Live From The Noordam With Tomc

[innlady1]

I'm sad to see your wonderful posts winding down, Tomc, but, on the other hand, not so sad as we embark on the Noordam as you disembark.

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed your wonderful posts in this thread...very entertaining and witty. You need to publish a book!

 

Enjoy San Juan...and your voyage back to NYC! :D

 

By the way, I've never been able to understand what pax don't understand about "departure time?"

[CrystalLady]

There will be a regular review after I get home and can sort out my thoughts.

 

Tom - I really enjoy your IRREVEREND reports. Please don't change them!:p Thanks for another few rounds of tasty tid-bits. What a pleasure to read someone with your wit!

[innlady1]

We seem to be sort of hanging out in the +3-mile-zone area so people can give HAL their money in the casino and shops. There's another ship fairly close to us (can't make out what it is due, first, to distance and, now, to darkness) which appears to be doing much the same. Putzing around at sea is a lot cheaper than paying dockage.

 

San Juan is our port tomorrow and since we've been through Immigration already, all we have to do is hide all our bootleg stuff as we walk stiff-legged thru the passenger terminal in NYC and throw pepper in the dogs' noses.

 

The Wind Spirit, btw, has eight smokestacks at about 45 degree angles, more or less. To these experienced eyes, they look more like anti-aircraft guns, but I could be mistaken. Most people think I'm mistaken.

 

Three people were late for the ship. As one of them came running down the dock, the captain made note of it and encouraged us to give the lady a round of applause, which we were only too happy to do. Then he waited a while longer and --twenty-five minutes after posted departure-- the other two people came running down the dock. Again, "a round of applause, if you please." Apparently, time was not that much of the essence, so he could afford to hang around for a while.

 

I'm at the point where I start counting minutes so I can make my last post as we head toward NY Harbor. There will be a regular review after I get home and can sort out my thoughts.

 

There is talk of a football game tomorrow that everybody wants to watch. Not being a sports fan, I'm not sure what it's all about. Couple of teams in after-season play.

This post came to you live from a sports-deprived person on the Noordam.

 

SuperBowl, Tomc. But, I know you know that...and are just pulling our collective legs!

[mamaofami]

Well, Tom, I see by Sheila's count down clock that you have 3 days and 3 hours more to enjoy the beautiful Noordam. I've loved reading your posts and am sorry your cruise will be over in three days.

 

By the way, what dogs in the New York terminal? You must be joking again.

 

I'll wave to you as we board. Have a safe trip back to NY.

[welove2cruise232]

Tom, if you haven't seen the Windstar ships at night (though I'm sure you have) take a gander -- they are beautiful! Usually at full sail, and the sails are lit up in blue -- it's just amazing! Some day...;)

 

Really enjoying your posts -- enjoy San Juan tomorrow -- if you get a chance go to LaBombonera for breakfast -- I believe it's on San Christobal?? Ask anyone, they'll point the way -- great mallorca (promounced my-orca -- does that make sense?) sandwiches (they're very much like fried dough, split in half, filled with ham and cheese and then grilled or panini-pressed, sprinkled with powdered sugar -- yeah, I know, sounds weird, but try it! It's YUMMO!!) and the most amazing, strong coffee! Wait til you see their coffee maker! Oh, and fresh squeezed orange juice!

[welove2cruise232]

Dupe...

[Susie51]

Please keep your posts coming as long as you can.

[innlady1]

Please keep your posts coming as long as you can.

 

I agree...Tomc's posts are the best! :D

[tomc]

Last time I was in here, two crew members in white with a bunch of bars on their shoulders were looking at the atlas. The woman next to me said, "I hope you're not using that to figure out where we are." CM #1 said, "No, ma'am; this was open to the Arctic when I came in." CM #2 said, "And now it's showing the Mediterranean, which is not a bad place to be."

 

We're pretty much dead in the water, making what I assume is just enough headway so the stabilizers can have some effect. Well, they ain't. It's like a rocky, bumpy ride here. Not all the time, but there are frequent occasions when I can't write in the Lido 'cuz it's so bumpy. Like being on a bad road. I assume we and the mystery ship are parked out here until it's time to head toward PR.

 

Tomorrow is Sunday and I have learned from last week: Get to the Vista Dining Room before the Catholics get out of Mass. You wait too long to get up and they're all waiting in line to the front of the ship. I feel like one of the five thousand that Jesus fed with some loaves and fishes. I wonder what sort of beverage he provided? That bread and fish must have been dry.

 

I was falling asleep in the Lido and at the table ahead of me were three FOD's. As I dozed off, the subject turned to extra-curricular activities. I don't care what your orientation is; that's TMI, regardless of gender.

 

This post came to you live from the Noordam

[ger_77]

I feel like one of the five thousand that Jesus fed with some loaves and fishes. I wonder what sort of beverage he provided? That bread and fish must have been dry.

 

I'm thinking He provided wine - lots and lots of wine - smuggled in water jugs.:rolleyes: I wonder if He had to pay corkage even though He brought His own?

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[bishop84]

TomC, Great review You have a great sense of humor and wit.

 

 

They are preparing the new dock to hold the 220,000 GRT RCI Genesis ships. :)

 

As the new pier is being funded by Carnival I doubt its being prepared for the Monster of the Seas. Although if the Carnival ships go to this new 2 ship pier it will provide space on the old pier for the others to dock.

[cruzcation]

Tom, I assume that you're on a 10 night cruise. Please tell me when nights are formal nights. Appreciate.

[bUU]

Tomc is on an 11 night cruise.

[innlady1]

Tom, I assume that you're on a 10 night cruise. Please tell me when nights are formal nights. Appreciate.

 

There are other threads here with the formal nights for the 11 day cruise. Look for posts by jrzebird...she's one who mentioned it.

[Susie51]

What does FOD and TMI mean?

[waiting2retire]

Susie51,

 

FOD is the acronym for Friends of Dorothy, meaning gay and lesbian cruisers, the same as the Friends of Bill W. are members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

And TMI is webspeak for "too much information".

 

All of these acronyms can be so confusing to the uninitiated....

 

Bonnie

[bUU]

All of these acronyms can be so confusing to the uninitiated....

Word.

 

:D

[luv2cruz4fun]

What does FOD and TMI mean?

 

I believe in reference to Friends of Dorothy and Too Much Information

[The Big Booper]

TomC, Great review You have a great sense of humor and wit.

 

 

 

 

As the new pier is being funded by Carnival I doubt its being prepared for the Monster of the Seas. Although if the Carnival ships go to this new 2 ship pier it will provide space on the old pier for the others to dock.

 

I know that the St. Martin Port Authority is preparing a dredging operation to accept the larger Genesis ships somewhere. As you say, if Carnival funds the new dock than Carnival, Princess,HAL and the glut of other Carnival brands will free up the existing dock. Can you see the fun on this island if 6 large ships can dock w/o tendering, or even 8 if the new dock is long enough. Whoa Nelly !!!!!

 

We have friends on this sailing including a party of 10 including Sybird from CC. We would have been along except that I can't break away during tax season. So if that great humorist TomC has bumped into Sy and Marcella, say hello for David and Nancy.

[tomc]

The dining room table assigner has been printing out what appear to be little receipts and handing them to the steward who seats us. I feel like a purchase: "Bring back with original receipt if you wish to exchange for another passenger."

 

The Carnival Destiny is next to us in PR. When we pulled out (almost minus a pax, and possibly so), it was so slowly and smooth that it looked as if the Destiny was moving closer to shore, rather than we were moving away.

 

Dining Room steward Sugeng tells me he is from Hong Kong and not from Indonesia. He is the only one not from the islands.

 

Those who have been so San Juan will remember the large (long) sculpture that looks like a sail, but also resembles a giant rubber band stretched out and about to be shot across the harbor at some pricey hi-rise buildings.

 

We had the Susan Komen "On Deck for the Cure" this afternoon and there were 70+ people involved. I think it was more than expected.

 

Only three more nights in my Category BC cabin. That's "Bean Counter." It's so narrow that, even with the two nightstands between us, if we were of opposite genders, we could still sin without moving from one bed to the other. Whoever designed this line of Cat K's must have made HAL breathe heavy with anticipation, and I don't mean the kind that comes from the chance to make out. I mean the kind that comes from filling out bank deposit slips.

 

So, we're leaving San Juan, pronounced like "San Hwan," but that looks too Chinese. For the sake of the "This is America and we are English-only," we are leaving St. John. If I could find what Puerto Rico means in English, I'd have included that, but I can't find a Spanish dictionary in the library.

 

Immigration was quick but, being as how they are US officials letting US citizens back into their own country, you know how it goes. Nature abhors a vacuum, so empty heads soon fill with power:

 

Imm: "Traveling alone?"

Tomc: "Yes."

Imm: "There are 1,997 people on board. You are lying to an official of your government. I'll let it go this time.

Tomc: "Much appreciated."

Imm: "I see you have a roommate. Name?"

Tomc: "Charles, also known as John; that's what his friends call him. I guess you could call it his street name."

Imm: "We'll harass him until he confesses to something. May I inspect your shoes?"

Tomc: "They're right down there at the end of my ankles. Knapp, style K-7. Comfortable and wear like iron."

Imm: "This passport photo doesn't quite resemble you."

Tomc: "It was taken when I was much older."

Imm: "You are required to buy something foolish; what is it?"

Tomc: "A multi-colored Caribbean hat that I wouldn't wear to a dog fight. It's for a friend who may soon be a former friend."

Imm: "Your papers seem to be in order, sir."

Tomc: "The officer said that in Casablanca just before Rick nailed him."

 

This post came to you live from the Noordam.

[RuthC]

There is talk of a football game tomorrow that everybody wants to watch. Not being a sports fan, I'm not sure what it's all about. Couple of teams in after-season play.

Im. that would be my team---the Patriots playing some other team in the Super Bowl. They're going for a first-ever 19-0 season.

Go Pats!

[wander]

Regarding sloooooow forward movement of ship. Some years ago we spent time for several winters at a "hotel" on the south shore of St. John (overlooking Salt Pond and the ocean). Almost every night we would see 1 - 3 cruise ships very slowly cruising in circles a bit off shore while they were cruising between stops at St. Thomas and St. Croix. The distance is such that they had to find some way to spend the 12 or so hours between ports. Guess this was the least expensive way to do it. It was beautiful to see. The same is true when sailing between Seattle and Victoria and/or Vancouver, there is time to fill.

[FIRELT5]

The dining room table assigner has been printing out what appear to be little receipts and handing them to the steward who seats us. I feel like a purchase: "Bring back with original receipt if you wish to exchange for another passenger."

 

The Carnival Destiny is next to us in PR. When we pulled out (almost minus a pax, and possibly so), it was so slowly and smooth that it looked as if the Destiny was moving closer to shore, rather than we were moving away.

 

Dining Room steward Sugeng tells me he is from Hong Kong and not from Indonesia. He is the only one not from the islands.

 

Those who have been so San Juan will remember the large (long) sculpture that looks like a sail, but also resembles a giant rubber band stretched out and about to be shot across the harbor at some pricey hi-rise buildings.

 

We had the Susan Komen "On Deck for the Cure" this afternoon and there were 70+ people involved. I think it was more than expected.

 

Only three more nights in my Category BC cabin. That's "Bean Counter." It's so narrow that, even with the two nightstands between us, if we were of opposite genders, we could still sin without moving from one bed to the other. Whoever designed this line of Cat K's must have made HAL breathe heavy with anticipation, and I don't mean the kind that comes from the chance to make out. I mean the kind that comes from filling out bank deposit slips.

 

So, we're leaving San Juan, pronounced like "San Hwan," but that looks too Chinese. For the sake of the "This is America and we are English-only," we are leaving St. John. If I could find what Puerto Rico means in English, I'd have included that, but I can't find a Spanish dictionary in the library.

 

Immigration was quick but, being as how they are US officials letting US citizens back into their own country, you know how it goes. Nature abhors a vacuum, so empty heads soon fill with power:

 

Imm: "Traveling alone?"

Tomc: "Yes."

Imm: "There are 1,997 people on board. You are lying to an official of your government. I'll let it go this time.

Tomc: "Much appreciated."

Imm: "I see you have a roommate. Name?"

Tomc: "Charles, also known as John; that's what his friends call him. I guess you could call it his street name."

Imm: "We'll harass him until he confesses to something. May I inspect your shoes?"

Tomc: "They're right down there at the end of my ankles. Knapp, style K-7. Comfortable and wear like iron."

Imm: "This passport photo doesn't quite resemble you."

Tomc: "It was taken when I was much older."

Imm: "You are required to buy something foolish; what is it?"

Tomc: "A multi-colored Caribbean hat that I wouldn't wear to a dog fight. It's for a friend who may soon be a former friend."

Imm: "Your papers seem to be in order, sir."

Tomc: "The officer said that in Casablanca just before Rick nailed him."

 

This post came to you live from the Noordam.

 

tomc: really enjoyed your posts.

 

Just a heads up, you may experience gale force winds and elevated seas Tuesday afternoon into Wed Morning. A series of Strong cold fronts will be moving off the Mid-Atlantic Coast. Swell Heights should be in th 8'-15' range.

[mamaofami]

tomc: really enjoyed your posts.

 

Just a heads up, you may experience gale force winds and elevated seas Tuesday afternoon into Wed Morning. A series of Strong cold fronts will be moving off the Mid-Atlantic Coast. Swell Heights should be in th 8'-15' range.

 

 

What are the sea conditions for Wednesday night and Thursday?

[Susie51]

Thanks for the definitions of TMI and FOD. I thought Friends of Dorothy was a meeting for Weight Watcher members. It puts a whole new twist on things.