Come Sail a Way with us LIVE as the Westerdam meets the Sail a Way Gang

[sppunk]

1of4, think of it as a great real-life lesson on how to teach patience, manners, openness and retaliation. ;)

 

Lizzie68, that's terrible. We had a non-working toilet for a week and received a quite large deposit toward a future cruise. Keep pushing and write when you get home. In the meantime, demand a spa pass and use those nice showers there! :)

[1of4]

We are just passing the tip of Cuba as I type.

 

This morning we had a great M&G organized by Kazu. There was a phenomenal turn out by CC and senior officers as well. Very enjoyable and a great way to put faces to CC names.

 

The ship is selling off its Caribbean gear in the Lido pool area.

[sail7seas]

Sorry about Lizzie's hot water issue. Hope they get that resolved quickly.

 

Very sorry about the unhappy episode you and your son encountered. Totally inappropriate, of course.

 

Continue to enjoy your cruise. :)

[POA1]

BUT...we met the type of person I dread just before dinner last night. We were about 10 minutes early so were looking for our photos in the gallery which is right outside the upper dining room doors. DS and I were looking at one panel, not moving, not speaking, just standing and looking. We may even have been holding hands when this battle axe of a woman in a wheelchair being pushed by her husband spoke loud enough for everyone to hear:

 

You are a little boy. There is no place on this ship for children. This cruise is for old people only.

 

she and her husband thought this was hysterical and were laughing. He kept pushing the chair as she vomited her opinion over us.

 

Your kids shouldn't have to deal with this. Since they didn't start things, they can play by the other person's rules. They no longer have to be respectful.

 

Suggestions to follow.

[POA1]

1of4, think of it as a great real-life lesson on how to teach patience, manners, openness and retaliation. ;)

 

Especially that last one.

[Vict0riann]

1of4, just point that nasty woman (you notice I don't say "lady", 'cause she ain't), to the rest of the roll call, and we'll all be on her. Your children certainly have better manners than she does.

 

Sorry, Lizzie about your woes! Water, water everywhere, etc., you definitely deserve better.

 

It was a great turnout for the Meet & Greet. Kazu outdid herself. As well as most of the roll call, we had 7 or 8 of the Officers and staff. I'm sure she will let you know all the names! From the Captain with the stuck toot button (and he said we can expect a whole lot of tooting in Cartagena as we will be greeting Zaandam enthusiastically), and the CD, and even the Master Chef!

 

It is now after lunch, and time for a siesta before the first formal night, with the Captain's greeting.

[Alcarondas]

The episode with 3of4 (or is he 4of4?) reminds me of the old adage that nothing is completely useless, because it can always serve as an example of what not to do.

 

Perhaps justice would be served if the offending senior were to be banished to Club HAL for the remainder of the trip...

[Susie51]

Sorry about the bad experience with the water pipes. Hope the rest of your cruise goes much better.

[sail7seas]

The episode with 3of4 (or is he 4of4?) reminds me of the old adage that nothing is completely useless, because it can always serve as an example of what not to do.

 

Perhaps justice would be served if the offending senior were to be banished to Club HAL for the remainder of the trip...

 

Maybe she should be smothered with kindness rather than a group beat on? What a better example to show the children.

 

[Love the beach]

The episode with 3of4 (or is he 4of4?) reminds me of the old adage that nothing is completely useless, because it can always serve as an example of what not to do.

 

Perhaps justice would be served if the offending senior were to be banished to Club HAL for the remainder of the trip...

 

Oh, I like that idea! :D

 

Lizzie, hope all is resolved soon.

 

How fun...another tooting fest!

[Alcarondas]

Maybe she should be smothered with kindness rather than a group beat on? What a better example to show the children.

 

 

Well, of course. ;) The kids in Club HAL can all show their appreciation and respect to a valued elder. Or something like that...

[PathfinderEss]

I am so glad to learn Lizzie68 has hot water. Sometimes we can't get cold in the sink. Lizzie68 & her DH have been exceptionally patient and understanding.

 

we can highly recommend The Oasis. It was a perfect day! :)

 

BUT...we met the type of person I dread just before dinner last night. We were about 10 minutes early so were looking for our photos in the gallery which is right outside the upper dining room doors. DS and I were looking at one panel, not moving, not speaking, just standing and looking. We may even have been holding hands when this battle axe of a woman in a wheelchair being pushed by her husband spoke loud enough for everyone to hear:

 

You are a little boy. There is no place on this ship for children. This cruise is for old people only.

 

she and her husband thought this was hysterical and were laughing. He kept pushing the chair as she vomited her opinion over us. DS was crushed. His face told me he heard every word. I told DH and he wanted to point her out. Since our dinner table is right at the railing we have a good spot to look. It didn't take long to spot her so DH got a good look.

