Live from Eurodam Transatlantic 11-27 August

[Nghthawke]

Weather forecast for Saint Pierre et Miquelon today (Sunday):

 

For Newfoundland..Although Bill is expected to weaken below hurricane strength after it passes Nova Scotia this afternoon..It is expected to make landfall over Southeastern Newfoundland tonight as a strong tropical storm. Winds of 70 km/h gusting to 100 with possible gusts to 120 km/h along parts of the coast are expected in the areas near and south of Bill's track.

 

Heavy rains associated with Bill are expected to move into Western Newfoundland this afternoon and spread eastward tonight. Amounts of 60 to 80 millimetres with locally higher amounts possibly exceeding 100 millimetres are forecast. The rain will end for most regions overnight and in the morning for eastern sections.

 

Strong south to southwesterly winds will develop to the south of the track of Bill tonight with gusts possibly reaching 120 km/h along exposed areas of the coast over the Burin and Avalon peninsulas.

 

- Environmental Canada website.

[Susie51]

Thank you for explaining Saint John and St. John's.

 

Your attitude about the rain and wind is commendable and your positive, humorous outlook on your experiences makes reading your "live from" thread enjoyable.

 

Thank you for continuing to post.

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 24, Monday

　

During the afternoon yesterday, the weather improved, and the line of clouds passed over, leaving sunshine on the bay, making it even more captivating. It was a pretty clear demarcation between clouds and clear skies, so I suppose that was the edge of the hurricane passing us by.

　

We sailed at 5 p.m., and for several hours chased the edge of the clouds. The evening was uneventful, except for the pleasant discovery that the dinner menu included nasi goreng. It was delicious as always, and worth the three-Tums night following it.

　

This morning was a bit windy and overcast, but not really as stormy as we expected. I checked the National Hurricane Center web site for the 5 a.m. location of Bill and discovered why -- it had fallen apart somewhat, with winds diminishing to 60 knots, and had sped up forward movement. It was off St. John's, and headed northeast out to sea at about 35 knots.

　

We had some more cloudy weather, but the seas and winds were low enough for the captain to open to deack for walking. We passed Cape Breton this morning, and now, after lunch, we've apparently entered the Atlantic. There is a bit more swell with some rolling, but not too badly. The captain announced just a bit ago that the sotrm had sped up and moved away, and that another front was falling in behind it, so we should see some rain and clouds the rest of the day. However, it appears it should be a very fine day in Halifax tomorrow. I hope so.

　

We plan to just walk ashore and explore. Sapper1, who is from Saint John and faimilar with Halifax gave us some tips, including how to find the Cow's Ice Cream outlet near Salty's on the waterfront. Sounds great!

　

More later,

Dave

[CasaSmith]

Dave,

 

What is nasi goreng? I hope you are feeling better now. You can not miss the Cow Ice Cream because there is a big cow outside.

 

I hope you have great weather Halifax.

[catl331]

Hope you did not put Sambal on that Nasi Goreng.:eek: Will look for you on the Halifax webcam manana. News is reporting a 7 yr old girl died when a lg wave knock her and a few others off the rocks around the blow hole at Acadia Nat. Pk. Any news of where the Maasdam hid out?

[IRL_Joanie]

Double post, sorry

[IRL_Joanie]

Dave,

 

What is nasi goreng? I hope you are feeling better now. You can not miss the Cow Ice Cream because there is a big cow outside.

 

I hope you have great weather Halifax.

 

 

You beat me to the question CasaSmith, so I googled it for both of us here is the answer and it sounds YUMMY!!!

 

Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, to a meal including fried rice accompanied with other items, or to a more complicated fried rice, typically spiced with tamarind and chilli and including other ingredients, particularly egg and prawns.

[jtl513]

Dave,

 

What is nasi goreng?

A great place to look up such things is wikipedia.org:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_goreng

[RetiredMustang]

Hope you did not put Sambal on that Nasi Goreng.:eek: Will look for you on the Halifax webcam manana. News is reporting a 7 yr old girl died when a lg wave knock her and a few others off the rocks around the blow hole at Acadia Nat. Pk. Any news of where the Maasdam hid out?

 

No doubt about the sambal -- that is nuclear grade stuff! It would have been a 30-Tums night with that. Nasi goreng on HAL as served last night (similar to how I've had it on other HAL ships) was the spicy fried rice of course, but also included some braised beef chunks, prawn crackers, a chicken leg and a piece of fried banana. Great dish!

