QV/QM2 Kiel to New York with a Holland America Prelude

[rafinmd]

Queen Victoria is in Hamburg.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

 

I'll start with a couple more photos of venues around the ship.  For years people derided Cunard for the "caste system" of separate dining for the Grills.  Now it's pretty common including "Club Orange" on the Nieuw Statendam.  It's on deck 2 immediately forward of the main dining room.  I expect Cunard will create a new space for the Grills on their new ship as they did for QV/QE, but this could become the new Britannia Club restaurant.

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Midship on the promenade deck we have the Dutch Café.  The food is free but most if not all the drinks have a surcharge.

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This may have been my final long morning walk, depending on conditions on the Bay of Biscay.  Either the promenade deck is longer than advertized or I am really slowing down.  I am taking about 8 minutes per lap, which would be a 24 minute mile. I completed my 5-mile walk by about 7:30 which was also sunrise (but not much).

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The day's activities started with a coffee chat with Pim, the Navigation officer.  I enquired about why we were using a rhumb line and he indicated that for our route it was only 32 miles longer than a great circle route and kept us further from storms.

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The Mariner awards ceremony was held at 11:15 in the lower dining room.  Many people were presented bronze medallions (100 days) and a few silvers (300 days).  Most of the larger tables were hosted by crew members; mine had Willem, the Safety Officer.  There were 3 entree choices, I took the pork Medallions as well as the lemon tart.

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The ship largely redeemed itself for the snafu on the Behind the Scenes Tour.  I was invited on a bridge tour and met a member of guest services at 3.  He escorted me and one other person up to the bridge where we were greeted by Martin, one of the cadets.  The bridge on this ship is extremely wide and spacious.  

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Martin took care of us extremely well, showing us first the bridge wing console and answering questions, explaining the several different ways of controlling the azipods, either individually or ganged together.

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I was a bit surprised looking out the forward window is our bow appears to have several levels, much like that on Queen Mary 2.  Martin presented a little slide show where he explained all the mechanics of the ship and we talked some about life on the ship and the bridge team as well as sailing in general (the other guest has a sail boat).  Martin has one more semester in school and then plans to return as a 3rd officer.  From what I have seen he will be a fine addition, both technically and temperamentally, to the HAL officer corps.

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It was close to 4 when I returned from the tour and about time to prepare for dinner.  It was again just 2 of us at table 232 and my choices were the Jicama and Mango salad, pasta, and mixed berry crisp.  There was another orange card on my bed after dinner, our final lost hour as we will now be on Amsterdam time and I should not lose another hour until about May 13 or 14 as QM2 stops in Zeebrugge.

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The World Stage entertainment was one of my favorite acts from the Prinsendam Grand South America.  The MacDonald Brothers sing and play a plethora of instruments.  Their roots are Scottish but they also do quite a bit of pop music (Elton John, Everly Brothers), all presented with a Celtic influence.

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My parting shot will be a bit sad and about the MacDonald Brothers.  I looked at their web site and as of now they show no future HAL bookings although I expect that will change.  They do have several on Crystal and one on QM2, but the closest they come to my schedule is being on the ship about a month ahead of me.  For people who happen to be booked on QM2's Hamburg Short Break in September I will strongly recommend that they not miss that show.

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

A question for the real Cunarders

 

I know as World Club Diamond I normally get 8 hours of free internet but is there a minimum length of cruise for that to kick in?  I'm wondering what if any internet I'll get for my 3 days on Queen Victoria.

 

Thanks

Roy

[Host Hattie]

5 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

A question for the real Cunarders

 

I know as World Club Diamond I normally get 8 hours of free internet but is there a minimum length of cruise for that to kick in?  I'm wondering what if any internet I'll get for my 3 days on Queen Victoria.

 

Thanks

Roy

No change in allowance as far as I know, you'll still get 8 hours for 3 days.

[rafinmd]

Day NS10, Wednesday, May 1, 2019,  At sea, MS Nieuw Statendam

Queen Victoria is at sea from Hamburg to Copenhagen.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

With On Deck For a Cause coming up later in the day I held my morning walk to 2 miles.  With the 2 hours we have lost since the Azores sunrise and sunset got pretty late.  Sunrise came about 8 and I went up to my usual perch just in time before starting my first stage of breakfast.

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Walking from my forward sunrise spot to the lido I found a veritable menagerie of towel animals, many quite elaborate, on the pool deck.

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My main event of the day (11AM) was "On Deck For A Cause", the 5K walk for cancer research benefitting key organizations internationally.  The Grand Dutch Café was pretty full as we assembled.

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It was likely close to 100 walkers who filled up an extensive section of the promenade deck as we started off at 11.  We started walking on the starboard side towards the bow and by the time we finished our most of our first lap and got to the really narrow part of the deck people were pretty well spaced out and the walk went off quite smoothly.  There was one really fast walker with trekking poles who was a bit of a hazard but for the most part it was pretty smooth walking.  Fortunately, there was no music blaring at the start/end point.

