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Today's sunrise was taken yesterday on a sea day from Aruba to Cartagena. Roy

Monday, November 14, 2022, At Sea, MS Eurodam I was up about 4:45 and took my first “Lap with a purpose (coffee) about 5:30 as we were about 25 miles off the Colombia coast. It was only about 20 minutes until sunrise and I waited but the sun did really not appear through the clouds, and decided to walk one additional lap, catching a nice view near the end of that extra lap. Once the sun was up the heat became quite brutal and I only walked a total of about 6 laps in the morning. Gage had his presentation on the canal at 10. He talked a lot about the canal history, not much about our transit but did say he would provide commentary as we went through. I asked a couple of questions at his 11AM Q&A in the Crow’s Nest and now have a preliminary plan for the transit. In his noon update Captain Bant indicated we have sailed 232 miles since leaving Aruba with 167 remaining. I’m finding it hard to account for my afternoon but it was mostly computer work. I had reserved the 4PM hour for a church finance meeting but it ended up being cancelled. It was also the night of the Master Chef’s dinner but I missed it because I had reservations at the Pinnacle Grill. My choices for the evening were the Heart of Romaine Caesar Salad, Filet Mignon, and Key Lime Pie. The show on the Mainstage was the BBC Earth Film Seven Worlds One Planet in Concert, a stunning display of wildlife in all it’s variations with live accompaniment of 3 of the Lincoln Center musicians. While it had some things in common with the Step One show the visuals were stunning and the musician’s talents were fully utilized. I enjoyed the show immensely. My parting shot is something of a throwback. While I blame some of my difficulties on my advancing age I remember finding the heat and humidity when I was in Southeast Asia on the Zaandam in 2012 overwhelming even then. Some things do not really change. Roy

Thank you for the Tuesday report, Rich and greetings from the American Cartagena, docked next to a Star Clippers ship and USNS Comfort. I like the days, especially National Recycling Day, and kind of liked the Monroe quote. I have not been to Broome. Seems like most of us will pass on the meal. My alternative is Heart of Romaine Caesar Salad, Filet Mignon, and Key Lime Pie as served last night in Eurodam's Pinnacle Grill. Today’s care list: Firefighter Andy laid to rest today Kazu severe foot injury Ottahand7 Brother in rehab Mister67 hand surgeon appointment Terri’s next door neighbor Joanne with stroke and complications From the rotation: Cruisin Terri leak damage Sandi’s neighbor Linda recovering at home Marshhawk and DH struggling with smoking cruisin single step-son with double cancer and months of recovery before kidney removal Celebrations and Shoutouts: Quartzite Cruiser DH feeling to start coming back (progress while painful) Ichiban Nekko settling into new house Sandi’s neighbor Linda well enough to receive visitors Work about to start on Cruisin Terri’s house and great progress with insurance and contractor 5 days for Cruise Suzy, Lazey1, and HAL Lover (Rotterdam 11/20 to 11/30) 4 days for StLouisCruisers and Summer Slope (Volendam 11/19 to 12/17) 4 days for Damcruiser (Nieuw Statendam 11/19 to 1/14/23) Norseh2o (Sirena to 11/18), Kazu , 0106, jimgev, Heartgrove and ger_77 (Oosterdam to 11/19). RednckBob (Beyond to 11/20), CrazyForCats (Nieuw Amsterdam to 11/20), and me (Eurodam to 11/20) at sea Cunnorl (Noordam to 1/2/23), and Horizon Chaser1957 (Zaandam 10/1 to 12/20; Zuiderdam 12/22 to 5/12) at sea Roy

@Cruzin Terri is the prednazone helping with your symptoms? Roy

I would even have taken a pair of those. The ones I was wearing needed laundry so desperately I was cringing at the idea of going without socks for a day or two. Roy

They are not that unusual. The basis for everything in the store is that it's made in Aruba. I think the only real difference from US socks is the woven band at the top although I can't get the photo right side up. Roy

Today's sunrise is from yesterday, taken as MS Eurodam was arriving in Aruba. Roy

Today's sunrise is from yesterday, taken as MS Eurodam was arriving in Aruba. Roy

