St Pete Cruiser

We are dog and condo sitting for friends who have been away this week. Their corner verandah has beautiful waterfront views which has made our return from Europe quite enjoyable. 

An acquaintance from last year is aboard our former Prinsendam, now Phoenix Riesen's Ameria, and reports it looks good. In addition to it's new engines, he reports she has new bathrooms, newly done MDR and hook ups for shoreside power in port. He speaks German, so is at home on her.

Enjoy your weekend everyone. 

Rotterdam is my preference of the 3 Pinnacle class ships.

Holland America Line gives it the better entertainment and some of the little extras. You will like it if you give it a chance. 

15 hours ago, grapau27 said:

A P&O poster kindly posted this photo for me of the original Nieuw Statendam in Hamilton Bermuda July 1975 when he was a shop manager on board.

Yes, looks like the Statendam. The present Nieuw Statendam was a compromized name by management as the president did not want to continue using the old dam names for marketing purposes. 

We enjoyed our first visit to Newcastle yesterday.

Looks like Fred Olson's ships use Newcastle. 

Newcastle was a pleasant call today despite the clouds and cool. After Edinburgh, our expectations were not high, however historic Newcastle was impressive. 

25 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

Did you walk sideways into the church?

Yes, it was quite an effort!

21 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Good morning friends!  We changed our time ahead one hour again last night so are 7 hours ahead of east coast time and 10 hours ahead of Pacific time.  In addition to that the ship left Warnemunde very late last night due to a train being hit by a tree on its way from Berlin to Warnemunde.  I got most of the story from a woman I sat and cross stitched with this morning, and the rest from the Captain’s noon report.  Apparently the train with 500 HAL Berlin tour passengers had a mechanical issue and pulled to a side track for a 20 minute repair.  While on the side track another train with a 27 person independent tour group passed the HAL tour train.  That second train had an accident with a tree, either ran into it or it fell on the train, I’m not sure.  Someone spoke to me during the Captain’s announcement and I missed that detail.  DH said he thought the Captain said something about a windshield so they may have run into the tree.  There were ambulances involved according to the lady I spoke with this morning.  Had the first train not had the mechanical issue it would have run into the tree and not the one which actually did. 

 

The 500 passengers arrived quite late to the ship, and the remaining 27 passengers arrived last I believe.  Hopefully none of them were injured.  The first 500 were able to eat something in the Lido which was held open for them.  The other 27 were able to dine in their cabins when they got back at 1 (or 2 a.m.).  I knew something was up because when we didn’t leave and I didn’t fall asleep, I would look outside occasionally.  I saw staff members walking  by our window going into the deserted terminal during the last hour. I saw the ship leave the dock and pass by the cruise terminal at 2:22 a.m. Tallinn time.  So not a lot of folks were in the Lido this morning when we went up an hour later than our usual time.  I think everyone needs a sea day today including me!  Tomorrow is Tallinn and we are scooting along at 21 knots trying to catch up. 

 

Thank you Rich @richwmn for today’s Fleet Report and Daily.  I’ll honor the days of celebration, and I think I’ll skip the meal, drink and wine.  Hurray for the first Indy 500 in 1911!  Thanks Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your reports today.

 

Cheers to all with special events and cruises to celebrate, especially Jacqui @kazu!  Happy Birthday!   Hope you find some happiness today as you celebrate another trip around the sun. Happy Birthday to Gary @GTVCRUISER!  Prayers to our friends here in need of them, DB, Alex and sons, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held, and never forget the troops in the region.  Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for your list keeping again today!

 

The port today is College Fjord, Alaska.  With two Alaska ports in a row, we must be trying to talk Graham @grapau27 and Pauline into bundling up and heading to our great state of Alaska!  This was the port before on Nov. 12, 2021.  Here’s the link for your convenience in grabbing your photos.

 

 

Please have a wonderful day, everyone!  Keep safe and stay well!

 

 

Wow, that is quite an excursion. Thankfully it wasn't much worse. We were in Berlin 4 days before boarding the Statendam in Copenhagen. 

6 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you for today's daily reports.

It is currently raining and 54°F.

3 good days.

I don't agree with today's quote.

