bcscot

We have stayed at the Times Square Suites in the past. They are very good & are in a good location, with parking & good facilities. They are on a busy street so it is noisy with the window open on the street side, but I think all the downtown places would be like that. Good choice!:)

Graham.

The Atlantic crossing scenes in the 1981 TV series of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel, 'Brideshead Revisited', were filmed onboard the QE2, mid-atlantic, during a storm. Only the outdoor shots however, the inside filming being done on sets & in period hotels.

I am not sure but I do not think it is anything new. I think other companies do it too. They do not bill your card, they only put a hold on it. You have the option of giving them a cash deposit. I think that hotels may do the same.

Graham.

Well done Conte. That was an excellent review with wonderful pictures. Thank you. That binnacle looks amazing!

Inspite of the fact that I used to work in Edinburgh & have visited the Britannia, I did not know that the port of Leith was accessed by a lock. Very interesting.

I look forward to reading about the rest of your cruise, but in your own good time.

Graham.

Yes Conte. You seem to be full of 'Eastern Promise'. Don't tease the lady!!!:D

I was enjoying reading the thread about the 'Funchal' farther down the page. She is another old classic but I am not sure that I would want to cruise on her! I watched her dock infront of Prinsendam in Lisbon this year. She reminded me of the Ocean Islander. It was interesting to see how helpless & cumbersome the old ships are during docking, requiring to be pushed & pulled around by tugs, as opposed to the new ships with their side thrusters & azipods, turning on a sixpence.

Funchal is one of the few cruise ships that sometimes cruises from Scotland, sometimes sailing from Greenock(!). Fred Olsen Lines' Black Prince is another old classic that also sometimes sails from Greenock. Their new 'Boudicca' (another old RVL ship), will be sailing from Leith, beside Edinburgh, next year. That would be nice. Leith is where the Royal Yacht Britannia is moored (Conte!!!).

Graham.

Donald, I see you've left the Celebrity fleet and been rechristened Kapricorn. Have you undegone a total refurbishment? I hope you haven't changed your classic lines!

Conte

................!!!:D !!!

Graham.

Well, I have just finished a wonderful meal of mature French Camembert cheese, French olive tapenade & French bread. Oh yum. The French certainly know a thing or two when it comes to food. Mmmh, light years ahead of beefburgers & French fries, French fries & poutine or French toast, North American style; in my humble opinion of course!

Donald: In Scotland, we celebrate your birthday every year, in great style!

Graham.

Donald: Your new name is just fine, but I am a little slow on the uptake when it comes to new names, so it takes me a while to get used to someone changing their name on me! I suppose we now have an idea when your birthday is!:)

Graham.

Ruby: I just happened to browse back to the first couple of pages of this thread (its fun to do that) & I read Mrs Muir's post saying she was going on a HAL cruise this month. At the bottom of her post, she has a thing like Kapricorn has, saying what her next cruise will be! Elementary my dear Admiral Ma'am!

Graham.

Welcome back Donald. I hope you are able to chew up your turkey with no problems.

Kapricorn? Hmmm. That will take a bit of getting used to.

Graham.

We are posting either in tandem or in stereo again Ruby!

This is the Canadian 'Thanksgiving' long weekend so Sir Donald D'Maniac may be away visiting family as seems to be the tradition around here. We Brits have no such tradition except for a church 'harvest thanksgiving' service after harvest.

Graham.

Since some others have joined this wonderful conversation, I would like to add my brief message. I, too am ship daft, and it gets worse every day. Thanks to Cruise Travel magazine, which arrived this week, I fell in love with Saga Rose, and have been devouring any information about her. So I'm sad -- but not surprised -- to hear that she will be retired in 2010. I say "retired" because I cannot bear the thought of classic ships being beached and cut apart. My husband and I have a HAL cruise planned for October of this year, and it will financially irresponsible of us to book a cruise on Saga Rose, but when it comes to ships, reason flies, doesn't it?