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At the end of the walk there was a nice array of treats set out on a table.

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The afternoon was quiet except for Karlijn's talk on Cherbourg.  The World Stage gets really full for her talks and there really should be a way to simulcast them remotely either to staterooms or another lounge.

There were 4 of us present at table 232 for our final Gala night.  My choices were the apple, pear, and cucumber salad, steak from surf and turf, and almond and orange cake.

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The World Stage show was pianist Kyle Esplin.  He plays mostly boogie woogie but dabbles in quite a wide variety of music.  A highlight was his medley of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" with Billy Joel's "Piano Man".

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After the show I stopped for a little while at Billboard Onboard where the show is a piano duo.

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I returned to my cabin after sunset (9:45PM) and got a little bit of packing done before calling it a night.

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As a parting shot it sounds like we had a reasonably (although not completely) peaceful May Day.

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

Cabin 1021 is a "Family Oceanview" cabin.  There are places on the Pinnacle Class ships where the hallways move a bit closer to the center of the ship leaving a bit more depth to certain cabins.  In the family oceanview, that depth is used to create a second vanity/shower and the primary bathroom has a tub/shower.

My cabin was right next to the forward stairs, just below and to the left of the H of Holland America on the starboard side.

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There is a king bed, a sofa that folds out to a double bed, and a bunk that pulls down from the ceiling.  It looks like the bunk is always on the window side of the cabin, while some cabins have the sofa next to the window while others have the king bed there.  In 1021 it's the sofa that's next to the window.  In any case it looks like the ladder for the bunk comes between the bed and the sofa.

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There are night stands on either side of the bed with 2 drawers in each and an open space at the bottom.  Above each night stand there's a US outlet, USB outlet, wall lamp and reading light.  

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The desk is on the wall opposite the sofa.  I never opened either the bunk or the sofa but it looks like the sofa if opened up would extend all the way to the desk.  The ladder from the bunk drops down to the space between the sofa and the bed.

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There are 5 closet spaces.  Closest to the door there are 4 shelves and 3 drawers.  Next is a cabinet with 3 shelves and hanging space.  The first of the next 2 is hanging space with 3 shelves followed by a full length hanging space and one shelf at the bottom (that shelf and the 4 nearest the door are filled with life jackets).  The final space is the safe on top, fridge in the middle, and 3 drawers on the bottom.  Between the cabinets and the TV there's a triangular cabinet with a glass case on top, 2 open shelves, and a small closed cabinet at the bottom.

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The main bath has the toilet, sink, and TINY bathtub/shower.  A standard bath mat fills the base of the tub.

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The second bath has a walk-in shower and another sink.  

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There's plenty of power in the room.  Each night stand has US and USB outlets.  The desk has USB/US on the right, USB/Euro outlets in the middle, and another US/Euro outlet on the left.  Each bath has a shaver outlet.  

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There is a card slot next to the door that controls some of the power.  When the card is not in place the left outlets on the desk, the outlets in the bath, and the main cabin lights and bath lights turn off.  The bath outlets do stay on even if the bathroom lights are off, as long as the card is in the slot.

Finally, most of the walls are steel and readily hold magnets.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/1021walls.jpg

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

Day NS11, Thursday, May 2, 2019, At Sea, MS Nieuw Statendam

Queen Victoria is in Copenhagen.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

The Bay of Biscay was kind to us and I got in one more 5-mile walk on the Nieuw Statendam--Well 4 2/3 initially and the final lap on the way to the lido about 9.  It is becoming chillier and my rain jacket and was barely enough to walk comfortably.  It was very cloudy and I did not really see a sunrise; the best color in the sky was about 15 minutes before the sun's predicted appearance.  The sun did appear for a while mid-day.

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I am starting to wind down a bit as the cruise approaches the end and only did 2 significant things during our final sea day.  The morning event was a coffee chat with the female senior officers, a third officer on the bridge, 2 from guest relations, production manager and EXC guides.  They had a variety of initial jobs and most moved upwards into fields they had not initially expected.  After the chat I caught the last couple minutes of Tim Calvert's talk on nostalgia.

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In his final noon update Captain DeBoer indicated the temperature was 55F although with the wind it felt cooler.  He noted that the Zuiderdam, which will be with us for our final ports, was 18 miles to our port side.  I caught a glimpse of it from the Crows Nest but just barely.

Heather's talk on Zeebrugge and Amsterdam was at 3.  It was again a packed house.  I don't know if it's the same for the Caribbean ports but we really need to have those talks either simulcast to one of the lounges or recorded for replay on our cabin TV's.

There were 3 of us this time at table 232.  By dinner time we had entered the English Channel traffic separation scheme with lots of ships in sight and the Zuiderdam was following fairly close behind. My dinner choices were the Sunset salad, striploin steak, and Apple strudel.

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The featured entertainment was singer Camile Mesnard with a tribute to Edith Piaf.  I only stayed for a couple of songs thinking there was also a Lincoln Stage performance at 7 but was mistaken about that.

