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'Twas the Cruise During Christmas - Zuiderdam 2018


POA1
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1 hour ago, Dogstar said:

@POA1,

 

Jumping in briefly here to wish you, the Mrs., DFIL & Poohby a super Holiday. Just home ourselves from the K'dam so looking forward to settling in, catching up & following along with your adventure now. 

 

Cheers. Dogstar. 

 

Thanks! Same to you and yours. In case I forget, remind me to post the photos of your sail away on my web server when I get home. Hopefully I got you. If not, send me a photo of yourself from far away and I'll Photoshop you in.

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4 minutes ago, 65 Gator said:

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I am beyond intrigued at the dark bread (roll)...  I have begged for Dark Pumpernickel (Jewish Rye) and was told they no longer had it.  Ich liebe dunkles Brot...  Did you have to request it?

No, it was part of the basket. We've had pumpernickel in the MDR, too. However, it was sliced. I think some of the pre-made sandwiches were on dark rye, but it could have been regular. I'll try to pay attention and report back. 

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The schedule of clean, bright entertainments is jam packed tonight. I'm going to one of the EXC lectures at 5:00 pm. It's on nautical and ship terminology. Then, having been both educated and fulfilled, I'll meet my better half for some solo piano in the Ocean Bar. After dinner, we'll go see the comedian recommended by @wdw1972. Then we should be able to catch the all request show by the piano duo. Tomorrow is the first of two sea days, so there's no need get to bed early or anything else even remotely responsible. 

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24 minutes ago, 65 Gator said:

 

I am beyond intrigued at the dark bread (roll)...  I have begged for Dark Pumpernickel (Jewish Rye) and was told they no longer had it.  Ich liebe dunkles Brot...  Did you have to request it?

 

Another fan of the dark pumpernickel here :classic_smile:

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wayback-blue.jpg

 

Deck-01-Atrium.jpg.e28e84ce74f14784952eb70eda3021a6.jpg

 

There have been quite a few changes in the layout of the Atrium on Deck one, not the least of which is the color scheme.  Here's the Deck 1 Atrium in 2003.  Shore Excursions is now EXC and up in the Crow's Nest. The Future Cruise Desk is up there as well.

 

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I don't know if the piano is still there or not. They would have had to move it for the Christmas display. Here is the same room in 2018.

 

 

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Great pics and comparisons Brian.

 

Enjoy all the entertainment tonight and your scientific research 😉 

 

Have a truly joyous holiday.  Hope your Christmas is the best ever.  After all, no one has to cook or clean. 😄 

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12 minutes ago, frankc98376 said:

I see they left the bar and the stairs in the atrium on Zuiderdam.  Some lost the stairs from deck 1 to 2- I heard Signature lost both 1 to 2 and 2 to 3

 

The stairs go all the way up, which is how it was in 2003. The color scheme is quite a bit different.  We have a limited number of photos from the cruise 15 years ago because you used to have to pay for both the film and the processing. You tended to be pickier about what you shot back then. Also, since these were prints, they had to be scanned back to digital for use here. Luckily, Michelle was really good at making up photo albums back then. We used to keep a list of what the girls wore on which nights, which is how you knew the chronology across all the various cameras. If you recall, "Time Stamps" on your photos were things like "APR 97" stamped on the back by the photo processor.

 

From what I understand, the Vistas are getting the Rijksmuseum at Sea at some point. I've been to cocktail receptions in the Lobby Bar, but not in years.  Much of the former Shore Excursions and Future Cruise space is now sitting areas.

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I attended my first EXC talk on purpose at 5:00 PM.  (I accidentally attended part of one when DW was getting coffee the other morning. It was presented by Bonnie of the EXC staff. The presentation was "The Secret Language of Ships," and covered hull markings, flags, and whistles. It was a half hour lecture and I found it to be quite interesting. The captain is doing an "Ask The Captain" EXC talk tomorrow and there are a few more scheduled for our last two days. Due to schedule conflicts, I'll have to miss "What To Do In Fort Lauderdale," but I'd definitely recommend looking for these events in your daily program or in the app-not-an-app.

 

EXC-05.jpg.cd4eec408819d5c147578b6d2fe9a799.jpg

 

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Bonus Question for the Sail Away People:  What are these two load line marks? I'll answer later if no one knows or wants to Google it.

 

EXC-01.jpg.7892c9c0ccafabcf2158745926d6a039.jpg

 

EXC-02.jpg.c65d00be2c009bcc13d0682e4a670e78.jpg

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, POA1 said:

........................... Here's the Deck 1 Atrium in 2003.  Shore Excursions is now EXC and up in the Crow's Nest. The Future Cruise Desk is up there as well.

