Copper10-8

Class of 2010, right? 😉

Cool Beans, thanks! There is an identical door on the other side. So, as stated, no "crew only area" signs in place, meaning have at it! 😉 Emergency exit is just that however, there are no alarms on that door that will activate when it's opened to the outside

The aft / small deck outside your cabin (7086) is not an inclusive crew only deck! It if is (if they changed it), there will be signs on the interior corridor doors (one on each side) of your deck to access it, plus similar signs on the deck above, and the one below, yours, identifying it as such! Having said that, you won't find a lot of pax out there - there is really not much to accomplish out there unless you' want to watch the moon light - so you are more than welcome to go out there and enjoy the ship's wake. There is a set of stairs on that aft deck that go up one deck to Lido deck, and let out aft of the Sea View pool (you can just see it as a rectangle on the attached Volendam ship's diagram and in the pic (in the back, aft of the two colorful pool chairs with the white railing with wooden bannister around it). Unless, the crew places a chain across the opening of those sets of stairs with a sign dangling from it that states "Crew Only" "Do not pass Go and do not collect $200 U.S." (just kidding on the last part), you can use it to go down to your deck and cabin and vice versa. Remember, those stairs only go down as far as Deck 6 because the upper dining room is below that, and they prefer you not to come rappelling down on those dining room windows! Just some trivia for the next quiz 😉

You are correct! The part played by two Canadian engineer companies, the 20th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, and the 23rd Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, in the evacuation of the British 1st Airborne from Arnhem on the night of D+8 – is a story that has thus far been buried in official reports and privately published memoirs. After the failure of Operation Market Garden (A Bridge Too Far) from 17 to 27 September 1944, Canadian and Allied forces defeated the Germans blocking the Scheldt Estuary in northwestern Belgium and the Dutch southwestern province of Zeeland in October and November 1944. This allowed the liberation of southern parts of the Netherlands and gave allied ships access to the vital port of Antwerp, in neighboring Belgium. After pushing into Germany in early 1945 (after the Battle of the Bulge), Canadian and allied forces liberated larger parts of the western and northwestern parts of The Netherlands in April and May 1945 until the German surrender. This included the City of Amsterdam whose inhabitants, including my mum and dad and two older sisters, had to endure the 1944-1945 "hunger winter". My mum and dad always told me of the extremely happy times when the Canadian 1st Army rolled into the City of Amsterdam liberating its delirious with joy inhabitants after five years of German occupation! They also told me of the Canadian military band which played free concerts every Sunday after the end of the war on the Surinameplein (Suriname Square) just around the corner of the Antillenstraat (Antilles Street) where I was born and lived until age 18. The Dutch love the Canadians, as they do the Yanks and Tommies for liberating their country!! With apologies to Hank for the thread drift!

The high pitched sound emitting from the slot machines can be easily picked up by the Russian-designed Romeo-class subs of the "Choson-inmingun Haegun" / the Korean's People Army Naval Force (KPANF) known to loiter on patrol in that part of the Sea of Japan. The subs can home in on those subsonic sounds, especially when someone would win a jackpot and all the bells and whistles go haywire! Hence, the shut down of the casino by its manager until Westie made her way out of that patrol area and could rely on the AAVP-7A1 Amtracs of the USMC for protection and perseverance! 🤓

Classic movie shot in my former homeland with lots of star actors in it! Corporal Hancock: Sir! (handing his general a cup of British tea) Major General Roy Urquhart; Hancock, I've got lunatics laughing at me from the woods. My original plan has been scuppered now that the jeeps haven't arrived. My communications are completely broken down. Do you really believe any of that can be helped by a cup of tea? Corporal Hancock: Couldn't hurt, Sir .

Safe flight home, Mom! Enjoyed your commentary and especially, your pics! Thanks for the Japanese lighthouse ones!

Cool; we are doing the same thing! Should be a good time! 🤙

It's been a great series / two games so far! You guys have an awful lot of firepower! May the best team win!

Awesome pics, thanks!

Why do you want to see the L.A. Kings beat the Oilers in the first round? 😉

The Japanese are some of the friendliest and warmest (not body temp 😉) folks in Asia. When working the Amsterdam on her Grand Asia/Pacific voyage, one of the stops was Nagasaki. We had a Japanese gent positioned outside our gangway pretty much during the entire stay as extra (outside) security. When it became time for departure and just about time to take up the gangway, I went down one last time and gave him a metallic HAL pin as a token of our appreciation for helping us out all day long. My Japanese is pretty much limited to "konichiwa" and "arigatou gozaimasu". So I told him the latter and stuck out my hand to shake his. The next thing you know, he clasped my hand in the Dap handshake and gave me an embrace, just for thanking him and giving him a pin. Great people!

Thank you for your service as a first responder!

Means he/she did not make it back to the ship by all aboard time, so the gangway computer shows him/her AWOL, followed by one or more P/A announcements and a cabin check by a front office supervisor and security rep. to retrieve his/her passport which will be handed over to the HAL port agent prior to Westie's departure. So, yes, he/she will be left behind in the hands of the HAL port agent for onward transportation, at his/her own cost, to reunite with the ship at your next port of call. A not so unusual event, unfortunately! It pays to keep attention to that All Aboard sign at the gangway or your way out. A lot of folks will take a quick pic of that sign

The plated Rijsttafel (Rice Table in Dutch) is not bad, although not as good as the original, Usually comes with, yep, you guessed it, rice, beef sumatra, peanut sauce, krupuk (shrimp crackers), etc. What's unfortunately missing on the plated version are the skewered Sate Ayam (chicken satey) that's "enak sekali" (really good). Hope you had a chance to try it out

We'll be doing one next Wed on Nieuw A (San Diego - Vancouver, BC, one stop in Victoria, BC) and will tell you all about it 😉

"Crash call" because the cart with medical supplies the first responders will be running with is known as the "crash cart". The call over the ship's P/A system to alert them as far location on the ship used to be "Bright Star" but was changed to "Medical Response" after Princess took over running HAL's medical dept.

Are we talking about these bad boys found inside the Lido on K-dam and her two sisters? Nice warm water inside 😉 They - the machines - came out with K-dam when she joined the fleet in May 2016. Are we saying they now made to the other eight dam ships?

Fair 'nough! You prob knew this already, but on the Vistas the Gallery Bar took the place of the former Northern Lights night club which itself had a much smaller bar aft of the dance floor. Hence the current location of the GB

So, why don't you go find out for yourselves at the GB, instead of relying on the "rumor mill?"

Thanks for that! Found it 🙂 Shimizu Ko outer breakwater - south end lighthouse Date unknown. Active; 52 foot round cylindrical tower with lantern and gallery. Entire lighthouse is red. Located at the south end of the detached main outer breakwater of Shimizu; the entrance to the harbor is between this light and the Miho Breakwater Light. Accessible only by boat.

Awesome pic Ma'am! Where was this taken in Japan if you don't mind? Trying to i.d. the nice lighthouse for my collection, arigato!