rafinmd

Not all mornings are created equal. Today's "sunrise" is from my first voyage on Queen Elizabeth 10 years ago today, a transatlantic from New York to Southhampton. There's only a trace of color on a nasty North Atlantic Morning where the photo was taken from the Commodore Club (Crystal think Palm Court or HAL think Crow's Nest), Roy

Looks like I have just one useable photo from my day in Cherbourg. I'm pretty sure it's the Holy Trinity Basilica. Roy

Wishing all who celebrate a great Palm Sunday and @mamaofami a wonderful seder. Thank you Rich, Sandi, Vanessa, Debbie, Dixie, Ann, and Graham. Children's books are a very distant memory, I have been to Cherbourg just once. It was on my second string of cruises, way back in 2010, Crystal Serenity Athens to Rome, Wind Surf Rome to Barcelona, and a B2B short cruise Southampton to Cherbourg and back then on to New York. An odyssey of Cunard's loyalty system has 2 yardsticks, days or voyages, whichever gives the better result. That 2-day cruise brought me to the next level sooner, giving me a big internet discount on one of my upcoming cruises. I thought the Wilde quote a bit strange. I'll pass on both the cod and the PBJ (dinner tonight will be ham), My alternative is Maple Fruit Melange and Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast as served on MS Amsterdam. I did not start taking food photos until about 2017 so no photos from that cruise. It was very windy last night but I see no damage except my garbage can was turned on it's side. It will be online church today and on Easter. I'm currently avoiding what may be crowed services but will worship in person on Maundy Thursday. Roy

Let’s not forget Palm Sunday. Roy

Beautifully lit jp" Roy

Great toots by all 4 ships today. Thanks Leanne, Lou & Dave, and fellow addicts. Roy

Ok, Volendam, show us your stuff. Roy

Caribbean's nose showing. Roy

I haven't seen such a fabulous show in ages. Volendam has her work cut out for her. Roy

Just won't quit. Roy

Awesome toots from Nieuw Statendam. And still coming. Roy

And so it did. Roy

Anybody getting sound? Roy

It happens sometimes when there's a birthday at the table. Roy

Today's sunrise is from a land day at a layover in my 2014 World Cruise combination. I had 3 days between disembarking Crystal Serenity in Cape Town and boarding MS Amsterdam ending in Fort Lauderdale. The last of my land nights I spend at Aquila Game Reserve before boarding Amsterdam on April 1 The sunrise is from our morning game drive at Aquila: Roy

Today's sunrise is from a land day at a layover in my 2014 World Cruise combination. I had 3 days between disembarking Crystal Serenity in Cape Town and boarding MS Amsterdam ending in Fort Lauderdale. The last of my land nights I spend at Aquila Game Reserve before boarding Amsterdam on April 1 The sunrise is from our morning game drive at Aquila: Roy

Finally, from Nassau, a decent view of the Elegant Explorer in her new colors: Roy

As I see the website it's confusing but should be there. From: Find a Cruise Filter Your only choice is "Alaska and Yukon" but once you look for a destination the list of destinations takes up the whole page. You need to scroll down the page (on my browser it's a bar at the far right of the screen) and you will get to "Depart from" as the last of primary filters. Your choices of interest will be "Seattle" and "Vancouver" They still seem to want to push land tours but you should get a lot better idea. I think if you continue to "More Filters" and select "Cruise First" you should get the cruises that are going to Having second thoughts now and forget about destination and focus on Vancouver and Seattle as departure ports. Another possibility since you're looking at 2025 is to keep an eye on things since ship schedules come out before tour schedules. Roy

Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit, Thank you Sandi, Rich, Vanessa, Debbie, Dixie, and Ann. Temperatures will be warm but with rain and strong winds (but tornadoes should miss us). I'll pass on the days today and hope nothing destructive for April Fools Day. Interesting quote by Burgess. I have not been to Hammerfest, and will pass on the Taco. My alternative is Papaya with Rainbow of Fruit, Balil Crusted Veal Medallion with Morels, Tiramisu, and Devils Food Cake as served on MS Zaandam April 1, 2017: Roy

