ACCL -North Atlantic Maritimes - July 16, 2010

[Love Cruises]

Are there any Cruise Critic members going on ACCL's GRANDE CARIBE for the cruise from Warren, RI to Quebec City, CANADA from July 16 through July 31, 2010? Would love to me you if so.:p:p:p

[rafinmd]

Hopefully you'll see this thread when you get back from Nashville. I posted a few pictures of the QEII on the Cunard forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1149651&page=3

 

Some links don't seem to be working on cruise critic, if not, the date of the last post for this thread is April 16. I should have a couple of other pics of QE2 to show when I get to the Grande Caribe, and maybe I can get a look at the kindle.

[Love Cruises]

Hi Roy,

 

We have been docked here in Chattanooga since Monday afternoon. It is really a nice area.

 

We had to all be evacuated from the Niagara Prince when we were in Guntersville, AL on Saturday night because of tornado warnings. All day we had heavy rains and thunderstorms and the Capt was very watchful of the weather, the police loaded is on a schoolbus and drove us to a nearby Methodist church's basement. After two hours We lost electricity but there were generators that gave us slight lighting. Capt. Dave and Bob stayed back with the ship but eventually they were forced to leave and go to the Police station. After 4 1/2 hours we were all returned to the ship. There was much damage just south of us with many injuries.

 

Sorry we'll miss you on the third leg of this cruise. There are two couples that our don

ing the whole cruise... Les and Mary Ormsby and Al and Joan Cole.

 

Are you doing a blog of this trip?

 

Looking forward to seeing you in July.

 

Barbara and Dan

[rafinmd]

I think I've sailed with the Ormsbys before. Sounds like quite an adventure with the tornado warnings. I won't be doing a blog on these trips, largely because of needing daily internet access, but do plan to post member reviews for both ACCL trips. I am planning to do a blog on my fall trip (Crystal Serenity, Wind Surf, and a return home on QM2), and may later this summer when I do the inside passage on the Spirit of Columbia (once New Shoreham II). That will be a no-fly trip, getting to Juneau on the trans-Canada train and Alaska ferry, and returning on Amtrak.

 

When I see you in July, I'll also be interested on your thoughts of Ryndam vs Prisendam.

[rafinmd]

Have you checked the web site recenty?

 

Blount Small Ship Adventures, formerly ACCL, was founded by Capt. Luther H. Blount (1916-2006) in 1966 to serve a growing market of adventurous travelers who were interested in travelling America's historic waterways to areas previously only accessible by private yacht.

To the best of my knowledge, this happened within the last couple of days.

[rafinmd]

Got my documents yesterday, ready to go. The weather for Warren July 15-16 looks like a big improvement over what I've seen here lately.

[Love Cruises]

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow on the GRANDE CARIBE !!!

[rafinmd]

We sailed at noon from Blount headquarters in Warren Rhode Island. I traveled by train the day before from BWI Airport Station. While I typically say "are we there yet" when on an airplane, at the end of the 7.5 hour ride my question was "are we already there?". The cruise line arranges overnight stays at the Ramada and a morning transfer to the ship. Once aboard I turned in my ticket at a table in the lounge and made my way to my cabin. The crew on this cruise are mostly new to me and it was uncharacteristically long before anyone addressed me by name, almost 10 minutes on board until deckhand Phil came with my luggage and "welcome back Roy". Since then most of the crew has also done so along with the two crew members from the Niagara Prince, which was also in Warren.

 

Just 2 hours after leaving Warren we DOCKED in Newport RI by Fort Adams. Our tour took us on a drive around Ocean Drive and on Bellevue Avenue with a tour of The Breakers, the former summer home of Cornelius Vandrerbilt II. Unfortunately, Mr. Vanderbilt only got to enjoy the mansion for one summer, as he hell ill the following year and died just 3 years later.

 

This is largely an ocean trip and on the way to Salem Friday night we got a tast of ocean life on such a small ship. There was a pronounced roll the first couple of hours but with it overnight it was not much of an event. Things calmed down after we entered the Cape Cod Canal and remained calm the rest of the way to Salem. Saturday morning we had a lecture by Bob Cannell on "Witches and Whales", introducing us to our next 2 ports, Salem and Portsmouth. We also had an introductory presentation by our photographer Kat on getting to know our cameras. We docked at the Salem Ferry dock, 2 blocks from the House of Seven Gables.