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It appears that the music on the Nieuw Statendam is pretty much confined to the music walk area from Lincoln Center Stage to the World Stage.  I have not seen bands at the pool at lunch time and walked past the Ocean Bar about 9.  This looks like a good space for a Chart Room on the new Cunarder.  It's aft on deck 2 and very lovely but there was nothing going on there and at 9 was pretty deserted.

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A note on room keys.  Both the Pinnacle class ships use a key with a chip inside and a bit touchy about where a hole can be punched.  They now come with a hole preset.  That is something new from my Koningsdam key 2 years ago.

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I'll take my parting shot from our fire department email:

"This is to advise that Governor Larry Hogan has ordered the Maryland State Flag be lowered to half-staff at sunrise, Friday, May 3, 2019 and returned to full-staff at sunset, Friday, May 3, 2019 for Fallen Heroes Day. This day honors Fallen Heroes who have lost their lives in service to our State during the last year."  

I'm not sure but I would assume "service to Maryland" would include those in the military.  In any case we have lost several police and firefighters, including one in our own county.  Rest in peace and may peace come to their families.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day NS12, Friday, May 3. 2019, Cherbourg

Queen Victoria is at sea from Copenhagen to Stockholm.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

The day started out chilly and cloudy but the weather improved significantly during the day.  I started my 5-lap walk late, most of it was in almost total darkness, but by the time I finished we were pulling into the breakwater in Cherbourg with the Zuiderdam already docked ahead of us.

We were officially due at 7 but it was almost 8 when we were cleared to go ashore.  This is my second visit to Cherbourg, my first was on QM2 in 2010.  As in 2010 I did not take a tour but just walked around town some.   There were a couple that looked interesting (mostly related to World War 2) but by the time I was ready to choose they were sold out.

I decided first to check out the train station.  It was about a mile from the ship and rather small but looked relatively new.

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There's an inlet that runs almost as far as the station.  Along the streets that follow it there were stands going up for what looked like it would be a big celebration.  Apparently, L'Hermione, a replica of the frigate that took Lafayette to North America in the Revolutionary War, was coming to town.  The frigate would not arrive until evening but there were already several other tall ships docked and stands were being set up on the street.

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Most of Cherbourg is on the opposite side of the inlet from the docks.  The first thing I came across over there was DeGaulle square.  The building at the back of the square, originally a theater, now houses the Thomas Henry art museum.

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The City hall is a little closer to the port and there is a nice green space in front.

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The Basilica sits at a little corner of the inlet.

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I had planned on returning to the ship for lunch but a patisserie and I stopped to buy a lovely looking donut which I took back to the ship.

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There is a huge maritime museum on our dock using part of what used to be the transatlantic terminal.  I decided not to pay the admission; maybe on my next visit I'll take the time to really see it.  Directly across the street there was a fisherman's memorial.

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I returned to the ship a little after noon.  Our fire department accounting software is dropping payroll support of our version of the software soon and I was anxious to have a look at the situation.  Access to the software is very slow with ship's internet but I was able to see enough to be confident the upgrade can wait until I get home.

There is quite a nice view of the city from deck 14.  The blue (tarp) roof of the Basilica stands out quite prominently.  Over the course of the afternoon I watched several channel ferries coming and going.

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There were 3 of us at table 232 for our penultimate dinner.  For me it was the caesar salad, pasta, and ice cream.  

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Captain DeBoer's sailaway message came during dinner, about 6:10.  I thought that odd since all aboard wasn't until 6:30 but I assume he wanted to speak before some major event.  We actually dropped lines about 6:50, exchanging toots with the Zuiderdam which still had not let her lines go.

The World Stage act was a repeat performance by Jo Little but there was also a set at the Lincoln Center Stage at 7.  I was a little bit late after sailaway but saw most of the session.

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Sunrise was about 9:45 and was beautiful.  The Zuiderdam was not yet in sight but Saturday morning she pulled ahead of us.

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As my parting shot, Saturday is Remembrance Day for the Netherlands.  Thank you to all the Dutch who made the sacrifice WW2 and all the conflicts since then.  We will just miss being there although we will probably enter Dutch waters near the end of the day.

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

Day NS13, Saturday, May 4, 2019, Zeebrugge

Queen Victoria is in Stockholm.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

I'm afraid this was not one of my better days.  The Amsterdam is on her world cruise and was in Scotland Friday, encountering nasty storms.  Those conditions made their way south to Zeebrugge overnight.  

It was chilly and a little windy when I first went out on deck walking just one lap about 8.   Sunrise was about 6:30 and I walked 2 more laps then, still not too bad.

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We had been warned that an international group of police forces would be conducting an anti-terrorism drill and I was hoping to have a look.  They were planning on arriving by both boat and helicopter.  I started my 4th lap about 7:45 but got only as far as the midship starboard as the aft portion of the deck was blocked by police tape.

