Tamara

BridaBunny, is LCing low carbing? I'm into that at home, but didn't want to be too rigid on the cruise. I didn't load up on bread and pastries and potatoes, but did let loose on the desserts and the increasingly large glasses of wine in the piano bar. Those bartenders are very generous once they get to know you!

New Rochelle....Edson

I read somewhere that it's not uncommon for people to gain a pound a day on a cruise. Do you find this to be true? I don't use a scale, but did figure that I had gained a couple of pounds (glad I took the industrial strength control top pantyhose with me). I exercise a lot at home, so tried to keep that up on the cruise. The gym on the Volendam was wonderful and I used it one time, but the weather was so great that I wanted to be outside so walked around the Promenade deck between 5 - 10 miles a day. (3.5 times around = 1 mile) I like to run, but it is not allowed on the Promenade deck. You can run on the 9th deck, but it is quite open and high up and I have a fear of heights, so wasn't able to manage that.

It's definitely a lesson learned for me. We looked at the boarding photo and MIL thought it was too goofy to buy (meaning, we didn't look so hot in it). I should have bought it on the sly, had it framed and presented it to her at Christmas. I am kicking myself for not doing so. Oh, well, next time!

My MIL has a fabulous sense of humour. She had the same idea as I did of what the cocktail party would be, but that didn't stop her from insisting that I buy her a pre-dinner drink for dragging her there! The best thing about the cruise was spending that week with her, which is indeed going to be a fabulous memory. We talked about all manner of things, had lots of laughs, and even had a a pillow fight one evening. It was definitely a wonderful thing for our relationship, which has always been good, but took it to another level.

Do they usually give a little something for a complaint? Too bad they didn't give me an onboard credit, I could have passed it on to another Cruise Crazy that's about to depart for someplace wonderful.

No, I didn't see that, but I wasn't around the office area much at all.

I read that a lot of people have already started planning their next cruise soon after arriving home from the latest one. How's this for a marketing idea (maybe upon reading this, you'll know that I don't work in marketing!): On every cruise, passengers could book their next cruise on the same line at a deep discount if they put a deposit on it before the end of the cruise. Passengers are having a great time, feeling all relaxed or all excited (whatever they're into) and are really loving the experience. This is a good time to sell another cruise, no? To be very ethical, the cruise booking office on board should NOT be open late in the evening, so that people having those extra martinis or glasses of wine will not be impetuously paying in full for a cruise and then waking up the next morning saying, "I did WHAT???"

...regarding my letter about the lounge reserved for deluxe verandah suite passengers..(earlier post "feeling like a peasant") Thank you for the e-mail regarding your ms VOLENDAM cruise on May 5, 2004. We truly appreciate the valuable feedback you have provided us. We wish to sincerely apologize that your personal interaction with a member of our staff unduly clouded your overall enjoyment of your cruise, and can assure you that your experience is the exception, rather than the rule, within our operation. Our staff is trained to always be courteous, respectful, efficient, and responsive at all times, and again, we regret that your experience was otherwise. Thank you again for taking the time to provide us with your comments. We look forward to serving you again in the very near future.

Michelle, ENJOY !!

Seems I've been doing a lot of complaining lately, what with the story about the cold coffee and swanky lounge and now this. I'm really not a person that looks for faults, honest! I'm a happy, typical Canadian that apologizes for everything! Anyway, that said, I've updated my cruise review (for the nth time) to include the details of the Captain's cocktail party, so if you're interested you can read it there. Maybe I should have done the same with the story about the swanky lounge, but that seemed so funny that I wanted to share it here.

LOL!! Yeah, that's one way to do it!

Dan, thanks for the support! It was on HAL, just a couple of weeks ago. I understand the whole exclusiveness thing with the special lounge and all. If I were a deluxe verandah suite passenger, maybe I wouldn't want the hoi polloi in my lounge either. Fair enough. I was only after a #$% hot pot of coffee, though! I felt like I was travelling in steerage and tugging my forelock whilst asking for it! I did write up the incident in the cruise evaluation that we were given.

