San Diego to Montreal in 134 Days

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, richwmn said:

The official line is that geographic conditions make reception of the tv channels poor. Funny thing is that the tv reception seems to magically appear about the same time as the casino and shops open. IMHO it is a licensing or government thing, not a reception problem.

 

thanks 🙂.  That is a very strange circumstance.  I think you are right.

[richwmn]

December 31, 2023 – Manzanillo, Mexico – New Years Eve!

 

It is afternoon, I went into port for a little while this morning. It is a beautiful day and the port area was very nice. According to the Cruise / Travel Director last night the port area we visited is new, but he didn’t mention how new. It has a very nice promenade area on the water front with several nice pieces of art. Quite a few vendors were set up, but it is hard to tell if it was just for the ship, or if it is a normal occurrence. The people seemed very friendly. The area looks like it would be a nice area for locals to use when ships are not in town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by richwmn

[richwmn]

17 hours ago, erewhon said:

@richwmn  Rich,  have you discovered the name of the gentleman who will become the Captain on January 3rd?

Captain Bart Vaartjes

Captain Bart Vaartjes was born and raised in Barneveld, a small city in The Netherlands. After reading a book about sailing at the age of 6 years old, he decided to go to sea and become a ship’s Captain.

[POA1]

Happy New Year from Michelle & me, Rich! It's still 6 hours 'til midnight here in your home time zone, but I wanted to get early start

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

9 hours ago, richwmn said:

The official line is that geographic conditions make reception of the tv channels poor. Funny thing is that the tv reception seems to magically appear about the same time as the casino and shops open. IMHO it is a licensing or government thing, not a reception problem.

 

We've noticed at times the different dishes and antenna for the tv and internet are located such that at times the funnel could be blocking the signal.  However, we've never had anyone on the ship admit that is the case.

[SUESEABE]

Happy New Year Rich!

[richwmn]

Happy New Year to the east coast!

[erewhon]

6 hours ago, richwmn said:

Captain Bart Vaartjes

Captain Bart Vaartjes was born and raised in Barneveld, a small city in The Netherlands. After reading a book about sailing at the age of 6 years old, he decided to go to sea and become a ship’s Captain.

 

Thank you Rich @richwmn.  

 

[richwmn]

Happy New Year from Volendam 

[oakridger]

16 hours ago, richwmn said:

 

 

 

Those Champagnes look wonderful, but the Dessert of Escargot Bourguignon or Shrimp Cocktail is a little out of my taste zone!!   😁

 

Happy New Year Rich!

 

~Nancy

[POA1]

I would like to say that I am thankful that you put a little space between your photos. It really helps with the viewing experience. Two thumbs up. Highly recommended!

 

 

[richwmn]

January 1, 2024 – At Sea off western Mexico, destination San Diego

 

I’m getting a bit of a late start today. I woke up a little bit late this morning, about 6:30am and was at breakfast right away. Everything was good and the Lido stewards had their normal smiling faces on. It seemed that more people than normal were eating breakfast early this morning, I’m not sure why since the ship had really good attendance at the Lido party last night at midnight.

 

 

Speaking of the Lido Party, it was excellent. The Ocean Bar band started playing at 10pm and I don’t think they stopped until just before midnight. They played a nice mix of songs that everyone seemed to enjoy. The party rocked past midnight, when the ship’s bell was tolled to ring out the old and ring in the new. Everyone was given a glass (or 2) of sparkling wine just before midnight to toast in the new.

 

Earlier in the day was a pretty standard day. Manzanilla was nice and I had a great walk. Trivia was good at both sessions but my teams still seemed to come up just short. Since there are no prizes, it is just as well. I forgot that there was a different comic on the World Stage last night, so I didn’t go. Reports were that she was very funny. I looked and unfortunately she doesn’t appear again.

 

Reports from all over were that the meals in the Main Dining Room were very good to great. Everyone is having a good time.

 

This morning is lazy. The Cabin Stewards were running late and I told them to leave my cabin alone. I hope that helps make their day just a bit easier. It seems that they might have had fun last night as well. I would also say that it looks like some crew members might not have gotten any sleep last night. Prior to the party, all the lounge chairs were removed from the Lido Party area. They were back in place you 7am, and the party didn’t end until 1 or so (I left just past midnight).

 

The ship is in fine shape and will be ready for the next adventure, the Grand Australia and New Zealand.

