St Pete Cruiser

Eurodam's horn didn't sound good first and third toot. Second was ok. Merry Christmas everyone!

Some new ports or old ports that they haven't been stopping at. Bermuda is back on a few TA's as well as Port Said and Alexandria, Egypt, Taormina, Italy, Ajjaccio, Corsica to name a few. Looks like you have to book HIA package to get crew appreciation and early bonus OBC.

Prayers for all our posters who are experiencing sadness at this otherwise joyous time of year. Did everyone get their Seasons greetings from Holland America? I especially liked Gus Antorcha's note ending in Proost! Happy Halidays card celebrating the 150th anniversary. A few more warm days here before a very cold (for us) Christmas weekend. I can't imagine how cold our Canadian and northern friends are experiencing now. Sydney, our location of the day, has long been on my bucket list. We are excited to finally have it scheduled on our Noordam adventure this coming spring. Final payment is Christmas Day! Some warm Caribbean pics from last winter:

Couldn't get the PTZ to stay on today. Frustrating.

Almost nobody has open decks at the stern like this anymore!

Good camera action on Apex so far. With the cloudy skies, it is easier to see the ships today. Hope PTZ doesn't lock up.

Happy Penultimate Saturday before Christmas. I went to Roy's English class refresher. It has been a busy and good week here in the Sunshine City. Several longer bike rides on sunny and warm days. Some pool time as well. Thursday's Coffee Concert finished with the Nutcracker Suite, always a crowd favorite. A storm blew through during the concert as we wondered if it was the kettle drums we heard, or the storm muffled on the roof of the Mahaffey Theater. I'm glad to see the Volendam in Ft Lauderdale and plan to watch sailaway later. Hope Kazu is boarding the Koningsdam in San Diego today. Friends from the east coast of Florida are enticing us to join them on a MSC cruise out of Miami next month. None of us have ever been on MSC. Some of my dear Holland America friends refer to it as Miserable Shipping Company, with horror stories to back it up. How bad could it be? Maybe I should try it? We were so fortunate to have 4 weeks onboard Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam last winter when fares and service were wonderful. If you haven't checked, prices are up and the dam ships are full again.

Now, if only the webcam doesn't freeze or stop working.

Yes, I just connected and was very surprised I missed the NA. The webcam seems to have a new operator as well.

Cam not following the Eurodam.

Pool roof looks closed? It is 76 here in St Petersburg and 80 in Ft Lauderdale. Eurodam looks almost small after Regal Princess, but I do prefer her size. Friends on Regal a couple of weeks ago said it was hard to negotiate some decks as they didn't continue, somewhat like our S class didn't go from dining room to the forward.

Me too! Must be frustrating for the marine crew. My PTZ keeps needing to be refreshed. Last week it cut out just as the NS started to toot.

Apex in position to toot.

I hope to see both leave.

I'm impressed! I missed out on the Maasdam's 21 day cruise in 2019, and it seemed like Holland was never going to try something like this again. President Gus Antorcha did say HAL would return to one of its strengths, i.e, the longer exotic itineraries many of us like. The fare, nearly $200 pp per day inside, is pretty dear for us. Of course, final payment is a long way off. Love Ruth's comment, something to stay healthy for!

Great pics. I am surprised our senior ship of the fleet is doing 22 knots. That is full speed ahead with all 4 engines firing unless I am mistaken. That will ruin the fuel budget. I hope you have enjoyed the Volendam and the Amazon adventure.

Good Monday everyone. Another beautiful day here in St Petersburg. Biked downtown along the waterfront and came across my Christmas present. The super yacht is the Double Down, a 216 foot beauty that is here at our port. She is for sale for $44M. Truth be told, I'd rather be in a Holland America suite or maybe a Seabourn which I've never tried.

Close up now on our ship. Stand by for tooting.

NSDM toot. Should be close behind.

Apex backing out now.

Good Saturday morning everyone. Up early to do our Front Runners walk along the downtown waterfront here in St Petersburg. The weather has been just about perfect with sunshine, 78F highs and 65F lows and humidity under control. I bought a new (to me) bike from a friend who has decided to move to Portugal after living most of his life in Florida. Tonight is Florida Orchestra's Tchaikovsky concert, so should be a full day. Will try to watch N. Statendam sailaway, too. Read with interest that Viking's newest ship suffered damage and a fatality a few days ago in the Drake Passage enroute to Antartica. Oosterdam will be down there later this month. I've only done the cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, which was great. Enjoy your day wherever your life takes you today. Warm wishes especially for our northern friends.

I started cruising with some of the older ships that had been sold off by the larger lines, so in 1991 we tried Princess and were wowed by a new ship with a balcony! After a couple more Princess cruises, went with Holland America because of a great itinerary. The ship, the old Noordam, was frankly, not as attractive as the newer Princess, but after 14 days we were won over by the crew and the way that Holland delivered their product. None of the lines have been exempt from cutbacks, except maybe the most premium/expensive. I hope you will like Holland America if you choose to try one, especially a longer voyage.

Sounds like a great cruise for an Englishman in November. Not being very familiar with the P&O fleet, your ship looks just like a Princess ship of that era. Being part of Carnival, I understand how that works. Did you find out the breakdown in where the guests onboard were from?

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I was on the Nieuw Statendam back in June when I became quite ill. The medical staff did a blood test, a urine test and an X-ray and called the hospital in Kiel, Germany, where I was sent with a perforated appendix. Be thankful for your husbands care and don't give up! I sure am!

We stopped at Fortaleza in Feb 2017 on the Veendam. Read Roy's post and his pics. Yes, it did have the new cruise port terminal in 2017 and was a good stop for us.