Maasdam's new EXC-InDepth cruise program - at sea

[OlsSalt]

OlsSalt, thank you for all the great information you’ve been sharing about this new cruise format. We’re very interested as we’ll boarding the Maasdam in Sydney in December. We’re wondering about the time of the main seating fixed dinner; is it 7:45 or 8pm or later? On our recent cruises it has been 7:45 which we really like, as 8pm is just getting a little late for us.

 

 

Looks like the internet gods are displeased. Had a nice long response for you and more details about Easter Island, but poof it apparently did not load.

 

Yes dinner is at 7:45 pm on this cruise. Food has been very good in the main dining room and very nice variety for long cruise. We are usually out well before 9pm as we are also late seating. MDR service has been very smooth and last night we were (again) remarking how nice it always feels to come back "home" to the welcome embrace of this lovely ship after our days adventures.

 

We also had two very nice meals in Hanga Roa, the main town of Easter Island - could not get enough of their fresh, fresh tuna ceviche - along with fried sweet potatoes and garlic shrimp. Food in this town is very good and quite a variety for such a remote outpost. LAN Chile flights a few times a week have started to permanently transform both the people and the town.

 

Last night we had to move the ship to get it out from under the flight path of any approaching planes since the runway is right next to the tender port. While we were having lunch near the tender port, we saw a LAN flight take off almost overhead and very much over the ship. The few minutes of jet roar sounded very alien to this low-key town.

 

Yesterday was the payoff tour for Easter Island - covered all the must see highlights plus leaving plenty of time to explore the town, do some souvenir shopping and have a very nice lunch. First stop was the sole moai with bright white eyes - not the original but redone to show the effect - which is when the moai became "alive" and changes their character completely. Had all the over 700 moai retained their eyes on this island, it would be an overwhelmingly haunting experience even more than it is now.

 

Next stop was the quarry where the moai were created is the real payoff to understand them best - it can be a rugged bit of hiking and rocky stair climbing but key views can still be had if one stays only at the lower levels. Seem the common conclusion is the locals "walked" the statues to their final resting spots by rocking them back and forth - like moving a large refrigerator -- they explain.

 

Then the most emotive sweeping vista of many moai lined up along the ocean - a restoration project sponsored by the Japanese have they were torn asunder due to a 9.5 earthquake tsunami off Chile a few years back. Finished at a gorgeous palm-fringed, turquoise water beach site where Heyerdahl did some of his investigative work on Moai transport and completion.

 

The walk back to the ship along the ocean side from the town was flat and doable - about 20 minutes. We tried another route the first day through the town and up much higher in the town that is not recommended. There are two fishing boat harbors in the main town - one directly in town but the ship tenders go into the one by the airport runway and the police station. They are connected by this coastal road which is a scenic walk in its own right. Plus some good local restaurants - many of the ship's crew stopped along this route.

[OlsSalt]

Last night was a good example of the serendipity the new InDepth program is offering. Usually at 7:15 pm they offer small talks in the Wajang which more interaction with the audience and the onboard experts. More of a seminar format. Two of our onboard experts put together an unexpected program having never met each other before boarding the ship, but realized they had a surprising topic both could present together. This interplay among the lecturers and their own mutual discovery has been a highlight of this new InDepth cruise format.

 

The anthropologist had digital access to copies of former glass plate photographs when Samoa was a German colony, which he shared with the onboard travel photography expert. From their own conversations, they decided this had the makings of a good small seminar evening talk.

 

Together they commented on a few selected slides from both their perspectives - what were these slides displaying from a historic context of people and objects, and what did they say to a photographer for composition and technique.

 

This also small seminar format allowed give and take from the audience as well - how do all of us "see" old photos and what features do we over-look. It was a very well attended event and we were sorry we had to leave to get to dinner - I think the program went on for another half hour as other late seating diners we had seen there straggled in later.

[OlsSalt]

ZODIACS: Watched yesterday from the shore a Maasdam Zodiac zip around the little harbor in Hanga Roa, Easter Island.

