Home from our Much Loved MAASDAM........

[Jade13]

 

Bad part..... the man who delivered them stood there waiting for me to tip him. I am the first to tip when someone deserves it but I didn't ask for/nor desire this 'special service'. Let Jet Blue pay him whatever sum they agree upon.

 

(I got the moan groan story from him that he worked all night and now has to drive to Maine in the snow...... not my problem. I wished him safe driving and Happy Holidays and that was it.)

 

Would you have tipped?

 

Thank you, Jade, for answering my question, should I ask for refund of the $40 in luggage fees. I intend to make at least a feeble attempt for refund.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sail, probably not. What would have happened is that when the doorbell rang, DH would have ran downstairs (we live on the top/PH) opened the door, grabbed the bags, thanked the driver and would have been back up the stairs with the suit cases. Believe me, no man is going to give a groan story to another man anyway.

 

And even if I had (my DH would have gone down the stairs without any money) but if I did leave a few bucks, believe me, I would be disputing that $40.00 with both the airline and Visa and I'm pretty sure Bank of America would have just written it off...

[CowPrincess]

Welcome home, S7S! And no, I would not have tipped the guy who delivered the missing bags. As a matter of fact, we didn't tip the guy who delivered our missing bags.

[mamaofami]

Glad you're home safe and sound , Judy. I hear Boston got quite a beating with the snow. I'm hoping to avoid your experience when we sail in January and fly Jet Blue.

[usha]

s7s, glad you had a great cruise (except for the smoke:o).

Congrats on getting your lost luggage back WITHOUT paying a "ransom", er I mean TIP.;)

[fuzzywuzzy]

YES, happily, we had trays in Lido the same as always.

 

I inquired about the removal of tray experiment and no one on Maasdam indicated it would happen there in the near future.

 

Lido was as excellent as always. The nicest fellows doing the serving in the line and stewards happy to help.

 

Food was very, very good IMO

 

 

 

Nice to hear the Maasdam is as lovely as ever and the staff are still super nice as my DH and I are boarding her for a January two week cruise !! Can hardly wait to leave all this cold and snow behind. But we are driving down to Florida after Christmas and praying that we have a good window of weather for our drive. :)

[sail7seas]

We have been happy with our Jet Blue flights for the most part. Luggage claim when we arrived in FL was excrutiatingly slow but all bags came when it mattered most..... at the start of our vacation.

 

We have almost always arrived on time on Jet Blue flights but I still hate it. I cannot put like and airline/airplane/airport in the same sentence these days.

 

But, all is well that ends well and the suitcases have been safely delivered.

 

We got about 10-12" of additional snow today and it is right now turning to icy mess. Thankfully, the fellow who plows for us arrived just in time to avoid having our driveway freeze over.

 

Good we got home yesterday as it is doubtful we would have gotten into Logan today.

 

Still and all, much as we loved every minute on Maasdam when the vacation is over it is time to come home.

 

Too much of a good thing and all that! :)

 

[sail7seas]

A start on some comments:

 

We don't do tours and ports are of less interest than most newer cruisers and those who want loads of activity on their vacation. We are more about the ship and the people than we are about off road vehicle rides etc :)

 

First night aboard, we always look forward to Suite Welcome Aboard party. We have sailed with Captain Henk Draper from years ago and were thrilled he'd be aboard. Hotel Manager Firmin van Walle is another old friend so Welcome Aboard was a reunion of sorts. We see them here and there through the year but now we had a full two weeks aboard. Executive Chef Joch Barrelman had boarded so was fun to see him (and we knew we'd be eating well.) Also very special is GRM Chrissie Beks. With this wonderful team aboard, Maasdam was going to be wonderful as always, that we knew. We had a great time at the party and left late for dinner but were delighted our favorite table was waiting for us.

 

A big greeting from Dining Room Manager, Gildus, and we were 'home'.

 

We had a wonderful dining steward, Loni, who quickly learned I don't want any butter on anything, love whole wheat bread/rolls and salmon is my favorite. He always provided vegetables and I wanted to take him home! Add to that he likes the Boston Celtics and DH was happy, happy, happy.

