Join Pete and Judy on their Celtic Adventure aboard the ms Zuiderdam

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

New to me. On Location is now called "When and Where"

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Things are changing.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 1, July 31st, Enroute to Portree, Isle of Skyee, Scotland

 

Our first full day of the cruise was a sea day, which is always a nice way to get rested after travel while orienting yourself to the ship.

 

We always get room service breakfast and were a little concerned about the different look to the breakfast hang tag. A copy of the breakfast hang tag is HERE. A copy of the earlier menu is HERE. A copy of the menu that was on the 2016 Grand World Voyage is HERE. You can see that there are fewer choices and is consistent with HAL making everything simpler and easier to read. Also new are some options to pay extra for steak and eggs and a few other items. Nevertheless we were please to see that HAL still offers a hot room service breakfast at no extra charge.

 

The menu encourages waste by giving you the impression that your only choice is to check the box and take everything offered for that selection. As an experiment I edited the menu – crossing off “scrambled eggs” and writing in “over medium” I also wrote in cream instead of checking the box for either milk for 2% for your coffee.

 

I put my menu outside my door and turned in, wondering what would be delivered in the AM.

 

Right on time, the room service waiter knocked on the door and delivered our tray. All of my modifications were accepted and the food delivered as requested. I will be trying this throughout the cruise and I am not sure if this is a YMMV situation, a nod toward my Mariner status or something else. I will enquire with some of my sources to see if I can shed any light on the official policy of what is an acceptable edit to the breakfast hang tag.

 

There are some pictures of the breakfast as delivered on the blog.

 

Always remember this simple rule when cruising – if you would like something a certain way or something that is different than the official offering – ask very nicely and more often than not your request will be granted.

 

We spent most to the day working with our knitting group. Beth Brown-Reinsel presented a class on Fair Isle Tams in the Hudson room that was well received and very popular.

 

Tonight was our first Gala Night. There were a handful of men in Tuxedos, another handful in suits with the majority of the rest wearing sport jackets, some with ties some without, and a healthy number of folks meeting the collared shirt minimum. Women were probably more dressed, but we didn’t see any one in a gown. I wore my Tux and will continue, and the good news is that you can wear pretty much anything you want and you will fit in.

 

If you want a traditional formal night – cruise on the QM-2 – we did one last year and it was a lot of fun.

 

Captain Bart Vaartjes hosted the welcome toast in the Vista Lounge right before the evening show. This event was streamlined in that there wasn’t any introduction of the ships senior officers. We would have enjoyed seeing who they were, but we are probably in the minority. The Captain did make a point to say he was actually toasting with Ginger Ale instead of Champagne.

 

Immediately following the toast, The Zuiderdam singers and dancers put on a wonderful show called “One World”. We haven’t seen this show before and it was outstanding. Their musical arrangements and choreography produced a high energy program. Using rear screen projections to change locations, the cast, with appropriate costume changes, expressed the joy of the community of the world. It had sort of a Lion King vibe to it and we enjoyed it very much. We enjoy all the live entertainment on HAL ships and rarely miss a show. They are all worth seeing multiple times.

 

 

We will be in Portree, Scotland tomorrow and are hoping the forecast for rain turns out to be incorrect.

 

More pictures menus and more on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[ellieanne]

I'll be anxious to hear what you find about other passenger's experience in respect to changes to the in-room breakfast menu. I'm going to be on the Zuiderdam later this year (post-dry dock) and I know that none of the hot choices as set on the menu will work for my vegetarian husband or me. And we like to have breakfast in bed a few times on the cruise. I am definitely looking forward to that.

 

As a personal and inconsequential note, I was on the Zuiderdam last year in Canada and I noticed the name on the wall outside the Sports Bar read "SPORT'S." has that been corrected? By the time I'm back on the ship in December, that area will have been redone so I may never know. No big deal if you can't find out, but if you happen to be down that way, it might be interesting to check.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Based on observing number of room service hang tags displayed. Very few people seem to use this service.

 

Sports bar is correct on signs and maps but remains incorrect on the sign outside the bar.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RuthC]

I'm pleased that you were able to get a custom order for room service breakfast. It indicates to me that this may be a universal, at least so long as the dining room is open.

 

On disembarkation morning of my recent Prinsendam cruise I just could not stand the idea of going without room service breakfast, but didn't want the combinations on the hang tag, so I wrote in exactly what I wanted.

