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

[mamaofami]

[quote name='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][/quote]


[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Sail's kitchen menu sounds right up my alley, but I'm so looking forward to 10 days of no cooking and eating HAL's food.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]

[MandB]

We too were on the 5 Dec cruise. While the staff was great (as on all HA ships) the ship itself is looking a bit tired and worn. This included the general areas as well as our outside cabin on the Lower Promenade deck. I was less than pleased with being in a cabin that had major black mold problems in the shower for the first several days (their answer was to bleach the shower morning and night which left a wonderful smell). When this did not solve the problem I had one of the ships officers inspect the situation; following that the maintenance crew came in and put a layer of grout over the mold and assured us the problem would be corrected when the ship went into drydock in January. During the cruise we also had one sewer backup (from the bathroom floor drain) and one toilet backup that poured colorful liquids all over the floor. While I understand these types of things can happen I would think they might have offered us a different cabin since it appeared the ship was probably only about half full (no, I am not saying we should have been upgraded to a higher level cabin, just a different one).

Other than the above problems we had a great time on the cruise and thought the food, while not great, was good.

[sail7seas]

[B]Very sorry you encountered those things in your cabin but I know for sure the ship was very close to (if not) sold out. It most definitely was not half full. There were not available cabins into which you could be moved.

/B]

[sail7seas]

[B]Captain's Toast on Maasdam was fun.....
When we first saw the new 'abbreviated' Captain's Welcome Toast we felt disappointed and a little bewildered by it but Captain Henk Draper did it just great on this cruise. We are and always will be Traditionalists when it comes to HAL and we miss some of the old standards and traditions but happily are finding we are adapting to SOME of the changes. (Some we will never accept but will 'deal with')

We have late seating so went for the first toast before our dinner and really enjoyed it. There was a great attendance and people had to be seated in upper level as well as lower. Stewards passed all the wine/champagne/drinks we wanted and it was a chance to chat with folks around us as we waited a few minutes for the Captain and Hotel Manager to arrive. Captain spoke some welcoming words (just enough - - long enough but not too long and with nice humor included). He introduced some of our Officers and the Employee of the Month. That is always special IMO and all Officers on the stage showed him great respect.

The festive oversized bottle was popped and it was fun. This new Welcome Aboard has grown on me and I think it depends upon the humor and presentation of the Captain to make it work. Some, obviously, will carry it off better than others and Captain Draper has it just right!!! :D

We then went to Ocean Bar and enjoyed drinks with some who participated and went late to dinner. It was so nice having the chance to chat and catch up with recent news in their lives. It's a joy when we have the chance to sail with them.
Thankfully, the doors wto the dining room were still open and after big apologies we enjoyed a great dinner. It's great we always have a table to ourselves so we are never holding up tablemates if we arrive a little late. Because of our frequent Maasdam cruising and the fact we've made friends aboard, they are a bit flexible with us and don't scold us if we appear a wee bit later than we should. They know we'll skip a course in order to not have the stewards working too late and we catch up to the diners around us. :)

[/B]

['The Bear']

[B][I]'Sail'--[/I][/B] So, glad you had such a marvelous cruise on '[I]our' [/I]Maasdam, & welcome back to the frozen north. :rolleyes:

We've had the same storms as the Bostson area, only a bit colder--- -29 C & windy at noon hour yesterday, and -25 presently! :(

We'll get our 3 weeks in the sun starting January 11, (first time on the Noordam!! ), if we can make connections, no cancelled flights etc.

I wish you both a happy holiday season, ---- our children and grandchildren start arriving this evening :D:D!

Gord

[MandB]

[quote name='sail7seas'][b]Very sorry you encountered those things in your cabin but I know for sure the ship was very close to (if not) sold out. It most definitely was not half full. There were not available cabins into which you could be moved.

