Atlantic Crossing Dispatch 3: Medallions and Stars. The Who’s Who of Holland America Passengers

We are on the second of four sea days between Bermuda and the Azores.  The waters continue to be calm, the weather sunny, the temperatures warm, the winds mild, and the mood good.

In short, it’s a perfect day for Holland America to choose to acknowledge the most loyal of its frequent cruisers with its Mariner reception and luncheon.  This is the day on every voyage when you get a glimpse into just how much time your fellow guests spend on board.

Lured in with the promise of a free morning mimosa or bloody Mary, those of us with sufficient status gather in the main theater. Bronze Medallions are handed out to those who have reached the mark of 100 actual nights on a Holland America ship; then Silver ones go to those with at least 300 nights (we were awarded one of those on our last trip). When they reach the 500 night level, both newcomers to the level as well as previous recipients are individually asked to the front to get a picture with the captain and their Gold Medallion. Plus the cruise director tells everyone the exact numbers of nights to their credit.

Ooh, here’s a person with 579 nights, another with 632. There aren’t that many 500 plus folks to go through. But then they announce Carol Ann and Storm from Canada. What? We know them, but we didn’t know they have over 1500 nights to their credit. The woman next to us applauds in rapture.  We tell her “we’re having dinner with C.A. and Storm in a few days.” Somehow that lets us bask in their glory.

Samples of the medallions and award level pins

But even 1500 nights isn’t enough to be king of the hill on this ship. We learn of a special President’s Award level.  You must be personally invited by the company’s president to join this level. One such august person is on board, and he is credited with over 2500 nights.

So to all those who think we travel a lot, you can see we still have a long way to go.

(On another note. For those who know we get free laundry, that involves a wholly different tracking of nights and spending. This program tops out much lower at the 5-star level. On this trip, we hit that mark. Now, in addition to free laundry and 50% off on wine packages, we will also get 2 free dinners in the Pinnacle Grill. The laundry is still the big prize.)

Enough about all of that. Soon we will be in the Azores, officially part of Portugal even if far out in the ocean; so we will be able to use our small stash of Euros left over from our last time in Europe.  What will we spend it on?

Robert adds: One of the guest lecturers on board specializes in oceanography and marine life. He’s been fairly interesting, but I’m afraid his very first lecture sold us the proverbial “bill of goods.” As our fellow Californians know, this is prime whale spotting season due to their migration from south to the Alaskan summer feeding grounds. Apparently there is a similar migration from northwestern Africa up the Atlantic toward other northern feeding areas. The lecturer told us we would be sailing right through the caravan. That was five days ago and we haven’t seen one spout. I’m holding out hope for the seas closer to the islands of the Azores.

Meanwhile, from our veranda and also from the Promenade deck, I keep a watchful eye out for one of my favorite cruise pleasures—flying fish. Alas, the spotting is sparse. I’ve counted fewer than 40 so far.

Dennis adds: We just took a walk waiting for this slow internet to catch up. And we both saw a whale a few hundred feet off the ship.

 

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