LIVE from the ZUIDERDAM - VOYAGE OF THE VIKINGS

[esther e]

Sansterre, you might want to re-think coming home.  Every county in Florida is being considered as a state of emergency.

 

Edited August 29, 2019 by esther e
wrong phrase

[sansterre]

11 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

The removal of the flowers from the MDR and the Lido were at the top of my comment list.  We were told that some guests complained of allergies, but couldn't they be removed from just those people's tables?  The fact that the Pinnacle still has live florals proves my point.

I like your way of thinking and "bring back the flowers" is on my comment card too.

[sansterre]

7 hours ago, esther e said:

Sansterre, you might want to re-think coming home.  Every county in Florida is being considered as a state of emergency.

 

Thanks Esther e.  I spent much of today on the phone with family and neighbors.  We talked about what to do.  Of course there really isn't anything we can do.  Our home is in central Florida, right in the middle of the expected path of Dorian. I hope there won't be a problem flying into Orlando on Tuesday night.

And tomorrow in St. John we will feel some gusts from another storm - the named storm that starts with an E.

Is it Evan? or something like that?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry, I don't know the name of the next storm.

 

Dorian looks like he is going to be a bad storm.  Some of the airlines are already allowing people to change flights without any fees.

[puppycanducruise]

I think the next storm is Erin.

Hope your home is safe.

[esther e]

I'm on the beachside north of Daytona, so my evacuation plans have been made.  However, now it looks to  be headed in the West Palm area.  However, all of Florida is going to be affected, but not as much as we originally thought.  However, it can change.  Just keep aware and good luck to you and your family.

Edited August 30, 2019 by esther e

[esther e]

My poor grandson spent a good part of yesterday moving all pool furniture and decor into my house and plants into the garage, as well as working on the storm shutters and closing off most windows and doors.  It looks like he might be coming back sooner than planned.  But I've lived here long enough to know to cool my heels and be prepared for anything.

 

[sansterre]

We expected to arrive St. John this morning at 10:00 with a narration by Jessica, the Travel Host on board. (we all thought she had disembarked in Rotterdam as the speakers did the narration through the sound on our return and we had not heard Jessica since approaching Rotterdam).                                                              

 However, as we returned from breakfast in the MDR a few moments ago, Captain Vaartjes announced that we had just made a sharp turn to starboard and aborted our approach!  He said we would make another attempt.  We headed back to sea (East) with a tug boat at our side (forward port).  No further explanation was given but I do recall that he mentioned a few gusts of wind from a storm (maybe Erin?) would be with us today in St.John.

Edited August 30, 2019 by sansterre

[sansterre]

Captain Vaartjes just announced the following:

Gale force conditions remain in St. John today with gusts of winds up to 32 knots from the tropical storm Erin to the South.

The entrance is only 242 feet wide so very difficult and he has decided, for the safety of the ship, guests, and crew, not to make the call in St. John.

We are now proceeding to Halifax. and will arrive there Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning.  So it is an overnight in Halifax.......one of our favorite ports!

[sansterre]

I do want to assure everyone that the Zuiderdam seems to be unaffected by any of Tropical Storm Erin's gusts of winds as we cruise now at 17 knots.  We are headed to the SE,  pretty much into the wind which comes from the south

The temperature is 57degrees and light rain. Wind out of the south at 12.8mph.......and evidently with gusts much greater.

Edited August 30, 2019 by sansterre

[sansterre]

These are my only two photos from the St. John port effort.

It was the pilot boat coming up on our port side.

 

 

Signal hill barely visible on left side (below)

Edited August 30, 2019 by sansterre

[cat shepard]

Current storm track shows Dorian hitting Florida South of Melbourne - Sunday/Monday, then turning North. It shows him around Lakeland on Wednesday. And he is so slow moving, he might fall apart before then. But some models show him moving North close enough to the East Coast, that he continues up the East Coast of the USA. Lots still unknown.

 

So right now we are looking at 3 - 4 days of rain. And some type of wind.

 

I am also just North of Daytona, and though right now we expect to be hit by just tropical storm winds, we are prepping for 6-10 inches of rain, and storm surge - complicated by high lunar tides. But I am ready to put up my storm shutters, if the track changes. 

 

Is there anyone who can at least research alternate flights for you?

Edited August 30, 2019 by cat shepard

[mocruzer]

Sorry you're missing St. John and hope the ride to Halifax is not too bad. 

[puppycanducruise]

Sorry you have to miss St. John's.

Hope the trip to Halifax isn't too rough.

[sansterre]

Since today turned into a sea day, some activities were added to the When and Where.

DH and I attended one of those new activities - "Ask the Captain" at 1:00

The CD introduced Captain Vaartjes who had an interesting slide presentation of about 20 minutes.  In it he told about his professional and personal life, then showed some photos of the mechanical and navigation instruments on the ship.

 

This was followed by a Question and Answer session.

One question was about today's missed port.  The captain expected that question and produced a slide showing the navigational charts of the narrow entrance to the harbor of St. John.  He pointed out the narrowest area of 80 meters  and the danger of having only 25 meters on each side and the risk of entering the Zuiderdam with gust of more than 30 mph coming across the beam.  Additionally, the conditions would deteriorate during the day.  

 

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by sansterre

[sansterre]

We also learned that Captain Vaartjes is from Orlando.  He showed the weather forecast for Florida and said it shouldn't affect us on the Zuiderdam.  But this version showed Dorian hitting Orlando on Wed. morning at 2 a.m.  

