Saga Rose Greenland Voyager August 2007

[dougnewmanatsea]

BTW the captain suggested that I might like sailing on the Saga sisters, They might be more my style.

That was a good suggestion. It would certainly be mine. I think you're probably most likely to find them to your liking.

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some MP people showing up on the Saga ships soon. Well, at least one already has, as Sir Jonathan is with Saga now.

[Saga Ruby]

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some MP people showing up on the Saga ships soon. Well, at least one already has, as Sir Jonathan is with Saga now.

 

Sir Jonathan who?

 

Ruby

[dougnewmanatsea]

Sir Jonathan who?

Sir Jonathan Neal. He was the cruise director on MARCO POLO. And no, I don't know what he did to get the "Sir" (he could be a baronet for all I know), but he is a heck of a nice guy.

[dougnewmanatsea]

On another note, it seems that Mr. Herrod has acquired AEGEAN I.

 

Made my day!

[franu]

On another note, it seems that Mr. Herrod has acquired AEGEAN I.

 

Made my day!

 

Mine too! It renews my faith that rumours can be true.

 

Aegean I is smaller than the MP. Are there any plans to stretch it? I hope not,

Fran

[Saga Ruby]

Fran, I meant to refer you also to Prinsendam which I sailed on as RVL Sun. Everything I read about this ship indicates a true "elegant explorer" and makes me anticipate my voyage in May 2009 to Sevastopol. And the price is the lowest I've paid in years, partly because it's in US dollars.

 

You can do an overview and virtual tours here:

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/ExploreShip.action?shipCode=P

 

Since you have a familiarity with Aegean I, do you have any thoughts to pass along?

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Ruby, the Prinsendam possesses a very impressive look, and the itinerary is great!

 

I'll be on another dam ship in four weeks, and I'll let you know after my return if HAL still does the chef's hat thing, though I expect that they'll be doing the Dutch headgear thing, as was done on my last HAL cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

Ruby, the Prinsendam possesses a very impressive look, and the itinerary is great!

 

I'll be on another dam ship in four weeks, and I'll let you know after my return if HAL still does the chef's hat thing, though I expect that they'll be doing the Dutch headgear thing, as was done on my last HAL cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Donald.

 

All the RVL ships had a flair and appeal to me so I spent ten years sailing as much as I could afford on those loverly ships. As I said, I got the giggles when I saw the Prinsendam deck plans and rememberd those tiny cabin corridors - hadn't thought of them in years.

 

Since there's nobody here but us chickens, I would like your advice. I don't want to be an old poop about the chef hats or Dutch hats nights, but can you give me some advice about avoiding those nights in the dining room? I assume pax are aware far ahead of time when these Hat Nights will be celebrated? Is Hat Night a farewell night?

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Ruby, I still have the daily programmes from the Zaandam. The chef's hat event occurred in mid-cruise, and it was mentioned in that day's programme, so you would be forewarned. It is called "Master Chef's Dance." I'm not sure if the dinner involving the national Dutch headgear is announced in the programme. I'll let you know after my next cruise.

 

Most of the diners good-naturedly donned the hats, but there was no obligation or pressure for me to do the same. I smiled and inspected my chef's hat, wore it for a couple of minutes for photographs, and then quietly set it aside, even if everyone else at my table continued to wear theirs. I could do without the dancing and singing by the dining room staff, though ... HAL should leave that to Carnival.

 

Donald.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Fran - I have no idea what Mr. Herrod plans on doing to AEGEAN I, but I doubt she'll be stretched.

 

She looks like a rather nice little ship, actually.

 

Ruby and Donald - Dutch Night is an age-old HAL tradition. I think the hats are silly and refuse to wear them, but I still attend Dutch Night for the food.

 

It is not usually announced in the daily program, but you can certainly find out ahead of time if you ask your head waiter. Some people don't like the food.

 

I haven't done the Master Chef's Dinner thing, but it doesn't appeal to me. I don't like singing and dancing waiters, including Baked Alaska parades and the like. I might have to go just to see what it's like, but in order to do that I would have to strongly resist the temptation to book the Pinnacle that evening.

[Saga Ruby]

How is your adventure going with your new website? Are you pleased about the "eyes" you are getting to your new site?

 

I have a friend who is interested in getting his feet wet in the same subject of travel on the Web but he is cautious about cranking up that kind of effort for perhaps little response. His goal is eventually to get advertisers and make it a paying job - build it from the bottom up. He travels a lot internationally and is always meeting people, so at least he can direct new friends to his blog.

