StLouisCruisers

Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit!🐇 Good morning from a drizzly section of the Amazon, as we head into Manaus 4 hours later than originally scheduled. I explained yesterday the reasons for the changes in our itinerary and will post that information from yesterday's Daily for Rich in case he didn't see it. Update for Rich @richwmn. The Volendam has some changes to the itinerary due to low water levels going to Manaus. The harbor master won't allow our ship to travel in some areas near Manaus at night so instead of arriving tomorrow at 8 am we will get there at noon tomorrow, Dec. 1. We will be there all day Dec. 2 with tenders starting up again 5 am to 8 pm. Then we will be allowed to leave Manaus on Dec. 3 at 8 am. So two nights there and a day and a half for touring/sightseeing. Because of our extended time there we arrive in Boca Da Valeria Dec. 4 at 7 am and depart at 3 pm. Dec. 5 is at sea and Dec. 6 is Amazon River cruising. Icoaraci (Belem) will now be Dec. 7 from 8 am to 6 pm, then we will speed to Barbados arriving as previously scheduled at 8 am on Dec. 10. Hope this helps. Thanks for posting this Daily every day for us Rich, and thanks Roy for taking care of the lists of Cares and Celebrations. Prayers for everyone listed and hoping things improve soon. Cheers and a toast to all celebrating. Ulvik, Norway was our port of the day back on April 17, 2021. Here is a link to that day's post. I don't think we've been there before. DH says we could have passed it on our Best.Norway.Cruise ever because there was one spot that had a boat parade going on but I can't recall the name of the town. I probably listed it in my Shutterfly photo book for that cruise, but Shutterfly is not allowing me to download that book to let me see. I hope anyone with photos can post them for us today. Have a great day!

The classical duo is in Explorer’s Lounge around 5:30, 6:30 and 8 pm. We always walk another way to the dining room so hadn’t run across them before. I can ask. We were booked on that one and cancelled due to DH’s wishes. Wish we could have gone. If I find the answer I will post here.

Today we used both tenders and local boats. We had two platforms open. And we were situated very close to the dock and that made it a short ride. We saw several girls scouts helping people up the steep ramp.

Some photos from today’s Boi Bumba Festival show.

Hello all! I've just caught up with the Daily. My prayers go to Terry @smitty34877and Tana for being under the weather. I hope the hospice nurse can do something to help Tana and hopefully the doctor will get you in quickly to figure out what to do about your hip problem Terry. @Ichiban NekkoCat, so sorry to hear about your DH's pneumonia right at the beginning of your wonderful cruise. Thank goodness for your trip insurance and I'm glad it worked out so well getting him to a good Miami hospital. That's not good news about not having any rooms though. I hope he gets one soon so you both can get some rest. Susan @durangoscotswe (and Dixie @summer slopetoo) made it to the Boi Bumba show. Thankfully it had AC but it was by no means cold in there. There were also big fans in the back of the room pushing air about. We did not get there early enough apparently because the room was 80% full when we arrived. People must have been there way earlier than told to. So at the back of the room they had constructed a cat walk where we had to stand but could see over the crowd. They really need bleacher type seating to see over everyone. We had started out in a row of seats, but the man behind us was coughing so we just stood in the back on that cat walk. The music was quite loud so I had some ear plugs to tone it down a bit. I saw a couple in the back row who were not enjoying the loud music at all. The woman held her ears and watched and the man held his ears and kept his head down near his lap most of the show. I bet they are at shore excursion trying to get a refund right now! Anyway, the dancing and costumes, the floats and the flashy sets were very exciting and I'm glad we got a chance to see it all. We walked back to the tender instead of waiting for a shuttle bus. They're hot. We made the first tender back to the ship and went for a cold drink. On the way to the show we saw some pink dolphins playing in the river near all the wakes of boats but they were too quick for me to get a photo of them. I have some photos on my phone I might be able to post. I also took a few short videos which worked out better really because it was hard to get a clear shot with my phone or camera. They danced so energetically it was a blur a lot of the time. Update for Rich @richwmn. The Volendam has some changes to the itinerary due to low water levels going to Manaus. The harbor master won't allow our ship to travel in some areas near Manaus at night so instead of arriving tomorrow at 8 am we will get there at noon tomorrow, Dec. 1. We will be there all day Dec. 2 with tenders starting up again 5 am to 8 pm. Then we will be allowed to leave Manaus on Dec. 3 at 8 am. So two nights there and a day and a half for touring/sightseeing. Because of our extended time there we arrive in Boca Da Valeria Dec. 4 at 7 am and depart at 3 pm. Dec. 5 is at sea and Dec. 6 is Amazon River cruising. Icoaraci (Belem) will now be Dec. 7 from 8 am to 6 pm, then we will speed to Barbados arriving as previously scheduled at 8 am on Dec. 10. Hope this helps. This itinerary has really changed a lot since we originally booked it!

Same from me. No one seems to care about germ spreading anymore. Thanks for thinking of others.

Photos of the Gingerbread Village on Volendam. in addition, last night Naki Ataman had his second performance and I was there to see the 9:30 show. I enjoyed his playing and the drummer Jordan from the ship’s orchestra was fun to watch as well.

Good morning friends! We're just sitting in our cabin watching the parade of tenders and three deck-high boats moving folks back and forth. We will eat lunch early then go to pick up priority tender tickets to head to the tenders and our meeting point at the dock. We have an afternoon excursion to the Boi Bumpa Festival in Parintins, Brazil. @summer slopeDixie and her DH are attending that show too. We're sure hoping the Parintins Convention Center has some AC! Speaking of Dixie, last night when we walked into the Ocean Bar for our pre-dinner drink and music there was Dixie and her DH waiting for us to arrive. Again, we had some nice chats and enjoyed the company. 🥂 Today's port of call is Fortaleza, Brazil, which is a new one here. That port is not on our itinerary, and is one we've never been to before. Sorry there are no links to a previous post for this port so if you've been to Fortaleza and have any photos, feel free to post them today.🙂 On our way to our cabin last night we saw some crew members setting up the gingerbread village on deck 3 in the open atrium area. We took a couple photos this morning and I can show you a few of their fantastic creations in a second post (photos on my phone and not our baby laptop). I have not seen a Christmas tree on the ship yet, but I think work will begin soon on that front.🎄 Have a great day everyone! Prayers for all in need and especially anyone in the path of or already affected by the huge storms moving across the south. Cheers to the rest of you!

I don’t have any photos of the ship but did visit my friend in a Vista suite room and their TV was a wall mounted larger TV on the wall opposite the bed. Public areas have brand new carpet. The chairs in the MDR look brand new. Carpet in our oceanview room looks new. Bathroom mirror is very nice. It has lights in the mirror so well lit. Instead of a tub we have a full shower with glass doors. Too hot for me to walk the promenade in the Amazon bit I plan on doing it before we get off.

@MISTER 67I'm glad to hear you are back on the golf course. All is right with the world once again! Well looks like I don't need to try to find photos of La Rochelle anymore. Thanks to Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser , Graham @grapau27 and Terry @smitty34877. That was another great cruise on the Prinsendam. We did tender over to Alter do Chao and it was another day struggling with docks not at the right height and extreme heat. I wish we could send a little up north to melt some of that snow some of you are having. There was a woman sitting next to us who looked to be about 90 with a walker. I swear that even with the two step box they put into place there was at least a 2 foot step up to the dock. People had to haul this older lady up onto the dock. Then at the end of the wooden ramp was sand that was very difficult to walk through even for us. I think there were a lot of people unable to navigate the conditions here. We ended up walking down a long street to a square, went into the church and saw a stray dog lying in the aisle. He scratched himself for a while and got up and walked out the open doors. I guess he comes inside to cool off for a bit. Then we headed back to the tenders and sweated the whole way back to the ship. Came back and had to shower and dry out our clothes we wear to walk in the heat. No getting all spiffy in this climate! I was dreaming of Norway and Antarctica as we slowwwly tendered back to the ship. Hot climates aren't my favorite!

Good morning friends! We arrived today in Alter do Chao to rain but it seems to be dry out there right now. If we tender over to shore we won't be staying long. I noticed today is La Rochelle, France and that was a port on our European rivers cruise in Sept. 2018. However trying to get those photos on DH's tiny travel laptop is a real chore. Shutterfly doesn't want to load them. I can see some photos on my phone but can't get a great look at the tiny thumbnail photos, so quite a chore. I see Graham's photos and it does bring some memories to mind. Anyway, this is a first time post for La Rochelle so no link required today to Rich's post. Maybe we will go to shore now, and check back in later. If I can get any photos posted I'll do it then. Meanwhile, prayers for all in need and cheers for all celebrating. 🥂 Hope your day is a good one!❤️

Congrats on your niece’s engagement! To get the blue bubble as we call it, type @ and the person’s log in name exactly as they show it. Names should pop up directly below it and you can then click on the appropriate name. Having an avatar picture helps choose the correct one immensely.

My dinner reservations and shore excursions showed up on the itinerary section on my Nav. App. They stuck around too and didn’t come and go like some have said.

We’re on Volendam right now. Service is wonderful (though it did take 3 tries to find the right waiter in MDR) and the ship is being maintained well. Since we’re in the Amazon we didn’t fuss about our ice cold stateroom because it’s better than a hot stuffy room. We just got an extra blanket or two. You’ll have a great time!