Sunday, November 13, 2022, Orangestad, Aruba I did not do a lot of walking on the promenade deck as I had planned on mostly walking in town. I did do 2 “Laps with a purpose”, the first one just for morning coffee, and the second timed with sunrise, and my first bit of breakfast, most a ham and bacon omelet freshly prepared. https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/omelet.jpg I had thought that with leaving 1 day late and missing 2 ports we would have a lot of time to be early, but that’s not the case. We only were due to spend about 6 to 8 hours in port, so that left a lot of travel to make up, and our originally planned 7AM arrival became 8AM. We had expected to be the only cruise ship in port but as I expected that was not literally the case. More often than not the MV Freewinds, some kind of training ship for the Church of Scientology was there as well. Even though it appeared to be a turnaround day for the Freewinds it had no practical impact on our visit. I normally worship with my church about half the time in person and half via the livestream broadcast. The service is 10:30 which is 11:30 Aruba time, not the most convenient for a port visit. I did go up to the lido for milk about 11 but lunch would wait until I returned from town. With most of the other passengers off the ship the livestream went reasonably well. I headed out in search of socks about 12:40. My last 2 visits to Aruba have been emergency shopping expeditions that became very frustrating but eventually had a happy ending. The last time was at the end of the 2019 Prinsendam Grand South America voyage where I was starting to pack and decided I needed more luggage straps. I checked all the possible stores and most had bags but not the smaller items like straps. I left Aruba completely disappointed, but happily 2 nice luggage straps showed up as “pillow gifts” the last formal night. This time between google maps and my IPAD app there were a few promising stores for socks. There was one store (Polo Ralph Loren) that Google Maps indicated would be open but it was not. By this time I was near the old Protestant church and I dropped by for a look. I have never seen it open but a sign said there was a service there at 8:30 Sundays. That’s an interesting possibility if I ever return on a Sunday. The other stores I had in mind were either closed Sundays or boarded up with for rent signs. As I returned to the ship I checked one of the souvenir stalls and got a blank stare; frustrated and exhausted from the 91-degree heat index I was about to give up. I did step into the “I love Aruba” shop which was on my way, and amazingly the guy took me right to a bucket of socks and showed me one that would work. My only remaining stops getting back to the ship were a pause for a photo of the Eurodam and a cup of water at the gangway. I was back onboard about 1:40, just in time to get up to the lido for a light lunch before it started closing. On the back deck I paused for an overview photo of Orangestad from the back deck before heading back down to my cabin and air conditioning. https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/aruba.jpg I had booked Canaletto Italian restaurant because Sunday is the day that Chicken Parmesan is the specialty. For those not familiar with Holland America it is an enclosed section of the Lido Marketplace that is used in the evenings as a specialty restaurant. In addition to the Chicken my choices were Canaletto Salad, Pasta Genovese, and Pistachio Gelato. At the end of the meal I stepped out on the aft deck as the sun was disappearing behind the clouds for the day. https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/dusk1113.jpg I did not really do a lot in the evening but did accomplish some computer work and join in my church’s “Sundays at Seven” fellowship time on Zoom, of course that was 8 Aruba time. We gained an hour overnight returning to the same time zone as Fort Lauderdale (I don’t think there are any remaining time changes). All Aboard was 10:30. I had just gone to bed then but it felt like we started moving just about that time. As a parting shot, I have heard that one of the most requested items in homeless shelters is socks. After the last few days I have a new understanding for that need. Roy

