Live – Rotterdam, Prinsendam, Queen Mary II

[RuthC]

This site is also at a place where the North American geologic plane meets the European one with a small rift valley between them. In some nearby places people can walk from geological North America to Europe, although here the rift is a mile or so wide.

In the north there's a lava field where the two plates meet. You can have one foot on North America, while the other foot is on Europe.

What a kick!

 

Thank you, again, for these continued reports. I am reliving so many pleasant times.

[ginger and professor]

Did you walk down to the lower level at Gulfoss, the cataract is impressive. Another site that we enjoyed was a swim at the Blue Lagoon. Iceland is an interesting visit, but our dollars don't buy much today. We continue to enjoy sharing your adventure, thanx....

[rafinmd]

The morning was cloudy but pleasant, with a temperature of about 15C. My 5 miles today was not on deck but into central Reykjavik where I paid a quick visit to city hall, passed the house where Reagan and Gorbochev held their 1987 summit, and stopped at a cafe for coffee and internet.

 

Lightning has struck twice. Once again, we are not the only ship in town but the largest, sharing the pier with the Vistamar. We pulled up the gangway at 11:30 and sailed away in the early afternoon. In his update Captain Roberts told us we would cross the Arctic Circle and also leave the protection of Iceland about 10:30 this evening. Once this happens we can expect a period of rough seas and 35-knot winds. We will also lose an hour tonight as we make our journey from Iceland to Norway.

 

After a poor showing at trivia we had 2 afternoon presentations. Dolf, our environmental officer, gave a 2PM presentation on Spitzbergen, "The Last European Frontier" and what the ship and we must do to protect the fragile Arctic environment. At 3 our travel guide Daniel gave a slide show on what to expect from our Spitzbergen ports. Our only real choices are in Longyearben and they are limited since we cannot really leave the towns visited.

 

In March 2010 I crossed the Pacific on the Crystal Symphony and wrote:

 

The evening's entertainment was harp virtuoso Shirley Dominguez. I believe I have seen Ms. Dominguez perform on previous Crystal cruises, but had forgotten just how stunning a harp performance can be. She performed tonight, mostly latin music but also a variety of other genres including a superb Mamma Mia, on a harp from Paraguay. The sound was quite distinctive with a flair reminiscent of a steel drum.

 

We did not have Mama Mia tonight but did have "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" and 2 of Ms. Dominguez' own compositions and ended with a rousing "Zorba the Greek". a wonderful end to a wonderful performance. I returned from the Showroom at Sea via the Promenade Deck. The coast of Iceland was close on our starboard with the low-hanging sun shining beautifully against a steep cliff, but there is already a stiff wind on deck.

 

Tonight's parting shot has a bit of a sad ring. Captain Roberts has come on the PA to inform us we will be stopping around 11PM to send a passenger with a medical emergency by tender to medical care in Iceland. While it is good that this has happened while still within range of help it is a sad way for someone’s cruise to end. Best wishes to that passenger.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Elegant Explorer.

[rafinmd]

It looks like the far-North deterioration of internet has begun and I will defer posting of explorers and menus until I get further South or find an internet cafe on land.

 

---Quote (Originally by RuthC)---

Although I'm able to enjoy it out there unless the wind is coming directly on, I agree that it can get too cool for comfort out there. So, you'll be happy to know that there are plans to enclose the area, making it sort of a wintergarden. At least that's what I was told when I was there in June.

 

Personally, I'd be happy if they would just replace that canvas "roof". It is most disconcerting to be near the rail when the ship shifts, and the puddled water comes pouring down!

---End Quote---

 

Ruth, I’m glad to hear that. While the actual improvement will be welcome, the continuing commitment to the Prinsendam it represents is even more welcome. The Rotterdam V served with distinction for 38 years but we know than’s an exception. The ship is superbly maintained, and still very well respected so I hope it will be around for many more years.

 

ginger and professor, I did not go to the lower level but did get up to the upper level and the views there were wonderful as well.

 

As Captain Roberts suggested, the seas are officially "very rough" but the Elegant Explorer, despite it's smallish size, is handling it very capably. With a 30-knot headwind the effective wind across the deck is close to 50 knots and the outer decks are all closed.