Hello all, Thank you @summer slopeDixie for the photos taken today in Santarem. That heat was really draining and we napped for quite a while after lunch. When we were waiting for a tender to return to the ship one of those large local tenders arrived at the dock and no one could get off due to the height difference of the dock and their floor level. What a mess that was! We never did see anyone get off. I'm sure it was a tour group. Hope to hear on the ship how that all turned out. By the way when we got back to our room after getting off our tender, a male nurse was standing outside the room next to us. Uh, oh! We asked one of our room stewards if he was allowed in that room now and he said no. We're back to wearing our masks walking around the ship. @marshhawkAnnie, I feel sorry for you having to see all those ads for the runoff. We checked Informed Delivery and our absentee ballots arrived at our home a few days ago. Not much help to us as they would have had to arrive by Nov. 17 in order for us to fill them out. @JazzyVVanessa, my sympathy on the passing of your BFF's DF last night. I'm sure you're both glad you got back to spend his final days with him. I hope the planning wasn't as bad you had thought it would be. @ottahand7Nancy, sorry to hear of all the problems with your DB's pic line. I hope things start to improve at a faster rate for him. He's certainly had a lot of problems with this. Unfortunately, I've run out of time and get myself out of the door. Keeping busy here. Thanks for all the nice comments about twin's anniversary and the photo of Dixie and I. We had fun chatting and the guys did too.

Sandi and Dixie in Ocean Bar. 🥂

Good morning friends! It's 9 am here in Brazil but we are at our port of Santarem 3 hours early since they made good time last night. When we tender to shore we will take a port shuttle to Fisherman Square and walk around the city. From yesterday, I want to repeat a message or two that were lost somehow. The Volendam has new TVs now and I was able to find the officers on it. The CD is Ryan Baird, but his bio was missing from the list. He mentioned once this week that he lived in Ukraine and when he boarded this ship he met a Ukrainian crew member. Comparing cities they found that they actually lived in the same area, then street, then apartment building. Small world isn't it? I also wanted to send my regards to Vanessa as she and her BFF make the difficult decision about BFF's DF. Never easy. Last evening we spent some time with Dixie @summer slopeand her DH before Dennis and I went to dinner. We had some great discussions and hope to be able to do that again very soon. I have a photo which is on my phone so will post it next. Prayers for all on our Care list and cheers 🥂to all on the Celebration list. Port for today is Port Louis, Mauritius which was our port on Dec. 14, 2021. I haven't been there before. Here is the link to Rich's post from that date. Have a wonderful day! Happy anniversary wishes to my twin and her DH. 53 years just like my hubby and I. They married 13 weeks after we did.

Lucky for you I surreptitiously took a photo from the front row in the World Stage this morning of Ryan and Naki Ataman. I don’t know Ryan’s last name and HAL doesn’t advertise the staff’s full names much like Princess does. Taken from my IPhone and no editing done to the photo so excuse my photography.

Seeing all the nasty discussion in the other thread about water being turned off on Koningsdam in the wee hours of the night and certain people up in arms about it, I've decided I'll post my update here instead! We have a notice at our door that states they will conduct a potable water shutdown in our section for three hours between 1 pm and 4 pm today. That's not the middle of the night when most of us are asleep, so I can just see the uproar this would cause for some people, but we are adjusting just fine to the news. Shower beforehand. Use your HIA and order water or wine or cocktails! We will live through it - somehow...😁

Lunch was not available in the MDR on Nov. 19 on Volendam. Due to Coast Guard inspections and other technicalities due to the ship coming into the U.S. for the first time in several years, the ship had their hands full that day. We all embarked a little later than normal too.

Have a wonderful cruise, @MISTER 67!

The “bustling” port of Macapa, Brazil.

Good morning friends! It's warm and sticky outside but I stepped outside after breakfast and snapped a couple of photos of Macapa. Not much to say about it, that's for sure! It's definitely a scheduled service call. As I mentioned in yesterday's Daily just before Rich posted today's Daily, there was an announcement that the Coffee Chat with CD Ryan had a change in the guest. The doctor would not be the one chatting it up with us (hoping nothing terrible is happening down the hall in the Medical Center), and instead the guest would be pianist Naki Ataman. So I ran down there and sat in the front row. Near the end I mentioned I had a friend from Abilene who had met him while they were cruising and highly recommended going to his performances. I gave first names of Lenda and Steve saying hi. And by the way, what was your connection to Abilene. He laughed and said yes it's surprising how many people he's met over his many years from Abilene. He then told everyone he had been an exchange student in Big Springs. Everyone enjoyed that information, since he hadn't mentioned it earlier. He's a very nice person and I'm sure we will enjoy the second show, which he said is even harder to perform than the first one. Limassol, Cyprus was our port of the day on May 25, 2021. Here is the link to that date's post. I haven't been to Limassol before so thanks everyone who posted photos. Lenda has been there before so hopefully she can post hers again.

Talking about roof leaks reminds me. DD and DSIL saw a drip in their garage ceiling onto DSIL's new truck. Went upstairs and found their garden tub above it must be the culprit. A plumber came, cut out a hole in the ceiling, then a hole in the panel beside the tub, etc. If you don't use the tub the glue the builder used on the piping cracks and water leaks eventually happen. Now they have to repair the pipes, replace the insulation, clean up the mold inside the drywall, and repair the stained ceiling plus the painting involved. Water is the enemy of our homes they say. Well Ryan the cruise director just announced a change in guests for the coffee chat this morning. Instead of the doctor he will have Naki Ataman so I have to run now. Want to hear him answer questions and hopefully give him Lenda's message. (I'm a little shy). Not good to hear the doctor had to cancel last minute though. Hope it's nothing serious!!

Bon voyage!!