Copper10-8

Winner! You just won the price for the best discombobulation of a HAL ship name; keychain coming your way!

The only large drydock in the Gulf area, the Persian type, not the Mexican, is in fact located in Dubai. HAL ships have never used it, but that doesn't mean there can't be a first

Unknown; the Sembawang yard in Singapore is a possibility, as is the Thales Australia Garden Island dock in Sydney, NSW. Depends on who's got the vacancies when the schedules resume. She could even sail empty to Freeport when ready. Don't think it's a priority at the moment

Don't have any independent info on that Roy

Unknown at this time, depends on the local Malaysian authorities. Since disembarking her pax in Fremantle, Western Australia in the days following her arrival there on March 21st, she has been allowed to dock/berth at a single port, that being Durban, South Africa on April 9th. She was only given permission there to disembark a very small group of South African crew (5) before her game plan was changed and she was sent back across the Indian Ocean to disembark non-essential crew off Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) and off Manila. This was/is still being in case of the latter, accomplished via her ship tenders as she was not allowed to dock/berth at both ports. My guess, and it's only a guess at this point, is that the luggage from the 2020 GWV guests will be taken off once she reaches her layup location which, by the looks of it, will be Labuan, Malaysia. If she won't be allowed to dock there, that can then only be accomplished by loading those pieces into ship's tenders (which will take many tender trips since those boats are designed to carry people and not cargo) and/or by allowing a local transport vessel to come alongside for such a transfer. Then the question beckons if the Malaysian authorities require those pieces of luggage to be tested and/or, in a worst case scenario, stored in a local warehouse for quarantine purposes (yes, I know, no cases of Covid-19 among Amsterdam's pax or crew) before being send on their long way home to the States, Canada and wherever else her pax hailed from. One thing I know for sure and that is that the young Canadian lady who is responsible for ensuring that the luggage is sent home to the correct location (she's been doing it for the last several years, coming onboard during the very last segment of A'dam's GWV) is very conscientious, a true professional, and knows what she's doing

Labuan Island, Malaysia, situated between the Philippines and Indonesia, and just north of the Nation of Brunei, an independent country. The future layup location for many cruise ships until they are reactivated again. Maasdam, as the first cruise ship, is already there

Hey Rich; Eurodam's ETA off Manila is tomorrow, June 1st

Both Henk and Crystal's contracts ended five days ago while the captain's contract ended on the 12th of May

A heads up; not every crew member, incl. Indonesians and Filipinos, will be getting off Amsterdam since they are needed in the Deck Dept (sailors, quartermasters/helmsmen, boatmen, security, crew doc, etc.), Technical Dept. (machinists, wipers, etc.). Hotel Dept. (cooks, admin, etc.) and other Depts until the ship reaches her layup location and goes to a minimum required skeleton crew

From Amsterdam's crew - "salamat" = "thank you" in Tagalog - with a p/a announcement from her captain, Jonathan Mercer, towards the end

Does that mean he's mostly blue, Meneer het Haagse Hopje?

He's done a hell of a lot more than "just being a captain" I'll give you just two examples: Oct 1997 Hurricane "Pauline" off Acapulco Jan 2016 The tender 9 incident off Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Look them up

Roy, Explorer Dream of Dream Cruises (the former SuperStar Virgo of Star Cruises; same owners - Genting from Hong Kong - as Crystal Cruises, Star Cruises and, formerly, NCL, hence the extensive artwork starting on her bow, but you already knew that one 😉 ) has been the only ship out of the cluster in Manila Bay to have been given permission from/by the Filipino/Manila authorities to berth inside the port of Manila. She's been there for a few days now, and is still there as we speak

Updated lineup in Manila Bay: 1. Amsterdam - Holland America Line 2. Maasdam - Holland America Line 3. Noordam - Holland America Line 4. Westerdam - Holland America Line 5. Eurodam - Holland America Line 6. Voyager of the Seas - Royal Caribbean 7. Quantum of the Seas - Royal Caribbean 8. Queen Elizabeth - Cunard 9. Costa Venezia - Costa Crociere 10. Costa Serena - Costa Crociere 11. Royal Princess - Princess Cruises 12. Ruby Princess - Princess Cruises 13. Sun Princess - Princess Cruises 14. Majestic Princess - Princess Cruises 15. Sea Princess - Princess Cruises 16. Sapphire Princess - Princess Cruises 17. Golden Princess - Princess Cruises 18. Diamond Princess - Princess Cruises 19. Celebrity Solstice - Celebrity Cruises 20. Carnival Panorama - Carnival Cruise Line 21. Caledonian Sky - Noble Caledonia 22. Explorer Dream - Dream Cruises (berthed port of Manila) Enroute/on the way arriving later today: 23. Ruby Princess - Princess Cruises (arriving later today) 24. Carnival Spirit - Carnival Cruise Line 25. Pacific Explorer - P&O Australia Out in the South China Sea maneuvering: 26. Pacific Dawn - P&O Australia 27. Pacific Aria - P&O Australia 28. Pacific Princess - Princess Cruises 29. Costa Neoromantica - Costa Crociere

Hey Rich, Rotterdam is off the east coast of South Africa (a bit southeast of Durban), heading for Saint Denis on the French possession/overseas region of La Reunion (east of the much larger island of Madagascar)