 

On our cruises, we want to be unburdened with lots of plans and committments. DH has meetings and appointments and firm dates all the time in his office. On vacation, he doesn't want to have to appear for shore excursion or anything else for that matter until he is ready. Though it is worth noting he has never been late to a party on board!! Because of that, as usual, I'll not be sharing lots of info about scenic tours.

 

Our cruise started with two heavenly sea days. Captain ordered and received gorgeous weather for us. :) We took it to be a personal gift and thanked him effusively. We know how hard HAL Captains try to make everything perfect, and Captain Henk was doing a great job of just that. He sailed us smoothly through even seas our first night out and all was perfect on Maasdam.

 

DH had dreamed about sitting at Navigation Pool in his favorite spot and doing absolutely nothing but apply sun lotion and decide when to have lunch. His dream came true. :) As always happens on 'our' Maasdam.

As soon as he came out to the pool and saw the familiar faces of outstanding stewards, they had him situated on the lounge of his choice and a chair set out for me as I was coming right along in a minute or two. Who says there isn't great comfort in familiarity? It is always such a warm feeling when they remember us and greet us with bright smiles. We are always so happy to see them. I enjoy the chit chat of how is the family and what is new/where have they been/how long left aboard until vacation etc

 

Though we don't make lots of excursion plans, we know what we like and where we like and fully enjoy those things, such as San Juan.

 

We have always enjoyed San Juan very much and years ago took many resort vacations there. The day Maasdam was in San Juan, we were at the small dock in downtown which was wonderful. Fast off the ship and quick walk to the shops and restaurants etc We loved strolling the familiar Fortalezza and streets of Old Juan. Did a bit of shopping and had a wonderful lunch at The Parrot Club.

Even though there were a number of ships in with us, most of the people at lunch were locals. We had a great waiter who took the time to have a bit of fun with us. A frozen margarita was a one drink treat I enjoyed that day at lunch. I sure could have had more during our two weeks, but thankfully my will power kicked in. After a fun lunch, we returned to the ship and walked a few laps on Promenade Deck and the flopped at the pool. Our idea of a perfect day.

 

But, evening was yet to come. The ship was staying late so we decided to go back ashore for dinner and went to Dragonfly. Oh my word was that food wonderful. I don't know how to describe the food other than Asian with a Latin twist. We had eaten there years ago with a former Executive Chef, F & B at the time and now Hotel Manager, a GRM no longer with the company and us. Our memories of that night are so special we decided to return and see if the food really is as great as we remember. It is !@#@# It was just the two of us due to a miscommunication :( and we ordered too much food but didn't care as we got to sample lots of dishes. Anyone staying late in San Juan, go for dinner! You won't be sorry.

 

It was a beautiful night in San Juan and we enjoyed our short walk back to the ship. There was a Meringue Dance Lesson going on at aft pool and a sailaway was planned. We had a drink and chatted for a while then decided to watch sailaway from our veranda. It was pretty sailing out.

 

A good night's sleep, and it was time for Room Service. Maasdam really knows how to spoil suite guests with Room Service breakfast (lunch and dinner, as well :) ) I have previously mentioned the rolling carts the steward brings to the cabin. It has collapsible sides which, when raised form a round table. The table comes set with spotless white linens, beautiful glassware, flowers and everything we have chosen for breakfast.

 

I came to enjoy egg white omelettes almost every morning. Chef made them just the way I like and it was perfect. Some fresh fruit and coffee and it was wonderful. This is my idea of spoiling! We had the same Room Service Steward every morning and Sule (goodness, I hope that is his name..... I've gotten a brain freeze) was terrific. Always a lovely good morning and he always helped DH bring a chair in from the veranda to pull up to the table. I used the leather big chairs but DH was more comfortable in the other one.

 

Getting tired and need to gather the few notes I jotted down so I'll continue tomorrow.

 

I can never speak enough good things about that ship we love so much!

 

We enjoyed many surprises this time we've never experienced before. :)

[cp556]

So glad you're home safe and sound, Sail. Missed seeing your post last night, so sorry for this delayed post.

 

I'm happy your luggage arrived, and no, I probably would not have tipped the man if he was strongly hinting about it.

 

And I loved your "good news/bad news" format of the initial post. Don't be surprised if you see me appropriating that idea for a future message ... lol.

