The first day out of Dover is a sea day. Once again for the first 48 hours of our cruise they are serving food in the Lido Buffet. But there is something different... the service seems so much better with waiters hovering to clear plates with a friendly smile and ready to have a chat.
It was a bit of a slow start for breakfast as we had a little sleep in. But we made our way over to the Crows Nest Bar for our cruise critic meet and greet. Holland America did a great job with a Tea and Coffee station set up complete with cookies. Several of the staff turned up and actually gave a good talk about what was currently happening on the Ship....
We just spent the rest of the day reading and pottering around.
That night it was formal night and dinner was excellent in the dining room.... much more up to the standard that we are used to... all we need to do is teach them to go round and grind the pepper and it will be the icing on the cake.
Another thing that I like that they do is not only does the Destinations person give lectures on the ports but the shore excursion manager gives a talk about the shore excursions. Now as you know we are not big on ships tours, but there are those who are, and this is a good opportunity to find out what each tour offers and how they work....
Well Well Well.... before this went to press we have just found out that the Ryndam and the Statendam are re-badging and joining P & O Australia.... I think it is a shame that they are not staying with HAL.... HAL like Princess, have a loyalty program. It will be interesting what they will take out of the ship to make it aussiefied.... like the culinary Arts Centre... anyway time will tell... I would be happy to cruise on this ship again no matter what company take her over.... But keeping with tradition these 2 ships are two of Holland Americans oldest...
BTW I have managed to get a few more photos up onto the blog.... if you go back you will see that I have added them as an extra entry just before each of the ports.
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