Saga Rose Greenland Voyager August 2007

[Kapricorn]

RYNDAM is pronounced "Rhine Dam". This may not be the exact correct Dutch pronunciation but it is close as a non-Dutch-speaker is going to get.

 

"Rhine Dam" is more or less how I have been pronouncing it. Thanks for the confirmation!

 

D'Maniacdam.

[Conte Di Savoia]

 

EURODAM is the next ship being built by HAL. It is a completely daft name IMHO (I am yet to find anyone who likes it)....

 

I think HAL's new ship would be the perfect venue for a conference of urologists discussing urinary tract obstruction syndromes!

[Saga Ruby]

I've never noticed the "multi-quote" function, so I tried it here ... and it works! Just click on that function on the messages that you wish to respond to, one after the other, and, after you're done, all these messages will show up in your reply box. Voila! I have two quotes in my message, without copying and pasting. D'maniac.

 

Donald, I'm so happy! As we know, I couldn't get it to work and was inspired by your success. Admiral Ma'am extends her kindest appreciation to D'maniac of Kapricorn.

 

I think HAL's new ship would be the perfect venue for a conference of urologists discussing urinary tract obstruction syndromes!

 

As in "Urinetown?" I agree that Eurodam sounds either greedy (as in "Hand me your money") or something to do with liquid disposal. The name does not inspire one to sign up for a future cruise.

 

My personal circus trick - "Van Gogh" is pronounced "V'n kock" for an English speaker. It's close enough to avoid insulting the Dutch. And one does not want to insult a local whenever possible.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

To me, "Eurodam" gives me the impression of being a costly cruise, as in Euro dollars.

 

Ruby, your "V'n kock" trick reminded me of the time when my parents and another couple went to Europe. In a city in Austria, they wanted to get directions to go to some area called Leiderspleine. The locals couldn't understand them. So, the lady from the other couple said, 'Light supply," and immediately the the locals told them how to get to Leiderspleine, as it was pronounced that way.

 

D'maniac of Kapricorn.

[Saga Ruby]

When is the Last Voyage of the QE2? I thought it was going to Dubai next summer but evidently she sails on for perhaps the rest of 2008.

 

I was reading the new thread on this "Other Ships" forum about "Sailing Past Saga Ruby" and took due note of their upcoming cruises. Maiden voyages, QE2 cruises, which brought up the question of the final itinerary of the QE2. I assume no commercial passengers will be onboard for the "repo" to Dubai?

 

I've often wondered how a commercial cruise liner or ocean liner keeps passengers from stripping souvenirs out of the ship before the real salvagers come onboard. I am particularly thinking of Saga Rose. Menus, books from the library, linens, towels - do they become generic toward the end?

 

Ruby

[dougnewmanatsea]

When is the Last Voyage of the QE2? I thought it was going to Dubai next summer but evidently she sails on for perhaps the rest of 2008.

Her last cruise leaves Southampton on 11 November and arrives in Dubai 27 November. See here. The cruise was sold out within hours and there is now a long waiting list.

 

I've often wondered how a commercial cruise liner or ocean liner keeps passengers from stripping souvenirs out of the ship before the real salvagers come onboard.

There's not a whole lot that can be done, really. But people swipe stuff from cruise ships all the time, anyway.

[Saga Ruby]

There's not a whole lot that can be done, really. But people swipe stuff from cruise ships all the time, anyway.

 

I agree about cruise lines not being able to do much about the five-fingered discounts. All my life, on land or at sea, I have watched people giggle as they take a salt shaker, ashtray, shower curtain - or more. In my own life, when I look in the mirror each day I want to see an honest person. It's like being pregnant - either you are, or you aren't.

 

I did notice on Saga Rose recently that the North Cape Bar menus were generic as opposed to the Saga Ruby menus two years ago that were stamped "Saga Ruby" on the covers. Ocean liners have been dealing for decades with souvenir hunters but I'm sure the madness escalates into the ozone when a ship is provably going out of service.

 

I was touched that Peter Boyd-Smith presented me with a QE2 paper bookmark. There are probably many thousands of them Out There, but since I have never been on a Queen nor wish to do so, at least I can say I have a bookmark. I asked PB-S to look for a leather bookmark from the Normandie for me but now that I think about it, that was two months ago and I haven't hear back.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Her last cruise leaves Southampton on 11 November and arrives in Dubai 27 November. See here.

