sailingdutchy
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Posts posted by sailingdutchy
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Because it is such nice weather outside today in London, Ontario 22 C or about 70 F I am sending you some pictures from the Keukenhof and surrounding tulip fields in the Netherlands . For the second year in a row the gardens have been closed for visitors due to the Covid - 19 but they have shown some very nice videos and pictures on the website : www.keukenhof.nl or on youtube.com
A few professional photographers have had access to the park but it was kind of surreal for them to see all of this beauty in an empty park . All of that work that went into it last fall planting the millions of bulbs so I thought to share this with you . Enjoy and if you have not been there yet make sure you plan a visit there in the coming years .Next week we are expecting some frost at night so we can not plant much in our gardens yet .Tony 😀
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Good morning all , another nice port today from Rich , Nagasaki , we were there on Oct 18 , 2017 on the Volendam . As a matter of fact we were suppose to go there for a second time a couple of weeks later but for political reasons , “ bad” weather and an extra day in Shanghai our itinerary was changed and we had to cancel our tour for the second day in Nagasaki .So our tour through Nagasaki was likely quite different than what many others have done , with our small group and Miyuki our guide we first went by streetcar to the Mt Inasa Observation platform ( 333 m ) to have a great view of Nagasaki and learned of its history.
From there we visited Dejima , formally a small island first occupied by the Portuguese and taken over by the Dutch . From this small island all the trade was conducted between Europe and Japan in the 1800’s .
After a nice lunch in Chinatown , we went by streetcar to Teramachi where we visited a number of temples all very close to each other . The most famous one the Kofukuji temple ( Zen Sect.- 1620 )
Last place for the day we visited the “ Megane - bashi “ the Spectacles bridge
A great day was had by all back into port the skies broke open but we received a farewell from the school band anyways !
In 2019 we were suppose to go back to Nagasaki on the Westerdam , instead we roamed the seas for a large number of days , you all know what happened .......Tony 😀
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6 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:
The bottom part of the sign translates as "Look at and see our large selections of extra Items".
DH used the Google Translate app on his phone to translate the sign, but the top part did not translate.
We have found the app very useful in traveling around the world.
Lenda
Thank you very much for that Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser
Very interesting , now looking at it again I believe the two lines at the bottom which you translated for me are in Danish and the top two lines they certainly are in Greenlandic an Eskimo - Aleut language which more than likely say the same thing now I see X-tra in Danish and X-tramiit in Aleut .
Tony
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We were in Nanortalik on Sept 8th 2012 with the Eurodam on a very ,very eventful Voyage of the Vikings with Captain Darin Bowland , Hotel Manager Stan Kuppens and cruise director JC ! What a team !!!Due to multiple hurricanes we had already missed the Shetland Islands because of hurricanes and later on we had to miss St John’s Newfoundland due to hurricanes Leslie AND Michael who were predicted to produce 50 foot seas !!! and 80 knot winds so the captain decided for safe passage to go around Nfld between it and Canada’s mainland to outrun these severe storms .Enough talk I will show some nice pictures of Nanortalik a very nice village with a population of about 1200 and here comes the Eurodam with about 2100 guests ……
BTW The name Nanortalik means “Place Where the Polar Bears Go "Can somebody translate this please ...?
We first went for a nice little walk around the village . Nanortalik is on a small island half a mile off the mainlands coast .
An older Inuit couple cleaning the catch of the day
We visited the local museum which has many interesting things like tupilaks , old kayaks and tools the Inuit use and walked past this very nice little church .
This is a tender port and after an easy very nice day in a very different culture we went back to the Eurodam .
Have a great day everybody , Take Care and Stay SafeTony 😀
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13 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:
Tony; next time you go to the "A" (as in the ABC's), think about paying a visit to this place - Super Food Plaza - it is worth it, especially for Dutchies and/or former Cloggies - You can get most everything in there that you remember from your childhood in Holland and then some. They have a little restaurant where you can get a "broodje kroket," and/or "bitterballen" among other things. A cab ride from the port will take about 20-25 min one way and all the cabbies know it
Ziet er goed uit John ! ( Looks good , John ) I marked down the name of the plaza , thanks .
Near the ship there was also a restaurant that had the real Dutch pancakes and also "poffertjes ! " ( the little pancakes )
Thanks , Tony 😀
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A very good morning all !We have also been to Aruba a few times and enjoy roaming around there , went to the butterfly gardens one time made a tour of the island to see the original large Natural Bridge but there also is some good shopping there and there are some very good little restaurants there for lunch .When on the Zuiderdam in January of 2017 we were in port until 11 pm so lots of time to do all of these things had an amazing Red Snapper lunch and after we did some shopping . After it got dark the atmosphere changed a lot we watched a real large and noisy Carnaval Parade it stretched a long way , was extremely loud there were a number of bands and a lot of floats providing drinks to the participants who were singing , dancing with string lights around their bodies and drinking their local and of coarse also the Heineken beer was flowing .........
