RevNeal - LIVE from the Ryndam & Amsterdam

[jhannah]

I'm with you 100% on Vancouver. Lovely city! I'm so glad you and your mom will have this time together, and that she's up for travel. What a blessing! Enjoy your cruises.

[suse]

I've never been there and it's on my list of things to do. So, thank you for posting.....I'll be following along happily.:)

[callmedeb]

I leave for Vancouver and the Statendam on Saturday =) I love Vancouver, immigration is not a problem for me though - LOL.

 

Enjoy your cruise! I'm cruising with my Dad.

 

Cheers,

 

Deb

[Mary Ellen]

Bon Voyage, Greg (and mom)! Vancouver is my favorite city to sail from - the YVR airport aside (we've had similar experiences :eek: ) and IMHO the absolute WORST 'Red Coat' we've ever endured (on multiple cruises no less :rolleyes: ). The Pan Pacific is wonderful!!! Keep your eyes open. Our last time there, we ran into (almost literally) Harrison Ford as we were getting out the elevator. :D:D:D

[RevNeal]

Good Morning from Vancouver!

Today I woke up with nature calling me at 6:45 am, got out of bed to make my way to the room of requirement, and I just so-happened to peek out the window. There, on final approach, was the lovely, glorious, amazingly wonderful Zaandam!!!!!!!!! What a GREAT way to wake up in the morning!

 

 



 



 

 

Ah, yes ... what a wonderful sight! And how exciting, knowing that tomorrow morning it will be MY ship coming in!!!!!! :D

[RevNeal]

It is an dark, overcast, chilly morning. They're saying that the temperatures will come up a bit (to the upper 50s) and that the chance of rain is about 50%. Oh, well ... looks like our trip to Grouse Mountain will not be as nice as it might otherwise have been (we won't be able to see the bay). Still, perhaps it won't be a complete bust.

 

I've been checking the internet for forecasts in Alaska and the weather this week is supposed to be chilly and overcast, with chances of rain every day. Oh, well ... we'll see! Whatever it is, we'll have a wonderful time. We're both excited about boarding tomorrow and getting deck underneath our feet again!

[RevNeal]

Thanx for posting Rev Neil - I'm so jealous! Sounds like you're having a great time! Are you on the Amsterdam first or second? We're book on her for the new 14-day Alaskan itinerary on May 31, 2010. Have only sailed on my beloved Oosterdam before, so I'm really anxious and excited to hear about the Amsterdam and live vicariously through you, so please don't disappoint! LOL!

 

Sounds like you had an eventful day of travel, but sure does sound like fun! Enjoy your day tomorrow and keep us posted when you can! Happy sailing to you and Mom!

 

Thank you for your well-wishes! We're on the Ryndam this week, round trip out of Vancouver for the "traditional" 7-day "Inside Passage Cruise." Then, we disembark and transfer to Seattle, where we will spend the night and then board the Amsterdam for another 7-day cruise on what is sometimes called the "Outside Passage", with stops in Sitka and Hubbard Glacier. Between the two cruises we will duplicate only two ports (Juneau and Ketchikan), and get to see both Glacier Bay and Hubbard.

[RevNeal]

Have a wonderful cruise, Greg! Same to your mom.

 

I'll be anxiously awaiting your photos...

 

Speaking of photos, did you ever post those from the Good Nuts Cruise? I couldn't find them...but maybe I was doing something wrong.

 

Thanks!

Sadly, I've not posted them. I DO have a bunch selected to process, but I've just not had the time to do that. Sorry! I do plan on posting them ... eventually.

[RevNeal]

Are you going on the Amsterdam or Ryndam? I presume it is the Ryndam as the Amsterdam goes out of Seattle. Have a great Cruise.

 

As I posted above, we're on the Ryndam this week and the Amsterdam next week. :)

[RuthC]

Well, hello! I sign on to CC and look what's waiting for me---your "Live from ..." thread. Excellent! :)

If I can't be sailing at all, sailing along with you and Mom is second best. Looking forward to all the gory details. :D

And Sheila, you're right about the Noordam photos.

[RevNeal]

RevNeal....welcome to Vancouver! Glad to have you visiting!

For next time....there is a convenience between the aircraft landing place and the Customs/Immigration rope line but they have worked hard to keep it a secret. (We only found it a coulpe of weeks ago when getting home from San Diego.)

Just as you enter the 'great hall' where the Customs/Immigration line-ups are ...if you look towards the set of escalators at the end of the room...you will see some tiny signs....the convenience rooms are to the right of the escalators. A good place to stop before getting into the rope-line.

Hope you and your mother have a great vacation...the weather is supposed to be good for the next couple of days.... but you might want to kick Grouse Mountain to Friday which will be the day this week with the most sun!

 

Thank you so MUCH for the information regarding the "rooms of requirement" that are available. I never noticed them when heading to the Passport control stations. Next time I know where to look!!!!!! :)

 

Those coming into YVR ... take note! Restrooms ARE to be found before going into the passport control lines! Use 'em!

[RevNeal]

I believe that RevNeal indicated that they were doing a 7-Day Northbound cruise on one ship then returning on a 7-Day Southbound cruise on the other ship.

 

Not quite. Two round trips: the first out of Vancouver, the second out of Seattle.

[RevNeal]

Well, hello! I sign on to CC and look what's waiting for me---your "Live from ..." thread. Excellent! :)

If I can't be sailing at all, sailing along with you and Mom is second best. Looking forward to all the gory details. :D

And Sheila, you're right about the Noordam photos.

 

Dear Ruthless, it's good to see ya! Yes ... come along! YOU'RE a big part of the reason why I decided to post! :D

[wrp96]

Thank you so MUCH for the information regarding the "rooms of requirement" that are available. I never noticed them when heading to the Passport control stations. Next time I know where to look!!!!!! :)

 

Those coming into YVR ... take note! Restrooms ARE to be found before going into the passport control lines! Use 'em!

 

 

I'm taking note!!!:p

[ladychar]

Have a great cruise. Are you going to Mendenhall Glacier. I just checked the web cam and it appears the lake is starting the thaw. Hope you have beautiful weather.

 

Thanks for posting and allowing me to take another "trip" to Alaska.

 

Hope you and your Mom have a wonderful time. What a way to spend Mother's Day.:)

[imae39]

Rev. Neal - I will be eagerly awaiting your posts. We are booked in a Cat. K cabin for Dec. sailing and hope the ship is not showing too much wear. We read all we can about the condition of the Ryndam and are wondering if it would be best to change to a 10 day on the Noordam. Then sail the Ryndam after its drydock. Tampa is less than an hour drive for us so would be nice to only have a short drive to the port.

Have a wonderful cruise.

[tjcletsgo]

RevNeal, could you please let us know the dinner choices each night, if you have the time? We are on the Volendam 5/20, their first Alaska cruise of the season and I figure they'll be very similar.

 

Loving your posts, have a wonderful cruise!

 

Thank you,

 

Janie:D

[DFD1]

It's good to hear from you, Rev. Keep us posted and have a great time with your Mom.

Thanks for the pictures of Zaandam. She's one of our favorites. Lovely ship.

[Sage]

Greg, I'm so happy I found your post. I hope that you and your Mom have a wonderful time on both your cruises. We look forward to each new post.

[RevNeal]

RevNeal, could you please let us know the dinner choices each night, if you have the time? We are on the Volendam 5/20, their first Alaska cruise of the season and I figure they'll be very similar.

 

Janie: I'll make a point of reporting on the dinner choices each night. It may be in the form of a photograph of each menu. We'll see. It all depends upon what's the easiest way of doing it.

[RevNeal]

Today was a cold, rainy, exhausting, yet wonderful day! Mom and I woke up to the Zaandam coming up to dock at Canada Place, and then we enjoyed an excellent breakfast with exciting views of the Zaandam docked next to us. Following breakfast as spent a little while relaxing and then we went down to the Hotel Entrance to meet out tour group for the "North Shore Capilano Suspension Bridge & Grouse Mountain Tour." Wow! It was cold, it was wet, it was overcast, but it was still a wonderful day!

 

The Capilano Suspension Bridge was an exciting walk, and we enjoyed more than an hour touring the far side rain forest and tree preserve with a nature guide.

 

 



 



 

 

(continued)

[RevNeal]

The Capilano Suspension Bridge was an exciting walk, and we enjoyed more than an hour touring the far side rain forest and tree preserve with a nature guide. The rain was coming down, off and on, yet under the trees it wasn't bad at all.

 

 

 

Following the Capilano bridge we made our way up to the base of Grouse Mountain and took the "Skyride" up to the top. It was foggy, with a cloud sitting on top of the mountain; the resulting erie atmosphere made for a strange day walking among the high piles of snow that were to be found atop the mountain.

 

 

Unfortunately, we couldn't see all the way down to the bay, but we still enjoyed the afternoon up on the mountain. On the way down we managed to catch sight of the bay, the City of Vancouver, Canada Place and the Zaandam.

 

 

(Continued)

[RevNeal]

After we were down from the Grouse Mountain Skyride we made our way to the dam and spill way holding back one of Vancouver's principle sources of water.

 

 

The water was pouring out of the spill way, making for a lovely cascading waterfall into the valley bellow.

 

We then drove over to the Water Taxi pier on the North Shore, where we had a lovely view of the city before boarding the taxi to cross the bay.

 

 



 



 

 

On our way over the Zaandam cast off her lines and began to push away from the pier for her next cruise. It was exciting because we knew that tomorrow that would be US!

 

 

 

All-in-all, it was a GREAT day. Yes, the weather could have been better and it would have been nice if we could have seen the city from atop Grouse Mountain, but even so it was a lot of fun. Perhaps the next time I'm here I'll have greater luck at seeing the city from "on high."

[brucory]

So very happy to see your "LIVE FROM" up and running Revneal...

 

Your pics are fantastic and helping bring back beautiful memories of Vancouver.

 

Very much looking forward to the next 2 weeks of your Alaska reports...

 

:D:D:D

[canadarocks]

Your pictures are AMAZING! Thanks so much for taking all the time it takes to post. I can't wait to hear about your Ryndam experience. Hubby and I will be on her for 14 days in August.:)