Memo from the British Isles - 14 days Almost Live from Nieuw Statendam

[VMax1700]

Just one quick comment.......

We are well used to  CD or Hotel Manager etc to be at bottom of gangway to wish departing guests a safe journey home and thank you.

When we exited the ship on Wednesday it was Capt Eric at the bottom of the gangway - Nice gesture!

[SilvertoGold]

7 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Just one quick comment.......

We are well used to  CD or Hotel Manager etc to be at bottom of gangway to wish departing guests a safe journey home and thank you.

When we exited the ship on Wednesday it was Capt Eric at the bottom of the gangway - Nice gesture!

Not sure of course but our experience is that this is a rare happening! Very nice!

[ExpatBride]

16 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

When we exited the ship on Wednesday it was Capt Eric at the bottom of the gangway - Nice gesture!

 

He was also there when I disembarked on 2 August.

[kazu]

32 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Again apologies fo rnot posting for the last few days.  

We arrived home late last night (Wednesday).  One of our suitcases arrived this evening (Thursday) and the other one is now scheduled to be delivered to us by 11am tomorrow (Friday).  This was caused by a delayed departure from Copenhagen on Wednesday evening which lead to a short connection time in AMS.

Although my laptop was in my backpack, the mains power adapter is in the second suitcase so I have very little power remaining.

I will finish the report over the weekend.

 

No need to apologize at all.  Ugh on waiting for luggage.  I hope your suitcase and power adapter arrives tomorrow 🤞 

[Real NHDOC]

I was wondering who the Cruise Director is on N-S now?  We are boarding early next month and HAL started to populate the activities on the Navigator and it says "coffee with Betty Ann" but I thought Claire was onboard?  Claire was the CD when we left in May - I suppose it's possible her time is up and Betty Ann is coming back but was wondering who is on now?  Also, is Jose still hosting Trivia?

[VMax1700]

16 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

I was wondering who the Cruise Director is on N-S now?  We are boarding early next month and HAL started to populate the activities on the Navigator and it says "coffee with Betty Ann" but I thought Claire was onboard?  Claire was the CD when we left in May - I suppose it's possible her time is up and Betty Ann is coming back but was wondering who is on now?  Also, is Jose still hosting Trivia?

Claire was CD on this cruise, with Amanda as Entertainment Director (really good, but her contract ended on 23rd August).  Jose is still hosting trivia and dancing and having a good time 😉 If only I could use OBC  to purchase some of his energy!

[VMax1700]

Luggage has all been delivered, laptop is plugged in and recharging and laundry is being processed!

I will resume from where I left off ..........

[VMax1700]

Day 13 Lerwick

Daily Program

 

[VMax1700]

Day 13 Lerwick

Menus

 

Lido Lunch

 

 

 

Lido Dinner

 

 

 

 

 

MDR Dinner   Gold Gala

 

 

 

 

 

m13-day13-_lido_lunch_north_europe_2023.pdf

 

m13-day13-_lido_dinner_north_europe_voyage.pdf

 

m13-day13_-_mdr_gala_gold .pdf

[VMax1700]

Lerwick is a lovely spot.  It was our second attempt to get to visit and our first success!  Tendering was quick as the weather was perfect and the sea was calm.  Here are a few pics of Lerwick

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

Day 14 Sea Day

 

Daily Program

 

 

[VMax1700]

Day 14 Menus

 

 

Lido Lunch

 

 

 

MDR Dinner

 

 

Lido Baltic Dinner

 

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

Lido Options (Vegan/GF)

 

 

[VMax1700]

The last bread pudding...😭

 

[VMax1700]

For the last night we went to Canaletto and I was delighted to have the Crab Risotto again.  NSD is still serving the old menu.  The staff had been tasting the new menu during the past couple of days but said it would be end of September before it replaced the current menu.

 

 

 

 

and an Italian cheese plate (byo crackers)

 

[VMax1700]

I had noticed a few people in black cook/chef uniforms around the ship for the last week and just after Canaletto I encountered two of them in the elevator.  They were Fleet Chefs.   One asked how I had enjoyed my dinner and I must confess to voicing a disapproval of the new Canaletto menu mentioning the Crab Risotto in particular.  He said to ask onboard and they would be able to prepare it for me on request.  I just may try that!

[erewhon]

Thanks for all your reports and photos.

So, a cheese plate but no crackers,  Were there no crackers on board?

[VMax1700]

8 minutes ago, erewhon said:

Thanks for all your reports and photos.

