VK3DQ Posted December 4, 2019 #1 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Hi folks. Now on board Maasdam the ship is comfortable , food is fine snd service warm and attentive. We are more than happy the ship fits us nicely ,very nice quartet in lounge last night playing jazz and standards, had Elsie the 95y/o mil toe tapping a nice dance floor that I regret not being able to use. Food has been good no issues at all drinks ok but wine expensive. Cabin nice and comfortable no nasty smells stewards helpful. All in all a nice cruise so far. Weather good sea calm. Course 87o almost due east speed just under 19 knots. Feel free to ask any questions. Best regards. John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat shepard Posted December 4, 2019 #2 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Bon voyage & smooth sailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisy-mae Posted December 4, 2019 #3 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Just wondering what deck you are on? Have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillpickle48 Posted December 5, 2019 #4 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Have a great cruise. Love the Maasdam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare erewhon Posted December 5, 2019 #5 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Thanks for posting. Have a fabulous cruise. We are counting down the days until we board Maasdam again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 5, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted December 5, 2019 8 hours ago, daisy-mae said: Just wondering what deck you are on? Have a great cruise! Hi There We are on A Deck (4) We have 2 x oceanviews 731 &729 bog standard ocean views not large but fine for 2 persons would not like to try THIRD PERSON Hence the MIL is next door for this trip Regards John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 5, 2019 Author #7 Share Posted December 5, 2019 I will post some photographs a little later as we depart New Zealand and head out towards Tonga and Beyond Garla Dinner tonight very nicly done and Capains Toast with a rather clever Magic show to follow (Jamie Allen) We ran through a large bank of fog this afternoon which was unusual warm air convection I think First port of call tomorrow which is the bay of Islands in New Zealand followed by the city of Auckland tomorrow one observation the aircon is a little cold a jumper is a sensible idea Best regards John Please feel free to ask questions 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted December 5, 2019 #8 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Thanks for checking in. Glad all is well. Looking forward to your reports and pictures. Have a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ski ww Posted December 5, 2019 #9 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Bon Voyage sounds like you're having a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat shepard Posted December 5, 2019 #10 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Am really interested in any info you share - New Zealand and Australia are near the top of my list of places to visit. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisy-mae Posted December 5, 2019 #11 Share Posted December 5, 2019 5 hours ago, VK3DQ said: Hi There We are on A Deck (4) We have 2 x oceanviews 731 &729 bog standard ocean views not large but fine for 2 persons would not like to try THIRD PERSON Hence the MIL is next door for this trip Regards John We enjoyed our time on deck 6 (lower promenade); I agree that more than two persons would be a little too cozy. The Maasdam is a great ship, and just the right size (in my opinion). Looking forward to reading more about your journey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTVCRUISER Posted December 5, 2019 #12 Share Posted December 5, 2019 (edited) I will be on the Maasdam for the first time April 3, 2020 🙂 Have a Great Cruise Edited December 5, 2019 by GTVCRUISER wrong date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mightycruisequeen Posted December 5, 2019 #13 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Wondering if it's still the old TV/DVD players in the cabins? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 5, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted December 5, 2019 3 hours ago, mightycruisequeen said: Wondering if it's still the old TV/DVD players in the cabins? Thanks in advance. Hi there. There is a small flat screen tv and a dvd player which looks quite new have not used it as I have my laptop and access to youtube has been good. Regards. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 5, 2019 Author #15 Share Posted December 5, 2019 We have the coast of the north island of Newzealand on our starboard beam seas flat calm no wind a little haze. Had a nice omlet for breakfast ..all is well with the world. Up in the crows nest. Regards. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcummin Posted December 5, 2019 #16 Share Posted December 5, 2019 (edited) Thank you for sharing this EXC voyage with us. It is sweet and thoughtful of you to give your DMIL a separate room. We were on deck 5 last winter December to February. You are in for a treat. Our TV was a little old one, so you have been upgraded. And Diana made spectacular omelettes. Do you have a separate Cruise Director, Location Guide (Kay?), and Shore Excursion people?? Is your Captain still Ryan Whittaker??? How many guest presenters are giving lectures???? Guest Chef????? What is your itinerary, roughly? Enjoy a spectacular voyage! Barbara Edited December 5, 2019 by bcummin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 5, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Hi there. The cruise goes from Sydney to the bay of islands ,next is Auckland and then out in the south pacific to the Kingdom of Tonga. Then across the date line to nuie , then we turn north to Fiji and west to New Caledonia and back to Sydney ...trip is 20 days. Regards. John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcummin Posted December 5, 2019 #18 Share Posted December 5, 2019 That was quick ! Thank you for this interesting itinerary. Maybe the Zodiacs will be used? Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 5, 2019 Author #19 Share Posted December 5, 2019 12 minutes ago, VK3DQ said: Hi there. The cruise goes from Sydney to the bay of islands ,next is Auckland and then out in the south pacific to the Kingdom of Tonga. Then across the date line to nuie , then we turn north to Fiji and west to New Caledonia and back to Sydney ...trip is 20 days. Regards. John Hi. Yes I understand the zodiacs will be used at a number of ports , we are now on approch to the bay of islands sitting in the crows nest watching the. World go bye. Regards. John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted December 5, 2019 #20 Share Posted December 5, 2019 What a wonderful trip! I once flew to Niue via Tonga because it is rarely visited island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyRedDeb Posted December 5, 2019 #21 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Looking forward to reading all about your experiences of an EXC voyage - we are going on our first Maasdam EXC cruise to Tassie & New Zealand early next year. Bay of Islands is beautiful - last time we were there we went on a trike tour of the area, then took a ferry over to Russell, had an awesome seafood chowder ( from locally caught fish ) for lunch at the cafe overlooking the calm water of the bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSWP Posted December 5, 2019 #22 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Thanks for the updates young John. Above all, enjoy !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAOk1945 Posted December 6, 2019 #23 Share Posted December 6, 2019 The Maasdam is a great ship. We love the size and crew. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures and reading about your cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 6, 2019 Author #24 Share Posted December 6, 2019 (edited) Hi Folks A nice day at the Bay of Islands went ashore by tender , no issues taking my mobility scooter along , however rather a bouncy and for a couple of passengers a wet trip back to the ship , with the ships dock wet with spray and handrails very slipery but crew first class assisting me up the steep steps! A nice steak in the lido tonight as I was a little tired after going ashore and had a sleep and was not ready for the main dining room after this we ended up in one of the bars listening to the rather good quartet ...Jazz and Standards then it was off to bed and by 10:30pm we were both in the land of nod This morning we will dock in Auckland .. hopefully having lunch with my wifes younger brothher who lives in Auckland Elsie the MIL had an early night yesterday so should be fighting fit this morning ...ready for a good breakfast in the dining room ..I think it might be an egg and bacon day for me with Toast and a danish to go with my coffee so here we go its just after 5am and I'm wide awake waiting for my breakfast , but as soon as the wife is awake I think we will phone for room service coffee (grin) Best regards John Edited December 6, 2019 by VK3DQ spelling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VK3DQ Posted December 6, 2019 Author #25 Share Posted December 6, 2019 By the way I forgot to mention that we had a plesent and well attended cruise critic meet attended by the cruise director, low key compared to RCL and Princess but plesent for all that and a nice chance to meet up and have a chat...everyone is frendly and seem to be enjoying their cruise Regards John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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