 

The morning coffee chat today was with Shirley Dominguez, and she described the challenges of taking a harp on an airplane. Her worst time was arriving without the harp and having to defer her performance 9 days waiting for it to arrive. I found that travel trivia could be even more frustrating than the regular kind.

 

My last Brunch as a 1-star Mariner was today. The service this time was excellent. The afternoon activities were a middle of the pack team trivia, the conclusion of Daniel's history of the Vikings, and the cupcake tea. The weather remained pretty miserable but by the end of dinner the seas had improved from "Very Rough" to "Rough".

 

The Prinsendam singers and dancers returned for "Europa", a performance of music with a European theme. It was the second of 4 formal nights and people generally remained quite well dressed throughout the evening.

 

Around 10:30 we passed an island I couldn’t identify, about 570 miles north of Reykjavik.

 

Today's parting shot: While some people really love the fitness centers my tendencies lean towards the Promenade deck. I used to be an avid bicyclist and spent some time this morning on the stationary bike. I found it totally boring. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to get outdoors tomorrow.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Prinsendam.

[ironin]

Roy, Just a note to say that your ability to download menus and Explorers so promptly thus far during these cruises has been impressive and appreciated! Based on what I've read previously about internet connections aboard ship that far north, not attempting them until nearer to port, or better yet, in port, is a sound idea.

 

Thanks so much for keeping us posted! Hope you get to walk a lot around the Promenade Deck tomorrow - one of my favorite things to do as well.

 

(BTW, isn't that Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner an amazing product?)

[kazu]

Roy, firstly, thanks for sharing about the P'dam. Muchly appreciated. Your posts are so witty and well done they are a pleasure to read.

 

Sorry to hear about the passenger whose cruise has come to an unplanned ending. hope all goes well.

 

Thanks for keeping us up to date. A pleasure to read.:)

[RuthC]

As Captain Roberts suggested, the seas are officially "very rough" but the Elegant Explorer, despite it's smallish size, is handling it very capably. With a 30-knot headwind the effective wind across the deck is close to 50 knots and the outer decks are all closed.

My sense was that the Prinsendam didn't so much "ride" the waves as it cut through them. I thought it was a smooth riding ship.

[rafinmd]

Dawn and dusk are figments of my imagination for a while. When I woke the temperature was about 40 (4C) with light winds, moderate seas, and heavy clouds. I interspersed my morning walk with visits to the laundry room, and finished both about 7:30. The back lido deck is still closed, I believe an environmental restriction to avoid trash blowing over the side. An early visit to the library indicated the land we passed last night was Jan Mayen, a possession of Norway. At the Captain's noon report, 14 hours later, it was still our nearest land.

 

I attended 2 computer workshops, one on photo editing and the other on movie making. They are somewhat useful but a bit too much oriented to Microsoft products. The morning coffee chat was with Captain Roberts, discussing the career track to Cruise Ship Captain, the role of pilots, and life on the seas. He also fielded a question on the future of the Prinsendam, comparing it to the 46-year old and still active Marco Polo as a well built and maintained ship capable of long service.

 

I had lunch today in the Pinnacle Grill. a carrot and ginger chilled soup, Pinnacle Burger, and sorbet. It is a very pleasant place for lunch. My lazy afternoon also included a game of "Majority rules", where the teams' objective was to guess the most common answer to questions like "What would be the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?".

 

By lunchtime the clouds had lifted but been replaced by a heavy fog, which burned off by late afternoon. The evening weather was chilly but otherwise outstanding.

 

Our entertainment for the evening was vocalist Mark O'Malley, with a wide variety of music including rock but mostly from musical theater.

 

As today's parting shot, the staff has been quite diligent about preparing us for a most unusual port of call. We have little or no shopping and are quite limited in where we can go once we are ashore with strict limits on what we can do. We had a briefing from the Environmental officer 2 days ago, a letter from the Captain today with a map and a reminder at the evening show. We will really be guests in a unique and fragile location. I expect a port like none I've seen since stepping ashore from an expedition ship in Antarctica.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live (satellite willing) from the Elegant Explorer.

