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MS Maasdam FTL to Rio, January 23-February 15, 2015

rafinmd

By rafinmd,
in Holland America Line

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Alberta Quilter

Alberta Quilter

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Oops, I'm not going to LeCirque When my tablemates go there I'll be in Canaletto. If I can copy the menu I'll try to post it. For sailaway, it didn't work very well for me, but deck 12 immediately above the Lido entrance has some possibilities if you're requesting a wave.

 

Captain Jutten has been managing expectations but good news today. We have permission to arrive in Aruba 4 hours early tomorrow so we have the morning free in port. Pilot 8AM, alongside about 8:30.

 

Roy

 

Ooops, I'm sorry, I misread your original post; I guess I saw what I wanted to see!! Thanks for the quick response!

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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The Prinsendam is at sea from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas on her way to a rendezvous with the Maasdam in Rio.

 

My last weekend at home I took a little spill on an icy street corner. My knee is feeling some effects of that spill and I’m cutting my walking down some pending a full recovery. My morning walk today was 3 miles instead of 5. Today’s activities were heavily weighted towards the morning with a packed worship/bible study session followed by Jeremy’s “Coffee Chat” in the showroom featuring Judy Carpenter and Bob Cates.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dawn0127.jpg

 

I took lunch today at Dive-In and Captain Jutten delivered some good news in his midday update. Since our call at George Town was cancelled my reaction was “we should be able to get to Aruba for a full day rather than an afternoon/evening. The crew was strangely silent about this possibility, waiting until all the arrangements were confirmed before saying anything. The noon update brought confirmation that we will arrive about 4 hours early in Aruba, meeting the pilot at 8AM and docking soon thereafter. I have an afternoon tour but will now have some time on my own there in the morning.

 

I am still relatively new to Holland America but from time to time I have seen a few familiar faces from a prior ship. So far on this cruise there has been only one, the future cruise consultant Michael Gardner, who was on the Amsterdam last year with his wife Joanne. He had his future cruise presentation today in the Wajang theater. While my plans are pretty well set for the upcoming year, it was still interesting to get an overview of what is offered.

 

I took some time in the hot tub; it felt good for my knee . Most of the time so far it has been dark when we left the restaurant, but with last night’s time change the sun was just setting as I headed

back to my room It was cloudy enough at the horizon that there was just the slightest hint of sunset.

 

The evening entertainment was the Doo-Wop acapella group Alley Cats with music of the 50's and 60's and Barry from Boston featured superstars of the UK.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/alleycats.jpg

 

As today’s parting shot, the weather I have seen so far has fallen short of perfect but the sketchy reports I’ve seen indicate it’s pure paradise compared to what has happened in the northeast. I wish all on the upper Northeast, Quebec, and the Maritimes access to warmth and safety.

 

Roy

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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This is frustrating. I normally include links to a few photos from my blog. I'm currently working with the cheap fast wifi in the Aruba terminal but it doesn't support the email client I use to update the blog. I had planned to include some photo links but I can't until I get email access that allows me to mail to the blog.

 

Day 5, Wednesday, January 28, Orangestad, Aruba

 

 

The Prinsendam is at sea from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas on her way to a rendezvous with the Maasdam in Rio.

 

We expected to pick up our pilot at 8 and follow the Coral Princess into port. Sunrise was just after 7 and when I went up to the Crows Nest to have a look, the Coral was already docked. The sun came up perfectly above the deck 13 observation area, and when I looked back the pilot boat was following us into port. Our first lines went out about 8AM.

 

Most of the tours were 1PM or later; the morning was pretty much free time. I left the ship around 9 and took a longish walk into town, checking wifi at McDonalds (no luck) and getting coffee at Burger King. I did a few basic online things but mostly downloaded and installed an operating system update. The main downtown street is mostly closed to pedestreans with a trolley line, although service does not appear frequent enough to be very useful. On the way back to the ship I stopped in at a pharmacy and bought a knee brace. I think yesterday’s light schedule and hot soak had very favorable results while the pressure applied by the brace was counterproductive. I know what to do better tomorrow.

