Btimmer's Almost Live Nieuw Statendam Canada, Greenland, Iceland Trip - 8/3-27/22

roberts2005 · August 19, 2022

If you have an iPhone , and if there Northern Lights again, can you try taking a picture with the phone.

Btimmer · August 19, 2022

6 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

If you have an iPhone , and if there Northern Lights again, can you try taking a picture with the phone.

We do and we did. Our model SE (2nd edition) just doesn't have the low light option like the 11-13 models do. When we saw the lights they were very dim. We saw some pictures taken at 3am that were spectacular in terms of colors and brightness.

New phones might be in order. . .

Edited August 19, 2022 by Btimmer

rkacruiser · August 19, 2022

4 hours ago, Btimmer said:

Nanortalik

Good memories of my visit to this community. Friendly people; Greenland is underappreciated as a place to experience, I think.

roberts2005 · August 20, 2022

2 hours ago, Btimmer said:

We do and we did. Our model SE (2nd edition) just doesn't have the low light option like the 11-13 models do. When we saw the lights they were very dim. We saw some pictures taken at 3am that were spectacular in terms of colors and brightness.

New phones might be in order. . .

I have a 13 and it takes better pictures of fireworks than my canon 70d

Btimmer · August 20, 2022

No sightings while we were up there until midnight. There was a light cloud cover and about all I could see was I believe Mercury to the east.

I did get a photo of the moon before it disappeared behind the clouds. While it was not as windy as last night, it was still plenty cold.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Btimmer

ScottishMaid · August 20, 2022

Hi Tim, I'm enjoying your descriptions and great photos.

Am I correct in thinking you went through Prince Christian Sound on the outbound journey but not on the return? In the recent Voyage of the Vikings they went through the Sound twice, in both directions. However for next year's Circle Iceland plus Greenland it is not shown in either direction. It seems the trip would not be the same without it (we have been to three of the ports in Iceland). What do you think? Also if you get the chance please ask an officer to clarify this.

Thanks, Jill

Sue from Canada · August 20, 2022

1 hour ago, ScottishMaid said:

Hi Tim, I'm enjoying your descriptions and great photos.

Am I correct in thinking you went through Prince Christian Sound on the outbound journey but not on the return? In the recent Voyage of the Vikings they went through the Sound twice, in both directions. However for next year's Circle Iceland plus Greenland it is not shown in either direction. It seems the trip would not be the same without it (we have been to three of the ports in Iceland). What do you think? Also if you get the chance please ask an officer to clarify this.

Thanks, Jill

Unfortunately P.C.Sound is not part of the cruise next July (I'm booked on it). I've sailed through P.C.Sound twice and I will truly miss this. Hoping HAL will change the itinerary and add it back in.

Btimmer · August 20, 2022

2 hours ago, ScottishMaid said:

Hi Tim, I'm enjoying your descriptions and great photos.

Am I correct in thinking you went through Prince Christian Sound on the outbound journey but not on the return? In the recent Voyage of the Vikings they went through the Sound twice, in both directions. However for next year's Circle Iceland plus Greenland it is not shown in either direction. It seems the trip would not be the same without it (we have been to three of the ports in Iceland). What do you think? Also if you get the chance please ask an officer to clarify this.

Thanks, Jill

Jill, it clearly should be part of the itinerary. While I can ask an officer, I doubt they have knowledge about future future routes.

As an aside, early in this voyage, the Navigator app had us sailing Prince Christian Sound both directions and I thought to myself that this would be cool. Then the app was updated to our current route.

Btimmer · August 20, 2022

Today at lunch the Captain made a much longer Covid announcement indicating that Covid cases had risen (no stats were given). I've seen one stateroom on our floor 6 which is probably a quarantine cabin.

In the Main Stage waiting for the next lecture, there's a number of people coughing.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Btimmer

ScottishMaid · August 20, 2022

Sue from Canada and Btimmer thanks for your comments on Prince Christian Sound.

Btimmer · August 20, 2022

Tonight, 5/20/22 there was a letter on our stateroom door from the Captain re: Covid. A copy is below.

Btimmer · August 21, 2022

Today we came back into Canada and were in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador. We did around a 7 mile walk out to the Fox Point Lighthouse and to the other end of town to have lunch at Tim Hortons. It felt good to be back in a t-shirt while walking.

Vintage lathe: 24" swing; 10' bed

PBY Catalina

nice dahlia

Unusual windows. Saw this twice

Sue from Canada · August 22, 2022

Is that a box of Timbits your wife is holding???? MMMMM. Really enjoying reading about your cruise and loving all the photos.

Btimmer · August 22, 2022

2 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

Is that a box of Timbits your wife is holding???? MMMMM. Really enjoying reading about your cruise and loving all the photos.

It is a box of 20 Timbits. We weren't the only ones who brought them back. Crew brought back boxes and boxes of doughnuts.

Btimmer · August 22, 2022

Today we are in St. John's, Newfoundland on a spectacular day for touring. In the morning we took a McCarthy's Party 3 hour Cape Spear & Historic St. John's tour. I highly recommend it and it's a fraction of the HAL tour cost. We found a moose burger lunch at Shamrock City and then watched the Stanley Cup parade honoring the local man who was on the Colorado Avalanche. He had the cup in the parade and proudly hoisted it before a partisan crowd. We finished our day walking to the Terry Fox memorial at the east end of the harbor. It was a 12,760 step day. Below are a few pictures. This is another town we'd like to return to for a longer visit.

