Dave’s Live from Zuiderdam Voyage of the Vikings, July 30 – Sept. 3, 2019

[RetiredMustang]

2 hours ago, whogo said:

...

Could someone point out where happy hours are listed on the When and Wheres, please? (My vision is fine, it is a mental problem.)

 

They are listed by the time in which they start.  For example, today's When and Where shows one at 2 p.m. in the Lido Bar,  at 4 p.m. in the Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest, and at 10 p.m. in Billboard Onboard.

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 5, at sea (Cont.)

 

Today has been relaxing, but interesting.  We just attended the talk about Paamiut and Nanortalik.  We’ve been to Nanortalik three times, but the last time was six years ago, and to judge from the slides, it has grown a bit.  We have never been to Paamiut.   We look forward to visiting them both.

 

I thought I would share with you today what I accomplished during the fog, wind and rain at Red Bay yesterday – I scanned the Ocean Bar menu.  We have seen a lot of changes over the last three or four cruises, and on the last one, the bar ran out of a lot of their normal wines and had to substitute.  I suspect we will get re-supplied in Rotterdam, at least, if not elsewhere so shortages I hope will not be a problem.

 

At any rate, here is what the bar is offering now.  I believe the menu is the same in the other bars.  You can, of course, ask for something else, like a pina colada for example, and the bartenders will be happy to oblige if they can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[bandlady74]

You are correct, Dave, we booked the return just last week when we learned that our Elbe river cruise was to become basically a bus tour due to low water levels. Viking refunded everything, and when we called HAL we had a pretty good choice of staterooms, a cheap up sell to a Signature Suite, and one way air from JFK was less than $300pp. Looking forward to meeting you onboard. 

Amy

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 5, at sea (Cont.)

 

We spent most of the day in fog, with the horn blowing.  But, the sea was amazingly smooth.  After dinner, we noticed that the fog had lifted and the weather improved a bit.  The forecast tomorrow is for 42-26F/5-8C.  We’ll dress in layers for our Paamiut walkabout.

 

Here are the dinner and dessert menus:

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t normally post food porn pictures these days, but I made an exception tonight.  DW had the prosciutto for starter, while I had the saffron seafood broth.  For main, she had veal parmigiana, and I had the quail.  Here is a photo of my main dish:

 

 

 

 

The birds were tender and flavorful, and the apricot dressing complement the dish very well.

 

And, here is the Lido dinner menu:

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[oakridger]

"We have seen a lot of changes over the last three or four cruises, and on the last one, the bar ran out of a lot of their normal wines and had to substitute.  I suspect we will get re-supplied in Rotterdam, at least, if not elsewhere so shortages I hope will not be a problem." - RetiredMustang

 

 

Your mention of some of the listed wines being out of stock reminded me of the fact that on my last Noordam cruise in April 2019 and also a Nieuw Amsterdam trip, there were several of my choices of beers and wines "out of stock" on both ships.  (told this from the beginning of the cruise and these were brands listed on the printed menus.)  I spoke with the bartender a couple of times and they just said that there should be more delivered at the next port.  Those ships left from Sydney Australia and Miami, not some obscure port in the South Pacific.  If they can't get delivery of Bud Light in Miami, why not?  I felt that whoever is in charge of provisioning is not doing a good job!  I did have great cruises, but it was becoming a pattern to hear "we are out of......"!

 

~Nancy

 

 

[Lido deck main]

Dave,

Enjoying the reports, thanks for sharing.

Mary

[erewhon]

The lack of flowers is very disappointing.

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 6, Paamiut, Greenland

 

I forgot to mention that yesterday we set our clocks forward one-half hour, so are now two hours ahead of EDT.  We are sailing in fog again, with a bit of rain, but calm seas.  It could be wet day in Paamiut.

 

Here is today’s When and Where:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, here is the port guide for Red Bay:

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[Krazy Kruizers]

Enjoying your reports.

 

Sad to hear that some of the wines were already sold out and your cruise has just started.

 

Hope your weather improves.

[RetiredMustang]

54 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Enjoying your reports.

 

Sad to hear that some of the wines were already sold out and your cruise has just started.

 

Hope your weather improves.

 

KK,

 

It was last cruise that they ran out, not this one (yet and i hope they don't).  Nancy (oakridger) said her last two cruises started with the bar out of some things.  As it turns out, our last cruise and one of the one Nancy mentioned were the same cruise -- Noordam from Sydney to Seattle this past April.  The Noordam bar staff said that some of the expected shipment had not made it to Sydney.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 6, Paamiut (Cont.)

 

The captain just announced that we are about a mile or so from the anchorage, but he has temporarily aborted the approach due to very heavy fog and ice.  He said the airport is reporting visibility of only 100 meters or so.  He plans to wait a while to see if the fog lifts enough to make a safe approach and see if tenders can be operated safely.  He also indicated that the forecast was not too favorable for much improvement in the weather.

