sailingdutchy

49 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Amazing pictures, Tony!  Thanks for sharing.  Do you have those Ryukyu stamps?  Maybe post a picture?   I did have some at one time, but can't find them now.  

I found some Ann @VictOriann They will be in my next shipment for your specialty collection  !

Not a problem 😀

Naha , Japan is located on the island of Okinawa and is the largest city and capital city of that Japanese Prefecture .

Okinawa  was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 and officially annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1879 .

Naha suffered extensive damage during the battle of Okinawa during WWII  and the entire city centre had to be rebuild . Civil administration was returned to Japan in 1972 but a large portion of the US forces  ( 26.000 ) are assigned to this prefecture.

On Okinawa the Ryukyuan people make up the majority of the population and the traditional culture and language are still alive and well.

We were in Naha on the Volendam and due to a storm they switched the date and we were very lucky that we arrived there on Nov 3rd , 2017 . Lucky because when the four of us walked to the monorail station to go to the Shurijo Castle we found out that a once a year special cultural event was to take place , the “ King of Ryukyu " was visiting the Shuri castle and going to pray at the different temples an amazing festival that only takes place once every year .

Thank you for another very nice Daily Rich , Roy and all other contributors . I am late to the party today but could not let the Port of Livorno go without posting some pictures . 

We were a few times in Livorno going on small group tours  (8) different times to Pisa , Florence , San Gimigliano and Voltera  ( Love to also see Sienna next time ) 

Hope I am not duplicating any pictures already posted today 

Tony 😀

Another wonderful Port to explore Monte Carlo ! We have been there a few times on a coupe of cruises  (on the Noordam for one  ) ,  on some road trips through Europe from the Netherlands and also for a one week stay for a conference in the Loews Hotel , the one the formula  -1 race goes under through the tunnel on the week when the race was going on .

The old town of Monte Carlo and see the change of the guards at the palace , the cathedral where Princess Grace was buried are nice to visit (  I even ran into Prince Rainier once ) but our favourite places to see were Eze , Nice and St Paul de Vence  . I see there were already quite a few pictures  but I will add some more from when we were there .

Tony 😀

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Happy birthday tomorrow and  to all the birthday girls!  Our youngest had her birthday yesterday.   She was supposed to be a birthday present for my father (March 3), but missed.  March is a good month.😀

 

 

Happy Birthday , a day late , to Sheila ! 

Like a few of you we have been to Madeira a four times and like the Azores it is a wonderful Island to arrive at either as first port going East from or last going West to Fort Lauderdale . We have explored the Island with the same wonderful guide and friend Daniel Freitas in a small group of 7 or 8 and have been from the Eastern tip near Machico all the way to the North Western town of Porto Moniz .

The nature of the Island with all of its exotic flora is just amazing very green and I believe the only place in Europe  that grows lots of bananas . The four times we have been there we went to different areas so I have lots of pictures but will try to keep it to a  "minimum " on this post .

Some of our favorite places to visit were , the Mercado in Funchal , Porto Moniz , Santana , Sao Vicente  , Machico and Camara de Lobos  ( and on the way back to the ship don't forget to have a few sips of the special Madeira drink Poncha and visit the Henriques & Henriques Madeira winery ) 

Tony 😀

1 hour ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

We visited Kota Kinabalu in 2015 while we were on a 28-day Christmas cruise onboard the Volendam.

 

Here's a link to a video clip of the local dancers who greeted us on the dock.

 

 

 

Just noticed this @GeorgeCharlie that you were on the same cruise  with you , we saw the same dancing a very nice welcome we have seen specially in Asia in the many ports we visited there .

Kota Kinabalu Malaysia is not very often visited by a HAL ship but we were one of the lucky ones to land there  when on the Volendam from Sydney to Singapore and on December 18th , 2015  and were welcomed by a native band and dancers . 

On a private tour in a small group we went to the Mari Mari Cultural Village where we learned of all the native living , cooking , dancing , hunting and many other very interesting customs and also had a delicious lunch there . 

After that we drove to the Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort where next to it we visited the Orang Utan Sanctuary and orphanage in a Nature Reserve .

A great day was had by all and when it was time we were back on board to go to the next Port with Captain Frank van der Hoeven to Muara, Brunei ..........

Hope all of the pictures stay right side up this time 

Tony 😀

Thank you Rich and Roy and all of the "Dailyites " for my morning read . Love the new addition of the Port of the day that Rich has added and also hope to get to Madagascar one day , it's on my bucket list . Thank you also for the Anne Frank quote the amazing young girl from my native land who with her courage and her diary has moved the world as few others have ! 

Please take care everybody , hang in there for a little while more , keep your distance and wear your mask we are almost there .................... maybe this sign will help you adhere to that .............

1 hour ago, Live4cruises said:

@sailingdutchy,, was your 2012 cruise on the Mighty E the one where we dodged all the hurricanes?  I think it was 2012, but I haven’t checked my calendars.  Even though that cruise re-defined disruption, we had a wonderful time.  Prins Christian Sund was one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen, and we loved having 2 days in Halifax.  So, it seems we may have sailed together twice (Prinsendam 2019).

Yes you are correct @Live4cruises that was the same cruise where Captain Darin Bowland was daily on the TV talking with the cruise director JC  , quite a pair of comedians , talked about all of the hurricanes , we were in SW Gale 3.5 meter swells ,that prevented us from going to the Shetlands  m, had an extra day in Reykjavik and we had to go around the West side of Newfoundland to miss the next hurricane . Going through Prince Christian Sund we just had a beautiful amazing day to take the nicest pictures . Hope to meet you next time on the third cruise where ever it is in the world ! 

The crew of the Eurodam brought boxes and boxes of pizzas  ,fresh fruit , soft drinks ,  juices  and vegetables to the very small isolated Inuit Village of Aappilattoq  which was very much appreciated by the villagers and also a wonderful experience for us passengers , great gesture 

Couple of pictures of Prince Christian Sund : 

Good day Rich and Roy , thank you for keeping the Daily going and a special thank you for adding a New Exciting Feature Port of the day that will call up a lot of fond memories to many of us , and we will see lots of nice pictures . 

I have not made it to Qaqortoq , Greenland but got close to it on the Eurodam by visiting Nanortalik , Greenland in 2012 another lovely Port to visit . Greenland one of those places I never expected to be able to put a foot on land . I will wait with my pictures until it is Nanortaliks turn .

Have a great day everybody , Take Care and Stay Safe , get your Jab so we can soon cruise again ! 

Tony 😀

We were in the Port of Greenock on the Prinsendam in May of 2019 and had a wonderful day going to Glasgow on our own with another couple . We walked to the train station (16 mins ) where it was possible to buy a combined ticked for the train and the Hoho bus in Glasgow which was a great deal . Train departed every16 mins to Glasgow central and from there it was a 3 min walk to the Hoho bus .

Had a great tour of the city and stopped off at the very interesting Riverside Museum of Transport and Travel  ( Free ) toured the "Old "  University of Glasgow buildings and museum and of coarse went for a fantastic Fish and Chips with not to forget a glass of Guinness .  Great day was had by all .

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Copying and pasting from an email received from sailingdutchy so I don’t forget to add them 😉 :

 

Aug 1 ,  2021 Premier cruise of the Rotterdam for 21 days     3rd premier cruise in a row  

Mar 31 2022  Oosterdam Collectors cruise from Auckland to Seattle  39 days

Thank you very much for keeping this very nice Future Cruise Listing up to date Jacqui a great place to see what all of our cruise friends are thinking of doing . After all of the Covid lock downs are over it will be so wonderful to meet with cruise friends  and share the pleasure of cruising again . 

Tony 😀

On 2/4/2021 at 1:25 AM, DeeDee Groff said:

 

Brings back memories, Tony, and good ones! 

 

Thank you to all who shared, and let's hope everyone reading this thread will be able to enjoy cruising again in the not-too-distant future--safelly!

