MS Veendam August 17-24 Historic Coasts

[innlady1]

RuthC, Eric did have a number in the opening show. He’s no Mark Farris (or Stryker apparently) but he was definitely worth a visit. Eric was followed in the show by a male/female singing duo from the HALCats who were the best act of the show. Unfortunately, they sang What a Wonderful World (the Crystal Sailaway song), and hearing that on another cruise line is always difficult for me.

 

 

 

Shiela, Ann, and Carol, we really do need Lou and Dave in Boston.

I was surprised by how much tooting there was as we backed out of our slip, their cameras there would be fantastic, although the Maasdam’s tooting was a bit frustrating as we went through the muster roll call and Captain Bos was speaking.

 

Kazu and Shiela, you correctly caught on about Linda.

 

Roy

 

I think we should all email Lou and ask for a cam in Boston...they're in Bermuda now, and Aruba, etc....let's cover the USA!

[innlady1]

Kazu and Shiela, you correctly caught on about Linda.

Roy

 

I remember Linda well...she was on one of our Maasdam cruises...either January '11 or January '12!

Toodle Loo! ;)

[rafinmd]

Thanks all

 

I lost energy pretty quickly Saturday night and was still pretty well out in the morning. I slept until about 5:40 and stepped out on deck just as the sun was rising over the horizon. We and the Maasdam pulled into Bar Harbor before 7 along with American Cruise Lines tiny Independence which was secured to the dock.

 

I had heard horror stories about how time consuming tendering was and was hoping to get into town in time for a 10AM worship service. Linda Minnikin had indicated that the tenders were not too busy earlier in the morning and I was at the Ocean bar just after 7:30 to pick up a tender ticket. After I returned to my room to gather my stuff I had just missed a tender but the next soon picked up a crowd bound for an excursion and we were ashore about 8:10.

 

This is my 4th visit to Bar Harbor, after the Regent Sun, the

Grande Caribe, and Crystal Symphony, so I've seen most of the sites. I strolled the streets and browsed the shops before heading to the United Church of Christ about 9:45. The liturgy was a bit unfamiliar but the service was fine. A small local restaurant "Cafe This Way" near the church had breakfast until 1. It had a long line waiting at 9:30 but when I went back about noon I got a table immediately. Blueberries are a local specialty and I enjoyed a lunch of blueberry pancakes.

 

Small Bar Island sits near the tender pier. There is a sandbar connecting it to Mt. Desert Island at low tide with a 4-hour window of access, at high tide it is inaccessible. Low tide was about 2:15 and I walked over a little after 1, the first time I have been there. I spent a little time in the afternoon at an internet cafe in an old opera house. The wifi was not free, but was quite reasonable at $5 per hour. I was pleasantly surprised at checkout when I learned my coffee was included with my internet time.

 

There appear to be 2 anchoring areas at Bar Harbor and the Maasdam got the prime one close to the dock. It is well they had it. When I returned to the ship at 3, their popup shelter at the pier was gone, and they were on their way by 4. We were due to leave at 5 but Captain Bos extended our stay until 7 due to the lovely weather. I was back on the ship in time to enjoy a snack at afternoon tea.

The program included "Interdenominational service led by congregation" at 4, and I decided to check it out. It was kind of awkward but eventually a lady said "I could never face my bible study class if I didn't step forward" and we kind of muddled our way through the service. Kind of a strange event, but Jesus is reputed to have said "When 2 or more are gathered in my name I am with you". We put that to the test.

 

All 8 showed up for dinner although one couple was late from Mass. I enjoyed the always available chicken breast along with a fruit salad, chilled cranberry soup, and apple sundae.

 

The main show was "Bob Mackie's Broadway", a wide variety of hit tunes from Broadway featuring elegant gowns by designer Bob Mackie. I'm not a fan of the showroom at sea concept, but this show did feature a lot of individual singers and it was helpful to start to relate to them one by one. The show concluded with a rousing medley of about a dozen songs.

 

We lose an hour tonight going to Atlantic Canada, but I did get up to the Mix briefly to see Eric at the piano. The songs I saw were Sherry and Chantilly Lace. I still did not find him one of the great ones at the venue but would have enjoyed staying longer if we were not changing the clocks.

 

At the beginning of the show Linda called attention to a couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. My parting shot comes from the stories Linda told of children describing married life. My favorite was the account of how an 8 year old could recognize a married couple. "You know because they're the ones yelling at the same kids.

 

This post comes you live from the Veendam. Toodle Loo for now.

 

Roy

[innlady1]

Really enjoying your "Live Report", Roy. Sounds as though you had a lovely day in Bar Harbor.

[TylerRose]

Enjoying your report. TY for sparing the time to share your adventures...

 

Has anyone mentioned how long Captain Bos will be aboard? He is our favorite... love his enthusiasm.

[mamaofami]

. I have seen that Broadway show at least 4 or 5 times.Time for some new shows.

[rafinmd]

Enjoying your report. TY for sparing the time to share your adventures...

