names. I am writing this from the terminal which has free WIFI, but it is extremely slow.

Tomorrow we are off to Barcelona where I should be able to post photos.