 

Sorry to hear about the death of the girl. The storm has cleared us now, and we are predicted to have quite nice weather tomorrow, mostly sunny and 75 F.

 

I haven't heard where Maasdam went.

 

Dave

[RuthC]

Any news of where the Maasdam hid out?

Maasdam is probably heading for/passing the remnants. Should be just another storm in the north Atlantic when they go past each other.

[Susie51]

Thanks for your posts and the updates about the storm. When we are in Halifax next year, I'll check out the ice cream. Thank for the info.

[catl331]

looking at Halifax webcams via Lisa's post and I don't see the Eurodam but the pier webcam seems stuck on Sunday. Looks like good weather though.

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 25, Tuesday, Halifax

　

We pulled into Halifax harbor in a fog the morning, but it quickly lifted and turned into a beautiful, warm sunny day in Nova Scotia's capital. We walked ashore shortly after 9 a.m., picked up a map from the tourist info booth and headed out.

　

We originally had booked an all-day tour out to a vineyard for lunch and visit, but decided a couple of days ago to cancel, and just explore the city.

　

Like many cities, much of the population lives out from downtown, and the core historical section is small and very walkable. We headed out along the harbor front, past some construction, into an area of shops, condos and piers. We walked as far as the Historical Properties, located the Cow's Ice Cream store, and turned inland, following a suggested walking path from the tourist map. We passed several shopping streets, containing an amazing number of pubs and restaurants in such a small area, and went past the municipal buildings and the old Burying Ground.

　

Then, it was back to the harborfront, and the shops and boutiques which were now open. Then it was time for ice cream, and it was indeed some of the best we've had. We did some more looking for gifts to take back home, and then returned to the ship. A relaxing lazy day, although we ended up walking probably five miles or so.

　

Tonight is the last formal night, and the menu shows surf and turf. No doubt there will also be the parade of baked Alaska, unless HAL has done away with it since our cruise this spring. I don't much care for the actual dessert, but it's a good show.

　

Tomorrow is the dreaded Last Full Day, the Day of Packing. It's a sea day. Oh well, it's still another day to enjoy the Eurodam. What a great ship!

　

More later,

Dave

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just catching up on everything.

Glad you missed "Bill" and had good weather.

[catl331]

Tried to find you on all the Halifax webcam but didn't see Eurodam. I will be watching and hopefully taking a pic as you go by the lighthouse on your way out to see. I did watch the Harbor Hopper webcam and rode with them for their whole tour. I think we went by the Old Burying Ground.

[RuthC]

It hardly seems possible that your cruise across The Pond is coming to an end already. I have so enjoyed reliving many of these ports with you. And gotten interested in maybe visiting some new ones some day!

Enjoy your last few hours at sea.

[Soundsgreat6]

I too have enjoyed your cruise, glad you missed what was left of Bill when he decided to visit our east coast. Enjoy the last few hours on board. Cheers! M8

[catl331]

Wow, it took 45 min. for the ship to get out to the lighthouse webcam. Fog was starting to make things hazy and we were unable to capture any pics. I did enjoy watching the Eurodam though. I could just imagine everyone up on the Crow's Nest having their happy hour without me! I love the tradition of the Baked Alaska but could do without the dessert. Have a great trip home to VA.

[sapper1]

Glad to see you had such nice weather for your day in Halifax and that you had your Cow's. I'll have to have mine in Charlottetown on the next cruise.

We reported down to the Hudson Room at 7:45 as directed but it was an hour later before customs started to clear us. There was a group of 25 to 30 people who were disembarking at the same time as us.

Our luggage was taken right out to the street for us and our car rental people picked us up soon after I phoned them. We were home long before the Eurodam left Halifax.

As much as we hated to leave, it feels good to be home after almost a month away. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting you and your wife as well as many other CCers.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Glad to see you had such nice weather for your day in Halifax and that you had your Cow's. I'll have to have mine in Charlottetown on the next cruise.

We reported down to the Hudson Room at 7:45 as directed but it was an hour later before customs started to clear us. There was a group of 25 to 30 people who were disembarking at the same time as us.

Our luggage was taken right out to the street for us and our car rental people picked us up soon after I phoned them. We were home long before the Eurodam left Halifax.

As much as we hated to leave, it feels good to be home after almost a month away. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting you and your wife as well as many other CCers.

 

Welcome home, Sapper. :)

 

~ Alison

[RetiredMustang]

Thanks, Sapper1, for updating us. We watched after the brow was opened to see if you were pulling your bags after you while going ashore, but never did see you -- we were going to yell and wave and carry on. Now we know you were delayed. Glad to see it worked out for you and you got home safely. Thanks for everything!