 

atrium-bar-2003.thumb.jpg.f79d414448c4da22cad0e330d790b647.jpg

 

 

I don't know if the piano is still there or not. They would have had to move it for the Christmas display. Here is the same room in 2018.

 

The piano has been outta here for a while now. Awesome pics!

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So Brian, do you and Michelle have a favorite out of the ABC islands? Merry Christmas and enjoy the three choirs tomorrow night (the Indonesians and Filipinos outshine the International choir as a rule)

 

Image may contain: 8 people

 

Image may contain: 5 people

Edited by Copper10-8
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5 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

So Brian, do you and Michelle have a favorite out of the ABC islands? Merry Christmas and enjoy the three choirs tomorrow night (the Indonesians and Filipinos outshine the International choir as a rule)

 

Image may contain: 8 people

 

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We're partial to Bonaire, but Curaçao is our favorite. We're looking forward to the choirs. M heard them practicing last night. She said they sounded great. She's also looking forward to Santa. I hope no little kids get in her way. :classic_biggrin:

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The Department of Beverage Research is proud to announce that we have completed the holiday drink cycle. There's a Gingerbread Cookie cordial that's not on the little poster, but is on the bartenders' instruction sheet. (I saw a copy the day it came out.) 

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Dinner tonight was quite good. We're suckers for Beef Wellington. We prefer the version topped with foie gras, but the mushroom version is perfectly acceptable. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself because I intend to post dinner pix - completely out of order. 

 

The Main Stage comedian, Brian Bradley was hilarious. (Thanks @wdw1972) His show started a little slow, but finished solid, with plenty of laugh out loud moments. He has very strong improv instincts. His show had me in stitches. (See my previous post about smiling. I'm not an easy laugh.)

 

We ended our evening of clean, bright entertainments with an all request set in the piano bar. Ian and Brandon had most of the audience singing along. 

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A word of caution: These menus and dishes in this thread are Christmasified (which is a word that may be complete and utter fabrication.) I have the advance copy of tomorrow night's gala #2 menu. It's not the regular "Gold" menu, but we're supposed to have a special Christmas day menu, so I think we might have a hybrid for Gala Night #2.

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11 hours ago, POA1 said:

Due to schedule conflicts, I'll have to miss "What To Do In Fort Lauderdale," but I'd definitely recommend looking for these events in your daily program or in the app-not-an-app.

 

LOL 😭 😄 😄 

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11 hours ago, POA1 said:

Bonus Question for the Sail Away People:  What are these two load line marks? I'll answer later if no one knows or wants to Google it.

 

It's the special marking which shows the draft of the ship and the maximum permitted limit it can be loaded in different types of waters, I believe.

 

 

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1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

It's the special marking which shows the draft of the ship and the maximum permitted limit it can be loaded in different types of waters, I believe.

 

 

 

We have a winner! There is a line for fresh water and one for salt water. Things float better in salt water, so it's the lower line. The fresh water line would be for places like the Panama Canal or fjords. The L R with the circle indicates Lloyd's Registry. As in Lloyd's of London. 

 

EXC-06.jpg.e453d15bb609104641d513ce32785

 

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2018-12-24-Sea-Day-Card-sm.jpg

 

 

 

Despite my best efforts at getting fully loaded - like a baked potato - last night, I woke up at 7:30 AM without a hint of a headache. If we're planning to stay out until after midnight, we usually get one of the grab & go sandwiches in the Lido and stash it in our in-room fridge. We typically pick one of the more absorbent varieties. However, we forgot yesterday. On top of that, I got a double to go at the end of the evening. Despite all that, no hangover. I should see a doctor. Maybe something's wrong.

 

I agreed to let Michelle sleep in until 9:00 AM this morning, which means I'm typing this in the dark. (The keyboard on my laptop is backlit for just this contingency.)  I still need to roam the ship and take photos of the decorations.  The Zuiderdam's halls do not seem as decked as the ones on the Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam were in 2016 and 2014 respectively.

 

 

Little Golden Book

 

wonderful-cruise-book.jpg

 

 

I still want to see one of the America's Test Kitchen presentations. There was one, "Steak Dinner for Two," that we really wanted to see. Sadly, it was at 7:00 PM and we were afraid it would run into our dinner time.


 

 

Map-2018-12-24-Sea-Day.jpg

 

Edited by POA1
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