 

Today’s activities –

 

 

 

Tonight’s menus –

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 1^st, 2024 – At Sea destination San Diego

 

I just returned from a wine tasting. This was the second I have been invited to and was Old World Wines. It was again very interesting and a very good presentation.

 

The big thing, though, is that one of the entertainers was at my table and I had a chance to talk to him after the tasting. The current Ocean Bar band will continue thru the Grand cruise and they are very good. In addition he said that both the piano players will also be continuing. They are also good entertainers. It appears that the Classical Duo won’t be returning but he didn’t mention if they would be replaced. The Cruise and Travel Director is staying but is dropping one title and someone else will be handling that task. I think this is very encouraging for the Grand cruise.

 

[richwmn]

January 2^nd, 2024 – At Sea Destination San Diego.

 

Another lazy day as we end the holiday cruise and head toward San Diego. To answer a question from yesterday, the pianist in the Mix is Eli Moore, and the Cocktail Pianist is listed as Cat on the Keys.

 

Our position at breakfast was –

 

 

Overall this has been a very nice holiday cruise. The entertainment has been good, the staff excellent as usual, and the food very good. Volendam is a nice sized ship and it is easy to get to know the crew and guests.

Both trivia sessions yesterday were very good. The 7pm trivia was full and overflowed into the bar area so the questions were shown on the screens in the bar as well. A little after trivia started the screens changed to the Rose Bowl and a huge cheer went up from the crowd. Many of us had been told that we would not be able to see any college playoff games. We also got to see the entire second game.

 

Today’s activities –

 

 

 

Today’s menus –

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Suzy]

Am glad to see Cake Me Away is listed in HAL's Daily. On our cruise, I missed it because it wasn't listed.

[ATC]

Rich,

Please say hello to Eli Moore from Albert & Susan from Boston. He was very good last year on the Zaandam. Thank you.

[richwmn]

January 3^rd, 2024 – San Diego Turnaround Day

 

After a very nice evening last night I woke up a bit early this morning. We were not yet in San Diego, but close. With most people leaving there were many people saying goodbye to the crew.

 

Our position at breakfast –

 

 

Menus for today –

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 3^rd, 2024 – San Diego Turnaround Day

 

It is a little before 11:00am on Volendam. We have completed the ‘In Transit’ procedure and the Cabin Stewards are busy getting the cabins ready. The ‘In Transit’ procedure went very well. We had a total of 47 Guests staying aboard and with the exception of one couple, everyone was on time in the theater. That couple was reached in their cabin and arrived quickly. After that there was only a short delay before we were escorted off the ship. The facial recognition went well this time, and it was a very short wait until we were allowed to return to the ship.

 

A couple of very nice touches --

 

While in line waiting to re-board we were given a pin –

 

 

And the welcoming arch put up for the voyage –

 

[whogo]

2 hours ago, richwmn said:

Menus for today –

 

 

 

 

 

I never saw "Add-on Veggie Bowl" before. Holland America will see lots of people ordering this, I think. (Until they add a price tag.)

Edited January 3 by whogo

[Petronillus]

We've never done a B2B, although our upcoming 28-day Asia cruise has pax coming and going at various stages. I'm curious: what is the "In Transit Procedure"?

[richwmn]

5 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

We've never done a B2B, although our upcoming 28-day Asia cruise has pax coming and going at various stages. I'm curious: what is the "In Transit Procedure"?

This is mainly in the US and maybe Canada. The ship must reach a zero count of Guests before they can start boarding for the next cruise. To accomplish this, all continuing Guests (In Transit) must gather in some location like the theater or World Stage depending on how many. After all departing Guests are off the ship, the continuing Guests are escorted off the ship in a group, go thru immigration, then are allowed to be the first to board for the next cruise. With only 47 people involved, this went very quickly today, maybe ten minutes off the ship. I did one in Fort Lauderdale with maybe 200 continuing Guests and it seems like it took an hour, but might have been less.

 

[Bill B]

I know it's selfish, but I love the feeling I get on the last night of the first leg of a B2B when I see all that luggage out in the halls and mine's not. 😃

[richwmn]

San Diego at Sail Away today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[keikobad]

Thank you for doing this. We were on the Grand SA last year with the Volendam and have friends onboard now. You offer a great opportunity to follow this very special cruise. 🙏

[Cruising Is Bliss]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Thank you or taking us along.