[kazu]

My sense was that the Prinsendam didn't so much "ride" the waves as it cut through them. I thought it was a smooth riding ship.

 

I sure hope so for our transatlantic:):):)

[rafinmd]

Ironin, the ScanSnap is a marvel despite one little problem. For some reason which will become an issue for me later, it seems to do a very poor job with the masthead on Crystal's "Reflections". I guess I'll just have to live with that when the time comes.

 

Last night should have been the last night of this trip that we lose an hour of sleep, and I stayed in bed until 5:30, and finished my walk with cloudy skies and a windy deck around 7:30. I must have been living right because I went on line at 5:45 before the walk, and the internet was dead by 7:30.

 

I think I must be losing any trace of sanity I ever may have had. This morning we had our "Bluenose" Arctic Circle Ceremony. We actually crossed the circle about 2 days ago but it's unlikely many people would have attended a 1AM ceremony, including yours truly. We assembled on the Lido deck at 10 and about 30 of us brave/foolish souls, with our noses painted blue, stood on the freezing deck for a 10-minute introduction of King Neptune's daughters in preparation for our "Polar Bear Plunge", a VERY quick dip in the waters. For this we were rewarded with a certificate, an insulated mug, and the cheers and stares of a multitude of onlookers. I must say it was far more stressful than my Antarctic crossing where we celebrated on the high and dry bridge with a toast of champaign. Of course the Professor Multinovski had no swimming pool and we crossed the 66-33-44 circle and promptly turned around at 66-33-45. My swim there was in a warm geothermal spring at 64 degrees or so.

 

We seem to be perpetually late today. Our 12:00 arrival in Ny Alesund was first delayed to 12:30 when we diverted to drop a distressed passenger in Iceland and again today where the excuse was we had some extra sailing to do to get all the way to the dock instead of the tender spot. We develop an interesting web of lines when we tie a 690-foot cruise ship up at a 255-foot dock.

 

At 78 degrees, 55 minutes, Ny Alesund claims to be the world's northernmost permanent functioning community. It was the starting point for Roald Amundsen's 1926 airship flight over the North Pole. The town was originally a coal mining camp with several periods of boom and bust but mining was abolished following a massive explosion in the 1960's. In modern times it is a multinational scientific research station and national park. The settlement population is about 130 in summer and 20 in winter. There is a post office, hotel, museum, store, and airstrip. Vegitation is limited but there are lovely mountains with all types of glaciers nearby giving the area a wonderful stark beauty.

 

Ny Alesund is considered very sensitive environmental, historical, and scientific area, and our movements were severely restricted. We were expected to stay on a block of streets about a quarter kilometer square and some adjacent buildings, and a large cadre of the crew was dispatched ahead of us to be sure we didn't stray from the designated areas. The area is also frequented by Polar Bears although they don't USUALLY venture into town. A sign on the store indicated the last bear in town was in late July.

 

There are several dogs in a town kennel with a thick fence to keep predators away (It did indicate that once last year polar bears got close enough to consume a large quantity of the dogs' food).

 

The store had a fairly limited selection (nothing I wanted to carry from the Prinsendam to QM2 and home), but a number of people were in long lines to buy souvenirs.

 

The museum focused mostly on the mining history with scenes of miners in action, the carts used to transport coal out of the mine, the mining town's medical clinic, and pictures of mines and home life. There was also a mine train parked by the dock.

 

We toured Ny Alesund individually on foot on a clear, sunny day with a temperature of about 45 (17C), and left about 5:30.

 

This evening's entertainment was a piano performance by Vladimir Zaitsev. Born in Eastern Europe, Zaitsev played a varied program running from Chopin to the Beatles to European Folk Songs, singing occasionally.

 

As a parting shot, this was a most memorable and unusual day. While I have often been a traveler, today's unique opportunity was truly a day fitting with the title "Elegant Explorer"

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you satellite delayed from the Longyearben, Norway

[rafinmd]

Internet is very slow here and doesn't support my email, so I'll delay posting to my photo blog until we get it back on the ship.