 

The FCC I "earned" from the cancelled Westerdam February 1, 2020 voyage has now been applied to the sixth cruise, the previous five having been cancelled--which have earned me even more FCC's!

 

Be well, stay healthy, be safe, and be smart,

Deb

 

 

Hi Deb  @DeeDee Groff, I sincerely hope that once we are all done with this virus and we can cruise again Martha and I can catch up with you somewhere on the high seas and talk about all of our experiences on the Westerdam. 

We keep looking at different cruises to book besides the two we already have made a deposit on but progress with Canadian vaccinations has really slowed down so we are getting a little despondent ! 

If you people down South have some left over send some up North will you , you are getting better and better at it must be the new regime ............. but than I think with Buddy Holly in mind  " That'll Be the Day " ......

My buds and I were great Buddy Holly fans and today that song and that whole LP keeps coming into my head ! ........ and it is " Not Fade Away " 

"Oh Boy ! " ,  thank you for " Listen to Me " , my wife has to " Everyday " 

Tony 😀😀

1 minute ago, Vict0riann said:

Haha!  I guess I'm just a lazy so-and-so! 😄  The sun gets up late here, too...

Good for you Ann , our sun also has been up for a while before yours but at least you have the sun shining there today .

Have a good one ! 

20 hours ago, AllureOfVacation said:

@sailingdutchy thank so much for posting your story. It is so interesting to read different stories. Almost everyone has some more things to tell what happened to them after disembarkation

I am glad the first segment was better!

It must have been an interesting sight when you saw all the masks in the ships terminal in HK the first time.

 

 

Do you remember when the embassies were on board in the dining room? Was it the day before the prime minister came by helicopter?

 

@AllureOfVacationIf I look on the dates that my pics were taken on the iPad the embassies came on board the same day as when the Prime Minister landed onto the pier .

48 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Good morning, Dailyites, and thanks to Rich, Roy, and the drinks and recipes ladies, for starting the day off right!  Still no vaccine in Canada, but perhaps some will be coming in later this week.  

 

 

 

How come you always get up so late Ann ..........? 

7 hours ago, AllureOfVacation said:

 

I just browsed some pictures and found this one, us leaving the ship, shaking hands with Orlando Ashford

 

 

one of many puzzles. It was like yoga for my mind

I sure spend some good time around the puzzle table specially late at night when there was nobody left in the crows nest . It was quite busy there specially on all of our "Extra " Sea days  .

2 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

Sorry for the inverted picture.  I have no idea how to change it once it is inserted into a post.

You probably saw it happened on a few of mine also and I did not want to fool around with them otherwise I might have had to type my whole story all over again .

2 hours ago, kazu said:

Three Canadian Groundhogs have predicted an early spring - Sam (Nova Scotia), Fred (Quebec) and Willie (Ontario).

 

Phil in the United States disagreed and predicted 6 more weeks of winter.

 

Let’s hope the Canadian rodents are right 🤞 

 

 

I know we are right @kazu ! Our glass is always half full ! 😀

So sorry for the upside down pictures , did not know how to correct  that  and was not going to fool around with them because of the length of the post .

Where are we going now was the big question ?????

Here we are leaving Taiwan  it is Feb 5th our next Port we were suppose to visit was Keelung ....... Cancelled ..... everybody changing their plans for tours either on their own or with Holland America ....... as per the Captain we are now going to Ishigaki , Japan on a different day than originally scheduled ...........Cancelled !  Japan will not let us in .........word going around about the Cruise ship in Yokohama with the Covid virus on board ........ What will be the next place or who will accept us to dock and disembark ...... Big negotioations going on between Captain , Seattle , US and Dutch Governments ................the Company is doing everything to please all the passengers  as much as possible with all kind of little extras like an hour  "free drinks " or extra bubbly during dinners , special shows and constantly we are being kept up to date either by mail to the cabin or with more and more announcements over the loudspeakers . 

Most people know the Company is doing their very best for all of us and the crew is being supported by the passengers because we are all in the same boat . The Philippino show , late at night was full and a huge success ! . 