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being best, how do you feel about the response to your "at sea" website? In reference to a business plan, are you where you projected to be by now? Do you feel that by posting on many different boards, it helps build an audience?

 

Ruby

[dougnewmanatsea]

Ruby - Thanks for asking about the site. I haven't had much time to really work on it lately, so I guess the short answer to your question would be that I have gotten out of it what I've put in... At this point, not a lot. ;)

 

I think (hope) that it could be a lot more successful with more effort, but right now it's on the back burner. I've put in only minimal effort over the past few months; I really ought to be updating it a few times a week, but right now I've slowed down to once every few weeks... Just enough for the site to hopefully not look dead until I have the time to update it more frequently again.

 

As for a business plan, as it isn't a business yet, there isn't one. It has cost very little in terms of time and money so I just went into it on a whim to see how it would work out. My intentions were to be farther along then I am right now, but that's purely because I expected to be able to put in more effort.

 

Posting on the forums has not been a huge help either, as I haven't a great deal of time for that... I mostly hang out on this thread now. :) Were I to post a lot more, I imagine I'd get a lot more hits, but then the only reason I'm allowed to have a link in my signature right now is because it's not a commercial site. Once it turned into a business, that link would be an ad, and a sort-of competitor's ad at that, so it would have to go away.

 

I'm sorry I can't offer more concrete advice.

[Kapricorn]

I found a photograph taken in 1999 aboard the old Westerdam, during my first cruise to Alaska. This was my first - and only time - wearing the Dutch cap at the Dutch Night dinner. I was good sports back in these days! The woman with me was one of the photographer's assistants.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

I found a photograph taken in 1999 aboard the old Westerdam, during my first cruise to Alaska. This was my first - and only time - wearing the Dutch cap at the Dutch Night dinner. I was good sports back in these days! The woman with me was one of the photographer's assistants. Donald.

 

So are you wearing a Dutch cap also? I'm confused. I recognize hers, but is yours a baseball cap or Dutch hat? Do you keep the cap that is perhaps presented at table? Do you buy it? Throw it overboard?

 

Thanks for the photo, Donald and, by the way, I have other questions about HAL for you. I'll present my list before you leave in April!

 

Ruby

[dougnewmanatsea]

So are you wearing a Dutch cap also? I'm confused. I recognize hers, but is yours a baseball cap or Dutch hat? Do you keep the cap that is perhaps presented at table? Do you buy it? Throw it overboard?

They're both Dutch caps; hers is the female version, his the male. I must admit it doesn't look identifiably "Dutch" to me either; the only reason I know what it is is that I'm a veteran of HAL!

 

It is indeed presented at the table and afterwards you can do whatever you want with it. Don't give them any ideas about selling them; that would be really tacky! ;)

[Kapricorn]

So are you wearing a Dutch cap also? I'm confused. I recognize hers, but is yours a baseball cap or Dutch hat? Do you keep the cap that is perhaps presented at table? Do you buy it? Throw it overboard?

 

It does look like a baseball cap, but that's due to the angle of the camera and shadows. We can keep the caps if we want - I took mine back to the cabin and tossed it into the trash can. It was not of good quality anyway. On subsequent HAL cruises I simply left them on the table.

 

Donald.

[Kapricorn]

Mercury arrived in Vancouver yesterday to begin the port's cruise season. I went to Canada Place to take a fond look at her. She even featured in this morning's Vancouver Sun.

 

The news article said that 850,000 passengers are expected on the 252 cruises in Vancouver this year, down from 960,000 passengers on 275 cruises last year. Celebrity returned Infinity to Seattle, keeping Mercury and Millennium here.

 

Donald.

[Kapricorn]

Recently I received my Sea Lines issue. It was interesting to read that Fred Olsen Cruise Lines' Balmoral was lengthened, with her new mid section given over almost entirely to cabins, with more than 100 of them designated for single occupancy. Olsen's Braemar will be similarly lengthened (I saw her in Grenada, a beautiful ship - see photograph). Congratulations to Olsen for accommodating solo cruisers!

 

I don't understand why major cruise lines are reluctant to have cabins for single occupants. Recently I booked a cruise which offered a OBC (On Board Credit) per occupant. I asked my travel agent since I had paid double fare, would I get two OBCs ... "No." Gee, cruise lines like to have it both ways. :(

 

Donald.

[Conte Di Savoia]

The cruise lines have not been kind to the single traveler and I think this is partly due to the change in ship design over the years and a change in the purpose of passenger ships. In the days of transoceanic travel the clientele often consisted of men traveling for business and they were not always with their families. There was a greater need for single occupancy cabins especially in First Class. The ships were not designed in the grid pattern we see today. Because of ventilators, pipes and other assorted physical structures, the decks were a warren of cabins placed in odd spots affording opportunity to fit in a small single occupancy cabin here and there. And then there are the economics. Apparently there are enough singles with enough disposable income to pay the premium. The only place where a single has the same break as a double is on board a plane.

 

I took a Mexican Riviera cruise on board Crown Odyssey, now Balmoral twenty years ago. She was very glitzy. Fred. Olsen seems to have Anglicized her somewhat, although some of the shiny brass and mirrors persist.

[Kapricorn]

Apparently there are enough singles with enough disposable income to pay the premium. The only place where a single has the same break as a double is on board a plane.

 

Hotels also does not charge singles double occupancy rate for booking their rooms. I've been in hotel rooms with two double beds and paid only the per person rate.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

The news article said that 850,000 passengers are expected on the 252 cruises in Vancouver this year, down from 960,000 passengers on 275 cruises last year. Donald.

 

I was gobsmacked to see these numbers. I knew that Alaska has become "infested" with cruise ships, but didn't think about the total numbers. So I looked up the population numbers in 2000 for Seward, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Juneau is 30,000+, Seward is 2,830+, and Ketchikan is 14,000+.

 

When you think about the massive impact of tourists to native population, the local culture will, by sheer numbers, shift to accommodate the money-mad tourists coming into their towns. I realize that this is an old story in the world of tourism throughout the ages, but I've never before been at the threshold to witness it. For instance, the Virgin Islands is no longer a tropical paradise, it is a saturation of retail stores. Money talks and local traditions walk.

 

I hope the summer cruise situation is, to the locals, like being a florist whereby they make the majority of their money on Valentine's Day, but I regret the inevitable disappearance of the tone and timbre of the Alaskan towns.

 

Fran - have you established a room or a wall in your home for your Marco Polo souvenirs?

 

Ruby

[Druke I]

Hello all.

 

Just back from a great trans-Atlnatic, Miami to Barcelona, on Oceania's Regatta.

 

Saga Ruby - Prinsendam (current) is a great ship, as others have noted. We were going to take her into the Baltic in '05, but got a much better price on Oceania's Regatta, so took her instead.

 

Again for Saga Ruby - did you see that a French yacht was "taken" by pirates off the coast of Somalia? The French Navy has sent a destroyer to try and rescure the crew (no passengers reported aboard).

[Saga Ruby]

Again for Saga Ruby - did you see that a French yacht was "taken" by pirates off the coast of Somalia? The French Navy has sent a destroyer to try and rescure the crew (no passengers reported aboard).

 

Good to have you back. Why yes indeed, I do remember us on Nautica off the Somali coast, wondering if that motorized skiff pulling up alongside was carrying weaponry or fish. I was on deck watching the "fishermen" coming up to us and, as they reached under that tiny deck, I drifted behind the largest steel beam I could find, knowing I couldn't make the door on the opposite side if they started shooting. You, of course, were unconcerned. How did you know they were going to hold up their fishing catch for us to admire?

 

So how was your Regatta crossing? Do you and Virginia have further cruise plans or are you keeping your options open? Don't forget to read the new posts on this thread. As always, the prose and information are timeless.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Just back from a great trans-Atlnatic, Miami to Barcelona, on Oceania's Regatta.

 

Welcome back! Did the Atlantic Ocean co-operate in giving you and Virginia a smooth crossing? How many transatlantics have you done?

 

Donald.

[Druke I]

Well, let's see.

 

SagaRuby, I was not concerned when we saw the fishing boats - we were not in waters normally associated with the Somali pirates - we were somewhat North of their haunts. They tend to stay South of the Horn of Africa, and we were North of the Horn of Africa. That, coupled with the US Navy destroyers that were in Oman (or was it Dubai?), I felt fairly safe. Perhaps it is my background, but I tend to be usually calm (unflappable?), and try not to let my imagination get the best of me.

 

Donald -Our crossing was very smooth, perhaps the second smoothest out of the half dozen trans-Atlantics we have done.

 

We've had some smooth trans-Pacifics also. (And a very rough run in the China Sea, attempting to outrun the back end of a typhoon, 11-86, on Golden Odyssey.)

 

SagaRuby - next planned is New Zealand/Australia, on Oceania's Nautica, 1-22-09.

 

If something comes along that really appeals to us, we'll look into it.