 

In Salem I passed on the ship's tour and did the Salem walking tour on my own. There is a red line on the sidewalk making the tour very easy to follow. The downtown is a mix of lovely Colonial architecture and a very pleasant walk. I visited the Witch House, owned by the judge who presided over the trials. The house was an interesting portrait of life in the 17th century but didn't cover much of the history of the trials. I also toured the replica schooner Friendship, part of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. In the evening local guide Jim McAllister came aboard and shared some of the secrets of Salem. He indicated that the people of Salem were very silent about the witch trials until about 20 years ago, when the industries left town and they realized they had a tourist gold mine on their hands.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

There were no scheduled activities Sunday morning, but the alarm system went off mid-morning for a fire drill. The safety orientation briefing embarkation day had been fairly basic with mostly a video and a warning to expect a drill early in the trip. We donned our life vests and went to the muster station while the crew extinguished a make believe fire, a quite realistic experience.

 

The first of our "port" stops was Portsmouth. The Portsmouth Navy Yard, actually across the river in Kittery Maine is the oldest continuously operated navy yard in the country and is home to overhaul and refueling of our submarine fleet. We docked practically in the shadow of Memorial Bridge, in the center of town. A new feature this year is the availability of bicycles on board, and I spent about 90 minutes touring the town. There was not much to see but it was a good workout. Strawbery Banke Museum, a collection of restored homes and shops from the 17th and 18th centuries, is about 2 blocks from the dock. It was an interesting place, but with the tempurature around 90 the houses were pretty hot, especially on the second floors. The Bow Street Festival, an outdoor craft fair, was right outside our dock.

 

 

Monday morning Bob Cannell spoke on "Lobsters and Lighthouses", an introduction to the ports of Maine. He indicated that Bar Harbor was the equivalent of Newport in the gilded age, but never came back after a disasterous fire.

 

The "port" Monday was Portland. On the Portland afternoon stop we toured the city and stopped at Fort Williams. Portland was quite fortified in WWII since it built a large number of liberty ships and also was a major fuel storage and departure point for convoys to Europe. The Portland Head lighthouse at Fort Williams is known as the most photographed lighthouse in America. This reputation is a bit overblown as many of the photographs relate to Christmas decorations there but it is still a very attractive lighthouse. We will have a local musical group on board before we leave Portland.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Folk and country singer Don Campell performed in the afternoon before departure from Portland. The OP on this thread correctly identified "The Battle of New Orleans" as the top song of 1959 and won one of Don's CD's. After dinner the documentary "The Gift of Acadia" was shown.

 

Bar Harbor ME: We docked on the town pier, normally used by larger ships as the tender stop. In the morning we had a 3-hour tour of Acadia National Park, with stops on Cadillac Mountain, at the Sieur de Monts garden and nature center, and at Thunder Hole. Cadillac Mountain is only 1530 feet, but is the highest point on the East coast of North America. Thunder Hole is a small cave at the shoreline where incoming waves are concentrated into a small hole and overfill the small passage resulting in a loud bang with the right waves. Acadia National Park is the only park in the system consisting exclusively of donated land, and is accessible in the summer via a free shuttle bus. In the afternoon I strolled the quaint town and sampled the area's wild blueberry pie.

 

After a perfect day in Bar Harbor we had 2 evening presentations in the lounge. Our photographer Kat talked on "Learn to see with your camera, and Bob Cannell spoke on "History and Mystery", the Acadian settlement of Nova Scotia and the wonders of the tides in the Bay of Fundy. I don't believe we will actually sail the Bay of Fundy but we will be close to it. Since we lose an hour sailing to Nova Scotia I was in bed soon after the talk ended.

 

 

Yarmouth NS: Yarmouth was founded by Champlain 1n 1604 as Cape Forchu. While early settlers tried agriculture, the area's rocky soil and the location by the sea quickly transformed the economy to fishing, shipbuilding, and commerce. Our tour visited a restored Acadian village complex including a lighthouse, homes, and boatbuilding sheds and our guide, an active lobster fisherman took us to a fishing wharf and explained the life of a fisherman. This afternoon I took a walking tour of Yarmouth featuring historic homes including many mansions of sea captains and a visit to the Firefighters museum with equipment from the steam era through the 20's. A local artist will perfrom in the lounge at today’s cocktail hour.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Shortly before departure from Yarmouth the "Shantymen" came on board and entertained us with about 40 minutes of sea shanties. These songs actually have a practical application; they were designed to be sung while doing some of the dreary jobs of old manual sailing ships, such as raising the anchor and the sails, and served to set the cadence of the tasks at hand.

