Our first days aboard, and first impressions, continue. Disappointment at our late departure from Fort Lauderdale, which kaboshed daytime photo ops was mitigated by views of the Cuban coast on our port and a number of vessels, including what appeared to be a masted schooner!La Fontaine Dining Room (cont.) – The food after the first night was much better – due either to “pre-race jitters” or the fact that the sub-waiter was carrying a bunch of covered dishes, which he presumably had to wait for in the galley. Our waiter, Bambang (we couldn’t have made this up, and indeed he and most of the support staff are Indonesian) is doing a good job. A suggestion for Holland-America (and a pet personal peeve) is why charge for soft drinks? Alcohol we can understand, but if refills are free at fast food restaurants, you’re undermining your cruise image for a minimal increase in profits. (When New Orleans law firm Phelps Dunbar upped the nominal price of Cokes for their attorneys and staff some years back, many similarly thought it sent the wrong message.)
The Daily Schedule – This is delivered to your cabin “the night before,” which is helpful in planning your day, as there are always four to six potential activities for each time slot. Unfortunately, no one seems to have thought of posting copies anywhere else on ship, so if you haven’t carried the paper with you and need to recheck a location, it’s find someone else with a copy or back to your cabin! Suggestion to Holland-American – How about posting the daily schedule by the elevators, guys? And while we’re on the subject, a large sign at appropriate locations giving hours of opening would also be nice. These would be big helps.
Orientation Tour of Public Spaces – We took this, and found it of positive use. Our guide explained that he was new to the vessel, but apparently he’d done his homework – and we understand that Holland-America vessels are apparently fairly similar as well. A good way to gain a quick orientation.
Breakfast in the Cabin – We’ve done this a few times and have found it’s the best way to get our sleep and be ready in time for what we want to do. You check off what you want the night before and leave the tag on your door; the food is served within a fifteen-minute window, which has worked every time we’ve done this. The only negative so far was getting four pieces of bacon rather than the six we’d ordered one morning – although the staff did seem concerned about the discrepancy. (Call at the end of your meal, and the tray is whisked away.)
Lectures – These range from almost essential to – well – expendable. The tricky part is telling which is which before you sit through it, although people can and do leave at any time. Barbara, the Travel Guide, gave a “Puerto Limon and Panama Port Talk” which was useful and reasonably succinct. The previous day, “Shore Excursion Overview – Puerto Limon to Ushuaia” was, in Sam’s personal opinion, almost Gong Show worthy, its main purpose apparently being to sell excursions to people who had been too lazy to read their information packet. Sam greatly enjoyed John Palmisano’s “Panama’s Adjacent Marine Communities,” while Mary was equally positive about Rev. Jack Giguere’s “Windows on the Biblical World.” Many of these offerings are allegedly rebroadcast on the Amsterdam’s television, but there’s no readily available schedule. Suggestion to Holland-America – Are you listening? If we are, it’s only by chance, as we don’t have a schedule ….
Safety Briefing –
This was postponed to our first day at sea because of the delay in leaving Fort Lauderdale. Sam has to admit he was unimpressed, having seen more rigor on some airline flights. When the “emergency whistle” sounded and we headed to our lifeboat through the “emergency exit,” we were turned back by the crew and told to use the “regular staircase.’ Let me get this right, it’s an emergency drill and you don’t want us using the emergency exit? Guess we’ll have to wait for a real disaster to try that …. There was one portside demonstration of lifejackets which – according to new rules – you aren’t supposed to bring with you because of prior “incidents.” Well, since they were orange, you could see them, but it was a lot like viewing the Pope in St. Peter’s Square. I just pray we don’t hit an iceberg. The Captain didn’t mention pirates, but did spend a bit of time talking about our “ecological duty.” PC in action!
Let me close this with our favorite faux pas …. The display at the Shore Excursion Desk features a number of sites, including Monte Pichu, Ecuador. Tomorrow we arrive at Puerto Limon (Costa Rica, the last time we checked ….)
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