/B][/quote]

If you say it was very close to sold out I'm sure you must know. However, if it was, they kept a great many of the passengers locked up in their cabins for the entire cruise. They had the lowest turn-out for the sail-away we have ever experienced and this was the first cruise I have been on where at least half of the chairs around the pools were always empty and there were always tables available to eat lunch at on the Lido deck both inside and on the sides of the Lido pool.

[sail7seas]

[B]We didn't go to Sailaway Party. We almost never do.

I agree the pools were not crowded........wasn't that wonderful?!!!

We were on a port intensive itinerary and folks were off and doing things daily in the various ports.

I KNOW for certain the ship was at almost full.

They had to run two Mariners luncheons in order to accomodate all Mariners. If the ship were not that full, they would not have had that many Mariners, would they? Both of the sea days at the start of our cruise had a Mariners brunch/lunch. If there are not that many Mariners, they would have had only one.


[/B]

[MandB]

Just a quick note. If future passengers on the Maasdam happen to get any money out of the frog slot machine it is mine; I left it in the machine for safe keeping.

[WeLoveCruising]

[quote name='MandB']If you say it was very close to sold out I'm sure you must know. However, if it was, they kept a great many of the passengers locked up in their cabins for the entire cruise. They had the lowest turn-out for the sail-away we have ever experienced and this was the first cruise I have been on where at least half of the chairs around the pools were always empty and there were always tables available to eat lunch at on the Lido deck both inside and on the sides of the Lido pool.[/quote]

I'm sorry you had those problems with your cabin.

Just wondering if you've been on other HAL cruises, the reason I'm asking is that I think the HAL ships [B][I]never[/I][/B] seem crowded, even when sailing full. HAL has one of the best space/passenger ratios in the industry, and the ships dont have the same crowded feel as some other lines.

That being said, I heard its a little different on the Eurodam, but that's the only ship I havent been on...

[GmaPajama]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"]I'm still soaking up every word here. Such a wonderful ship! :)[/SIZE][/FONT]

[kryos]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B][SIZE=3]Would you have tipped?[/SIZE][/B]
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I sure would have. I'd have given him the "tip" to drive carefully in that snow up to Maine!

As you said, you didn't ask for that "service," so I wouldn't have cared how good it was, I wouldn't have tipped or paid a cent. It's not your problem that he worked all night. He has to take that up with his employer, not you.

As for getting the $40 back in luggage fees, you can try, but I doubt you'll have any success and the aggravation will probably be more than it's worth. I think the airlines have a 24-hour window to get luggage back to people. Longer than that and you can file a claim. I know that was the case the one time my luggage didn't make it home with me on a trip to California, and they told me that if the luggage was not there within 24-hours I could file a claim up to $2,500. Well, let me tell you ... I was literally dancing with joy. All I had in that luggage was casual clothes ... jeans and tee-shirts. I was in California to take the "baby bar" exam ... a requirement when you attend a non-ABA-approved law school (I was studying online with Concord University). I got home and quickly prepared a "list" of what I "lost" ... figured the airline service was crap, so now they could compensate me.

All day the next day I kept checking my front porch ... no luggage. Yipee! I kept saying as I worked on my "list." That night I went to work figuring I'd file the claim in the morning. Don't you know it? I open my front porch door and there's my suitcase. Boy, was I disappointed as I tore up my list. :(

I figured you'd get your luggage fine ... just as I did. The airlines don't make money paying out claims. :(

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]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. [/B][/QUOTE]
I actually found that dinner in the Lido this last trip was actually superior to that of the dining room. Don't know why ... maybe HAL is trying to encourage more people to eat in the Lido? ... but that's just the way it was. While dining in the dining room was nice, we tended to enjoy our dinners in the Lido more and more as the cruise went along. We often found the waits in the dining room to be too long for our liking, and we always knew that when we went to the Lido, we could enjoy the same quality and selections of food, while having a bit of control over how long those meals were taking. Sometimes we had other things we wanted to do around the ship in the evenings, and Lido dining ensured we would have the time to do those things ... like perhaps catch the early show or whatever.

