Copper10-8

Yes, it is! Very familiar with the Sint, "zijn boot uit Spanje, en zijn paard," Having grown up in Amsterdam in my youth. My prents used to have our neighbor loudly knock on our door and when us kids, opened it, there was a large bag of presents sitting there and no one around. Great memories! Dutch Sinterklaas really has nothing to do with Christmas. His character is based on the patron saint of children

Have a great cruise, Father! Enjoy!

They used to have this dude make an appearance for the kiddies onboard. Make sure you bring a carrot for his white horse 😉

Hope you advised guest services / security about the weed smoking. Although things covering that topic have changed in certain states, ours being one of them, it is still not allowed on Carnival Corp cruise ships, incl. medical Mary Jane. I hate that smell, but that's a different topic

Time for an Elfstedentocht / Eleven cities tour in Friesland in 2023! Last one was in 1997!!

With the way things are going with this particular poster, it wouldn't surprise me if the Panamanians refuse Zuidy transit through their canal this Sunday and she'll wind up in Dutch Harbor, AK doing winter Bering Sea cruises to Vladivostok and back

True that!

I was referring to her ''remodeled'' stern, not one of HAL's best moves

Ever try Rusted Lasagna? Taste takes a bit getting used to................

She was one of four smaller ships that left the HAL fleet during the suspension of operations after Covid struck in 2020, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and her ugly duckling sister Veendam were the others. She was initially sold to Seajets who renamed her Aegean Myth, but she never sailed for them, instead spending about two years in layup in Greece. Around September of this year, she was purchased by French-owned start-up Compagnie Française de Croisières (CFC) who renamed her Renaissance. She hasn't started sailing for them yet and is currently at the Damen Shiprepair yard in Brest, France for repainting and upgrades

As stated, "Dinner at the Culinary Arts Center" was on Koningsdam when she first joined the fleet in May, 2016. The venue has since been changed to Club Orange and the CAC concept itself became America's Test Kitchen (ATK) in October 2016 however, it also has gone by the wayside starting in early 2020. There was talk about HAL restarting it as regional cooking from the various ports visited but then Covid hit and it, the regional food concept, has not been initiated. Dunno where that stands as we speak Reimagined Culinary Arts Center Now Also a Dinner Venue As guests make their way along the culinary promenade, they’ll pass the Culinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine magazine. On Koningsdam, the center becomes a dedicated shipboard setting with a dramatic show kitchen and individual cooking stations that will be used exclusively for Culinary Arts Center activities such as cooking demonstrations and hands-on classes by visiting celebrity chefs and the ship’s own experts. Regionally inspired workshops, as well as kids’ and teens’ cooking classes, also will be featured. Large mirrors, viewing screens and an open kitchen make it possible for everyone to watch the food preparation and learn from the comfort of their table. http://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/KODM_Culinary_Arts_Center.jpg In the evening, the room transforms into a new dining concept called Dinner at the Culinary Arts Center, an immersive farm-to-table experience where the chefs prepare simple, artisanal dishes in the show kitchen and guests enjoy each course as it’s freshly prepared. Every meal will emphasize fresh, thoughtfully sourced selections while incorporating select ingredients harvested from a glass-enclosed growing area just off the kitchen. Lining the entry to the Culinary Arts Center are nine interactive displays that allow guests to explore the lives of food and wine luminaries, their culinary secrets, recipe tips, favorite dishes and more.

Just a little kiss for good ol' Maasie

So, as part of your lousy cruise so far, you are lamenting about the number of medical emergencies involving your shipmates/fellow pax, resulting in one of them having to be medically disembarked which, you say took six hours to accomplish by the Mexican authorities?