The local Aruba Beer Balashi
Sorry they were all moving
After we got back on board the Zuiderdam we could see and hear all of the partying still going on in Oranjestad until late at night .We specially love the Southern Caribbean in particular the A B C islands , very nice even climate and more than likely the warm connections with The Netherlands play a big role in that for us . Hope we can go back there soon even for a short 10 cruise just to get going again !Tony 😀-
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We were with our teenage grandsons , 13 and 15 on the Koningsdam a coupe of years ago and they loved everything of what this other Pinnacle Class had to offer while we were in the Mediterranean in August .
Not a minute were they bored , they spend some time with the adults but most of the time they were very happy to be with a small number of new friends from a number of other countries .
Seeing your description of what your children prefer to do I believe they will be in the right place .
Tony
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7 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:
Tony, that has happened to both of us! On April 8, 2017 we were on the Maasdam and celebrated my birthday in the Pinnacle Grill.
The following day was also my birthday due to the going back and forth across the International Date Line, so they brought me out another cake at our late seating table in the main dining room. This time the dining room staff sang Panjang Umurnya.
@StLouisCruisers You are correct that on Birthdays in Indonesia they sing the song that we always hear on the ships Panjang Umurnya . What I was trying to say in my post was that because of the Colonial historie ( Indonesia used to be called Dutch East Indies from about 1800 until about 1948 ) the tune is a Dutch tune called " Lang zal ze leven " freely translated " Wishing you a long life " while the Indonesian lyrics also mean "Long is his / her age " .
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2 hours ago, bobpatj said:
Today is Bob’s birthday, too, and I’m not cooking either! With our DD & SIL dining with us, it’s takeout from a favorite restaurant.
Happy Birthday Bob !
BTW Pat @bobpatjby chance did you send me an email yesterday ????
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We also had the pleasure of landing in Pago Pago on the Oosterdam in 2013 on April 21st , I had no tour booked instead I went for a long walk all by myself around the harbour inlet , a beautiful area .Will also tell you about the very special day I had
Again this was quite a special day for me because it happened to be the second birthday in two days !After we visited Apia , Samoa on April 21st we crossed the dateline and the next day when we landed in Pago Pago it was April 21st again so I had 2 BD cakes in 2 days ! How often does that happen in your lifetime ?
The choir in the Canaletto singing Happy Birthday in Indonesian to the tune of “ Lang zal ze leven “ which really is a Dutch BD song .
Love it that Rich @richwmn has added the Port of the day feature while we are in the grips of the Covid lockdowns so we can look back at wonderful memories from cruises we have made all over the world ! Thank you Rich !Have a great day everybody !Tony 😀😀-
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A Very Blessed and Happy Easter to everybody on the Daily ! Let us hope for a New Beginning for all of us !I went back in my recollection and tried to count the number of time we celebrated Easter on one of the Beautiful Blue Hulled Ships and I came to at least six times so now I am searching for pictures to share .From the first couple on the Veendam in 2008 and the Nieuw Amsterdam of 2012 I must have lost those pictures or have to go back to my real photo albums .Here a couple from Easter on the Eurodam in April of 2014 :Look at this wonderful lady Nilla who we have met quite a few times on other cruises in the Tamarind and we hope to see her again when things start of again .Sorry I don’t have the name of the Easter Bunny . Love all of those happy faces !
Two Bunnies …….
Next Easter we experienced was on the Oosterdam in March of 2016A wonderful Trans Atlantic accompanied by the Harry James Orchestra , a 16 men orchestra conducted by Fred Radke they performed almost everyday either on the Main Stage or in the Crows Nest and there was a lot of fantastic dancing going on , the real professionals were there !
This really felt like a “ Cruise from the Past “ with tunes from Harry James , Glenn Miller and others
And when I returned to our cabin I found ......, should I say it , two Bunnies !
The next Easter we celebrated on a cruise was on the Zaandam in 2017 which wentfrom Chile to Vancouver with our good friends Ann and Pat we celebrated Easter on April 16th . Maybe @Vict0riann has some pictures of that day ….The last Easter was on the Prinsendam and a pretty special one because it also happened to be my BD quite unusual because it was a late Easter ( April 21st )This was the Prinsendam’s last cruise from the Mediterranean to Amsterdam before moving to Germany .
Rifki the Lido and Canaletto manager presented me with the traditional BD cake at breakfast ...And at dinner that day ! No wonder I gained weight that cruise !
