Btimmer

Thank you for the correction.

Here's a photo of the bow cam at night crossing to Greenland. This is the first time I've seen converging spot lights and I suspect it has something to do with spotting icebergs. When we went up to the Crow's Nest, we could barely see the lights so they must be of a special intensity and hue to work with night vision in the bridge area. Television view: Crow's Nest View:

Contact Simon at www.capebretontaxitours.com. If you do a web search for the above, you can find a phone # if you want to call.

Thank you for the kind words. Those bakeapples were thick on Saddle Island.

We had a great day in Red Bay. Tendering back to the ship was very challenging. Its was the first fog tender ride for us. We could not see the ship until we were astern. The wind was blowing 30-40 mph with significant wave action. The passengers applauded the tender driver when we tied up to the tender platform. I watched a tender get blown away from its pick up hardware. The bargain for the day was the $10.75Cdn Canada Parks ticket that gave us two museums and a boat ride to Saddle Island where significant discoveries of Basque whaling activities from the 1600's have been discovered. Old fishing boat on Saddle Island Apple Bake berry Typical terrain Hit & Miss engine from old fishing boat Boat remains Wreck of a coal carrier from 1966 Typical pathway through the bog sea urchin shell remains United church Oldest known remains of a Basque whaling skiff Local fish & chips First view of the ship in the fog Our overall route during the day The route back to the ship in the fog View of fog from the ship What tenders look like coming out of the fog

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We have arrived in Red Bay. We tendered in.

Today was another wonderful day. We had a terrific sail in with a 10am arrival. There was a school bus shuttle to town, but the ship said nothing about it. Once in town we asked at the information booth for directions to the Captain Cook monument and the guide gave what seemed to be incomplete directions. We headed off walking to it (missed a turn and correctly directed by a local), reached the top with a very helpful ride by another local (details in my blog), enjoyed the view, walked back to town, met Pete & Judy (The Inside Cabin bloggers), rode the tourist train, and more. This was a nice stop. In his sailaway announcement, Captain Eric mentioned the possibility of missing tomorrow's port due to windy weather and it being a tender port. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime enjoy some more pictures from today. We're loving this area. Judy, Pete, Tim, & Angela The Captain Cook monument is on the top of the hill framed in this picture.

Yes. $420Cdn; 10% down and balance at end of tour. Contact Simon at capebretontaxitours.com.

Arriving at Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

Here's a few more pictures from today. Louisbourg Bay lighthouse Louisbourg Fort Entrance Note the mattress hanging out the window signifying a room is available Handcartgoat sheep Fence building King's Bastion Alexander Graham Bell Hydrofoil seal at departure Seal Island Bridge Local Ferry

We've had a pleasant visit to Sydney, Nova Scotia. We took a 4 person taxi tour to the Louisburg lighthouse and fort and then a drive out to the Alexander Gram Bell museum in Baddeck along with a lobster roll lunch. Probably our only regret was that the 1 hour at the fort was too short. We're just departing on a very warm Friday afternoon..

We saw him in two different occasions for one night only.

Since today has been a day of observations for me, I'll make a few more: 1. Actual drinks were passed out at the Captain's toast and not drink coupons. And this was the first time the Captain didn't lead a toast; he simply gave a speech and introduced his senior officers. 2. I've seen the Captain in the Lido getting food. This is the first time since the resumption of cruising that I've observed this. 3. Mask compliance indoors seems to pretty high. 4. For those persons in outside staterooms located in the forward part of the ship, they must be quite annoyed by the foghorn going off every few minutes.

We're only 1900 passengers out of a capacity of 2600 while the Zaandam's capacity is around 1900. That might explain it as they probably want to deploy the NS where it can be packed. But I'm only speculating. BTW, I would not hesitate to sail on the Zaandam. We sailed to Antarctica on it in early 2016. It was a wonderful cruise.

All day it's been foggy. It's been relaxing sitting in the Dutch Cafe watching the fog go by.

Here's a few observations from today. 1. The ship is sailing at about 1,900 passengers out of a capacity for 2,600. 2. There is an incredible number of passengers having trouble with the Navigator APP. The line at the front desk has been constantly at 15 to 20 people with many of those with APP issues. There are even roving HAL ship personnel trying to assist those in line with problems. While we haven't had issues, the lines and verbal expressions of frustration are quite apparent. Any HAL IT executive worth his pay grade would be wise to visit a ship or two on embarkation day and the days following to observe and pursue solutions for a better customer experience. There's also a need for those who chose to not bring technology.

This morning we woke up to fog. There was an excellent M&G this morning where I met a few more travelers. There have been frequent reminders about the mandatory mask policy by the Captain and Cruise Director and we're looking forward to 91°f tomorrow. Our inside stateroom is wonderful: quiet and smooth.

Just departing at 7:34pm. After finishing the loading, the longshoremen had a group hug. The adventure truly is beginning. . .

I missed two more groups of pallets. If we make 7pm we'll be lucky.

As of 5:40pm with 45 pallets to be loaded, there's no way we're departing at 6pm.

After a pleasant morning visiting the Faneuil Hall, we retrieved our luggage and used Uber to reach the cruise port. The check in line was at least 1/4 mile long but fortunately it was in the shade. We waited in line for one hour and 9 minutes before we entered the building where everyone had to pass through the security scanners. After that they separated the sheep from the goats (sheep were those who used Verifly to upload all their documents goats were those who didn't). As a sheep we then were directed to a 4-5 star Mariner line which quickly led to our official check in using a scanner and comparison to our passport. With a quick stop at the embarkation photo area, we were free to board the ship. This was absolutely the worst embarkation we have ever had. Once onboard, we found our room after 1 hour and 49 minutes from when we joined the line, stripped off our valuables for the safe, watched the safety video, and headed out for a 4-5 star reception. It was scheduled for 2-3, but we couldn't get there until 2:50. There wasn't much happening so we left for a light lunch in the Lido where we watched airplane activity at Logan International while eating and chilling out. We then checked in for our muster drill before returning to the stateroom to find our luggage on board. Finally just before 5 the Captain came on the PA with his safety drill info followed by an announcement that our departure delay to 6pm because of heavy re-provisioning, the Coast Guard inspection and mandatory safety drill for crew. We have a 7pm dinner reservation in the Tamarind which is our favorite Hal Specialty restaurant. The Origin story is being presented on the main stage, but we'll skip it as we've seen it multiple times. And yes there is a mandatory mask wearing policy when in interior locations of the ship except when actively eating or drinking. Faneuil Hall front facing interior interior medical emergency while in line 1/4 mike line getting on board aft view airport view provisions to load

After we originally booked it, I cancelled that booking and booked an inside cabin saving over $8k.

Tonight we treated ourselves to a musical theater performance of "A Beautiful Noise" featuring the music of Neil Diamond. 6 more performances here and it opens on Broadway in November. Run don't walk to see this if you have any interest in Neil Diamond's music. Over 30 songs in it! We've seen him in concert, and this rivals those concerts.

I won't know for a few days, but when I do I'll post about it.