 

After a light lunch it was time for my tour, “Aruba Town and Country”. After driving south along the shore past the airport we passed the “Haystack”, a volcanic cone about 500 feet tall, one of a number of clear leftovers from the volcanic origins of the island. Soon we stopped at another of those reminders, the Casabari Rock Formations, a smaller rock outcrop with lovely views on the summit. Some of the trails up to the top are a bit challenging, passing through a gap in the rocks that’s almost like a tunnel. Our guide pointed out some of the traditional small houses with fireplaces on the end for cooking.

 

For many years the East coast of Aruba had what must have been a magnificent natural bridge which collapsed about 2005. A “baby natural bridge” sits just a stones throw away. A vew miles later we stopped at the Alto Vista Chapel, a very small remote chapel built about 1900 to convert the natives and rebuilt in 1952. It’s main active use today is for stations of the cross on Good Friday. A “Peace Labyrinth” sits behind the chapel.

 

Our final stop was the California Lighthouse, so named for the SS California which ran aground in the late 19th century. It was completed in 1915 and is currently undergoing a centennial restoration. After the lighthouse we returned along the ocean passing manu luxury hotels. Aruba is spared the brunt of most hurricanes but our guide pointed out a long sunken shipwreck that had been washed almost to shore a few years ago. We returned to the Maasdam about 4:45.

 

With us in port until midnight the dining room was very quiet. There are actually no “traditional” shows either today or tomorrow, although tonight we have a local Aruba group, Kids and Youth in Action in the showroom at 9:30. I plan to use the port’s wifi to post early this evening but will comment on the show tomorrow.

 

Today’s parting shot comes from the sign guarding the Alto Vista Chapel Labyrnth. “May Peace Prevail on Earth”.

 

Amen

Roy

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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Thanks all

 

 

The sun coming up over Aruba (and the sky deck)=

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dawn0127.jpg

 

Haystack, Baby Bridge, and Alto Vista Chapel:

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/haystack.jpg

 

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/babybridge.jpg

 

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/chapel1.jpg

 

Lighthouse and shipwreck:

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/lighthouse1.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/shipwreck.jpg

 

Kids and Youth:

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/youth1.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/youth2.jpg

 

Peace:

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/peace.jpg

 

Roy

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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The Prinsendam is in Punta Arenas, Chile on her way to a rendezvous with the Maasdam in Rio.

 

 

It was very quiet at 5AM today; I delayed my walk again until after my coffee with 25-knot winds on deck. By about 6AM it was still quite dark but the lights of Willemstad were very prominent ahead of us. It was a mostly clear morning although one cloud hung stubbornly in front of the rising sun.

 

Our landing seemed a bit strange. We were at our pier about 6:40 but we must have hung there for about 20 minutes. I don’t know if this is the case but it looked almost like union rules prohibited the line handlers from working before 7AM. Once things started we had lines out pretty quickly.

 

This is my 3rd visit to Curacao, after November and December of 2013. Both the other times we docked up the channel by the oil tanks, today we were at the much more scenic megapier.

While (by plan or otherwise) we have early arrivals at all the ABC Islands today was my only morning tour. I left the ship about 8:15; then our guide had us standing in line on the dock looking into the sun for about 10 minutes before we made our way to the bus.

 

“Curacao Country Drive” covered much of the Western part of the island. Our first stop was at Boka Tabla national park where we walked out to the shore. Our guide said the waters were unusually calm today but they were anything but serene with large breakers coming up on shore. It was a very scenic spot with a natural bridge just up the shore from us.

 

We continued around to the western end of the island. Unlike Aruba’s miles of sandy beaches, Curacao has a number of small beaches, each with their own character. There is both dark and white sand, with the sand being a very dominant determiner of the color of the water, white sand producing the classic blue water, and a dark sand making a much darker water color.