 

Thank you for letting me eavesdrop on your memories. I've never sailed on a classic ship (unless you count the original Love Boat, the Pacific Princess), but my husband and I were married aboard the moored Queen Mary in Long Beach in 1978. My sister, also ship daft, recently married in the same wedding chapel on the Queen Mary. If we can't sail aboard the Saga Rose in time, or the Saga Ruby, we'll save our pennies for the Victoria. If the designers have listened to us at all, they'll make sure that Victoria is stately and traditional, and that there won't be a rock wall or bungee jump in sight.

 

Here's to the ships of the 1930s!

 

Mrs Muir

I hope that Mrs Muir & her husband enjoy their cruise on the Ryndam at the end of this month & do not have any 'Smelly-Class' problems. The Ryndam is a lovely ship & should be in good condition having just come out of dry dock in Victoria. I would love to do that Sea of Cortez cruise.

Fancy getting married on the Queen Mary! Wow.

Graham.

Ruby: I consulted the BBC on Viking weapons & they say that the spear, sword & battle axe were the main weapons used, but bows & arrows were used, so I bow once more to your superior knowledge. Vikings used bows & arrows, & the Rocky Mountaineer is a wonderful trip, worth every cent of it's moderate price. Thats what I like about this thread; it is so educational!:D

Graham.

Double snap Ruby!:)

Graham.

Snap Ruby!

I think that it is very hard to get permission for burials at sea now. How about just scattering your ashes on the waves, followed by a good 'wake' on the cruise ship?

I do not think that the Vikings used bows & arrows Ruby.:) Those Vikings do seem to get in everywhere!

Graham.

I just noticed my pal Richard (Rickey 88) snuck in on the board, and commented on the French and the Panama Canal. He and I share mutual feelings about the French (and I have an Anglicized French surname!).

Bonjour Michael. I told you that you were a Norman!:D

I am glad that you enjoyed the 'Rocky Mountaineer' & also Via Rail. It sounds like you had good weather for your trip, which makes all the difference on a scenic trip like that. I used to live near Jasper & now drive regularly through the Fraser Canyon & often go to Kamloops, so I know that country fairly well in all weathers! Maybe I should consider the Rocky Mountaineer. I have also worked over in Prince Rupert & Terrace, have driven over there, but have never been by Via Rail. Michael Palin (of Monty Python fame) did that trip on his Pacific Rim journey.

Do trains have hooters, horns or whistles?:)

Graham.

We also try to avoid LHR but usually do not succeed. We are usually connecting to somewhere else & because of cost or availability, we often end up going to LHR. It is busy, congested, unpleasant & there are frequent delays both in & out. I have not been to Gatwick in years but I remember it being just as bad. Charles de Gaulle is not a bundle of laughs either.

We also tended to think of LHR as being a place more likely to be affected by terrorism, but after the Glasgow Airport attack this year, we have had to adjust our thinking.

My wife would love to go on one of those Nile cruises (especially if Hercule Poirot was onboard), as she has always wanted to go to Egypt. That will have to go on the wish list too.

I have travelled all over Europe by train & a little bit in India, but never in North America. They say the Rocky Mountaineer is nice but it is a very expensive way to just travel through the mountains at speed. Better to take your time & see them. There are so many wonderful classic train journeys around the world though. You could spend a lot of time doing just that.

Graham.

The only surprise I had in the Canal was that, in an 8-hour transit, 5 hours are dedicated to crossing Gatun Lake so there is initial excitement which evolves into a simple lake crossing until reaching the Pacific locks (Graham - lochs?). Ruby

........................!!!:D!!!

Graham.

Ruby: Those 'deep blue lakes' are called 'lochs'.

Fort William is a busy tourist town because of Ben Nevis & the beautiful mountainous countryside. It is even busier in bad weather when people cannot see the mountains & do not want to hike in them.

The Lake District is certainly a 'must see' destination, just go at 3am!