 

Has anyone mentioned how long Captain Bos will be aboard? He is our favorite... love his enthusiasm.

 

I haven't heard. There's a thread by Copper10-8 where he's been giving updates on Captains. I suspect he will know or I'll try to ask if I see him to talk to.

 

Shiela, I'm sitting in Tim Hortons in Saint John sipping steeped tea. I'm expecting Jacqui to be here in about 15 minutes.

 

Roy

[innlady1]

I haven't heard. There's a thread by Copper10-8 where he's been giving updates on Captains. I suspect he will know or I'll try to ask if I see him to talk to.

 

Shiela, I'm sitting in Tim Hortons in Saint John sipping steeped tea. I'm expecting Jacqui to be here in about 15 minutes.

 

Roy

 

Say 'hello' t Jacqui for me. Enjoy your day, Roy!

[mamaofami]

wow, Roy.You get to meey Jacqui.How cool is that. Say hello for me too.

[rafinmd]

Say 'hello' t Jacqui for me. Enjoy your day, Roy!

 

wow, Roy.You get to meey Jacqui.How cool is that. Say hello for me too.

 

Unfortunately, Jacqui just left but I'm sure she will see your hellos here. We chatted for about an hour.

 

This post comes to you live from Tim Hortons in Saint John, Canada.

 

Roy

[mamaofami]

. Roy did you and Jacqui take pictures?

[RuthC]

We lose an hour tonight going to Atlantic Canada, but I did get up to the Mix briefly to see Eric at the piano. The songs I saw were Sherry and Chantilly Lace. I still did not find him one of the great ones at the venue but would have enjoyed staying longer if we were not changing the clocks.

Thank you very much for posting this. I'll file it in my personal memory bank for potential future use.

 

Hope the beautiful day here at the southern end of New England extends north to NB! :)

[kazu]

Unfortunately, Jacqui just left but I'm sure she will see your hellos here. We chatted for about an hour.

 

This post comes to you live from Tim Hortons in Saint John, Canada.

 

Roy

 

Indeedy I did. It was a pleasure meeting you Roy. How kind of you to take time out of your very short port time to visit. One of these days we will land on the same cruise:D

 

What a shame your ship is leaving so early today. Beautiful day for a sail a way though:D Enjoy your meet and greet this afternoon:D

[kazu]

. Roy did you and Jacqui take pictures?

 

Neither one of us thought of it. Roy recognized me as soon as I walked in;)

[mamaofami]

Neither one of us thought of it. Roy recognized me as soon as I walked in;)

Too bad about the pictures. I always like to put a picture to a name after tslking on line.

[Jade13]

Our Cruise Director is another familiar face, Linda Minnikin

Toodle Loo!

[kazu]

Too bad about the pictures. I always like to put a picture to a name after tslking on line.

 

 

 

Roy has a pic in his avatar - it is actually quite accurate. I don't need a pic to remind me - if I am every fortunate enough to see Roy again - I will know him on sight:D (preferably on a ship and not visiting us in port when I am NOT going!)

[innlady1]

Too bad about the pictures. I always like to put a picture to a name after tslking on line.

 

 

Roy visited me at our inn two years ago when he was on a Blount cruise that stopped at Nantucket...we had a lovely visit...but I never thought to take photos. Actually, that would have seemed kind of a weird request. LOL!

[rafinmd]

I see there were a lot of comments about yesterday but I think Jacqui responded to them about as well as I could.

 

Despite the lost hour overnight it was not hard to be up at 5 today. I attended to some things in my cabin and went on deck about 5:45 to hear the foghorn's regular blast as the pilot pulled alongside. With some but not a lot of shoreside walking I took 10 laps on the promenade deck, finishing about the time we pulled up to the dock. The Bay of Fundy is noted for extreme tides, and the ramp to the terminal had a tall support cage, capable of a wide range of adjustment as the ship rose and fell.

 

The fog burned off roughly the same time as the sun rose above the skyline, making a very pleasant day in the city. I had booked the Big Pink Hop on bus and was off at 8:30 to see a bit of the city. I needed an early start as I had also planned coffee with Cruise Critic member Jacqui (kazu). The bus makes 2 loops and I was on for about 1 1/2. The complete loop followed the Saint John river past the reversing falls rapids. The extreme tides here force the river to flow backwards at high tide creating the 2-way rapids. We passed at slack tide so there was not a lot to see but we also learned that the city was settled in the 1770's by loyalists fleeing the American revolution and was devastated by fire in 1877. One of the big plazas in town is still known as Loyalist Square.