I agree with you, though. I see the food slipping a bit too. However, I certainly ate well on my last cruise ... it hasn't "slipped" that bad. But I think we all need to realize that with tighter and tighter profit margins, food is going to slip on just about every cruise line. It's a fact of life since food is one of the biggest expenses of any cruise line ... and HAL is certainly doing a good job of it with less to work with.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[catl331]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]YES, happily, we had trays in Lido the same as always.[/B]

[B]I inquired about the removal of tray experiment and no one on Maasdam indicated it would happen there in the near future.[/B]
[/quote][B]Maybe we can hope that it will be confined to the Vista/Signature ships where the Lido is more 'station' oriented.[/B] :confused:

[WeLoveCruising]

[quote name='kryos']I actually found that dinner in the Lido this last trip was actually superior to that of the dining room. Don't know why ... maybe HAL is trying to encourage more people to eat in the Lido? ... but that's just the way it was. While dining in the dining room was nice, we tended to enjoy our dinners in the Lido more and more as the cruise went along. We often found the waits in the dining room to be too long for our liking, and we always knew that when we went to the Lido, we could enjoy the same quality and selections of food, while having a bit of control over how long those meals were taking. Sometimes we had other things we wanted to do around the ship in the evenings, and Lido dining ensured we would have the time to do those things ... like perhaps catch the early show or whatever.

I agree with you, though. I see the food slipping a bit too. However, I certainly ate well on my last cruise ... it hasn't "slipped" that bad. But I think we all need to realize that with tighter and tighter profit margins, food is going to slip on just about every cruise line. It's a fact of life since food is one of the biggest expenses of any cruise line ... and HAL is certainly doing a good job of it with less to work with.

Blue skies ...

--rita[/quote]

We were on the Statendam last cruise, and I went to the Lido one niight alone because my DH wasnt feeling well. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I was welcomed by the staff, it was very quiet and laid back, and the food was good.

The food on our cruise was good, perfectly fine for us - but I agree that the more expensive ingredients are being cut back.

[fuzzywuzzy]

[quote name='WeLoveCruising']We were on the Statendam last cruise, and I went to the Lido one niight alone because my DH wasnt feeling well. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I was welcomed by the staff, it was very quiet and laid back, and the food was good.

The food on our cruise was good, perfectly fine for us - but I agree that the more expensive ingredients are being cut back.[/quote]

If the economy keeps going the way it is, there might be more than food that the cruiselines cut back on, such as CRUISES AND SHIPS. They can't just keep building and building, there has to be a set of checks and balances. I guess this is one of those checks and balances.

[kryos]

[quote name='fuzzywuzzy']If the economy keeps going the way it is, there might be more than food that the cruiselines cut back on, such as CRUISES AND SHIPS. They can't just keep building and building, there has to be a set of checks and balances. I guess this is one of those checks and balances.[/QUOTE]I think you're gonna be seeing a lot of the scheduled new builds being cancelled over the next several years, however, I can't see cruises being cut back. Problem is that these ships have already been built and if they don't sail, they don't make any money for their owners. Trust me, the cruises will sail even if they have to give the cabins away and plan a revenue stream based on onboard spending. It's the only way to make a steady stream of income. There are fixed costs to keeping these ships ... the loans that have to be paid, dock fees, etc. The cruise lines can only recoup some of these fixed costs by keeping the ships filled in some manner ... even if it's just a cruise to nowhere where the ship sits out in the ocean at anchor and the passengers just enjoy the ship.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[sail7seas]

[B]We shared Barbados with Statendam and that was fun. We had also shared Crown Bay at St. Thomas with Statendam and DH and I were delighted to meet up with friends who were sailing on Statendam for a fun lunch. We had asked a St. Thomas friend to book us a reservation in advance at a favorite restaurant. We met our friends at his jewelry store, visited with him and his wife for a few minutes and walked the short distance to the restaurant just off Main Street. (Before lunch, we caught a taxi over to Yacht Haven Marina and shopped a bit. I had a Louis Vuitton bag I purchased there a year ago. I had a problem with it a few months after purchase, I e-mailed about it, they suggested a remedy that did not suit me, I brought in this (costly) bag they could see had hardly been used and excellent customer service----they gave me full credit to select something else. I was well satisfied.) With service like that, they can count on future business from us.