Graham.

Ruby: England's Lake District is without doubt, one of the most beautiful places in the world, combining natural beauty with quaintness. Unfortunately you are about fifty years too late to see it at it's best. England is a beautiful & interesting country, but is grossly overpopulated, being one of the most densely populated countries in the world (along with Bangladesh). The Lake District in the summer makes Ketchikan look like a ghost town. It used to be lovely there in the 'shoulder season' but I think that even the wintertime is busy there now. When we lived near Dumfries in Scotland, we used to go down to the Lake District sometimes, but I used to think that the only time to really enjoy it would be about 3am to 7am in the morning!

The Lake District of Beatrix Potter is long gone I am afraid. The beauty of the Lake District is a more gentle & compact one than the wild grandeur of the Scottish North-West Highlands. Even they are getting far too busy nowadays. Fort William is the worst & would compete with the Lake District for being busy, at the height of the tourist season. This is however still a very beautiful & special area of the world.

Talking about 'new speak', I prefer to 'speak' to people rather than to 'differences', Ruby. However I hope that I have addressed the issue as requested!!!:)

The Alaska season ends at the end of September. The Ryndam is now in dry-dock in Victoria. Most of the ships have moved on but one or two stay for a while & cruise the Pacific Northwest & BC.

Ketchikan, in my opinion is just a tourist trap, heaving with people buying jewellery & souvenirs. What is it with all these jewellery shops in Alaska & the Caribbean?

The Columbia River sounds very interesting Michael. I will look forward to hearing about that one. I also look forward to hearing about how stable the Regatta is on the Atlantic crossing. We too enjoyed Funchal.

Graham.

I thought that I should just complete my account of our recent Ryndam cruise, although all the interesting stories have been told.

After our good fortune with the weather in Juneau, we were due for a downturn. Unlike Donald's ship free experience in Skagway, we arrived to a veritable 'azipod' of cruise ships. When I looked out in the morning, it was still dark & what I saw confused me a little. Two NCL ships were lined up, one behind the other, all lit up in the early morning darkness, making it look like one super long 'sausage dog' of a ship!

The day was cold, wet & windy, just as we had expected to have for the whole week. We could not complain though, after our sunny day in Juneau. What would be in store for Glacier Bay next day,(our last two visits being cold & wet)? We wandered round Skagway for a while before returning to the ship. I am sure that those paying good money for a train trip up to the 'White Pass' would have been better served by staying in bed.

Next day proved to be another surprise. It was dry with light cloud & we had very good views of the glaciers. For the first time, we were able to get up close to the Johns Hopkins Glacier (the approach being barred by the presence of a seal colony earlier in the season) & had a great view. Contrary to all the concerns of global warming, this glacier is actually growing.

The Marjory Glacier was as spectacular as always, & the better for not having to stand in wind & rain to look at it. The late September weather was much better than on our previous August visits! We had our best experiences of glacier calving so far. One great sea stack like pillar of ice came crashing down into the water with a huge roar & splash. As if this was not impressive enough, it was shortly followed by a giant piece of ice calving off the other side of the glacier. They said that the glacier face was one mile wide & 250 feet high. From this, I estimated that the huge chunk of ice must have been about the width & height of an eight to ten story building! That made a big splash! I thought the ship would rock but she did not.

The Grand Pacific Glacier, quieter but majestic non the less, extended back up into Canada for 35 miles. The Ryndam slowly turned & made her way gradually back down the bay. It is a really impressive place. Along the shoreline we were able to see a moose & a bear. Seals were lying lazily on 'bergy bits' that floated on the water.

One of our favourite experiences in Alaska, is sailing back through 'Icy Strait' after leaving Glacier Bay. Most people have retreated indoors for other pursuits by then, missing the action & leaving the decks nice & quiet for us. This is the best area for whale sightings. The numbers of whales seen on this trip were less than before as they were now heading south to Mexico & Hawaii for the winter. We had seen many pods in transit on the open waters on our way north. Never the less, we had some good sightings, with one whale breaching next to the ship. Sea otters were also less in evidence this time.