 

I love that itinerary, with nine days at sea and only six port days!

 

As for swiping stuff from cruise ships, one of my friends displayed a ceramic ashtray pilfered from a HAL ship. It is quite large, with indentations for three cigarettes. I think that it used to be on one of the tables around the ship's pool. He now admits that it shouldn't have happened.

 

The only item that I swiped from a cruise ship was the cabin 248 door key of the SS Atlantic back in 1963. It has a triangular label: "American Export Line, 248, S.S. Atlantic." I figured that since my mother returned hers, they won't miss the second one. We never heard from the line about the missing key, so I hope that they had spare ones. I still possess that key. Yes, Ruby, after 44 years I look in the mirror and cringe.

 

D'Maniac of Kapricorn.

[Saga Ruby]

I love that itinerary, with nine days at sea and only six port days! D'Maniac of Kapricorn.

 

I agree - that is a nice itinerary. I must say that sailing from Cairo, thru the Suez Canal to Luxor then Dubai, was a long sail that I very much enjoyed last year - a good mix of port days and sea days. We stopped in Muscat Oman before we hit the shopping malls in Dubai, but it is amazing to experience the long sea trek from Luxor, around the Horn of Africa, on to the Strait of Hormuz.

 

As a person who collects places around the world, my hope for the Suez Canal cruise to be "fun" was exceeded. And there was that extra scintilla of thrills about Somali pirates possibly approaching the ship outside the Canal. We didn't see pirates until the Straits of Malacca outside Phuket.

 

On Saga Rose, we were originally scheduled for six ports in 17 days. And didn't make two of them due to The Churning. That's when I found out that 11 straight days at sea are plenty for me.

 

Ruby

[Conte Di Savoia]

On Saga Rose, we were originally scheduled for six ports in 17 days. And didn't make two of them due to The Churning. That's when I found out that 11 straight days at sea are plenty for me.

 

Ruby

 

I made several Mediterranean-Go-Rounds on the Italian Line and one on American Export's Constitution. They were wonderful trips out of New York. After five or six days at sea the cruise part of the trip began visiting almost a port a day in the western Med followed by another transatlantic trip back to New York. Twenty-one to twenty-two days long, they combined just the right amount of sea days and port days.

 

When I was on board Oriana, Boyd-Smith gave a lecture on ocean liner memoribilia. He advised passengers to collect items with logos. He did not encourage stealing, however. The lines have largely debrided their ships of items which might be considered even remotely tempting. What's the point of taking a generic ashtray or wine glass? Even the menus are less inspiring than they used to be. Many ships have logo shops now to satisfy the passengers' craving for a souvenir.

[Saga Ruby]

D’maniac - thanks for jogging my memory about the subject of keys. It took me down a long road on memory lane.

 

I had forgotten about the European hotel keys back in the 50s, largely because I was so young and didn’t question why the keys at each hotel were large and unique. It took me years to realize they were odd so the guest wouldn’t walk off with one of the two extant keys to that particular room. ("Please drop this key in any mailbox.")

 

At the Baur au Lac in Zurich, my sister and I got the giggles at the room key handed to us by the Reception clerk. It was a vertical hollow 12" tower of brass with a perpendicular metal crossbar at the top - really heavy and fitting no one’s pocket. Attached to the end of the perpendicular crossbar was the key. It was tons of fun to open the door while fighting the weight of the brass keyholder. We called our key The Castle and took turns giving it to the Front Desk as we came and went from the hotel that week.

 

On the other hand, some hotels both domestic and overseas have gotten so electronic that sometimes I can’t get it to work - timing the green light and all that jazz. At the Sofitel in Gatwick, the swipe card is required to start the elevator. I inserted the key card in the elevator’s slot above the buttons as the desk clerk had indicated and the elevator just sat there.

 

I was getting off the motionless elevator to seek assistance when the other elevator arrived in the lobby. A teenage boy jumped off the elevator and, before he could get away, I asked him for help with the card slot in the other elevator. He showed me the trick - and it was a trick - so I was able to get to my floor. As I have often said, I get e-fatigue at times from trying to read the software engineer’s mind.

 

Conte - Speaking of souvenirs, did you get a free key chain with a photo of Saga Rose? It was included with my packet of "Chef" photos when I picked them up. I have it hanging from the pencil holder on my desk, and I kept my luggage tags that are marked "Saga Rose." What did you wind up with?

 

I smiled at your comment about logo shops onboard ships. The cruise lines do push those branded products, don't they?

 

Back in the day, a friend of mine was showing off his handsome new tie and was pointing to an embossed icon at the bottom. He said it identified the brand name of "Countess Mara" and it was all the rage. I was shocked that anyone would pay to wear and outwardly advertise a manufacturer. And, as we all know, name branding is all the rage nowadays. If Ralph Lauren wants me to advertise his name, he’s gonna have to pay me, not the other way around.

 

Ruby

[Conte Di Savoia]

Conte - Speaking of souvenirs, did you get a free key chain with a photo of Saga Rose? It was included with my packet of "Chef" photos when I picked them up. I have it hanging from the pencil holder on my desk, and I kept my luggage tags that are marked "Saga Rose." What did you wind up with?

 

 

Ruby

 

I never got the key chain or any other logo merchandise from their shop. None of it was particularly appealing. I certainly don't need another coffee beaker! I did bring home the evening pillow chocolates and have saved a few of those logo wrappers in with the programs and menus.

We also purchased the DVD of the cruise because my partner was thrilled that we were filmed (is that still the right word?) talking with the Hotel Director during the Captain's Ball. I forgot, however, that I needed to get the North American format so now I can only play it on the computer.

Speaking of ship keys, I remember on the Italian Line that the cabin keys were to be hung in an unsecured cabinet in the corridor. It was a way for the steward and stewardess (remember when you had both for cabin service?) to know when their passengers were in or out. It was a kinder, gentler time.

[Kapricorn]

Speaking of ship keys, I remember on the Italian Line that the cabin keys were to be hung in an unsecured cabinet in the corridor. It was a way for the steward and stewardess (remember when you had both for cabin service?) to know when their passengers were in or out. It was a kinder, gentler time.

 

That sounded like an excellent system ... for the 1960s! I believe that I reported in a earlier post that my mother and I weren't given keys for our cabin on the Empress of Canada in 1964, and I think that Ruby said the same thing about her first few voyages. We simply left our cabin door unlocked when we ventured out. Never a problem.

 

What a huge loss, the kinder, gentler time! Those were the days when we also left a spare key under the welcome mat at home.

 

D'Maniac of Kapricorn.

[Kapricorn]

Ruby, have you re-read the latest Harry Potter book? Our downtown bookstore, Chapters, over-estimated the demand for that book, and for the past three months hundreds of volumes laid unwanted in two or three corners of the bookstore (despite 20% off the price of $29.97). Finally, last week, these were all removed.

 

D'Maniac of Kapricorn.

[Saga Ruby]

Ruby, have you re-read the latest Harry Potter book? Our downtown bookstore, Chapters, over-estimated the demand for that book, and for the past three months hundreds of volumes laid unwanted in two or three corners of the bookstore (despite 20% off the price of $29.97). Finally, last week, these were all removed. D'Maniac of Kapricorn.

 

I have not yet reread Hallows. With the new revelation by Jo Rowling that Dumbledore was gay, I will be happy to go back thru the book with this new information in mind. I was thrilled when she revealed that fact last week and hope that it leads to broader minds in the young readers of this series - and their parents.

 

I like that name, Chapters. I also like the name of Peter Boyd-Smith's maritime antiques shop, Cobwebs. It sure beats all these franchise names that make no sense. What is a Unisys? Does it have one horn?

 

Ruby

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI GANG!!!

 

I am off and running...headed for England. See you all in mid November!!! We will be doing the Transatlantic Repo on the JEWEL OF THE SEAS...should be loads of fun with THE SOCIETY OF THE ROYAL JEWELS!!! Hopefully I will come back full of stories.

 

Ross

[Kapricorn]

Ross, "Society of the Royal Jewels" sounds like the next Harry Potter book, focusing on Dumbledore. Have a great time on the transatlantic crossing!

 

D'Maniac.

[Conte Di Savoia]

HI GANG!!!

 

I am off and running...headed for England. See you all in mid November!!! We will be doing the Transatlantic Repo on the JEWEL OF THE SEAS...should be loads of fun with THE SOCIETY OF THE ROYAL JEWELS!!! Hopefully I will come back full of stories.

 

Ross

 

I have reviewed your itinerary on the RCI website. Lucky you! All those days at sea. Hope to see a picture of you clinging to the rock climbing wall.

 

I just received our confirmations to visit Hapag Lloyd's Columbus which arrives in NYC on Monday. She is the ship on which we did our Great Lakes cruise two years ago. It's a very nice touch to have the line invite alumni on board for a tour and luncheon. I'm sure we'll get a sales pitch as well, but that's OK. I would love to take a cruise on their six star Europa.

[Saga Ruby]

I was admiring your new avatar and, as a founding father of the Nostalgia Cruise, wondered if we should adopt it as the official colours? Also, I want to know what it represents. I was thinkin' Italia but the colours aren't right and there is a fleur-de-lis, so now I'm confused.

 

By the bye, Admiral Ma'am is having a grand time considering countries for flagging the Nostalgia Cruise. I'm inclined toward the Republic of Montenegro. Thoughts, anyone?

 

I just received our confirmations to visit Hapag Lloyd's Columbus which arrives in NYC on Monday. She is the ship on which we did our Great Lakes cruise two years ago. It's a very nice touch to have the line invite alumni on board for a tour and luncheon. I'm sure we'll get a sales pitch as well, but that's OK. I would love to take a cruise on their six star Europa.

 

Show-off! All you port people get such easy access to ships! Argh!!! What's this? A 6-star ship? I don't know anything about Europa. Do tell.

 

Ruby

[Conte Di Savoia]

I was admiring your new avatar and, as a founding father of the Nostalgia Cruise, wondered if we should adopt it as the official colours? Also, I want to know what it represents. I was thinkin' Italia but the colours aren't right and there is a fleur-de-lis, so now I'm confused.

Ruby

 

The avatar is from a scan of a 1932 brochure for the Italian Line's Conte Grande. It is an art deco interpretation of the funnels with the Italian Line house flag as the background. The flag represents the city of Genoa on the left (the cross of St. George) and the city of Trieste on the right. These were the two home ports for the line. The design in the Trieste flag is actually meant to represent a lance and not a fleur-de-lis. I recently purchased this brochure because I loved the cover. As a matter of fact, I do judge books by their covers!

 

 

Show-off! All you port people get such easy access to ships! Argh!!! What's this? A 6-star ship? I don't know anything about Europa. Do tell.

 

Ruby

 

Yes, I do like to show off! Hapag Lloyd's Europa is arguably the non plus ultra of cruise ships but caters to German passengers. It also makes "guaranteed" bilingual cruises to unusual ports. The ship is a perfect size for you, only a little more than 400 passengers in a beautiful and not overwrought design. I had made a fjord cruise on Europa of 1982 which was the predecessor of this current ship. The older vessel was upscale with excellent food and service. The newer ship is even more refined. If you click here you will get to Hapag Lloyd's website to view the ship. There is a short movie at the bottom of the page. It's captioned in German, but you'll get the point.

 

As far as where we should get flagged, I suggest Liechtenstein.

[Saga Ruby]

The avatar is from a scan of a 1932 brochure for the Italian Line's Conte Grande. As far as where we should get flagged, I suggest Liechtenstein.

 

That cover is quite handsome and the graphics thereon are hereby adopted as the official colours of the Nostalgia Cruise. Although Admiral Ma'am is struggling with the difference between a fleur-de-lis and a lance.

 

Flag of convenience - Burkina Faso?

 

D'maniac - I didn’t lock my cabin door until the late 80s. It never occurred to me. As you know from Empress of Canada, the concept of locking a cabin door wasn’t a shadow of a whisper of a concern.

 

In ye olde dayz, as we departed our ship for a local look-see, we hung our cabin keys on a board at the top of the gangway on the appropriately-numbered hook. Theoretically, passengers onboard or onshore could be noted at a glance. It was an imperfect system but the only one available in those days.

 

In the 80s, onboard RVL, I went dancing out my cabin door, came back, and it was locked. I went to Reception, got a spare, opened the door, then returned the key to Reception. This happened several times. I finally asked my cabin steward if it was wise to lock a cabin door and he mournfully nodded his head. From that day on I took the key.

 

The advent of swipe cards is great - so small and easy to carry. Many times I have asked at Reception for one hole to be punched in a corner of the plastic card, then used a safety pin to pin the card on my slacks under my blouse. I sometimes saw other pax in the corridor, watching my contortions to put the swipe card thru the door lock. Now I’ve given up and wear slacks with pockets which served me well on Saga Rose as I had to carry the plastic card plus the cabin key.