So now it is Feb 10th , the Captain makes another announcement : " After long talks and negotiations we have 2 possibilities "  which after a little while it becomes clear that it will be either Thailand that will let us come in or Cambodia . In the afternoon of Feb 11th we are being escorted by the Thai Navy and instead of doing 5 knots  just floating around ,we are gaining a lot of speed ........ So the talk is we are going to Bangkok and fly home from there and we are celebrating with a couple of drinks at "Happy Hour " ( see pictures ) ........ On TV the BBC is talking about the Pariah Ship looking for a place to go .............suddenly the ship makes a 180 degree turn and the escort disappears in the sunset . Now we are all guessing  if we are going back to Cambodia or where else ??......... 

At last we are being told we are going to Sihanoukville , a large medical team will be coming on board to do testing of temperatures and the people that had been at the doctor the last few days will need to take extra additional tests which are going to be checked in a Phnom Penh  laboratory. We will be divided into smaller groups to disembark and Holland America will be making all arrangements for flights home . 

On the night of Feb 12th there is a wonderful goodbye and farewell party in the showroom from the crew , many are moved to tears , there are speeches and standing ovations which the crew really deserved , they were terrific ! 

Feb 13th Ship is docked in Sihanoukville , in the mail we find out what , where and when  ...... announcement from the Captain the Prime Minister is coming to the pier please welcome him enthusiastically . Most of us had received in our cabins a shawl " Made in Cambodia " as present from the Government ..... The helicopter lands right on the pier in front of us ...........

From the different decks and balconies we are all waving with the shawls .

Busses arrive  on the pier to take the first groups to the airport ...........Flowers are being presented to the Captain and Holland America personnel ..........

It will be one more night for us on board ship . 

On Feb 14th it is our turn to disembark .........on board are reps from US and Canadian  embassies to answer any questions ....... By bus we go to the airport in Sihanoukville to catch a charter flight to Phnom Penh and from there we were suppose to fly to Kuala Lumpur  than to Incheon  S Korea  , Atlanta and finally Toronto to arrive a day and a half or so later ..............

We stand in line in front of the counter for the plane to KL ........standing there for at least 2  hours , nobody there to check any of us in ......... there will be NO flight to Kuala Lumpur supposedly the day before a lady in the first group had the virus  so NOBODY  could go to Malaysia .........  there are busses being called in to take people from the airport to a Hotel where HAL will take care of us and new arrangements are being made ............In the Departure Hall there are the embassy people and a few reps from Holland A .  sitting behind tables working the phones .......our good friend Deb said lets stand in line Tony see what they can do for us ........ so we stand in line for at least another hour or so  ( see picture from Dutch newspaper )  and we are being helped by Sidney ( hope I have her name right ) from HAL who asked the three of us where do you need to go ........ after some 15 minutes talking to airlines she gave us our new arrangements  and to make a very long story short , we received great Premium Economy Seats for a much better flight to S Korea and than direct to Toronto after a 10 hour layover , we are forever grateful to Sidney.............. Great arrangement specially if I compare those with people that went to the hotel and were there for a few more days ., some days you were allowed to go out other days not .  

This was a cruise to remember , family and friends were quite worried about us but we had a great time , made some very nice friends and have a story to tell for a long , long time ............ Thank you Holland America and a special Thank You to Deb for your help and your friendship ! 

Sorry it is such a long story , tried to keep it as short as possible , but hope you all got the feeling of being on the Westerdam in Asia  on the Phantom Cruise ship .............! 

Few more pictures :

Tony 

15 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Captain Werner Timmers has been announced as master of the Rotterdam.  He is such a nice man, I'm sure we will have a great time on the premier voyage!

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/ships/ms-rotterdam/holland-america-line-names-captain-werner-timmers-master-of-rotterdam/

Last time when we were on the Koningsdam with you Ann and Pat , Captain Timmers spend so much of his time day in day out in the public and had Q and A sessions . That was so nice !