Got it! :D

 

Hopefully, HAL will continue to allow custom orders that are built around the set offerings.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I'm pleased that you were able to get a custom order for room service breakfast. It indicates to me that this may be a universal, at least so long as the dining room is open.

 

 

 

 

On disembarkation morning of my recent Prinsendam cruise I just could not stand the idea of going without room service breakfast, but didn't want the combinations on the hang tag, so I wrote in exactly what I wanted.

 

Got it! :D

 

 

 

Hopefully, HAL will continue to allow custom orders that are built around the set offerings.

 

 

 

I am working up to asking for Eggs Benedict - Eggs Benedict with Salmon is $7.50. Not sure if Eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon would be a free modification.

 

I wrote in Chocolate Croissants today....they were delivered with a smile.......as usual!

[Heartgrove]

We were on the Zuiderdam in June and substituted a number of choices on the current Breakfast hang tag. All of our requests were honored. It showed a nice attention to detail by the crew.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 2, August 1, Portree, Isle of Skyee, Scotland

 

Our first port of this cruise was Portree, Scotland, where we anchored in the harbor and used the tender

boats to get ashore. Since this was our first port in the UK, they required a face to face passport check

which would be done as we were passing thru security on the way to the tenders. This would go very

fast and ended up not causing any additional delays. Sometimes you have to go to one of the lounges to

see the immigration officials and when this is the requirement, getting the ship cleared can sometimes

take much more time.

 

At 9:30 AM the ship started to pass out tender tickets which were a small, square piece of plastic, with a

color and a number. This allowed guests to wait in any public area and then proceed to the tender

platform once their color and number are called. Sometimes guests will keep an extra tender ticket in

the hope of using it in a future port to avoid having to stand in line to get a ticket. This strategy is often

thwarted when the ship changes the colors used or the starting numbers. Your Green Number 1 may

sound really good today, but in the future, they may declare that the first number will be 100 – and any

tender ticket 99 and below is invalid.

 

The ship was cleared a little after 10 AM, the first wave of tender tickets was called and the guests

started to stream down the stairs in the middle of the ship. Four and Five Star Mariners don’t need a

tender ticket, but simply present their cruise card at the checkpoint and proceed to the next tender.

Loading the tenders went quickly and we were soon on our way. The tender took about 10 minutes to

arrive at the pier, followed by a short walk up a ramp. The HAL Tour buses – big 40 passenger ones –

had special permission to park right next to the top of the ramp. One advantage of going on the ship

tour is that sometimes the busses will be closer than other private tour busses. The street to the tender

pier was narrow and the only vehicles allowed were taxies and smaller busses less than 16 passengers or

so. There were taxis on the pier but they were all for prearranged tours It’s easy to book a cab online –

no upfront fees required – pay in cash at the end.

 

Judy went with a group of knitters from Craft Cruises on a private tour. They visited Eilean Oir Croft, a

small farm raising Hebridean & Black Chevoit sheep. http://www.island-at-the-edge.co.uk/default.html

They continued on to Shilasdair to buy yarn dyed with mostly local plants and to see the where the yarn

is dyed. http://www.theskyeshilasdairshop.co.uk/ They had time to squeeze in a quick stop at

Skyeskyns to check out the sheep skin rugs, clothing and footwear. https://www.skyeskyns.co.uk/

They all had a great time, bought lots of yarn and enjoyed the beautiful scenery on their 20 minute ride

out to the other side of the island.

 

I went with a group of 3 other guest to visit the Talisker Distillery about 12 miles away. We took a

prearranged taxi and bought our tour tickets online. In about 30 minutes we arrived at the Talisker

Distillery and since we were about 1 hour early we walked a couple hundred yards to a pub where we

had a beer and soaked in the local ambience. This pub was not visible to the guests who came on the

ships tours so the pub was not crowded and was only being patronized by locals and tourists who had

rented cars and drove here from other parts of the UK.

 

Our tour started at 1 PM and took about 45 minutes. We were surprised that it only takes 9 people to

operate the actual distillery. The tour was interesting and we enjoyed an opportunity to taste their

“Storm” scotch afterwards which has a very smoky flavor. I am not much of a scotch drinker, but the

Storm was very nice so I picked up a bottle to take home.