 

Ruby

[Druke I]

Many people have their "swipe card" punched (as you do), and then hang it on a lanyard around their neck.

 

I've seen some of them do some funny contortions unlocking their doors.

 

Glad I am a gent, and always wear trousers with pockets! I don't wear polo shirts if they don't have a pocket, as I need a place to keep my spectacles. I flat out refuse to have one of the shoelace thingies attached to my specs and around my neck!!

[dougnewmanatsea]

Flag of convenience - Burkina Faso?

My favorite is landlocked Bolivia :) .

 

North Korea is also a fun one :eek: .

 

Just don't choose St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which seems to be the de rigeur FOC for ships going off to the breakers :( .

 

Of course cruise ships inevitably come under "respectable" FOCs like the Bahamas, Panama, the Marshall Islands etc. For companies wanting their ships to be flagged in an EU country (which can have significant regulatory advantages), Madeira is very popular, as that is part of the EU but has a separate, cheaper ship register than the ordinary Portuguese one. Same goes for Gibraltar, a cheaper EU alternative to the main British register, though that seems less popular with cruise ships. (Bermuda has the odd situation of still being British but not being an EU register, but nonetheless is used by most Princess and P&O ships so the Captain can conduct weddings on board, which can't be done by ships registered in the UK itself. Like British-but-not-European Bermuda, Åland is still Finnish but it isn't part of the EU... But that little Swedish-speaking Finnish island is actually in Europe! I could go on...)

Now I’ve given up and wear slacks with pockets which served me well on Saga Rose as I had to carry the plastic card plus the cabin key.

Indeed, this seems to be the usual procedure on all those ships where you still have real keys, since the plastic swipe card thing is still necessary as your ID and charge card. So the same goes for e.g. MARCO POLO and QE2. On QE2 you get a nice little leatherette wallet to put your plastic card in though.

 

Then there are ships that still use those "punch hole" plastic card keys, so you wind up carrying two plastic cards - the door key one and the ID/charge card one. Most recently I had this on ZENITH (last year, during her waning days with Celebrity).

 

I like a real cabin key, anyway. Even if you have to carry the plastic card either way, there is a certain satisfaction that comes out of using an actual key. Plus they tend to just work, unlike those finicky plastic cards.

 

On another note, may I compliment you for choosing the wonderful house flag of Italia (conventional short form of Societa Italia di Navigazione, aka Italian Line in the English speaking world) as the official colors of the Nostalgia Cruise. But surely then we should eschew any flag of convenience and host the Italian civil ensign (see here) instead? A prima classe company like Italia would never have used a flag of convenience ;) ...

[Conte Di Savoia]

 

On another note, may I compliment you for choosing the wonderful house flag of Italia (conventional short form of Societa Italia di Navigazione, aka Italian Line in the English speaking world) as the official colors of the Nostalgia Cruise. But surely then we should eschew any flag of convenience and host the Italian civil ensign (see here) instead? A prima classe company like Italia would never have used a flag of convenience ;) ...

 

Actually the official name of the Italian Line is Italia Societa per Azione di Navigazione, (Italia the Company for the Advancement of Navigation). S.p.A. is the Italian equivalent of Inc. or Ltd. The house flag, when reversed i.e. the lance along the staff and the cross at the fly, is the house flag of Lloyd Triestino. The Italian civil or merchant flag was adopted after WWII when the coat of arms of the House of Savoy was removed from the national and merchant flags. The new national flag, which is the tricolor with no arms in the white center, is the merchant flag of Mexico so it became necessary to distinguish the Italians from the Mexicans while at sea. The coat of arms in the center of the civil flag is not that of the Italian republic but represents in clockwise order from the upper left hand corner, Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi which used the Maltese cross as its emblem. Sorry for the digression, but flags have always interested me from my youth. It's fun to be on deck of a ship when other passengers wonder what country a ship is from as they stare at the ship's flag. I can usually tell them. There I go showing off again.

[Saga Ruby]

Admiral Ma'am will be issuing a NC Memo to all shortly. Please read and advise.

 

As far as where we should get flagged, I suggest Liechtenstein.

 

Ah, Conte, that was keel over dead funny. I was going to keep a dignified silence while I tried to catch my breath but one does have to recognize inspiration when one sees it.

 

Ruby