Apart from being full of useful information, the destination guides are beautifully written.

We were on the Navigation deck. On the same deck is a lounge with coffee, snacks, TV, etc. reserved for people in deluxe verandah suites. Being the simple paupers that we are, we weren't occupying such a palatial space. One morning, room service delivered our coffee and it was cold. I took the pot and went up the hall to this lounge, thinking that they would replace the cold coffee with hot coffee. Wrong. The exchange went something like this: "This lounge is reserved for people in deluxe verandah suites". "I don't want to come into the lounge, I just would like some hot coffee as the steward has given me cold coffee." "This lounge is reserved for people in deluxe verandah suites". "I promise not to cross the threshold of your very special lounge, but, through no fault of my own, I have received cold coffee. Maybe could you fill the pot with hot coffee and pass it to me in the hallway?" "No".

Is it possible to buy photos taken by the ship's photographer after the cruise is over? I'm kind of kicking myself for not buying the funny boarding photo from the onboard gallery.

Now that I've been back for several days from my cruise to Alaska, I find that the memories are changing. I'm forgetting the bits that bugged me; lots of lineups, the annoying couple at the dinner table, etc. and am remembering all of the pleasant bits; coffee on the verandah on the morning, the more pleasant company at dinner, etc. I find this happens whenever I come home from a trip. The aggravating bits just fall away, maybe being taken out from time to time for a laugh, and I'm left with such a wonderful sense of having had another adventure, seeing new places and meeting people.

I took my own shampoo on the cruise but packed it on the last night, planning to use the Royal Dutch brand provided by HAL on the last morning of the cruise. I colour my hair. My natural hair colour is not grey, I just colour it for fun. Not that there's anything wrong with having grey hair, just wondering about the chemistry of the whole thing. I found that the HAL shampoo stripped my hair colour a bit. My dyed hair colour is deep auburn, and it turned out a bit lighter after using the HAL shampoo. I'm surprised as I thought that they would provide a very mild shampoo. Anyway, if you colour your hair, take your own shampoo with you.

Dear Icons and Emoticons, I find you a bit too glitzy and distracting for me, though you look great on other people. I'm more of a black dress and pearls kind of gal, kind of boring, I know, but I'm not comfie with the diamond tiara look that you two bring to my ensemble. I hope you understand that it's nothing personal.

I've been updating my cruise review as I remember things and just added a bit about a fantastic chocolate shop in Ketchikan called...and are you ready for this...Ketchicandies. Just last night polished off a (small) box (with help) and wish I'd bought more. Hand made truffles, chocolate bark with all sorts of nuts. oh so good. The tiny shop is lined on all sides with displays of every sort of goodie imaginable.

I saw a woman on formal night wearing black sneakers, white sport socks, a windbreaker jacket, black pleated skirt ...and a shiny gold top. Guess the gold top and black sneakers made it formal. White sneakers would be far to casual!

Take one of those coffee cups with the lids. It's good to be able to fill that up and take it out on deck with you.

I keep thinking of things to report on in dribs and drabs, hope I'm not overwhelming with posts! The hair dryer in our cabin got too hot to handle. I could barely stand holding on to it for the time it took to dry my hair and had to put a dry washcloth around it to lessen the heat.

I found that the dress code was not enforced in the dining room on the Volendam. I understand that people don't always feeling like dressing for dinner, but why wouldn't a person go to the Lido buffet restaurant on the evenings that they just want to wear jeans?

I've managed to do one load of laundry after returning from the cruise yesterday, but am still waiting for people to fetch me things and there doesn't seem to be anybody around willing to do that! I find that, coming home from vacation, the most difficult thing to do is start thinking about planning meals. The meal I most enjoy having cooked for me is breakfast. Right now I'm missing not having a plate of eggs benedict placed in front of me. When you return home from a cruise, what do you miss the most and what is the most difficult re-entry point into everyday life?