Tag: sea day

Sea Day

Saturday, August 9, 2025

This cruise only had one sea day. Perfect for people who really like port-intensive itineraries. We like sea days so we were kind of bummed there would be only one.

And, since there would be only one, HAL crammed a lot of activities into this one day.

We had to move our clocks ahead 1/2 hour last night. Our next ports are in Newfoundland and apparently they have their own unique time zone. Weird.

We went to the Sea Day Brunch in the main dining room. We each had the halibut sandwich and the apple crisp. I only remembered to get a photo of the apple crisp.

We then went to the Lido to see the “Cake Me Away” display. The line for cake was very long. We agreed we were too full for cake. I did get some photos.

Chuck went to play cards in the Casino and I went to the Mariners reception. There was only one person on this cruise who was getting a medal – silver for having sailed 300 days. The Captain spoke to the group and I realized we had sailed with him on the Oosterdam for the South America – Antarctica cruise. He always announced, over the intercom, when whales or penguins were spotted and would seem so excited even though he’s done that route so many times in his career. That cruise is still my very favorite.

I walked a mile on the promenade deck. Some of the newer ships don’t have promenade decks that are conducive to walking and you have to go to the jogging track. I enjoy walking on the promenade deck and watching for sea life. I only spotted some birds.

After doing the mile, I walked around the ship inside on the different decks and took some photos since this was the first time sailing the Volendam. I always wonder who decides what artwork, etc. is going to be featured on each ship. Each ship is unique.

Atrium

Came back to the cabin to find that Chuck had braved the Cake Me Away line and got us some carrot cake and some other cakes that I did not know the name. I really love the HAL carrot cakes.

We spent time in the Casino, ate dinner in the Lido, and then skipped the World Stage show – vocalist Tiffany Dissette. She was doing “Songs from the Silver Stage.” I heard it was a very good show – just not our cup of tea.

We went to the early show of the Ocean Bar Band but the venue was so crowded that after three late nights in a row, we decided to call it an early evening.

Tomorrow: St. John’s, Newfoundland

Sea Days

Sunday, April 6 – Thursday, April 10, 2025

When you have several sea days together, they seem to blend. You get into a routine of activities (or not), meals, evening activities (or not) – rinse, repeat.

We had 5 sea days before we reached Hilo, Hawaii. Those days consisted of

Coffee from the Grand Cafe.

Clock turning back 3 times before Hilo arrival.

Time in the Casino (slots now open 24/7 because the Casino will be closed while we’re in Hawaii)

Daily Activities – Many people went to the Hawaiian cultural ambassador events such as hula dancing, making bracelets, ukulele lessons, etc. I’ve done most of them before.

I chose to go to a future cruise presentation to see if there were any must-do itineraries coming up. I attended multiple lectures by Australian author Michael Adams –

I participated in the Lido games to win door prizes (I didn’t) –

And, I attended the coffee chats with Cruise Director Gage interviewing various ship personnel.

Cruise Director on Left, HR Manager on Right,

Chuck preferred playing cards or hanging out with his buddies on the Sea View Deck. Cruising has something for everyone.

We spent a lot of time eating or thinking about where and when we would be eating.

Here are some examples of our food during the times I thought about getting a photo before I started chomping away.

Evening activities – A band was brought in to play jazz music during the dinner hours in the Ocean Bar.

Ocean Bar Band

We spent some time in the Casino, but it was usually very crowded in the evenings so we never stayed long. And we went to both the Rolling Stone Lounge band and the BB King band sets.

We only attended one world stage show – Jose Sarduy’s second show (which I didn’t think was as funny as the first). Other shows by the HAL singers and dancers or the FlyRights we had already seen.

I even managed one day to walk 2 miles around the track on the Sports Deck. Small victory – probably burnt enough calories for 1/2 of a dinner roll.

The days actually passed very quickly to me and it seemed like we were reaching Hawaii sooner than I thought. But we were right on schedule.

Tomorrow – Hilo, Hawaii

Sea Day #2

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

The seas were very rocky last night, so it wasn’t a restful night’s sleep. I was looking forward to my first latte of the day. Unfortunately, I had a longer wait than usual. The Grand Dutch Cafe was short-staffed, so the line of caffeine-starved passengers was stretched down the hallway. Sigh.

