sailingdutchy

1 hour ago, VermeulT said:

posted on HAL's facebook page...

"We are excited to announce that Captain Werner Timmers has been named the master of Rotterdam! He has been with Holland America Line for nearly 40 years, and we are honored to have him at the helm. Get to know him this week with a "Meet the Master" series on our stories!"

Great news , he is one of the best ! 

Thank you @AllureOfVacation for you posting about your adventure on the Westerdam , loved your write up and pictures and also @USN59-79 for what you experienced  after leaving Sihanoukville .

Like @bobpatj , our good friend  @DeeDee , Jan and Dave and many others we started that cruise in Singapore on Jan 16th , 2020 when the Westerdam came fresh out of the dry dock so she was all Spick and Span ready for another couple of years carrying all of us across the many Oceans . The first 12 days went off without a hitch and had some wonderful tours in Thailand , Cambodia and Vietnam with small groups of friends and had a wonderful time , there really was not a cloud in the sky !

Once we reached Halong Bay we received word that we would only be 1 day in Hong Kong instead of a stay over , we were told due to possible riots in the city .  When we landed in HK we just went into the terminal to get some excellent wifi and noticed that all the people who were coming on board ship for the next segment of the cruise were all wearing masks something we had not experienced until that point , it was now Feb 1st and we started  all of a sudden hearing a lot about the Covid - 19 virus on mainland China .

Next the captain set course towards Manilla a day where a very large portion of the crew had been looking forward to so they could meet their families and give them all the presents they bought for them for Christmas and the New Year . When we hit the Philippines  International waters in the middle of the night the captain was told we were not allowed to dock in Manilla so instead we than went for an extra day to Kaohsiung , Taiwan which we spend by going on a local bus to a beautiful large Mall to browse around because the next day I had booked a small bus for our group to go to the amazing Buddha Centre and see some other sights . 

So we got up early  and have breakfast to go on shore and I noticed it was really quiet on shoreside and saw  that all of the Entrances were blocked off  with guards .............another "  Very Important Message "  to all cabins from the Captain which we really we started  to get used to and for the next couple of weeks we would say to each other when he came on the radio Oh Oh what are we doing now and where are we going now .............. 

( I will first like to share some pictures from these first couple of weeks from tours and our time on board ship and will come back in a little bit with the " End of our Story "  )

Tony 😀

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

How does that compare with the entry to Amsterdam?

 

Roy

@rafinmd

Locks at  IJmuiden ( to Amsterdam )  in 2012  . Right now they are enlarging the locks which should have been completed but they ran into some complications , stuff happens below the waterline ! 

This was on the Eurodam .

Terminal in Amsterdam  and some apartment buildings  and some scenery half way through the canal .

Thank you once more @richwmn and @rafinmd for the Daily .  I will keep on reading .

Our Province of Ontario is going today in a more restrictive lock down .

I noticed that this is one of the first days that none of the "DAM " ships are moving they are all at anchor .

Take care everybody a few more months of this .

Good Day Daylyites . We have been doing quite a bit of Travel Challenges with our family and friends on an other website to pass the time  but I have been keeping a close eye on CC of coarse and have been thinking a lot of the wonderful crews that have now been at sea for months and months without being able to go ashore , wander around or do their personal shopping . 

Today I would like to share a number of pictures of a fantastic tour we had with the Chief Engineer of one of the ships ( think I should not divulge that ) down under in the heart of the ship the place that it makes it all tick .  We were with six of us 5 Electrical and Mechanical engineers and one Civil. 

Everything was incredibly clean but it was quite noisy . An amazing experience . 

I have also been thinking of all the wonderful Hotel Staff , most of whom are now at home maybe doing other jobs or waiting and hoping like us to soon be able to get on board again .................

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

 One more Roy 🙂

 

Team USA shutting out Team Canada 2-0 (Canada's first defeat after six consecutive wins!) and winning the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. Awesome job!

 

Congratulations @Copper10-8 from a Canadian . We watched all the teams play last night and liked all  of the well deserved wins . 

Another "lurker " here reporting !  Thank you again Rich , Roy and the many contributors for keeping the Daily going . As noted before I keep reading this post almost daily enjoy the stories from some of our cruise friends we have met on different cruises  and the  looking at the many beautiful pictures . 
I am also most interested of where the HAL ships are .

