rocks

Hi! We met one of the bar waiters on our 3rd cruise. Became instant friends. He would call us almost every time he was in a US port. We met him in -97 and in May of 2000, he came to visit us after his contract, before he went home. He stayed for 2 wks & we drug him all over trying to show him everything we could! We had such a wonderful time. He just went home last month and he & his wife have called us several times. We are hoping that he will get to visit us again. Of course, we have promised to travel to the Philippines some day to visit them. I also have several other good friends & sometimes have the hardest time trying to figure out which ship to go on! We leave for Ft. Lauderdale on 11/28 (to sail on the Maasdam 11/30) and are visiting 2 friends (bartenders) that just got on the Zuiderdam -they will be there on Sat. I admire these friends; they work so far away from home, for so long without much time off, & most do it with smiles on their faces. They are very strong people. I'm sure if I had to work that hard for my family, I could do it, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to smile as often as they do. rocks :)

:) Hi! I have been on the Ryndam 3 different times (10 day, back-to-back & a 7 day), the Veendam 2 times, the Grand Princess 2 times, and 11/30/03 will be my 4th time on the Maasdam (2 b to b's & 2 7 day cruises.) LOVE those 'dam' ships & repeating makes them feel more like coming home. But the best part is seeing your old Crew friends. HAL Crew is the BEST on the sea!...rocks

:D Hi! Just 14 more days till we leave for Ft. Lauderdale - spending 2 days there & then we hop on the Maasdam 11/30. SO glad to hear about the new changes coming to HA! The BEST change (imho) is that they are adding 15% to bar bills. Their Crew are GREAT & the main reason we only sail on HA. rocks