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LIVE from the ZUIDERDAM - VOYAGE OF THE VIKINGS


sansterre
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It's fun reading this thread while on the same trip -- everyone gets different pictures and has different experiences. Thanks for your blog here!

 

Rather than post some of my pictures and posts, I'll just mention that mine are included with my blog at www.writerondeck.com. If it is easier, you can subscribe there by email and get each new post that way.

 

Onward to Bergen!

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18 hours ago, sansterre said:

We are on Deck 6, just forward of the aft elevators, port side.  I slept better than I have previously on this cruise.  We watched a comedy movie on television.  That silliness and the ship's motion must have put me right to sleep until about 4:00 when the worst of the storm was over.

One thing that made it more comforting to me was that it was light outside.  It wasn't bright, but light enough that you could see the waves.  While the seas were raging, it was nice to be able to see it instead of wondering what things were like.  (I looked out around 11:00 and then again around 4:00.)

 

Glad you got some sleep and the seas have calmed down.

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11 hours ago, JimnKaren said:

We will be on Zaandam next year for Voyage of the Vikings. I have also been reading Dave's reports. He has posted the daily When and Where.

Karen is a knitter and I noticed that there is nothing in the When and Where about needleworkers getting together on sea days. Are you? Seattle has been lax on that, they would rather have ping pong players meet!

 

Jim

Knitters are supposed to unite in the Ocean Bar, Port side on Deck 3 on Sea Days.  I have gone twice and knitted by myself from 10:15 until 11:30 and not seen anyone else.  I understand that "knitting girl" knits there at 9:00.  All are welcome to join us.  The lighting is not great, but they will turn the lights up if you ask the bar staff (starboard side).  Hope to see more knitters there on the way back to Boston.  And yes, Ping Pong players and Scattegory players are encouraged to meet in the When and Where.  But not stitchers and knitters.  It just doesn't seem fair.

Today was Mariner Day for us from 10:00 until 12:00 so I didn't knit today.  Lots of awards were in the Theatre and lunch was served on both floors of Dining Room as 900 of the 1600 (rounded off figures) are HAL Mairiners.  Pictures later!  

At 1:00 (in 5 minutes) I will go to Arts and Crafts which is in MDR3 on Sea Days at 1:00.  That makes the When and Where.  We are now 6 hours ahead of EST.

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I continue to enjoy your LIVE reports.  Thank you so much.  Are you finding there are enough activities offered?  It seems very light as Dave has been posting the When and Where for us to see.  I am starting to get concerned about my 51 day Tales of the South Pacific later this year.  Based on what I am reading it seems HAL is in a transition period of sorts eliminating a lot of activities(and personnel).

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Wonderful pics and reports.

 

Love the one with you and the captain, too 🙂 

 

So glad you have gotten through the storm and rough weather and you are now sailing on smooth seas again.  Hope it stays that way for you 🤞

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4 hours ago, newbie53 said:

 

In Isafjordur,  the children and families did a small welcome parade

Isafjordur parade.jpg

Great photos Newbie53.  I especially like this one when ports are welcoming.  I see all ages and some men with brass instruments too;  nice of all of them to come out to meet us on a cold rainy morning!

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1 hour ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I continue to enjoy your LIVE reports.  Thank you so much.  Are you finding there are enough activities offered?  It seems very light as Dave has been posting the When and Where for us to see.  I am starting to get concerned about my 51 day Tales of the South Pacific later this year.  Based on what I am reading it seems HAL is in a transition period of sorts eliminating a lot of activities(and personnel).

For us, the activities offered usually enough.  We don't like having a movie in the Mainstage/Theater, but usually find the dueling pianos, or watch a movie in our room.  

But yesterday there was no evening trivia and today there is no afternoon trivia.  For us, that is a highlight and we miss it when it doesn't occur twice a day.  I understand that the assistant CD could be sick or need a night off now and then.  At first we wondered why not just get someone else to ask the questions....easy enough job.  But then we realized there is no one else!  In the past, there would be a librarian, or a singer or dancer, etc. to fill in when necessary, but there is no one else!  And that, to me, is not acceptable.  Clearly, HAL has cut too many positions and that is concerning!