 

Most of our sail from Yarmouth to Halifax was open ocean and the tiny Grande Caribe clearly showed the effects of the heavy seas. It was a good rocking at night but most people stayed seated Thursday morning unless absolutely necessary to move around. At one time some of the chairs in the lounge went sliding across the floor. A dreary day outside with occasional thunderstorms made the morning mood a bit heavier as well.

 

Halifax NS: We had a day and a half in Halifax, arriving lunchtime Thursday and leaving at 6PM Friday. We docked right by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the visitor center, just down the hill from the Citadel. We are about 3/4 mile closer to the downtown area tha The ship's tour Thursday went to the beautiful town of Peggy's Cove (I had been there before), but was mostly a practical day for me, as I have an Alaska trip in August-September which includes a cross-Canada train trip and I picked up my Canadian rail tickets at the Halifax station (since that is largely a land trip I’ll be reporting on it at Cruise Critic’s sister site on:

 

http://boards.independenttraveler.com/showthread.php?t=19041

 

I also paid a brief visit Thursday to the Halifax Citadel, high on a hill 200 feet above the city. Built between 1828 and 1856, the Citadel was never part of an actual battle, but was part of the city's defense network through World War II, as it protected Halifax, Canada's key embarkation port for convoys to Europe in both World Wars. The Citadel is now Canada's most visited historic site.

 

My Friday was largely devoted to the Titanic. When the ship went down Halifax was the nearest port equipped for rescue and recovery operations. The Carpethia took the 700 survivors on to New York, but rescue ships from Halifax (the cable laying ships Mackay-Bennett and Minia) went to the scene to recover the dead. About half the people on Titanic were never found but over 300 were recovered by the rescue ships. 59 bodies were shipped home to their families, 150 were interred in 3 cemetaries in Halifax, and the remainder were buried at sea from the rescue ships. Armed with a map from the tourist office, I set off for Fairview Lawn Cemetary, the one with the largest number of graves. On arriving at the cemetary I found that it had the remains of the bodies believed to be Protestant. The White Star Line purchased simple markers for each grave, although families bought more elaborate ones in a few cases. Most are marked only with a number, although research has continued to lead to identification of additional bodies until recent times. There are still about 30 unknown bodies in Fairview Lawn Cemetary. The Baron de Hirsch cemetary was marked private on the brochure, but the gate was open with signs pointing to the the Titanic graves. I went in and there were 2 neat rows of 5 stones each. These were the Jewish victims and only 2 have been identified. This small cemetary sits overlooks the Fairview Lawn Cemetary. I had not planned to visit all 3 cemetaries but changed my mind after successfully finding 2 before lunch. The Mount Olivet Cemetary was only 3/4 mile from the other 2 but my map only showed a very indirect route, The Mount Olive Cemetary is the final resting place for 19 Titanic who were presumed Catholic. There are 19 gravestones in 2 rows, and a fairly large tree now grows in the middle of the plot. It was a pretty tiring day as I walked about 10 miles to and between the cemetaries. In the afternoon I stopped at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, just 150 feet from our dock. Among the exhibits was an actual deck chair from the Titanic, one of many tossed overboard as a floating object for passengers to hold on to. That measure was in vain as the water was too cold for survival, and the only survivors were those actually in lifeboats. There was a video on the rescue operations. I also toured the research ship Acadia, a retired steam oceanographic vessel.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

There have been occasional whale sightings from the ship but as isolated events usually during meals. Saturday, on the way from Halifax to Bras d'or Lake we encountered whales, dolphins, and seals just after breakfast. One Minke whale, in particular, stayed 150 yards off or port for about 5 minutes.