Once we did have sufficient caffeine, we went to the main dining room for a leisurely late breakfast. Then I went to a presentation by Gage, the Cruise Director, regarding information about Astoria, our next port. I was interested in going out to the state park but needed to know if Uber was available. If not, finding out what would be interesting within walking distance.

Spent some time in the Casino. It was very crowded since people had not been able to play until they re-opened the slot machines around 11:00 pm last night.

Since I didn’t sleep that well last night, I decided to return to the room to read and take a nap while Chuck stayed to play some cards.

I was reading when maintenance knocked on the door. Our room stewards had reported that our shower needed some grout work, and he had come to fix it. I had not even noticed the problem. He was in there about 30 minutes.

I thought I could still take a short nap but just as I was drifting off, there was another knock. Room service was delivering a gift of chocolate covered strawberries compliments of the Casino. Can’t be mad at someone giving you free chocolate.

Tonight was another dressy night, and we had been invited to HAL’s Awards Ceremony at 4:30 so my hopes for a nap were now dashed. It was time to get ready.

We weren’t getting any Medallions on this cruise. We have received our Silver Medallions, but we have many more sea days to go before getting a Gold one. There were several people on this cruise who received their Gold Medallions signifying 500 cruise days. We enjoyed chatting with other passengers.

We opted for an early dinner in hopes that we would avoid the fiasco of the last dressy night dinner. It was a good decision. The line was long but once we got to the host desk, he was able to seat us right away. No beeper needed.

Chuck and I each had the Beef Tenderloin Oscar. It was very tender and the crab meat on top was very sweet.

We went to the early show in the world stage. The show was a talented group of vocalists and dancers called The FlyRights. We really enjoyed their show.

After the show, we listened to the last two sets of the BB King Lounge band. They were better than the other night, but I still prefer the Rolling Stone Lounge Band.

We called it a night and hoped for a more restful sleep.

Tomorrow – Astoria, Oregon

Sea Day #1

Sunday, March 30, 2025

I was sleeping great but at 4:00 a.m. the Captain came over the loudspeaker and called for the medical response team. Those types of announcements are broadcast in all rooms whereas general announcements are only broadcast in public areas. They were called to a passenger’s room number. I hope the situation ended well.

Once I did get up, I went down to the Grand Dutch Cafe for our usual specialty coffees – a vanilla latte for me and an Americano for Chuck. The Grand Dutch Cafe also has pastries and later on in the day it will serve Dutch lunch items like pea soup. It is a very popular place on the ship and can only be found on the three Pinnacle-class ships. I highly recommend their raisin buns and Dutch apple pie.

I recognized the Barista from one of our Rotterdam cruises. She was not looking at me when she took my order but when she heard my voice and saw my coffee carrier, she looked up, smiled, and said “Welcome to the Koningsdam! So good to see you again.”

It was a rainy and foggy day so there would be no pool time. The ship was also rocking so I relied on my trusty Bonine to take care of the queasiness.

We found some empty seats in the casino and got to play some of our favorites.

We then went to the Sunday brunch in the main dining room. Even though we are on a Pacific coastal cruise, the menu featured a Mexican theme (the Koningsdam had just come from doing a Mexican Riviera cruise). Chuck had the huevos rancheros. I had a vegetarian burrito.

We spent some time in the Sea View (under the awning) talking with fellow passengers. Another stop at the Casino which was more crowded than this morning. The afternoon passed quickly. I noticed it was not warming up and still very breezy. I believe I have packed poorly for this cruise.

We planned to have dinner in the main dining room as it was the first dressy night. Apparently, so did everyone else. The line to the host station was long and when we got up there, instead of being shown to a table, we were given a beeper and told to go wait in the Ocean Bar. It was well over an hour before we got seated. Honestly, I was so hungry that taking a photo never crossed my mind. I had a NY strip steak and Chuck had the filet of sole. Here are some photos from Google 😊:

We decided not to go to the main show – David and Dawn Meyer. I had seen it before and enjoyed it, but didn’t need to see it again. Chuck was not interested.

Instead, we went to the second set of the Rolling Stone Band. Aferwards, we called it a night.

Tomorrow – San Francisco

Sea Day #5

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Today is the last sea day and the last day of the cruise. Time to get that last latte and coffee from the Grand Dutch Cafe.

