Dave's Live from Eurodam Trans-Atlantic, Aug. 27 - Sept. 12, 2013

[shrimp56]

Capt Emiel is a rock-star:) We had him on a Norse Legends earlier this month. He was professional, funny and determined to give us the best cruise possible.

[cruz chic]

Thx for the update. Love the pics.

[Ine]

No pic of Eurodam sailing by you by Ton, Ine?;)

 

This time not John. We were at the canal in the early afternoon to have an icecream, but were gone by the time Eurodam passed. This time we had other things to do that night.

[Ine]

That’s what we were wondering as we went by, whether the hills were garbage fills. There is a place in Virginia Beach, VA, where the city did just that about 40 years ago. The piled lots of garbage, sealed it and covered it with soil to create a park. They had a contest to name it, with the citizens voting on the suggested names. The one that won the vote heavily was one the city fathers probably did not appreciate – Mount Trashmore, a pun on Mt. Rushmore. But, it still is named Mount Trashmore.

 

Dave

 

The people around there are again fighting with the company as there is a proposal to make the hills even higher. Of course it looks nice now, but realising what garbage is underneath, makes it awful for the neighbours.

[RetiredMustang]

Wed., Aug. 28, 2013 (Cont.)

There were many things happening today, and we did several of them. We attended the 10 a.m. cooking demo of making Dutch pea soup, one of my favorite. I left before they distributed the samples to get ready for the M&G, but was able to snag a copy of the menu, which I will try out when I get home:

Then, while I went to the M&G at 11, DW attended the lecture on the Natural Wonders of Norway by Dr. Copper. She reported it an interesting talk. I met several fellow CC’ers at the M&G, including Bob (rkacruiser), one of the main frog herders for the group. JT the Cruise Director spoke to us, welcoming back those who sailed the Baltic route, and hailing those who joined in Amsterdam. He encouraged everyone to attend the discussions by Dr. Copper, Ian the travel guide, and Jon Sigurdsson. I had told a few of the members to be sure to make Jon’s talks in particular, as I found them excellent during both the 2009 and 2011 T-A’s on Eurodam. I hope also he will again narrate, with Ian, during the cruising of Prins Christian Sund.

At 3 p.m., We attended Jon’s first talk, about Norway and the Viking exploration westward from there to Iceland, Greenland, Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland. He also talked about the two ports we will visit, Stavanger and Bergen. Jon did his usual great job, and had a good many great photos; in fact, we saw some of the shore excursions we have booked in the two ports.

Now, it is time to get into formal gear for the first formal night.

More later,

Dave

[nutensteve]

Enjoying your report ... very informative. Thanks for posting it.

[sapper1]

Wed., Aug. 28, 2013 (Cont.)

There were many things happening today, and we did several of them. We attended the 10 a.m. cooking demo of making Dutch pea soup, one of my favorite. I left before they distributed the samples to get ready for the M&G, but was able to snag a copy of the menu, which I will try out when I get home:

Then, while I went to the M&G at 11, DW attended the lecture on the Natural Wonders of Norway by Dr. Copper. She reported it an interesting talk. I met several fellow CC’ers at the M&G, including Bob (rkacruiser), one of the main frog herders for the group. JT the Cruise Director spoke to us, welcoming back those who sailed the Baltic route, and hailing those who joined in Amsterdam. He encouraged everyone to attend the discussions by Dr. Copper, Ian the travel guide, and Jon Sigurdsson. I had told a few of the members to be sure to make Jon’s talks in particular, as I found them excellent during both the 2009 and 2011 T-A’s on Eurodam. I hope also he will again narrate, with Ian, during the cruising of Prins Christian Sund.

At 3 p.m., We attended Jon’s first talk, about Norway and the Viking exploration westward from there to Iceland, Greenland, Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland. He also talked about the two ports we will visit, Stavanger and Bergen. Jon did his usual great job, and had a good many great photos; in fact, we saw some of the shore excursions we have booked in the two ports.

Now, it is time to get into formal gear for the first formal night.

More later,

Dave

Dave can you ask if the gallon of water is an American gallon or an Imperial gallon. Before we switched to metric we operated in Imperial measurements and a lot of us oldies still do.

Edited August 28, 2013 by sapper1

[TheEmerson]

That’s what we were wondering as we went by, whether the hills were garbage fills. There is a place in Virginia Beach, VA, where the city did just that about 40 years ago. The piled lots of garbage, sealed it and covered it with soil to create a park. They had a contest to name it, with the citizens voting on the suggested names. The one that won the vote heavily was one the city fathers probably did not appreciate – Mount Trashmore, a pun on Mt. Rushmore. But, it still is named Mount Trashmore.

 

Dave

 

 

I am quite fond if Trashmore. When the winter blizzard would come by as a kids we would get to Trashmore and sled down the sides. Good times.

[OVgirl]

Wed., Aug. 28, 2013 (Cont.)

There were many things happening today, and we did several of them. We attended the 10 a.m. cooking demo of making Dutch pea soup, one of my favorite. I left before they distributed the samples to get ready for the M&G, but was able to snag a copy of the menu, which I will try out when I get home:

At 3 p.m., We attended Jon’s first talk, about Norway and the Viking exploration westward from there to Iceland, Greenland, Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland. He also talked about the two ports we will visit, Stavanger and Bergen. Jon did his usual great job, and had a good many great photos; in fact, we saw some of the shore excursions we have booked in the two ports.