I hope we all have a nice day.

We are going later to see Nieuw Statendam so I will report back then.

Graham.

Good morning from Newcastle, England. Well, mad dogs and Englishmen come out in the noon day, but there is no sun today in Newcastle. Yes, Nieuw Statendam is here today until 6pm, 18:00. Our first time in Newcastle. Susan Wood, a favorite cruise director from years past, was from Newcastle. Her "tootoloo" was her sign off.

We took the free shuttle to Tynemouth and the Metro to the city centre. Visited Grainger Market and the Newcastle Cathedral so far and next is the Tyne High Bridge. 

Our last port, sea day tomorrow and then flying home Saturday. 

On 5/28/2024 at 8:49 PM, Navybikermom said:

Thank you for the reminder - I didn’t address the music venues. As @madera1 said, the B.B. King Blues band was fabulous. The female singer belted out some Tina Turner songs and was spot on. She had a great set of pipes. The Rolling Stones band was not so great. They played their instruments well, but having a female singer with a high-pitched voice try to sing 70’s rock songs was just not right. The Billboard Online piano player was talented, but with only his fingers. His voice was also wrong for the songs he was trying to sing. This isn’t to say these singers couldn’t sing, but their voices were not well-suited for the songs they were trying to sing. 

Thanks for sharing. The ships you have sailed on previously are all ones I've been on as well. The Pinnacle class will never exceed the personal service standards that the smaller ships provided. We were lucky to have experienced them at the Holland America Line fares of the past as now one must move to the much higher priced lines to receive equal service. We did find some of the "old" Holland America onboard the Zaandam recently. 

Billboard on Board is now one piano and much like the piano bar of old with frequent requests. I like it, especially the musical theater selections. 

Tomono was the guest pianist for 2 shows. She is excellent. 

BB Kings also enjoyable as usual. 

Greetings from Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland. 

Nieuw Statendam is here today, not Lerwick where we were yesterday. It is sunny, shocking, and cool ofcourse, and quite pleasant. The new Queen Anne is in port with us. She looks beautiful and much like us! Check her out. What is the small funnel like between her forecastle and funnel?

Memorial Day service at 7am aboard the Nieuw Statendam, Lido Poolside, with Clare, CD, and the onboard Priest. He had good words to mark the occasion. 

Always be grateful and give thanks. 

John, I miss your frequent posts and your updates on the officers and their ship assignments. 

We saw the old Maasdam in LaHarve recently looking quite good. She was your first assignment, right?

Holland America Lines Nieuw Statendam docked in Harstad, Norway, on its Maiden call. With more and more of the long fjords unavailable to ships with objectionable funnel emissions, ports like Harstad will gain more cruise ship calls. We found it to be a very pleasant entrance from the sea with numerous turns and beautiful scenery. The city, about 20k population, features a dock adjacent to the city. A local and regional bus terminal is right there as well. A trail along the water to a historic church and a former *** prison camp for Soviet captured in WWII are among the features. 

1 hour ago, mawvkysc said:

We had Rinto as a server for MDR breakfast. So good! Mentioned him in the app. 
 

The Mushroom Benedict had salty spinach. Reminded me of canned spinach. Passionfruit yogurt was good but mango? fruit is what stood out. Passionfruit was just a smidge. 
 

Did a mile on the promenade. No cushions on the steamer chairs today. Must be due to wind

 

Flowers are showing up 

Yes, Into is a favorite of ours, too. Ask him to pronounce "Rotterdam". He can really roll those R's!

Belated Happy Mothers Day everyone. My Mom loved flowers growing in the garden as do I. We walked through the Volksgarten in Vienna enjoyed their immense rose garden. 

Exactly 10 years ago, Gaspe' was a port call on the Maasdam, May, 2014, as we sailed from Ft Lauderdale to Montreal. 

Welcome home World Cruise travelers. I can only imagine what it is like to leave after 4 months onboard. 

would have liked to leave on the TA now, mid May, rather than early April, when it is too cool to enjoy. 

