San Diego to Montreal in 134 Days

[richwmn]

January 4^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

 

Last night was a very good night with good entertainers. During his announcement, the Captain said it would be a rough ride and it was. For quite some time I heard a loud banging. I finally realized it was the outside door, about four feet from my cabin door. I got up and made sure that it was closed tightly and no more problems. The ship did have a lot of motion all night continuing until now.

 

I had a good nights sleep and woke up later than I expected. Walking to breakfast was not the easiest, but breakfast was good. By the time I got there, the Lido had a good crowd, but no real lines.

 

The weather will be rough for the next couple of hours, I guess. They have canceled outdoor activities for the morning. At 2pm we have the M&G in the Crows Nest. We also have trivia at 1pm and 7pm. Lots of other activities for the day, it looks like it will be a full day.

 

Today’s activities –

 

 

 

 

Today’s menus –

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruising-along]

As Rich said, we had a rough ride last night and still a bit rough this morning. I didn’t get to sleep until after 3 this morning. 
 

Other than that everything has been great! The MDR Mgr. passed out long-stem roses to each woman last night and I hear the same thing was done in other dining venues. Our favorite Cellar Master (Rod) is onboard and we’ve had a few nice talks with him. 
 

Great M&G turnout this afternoon. So nice to put faces to names!

[richwmn]

January 4^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

 

Thursday evening on Volendam, the ship is still rockin’ and rollin’ a bit, but not as much as last night. We are now about 28 hours out of San Diego, on the way to Hawai’i.

 

So today was a ‘day at sea’, one of several before we get to Honolulu. So we start off with, as usual, breakfast. I must say that I did sleep in a bit this morning and got to breakfast about 7:30am, and the Lido was pretty crowded. I did manage to get my food and a place to sit. The people at the Lido have gotten used to me and that makes the order a lot easier.

 

At noon on the World Stage they had a shopping show. “Learn everything you need to know about shopping onboard.” Everyone who attended was promised Port Maps, a VIP card, Coupons, and a $200 Good as cash voucher. This seemed like a reasonable return for a little bit of time. The port maps were for Honolulu and and Hilo, along with some attempts to get information about the Guests that were attending. Since I’m not really a shopper, the speech didn’t resonate with me, although he seemed like a good speaker who enjoyed his subject.

 

I didn’t stay for the entire presentation, but went to lunch instead. I got some salmon, along with rice and peas and corn. A nice lunch and and a reasonable amount of food. The lunch was tasty and filling.

 

After lunch I headed to my cabin to relax for a bit. I had it in my head that the CC M&G was for 2:00pm. At 1:15pm I checked and found that I was already 15 minutes late because it was scheduled for 1pm. I hurried up to the Crows Nest to get there in time to hear the ask if I was there to be acknowledged for the Photo Book. The Crows Nest was pretty full with Cruise Critic members who all seemed to be having a good time.

 

Trivia at 7pm was about art, not pictures but facts about art and artists. I did pretty good but was no where near the winner.

 

After trivia I headed for the World Stage. Today’s entertainer was Michael Bennett, a comedian from New Zealand and Australia. His show was very funny and was very much enjoyed. He had a very full crowd that appreciated his humor.

 

Everyone seems to be enjoying the cruise so far, and the staff is doing a good job of taking care of our needs.

 

 

[erewhon]

@richwmn  DH said that Volendam will be visiting Timaru, was this always on the itinerary or is this a change of plan?

[richwmn]

2 hours ago, erewhon said:

@richwmn  DH said that Volendam will be visiting Timaru, was this always on the itinerary or is this a change of plan?

from a change notice dated 8/16/23

 

Additionally, our call to Oban, Stewart Island, New Zealand scheduled
for Thursday, March 7 has been replaced with a call to Timaru, New Zealand on
Friday, March 8. To accommodate this change, our call to Port Chalmers has
been moved forward one day to March 7.

 

 

[erewhon]

14 minutes ago, richwmn said:

from a change notice dated 8/16/23

 

Additionally, our call to Oban, Stewart Island, New Zealand scheduled
for Thursday, March 7 has been replaced with a call to Timaru, New Zealand on
Friday, March 8. To accommodate this change, our call to Port Chalmers has
been moved forward one day to March 7.