 

Saturday is our first day at sea, with the afternoon sailing on Vras d'Or "Lake". Cape Breton Island is more or less U-shaped with a large body of salt water in the middle with a small opening at the North end of the island. St. Peters Canal was dug at the South end of the island where we entered, spent the day cruising, and then departed and went through the strait dividing Cape Breton from mainland Nova Scotia on our way to Northumberland Strait and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Although Bras d'Or Lake is tidal, it is largely enclosed and the tidal change is much less than the adjacent ocean. As a result, the St. Peter Canal has a lock, and we descended going through the lock in BOTH directions. We pretty much filled the small lock. We were treated to perfect weather for a lunch cookout on the upper deck as we sailed beautiful Bras d’or Lake. After leaving Bras d’Or Lake we sailed the scenic Lenox Passage, a narrow part of the Canso Strait separating mainland Nova Scotia from Cape Breton Island. There is another lock where Canso Strait merges with Northumberland Strait, separating Prince Edward Island from the mainland, and we descended a third time without ever leaving tidal waters. After dinner Bob Cannell presented a talk on "Beaches and Birds", an introduction to Prince Edward Island and Perce Quebec.

 

Charlottetown, PEI We arrived at the PEI Capital and birthplace of canada early Sunday morning. While the ship's tour centered on the legend of Anne of Green Gables, I strolled the town and attended services at Trinity United Church. The church was organized as a Methodist Church in in 1778, the building dates to 1864, and became a founding congregation of the United Church of Canada in 1925. The weather was pleasant Sunday morning but a drizzle broke out and lingered through the early afternoon, unfortunate since most Charlottetown businesses and attractions are closed Sundays, not leaving a lot to do in town.

 

Sunday evening we had the traditional ACCL/Blount celebration dinner where all passengers join in to celebrate their special occasions. We had 4 couples celebrating 50 or more years marriage, an 80th birthday, and the OP celebrated 51 cruises and counting.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

We left Charlottown about 7AM Monday. There is a walking track on the Grande Caribe, but it is narrow and almost 20 laps per mile, so I took my walk in town before we left. Prince Edward Island seems small, but when you sail around it at 10 knots it is surprisingly big. We passed under the Confederation Bridge in late morning. Opened in 1997, this 9-mile bridge is the longest span in the world over ice-covered waters. As we sailed under, the rounded base of the piers, designed to deflect ice, were quite evident. From the bridge we sailed West for several hours before turning North, and passed the North Cape, the Northwest corner of PEI in late afternoon. Bob Cannell gave a morning talk on our northern Quebec Ports, and our photographer an afternoon talk on saving and organizing our photographs. During the night the seas turned quite rough with a severe roll most of the night, to the point that all vulnerable object were moved from tables to the floor.

 

The evening movie was "The Illusionist". This, combined with our itinerary gave me flashbacks to my first visit to this area. In 1994 I cruised on the old regent Sun from Montreal to New York. The highlight of one day was a sail by of Perce Rock. It was a foggy day and we saw a faint image for about 30 seconds as we passed by. Today we had perfect weather and were in the Rock's shadow for several hours. We also had a magician on the ship's entertainment. He gave a show one night nimbly making things appear and disappear. Sixteen years later details of the show are a bit fuzzy but what really stands out is I recognized the magician as the young man who processed me and my credit card at embarkation. Not a real confidence builder. Our tour took us to some great scenic overlooks, an artist colony and a lovely church. I strolled the town in the afternoon. While the views were beautiful, the town itself seemed to be a bit of a tourist trap. Just offshore was Bonaventure Island. It is part of a national park, and home right now to 60,000 pairs of nesting gannets. Just before leaving, the Captain also announced that gale force winds are possible, and if so we will cancel our Wednesday port stop to get further into the St. Lawrence River before the storm strikes. The decision may not be made until well into the night so we may not know until we wake up and are either docked or still moving. Bob Cannell gave his final lecture, "Fjords and Funiculars" on the Saguenay and Quebec.

 

Wednesday morning: The seas are calm, but the forecast is still bad and we're bypassing St. Anne de Monts. I took my walk on deck this morning while things are still relatively calm. I;ve had a request on another forum for some pictures. My internet connection is SLOW and unreliable on board but I'll post some when there's a chance.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

From the Crystal Cruises forum:

 

Do you have any pics of your ship you care to share? I need to check the other thread in the other cc log as well...

 

For my next 3 posts I'll post some photos of the ship exterior, interior, and some special features not used on this cruise but employed on my last cruise on our little sister, the Niagara Prince.