 

When I began my morning walk the sun was out (about 30 degrees above the bow), about 10C (50F) but with a chilly wind. Walking across the bow into the wind felt like climbing a steep hill. We entered Magdelena Fjord about 7:30 and reached the head about 8:30. I watched from the front decks 8-10 for about half an hour. There appeared to be about 8 glaciers coming down into the head of the fjord; a bit hard to photograph as the sun was directly ahead of us but beautiful viewing. It was still a chilly wind and to be comfortable I bundled quite well in a long t-shirt, heavy shirt, sweater, fleece vest and an outer covering of gortex top and bottom. As I was preparing to leave the bow for breakfast the sun briefly dipped below a cloud allowing for a few quick photographs.

 

The back deck at the lido reopened for dining and I took my breakfast out there. I was warm enough but had to eat very quickly as the only way I can enjoy eggs is HOT and they weren't going to stay that way long. By this time the captain had turned on the bow thruster fairly continuously and I had the perfect revolving restaurant with a changing view of the myriad of mountains and glaciers. As we left the fjord behind there was an interdenominational service in the theater. At the 10 o'clock coffee chat Linda interviewed our guest chef Gabriel Kreuther of New York. My team today did quite poorly in trivia.

 

There was an Indonesian Buffet lunch in the forward dining room. I am not a fan of spicy food but it was good to have an opportunity to try it in small quantities.

 

With winds coming from the north the pack ice came to meet us much sooner than we had expected, at around 80 degrees 30 minutes North,660 miles from the Pole. We saw the first ice a little before 1 (we had been expecting it around 2-4:30). The ice was in some ways a bit underwhelming. I had imagined huge blocks of ice but it generally topped out at about a foot above the water and in small chunks with an occasional patch 50-100 feet in diameter. The taller icebergs tend to come from glaciers rather than polar ice. As we reached the ice we turned West and sailed along the edge of the flow for about 45 minutes. With the low ice formations the best views were really from the top of the ship, particularly deck 13. Soon before leaving Captain called the crew to the bow for a photograph, and of course many of us passengers were out snapping the shot also. While we had been sailing parallel to the edge of the ice flow, the ship was turned to face it directly for the photograph. We left the ice cap about 2:30 with about 3 hours to relax and recover before dinner.

 

The evening entertainment was John Lenahan, a magician/comedian from the UK who also did some juggling. My cabin steward came by a bit early to make up the room so I also took advantage of a little time before the performance to visit the Crows Nest for Robin and her piano music.

 

About 10PM we lost all power. We stopped, the lights went out (no crisis at 79 North in August) and some people were temporarily driven from their cabins by fumes from the emergency generator. By 11 we were back to full strength. Good thing we found the ice early and had a lot of extra time to get to Longyearben. It must have been pretty stressful for John Lenahan in his late performance.

 

As a parting shot, today was unique in two respects. First, we visited 2 beautiful and pristine areas few people ever experience. We were also cut off for the entire day from routine communications with the rest of the world. We were really in a fairy tale world of our own.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you satellite delayed from Longyearben, Norway

[kazu]

Roy, so enjoying your posts. How nice that you docked instead of tendering. I wonder why the P'dam lost power? any word? Sounds like a great experience from your reports just the same.:D Smooth sailing:)

[Toots]

Roy, your informative posts are SO appreciated! We board the Elegant Explorer on Saturday for the Baltic and British Isles. It's our 3rd cruise on this favorite ship. You're such a positive person who "goes with the flow" even when things go wrong. What a great outlook on life!

 

One question: who is narrating the sail-ins and sail-outs? We've had some really good narrators who added a lot of interesting background.

 

Thanks so much,

Brigitte

[rafinmd]

Toots, I don't remember much commentary. Daniel, our port guide did some commentating on the scenic cruising but it was only in the Crows Nest due to local noise regulations., Kazu, it was some small electronic control module. I think you'll find the Elegant Explorer great for a transatlantic.

 

Internet just returned about 10AM, not very good yet.

 

It was a generally pleasant but chilly (Imagine-chilly at 78N) day in and around Longyearben. Despite sitting for a while last night while a bad engine control sensor was diagnosed we arrived in the harbor about 40 minutes early--but then had to sit while some ships at our dock were moved out of the way.