 

Stepson and his wife live in Brighton MA so they're probably under the same amount of snow as you.

 

Looking forward to hearing more comments about "your" Maasdam.

 

And Merry Christmas to you and yours...

 

Carol in SC

[sail7seas]

:) Carol, Feel free to adopt the foremat. Thanks for your nice comments about it.

 

Yes......we got wet, heavy snow yesterday but happily our plow man got us cleared before it all turned to ice overnight.

 

Hope your family stayed warm and safe.

 

[ekerr19]

Sail -

 

Sonny & I half expected to find you still here! Weren't sure if you'd get out or not. Glad to hear you did and that you got your bags!

 

We are here at the hotel, I bought the $9.95 internet for 24 hours so I could get connected. We almost missed our connection in Charlotte - sat on the runway at DIA with a frozen engine for an hour.

 

Anyway, Katie left her cruise docs in her bedroom, so we're just waiting til the TA's office opens and find out if we need them Fed Ex'd to the hotel.

 

Dinner tonight at Grille 66.

 

Glad to hear you had a fabulous time on Maasdam!!!!

[iflyrc5]

We will be on the Maasdam 14 day starting 27 Feb. Can you tell me how many formal nights you had and what nights were they??

 

Thanks,

[sail7seas]

Laura...... I didn't have the chance to send you Bon Voyage. Internet was inconsistent and slow on Maasdam. Hope you have a wonderful time.

We had dinner at Grille 66 pre cruise with HAL friends and also enjoyed it on our post cruise night. Have the Yellowtail snapper....it was luscious!! Can't wait to hear all about your cruise.

 

 

 

iflyrc5.... We had four formal nights. They were night two (a sea day), St. Kitts night ( Wednesday), St. Lucia Night (Saturday) and the last was the last Sea Day (Wednesday).

 

 

[Bobed1927]

We, also, just returned from the Maasdam Our experience was much different from Sail7Seas because we did not have a suite (we had a balcony cabin) and it was our first time on the ship so it was not like a welcome back experience for us. Even though we were first timers on the ship we found the service to be outstanding (except for our cabin steward). We had excellent dining room waiters and other ship personnel were friendly as we got to know them. We missed having a server walking through the Lido in the morning offering coffee refills.

 

I must say, however, after all the glowing comments that I had read about the ship on this board, that we were disappointed. Although the common areas of the ship were well maintained our cabin showed signs of age, particularly in the bathroom. I'm not very particular about food but I thought that a lot of the food was just OK. Several nights I couldn't find anything of interest on the menu and ordered the optional steak, which was very good. It seemed to me that they always had at least one strange item on the menu. We ate in the Pinnacle one night and that was very good.

 

Like Sail7Seas we have been in the Caribbean many time so did not do much sight seeing. We were pleased that they substituted Antigua for Monserrat but I thought that it was chintzy of them to add the few dollars extra port charges to our bill. After all they were making out like bandits with the fuel surcharge.

 

We spent a lot of time in the casino so we didn't go to the evening entertainment in the show room very often. I did stick my head in a couple of times to peek at the production shows and thought that they were not as good as the ones we've seen on Princess and Celebrity. I noted several people walking out. I like to watch movies and was disappointed that they didn't show many movies during the cruise and that they repeated the ones they did show both in the theater and on the cabin TVs. Fortunately we were able to get DVDs from the library. BTW, I really liked the layout of the library area but thought that the selection of books was meager.

 

I thought that the layout of the ship was strange. It as not possible to walk from one end of deck 7 to the other. You had to go to deck 6 or 8 and walk from one end to the other and then go back to deck 7. Also shops in the casino area was unusual.

 

I can't put my finger on it but we just didn't enjoy this cruise as much as we have enjoyed others. Perhaps because my SO was not feeling well (but well enough to shop).

But, as I always say, "The worst cruise that I ever had was good!" We would probably sail on the Maasdam again for the right price and the right itinerary.

[Copper10-8]

Welcome home S7S!:) And Happy Holidays!:)

[RuthC]

We were pleased that they substituted Antigua for Monserrat but I thought that it was chintzy of them to add the few dollars extra port charges to our bill. After all they were making out like bandits with the fuel surcharge.

