Eurodam, more or less live, November 9 to 20, 2022

[DaveOKC]

If you get to the Pinnacle say hello to the head waiter, Abigail for me.  Great lady.

 

[kazu]

On 11/3/2022 at 12:23 PM, rafinmd said:

Today is my last day of feverish packing.  Tomorrow morning, Friday, November 4, I drive to Lorton, VA and board the Auto Train to Florida.  For the next 6 days I will be in 5 separate beds, home, Auto Train, Winter Garden, Winter Haven, and Fort Lauderdale 2 nights.

On November 9 I board the Eurodam for a partial Panama Canal cruise, going through the Atlantic locks, turning around in Lake Gatun and returning to the Atlantic.   Other stops are Bahamas, Aruba, Curacao, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

I return to Fort Lauderdale November 20 and board the Auto Train November 21, hopefully home November 22.  

My blog for this trip will be

https://morethangetaways.wordpress.com/

 

as well as this thread on Cruise Critic which may be the best place to post comments and questions.

 

Roy

 

Hoping your travels are smooth, your overnights comfy and you have a wonderful time on your cruise Roy.  Bon Voyage.

 

On 11/3/2022 at 2:51 PM, rafinmd said:

I feel the need to travel but do not want to be diagnosed with Covid while traveling, so I did a final pre-test this morning:

 

 

Cleared to travel.

 

Roy

 

Oh my heavens, great minds think alike!  I did the same thing before I left 😉 

[JazzyV]

Following along. Have a safe trip and great cruise, Roy.

[wearesiamese]

Bon voyage Roy!

[rafinmd]

 

Friday, November 4, 2022, Leave home and board Auto Train

 

I left home a little after 8:30, possibly earlier than I should have but we had morning for so the extra time was probably a good idea.  I spent a lot more waiting and confused. partly due to my skewed memory and partly due to some Amtrak inconsistencies.  There was actually morning fog but traffic was no worse than a normal day.  I had mis-remembered the station location, thinking it was almost an hour south of the Washington Beltway but it was less than 10 miles, and despite a couple of stops I was at the station about 10.  My boarding pass indicated they started taking cars at 11:30 but when I got there nothing was moving, and they were not accepting cars until 12:30.  About noon a guy came around, and indicated I could check in at the desk in the terminal and I got a boarding pass and 5PM dinner reservation.  

Also, unlike other trains, they pay no attention to tickets, you give them your name and that is all they use.   I returned to the car and the line moved pretty quickly once they started.  The first stop was a booth where the guy took my name and stuck a magnetic number on my door.  I moved forward about 100 yards where I was told to leave keys in the car, window down and took my carry-ons to a waiting luggage trolley and headed into the train hall.

I stopped in the train hall only briefly and went out to a courtyard to do some work on my laptop. 

The wifi worked ok out there but working on the laptop was almost impossible in the bright sun light so I went back into the train hall until about 3:15.

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/trainhall.jpg

 

I went out to the platform to wait for boarding to start.  While waiting I watched a bit of the car loading process, as the cars were driven on to car carriers via ramps to the upper and lower levels. 

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/loadingl.jpg

A couple of motorcycles were loaded, placed on a small trailer pulled by a garden tractor.

My car boarded about 3:40.  I am in roomette 4 on the upper level of the car.  It consists of 2 seats facing each other and a table can fold down between them.  It is small, about 1 meter wide and 2 meters long but it does the job.  At night the seats drop together to form a bed and a second bunk drops down from above the window.  It is very basic but there are also more elaborate rooms.  There is a toilet about 10 feet away and 3 more on the lower level.

 

We started moving about 4:30 but only briefly as final assembly was completed and we started moving in earnest about 4:45.  The first call for dinner came almost precisely at 5.  As I was walking to the dining car the Conductor gave us a bit of information.  We have about 19 passenger cars (coaches, sleepers, dining, and lounges) and 30 car carriers.  I think today we have 248 vehicles on board, quite a full train.

 

The Dining car was 3 cars ahead of me, one car ahead of the lounge.  Meals are included for Dining Car passengers.  Unlike most Amtrak trains the Diner serves only Sleeper passengers, coach passengers cannot buy a meal.  They have a café which I think has only food that can be micro waved.  I was seated with a young couple and a very small (I think under 1 year) child.  It was quite a challenge for the mother to deal with food with just one hand, although near the end the father took the child, letting mom eat in peace.  The father went to OCS in Quantico, so our journey brought back memories.

 

My choices were chicken tikka, and Ice Cream for desert.  Dinner was about 40 minutes. 

Near the end of the meal the sun was setting on the other side of the car.

I am finishing the post before the attendant puts down the bead and will probably head to bed about 10,

 

Roy

 

[rafinmd]

Oops on the double photo.  The second one was supposed to be a typical car tag:

 

 

Roy

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Roy you are such a good writer, and always love your blogs! Your dinner looked good too!

Your first sunset👍

Love it. Thank you!

🌺Denise☺️

[rafinmd]

Slept pretty decently last night and looking at an on-time 10AM arrival in Sanford.  Then it becomes "Car 143, where are you" and a short drive to Winter Park.