SUCH fun seeing these friends again, here in sunny, warm St. Thomas, enjoying a glass or two of wine and what we thought was a delicious lunch. Laughs and stories and catching up that friends love to do.

We caught a taxi back to our ships, visited some more and waved goodbye.

A wonderful day.

When we next saw Statendam in Barbados, she sailed first. DH and I watched from our verandah and enjoy her sailaway, waving and photo snapping and waited to hear her toot a salute to Maasdam as she left. Disappointment! She did not salute her sister and left without a sound. :( My understanding (from the Captain) is that the departing ship is the one to toot first and the remaining ship responds.

Bummer......... Statendam didn't show good manners. ;) It was a disappointment she left without a sound!

Speaking of sailing away..... When DH and I had left the ship in FLL after our cruise, we stayed in Hyatt Pier 66 for a post cruise stay. Our room (as always) faced Port Everglades. That day there were six ships in and Queen Mary 2 was among them. Maasdam and Queen Mary 2 were bow to bow and what a sight! The beautiful Maasdam docked proudly and beautifull looking at Queen Mary's bow mere feet away. What an accomplishment for the two to not 'ding or dent' one another. :)

When sailaway that night began, DH and I sat enjoying the show thoroughly.
First out was some RCI or other ship, then came the three HAL members of the fleet. In port that day were Maasdam, Zuiderdam and Prinsendam. It was great watching as one after the other the HAL blue hulled beauties sailed away that night........ ;) and one of them (won't say which :D) gave a very special toot. It was muscial to our hearts to hear the special sounding of the horn and we waved til we thought we'd fall from our verandah.

Queen Mary 2 and Grand Princess stayed late in port and sailed around 8 or so. I think they may have been waiting for some guests delayed with late flights. We went to dinner at Grille 66 and could see them still in port when we went to the restaurant but they were gone when we left after dinner.

I wish I had a tape recording of the special ship's horn we heard........ I could play it over and over and over.

[/B]

[fuzzywuzzy]

Yes, they have to keep the ships sailing but there again it depends on their fiscal viability. As we have seen lately, some companies that we thought were going to last forever, tumbled like a stack of cards. Some of the cruiselines could go under (so to speak). Not trying to be pessimistic, but it is a possibility. Same with the airlines. They can only cuts costs so far and then drastic steps have to be taken.

[fuzzywuzzy]

[quote name='sail7seas']
[B]Speaking of sailing away..... When DH and I had left the ship in FLL after our cruise, we stayed in Hyatt Pier 66 for a post cruise stay. Our room (as always) faced Port Everglades. That day there were six ships in and Queen Mary 2 was among them. Maasdam and Queen Mary 2 were bow to bow and what a sight! The beautiful Maasdam docked proudly and beautifull looking at Queen Mary's bow mere feet away. What an accomplishment for the two to not 'ding or dent' one another. :)[/B]

[B]When sailaway that night began, DH and I sat enjoying the show thoroughly.[/B]
[B]First out was some RCI or other ship, then came the three HAL members of the fleet. In port that day were Maasdam, Zuiderdam and Prinsendam. It was great watching as one after the other the HAL blue hulled beauties sailed away that night........ ;) and one of them (won't say which :D) gave a very special toot. It was muscial to our hears to hear the special sounding of the horn and we waved til we thought we'd fall from our verandah. [/B]

[B]I wish I had a tape recording of the special ship's horn we heard........ I could play it over and over and over. [/B]

[/quote]

We have been to Pier 66 also and enjoyed the most delicious dinner we have ever had in our lives there on a pre-cruise night a couple of years ago. Everything was perfect - the company, the food, the service, the ambiance. It was heaven.

You sure love "your" Maasdam. You have it bad. ;)
If the Queen Mary 2 and Maasdam had dented each other, you know which one would have been the worse off. :eek: The Q.M. must have TOWERED over the Maasdam.

[brucory]

S7S,

We cant wait to go and explore the maasdam. Maybe it will happen next year... It will be thanks to your high praise that we will consider her for our next holiday plans.

Best...

Brucory

:D:D:D

and an extra :D:D for LMD etc.. :D

[sail7seas]

[B]FuzzyWuzzy....... Grille 66 (th rebuild of the former California Cafe) is a lovely restaurant with the intercoastal view beautiful to view while dining as well as Pier 66's Marina. We have never been disappointed with our meals there.


Brucory, Hope you love Maasdam just a smidge how much we do. :)


Meant to add in my above post that Pinnacle still costs $20 pp on Maasdam for dinner and $10 for lunch. We never made it there for lunch and that is a disappointment. We meant to as we always enjoy it.


Also, souffles are offered every evening in Pinnacle. The steward will ask when you place your dinner order if you want one so they can be preparing it while you dine. We never had one but the evening we dined with the Hotel Manager in the Dining Room, he ordered a chocolate souffle for dessert and it looked Wonderful! The steward served it perfectly by opening the center steaming hot and spooning in that luscious sauce. I didn't look that closely at dessert menus, but I think it was only offered once during the cruise.

DH had and enjoyed crepes suzette one night; we saw a lovely cheese plate served though we didn't order it. I can't share much more about desserts as we didn't have many.


[/B]

[sail7seas]

[B]:D Excellent News and in the Spirit of the Season.......

I sent a quick e-mail to Jet Blue yesterday requesting refund of the fee we paid for additional baggage and received a reply today. Whoa.....that is quick customer service IMO

They declined to refund the fee we paid for extra suitcases but, instead, issued us a credit for a future flight which is LARGER than the amount we paid in baggage fees.

We are happy cruisers!

Kudos to Jet Blue. I never expected such fast and positive results.

It will be well used toward our air to flights to FLL for our Eurodam cruises.

[/B]

[aliaschief]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review. Exciting reading as we have 15 days on the Maasdam repositioning cruise in May.

Is there going to be any dry dock in January? If so did you hear about some of the areas that will get some attention?

[MandB]

[quote name='WeLoveCruising']I'm sorry you had those problems with your cabin.

Just wondering if you've been on other HAL cruises, the reason I'm asking is that I think the HAL ships [B][I]never[/I][/B] seem crowded, even when sailing full. HAL has one of the best space/passenger ratios in the industry, and the ships dont have the same crowded feel as some other lines.

That being said, I heard its a little different on the Eurodam, but that's the only ship I havent been on...[/quote]


This was our 8th HAL cruise. I agree they do a great job of space management. One of the things I like best about their 'smaller' ships is that there are so many places to sit and read a book without being bothered.

[sapper1]

Sail---Glad you had a great cruise on the Maasdam. We love her as well.

Just a question for you. You mentioned that you had spent time at the Hyatt Pier 66 prior to your cruise. We will be there for two nights in March before we sail on the Eurodam. We plan to return to the Bimini Boatyard to have dinner one of the nights but I was wondering if you had a recommendation for a good place to eat on the second night. We can always fall back on Outback but I think it would be nice to try something nice on the water. We really enjoyed the food and the terrace at Bimini Boatyard so someplace along that line would be great. Alfresco dining in winter is such a treat for those of us who live in the snow belt-----I am sure you know the feeling.;)

And by the way---Merry Christmas!!!