Have a beautiful day everybody .Tony 😀-
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1 hour ago, kazu said:
No biggie as long as I don’t look too foolish, Tony 😉
You were moving pretty fast Jacqui so it is not very clear , but it was a lot of fun and we had a fantastic time , we would love to go there again !
A nice picture of you and Jose
Sorry people for misspelling Flamenco in my earlier post , what do you expect from a Dutchy ….?Tony , Sailingdutchy-
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7 minutes ago, rafinmd said:
Ever Given is still in the canal, at a wide point, presumably undergoing inspections and possible repairs. Her AIS destination is Rotterdam,
Roy
Yes a very thorough inspection Roy they were specially worried about the stern portion the props and the rudder if they were not damaged because the ship was hung up on both front and back .
Also in Rotterdam they are quite worried of the flood of ships coming all at the same time to the port because of the traffic jam .
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On a lighter note .........
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Because this is Holy Week I would like to show a few pictures of our wonderful experience while in Cadiz Spain during Holy Week when we were there on the Prinsendam in 2019 , her last voyage from the Mediterranean to The Netherlands for Holland America .On Palm Sunday we had a fantastic show that Jacqui @kazu and Jose had organized and taken us with a " small group " of about 38 ? to “ La Cava “ for an amazing and authentic Flamengo Show
I could even place a picture here of Jacqui @kazudoing her Flamingo but will need her permission first ……….. you all love to see that right .....??????When we left the show we heard in the distance the drums and flutes and went to find our what exactly was going on . We knew it was Semana Santa week which in Spain and many of the Spanish speaking countries is celebrated with processions like this :
Now before I get censored I first have to show you this from a store in Cartagena :
These processions go on for most of the week between Palm Sunday and Easter
A large number of strong men are underneath the float and on the rhythm from the staffs that the two men up front slap on the ground they all slowly move this fairly heavy float “ Enormous Pasos “ forward .
The theme shown here is of the “Last Supper “
The next day in Ceuta , Spanish Morocco we saw a similar procession route being prepared and kids working on the floats in the Cathedral
....……and YES we surely miss her and all of the Blue Hulled Beauties
A Happy and Blessed Easter everybody .Tony
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Good afternoon all , yes I got up about an hour later today must have been the effect of the vaccine we received yesterday . Feeling great so far no aftereffect besides the extra sleep that I needed !
For the first time in many many years I was not able to catch DW this morning with an April Fools joke
she greeted me with the words Happy April Fools Day , So I will leave her alone and nobody else around to fool .....so sad !
Timaru , New Zealand is situated about half way between Akaroa and Dunedin two wonderful towns worth a visit but we have not had the pleasure to get to Timaru . Love New Zealand and hope to be able to leave on a cruise from Auckland next March ..........fingers crossed !!!
Tony 😀😀
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DW and I have just received our 1st jab and the " choice of the day " in the Community Center was the Moderna while DMIL a couple of weeks ago at the same place received the Pfizer vaccine . We will have to wait for our second shot until July 21st so that as many Canadians as possible get vaccinated faster , as per the experts ! So we should be ready to go on the Premier cruise of the Rotterdam ! ( as long as she and Europe is ready ! )
We have been a few times to Paris and climbed the Eiffel tower . The first time was as a teenager when my buddy and I biked from The Hague to Paris a round trip of about 1600 km's ( a thousand miles ) . A lot of years later we made a road trip with friends through Europe by car and went up again . We first went to the second level and when we arrived there my good friend said " This thing is moving " ...and refused to go to the edge or higher to look at the amazing sight all around while DW and I went to the third level to the top on a creaking elevator and took our time to take the view all in and I have been back a couple more times since.
Best time I find to start to go up is about an hour and a half before sunset so you can see all of the famous points in Paris , all of the traffic on the Seine and near the "Arc de Triomphe " and than slowly the dark sets in and all of the lights go on which is a whole different experience .
Tony 😀
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48 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:
A little background on interracial marriage. In 1963 it was a felony in 19 states. I spoke to a Navy legal officer in Taipei and he explained the law to me. Said that if we married the Navy would ensure that we were not transferred to one of those states, like Virginia. We were transferred to California. In 1967 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those laws in the case of Loving vs Virginia. We had to get permission from the Navy to marry and go thru some interviews. For example the Navy Chaplain told us "These marriages seldom last very long, but if you insist on marrying you should get married in the Navy Chapel". I told him "No thank you, sir". and we were married by an Episcopal missionary whose church I attended.
Ray
Congratulations to the two of you and thank you Ray very much for writing about your background story which at a time like we are living in now is very important , thank you and wishing you many more years together !
