richwmn

April 25th, 2024 – Boston, MA Well, we are not actually in Boston yet, that is still over five hours off, although from the map it doesn’t look like we are that far away. We are headed Northwest at 10 knots. The temperature is currently 39°F / 4°C under clear skies. The humidity is 54% and the winds are a little over 17 mph. I already talked about my excursion yesterday. So we will pick up with the return to the ship. The tender ride in both directions was smooth, and upon returning to the ship lunch was being served in the Lido. All aboard was 1pm, but we didn’t get underway until around 2pm. Trivia at 1pm and 4pm was good. I had a Pinnacle Grill dinner scheduled with @catlet and met the others at the Crows Nest for a pre-dinner drink at 5. We made it on time to the Pinnacle Grill and had a good dinner and company. @kazu, Jacqui and Debbie had dinner scheduled at the same time and were seated next to us so we had a chance to talk to them as well. The meal went well, everything was cooked properly and was very tasty. We left Pinnacle Grill and went to the World Stage where comedian Alan Yenser was again the entertainment. In truth, I wasn’t impressed with his first show, and since this is a different ‘cruise’, the show last night was an exact repeat of that show. To be honest, most of his audience hadn’t seen the show before so it was new to them and he got about the same response as last time. I did leave the show a bit early and called it a night. All in all it was a nice day in Newport and on the ship. Here are today’s activities and menus –

I just looked since I bought some yesterday and found this note: " Through April 25th, various gift card brands will be unavailable as we perform system maintenance. We apologize the inconvenience and appreciate your patience while we work to improve AARP Rewards. "

April 24th, 2024 – Newport, RI It has been an interesting morning. But first, lets see about yesterday. It was a good day at sea yesterday. For what it is worth, the current trivia host is not, in my opinion, as good as we had on the Grand. The questions are fine, and we have done well. It just isn’t as much fun for me. Add to that, he doesn’t finish the 7pm trivia in time to make the 7:30 show as happened on the Grand. Last night the World Stage show was ‘The Volendam Repertory Company’ in ‘Guitar Rock’, a show that keeps moving and is very good. This was the third time I have seen the show, and it was still good. We will have three more shows by this troupe before they leave in Quebec City. After a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast I reported to the World Stage to join a HAL excursion for Newport. We were to report at 8:00am and tender together for a start time of 8:45 at the pier. We received our stickers, orange 21, and shortly after 8am we were called to go to the tender area. The tour organizer had the busses parked very close to the tender dock, and we took off right on time. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and his commentary was very good. We saw many majestic houses from the bus, until we arrived at one named ‘The Elms’. Here we were allowed to exit the bus and tour the house and grounds for about an hour. This house is very nice and the staff has done a great job of staging it for the visitors. After we left the house, it was back to the tenders and back on the ship around noon. It was a very pleasant day in Newport.

April 24th, 2024 – Newport, RI A quick note before leaving on an excursion – “The Mansions of Newport” Today’s activities and menus

April 23, 2024 – at sea, destination Newport, RI Good morning from a rocky Volendam. The ride North so far has been rougher than I remember from my previous relocation trips from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal. Or my memories could be thru rose colored glasses. Volendam is currently headed North and a bit East and we are currently near the North Carolina Virgina boarder. We are due into Newport tomorrow at 7 am for a short stay. The temperature is currently 55°F / 13°C under broken clouds. The winds are just under 29 mph and the humidity is 55%. For the most part of the day yesterday the ship had quite a bit of motion. We did have a full slate of activities and everything was well attended. Trivia was well attended and the questions were difficult. At 11am the Captain held the first of two Mariner receptions and I had a chance to talk to Jacqui and Debbie, along with Jim and Catherine. The reception had good attendence and everyone got a drink or two. After the Mariner reception we had lunch. After the 1 pm trivia session I headed to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. The event was well attended and HAL provided the usual water, tea, and cookies. We all introduced ourselves and several announcements were made. We then had some time to meet the other CC members. It is always nice to talk to the people we have chatted with on line for a while. Last night the World Stage show was scheduled to be the Singers and Dancers. Due to the ship’s motion that show was delayed until tonight and Elliott Finkel took the stage for his second show instead. He always does a good show and I’m sure he did last night as well, but I felt like a movie night so I stayed in. If the sea state co-operates we will have the Singers and Dancers tonight. Today’s activities and menus –

Yes, it seems to have taken care of things, thanks for checking back.

anything worth doing is worth overdoing!

