Copper10-8

Have a great trip on the Queen, Roy! Fair Winds and Following Seas! 😀

Unlucky ship; caught fire three times during her career. After the third time, she was sold for scrap and towed to Kaohsiung, Taiwan where she was reduced to razor blades in 1984

And if you're really, really interested 🙂 in the LAFD / LA City Fire Maritime Operations Division, here's the remainder, besides Boat 2. LAFD has five fireboats total, so the L.A. Harbor is well protected from teh water #1 - Boat 1 (FS 111 San Pedro-Fish Harbor) - 2003 Kvichak Marine Industries 39' Rapid Response Fireboat #2 - Boat 3 (FS 49 Wilmington-East Harbor) - 2002 Kvichak Marine Industries 39' Rapid Response Fireboat #3 - Boat 4 "Bethel F. Gifford" (FS 49 Wilmington-East Harbor) - 1962 Albina Engine and Machine Works 76' fireboat #4 - Boat 5 (FS 110 Fort MacArthur) - 2002 Kvichak Marine Industries 39' Rapid Response Fireboat

Hey Roy; here's a better pic of LA City Boat 2, the "Captain Warner L. Lawrence" out of Fire Station 112 / San Pedro - Ports 'o Call. She's a 2003 Nichols Brothers Boat Builders 105' fireboat with lots of water canons

Humanity is a favorite, but we also like "In Tandem," their Latin show, which has the BB King's male vocalist in it

Hi Jeroen; So, we saw one brand new show last week - "Move" - by the Step One dancers, and they did one of their older shows "Humanity" The plan is to add two vocalists to the six dancers and come out with brand new shows between the end of 2023 and the beginning of the 2024 Alaska season. Unknown at this time if that new group will still be known as the Step One dancers (the vocalists will not dance, at least not like the Step One group dances) or if they will go back and name them "ship name cast"

"Move," the brand new show by Step One; Pretty good!

Thanks for the wishes y'all! Flying home today from Vancouver, BC after seven days on Nieuw Amsterdam in combination with a 4-day land tour of Alaska. Had a great time!

That's happening as we speak here on Nieuw Amsterdam with/by a trio (piano/bass/vocalist/guitar) playing dance music inside the Ocean Bar

Hi y'all; we are currently on Nieuw Amsterdam in Alaska and learned about some entertainment additions to come. This may be old news so, if it is, please ignore it! HAL will be adding two vocalists to the group of six Step One dancers and is also adding new shows, one of which called "Move," they performed last Monday evening (without the vocalists). Once in place, it will start looking a bit more like the old performance casts of several years ago prior to the introduction of Step One. Also learned that they are bringing back Lincoln Center Stage for performances, not nightly in the Explorations Lounge, but on the Main Stage, two to three times a week. These changes/additions will be introduced on the different ships towards the end of this year, and will be completed prior to the start of the 2024 Alaska season

Excellent news about Scrapnana, thanx!

Thanks Roy! We'll be southbound to Vancouver out of Whittier, AK on Nieuw A after doing a 3-day land tour from Fairbanks via Denali to Whittier Have a great time on QM 2 and Serenity, but I know you will!

We'll do it for you, Roy, starting next Sunday! All the best until you can get your next one! Did you read Crystal is going to be building four new ships?

Two fellow Belgians! 🤪

The only thing the Oosterdam staff, via Guest Services, could have/prob. should have done in this apparent traumatic experience for the kids, since this particular obstructed view cabin is in close proximity to one of the housed lifeboats, was provide advanced notice of the scheduled maintenance to the occupants the day before. As already has been said, they - Guest Services - do this routinely when the hardworking sailors conduct maintenance and/or a washdown on the balcony cabins. Chalk it up to a learning experience for both Guest Services (based on the reaction they got), and the 8 and 12-year olds. Oh yeah, as far as the occupants/kids already having experienced the boats being lowered for tendering early in the morning upon arrival at a tender port, looking at Oostie's itinerary, the only tendering was done two days ago in Santorini and that is usually provided by mandatory shore based tenders as opposed to the ship's own tenders. Plus, as we know, only the ship's tenders are lowered for that process, not the lifeboats, so if it's a lifeboat outside this cabin, it would have happily remained in place. 🧐

Mr. Blockschip; what kind of camera do you use? Awesome pics! Btw, it's good to meet a fellow totally domesticated, well trained, 100% house broken husband! I can relate 🤙

Part of Zaandam's nice fitness center with some of the free weights on their racks visible in the back behind the machines