 

Once we were back in Portree we had about 90 minutes until the all aboard. We stopped by the tourist

information centre, browsed a few souvenir shops and looked up our favorite fish and chips spot from

last time, “The Chippy”, but it was closed – I think they ran out of food, because I can’t imagine them

closing early on a cruise ship day otherwise. There was another fish and chips shop on the lower road

leading toward the tenders called “The Harbour Fish Shop” and we gave them a try, but it wasn’t quite

as good as we remember it was at “The Chippy”.

After a short tender ride we were back on the ship and we turned in our bottle of scotch for safekeeping

until the end of the cruise.

The show tonight was one of our favorites – Jesse Kazemek “A Tribute to the Beatles”. Jesse is an

amazing performer who puts on a fantastic show along with his wife, Colleen. She sings a few songs by

herself and teams up with him on some others. We have seen his show 4 times on various cruises and it

never gets old and we never miss a chance to see it again.

 

 

Pictures, menus and more on the blog www.theinsidecabin.com

[Love the beach]

We had Jesse and Colleen on the Amsterdam in Alaska 2 weeks ago.....they were great!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 3, August 2, Belfast, Northern Ireland

 

The weather forecast for every day of this cruise shows that there is a chance of rain and sure enough we were greeted with a light drizzle as we moored at Belfast’s Stormont Wharf. It wasn’t bad enough to require an umbrella, a light rain jacket was enough to stay dry for the most part.

 

There was a small tent on the wharf housing a few tables with some tourist information and a small band playing some traditional Irish music. The HAL tour busses were all lined up on one side of the wharf with the other side being dedicated to private tours and a taxi stand/drop off. If you didn’t mind a couple of miles walk, it would be possible to walk from Stormont Wharf to downtown Belfast. Taxi fare to downtown Belfast was about 7 Pounds. Our group had arranged to visit the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum lisburnmuseum.com located in Lisburn, about 10 miles south of Belfast.

 

Traffic was light heading out of Belfast to Lisburn and we arrived in about 25 minutes. Our bus dropped us off and would return in about 2 hours.

 

We divided our group in half and each group was assigned a docent to lead us thru the museum’s three main exhibit areas:

 

· The history of linen in Ireland with a spinning demonstration

 

· A display of looms used in Ireland back in the 1800’s

 

· Three interactive displays featuring drop spindles, mini looms and peg looms.

 

The exhibits were all outstanding and we enjoyed the spinning demonstration and the chance to experience the interactive exhibits. After the tour we had time for a little shopping in the museum gift shop before heading back to Belfast.

 

By the time we returned to downtown Belfast the rained picked up to a point where an umbrella would have been nice, Judy brought one and I made due with my rain jackets. About 6 of us wanted Fish and Chips and we discovered a place called “Fish City” that was highly rated and won several awards for the best Fish and Chips in Belfast. We pushed on thru the rain through a pedestrian outdoor mall called Victoria square, for about ¾ of a mile, and scurried inside the nearly empty restaurant.

 

Service was quick and the food lived up to its billing. Everyone ordered the standard size Fish and Chips (they had small, standard and large) with a beer or soft drink. We had to meet our bus back at the Visitors Center – so we didn’t have a lot of time to shop in the way back. By now the rain had stopped so walking back wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as walking over. Twenty minutes later we were back on the ship and were glad to get back into our cabins to dry out.

 

The Zuiderdam was not leaving until 7pm, so we had time to return to Belfast if we wanted to, but we chose to stay on the ship and relax before dinner.

 

As expected, early seating was about ½ full and service was especially quick. I had the Thai Shrimp Bisque, Classic Caesar Salad and Short Rib with bIack olives. Judy had the French Onion Soup and the Pork Rib Roast. Once again the food was wonderful and the service exceptional.

 

The Holland America Dancers were in the spotlight tonight with their presentation of the relatively new show “Musicology”. All the music and singing for this show is recorded – only the dancing is live. The show has about a dozen different dance numbers featuring the dancers playing the role of various musica; instruments under the watchful eye of a conductor. The dancing is wonderful and the show was very entertaining. We enjoyed it very much. Later we learned that the dancers enjoy this show a lot since they are on stage every number and have a chance to showcase their exceptional talent. Don’t miss it.

 

 

 

This show was developed for the 270 degree stage, with its high definition screen on the Koningsdam. Since the Zuiderdam has a 180 degree stage they had to re-stage the show to work on this class ship.

 

Tomorrow will bring Dublin for an overnight visit – with rain in the forecast.

 

More pictures on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[erewhon]

Thank you for your reports and photos.

[Lovely other]

I always look foreword to reading your cruise blog and I'm glad you had a good time in my rainy hometown. When I first moved here I was told "it isn't about if it will rain, it just a case of when " ... we have 4 seasons in one day quite often but it makes life interesting 😎

[tommui987]

Day 3, August 2, Belfast, Northern Irelan

 

The exhibits were all outstanding and we enjoyed the spinning demonstration and the chance to experience the interactive exhibits.

 

Judy: Were the group able to experience the wheels? (Don't ask me what is meant by the "wheels". My daughter belongs to some group Mid-Atlantic wool-gathering? M-A spinning group? She has a couple of looms and spinning wheels - that's all I know!)

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Judy: Were the group able to experience the wheels? (Don't ask me what is meant by the "wheels". My daughter belongs to some group Mid-Atlantic wool-gathering? M-A spinning group? She has a couple of looms and spinning wheels - that's all I know!)

 

 

 

Yes, the wheels were available to try out!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Aug 3 Dublin

Today is going to be a nice day with only a few puffy clouds surrounded by blue skies. This was a

pleasant change to the overcast and gray clouds we have experienced earlier in the week. We will be in

Dublin overnight with a scheduled departure at 6 pm tomorrow evening.

We moored at Ocean Pier 33, about 2 miles from downtown. Although it was possible to walk into the

city, most people took the free shuttle bus or a taxi that cost about 14-15 Euros. Each additional person

added 1 euro to the taxi fare. One person would be about 13 euros, 2 people 14 euros and so on. Most

taxis took credit cards, but not all, so ask first if that is important.

The shuttle busses were the double decker variety and ran about every 20 minutes. It took about 20

minutes to get to the dropoff spot in Merrion Square at the corner of Clare Street and Merrion Square

West. As soon we got off the shuttle bus, we were greeted by salespeople for the various HOHO and

other tourist offerings in the city that also picked up and dropped off nearby.

One tip about ship shuttle busses is to locate a hotel or other landmark near the drop off point that taxi

drivers will recognize. That way if you want to return to the shuttle bus spot by taxi later you can ask

them to take you to the O'Callaghan Davenport Hotel (In the case of Dublin) instead of hoping they

know the shuttle bus spot or the exact corner of the rather large Merrion Square.

Our destination was a local yarn shop called The Constant Knitter, which was 1.2 miles away. Since it

was a nice day, we decided to walk enjoying a leisurely stroll thru Dublin. Anymore it seems, large cities

anywhere in the west are becoming more and more similar, as international brands are everywhere and

local shops seem to be fewer and far between. Along the way we passed by the Dublin Library, the

Exhibit for the Book of Kells and the Gaiety Theatre where we would see Riverdance later in the evening.

Our knitting group arranged for Kieran Foley, an accomplished local knitting pattern designer, to meet

us at the yarn shop where he would be available to meet with members of our group. He brought many

knitted samples of his patterns and shared his insight into his designs. Kieran's designs are beautiful and

we enjoyed the opportunity to meet with him face to face.

After our visit we stopped by a local Coffee Shop called "Two Pups Coffee" at the corner of Dean and

Francis Street - Starbucks is everywhere but thankfully not EVERYWHERE - and enjoyed a leisurely cup of

coffee along with some delicious pastries.

We purchased tickets to "Riverdance" at the Gaiety Theatre a couple of months before the cruise.

Tickets were still available today and a few folks from our group got tickets. We arranged to meet them

for dinner at the FK Buckley Steakhouse on Crow Street. The steakhouse is similar to a Ruth's Chris in

the USA as far as pricing went, but since we were so early we ordered the Early Bird Specials for 25

Euros. I had the Sirloin steak which was very good. Others in our group ordered the Beef Medallions

which were inconsistent in their preparation "medium" was more like "well" and others more like

"rare" when they should have been "medium." Service was prompt and we all had a good time chatting

and getting to know each other a little better.

We all walked to the Gaiety Theatre, about a quarter mile away. We arrived about 45 minutes before

show time so we popped into a nearby pub for a round of draft beers while waiting for the show.

We have seen Riverdance once before when the National Tour came to San Diego a few years back, but

that was in the huge San Diego Civic Center. The Gaiety is much smaller with everything closer and

more intimate. I don't think the show has changed since it was first introduced by Michael Flatley years

ago. It remains a high energy, fast paced performance that is a lot of fun. During the first few dances,

the performers have very serious looks on their faces, but as the show goes on the performers start to

smile more and interact with each other as they dance. The final number is a reprise of the opening

number is many ways, but the performers interaction with each other and the audience creates a

wonderful and exciting end to a tremendous show. Highly recommended.

With the last shuttle bus to the ship leaving at 8pm, we knew we would need to find a taxi to get back to

the ship. We walked to the street expecting to find a mass of people looking for cabs, but much to our

pleasant surprise, there was no line at the taxi stand and we quickly found a cab to take us back to the

ship.

Aug 4th Dublin Continued

It was nice to sleep in a bit the next morning before heading out to do a little yarn shopping. Around 1

pm we left the ship to find that there were only 2 shuttle busses running, instead of 3, so the time

between busses could be up to 30 minutes instead of 20 minutes. Since there wasn't a shuttle bus in

sight, we decided to grab a waiting taxi and head back to downtown Dublin. The yarn shop "This is

Knit", located in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, a multi story shopping center, was our destination.

The shop is owned by Jacqui and Lisa, a mother daughter team and featured a nice selection of local

Irish companies and independent dyers and designers. Judy enjoyed chatting with the owners and she

picked up two hanks of Trinity 2-Ply merino/silk blend lace weight yarn by Townhouse Yarn. It's a brand

exclusive to This Is Knit, hand dyed by "Jenny".

The adjacent street has been turned into a pedestrian mall, complete with street performers. There

were a couple of musicians along with some people who dress in costume and then stand on a box

inviting photographs and donations. We walked to the shuttle pick up spot and discovered that the line

wrapped around the block ? probably 3 busses worth of people. This was at 3:20 PM with an all aboard

of 5:30, the last shuttle scheduled for 5 PM. There was a taxi stand nearby and we decided to take a cab

rather than wait in line to get back to the ship.

Paul Adams, comedian, was on the main stage tonight. He has a quick wit and loves to engage the

audience. Twenty minutes into the show the general alarm sounded followed by an announcement of a

fire in the crew galley and that all crew members should go to their emergency stations. Paul Adams

walked off the stage and the passengers were advised to take no action and continue about their

business. Five minutes later the Captain announced that the fire was under control and 4 minutes after

that the Captain announced that the fire was out. The Captain's final announcement was 13 minutes

after the first alarm when he informed us that the cause of the fire was an electrical malfunction in the

deep fat fryer. Nothing was said about any injuries or lack of injuries to any crewmembers. Five

minutes later, Paul Adams returned to the stage and resume his routine, finishing around 9 PM. We

have seen Paul many times before on other ships and he always puts on a good show.

 

 

 

Pictures on the blog at www.theinsidecabin.com

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just got caught up.

Wonderful review with great pictures.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Thank you for your very informative reports. We just returned from the Baltic and Iceland cruise and wanted to let those of you leaving Copenhagen from the airport to be aware that once you pass through security you're not done yet. Along with all the duty-free shopping you will reach the Passport Control booth, along with fairly long lines. It was so easy leaving the airport when we arrived we didn't even think about anything different on our way back to the US. We didn't leave enough time and made our flight with just a few minutes to spare. Glad I ran out of krona so I stopped shopping! Otherwise we would have been in big trouble!!! Enjoy your cruise.

[erewhon]

Thank you for continuing your reports.

[gwilli]

Sounds like you are having a wonderful time! Glad all was well with the fire. Please share menus. Thanks!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

We arrive Copenhagen tomorrow. Big backlog of reports....internet has been horrible. Will catch up when I get to high speed again.

[SF Ex-Pat]

Thanks for a great blog. We are headed out on the Priesendam from Amsterdam headed to the British Isles, Oslo, Copenhagen, and Hamburg in 3 weeks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 6, Aug 5, Liverpool

 

Liverpool, best known in the USA (and probably throughout the world) as the home of the Beatles, is not

usually thought of as a tourist destination.

 

The cloudy skies and intermittent rain we experienced so far this cruise were not in the forecast for our

visit to Liverpool. We were greeted by wonderful blue skies, puffy clouds and smooth seas.

Liverpool's cruise terminal is within easy walking distance of downtown, which makes for a much nicer

port visit.

We had originally planned to visit a yarn shop "Made in Yarn" in Liscard Village in Wallasey, across the

River Mersey from the cruise terminal. While double checking my directions on their website, I noticed

that they announced they would be closed until August 14th while on vacation. We changed our plans

and went directly to the Cavern Club (one of the first clubs where the Beatles performed), followed by a

stroll thru the downtown shopping district ending up at the "Beatles Story Experience", a museum

dedicated to the Beatles, a short distance from the ship.

 

The cruise terminal is modern and has a wide-open area for a gift shop and an information desk. Plenty

of free local maps were available, and the information desk staff were friendly and helpful. We picked

up some maps and got some tips from the staff and headed out into the city. Along the banks of the

River Mersey next to the cruise terminal are some museums, amusement park type rides, a variety of

food vendors and the Mersey Ferry terminal. Statues of the Beatles near the Ferry Terminal were

drawing quite a crowd, and people lined up to take pictures. We joined the fun and snapped a picture.

After our picture with the Beatles statues, we headed toward the city and the Cavern Club, about ½ mile

away.

 

The Cavern Club is where the Beatles played almost 300 times with their last performance in August

1963, about six months before their first trip to the USA, the Ed Sullivan Show and Beatlemania

exploding across the globe.

The original Cavern Club closed in 1973 to make room for a rail development project and was rebuilt in

1984 at the same location, but lower, using many of the same bricks and reusing about 75% of the

original space. Across the street from the Cavern Club is the Cavern Café, owned by the same company

and sells food, souvenirs and other memorabilia. We walked thru the Cavern Café first – it's not exactly

clear which way is which when you first get in the area – and bought a T shirt and a key chain. We

headed over to the Cavern Club – paid a 2.5 Pound cover charge (live music is playing after Noon most

days) and walked down about three flights of stairs to enter the dark bar, with various rooms and low

ceilings. A local musician, Tim Shaw, was playing on one of the stages. The club was crowded, but

tables were still available, and there were a couple of bars nearby to serve drinks. We explored the

various rooms and saw that rooms out of the line of sight of the stage had TV screens showing the act

playing on the main stage.

 

Climbing the stairs back to the street, we continued our walk thru the shopping district and pedestrian

malls. This was Saturday, so the streets were filled with locals and tourists enjoying the beautiful

weather. Street performers including various forms of "statue people" along with live bands dotted the

sidewalks and streets. The influence of the Beatles here is everywhere – it's hard to go into any store

and not find something for sale about the Beatles or advertising some tour or other activity that involves

the Beatles.

Along the way we stopped and bought an original Krispy Kreme doughnut – always tempting and always

good.

We stopped into a John Lewis Department store – forgetting that the ground floor is labeled ZERO and

the second floor is really the third floor – and found the yarn section on the second floor after

wandering around what we thought was the second floor for a bit. They had an excellent selection of

Rowan yarn, but it was heavier than Judy was interested in, mainly DK and Worsted weight, so she

didn't buy anything, and we headed back to the street to continue our trek towards our destination –

The Beatles Story Experience.

 

The Beatles Experience in located right on the river and within an easy walk to the cruise ship terminal.

We bought tickets online before we left the USA so we could avoid the line to buy tickets on site, but as

it turned out, there wasn't a line when we arrived. The Beatles Experience is a self-guided audio tour

that takes you on a chronological history of the Beatles from their first meeting back in the fifties thru

their breakup in 1969. There are many lovely photographs, and exhibits and the audio tour provides a

lot of insight and background. We spent about 90 minutes walking thru the exhibit, but you could have

easily spent twice as long if you chose to listen to every single option on the audio tour.

Walking back to the ship along the riverfront we saw some of the amusement rides up close along with

many of the food carts and vendors. We passed by the Liverpool museum, which is free, but we didn't

have time to go inside and check it out.

 

As we were preparing to sail away, the port set up a singer with a live band on the pier to entertain the

passengers who were lined up on the open decks. The sail-away party was up in the Crows Nest where

they served small sausages in pastries along with beer.

 

Dinner in the main dining room continues to be outstanding. Service has been prompt and always

perfectly paced. The Zuiderdam has nailed the main dining room experience.

Tonight's Show featured the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers in "A Thousand Steps." This is another of

the new shows created for the 270 LED screen on the Koningsdam but restaged on the Zuiderdam.

Featuring a number of high energy Latin style songs, the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers put on a

wonderful show that we are looking forward to seeing again on future sailings.

 

 

Pictures, menus and more on the blog www.theinsidecabin.com

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love your reporting and pictures.

Sorry you didn't get to your yarn shop. So many shops are closed in August as many Europeans take vacation at this time as well as others.

[boards]

Thank you for your report. Your visit to Liverpool sounded just like we remember it on ours there on the Infinity several years ago. We enjoyed it very much.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 7, August 6th, Greenock, Scotland

 

A light drizzle greeted us as we moored in Greenock, Scotland, around 7 am. Joining the line handlers

on the quay was a person wearing a giant inflatable Scot costume dancing behind a lone bagpiper

playing familiar Scottish music. Observing the local welcoming ceremonies at the various cruise ports

across the world is something I look forward to and they vary from nothing but line handlers and

longshoremen to elaborate marching bands and everything in between. A giant dancing Scotsman was

a first and he was fun to watch.

 

 

Our group chartered two busses that would take us to New Lanark World Heritage Site, George Square

in Glasgow and finally a yarn shop called the Yarn Cake in Glasgow’s west end.

 

There is a warehouse type building on the quay that functions as a cruise terminal and is used by the

tourist information bureau and a few vendors. There are also provisions for security, but it wasn’t in use

and the Zuiderdam provided security on our return. After passing thru the terminal there is a large

parking area filled with the Holland America chartered tours. Private tours meet outside the gate, which

isn’t all that much further than the some of the HAL tour busses. Taxis are allowed inside near the

cruise terminal.

After assembling in the Ocean Bar, we made our way off the ship, thru the terminal and onto our

waiting busses just outside the gate. We have been to Greenock twice, but always used it as a starting

point for other tours or taking the train to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

 

New Lanark is about 55 miles away and takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. The last 10 miles cover some

very narrow and winding roads and our busses couldn’t do much more than 20 mph. New Lanark is one

of 6 UNESCO’s World Heritage sites in Scotland and is home to the former 18th century cotton spinning

mill.

We arrived a few minutes after they opened and after we checked in we were split into two groups for

our guided tours. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and we covered 3 of the large machinery areas that

were idle since this was a Sunday. If you plan your visit during a working day, you should be able to see

parts of the mill in operation.

Our tour ended in the gift shop which had a nice selection of locally crafted items ranging from clothing

to home decorations to souvenirs to yarn.

After our lunch, we were back on the buses and on our way to George Square in Glasgow. We had

about 45 minutes to stretch our legs and check out a few shops. Near George Square we noticed an

Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington with a traffic cone on his head. Apparently, this has been

going on for some time and the Glasgow government appears to have given up trying to stop this after

considering various options to discourage people from putting a cone on the statue such as raising the

height of the pedestal.

A light rain during our visit discouraged walking around the park so we stayed inside a few shops until it

was time to head back to the bus.

The “Yarn Cake” yarn shop was our final stop, about 15 minutes away from George Square. Antje and

her husband are the owners and they made us feel very welcome. The shop is quite small but had a

wonderful selection of local and hand dyed yarns. We all enjoyed a special treat as we watched a small

girl probably around 8 years old, accompanied by her father and mother, step into the shop so she could

make her very first yarn purchases. Her grandmother is teaching her how to knit and she needed to pick

up her first skeins of yarn and needles.

We left the Yarn Cake at 3PM and had a 27 mile drive back to the ship. All aboard was 4:30 with

departure scheduled for 5 pm. 45 minutes later we were back in Greenock and had some time to check

out a few of the vendors in the cruise terminal.

 

Tonight’s show was an encore performance of Comedian Paul Adams and Jesse Kazemek’s ‘A Tribute to

the Beatles’ along with his wife Coleen. Each performer had about twenty minutes to present some

new material. Paul was hilarious once again with his edgy humor on full display. Jesse and Coleen were

magnificent and performed a wonderful 11 song medley of some of the Beatles greatest hits. Both of

these guest entertainers are frequent performers on Holland America Ships and their shows are both

must sees.

 

Tomorrow will be a sea day which will give us a chance to relax and enjoy some of the ships many

activities.

 

More pictures on the blog at www.theinsidecabin.com Menus and When and Where's also available HERE