April 22nd, 2024 – at sea, destination Newport, RI Back in the sea day routine. Early breakfast and a nice relaxing day. This morning we are proceeding North along the US coast, currently off Savannah, GA. Our bearing is North and we are moving at 16 knots. On the Sea View Pool deck it was sprinkling a little while ago, but not bad. The tv weather is showing broken clouds and a temperature of 72°F / 22°C with a humidity of 74% and winds at 12 mph. Yesterday was turn around day in Fort Lauderdale. It appeared that most of the ‘In Transit’ Guests took the option to stay on the ship and there were about 50 or so people in the Wajang Theater. Once all the disembarking Guests left the ship, and several had to be reminded as always, we proceeded to the terminal for our immigration scanning. That went smoothly, but again we had to wait for one Guest to show up so the ship could have a zero Guest count and we could return to the ship. He did finally show up and once he did we returned to the ship. It was again very nice to be on the ship for a little while with almost no other Guests. A little after 11am the new Guests started arriving with their hand luggage. The cabins were ready about 11:30 and the ship settled down a bit. The Lido restaurant was open about the time the new Guests boarded the ship. Sail Away was originally scheduled for 3pm but was closer to 4pm. Just prior I was able to meet @kazu Jacqui and we manned the rail for Sail Away together. It was nice finally meeting her after working together on various CC projects over the years. I also got to see some other friends that I knew would be boarding. Last night on the World Stage was a presentation of ‘Origin Story’, which I watched several cruises ago. While it is a nice presentation, I didn’t feel the need to watch it again. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood again, so the night went well. Today is full of activities, including some special ones not on the Daily sheet. There is a Captain’s Reception for 4* and above at 11am, and a Wine Tasting at 2pm. Here are the general activities and menus –

I just ran into this problem (among others) on Volendam this morning. I did your fix just now and will see if the problem persists.

@POA1 You got where I sat for most of the afternoon, but Jacqui came and got me as they had a space a bit forward. PTV got us from left, someone Jacqui met, Debbie, Jacqui, me

Seaview pool port side

Seaview pool port side now

In Transit Guests are back aboard, pretty quick process today -- about 60 Guests involved

April 21st, 2024 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Turnaround Day! In a short time Volendam will zero down Guests and a new cruise will begin. I have had a good time so far and expect it to continue. Half my trivia team is continuing on, so we will be recruiting three new players. It is currently 72°F / 22°C with 83% humidity and no wind according to the ship. Local forecast says 76°F and increasing to 85°F at 1pm. It is 7:31, and Daniel is already calling for self-assist passengers to start leaving the ship. At 9:15 the returning Guests who are not leaving the ship are to report to the Wajang Theater to do the immigration thing. When we are finished with that, we will return to the empty ship and the new Guests will start boarding shortly after. Last night was a normal final cruise night. Lots of goodbyes, and changing of information. One of the people I said goodbye to was a trivia partner for the last 109 days. He is also a Fort Lauderdale resident, so he has a short journey home. The other trivia partners that are leaving were for the last 15 days and are flying back to their home in San Diego. We won the last general trivia at 1pm, and just missed the final themed trivia, ‘Languages’, at 3pm. I have had a good run so far at trivia on this cruise. After trivia the final bingo was at $2,700 or so. I bought a ticket for the free cruise lottery, then decided to play bingo – not a normal thing for me. The bingo package was for four games and a scratch off ticket. The scratch off ticket got me a $5 free play chip in the casino, the bingo got me zilch. The bingo package was $39, so I spent $59 on ‘gambling’ last night. On the World Stage last night we had comedian Adam Yenser. Talking at trivia, no one could remember seeing him before. He was listed as being a comedian and Emmy Award winner, and a former writer for Ellen DeGeneres. His comedy was uneven and didn’t say too much about Ellen. It could be that he never got in his groove, but all he got were a few polite laughs. I need to wrap this up because the internet is going away shortly for an upgrade of sorts. Today’s activities --

I'll have to either mail you snacks and drinks or catch you next time, I'm not leaving the ship!