Sir PMP

I can see that mayonnaise next to the burger..

Liberation Day in Den Haag, 1945:

Basically a poor representation, Antorcha is too new to talk about the past. They should have one the former great captains do that and they should have brought in all former living captains. Also, the old classic Grand Dame should have been involved, maybe showing people boarding in costumes from the the early 1960's. that would have been a spectacle, this was just a dud.

But when in Belgium:

French fries with ketchup?

Yes, you will be the youngest on board and you will love the cruise and the ship, we've done it 4 times as part of an 80 day S.America cruise.

Enjoy Weymouth, a historical city:

And Le Havre is now cancelled too, because of strikes, so you're next stop will be Dover.

They should get rid of them.

In the BB King lounge on the Rotterdam in February the band played, blues, R&B mostly, but you can dance to it and a lot of people did, one couple did the cha cha cha on almost every song. The R&R group is much harder to dance to, although we danced to a couple of Steve Miller songs.

Great idea.

I never saw any one dancing at the Lincoln Center stage.

At the old airport, Kai Tak.

No you need to contact Hal and explain the situation.

Hot tubs will be open.

It's a half an hour from Piraeus to the Airport. If you can leave by 8:00am you will be ok.

I've been to Salaverry twice, once to pick up a flight from Trujillo to Lima and on to Cuzco(Macchu P.) and once to do a tour to the Chan Chan ruins and the old fishing boats. I don't think there was a shuttle.Salaverry is just a pile of sand. I would recommend to do the Chan Chan tour it is really good.

Are you getting your supplies today, Sunday?

Please, leave the banana boats to Carnival.

Also, try to contact the ship direct, and ask to speak to Henk Mensink, he's the hotel director and should have more information on this.

Try 206-626-7060 this is for Hal family assistance, I just checked for the correct number.

Who's your insurance company? And you need to get a hold of a Hal supervisor immediately.

Both are good, Nr.1 has Kusadasi with Ephesus as the highlight which is fabulous, Mykonos is nice but touristic, but you should take a ferry to Delos, were no one lives, except a red cat, a step back in time, and you'll see the former home of Cleopatra. Nr.2 has Poros a small charming Greek island, Syracuse, Sicily!, Valetta, Malta also a nice place to visit. Maybe you should them both..

MEETING FOR THE TOUR Our HAL tour met at 8:45 with a 9 am departure, but we have learned that most people go to the main stage as soon as they open and then head directly to the dock. Ian made several announcements that people should wait in the theater until their group was called, but when you looked down on the dock, you could see all the tour buses were already there so most people ignored this and proceeded directly to the buses. Consequently, the people who waited as instructed were only left with the least desirable seats. (Note: The bus seating was 3 seats on one side with 2 on the other). We didn’t see many people using the excursion tickets on their phones as simply scanning your room key is easier and faster. Our tour left at 9:05 and we headed east toward Grand Bassam. The roads were very modern with many cranes and other signs of construction everywhere. We passed a large BMW dealership along the way and there were other signs of wealth, although the run-down and dilapidated housing near the airport presented a stark contrast. There were several interesting statues we passed along the way as well. ARRIVE AT GRAND BASSAM We arrived at Grand Bassam around 10 am and stopped to pick up a specialized guide required by UNESCO for tour groups of our size. Grand Bassam is a historic coastal town located in the southeastern region of the Ivory Coast. The town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was the first French colonial capital of Ivory Coast and played a significant role in the country’s history. Our first stop was the Grand Bassam Lighthouse where we had 15 minutes to take some photos. The tour buses had two sets of stairs which made getting on and off faster, but the aft door required the use of some very steep steps. Many people used the forward door to avoid these steeper stairs. Grand Bassam Lighthouse Steep steps for the aft door We stopped for a restroom break at the nearby Etoile du Sud which is where we would have lunch later. This young boy rode by on a horse while we were waiting to board the bus The Grand Bassam Royal Palace was our next stop. We were off the bus for 15 minutes and took a few pictures. There was one large interior room which is used for conferences or classes. Inside the Palace Entrance to Palace NATIONAL COSTUME MUSEUM Our next stop was The National Costume Museum of Grand-Bassam. This museum is responsible for preserving and promoting the Ivorian clothing heritage and is housed in an old building built in 1893 that served as the governor’s residence. The collections consist of traditional costumes, models of traditional habitats, photos and other exhibits. There are two floors and the costumes are displayed on mannequins inside glass cases. Our guides conducted tours thru the museum but we decided to explore on our own. There was a small craft market on the ground floor next to the museum. Susan outside the entrance to National Costume Museum Large statue near the main entrance Kings costume on the second floor Some costumes also display a photograph Craft market next to the museum LUNCH After the museum, we returned to the Hotel Etoile du Sud, for a nice buffet lunch set up outside under tents. Beer or soft drinks were included. The food choices included grilled chicken, fish, and a beef kabob along with rice, vegetables, and salad. The food was very good and we were here for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Seating area for lunch Lunch Buffet CATHEDRAL Our final stop was the Cathédral du Sacré Coeur, a rather modest church, that was in use since today was Sunday so we were not able to go inside. The bus dropped us off on one end of the street and we walked to the other end where the bus was waiting to take us back to the Zuiderdam. Cathédral du Sacré Coeur – photo by fellow passenger EXCURSION SUMMARY It would have been nice to be able to get off the bus and explore the town on our own, but this wasn’t possible so we had to settle for three brief photo stops with 30 minutes at the Costume Museum. We spent 6 hours on the bus with only about 1 hour off the bus exploring or taking pictures and another hour for lunch. If you want to see Grand Bassam, I would consider other options if available. A different HAL Excursion, “Banco National Park”, received rave reviews from a few people we spoke with afterward. SPORTS NIGHT Tonight was Sports Night on the Zuiderdam – with the dress code listed as “Sporty.” Everyone was encouraged to wear their favorite team’s sports jersey and participate in a variety of sports-related events in the evening. The main event was Sports Night Trivia on the World Stage with Ian. Nyron was the DJ and Chris from the Dance Band provided accompanying organ music like you might hear at a ballpark. Special happy hour drinks were available at the entrances to the theatre along with popcorn. The World Stage was about 1/3 full. This was not a normal trivia game with teams and people keeping score. Ian would display a large image on the screen that depicted some aspect of a sport. Ian would ask a question and people who thought they knew the answer would raise their hand and hope to be called upon. You were disqualified if you raised your hand too soon or shouted out the answer. Ian’s commentary keep the event fun and light and everyone got into the spirit. The Captain made an appearance toward the end sporting a jersey that I didn’t recognize. This was one of the clues during the “name that trophy” section of the questions Captain Frank made a surprise appearance wearing his favorite jersey Most of the questions involved recognizing certain teams’ jerseys, knowing the names of world champions in smaller sports, or being able to list all the different colored Judo belts. I won one question when I knew the three different events of fencing: Epee, Foil, and Saber Other events this evening included: Majority Rules Game Show – Sports Edition Sports Commentary Challenge Sports Night Party – Dance to the hits That's Max's shirt (Formula One).