 

Sad news has been slowly filtering down about the death of a tourist probably less than 100 miles from us. My understanding was they were camping. We passed some tents pitched on the shoreline on the Magdalena fjord yesterday morning. It looked like a really idyllic location that I would have really enjoyed and I assumed the people would be taking any necessary precautions but that was clearly not the case for everybody.

 

Longyearben is currently a village of about 2000 people that was a major coal mining area for many years, and much of the machinery of mining remains evident but unused today. Coal mining here died gradually due to the laws of supply and demand and today the community has a college, research facilities, and what looks like a pretty healthy tourist trade. From the look of the shops there must be busy ski areas in winter, which gives a whole new meaning to the concept of "night skiing". I would guess that during the ski season the polar bears are safely out on the ice eating seals instead of tourists. Longyearbin has an airport with what looked like either a 737 or regional jet taking off and likely the world's northernmost Radisson Hotel. The main store is the size of a small North American grocery store and carries small quantities of everything from milk to appliances and a small bank with 1 ATM. The port is about a mile from the center of town. I understand that the port was closed due to ice for 10 days recently and several cruise ships were forced to skip the stop in recent days. We saw no sign of ice today.

 

My tour, Platafjellet Hike and Svalbard Museum turned out to be somewhat of a bust for me. We started with about an hour at the museum with displays on home life, mining, and exploration of the region, along with a central area with mounted specimens of reindeer, seals, and polar bears. The hike was up Mt. Platafjellet (Table Mountain), about a 1500 foot summit. Starting from the mine, perhaps 150 feet above the sea, we left with 3 guides, each equipped with a large rifle, and instructions to stay with the group. The trail was steep with loose gravel, and I slipped and fell about 1/3 of the way up. Nothing serious, but for me what is tricky on the way up tends to be much more so going back down. The guide felt that we were close enough to town to be safe although he would watch me until I got back to the road. I returned to the town center, a half mile away, and spent some time shipping, strolling, and working online. There was wifi in a couple of places but it was very slow.

 

As I returned to the ship about 1:00 I saw a large group of little specks making their way down Mt. Platafjellet. I would love to have enjoyed the view from the summit but was happy to have time in the and am at peace with my decision to terminate early.

 

Team trivia was occurring as we sailed away and I opted to stay out for the departure. Vladimir Zaitsev gave an excellent encore piano performance at 3. I regrettably left a bit early to be one of the last to arrive at the festive Royal Dutch High Tea, and (oops) completely forgot about Chaplain Emory's 5PM Sunday service.

 

The evening entertainment wasn singer Lorraine Brown Ms. Brown sang songs of mostly the 60's to 80's in the style of Helen Reddy, Dionne Warwick, and Anne Murray.

 

I am dual posting this on my wordpress blog and on Cruise Critic, a cruise discussion forum. As tonight's parting shot, a Cruise Critic poster came on the Cunard forum several months ago under the title "Dare I Make a Transatlantic Crossing". The person was subject to motion sickness, was really hesitant, but did decide to cross round trip on QM2 with his return on the same voyage as mine. When I was on line in Longyearben I found that John and Elizabeth completed a very successful Eastbound crossing while I was out of internet range and were enjoying the UK and looking forward to the return crossing. Thaxted, welcome to the East side of the pond and I look forward to returning with you in just over a weak. I am looking forward neither to the end of the trip nor leaving the Elegant Explorer but do look forward to meeting you.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Prinsendam.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Roy, glad to hear your fall only damaged your pride. A wise move not to risking the downhill return. I can say that I've been on tours with armed escorts but mine were in some dicey areas and not due to fearsome wildlife.

[rafinmd]

Moving gradually south, when I arose at 5 there was satellite news but still no internet, even on the completion of my walk at 7. Internet coverage returned sporadically, and with limited reliability, around 9:30. The morning was pretty much totally overcast, temperature 6C (43F) but our following wind pretty closely matched the ship's speed making the temperature very pleasant (much more so than the 100 or so when I left New York).

 

After the 9AM Interdenominational service Linda's 10AM coffee chat was with 3 of the department heads who started at the bottom, Executive Chef Pedro, Dining Room manager Gildus, and Cellar Master Ferdie on life at sea and the road from entry level to top level. My question to the group was about their 6-month on, 2 month off schedule. They do usually return to the same ship, with either a temporary substitute or an assistant stepping up to the lead when they are away.