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Aug. 26, Wednesday, at sea

　

Well, last night was indeed the parade of baked Alaska, although they have eliminated the sparklers. I seem to remember lit candles in the desserts on our very earliest cruises, but could be remembering wrong. In any case, they have used sparklers for years now, and last night they did not have those, either. Probably for the best, as I'm sure the chief engineer cringed about the fire possibility with the parade of candles, and wasn't that happy about the sparklers, either. And, at least there was no smoke and no chance of iron filings in the meringue.

　

I'm not a huge fan, but took a portion because DW's serving was the chocolate ice cream and I thought I had a chance finally to get one that wasn't strawberry, which it seems I always get (kind of like Charlie Brown and the rocks on Halloween.) Well, I got a little bit of the chocolate, but mostly got vanilla, which is an improvement over strawberry. Not at all like Cow's, though.

　

After dinner, we stopped by the Explorer's Lounge to listen to the string quartet for the first time this cruise (where did the time go?) There were three women and one man, and I was remarking to myself how young and good-looking they were when they started to play and I added "talented" to the list of adjectives. It was a quite pleasant half hour or so listening to them play classical pieces. As we were leaving, we noticed they had shifted to the theme from "The Sting" so I guess they do show and pop tunes as well as classical.

　

I heard the ship's horn several times last night, and we awoke to find that we are sailing in a heavy fog. Looking at the scan display, I see we have made it from Halifax to south of the latitude of Cape Cod, and have turned and are now heading to the west southwest. Looks like we should be able to make the 7 a.m. arrival time at New York. The Captain has said he will open the bow decks tomorrow morning, so we can all can see the approach, the passing under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty. Hopefully we'll outrun the fog by then.

　

　

The Suite Life

　

We've been debating the merits of the SA cabin that we were upgraded into over the SS that we booked, now that we've had two weeks to enjoy it. The advantages are:

　

Free laundry. We used this a lot, but we usually buy the unlimited laundry package anyway, and the cost for that was, I think, $120 for the cruise. The turn-around was faster in the SA, usually one day instead of two.

Use of the Neptune Lounge. This included continental breakfast, and snacks at other times, which we never used; the services of the concierge, which I think we used a couple of times; and the free cappucinos, which we used many times.

Tenders whenever we were ready. Handy, and welcome, but we only tendered in a few ports. And, usually the wait for us on previous cruises hasn't been that much. We don't know what kind of priority we might receive for debarkation.

Upgraded bathrobes. We used them as much as we did the other ones in other cabins, and they were nicer and a bit larger, but not much.

Use of binoculars and umbrellas. I used the binoculars once, looking for whales without much success. And, we forgot about the umbrellas on our rainy day walks, but even if we had remembered, we probably would not have taken them as they are golf-size umbrellas, and the small fold-ups we brought with us were much easier to carry around.

A free bottle of champagne and a bottle of mineral water. Both are still unopened as of this morning.

Invitations to some receptions/events. These were nice, an opportunity for a free drink or two and chat with some of the ship's officers, but we did similar things as Mariners as well.

About 5 feet wide of extra space across the cabin. This really consists of an extra column of desk drawers, a dressing area and extra closet, and more space between the bed and couch. It was nice, but not really significantly much more than in the SS; the bath was the same, with twin vanities, and both a tub and separate shower stall.

　

I think our verdict is that if we had the extra income, we could probably get used to an SA pretty easily, but the extra cost of an SA over an SS/SY doesn't seem worth it to us. We would rather take more cruises in an SS or "V" class cabin than fewer in an SA for the same amount of money. Of course, if HAL upgrades us again without merit (or extra cost), we sure wouldn't turn it down, but the circumstances that put us into this one are not likely to be repeated soon.

 

More later,

Dave

[Krazy Kruizers]

Do hope that you get to see the Statue of Liberty.

SA - umbrellas -- we have never used that huge one -- we also prefer our small, portable ones.

Thanks for all the wonderful reports.

[Susie51]

Thank you for posting frequently with lots of interesting details. I hope it is a bright and beautiful day as you pass the Statue of Liberty. Please post when you get home to let us know about disembarkation day.

[CasaSmith]

Sapper1, welcome home. I am glad you enjoyed your trip. See you in month.

 

Dave, I hope you had a great approach to NYC. I want to thank you so much for your post, I want to do this cruise next year. My only problem is convincing my DH to be away for so long.

 

Again, thank you...