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Dave's Live from Eurodam Trans-Atlantic, Aug. 27 - Sept. 12, 2013

RetiredMustang

By RetiredMustang,
in Holland America Line

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Wed., Sept. 4, 2013, at sea (Cont.)

Today was the awards event and Mariners Luncheon. We had other things to do, but the menu was posted outside the MDR deck 2. The menu has changed a bit:

Appetizer

- Graved Salmon with Shrimp Stuffed Eggs: Dill cured Norwegian Salmon, with honey dill mustard sauce and buttered moist pumpernickel bread; or

- Farmers Vegetable Puree: A puree of seasonal vegatables swirled with cream and topped with a garlic crouton

Entrees

- Grilled Spruce Hen: Natural jus, apple raisin chutney, steamed broccoli florets and roasted rosemary cherry tomatoes and crispy ham; or

- Grilled Cod Tarragon and Green Pea Emulsion: Glazed spicy carrots with lime zest and poached parsley potatoes; or

- Risotto with Forest Mushrooms and Fontina: Green asparagus and fried zucchini

Dessert

- Swedish Pancakes with Fresh Berries: Vanilla cream dusted with powdered sugar

Petit Fours, Coffee, Tea

More later,

Dave

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ankorway

ankorway

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Sunday, August 25

 

Hotel

 

HAL reps met us after customs, and we took a mini-van from Schipol to our hotel, the Renaissance Amsterdam, on Kattegat, near the Centraal Station. It is a comfortable modern hotel, pretty typical of the Renaissance chain.

 

Renaissance is part of the Marriott organization, and we are members of their program. We had contacted the hotel a few weeks ago, asking for early check-in if it were available, but our room was not ready. They told us to check back after noon; it was about 9 a.m. then. So, we checked our bags with the concierge, and went looking for coffee place open on a Sunday morning. We found it at Tazzina, an Italian espresso bar a few blocks away, along the Brouwersgracht. We had read about it in a travel book, and found it to be a place for a great cappuccino and croissant.

 

It was a somewhat foggy morning, and the walk along the canals was very beautiful, but I don’t have photos, as I had forgotten that I had my camera with me (d’oh!). Hey, it was on what we call zombie day, after very little sleep on the plane.

 

We wandered about a bit more, including a visit to the large Albert Heijn store near the Magna Plaza, where we found the mouthwash we were looking for. We also wandered to Spui street, and had another coffee at Café Esprit, near the American Bookstore and Waterstone’s, a British book store.

 

We returned to the hotel shortly after noon, and were able to check in. Our room is European-sized, which means it is smaller than rooms in North American hotels. But, it is comfortable and pleasant for the two nights we will stay. It does not have a coffee maker, but it does have a kettle and makings for instant coffee. We had read that on TripAdvisor, and so were able to get some Via packets from Starbucks before we left home. OK, it’s not the greatest, but better than what hotels usually have for instant, and certainly better than nothing.

 

Photos of the room:

 

 

 

 

 

Renaissanceguestroom1_zpsfa1d5743.jpg

 

Renaissanceguestroom2_zpsc648108d.jpg

 

 

Photos of the bath:

 

 

 

 

 

Renaissanceguestbath_zps3cd7c539.jpg

 

Rennaissanceguestbathvanity_zpsf9e7de34.jpg

 

 

Photo of the coffee area:

 

Renaissanceguestroomcoffeeserviceandminibar_zps3976decc.jpg

 

 

More later,

Dave

 

 

How do I open the photos? I am using a MacBook Pro. Do I need an ap? Thanks. Shirley

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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How do I open the photos? I am using a MacBook Pro. Do I need an ap? Thanks. Shirley

 

Shirley,

 

I used photobucket for the first time on this blog, and did not realize that my photos can only be seen a certain number of times in one month (about 500 each for the number I used in this blog); the photos will not be visible for a while. That counter goes back to zero in a few days, and the photos will be visible again.

 

I have learned my lesson, and will use a combination of photobucket and other sites in future blogs.

 

Dave

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ankorway

ankorway

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Thanks for the reply. I thought maybe it was my computer or lack of software. Will go back to the first part of the blog later. The last photos came through. Now I do want to see the others. We did the Baltic with Holland some years ago. Really enjoyed it.

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Wed., Sept. 4, 2013, at sea (Cont.)

The weather has been gorgeous all day – sunny, not too windy, and seas as calm as the Caribbean. Unfortunately, Captain Emiel says there is a warm front moving through, and tomorrow may be a bit foggy and showery. I think/hope it will still be a magical day cruising in Prins Christian Sund. I will post photos as I can, internet allowing.

Today, we attended two presentations by Jon Sigurdsson, one this morning on Greenland as a whole, and this afternoon’s show about Prins Christian Sund and Nanortalik, which we are due to visit Friday.

We didn’t do much of anything else, except relax, watch the ocean … and eat, of course. Here are today’s dinner menus:

4Sep13_dinner_menu.JPG

4Sep13_dessert_menu.JPG

I had the filet mignon (more beef!):

filet_mignon.JPG

Followed by the Sacher Torte (more chocolate):

Sacher_torte.JPG

More later,

Dave

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Dave reported a few posts back that he had exceeded his limit of photos using Photo Bucket. Those pictures were deleted and they won't come back. Sorry!

 

mollyanne,

 

If I read the message from photobucket right, they will come back, one month after I joined. The 10GB bandwidth limit is per month; it resets after that and the photos can be seen again.

 

Dave

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mollyanne

mollyanne

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mollyanne,

 

If I read the message from photobucket right, they will come back, one month after I joined. The 10GB bandwidth limit is per month; it resets after that and the photos can be seen again.

 

Dave

 

That's great! I actually have seen all the pictures because I started reading when you sailed. :) I feel bad for those who can't see them now but did not realize they will come back eventually.

 

I have really been enjoying your reports so much! Thanks for doing this.

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Thursday, September 5, 2013, Prins Christian Sund

 

Good morning. Start of a day which I hope will include great views of the Greenland fjords.

 

I noticed that CC photo gallery has increased its maximum file size, so I saved the daily programs at a larger resolution:

 

5Sep13_program_1.JPG

 

5Sep13_program_2.JPG

 

More later,

Dave

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Thanks again for blogging away Dave. We have enjoyed your reports. I wonder what different are you going to do in the future regarding taking and posting photos. You said you learned your lesson with photobucket.

 

Thebes,

 

What I learned that the bottleneck with the free photobucket is not the photo storage -- I have barely used 1 percent of what I am allotted. What is the problem is that only 10GB per month of bandwidth is free. That total counts every image each time it is viewed on CC. That quickly adds up. When I hit the limit with photobucket, I shifted to the CC photo gallery.

 

What I mean to do in future blogs was to use photobucket for larger, printed files, such as daily programs and menus, and use the Cruise Critic photo gallery for actual photos. The CC photo gallery has no limit on number of images or how many times they are viewed, but used to have a 259KB file size limit. I just noticed that has been increased to 2.5 MB per file limit, which is great. The only hesitation I now have with CC photo gallery is I am not sure they will let me keep the print images (programs, menus) for long -- I keep expecting them to poof away when the moderators delete them. But, so far, they have left them alone.

 

More later,

Dave

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RetiredMustang

RetiredMustang

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Dave, thanks for posting, also have you attended any of the Digital Workshop session?

 

JamesEM,

 

No I haven't attended any of the sessions. They don't seem to have subjects that I am interested in learning at a time that is convenient. And when they do, usually the times conflict with something else I would rather do.

 

Dave

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