So, a cheese plate but no crackers,  Were there no crackers on board?

Only the two pieces of curved Melba toast!  Previously, I have asked and been given various bits and pieces that do not replace Saltines, so I bring my own equivalent.

[erewhon]

@VMax1700  Thank you for your reply... Will add crackers to my cruise list.

[VMax1700]

Wednesday 23rd August, Disembarkation, Copenhagen.

 

I think I have already mentioned about my plan for the disembarkation day, but I will repeat it here.

We had a late flight from CPH (7.10pm) so I reckoned we would do the HoHo bus, explore a few stops and then head to the airport, but what to do with the luggage, as we certainly did not want to be dragging them around for the day.  I found a company called Copenhagen Luggage Service 

https://www.copenhagenluggageservice.com/ and arranged with them to collect our bags from the pier and take them to the airport while we boarded the Red HoHo bus right outside the cruise terminal and did our touring.  Only difficulty was that they requested we print off coloured luggage tags, so they could easily identify our bags in the terminal.  (They do recommend that you do the booking and printing before leaving home, but hey, I like a challenge.)  Shout out to Benroy and Yetri in Guest Services who assisted me to get the tags printed in colour.  They also ask that you upload images of your bags to aid identification.  This is optional, but was easy to do with basic internet connection.

 

As instructed, we put our bags outside of the stateroom for the normal procedures and just after 7 am I received a message to say that our bags had been picked up.  So we went of to explore Copenhagen on our pre booked Red bus tickets.

 

After a lunchtime snack we got by HoHo to Central Station and purchased ticket to go to the airport by train - 60DKK for the two of us - about $9.

 

As we reached the airport we received another message to return the message to collect our bags, and we headed to their store to collect them.  There was another couple there too, who were dropping baggage and mountain bikes to them to store while they visited Copenhagen.

 

Security at CPH was slow and DW found it very intrusive, as security insisted on a full "hands on" search as the scanner had shown her silicone prosthesis.  The image on the scanner was in full view of those in the line and the search was done in front of the line.  She was quite upset by the whole event.  We do understant the security reasons, but it did seem somewhat excessive.

 

We shared probably the worst, but most expensive ever, airport pizza here and two bottles (500ml) of water ($6 each).

 

Our flight had a delayed departure.  It was a full flight and they needed to offload some carryon bags, but the paperwork took much longer than anticipated so we lost our slot.

 

When we arrived in Amsterdam, it was a quick walk to our next flight to Cork.  We had passport inspections on the way.  The buses were just loading at the departure gate (KLM Cityhopper with Embraer 175) so it was straight on to the bus and on to our flight.  I was not surprised that our bags did not make the transfer, but a bit disappointed that it took 2 days for 1 of the bags to be delivered. 

 

I will post a post cruise summary tomorrow. 

[Catlover54]

Thank you so much for your detailed posts.

 

This "bread board" offering description looks wonderful (and hopefully tasted equally wonderful).

"BREAD BOARD NORTH SEA SHRIMPS WITH EUROPEAN COCKTAIL SAUCE, SMOKED SALMON WITH CAPERS, COLD POACHED SALMON WITH DILL YOGURT, ROLL MOP HERRINGS, SALMON GRAVLAX, SHRIMP AND CRAB SALAD, RUSSIAN SALAD, TROUT SALAD, MARINATED CUCUMBER AND ROCKET, SWEDISH AND
HORSERADISH SALAD, BEET AND TOMATO SALAD FRIED CAPERS"

 

 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

The last bread pudding...😭

 

 

Ok, confess.  Did you cry at the sight of your last bread pudding 😉 

 

 

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

I had noticed a few people in black cook/chef uniforms around the ship for the last week and just after Canaletto I encountered two of them in the elevator.  They were Fleet Chefs.   One asked how I had enjoyed my dinner and I must confess to voicing a disapproval of the new Canaletto menu mentioning the Crab Risotto in particular.  He said to ask onboard and they would be able to prepare it for me on request.  I just may try that!

 

I hope that is true.  I want my beef carpaccio 😉 

[VMax1700]

15 hours ago, kazu said:

Ok, confess.  Did you cry at the sight of your last bread pudding 😉 

 

Well, a slight misty sensation did restrict my vision for a few moments, but today when I open the Navigator and see "Your journey starts in 27 days 8 hours and 10 minutes" then I will make a little sacrifice (and hopefully lose a few inches/cm from the waist band!) 😉

[julieannerelph]

Quick question.   How did it go with the TV?   Where you able to the LG remote you were looking for?