Thank you for the Monday report, Rich. I love all of today's days, and my local BSA girls troop has a girl about to advance Wednesday. I think there's a lot of sad truth to the Klein quote. Cobh was my first modern HAL port in 2010 after an absence of 10 years, on a Rotterdam transatlantic. The meal sounds interesting. My alternative is Canaletto Salad, Pasta Genovese, and Pistachio Gelato. as served in Eurodam's Canaletto last nght: Today’s care list: RIP firefighter Andy Kazu severe foot injury Ottahand7 Brother in rehab HAL Sailer Sister in Law with aggressive cancer therapy and new blood clot Mister67 persistent hand injury Terri’s next door neighbor with stroke and complications From the rotation: Cruising-along niece awaiting a kidney Marshhawk’s friend Jesse with throat cancer and poor attitude Luvteaching DH recovering from fall and facing dimentia Status of St. Louis Sal (7/1) and JAM37 (7/7) Celebrations and Shoutouts: My new socks Quartzite Cruiser feeling to start coming back (progress while painful Ichiban Nekko settling into new house Sandi’s neighbor Linda well enough to receive visitors Work about to start on Cruisin Terri’s house 6 days for Cruise Suzy, Lazey1, and HAL Lover (Rotterdam 11/20 to 11/30) 5 days for StLouisCruisers and Summer Slope (Volendam 11/19 to 12/17) 5 days for Damcruiser (Nieuw Statendam 11/19 to 1/14/23) CrazyForCats and segarsmoker (Nieuw Amsterdam to 11/13), Norseh2o (Sirena to 11/18), Kazu , 0106, jimgev, Heartgrove and ger_77 (Oosterdam 11/5 to 11/19). RednckBob (Beyond to 11/20) and me (Eurodam to 11/20) at sea Cunnorl (Noordam to 1/2/23), and Horizon Chaser1957 (Zaandam 10/1 to 12/20; Zuiderdam 12/22 to 5/12) at sea Roy

I did the first half of that same trip on the Maasdam 2 years earlier. Roy

@Rowsby thank you for the comments on my blog. Roy

Instead of a sunrise, I have the last little bit of sun yesterday. taken from my dining room table: Roy

Instead of a sunrise, I have the last little bit of sun yesterday. taken from my dining room table: Roy

Amen Roy

Kathi, I'm pretty sure the Oosterdam has been moved to Miami due to so many ships in Fort Lauderdale. Just confirmed on Cruisetimetables dot com Roy

@Seasick Sailor the dinner was last night. It looks like that is becoming one of the "always available" items. Roy

Here are a couple photos of the snack display in the gift shop: Roy

I am in 1041: There 2 120V outlets on the shelf above the desk that used to hold the TV. On the desk there are 2 pairings of a 120v and a 220v plug each, and 1 USB outlet. There are also USB outlets on each side of the bed but I have not seen any electrical outlets other than at the desk. Roy

Thank you for the Remembrance Sunday report, Rich, and greetings from Aruba. I think the best musicians I see right now are the Lincoln Center Ensemble, but I don't think I would hug them. Cheers for Sadie Hawkins Day, and I appreciate a Finger Lakes wine as I'm from Central New York. I was in Recife once, in 2015, on the Maasdam. Interesting quote by Twain. I think I would prefer Pupusa to the meal suggestion. My alternative is Classic Caesar Salad, Rustic Lasagna, and Triple Berry Alaskan Tart a la mode, as served on MS Eurodam October 12, 2022. Today’s care list: RIP firefighter Andy Kazu severe foot injury Ottahand7 Brother in rehab NextOne with new heart valve problem Lady Hudson DH recovering from oral surgery HAL Sailer Sister in Law with aggressive cancer therapy and new blood clot Mister67 persistent hand injury Terri’s next door neighbor with stroke and complications From the rotation: Cruisin Terri leak damage Sandi’s neighbor Linda recovering at home Marshhawk and DH struggling with smoking cruisin single step-son with double cancer and months of recovery before kidney removal Celebrations and Shoutouts: My good day walking Ichiban Nekko settling into new house Sandi’s neighbor Linda well enough to receive visitors Work about to start on Cruisin Terri’s house 7 days for Cruise Suzy, Lazey1, and HAL Lover (Rotterdam 11/20 to22/30) 6 days for StLouisCruisers and Summer Slope (Volendam 11/19 to 12/17) Bon Voyage RednckBob (Beyond 11/13 to 11/20) Welcome home Dobiemom CrazyForCats and segarsmoker (Nieuw Amsterdam to 11/13), Norseh2o (Sirena to 11/18), Kazu , 0106, jimgev, Heartgrove and ger_77 (Oosterdam 11/5 to 11/19) and me (Eurodam to 11/20) at sea Cunnorl (Noordam to 1/2/23), and Horizon Chaser1957 (Zaandam 10/1 to 12/20; Zuiderdam 12/22 to 5/12) at sea Roy

