Clockwise, from upper left: Maasdam atrium with sculpture, suite, vacation-photo computer class, dual-level main dining room, ship viewed from Half Moon Cay private island

ON-BOARD REPORT: Maasdam

There's something that sets apart Holland America Line — and its Maasdam — from almost all others. Call it: Roots... Tradition... Heritage... History.

On the one hand, the Maasdam represents all that's modern and new — both in its environmentally-conscious hardware and its mélange of au courant programming offerings like one-on-one vacation photo computer instruction, cooking classes in a million dollar display kitchen, a private party island, choices of both healthy and opulent menus, an elaborate spa, on-deck walks and runs for cancer-cure charities, and chock full programs for kids and teens.

On the other hand, it continually connects with Holland America's historic past, one that's unique among American cruise companies. The first Holland America ship arrived in the New World in 1872, so the company has more than 1.3 centuries of experience serving a worldwide clientele. While it's now primarily in the premium pleasure business, it came of age transporting immigrants to the U. S. By 1898, it had brought 400,000 steerage passengers and 90,000 cabin passengers to America. It added hundreds of thousands more over the next decades, topping out at 850,000 new lives brought to the New World.

As the European immigrant business trailed off after World Wars I and II, it pioneered two concepts that became basics in the growth of the cruise industry: Caribbean cruising in 1926 and allowing tourist class passengers the run of the ship in 1951.

Today's fleet of 14 cutting-edge ships has been crafted with a respectful nod to Holland America's European traditions and rich maritime history. There are sculptures, paintings, furnishings, décor, artifacts, menu themes, shows, and programs recalling the company's lineage. Even the fine china comes from the Continent.

It's not only the Maasdam's hardware that evokes a certain graciousness. The ship's uniformly smart, well-mannered, well-groomed, and likable Philippine and Indonesian staff do, too. While the staff is now from all over the world, passengers come into contact most often with those two longest-term categories of Holland America personnel. What is now Indonesia was once owned by Holland and known as the Dutch East Indies. Holland America employed many of its East Indies colonials generations ago. And today some of the Indonesians are the second or third generation of their family to work for Holland America. That brings a tradition that newer carriers can't match.

Following tradition, the passenger service staff shows up in many unexpected places during a Maasdam cruise, helping to make travelers' experiences more memorable: in an era where self-service has become the rule on many ships, they personally deliver after-dinner mints into the hands of departing dinner guests; they personally assemble trays with cutlery and linens and proficiently hand them to Lido diners at the beginning of the food line; they personally staff dessert displays and cheerfully dispense the goodies; they often man automatic coffee/tea machines and personally serve the beverages; they personally offer hot cocoa on cold Alaska decks; they personally play musical chimes to announce dinner; they personally provide popcorn to moviegoers; they personally prepare and serve omelets and pastas while chatting up the guests; they're up at poolside demonstrating one-on-one how favorite dishes are cooked; and more.

Then, after working hours, they enthusiastically produce a well-polished talent show for passengers and they're on stage by the hundreds in a day-before-departure thank-you-and-good-bye gathering.

Because many of those personal touches have become scarce in the cruise business, that may have created a closer-than-usual bond between passengers and staff on the Maasdam. The result: on a typical Maasdam cruise more than 50 percent of the passengers are repeaters. They're recognized with a reception that draws many hundreds.

• Cabins. See "Accommodations" section above. Also: One well-planned touch is the placement of a supplemental panel of light switches so that they can be reached from bed. Upon retiring and awakening, a passenger need only touch the backboard to extinguish lights or brighten the room. Individual reading lamps are placed so they won't disturb others. Another design plus can be found in many closets. Hinged panels can rest either vertically against a wall or horizontally. In the former position, the closet is used to hang clothes; in the latter arrangement, it becomes a space for shelves. Cabins are finished with light-toned woods and walls, and are highlighted with light fabrics and furnishings.