It was great to see our Rotterdam VI, now Fred Olson's Borealis, along with the present Rotterdam VII, at the port of Rotterdam yesterday. The Borealis looks good. Hope she is serving her new owners well. Checking fares, they are getting about $200 per diem for many itineraries. Maybe that includes port fees and gratuities?

23 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

Well I appreciate you “taking one for the (local) team”, lol. Its is interesting to hear your experience with it.

I got an email from Stockperks that my standby cruise is Not eligible. Maybe you were just lucky?

Wow, guess the 150th anniversary is officially over.

One of my regrets is we didn't do the special Rotterdam 150th crossing. 

Good morning everyone. 

Just wanted to add one ship to today's fleet report:

The Maasdam is in LaHarve along with the Nieuw Statendam today. Friends forwarded this to me. Long live the Maasdam, now the Renaissance of a new French line.

Happy Saturday Sailaway!  It is a picture perfect day here in St Petersburg, 75F, sunny with a gentle breeze.  Our morning group walk along the waterfront was outstanding.  Sadly, life doesn't stand still....another month or two, it will be hot and humid.  Also sad for me to see the fleet leaving for the season, as it is so nice in Florida in April.  Just checked, Juneau is 42F and cloudy with rain expected. Cork, Ireland is 48F.  Too early to leave IMHO.  Europe and Alaska are awaiting, so here they go.

Nieuw Amsterdam, the only true "Nieuw " in the fleet, is headed to Cabo Rojo, DR, for what I think is a maiden first call for Holland America. Should be some good farewell toots.

We have friends on the Nieuw Amsterdam tomorrow.  Is Cabo Rojo, DR, a new port for Holland America?  I have never noticed it before.

13 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

We went to Bergen on 4 of our cruises, and it seems to be a popular stop for most Norway cruises.  We do love Norway!  I've heard it rains there a lot but we've managed to see it in sunshine a few times.  I think that if you are there for the first time, go up Mt. Floyen on the funicular (called Floibanen) and see the fish market right there on the waterfront.  You don't have to take a ship's tour, just head for the hillside.  This is what the building looks like where you get your tickets and go up in the funicular.

 

The wait for the car to take you up.

 

 

A different view from the top.  We enjoy walking around that little park and lake shown in the picture.  There's really a lot to see in Bergen besides the funicular and fish market.

 

Our first trip to Bergen was on Crown Princess in 2013.  The second time was in 2015 on Caribbean Princess and that is when these photos were taken.  I saw a Holland America ship while up on the mountainside and zoomed in to take this photo of the Ryndam.  

 

We had just taken our first HAL cruise in October 2014 and loved it enough to start booking HAL cruises.  We had already fully booked 2015 on Princess so our second cruise on HAL was in 2016 but you can tell I was interested enough to take a photo of a HAL ship this day.  Our relationship with Holland America has worked out well for us because we enjoy the many interesting ports of call they go to.  Princess usually isn't as adventurous.  Our third and fourth time in Bergen was on Prinsendam in 2016 and 2017.

 

On our first visit to Norway in 2013 we along with friends on the ship took a walk through some beautiful park-like areas on the slopes of the hills above Bergen.  A closer view of the harbor from our hike.

 

Did any of you notice this stairway to the Christmas Shop located on the Bryggen side of the harbor?  Makes me dizzy to even look at it.

 

Also a lot of people enjoy the sunshine (when they can get it) at these cafes lining the harbor.

 

One time we hiked up a hill of steps to an interesting church so these photos are for fans of churches like @HAL4NOW.  If you turn your back on the funicular and fish market you may notice a huge church up on a hillside.  Like this:

 

 

You can start to see the steps.

 

Turn around.  This is where you started at, down at the bottom of this hill.

 

 

Name of the church - Johanneskirken or St. James Church

 

I thought the ceiling was unique and very Norwegian.

 

 

 

 

Hoping to go back to Norway sometime soon.🤞

Thanks for the pic of the Ryndam in Bergen in 2013.  I was there on her in June 2013 on my 14 day cruise to Norway which began in Dover and went to many of the fjords and all the way to Honningsvag.  Bergen is a very nice port as is the route in and out to Bergen.

I like the brunch menu. Early risers can have a little something at the Lido and do brunch instead of lunch if they choose.