 

 

 

Thanks Rich for your reply, sorry that you are not visiting Stewart Island.

In Timaru the ship will berth very close to the town, an excursion to Mount Cook  (highest mountain in NZ) will probably be available.

I

 

[richwmn]

Specialty Menus

 

Canaletto

 

 

 

Room Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinnacle Grill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinnacle Grill Lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by richwmn

[richwmn]

January 4^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

 

It is around 10am on Volendam and the seas are much more calm than yesterday. It has been a nice relaxing day at sea for me. Lido breakfast opened at 7am and I was there very shortly after. The same smiling faces greeted me and I had a good breakfast. Captain Bart walked thru the Lido around 7:20am and greeted everyone.

 

Although it is not really a big deal to me, the Satellite TV feed hasn’t really worked since around the beginning of the Holiday Cruise. It did work long enough to show the two college playoff games but little before or after. We will have to see about the NFL and the College National Chamionship. The channel lineup changed in San Diego on the 3^rd. These are the channels we are now supposed to get: BBC News, FOX News, MSNBC, Sport 24, Sport 24 Extra, NFL Games (many listed), NCAA Football, Prime One, Prime One Favorites, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Bow Camera, Aft Camera. The Bow camera works with music playing. The Aft camera is using the same music.

 

At 11am the Captain and Staff are holding a reception for 3* Mariners and above in the Lido Pool area. Should be another chance to put faces with people. Then at 2pm those CC members that join ‘The Daily’ each day are going to meet in the Crows Nest.

 

 

[BabsinTX]

On 1/3/2024 at 5:59 PM, Bill B said:

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. 😃

Me, too!

[Cruising-along]

We were very pleased to see that a Tamarind menu will be available in the Pinnacle Grill on January 8 so we booked it today. Right now it will be offered only once but if it’s well received they may do it again. 

[richwmn]

January 6^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

 

Looks like I failed to change the date for yesterday’s posts. Once you are settled into the ship’s routine it doesn’t really matter until getting near the end of the cruise.

 

As I mentioned last year, these first few days heading into Honolulu fall into a routine and I’m fine with that. Wake up, go to breakfast. The Lido crew is great as always. The ship’s position at breakfast this morning.

 

 

After breakfast it was a pretty full day. We had trivia at 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm. I played each with basically the same group of people and we managed to miss one question more that it took to win. It is still always fun.

 

The days are relaxing, the food is good, and the service is great. This is a nice place to be right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lido dinner won't load right now, I'll try again later.

[richwmn]

January 7^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

 

It is Sunday morning on Volendam. The weather is still very nice, with a current temperature of 70°F / 21°C, the humidity is 72% and the wind is East at 21.7mph.

 

 

The voyage so far has been uneventful and very nice. The crew is very eager to take care of us, as always. I won’t deny that a few problems have come up, the most major of which is the lack of “Live TV” since before this voyage began. Not a big deal for me but seems to be a problem for some.

 

We have four “House” entertainers. These are the Ocean Bar Band, the Cocktail Piano Player, the Piano Bar Pianist, and a Classical group. They each do several 45 minute sets each day and each is very good. The trivia master has done well in providing a challenging game of trivia two to three times a day. The Officers are out and about interacting with Guests and there have been several smallish gatherings which they attended.

 

Today’s Activities –

 

 

 

Today’s Menus –

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 8^th, 2023 – At Sea, Destination Honolulu eta 1/9

It is a little before 10am on Volendam, less than 24 hours away from Honolulu. The temperature is 73°F / 23°C under clear skies. The humidity is at 77%.

 

Today is the last sea day of this string, but coming up we have one sea day between the overnight at Honolulu and Hilo, then another three sea days heading for the Fanning Islands.

 

Lots of activities yesterday. Trivia at 1pm was a general knowledge trivia and my group of four managed to win. This was the first time in a while I have been on a winning team. The 7pm trivia was about Landmarks and was satisfying. My team got 14 points out of 17, so not too bad but not a winner.

