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Lindy is "Live from the Eurodam"

lindalans

By lindalans,
in Holland America Line

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lindalans

lindalans

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Oct 15, 2012 Tuesday, 5c cold with the odd shower.

We started the day off right with breakfast at the Lido, I had bacon, eggs and sausage which was hot and served with a smile. We are in Saguenay today and arrived at 8am.

Stan wanted to go back to bed so Carole and I went ashore. The tide was out so the ramp off the ship was very steep, but I made it safely thanks to the two young HAL helpers. There to meet and welcome us were some of the locals dressed in traditional costume. Some of them were dancing so Carole joined in, as did some of the other passengers. Another group further on served us small glasses of blueberry juice and slices of fresh blueberry pie which were delicious. We were directed into a building where a small Farmer’s Market was set up so we could see, and buy, some of the goods that they made here. These included home made soap, jewellery, fur scarves, and glass blowing items. Everyone was friendly and seemed to enjoy the fact that the Eurodam stopped here. A Costa ship was also docked here and looked small compared to the Eurodam.

They had a wheelchair accessible bus so for $15 each we had a tour of 3 small communities, while we listened to the history of the area. We could have got off at various places but chose not to. Some of the places we saw were the wood mill, the paper mill, the dam, and the little white house. The little white house was built on rock and granite and was the only home left standing when the area was flooded. It is a very pretty area with the leaves changing color, but we didn’t see many reds.

We had lunch back on the ship in the Lido. The staff here are great and they always come and help me, 2 of them are Chick and Astante, on the 2nd day Astante even remembered what I had for breakfast the previous morning. Incredible!!! They will both be getting extra at the end of this trip.

In the afternoon I went to a computer class while Stan and Carole went to the spa. They purchased the $199 couple spa package on the day we boarded, and have been enjoying it daily. I purchased the $100 internet package.

In the evening we ate in the dining room. Our waiter at our table for 4, number 78, is Edy and like all the staff aboard is very nice. Service is quicker now too, but these young men are constantly running all evening.

After supper Carole and I went to the main stage to see Julie Barr the comedian. Neither of us enjoyed it and only stayed because we both felt it would be rude to walk out. I have to add here that we are both originally from the U.K. and nobody does comedy as good as the British do (in our opinion.)

To date even though it has been cold, we are experiencing calm seas.

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lindalans

lindalans

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Oct 16, 2012 Wednesday. 7c Cold with a biting cold wind.

This morning we docked in Baie Comeau at 8am and it was a cloudy day. Stan is not feeling well at all this morning and has the runs. Carole and I are both fine, so we plan on going ashore. We headed up to the Lido for breakfast first then came back to check on Stan. We had told our cabin steward Andy that he could still go in to clean, but when we got back from breakfast ( I only had 2 danish by the way) Stan said that Andy had been in but couldn’t clean as he had to alert his supervisor that Stan had the runs. This is fair enough as I suppose it could be Noro Virus, although Stan says it was the pot roast he had last night in the dining room (which he shouldn’t eat!)

As Stan hadn’t brought his medication Carole needed to find a drug store where she could buy some, as it’s not a prescription drug. Dressed up warmly we headed ashore. We had quite a long walk before we got to the information booth where we could check out the shore excursions, and boy it was cold!!! I had my winter coat on but the wind off the water made it VERY chilly.

At the booth we were greeted by two pleasant local women who were selling local tours in to town for $5 return. The only trouble was these tours were on school buses, and they were not wheelchair accessible. The one young lady was extremely helpful and did her very best to find something for us, but it wasn’t my lucky day. Carole however did need to go to the pharmacist so she went alone while I waited where it was warm. Some of the locals had tables set up selling their crafts, so I enjoyed my time there.

She didn’t stay too long as she has no sense of direction and was afraid she would get lost. She also wasn’t wearing a watch. We then headed back to the ship, again in the bitterly cold wind.

Stan said the supervisor had been to see him, and thankfully it doesn’t appear to be noro virus. He is just going to stay in bed all day. Carole went to the spa and I headed to a computer lesson with Jess the techspert.