 

He says he will address the mater with her next time he sees her.

 

I hope that I am not around for that.

 

Really sorry to hear about this, feel so bad for your DS. I know my DH would feel the same way. We have had several run in's with wheel chair person's on board Hal ships and he will not put up with their insensitivities.

[Scrapnana]

Enjoyed seeing everyone at the Meet and Greet. The HD is very personable and loved hearing that the captain likes the toots as much as the sail-away addicts!

 

Six of us met for Bunco this afternoon and had a great time. We are going to meet again tomorrow (2 in the Lido for anyone onboard who wants to join us - no experience needed!).

 

Tonight is the first formal night. Having spent my last 130 days at sea on Cunard, I will be interested to see how the formal nights compare to each other.

[SilvertoGold]

Enjoyed seeing everyone at the Meet and Greet. The HD is very personable and loved hearing that the captain likes the toots as much as the sail-away addicts!

 

Six of us met for Bunco this afternoon and had a great time. We are going to meet again tomorrow (2 in the Lido for anyone onboard who wants to join us - no experience needed!).

 

Tonight is the first formal night. Having spent my last 130 days at sea on Cunard, I will be interested to see how the formal nights compare to each other.

 

Enjoying your blog!!!

 

You mention "the morning show". Am I missing something?

 

Thanks also for the photos of your cabin. Looks quite nice. What is the view like? Can you see over the bulkhead railing?

Edited April 13, 2015 by SilvertoGold

[Scrapnana]

Enjoying your blog!!!

 

You mention "the morning show". Am I missing something?

 

Thanks also for the photos of your cabin. Looks quite nice. What is the view like? Can you see over the bulkhead railing?

 

I am not sure what the "morning show" is actually called on HAL but it is the Cruise Director talking with someone on the TV. Yesterday he talked with the comedian that was going to perform last night and today he talked with the future cruise lady.

 

I can see straight out but not down (maybe someone very tall could). It's funny but at sea it doesn't look like we are moving from this view.

 

Thanks for reading the blog!

Edited April 13, 2015 by Scrapnana

[kazu]

I am horrified that you have experienced such appalling behavior from so called grown ups. Your children are a delight and we are all enjoying having them with us.

 

.....no hot water again though!

 

I agree 100%. And these children are too well mannered to retailiate. :)

 

On the bright side, i hope they are all seeing the joys in the faces of many for how wonderful they are and don't let this tarnish their time.

 

Lizzie - I was demolished this morning when I heard you had no hot water again. You are a very patient person. I know the concierges are very appreciative that you are not blasting them for things that they canoot control and only order fixed. You are truly a saint. this is day 3 of issues and I imagine you are not in the position to really enjoy your suite with the constant maintenance interruptions.

[kazu]

As already posted the embarkation process was really smooth IMO.

 

 

 

We had the obligatory life boat drill and sadly it sounds like we will have to attend the one in San Diego. As we are assembling we hear "this is you Captain - SILENCE ON DECK" The bold is because it was very, very firm. Good move to as things moved along quickly. One of our cast members was the life jacket demonstrator and did ballet type moves adding some smiles to the drill. The ironice thing was, that since he exaggerated things, I actually saw how to do the life jacket more clearly with his demonstration than the standard one.

 

Sadly, they didn't use the key cards.

 

When we were in our cabin, we received a surprise phone call, the maitre d',Dining room manager, whatever the right title is was on the other line and remembered us from the Prinsendam. Told us he has other tables in the dining room that we thought we would like better than the one we were assigned and would like to show them to us.

 

He found us at the end of the lifeboat drill and off we went to the dining room . We were moved from the rail to a lovely window table - a four top converted to a two. The next night Lizzie68 was moved too as he remembered them as well. They were pefectly content where they were but he wanted them in a better location and now they are just behind us!

 

More surprises. f'riends had been on the Westerdam a few weeks ago and asked me to bring a package ot Ingo, the Cellar Master. He came knocking at my door and had a lovey gift from my friends for us and we were happy to give him his gifts. He had ordered a bottle of wine for us but it went to the old cabin and could not be "saved" so when we arrived at our table in the dining room there was lovely champagne waiting for us. (defintely not sparkling wine - LOL)

 

First night service is always a bit of mess usually but ours was very smooth. Our waiters were quick and attentive and our wine steward will bet taking good care of us I think if our first night is a sign of things to come.

 

Food was very decent. DH had the trout and I the prime rib and it was NOT tough nor grizzly.

 

After dinner we strolled around the ship to get our bearings and headed to the casino (I know, I'm evil :)) Lady Luck did not smile hard on us but we didn[t lose big time (that would happen the next night) so life was good. It's been a while since I have been on a Vista ship, quite a long while so well things started to come back slowly and I get bearings on a "bigger" ship, I noticed a few things that were intiruging.

