June 2011 - From The Deck Chair

Zaandam Photo Tour – Part II

On June 30, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

Today we continue with our photo-tour of Holland America Line‘s comfortable, midsize MS Zaandam. Let’s go back to Deck 5 and keep exploring this beautiful ship!

Upper Promenade Deck 5 Merabella Luxury Shop

Added during the first round of Signature of Excellence enhancements a few years ago, the Merabella Luxury Shop is [...]

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Zaandam Photo Tour – Part I

On June 29, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

Holland America Line is widely known for their comfortable, midsize ships and their attentive onboard service, two distinct features that are alive and well aboard the MS Zaandam.

Built in 2000, Zaandam is an evolution of the Statendam-class ships that brought the line so much success in the early 1990’s: Statendam, Ryndam, Maasdam and [...]

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Cruise 101: The Best Staterooms You’ve Never Considered

On June 28, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

We originally ran this article last September, but figured it was worthwhile giving it a second go-round after friends of ours booked one of the following staterooms on an Alaskan cruise later this year. For those looking to save a few bucks, it’s tough to go wrong with these. From the Deck Chair will return [...]

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Preview: MS Zaandam Photo Tour

On June 27, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

It’s Monday, and we’re going to start this last week of June off with a small taste of one of our upcoming new features this week: a tour of Holland America Line’s Zaandam.

Built in 2000 and dedicated by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the Zaandam is the direct sister-ship to the 1999-built Volendam. She’s [...]

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Photos of the Week – June 24

On June 24, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

With the end of another week comes another installment of our regular feature, Cruise Photos of the Week. Culled from our past voyages, this week’s photos don’t follow one particular theme; instead, they represent some of our favorite cruise-related shots.

What’s in store for next week on From the Deck Chair? Well, we’ll have the [...]

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Unique Itinerary: Oosterdam’s Fall Pacific Coastal

On June 23, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

In a few short weeks, July will be upon us and for many cruisers that means it’s time to begin looking towards planning that fall voyage. If you live on or near the West Coast, there’s some incredible deals to be had on Pacific Coastal repositioning cruises that are easy on both your time and [...]

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Live Voyage Preview: to the Baltic with Windstar

On June 22, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

Our Live Voyage Reports are easily the most popular feature on From the Deck Chair. Comprised of daily written updates direct from the ship itself and illustrated with first-hand photographs, it’s the next best thing to actually being there in person. And in July, the fun starts all over again.

We’re excited to announce we’ll [...]

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Princess Scraps Mazatlan; Puerto Vallarta in Fall ’11

On June 21, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

If you’re booked on one of the smattering of Mexican Riviera itineraries aboard Princess Cruises‘ Sapphire Princess this fall, you might want to double-check your itineraries: calls to both Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta have been quietly scrubbed from the line’s November 19, December 10, and December 31 voyages.

Voyages beginning in January 2012 remain [...]

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Hapag-Lloyd Revitalizes MS HANSEATIC

On June 20, 2011 By Aaron Saunders

Coming hot on the heels of some major ship refurbishments is the announcement by German-based Hapag Lloyd Cruises that their MS HANSEATIC has just returned from a nearly two-week refit at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg.

With more than 780 individual tasks to accomplish in just 13 days, over 400 shipyard employees [...]

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