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1 minute ago, sansterre said:

For us, the activities offered usually enough.  We don't like having a movie in the Mainstage/Theater, but usually find the dueling pianos, or watch a movie in our room.  

But yesterday there was no evening trivia and today there is no afternoon trivia.  For us, that is a highlight and we miss it when it doesn't occur twice a day.  I understand that the assistant CD could be sick or need a night off now and then.  At first we wondered why not just get someone else to ask the questions....easy enough job.  But then we realized there is no one else!  In the past, there would be a librarian, or a singer or dancer, etc. to fill in when necessary, but there is no one else!  And that, to me, is not acceptable.  Clearly, HAL has cut too many positions and that is concerning!

I appreciate your feedback.  It is very discouraging to hear.  I hope they realize and turn things around quickly.

I would like to take longer voyages with HAL.  We will see how it goes this Fall.  We are not ones to always need to be busy, but, it is nice to have options!

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Once, several years ago, I was quite discouraged with some of the non-events on a HAL cruise. I wrote a long letter to the president's office in Seattle (more to vent than anything else). Surprisingly, I got a very nice 2-page response with a freebie included for a future cruise.

When we were on Zaandam from Buenos Aires to FLL in March/April, there was nothing in the When & Where about knitters getting together. I bellyached three times (on behalf of Karen) and eventually they indicated that "Seattle" needed to pre-approve that kind of non-host activity prior to the cruise. I appealed and they eventually agreed to post one-time, a notice about needleworkers getting together in the Explorer's Lounge. It worked, several showed up and they planned their own things after that.

Since then, we have discovered the name of the person in Seattle for our upcoming Tales of the South Pacific cruise and have email her directly, asking that something be posted for sea days (20+ out of 51 days!). We'll see what happens.

If you have a significant concern with something that is or is not happening on a ship, send the letter. If you are polite and make a salient point, you will be assigned a case number and get a response. Let them know in Seattle what you think. This forum is good, but writing a letter is more effective.

Jim

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3 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

It's fun reading this thread while on the same trip -- everyone gets different pictures and has different experiences. Thanks for your blog here!

 

Rather than post some of my pictures and posts, I'll just mention that mine are included with my blog at www.writerondeck.com. If it is easier, you can subscribe there by email and get each new post that way.

 

Onward to Bergen!

Thanks for joining us here.  My writing isn't near as good as yours so I do recommend everyone check our you blog as mentioned above.  Her photos and writing are high quality!

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The Mariner Society Ceremony and Luncheon - around 900 Mariners are aboard!

There was hardly an open seat at the Mariner Ceremony.  Lots of medals were given out.  The Bronze were done prior to individual recognition, followed by many silver and gold medals to people who were individually recognized.  One couple was not able to easily stand up so the captain and HD went to them and sat down beside them on the edges of the settee - a nice touch to be sure.

Unfortunately, the strings did not play.  It would have been a wonderful opportunity for 900 people to enjoy their music.  As well, their music would add dignity to the ceremony.

The first photo is of Captain Vaarjes, following his short speech and toast by CD Jonathan.

At the bottom, the menu.  I hope it is readable. Not sure why it is titled Baltic and Scandinavian, but OK - not a big deal.  Except that there were no dessert cookies, it was similar to most Mariner Luncheons.

We always enjoy the ceremony and luncheon when we talk with other serious HAL travelers.

 

IMG_0631.jpg

IMG_0632.jpg

IMG_0627.jpg

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  On 8/12/2019 at 5:40 AM, Wehwalt said:

Here are a couple of photographs. This was from Prins Christian Sound. You got this iceberg from an angle but I guess it was never really facing the port side. Regrettably there is nothing that gives you a sense of scale:

IMG_3019.thumb.jpeg.f05b6473d44a878503b9aa9bea3c6e30.jpeg

 

Wow , we never saw tabular icebergs like this before this year . In January we saw one 11 miles long and the sense of scale was that it took an hour to sail past .