 

Looked like the two crew members were taking a test spin and also having a lot of fun going from the harbor and back out to the ship --- they certainly outpace the tenders. Large crane arms on the forward deck lift them into and out of the water.

 

No Zodiac excursions on this ship - assume they will need to be well-tested onboard in various water conditions before making them available for passenger excursions.

[erewhon]

Pleased that you were able to get ashore at Easter Island.

[OlsSalt]

PS- sorry for all the typos and scrambled syntax as I belatedly re-read my own posts. Internet connections on board are very glitchy. so I more dump and run rather than carefully edit and take the risk of a broken internet connection mid-sentance.

 

Also just sharing my own personal perceptions from the limited perceptions regarding what is different about the InDepth program and remote itinerary choices, compared to the other nearly 500 days onboard HAL ships.

 

I believe bitimmer is running a daily blog on the Maasdam Roll Call for this cruise. With photos hopefully.

[bcummin]

We are thankful that you had such a good and safe visit to Easter Island.

Sorry that the internet is a problem.

Yes, Tim has a good blog for this voyage. Each post has about one photo.

http://timmer2018polynesia.blogspot.com/

 

Thanks for taking us along on this awesome adventure.

 

Barbara

[OlsSalt]

Today starts with a panel of our speakers talking about their own impressions of Easter Island. Always fascinating to see things from their unique specialty perceptions.

 

Guest Chef Sam Timoko will be presenting a culinary demonstration on Polynesia staples, as well a special Chef's Table tomorrow in the Pinnacle - modern twists on their ancient ingredients which traveled with them as they migrated across the Pacific, ultimately to Hawaii and finally New Zealand. We will be attending so I will report on that later.

 

Other talks today:

1. Birds of Polynesia - naturalist

2. Captain Cook - anthropologist

3. Identifying coastal features - oceanographer/geologist

4. Authenticity in Polynesia small seminar - anthropologist

 

Evening talk in the Showroom is by Polynesia culture team member Caino, from Hawaii - who others may remember fondly from other HAL South Pacific cruises - tonights talk will be on Pearl Harbor. He has already given excellent talks about Polynesian migration, the spiritual symbol of Leis, Black Pearls, Polynesian royalty and colonial history.

 

Temperatures remain cool and overcast - light rain as we continue to plow the rough and bobbing seas to our next illusive destinations - Henderson and Pitcairn Islands.

[VennDiagram]

OlsSalt thank you for all the time and energy you are putting into your reports. Fabulous! (y)

[bennybear]

My thanks as well, I am travelling vicariously!

[TiogaCruiser]

OlSalt: thanks for doing this thread.

 

In case you haven’t seen it, there’s a sticky that says the boards will be read only for a couple days beginning October 10 while they migrate to a new platform.

 

When all is done you will have to re-log in. It will be a few days.

[OlsSalt]

Thank for the tip about the CC changes and "read only" in a few days - the key places have now been visited and checked off the list - island hopping today from Henderson to Pitcairn - notice how you can make an anagram can say rain and pit - out of Pitcairn?

 

Henderson was wild and remote - one can say they are truly in the middle of no where - no tall trees even grow here - scrubby but green plateau with very limited fresh water and a curving stretch of brilliant white sand that would make any travel poster cry with envy. Truly a visual treat for anyone sailing in this area and did have inhabitants when the Polynesians made their migration across this south Southern Pacific geographic triangle.

 

Henderson also teaches us the difference between leeward and windward sides of an island. As peaceful as the white sand beach was, it quickly became a gale as we rounded the corner and saw wave crash against the cliffs to their very towering tops.

 

Then around 4pm we caught our first glimpse of Pitcarin - as the rain started coming down - its outline as forbidding as ever portrayed in an Mutiny on the Bounty movie - we now have seen all three as the ship offered the most recent version with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins (very good version on the personalities of the two men).

 

We had a little window of good weather as the ship turned around so all sides could see the few houses and building clinging to the cliffs - dense vegetation and the town named after the sole survivor and his mixd descendants came into view. No contact with the island is currently allowed "for security reasons" due to his recent history of sexual abuse by 7 of the men on the island. A few people were up in the hills watching the ship come in but there was no other sign of life among these remaining 60 or so inhabitants.