Saturday, November 12, 2022, At Sea, MS Eurodam In early February of 2021 a sudden heart valve issue gave me a pretty difficult 3 months of diagnosis leading to a mid-May surgery that restored much but not all of my former functionality. Saturday was a good day. Part of it may be called cheating but I have actually been doing it that way for years. While I started Friday walking 200 feet to the lido for coffee and 200 feet back, Saturday I left my room, walked around the bow on the Promenade deck, all the way back on the port side, around the stern to the aft entrance, went up to the lido for coffee, and then back across the lido to midship, and back to my room. While not technically a lap around the promenade deck it was the full third of a mile and I’ll take credit for it. Between traditional laps and “Laps with a purpose, I had 10 laps today for 3 1/3 miles of walking. I haven’t done that since leaving Queen Mary 2 in Perth back in 2020. Somehow, it was a very busy day but I hardly took any photos. I started the organized part of the day at 10 in BB Kings with the talk on future cruises. Lots of nice ideas including some very exotic things that I will no longer tackle, and a couple of nice reasonable options. Off at 11 (with one lap around the promenade deck sandwiched in between) to Gage’s talk on Cartagena. Again, a lot of nice choices but I will probably not leave the port complex with it’s de-facto wildlife park. I was by the seaview pool at noon. Unfortunately, Captain Band did not give his update until almost 12:15 and by then I was in line at Dive-In and did not hear a word he said. By my gps we were 354 miles from Aruba. The midship pool deck was a nice place to enjoy my fries. The Documentary “American Experience:Panama Canal” was shown on the Mainstage at 1 (and 3). The 80-minute film was very interesting. I was surprised that even the successful builders had an extended struggle trying to build a sea level before determining that locks were needed. I would have thought that would have been an early decision considering that the concept was implemented successfully on New York’s Erie Canal almost 100 years earlier. Unfortunately, I also discovered that the HAL provided mask put a lot of pressure on my nose and I could not wear it the full 80 minutes. I continued to the Lincoln Center Stage at 2:30 for a Mozart performance (with one of my own masks). This group consists of piano, violin, viola, and cello. I was a bit surprised that only the 3rd piece used the full ensemble. The first piece was a piano solo, then a violin/viola duo, and finally a concerto featuring the whole group. It is now clear that there will only be 3 of us at Table 30. The others are Sharon from Naples, and Diane from Ft. Lauderdale. My choices for the evening were Classic Caesar Salad, Rustic Lasagna, and Triple Berry Alaskan Tart a la mode, Near the end of dinner I caught the last bit of sun for the day out the aft window. I thought the entertainment on the main stage hit a new low. I’ve felt in the past that the Step One Dance shows were essentially a one-dimensional program with only live dance but no live music or vocals. If only “Humanity” rose even to that level. Most of the show had perhaps one or 2 of them dealing with canned images and illusions that could just as well have been filmed as a movie, with only about 10 of the 45 minutes featuring real and talented dancers. If other shows are similar I will not waste a lot of time there. There was a question on Cruise Critic about availability of snacks in the shops. On the way back from the show I stopped for a couple photos of the candy display. As today’s parting shot, since my heart issues I have had reduced stamina and started wondering if a decent promenade deck or at least a decent place to walk was necessary for a good cruise experience. Saturday’s experience answers that with a resounding YES. Roy

Bon Voyage all, especially @TickledBlue. I'll try to treat the Eurodam well until your turn comes. Roy

Bon Voyage Roy

Today's sunrise really is today. It was taken on MS Eurodam looking between the forward life rafts as we were passing Haiti on the way to Aruba. I have been walking less since my heart valve incident last year but this voyage has reminded me of how critical a real promenade deck is to my enjoyment of cruising. I'm not not sure if the new Crystal will work for me but am now certain that I will not be looking at other luxury lines. Roy

Today's sunrise really is today. It was taken on MS Eurodam looking between the forward life rafts as we were passing Haiti on the way to Aruba. Roy