This and That and Gala

This and That and Gala
Sea Day, July 16, 2019

Sea day. Time to ponder the really important things in life. For instance, have we been on the Maasdam before? Except for the new, bigger ships, all HAL’s have the same basic layout. Dining rooms aft, showroom forward, shops, casino, lounges in the middle. The ride has been so smooth that you can hardly tell that you’re moving so I find myself looking out a window to figure out which way we’re headed then I still have a 50-50 chance of going the wrong direction.

Whether we’ve been on it or not, the Maasdam has been freshened up from carpets and drapes to dining room china. Lots of blues and whites and, of course, orange for The Netherlands. It seems all the various cruise lines are cutting little corners here and there (a common conversation topic). HAL has turned their wonderful libraries into Explorer Lounges; still books on the shelves, the chess/checkers tables and jigsaw puzzles but no more librarians and book clubs. On the plus side, they still have florists on board that create massive, avant garde floral displays for all the public areas. And the room stewards still leave a towel animal and chocolates on your pillow every night. Critter tally so far: squid, mouse, caterpillar, cobra and seal.

One of the redesigned areas is the Crow’s Nest, the bar forward, at the top of the ship with a spectacular view of what lies ahead. All around the room, Eames-like lounge chairs are side by side to take advantage of the view, but not to encourage conversation. Our favorite pre-dinner cocktail spot is now the favorite roost for readers, like the quiet car on a commuter train. Luckily for us, the Ocean Bar on 8 has comfy chairs, big windows and bourbon.

Formal nights are now Gala nights. Coats and ties for gentlemen and dressy attire for the ladies are requested in the dining room, a step down from the days of black tie and evening gowns. I was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone made an effort to dress nicely and break out the good jewelry. We sat with the Edinburgh couple we’d met earlier and another from Australia. Lots of fun even if we understood only every other word!

Before we left we received an email from HAL saying that since there weren’t many children on the cruise they would not be doing children’s activities and rather than entertainment in the showroom each night there would be “cultural enrichment” programs. No children’s activities, but the most children, from toddlers to teens, that we’ve ever had on a cruise and so far there’s been entertainment in the showroom each night. The cultural enrichment programs are scheduled during our dinner time so we continue on un-enriched.

Smooth sailing across the Gulf of Alaska.