 

We are now cruising around the island but there are no depth charts so we need to keep a mile and half from the shore. There are outlines of a little road connecting the scattered dwellings and no one lives right directly next to each other - remote island and remotely related dwellings - the face of Pitcairn today.

[Copper10-8]

T........................... scrubby but green plateau with very limited fresh water and a curving stretch of brilliant white sand that would make any travel poster cry with envy. Truly a visual treat for anyone sailing in this area and did have inhabitants when the Polynesians made their migration across this south Southern Pacific geographic triangle.

 

Henderson also teaches us the difference between leeward and windward sides of an island. As peaceful as the white sand beach was, it quickly became a gale as we rounded the corner and saw wave crash against the cliffs to their very towering tops.

 

....................................

 

I see what you mean! Enjoy your two sea days to Tuamotu

 

[OlsSalt]

Today inthe Wajang, the guest photographer offered tips on photographing food - good information even for travel food photos on the run - look first and then shoot is always the advice - take a few moments for choices of angle, backdrop, arrangement, colors, where to focus, repetition of a theme, daylight, and even using your napkin to bounce some light off what you want to highlight.

 

Tonight isthe Guest Chef Polynesian five course dinner - menu:

 

1. Coconutcrab and smoked crab amuse bouche

2. Ceviche (many have been trying out different versions from South American to Polynesian fusion)

3. MahiMahi in a lemon grass broth

4.Twice-cooked pork belly with Polynesian sides

5. Coconut dumplings - he also calls these Cook Island donuts, with caramel sauce andpassion fruit creme

 

Next stops- the real deal pink sand in tropical Polynesia - Fakarava - Rangiroa, BoraBora and Moorea, except now we know that pink sand only comes from maybe less than one quarter red volcanic grains that give it that overall rosy hue - that is what happens when you travel with a geologist who belongs to a sand collection society back home and loves getting samples from all around the world that he sorts under a dissecting microscope.

 

EXC InDepth wanted us to see and sample the world with neweyes - mission accomplished.

 

PS: HAL did not abandon us in Papeete on the last day after all - since many are forced to take the midnight flight back to the US - what do with luggage and self after disembarkation. HAL had nothing offered on the original plan, but are now offering a round island tour with airport transfer that will help ease this chunk of time and luggage handling.

 

We knew wecould not fit our four large suitcases into a standard rental car for a DIY tour and tales of car thefts at island beaches were not encouraging. So we shall remainin HAL's embrace as we sadly bid a fond farewell to this remarkable journey in one more week.

 

Love to know what the post-cruise postmortem will be - still think well over half did not know they were signing up for this new InDepth program -Easter Island was clearly the draw for 99%. The new format was very confusing even tothose of us who were looking forward to it - but the numbers grew with every event, and there has also been a growing affection between various speakers and we passengers as the "frisson" of shared exploration has grown over the past few weeks.

 

Again, having a chance to see the "synergystic" interaction between the various presenters has been a bonus treat. That word "synergy"has so been over-used of late, but its force has been genuine on this cruise as these were strangers to each other at the start of this cruise but clearly they all enjoyed playing off what they were learning from the other presenters as well.

 

Timmer'sblog mentioned it appeared to be a younger demographic than most HAL cruises and I agree - but this may have come from the fact that many ports, includingEaster Island had no provision for limited mobility accommodations. Nor will any of the Zodiac excursions.

 

This was not an "easy" cruise in that we had some fairly rough seas much of the time after leaving Panama and Costa Rica, and had to cruise at top speeds that pushed for this lovely old Lady Maasdam to handle. We bounced around a lot day and night.

 

The weather remained much cooler than many expected. Kind of a running joke to see how many are sporting sweaters with little llama prints running across them -cheaply picked up in Lima as we gave up on seeing the sun come out for a while. The ship shops are selling logo sweatshirts too -so no one needs to becold on board.

 

The spirits have stayed high and there is a real shared experience camaraderie onboard. As the Polynesians could say - there is good mana on this cruise.

 

And...ohhhh ... the places we have seen. And ohhhhhh... the ports of pure relaxation still ahead.

[OlsSalt]

I see what you mean! Enjoy your two sea days to Tuamotu

 

 

Picture perfect, Copper. No crowds too!

[erewhon]

Thank you for the update.

[bennybear]

Thanks for the great descriptions. I always thought some pink sand was from the coral? Love the microscope idea.

[OlsSalt]

Thanks for the great descriptions. I always thought some pink sand was from the coral? Love the microscope idea.

 

Calling all "arenophiles" - discovering the world grain by grain: https://sandcollectors.org

International Society of Sand Collectors - who knew?

 

Members share clever solutions how they store all their vials of collected sand. Dissecting microscopes run around $150 - great gift idea for a curious young person to start exploring the natural world.

[OlsSalt]

Between Pitcairn Island and Fakarava, Polynesia: Interesting comments from the captain today in a special announcement.

 

He reported some were "very concerned" because the ship did not tender on to Pitcairn Island for a land visit, as some claimed they expected to get based upon "some other information" they had picked up. This was never an option - and there is no tender port on this island that would allow this from the Maasdam. Pitcairn Island was always presented from the beginning as a "scenic cruising" option only.

 

Sorry some of the passengers had different expectations of what had been clearly set out up front and during the cruise itself. The one change was getting the letter to all our staterooms there would be no onboard visitations by any of the Pitcairn Islanders themselves, as had been offered sometime in the past - no passport stamping, no souvenirs and no tee-shirts. I am sorry about that and hope under the "security concern" that led to this decision, that thing might change for future visits.

 

The captain is to be commended for re-arranging the entire schedule at this point to make up for the one lost day when we first could not dock in Easter Island due to gale force winds and storms. In fact at that time we did not know if we would get to Easter Island at all.

 

But we did get our two wonderful days on Easter Island, only because of the tremendous efforts by the captain and staff re-arranging all the shore excursions too - since some of they guides needed to fly in from the Chile mainland in order to accommodate the large crowds a cruise ship brings in only occasionally for just a few days every year.

 

Other cruises have reported missing the Easter Island port entirely on prior visits due to the difficult weather, with no accommodations made to make up for the loss. This also included our captain juggling things after Easter Island to make up for this one lost day and was able to combine our scenic cruising of both Henderson and Pitcairn Islands on the same day, instead of the slower paced two days as originally scheduled.

 

Bravo to the Maasdam captain for working so hard at the very last minute to make it all work out best for all us - and for the safety of the ship and crew. He deserves a lot thanks for what he pulled off, and no criticism for not meeting some unfortunately unfounded expectations some of the passengers created for themselves on their own about actually "landing" on Pitcairn Island.

 

Most of the morning activities today was spent going through a face to face check in with French Polynesian customs and immigration - waiting deck by deck to pick up passports, getting them stamped, forms filled out and dropped in to a large pile, but we are all now good to go to the end of the cruise when it ends for us in Papeete - which feels like it is coming much too quickly.

 

For me it actually takes almost three weeks to really get into the rhythm of any cruise (we like to take long ones) - just about now being on board feels like the new normal for my life. This is the time when I never want to leave. But alas, a few more days this grand journey, this grand experiment with InDepth enrichment cruising will become just one more package HAL cruise memories to sift through again at home.

 

At this point all I can say is we are so glad we already have our next Maasdam InDepth cruise already lined up for next year.

[erewhon]

Thanks for your update.

Enjoy the remainder of the cruise.

[OlsSalt]

Even the towel animals went InDepth on this cruise. The Lido Bar area yesterday morning was taken over by a wild display of towel animals, in the potted plants, across the deck and hanging from the rafters - families of monkeys, trails of turtles of all sizes, every possible part of the HAL towel animal menagerie.

 

In the cabins, there was new one for us which was a tribute to our InDepth Australian biologist who is a major bat fancier - they even made little hanging bats one night.