Our thoughts today are with our family and friends and this day in particular with all of the crews at sea away from their families . We wish you all a Happy New Year , bless you all and be safe . 

A toast to all of you ! 

DW made a favorite Dutch treat  , Oliebollen  ! 

Love the  many pictures of the Antarctica cruises , one of our favourite cruises so here a couple of mine .

Merry Christmas to all of you on the Daily !  Thank you again Rich and Roy and the many contributors for keeping the Daily going , I read quite often your postings , yes I am one of those lurkers , it is my morning paper ! 

Had computer problems with this site but it seems to be solved from the looks of it . But I am very late tonight .

 We had a very nice evening tonight with our two boys and our granddaughters with a delicious charcutery board , cheese fondue and a chocolat fondue as desert and than exchanged some presents so on Christmas Day we can enjoy Christmas in peace and quiet with DW mom .

Best wishes for all , Take Care and Stay Safe .

Tony 

Couple of pictures from the Premier Cruise of the Nieuw Statendam 

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Thanks for the memories! We had to leave a carrot (for Sinterklaas' white horse) in front of the fireplace/heater at night. "Pepernoten" (pepper nuts) On Dec 5th, our parents arranged with one of the neighbors to pounce on our door to let us know Sinterklaas had arrived. Great memories!

Love your pictures @Copper10-8 and Yes so many good memories . Yes wooden shoe with straw and a large carrot for  Sint's horse , and a drink for Sinterklaas and his helpers . 

Pictures look so 50 's , are these yours ?  Where is little Jan  (John ) 

Thank you Rich and thank you Roy and the many Dailyites for keeping this Post going day in day out . I am always happy to read the many stories and see the pictures as part of my " Morning Paper " .

Today I saw that people are getting in the mood of Santa Claus so I like to post a few things that takes me back to my roots in The Netherlands one of the countries where the REAL Santa is celebrated  on December 5th and 6th depending of in which country you lived : Saint Nicholas of Myra . 

When I was young we never received presents on Christmas Day  ( Feast of the Nativity ) that was only a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus .

But if we had been good all year we would have received our presents on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day  (Dec 5th )

I shall not give you with all of the details of Saint Nicholas  ( or Sinterklaas in Dutch )  but you can read about some of those in Wikipedia where the customs are well explained even the transformation from Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus .

Just wanted to tell you that in our youth our BIG day was December 5th ................. Coming up soon ! 

This is like my morning newspaper !  Thank you all daily people nice to read all of these messages and I am learning of all your experiences. 

Happy Anniversary Ann and Pat ! 

The Sailing Dutchies .

Thank you Rich and Roy for keeping the Daily very interesting . 

We are having this week the best fall colours of this year around our home , but fall is really setting in .  Here some nice pictures from around our place .

.............Not looking forward to shoveling the snow from the laneway this year  ! 

Thank you very much again for keeping the daily going  Rich , Roy and all of the daylyites  ! 

Just thinking of the wonderful cruise we had a year ago on the Koningsdam from Rome through the Adriatic back to Rome and all the way across the ocean to Ft Lauderdale  with some wonderful friends .  Can't believe with all that is happening this year that it was only a year ago ..........! 

My dear wife Martha was happy to be back in her land of birth  Slovenia again doing the Polka 

Tony 

6 minutes ago, bennybear said:

 

  @sailingdutchy@Cruising-along Great Kotor photos!  You must have done a similar tour to ours with that little island.  We were there last fall on the Koningsdam,  so I’ll share those photos as on this date we were at sea! 

 

Yes we did a Kotor Private Tour whish started by going along the coast to Sv Stefan , that little Island and than we went lad inwards into the mountains to Cetinje to see the former Kings private residence after which we went to a farm and had some wonderful prociutto , cheese homemade bread and wine and grape brandy  all produced on the farm . On the way back we had this great view over the inlet from way above .

Great day 

Tony 

We also have very fond memories of our cruise last year on the Koningsdam and we had a marvelous day in Kotor on Oct 21, 2019 , with everything happening this year it seems all so long ago ! 

