Asia 2008:
Day 16 - At Sea
Day 16 - At Sea
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Tuesday, April 8: As we headed south to Hong Kong, the fog disappeared and the weather got nicer. Our mood was much lighter and we were able to admire the orchids that grace every table in the Lido Restaurant. |
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While we're showing you flowers, here's the floral display that we had in our room. |
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Now, we'll show you our cabin. This is cabin 101 on the Verandah Deck. We had nearly the exact cabin in the same location on ms Rotterdam last year, and it was clear that they made improvements to this cabin when they built the Rotterdam four years after the Statendam. Another major difference is that even though the two ships have the same number of decks, the public decks of the Statendam are numbered starting with deck 4 so the Verandah Deck is deck nine, but the decks of the Rotterdam are numbered starting with deck 1 so the Verandah Deck is deck 6. Click here for a shot-by-shot comparison of the cabins. |
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Here is the sitting area of the cabin, with the balcony visible. This area contained a flat-panel TV, nine drawers, a mini-bar and ample seating. |
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The bed was large and comfortable. Two bedside tables had two large drawers each. |
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Here's the view looking back to the entryway and bathroom. |
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There were two closets with two sections each. There was ample room to store all of our suitcases under the bed. |
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Here's one view of the bathroom ... |
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... and another ... |
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... and another. The bathtub has a Jacuzzi function that we never tried. |
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Ah, beautiful sun and sea. It's easy to get used to this lifestyle, but we'll always be home bodies at heart. |
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Our final dinner at sea was Holland America's wonderful Signature Master Chef's Dinner, a multiple course meal with entertainment before the appetizer, soup/salad, and dessert courses. This was our second experience. |
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After our napkins were presented with a dance and a song, ... |
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... we enjoyed the last of our four-seeded bread and the amuse suprise (also known as an amuse-bouche), which is a very tiny appetizer. |
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Dancing and salad tossing marked the second act. |
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"Lucy Lettuce" serenaded the lower dining room, which had a fixed seating time for this evening only, so that the entire dining room could be served at once. For the rest of the cruise, the lower dining room was reservation-only, with varied seating times, which is something new for Holland America. We'll stick with fixed seating, thank you very much. |
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Our assistant dining manager, Pipit (center), got down with his funky self during the performance. |
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Our salads were tiny masterpieces featuring freshly grown mushroom sprouts. |
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We all had our choice of appetizers and entrees, then the entertainment started back up just prior to the third act, as the dining staff sang and marched their way through the dining room. |
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Here's Made, playing along in his good-natured way. |
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Our dessert was the by-now-familiar white chocolate Rudi Sodamin chef's hat with chocolate inside and berry sauce on the side. Very tasty indeed! |
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We finished up our packing in our cabin while watching the Farewell Show on TV, and caught a glimpse of our cabin steward, Made (center, also known as Made II since our waiter had the same name), ... |
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... and our friendly bar and wine steward, Enrico (center). |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy