Saga Rose Greenland Voyager August 2007

[Druke I]

My ex-pat daughter, down in Woking, Surrey, says her two boys have really enjoyed the snow. She did say there has been no incoming or outgoing mail for the past week.

[Host Sharon]

Snowed in today. Most of it had melted when I got home yesterday but it started again in the night and by this morning we had 6 inches and a blizzard raging. I am seriously fed up with it now! We have had one delivery of mail in the week - none today though!

[Kapricorn]

Six inches of snow and a raging blizzard? Oh, dear! I hope that you are comfortable in your home, with central heating or a blazing fireplace.

 

One of my nieces married a Blizzard, so now she is Mrs. Blizzard. What an odd surname!

 

Donald.

[Host Sharon]

That is indeed an odd surname. I don't think I have ever come across it before. Yes I am nice and comfortable thanks and dreaming of sunbeds on hot teak decks! At least I am getting lots of writing done! Thank goodness for broadband and online research.

[MMDown Under]

Snowed in today. Most of it had melted when I got home yesterday but it started again in the night and by this morning we had 6 inches and a blizzard raging. I am seriously fed up with it now! We have had one delivery of mail in the week - none today though!

 

I can imagine the novelty soon wears off.

 

Whilst we would race outside, delighting in the snow, making snowmen, angels, etc., my friend in NY would say "but you don't have to clear the drive and go out to work in it!" Currently her steps are a sheet of ice!

[Saga Ruby]

I got my shiny new US passport in the mail today, integrated chip and all. I had forgotten that our old passports are not returned and I had some really cool visas and stamps in the old one. Do Canadians get back your old passports when the new one is issued?

 

You are right. Darwin is no longer antiquated, however I like Darwin with its unique mix of people, its tropical architecture and laid back atmosphere. Its museums are fascinating, as most Australians were unaware of what happened to Darwin during WW2.

 

Marion - a question about your daughter's Orlova cruise to Antarctica. I have heard many comments about different ships being quite warm and stuff in the interior - almost as if to negate the deep cold outside. Did she mention anything about that? I'll be going on Corinthian II in January and hope to pack the absolute minimum of cold-weather gear. What landings did she make?

 

You were talking about Darwin - when I think of Darwin, I think of Cycloe Tracy which almost leveled that town in the 70s (?) When I was there in '92, one could not tell it had been almost swept out to sea.

 

One of my nieces married a Blizzard, so now she is Mrs. Blizzard. What an odd surname!Donald.

 

Is it too much to ask that Mrs. Blizzard's given name is DQ?

 

Ruby

[MMDown Under]

I got my shiny new US passport in the mail today, integrated chip and all. I had forgotten that our old passports are not returned and I had some really cool visas and stamps in the old one. Do Canadians get back your old passports when the new one is issued?

 

Marion - a question about your daughter's Orlova cruise to Antarctica. I have heard many comments about different ships being quite warm and stuff in the interior - almost as if to negate the deep cold outside. Did she mention anything about that? I'll be going on Corinthian II in January and hope to pack the absolute minimum of cold-weather gear. What landings did she make?

 

You were talking about Darwin - when I think of Darwin, I think of Cycloe Tracy which almost leveled that town in the 70s (?) When I was there in '92, one could not tell it had been almost swept out to sea.

 

Is it too much to ask that Mrs. Blizzard's given name is DQ?

 

Ruby

 

Always exciting to get a shiny new passport. Australians get to keep their old passports.

 

She did mention that the Orlova was warm inside. She said she only wore a thermal and a T-Shirt inside. Outside it was lots of light warm layers. She made 14 landings, 1 of which was on the mainland.

 

Her backpack weighed 18 kg.

 

We have just been enjoying watching her photos/small videos on TV. Certainly makes you want to share the experience. What an adventure you'll have!!

 

One of the museums in Darwin has an excellent realistic reproduction of Cyclone Tracey. Cyclone Tracey was the start of the modernisation of Darwin City.

[Kapricorn]

Do Canadians get back your old passports when the new one is issued?

 

I still have all of my old passports. The last one had a corner cut off from the front to invalidate it. I don't know if they still do it ... I'll have to apply for a new passport next December. Mine is chock-full of US Customs stamps from the past four years of cruises, though there is no pattern ... sometimes they stamp it, other times they don't.

 

Is it too much to ask that Mrs. Blizzard's given name is DQ?

LOL!!! I didn't get it at first, and had thought DQ meant disqualified. But, now I get it.

 

Donald.

[Druke I]

I'm surprised you that you did not get your old passport back.

 

The two times that I have renewed mine, the old one was returned, albeit with two holes punched in it.

 

I'd be miffed if they hadn't been returned - thumbing through them does rekindle many fond memories of past adventures.

[Host Sharon]

We get our old passports returned with the corner cut off. I too would be upset if we didn't.

[Saga Ruby]

It's just as well that Fran is cruising Hawaii right now. On this forum of "Other Cruise Lines," there is a thread of "Saga Pearl II" in which someone asks what happened to the original Marco in the listings of Saga Cruises.

 

The owner of Astoria has come into financial difficulties and cannot release the ship to Saga, so when Saga Rose goes out of service, Saga Cruises may be in a bit of a bind. Cruise Critic has a News article about same.

 

The third post on that thread talks about a man who has just come back from Antarctica on the newly refurbished Marco Polo and it was a disaster of crew and staff. You might want to check it out just to see how negative a cruise can become when the staff is aggressively unhappy.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=922085

 

By the bye, thanks for the passport comments. I found them very interesting.

 

Ruby

[Saga Ruby]

I'm surprised you that you did not get your old passport back. The two times that I have renewed mine, the old one was returned, albeit with two holes punched in it.

 

I'd be miffed if they hadn't been returned - thumbing through them does rekindle many fond memories of past adventures.

 

"Miffed" was an excellent word to describe my mood. But today in the mail came my "two-punched" old passport. Yeeeeehaaawww!!!

 

One wonders why the exact same office in Portsmouth NH sent the new passport, then sent the old passport one day later, but who am I to complain? Emailing the US Dept of State "travel" site was on my list for Monday - now I can cancel that agonal process.

 

With old passport in hand, I'll have my memories in hard copy of sailing the Middle East with Michael and Virginia. Do you remember lining up to present self in the lounge for the 3 Indian authorities who never looked up to verify our photos? They were on a boondoggle from Dubai and Mumbai for free food and accommodations. They were so surly that I felt privileged to report one immigrations guy for smoking in his cabin. Ahhhhh.

 

I'm so happy to have both of my passports!

 

Ruby

[Druke I]

Good news - I am happy for you.

 

I was going to suggest that maybe they would come in separate mailings - but I could not remember if that was how they handled ours.

 

Yes - I do remember those Indian Immigration types - slightly officious, particularly considering they were on a paid junket.

[Conte Di Savoia]

 

Is it too much to ask that Mrs. Blizzard's given name is DQ?

 

Ruby

 

I guess I'm dense but I don't get the DQ reference. Can someone 'splain it to Lucy?

[Kapricorn]

I guess I'm dense but I don't get the DQ reference. Can someone 'splain it to Lucy?

 

Conte, unless I am greatly mistaken, DQ refers to Dairy Queen, which has the Blizzard drinks among its offerings.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

Conte, unless I am greatly mistaken, DQ refers to Dairy Queen, which has the Blizzard drinks among its offerings. Donald.

 

And the award goes to - Donald d'Maniac! C'mon down!

 

Ruby

[Druke I]

I didn't get it either, but was afraid to ask.

 

Truth be known, I'm not sure if I have ever been to a Dairy Queen!

[Kapricorn]

I can't even remember the last time when I was in a Dairy Queen, as there are not that many - if any - here in Vancouver. Definitely none at all in the downtown area where I reside. Someone once brought over a DQ ice cream cake (delicious!), so there must be a lonely store somewhere in the 'burbs.

 

Donald.

[Conte Di Savoia]

I guess I'm not a Dairy Queen.

[Saga Ruby]

I guess I'm not a Dairy Queen.

 

Oh my!

 

Back in the day in Texas, DQs sprung up like mushrooms after a spring storm. As towns became cities, the restaurants' real estate became more valuable than the franchise. So the DQ owners sold their land to the developers, folded their tents, and walked away.

 

Nowadays in Texas, DQs are mostly in rural areas and anyone touring Texas by car stops in for a "Brown Derby" (or "dip cone as they are now called). This is a soft-freeze ice cream cone dipped in luscious dark chocolate, therefore the "Derby." And there is something strangely delicious about their burgers which are called Hungr-Busters or Belt-Busters which are served with lettuce and tomato, a grilled bun with mustard, and a nice size beef patty . Ross loves DQ burgers altho' he lives in the Bahsten area; I forget where he first became addicted to the DQ burgers.

 

Once or twice a year, I drive north to a small town and get a burger to go and a Brown Derby to enjoy as I wend my way home. It is well worth the trip.

 

Ruby

[Host Sharon]

" Do you remember lining up to present self in the lounge for the 3 Indian authorities who never looked up to verify our photos? They were on a boondoggle from Dubai and Mumbai for free food and accommodations.

 

I'm so happy to have both of my passports!

 

Ruby

 

You know I had exactly the same experience on board Aurora on my first trip to the US. Just substitute NY for Mumbai :rolleyes:

 

Glad you are reunited with your old passport Ruby. Iam so glas someone explained the DQ reference. Mind you, it is still lost on me since we have never had Dairy Queen here!

[Saga Ruby]

She made 14 landings, 1 of which was on the mainland.

 

Were the shorex mostly to view penguins or some other wildlife? How long was her cruise and did Orlova go to South Georgia and the Falklands? Did she swim in the caldera at Deception Island? Were they able to transit the Lemaire Channel?

 

I am particularly interested in reading personal experiences which talk about details such as the ship's interior being quite warm and other tiny factoids. If your daughter has written a journal of her adventures, I would enjoy reading it at sagaruby@verizon.net.

 

I am so sorry to read about the horrors of the fires in Oz. I know that, back in the 90s, bush fires were raging quite a lot, but this particular summer seems to be one of the worst. And to think that some of them may be arson - what a shocking idea in the midst of all this misery. Here's to better days.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

I recently made full payment of my April 24 cruise on Ryndam. My travel agent, to express his appreciation for my business, will give me a couple of bottles of wine, an onboard credit and a complimentary reservation in the ship's specialty restaurant, Pinnacle Grill. I suppose that all of you can correctly guess as to which night I plan to dine in there? :D

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

I recently made full payment of my April 24 cruise on Ryndam. My travel agent, to express his appreciation for my business, will give me a couple of bottles of wine, an onboard credit and a complimentary reservation in the ship's specialty restaurant, Pinnacle Grill. I suppose that all of you can correctly guess as to which night I plan to dine in there? Donald.

 

No joy with my little grey cells. Which night will you be dining in the Pinnacle Grill?

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

No joy with my little grey cells. Which night will you be dining in the Pinnacle Grill?

 

Surely you jest, dear Ruby? Naturally I plan to dine in the Pinnacle Grill during the night of the Chef's Hat dinner.

 

Donald.