 

Here:

 

1. The ship in Newport, RI

2. The Promenade deck on the Grande Caribe. Primitive, but a full circle.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

These photos are the Dining Room and the Lounge. I tried to upload a picture of my cabin but Cruise Critic wouldn't allow it. I think the photo must be bigger than the cabin itself.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

All the line's ships have some unique features, although they were not used on this cruise. These pictures were taken on my last cruise on the Grande Caribe's little sister, the Niagara Prince:

1. The first is the ship in it's standard configuration.

2. It has a Bow ramp which can be used where there there is no suitable dock. This picture was taken on the Illinois River at Havana IL.

3. The pilot house can be dropped a deck to allow sailing under low bridges. We ended my cruise sailing from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Despite the gale warnings, things were pretty calm Wednesday morning although there was a light fog most of the day. Bob Cannell did an informal orientation on Picasso photo software in the morning and the movie "The Blind Side" was shown in the lounge. It was interrupted by the presence of a fin whale making appearances off the bow of the ship over about a half hour period, sometimes surfacing within 200 yards of the ship. After one long dive, it surfaced just 30 feet ahead of the ship forcing a violent reversal of the engines. After lunch the ride got rougher with worse expected, and cabinets were locked and vulnerable objects moved to the floor. The noontime wind was about 20 knots with 40 or more reported at the pilot station a few hours ahead of us. Conditions got a bit rougher during the day and was still overcast. We encountered a humpback whale near sunset but only briefly and I missed it between the cold wind, low light, and brief encounter. We picked up our pilot late in the day and conditions got smoother as we headed up the Saguenay.

We awoke Thursday cruising the area around La Baie, on an offshoot of the Saguenay near Chicoutimi. The Saguenay is actually a fjord, and large ships do make their way up to La Baie and Chicoutimi, with a couple of ore carriers docked there, one from Hong Kong. The area has plentiful electricity and is active in the mining and production of aluminum. There is also a cruise ship dock at La Baie aka Port Alfred. We circled the La Baie area for a few minutes past the Captain's wake up call and then headed back about 50 miles to the St. Lawrence. Captain Honnewell told us our fjord was a unique ecosystem since there is a layer of fresh water on top with a sea water below. Our pilot relayed information that some power lines we passed require special handling for traditional cruise ships. The lines hang from towers on the high cliffs of the fjord but drop quite low at the center of the river. As a result, most cruise ships have to hug the north shore of the Saguenay, not a problem in the deep fjord but quite counterintuative.

 

At lunch time we stopped at Tadoussac and picked up a naturalist from GREMM, the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (http://www.whales-online.org). We went out for about 2 hours of whale watching in the area the humpback whale had been seen on the way to the Saguenay. We saw only Minke and Fin whales but had a number of excellent sightings. The Grand Caribe is excellent for this with the top deck less than 20 feet above the water, and the comfortable lounge and dining room 4-10 feet above the water.

 

We are now starting to see some depressing sights. There were luggage tags on the CD's table, indicating that we will soon be leaving the ship. We had videos of Quebec and Whales after dinner but this will be our final night under way. We will dock in Quebec in the morning, and disembark Saturday after a day and night in the city.

 

 

Roy

[Oceans&Rivers]

Thank you very much for your posts, Roy. From time to time I think about trying out one of the small ships, especially for inland cruising, perhaps the Hudson Valley, though that is on another small line.

 

I do wish Cruise Critic would permit much larger photos to be attached. Do you have another website where your pictures could be viewed full size?

[rafinmd]

Thank you very much for your posts, Roy. From time to time I think about trying out one of the small ships, especially for inland cruising, perhaps the Hudson Valley, though that is on another small line.

 

I do wish Cruise Critic would permit much larger photos to be attached. Do you have another website where your pictures could be viewed full size?

 

 

From the Crystal Forum:

 

Thank you for the feedback. Earlier rather than later. Will do!

 

I'm curious about that "every rolling minute" comment. Is it because of the very small vessel or the seas, or a combination thereof?

 

Will you be posting a review of your small ship cruise? Pictures?

 

 

I'll try to deal with your questions, although my answers won't be very complete. I would guess that the "rolling" was mainly for about 3 periods averaging about 8 hours each in a 15-day cruise. It was gradual and not abrupt and not an issue for people with good sea legs. There were crew stationed around the ship and dining rooms in those periods to help people who became unsteady on their feet. The rolling was probably about 1/3 each the seas, the size of the ship, and the shallow draft. The ships are made to handle these seas but are really designed to be comfortable in calmer waters. You mentioned being interested in a Hudson River Cruise. I have been up the Hudson 3 times on these ships and the ride there has never been anything but easy and smooth.

