Copper10-8

Just to educate us Yanks: Victoria Day / Fete de la Reine, literally 'Celebration of the Queen', is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honor HRH Queen Victoria (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901), who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Victoria's natural birthday, May 24. It falls on the Monday between the 18th and the 24th (inclusive) and, so, is always the penultimate Monday of May (May 20 in 2024 and May 19 in 2025). Victoria Day is a federal statutory holiday, as well as a holiday in six of Canada's ten provinces and all three of its territories. The holiday has always been a distinctly Canadian observance and continues to be celebrated across the country. It is informally considered the start of the summer season in Canada. And finally; Go Canucks, beat the Oilers tonite in Game 7 😉

So, the answer to that is Yes. That's why it is important for us as passengers to include our/your cell/mobile #s when you prepare your cruise docs. That phone # (and your landline of course won't work for this purpose) is inputted on your profile in the laptops and onboard computers that both the check-in agents at your embarkation port, as well as Guest Services use. I've been present as SECO (security officer) numerous times on embarkation day when we had passengers that were AWOL/no-shows, or just plain late arriving at the cruise terminal. When it get's close to All Aboard time and there are still pax outstanding, the check-in supervisor inside the terminal will start calling the cell phones of those pax in an effort to find our their status and, in particular if they are running late, their ETA to the terminal. That info is relayed by that supervisor to the bridge as well as to guest relations on the ship via portable radio. The captain will wait for confirmed pax if he is able and has time. Sometimes he does, and other times he doesn't, and those late running pax will have to (usually) fly to the first port (at their cost) to meet the ship there. As far as late runners at routine ports o' call that the ship is calling at, the same principle applies, but those calls are made to the late running pax by someone in Guest Relations on the ship. That particular process is always initiated by the SECO at the gangway who is looking at one of the gangway laptops which keeps an accurate count of who is onboard (pax and crew) and identifies those (by name, cabin #, date of birth, picture ID, etc.). The SECO will relay that info to the bridge so the captain and staff captain are aware that there are missing guests (or crew, that also happens). So, as stated, Guest Relations will attempt to reach those missing pax via their cell phone # and attempt to find out the reason for being late and the ETA back to the ship. The captain will have the same decision to make as on embarkation day: can he wait a bit or does he have to leave now. SOP is (when it gets close to reaching All Aboard time) for a Guest Relations supervisor and one security guard to go to that guest's stateroom where the door is opened via master key, followed by the safe (via a by-pass tool) because 95-99% of the time, that is the location where passengers store their passports during their cruise. Those passports are retrieved and handed to the SECO at the gangway. When the decision is reached that the ship can't wait any longer, the captain will instruct the SECO to "pull the gangway" and close the shell doors. Just prior to that occurring, the SECO will hand the guest passports over to the local HAL port agent who will immediately become the "life line" of the missing/late running pax. He/she will meet the guests on the pier after the ship has departed, and will arrange a hotel and flights at/to the next port, again at the guest's expense. In the "old days" if the ship was off the dock but still near the port, the late running guests would be put on the pilot boat and brought to the ship. The only way to board the ship at that time was via Jacob's/pilot ladder to what's known as the Marshaling Area mid-ships. I've done that on Zuiderdam while wearing a full Santa Claus suit and lugging a bag full of presents 😉 I can guarantee you it's not that easy, especially not for the still average HAL passenger in their sixties or up in age. Subsequently, that practice (transferring to the ship via pilot boat and Jacob's ladder) is no longer being done, primarily for liability reasons. The bottom line: 1. Make sure the ship has your cell/mobile phone and have it turned on and on your person off the ship 2. Know the All Aboard time and be back to the ship on time, especially if your doing your "own thing" I've seen a lot of pax take a quit photo of that Al Aboard sign at the gangway, just to have it handy when/if needed to confirm 3. Be aware of "ship's time" and "local time" 4. Place your passport inside your safe. Some pax carry those bad boys with them. That's a personal decision! 5. Enjoy your cruise and ports o' call 🙂

Got off the Eurodam two weeks ago. They are still busy handing out the 150 year anniversary tegels/tiles on the day prior to disembarkation day, so no ship-specific tiles for now

Got off the Eurodam two weeks ago. They had the Rolling Stone Rock band nightly (except one dark night) playing three sets in the (now called) Rolling Stone Lounge (the former Queens Lounge and B.B. King's Blues Club). They had two outstanding piano players nightly/three sets in Billboard Onboard (except one night when they were dark) and they had the Ocean Trio playing American Songbook classics and jazz nightly/three sets in the Ocean Bar. I do remember a live band inside the Crow's Nest on S and R-class ships a long time ago (nineties) but it did not last very long and turned into a guitar player and late night D.J. for entertainment and some rug cutting. The B.B. King's Blues Club concept debuted on Eurodam in March 2013 and, due to its popularity, expanded in 2014 to Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Noordam and Nieuw Amsterdam. In March 2016, when the lead Pinnacle-class ship, Koningsdam, joined the dam fleet, she also had the B.B. King's All-Star band onboard inside her B.B. King's Blues Club on Deck 2, port side. In the early years, besides their sets in their club, they had one night reserved as the main entertainment inside the show lounge. That performance started out as a so-called "jam session" as if the band members were playing on Beale Street, "the home of the blues", in Memphis, TN In April 2015, HAL tried out the B.B. King's Blues Club concept on ms Rotterdam VI, a R-class ship, inside her Crow's Nest. Since she did not have a B.B. King's Blues Club/Queen's Lounge, it was either her Crow's Nest or Ocean Bar for the "BeeBee's" since the Explorers Lounge, Wajang Theatre and/or Mix Bar were found unsuitable as venues. This experiment did not work out, mainly due to live band noise complaints from the occupants of nearby cabins to the Crow's Nest, but also acoustically due to the low overhead (ceiling). The concept was subsequently ground filed without being tried on the other R-class (or two remaining S-Class) ships. As such, Rotterdam VI turned out to be the only non-Vista, non-Signature-class and non-Pinnacle-class ship that ever had the B.B. King's All-Star band. What most definitely has disappeared on dam ships is the classic quartet/quintet or trio known as Lincoln Center Stage. There was a rumor floating around in 2023 that the group behind the classically-trained musicians were negotiating with HAL for a return to the ships, not per se in their own venue, but as Main Stage performances. That, so far, has not happened

