Review of Maasdam cruise to Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas, 25 March – 22 April, 2018

[RetiredMustang]

Launderette

 

Here are photos of the deck 9 launderette:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 9 aft

Here are a couple of photos of the outside deck at the aft of deck 9. About the only people who used it were some of us with cabins on deck 9.

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

 

[RetiredMustang]

Show Lounge

 

The forward part of decks 7 and 8 is where the show lounge is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Atrium

 

Just aft from the show lounge and forward elevators on decks 6, 7 and 8 is the atrium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, around the atrium on deck 8 are tables and chairs that are actually part of the Ocean Bar:

 

 

 

This leads of course to photos of the Ocean Bar, in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Ocean Bar

 

The Ocean Bar was probably the busiest on board, as it hosted happy hour at 4 p.m. most days, and often had live music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

New shops

 

The shops are deck 8, on the port side of the atrium, and the starboard side of the Mix, with the Merabella boutique near the Explorer’s Lounge. When we boarded in San Diego, the shops were all closed with plastic sheets over the sides. A few days later, they held a grand re-opening to mark the refurbished shops. I will post photos of them in the next series of posts.

 

The forward-most shop was one with mostly clothing, with such things as books and knickknacks as well:

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Shops (Cont.)

 

A narrow store next to the atrium held logo clothing and other logo items. I was able to get a new Maasdam ball cap to replace the one I bought a few years ago and was getting pretty tatty.

 

 

 

 

Just aft of that, at the curve of the atrium, was the small duty free shop, which also sold candy and snacks and what I thought was a pretty good collection of useful items like cough medicine, sunscreen, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

But, I kept having the felling that it was missing something. Then it came to me. A few days after taking the photos, I asked DW to look into the shop and see if she thought something was missing, and she could not say until I told her. The photos above are pretty comprehensive for the little shop, so I didn’t overlook some shelves. Can you pinpoint what is missing? I will tell you at the end of the next post about the shops.

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Shops (Cont.)

 

Across from the Mix is the largest shop on board, and its new iteration is given over to luxury goods such as perfumes, crystal, jewelry and watches:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, almost to the Explorer’s Lounge was the Merabella shop. I couldn’t tell what was different – it looked to me to be the usual very high end jewelry. But, we are not jewelry shoppers so I wouldn’t have noticed any changes, probably.

 

 

 

Answer to what was missing from the duty-free shop: In every shipboard duty-free shop on HAL that I can remember, there was a display of duty-free cigarettes. The one on Maasdam did not have a cigarette display. I am no longer a smoker and it did not occur to me to ask if the shop sold tobacco products even though they weren’t displayed.

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great pictures.

What do you think of the new shops?

[taxmantoo]

Answer to what was missing from the duty-free shop: In every shipboard duty-free shop on HAL that I can remember, there was a display of duty-free cigarettes. The one on Maasdam did not have a cigarette display. I am no longer a smoker and it did not occur to me to ask if the shop sold tobacco products even though they weren’t displayed.

 

I also did not see any "Oprah" branded products. Were there any that you noticed?

[RetiredMustang]

Great pictures.

What do you think of the new shops?

 

I thought the logo items shop was well done, although I'm skeptical about the new orange motif (and yes, I get Willem of Oranje and why the staff has that as a color note); maybe others look good in it but I don't. But, HAL has brought back by-name items instead of generic "Dam" stuff, and I appreciate it.

 

I like the range of items in the "useful stuff" section of the duty-free shop.

 

We have never even looked at the watches, jewelry, crystal, etc., so are oblivious to most of the other changes. We never went in before, and we don't go in now.

 

So, a slight plus overall.

 

Dave

Edited May 10, 2018 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

I also did not see any "Oprah" branded products. Were there any that you noticed?

 

I never noticed brands of anything, frankly (well, maybe M&M's and such). I didn't know Oprah had anything besides a magazine and a book club -- I hear she has a TV show, but have never seen it.

 

In essence, DW and I are the despair of the shops staff.

 

Dave

[dchip]

Thanks so much for the wonderful photos of the Maasdam. We will be sailing on her June 2019 Alaskan cruise. She was our first HAL cruise. Happy that the Crow’s Nest is intact. :D

 

Loved your photos of Fakarava. It was a shame the cemetery was closed. Happy the church wasn't. Isn’t it amazing?!?

