St Pete Cruiser

Yes, the Oosterdam was changed to Miami last year when it returned from Europe and was on its way to South America. I'm guessing Ft Lauderdale was overbooked with ships for the Zaandam to be moved to Miami.

I see a pattern developing here! Do you pick your August cruise for the itinerary or the ship? Have you reached PC level yet? Thanks for sharing with us.

Zuiderdam schedule for after its world cruise is missing, except for Voyage of the Vikings.

The 28 day Arctic Circle Crossing on June 29 caught my attention. Maybe they rushed it to the schedule, but there are 4 ports/places where it shows tender stops in Greenland without naming a port. I believe this would be a first for Holland America to have new stops in Greenland. Nieuw Statendam is the ship; maybe they should have scheduled a smaller ship for this? Yes, sadly, I don't see Gerainger or Flam. Amsterdam and Copenhagen seem to be nixed in favor of Dover/Rotterdam as departure ports.

,Good morning from St Petersburg where it is still mid summer, i.e., hot and humid with a high percentage of rain. The usual thunderstorms have been fewer so far and they are the only natural cooling effect we get this time of year. Willemstad, Curacao, is a favorite Caribbean port of mine. There have been plenty of great pics already, so I'll just add my first experience: As Sophia Petrello (Golden Girls) would have said: Picture it. 1992. A young man from Florida wanted to try a cruise to a more distant island than he could get to in 7 days from a Florida port. He scans the Sunday newspaper for a deal, yes newspaper!, and finds one. A 7 day cruise with a flight from Tampa to Montego Bay, Jamaica, where he embarked the SS Oceanbreeze, of the Dauphin Cruise Line. An inside room for $699 with air included! The itinerary included Willemstad. The good ship Oceanbreeze, all 23,000 tons of her, entered the channel and sailed under the high bridge at Curacao into the inner harbour where she turned and then sailed back under the bridge and docked just short of the Queen Emma swinging bridge. The Oceanbreeze had open decks and deck chairs. When I moved on to Holland America 10 years later, I found those deck chairs that I loved. Our Pinnacle class ships are so superior in so many ways to that little Oceanbreeze, but with the exception of those wooden deck chairs. I intend to cherish those deck chairs on the R, Vista and Signature class ships when i can. Enjoy your Thursday wherever you may be.

We are pleased to see a version of the Lincoln Center return. How did it sound in the World Stage?

Your alternative dinner, and maybe you clarified earlier, was what would be one of the Rotterdam's last cruises with Holland America Line. Were you aboard?

Hopefully the sun will appear in Akureyri today as it is a beautiful area. The sail away is very enjoyable with sunshine. Look for the hearts on the red lights in Akureyri. We would like to trade you some of our heat for your cool!

Good to hear this. We understand Presty, from the Zuiderdam World Cruise, is one of the MDR mangers. Also Rudi Solomin was recently onboard. The Stat has great itineraries as it doesn't repeat very often, making it ideal for longer back to back cruising. We know at least one man who has been onboard since Ft Lauderdale.

Is the Zaandam's cruise director doing coffee chats with various members of the staff on sea days? We look forward to those on longer cruises which yours certainly is. On our last cruise, we got to hear from the deck officers, engine room officers, chefs and food and beverage as well as many of the entertainment staff.

Phoenix Riesen seems to take very good care of their ships. I hope our Prinsendam is still doing well. She is 35 now.

I much prefer the 3, 4 & 5 star reception in the Crow's Nest. The Pinnacle class uses the darker and no view Billboard lounge. Please keep us posted as your wifi allows. You have a great summer escape itinerary.

The bigger ships do get the dock, but one would think the Zuiderdam with an overnight should be an exception. I did the V of the V on the Maasdam in 2009 and we rarely had another ship in port with us. Is the ship full?

The fresh fish entree's impress me. I remember Firmin, hotel manager, buying fresh Norwegian salmon and Atlantic Cod on the Prinsendam and it was very special. Hope they are still able to that.

Monday, Monday. Not as bad as when I worked for every dollar. Hope your day is good! The ships are full again and the cruise business is strong. Unfortunately, the fares are higher as well. I keep scanning for an upcoming itinerary with a good price, but my cruise calendar is bare.

I was not aware that Princess had any new builds coming. The Holland America staff always say LNG is too limited in locations they cruise to.

Good morning everyone. Our friends aboard Nieuw Statendam, which I prefer to call the Stat, report enjoying Bernard Walz, who was recently the concert pianist in the World Stage. Also Rudy Solumin was on and did several cooking demonstrations as well. Bernie is a very talented pianist from Sydney, Australia. He has performed on Holland America for years as well as Crystal and Cunard. Any of our ancient Mariners besides myself remember him? Enjoy your Saturday!

You are correct. Thanks. Two seasons after this year.

We were advised onboard the Noordam back in April that Norway will restrict cruise ships from entering their "best" Unisco fjords beginning in 2025, unless they are zero emissions powered. Read electric as LNG still have emissions. Hurtigruten has a diesel powered ship that can run on battery as do some Scandinavian ferries. A friend forwarded a pic of the Viking Jupiter in Eidfjord along with the Statendam showing the blue emissions from the Jupiter despite Vikings claim of being a clean hybrid ship. I can understand Norway's reluctance to have their pristine fjords polluted.

One of our favorite cruises! Weren't we lucky?

Happy Saturday everyone. Two Holland America ships in Isafjordur? That seems strange as that is a very small port. Iceland is a favorite summertime cruise destination for many of us. I'm a day late, and a dollar short, but some pics from Akureyri and Gudafoss Falls.

We had 1001. Excellent room choice and no noise from world Stage.

Good morning everyone. I'm posting early today as there is a lot on the schedule today. We live about 3 miles from the Gulf beaches and last night took the beach chairs over to enjoy the sunset. I can't go in the water because of my leg wound, but the water is 85 as was the air. A good breeze kept it comfortable. There were a lot if clouds to make the colors exceptionally beautiful. Enjoy your day however and wherever you can.

I think most of us here always appreciate your pics from the location/port of the day. On our Noordam cruise from Auckland back to Vancouver, or Hawaii for me, we begged the cruise director to reinstate the port location talks, which she did. With your treasure trove of pics, you could probably do a great job of presenting such talks. Barbara Haney had that position for many years on Holland America and did such a great job with it.

Welcome back from your cruise. Maybe I missed it, but did you post your thoughts about your adventures? You picked a good time to be away from southern Ontario with the smoke issues. We lost a friend who was from near London, Ontario, recently who had severely reduced lung capacity, when he had traveled from Florida back to see family and friends. Even though he traveled by car with back up oxygen, the poor air conditions caused by the wildfires were too much for him. He seemed rather well the end of May when he was here at our monthly potluck.