 

Daniel gave an introduction to Alesund and Bergen at 11. My tour for Alesund had been cancelled so I was very interested in that port and have decided the best way to see it is on my own. The talk ran past the start of team trivia so I missed it again.

 

My afternoon were a classical concert with the Moonlight Trio at 2, pictorial travel trivia with Daniel at 3 followed by the last half of afternoon tea.

 

The Prinsendam Singers and Dancers performed "Moments to Remember", consisting mostly of music from the 50's (e.g. Unchained, Love Potion #9, There Goes My Baby). The cast is generally superb and they outdid themselves tonight with the best show of the trip so far (only Shirley Dominguez came close). They are officially 4 dancers, 2 singer/dancers, and 2 lead vocalists but all seem to contribute more than their titles suggest.

 

This was the penultimate formal night of the cruise along with the Black and White Ball. Nearly everyone out around the ship seemed to be following the dress code and looking great.

 

This evening in the Crows Nest there was a report of whales being spotted. That is not unusual in itself but quite a surprise after 10PM.

 

As today's parting shot, I have heard that a frog dropped in boiling water will jump right back out but if dropped in warm water with the heat gradually turned up it will sit there and cook. GUILTY! I booked the Prinsendam largely due to it being much less expensive than the Crystal voyage I had originally considered. Then I added a return on QM2 and finally getting there on the Rotterdam, and I am now getting close to the cost of what I had originally thought was too expensive. Would I do that again? I don’t know. (Well, actually, I would choose Crystal next time because I would always choose something new I know I’d like over something I've already done). Do I regret the choice I made this time? Not a bit.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Elegant Explorer.

[rgaudet]

As today's parting shot, I have heard that a frog dropped in boiling water will jump right back out but if dropped in warm water with the heat gradually turned up it will sit there and cook. GUILTY! I booked the Prinsendam largely due to it being much less expensive than the Crystal voyage I had originally considered. Then I added a return on QM2 and finally getting there on the Rotterdam, and I am now getting close to the cost of what I had originally thought was too expensive. Would I do that again? I don’t know. (Well, actually, I would choose Crystal next time because I would always choose something new I know I’d like over something I've already done). Do I regret the choice I made this time? Not a bit.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Elegant Explorer.

 

You are on a very unique and special journey. Glad you are enjoying it. But Roy, I'm close to booking a Crystal cruise, my second cruise ever and 1st with Crystal. Part of the fun is the anticipation of something new. i'm still new to cruising and getting pretty excited about trying Crystal, if only for 7 days.

[rafinmd]

Rob, I'll be looking for you over on "that other forum".

 

It was heavily overcast with a brief drizzle when I went out for my walk but no wind chill and it was the first time in several days I have walked without gloves of tuque. With "On Deck for the Cure" coming up in the afternoon, my morning walk was only 3 miles and I finished the walk and laundry about 7. The sun showed near the horizon and a rainbow appeared towards the end of the walk; there must have been a strong shower soon afterwards as water was pouring off the back cover on the lido by 7:15.

 

At 9:30 today back office culinary tours were offered. I was in group 1 and met with Dining Room Manager Gildus on the deck 4 Atrium. Our group of about 20 made our way back along the deck in normally crew areas, passing first the crew dining room and stairs down to crew living quarters on deck 3. There are separate chefs and galleys for the pork-free Muslim and other crew components and a lounge for the junior officers. All food storage and most preparation is done on deck 4 and transferred up to deck 7 for the final touches and plating. We visited the vegetable cooler, freezer, wine cellar, and flower shop (all sadly well under half full as the voyage is into it's final week). The tour appeared to be quite popular as we passed other groups enroute and Gildus called group number 6 as I left.

 

Daniel gave a 10AM presentation on Edinburgh although I missed the first part for the galley tour and the end for a presentation on computer security by Chase.