There is lots going on during the day on the Eurodam including: cards, pilates, tai chi, $3 wine sampling, trivia etc. To date we have only been to afternoon tea once. Personally I’m struggling eating 3 meals a day, so have decided to eat very lightly at both breakfast and lunch from now on. Portions at dinner in the dining room are generous and I do hate to waste good food. Hot chocolate and flourless chocolate cake before going to bed is just not going to happen on this cruise!! I’m even saving our night time chocolates…..guess I’m getting old!!!

After dinner Carole and I headed to the main stage for the show. It was also the Captain’s Welcome prior to the show, so “champagne” was served to those who wanted it, which we didn’t. Our entertainment tonight was Kaitlin Carr. If you get a chance to see her you should go. She is a young performer from Glasgow, Scotland, and she is very talented. Not only does she have a great voice, but she also plays the penny whistle and an Irish flute. Her fingers were flying tonight and she got rousing applaud.

October 17, 2012 Thursday. 7c and cold

Today was a sea day. We headed to the Lido for a lazy breakfast and my stomach feels a little off this morning, but I managed to get down a glass of guava juice and 1 danish. Can you believe that…..1 danish….I must be sick!!!!

At 10am we went directly to the Piano Bar. Due to another 2 large groups onboard using the Crow’s Nest, our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet had been re-located here. Luckily I had been notified of this while at home so I was able to change the invitations. I wanted to be there early to greet everyone and have the name tags out on the table.

66 people had registered and in my opinion the Piano Bar isn’t the ideal location for a group of this size as we were kind of separated into 2 groups. However other than the 15 people who didn’t show up; which I suspect may have been due to the time being forwarded 1 hour last night, people seemed to enjoy themselves. I had sent out 10 invitations to Officers and Managers and 6 attended so I was pleased. They were the Captain, Hotel Manager, Beverage Manager, Guest Relations Manager, Cruise Director and 3rd Officer. The Captain announced they would mingle, and they did.

For lunch we headed to the Lido and I had a small salad. It was one of those days where I could just not get warm, and I was tired, so I just lay on the bed for a couple of hours with a blanket over me. Afterwards I worked on my report for an hour before going for supper in the dining room.

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lindalans

lindalans

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.....contined

 

The show this evening on the main stage was a comedian/magician. I didn’t go as I wanted to attend another computer class. Stan and Carole said he was good.

General information from the Eurodam.

Entertainment.

Anne & the HALCats

JK & the HALCats

Piano Bar Entertainer Jeff

Crow’s Nest – Matt Murphy

Explorer Lounge – Adagio Strings

Northern Lights – DJ Mark

Happy Hours – buy one drink, get the second for $1

Ocean Bar – 4pm – 5pm

Crow’s Nest – 4pm – 5pm

Explorer’s Lounge – 9pm – 10pm

Northern Lights – 11pm – 12 midnight

Names of Captain & Managers etc

Captain………Jeroen N van Donselaar

Staff Captain…Jan Smit (used to be named First Officer)

Hotel Director..Charles Verwaal (used to be named Hotel Manager)

Dining Room Manager…Tjitradjaja Pudja

Guest Relations….Maria Cecilia Grimaldi

Cruise Director….JC

Culinary Op. Manager…Edwin A Mahn

Beverage Manager..Jean-Jaques Jorissen (he goes by JJ)

Event Manager....Brock M. Kokenge (used to be named Onboard Event

Planner)

Seattle contact for setting up Meet and Greet…Tia Thomas

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erin_cruisers

erin_cruisers

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Great review. :)

Very interested, since I will be sailing on Eurodam next summer.

 

I hope the weather warms up for you soon.

The weather on the weekend here in Southern Ontario was very pleasant - hope it continues NE to the Maritimes.

 

One note, and its very minor, is that I think you have some of the dates wrong in your report.

ie - You have Thursday down as the 17th and it should be the 18th, etc. . ( :o I'm just trying to be helpful)

 

Oct 16, 2012 Wednesday. 7c Cold with a biting cold wind.

