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Mama Lou

Kay240

By Kay240,
in Holland America Line

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Kay240

Kay240

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DH and I just saw Mama Lou on the January 15 -22 part of our recent B2B. We met her a few years ago and had many pleasant conversations with her; she has wonderful stories she is eager to share. We were waiting to speak with the Future Cruise Consultants, when I looked up and saw her standing there (with her walker, of course) ...accompanied by her mechanical cat!

 

Mama Lou said she had only been home long enough to check her mail and then rush back out to a "Fund Raising Cruise" with 300 of her neighbors. Although we saw her serveral times during the week, she was always surrounded by "her fans"- passengers and crew, so I did not bother her for a "close-up" photo; hopefully, I have uploaded this correctly:

432418731_CaribbeanJan.8-222012225.jpg.33bee58ef004e573f4ee2bbb517a141e.jpg

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Caribbean Chris

Caribbean Chris

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Never knew of Mamma Lou until now either. She sounds like a fun lady.

 

Some of you (the older CCers like me) may remember Rosemary Roberts who lived on Royal Viking Line. This was in the 1980s, and I worked for the company so saw her often on one of the three ships.

 

Used to see her on turnover day having lunch in the main dining room, usually with just the customs people, sanitation inspectors and port agents unless we also had brought travel agents on board for a tour. The rumor was that she was married and lived in southern California, but her family literally shipped her off to get rid of her. But I thought it wasn't a bad retirement.

 

My parents cruised with her on a World Cruise and got to know her a bit. She used to have "her" seat on the front row in the main lounge and if you were sitting in it, she would tell you to move, with a little wave of her cane.

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Johanna7

Johanna7

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has to leave the ship on every turn around or does immigration give her dispensation? Also going to the muster drills?

 

She does go on shore when in port. We have seen her eith her walker in various places in Alaska. She had the husky dog with her. She is a great person. All the crew and the captains all know her.

 

Yes, she sits in the front. We usually do too at shows so I can hear better (deaf in one ear). Makes it better to sleep when things are noisy so I tuck my right ear in the pillow and the deaf one on top and it is nice and quiet. There are benefits to everything.

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RuthC

RuthC

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Some of you (the older CCers like me) may remember Rosemary Roberts who lived on Royal Viking Line. This was in the 1980s, and I worked for the company so saw her often on one of the three ships.

I don't remember her, but I do remember another woman, named Grace, who also lived aboard. She was there when I was on the Royal Viking Sea. She, too, had her own special table in the lounge, and her seat in the theatre.

 

I wondered what she did when the line went out of business. I felt so sorry for her that she lost her home.

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InTheWASide

InTheWASide

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Mama Lou is such an absolute sweetheart. We met her last April and had a few moments to talk with her. She was grabbing lunch and we were in the Lido so we wanted to keep it brief so she could go on about her day. So many stories and she's so loved by all the crew... and from the coverage of her life in previous HA Blog posts, she has certainly had a lifetime of experiences!

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InTheWASide

InTheWASide

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has to leave the ship on every turn around or does immigration give her dispensation? Also going to the muster drills?

 

As USCBP needs a "zero count" every turnaround I would imagine she has to come off like everyone else, but this process in my experiences is less than half an hour from the time you're off, they confirm the count, and then you're free to go right back on

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