 

In the afternoon we had "On Deck For the Cure", bringing the 3 miles I walked in the morning to a total of 6. It’s still cool enough on deck for several layers and my 2XL T-tent from the Rotterdam gave it's last as a mammoth outer pink-ribboned covering over everything else. I would estimate about 70 people took part in the walk. The walk headquarters was at the aft and the music there was loud but did not carry around the ship. I completed the 3 miles about 3, just in time for the Royal Indonesian Tea. At 3:50 we left the Arctic Circle in our wake.

 

There was a variety show consisting of Shirley Dominguez, Mark O'Malley, and Lorraine Brown. When Shirley Dominguez played earlier in the voyage I mentioned her performance of Mama Mia on the Crystal Symphony. That was her closing selection tonight and it was just as glorious the second time around. Mark O'malley and Lorraine Brown played nice sets as well concluding with "The Impossible Dream" and "As Long as He Needs Me", respectively. The fabulous Indonesian Crew Show began at 11. It's later than I like to be up but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. After several Indonesian dances and songs the Angklung Orchestra came on stage performing 2 western songs, Spanish Eyes and My way. My waiter, Farula, was in the front row at my end. I find the crew shows very entertaining but even more important represent the love these people have for their countries, their culture, and the opportunities they have on the ships. Happily, this is a HAL tradition that has lasted on Windstar beyond their affiliation with HAL.

 

As today's parting shot this is the third walk I've done this year, starting with the "Walk for Wishes" on RCI's Enchantment ff the Seas. I can adapt to various styles, but these walks really are a lot nicer on a REAL Promenade deck.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Prinsendam.

[rafinmd]

After the late show I did not set my alarm and slept until 5:45. I cut my walk back again to 3 miles, finishing about 7. The morning was fairly warm but cloudy with a touch of drizzle towards the end of the walk. When I first walked onto the deck, there was another HAL ship in front of us which turned out to be the Ryndam. They docked first and we pulled up with our stern close to her bow.

 

My "Walking tour and Coffee" had been cancelled so I was on my own. I left the ship about 9:30 and explored the central district a bit before starting the climb to Alska. Noted for 418 steps on the trail the height is not listed but appears to be about 600-700 feet and there are about 53 steps and some steep grades leading to the 418 steps of the main trail. There were excellent views from both the summit and from the trail. While I was there first clouds came in and then a period of drizzle. I made my way back to the town greatful that the trail was mostly level steps and the grade areas were stable coarse surfaces with good footing. I looked around the shops a bit and returned to the ship about 11:30.

 

I noticed on the map we were given that a guided walk was listed at noon. Rushing out from the ship I arrived at the walk start in the nick of time. Anne Grethe took us around the downtown area for about 90 minutes. The town was hit by a devastating fire in 1904 destroying virtually all the buildings but with only 1 life lost. The town was quickly rebuilt using fireproof materials and done in an Art Nouveau style with elegant decorations and each floor of each building having a slightly different look. We saw monuments to heroes of World War II and to Kaiser Wilhelm who had visited Alesund often and who immediately shipped several boatloads of emergency supplies right after the fire. One stop took us to the grounds of the Alesund Museum where we saw a replica of the first covered lifeboat. The small craft made an Atlantic crossing in 1906 (5 months powered by sail) demonstrating the ability of this type of craft to handle the seas of the Atlantic. While the boat proved itself well, it was 70 years until that type of boat became the universal standard, and even the 1959 Rotterdam was originally equipped with open lifeboats. The tour seemed to do pretty much duplicate what I had originally signed up for (at 1/3 the cost).

 

After the tour I stopped at McDonalds for a burger, coffee, and internet returning to the ship about 4 pretty well tired.

 

The evening entertainment was Flautist Tara Whittaker. She performed a wide variety of music all the way from classical, Celtic Folk, Gershwin, and Opera to pop. I believe Abba is a Swedish group and while this voyage has been to a lot of Scandavania that hasn’t included Sweden, so it seems a bit surprising for to have heard Mama Mia at least 4 times so far, including tonight from an artist from Calgary, Alberta. It is a great song but I don't expect to hear it that often.

 

I had intended to make Mama Mia my parting shot tonight until the concert ended. Tara Whittaker's closing number was "What a Wonderful World" which was somewhat nostalgic for me. It is the standard Crystal sailaway song so it has a special connotation for me and was a bit bittersweet. So:

 

"I've seen glaciers, mountains, and great fields of ice. Geysers, fjords, and whales at late night. Music and dancing and service delight. And I say to myself what a wonderful world. Oh yea."