 

Our longest stop was at Tula Museum. Tula was a slave who led a revolt of slaves from the surrounding plantations. Naturally, the owners didn’t take kindly and the rebellion was crushed and Tula eventually executed, but the end of slavery had been set in motion. July 1, 1863 was the end of slavery in Curacao, with a recent 150th anniversary celebration. The plantation we toured was the one Tula came from, and each of the plantations with slaves involved in the revolt has a pillar standing at the gate.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/tula.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/pillar.jpg

 

We returned from the tour about noon, and I went into town for lunch. Williemstad has 2 main sections, the older Punda and newer Otrobanda, joined by a swinging pontoon bridge. The sections are separated by an active channel and the Queen Emma Bridge swings out of the way to allow ships to pass. When the bridge is opened a ferry carries pedestrians across the channel.

 

When I arrived the bridge was open and the ferry came quite quickly. After lunch and a little walking around the Punda, passing the hemisphere’s oldest active Synagogue, and looking at the Sea Cloud II which had docked just ahead of us, it was time to head back. The bridge appeared to be opening again, but it was just letting a tug boat through and opened almost immediately.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/synagogue.jpg

 

I returned to the ship about 3 and enjoyed a relaxing soak in the hot tub. Dinner was a little better attended than last night but there was no headline entertainment on the ship. The dock has free wifi, and I will post for today, spend some time in the piano bar, and hopefully be in bed early.

 

As today’s parting shot I really don’t count myself as a basketball fan but if I were home last (Wednesday) night I would have been at a game. When I was in college my school, Binghamton University, had a very low key athletics program but basketball was probably our biggest sport. At that time, we only played other schools within the New York State university system; today they are in one of the smaller regional conferences, America East, and have an annual game at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, about 10 miles from my home. I have attended several of those games. When a contest pits a hometown team against one’s alma mater, it is difficult to come away entirely negative about the result, but Binghamton has been on the short end of the score too many times. I would have really enjoyed last night’s game with Binghamton earning a 68-56 win. Go Bearcats.

 

Roy

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Mtn2Sea

Mtn2Sea

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Enjoyed your description of your day in Curaçao, which is one of our favorite islands in the southern Carribean. We did the Country Drive excursion this past March, which gives you a different feel for the island compared to the eastern side.

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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Thank you Himself and Mtn2sea.

 

The Prinsendam is in Ushuaia, Argentina on her way to a rendezvous with the Maasdam in Rio.

 

By the time I stepped out on deck a bit after 5 the lights of Bonaire were visible ahead of us. Th winds were down a bit from the last couple of days and it was slightly cooler. We pulled into Bonaire behind the Legend of the Seas about 7. They were in the South (I believe primary) berth while we had the North (I think overflow) space. While they had more touristy shops we were closer to the center of town. While a solitary small cloud obstructed the sunrise in Curacao, today there was a very small open space in a very cloudy morning sky.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/kralendik.jpg

 

I had wanted to do a morning Unimog tour today but the literature said there was an age limit of 70 and the shore excursion office told me I couldn’t go. On leaving the ship about 8:30 the tour was forming up and I asked the guide about it and she said “I don’t know about any age limit”.

 

Until today I had been to all the ports before, even Grand Cayman. This is my first visit to Bonaire, and all the ports from here on are new with the exception of Devils Island. Bonaire is the smallest of the ABC Islands, with a population of 18,000, compared to 140,000 each for Aruba and Curacao. While all 3 are former Dutch Colonies, Aruba and Curacao are essentially self governing, while the Dutch still have a role in Bonaire’s affairs. There seems to be quite a vocal independence movement with signs comparing Bonaire and Holland to Russia and Crimea.

 

I walked around the town in the morning stopping at the Catholic Church and at a café where I got a muffin, tea, and wifi, mostly used to apply a Windows update.

 

My tour was at noon, a bit of an awkward time for lunch. I drank a glass of skim milk before leaving, took a couple of slices of bread to eat along the way, and got pizza in the lido on return. The tour was “4x4 Island Adventure” and there were 8 of us in the back of a Land Rover with 10 seats. We didn’t really go off road much, but circled the southern half of the island. We stayed on main roads crossing the island to a lagoon, stopping along the way to look at donkeys, goats, and well camouflaged iguanas. We next headed south into agricultural districts, with some interesting fences composed of rows of cactus. We took a break at a beach which was quite a mecca for windsurfing.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/fence.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/windsurf.jpg

 

On the south side of the island we passed at the island’s oldest lighthouse, and a bit further up the road stopped at a colony of slave huts. By the huts was an obelisk, one of a series of markers for anchoring salt ships. The area has long had a busy (now 500,000 tons annually) salt production with salt produced by evaporation of water from shallow pools of sea water. Today the salt is loaded on ships by a conveyor system much as coal is loaded in Seward Alaska.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/lighthouse.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/slavehuts.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/homeward.jpg

Soon we were approaching Kralendijk with the Maasdam now sitting by herself in the harbor. I returned to the ship about 3:30, heading up to the lido deck for pizza, tea, and some hot tub therapy.

 

All aboard was 5:30 with a number of stragglers arriving (mostly by tour boat) about 5:35 as I made my way to the dining room. I think my tablemates may have been among them as they did not make it to dinner. We probably pulled away about 5:50, and as I returned to my room we were just passing the salt ship, and there was soon a perfect sunset.

 

The evening entertainment was the dance team Dance Trance, and Barry from Boston held an all request night.

 

Tonight’s parting shot is a wish for peace and reconciliation for the people of Bonaire.

 

Roy

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dfish

dfish

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As today’s parting shot I really don’t count myself as a basketball fan but if I were home last (Wednesday) night I would have been at a game. When I was in college my school, Binghamton University, had a very low key athletics program but basketball was probably our biggest sport. At that time, we only played other schools within the New York State university system; today they are in one of the smaller regional conferences, America East, and have an annual game at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, about 10 miles from my home. I have attended several of those games. When a contest pits a hometown team against one’s alma mater, it is difficult to come away entirely negative about the result, but Binghamton has been on the short end of the score too many times. I would have really enjoyed last night’s game with Binghamton earning a 68-56 win. Go Bearcats.

 

Roy

 

Small world, Roy. I was born in Binghamton and most of my relatives lived there, so we often visited. Hope you got to enjoy some great spiedies while you were there.

 

Debbie

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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Thanks Debbie, Himself, and Krazy Kruizers.

 

The Prinsendam is in Cape Horn, Chile on her way to a rendezvous with the Maasdam in Rio.

 

 

The day started out a bit windy and very cloudy. Combining a desire for a longer walk with TLC for my knee, I walked 3 miles instead of the 5 I would normally do on a sea day, finishing about 6:30. With over a week since boarding, it was time for a laundry day, and the laundry room was open before the official 7AM time, but 2 machines were busy and the remaining one broken. Things went better on deck 6 and the machines did their thing while I went online and got breakfast. Sunrise was about 6:50 but it was a total non-event with a heavy cloud cover which burned off later in the day.

 

It was a pretty busy day in the Showroom at Sea. Jeremy’s 9:30 Coffee Chat was with the Alley Cats, who showed up in bathrobes and answered a lot of questions about their life on the road. At 11 Tommie Sue Montgomery presented “Welcome to Latin America”.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/chat0131.jpg

 

By noon the weather had cleared and Captain Jutten indicated it would continue to be nice. We will pick up our pilot and be at the dock about 8. The afternoon programs in the Showroom were David Smith on photography at 2 and Humberto’s talk on Trinidad, Tobago, and Devil’s Island at 3. I was surprised by what a big city Port-of-Spain will be. After the presentations I headed up to the Lido deck for some hot tub therapy.

 

We had our full complement of 3 at table 69, but will be in either Le Cirque of Canaletto Sunday night. The Alley Cats had their farewell shows tonight, including some dances with audience members. Barry From Boston had a day of collaboration, filling in for the Neptune Pianist, and adding a bongo drum player for his tribute to the Queens of Pop.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/cats.jpg

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/bongos.jpg

 

Today’s parting shot comes from a wall slogan presented by Tommie Sue Montgomery: “Well behaved women rarely make history”.

 

http://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/wall1.jpg

 

Roy

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Excuse me Sir? Well behaved women don't make history? who defines a well behaved woman.

 

Sorry Roy, couldn't resist.

 

Enjoying your posts as always.

 

hope the P'dam had a good sailing around the horn.

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