Druke I

Reference Maasdam - I would avoid forward cabins on Main Deck.

We were forward on Main Deck, 11-95, on a crossing from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale.

West of the Azores, it was fairly rough. Water entered the hull via the hawsepipe (anchor chainway) and flooded some half dozen cabins (including ours!) to a depth of about 6 inches. Luckily, there were other cabins available, and we were moved.

We have had rough crossings on other ships, but being flooded out of our cabin was a first.

Size-wise, a very nice ship, but we have been on other ships that we thought handled heavy seas better.

Thanks for posting Ruby's itinerary - I was too lazy to look it up, although I did seen a post on the HAL board that indicated Prinsendam is in the Messina Straits today.

I do hope she is having a grand time - she was really looking forward to both the itinerary and the ship.

Riding a bike that distance might be tiring, Ruby. (Actually, she is only 1020 feet in length, according to an entry on Google).

Are there any motor scooters for rent dockside?

Have a good trip!

Cruise ships are normally classified by Gross Registered Tonnage, which is a measurement of interior volume.

Some merchant ships are classified by Gross Weight Tonnage, which usually is displacement tonnage.

Naval ships usually will be displacement tonnage, although there may be two different tonnages listed - normal and wartime load!

Then, of course, there is Deadweight Tonnage, which is the weight of the ship, and may be calculated either empty or "stored".

Muddying the waters for cruise ships, some companies recently have been deleting the volume area of balconies, which has the effect of reducing the GRT, important for reducing the fees for passage through the Panama Canal or Suez Canal. Of course, if the balconies are "hull cut", their volume would be included. In some of those cases, they have been calling it "Gross Tonnage".

Further complicating matters is short ton, long ton, metric ton, etc.

Very confusing, to say the least. It may well be time to come up with a new, standardized system, applied across the board!

I did not know that HAL had discontinued the dinner chimes. Too bad. It has been awhile since we've been on HAL.

Ruby: have a great trip on Prinsendam.

I sailed twice on Oriana. First time, in 1964, she still had Orient Lines' corn-yellow hull, and had the 1st class Grille. We were in a Court Cabin, forward.

The 2nd time, Christmas 1970, she had white hull, with P&O's yellow funnel. We were down in a "convertible" cabin on F deck.

She was a lovely ship, and did seem huge. Actually, for the day, she was fairly large.

I always wanted to sail on her running mate, Canberra, but it did not work out.

I sailed twice on Oriana. First time, in 1964, she still had Orient Lines' corn-yellow hull, and had the 1st class Grille. We were in a Court Cabin, forward.

The 2nd time, Christmas 1970, she had white hull, with P&O's yellow funnel. We were down in a "convertible" cabin on F deck.

She was a lovely ship, and did seem huge. Actually, for the day, she was fairly large.

I always wanted to sail on her running mate, Canberra, but it did not work out.

Yes - a great read. Chuckled aloud several times.

http://www.maritimematters.com has posted a nice picture of Saga Rose, tied up at Berth 101, Southampton, 5-7-09.

It is a nice looking ship, and you can really see the shear of the decks.

Would it not be your Superwoman immune system?

I do believe it has already been documented in New Zealand.

I certainly agree with your "only deal with the here and now".

A person can drive themselves nuts with the "what ifs".

Hadn't thought about Coke cans - but the old wasp-waisted CocaCola bottles are a collector's item.

I do recall as a lad checking to see where the bottle was from. Back in the day, there was a wide variety of locations bottling the product.

Somehow my previous post (1st sentence) doesn't quite read right.

I meant to say that you are a formidable sort, and that even a foolish Ukranian may well have met his match should he mix it up with you!

I think you probably get the drift!

Now up to 136 pages! Outstanding!

I've seen you in action. I don't believe that even a Ukranian would be foolish to incur your wrath.

And just look at the number of posts on "your thread", Saga Ruby!

There is a good photo of Atlantic Star, nee Fairsky, in her new livery, http://www.maritimematters.com.

I don't recall if I commented on Mercury or not. We did the Mexican Riviera on her, Mar 04.

Nice ship, but I did miss a full promenade deck around the superstructure.

Not too keen on those abbreviated promenades.

This thread has been excruciatingly quiet this past week.

Hope everyone is well.

We've travelled with Grand Circle Travel (I believe OAT's "parent") four times, and have been satisfied with the product.

I believe OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) is a division of Grand Circle Travel, which spun off several years ago from AARP (American Association of Retired People).

Copper John failed to note that Flandre was forever known by the wags as the Flounder, after her ignominious entry to New York on her maiden voyage.

Copper John failed to note that Flandre was forever known by the wags as the Flounder, after her ignominious entry to New York on her maiden voyage.

Conte's answer may be right, but did you know that P&O (UK) usually sends two ships out from Southampton in the spring, both circumnavigating the globe, one eastbound and one westbound.

Depending on itineraries, it is possible to sail from the Left Coast of the US on one ship down to Australia, kick around for a week or two, and then sail back to the US Pacific Coast on the other.

Those trips are sold as "boomerang cruises", and one I would sorely like to do. I haven't been able to convince the Missus to be gone that long.

Sorry if I mislead you. I haven't been to Shanghai on the larger ships, only on Regal Princess.

Personally, I feel any ship too large to fit into the current locking system of the Panama Canal is too damned big.

It may well be true.

When we visited Shanghai, on Regal Princess, Mar 01, we were able to dock at the Bund, right in the main part of the City.

Subsequent Princess cruises, on the larger Diamond & Sapphire Princess have had to dock out at the container port.

I much prefer smaller ships.