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Elegant Explorer

[Toots]

Great last line, Roy, and so fitting for your last couple of days on the Elegant Explorer. It truly is a wonderful world!

[rafinmd]

I am sitting in Bergen. I was supposed to be on a Train/bus/cruise to Flam and the Fjords with 2 other Cruise Critic members today. The arrival in Bergen was changed from 7AM to 8AM yesterday evening leaving us stranded on the pier. So far no explanation as we left Alesund last night announcing our arrival time at 8 with not even an indication that it was a change in plans and obviously no explanation. Not impressive.

 

Roy

[arzz]

So sorry Roy! Was your tour independent or with HAL? Last summer we did that tour independently though all of our reservations were organized by an agent in Bergen in advance -- it was a wonderful (though very long) day -- we started our day with a train from Bergen and went train to train and finally a ferry that returned us to Bergen after dark. I do hope you folks can work it out.

[rafinmd]

Arzz, it was independent so I don't think there's any issue of compensation but I'd sure like to understand why it happened.

 

I had been trying to minimize foreboding from the Alesund Sailaway when he said we would arrive at Bergen at 8AM instead of the 7 that had been in the itinerary, and I was buoyed by the announcement in the Explorer that our port guide would be on the dock 7-8:30am.

 

I rose at 5 as usual and got my first sunrise in a long time about 6. Three of us from Cruise Critic had booked "Norway in a Nutshell" a private tour of several trains and a fjord cruise. Our first train left at 8:40 and we were supposed to be at the station 30 minutes before that to collect our tickets. Since we had agreed to meet at the gangway at 7:30 my walk was cut to 3 miles this morning, it was a perfect morning for a walk. As I made my way to the meeting point it was clear that it would be well past 7 when we docked. The gangway went out about 8:07 and a dozen people or so made a mad rush to the empty taxi stand. Two taxis did eventually show up but several of us were left behind and no more taxis appeared.

 

My 2 companions gave up while I decided to make my way to the station to try to salvage at least part of the tour. When I arrived there I was told I could take a later train but it would return after the ship had left. I walked around the downtown area a bit then returned to the ship to regroup.

 

There were 2 other ships in town. The Astor was very small while the Grand Mistral was huge. I had thought about taking the funicular to the top of Mt. Floyen, but the line was at least a block long. From the base there did appear to be steps leading up the mountain. While they seemed to serve mostly local streets at the top the streets did run off in the direction of the mountain. An hour or so later I finally reached the top station of the funicular at about 1000 feet (320 meters, still 100 meters below the summit somewhere). The view from that location was fantastic, better than from Mt. Askla which was perhaps 700 feet, and the weather today was perfect. We were just over a mile from the ship but with the switchbacks on the trail the distance walked was about twice that.

 

After returning to the city for lunch I noted on the map a Leprosy museum. I looked for it but by the time I found it had been closed for the day. I had visited Kalaupapa in 1992 and would have been interested to see what was inside there. I stopped on the way back at Burger King for coffee and internet and also spent a bit of time walking the grounds of the Bergenhaus, an ancient palace virtually across the street from the ship.

 

With us in port until 10:30 dinner was pretty quiet. The evening show was comedian Marty Brill who had been a comedy writer for All in the Family and M*A*S*H. He brought the house down when he commented that the Captain never let his hands leave the helm because if he did the ship would immediately veer towards the Philippines., and that the safest place to be if pirates attack the ship is under the dollar slot machines because nothing ever falls there.

 

As a parting shot it's been a frustrating day. I think I need a bit of time to put today's events in perspective and perhaps find out more about what happened. I think not knowing the reasons is worse than the events themselves.

 

Roy

 

This post comes to you live from the Prinsendam.

[erewhon]

Sorry to read that you were stranded at the pier.

 

Very disappointing for you.

[kazu]

What a shame Roy - :( to be stranded like that:( I hope you can get to the bottom of it and love your attitude - trying to put it aside:)

 

I hope the rest of the cruise goes much smoother for you.