Always a powerful story, Ann. This is Teia Maru and Gripsholm, chartered by the US Government from Sweden, at the neutral port of Mormugao, Goa State, in India in 1943. Was this perhaps taken during the same time you sailed on both ships? The markings on both vessels were so no submarines from the warring Allied and Axis countries would take a shot at them Mormugao, India in present day

Got pics? Our cat Stiv, that we had since 2012, crossed the rainbow bridge on March 13 😔 We miss him very much!

Awesome, Mr. cooking spoon; using superglue for 1st aid! 😝 Just have to watch out you don't superglue your bleeding hand to the outside of your cabin bathroom door! Doing that would necessitate a code-3 response from the US Cavalry with their chuckwagon full of rubbing alcohol and/or acetone! Be well 👍

Sounds like a classic accident onboard cruise ships, Roy! 😉 Hope you are dong well!

Sorry, my error! 😔 BRM stands for Bridge Resources Management meeting

Just a heads up; Normal manning on a HAL ship bridge at sea is two navigation officers (one senior + one junior deck officer) and two quartermasters (now known as helmsmen - Pretty sure you are referring to them a s "watch captains", a term HAL does not use). There are no sailors on the bridge. The helmsman position is a couple of steps up from an ordinary sailor A course for the voyage we are discussing here would have been designed by the senior director and his staff at HAL's Deployment and Itinerary Planning Dept. in Seattle, WA more than a year ago. After approval, it (the full itinerary) is then published, advertised, and sold. The itinerary as posted below and found on line shows the day after Ketchikan, May 10, as "cruise Inside Passage, Alaska" which is different than the "Canadian Inside Passage" as already has been discussed here. That map shows Westie going around the west side of Vancouver island which is the normal and routine route to Victoria, BC and onward to Seattle the next day. That, it being the routine course to Victoria, might have had something to do with the route error that was made. That is pure speculation on my part, I do not know what happened on May 10. 27 MAY 9, 2024 Thursday Ketchikan, Alaska 10:00 AM 6:00 PM 28 MAY 10, 2024 Friday Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska 4:00 AM TBD 29 MAY 11, 2024 Saturday Victoria, British Columbia 8:00 AM 9:00 PM 30 MAY 12, 2024 Sunday Seattle, Washington 7:00 AM The course, based on the published itinerary, is plotted by a navigation officer and entered into the ship's bridge computer, also in advance of the actual day of that route. On May 9, while in Ketchikan, so the day prior, a "BRM" (Bridge Resource Meeting) would have been held where the entire bridge team, led by the captain on down, would have been present to discuss the following day's route, weather, sea state, and any particulars. I don't know what happened that next day, I wasn't on the bridge and neither was anyone here. I will let the captain's "compensation letter" to his guests speak for itself.

First cruise - 1979 USS Tripoli (LPH-10) as part of a Marine detachment on a Western Pacific hop. No balcony cabins on this tub. 😉 She's no longer with us, having been scrapped in Brownsville, TX in 1995

Just got off Eurodam in Vancouver, BC a week and a half ago. Excellent steward service by Dewa, the lead, and David, his No. 2. They provided morning service, as well as early evening turndown service. We did not ask, nor were given any choices at the beginning of the cruise in San Diego, CA. They just came in twice a day and did an awesome job

The changing of the guard in Athens in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier at Syntagma Square, in front of the Hellenic Parliament. These soldiers, known as the Evzones, or Evzoni (Presidential Guard), are extremely well-disciplined. Their distinctive dress is interesting and their gait right of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks, no disrespect intended

Nice one and solid parking job Capt. Bant and/or Staff Captain Carsjens (brother of Capt. Carsjens) ! Y'all have a nice day and be safe! See ya Fri

One aft line to go and they're done. Gangway being connected any minute now so the port agent and CBP can come onboard and clear the ship

The sailors have new and improved helmets. Beats those "construction-type" helmets

Going for "5 & 1" (lines) aft - The "1" being the spring line

"Touching aft"

Those big black fenders are known as Yokohama fenders

Taking up the slack on the aft spring. Forward spring should also be ashore by now so she has her "brakes" and maneuvering ability to get her gangway in the correct position

Aft spring line ashore

Five stern lines ready! Port agent with the black hood and shoulder bag waiting on the dock