That night, on leaving sheltered waters to turn the corner & head up to Ketchikan, we met Donald's storm which caused us to get a little shaken ( but not stirred) in the night. Next day was rain & a walk in Ketchikan. On our return to Canadian waters, the following day, the weather had again improved. I sighted dolphins, porpoise & a pod of orcas north of Vancouver Island. However, inspite of standing at the bow all afternoon as we sailed through the famous Johnstone Strait, on this occasion, the orcas (killer whales) kept themselves well hidden. On our last visit on the Statendam, a pod came right up to the ship, which had stopped, & hung around at the bow for quite a while. At the same time, we could look over to the 'Rubbing Beach' at Robson Bight & see the orcas rubbing themselves clean in the shallow waters.

Next day was back to Vancouver & home, with the unwanted souvenir of a cold, caught onboard. On the ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo, we had a good view of Donald's beloved Mercury, anchored in the bay off Nanaimo. Next time maybe!

Graham.

Thank you Michael & Conte for the information on this ship. It is interesting that you have both sailed on her in the past (maybe even on the same sailing!). She is a really nice looking ship with looks, age & size similar to Prinsendam. Depending on what Fred Olsen Lines do with her, she may be a very nice small ship for the future. If Saga took the Prinsendam, they would make an interesting pair for those who would like a British flavour to their cruise. It would be nice to try the Balmoral from Miami sometime.

Graham.

Litigation is a problem now all over the developed world Ruby, but I think that you folks are still the leaders.

Next time I am on a HAL ship, Conte, I will watch out for the Marx brothers!

Thank you for your comment Ross.

Please tell us more about Crown Odyssey & Royal Cruise Line, Michael (or Doug.).

Graham.

How were you assigned that cabin - travel agent or personal choice?

 

Can you tell me about the Ryndam? How large is she - a behemoth?, older, what? For example, how many pax does she carry?

 

As a person who sails mostly senior ships, I expect problems but I also expect resolution and Saga Cruises excels at that very thing so I never worry about any lingering problem. I know it will be resolved instanter to my satisfaction as discussed in my cruise diary about the iron pipe rolling around in the overhead.

 

Why didn't Ryndam let you stay in the Promenade Deck cabin for the remainder of the cruise? When I had endless HVAC failures in my cabin on Saga Ruby, on the third day I was upgraded four levels and moved to a large cabin across the hall for the remaining 14 days of my cruise.

 

To our Nostalgia Cruise members, what do you think of HAL'S resolution of the Ryndam episode for Graham and his wife?

Ruby

We chose the cabin which is in a good central position on A-deck. We usually choose these cabins on the S-Class & Rotterdam Class ships.

Launched in 1994, Ryndam is 55,000 grt & carries about 1,200 passengers. She is not a behemoth & is a lovely ship. Apart from our smelly problems, we like the S-Class ships & will be sad when HAL finally get rid of them.

The ship was almost full so there was nowhere else for us to go. We would not have wanted the promenade cabin. Ours was bigger & better, as well as being in a better location, ie amidships rather than far forward, not to mention the promenade deck location. Besides, there was no need. The smell was only mild for a couple of days after the first night.

We were happy enough with HAL's resolution of the problem. Too many people today are too quick to complain & seek compensation for minor problems. People who travel have to expect problems & should be used to dealing with them up to a point,which especially seems to apply to flying these days. Our experience was far better than a bad flight.

I am glad you enjoyed my story. Thank you.

Graham.

After staying up late on the first night of our Ryndam cruise, to help my FIL enjoy his first night onboard a cruise ship, I was looking forward to a good sleep on the second night. Unfortunately I was thwarted in this. At about 3am my sleep was disturbed by a loud & incessant noise. As I felt myself floating up towards the surface of consciousness, I struggled against the unwanted buoyancy, wishing to sink into the depths of slumber once more. Try as I could to ignore the noise,eventually I realized that it was hopeless & I let myself float up to the surface again. I then became aware of the fact that it was the smoke detector screaming so inconsiderately in the night.

My wife was already up, pulling on clothes, feeling the door for heat & trying to penetrate my fog of incomprehension with sensible instructions. The acrid smell of burning cooking oil began to clutch at my throat. I picked up the phone & called the front desk. A pleasant Filipino lady answered, seemingly totally unaware of the drama unfolding on the lower decks. The alarm stopped screaming at that moment & the smell began to dissipate a little. The lady promised to dispatch the night steward to investigate our dilemma.

The steward soon arrived at our door, wearing a heavy outdoor coat but thankfully no lifejacket (maybe they really do not live onboard!). He apprehended the offending smoke detector & made off with it to find someone in a more senior position. The senior night hotel officer arrived & told us that the kitchen was cooking bacon for the crew breakfast & somehow the fumes from the burning cooking oil had found their way into the air conditioning system supplying our cabin & our neighbours. He assured us that the engineers were looking into the problem & that the cooking had been stopped. He then left us to go back to sleep.

After lying down again we realized that there was no way we would be able to sleep as the cabin was still heavy with the smell of burnt cooking oil, so we donned our clothes & made our way up to the front desk where we explained our woes to the very smart looking Filipino lady. Once more senior help was summoned. At this point, a junior bridge officer wandered past. Being very bored on his night duty, he sniffed the prospect of excitement at the sight of passengers up at the desk at 4am (this was HAL remember, not Carnival) & he immediately cheered up & became animated. On hearing the story, he enthusiastically made off to report to the bridge. At least we had made his night!

The same hotel officer came & arranged for us to have a spare cabin for the rest of the night. Everyone was genuinely apologetic for our disturbance. On the way to the new cabin, I explained that on our only other voyage on an S-Class ship, the Statendam, we had a cabin which smelled strongly of stale cigarette smoke for the entire two week cruise, inspite of several attempts to clean it. I suspected a ventilation problem & a nearby crew smoking area. We had to have clothing dry-cleaned on our return home, the cost of which was eventually refunded by HAL. On the strength of these two experiences, I asked if S-Class ship really stands for 'Smelly Class' ship! I think the man was amazed that a passenger who had just had a night of his cruise ruined, could find something to laugh about!

So we arrived at our new temporary cabin & were left once more to try to salvage a little sleep from the night. Only then did I realize where we were. Oh no! Yes! It was one of those dreaded outside promenade deck cabins!:eek: The first thing I did was to tightly close the curtains, making sure that no chink remained open for the use of any of those Thomases or Thomasinas out there, not to mention the possibility of a passing D'Maniac!

Then as rational thought gradually took over from sheer blind panic, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity for the furtherance of science. Throwing the curtains open & leaving the light on, I went out & onto the promenade deck where I was able to peer into our own cabin with no risk of setting off a blood curdling scream from within. I could see clearly into the cabin. I then got some sleep & repeated the experiment in daylight with the lights off. It was very difficult to see anything at all under these conditions, only a few inches from the window. I wondered what those out for their morning promenade made of this 'Peeping Thomas' peering into a cabin window!

A bottle of wine duly arrived at our cabin by way of apology. It was barely drinkable but the bottle was a special HAL one, so I kept it. The gesture was appreciated. Engineers were seen to be scouring the ship that day & the smell took a few days to totally disappear, but we never received a full explanation. The smell seemed to be only in a small block of cabins & ours was the worst affected. Several days later we received a letter saying that because we had been so understanding, head office had been contacted & they had agreed to give us a $200 cabin credit; which was very nice thank you! The story,for me to report on the Nostalgia Cruise, was free.

Has anyone else had any problems on a Smelly-Class ship?

Graham.