 

Roy

[Ichiban Nekko]

@rafinmd  Roy - Definitely following and loving your posts! Safe travels!

-Cat

[DeeniEncinitas]

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Slept pretty decently last night and looking at an on-time 10AM arrival in Sanford.  Then it becomes "Car 143, where are you" and a short drive to Winter Park.

 

Roy

🌺🌺🌺🌺

Good morning Roy! 
I am up early Maui Time with coffee and doing some painting! Wasn’t it CAR 54 where are you!! LOL! I remember as a kid watching it! Safe journey

have an awesome sail.

Denise☺️

 

[rafinmd]

16 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

🌺🌺🌺🌺

Good morning Roy! 
I am up early Maui Time with coffee and doing some painting! Wasn’t it CAR 54 where are you!! LOL! I remember as a kid watching it! Safe journey

have an awesome sail.

Denise☺️

 

Yes but the number on my car is oops 144.  Glad you got me to check.  Not exactly on time but we dropped the car carriers at 10:15 and disembarked 10:30.  Not  quite offloading autos yet but soon.

 

Roy

 

 

[rafinmd]

Saturday, November 5, 2022, Arrive Florida and Family time

 

I slept pretty well and rose about 5:30.  As I was getting ready to go to the toilet to start my morning meds I saw our attendant Steve was just getting set as well so I told him I was ready to have the roomette returned to day service, and everything was in order when I returned.  I started a little internet work after heading to the lounge car for coffee, and headed back for grab and go breakfast about 6:30 (Milk and Raisin Bran).  The sun rose about 7:45 as we passed Jacksonville airport.

At 7:30 the Conductor indicated we were slated for an ontime 10AM arrival but that went by the wayside as there was track work in the last 20 miles and it was about 10:15 when we approached the yard and stopped to disengage the auto carriages and another 20 minutes until we got the order to disembark the train at the Sanford station.  

The first (priority) cars appeared about 10:55.  Unloading is very similar to loading.  Each vehicle is driven all the way through a string of about 4 carriages so it comes out the other end facing forward.  

 

When they come off they pass the station with the number facing the station and an observer posts the number on a display board which includes about the last 20 numbers called, although occasionally a car will need special handling if the owner does not otherwise respond. 

There is parking for a number of cars in the pickup area.

I saw a car that looked like mine about 11:25 and when it passed the station I was able to verify it was mine and not just a similar car.

Soon my number 144 appeared on the display screen and I headed into the pickup area.

Somehow, I had thought that my niece was in Winter Park (between Sanford and Orlando) but in fact she is in Winter Garden (well beyond Orlando) so I was quite surprised when my GPS gave me a travel time of almost an hour.  I called her and told her I expected to arrive about 12:30 to 1:00 (Actually about 12:40).

 

We had a nice quiet afternoon; that is me, her daughter (a high school junior), 3 dogs, and 2 cats.  The dogs did not seem to care for strangers but one of the cats was quite friendly.  Her son is a college freshman in Tampa.  

 

I think we all called it a night fairly early and slept very well (at least I did) sleeping until almost 6 even after gaining an hour.

 

Roy

 

[Pittypatbr]

I am looking forward to following along.  We are on the Eurodam for the partial transit in January so I will be paying attention!

[rafinmd]

Sunday, November 6, 2022, Winter Garden to Winter Haven

 

I think everybody slept late despite gaining an extra hour, and it was after 6 when I was the first to get up.  The house stayed quiet all morning and by 9 I decided I needed to get started, leaving a note for my niece.  Her daughter did appear briefly to exchange good mornings but then she returned to bed.

 

I had hoped to find wifi to touch base with my church’s service but never succeeded, so my first real stop of the day was the cemetery in Lakeland where my parents are buried, and I will join them when my time comes.  

From the cemetery I proceeded to one of my favorite places in Florida, Bok Tower Gardens.  Edward Bok was a publisher and philanthropist who loved his summer home in Florida near what was then the highest known point on the peninsula.  In his final years he commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to create a garden and willed it to the American People.  The centerpiece was a lovely tower with a massive carillon.  I arrived a little before 1, and my first stop was the Garden Café for lunch.  Not a culinary delight but a wonderful setting. 

There are 2 live concerts daily at 1 and 3, and I could hear the first of the bells as I finished my meal.

I headed up to the tower.  The music can be heard most everywhere but the best experience is a small grove close to the tower where a TV monitor showed the carillonneur at work.  I was there for about the last half of the recital.  

When the recital ended I stopped at a good point for a good overview of the tower.

I walked for a total of about 35 minutes.  A highlight was the “Window on the Pond, a small shelter overlooking a peaceful pond where people can watch whatever wildlife can happen, although nothing did in my time there.

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/thepond.jpg

When my walk finished I stopped back at the café for ice cream.

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/yummy06.jpg

It was just under an hour to the Howard Johnsons (now part of Wyndham) in Winter Haven.  It was a pretty busy late afternoon and evening with the sailaway of Nieuw Amsterdam, my church’s service, a quick dinner, and our Sunday evening church gathering on Zoom.  I was in bed fairly soon after posting for Saturday, and up about 5:30. 