 

At 8pm around the Lido pool we had an Island themed party. Prior to the party, those who had been taking Hula lessons performed a couple of songs. Then the Ocean Bar Band set up and played for the evening. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and the area was not overcrowded.

 

I found out last night that there is another band on board, called the “Dance Band” that plays in the Crows Nest each evening. They played in the Ocean Bar last night and are pretty good as well. That makes five different “house” bands that play at varying times during the day. All are good musicians and seem to do well with their crowd.

 

Today will be trivia along with a popup Tamarind with Carolyn & Henry (@Cru ).

 

Today’s activities –

 

 

 

Today’s menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[durangoscots]

The bands are very good and I have been following the classical trio made up of piano, cello, and violin. They play 3 time at day - repeating their daily 45 minute set. Very talented and their audience has grown from a few the first night to a full house last night. They are however in a small venue. 

 

Susan

[WriterOnDeck]

On 1/3/2024 at 4:15 PM, richwmn said:

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.

 

Just to add a small point here. If you are continuing, you also can leave the vessel early (with departing guests) and return much later. So you miss the "in-transit" drill. You receive an in-transit pass, and when you return you use it to bypass all lines except security scan and go directly onto the ship. We did that Jan. 3 in Fort Lauderdale, and I did it at the end of the 2023 world cruise, as I was continuing on.

 

Rich, continue to have a grand trip!!!

[richwmn]

January 10^th, 2023 – Honolulu, Hawai’i until 1/10 at 5pm

 

Good morning from Honolulu. After a long segment at sea, we are tied to a dock

 

 

 

Yesterday was fun. It was a relaxing day at sea and everyone is settled into a routine. The staff has been wonderful. Trivia at 1pm was good, and had a nice level of difficulty.

 

Dinner yesterday was with friends at Pinnacle, the Tamarind popup. Because we were enjoying the company, the meal took right at 3 hours, our fault not the restaurant’s. The food was very good and I left satisfied. After dinner we had a bit of a different show on the World Stage. It is titled “The Grand Voyage Repertory Company: In The Mood”. It consisted of eight singers / dancers in an energetic show. We were told that this group will be aboard for the entire Grand cruise and will present 14 more different shows.

 

 

Each of the other groups was out in force and all were enjoyable to listen to.

 

Today’s activities –

 

 

 

 

Today’s menus –

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 10^th, 2023 – Honolulu, Hawai’i until 1/10 at 5pm

 

Good morning from day two in Honolulu. Despite early forecasts of bad weather while we have been here, it has been nice so far. The temperature has been nice, and while it has rained, it hasn’t been much. The current temperature is 74° with the temperature cooling off over the course of the day.

 

Yesterday and to some degree today I have been dealing with a couple things. Being able to deal with them from wherever the ship is allows me to take these long cruises, so I can’t complain. It helps that I have been to Honolulu twice before. The first time I took Holland tours and saw the tourist spots. The second time I got together with local residents who took me to local places. Quite a few of the Guests have used this stop to shop in basically the same stores they would have at home, but were unable to bring things on the plane to San Diego.

 

I did manage to get to both trivia sessions yesterday. The early session was general knowledge and was difficult. We got, I believe, 13 out of 17 and the winning team go 15. The 7pm session was about Hawai’i and was fun. We did a little better but still didn’t win. All the entertainment venues were operating with nice crowds.

 

Today’s Activities –

 

 

 

Today’s Menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

January 10^th, 2023 – Hilo, Hawai’i until 1/10 at 4:30pm

 

Good afternoon from Hilo.

 

 

After a nice day in Honolulu yesterday it was a nice evening on the ship. As usual we had trivia at 4pm and 7pm, and both were fun. As has been the case for this entire cruise, my team was a runner up. At the early trivia we tied for the normal questions and lost in the tie breaker. The trivia host is very good and will be with us for the entire Grand Australia / New Zealand cruise.