We kind of went through something similar when I fell in love with a young lady from a different continent and I wanted to start a new life there when we hit a few roadblocks which we have happily overcome and we now just celebrated our 52nd anniversary and I too was told it would never last .
Tony 😀
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Thank you Rich and Roy and all contributors , I noticed you are all back in control Rich !
DW and I are looking forward to tomorrow when we are booked to get our first jab from who knows which company . they are all good as far as I am concerned as long as we get protection . At least it should bring us somewhat closer to be able to cruise !
We have been a few times to Australia but have not had the pleasure to get to Townsville. We are still hoping to get back next year to Australia and New Zealand on the Oosterdam .
Have a great day everybody and please take care and stay safe !
Tony 😀
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Good morning everybody . Glad the Daily is back to normal , thank you for all the information Rich and Roy , much appreciated .
I have been to Rijeka , Croatia about 58 years ago when it was still behind the Iron Curtain in the former Yugoslavia but open to visitors from Western European countries with a Visa. We love Croatia and have been in recent years to three different Ports there and hope to go back soon .
No pictures from me today , I only have a few B&W ones and on top of that I was posing with my shirt off so better not do it .
Tony 😀
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Day 2 in Beijing : Because we stayed overnight in the city we were nice and early in Tiananmen Square at this nice photo opportunity
Under watchful eyes from Mao and this civil guard we entered the Forbidden City
When inside we saw people from all of the different provinces of China proudly wearing their costumes
Just what some in our little group was looking for a 4 * Toilet …..
I asked this group if I could a their picture of their colourful bright shawls and before I knew it they pulled me into their group so it was now a Chinese - Canadian team !
Very nice to get some smiles ….. we appreciated each other .
Leaving the Forbidden City to go for a nice lunch with Peking duck
We than made our way to the Temple of Heaven another must see in Beijing
On the way back to to Port we waited patiently for the street cleaner to pick up some garbage
Back in the terminal in Tianjin there was document control , DW was asked to stop taking pictures and she had to give her iPad for them to delete these ………. Back on board ship we recovered them
Last year on the Westerdam we were suppose to return to Tianjin again but as everybody knows we did not get that far , we only made it to Cambodia to be flown back home a couple of weeks before our cruise was finished ………. we were so looking forward to a return visitTony-
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Thank you Rich for attempting to post another very successful Daily on CC and for Roy ’s alternatives and the Care lists , very much appreciated by all of us avid cruisers !And No I do not want to do that on the beach and get sand in my drink .We loved our overnight stay in Beijing while on the Volendam in 2017 I will try to minimize my pictures but will split them over a couple of posts because there were so many beautiful things to see and do :Approaching Tianjin
Leaving the port on our way to the Great Wall , huge highways with little traffic made for the future .
Had to take over from the guide while he was getting the tickets
The amazing Great Wall we all like to visit .
We chose the cable car to go back down rather than the sleds
When we arrived back to Beijing in the evening I had booked a show in the Red Theatre called the “ Legend of Kungfu “
Before the start of the show we were already impressed , but the show itself was just amazing !
After the show was over we were taken to our Hotel to stay the night in Beijing rather than a long road back to Port . Great decision our stay was fantastic and we saved a lot of time .
Breakfast in the morning was just amazing with a choice of dozens of dishes prepared right in front of us . We were very close to Tianenmen Square where we could start off early the next morning
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1 hour ago, bobpatj said:
It’s so nice to view all the pictures. We were supposed to visit there last year, but were unable to, as all of Japan was closed down to our Westerdam cruise. Sigh.
I feel and share the pain Pat and Bob , we were having so much fun on the first leg of the cruise with you !
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Here a few more pictures of Shurijo Castle
The original castle was built in the 1400’s destroyed in 1945 rebuilt in 2000 and during a huge fire destroyed again in 2019 as of last February rebuilding efforts are under way after crowd funding campaign .
At the end of our visit we walked back along this 500 year old stone path , Kinjo-cho Stone path good thing we did it from the top down instead of climbing it it is quite steep and could be slippery .
Tony 😀
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The Daily for Saturday Apr 10, 2021
in Holland America Line
Posted
Thank you all for the pictures of Puerto Chiapas . We have been there on our Panama Canal cruise but I do not have digital pictures to share , just the old fashioned ones in one of my albums . Remember the port pretty good now I see the pictures that have already been posted .
In 2012 we still did the HAL sticker tours in the large busses , we smartened up fast after we were told about Cruise Critic and how "easy " it was to organize your own , what a wonderful change that was !
Today I will just show a few more pictures of the Keukenhof that we took ourselves in 2018 . I treated my Dutch cousins that had never been there yet while for us Canucks it was our third time .