 

In the central elevator areas where they have the chairs or the {"people" on the chairs), all the chairs face forward, so it is easy to get your bearings keeping this in mind.

 

(It would have been nice if I had remembered this before the sail a way as I got turned around and was having a hard time to find the Westerdam sign, sad but true - but we finally got there thanks to 4of4 who scooted ahead and found our gang - and yes we were very happy with the tooting. :)

 

Also, it appears that only the side elevators have the floor mats with the days of the week. The central middle ones do not appear to. Now I haven't been on every elevator on the ship yet and DH and I do try to use the stairs so this is not a scientific statement but an observation of "so far".

 

Time to get ready for formal night. Will post more later about the meet and greet, etc.

 

SO NICE to see other roll call members posting on the thread. LOVE it!

 

Have to say, it is so nice to finally meet so many that have hung around on the Sail a Way threads and the boards. :)

 

It's a sea day tomorrow but we have another busy one planned. Packing up the pencil cases for the school (lovingly made by 1of4) and a group luncheon in the PG for the roll call:). I will be relieved to get some of the bags out of the room - although now I do have them pretty well organized. Bunko game tomorrow for those that want to play so it should be fun!

 

Thanks so much for following along - I will try to answer any questions at the next post :)

Edited April 13, 2015 by kazu

[kazu]

Remember to ask about "SD" if it's appropriate (and if you want).

 

I ran out of time before I left :eek:

 

I couldn't get into my webmail last night but I hopefully later or tomorrow by the afternoon I can get in and go searching for your email and will send you an e. I hadn't forgotten about your kind offer. I just plain ran out of time. Embarrassing isn't it?

 

thanks again:)

[canadianbear]

This has been wonderful Kazu taking us along with you and everyone else from the "gang" that is posting. It's really appreciated and getting me excited for our Noordam Panama cruise right behind you soon.

 

It sure sounds like the staff is taking care of you all too-I think the gang is famous:):) Loved all the tooting as the ship left port too-very impressive.

 

Have a wonderful time all of you-if we get the reasonable unlimited internet on the Noordam I will be able to follow your thread. Otherwise, will read it all when we get back.

 

Safe journey to all.

[Himself]

I am enjoying this thread very much. I just wish I could be on the Westerdam with you.

[alibabacruisers]

Thanks to everyone who is posting! I am loving it all!

[Dismomx5]

So the surprise really worked.

Happy anniversary!

Thank you. And to everyone that posted regarding what happened last night. We are hoping it was her version of a joke but we had other disapproving comments, not just as pointed as this one. DH was not amused when I told him vans he will address it when he sees her.

So sorry that this happened. A damper so early on in the trip.

I'm enjoying tagging along, and, scrapnana, your blog. This is one trip that I'd like to do, so I am hanging on with baited breath! Thanks!

[SilvertoGold]

I am not sure what the "morning show" is actually called on HAL but it is the Cruise Director talking with someone on the TV. Yesterday he talked with the comedian that was going to perform last night and today he talked with the future cruise lady.

 

I can see straight out but not down (maybe someone very tall could). It's funny but at sea it doesn't look like we are moving from this view.

 

Thanks for reading the blog!

 

I had no idea that any HAL ship did a morning show on TV. This is what you get from watching only the bow camera and the weather channel!!

 

I really like the cabin layout. The TV seems to be an inconvenient spot, though. Can you watch it from the bed?

 

Hope you continue to enjoy HAL!!

[rafinmd]

I had no idea that any HAL ship did a morning show on TV. This is what you get from watching only the bow camera and the weather channel!!

 

I really like the cabin layout. The TV seems to be an inconvenient spot, though. Can you watch it from the bed?

 

Hope you continue to enjoy HAL!!

 

Scrapnana is coming from Cunard, where a TV morning show is pretty much standard. I don't remember seeing it on HAL, which seems to prefer a live "coffee chat" in either the showroom or Wajang theater. At least on the World Cruise last year that show was rebroadcast on TV after the live presentation. I'm wondering if that is what's happening on the Westerdam or a true TV morning show.

 

Roy

[cruz chic]

Scrapnana is coming from Cunard, where a TV morning show is pretty much standard. I don't remember seeing it on HAL, which seems to prefer a live "coffee chat" in either the showroom or Wajang theater. At least on the World Cruise last year that show was rebroadcast on TV after the live presentation. I'm wondering if that is what's happening on the Westerdam or a true TV morning show.

 

Roy

Its not much if a show. Its been on every ship I've been on. It consists of the cruise director reading the daily paper. Its much more interesting on princess.