 

After the late trivia I stopped by the World Stage entertainment. The entertainer was Tyler Bryce, billed as an Impressionist. I stayed for 15 – 20 minutes and listened. He has a pretty good voice and I suppose for the type of act he has, he is pretty good. It is just not something I enjoy. While he did a decent job of singing in the style of several well known singers, he chose to mess with the lyrics of the songs in an attempt to make them funny.

 

I have been sleeping very well since I boarded the ship. My cabin is very comfortable and my stewards are excellent. I know I have mentioned this several times, but on the whole the entertainment is good. The house entertainers usually have a bit of a crowd and put on a good show. They also seem very friendly.

 

This evening we will head south and begin the big portion of the cruise. I am really looking forward to several of the ports.

 

Today’s Activites –

 

 

 

Today’s Menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

This arrived a few minutes ago. Nice touch.

 

[CGinMTL]

Good morning from snowy Montreal

I was looking at the next week schedule and notice you are crossing the international date line 3 times

Curious how the ship will handle this

Will you stay on " ship date" for the first two

 

Also . Crossing the equator soon 

 All " bucket list" milestones

 

Enjoy

 

Ps . Love the pics of Hawaii while I was digging out 20 cm of snow 

Which was then rained on and started to melt

Perfect for snowmen, but not so much for backs 

Expecting another 30 cm this weekend

[richwmn]

3 hours ago, CGinMTL said:

I was looking at the next week schedule and notice you are crossing the international date line 3 times

Curious how the ship will handle this

Will you stay on " ship date" for the first two

Yes, we are ignoring the first two crossings, it is only one port. The final crossing will be where we change the date.

[richwmn]

January 12^th, 2023 – at sea, Destination Kiritimati – eta 1/14

 

Good morning from Volendam, it is again a nice day on board. It is currently 75°F/ 24°C on the outside decks with clear skies 73% humidity and winds a little above 17mph.

 

 

Before I start on yesterday, I must go back to Wednesday. In talking about the World Stage entertainer, Impressionist Tyler Bryce, I stated that I left after about 15 minutes because I wasn’t enjoying the show. My trivia partners last night told me that he got better just after I left. They told me that the rest of his show was very good, after he warmed up a bit.

 

Now for yesterday. We were in Hilo, Hawai’i. We had a pretty day docked in an industrial port. Many years ago I visited Hilo and did the Volcano tour and enjoyed it so I didn’t need to do it again. I did walk out to the port building to see what was going on. A shuttle was provided (free) into town but at the point I was there it involved a 20 minute wait. It didn’t seem that any vendors were set up in the port building, so I headed back to the ship. It was a very nice, relaxing day.

 

Trivia was at 1pm and 7pm and both were fun. As usual we were just off winning. At the 1pm trivia we had two questions that we discussed and chose the wrong answer, although we considered the correct one. We were supposed to have a trivia dedicated to ABBA at 9pm, but technical considerations kept it from happening.

 

At 7:30pm I stuck my head into the World Stage to check out the entertainer. We had a singer, Michelle Montuori. When she was singing she was ok, but like the other day – too much talking. I’m not sure why singers have to spend half their time with jokes and history.

 

After the 9pm trivia didn’t happen I had a nice conversation with Kat the pianist. She is a very nice person and easy to get along with. She also puts on a nice show each day.

 

I hope everyone is well and is looking forward to a good weekend.

 

Today’s Activities –

 

 

 

 

Today’s Menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

[durangoscots]

Just chiming in here. This was my first time in Hilo and I did one of the volcano  tours . Well done and enjoyable. But I  was  tired at the end.  

 

I  was not impressed with last night's entertainment either but others seemed to really enjoy it. Will give the next a pass and spare my hearing.

 

Still lots to do and an getting very good night's sleep.

 

Susan 

 

[0106]

@durangoscots What tour did you do?  Why were you tried at the end?  I’m trying to plan for January 2025. TYIA

 

@richwmn Thank you for taking us along on your journey.

[durangoscots]

I took the volcano and garden tour.  I  was

Tired mainly due to age and we were slow getting started as some people were late.  Not too much walking and the guide was great.I am very glad I did it.

 

Susan