Now, it is time to get into formal gear for the first formal night.

More later,

Dave

 

And did they explain why you discard the water from the first boil?

[solocanadian]

Enjoying your posts and pictures. Keep up the good work and enjoy your cruise.:)

[RetiredMustang]

Wed., Aug. 28, 2013 (Cont.)

Tonight was the Captain’s Gala Dinner. There were some usual dishes, such as Beef Wellington, and a couple that I haven’t seen often.

Here is the menu:

And the dessert menu:

I had one of my favorite soups, four mushroom, which I have had often and enjoyed every time:

And one I have not seen often, quail:

After dinner, we went to the Silk Den for an after-dinner drink. This is a very pleasant location, quiet, with a real attraction: no band.

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Dave can you ask if the gallon of water is an American gallon or an Imperial gallon. Before we switched to metric we operated in Imperial measurements and a lot of us oldies still do.

 

Sapper,

 

I remember Imperial gallons; it's how I bought gasoline when I lived in London. I will try to find who would know to ask, but I would say it was a U.S. gallon, since other menus I've seen in the Culinary Arts center were in U.S. measure.

 

 

And did they explain why you discard the water from the first boil?

 

Actually, they did. It was to remove any bitterness from the meat and any sediment, making for a cleaner, clearer final soup.

 

Dave

[trub]

the quail looks delicious - is it very 'gamey' or more chicken like?

 

glad your having a good trip and reaaly enjoying the thread, thanks again

[startwin]

Thanks for the reports and photos, Dave. The quail looks really good. You mentioned JT - he was the cruise director on our Zuiderdam repositioning cruise last year, and we really enjoyed him.

[Thebes]

Retiredmustang et al;

 

I didn't want to use the " quote" option as it makes the thread all messy. We had a land visit to Norway in 09 for 12 days. We spent 3 days in Bergen. What a lovely port. If you have time. There is a gondola that takes you up high and you can see the whole city and the landscape around it and all the Fjords surrounding it. Hope you have a good binocular. Norwegians are wonderful happy people. Stavanger is considered their oil capital. We flew from Oslo and went back via train. We went on a cruise in their longest Fjord which was over 300 miles " sojnefjord". Enjoy Bergen & MS. Eurodam

what a unique itinerary you're on. We hope to do it someday in the future. First we need to get used to cruising.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Vict0riann]

Brings back memories. On our cruise on the Eurodam in the Spring, we had Captain de Vries the first half, then Captain Keijer. We also had JT (whom we had first met on the Statendam many years ago) as our CD. Very likeable, all of them. Captain Bowman we had on another cruise - I think it was also the Eurodam a few years ago. When we were on our Norwegian cruise (Ryndam) a few weeks ago, we passed the Eurodam mid-English Channel. We waved!

[brainyblonde]

I was bummed to see the surcharge for espresso coffee in the MDR. We were on the Oosterdam 37 Day Aukland to Seattle last spring, and the coffees were complimentary.

 

I enjoy my cappuccino in the morning, but the MDR specialty coffees come from a machine, just press a button. Just don't taste like the real deal, a poor substitute for a properly made espresso or cappuccino. Now we have to pay extra even for those.

[RetiredMustang]

Thursday, August 29, 2013, Stavanger, Norway

 

Our first port visit. We are booked to take a boat up the Lysfjord. I will report on that later. Here are photos with today's program.

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

the quail looks delicious - is it very 'gamey' or more chicken like?

 

glad your having a good trip and reaaly enjoying the thread, thanks again

 

 

Quail does taste a lot like chicken since it also is a bird, but there is a game flavor to it. But, it is not overpowering -- just enough to give it a different flavor. To me, it is delicious.

 

Glad you are enjoying the thread; I'm enjoying writing it.

 

Dave

[Thebes]

Love how they have several happy hours during the day in different bars. I will be looking forward to enjoying the silk den on our next cruise in feb. Thanks for posting menus retiredmustang.

 

 

Thank you CC family :)

taneous@hotmail.com

Edited August 29, 2013 by Thebes

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your postings and photos.

[kazu]

Really enjoying your reports Dave:) Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Your pics are fabulous as well:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

I was bummed to see the surcharge for espresso coffee in the MDR. We were on the Oosterdam 37 Day Aukland to Seattle last spring, and the coffees were complimentary.

 

I enjoy my cappuccino in the morning, but the MDR specialty coffees come from a machine, just press a button. Just don't taste like the real deal, a poor substitute for a properly made espresso or cappuccino. Now we have to pay extra even for those.

 

 

We were on the Westerdam in March/April and the specialty coffees were no longer free.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Quail does taste a lot like chicken since it also is a bird, but there is a game flavor to it. But, it is not overpowering -- just enough to give it a different flavor. To me, it is delicious.

 

Glad you are enjoying the thread; I'm enjoying writing it.

 

Dave

 

I used to enjoy HAL's quail -- but one time it came out half cooked. When I mentioned it to the waiter, I was told that that was the proper way to serve it -- no way.

I never ordered it again.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am enjoying your Live review.