Sadly, no. In fact you just reminded me to update my signature, I had cruises booked for late April and mid summer but have cancelled both. I still don't feel like I have the strength for cruising, and the sudden onset of the latest problem reminded me that It may not be a good idea to be overseas when things happen. I still maintain hopes for an early October New England/Canada on QM2 (and hate to give it up because it would be my first Grills experience and was booked with credit from the cancelled 2020 World Cruise so I probably get nothing back if I cancel. I'm also booked on a November Panama Canal voyage through the new locks although my cruising days may now be great memories. Roy

As I recall we sat so they could clean the bottom of our boots. Have you been? What ship? Roy

You should be at the Iberville cruise terminal pretty close to the center of town: It appears there are several rental companies close to the port but the question is will they be open to a one way rental to the US. I would suggest starting with your favorite rental company and trying a mock booking from a central Montreal location to see what they come up with, Roy

I'm thinking the Zuiderdam must be in a wifi dead zone. I saw yesterday that one of the bloggers (either @tennisbeforewine or @The Inside Cabin had indicated that some people were supposed to go ashore in Dakar for medical treatment, some to stay and others for tests and to return to the ship. The only one I've heard from today is @WCB that they had made it ashore but don't know if any were able to get their tests done and return to the ship. I also hope the fuel level is ok and they aren't short on too many fresh supplies. Roy

It was a very easy copy and paste the Crusoe pictures. I had actually thought about going off script and posting about a port that will never be Port of the Day. In 2018-19 I was fortunate to visit three places far from the beaten path. In 2018 on the Crystal Symphony I visited in order Pitcairn, Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe Island. On the 2019 Prinsendam Grand South America I returned to Crusoe and one even more isolated place, so isolated that we didn't actually get permission to visit on such a large ship until a few days before arrival. Before we were allowed to go ashore we were required to take training, have all our gear inspected, and given tender tickets to make visits limited to 2 hours per person. The place is Grytviken, South Georgia Island. Crew had been sent ashore in advance to be sure we didn't stray past our allowed paths. Some of the buildings we saw but were not allowed to enter. My first destination was the cemetery but there was a lot of wildlife to pass carefully on the trail including these molting penguins and an elephant seal. Some graves that interested me. Shackleton's grave is top left: The waiting Elegant Explorer and the grave of Shackleton's right hand man: : The dorm where whalers stayed. It was not open but looked great: The church. It was originally Lutheran but now more associated with the Anglican Church. It is occasionally used for weddings, funerals, and cultural events. It is in excellent condition and the balcony is open with ropes for the bell at the back of the balcony. Many of us rung the church bell. There was a pump organ near the pulpit: The museum with a lot of equipment out front: Biosecurity was critical and we were required to have our boots cleaned before returning to the ship. This is pretty much the most isolated place I have ever been, One can visit Pitcairn for a stay via the mail boat, it is possible but difficult to get to Robinson Crusoe by air, modern air service to Easter Island but except for very opportunities like mine South Georgia is only accessible by Expedition Ship or private boat. Roy

My second visit to Crusoe was on the Prinsendam Grand South America in January, 2019. I actually took fewer photos the second time around even though the weather was nicer. First, here's the tsunami damage almost a year later. The building in the container is the post office: One of the obvious sites in town is the "Patriot Caves". The first 2 photos (caves and trail to them) were from my first visit. The weather was nicer in 2019 and I went into one of the caves: There are almost no cars on the island and this is a typical "street": The town clinic is one of the nicer buildings: Finally, if you take a right turn leaving the tender pier there's a nice little park type area with benches and play fields. There are a couple of pretty strenuous hikes on the island and this would be a great place to relax afterwards: Roy