We had a nice leisurely breakfast in the main dining room. It had to be leisurely since the service was so slow. There were a lot of people who had the same idea as we did so I wasn’t surprised that we had to wait for the food.

After breakfast, we went to the Casino to play off the points we had accumulated all week. We ended up turning the points into cash which was nice.

Now for the always dreaded task – packing. We had to pick out what we would need to keep with us for the evening and the morning. Everything else would be packed. I was happy that we did not have very many dirty clothes that had to be packed so I wouldn’t have much to wash when I got home. I had received two loads of clean, folded clothes yesterday, so they were the first to go into the suitcases.

We had a late lunch at the NY Deli and Pizza. We split a meat lovers pizza and a salad.

Now it was time to finish the packing, weighing, and tagging the bags, enjoy some quiet time on the balcony, and then get ready for the last evening.

We spent some time in the Casino and then had a late dinner in the Lido. We went to one set of the Rolling Stone Lounge band. This band would be disembarking tomorrow, and a new band would be embarking. I hope the new band plays as well as this one does and maybe does less talking and more singing.

Once back at the cabin, we double-checked all the drawers and closets making sure we hadn’t skipped anything and that we had everything we needed for tomorrow. We then locked and pushed the two largest bags out into the hallway. We kept our backpacks and the one carry-on. We would see the large bags tomorrow at baggage claim in Port Everglades.

Tomorrow – Disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale / Traveling Home

Sea Day #4

Tuesday, February 11, 2024

I made it to the gym this morning. The gym is on the 9th floor at the very front of the ship. I could really feel the wave action. I didn’t spend as much time as I should have because I started feeling seasick. Got back to the room and took a Bonine. Not long before I was ready to go to Brunch in the main dining room.

Chuck and I both had the cheese and fruit plate. I had the mushroom crepe and Chuck had the seafood poutine. He was not happy to find calamari in the seafood. I graciously allowed him to give me all the pieces. 😃 They were delicious.

After brunch, we met up with our friends and they taught us how to play Rummikub. Lot of fun and a lot of laughs.

Tonight was another dressy night. The restaurant was crowded so we agreed to share a table. We had such a lively conversation that I forgot to take photos of the dinner. We did skip dessert so we could make it to the first set of the BB King band.

We went to the main stage to see the new comedian – Tim Nutt. He had a couple of good stories. Unfortunately, they occurred after Chuck had given up on him and left to go play cards.

After the show, I went to the last set of the Rolling Stone Lounge band.

When I got back to the room, I found our towel animal and some chocolates.

Tomorrow – Montego Bay, Jamaica

Sea Day #3

Friday, February 7, 2025

We both slept late this morning. When I finally went to get coffee from the Cafe, I found an invite from the Casino in our mailbox telling us we had qualified for a comp and to come to the Casino to claim it.

We dropped by there before going to lunch and found that the Casino would give us a dinner at the specialty restaurant – Rudy’s Sel de Mer. We had them make us a reservation for tomorrow night. We then continued on to the Lido buffet.

HAL has staff stationed at both ends of the Lido buffet encouraging people to wash their hands at the sinks and use the hand sanitizer. Sad that people aren’t doing it automatically. There are no self-service areas in the Lido at all. Even the dessert cabinets are locked – the horror. Makes it tougher on the staff having to hand people everything but should help to cut down on the transmission of the virus.

After lunch, Chuck opted to visit with people in the Sea View area. I went to the Cruise Director’s lecture on the history of the Panama Canal. He did a very good job on the informative presentation, and I especially liked the historical video portions of the presentation that showed people actually working on the Canal.

I found Chuck in the Sea View area and we enjoyed the warm breeze and good conversations until it was time to get ready for the evening.

We went to the main dining room for dinner. Chuck had the salmon and I had the carne asada. Both were excellent.

The remainder of the evening consisted of listening to two sets of the Rolling Stone Lounge band, two sets of the BB King band, Casino time and watching the main stage show – Class Act. We’ve seen it before but really liked it. The Rotterdam singers and dancers performed it very well.

After the show, Chuck went to play cards and I called it a night. When I got back to the cabin I found a note I did like – the clocks will move back an hour tonight.