  In-cabin television carries movie, cable news, and sports channels 24 hours a day. It's also used to re-broadcast lectures and shows and to preview port tours. It shows a continuous view from the bridge.

• Entertainment. Entertainment is presented in several locations nightly. A big two-level showroom houses major productions of professional quality and considerable complexity. Several auxiliary showrooms present dance music, disco music, string concerts, soloists, comedians, and more. A piano bar concentrates on old favorites.

• Food. An abundance of food is served in an abundance of places: a main dining room that seats more than 700, a 375-seat Lido, a poolside grill, an alternative-dining Pinnacle Grill, an ice cream bar, a dessert bar, a taco bar, a pasta bar, a pizza bar, a coffee-and-pastry bar, a sandwich bar, an Oriental bar, and a burger and hot dog bar. Meal time is almost any time: early breakfast, breakfast, buffet breakfast, lunch, buffet lunch, afternoon tea, formal dinner, casual dinner, alternative dinner, and late-night snacks assure that there's something available somewhere on the ship almost all day and all night. The main dining room offers a wide selection of appetizers, salads, soups, main courses, desserts, and healthy-diet and special-diet food each night. Often soft violins or piano music accompany dinner from a balcony music pod. The alternative dining room, the Pinnacle Grill, offers premium menus at an additional charge.

• Spa/health. To work off all that food, a first-rate health club is provided in a spacious top-of-the-ship salon. Its equipment includes most of the popular workout gear. Professional instruction is offered. Hot tubs, saunas, thermal suites, steam rooms, heated ceramic lounges, massage, and spa treatments are part of the complex. So is a beauty salon/barber shop. Adding to the keep-healthy theme, hand sanitizers are placed ubiquitously throughout the ship.

• Light. Glass is used generously throughout the ship, engendering an impression of light and space. It surrounds three sides of the two story main dining room, three sides of the fitness center, three sides of a large observation bar/lounge, and two sides of the high-up Lido dining room. Glass and light are above sun-seekers on the sliding swimming pool dome, too.

• Improvement projects. Improvement projects are constantly being undertaken. Among recent Maasdam updates:
  • Library. The Maasdam library now has no doors! It's open to the main corridor all day and all night. It boasts a large collection of books, periodicals, and A-V products... and a real, live librarian. Its chairs — many of them with ottomans — rank among the largest and most comfortable on the ship. It has a whole wall of windows. No wonder it has become a favorite hangout.
  • Internet café. Adjacent to the library — and also doorless — it has many computer kiosks as well as a coffee-and-pastry corner. The computers are open 24 hours a day. In addition, there are wireless "hot spots" throughout the ship and in cabins for private computer work.
  • Microsoft/Holland America digital photo/computer instruction. Swiftly becoming one of the most popular Maasdam offerings, the course consists of a series of workshops that teach passengers how to move their digital vacation photos from their camera onto a computer, edit them, and send them to their email lists. It also teaches them how to create a blog that their friends and relatives can read to learn their daily cruise impressions. The course is taught by personable tech-savvy young people who understand the less-savvy nature of typical passengers and make it a point to interact well and sympathetically with them. Their title: Techspert. The sessions are held in spaciously remodeled rooms outfitted with large flat-screen TVs for demonstrations and new Sony laptops for individual instruction.
  • Culinary Arts Center. A million-dollar demonstration kitchen which would be the envy of any amateur — or professional — chef is used daily for cooking exhibitions and culinary lessons. The "faculty " consists of guest celebrity chefs from famous restaurants and senior Maasdam resident chefs.
  • Galley inventory video. Unseen by passengers, but now a critical element in the ship's smooth functioning, is a huge flat-screen video in the main galley. It lists each menu item being offered in the dining room, the quantity of each item that has been prepared and ordered, and the exact number of passengers aboard the ship and on land visits in real time. That allows the kitchen to more accurately know what to prepare, when, and in what quantities. The result: better service; less waste.
    