I'm curious. If the port charges at the substitute port had been less, would you have considered yourself "chintzy" if you expected a refund of the excess?

 

Fair is fair. When a ship misses a port, or there's a reduction in port charges (it happens), I expect the refund HAL always gives. So, I have no complaint when HAL charges me for an increase.

[ekerr19]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]Laura...... I didn't have the chance to send you Bon Voyage. Internet was inconsistent and slow on Maasdam. Hope you have a wonderful time.[/B]
[B]We had dinner at Grille 66 pre cruise with HAL friends and also enjoyed it on our post cruise night. Have the Yellowtail snapper....it was luscious!! Can't wait to hear all about your cruise.[/B]
[/quote]

Judy,

Thanks so much! Look for my email in the next few days- things have been hectic around our house for the past month... our girls are getting ready for dinner at Grille 66 - we want to eat early and get to bed a bit early. Plan to embark about 1:00pm.

I will get the snapper, thanks!

[sail7seas]

[B]We were delighted with the change from Guadaloupe to Antigua. We have been to Guadaloupe in the past and never found much we wanted to do or felt very safe doing. It was no loss to us to learn just prior to our cruise we would not be going there. Antigua is a better port IMO, however, we were there on Sunday and not too much was open. There are decent (some nice) shops near the dock and we strolled through them but the best shops that interested me the most that I remembered from past cruises) are on an upper level to the shopping area and they never opened.

It was a very beautiful, bright day we were there though so after walking a bit, we returned to the ship and DH settled himself happily at the pool. I took my book to our veranda and was happy in the quiet and shade and admit to a bit of a nap. :)

We all know the economy has hit the travel and leisure business the same as most other businesses these days and budget seems apparent to changes in the menu. If you are reading menus posted months ago, you may find they are no longer representative of what is currently offered. I am happy with salmon night after night and it is always available. Chef prepared it wonderfully and to my taste and I was happy dining on that many nights. DH had no problem finding what to order that he greatly enjoyed but do not expect to find luxury ingredients and offerings as in the past. It isn't possible with food budgets being carefully watched. Chef Barrelman IMO is preparing and serving excellent dishes, plated beautifully and served hot and cold as appropriate. We found choices to be ample but certainly not dover sole, caviar and tons of costly items. None of us want to pay high fares in order to offer loads of pricey ingredients. What the galley is doing is FANTASTIC and everyone seemed happy but we cannot pretend we didn't notice the difference.

We dined at least three times out of fourteen days in Pinnacle and loved each time.
We celebrated an Officer's Wedding Anniversary with he and his wife in Pinnacle and it was a great evening. Dinner was delicious and service - - perfect!!! :) I had petite filet one of our visits, grilled salmon once and new to the menu veal chop. Each entree on each of those visits to Pinnacle were excellent and I enjoyed them very much. DH and the other gentleman had the huge porterhouse steaks and both raved they were terrific.

We went to Pinnacle on the last night of our cruise to avoid Master Chef Dinner. We do not like it, don't want to hear the noise and avoid it. We felt bad it was held the last night of our cruise as we never like to be out of the dining room that night. We like to thank our stewards and say a nice goodbye but we don't control the scheduling. :D DH went to the dining room from Pinnacle to shake hands for us and say goodbye and give additional tips. I saw the stewards in the afternoon at Lido to say goodbye but felt bad to not be in the dining room. Baked Alaska, Master Chef Dinner .....everything the last night. Not a great idea IMO I don't like that planning and said so. We had 14 nights. Couldn't it be spread out?

I wasn't crazy about the new lobster bisque on the menu. I'm used to a bisque with more distinct flavor and this was a bit vague. I very much enjoyed the made to order, tableside, caesar salad which was exactly to my taste as the steward inquired as to how much garlic, anchioves etc I wanted. Delicious!

We had at least three on deck barbeques and they were fun. We went once when they first opened to munch a bit of this or that as we were hungry and our dinner wasn't until 8:00. Lots of food, arranged very attractively and a good number of people attending. I saw chicken, ribs, steaks, salmon, salads, beans, corn, potato salad and who knows what else. Plenty of food for sure.

