sailingdutchy

I had heard a couple of weeks ago that the Rotterdam would arrive in Rotterdam on August 10th and that she will leave on the 28th as a Fred Olsen named ship . 

F O will receive a couple of wonderful ships , I hope some of the historical art works and Captain Cards paintings will show up on the HAL new builts , something we have really missed on the Koningsdam and the Nieuw Statendam .

Tony 

Just now, Copper10-8 said:

 

I knew for sure there would be a response from "  De Amsterdammer " 

Thank you @Copper10-8 for this  ! There is the old battle between A'dam and R' dam and than , we the people from The Hague have to mediate ! 

Departing from Rotterdam on a cruise is wonderful .

When we were there the Shanty choir was serenading us from shore  in costume singing all the old sailor songs accompanied by accordion . Once we left the Wilhelmina Kade , right near the old Head Office of Holland Amerika ,all along the Nieuwe Waterweg  ( New Waterway ) towards the North Sea people were riding their bicicles and waving at us all the way to the piers of Hoek Van Holland  ( Hook of Holland ) where we entered the North Sea . 

The cruise terminal is also very close to where the Old SS Rotterdam  ( Rotterdam V) which is now a hotel and museum is moored.

Hope to leave from there again soon  and stay for at least one night on the SS Rotterdam the one I witnessed being " baptized "  by Queen Juliana in 1958 ..........

Tony 

Read somewhere from a person in the Netherlands that The Rotterdam and possibly also the Amsterdam will arrive in Rotterdam on Aug 10th and will leave on Aug 28th as new FO  named ships .

DW loves a nice herring  and she eats it as if she was Dutch .......

Great crew in the Dutch Cafe on the Koningsdam Nov 2019 

4 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Apple and bacon pancake, yummy!

How about the herring Ann ? 

Hoping very much for April 2021 ........ Might not be until the fall 2021 that it will be possible to go anywhere .

14 hours ago, Despegue said:

Be careful with drawing too many conclusions when looking at Yachtworld.

LOTS of vessel are for sale if the right price is offered.

Carnival Inspiration is for sale on that site, as is Volendam, but both are vessels that are amongst the youngest of their fleet types and in good condition. Obviously, because of this fact, the value is higher, but mostly. The oldest ladies are offered for sale first.

 

I personally would love to sail Volendam.

 

Hope " Manneke Pis " is wearing a mask now  ?

BTW we loved the Volendam specially when Captain Christopher Turner , since retired , was on her ! 

Ton

17 hours ago, Sallyandtex said:

So the plot thickens!

Just had email from TA saying they are taking $704 in commissions as this is unrecoverable for them! Minus our deposit. So angry, wont ever use a travel agent again!

My TA is a personal friend , she has been for over 30 years .  She has told me how amazing in particular Holland America has been by honoring the commissions  for Travel Agents for the cancelled cruises , which I think is amazing .

The big problem with the refunds was that they had to set up a complete new system with less people in the offices to handle the sheer number of cancellations 

She also mentioned that out of all of the cruise companies and the airlines in difficult times like this Holland America was the fastest and easiest to get in contact with on dedicated phone lines for TA's .

Time to confront your TA with that , and I see that a lot of other CC'rs also confirmed that in the last couple of days .

I will not travel all over the world without booking through a reliable TA , she has helped out tremendously in a few unforseen situations  .  Something I would not trust an online  company or a large wholesale store to do for me , I rather pay a few dollars more .

Tony 

1 hour ago, SilvertoGold said:

Who is buying these?

Just guessing but maybe the Chinese so they can start their own Cruise company , can't think of anybody else in this market .

I happen to have this poster hanging here at home . Mine is printed on canvas so not as brite as the colours on the poster are and folded around the frame . for the rest it is identical .

Thank you Scott  YXU AC*SE a fellow Londoner ( Ont )  for the information of the artist and Copper10-8 for the historical info ! 

BTW the poster hangs perfectly straight , the photographer was out of line ! 

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

Good morning and thanks for the report, Rich.  Today is DH's birthday, so I will let him choose what we will have for dinner.  

 

I am wondering where all the ships will end up - and why are two heading for Reunion?  Is that just for refuelling?

Cheers Ann and a Happy Birthday to Pat ! 

22 hours ago, rotjeknor said:

Great pictures, I thought they would be further from the coast . I know where I’m heading this week !!

Hey that is not so far away from you Jaap  @rotjeknor  hope you are doing well !  We missed out on going on the MS Rotterdam to your city in April and sleeping for one night on the old SS Rotterdam , bummer !!! 

Greetings from Canada ,

Tony and Martha 

4 hours ago, HarR said:

Today at the Dutch coast near Scheveningen.

 

 

So sad to see these beautiful ships at anchor near Katwijk aan Zee , about 20 km's from Scheveningen  near where I was born in The Hague . Thank you very much for this picture @HarR . Hope they are safe there and there will soon be a solution so we can cruise again !

Tony

Thanks for starting this thread , getting sick and tired of all the bad news ones . My glass is always half full so we have booked like @DeeDee Groff the late September '20 cruise to Auckland , I have a deposit on the Premier Cruise of the Ryndam , whenever it is or wherever the itinerary ,  and am seriously looking at the Norway / Baltic cruise for next July  on the Nieuw Statendam ,

After that is booked we will be looking for a cruise for Jan / Feb / Mar  '22  to get away from the Canadian winter . ( Yes we woke up to snow on Sunday morning MAY 10th  ! NOT nice ! ) 

Tony 

23 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

The Hague or in Dutch "Den Haag" or more formal "'s-Gravenhage" is the third city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam but, because The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, the fact that the city is the official residency of the Dutch Royal Family, and some other justifications, people who hail from the City, like our friend "Sir PMP," often think that they are numero uno over folks from the two larger cities 😉 

 

Whereas Amsterdam and Rotterdam are typical "labor" cities who have a huge rivalry with each other, The Hague has always had a reputation of "genteel" ("deftig" in Dutch), some would say that its inhabitants walk around with their "noses held high in the air" something akin to thinking that they are "much better" than those "laborers from Amsterdam and Rotterdam." Pretty funny, actually since "Amsterdammers" and "Rotterdammers" have lots of nicknames for folks from "Den Haag," most not too flattering 😉 A saying that can be mentioned here is "You make money in Rotterdam, spend it in Amsterdam and sleep in The Hague.”

 

The surname of the current captain of the Volendam has no connection to the Dutch Royal Family of Orange however, multiple surnames like that could indicate nobility and/or an "upper class"  background in the past

Dank U wel meneer Copper . Thank you Mister Copper for this ! 

Not bad for an " Amsterdammer  " ,  it must be said that a lot of Amsterdammers and Rotterdammers are unbelievably  jealous of all the things The Hague has , all the government buildings , the embassies the International Court of Justice , headquaters of Royal Dutch Shell , etc etc  and on top of that  almost  all of the big important decisions are made in The Hague . 

 Meneer Copper also forgot to tell the people that the people from The Hague speak the proper " Nederlands "  Dutch .

I will be waiting  "Jan " John ............

Ton 

On 4/24/2020 at 1:58 AM, rjbean4 said:

Found another video and once again it comes from the Nieuw Amsterdam. Our Ship.

 

#HALSTRONG

Thanks a lot for the Video's @rjbean4 very encouraging for the future , let's stay positive ! 

Tony 

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Today, Friday, I would have been in Kinsale, Co. Cork, for a lunch get together with two posters (and spouses)  on CC who were due to sail on Rotterdam.  

Was looking forward with VictOrian to meet you @VMax1700 in Cork for lunch and hear all the stories from Patrick growing up in this area . Guess the weather is not nice today because it was sad that we were not able to get there .............

Awesome to read a first hand experience without being political .

We have cruised with Captain Albert and dined with him a couple of times , a wonderful person with lots and lots of stories . Hope to meet him again soon . 

Tony 

Lica Maersk is on the move , soon the door to the chamber will close and water will rush in .

Once the water is level again the Koningsdam can move in . 

3 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Meneer Tony; just say your post on Gmail (you can tell I don't go there too often) Will respond forthwith

Dank je wel Mijnheer John ! 

1 minute ago, VMax1700 said:

right click, save image as

Thank you very much learned something new ! 

Today we " should "  be on the Rotterdam at sea crossing the Atlantic Ocean , we just passed through the Sargasso Sea and are a couple of days away  from Terceira in the Azores , also called Ilha Verde  ( Green Island ) .

By the way did you know that the Sargasso Sea is a region of the North Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an Ocean gyre .  Unlike all other regions called seas , it has no land boundaries .

Just checking position of the Koningsdam on Marine Traffic it shows that she is just North of Venezuela doing 19.6 Kn and her destination as Cristobal , Panama ?

Does anybody know if she going through the Panama Canal maybe through the New locks ?  It was starnge that she went half way down Brazil was at anchor for a few days and than turned around .

@Copper10-8 do you have any idea or info on that ?

17 minutes ago, cunnorl said:

       I would be packing for our TA on the Nieu Statendam  to Amsterdam on 4/19.  In Amsterdam, we had tickets to Keukenoff Gardens to see the Tulips ( something I have wanted to do for a very long time) Then off to Norway for a week followed by  a 14 day thru the Baltics. Arriving home on 5/25.

       Had booked this a year ago. In all my thoughts of what could change our plans, this  was not one of them.

      Today, I bought tulips at Publix and dream.....

The Keukenhof Gardens have also been closed for the rest of this year as are a lot of other things . But they have set up a  "virtual vist " where you can admire all of the tulips , daffodils and hyacinths on line . That might bring a ray of sunshine in your life !