 

I started the city loop with the first 2 stops, disembarking in Kings Square and taking a short walk to a nearby Tim Hortons. As I enjoyed tea there for a while and did some of my serious internet work until Jacqui arrived at 10:30. We chatted for over an hour over coffee and then I got my traditional Tim Hortons lunch of Chicken soup along with yogurt and berries. I walked from there about a half mile to the ship, stopping at the firefighters museum (Jacqui had alerted me to that as I was planning my visit). The 1959 pumper on display is very similar to the 1969 model that was new in my department when I started there. There were also a lot of smaller items and a moving display of the firefighters lost in the World Trade Center attack. The page of pictures from the NY Times must have been soon after the attack as it showed 343 photos with perhaps 10% listed as confirmed deceased. I'm sure virtually all the others were eventually confirmed dead. I returned to the ship about 15 minutes ahead of the 1:30 all aboard. It was clear but windy as we left Saint John, a picture perfect day.

 

Our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was held at 3 in the Crows Nest, with 10 of us in attendance. Linda was running team trivia on the opposite side and stopped by briefly when it wrapped up.

 

Our first formal dinner was a very elegant affair. I enjoyed rack of lamb, followed by the Captain's toast in the show lounge. Comedian Joe Yannety provided the evening entertainment. I stopped by the mix around 9:15. Eric Fischer was running a name the lyric trivia session where he sang the first few bars of a song and then asked for something like "the next 5 words". I didn't participate since I arrived around question 11 of 15, but it seemed to be quite well received. As I came back from the Mix we were making our way around the southern tip of Nova Scotia.

 

Today's parting shot comes from my fire museum visit. It is the firefighters prayer, posted on the wall of the museum:

 

"When I am called to duty, God, whenever flames may rage, Give me strength to same some life, whatever be it's age.

 

Help me embrace a little child before it is too late, Or save an older person from the horror of their fate.

 

Enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout, And quickly and efficiently to put the fire out.

 

I want to fill my calling and give the best in me To guard my every neighbor and protect his property.

 

And if, according to my fate I am to lose my life, please bless with Your protecting head my children and my wife."

 

Let this be dedicated to the hotshots who recently perished in Arizona.

 

This post comes to you live from the Veendam. Toodle loo for now.

 

Roy

[kazu]

Glad you enjoyed the museum Roy.:D The prayer is beautiful. I hadn't seen it in a long time and had forgotten it. Thank you;)

[lastlook]

Discovered your thread this morning and am enjoying following along on your journey! Thank you for taking the time to post.

[innlady1]

Thanks for another interesting post, Roy. And thank you for posting that beautiful prayer.

[mamaofami]

Sounds like you're having a great time on the Veendam.

[rafinmd]

Thanks, all Good news. This (Wednesday) morning I just went to the lido and poured my own coffee.

 

When I went up to the lido just after 5 I found that they had not reverted to self service. With a planned family visit I was not planning to walk a lot in port and walked 3 miles on the Promenade Deck before breakfast. Afterwards I had planned on walking "a little more" and by the time we docked in Halifax I was up to 5 miles.

 

Ron is a little older than me but it's actually his late mother who is my cousin. He grew up just outside Montreal but made a career of the Canadian Navy and retired at their home port of Halifax. He now lives with Andrew, a lifelong friend who moved to Halifax 10 years ago after a career in Toronto. They have a home in a secluded area just outside that they purchased soon after my last visit in 2000. I had planned to visit them on a port call on my Crystal Symphony transatlantic last fall, but we were delayed by storms and had to cancel the stop. Getting to Halifax was one of the primary reasons I booked this cruise.

 

I disembarked the Zaandam about 8:30 and explored the port a bit before our planned 9AM meeting. Ron was almost precisely on time and we drove through Halifax and stopped for coffee on a leisurely drive to his home several miles away. Andrew is a late sleeper and was just getting going when we arrived. Despite talk of possible rain we had perfect weather and we spent the morning talking on the patio in the back of their house. We left about 12:30 for lunch at a local restaurant and then explored a bit more of Halifax on the way back to the ship. We said goodbye a little after 3. I spent some time at a pierside coffee shop checking emails and other internet things and was back on board about 20 minutes before the 4:30 all aboard.

 

One of the tour busses (several of my tablemates were on it) broke down returning from Peggy's Cove and returned about 4:40, but by 4:50 we were away from the dock with a bagpipe sendoff.

 

The featured entertainment was the Veendam's male singers performing "Street Singin", a program of 4-part harmonies. They were excellent, my favorite was "Stand By Me". Between their shows a local duo presented a program of Celtic ethnic music in the showroom. I was there and missed Eric's 60's name that tune in the piano bar.

 

As today's parting shot, Holland America for many years partnered with the Kohmen Foundation on a "On Deck For the Cure". It was suspended recently after some issues arose with the foundation and was to be replaced with a "On Deck For the Cause" supporting cancer fighting organizations from several countries. Recent cruisers have reported that the walk was not happening, perhaps due to some legal issues. When I returned from dinner there was a registration packet for the new event with the 5K walk to be held Thursday morning. Congratulations to Holland America for getting the new version of the event up and running.

 

This post comes to you live from the Veendam. Toodle loo for now

 

Roy

[Jade13]

 

I disembarked the Zaandam about 8:30 and explored the port a bit before our planned 9AM meeting.

Roy

 

I thought you were on Veendam:confused: