Not Red Bay Labrador

My day started very early with a commotion in the hallway outside our cabin at 1am. There were people talking then a vacuum cleaner running- very unusual at 1 am. I got up and some of our carpet was wet. It appears a pipe had burst and things needed to be dried. They set up a drier in our room throughout the day. Visits and calls from the Guest Relations staff and finally a plate of chocolate for us in the evening.

So instead of Red Bay, Labrador we had another sea day and we busied ourselves with a variety of on-board activities. I went to a talk about Captain Bligh and his career, did a 5km run on the elliptical trainer , and went to another wine tasting. Deen went to another cooking demonstration and the wine tasting.

At lunch the Captain came on the PA and said they've seen lots of icebergs and whales on the radar but of course we saw none of this due to the fog. Deen is getting more anxious to see some whales which apparently other passengers have seen.






A couple of pictures from on board - a photo of the main dining room then the on board gym. More to follow.

Holland America Line (HAL) tends to the older passenger although there are certainly younger people than us on board ,the clientele is definitely older. Lots of people mobility impaired. So last night walking to dinner , Deen using her cane, we actually passed people slower than us.

We've gone through a few time changes and are now 2 hours ahead of Eastern Time. Because it's all so gradual you don' t really notice it. They also publish two short daily newspapers: the New York Times Digest and another called The Canadian.

Pictured below is a shot of the atrium, our dinner companions Henny, Keese, and Diane with Deen, the ever changing map of the ship' s position, and the carpet in the elevator- after a few days at sea it is very easy to forget things like what day it is.



For those interested I have now purchased two baseball caps: one at Fenway Park in Boston commemorating Fenway's 100th anniversary and another from HAL. Another sea day tomorrow as we head to Nanortalik, Greenland for Friday.
RCD's iPad

Location:Somewhere between Newfoundland and Greenland

Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Yahoo our first port after two plus days at sea and here we are back in Canada . The True North Strong and Free! Population of Newfoundland is about 500000 people and about 120000 moose. Gasoline sells for 129.8 cents per liter which translates to $Cdn 1.298 per liter.

It was overcast and about 20C and we dressed for rain and cool. So it was OK but foggy. The ship had entered Corner Brook through the Humber Arm which becomes the Humber River. The river and others like it were carved from retreating glaciers.

We saw a number of people fishing for salmon and 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the closing of the Newfoundland cod fishery. Many people now fish for shrimp and crab and other species of fish.

Our bus took over an hour to drive us up to Gros Morne National Park. As it was low cast cloud we were unable to see Gros Morne Mountain but the remaining views were spectacular. There are the Table Mountains which as the name implies are relatively flat and ,due to their composition of heavy metals,are barren.

We saw Bonne Bay, Norris Point, Rocky Harbour, and the Rocky Harbour light house. At the light house a delightful young Parks Canada guide in her best Newfie accent gave us a lot of the history on Newfoundland and the western shore. While in Norris Point we also learned a newfie expression for a cup of tea.... Mug-up. We had lunch in Rocky Harbour and the dessert consisted of two tarts, one of which was baked apple berries, a small yellow berry- very tasty.

Pictured below are your faithful correspondent with a bottle of Newfie wine called The Funky Puffin (I have not tried it yet but will report later on when I do) and a few scenes from inside the park.


The second picture is the light house at Rocky Harbour, Deen and I with Bonnie and Geoff from North Vancouver, a view from up in the hills, and a fishing boat in Norris Point getting ready to go out fishing for turbot. Bonnie is also a blogger and both she and her husband had volunteered at the 2010 Winter Games in Whistler, Bonnie at the Sliding Centre and Geoff at the anti-doping program at the down hill skiing. I didn't meet either one of them when I was there.


Upon our return to the ship Deen and I went up to happy hour in the Crow's Nest and managed to spend a few hours with a variety of people while enjoying wine and the drink of the day. While there the Captain came on the PA with an announcement. He said that due to fog and ice berg conditions we would be proceeding slowly from Corner Brook up the strait between Labrador and Newfoundland but would not be stopping at Red Bay, Labrador. Disappointing but better to be safe. So an extra sea day before we arrive in Nanortalik, Greenland.

A very nice dinner again in the MDR with our Victoria and Vancouver table mates. Early to bed.

From RCD's iPad

Location:South West Coast of Newfoundland

Second Sea Day

Our second day at sea we were steaming somewhere between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland . Still cool and foggy out there.

So we stayed inside and did various on board things. I went to a couple of Explorer series lectures: one was on the 3 ports we would be seeing- Corner Brook, Red Bay, and Nanortalik, Greenland; the second was about the early years of Winston Churchill and his rise to fame as both an army officer and a writer of books and for newspapers. Both were very interesting and covered a lot of ground.

After lunch I went to a Cruise Critic Roll Call camera club meeting- the cameras there were well above my point and shoot. I then hurried off to a 2pm wine tasting expecting to meet Deen there. Sat with Bonnie and Geoff from North Vancouver and had lovely time tasting 3 reds and 2 whites. No Deen....... She was in a cooking class that didn't finish until after 3pm and then she joined me at the wine tasting which sadly for her was over - luckily there will be more! Her cooking class she very much enjoyed and thought the people there were all a hoot. She thought that even I (a non -cook) would enjoy it.Again luckily this too will be repeated.

A nap was next on the agenda and that took us up to dinner time. Our dinner companions, Keese and Henny from Victoria and Diane from Vancouver are all very experienced cruisers ( 4 star Mariners) and are fascinating to talk to. We went with Diane to the Ocean Bar for post dinner drinks and even sat with the band for a while - 3 guys from Las Vegas who now make their career playing on cruise ships. ( NB to Ron G- one of the band uses his iPad for his music as you did). They'll be doing a world cruise starting in January as is Diane, all on board the ms Amsterdam.

One of the interesting aspects of the Ocean Bar is all the single women who gather there for dancing. The ship has 4 male social hosts whose job is to dance with the ladies gathered there. There are an amazing number of single passengers ,mostly older women.


Pictured below are Deen on the right and Abra from Washington state on the left. Abra is the Roll Call organizer.



This next photo is Mike and Neesh from New Hampshire and was taken on the formal night with pre drinks in the Crows Nest bar at the top and front of the ship. Mike is also known as Saltdog or Salty and is a fellow blogger and an actual working engineer.



Later today I 'll do a a separate posting of our day in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

From RCD's iPad

Location:Gulf of St. Lawrence

Depart Boston and a Sea Day

The scene at the hotel on Saturday morning wasn't as bad as expected. Lots of people with lots of bags wanting to go to the ship. Somehow the young man loading the van with all of us and the bags made it all happen and we arrived at the cruise terminal about 11:45am. Our bags disappeared in to the system along with our box of a dozen wine bottles. Check in proceeded quickly helped by the fact of Deen's cane which got us in the disabled queue.

After we found our room we went up to lunch in the Main Dining Room (MDR) and by coincidence met two of the Roll Call couples that are the main organizers of the Meet and Greet. Instant friends.... After lunch and some unpacking by Deen and exploring by me there was the safety drill. Afterwards the Roll Call gathering wearing our Mardi GRAS beads and meeting more of the people that we only knew on-line. Very nice to be able to put faces to names. I also had my welcome aboard Mojito. It was very hot on the rear deck so the drinks went down very nicely.

More unpacking as the rest of our bags and the wine arrived in our room. Then off to dinner at 8 pm. We are seated at a table for 6 but our 4 table mates were no shows. It seems a lot of people skipped the MDR on the first night. After dinner we went to the showroom for the Cruise Director welcome then off to bed.

The first sea day started with a Meet and Greet in the Crows Nest . Well organized and attended and we all had name tags. The Captain and some of his key officers attended to welcome us all. A great opportunity to meet more people. There are 1183 passengers on board ,including it would seem lots of Texans.

We attended an Explorer series talk about the early Vikings explorations of Europe. It was very interesting including some aspects of their settlement of Yorkshire in the 864- 956 period. York was called Jorvik and some of the place names in Yorkshire have Viking roots.

Most of the day was spent off the coast of Nova Scotia and I emailed our friends there to ask if they could see us waving. For the most part it was foggy. Happy hour drinks in the Crows Nest . Deen was very happy that she finally saw a whale. It was also our first formal night and we were both appropriately dressed.

Also at dinner we met our other 4 table mates, all Canadians from BC and Alberta. Very companionable. After dinner we went to the Broadway show.








Pictured are Randy having his welcome aboard drink, a scene from the show, the formal Deen and Randy, and the Captain. The next picture includes 3 shots from the Viking lecture and a view of the ship' s swimming pool. With the ship's movement the pool has become like a wave pool.

From RCD's iPad

Location:Off the Coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Bahston

Day 1
We were a touch later leaving home than expected but quickly made it south to cross the border at Ogdensberg, NY. Beautiful day for a road trip. Upstate NY is very scenic but it took way too long to get to Vermont and the I89. Note to self: when we go home in August we're going through Montreal.

We had emailed our friends Ann and Jeri in Boston about finding a store to buy wine before we board the ship. They replied that there are stores on the I93 in New Hampshire and sure enough there is a big one at a rest stop on the highway. Now have 6 reds and 6 whites to take on board.

We arrived in Boston at rush hour and had to cross the city using the I93 and the tunnel. That took for ever... Then we arrived late at our hotel in Quincy (pronounced Quinzey by the locals) and got lost trying to get to the hotel. We could see it just couldn't get there.

Our two friends met us at the hotel and took us for a quick drive around town including the JFK Library and the cruise terminal. Very pretty. Back to the hotel for dinner then bed.

Day 2
Our plan for the day was take the subway in to the city then do the HOHO bus tour. We went past where our friends live on the Freedom Trail then saw Old Ironsides. Further on past the TD Garden (see in the picture below ) and the iconic Bobby Orr statue. We then got to Fenway Park and did the tour there. Lots more pictures some below.


We met up with a lady at Fenway who is a hockey fan from Nashville and had a great conversation with her. Deb from Nashville wanted me to put in a plea to her team GM to please hurry up and re-sign Shea Weber. She grew up as a stalker of hockey players in Pittsburgh.

Back on the bus we got off at the Public Gardens and then wandered through Boston Common. We then walked slowly over to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Had to have a beer at Cheers- were surprised when Norm and Cliff sat with us. OK it was really Ann and Jeri then we went to dinner at a very nice Italian place in the north end. Finally back to the hotel and some much needed sleep.


From RCD's iPad

Location:Hancock St,Quincy, Mass.

No Deen You Can't Take The Kitchen Sink

The packing is 99% done with just a few last minute things to go. We expect to be out the door sometime after 8 AM Thursday morning for the big trip . You can see in picture below the many suitcases that we will be taking . I did have to tell Deen "no kitchen sink" but I don't know if she believed me. For a trip like this there are lots of things to take .We are going to be going for 38 days so that alone means a lot of stuff. I have no idea what her plan would have been if we were flying.


We will be in variable weather. We start out in Ottawa at 33C then in Boston the same thing .As we head north temperatures start to drop ,for example In Newfoundland the next few days is between 21-24C. Reykavijk is between 15 and 17 C. Over in Oslo they're running between 14 and 16C. We're not sure what the weather will be like but we expect it to get cooler. It could be icy or windy. Could be rain. Just not sure. We have to plan for all eventualities . I even have gloves . Of course on board the ship you want to dress nicely so that means nice clothes according to my wife.

The car is at the garage today getting windshield wiper transmission arms replaced. While we haven't had much rain lately you can't make a trip like this without planning for the eventuality of rain. Tomorrow morning the van will be ready and the Captain will say " Engineer all ahead full". Not sure how the Co-Captain will respond to that as Deen is driving the first leg.


From RCD's iPad

Location:Home

Panic and Excitement

Well here we are 3 weeks away from our sailing date and one of is experiencing a certain sense of panic while both of us are excited and anxious to get going. This trip has been a long time in the planning as we started to think about it in 2010. We were on another cruise in May 2011 with my brothers and their wives when we actually booked it. We even paid for it over 2 months ago.

The clothes are getting ready and all the other stuff seems to be ready too. The many suitcases will be packed in the days before we leave home. No airline restrictions here- just the size of my van and the number of suitcases we have.

Deen has been very active on the Cruise Critics website Roll Call for this cruise (me too but not as much). It's been a great way to meet some of our fellow travelers and we' ll get to actually meet many of them at the first Meet and Greet. At the first such event we're all encouraged to wear Mardi Gras beads to aid in identification.One of the Roll Call people , a lady from Vancouver named Bonnie, helped with some of this blog creation. Shore excursions have been arranged ,some through other passengers on the Roll Call,others through Holland America, and some places we are doing on our own.

I sometimes joke that this trip will be like a Technology Noah's Ark ie two of everything : cameras, cell phones, computers, Kindles, and all the associated cables and chargers. The ship's Engineering Dept. will have to keep extra generators active just to power all my electronics.

When we arrive in Boston on Thursday July 12 we are meeting friends from Barbados who live in Boston. Jeri and Ann will be taking us around a bit and we' ll be having dinner with them both evenings.

Not sure when the next posting will be. Could happen while we are still in Boston or maybe after we've left port. After that I'll be looking for free or inexpensive wi-fi places to transmit. The ship can be expensive to use their system although I will be buying time on board.



From RCD's iPad

Location:Home