I think that is a version based on the storm slowing down.  It is concerning to us and others planning to fly home Tuesday night.  Our flight is due to arrive in Orlando at 11:50 Tuesday night!

There is nothing we can do at this point, but if the storm does slow down, clearly we will need to change our flight.  Perhaps our travel agent can help us with that on Monday.

 

[sansterre]

Since we will now arrive in Halifax on Saturday afternoon, Gala night has moved forward to tonight.

Entertainment tonight is Planet Earth II in Concert which we have seen before.  Lincoln Center Stage has the night off but Biilboard Pianos and BB KIng's All Stars are on the schedule as before.  A matinee performance of Eternity Amici was added at 3:30.

But some things were deleted!  One of them was afternoon trivia which we always look forward to.  Not only that but, evening trivia was moved from 7:30 to 6:00!  Hmmm, lobster and flourless chocolate cake on the Gala night menu or play Trivia?  What to do?

We chose to go to dinner at 5:15 as usual.

Still we miss not having a trivia session at all today 😞

[esther e]

OIA is closing down at 4 PM on Tuesday.  They suggest you check with your airlines.  Good luck.

[esther e]

Also the newest track is coming in around the spacecoast and going up the coast, much like Matthew.  This is not good.  Our dunes were compromised and haven't secured themselves yet.

[rjbean4]

18 hours ago, sansterre said:

Thanks Esther e.  I spent much of today on the phone with family and neighbors.  We talked about what to do.  Of course there really isn't anything we can do.  Our home is in central Florida, right in the middle of the expected path of Dorian. I hope there won't be a problem flying into Orlando on Tuesday night.

And tomorrow in St. John we will feel some gusts from another storm - the named storm that starts with an E.

Is it Evan? or something like that?

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the Orlando Airport is closing at 2AM Monday. Mom and I are on the West Coast and people here are taking it seriously stocking up on supplies. Schools in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough counties are closed Tuesday. As much has you want to get back it will probably be better to wait till the weather passes. Hope everything ends up being OK. 

[rjbean4]

1 hour ago, esther e said:

OIA is closing down at 4 PM on Tuesday.  They suggest you check with your airlines.  Good luck.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-hurricane-dorian-orlando-airport-20190830-7bmdjfoswrgebmegmajhlne6ai-story.html

 

This link confirms the Orlando Airport (MCO) Closure at 2 am on Monday. No flights coming in or going out after the closure till the weather passes. Inspections will have to be done then to make sure the airport is clear from any debris before it can re open. Also Airlines will NOT leave their equipment (airplanes) on the ground at a airport that is going to be exposed to a threat of this nature and will fly them out after their inbound flight is unloaded. The closure is also subject to change as the forecast changes. I know as we have a very strong aviation background as my dad was a Northwest Airlines 747 Captain and flew for 31 years.

Edited August 30, 2019 by rjbean4

[rjbean4]

9 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Current storm track shows Dorian hitting Florida South of Melbourne - Sunday/Monday, then turning North. It shows him around Lakeland on Wednesday. And he is so slow moving, he might fall apart before then. But some models show him moving North close enough to the East Coast, that he continues up the East Coast of the USA. Lots still unknown.

 

So right now we are looking at 3 - 4 days of rain. And some type of wind.

 

I am also just North of Daytona, and though right now we expect to be hit by just tropical storm winds, we are prepping for 6-10 inches of rain, and storm surge - complicated by high lunar tides. But I am ready to put up my storm shutters, if the track changes. 

 

Is there anyone who can at least research alternate flights for you?

cat shepard,

 

hope everything goes OK over on your side of the state. Were on the west coast north of Tampa and people here are taking the threat pretty seriously even though its starting to look like we will be spared from the worst. Schools in the Tampa/west central FL area counties have already been announced to be close for Tuesday. Almost everyone coming out of our Publix today had bottled water and its also being limited as to how much people can buy. Gas stations are running out of gas as people are filling up their cars. My mom tried to get some extra cash when we checked out at Publix and she couldn't do it as they were out.  I said then  we need to go to the bank. She then told me that she had plenty here at home but was just going to get a little more. Has been announced that the Orlando Airport (MCO) will close at 2am Monday. That could change as the weather changes. Sea ports along the east coast are getting ready to close via the Coat Guard. Port Tampa is fully operational for now trying to help distribute gas and some trucks are getting escorts. Tampa Airport (TPA) should be able to stay open as long as the weather doesn't get too bad. Any effected airports that become closed will also be without any airplanes on the ground as all the airlines will fly their planes out after they have disembarked their passengers and unloaded luggage.

Edited August 30, 2019 by rjbean4

[JimnKaren]

Consider flying into Tampa, renting a car one-way to get you home. There will be some wind and rain, but I don't believe that Tampa International will close for long. The storm will be well east of the Tampa Bay area. Alternately, see what you can get into Tallahassee and then drive home. Sarasota/Bradenton's airport should be far enough from the storm, yet you can still make the drive home.

Jim

[newbie53]

We've decided to just stay in New England a few more days.  There is nothiing we can do at home that hasn't already been done. So no need to rush back.  We are also in central Florida.  Will call the airline from Halifax tomorrow. 

 

Sue

[esther e]

It is now a Cat 4