Copper10-8

Alaskan Ulu knives seem to always present a problem and they shouldn't! If one goes by blade length, which HAL does on any other knife, they can easily be used as a weapon to do significant, or even fatal, harm to a human being. If they - HAL - want to sell them in the onboard ships, they should be treated like any other knife with a blade of a certain length, temporary confiscated, and returned to the purchaser upon completion of that cruise. Get rid of the wishy washy stuff!

Any knives that are confiscated are kept in a secure area inside the security officer's office. You will be given a receipt with your name, your stateroom number, the date they - the knives - were temporary confiscated, and a description of your property (the knives). The second half of said receipt will stay attached to the knives. You will receive instructions as to when your property will be returned to you which correlates with your last day onboard. The SOP has been to return confiscated items on disembarkation day morning inside the terminal, outside the gangway where a security guard will "man" a table with all confiscated items. In the past, those items have also been returned on the evening prior to disembarkation day. Guest Services will advise you re: date, time and location

Thank YOU for stepping up to the plate! 🤙 Take care and be safe!!

Did not know 😔 All the best for a speedy recovery, Roy! StLouisCruisers; if you want me to take over until Roy is back up and at it, please just advise!

Her name is Karlijn Verpalen - pronounced Car-line Vur-Paah-lun 😉

That's standard SOP on overnights, and/or at any port other than a disembarkation port, when someone presents themselves at the gangway with luggage in hand wishing to depart. You get stopped and security is dong their job! Believe it or not, guests have disappeared in ports leaving their cabins vacant to do whatever in that particular port, never to be seen again. If you reached an agreement with Guest Relations re: your plan, that info should have been entered into the gangway/Security laptop after GR notified security of your intentions. The guard at the podium would have read the info and would have let you go to do your thing. Internal communications............so many issues can be avoided with good solid comms. Not your fault!

Yes, you can but with approval/coordination of Guest Relations! Please don't forget to let them know of your plans when you board. Just showing up at the gangway at oh dark thirty of the morning of your planned disembark without their knowledge and a skeleton crew at GR (one night audit officer and one GR attendant) will present some "issues" that you can avoid by bringing Guest Relations in the loop! Have a great time in the Med!

http://www.greatcleanjokes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/boyfriend1.jpg

Today is Australia Day, Spouse's Day, and Clashing Clothes Day I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.--Marilyn MonroeMeal Suggestion for today - Slow Cooker Asian Beef Noodle SoupDrink of the Day - Peach Old FashionedWine of the Day - Chateau Ste. Michelle Canoe Ridge Estate Merlot, Horse Heaven Hills, WADestination of the Day - Punta del Este, Uruguay Eurodam Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 08:00 - 15:00 Koningsdam At Sea Destination Ensenada, Baja California Mexico eta 1-30 Nieuw Amsterdam San Juan, Puerto Rico 11:00 - 23:00 Nieuw Statendam At Sea Destination Key West, Florida eta 1-27 Oosterdam Port Stanley, East Falkland Island 08:00 - 17:00 Rotterdam Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 08:00 - 15:00 Volendam At Sea Destination Punta Arenas, Chile Antarctica eta 1-28 Zaandam Huatulco, La Crucecita, Mexico Riviera 08:00 - 14:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Nukualofa, Tongatapu, Tonga eta 1-30Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Auckland, New Zealand 07:00 - 16:00 Westerdam Drydock Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard. Sembawang, Singapore until 02/02/23 Copper for Roy who is feeling a bit under the weather / Roy for Rich

All the best, Roy!! Thinking about you!

Thank you Sir, but first of all, THANK YOU for your service in the USN taking care of us jarheads as a "corpseman" (had to laugh at that one) and subsequently as a FF/PM saving undoubtfully many lives in Miami-Dade, which I know is a very busy Dept. You did well! I had a life altering experience at MCRD as a 19-yr old fresh "off the boat" from Amsterdam, Holland, getting some "personal attention" from Vietnam-experienced D.I.'s 😉 If you have extra time in L.A. in March, let me know please (email is in my sig) Love to meet up! Take care, be safe, and continue to cruise!!

Morning Bob; VMGR-352 was definitely assigned to El Toro when I was there but don't believe they were known as the Raiders then. I was assigned to the 3rd MAW, H&HS, Provost Marshal's Office (PMO) aboard the air station; Please thank your son for his service to his country! Semper Fi!

A good resource as to where the filming took place 😉 https://www.atlasofwonders.com/2022/06/where-was-top-gun-maverick-filmed.html

Please thank him for his service to his country! The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps will always have a friendly rivalry, but Marines truly love Navy Corpsmen!

Just a heads up. Miramar yes, originally a squid air station, has been a Marine Corps - Oorah - air station since June 1996, after MCAS El Toro, my old stomping grounds when in the Corps, closed down

FRI 06 JAN 23 – Day Eight – At Sea (Con't) When we returned to our cabin, to our surprise, there were two “Royal Goedewagen” tegels/tiles laying on our bed. These were the “new” 2021/2022 series with the four corners of the tile displaying the seven-pointed crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York City harbor. Those seven points represent the seven continents as well as oceans. The tile depicts the images of a HAL Pinnacle-class ship, has the names of those three ships: Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam, plus has a “sea monster” below the ship. It was nice to get a couple of these new tiles, especially after receiving a note on the first day of this cruise that stated that “Due to ongoing global supply chain issues, we currently do not have any inventory of the coveted Delft tiles.” For dinner at 7:15 PM we had our very last reservation at one of Koningsdam’s specialty restaurants, that being the Italian-themed Canaletto Restaurant located on the starboard side forward of the Lido Market. We were escorted to a nice window seat by the host Tatenda, all the way from Kenya in Africa. For the “small plates,” we each had a cup of Minestrone soup (farro, borlotti beans, Pecorino cheese and the minestrone). We also shared one order of veal and sage meatballs (glazed cipollini onions and rustic tomato sauce). For the large plates, the child bride and I each had the Friday special which was veal Florentine cannelloni (spinach, pomodoro sauce and Grana Padano) and we shared one order of the braised beef short rib Gnocchi (mascarpone butter-roasted carrots and celery). For dessert, Maria had the Affogato (vanilla gelato, espresso, chocolate shavings and lemon zest), while I had the Gelato sampler (malaga, pistachio and bacio). Molto Bene!! Delizioso!! The main entertainment tonight was scheduled to be the fourth performance of the Step One Dance Company called “Off the Charts”. For this performance, the six dancers were joined by the two pianists from Billboard Onboard. Unfortunately, this performance was cancelled tonight due to the swell and subsequent movement of the ocean. This was done with the safety of the musicians and dancers on the elevated stage in mind. Totally understandable! In its place, they played a movie (didn’t get the title) on the big screen in the Main Stage. We wound up going to BB Kings Blues Club where we listened to a full set by the BB Kings All Star Band. For our last three/four cruises, we have changed our M.O. re: packing our valises. In the old days we used to wait until after the show, so around 10:00 PM to start our packing which frequently took us to 11:00 Pm or later. We now actually do the majority of our packing prior to dinner which, in our opinion, makes things a lot more easy going. Koningsdam will be back in San Diego on early Saturday morning! We’ll see you then for one final time!

Nieuw Statie's captain will be either Capt. Noel O'Driscoll from, you guessed it, Ireland, or Capt. Eric Barhorst from The Netherlands. Not sure about the CD

FRI 06 JAN 23 – Day Eight – At Sea Our last sea day found big K-dam sailing north alongside the coast of, now Baja California, Mexico. There was definitely more “motion in the ocean” since Koningsdam was dealing with a northwest swell however, the “Say high to Ralph” bags never made it to the railings of the elevator lobbies on the various passenger decks. Baja California, “lower California” in English, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California / Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California, is a Mexican state, is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California / El Territorio Norte de Baja California. It has an area of 27,071 square miles and comprises the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula, north of the 28th parallel, plus oceanic Guadalupe Island. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by the Mexican State of Sonora, the U.S. State of Arizona and the Gulf of California (also known as the "Sea of Cortez"), and on the south by Baja California Sur. Its northern limit is the U.S. State of California. After breakfast, 11:00 AM brought the, what’s now known as the Mariner Recognition Event, held in the BB King’s Lounge on Deck 2. After the restart of operations in 2021, the former Mariners reception is now only for, according to the invitation, “top mariners” so, I’m thinking, presidents club members and 5* mariners. There is no longer the Mariners luncheon in the main dining room, at the conclusion of this event. Btw, there still is a Mariners reception on embarkation day for 3, 4 and 5* mariners, held on our cruise between 2:15 and 3:00 PM in the Billboard Lounge, also on Deck 2, but more forward. For the recognition event, wine, champagne, mimosas and O.J. was being served. Captain Robert Jan and Hotel GM Santhosh were present from the crew, as was the coordinator, Jennifer from guest relations, who was the MC. Platinum and gold medallion holders were recognized by name and the captain gave a short welcome speech. Afterwards, there was an opportunity to have your pic taken with the captain and hotel general manager. The entire event from official start to finish took maybe fifteen minutes. We were seated with a nice couple from Montana so, of course we talked about the excellent “Yellowstone” mini-series. Afterwards we hung around and had another nice conversation with poster Sue from Washington State as well as with poster Ann and Pat from beautiful Victoria, BC. Such nice people! Afterwards, we sauntered up to the Crow’s Nest/Explorations Café where we got ourselves a Chai Late and a Café Mocha, still a great deal compared to coffee shops on terra firma, Lunch was inside the Lido Market. Captain Robert Jan had a second public appearance on the same day as he participated in the “Ask the Captain” question and answer session on the World Stage at 2:00 PM. Other activities in the afternoon were the infamous, yet extremely popular Coloring for Adults in The Studio on Deck 2, yes that would be the former digital workshop.

Should still be Nick Hollevoet from Belgium

Lots of add'l ports in the Carib available incl. the B, C's; Bonaire and Curacao

Yes, Ma'am! Silly joke on my part, directed at my old Dutch countryman, Sir PMP

Africa is too far plus not Germain to the situation! 🤓

Hi Ma'am; I believe you only have one day left - tomorrow - in your cruise, but a friendly heads up for your next cruise; Scooter operators - and I know there are a few here reading this blogette- get specific instructions NOT to park their, usually 3-wheeled, mobility transport device in the public corridor outside their seagoing abode, because doing that, you guessed it, presents the same hazard we're discussing here re: used food trays. The options for those individuals are to park their scooter, wait for it....... inside their cabin! or, when done using same for an extended period like, dare I say, during the witching hour, contact their room steward who will be more than happy, sorta, kinda, to beam that device to the legally authorized "scooter parking" on the ship. That area can be across from an elevator or stairwell lobby (providing enough room is available there without impeding elevator/stairwell traffic), and/or any other available temporary storage area; I've seen them parked in the gangway lobby when same is not being actively used (there is lots of other gangway-related "stuff" stored there), and/or any other available area where the device does not pose a hazard, except perhaps on the bridge and/or in the ECR. The individual you describe no doubt knows those rules, but appears to be selfish at a minimum, and/or a "rules don't apply to moi" type of person! On your next cruise when/if you encounter a similar situation, call guest relations and advise them of your situation with your DH and his wheelchair in relation to the self-absorbed/egotistical boor that knowingly is violating the ship's safety rules. Ask them nicely to contact the occupant and remind him/her of the rules re: scooter parking. A second option is to ask your room steward (depending on what time of the day you encounter the scoo-tor in the corridor) to have one of the asst. housekeepers and/or cabin inspectors pay you a personal visit in your stateroom so you can relay your concerns face-to-face to him/her and request action be taken versus the ruffian with the Vespa Hope you enjoyed Rotterdam VII regardless and safe travels homeward!

Sure; let's hope it's not you and/or yours being hauled away on a wheeled stretcher on the way to the infirmary down that particular corridor

Unacceptable and a major safety issue! Those occupants should have been instructed to call the IRD extension when done feeding and, if this occurred and they all ignored those instructions, should all be on the short list for a "talking to" to cease and desist said activity