Stakeout

On 3/23/2022 at 7:46 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

Hi Cherie; SD Port PD did not notice something odd because they are not the ones doing the luggage scanning at the port of San Diego, contract port security does that and it is they, if they see "something odd," that then notify SD Port Police and Ship Security. So we can assume that in this case, nothing odd was observed in this doper's luggage because, if it was, there would have been follow up and, more than likely, we would be reading about a dope bust in San Diego 😉 

hay Copper.. just thinking out loud here..  and here I thought cruising all over with HAL these many years and sitting back just enjoying my retirement from the Suffolk County PD (NY) some 31+ years ago I would not hear about bad guys blunders and maybe be 'in the mix' on a HAL ship.. sure does bring back a lot of 'cops and robbers' memories I had over the 20 years I was 'on the job' as a Sergeant on Patrol working the streets.. we used to call it 'job security' -- bad guys-- or what we liked to call them--'skels'-- doing stupid things . stay well ..stay safe 🙂

nice in Bonaire .. our favorite and the quietest these days of the ABC islands--although we did honeymoon in Curacao back in 1972...  as an avid fisherman over many years-- boat..surf..pier -- you know never to eat Barracuda or for that matter any reef dwelling fish.. the locals in the Caribbean do(mainly the smaller ones)  but not advised.. Barracuda are reef-feeders and eat the fish along the reefs.. highly toxic-- Ciguatera Poisoning-- you don't want to get it.. enjoy the remainder of your loooong cruise

looks like HAL has just changed the Covid Quarantine rules for back to backs -- down to 5 days with option to stay aboard .. in this post from John and Diane on the Rotterdam  

we were onboard the Koningsdam from November 14 thru Jan 9th-- 8 back to backs to Mexico..  had a great time.. so lucky after a number of South Pacific.. Alaska and  2 back to back Hawaii cruises were cancelled by HAL on the Zuiderdam.. we just wanted to sail once again and with the many protocols in place onboard the Koningsdam we are glad that we did..  had to get tested 7x while aboard-- every Saturday morning so we could stay on the next 7 day cruise..  we got off the ship very early after it was docked and cleared in the ports that didn't have 3 ships docked.. stayed onboard a few times thruout the 56 days..  here's My Daily Blog with the dates running down the right side of the page from Day 1 thru Day 56 starting Nov 14 Day 1 --Koningsdam San Diego

glad you did okay and are well.. we were on the Koningsdam for 8 weeks Nov 14-Jan 9 .. so on with you..  

as a sidenote---just think every staff member including the Captain and every crew member has to Quarantine for 7 days onboard before being able to start working onboard..

On 1/9/2022 at 5:01 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

 

LE Day brings back a lot of good old memories for me in my 'previous life' retiring from the Suffolk County PD on Long Island (NY) 31 years ago.. was on the KODM with Captain Henk from Nov 14 thru Jan 9-- 8 back to backs

also just got off the Koningsdam this past Sunday Jan 9 after 8 weeks onboard--56 days.. we were required to be Covid-tested every Saturday morning.. to say that the crew and staff was the best of the best is not giving all of them due credit.. Captain Henk and his senior staff including Hotel General Manager (HD) Santosch were outstanding.. every crew member that we encountered went out of their way for the passengers.. the last 3 weeks no crew had any shore leave... they still did their jobs knowing what was at stake trying to keep everyone including themselves safe from Covid.. hopefully everyone who cruises with HAL in the near future will try to follow the protocols onboard.. it is a must-do for everyone to adapt and follow the rules as best as they can in order to keep the ships out there and sailing..  again kudos to the crew and staff-- they were fantastic.. 🥰

btw we chose to do the 8 weeks onboard the Koningsdam going to the same ports after a number of our booked Hawaii and Tahiti South Pacific cruises were canceled on the Zuiderdam back in late Sept then in Nov and Dec for a variety of reasons before it was taken out of service..