I still think HAL does Lido better than any other cruise line. The Best we've ever seen and this time on Maasdam was no exception. Anything we wanted, however we wanted it. We went one morning for breakfast just to 'check it out' as we always have room service breakfast. I counted at least 4 or 5 versions of eggs benedict offered. French toast, pancakes, made to order omelletes, scrambled eggs, hard boiled, over easy, fruits, muffins, oatmeal, cold cereal, fresh squeezed OJ, cold cuts, cheeses...... an endless list of offerings.

If anyone went hungry of Maasdam, I have no idea how or why.

I'm getting hungry.....better see what I'm making for dinner tonight. :)[/B]

[sail7seas]

[B]Great photo, John. Sigh........wish we were still there.

Yes, Ruth........ that is the way I looked at it as well. And frankly, I'd rather pay a few dollars and go to a port where we are reasonably safe. Guadaloupe was not 'cruiser friendly' and there were some incidents causing injury.[/B]

[ekerr19]

Judy -

Hope you see my above post, but so sorry we missed you in FLL by a day - please let your DH know that Sonny was hoping to watch a bit of football on Sunday with him and knew that Robert would be happy for the Pats!

Our team sucked, though... very sad. Would have been fun to spend a football Sunday together, lol!!!

[sail7seas]

[B]We would have LOVED it, Laura. Yesterday's game was an 'experience' and the right team won!!! :)

The only bright part about perhaps having our flight cancelled would have been returning to Pier 66 (they promised they'd have a room for us) and knowing you were coming in. If we had not gotten home Saturday, it would have been a nightmare for us. Logan Airport was a total mess yesterday with all the cancelled Friday and Saturday flights and then we got another 6-10" of snow yesterday. All flights now until Christmas are full so who knows how or when we would have gotten home.

BUT at least we would have had fun with all of you in FLL.
Sail safely and have a GREAT time.


[/B]

[ekerr19]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]We would have LOVED it, Laura. Yesterday's game was an 'experience' and the right team won!!! :)[/B]

[B]The only bright part about perhaps having our flight cancelled would have been returning to Pier 66 (they promised they'd have a room for us) and knowing you were coming in. If we had not gotten home Saturday, it would have been a nightmare for us. Logan Airport was a total mess yesterday with all the cancelled Friday and Saturday flights and then we got another 6-10" of snow yesterday. All flights now until Christmas are full so who knows how or when we would have gotten home.[/B]

[B]BUT at least we would have had fun with all of you in FLL. [/B]
[B]Sail safely and have a GREAT time.[/B]


[/quote]

It would have been a bright spot for us too - but we know Robert has a heavy schedule and probably wouldn't want to miss unplanned work days.

It's a nice day in FLL, a tad bit windy, but warm in the sun - we don't mind it, though much staff feel it a bit cool, we don't.

Made final payment on Eurodam for March - looking forward to it!

Glad to hear you had a great time on Maasdam!

STAY warm and don't drive! That's a huge amount of snow- especially the heavy, wet stuff!

[Bobed1927]

Ruth C---Point well taken about the extra port charge. I'll eat my words but I'm still miffed that we didn't get any refund of the fuel surcharge because the cost of crude went slightly over $70 one day in the month before our cruise.

Sail7seas---I agree with you about master chef night. As you, we would have liked to avoid it but we had to go to the dining room the last night because we had envelopes for our wait staff.

[sail7seas]

[B]I assure you my DH made absolutely sure our waitstaff received their envelopes. I wrote that in one of my many posts today and as I can't find it now I am very sure it is not worth the time to look for it.


[quote]Sail7seas---I agree with you about master chef night. As you, we would have liked to avoid it but we had to go to the dining room the last night because we had envelopes for our wait staff.
[/quote]
He excused himself from our dinner, went to the dining room, politely thanked our dining staff and thanked them in the traditional manner.

There isn't the slightest chance in the world he would leave a ship having not done that. They knew with whom we were dining and fully understood. ;)



[/B]

[Bobed1927]

If you're still wondering about what to make for dinner may I suggest reservations?

[sail7seas]

[B]We've just returned from 2 1/2 weeks away and restaurant meals. We enjoyed chicken, baked sweet potato, snap peas and tossed salad from the Sail's Kitchen this evening. Enough restaurant food. It was good to have a home cooked dinner. :)[/B]