    
• Tours. Shore excursions are a main ingredient of cruise travel. On the Maasdam, experienced tour personnel explain each port before arrival. Using lectures and in-cabin video, they inform from both a historic and tourist perspective. Passengers are encouraged to ask questions and then choose the tours that most interest them.
  
  
• News. Two publications are delivered to each stateroom daily. Each morning, a news digest keeps passengers aware of goings-on in the non-cruise world; each evening, a daily program chronicles the next day's scheduled events, ports, entertainment offerings, TV choices, dining and bar hours, and other events and services of interest. Typically, each day's program lists more than two dozen choices. The news digest is published in several languages and in English versions for American, Canadian, and British passengers.

• Safety. A new safety idea applies to children under 13. They must wear a bracelet containing their lifeboat number, so in case they're separated from their parents when an alarm sounds, they'll be reunited in an orderly manner. Lifeboats have satellite locating signals.

• Tips. Tip fees now appear automatically on passengers' account statements, but can be altered or stricken at the passenger's discretion.

  The Maasdam is registered in The Netherlands

ON-BOARD REPORT: Regent Seven Seas Navigator

Fleet:	Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Size:	490 passengers. 340 crew (European and International crew; Italian officers). 33,000 tons. 560 feet long. 81 feet wide. Eight passenger decks.
Accommodations:	There are 11 categories of suites. Each has an outside view. 90 percent have (55 square foot) teak balconies. The smallest suite is 301 square feet, while the largest three categories are 495 square feet, 739 square feet, and 1173 square feet, respectively. Each suite has a walk-in closet with shelves, drawers, a safe, and yards of rod space; a fully furnished living room area with sofa, coffee table, and easy chairs; a bedroom area with tall mirrors, a dressing table, bedside tables, and drawers; a writing desk area with chair; and a refrigerator stocked with soft drinks and liquors of the passenger's choice. There are glass-door-fronted display shelves for drinks and glasses. Lighting facilities allow for maximum flexibility: brightness, dimness, individual reading in bed, thoughtful floor illumination at night, and controls in several locations. An in-suite entertainment package consists of television, vcr, and a selection of classical, easy-listening, pop, big band, light jazz, and contemporary audio music channels. More than 400 popular video movies are available for free loan. Television offerings include at least three movie channels, live views from the bridge, and — when technically available — CNN, ESPN, documentary, and local channels. Port and lecture talks are often rebroadcast for in-suite viewing. There are about 15 television choices. Bathrooms are large and generously appointed in marble. Each has a full-size tub with shower plus a separate stall shower. A hair dryer and terry bathrobes are furnished. Counter space, shelves, drawers, and lighting are abundant.
Public rooms and facilities:	There are 15 public rooms, 5 passenger elevators — three of them glass-walled, an outdoor pool/pool bar/whirlpool/café complex, and fine art on display throughout the ship. Dining rooms include a main dining room, a Northern Italian specialty restaurant, a window-lined breakfast and lunch restaurant, a poolside grill, and a lounge/bar used for continental breakfast, formal afternoon tea, entertainment, lectures, and dancing. Additional public rooms include a tiered main showroom, an auxiliary showroom, a health complex containing sauna, steam, massage, treatment rooms, gym with weight and cardio machines and aerobics facilities, a beauty salon, a 12-table card room, a casino divided into separate sections for slots and table gaming, boutiques, a photo shop, and a library well stocked with books, video movies, and computers for email and Internet activity. There are several additional bars.
Itineraries:	Seasonal Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Southern Crossing in 2008
Year completed:	1999
Web address:	www.rssc.com
Toll-free phone number	800 285 1835

A premier cruise ship without cabins?

That’s right. With a minimum size of 301 square feet, each accommodation on the Radisson Seven Seas Navigator is not a cabin, but a suite — two-thirds larger than standard cabins on the current generation of megaships.

First-time Navigator passengers begin to sense the quality of their upcoming experience weeks in advance, when their cruise documents arrive. They open the package to find a rich-feeling, leather folio tastefully embossed with a Radisson Seven Seas logo. Lining the inside of the sand-toned case is a satiny full-folder trim. Thoughtfully included is an extensive guide (often more than 80 pages) tailored to the passenger’s specific trip. It covers the itinerary, expected weather patterns, excursion opportunities, history and highlights of each port, and a selection of optional pre- and post-cruise hotels. It also anticipates and answers dozens of pre-cruise questions passengers often have.

Once aboard and on their way, passengers learn that their carefully crafted initial impression was just the first element of a consistent plan that unfolds as their cruise begins.

They enter their suite to find personally imprinted stationery and envelopes. There’s a bowl of fresh fruits and often a fresh flower arrangement. Complimentary refreshments await in the refrigerator.

As they start to explore the ship, they find that while — at a capacity of 490 passengers — Navigator is not a large ship, it seems to have all the accoutrements of a large ship. For example:

• Entertainment. The scope and quality of entertainment offerings parallel those of large ships. From complex Broadway-style musicals to top-flight classical pianists to versatile bands and razor-edge comedians, the talent and the facilities they perform in are of star caliber. The comfortable, tiered main lounge allows unobstructed views.
  
• Food quality and choices. High-end items like chateaubriand, lobster, rack of lamb, and quail highlight dinner menus. Complimentary wines accompany dinners. A high-end alternative Italian restaurant also awaits — at no additional charge.
  
  Each meal includes meat, fowl, and fish choices, vegetarian dishes, pastas, healthy items, appetizers, soups, salads, and desserts. Pasta-to-order and omelet-to-order stations are open at lunch and breakfast. Daily teas are elaborate. There are no assigned dining tables or times, so passengers may choose to join different people each night, dine at a table for two, or dine with friends. Ties are optional.
  
• Library. Generously stocked with books, more than 400 video movies, Internet-ready computers, and comfortable furnishings, Navigator’s library has more resources per passenger than most of today’s new megaships.
  
• Casino. Navigator’s two-room casino offers scores of slots and all the table games available elsewhere at sea.
  
• Land tours. An unusually wide range of tours is offered at each port.
  
• Education. A number of cruises each year feature themes and well-known lecturers. They are detailed in seasonal Navigator brochures. This year theme cruises include the subjects of food, wine, great art, and music festivals. Speakers from the world of economics and current affairs are often aboard. On most cruises, tours of the bridge and galley are offered. Bridge and computer instructors are also on hand.
  
• Current events. Passengers are kept up to date with current events via a daily mini-newspaper published in U. S., British, Canadian, and French editions. There’s also a daily program that lists port information, entertainment and dining options, and on-board events. They’re delivered to each suite — not slipped under the door, where passengers would have to stoop to retrieve them, but very civilly placed into an eye-level holder on the suite door.

Is anything missing? Yes, two things.

• Navigator has no self-service coffee and iced tea machines like megaships do. They wouldn’t jibe with Navigator’s we-serve-you philosophy. Those beverages, and any others, are indeed available at any time of the day or night. But they’ll be delivered to passengers, not chased down by passengers. A call to Room Service does it.
  
• One other thing Navigator doesn’t have: it doesn’t have a nonstop diet of public address announcements hawking all sorts of goods and services. Generally, it offers undisturbed peace and quiet in greater quantities than megaships do.

Finally, at the end of the day, the Godiva chocolate on the pillow isn’t just any chocolate. It comes in a custom two-inch-square envelope with Radisson’s logo on it. Imprinted is food for thought about travel intended to lull passengers to sleep with pleasant thoughts. Sample: “ Discovering consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”

The ship attracts a loyal complement of passengers, many of whom have been on Navigator before. Typically, they are well-traveled, well-spoken professionals. All ages are represented on most cruises, with middle-agers in the majority.

Tips are included in the fare and are not expected. However, most passengers add gratuities to staff members who have been especially helpful.

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