COFFEE CHAT

Kimberly Wells interviewed Entertainment Director Bienelisa and Entertainment Host Tomas during this morning’s coffee chat.

FORMAL NIGHT

Tonight was the first formal night of the cruise. Over the years, formal nights gave way to Gala Nights, Dressy Nights, and other variations of a more casual theme.

The Grand Voyages are different and they have brought back Formal Night with the requirement that a Tux or suit was required for men in all table service restaurants. This requirement was emphasized by the Cruise and Travel Director, Kimberly, during her Noon and afternoon announcements.

As it turned out there was 100% dress code compliance based on my observations and discussions with others. Unlike Cunard, where the dress code extends to all public areas outside the Lido deck, there wasn’t any dress code in the lounges but we only noticed a handful of people in more casual attire.

TUXEDO JUNCTION

I started the Tuxedo Junction back in 2022 to provide a place for men to gather who continued the more formal tradition of wearing a Tux. On shorter cruises, you may find about 3-5% of men wearing tuxedos and the Tuxedo Junction was sometimes sparsely attended. The Captain’s welcome toast was at 7 pm, so we scheduled the Junction for 6:15 pm. We had a great turnout, as people at both seatings were able to stop by for a few minutes.

CAPTAINS WELCOME TOAST

Kimberly introduced Captain Frank van der Hoeven at 7 pm on the World Stage. He gave us a brief overview of his career before introducing the Zuiderdam’s senior officers:

Staff Captain: Karl Overloop
Chief Engineer: Pedro Van Houwelingen
Environmental Officer: Marcel VanZwol
Senior Doctor: Ralton August
Security Officer: Michael Berry II
HR Manager: Andrea Cosentino
Hotel GM – Henk Mensink
Asst Hotel GM: Mila Castellon
Food and Beverage: George Nurchandra
Beverage Manager: Edmund Simon
Executive Chef: Neil Ashworth
Finance Manager: Neil Joldersma
Guest Services Manager: Maja Milanoska
Exec Housekeeper: Shiv Charan
Entertainment Director: Bienelisa Manalang
Future Cruise Consultants: Justin and Melanie Perez

CAPTAINS TABLE

A ship’s officer hosts most formal night’s guests at fixed seating. This can be anyone from a Second Officer to the Captain. We were honored that Table 89 was selected by Captain Frank and his wife, Alexandra. Our table for 8 was expanded to fit 10, and our wine service was provided by the ship’s Cellar Master, Jacques Torres. Other than our special wine service, the remainder of our dinner service was by our normal waiters, who were outstanding as usual.

We enjoyed our conversation and learned that Capt Frank was a big Fan of Formula One Racing (The Red Bull team) and, surprisingly, American Football where he follows the Pittsburg Steelers. They live in Colonge, Germany, where the Captain remarked that the choice of NFL football games is limited – so you have to watch the one game available  regardless of your desires.

PRODUCTION SHOW

The Holland America Singers and Dancers were on the World Stage for their first production show,
“In the Mood”. They will be performing 18 times during this voyage. We enjoyed the show very much and they were outstanding as always.

PILLOW GIFTS

Back in our Cabin, we found our “Pillow Gifts”. In the past, these were spread out over the voyage, but tonight, we received five useful gifts that we will be able to enjoy for the remainder of the voyage.