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On board Zaandam!

CruiserBruce

By CruiserBruce,
in Holland America Line

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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14 hours ago, electro said:

So Ocean bar is the only live music in the evening? That would be very disappointing!

I board on Sunday, hoping to have a choice of music venues.

The Classical musicians plays as well, and I guess the piano in Mix, just haven't seen a performance there. Agree with whomever...the Mix is on the schedule starting at 8:30.

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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Yesterday's spectacular day in Saguenay was topped off by a great dinner, beautiful sunset, an interesting solo set by the lead guitarist, and a very good adult comedy performance by the comedian who has been on board all cruise...his name escapes me. And Quebec is looking almost as nice.

 

I had sweet and sour tempura shrimp...very good, good sized meal. DW had brisket...also a good sized serving and very good. Gave our servers a little extra last night, as we are in Pinnacle tonight. 

 

The solo performance by Milo of the Ocean Band was interesting,  in that he explained many of the special effects he can do to supplement a solo performance. His playing and singing were pretty good, so the whole presentation turned out pretty well. OK for a one time shot.

 

Just going to walk around for a couple hours in Quebec today, and do some prep for heading home.

 

 

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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3 hours ago, tompeter said:

It is (was) Eli Moore... leaving for vacation.

Wow...another musician leaving tomorrow in Montreal. At least, that total now includes all members of the Ocean Bar Band, Cat the pianist,  and Eli Moore. 

 

The World (of ResidenSea) is in port with us. Canadians, help me. Does today have some military historical significance? We observed a military band and parade in town...in fact right by the ship, and fighter jets flying over low altitude this morning. 

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Blackduck59

Blackduck59

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It is our "National Day of Truth and Reconciliation" with regard to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. I'm not sure a military parade is necessarily in keeping with the goal of this day. It is interesting there was a fly over, they don't hand those out on a regular basis.

You may see our flags at half mast for a few days, we had another RCMP member fallen in the line of duty yesterday. The incident was here in BC but the RCMP is a National Police agency. So if the flags are at half mast, that is probably why.

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waiting2retire

waiting2retire

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30 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

It is our "National Day of Truth and Reconciliation" with regard to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. I'm not sure a military parade is necessarily in keeping with the goal of this day. It is interesting there was a fly over, they don't hand those out on a regular basis.

You may see our flags at half mast for a few days, we had another RCMP member fallen in the line of duty yesterday. The incident was here in BC but the RCMP is a National Police agency. So if the flags are at half mast, that is probably why.


September 30 is Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, so not sure whether there is any historical military date of significance in Quebec today. 
 

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Blackduck59

Blackduck59

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1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Wow...another musician leaving tomorrow in Montreal. At least, that total now includes all members of the Ocean Bar Band, Cat the pianist,  and Eli Moore. 

Well that could be a nice change for the next cruise. Although we did enjoy Eli, we didn't attend all his shows like some did on our cruise. Our edition of the Ocean Bar Band were good musicians the vocals were the weak link. We enjoyed Cat on the keys in Ocean bar before dinner. I still think they should be able to assemble a pretty good cover band from whatever talent pool is available to wherever a ship is deployed. HAL should drop the rest of the "name brands" use the money saved to hire an entertainment coordinator to seek out and hire talent in the zones the ships operate in.

Edited by Blackduck59
typo
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BetsyS. Holiday Sharing Rare

BetsyS.

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Cruiser Bruce - Thank you for all your great reports. I enjoyed reading them.

        Enjoy your dinner in Pinnacle Grill! I highly recommend the chocolate 

souffle! They're small, but delicious! I wanted to order seconds, but I 

chickened out.

        Have you planned your next cruise?  I don't remember if you mentioned it.

I wish you and your wife safe travels home. 😊

 

   

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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10 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Cruiser Bruce - Thank you for all your great reports. I enjoyed reading them.

        Enjoy your dinner in Pinnacle Grill! I highly recommend the chocolate 

souffle! They're small, but delicious! I wanted to order seconds, but I 

chickened out.

        Have you planned your next cruise?  I don't remember if you mentioned it.

I wish you and your wife safe travels home. 😊

 

   

Thank you. We have the Eclipse cruise in the Mexican Riviera  for next March, and a 21 day Med for our 40th wedding anniversary in 2025.

 

We LOVE the chocolate souffle. 

 

Almost time to get ready.

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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5 minutes ago, boatmad said:

Urgent for those disembarking in Montreal Sunday.  Marathon with 20,000 runners.  Streets around port closed.  We will be trying to board.  Looks like a mess!

There has been some mention around CC about that. I suspect access to the pier will be maintained. We are not flying out until early Monday morning for a non-stop to SFO, so we are not pinched for time.

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boatmad

boatmad

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Thanks for the information about disembarking tomorrow as well as embarking.  Tourist information gave us a map showing most streets around our hotel closed.  I do suspect that may be why the later boarding time.  Our driver is coming at 11:00 if he can find a way through!  Anxious to get back to our favorite Zaandam.

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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Docked in Montreal. Looking pretty nice weather-wise. The St Lawrence is a very busy waterway, much like the Mississippi or the Rhine. The ship had to use pilots non-stop from Quebec to Montreal...a number of pilots, in a relay.

 

Packed, fed and ready to go. I may write our wrap up from the hotel tonight,  or maybe not until we get home.

 

Pinnacle was it's usual good self. We had some OBC left to use, so I jumped in with both feet, and had the 12 oz lobster. Certainly the biggest lobster I have ever had. Not the most tender, but tasted good, and it totally disappeared.  Not sure where it went, but I suspect the scale will tell me when I get home. DW had the tenderloin with lobster dumplings...said it was one of her top 2 or 3 best meals, and she struggled to finish it due to serving size. Service was VERY fast...

 

OK, pet peeve #1. Over the cruise we have heard the occasional burst of " We Wish You a Merry Christmas"! What heck, it's September! What do they think they are, Costco? Took us several days to track it down...the timers on a couple of their warmer ovens in the Lido have the song as an alarm! We started giving the cooks a bad time about this, and they had great fun playing the alarm over and over again...

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Ferry_Watcher Excellent Advice! Rare

Ferry_Watcher

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What an amazing cruise!  It's hard to leave, but luckily for us we will be on the 26 day cruise to, and around Japan on the Westerdam next Sunday 10/01.

@CruiserBruce, it was a pleasure to have met you, and I wish you Godspeed.  Thank you for starting this thread and sharing your observations and experiences.

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