St Pete Cruiser

The good ship Zuiderdam arrived in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, on schedule this morning at 8am, or 6:30Edt for us east coast AmericaAmericans. This is my first "Legendary Voyage" and I must say we are impressed. Many of the old Holland America Line traditions have returned to our surprise. Paper port maps with highlights, currency rates, etc, that went away years ago on your bed every evening. NY TIMES at the MDR in the morning. First sea day 3 onboard enrichment speakers. Live music in the Ocean Bar, classic trio in the Explorer Lounge, pool side for sailaway. Cooking demo, too. Pastry tray brought around for breakfast in MDR.

Good Sunday Morning from Bar Harbor. How happy we are to here! The good ship Zuiderdam is here and is ready for us. We will board right after breakfast and checking out of the hotel.

It's a nice morning here in Bar Harbor and the good ship Zuiderdam is here and tendering has begun. We will bring our bags to the dock right after checking out of the hotel.

Good Evening from Bar Harbor. You need to call the day of travel emergency number which is listed on your boarding documents if you miss a flight,etc. We arrived in Bangor at 6pm and Lyft ride to our hotel in Bar Harbor for tonight. After a rough day, the hotel I picked is beautiful. Expecting to board Zuiderdam tomorrow.

The flights were cancelled yesterday, but thought our 7am flight this morning was good. Delta cancelled very early this morning and couldn't rebook anything until Monday. So, after searching all morning since 3am, we are booked to Bangor and will have to Uber/taxi all the way to Bar Harbor to join the ship there tomorrow. I told myself if I could survive last year's spider infection with all the complications, I can survive this.

Remember Carnival's "If My Friends Could See Me Now!" with Kathie Lee Gifford?

@JazzyV If you like, you can add me to your future cruise list. Leaving July 20, Saturday, on the Zuiderdam's Voyage of the Vikings 35 day RT from Boston. Thank you for your daily postings despite health issues.

I'm sincerely sorry to hear this. I'm glad that you had a back up plan.

We haven't heard from you. Hopefully, because you are in Alaska???

I'm looking for a new build announcement any day now. Yes, probably on the Queen Anne base with options for 2 or 3 more. The delay may be the decision on powerplants and fuel. I look for burning the heavy fuel oils to be eliminated as more areas will be banning their use. Ok, not a Prinsendam, but maybe we, i.e. Holland America, can take Seaborne's old tonnage as they are replaced?

@StLouisCruisersMany of us, myself especially, have been envious of your extended Zuiderdam cruise to Europe this spring/summer. To cruise from Ft Lauderdale and return to Boston is the makings of a "Grand Cruise" without the premium fare. It does seem the latter portion has indeed suffered a weather black cloud, which is unfortunate for all onboard. If it makes you feel better, much of the US has been under heat advisories and the thoughts of icebergs is not at all bad! Remember a little over 2 years ago when the cruise lines were begging us to book with low fares, freebies and images of ships with less than half capacity? I also remember Holland America's new president Gus assuring us they would survive their near bankruptcy scare.

@CruiserBruceYes, of course that would be the case. Plus, wind and sea currents.

I respectfully disagree. The Lincoln Center musicians usually did three 45 minute sessions a day with at least one day off every week. We invited a few of them to dine with us onboard, and they were quite happy to be paid well and have the priviledge to travel and see the world.

I'm very curious to hear from anyone who has chosen to remain on the standby list after 48 hours. That means packing and showing up at the port, still hoping for a last-minute room. There has to be a few people who have very last-minute issues within the 48 hours who can't travel or need to cancel, but do they actually cancel or just not show up? Would Holland America assign a standby guest a room, at say 3pm, that was sold to a guest who literally doesn't show or call before departure?

Yes, the atrium did have the Half Moon crystal/glass artwork. Maybe it was damaged or was deemed to dated when the atrium was updated? The elevator lobbies and of course those doors are like a very fine European Hotel. Thanks for sharing. We were on the Westy from Yokohama to Vancouver in April 2019 and docked at Kodiak where they used school buses for the shuttles. The times were limited as school was in session and the kids had priority!

Yes, the atrium did have the Half Moon crystal/glass artwork. Maybe it was damaged or was deemed to dated when the atrium was updated? The elevator lobbies and of course those doors are like a very fine European Hotel. Thanks for sharing. We were on the Westy from Yokohama to Vancouver in April 2019 and docked at Kodiak where they used school buses for the shuttles. The times were limited as school was in session and the kids had priority!

We were on the Zaandam last year for the Christmas cruise in an oceanview room on deck 1, midship. Also disappointed to find the old tub and shower curtain, so we started asking room stewards and guest services. The truth was, yes, some of the rooms were updated, but in no particular order. HD Darren Lewis told us that more of the bathrooms will be done on the next drydock. He also added that as long as the bookings remain strong for the two remaining R class, they will stay in the fleet.

I'm very late to the party today, but I was glad to see your post with pics from Bodo. The N Statendam was there last month and the Rotterdam followed two weeks later. We enjoyed our port call there on the NS, although it is no Gerainger or Flam. With Norway limiting or stopping cruise ships from entering the more scenic fjords, other coastal cities will now be added to the itineraries.

Thanks for explaining about the dock workers strike as now I understand why Oosterdam tendered at Nice. We were there a few times and really enjoyed the French Riveria. Tried to cover the area from Cannes to Monaco. Using both local busses and trains, we enjoyed the cities and the little mountain top villages of Eze and St Paul de Vence.

Lenda, I think you are the winner of the most port calls to Kodiak! We stopped there on the Westerdam in April 2019 on the Yokohama to Vancouver spring reposition. It was sunny and cold, but we were happy to go ashore, ride the school bus, walk across the bridge to the park and tour the little town with a nice welcome center and library. I looked at doing the Alaska Marine Highway/Ferry long before I did go to Alaska on the Zaandam in 2007. I'm sure it was a great experience. Thanks for your regular posts on the Daily.

What a great deal! Wouldn't it be fun to go back in time and do it again? Was she in good shape in 1990? We did the Regent Rainbow out of Tampa about the same time.

We are dog and condo sitting for friends who have been away this week. Their corner verandah has beautiful waterfront views which has made our return from Europe quite enjoyable. An acquaintance from last year is aboard our former Prinsendam, now Phoenix Riesen's Ameria, and reports it looks good. In addition to it's new engines, he reports she has new bathrooms, newly done MDR and hook ups for shoreside power in port. He speaks German, so is at home on her. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Rotterdam is my preference of the 3 Pinnacle class ships. Holland America Line gives it the better entertainment and some of the little extras. You will like it if you give it a chance.

Yes, looks like the Statendam. The present Nieuw Statendam was a compromized name by management as the president did not want to continue using the old dam names for marketing purposes. We enjoyed our first visit to Newcastle yesterday. Looks like Fred Olson's ships use Newcastle.