...At 10am we went directly to the Piano Bar. Due to another 2 large groups onboard using the Crow’s Nest, our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet had been re-located here. Luckily I had been notified of this while at home so I was able to change the invitations. I wanted to be there early to greet everyone and have the name tags out on the table.

66 people had registered and in my opinion the Piano Bar isn’t the ideal location for a group of this size as we were kind of separated into 2 groups. However other than the 15 people who didn’t show up; which I suspect may have been due to the time being forwarded 1 hour last night, people seemed to enjoy themselves. I had sent out 10 invitations to Officers and Managers and 6 attended so I was pleased. They were the Captain, Hotel Manager, Beverage Manager, Guest Relations Manager, Cruise Director and 3rd Officer. The Captain announced they would mingle, and they did.

...

 

So you arranged the entire M & G??

Wow!! I'm impressed also that 6 of the officers came, including the Captain!!

Well done.

Even though I attend all of the M & M on RCI, and we've had some large ones, it is rare for even an officer to show up, let alone the Captain.

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holacanada

holacanada

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Hello Lilalans!

 

I really enjoyed reading your review. I live in Quebec city,

I'm a fan of Holland America and I would hope do this cruise from my hometown with my aging parents. Your text is very detailed and I love it.

 

I hope you have a wonderful adventure and I think of you positively in regard of your health condition.

 

In a few weeks I will be aboard the Westerdam.

Thank you again for your writings, it allows us to travel inexpensively .. !

 

Holacanada live from Quebec city !

 

P.S.: I wonder why KK cannot come to Quebec city in two stopovers (by plane).? There are several flights to our city from the United States.

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lindalans

lindalans

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October 19, 2012 Friday 16c and sunny

This morning we opted for a wake-up call at 7:30am and a light breakfast from room service at 8am. To date things we have ordered from room service have arrived on time, nothing missing, and at the correct temps so we have no complaints. We docked at 8am and were off the ship by 9am.

We are in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island…home of the legendary Anne of Green Gables….which we all wanted to see. Needless to say none of the private tours are wheelchair accessible! Am I surprised? No!

After my Hawaii cruise last year, I have learned that if a wheelchair accessible taxi is available, it is a far better option. I am now learning it is also more reasonably priced than HAL excursions, plus we get to see what we want.

Our driver today was a French Canadian by the name of Pavlo (I forgot to get his contact details) but I’d use him again. We decided to book him for 2 hours to start with, and headed out to “Anne’s home” in Cavendish.

The drive out there was very scenic, and I fell in love with Prince Edward Island, especially draped in the beautiful Fall colours. It is one of my favourite seasons of the year, and living in Alberta we don’t get the reds like they do on this east coast, and it is still one of the things I miss about England.

Green Gables was indeed delightful to see, and it was like going back in time when we went inside (yes it is wheelchair accessible.) The paths around the outside were good too and I had no problem getting around. We probably spent a good hour here taking in all the sites, and I took many photos.

Afterwards Pavlo took us out to see Confederation Bridge, before we headed back to Charlottetown so we could explore it on our own. It’s a beautiful city but you certainly need much longer than a day to do it justice.

At 4pm we headed back to the ship as all aboard was 4:30pm with sail away at 5pm. We had time to get ready for another fine dinner in the dining room.

Sunday October 21, 2012 Halifax. 12c partly cloudy

We had a wake-up call at 7:30am and then headed to the Lido for breakfast before heading out at 9am. Today we wanted to go to the tiny fishing village of Peggy’s Cove which is rumoured to have the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

Outside on the pier we were welcomed by Ambassador Jim, a Scottish gentleman in a kilt who proudly stated he was in his 80’s, plus another guy playing the bagpipes.

Again no wheelchair accessible private tours, but after a few phone calls we were able to get a taxi through Casino Taxi’s and our driver was a lovely young man from India.