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7 hours ago, sansterre said:

Great photos Newbie53.  I especially like this one when ports are welcoming.  I see all ages and some men with brass instruments too;  nice of all of them to come out to meet us on a cold rainy morning!

Thanks.  It was the music that caught my attention as I was walking up from the tender dock.  The kids all had these white capes on with hearts, "love", etc.  Moms pushing young ones in strollers, it was great.

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5 hours ago, sansterre said:

The Mariner Society Ceremony and Luncheon - around 900 Mariners are aboard!

 

 

What constitutes being a mariner for this event?  Is it the number of stars, or a certain number of sea days?

We have sailed HAL before, but are still just one star, so I assume that is why we did not get an invite.  Not a big deal, just curious.

 

Sue

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18 minutes ago, newbie53 said:

 

What constitutes being a mariner for this event?  Is it the number of stars, or a certain number of sea days?

We have sailed HAL before, but are still just one star, so I assume that is why we did not get an invite.  Not a big deal, just curious.

 

Sue

Good question Sue.  Anyone who has previously sailed with Holland America is a Mariner.  

My guess is that your cabin # is an even number and you are returning to Boston on the Zuiderdam.  Because there were so many, they split it up between even and odd numbered cabins.  The even numbered cabins will have their Mariner Society Ceremony and Lunch on the way back to Boston. 

Our number is even but we asked to attend today because our friend (last photo above) was honored as having the most sea days of all Mariners - over 1600 days aboard HAL ships!

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11 hours ago, sansterre said:

Knitters are supposed to unite in the Ocean Bar, Port side on Deck 3 on Sea Days.  I have gone twice and knitted by myself from 10:15 until 11:30 and not seen anyone else.  I understand that "knitting girl" knits there at 9:00.  All are welcome to join us.  The lighting is not great, but they will turn the lights up if you ask the bar staff (starboard side).  Hope to see more knitters there on the way back to Boston.  And yes, Ping Pong players and Scattegory players are encouraged to meet in the When and Where.  But not stitchers and knitters.  It just doesn't seem fair.

Today was Mariner Day for us from 10:00 until 12:00 so I didn't knit today.  Lots of awards were in the Theatre and lunch was served on both floors of Dining Room as 900 of the 1600 (rounded off figures) are HAL Mairiners.  Pictures later!  

At 1:00 (in 5 minutes) I will go to Arts and Crafts which is in MDR3 on Sea Days at 1:00.  That makes the When and Where.  We are now 6 hours ahead of EST.

Sansterre, I will happily join the knitters, as my DH and I will be on the return trip.  Perhaps you could keep in touch.  We are going to be in 6103.  Amy

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6 hours ago, bandlady74 said:

Sansterre, I will happily join the knitters, as my DH and I will be on the return trip.  Perhaps you could keep in touch.  We are going to be in 6103.  Amy

Yes, of course!  Join us!  Knitters unite!

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Good Morning from Bergen.  We sailed under the bridge at 6:40 this morning.  It is 52 degrees, and not raining so things look good for our 10:00 fjord trip.  Drizzling rain is expected off and on today.

I've pre-ordered a taxi to pick us up at the port at 9:00 and take us into town near the boat that will take us to the fjord.  Paul from Roll Call will share the cab with us.  Hoping it all works out, and plan to walk back to the ship later if it isn't raining.

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10 hours ago, sansterre said:

Good question Sue.  Anyone who has previously sailed with Holland America is a Mariner.  

My guess is that your cabin # is an even number and you are returning to Boston on the Zuiderdam.  Because there were so many, they split it up between even and odd numbered cabins.  The even numbered cabins will have their Mariner Society Ceremony and Lunch on the way back to Boston. 

Our number is even but we asked to attend today because our friend (last photo above) was honored as having the most sea days of all Mariners - over 1600 days aboard HAL ships!

Thank you for the explanation.  I am not surprised they would need more than one, but didn't realize how they divided it up.

 

Sue

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