'Twas Two Weeks Before Christmas - Live from the Nieuw Statendam, Dec. 10 - 17, 2023

[POA1]

13 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I appreciate all the wonderful information you provide and am excited to follow along on your next adventure. 

 

Previously, someone posted “art” tours of the various ships.  Was it you?  If it was could you repost the link.  I am specifically looking for the Oosterdam.  

 

It was not me, but I do have them. They're on one of my hard drives. I'll look later and post a link.

[POA1]

49 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I appreciate all the wonderful information you provide and am excited to follow along on your next adventure. 

 

Previously, someone posted “art” tours of the various ships.  Was it you?  If it was could you repost the link.  I am specifically looking for the Oosterdam.  

 

 

You do not need to install DropBox for this. Just open in a web page and download the file. 

 

It was on my 😄 drive of all places. I was expecting to find it on once of my archive drives.  Here you go:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/96heotncc9c6kqz5frcxz/Oosterdam-Art-Tour.mp3?rlkey=cdbv0d0knolw8175arb3q99fa&dl=0

 

 

I think that @The-Inside-Cabin has the full set in both the Apple and MP# formats on his site, here:

 

https://www.theinsidecabin.com/holland-america-audio-art-tours/

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by POA1
Added link to The Inside Cabin's site.

[POA1]

A little context for the L.L. Bean toiletry bag. We've had ours for more than 35 years.

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by POA1

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Besides the shower without tub, the best part of the bathroom are the towel bars by the sink rather than dripping all the way to the bar over the toilet. We generally store our bags on the shelf under the sink. I bought small plastic baskets to keep the most-often-used items in and pull the basket out when needed. I did enjoy our 1st cruise in a Vista suite on the Nieuw Statendam last spring. Now I'm spoiled.

[POA1]

3 hours ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Besides the shower without tub, the best part of the bathroom are the towel bars by the sink rather than dripping all the way to the bar over the toilet. We generally store our bags on the shelf under the sink. I bought small plastic baskets to keep the most-often-used items in and pull the basket out when needed. I did enjoy our 1st cruise in a Vista suite on the Nieuw Statendam last spring. Now I'm spoiled.

Thanks for the.tip! We have some folding cubes that we bought back in 2017. We took an NCL cruise on the Escape and people told us that there was not adequate drawer space. There was not.

 

 

We used a few of these cubes in lieuw of drawers, and gave it few to my father-in-law who was also on the Norwegian trip.

 

They're in the top of one of our closets, folded flat, just waiting to be pressed into service. We really appreciate the suggestion!

 

That little share link is from a screen shot. It won't do anything. I can post a link if anyone wants it.

Edited December 30, 2023 by POA1

[POA1]

As I mentioned many pages ago, we gave The Department of Scanning Things off for this cruise. So much is digital now, and, to be honest, scanning all the paper with a wand scanner is a pain. When I said that I'd scan the paper stuff post-cruise, I did not get any objection.

 

I have some software on my phone that does a nice job of converting the PDFs from Navigator into PNG files. They're easier read than screen caps.

 

For scanning and editing here at the National Institute of Cheer's office, we have a lot of software and hardware.

 

First up: The room service breakfast card.

 

 

[POA1]

This is the Club Orange version of the breakfast card. The standard version is similar except that it doesn't have the fresh OJ and complimentary mimosa.

 

HAL's room service breakfast menu has a nice selection of no charge items. A tip from Michelle is to write in "chocolate croissant."

 

 

And a PDF of the scan.

 

Room_Svc_Card_Club_Orange_2023-12.pdf

[POA1]

The Daily Program for embarkation day, Sunday, December 10, 2023. The programs will be both PNG images as well as PDFs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily-Program-2023-12-10-Nieuw-Statendam.pdf

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I also have several of the folding cubes, although they are in various shapes. A couple of them are shorter, longer and narrower. Target, I think.

[POA1]

Here is the Daily program for Monday, December 11th. It was a sea day and our first formal / gala / dressy night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily-Program-2023-12-11-Nieuw-Statendam.pdf

[POA1]

As I was scanning the Daily programs, it occurred to us that we really paid no attention to the dailies on this cruise. In olden times, we each had a highlighter that we'd use to mark up the program as we ate breakfast each day.

 

We'd plan out our activities and check them off as we completed them.

 

We did none of that this trip. I'd like to say that it's because we were trying to keep our programs pristine for scanning, but the real reason is that we are out of practice. We were so thrilled to be back cruising that we just sort of winged it.

 

 

[canadianbear]

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

As I mentioned many pages ago, we gave The Department of Scanning Things off for this cruise. So much is digital now, and, to be honest, scanning all the paper with a wand scanner is a pain. When I said that I'd scan the paper stuff post-cruise, I did not get any objection.

 

I have some software on my phone that does a nice job of converting the PDFs from Navigator into PNG files. They're easier read than screen caps.

 

For scanning and editing here at the National Institute of Cheer's office, we have a lot of software and hardware.

 

First up: The room service breakfast card.