Words cannot describe the ¾ of an hour drive out to Peggy’s Cove. The reds and bright orange leaves where truly magnificent, and it was one of the prettiest drives I’ve been on for a long long time. The roads were narrow and twisty twiney at times but I was in awe of the beauty of the many little coves we past enroute. By now I’m sure you have all figured out that I’m a scenery person!

My only regret was that our driver drove at a pretty fast speed so taking photos out of the window was impossible. If I’d have been driving it would have taken us all day to get there, as I would have been stopping at every cove to take pictures.

Peggy’s Cove was ruggedly beautiful and I could have sat all day watching the waves crash up onto the huge rocks. There were several coach loads of people here at the same time as us, so there were people all over the place. How I would have loved to have been here alone for the day. I’m sure my photos will not do justice to its beauty.

Coming back into Halifax we stopped at the cemetery where many of the victims of the Titanic were laid to rest; saw the Citadel Hill Fortress; the Maritime Museum and the Public Gardens before we got dropped off on the waterfront so we could take a leisurely walk back to the ship.

They had a huge indoor market at the pier so Carole and I browsed around while Stan went ahead and boarded. There were lots of vegetables for sale, and the biggest leeks I’ve ever seen! They also had a stall that were selling Cornish pasties, and being British, Carole and I bought and shared one. Mmmm they were yummy and tasted just like they used to at home.

Tonight was a formal night so we got dressed up, headed for supper, and ended our evening by going to the main stage to see the Avalon Ballroom Show. I have to say the shows on the Eurodam have been superior to the shows on the 3 other smaller HAL ships I have been on.

Today has been the highlight of the cruise so far for me.

Monday October 22, 2013 Bar Harbor, Maine 10c partly cloudy

Our day began early as today is our first day in the U.S. so we wanted to go for breakfast before going through customs. As we are on deck 1 our time was scheduled for 9am – 9:15am. We had just nicely finished breakfast when JC announced we could proceed to Deck 3. It was a quick process and even though I wasn’t going ashore, I still had to have my passport stamped like everyone else.

Bar Harbor is a tender port, and even though the Eurodam is equipped with a lift to get me on the tender, I just didn’t want to risk it. I left Stan and Carole as they were going for their tender tickets.

I headed to the aft of the Lido deck to take some photos from the ship. The sun was shining and it was pleasant until the wind picked up, so after a while I headed back to the cabin. I spent an hour putting away things I wouldn’t use again, typed up yesterday’s report, and checked my email. Then I roamed around the ship, talked to many nice people, and took more photos of some of the ship areas.

At 1pm I headed to the Lido and enjoyed some fresh bread and cheese while I read the daily Explorer, and chatted to some of the crew. The young men in the Lido work 11 hours a day with a two hour break in the afternoon. Astana was telling me about his family and said he misses his girlfriend. They work extremely hard and it is sad they have to leave their homeland to make more money for themselves and/or family. They attend the HAL School for 2 years before they come onboard.

As I was leaving the Lido and going across one of those metal strips across the floor, directly in front of the Entrée station, my wheelchair quit! It has done this a few times while onboard, but usually goes again after it’s unplugged and plugged back in. This time it was as dead as a door nail!! Astana and another steward tried to get it going but it refused to budge. A manual wheelchair was brought and 3 of them physically lifted me in to it (thankfully I only weigh 110lbs!!)

Astana pushed me in the manual wheelchair and Eko pushed my power chair in manual mode. When we got to the cabin, Stan was lying down and Carole was out. Astana plugged it into the power outlet for me, but I knew it was fully charged. With 4 more cruise days to go, plus a day and 1 night in Fort Lauderdale, then a full day of flying before getting back to Alberta, I was very worried.

When Carole came back we discussed what may have to happen i.e. 1) I would give Carole and Stan the money to try and purchase a manual one in our next port which is Boston (the power one I would just throw overboard (just kidding!) 2) Try to borrow one from HAL although they do state theirs can only be used for embarking and disembarking 3) Fly home.