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From the aft lido deck people were looking around and there was boat traffic including one rather large boat following us.

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A second boat was close on our starboard aft quarter.  I couldn't see exactly what was happening but I assume people were boarding the ship using ropes and/or ladders.

 

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As we approached the harbor I took 2 more "laps", around the bow to the midship doors, inside the ship to the aft starboard door, and back around the bow.  On the second lap 2 helicopters zoomed in and hovered over the midship outside stairs.  I could see a rope descending from the choppers but not what was going once they started their activity.  After going back inside the ship and headed down the stairs a crew of about 8 with their guns came down around me and started going cabin to cabin (mine was second) and pointing their (unloaded) weapons at each of the doors.  Unfortunately, it was a day I did not have my camera at key times.

The winds had really picked up and we were late docking.  This is my second of 3 visits to Zeebrugge.  The first was in 2015 on the Prinsendam and I will return May 14 on QM2.  Since I was last there they have added a "cruise terminal" which is just a building; a shuttle bus is required to get to the terminal.  It does seem to be a different location from the old port gate since in 2015 there was a pair of ships to be toured a half mile from the gate and they are now right at the terminal.

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I made a short visit ashore but it was not very satisfying.  There was first a long line to exit the ship.  The gangway was midship and it the line extended at least to the forward stairs and moved slowly.  Once I was finally disembarked we had essentially gale force winds.

There was one shuttle bus about 100 yards from the gangway.  As I approached it filled and drove away.  There was a second one sitting behind a crane.  It just sat there for a while and when it did start to move it ignored the waiting passengers and stopped 100 yards on the other side of the gangway, while all of us were fighting gale force winds.  By that time I was definitely not pleased and definitely not in a mood to spend money there.

I did not do much once at the terminal but there is a tram line that runs along the shore and I wanted to check it out.  The stop and a store where they sold tram tickets was about a half mile away, I checked the location and returned to the terminal.

Things didn't improve much at the ship.  There was a large group of visitors.  The line ended about 6 feet from the ship's hatch but was not moving.  I don't think they let a single person get on the ship in the 15 minutes I stood on that gangway getting pummeled by the wind.  I had to open the top of my rain jacket to get at my key card and the wind caught a piece of paper on the INSIDE pocket of my sport coat and was out of sight in a second.  I don't think the paper was anything critical but there's no telling now.

At lunch I ventured out on the aft deck to survey the scene.  The harbor is a busy place with a number of car carries, some navy ships, and a ferry or 2.  As I was getting ready to return to sheltered spaces sleet started to come down.

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Most of the afternoon was spent packing.  There were again 3 of us at table 232 for the final dinner.  I had the caesar salad, strip steak, and peach and berry crisp.  One of my tablemates will be dining on airline food Sunday while the other will be touring the UK until boarding QM2 for my May 17 transatlantic.

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I watched the final recital at the Lincoln Center Stage at 6:30 and then the tail end of the MacDonald Brothers on the World stage.

My packing is a bit of a challenge.  I am sending a bag via Luggage Forward to meet me at Queen Mary 2.  My understand is that can be only clothing and I've put almost everything I can into it leaving me only the bare clothing essentials for the next 7 to 12 days.  That bag actually was the second one out and was 45 pounds.

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The big back pack went out about 9:30 and despite the minimal clothing I have with me it was still 41 pounds.  Once the bags were out I started organizing photos, organizing generally, and a got a bit started on this entry.  We had more motion on the ship this evening than at any time on the open ocean.

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My parting shot will be high hopes for a better visit to Zeebrugge in 10 days.

Roy

 

[Host Hattie]

Sorry to hear about your disappointment in Zeebrugge, hopefully the weather will be kinder for your next visit.

 

[rafinmd]

Day NS14, Sunday, May 5, disembark Nieuw Statendam, Amsterdam.

Queen Victoria is at sea from Stockholm to St. Petersburg.  QM2 is in New York.

The Nieuw Statendam was rocking and shuddering for some time after I went to bed.  I had to get up for a toilet break about 3:30 and it looked like we were in the lock at Ijmuiden.  When I went to the lido for coffee about 5:45 we were clearly on the outskirts of Amsterdam.  I walked 4 laps around the ship, and on the last lap we found a hole between 2 buildings where the sun found a little place to shine through.

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It was probably about 7:15 when we secured to the dock, later than Captain DeBoers' goal but ahead of the 8:00 originally announced in the voyage documents.

My departure window was 7:30 to 9 and I had planned on leaving about 8:30.  I actually did so and was off the ship quickly before reaching a line for passport control.  I found my bags quickly but am forwarding a bag to QM2.  Luggage Forward said "Please hand the luggage off to a porter within the terminal and tell them it is for luggage forwarding."  The porter had no idea what to do with it but went to a supervisor and went to several places before finding the right person.  He really earned his tip.

A taxi had me at the Ibis Styles hotel near Central station at 9:30.  Of course there was no room yet but they took my bags off my hands.  There is a congregation of the Church of England that has a 10AM service.  I should have had time to walk there but got completely lost and gave up about 10:30.  As I returned to the central area it started to rain but the several showers over the course of the day were all brief.

Several of the restaurants I saw were advertising pancakes and they looked a bit different from what I usually get.  Many of those restaurants had waiting lists for seating but I did find one that could seat me.  I got the apple version and it was nice.  When I left the restaurant I checked the hotel and still no room.

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The only map I had was the one from Holland America and it did not seem very good.  I did see a space for a maritime museum and thought I could get there.  It had a long sloping roof that looked kind of like the bow of a ship and was right on the water but it was the wrong place (Science Museum) and I passed on it.  As I walked back to the central area a Celebrity ship was passing the Nieuw Statendam arriving for a port call.

Rooms were due to be ready by 3.  I checked the hotel again about 2:20 and some rooms were ready but not mine.  I checked out a few streets and alleys around the hotel and returned at 3.  Finally, thankfully, as the air was getting a bit colder.  

The room is SMALL.  There really was no place for my large back pack so it is almost completely unpacked with stuff in largely makeshift shelves.

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I have a window but it is on a small interior space.  Reminds me a lot of my atrium view cabins on QM2.  I stayed in the room trying to find space for stuff until it was time for dinner.

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Another item I had seen in the Nieuw Statendam was a grilled cheese sandwich that seemed a bit different from the usual version.  I saw the same version in several restaurants.  The first place I checked said "we only serve that at breakfast but the next one I tried (a bit of a strange place, out of the way and I wasn't even sure they were open) had it on their evening menu and with ham added it was even better than the one on the Nieuw Statendam.  

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The rest of the evening was spent in the hotel, going to bed early (about 10).

My parting shot will be a bon voyage wish to both on the Nieuw Statendam (both boarding and those continuing from Ft. Lauderdale) and those on QM2 leaving New York for Southampton.  I wish you a great crossing but I can't wait for your crossing to end.

Roy

 

[anglobibliophile]

6 hours ago, rafinmd said:

My parting shot will be a bon voyage wish to both on the Nieuw Statendam (both boarding and those continuing from Ft. Lauderdale) and those on QM2 leaving New York for Southampton.  I wish you a great crossing but I can't wait for your crossing to end.

Roy

Ha! That's the same way I feel about your QM2 crossing--when you arrive in NY, we'll be embarking for Southampton and my summer vacation begins! 😀

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, anglobibliophile said:

Ha! That's the same way I feel about your QM2 crossing--when you arrive in NY, we'll be embarking for Southampton and my summer vacation begins! 😀

Do have a wonderful [cruise]  crossing.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day NS+1, Monday, May 6, Amsterdam

The Nieuw Statendam is at sea from Amsterdam to Flam, Norway.  Queen Victoria is in St. Petersburg.  QM2 is at sea from New York to Southampton.

I slept late this morning getting up at 6:30.  Breakfast at the hotel is pretty decent (but I didn't take my camera).  I left the hotel about 9:30 and spent much of the day trying to find the places I had missed Sunday (stubborn streak, you say?).  First up was the Anglican Church and I had placed the location from google maps onto my GPS.  Even then it was a bit of a challenge to hone in.  I took the Metro to Waterlooplein and then circled around until I finally found the church.  Did I mention this is a city of canals?  If the starting point of the cruise, Ft. Lauderdale is the "Venice of North America" then the end point must be "The Venice of Northern Europe"  When the GPS first said I was close to the church it was across the canal and I first had to find a crossing before continuing the search.  Once I found the church I returned to Waterlooplein and took the metro back to the hotel for a little while.

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I decided I wanted another ham and cheese toastie for lunch.  When I found a spot where the menu looked right and the restaurant wasn't busy I went in and was told "We're all booked up but we can serve you in the bar".  I got a little back of the house tour on the way and was soon seated.  The sandwich was great as well as the pistachio ice cream followup.

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The afternoon was largely spent at the maritime museum, a 10 minute bus ride from Central Station.  It's quite a large building with a multi-story exhibit space surrounding a large open courtyard.  There were many nice exhibits but some of my highlights started with a section on whaling including some relatively new whaling tools (mid 20th century), a huge saw for cutting bones and a powerful harpoon gun.

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Next was a display of navigation including some of the early chronometers that made it possible to determine longitude at sea.

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I started on the final wing by going outside to some historic and replica ships.  In a covered shed we had the first Royal Barge, ordered for the first Dutch King in 1814.  It has been restored several times and goes out to the water on special occasions.

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The Christiana Brining served several roles including as an ice breaker.

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The most magnificent ship (a replica) was the Amsterdam.  Since Holland America reuses ship names starting with one I'm going to call this Amsterdam 0.  It was glorious as seen from inside the museum where I could take it all in.

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We could tour all the areas of the ship from the hold to the top decks.  I put together a little collage of the ship.

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The master's cabin was quite nice--if the master either was short or knew how to duck.  I think the ceiling was under 5 feet.

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After leaving the ships I went upstairs in that wing for the MS Oranje, originally an ocean liner until WW2, a hospital ship during the war, a ship for repatriation of Dutch from Indonesia after they became independent, and finally as a cruise ship until 1979.

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I spent about 2 hours in the museum and then walked to the cruise terminal.  One of the ships in port was the MV Columbus, one of the few cruise ships able to enter the Great Lakes, and then past the river cruise area (I board the Crystal Bach in October) and finally back to the hotel.

Dinner was at the hotel restaurant, a grilled chicken entree.

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As my parting shot today, congratulations to Harry and Megan.

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

Greetings from Kiel.  It was not an easy day but I'm now in my hotel (a big step up from Amsterdam).  A bit tired so I may not report until morning but I might almost be able to watch QV dock from my window.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day NSplus2, Tuesday, May 7, Amsterdam to Kiel

Nieuw Statendam is in Flam.  QM2 is at sea from New York to Southampton.  QV is in St. Petersburg (leaving for Kiel as I arrive there).

My morning started with a short morning walk over to the bus departure area of the train station where the sun was just coming up over the harbor.  It is very close to the area where river cruises embark the Crystal Bach 27 October after the 18 October QM2 crossing and a couple days in London.

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I got my final breakfast in the Ibis about 8:30.  While the environment in Kiel is nicer I think I liked the food at the Ibis a bit better.

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I left my cell in Amsterdam just before 10 for the walk to Central Station.  It's a busy place in the morning but I found a small place to sit while waiting for the platform to open up.  Once I got to the platform a number of sleek Dutch trains came and went.  From what I could see I was a bit surprised that there didn't appear to be any car numbers visible.  I'm thought most European trains were reserved seating which would be difficult without a visible car number.

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My train was due to leave at 11 and pulled onto the platform about 10:50.  I needed to walk pretty close to the length of the train to get to car 11 and find seat 22 (I had the same assignment on both trains).  The car was organized into little compartments each holding 4 people and I was surprised that there was very little space for luggage.  It would have been very difficult to deal with the big bag if I had kept it.  (The photo was taken at Kiel after all the other occupants had left my compartment).

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The equipment was German but I believe the operating crew while traveling in the Netherlands was Dutch.  There was a small café in my car (A slight step up from the café on Amtrak's Washington-Boston corridor).  I got lunch (fries) just about the time we crossed into Germany.

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The initial journey was about 3 hours to Osnabruck.  The departing train to Kiel was on a cross track at a high level.  I saw a sign for my platform but it was only stairs; I did not see any signs pointing to an escalator or lift.  It was the equivalent of about 3 decks on a ship, something I would normally take in stride, but not with 60 pounds (45 main pack, 15 day pack) and the climb took most of the wind out of my sails.  It turned out I had plenty of time as the train to Kiel was 30 minutes late.  This is not high speed rail.  It was about 160 miles Osnabruck to Kiel and 3 hours.

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I am in the Atlantic Kiel hotel, directly across the plaza from the train station.  I was checked into the hotel about 6:15 and what a difference from Amsterdam.  I think my bathroom here is about the size of the room in the Ibis.  I have a view overlooking the harbor, a fridge, and what's especially nice is several outlets (but I only have 2 Euro adapters).  While the Ibis filled the need, this is a treat.

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I do hope it doesn't get too cold in Kiel.  My Travelsmith black blazer (the only jacket I have for either casual or gala nights until reunited with the shipped bag) was getting a little ratty and the hotel dry cleaning service looks promising, so I will go a day without it.  It was one layer on call for chilly temperatures but it was pretty decent in the evening when the sun was out so I'm hopeful I'll be ok.

When I went out for dinner and a walk around town (not much open in the evening) I took a photo of the station from the hotel door.  It is that close!  I spent much of the evening in the hotel recovering from the day's travel.

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My parting shot--from here to New York things should be easy and stress free.  I'm ready for that.

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

Not a very pretty day in Kiel but at least I don't see windshield wipers moving on the cars.

 

Day NSplus3, Wednesday, May 8, Kiel, Germany

Nieuw Statendam is at sea from Flam to Kristiansand.  QM2 is at sea from New York to Southampton.  QV is at sea from St. Petersburg to Kiel.

I slept a bit late getting up just after 6.  The sun had just risen over the harbor outside my window.  

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Breakfast is at the hotel's restaurant.  It's a buffet with service for coffee and juice.  It's a pretty nice spread but you get checked off as you enter, not very compatible with my habit of snacking my way through breakfast.

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I guess I will not see Queen Victoria's arrival from my room.  There are 2 ferry terminals I can see and we had ships docking at both of them in the morning.  The first to arrive was the Color Magic which Wikipedia calls the "largest cruise ferry in the world".  It is big, 75,100 GRT, or about 5/6 the size of Queen Victoria.  It can carry 2600 passengers and 550 cars, and provides regular service to Oslo, a run of 20 hours one way.  I was quite impressed.  The second was about 40 minutes later, Stena Scandinavica, still big at 57,639GRT carrying 1300 passengers and 300 cars.  It's crossing is about 14 hours to Gothenburg, Sweden.  I have sailed a sister about 8 years ago, Stena Britannica from Holland to the UK, a very pleasant evening cruise.  Later in the day I watched as they left town, Color Magic at 2 and Stena Scandinavica at 6:30.

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It was overall a pretty quiet day but I did scout out the cruise terminal a bit.  Ostseekai cruise terminal is about a mile from the hotel.  It's a pleasant walk but not carrying 60 pounds of stuff.  Cunard documents only said "terminal to be confirmed" but the schedule in the window had us there and not at the remote dock.  There's a city bus that will get me close enough.

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The walk to Ostseekai was along the waterfront but I veered a couple of blocks inland on the return trip.  There were some nice wide pedestrian streets.  Along the way I found a little shop with pizza by the slice which became my choice for lunch.

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When I was growing up one of the stalwarts of the shopping world was Woolworths.  They've long been gone from at least most of the US but I found it in Kiel and it looks like vestigial remains of the same company.  I found some sodas and snacks there.

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The Color Magic sailed at 2 and I went over to watch the departure.  Near their terminal there's an obscure relic of history.  One of the propellers from the iconic QE2 found it's way to Kiel.  This propeller served the ship up to 1986 until the ship went to Bremerhaven for conversion to diesel power.  There is no plaque or other indication of what it is but it is noted on google maps.

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By the time I went out to dinner it was stating to drizzle a bit.  I tried to time my departure from the food court to work with Stena Scandinavica's 6:45 departure but it got away a bit early and was already backing away from the dock when I arrived.

I am used to ship's laundry services and was surprised that my jacket hadn't been returned by the time I returned from dinner.  It appears to be more like a regular laundry where you need to go down to pick it up, in this case at the front desk.  In any case, it's ready for my time on QV and QM2.

As I move from the Holland America phase of the journey into the Cunard phase, my final parting shot for the HAL phase is a sad one.  Passengers on the Amsterdam World Cruise report that one of their own has disappeared from the ship.  I wish peace and healing to the family of this soul.

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

My ship is here.  Heading to the port soon.

 

 

Roy

[Summergee]

Thank you for taking the time to post. This is the first thing I read in the morning. Have a wonderful time on board.

[Host Hattie]

Bon Voyage for the Cunard portion of your trip.

[MarkBearSF]

On 4/23/2019 at 9:41 AM, rafinmd said:

Having seen this cast in Pittsburgh I know I'll be missing a great show.  In absentia I say "Welcome to Baltimore"

 

Thank you for your wonderful blog posts. I'm loving them and counting the days until we're back on the QM2 (about 52 days now, I think) 

Now about Come From Away
I'm an usher in SF and that production had a 4 week run here. I had opportunity to talk to and thank a number of the cast members. They're really wonderful. (And our subscribers are still talking about the show)

We also loved the show, first in NY. As a matter of fact, in May of 2017, after seeing it, we did a RT TA and on the return (on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend) - we wound up sharing a table with a couple of "plane people" from a small town near Southampton who were traveling to NY to visit with friends they made when they stayed in Gambo. I asked if they were seeing the show and they replied that they tried but were unable to get any tickets. I said that I didn't know anyone, but I was on a couple of Broadway chat boards and I had the Playbill in the cabin and I knew that producers controlled house seats. Within 90 minutes of my post (on Memorial weekend Sunday), someone associated with the show saw it and posted that "Irene and David would certainly want to help them out and that they'd let them know, and within another hour, had emailed them and gotten the details so they could have house seats. They loved the show, met the cast backstage, and had an evening to remember.

It all is part of the goodwill of the show.

Edited May 9, 2019 by MarkBearSF

[rafinmd]

3 minutes ago, MarkBearSF said:

 

Thank you for your wonderful blog posts. I'm loving them and counting the days until we're back on the QM2 (about 52 days now, I think) 

Now about Come From Away
I'm an usher in SF and that production had a 4 week run here. I had opportunity to talk to and thank a number of the cast members. They're really wonderful. (And our subscribers are still talking about the show)

We also loved the show, first in NY. As a matter of fact, in May of 2017, after seeing it, we did a RT TA and on the return (on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend) - we wound up sharing a table with a couple of "plane people" from a small town near Southampton who were traveling to NY to visit with friends they made when they stayed in Gambo. I asked if they were seeing the show and they replied that they tried but were unable to get any tickets. I said that I didn't know anyone, but I was on a couple of Broadway chat boards and I had the Playbill in the cabin and I knew that producers controlled house seats. Within 90 minutes of my post (on Memorial weekend Sunday), someone associated with the show saw it and posted that "Irene and David would certainly want to help them out and that they'd let them know, and within another hour, had emailed them and gotten the details so they could have house seats. They loved the show, met the cast backstage, and had an evening to remember.

It all is part of the goodwill of the show.

Thank you.  BTW, I think I will have a bit of buyers remorse about not taking the train direct to London if Come From Away closes there before my next visit there in late October.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I'm on board and getting settled in but my next post will probably be rather delayed.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad to hear that you are on board and getting settled in.

 

We can wait for the next report -- no rush.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Finally caught up to you KK!

As you said Roy can chill and relax!!

Hope all is well with you Roy and looking forward to more of your journey!

KK have a great day too!

Denise😊

[rafinmd]

Day QV0, Thursday, May 9, Board Queen Victoria, Kiel

Nieuw Statendam is in  Kristiansand.  QM2 is at sea from New York to Southampton.

Sunrise was nominally about 5:30 but at that time the skies were totally covered in clouds and it was even a little bit dark.  I did not see an actual temperature but the Daily Programme indicated it would progress from 45(7C) to 61(16C) during the day.  They also said rain but I never saw any.

I took an early morning walk towards the west of town passing the stadium and the city hall which appeared to have a church attached but I could find no confirmation for that.  City hall had a clock tower that clearly was not part of a church but from the back side there was what appeared to be a clear outline of a sanctuary with stained glass windows.

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I'm posting a map of Kiel showing the main terminals with the Stadium and City hall towards the left side of the map.

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The ferry traffic appears to be a daily event here with the Stena Germanica arriving just after 9 and the Color Fantasy just before 10,  When I went out to check on the Fantasy I got a pretty good look at Queen Victoria from near the point where the QM2 propeller stands.

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I checked out of the Atlantic Kiel about 10:45.  Bus numbers 41-43 all go from the train station past Ostseekai Cruise terminal with one about every 10-15 minutes.  The walk to the bus and then to the terminal was about a quarter mile, not easy with a 60 pound load, but manageable.  

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I was there about 11:20 and found out checkin didn't start until noon.  It was not bad but several of the clerks, including mine, seemed to be having a lot of difficulty getting their computers to cooperate.  Not a big factor but annoying when wanting to get on board.

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I was probably on board about 12:15 and my first stop was the launderette.  Cunard does not normally open Britannia Restaurant on turnaround days but does on port days.  This was more of a port day than turnaround and I checked and found Britannia open.  I opted for the peach soup and chicken sandwich and service went pretty quickly.  The wash had stopped when I left the restaurant but the room was not busy and the dryer ran about 1:15 to 1:45.

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One major difference between QE/OV and their HAL sisters is that the midship pool in uncovered.  There is a small moveable roof over a "Winter Garden" that sits between the pool and the spa.

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I went out on the promenade deck to watch Color Fantasy's 2PM departure, and when I returned to my room the big bag was there so unpacking started (well, a lot of stuff is still packed and will remain that way unless needed the next 3 days).

The muster drill was at 4 but only for embarking guests.  Cunard is one of the now few remaining cruise lines that requires people to take their life jackets to muster.  My station was in the Queens Room.

All aboard was 5PM but we had a late tour return and did not leave until after 6.  I am early seating but dropped into the dining room at 6 and told my table I would be on deck but would get an entree in the lido and join them for coffee and desert.  Soon after we left we passed the German Baltic navy yard.

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In addition to the ferries that dock in the center of town there is another (to Lithuania) that docks further out than our location.  DFDS Seaways Victoria is quite a bit smaller than the ships that dock in town.

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I sailed the MS Prinsendam through the Kiel Canal in 2015.  A ship had damaged a lock gate and we were delayed several hours so it was past midnight when we left the canal, and I wanted to see the exit.  It was quite distant and I saw it but could not quite zoom in it on my camera.  We passed that spot just a little after 7 and I went back down to table 584.  It's a 6-top by the aft window on deck 3.  Ted and Chelly from the UK were there but not having desert.  They said the other people at the table had left in Kiel so it may be just the 3 of us or there may be some others who didn't go to dinner the first night.  We chatted for a few minutes while they finished their coffee and I waited for the walnut and apple cake with ice cream.

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The featured entertainment was billed as a comedian but Jon Courtenay was more of a comedy pianist.  He started with a great take on "Piano Man" which was probably the highlight of the show.

My fascination with sailaways is nearly matched by my fascination with going under bridges.  In his sailaway message Captain Tomas Connery had indicated we would go under a bridge connecting Copenhagen with the mainland.  I went up to the very top deck and it was probably a little after 11 when we passed beneath it.  I headed to bed soon afterwards.

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As a parting shot the question of life vests vs no life vest is quite controversial.  I like the idea of practicing putting on the vest but the flip side is that often people will leave straps hanging.  I'm starting to lean to the no vest side.  What I really noticed was that despite being told repeatedly to carry your vest to the drill rather than wearing it probably a third of the people arrived wearing their vests.  I think the difficulty many people seem to have taking care and following instructions increases the hazard of a trailing strap and possible fall and overrides the advantage of practicing with the vest.

Roy