1 hour ago, Mickb said:

I live in Torquay where New Statendam joined Westerdam, Zaandam and Volendam this morning. Torbay is very sheltered from all winds except the south east. The prevailing winds are southwest so the ships can sit in comparatively calm water even if it is blowing a gale. It is an overnight sail to Southampton for storing. Zaandam and Volendam are closest in - Zaandam is about a half a mile from the shore, Volendam is a little further out then Westerdam then New Statendam. They are a magnificent if unusual sight.

In the next bay are Queen Mary 2, Azura and Ventura.

 

 

Thank you very much for letting us know about your surroundings , I think in a way it also confirms the point I was trying to make  why the 4 HAL ships are there instead of off the Dutch coast with a chance that they are driven onto the beach in a fall storm .

Tony 

11 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

Thanks for that, Tony - I had thought it might be for the fish and chips!

That's another great reason Ann !  Wonder if they also have the delicious Dutch herring there  ?

4 hours ago, Himself said:

Rich:  Thank you for the morning Fleet report.  I wonder why HAL has moved the sgips from the Netherlands to old mother England?  I am sure Copper 10/8 will have an answer-probably "inside information."

Roy, thank you for your prayer list .  Thanks to all who have given information to this great thread. 

Having grown up in The Netherlands I am just making an educated guess that the weather conditions along the Western coast of Holland are not a good location for any of these cruise ships  in the fall . You might see there are no cruise ships left there at all and that they are all hiding in different bays off the Southern coast of Great Britain near Torbay , Weymouth and Bournemouth . 

Stormwinds from the West can be incredibly strong in the winter and fall in the North Sea .

Let's see if  @ Copper 10-8   agrees .........???? 

24 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

You haven’t posted much lately.  I hope you’re doing ok.

 

 Roy 

We are just doing fine Roy , thank you for asking . I watch almost daily of what is going on in the cruise world and what our cruise friends are doing . We really miss life on board those wonderful HAL ships with the best crews , our cruise friends and also miss  the joys of life at sea.

Thank you and many others who keep Cruise Critic going . 

Tony 

31 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Good morning all, and thank you to Rich and Roy for hosting the party!

 

Pat's favourite thing in the whole world is pasta carbonara, but he would want it to be in Italy, so we will stick with the turkey leftovers tonight.  I think I will cream some over rice.   Then I should be able to make soup with everything left. It's a good few days when I don't have to think about meals... 

 

I remember Pat really liking the pasta Carbonara  at the very small bakery / restaurant on the Via Veneto in Rome .I think he inhaled that huge plate !   The day before we went to the Opera Serenades at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj and than the next day to get on board the Nieuw Statendam for her Premier Voyage .

Great memories Ann ! 

10 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Ever tried this one?

 

Yes and we had an Oranjeboom Brewery in Den Haag John .  Also you and I would pronounce the name of this brewery much different than the English speakers here .

 ( This is not  a beer or cider with an explosion ,  but a double "O" which means a long "O" , same as in Oosterdam ! ) 

Thank you very much again Roy @rafinmd  for placing my DW Martha on your " Today's Care List " that was very nice .  I would like you and all the CC friends to know that Martha's aches and pains have improved a lot . She is an incredible lucky lady to fall from such a height and not have more serious injuries , and I feel I am an incredible lucky man of how she is feeling now.

You can now leave her of your list so people can think of others who need it . Thanks much appreciated

Thank you also @richwmn for the Daily's  from a lurker , I always enjoy looking at what is happening at sea .

Tony 

3 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

I have been having a hard time getting on to CC today.  But good morning all, and thank you Rich and Roy.  I have a couple to add to the Care List,, Roy - my DH spent some time at the hospital yesterday for back pain (spinal stenosis) and will be out of action for a while!  Also Mrs. Sailingdutchy, in Ontario, who fell off a ladder (!!) and ended up the hospital with an injured back.  So everybody, take care, these things come in threes!!

 

Welcome to all the newcomers to The Daily, this is turning into a very popular thread.😄

Thank you very much for that Ann @VictOriann .  Martha and I are also wishing you a Happy Birthday , our very best wishes !  

We also hope that Pat will feel better soon .

Martha was extremely lucky she had no broken bones falling at least six feet but she is very very sore right now .

Thanks Jacqui for your good wishes .

Tony