I decided to call the front desk to see if they had anyone who could have a look at it. Carole said she would go to the front desk and put it out over the intercom to see if any passengers could help (bless her heart.) When I called them they said they couldn’t guarantee anything but would check and call me back. Carole in the mean time had talked to an Officer (3 gold stripes) and he had told her he would contact the Bridge. A little later the Front Desk called and asked if I would sign a waiver form which I willingly did. At 3:30pm the Front Desk called again and asked if someone could come down and get it, which they did. I asked if it would be possible to use a HAL manual chair (if mine couldn’t be fixed) and they said to use one until I disembarked would cost $145.

I was unable to go to the dining room for supper, and could have ordered room service, but I wasn’t that hungry. At 6:30pm Andy our cabin steward knocked on the door, and there was my wheelchair AND IT WAS WORKING!!! I was so relieved!

I called the Front Desk and asked if I could speak to the person who fixed it, to personally thank whoever it was, and also to see what they had had to do. Josephine at the desk said she would see what she could do, but didn’t think it was possible. 15 minutes later she called back and said it was a broken cable but couldn’t give me any more information. As I have no names I will just write a thank you note and have it delivered to the Technical Department.

I was able to attend the show and the entertainment was a comic by the name of Rondell Sheridan and he was very good.

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RuthC

RuthC

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How wonderful that there was someone with the skill to fix your wheelchair! I'm happy for you that you didn't have to go to Plan B, or some such, and can continue to enjoy your cruise.

Did you have any trouble getting around at Peggy's Cove? I remember it as being rocks, but I don't recall paths (it's been a long, long time though).

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IRL_Joanie

IRL_Joanie

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Lindy,

 

I am praying that you are able to stay safe and unhurt. I've been following your thread and thoroughly enjoying it until today because of the weather you are headed in to:(

 

May God keep you and all in harms way safe!!

 

Joanie

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lindalans

lindalans

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Interruption of normal reporting

On the evening of October 23, our Captain came over the intercom to let us know that due to Hurricane Sandy forming, he thought it best to skip the port of Newport and head straight for Fort Lauderdale. Newport would have been a tender port for me, and I hadn’t planned on getting off anyway, so we would now have 3 sea days instead of 2. Carole and Stan were going off independently so had no shore excursions booked. Those with HAL excursions booked would have the cost automaticly refunded, and we would all get the big sum of $6.28 port taxes refunded also.

On the morning of the 24th he informed us that Sandy was an F1 and after consulting with various weather stations plus head office in Seattle, the decision had been made to head further out to sea, which of course most people on Cruise Critic know is the safest place to be in these situations.

Shortly after 11am he informed us that he had a patient in ICU aboard who needed surgery, and therefore he had to take us back closer to land so that a medical evacuation could take place. He apologized but said that he had to consider all of his passengers even in these adverse conditions.

A little later he told us the helicopter would arrive in approx. 3 hours. 15 minutes before it was due to arrive he cleared everyone from the front of the ship (including the Crow’s Nest and a couple of forward cabins) for safety reasons. I headed to the aft deck on the Lido to watch the operation take place.

It was a large helicopter and it hovered over the bow of the ship as the patient was taken up in a basket. While this all took place an aircraft continually circled us to monitor things.

Shortly afterwards our wonderful Captain came back on to let us know it had taken place safely, and we were now heading back out to sea. He also came on again later that evening to say it was going to be a rough night, the outside decks would be closed, and we had to take care when walking around. He also said he would do everything in his power to get us back into Fort Lauderdale by the 27th if it was safe to do so during the hurricane.

On the morning of the 25th he informed us conditions were rough and it had been decided to try and dock at Port Canaveral, Florida. Later on he told us we would be arriving in Port Canaveral at 4am on the 26th and conditions would be very rough. We were rocking quite a bit at supper in the main dining room, and afterwards in the cabin, I only just made it to the bathroom where I promptly brought it all back. I am now taking gravol every six hours.

Today the 26th it was evident that we were still at sea!!

Interruption!

We are just about to dock (safely) in Jacksonville. I don’t know what will happen now….but we are safe!!!! Kudos to our fantastic Captain.

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