FYI... might save some time and bandwidth uploading pics.. I download my pics to my laptop from my camera and phone on a daily basis while onboard-- makes for an e-z daily backup..  I don't use cloud syncing onboard.. I also backup daily to my external portable SSD drive.. and yop I do a lot of pics :)

re: Images uploaded onboard and when traveling..  when I have a number of pics to upload I use FastStone Photo Resizer at https://download.cnet.com/FastStone-Photo-Resizer/3000-2192_4-10319476.html

or download it directly from the FastStone site with plenty of Info about it  https://download.cnet.com/FastStone-Image-Viewer/3000-18488_4-10324485.html

it gets a pretty decent rating.. e-z to use.. batch resizing.. and it's FREE..  I resize all my pics when cruising on my Laptop to 1280 x 800  under settings in the lower right.. also set quality at 90%.. do the new conversion as .tn  or any rename you want as a JPEG-- saves it as a copy resized and downsized.. then I choose which ones I want to upload to My Blog or to FB.. no editing--it's just a resizer..

if anyone has the need ...FastStone also has an Image Editor--FastStone Image Viewer for those in need of a FREE image editor https://download.cnet.com/FastStone-Image-Viewer/3000-18488_4-10324485.html  also found on the FastStone site https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

as a guess.. the last time we were on the Koningsdam the Casino was so small and tight --which made for a crowded place.. with Covid-- maybe they moved some machines to the Ocean Bar to avoid the overcrowding as an alternative venue .. we'll be on for 8 back to backs on Nov 14 thru Jan 9

20 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Bon Voyage.. enjoy the back to backs.. we get on the Koningsdam Nov 14 thru Jan 9 on multiple back to backs 

100% VACCINATED is the way to go.. hope HAL stays the course.. it's safety first for everyone.. passengers and crew

we just got 'zapped'.. Nov 18 and Dec 5 cruises to Hawaii on the Zuiderdam canceled on Friday--got the email from HAL.. had been booked Nov 18 thru Jan 16 for 59 days.. so we'll cancel the last two back to backs in the next few days.. gotta go to Plan B--whatever that may be

just made Final Payment for our Nov 18 cruise on the Zuiderdam--the first of 4 back to backs--59 days.. also paid for our Flight thru HAL's Flight Ease.. as always checked my Delta account and the flights were canceled the next day.. called Delta who told me to call HAL-- Flight Ease  re-booked them although the rep was not too helpful and tried to doubletalk me--first time this has happened.. never got any notice from HAL or Delta that they were canceled.. bottomline--check your flight status-- stay on top of it

FYI.. just had relatives leave our house in NC after a visit for their home in St John USVI that required a Rapid Test upon re-entry.. they went to Walgreens(72 hours) and the test was accepted by USVI authorities- received the test results within 2 hours..  same for us when we visited them in St John back in June

2 hours ago, Himself said:

I appreciate the link  Thanks for sharing the Death Notice.  I knew he was a second carrier man as I am.  He was a Holy Cross Brother and I was once a DeLaSalle Christian Brother.

as an aside.. I attended St Augustine High School in Brooklyn (NYC) way back in 1959-1963 with Christian Brothers (DeLaSalle)  ..unfortunately the school had closed  I believe in 1969 because of building deficiencies and became a NYC public school some time later.. a small world it is  🙂

our prayers and condolences to his family .. a very kind man 

here's the LINK for all Carnival Corp Cruise Lines Stockholders Benefits .. and the info required for submission

Carnival Corp Stockholder Benefits

it comes off of this main Carnival Corp Shareholders link

Carnival Corp main shareholders link

where the HAL Fleet is ...   www. *****/cruise-ship-tracker/holland-america-line/fleet/ 

zoom the Map in/out.. drag the Map with your cursor to see where the HAL ships are.. click on any Ship's 'green dot/marker' for more info and its location

UPDATE: disregard .. CC won't allow the URL

as a guess.. the Princess name will be no more after the bad press it has gotten...  maybe go back to its original 'P&O branding.. ya never know..  bet HAL wishes it had back those old smaller ships they got rid of over the past few years.. Statendam.. Ryndam and Prinsendam... they might have been maintenance nitemares at the time money-wise.. but the big humongous size new ship era has come to a screeching halt.. just thinking out loud.. 🙂

about time-- sayonara... knows everything about nothing is what I say and have said for a long time.. . he was hired as someone who never was on a cruise ship.. brought the company down with 'pie in the sky ideas'  ..here's a thread I started a while back--- to back what I've said up.. and I still stand by it even after getting slammed by many.. 

good luck and God Bless to Captain Ane..  the Staff... Crew  and Passengers on the last leg of this journey and a big thank you to Panama for helping them out-- both the Zaandam and Rotterdam-- and making this transit  be done as fast as possible.. kudos to them  🙂

almost there

it's just coming into the locks now

3 minutes ago, Av8rix said:

Actually looks like she's bearing off easterly toward the old Gatun lock.

 

that's the single lane new locks  the Zaandam is approaching

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

0400 hrs and driving blacked-out in back alleys looking for crooks after the bar crowd is home 😉 Enjoy your retirement Sir! Be safe!

hahahaha.. I am.. or at least I have been .. one must adapt.. stay well ..