 

We also found the spitting image of the scourge of the South Pacific and perhaps the reason the Easter Island went into such a deforested decline - the introduction of the quite normal Polynesian rat to an island where they faced no natural predators - Henderson Island also got overrun as well. Migrating Polynesians always brought them along for a food source.

 

So as a fitting tribute we got a little towel "rat" (or was it a cute little mouse?) last night.

[rkacruiser]

OlsSalt,

 

Your reports are very encouraging in causing me to think I ought to consider such a cruise experience. Thanks for bringing us along and enjoy what time you have aboard the Maasdam.

[cruisemom42]

Thank for the tip about the CC changes and "read only" in a few days - the key places have now been visited and checked off the list - island hopping today from Henderson to Pitcairn - notice how you can make an anagram can say rain and pit - out of Pitcairn?

 

 

Sounds like all has gone well for the first "experience" with this format -- kudos to HAL. I'll be looking out for 2020 itineraries beyond what's currently posted.

 

And can't resist an anagram using all the letters in Pitcairn: Inca trip! :D

[bennybear]

Thanks again, it sounds fabulous! Now I need a dissecting microscope for moonstone beach, lol.

[madera1]

Enjoying your posts. Sounds like a great trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[snoopyud]

Thanks for the information on the Maasdam. We are considering a 78 days on the ship starting this January through Asia. How is the overall condition? Can you comment on the food, gym, entertainment staff etc.. Would u go on a long cruise with Massdam? How often do they have the regular type of entertainment? Are the movie selection new or old and never heard of/ Appreciate your feedback

Thanks

Elise

snoopyud@aol.com

 

 

 

quote=OlsSalt;57147303]Maasdam's Kontiki Voyager cruise left Sept 10, 2018 and started the new " EXC In Depth" cruise program offering more of local immersion, enrichment cruise experience to lesser visited ports. We think it has been a great success so far, and the options will be further refined as they get more passenger feedback as well as suggestions from the panels of enrichment speakers.

 

We started in Fort Lauderdale, through the Panama Canal, up to Costa Rica and down to Ecuador and Peru. We now start the four day at-sea run to Easter Island. As our Easter Island specialist said last night he particularly likes experiencing the four days at sea it takes to get to Easter Islands from Peru since it highlights how remote these islands actually are. It only takes 5 hours to fly from Peru which he thinks makes people think they are a lot closer to land than they actually are.

 

EXC-InDepth enrichment offerings are provided onboard in the following interest areas, in the form of show room lectures, small seminars, informal travel story chats and various culinary and craft demonstrations.

1. Science and Nature

2. History and Perspective

3. Food, Wine and Spirits

4. Photography

5. Arts and Culture

6 Active Exploration

 

Friday - Sept 28, 2018 offerings - pick and choose - any or all or none - each is color-coded in the daily program as to the above interest areas.

 

9am: Port Perspectives - Peru - speakers panel share their insights about ports we just visited

10am: Port tour presentation - regular EXC staff presentation

10:30am; Bird Club meets with onboard expert

11am: History of Polynesian Foods - Guest Chef - historic and gastronomic overview

1pm: Tahitian Dance Class - Polynesian Cultural Ambassadors

2:30pm: Easter Island Maoi talk- Rocking or Rolling?

3:30pm: Sea Birds of Polynesia = Pacific Ocean migrations

7:15pm: Small Things-Big Impacts -Mosquitos and Disease in the Pacific Islands

9pm: sharing personal travel stories from the presenters

 

There are still the more traditional onboard offerings today as well - movies, digital workshops, trivia, pub crawls, drinks classes, bridge, kitchen tour, sip and savor, religious services, casino specials, happy hours, gemstone talks, fitness classes, Friends of Bill, Tea at Three, EXC desk hours. There will also be an evening ensemble show in the ShowRoom - based on Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

 

No use of Zodiacs on this initial cruise but they have been installed. Once the ship leaves French Polynesia, they will be offering these for excursion options - no specific details known at this time.