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/hojo224.jpg

Sunrise was about 6:45 and I caught the sun coming up over the hotel a little after 7.

My parting shot for Sunday is one of Edward Bok’s sayings, implemented beautifully at Bok Tower Gardens: “Make the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it”

Roy

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Aloha @rafinmdRoy!

Enjoying your report this am. Enjoyed reading Bok Tower Gardens, your photo reminds me of Monet!! Loved it

Sunrise photo perfect!

🌺Denise☺️

 

[1ANGELCAT]

Good morning Roy, has there been any communication from HAL regarding a possible delay due to Nicole? 

[Himself]

Roy, have a great cruise.

[rafinmd]

5 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Good morning Roy, has there been any communication from HAL regarding a possible delay due to Nicole? 

Nothing about Nicole, although they  did call with an upsell that I declined.  I think we may beat Nicole out of the port, and according to the hotel they are not expecting a storm surge which was my worst fear.

 

Roy

[CruisinNana]

10 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Nothing about Nicole, although they  did call with an upsell that I declined.  I think we may beat Nicole out of the port, and according to the hotel they are not expecting a storm surge which was my worst fear.

 

Roy

Roy, we will be at Embassy Suites if our plane leaving Atlanta tomorrow at 2:45 pm actually takes off.  Embassy is not on the beach. Is your hotel beach front?  No surge?  I hope we beat the storm sailing at 3:00 pm on Wednesday. 

[rafinmd]

8 minutes ago, CruisinNana said:

Roy, we will be at Embassy Suites if our plane leaving Atlanta tomorrow at 2:45 pm actually takes off.  Embassy is not on the beach. Is your hotel beach front?  No surge?  I hope we beat the storm sailing at 3:00 pm on Wednesday. 

We are not beach front.  I was a bit more worried about parking at the cruise port.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Monday, November 7, 2022, Winter Haven to Fort Lauderdale

 

Well, it seems like there is never enough time any more.  The day actually started out fairly routinely, with a short morning walk, working on Cruise Critic, blog, and breakfast.  I left the Howard Johnsons about 10:30, and the drive was fairly routine with little traffic difficulty, and I reached the Comfort Suites in Dania Beach about 2:45.  I am in a second floor suite but this time with an elevator and I took advantage of the suite space to completely unpack the car.  

I completed that and set up my laptops just in time for a 4PM Church Finance meeting on Zoom, which ended about 5:15.  I had planned on going to Panera in Fort Lauderdale for dinner; when I went out to my car the pavement was wet but it was not raining.  After about a mile a drizzle started and by 2 miles it was a total deluge.  Although I parked very close to the restaurant I was drenched by the time I got inside.  It seemed to be a little less intense when I left with my takeout but by the time I was in the heaviest traffic it was again full force deluge.  Of course my nearby parking space was gone when I returned so it was another soaking getting back inside the hotel.

 

I learned at Panera that what was originally sub-tropical storm Nicole had become a hurricane watch.  Just what I do not need.  As of now the cruise is officially still on but the port has indicated it will likely be closed so I am in a bit of limbo.  I did call the front desk and they indicated staying an extra day will not be a problem although if so it will be a very challenging day.  I hope to make it an early bed day and early start Tuesday.

 

My parting shot is for Americans–if you have not already voted Tuesday is your final day to make your wishes known.  Fortunately, it looks like South Florida weather Tuesday will still be ok for voting.

 

Roy

  

[oakridger]

I hope Florida catches a break this time with Nicole!  I'm arriving at Port Everglades on Wednesday on the Rotterdam and leaving that afternoon on Rotterdam for an 11 day Southeastern Caribbean cruise. The captain announced earlier that he is adjusting our path toward Florida tomorrow in order to get the smoothest ride he can.  He did say everything is up to change so of course he'll keep us informed.  I hope both ships get out of port in time to make a beeline out of the path of the storm! 

I'll report anything else we hear from the captain tomorrow.

 

~Nancy

[rafinmd]

6 hours ago, oakridger said:

I hope Florida catches a break this time with Nicole!  I'm arriving at Port Everglades on Wednesday on the Rotterdam and leaving that afternoon on Rotterdam for an 11 day Southeastern Caribbean cruise. The captain announced earlier that he is adjusting our path toward Florida tomorrow in order to get the smoothest ride he can.  He did say everything is up to change so of course he'll keep us informed.  I hope both ships get out of port in time to make a beeline out of the path of the storm! 

I'll report anything else we hear from the captain tomorrow.

 

~Nancy

Thanks.

 

I can't help but be a bit jealous as you will be safe with a safe place to stay whatever happens. According to our local news the port may be closed till Friday.

 

Roy

[Lcubed]

Hi Roy

 

We live in FL (just south of Cocoa) and are suppose to be leaving on the Rotterdam tomorrow. Just looked at Port Everglades schedule and Eurodam and Rotterdam are no longer on it. The earliest it shows a cruise ship is on the 11th, Celebrity ships. That's as of 10am. Please let us know if you here anything. Thanks, Laura

[AKJonesy]

Just read on Dept Homeland Security Port Everglades is closed.  Anyone affected might check it out.