 

 

You need to come on the South Pacific cruise in February with us & do a tutorial for people like me please!  I can’t pay for your trip but I’ve got a lot of OBC I could ply you with liquor 😁

[canadianbear]

1 hour ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

I also have several of the folding cubes, although they are in various shapes. A couple of them are shorter, longer and narrower. Target, I think.

Got one recently at Dollarama for our upcoming longer cruise.  

[Suncitycruiser1925]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. We are excited to be cruising again on the NS  in January.  Any feedback on the rock room band?  Did you listen to any of their performances?  That is our favorite music venue.  

[POA1]

5 hours ago, Suncitycruiser1925 said:

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. We are excited to be cruising again on the NS  in January.  Any feedback on the rock room band?  Did you listen to any of their performances?  That is our favorite music venue.  

Bear in mind that there may have been personnel changes since mid-December.  That said, the playing was outstanding. The vocals were not.  It was enjoyable, but you really had the feeling that they'd have been amazing if there had been a really good vocalist.

 

We were there 4 or 5 nights out of 7.

[VMax1700]

@POA1  Could you please repost details of your travel router?  

[Suncitycruiser1925]

22 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Bear in mind that there may have been personnel changes since mid-December.  That said, the playing was outstanding. The vocals were not.  It was enjoyable, but you really had the feeling that they'd have been amazing if there had been a really good vocalist.

 

We were there 4 or 5 nights out of 7.

Thank you for sharing your recent experience listening to the Rock Room Band.  I am sure we will still enjoy their performances, but it is too bad the vocalists were not as outstanding as we experienced on past NS sailings.  Rachel Ward was the female vocalist when we sailed on NS in February.  She was outstanding.  The 2 guitar players who sang were also very good.  One guitar player who sang was named Thomas and he also performed on our previous NS sailing just prior to covid putting a temporary stop to cruises.  There was also a phenomenal female drummer who performed this past February.  She was young and extremely talented. 

[POA1]

38 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

@POA1  Could you please repost details of your travel router?  

 

For you?  Of course! @VMax1700

 

I have the older version of this one. If I were buying one today, I'd get this one as it has newer firmware that will work better if you're configuring it from the wireless interface. (The old TP-Link N300 really worked best if you configured it via an ethernet cable.)  The text below should get you there on Amazon.  I don't know if the link works outside the US/Canada, but you can search on the product name that should work.

 

I addition to being newer, and having more up-to-date firmware, this version has more lights and a switch to change modes.  And, as everyone knows, more lights = better.

 

TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Route (TL-WR902AC)

 

[POA1]

46 minutes ago, Suncitycruiser1925 said:

Thank you for sharing your recent experience listening to the Rock Room Band.  I am sure we will still enjoy their performances, but it is too bad the vocalists were not as outstanding as we experienced on past NS sailings.  Rachel Ward was the female vocalist when we sailed on NS in February.  She was outstanding.  The 2 guitar players who sang were also very good.  One guitar player who sang was named Thomas and he also performed on our previous NS sailing just prior to covid putting a temporary stop to cruises.  There was also a phenomenal female drummer who performed this past February.  She was young and extremely talented. 

 

The two guitarists alternated lead & rhythm and both were excellent.  The bassist, keyboardist and drummer were great, too.  It's just that the singing wasn't the best.  They weren't even doing any tough vocal parts.  (Eddie Money, Tom Petty, etc.  Things got a little worse when they did Journey songs. )

[VMax1700]

28 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I addition to being newer, and having more up-to-date firmware, this version has more lights and a switch to change modes.  And, as everyone knows, more lights = better.

 

TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Route (TL-WR902AC)

 

Thanks!  That is the one I had almost selected but I just wanted to get the higher opinion.

Does it come with a travel bag? 😉

DW wants me to give up the laptop on travels and use a tablet, so I need a couple of gadgets to keep me occupied 😂

[POA1]

We returned to the room during our second full day of the cruise and found our disembarkation paperwork. Michelle remarked, "Already?? This is why we don't do 7 day sailings."

 

A lot of you will be sailing from Fort Lauderdale this season, so you may find the disembarkation & Luggage Direct information helpful. (And depressing!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diesembark-Luggage-Direct.pdf

[POA1]

19 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Does it come with a travel bag? 😉

No, it does not. I used a little bag that I had on hand.

[POA1]

And the Daily from December 12th, 2023 — a listing of the many things we failed to do.

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, the PDF version.

Daily-Program-2023-12-12-Nieuw-Statendam-.pdf

[POA1]

5 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Thanks!  That is the one I had almost selected but I just wanted to get the higher opinion.

Does it come with a travel bag? 😉

DW wants me to give up the laptop on travels and use a tablet, so I need a couple of gadgets to keep me occupied 😂

You'll have to let me know how the wireless administration of the new model works out. It I had my laptop with me, the old model performed like a champ. It's all managed through a web interface. If you tried to manage it wirelessly, it did not perform nearly as well.

 

Also, the fact that the new version has switches and more lights probably means it far superior.

 

[Sea42]

8 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Also, the fact that the new version has switches and more lights probably means it far superior.

How good can it be if it doesn't come with its own tote bag😔