Tomorrow – Cartagena, Colombia

Sea Day #2

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

I could feel that the waves had picked up as soon as I got up. I tried to go out onto the balcony and had a hard time opening the door. I knew that meant it was very windy too. I took a Bonine tablet just to be on the safe side.

When I walked to the Grand Dutch Cafe, I noticed they had the doors roped off to the promenade with signs telling people not to go outside. There are always a lot of people who like to walk laps around the ship on the promenade. Not today.

I also noticed when I got to the GDC that all the creamers and sugars had been taken off the counter and if you wanted any, the server behind the counter would put it in your coffee for you.

Since I know that not having these condiments on the self-serve counter slows down the overall service and it is not the norm, I knew that they were putting in health protocols. It either meant the ship had a number of cases of COVID or a number of cases of NORO – enough cases of either one that it triggered these protocols. Sigh.

When asked about the change, the servers would just smile and say – “we’re happy to be helping our guests.” Good non-answer. Sigh.

Once I finished my latte, I decided to go to the Coffee Chat hosted by the Cruise Director Jayme. Chuck opted to stay in and continue enjoying his coffee and reading.

Jayme was interviewing members of the ship’s Food and Beverage Management Team today. It was an interesting presentation about who they were and what they did. The F&B department is the second largest on the ship – employs 485 people. Housekeeping is the largest.

I noticed that Jayme was not allowing anyone in the audience to hold the microphone when they asked a question. He held it for them. I took it as another sign extra-health protocols are in place.

After the presentation, Chuck and I went to the Sea Day brunch. No salt and pepper shakers on the tables. Sigh – strike 3. I had a Cuban sandwich, and Chuck tried the biscuits and gravy again. The last time he had it, he said the biscuits were too hard and the gravy thin. He got the same result this time.

I enjoyed my sandwich and fries. We also enjoyed the dessert – Hummingbird Cake. It is a spiced pineapple-banana cake with cream cheese icing topped with pecans. I only had crumbs on the fork before I remembered I wanted to take a photo. Below is one from Google –

During the Captain’s daily noon announcements, he confirmed that a number of guests and crew had reported to the ship’s medical office for “gastrointestinal distress.” Okay – so now we know it is the Norovirus.

He said we would see extra health precautions around the ship and that we could help if we would be extra vigilant in washing our hands often. Embarrassing that the Captain would have to tell adults to wash their hands but that is where we are.

At 2:00, Chuck went to the Casino, and I went to the Future Cruise presentation to see if any interesting itineraries would pop up. We had already received a flyer about the 2026-2027 Legendary Voyages HAL was offering. We have a deposit on the Alaska Legendary Voyage in 2026. I didn’t see any cruises I wasn’t already aware of so there is no need to make an appointment with him this cruise.

We went to another specialty restaurant for dinner tonight – the Pinnacle Grill. We both had the crab cakes and split the candied bacon. I had the yellow tail snapper. Chuck had the ribeye. For dessert, I had the key lime pie and Chuck had the chocolate cobbler which tasted like a chocolate lava cake.

After the meal, we went to one set of the Rolling Stone Lounge band and then went to the main stage to watch Doc Dixon – comedian/magician. We really enjoyed his show.

After the show, I went to the last set of the BB King band and Chuck went to the casino to play some cards.

Tomorrow – Aruba

Sea Day #1

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Chuck was taking advantage of a sea day by sleeping in. I poured his coffee into his Yeti cup as I knew it would stay hot for a long time. After I finished my latte, I went to the gym.

By the time I finished my workout, Chuck was awake and ready to go to the pool. I was surprised we were able to find lounge chairs in the Sea View area. There have already been several announcements about not saving a lounge chair with a towel and usually a sandal or a book, and then leaving it for hours at a time.

If you see a lounge chair that has been unoccupied for 30 minutes (and you are sure the person saving it is not in the pool), you can ask one of the Sea View staff to remove the belongings and use the chair. I have seen more than one altercation about loungers on past cruises. Hopefully, no problems on this one.

I am happy to report that we had a very relaxing day at the pool. The day passed quickly, and it was soon time to get ready for the first dressy night of the cruise.

When we came back to the cabin, we found that the laundry had been returned. HAL’s laundry service is efficient and effective. We use it every cruise.

We went to the main dining room for dinner. We were seated at a table for six and had a very pleasant conversation with the other two couples. Chuck had the prosciutto appetizer and the cracked pepper tenderloin dinner. I had the shrimp cocktail appetizer and the yellow fin sole dinner. We skipped dessert.

After dinner, we decided not to go to the main stage show by the HAL singers and dancers – Hey, Mr. DJ! We’ve seen it before. Chuck wanted to go to the Casino. His name was called for one of the drawings, and he won some casino “free play” money.

I went to the BB King lounge and listened to two sets of their band. They are an okay band. I have liked other BB King bands from other ships better. The lead singer of this one spends a lot of time talking to the audience between songs.

When I got back to the room, I was happy to find a towel animal and chocolates. I was not happy to find a note telling us to set our clocks forward tonight.

Tomorrow – Sea Day #2

Sea Days #6, #7, and #8

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, November 6-8, 2024

We now had several sea days in a row and our routine was pretty standard – pool/sun time, casino, show, talking with friends, eating, and then ultimately having to pack. I will just feature some highlights from the three days.

Today we received our disembarkation information and tags for Saturday. Today was also the last day to turn in any laundry we wanted done.

On the Lido deck, we were greeted by the Towel Animal invasion. I always enjoy the creations.

We also attended the Mariner’s Luncheon. It is a limited menu that comes with free champagne. The officers attend and the Captain thanks the passengers for their patronage. We haven’t seen this lunch offered on every cruise but it was nice for this cruise.

However, we usually receive our HAL commemorative tiles either at this luncheon or in the stateroom. Today, we got a note that said they had not received their inventory of tiles, but we could hold on to the note and ask for them on a future cruise.

I know some people were disappointed, but we have several of them and I don’t always take the ones that we are given so it was not a big deal for us.

Tile from a Previous Cruise

For this lunch, Chuck had the filet and I had the cod.

Chuck played in another poker tournament today and he was the winner. Fun time and some cash. Great combination.

Tonight was the Orange Party. It is held every cruise to honor the Dutch heritage of the Holland America line. People are encouraged to wear something orange and enjoy the festivities in the Rolling Stone Lounge.

Today’s highlights – a Lido restaurant event called “Cake Me Away” and the afternoon Crew Talent Show. I attended both events.

The pastry chefs create a number of colorful cakes. They set them out so people can take photos and then they open up the serving line for people to sample them.

Chuck and I had attended the Caribbean Brunch earlier today, so we were not in the mood for cake; however, I did get some photos. I probably should have gotten some cake to save for later, but the line was already getting long. They have been having this event on every cruise usually on a sea day. You just have to watch for it on the daily planner.

Later that afternoon, various crew members performed on the World Stage. The audience of passengers (and it was standing room only) were given ballots to vote for their favorite act.

Traditional Dance from her Country

I was very impressed with the talents of these crew members. With the little free time they have from their ship duties, they had to prepare, audition, and then rehearse during the cruise to be able to perform that day. The top three vote getters were announced at the evening show, and they won various cash prizes.

The six-member band won 1st place

The crew talent show is not available every cruise. You usually only find it on a three-week or longer cruise.

Tonight’s show on the World Stage was the Impressionist Karen Grainger performing “Lasting Impressions.” We have seen her on a previous cruise and enjoyed her performance. However, tonight I thought her impressions were just “okay.” I much preferred when she sang a song in her own voice.

As we entered the World Stage, there was a gauntlet of waiters dispensing various small chocolate treats. If you ate the cake and the chocolate treats today, you were definitely on a sugar high.

Today was packing day. 🙁 It was also saying good-bye and exchanging contact information with the people we enjoyed hanging out with on this trip. Three of the couples were disembarking tomorrow in Boston as were we. However, one couple was staying on for another 14 days as the Zuiderdam makes it way to Ft. Lauderdale.

Chuck had another successful poker session. He and another player were going back and forth vying for first or second place. Instead of dragging the game on into the evening, they agreed to split the pots, and both were happy.

We ended our last night by playing off the casino points we had accumulated during the 3 weeks, eating dinner in the Lido and dancing in the Rolling Stone Lounge.

Back to the room, three bags were tagged, locked, and pushed out into the hallway. We kept one with us to put the last things that we needed to store before we left the room for the final time in the morning.

Tomorrow: Disembarkation and Traveling Home