 

I don't have any other site for photographs. If you click on individual thumbnails, they should come up full sized in a separate window. It's a bit quirky but at least mostly works. We talked in our workshops about some options for photo sharing but I'm not ready yet to put pictures up on the web in another format. I am however frustrated that I don't know until I try to post a picture if it will be too big for CC to accept or not.

 

I'm not planning to do a formal member review on this cruise. I will be back on the Grand Caribe in a year for the Erie Canal Cruise and will submit a review on that as it is a standard itinerary for the ship, and I don't want to flood the forum with my reviews. I did publish a review of my May cruise on the Niagara Prince:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=67460.

 

I will be doing another small ship cruise in Alaska in August-September. Since I will be spending more time on trains and ferries than on the cruise ship, I'll post my reports on Cruise Critic's sister site here:

 

http://boards.independenttraveler.com/showthread.php?t=19041

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

We docked 7:00am Friday in Quebec at the entrance to the harbor marina, near the docks where the sightseeing cruises depart. The entire waterfront is very close to downtown Quebec. We are across the marina from a cement elevator which is not attractive during the day but which transforms in the evening into an elaborate light show and we have a front row seat. I started exploing the city on my own and found a walking tour which covered both the upper and lower levels of the city. We learned a lot about the city which was founded by Champlain and it's strategic position on the river in the days of sail power. The city went through 3 distinct periods, a French period, a British period, and finally the Canadian era. We had our Captain's Farewell dinner Friday night, followed by a local singer-pianist in the lounge, and finally the light show out on the decks.

 

The format of these itineraries will change next year to begin in New York and end in Montreal, but this one follows the tradition of the itinerary beginning and ending in Warren Rhode Island. After an early breakfast, we boarded a motorcoach and went South to a restaurant in New Hampshire. The passengers for the next cruise left Warren this morning and joined us for lunch at the restaurant. While we ate, the staff swapped out luggage between coaches and the passengers did the same after dining. We arrived early evening in Rhode Island. After church in Providence Sunday morning my train back home was uneventful.

 

In my reports on my spring trip around the world I closed each day with a "parting shot". I haven’t done that this time, but will make an attempt at it now. I have commented previously on the rolling the ship did while we were in the open Atlantic. This was not a problem for me but was more pronounced than it usually is on a ship. That went into perspective on the final leg of the trip when I realized I was having more difficulty walking straight on the train home than I ever did on the Grande Caribe. The motion was more pronounced than was customary on a ship, but not at all unusual with what I expect on a train. I had not noticed the comparison until I had experienced the train while comparing it with the train. It’s all a matter of perspective.

 

Roy

[CTLeeA]

Are there any Cruise Critic members going on ACCL's GRANDE CARIBE for the cruise from Warren, RI to Quebec City, CANADA from July 16 through July 31, 2010? Would love to me you if so.:p:p:p

 

Hi--We hope your trip was fantastic...we're taking the Grand Caribe on a New England Island Cruise..cabin 50A...do you have any info for us?

[rafinmd]

Hi--We hope your trip was fantastic...we're taking the Grand Caribe on a New England Island Cruise..cabin 50A...do you have any info for us?

 

Greetings. We did have a fantastic trip. I haven't been on the New England Island Cruise and can't offer much about the itinerary. I didn't see it personally, but from the deck plan cabin 50A is apparently one that was fully renovated last winter. These ships have traditionaly had a very basic combined shower bath, but many were upgraded to separate shower and bath in the renovation and the ones I got a look at seemed quite nice.

 

I'll try to respond to additional questions but will start with an observation: This line is a unique operation that marches to it's own beat. People tend to really love it or really hate it without much in between. If you go with an openness to enjoy the opportunaties presented to you, you whould have a great experience.

 

With the small passenger count and galley, meals are done in a unique style. Rather than being given a menu of several choices at each meal dining is done as it is done in real families with the chef planning the menu. It is posted on a board in the dining room by the coffee station each morning (If Shannon is still the chef she usually has it up by 9PM the day before). It is a good idea to look at the menu board each morning. If something does not meet your approval do not be shy about consulting with the chef a meal ahead of time and making plans for a substitute.

 

Roy