To dock, or to anchor and tender, that's the question 😉 You might wonder what or who decides where a cruise ship goes in any particular port around the globe. This depends on a number of factors. First of all the cruise company makes a booking, normally two years in advance. The earlier you are, the better chance you have to get in. Then it comes to docking or anchoring (when both options are available) If a ship uses the port as a turn over/turnaround port (i.e. disembarking and embarking guests) that ship will dock at the passenger terminal. For a normal day call, so not a/an disembarkation/embarkation day, she could be assigned to another dock besides the one with the cruise terminal. If the ship is on a normal day call, then the assigned location depends on the following factors: 1. Length of available dock 2. Number of guests on board 3. Arrival and departure time 4. Frequency of calling. (a 7-day ship takes precedence over a 10-day ship here) 5. Draft of the ship and the ships length. 6. Harbor fees (some ports go on tonnage, some on ships length, some on number of guests on board) 7. What does not fit in, will have to anchor and tender. Based on the above criteria the harbor master, especially in a busy port, will decide 24 hours before the arrival where the ship will go. If there is only one cruise ship calling during the day, then she will get the prime/numero uno spot in the harbor. If there are multiple ships, see above Now in addition, it's not unheard of for a ship that is initially tendering, to move into the harbor and dock, after a berth becomes available, i.e. after a ship previously at that berth, takes off for open sea

The 32-year old, Spanish-built, Vidanta Elegant, the former Crown Monarch for Commodore Cruise Line, and a whole slew of other names: Cunard Crown Monarch, Nautican, Walrus, casino ship (Hong Kong) Havens Star, casino ship (Hong Kong) Neptune, Rembrandt II, Jules Verne, Alexander von Humboldt (Phoenix Seereisen), and Voyager (Voyages of Discovery), was purchased by Mexican-owned Hoteles Dinamicos SA de CV / Grupo Vidanta in March 2017. The ship's previous owners, All Leisure Group, had gone belly up and Voyager had been laid up after being arrested in Singapore for unpaid bunker bills. Under her new owners, she was renamed Vidanta Alegria in August 2017, and sailed to the Navantia yard in Cadiz, Spain, followed by more yard time at Cantieri del Mediterraneo in Naples, Italy for extensive refurbishment. In January 2019, after being renamed Vidanta Elegant, she left the Naples yard and made a trans-Atlantic crossing, followed by a Panama Canal transit, arriving in Mazatlan, Mexico. In November 2020, she made her first stop in Puerto Vallarta. Vidanta Elegant, was scheduled to sail a three-day "preview cruise" on April 14, 2022 from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta for guests of the Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta resort, which is located about 20 minutes from the Puerto Vallarta airport. I don't believe she has done anything else besides having been moored in Maztalan at the Terminal de Transbordadores, so not at the usual Terminal Maritima / Cruise ship terminal there. Having said all that, Vidanta Elegant has a blue hull and the small cruise ship seen leaving PV yesterday was all white! The plot thickens......................

I checked several of the cruise schedule sites and only was able to find the K-dam, Bliss and Panorama in PV today. Having said that, FloridaGal50 received info that there was a fourth, smaller, all-white cruise ship that departed PV earlier in the day. That one just doesn't show up in the scheduled so perhaps it was the "Flying Dutchman"

Ever had a Wang Wang? The HAL bartenders will have no prob making one for you.........

Kinda wondering who the 3rd ship is..........Map only shows Norwegian Bliss (1,094 feet in length) at Muelle No. 1, and Carnival Panorama (1,059 feet in length) at Muelle No. 3 in port today. Could be that K-dam, at 983 feet, is too long for Muelle No. 2 with those two biggies on either side. No space for maneuvering/parking unless she has one of those "self-parking" thingies on her bridge............

De nada Senora! 😉 Is Henk Draper K-dam's captain or Robert-Jan Kan? And have you had a "Broodje Kroket" at the Grand Dutch Cafe yet? Highly recommended!

The tender dock in PV is in the corner, right in between Muelles (Docks) #1 and #2 which will put you right smack across the street from the PV Wal-Mart for your local shopping experience 😉 - see map. Also as an FYI in this discussion, crew will still get crew leave, even when tendering, providing that process runs smooth and yes, the PV Wal-Mart is a major crew fav 😉

Just a heads up, PV has room/docking space for three large cruise ships - see pic - at Muelles 1, 2 and 3. If K-dam will be tendering on 19 and 26 Nov, as the RCI ship in the pic is doing, they drew the short end of the stick....twice. That's an old pic, btw, but the three docks remain the same as we speak

I'm bringing this bad boy so we don't run out / Learned that trick in 2020 when tp became scarce...........................

Reminds me of HAL comedian Kevin Jordan, the former LAPD cop with the flashlight: "Dear Holland America......................"

https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/

More like silver! 😜