 

So, we may not make it into Paamiut.  More to follow as the morning progresses.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 6, Paamiut (Cont.)

 

It is shortly after 10 on the ship.  We can faintly see some land now and then, and it seems to be getting a bit brighter.  The captain has announced that the fog has lifted a bit, and he intends to hold the current position and lower one tender to check out the harbor –to see if it is ice free, and the best way to approach the tender landing, etc.  This is the first time Zuiderdam has been to Paamiut and the captain wants to make sure it is safe. 

 

More later,

Dave

Edited August 6, 2019 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 6, Paamiut (Cont.)

 

The tender found ice around us, and visibility has degraded.  The forecast is for conditions to get worse.  The captain has cancelled the port call, because it is just not safe to try to tender passengers.  He said that the fog also meant no scenic cruising today.  So, we will proceed directly to Nanortalik.  Because of the early departure from Paamiut, the new arrival time at Nanortalik is now 8 a.m. tomorrow.

 

More later,

Dave

[RuthC]

I'm sorry about all the fog, and especially about the port cancelation.
On one of my VOV I swear we had 34 days of solid fog (out of 34 days). We never saw a thing from the ship!

But they were calmest seas I have ever sailed in. I suspect fog and calm go together.

[Krazy Kruizers]

3 hours ago, RetiredMustang said:

 

KK,

 

It was last cruise that they ran out, not this one (yet and i hope they don't).  Nancy (oakridger) said her last two cruises started with the bar out of some things.  As it turns out, our last cruise and one of the one Nancy mentioned were the same cruise -- Noordam from Sydney to Seattle this past April.  The Noordam bar staff said that some of the expected shipment had not made it to Sydney.

 

Dave

 

Thank you for straightening me out.

 

Hope you don't run out of anything.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry to read that you will miss Paamiut because of ice and fog.

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 6, Paamiut (Cont.)

 

To show you the conditions about the time the captain cancelled the port visit, here are two photos I took.  First is one of some islands and an iceberg near the ship:

 

 

 

And, here is a shot of what I think was the channel leading to Paamiut:

 

 

 

Not five minutes after I took those photos, the fog had almost completely covered the views.

 

 

More later,

Dave

Edited August 6, 2019 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

5 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I'm sorry about all the fog, and especially about the port cancelation.
On one of my VOV I swear we had 34 days of solid fog (out of 34 days). We never saw a thing from the ship!

But they were calmest seas I have ever sailed in. I suspect fog and calm go together.

 

Ruth,

 

I think you are right about the fog and the seas -- what we are sailing in now is almost like glass.

 

I know we had differing weather on our three Viking Passage cruises, with a different experience each time in Prins Chirstian Sund, from sunny to cloudy to rainy.  I just hope we don't add foggy to the list, because if it is that foggy, we may not be able to go into the Sund at all.  But, Nanortalik and the Sund are further south, so hopefully the weather will improve.

 

Dave

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you were able to capture those pictures before the fog got worse.

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 6, Paamiut (Cont.)

We continued south during the day, moving in and out of fog, sometimes with some actual filtered sunlight leaking through.   The seas remained from slight ripples to glass.  A couple of times, the captain would announce an iceberg sighting: one was a large tabular floe that he would not bring the ship within eight miles of, understandably, so I have no photos taken from cheapie digital; another time, there was one close enough aboard for me to get a photo:

 

 

 

During the day, I had another spotting, this time of flowers outside the Stuyvesant Room on the third deck.  It seems odd to me that if there were an allergy issue, they would take away the flowers from the dining venues and yet leave these in a public space  😉.

 

 

 

During happy hour, we had a table against the port window, and saw five humpback whales.  One surfaced twice and then diver, showing its flukes.  Then there were a pair, and then two individuals that we spotted just after the nick of the time to take a photo.

 

However, we did have a good dinner afterwards.  Here are the dinner and dessert menus:

 

 

And, here are is the Lido dinner menu:

 

 

More later,

Dave

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by RetiredMustang

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great picture.

 

Just wish those whales would have co-operated and waited until you got your camera.😁

[erewhon]

Sorry that you missed a port of call.

Great to see the whales.

[Vict0riann]

Dave, thank you for all that information about the CD's job and the new port talks.  We just booked a last-minute Alaska cruise which leaves Seattle on Monday, and I will be checking into the new procedures on board ms. Amsterdam.😀  I wonder if they will still bring on the park rangers, etc..

[Copper10-8]

Heck of a job on the play-by-play of your VOV, Dave! Keep up the great work and enjoy! 

[Copper10-8]

35 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

..........................😀  I wonder if they will still bring on the park rangers, etc..

 

 

Yes, they will Ann; it's a requirement !