Old Cape Spear Lighthouse

New Cape Spear lighthouse

WWII gun emplacement

Abandoned flue for hydro power

Harbor entrance lighthouse

John Cabot Memorial

Geological museum

Labrador dog statues

Knitted rock coverings

Forever love

Stanley cup

Oil field Re supply vessel

Terry Fox Memorial

Edited August 22, 2022 by Btimmer

Vict0riann · August 22, 2022

One of our DD's colleagues was in St. John's the day we were there on NS on July 30, and took this great shot of us going through the Narrows - evidently it made it into the paper later...

Btimmer · August 22, 2022

A sign of Covid issues in the Billboard Onboard venue.

Also on Deck 6 starboard midship and forward there appear to be 3 quarantine cabins compared to 1 a week ago.

Tonight in the Main Stage after the comedian was finished, a large crew wiped down all the arm rests.

bellevuemountain · August 22, 2022

42 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

A sign of Covid issues in the Billboard Onboard venue.

Also on Deck 6 starboard midship and forward there appear to be 3 quarantine cabins compared to 1 a week ago.

Tonight in the Main Stage after the comedian was finished, a large crew wiped down all the arm rests.

I would like to thank you for your posts, I find them quite informative. I also love how your wife “pops up” in certain of the pictures.

Btimmer · August 23, 2022

6 minutes ago, bellevuemountain said:

I would like to thank you for your posts, I find them quite informative. I also love how your wife “pops up” in certain of the pictures.

Thanks for the compliments. She was tickled to learn her "pop ups" were special to someone.

For me it's a challenge to select which pictures to post as each day I typically take over a hundred pictures on two or three cameras. I try to give a flavor of what is happening on our cruise.

bellevuemountain · August 23, 2022

3 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

Thanks for the compliments. She was tickled to learn her "pop ups" were special to someone.

For me it's a challenge to select which pictures to post as each day I typically take over a hundred pictures on two or three cameras. I try to give a flavor of what is happening on our cruise.

You are doing a fabulous job, it’s quite appreciated! I’ve been looking into this type of itinerary. Discovering the ports through your posts has helped.

And I was wondering about Covid on the cruise ships, I appreciate the fact that you are sharing it how it is, very rationally. As I was appreciative of the captain’s letter in the cabin.

My favorite picture is in St. Anthony, where she’s right next to what I believe might be a puffin cut-out.

Kruising Kathy · August 23, 2022

Enjoying your photos. Did VOV on Rotterdam 6 a few years back. We were fortunate to make both trips thru Prince Christian Sund.

We were on NS Easter April 17 sailing from FLL to Barcelona. Rotterdam was also sailing that day. We stood in line 2.5 hours to board, as everyone on both ships was required to have a negative rapid Covid Test. Crew was wearing N95 masks. We were required to wear marks getting on/off the ship thru security, but found people in Azores and Spanish stops on land were not masked. HAL was unable to test us before we departed the ship at Barcelona. Irish captain told us at one of the Stripes presentations that positive people were left on the pier at Port Everglades...

Btimmer · August 23, 2022

14 hours ago, bellevuemountain said:

You are doing a fabulous job, it’s quite appreciated! I’ve been looking into this type of itinerary. Discovering the ports through your posts has helped.

And I was wondering about Covid on the cruise ships, I appreciate the fact that you are sharing it how it is, very rationally. As I was appreciative of the captain’s letter in the cabin.

My favorite picture is in St. Anthony, where she’s right next to what I believe might be a puffin cut-out.

Covid is a very real presence with no statistical data being shared with passengers. We learned this morning of many cases on deck 11, deck 8, deck 6, and portions of deck 4 are blocked off.

This itinerary is terrific if you like small ports and lots of variety. And we do!

Edited August 23, 2022 by Btimmer

VennDiagram · August 23, 2022

Thanks for taking the time to keep us all informed! I really appreciate it. For me, this is probably an unattainable cruise, but I can dream 😉and I am definitely dreaming.

Btimmer · August 23, 2022

4 hours ago, VennDiagram said:

Thanks for taking the time to keep us all informed! I really appreciate it. For me, this is probably an unattainable cruise, but I can dream 😉and I am definitely dreaming.

Here's a quote from the Terry Fox memorial. If you are not familiar with him, please google his name.

"I just wish that people would realize that anything's possible if you try; dreams are made possible if people try", Terry Fox

Btimmer · August 23, 2022

Today we visited a new country: St. Pierre and Miquelon. It's a group of three small islands nestled south of Newfoundland and highly subsidized by France. It's like stepping into France. We tendered in from a hovering position off shore. We took a chartered boat to Sailor Island which is essentially a collection of historical buildings and ruins with a few summer homes muxed in. After a couple of hours wandering the island, our charter boat took us back to St. Pierre and we boarded another bus to give us a driving view of the island. Afterwards we walked around downtown and back to the tender dock.

Below are a few pictures.