 

Thanks for the info on the tour in Papeete. We will look into that if it’s still offered on the Tales of the South Pacific, also in 2019.

 

Thanks again,

Denise

[57redbird]

Thanks for doing this!! We had contemplated doing this cruise but you have hit the high spots, in transit, on board & in ports.....great photos & descriptions.

[Rowsby]

Such a nice review....and I love the photos....!!

 

Hoping to take this cruise some day.....soon.....:)

[Bangding]

Thank you for a great read!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[erewhon]

This review is bringing back so many memories of our 22 Day cruise on the Maasdam in November.

Man what a great itinerary it was and will forever be as one of my favorite cruises. The Maasdam is a great ship. Thanks for the photos.

 

Yes, it was a great cruise.

[erewhon]

Dave,

Thanks for sharing your super photos, Atrium looks different without the Christmas Decorations we enjoyed last year.

Is the book exchange cupboard still in the library?

[ski ww]

Thanks for taking us on a ships tour. What I find annoying on the newer ship is the cabanas taking up half the space around the lido pool area.

Allan

[Krazy Kruizers]

I thought the logo items shop was well done, although I'm skeptical about the new orange motif (and yes, I get Willem of Oranje and why the staff has that as a color note); maybe others look good in it but I don't. But, HAL has brought back by-name items instead of generic "Dam" stuff, and I appreciate it.

 

I like the range of items in the "useful stuff" section of the duty-free shop.

 

We have never even looked at the watches, jewelry, crystal, etc., so are oblivious to most of the other changes. We never went in before, and we don't go in now.

 

So, a slight plus overall.

 

Dave

 

 

Thank you Dave.

We don't bother looking at any of the jewelry, etc. either. DH used to like getting a t-shirt with the itinerary on it. Haven't found any in HAL ships in many years. Was hoping HAL would bring that back.

[RetiredMustang]

The Mix

 

Aft of the atrium on deck 8 are the casino on the port side (taking photos frowned upon), and the Mix in the middle – the main passageway goes between it and the large shop. This is a space where a few years ago they took down some walls that made a large open space with three bar areas, a Spirits and Ales Bar, a Martini and piano bar, and a small champagne bar. The Spirits and Ales bar has a TV behind the bar that is usually tuned to any televised sporting events the ship can pick up. Here are several photos of the spaces:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

The Mix (Cont.)

More photos of the Mix:

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Explorer’s Lounge, etc.

 

Aft of the Mix and Merabella boutique is the Explorer’s Lounge. Maasdam still had the Adagio duo playing there most afternoons/evenings.

 

 

 

Aft of that on the starboard side was the Pinnacle Grill. We ate their one evening, and enjoyed the rib-eye steak, asparagus and brussels sprouts as we always do.

 

 

 

There is a short passage from the starboard side to the port side and Explorations Café where there were desks for the Future Cruise Consultant and the Port Advisor.

 

 

 

The Port Advisor is a person we’ve encountered for many cruises who gives advice on what to do in ports if you are not taking a tour. There are three types of cruisers when it comes to ports – those who take ship’s tours, those who organize/go on private tours, and those who just go on their own. The Port Advisor helps those on their own with maps, advice and information. (That reminds me of the old joke: “There are three types of people in the world: those who can do math and those who can’t.”)

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Explorations Café

 

On the port side of deck 8, aft of the casino, is the Explorations Café. It consists of a coffee bar, computer consoles, tables, chairs and cases of books.

 

 

 

 

 

To answer your question erewhon, we found that the book swap space was actually a whole bookcase, on the main pathway, near the case with travel and guide books. There was quite a bit of traffic, when the library was not closed due to Code Red, with lots of books coming and going. We would stop often to see what was available:

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Dining Room

 

At the aft end of decks 7 and 8 is the Rotterdam Dining Room. Set seating is on deck 8, with open seating on deck 7, although open seating groups were brought upstairs to deck 8 if there were empty tables, such as ours on the night we went to the Pinnacle Grill.

 

We think the Maasdam Dining Room is an elegant place. Here are some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave