With a cleanish bill of health, Addy was ready to play again. She would not have liked to be flown home at this point, and is starting to admit to herself that maybe there is too much wrong with her to keep galivanting around the world. But she was certainly ready for a last fling. So, today, she joined my shopping team: myself, Nona and Lenora, and took it to new heights. This was absolutely the A shopping team. We weren’t the only ones out on the same mission. I met lots of my people.
The shopping was good, too. It looked like a Hong Kong family had had the bright idea to model their stores on Stanley Market, where I shopped like a local for five years, and kept going back. We scored tops and bottoms, hats and purses. It was great fun. Once you have given in to the second suitcase, and Holland America has provided a big one, you are open to buy.
We finished off with a beer on the square and took the shuttle back to the ship, well satisfied.
The entertainment was a fellow named Tom Crosbie, who called himself The Entertainerd. I am a bit of a nerd myself, and his mathematical feats were impressive, but I didn’t need to see the Rubic’s Cube solved eighteen ways from Sunday, one-handed, blindfolded, etc. Dee and I pounded a good few zzzzzzzzzzzs.
Saturday, May 6, 2023
At Sea
I worked in the morning, when I suppose I should have been watching the Coronation of King Charles III, but I am not in to watching television by myself in my cabin when there’s work to be done, and the ship hadn’t made an event out of it. Seabourn did, I found out from my informer. And one of my fellow hosts did. Tom Mullen, long time Cruise Specialists’ ‘Round the World host, honored a tradition Brits have for such occasions. It’s called “The Big Lunch”. In England and abroad, people hold big, elegant lunches on Coronation Day, and Tom’s was in The Pinnacle. I was honored to be his friend and one of the “Colonials”. There were more decorations there than on the whole rest of the ship, which had none, despite our Cruise Director being British, too. The cake was particularly impressive:
At four o’clock, I had to be in the Crow’s nest to receive my Platinum medal for 700 days sailed on Holland America. The medals came quickly, thanks to five circumnavigations, but this is the last one before President’s Club and that’s 1400 days. I should live so long. Anyway the ship took a nice professional picture with the Hotel Manager, Henk Mensink and Captain Frank van der Hooven:
Henk has been Hotel Manager on all five of my world cruises, but Frank is new. I did the other four with the inimitable Jonathan Mercer.
The entertainment was to my liking. It was Pianist/Vocalist Lisa Harman, and the material she chose was show tunes.
Sunday, May 7, 2023
At Sea
It gets very busy during the last six days of the cruise. It’s like the ship saves all its events to send you away remembering the fun you had. There are so many Mariners of all star levels that they do three Mariner’s Lunches. I went with my old friends from 2012, Beryl and Nona, and this year’s new friend, Lenora.
Microsoft had a title for this picture. It was “A group of older women sitting at a table”. The nerve. Did they not notice we were “happy ladies drinking wine”? “good old friends getting sloshed” ? anything.
That night I hosted my own “Big Dinner” at the Pinnacle, to recognize my Distinctive Speakers. If you want to put together a good party, just ask a bunch of speakers. I’m never going to let that idea go. I don’t think the speakers would let me. They all loved telling the group about what they had done in life that was special. They had me tearing up with appreciation.
We started dinner at seven, so we did finish in time for Jim David’s second show, the gay, dirty show. He had warned the audience at the first show not to bring the kids, there are five of them on the whole ship. He had also cautioned anyone who thought they might be offended to stay away. There were still negative comments the next day, but I thought it was hilarious.
Monday, May 8 2023
At Sea
My old friend, Dan, from previous worlds, had a birthday party in another old friend, Marlene’s suite, and a nice dinner in the Dining Room, with “Panjang Amurnia”. I think Dan was 85. It was a little sad, because Dan’s best friend aboard, had been disembarked with heart problems in the Azores, and would be flying home. His condition is stable, but it made us all a somewhat morose. A lot of people face their mortality on these long cruises, but all in all, it’s not a bad way to go.
The entertainment was Tom Crosbie again, on which I passed. I can sleep in my own bed.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
At Sea
Our farewell no-host cocktail party was at 4 o’clock, to have dinner with the early eaters, for once. Fifty four people came and 50 of them came to dinner, where I poured wine for everyone from my own wine package. That costs me a bit, but, being five-star, I do get it half price, and it generates a lot of good will. My own table was delightful. The Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers were on stage with their last Production Show, “Simply Broadway” They were wonderful.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
At Sea
This was my packing day. I got organized and even packed a bit before my office hour. It was quiet. I think everyone else was packing, too. I said a few goodbyes, including a nice one to Tom Mullen, who stopped by. We will met again.
Miraculously, I had more wine left in my package than I could drink, but my tablemates were short a bottle, so they drank one and I took my bottle around the dining room, looking for my people to pour for. I found good ones and was happy it was them. Liza Harmon was on stage again. Good.
Thursday, May 11, 2023
At Sea
It was time to write my sad little farewell letter, so I did. This one summarized our time together.
Please don’t ask why the logo isn’t centered. It was in the word file that i distributed. I am lucky to have it at all.
May 11th , 2023 Newsletter No. 22
Guest Names
Time to say “GOODBYE
Thank you for sailing with Distinctive Voyages. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve you. You have been a wonderful group, on time, good communicators, nice people, the works. I am very proud to have been your host. Please don’t forget to thank your travel agent for this program. If you did not know about it beforehand, tell your Travel Agent that the amenities are on “Agent Universe”, and that you’ll want to know about them, in a timely fashion, next cruise.
Our shore excursions saw us in a Maori Village in Tauragna, NZ, on catamarans in Port Luis, Mauritius, watching Flamenco at a winery in Jerez, and Irish dancing in Dublin. Some of us even went to jail and/or the Opera.
We had six cocktail parties, with optional diners after, and four shore excursions. We also had no host dinners in the Pinnacle and Canaletto as well as dinners out in Sydney, for people going to the Opera, in Cape Town at GOLD, at Dim Sum at Zilver in Sydney, and a pub lunch in, Dublin before our no-host add-on at Kilmainham Gaol. There were a few that came up quickly, when I found a yacht club to visit. A lucky few were well received by the Royal South Australia Yacht Squadron in Adelaide and the Royal Perth. We need more overnights.
My apologies to those who don’t drink wine as that’s the way this Montreal and Napa girl expresses her hospitality and her thanks for participating in the program.
The Distinctive Speakers series has been a great success. I’ll be repeating it every world cruise now and asking for budget to cover the AV. Huge thanks to our speakers, Larry Sutton, the Navy Diver, Sandra Hobson, the Audiologist, Ken Stein, who has demystified Space on the World stage, Dee Wescott, with her gorgeous underwater photographs, and Pat Sanders, whose software found the Titanic.
I have helped with three insurance claims and accompanied two patients to medical appointments. I’m there whenever any of you needs me.
Many thanks to those of you who have returned your Comments Card. If you haven’t yet, please do. Return it to me, or to a PERSON at the Front Desk, where they will have an envelope for me. Do NOT put it in any box the ship puts out for its reviews. If you can’t find the form, I’ll bring some to our last Happy Hour, tonight.
Maytheroadrisetomeetyou. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields, and ‘til we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
Helen Megan, Distinctive Voyages Host Stateroom 7041
Friday, May 12, 2023
Fort Lauderdale
It was an easy, well run disembark. We quickly found a cab to the airport. My plane was on time and landed 40 minutes early. Best ever. Now to get my report in, and taxes done for two countries, before I leave for my next adventure on July 4.
I used today’s sea time to finalize everything for Dublin and Kilmainham jail. It got more complicated as Dublin is a tender port for us, after all. We, the Shore Excursions Manager and I, had been hoping for a dock, and had been told we were getting it, but – not to be. So everything had to be tightened up. I adjusted the Newsletter accordingly and got the thing out.
It’s Dutch Kings Day, so it was Dutch high tea, which doesn’t look much different from English but did surprise the guests.
It was also Wells Wescott’s 86th Birthday Party day, so here he is in the Pinnacle in Orange
For the Orange Party with the Crew after dinner, I had an orange dress and fascinator, but never got a picture. That’s Cristel on the far left.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Portree, Scotland
Portree is a tender port, with a floating platform, steps down, yada, yada, and the weather wasn’t so hot, so I took another work day. I needed to get started on arrangements for my next trip.
Oban is another charming Scottish town that you reach by a not-so-charming tender – read lifeboat. And it had Scottish weather, cold and wet. Plus, tomorrow was Dublin and I wanted to be very sure everything would be perfect for that. So, I stayed in. One of the things I did, was point my phone at my trophy display: I thought they were fun.
I also got a great email from a Napa friend, who is writing her diary from the Seabourn Sojourn. It contained this gem: “The first item under activities on the daily news sheet on 4.1 was: -“Nude trampoline exercises for the over 70s to be held in the retreat area of the spa. After thinking that that would definitely not be a pretty sight, we remembered the date!” She didn’t include a picture, though. Methinks I am on the wrong ship. They are having a lot more fun than we are.
Dinner was a treat. We had the comedian, Sid Davis for a guest. The entertainment was good after dinner, too. It was Jonathan Johnston, Irish personality, Musical entertainer.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Dun Laoghaire (Dunleary), Ireland
Port for Dublin
The weather was better in Dublin for our big day. I got up and out early, but not before someone had checked in sick with a cold, which was later tested and found to be COVID. I didn’t know it then, but had tested myself as a precaution before leading a tour. Everybody checked in on time, bless them, including our sparkling Addy. When we got to the bus, Peggy told me that Vicky had stayed behind with Addy, who had been whisked off to the Medical center, after feeling faint and nauseous. I had been so busy checking everyone else in, that I hadn’t noticed what had to have been happening not 20 feet away. Good on Vicky. That was very sweet of her to step up to the plate.
In the end, 58 people came on the tour, which was excellent. Both of the tour guides received high praise from the participants. All Irish tour guides are fabulous. It’s a nation of tour guides. Every Irish person is well-educated and steeped in Irish history, from the cradle. You can’t be going wrong, now. Ireland also made a disproportionate contribution to Irish literature. That was discussed, too. And we stopped by this whimsical statue of Oscar Wilde, who was born in Ireland, but not happy about it. Don’t miss it if you go, now.
Our tour ended with an Irish music and dance show in the Arlington Hotel, on the river Liffey. There we were met by my old high-school and later, friend, Mary. I include this selfie for a few of you who have had the pleasure of meeting her. It’s still, and always will be, a great pleasure.
I am not all that good with selfies. Sorry about that.
After the show, the people who hadn’t signed up for Kilmainham Gaol, went back to the ship in the buses, and those who had, went upstairs for a good pub lunch. I had a steak and Guinness pie. Lovely, now.
At 2:25pm, the bus I had hired separately picked the 27 of us up and took us to jail, without passing “GO” or any of that. Mary had vouched for the fact that it is the best tour in Ireland, and I truly believe it or I wouldn’t have tee’d it up. It’s quite moving and a lot of us have Irish roots. I got a lot of good comments on it.
Back on the ship, after dinner, there was another River Dancing demonstration. You gotta love it.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Cobh, Ireland
I found out early that Addy had gone off the ship for medical evaluation and the faithful Vicky had accompanied her. When they came back, without having been able to get the cat-scan required because it was a public holiday, I assured Vicky that I would take the next shift. She should not be ruining her vacation for someone she had just met on the cruise. They are both part of about six single women who hang together a lot. I am part of the group now and then, too.
I went out in Cobh with Nona and Lenora. There was a lot to do, very near the ship, and we did a lot of it. First there was a fair, where I purchased an Aran sweater tea cozy and a home-made gluten-free carrot cake for my 4PM breakfasts. It was this kind of a fair:
Check the horse shoes.
Cobh was the port from which most of the Irish sailed who were coming to North America. There is an extensive heritage museum right near the ship and the Titanic Museum in the very offices if the White Star Line, which owned and operated her. We decided to tour that. The ticket was very interesting. We each got a replica of one belonging to a real passenger, and inside, after the tour, we would be able to access the record of what had happened to our person. We had a little time before our time slot and spent it, of course, in the shop. There they were selling 4-quid bookmarks and I was sucker enough to buy one. It had part of my passenger’s story on it, you see. She had survived and only died in 1944, the year I was born. I was convinced I was the re-incarnated Nora Keane:
Well, I’m not, because she lasted until December of ’44 and I was born in October. So much for that. I’ll use the bookmark, though. There was a lot of information on the ship herself and how she sunk, who rescued the passengers and why more of them weren’t rescued. It was very interesting and monumentally sad, but I can recommend it.
It was a cold, sunny day, which meant you could eat and drink outside if you could find a table in the sun. The pub with the live music was full, but we found a coffee shop across the street next to a place that sold beer, so Nona got her beer and I got my hot chocolate and a pastry to break my fast. It was a very good day.
Dinner was good and we had another fine production show, “Rockin’ Roadhouse”.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
At Sea
Luggage Forwarding are on board and everyone has a zillion questions. So I got ahead of it and got most of the answers to help my people. Many people treat a world cruise like a second home. They don’t pack lightly. They bring most of their clothes and a lot of other stuff, too. It is four-and-a-half months, after all. Even I checked a bag and will have two on the way home, because of my trophies and all. But I don’t deal with Luggage Forwarding. It was a day full of baggage questions, though.
I made a bunch of birthday cards, and got out a Newsletter because I had a Distinctive Speaker tomorrow. The entertainment was nothing short of weird. You were to wear your jammies to the pool, where stories would be told “Once upon a time…” I had a little look at it and retired to my cabin to read my book.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
A Sea
I spent from 9am to 10am in Medical with Addy, making sure we had an appointment for her cat scan tomorrow in the Azores. There was not to be a repeat of the day in Cobh, where Addy and Vicky taxied all around the place and never found one. My COVID patient is still feeling badly and has a really sore throat. I had some Strepfen in my pharmacy and she pronounced it way better than what the Medical Center had given her (Strepcils). I’ll get more of that.
Pat sanders gave his Distinctive Speaker talk to a full house. It was excellent. Just to give you an idea of the kind of talent you find in a DV group:
Pat Sanders learned how to survey underwater with the US Naval Oceanographic Office. In 1985 he formed HYPACK to provide PC-based mapping and search software to oceanographers and hydrographers. HYPACK® is commonly used to maintain shipping and boating lanes at specified depths to ensure safe passage of marine vessels. It provides hydrographic surveyors with the needed tools needed to design their survey, collect, and process data, and present it in a variety of output formats. After several unsuccessful attempts by others, over the years, since the Titanic sunk in 1912, it was finally located by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using HYPACK software. Pat was president of the company from 1985 to 2015, when he sold the company and retired. He has served as President of the Hydrographic Society of America and was elected to the Hydrographer Hall of Fame in 2018.
His presentation looked at the tools used in searching underwater for hazards to navigation, shipwrecks, cars, etc. It explained how they found the Titanic and looked at some items found for a NOVA TV special on surveying wrecks from the D-Day invasion. He even told us what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight 370.
The show was Jim David, a pretty good comedian.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Ponta Delgada, Portugal – The Azores
Addy and I were up and out at 9am and off to the Hospital Internacional dos Açores. It is a very nice facility, all that you would want a hospital to be. It took until about one-thirty, but we got the scan and the doctor’s evaluation, everything but the bill. We were told it was being taken care of by the ship and she would pay them. The driver reappeared to take us back to the ship but Addy wanted to go shopping. I haven’t told you. She’s 88 and rides a scooter but she’s the hippest cat on the ship. So, we had ourselves let off downtown, had lunch and went shopping. It was fun and we needed that.
When we got back on board the documents staff were waiting for us. It seemed like we had skipped out on the bill and would have to go back to the hospital and pay it. Neither of us wanted anything to do with that. So, we stood out ground, saying we had offered before we left the hospital and they would have to find a way to get the bill to the ship, where Addy could sign it onto her ship-board account and the ship could pay it. It took another three or four hours, but we weren’t sailing until 11pm, so it did get done in time.
The entertainment was a movie called “80 for Brady”. Since I am not into sports films, I passed. If they had advertised the cast I would have gone. I heard it was good it starred:
Lily Tomlin, 83
Jane Fonda, 85
Rita Moreno, 91
Sally Field, 76
Tom Brady, 45
I’ll have to find it on Netflix some day.
2023 – 4 – Grand World 4.4 of 5 More Europe – Scotland and Ireland
Thursday, April 27, 2023
At Sea
I used today’s sea time to finalize everything for Dublin and Kilmainham jail. It got more complicated as Dublin is a tender port for us, after all. We, the Shore Excursions Manager and I, had been hoping for a dock, and had been told we were getting it, but – not to be. So everything had to be tightened up. I adjusted the Newsletter accordingly and got the thing out.
It’s Dutch Kings Day, so it was Dutch high tea, which doesn’t look much different from English but did surprise Patrick Sanders.
It was also Wells Wescott’s 86th Birthday Party day, so here he is in the Pinnacle in Orange
For the Orange Party with the Crew after dinner, I had an orange dress and fascinator, but never got a picture. That’s Cristel on the far left.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Portree, Scotland
Portree is a tender port, with a floating platform, steps down, yada, yada, and the weather wasn’t so hot, so I took another work day. I needed to get started on arrangements for my next trip.
The entertainment was a film “Wild Mountain Thyme”. The description went: A pair of star-crossed lovers in Ireland get caught up in their family’s land dispute”. I even question the validity of the grammar in that, unless they were first cousins or something.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Oban, Scotland
Oban is another charming Scottish town that you reach by a not-so-charming tender – read lifeboat. And it had Scottish weather, cold and wet. Plus, tomorrow was Dublin and I wanted to be very sure everything would be perfect for that. So, I stayed in. One of the things I did, was point my phone at my trophy display: I thought they were fun.
I also got a great email from a Napa friend, who is writing her diary from the Seabourn Sojourn. It contained this gem: “The first item under activities on the daily news sheet on 4.1 was: -“Nude trampoline exercises for the over 70s to be held in the retreat area of the spa. After thinking that that would definitely not be a pretty sight, we remembered the date!” She didn’t include a picture, though. Methinks I am on the wrong ship. They are having a lot more fun than we are.
Dinner was a treat. We had the comedian, Sid Davis for a guest. The entertainment was good after dinner, too. It was Jonathan Johnston, Irish personality, Musical entertainer.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Dun Laoghaire (Dunleary), Ireland
Port for Dublin
The weather was better in Dublin for our big day. I got up and out early, but not before someone had checked in sick with a cold, which was later tested and found to be COVID. I didn’t know it then, but had tested myself as a precaution before leading a tour. Everybody checked in on time, bless them, including our sparkling Addy. When we got to the bus, Peggy told me that Vicky had stayed behind with Addy, who had been whisked off to the Medical center, after feeling faint and nauseous. I had been so busy checking everyone else in, that I hadn’t noticed what had to have been happening not 20 feet away. Good on Vicky. That was very sweet of her to step up to the plate.
In the end, 58 people came on the tour, which was excellent. Both of the tour guides received high praise from the participants. All Irish tour guides are fabulous. It’s a nation of tour guides. Every Irish person is well-educated and steeped in Irish history, from the cradle. You can’t be going wrong, now. Ireland also made a disproportionate contribution to Irish literature. That was discussed, too. And we stopped by this whimsical statue of Oscar Wilde, who was born in Ireland, but not happy about it. Don’t miss it if you go, now.
Our tour ended with an Irish music and dance show in the Arlington Hotel, on the river Liffey. There we were met by my old high-school and later, friend, Mary. I include this selfie for a few of you who have had the pleasure of meeting her. It’s still, and always will be, a great pleasure.
I am not all that good with selfies. Sorry about that.
After the show, the people who hadn’t signed up for Kilmainham Gaol, went back to the ship in the buses, and those who had, went upstairs for a good pub lunch. I had a steak and Guinness pie. Lovely, now.
At 2:25pm, the bus I had hired separately picked the 27 of us up and took us to jail, without passing “GO” or any of that. Mary had vouched for the fact that it is the best tour in Ireland, and I truly believe it or I wouldn’t have tee’d it up. It’s quite moving and a lot of us have Irish roots. I got a lot of good comments on it.
Back on the ship, after dinner, there was another River Dancing demonstration. You gotta love it.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Cobh, Ireland
I found out early that Addy had gone off the ship for medical evaluation and the faithful Vicky had accompanied her. When they came back, without having been able to get the cat-scan required because it was a public holiday, I assured Vicky that I would take the next shift. She should not be ruining her vacation for someone she had just met on the cruise. They are both part of about six single women who hang together a lot. I am part of the group now and then, too.
I went out in Cobh with Nona and Lenora. There was a lot to do, very near the ship, and we did a lot of it. First there was a fair, where I purchased an Aran sweater tea cozy and a home-made gluten-free carrot cake for my 4PM breakfasts. It was this kind of a fair:
Check the horse shoes.
Cobh was the port from which most of the Irish sailed who were coming to North America. There is an extensive heritage museum right near the ship and the Titanic Museum in the very offices if the White Star Line, which owned and operated her. We decided to tour that. The ticket was very interesting. We each got a replica of one belonging to a real passenger, and inside, after the tour, we would be able to access the record of what had happened to our person. We had a little time before our time slot and spent it, of course, in the shop. There they were selling 4-quid bookmarks and I was sucker enough to buy one. It had part of my passenger’s story on it, you see. She had survived and only died in 1944, the year I was born. I was convinced I was the re-incarnated Nora Keane:
Well, I’m not, because she lasted until December of ’44 and I was born in October. So much for that. I’ll use the bookmark, though. There was a lot of information on the ship herself and how she sunk, who rescued the passengers and why more of them weren’t rescued. It was very interesting and monumentally sad, but I can recommend it.
It was a cold, sunny day, which meant you could eat and drink outside if you could find a table in the sun. The pub with the live music was full, but we found a coffee shop across the street next to a place that sold beer, so Nona got her beer and I got my hot chocolate and a pastry to break my fast. It was a very good day.
Dinner was good and we had another fine production show, “Rockin’ Roadhouse”.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
At Sea
Luggage Forwarding are on board and everyone has a zillion questions. So I got ahead of it and got most of the answers to help my people. Many people treat a world cruise like a second home. They don’t pack lightly. They bring most of their clothes and a lot of other stuff, too. It is four-and-a-half months, after all. Even I checked a bag and will have two on the way home, because of my trophies and all. But I don’t deal with Luggage Forwarding. It was a day full of baggage questions, though.
I made a bunch of birthday cards, and got out a Newsletter because I had a Distinctive Speaker tomorrow. The entertainment was nothing short of weird. You were to wear your jammies to the pool, where stories would be told “Once upon a time…” I had a little look at it and retired to my cabin to read my book.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
A Sea
I spent from 9am to 10am in Medical with Addy, making sure we had an appointment for her cat scan tomorrow in the Azores. There was not to be a repeat of the day in Cobh, where Addy and Vicky taxied all around the place and never found one. My COVID patient is still feeling badly and has a really sore throat. I had some Strepfen in my pharmacy and she pronounced it way better than what the Medical Center had given her (Strepcils). I’ll get more of that.
Pat sanders gave his Distinctive Speaker talk to a full house. It was excellent. Just to give you an idea of the kind of talent you find in a DV group:
Pat Sanders learned how to survey underwater with the US Naval Oceanographic Office. In 1985 he formed HYPACK to provide PC-based mapping and search software to oceanographers and hydrographers. HYPACK® is commonly used to maintain shipping and boating lanes at specified depths to ensure safe passage of marine vessels. It provides hydrographic surveyors with the needed tools needed to design their survey, collect, and process data, and present it in a variety of output formats. After several unsuccessful attempts by others, over the years, since the Titanic sunk in 1912, it was finally located by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using HYPACK software. Pat was president of the company from 1985 to 2015, when he sold the company and retired. He has served as President of the Hydrographic Society of America and was elected to the Hydrographer Hall of Fame in 2018.
His presentation looked at the tools used in searching underwater for hazards to navigation, shipwrecks, cars, etc. It explained how they found the Titanic and looked at some items found for a NOVA TV special on surveying wrecks from the D-Day invasion. He even told us what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight 370.
The show was Jim David, a pretty good comedian.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Ponta Delgada, Portugal – The Azores
Addy and I were up and out at 9am and off to the Hospital Internacional dos Açores. It is a very nice facility, all that you would want a hospital to be. It took until about one-thirty, but we got the scan and the doctor’s evaluation, everything but the bill. We were told it was being taken care of by the ship and she would pay them. The driver reappeared to take us back to the ship but Addy wanted to go shopping. I haven’t told you. She’s 88 and rides a scooter but she’s the hippest cat on the ship. So, we had ourselves let off downtown, had lunch and went shopping. It was fun and we needed that.
When we got back on board the documents staff were waiting for us. It seemed like we had skipped out on the bill and would have to go back to the hospital and pay it. Neither of us wanted anything to do with that. So, we stood out ground, saying we had offered before we left the hospital and they would have to find a way to get the bill to the ship, where Addy could sign it onto her ship-board account and the ship could pay it. It took another three or four hours, but we weren’t sailing until 11pm, so it did get done in time.
The entertainment was a movie called “80 for Brady”. Since I am not into sports films, I passed. If they had advertised the cast I would have gone. I heard it was good it starred:
2023 – 4 – Grand World 4.3 of 5 More Europe – Holland, Denmark and Norway
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I took a tram into downtown Amsterdam with Nona and Lenora. We ended up touring the Royal Palace, which happened to be open that day. There were a lot of interesting sculpted friezes, but I think I liked this dining room best.
They knew how to entertain. I should put that in the present tense. The palace is still in use to entertain state visitors, who even get to sleep in it.
I like to eat out in a city when we have an overnight, but Holland America had a different plan. They were having a gala dinner and a 150th anniversary bash with the president of the company. So we all went to that, and I would have preferred my usual strategy. I don’t run the show here.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Still in Amsterdam, Nona and Lenora and I took a different tram and visited the flea market. It was a lovely day and I got this pretty picture.
And this one of the bicycle culture that has long been alive in Amsterdam:
Then we walked around for a bit and didn’t find a resto we could agree on. The others started getting nervous about missing the boat, but I was hungry, so I had croquettes on the street at the place I was sanding near, and it was a very pleasant experience. Then I went in search of orangines to compare Dutch ones to Belgian ones. All in all a good day.
I had given Belgian Orangines (Leonidas) to the Front Desk after our stop in Zebruge and now I presented the Dutch competitor. Both the Front Desk and my table agreed, the Dutch version was better. They had a comedian after dinner, Sid Davis. We thought he was very funny.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
At Sea
I got word that our very important question for Gus Antorcha had been delivered to his room and would be answered. Well, it wasn’t answered at the Q and A session, I can tell you that. I sat through 40 questions before I had to leave to get ready for our welcome cocktail. Gus made a lot of points for Holland America with that session. He just plain stayed on the stage until the last question was answered and I don’t know how long that took, because I had to leave after two hours. But he got a lot of marks for staying on his feet and taking it. There was another great production show from our singers and dancers called “All for Love” and we enjoyed it thoroughly.
Friday, April 21, 2023
Copenhagen, Denmark
Uffe & Joan Folkmann joined Nona and Me on board for breakfast today. I had to have ONE dining room breakfast and this was a good occasion. Uffe was our guide for Mariann’s tour of Denmark last year. He’s such a nice person and so is his wife, Joan, who joined us for the last day, last year. They were not unfamiliar with cruise ships. It’s one of their favorite ways to have a vacation. I get it.
But it was a work day for both of them, so, after I had thoroughly enjoyed my eggs Benedict, they drove Nona and me into downtown Copenhagen. Joan was already gone when I had the presence of mind to get a picture with Uffe. I hope they visit me now, in Montreal. Could happen.
With a map from Uffe’s Segway Tour business, Nona and I walked through the shopping district, through a department store and on to Nyhavn, where we met Shari and Pat Sanders and had them take this super picture.
I should have one of them but they rushed off to more adventures. Nona and I had a beer, in the sun, at one of the delightful cafés, happy to have found a seat. It got really packed while we were sitting there. Then we walked along the waterfront past the cherry blossoms in bloom and The Little Mermaid, had a smoked salmon smorgasbord and another beer, and caught the shuttle to the ship, an A+ day.
My acupuncture session after that was pure torture but I had a nice dinner with Lynann, Nona and Lenora. The entertainment was another EXC talk about Nordic Pioneers. I gave it a miss.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Oslo, Norway and cruising Oslofjord
Lynann and I got on the Hop On Hop Off bus right on the pier. Lynann’s plan was just to ride the thing once around. Mine was to ride it twice, getting off in Frognerkilen on Bygdoy and having a drink at the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club, which had an interesting location “Dronningen”, which means “The Queen”. It looked like a bit of a challenge but, by my google research, doable.
It was a beautiful Spring day, and, no surprise, Norwegians behave like Canadians on the first gorgeous day of spring that happens to land on a weekend:
They also clog the streets with traffic and hold marathon runs. Net, it took well over two hours to circle Oslo once. Back at the ship, Lynann got off. I made some calculations and decided to go around again, to get off at the RNYC.
That’s where I made my mistake. I should have just taken a taxi to the yacht club, because the HOHO took even longer the second time and I ran out of that commodity. Next time. It was still a beautiful spring day. There was scenic cruising as we left Oslo, a treat we were to have for the next few days.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Kristiansand, Norway
We docked in Kristiansand and it was easy to just step off the ship and walk around, so Nona and I did that. They were nicely set up for tourists with literature on what to see, not that we could have missed any of it. It was a pretty small place. But, we did as we were told and toured the sculpture garden. I liked this whimsical display:
Then we walked into the old center of town, where we were invited to go to mass at the Catholic church by a very nice Vietnamese man. We demurred, not that Nona doesn’t go to mass every day, but yours truly certainly preferred what we did do.
Next thing you know we were sitting in a restaurant on the square, where we were introduced to “dirty fries”. I don’t know where they have been all my life. They were delicious, French fries with all the tacos toppings, and they were pretty much a meal.
I fell asleep in the bathtub when we got back to the ship.
There was more scenic cruising, dinner and nice entertainment for a change, Iris Kroes on Harp and vocals.
Monday, April 24, 2023
Haugesund, Norway
This looked like another nice little town but I needed to stay in and work
We had a terrific dinner guest in the person of sax player Akos Laki. The actual entertainment was a film: At Eternity’s Gate about Van Gogh. I went back to the cabin and read my book.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Eidfjord, Norway
There was no Internet all day because they were changing the ship over to 5G, so I was very willing to go out. It was a pretty little town from my balcony.
It was also very cold, like 45 degrees. There wasn’t all that much to see on our walk, until we happened on the Nils Bergslien Gallery attached to the Voringfoss Hotel, just opposite where the ship was docked. Nils Bergslein (1853-1928) was a native of the place. He did very well as a painter, sculptor, and designer of many major buildings. He returned to Eidfjord for the last 25 years or so of his life and this delightful museum is the result. Here’s a sample:
There was plenty of daylight left when we got back on board at five, so more lovely scenic cruising in the Crow’s Nest. The entertainment was our delightful dinner guest from a few nights ago, sax player, Akos Laki.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Bergen, Norway
I got a newsletter ready to go tomorrow before I even thought of venturing out at noon with Lenora and Nona.
The weather was terrible in Bergen. People coming back in reported sleet. I don’t go out in sleet. I went back to my cabin and took care of business, like insurance for my next couple of trips.
The entertainment was good, again, comedian Sid Davis.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, we docked in Lisbon, Portugal
Nona suggested an excursion out of Lisbon, where I had just been last year, to Sintra, Queluz and Cascais and it was a good one. Queluz is a palace from the same era as Versailles and with the same kind of rich decoration. I took a good few little pages of notes, but since it is now over a month later, I really have to wrap up this project, so here are just a few pictures, no great detail, except in the decorative arts, which speak for themselves, anyway.
There was a lot of that and there’s a good story, but you can google it. Our guide had terrific commentary. It was a good day. Cascais used to be a pirate village and here it is now next door to Estoril, where the rich people hang out.
Tuesday, April 11, was a sea day. I had a cold but it wasn’t COVID, I tested. Then I went, masked, to my office hour. One of my people doesn’t think she’ll be doing a world cruise again. Cell phones have ruined it for her. Where you used to make friends waiting for a shore excursion, or a show, now everyone has their nose pointed at their device. It’s just not the same. I have to admit. She does have a point.
Another one loves the list of past cruises taken on Navigator but wonders where some of them even went. When they show a date and “Grand Voyage” for 67 days, she has to wonder “Where to?” Some she can recall, some not. I told her I would find out. That ended up taking me a couple of weeks and a lot of correspondence with the Mariner’s Society. When the answer came it was so complete that it detailed the itinerary of each cruise. Yes, I know I am ahead of myself. You get some perks for doing your homework a month late.
The Distinctive Speakers series continued at 4:00 pm, with Dee Wescott’s gorgeous underwater slides. Dee is an engaging speaker, too. She told us how she got into the sport, and talked about every gorgeous fishie, turtle and piece of coral she showed us. The audience was most appreciative. Thank you, Dee.
After dinner, there was a production show on called Rock Legends. I loved it.
Wednesday, April 12, we were in A Coruna, Spain. I had sold my shore excursion, half price, so I could fully recover from my cold. I worked on some of my own TA stuff and a question for Gus Antorcha, President of Holland America Line, who will be on board in Amsterdam,. The entertainment was a film “The Duke of Wellington” no less – pass
Still at sea on Thursday, April 13, I was feeling better so I got a bunch of client work done and worked on tomorrow’s outing with an old tablemate from Azamara, Wanda Arti, who lives in Bournemouth. We are having a bit of weather today. You should see the waves in the pool. The I called Gil Mercier in Paris and now I have a nice plan to meet Gil and Sandy when the ship docks in Le Havre.
We had the Ship’s Doctor for dinner and she was delightful. The entertainment was Anil Desai, billed as a man of a thousand voices. Few of them came close to the originals.
On Friday, April 14, we were sort of at sea. We were at anchor outside Portland, UK, when we should have been in Brest, France. The Captain’s noon announcement included the worse news that the port of Le Havre has been canceled due to a labour strike in France. We’re going to Dover. I WhatsApp’d Gil. He had some very choice (unprintable) words for the French dockworkers, including the gem that they made the NY Teamsters’ Union look like choirboys. It did look like we were making our Portland stop, though, so those plans hold. The weather is still terrible, mind you.
There were just four of us at the table for dinner and we then saw the Lyodji Duo, on the World Stage. They are an acrobatic show with light effects. It started slow but it was very good.
On Saturday, April 15, we were finally in Portland, UK. The weather was a lot better today. Nona and I went out around 10:30am and took the ship’s shuttle into Weymouth. While we were waiting for Wanda and her daughter, Katja, we walked around Weymouth and got some pounds out of an ATM. It’s a cute, touristy little town. We loved these quirky, knitted sweatered, posts.
We watched the drawbridge go up, too, and saw other tourists doing what tourists in English seaside towns do. They were having fish ‘n chips from the local Chippie, and did they ever look good:
Wanda and Katja arrived at the appointed hour at the appointed spot and off we went on our adventure as “local tourists”. Wanda used to bring the kids over here from Bournemouth for an “outing” when they were young and Katja figured we would like it, too. We did. We went past Chesil Beach, which was very near the ship, and along the rugged coast to Portland Bill lighthouse. There we ate at The Lobster Pot, a local institution. We had crab sandwiches, just like Wanda and the kids used to do, and got ourselves caught up on each others’ lives.
Then we brought Wanda and Katja back to the Zuiderdam and gave them a tour of the ship and a cocktail by the pool. Too soon, we had to hurry them off, because the ship was going to sail. It was a very fun day.
The entertainment that night was an EXC talk about bicycles. EXC is the new name for Shore Excursions. It was not my idea of entertainment.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Dover, UK, should have been Le Havre (Paris), France
I hadn’t got over my disappointment at not being in Paris and London was too far to go. I stayed on board and cleared another pile of work. You’d think I would have had time to get more of this blog out but I didn’t. I don’t now, either. I am making it.
The entertainment was at least a live professional singer, more to my liking. I have seen her before. She’s Michelle Montouri, popular on the cruise ship circuit.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Zeebruge, Belgium
I went into Zeebruge with Nona, to walk around, see the tulips
and eat the local food.
We picked different local foods and drinks, but that’s just fine:
The evening’s entertainment was another EXC talk about HAL’s 150 years. Not memorable.
Well, the Canary Islands are part of Spain, and Morocco is almost Europe, isn’t it? On Monday, April 3, 2023, we docked in Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
After the lesson on how much I could walk in Tenerife, I decided it was time to stay in and have rest and elevation. I also went to the spa to cancel the rest of the acupuncture. On my way there I had a bit of business with Shore Excursions and one of their people told me she had had the same experience, had stopped the acupuncture for a bit, resumed and it helped. So when Renée, the spa manager, suggested that I let her just cancel the April 5 appointment, and see where I was on April 10, the day before my next appointment, I agreed. Fair enough.
My aches and pains mostly subsided over the day, but a couple of new ones surfaced. Since I am writing this three weeks later, I can say that they didn’t persist, which is good, but do I ever hate ageing.
I got a lot of work done with my feet up and went to dinner. There was nothing in the way of live entertainment, unless you wanted a dance band or the piano bar and I wasn’t into any of that, so I read my book, which is always OK with me.
On Tuesday, April 4, we were in Agadir, Morocco. I got some work done in the morning and Nona and I went out around noon. We had heard the ship’s shuttle wasn’t going into the city, just to a sandy beach where you could eat all the sand you wanted, standing up, before you took some other form of transportation. There were a few taxis at the ship, so we started negotiating. For $15 each Hassan would take us to the souk and wait for us. Deal. Only the souk he had in mind wasn’t the souk we had in mind. We wanted the old local market.
Agadir has been largely rebuilt since 1960, when they had an earthquake that leveled 60% of the city and killed 17,000 people. Everything looks pretty new and the roads are in excellent condition. While they were rebuilding, they built a couple of fake souks, which doubtless pay a commission to the likes of Hassan, which was why he was so accommodating. He took us to two of them and they were largely a waste of time. Ya think?
We really didn’t mind too much. I bought a $20 blouse that lasted two wearings. The first wash ripped it apart. I didn’t blame Holland America.
My right knee buckled in the last souk and gave trouble all the way back to the ship, which wasn’t far, thanks to Hassan. I crawled into bed with my computer and ordered room service for my 4PM breakfast. That’s when I found that we were going to remain in Agadir over night to avoid some bad weather and set off for Casablanca at 7:00 am. All aboard was at 10:00PM for the safety of those who went out. I made it to dinner and our singers and dancers took to the stage again. They are getting better and better.
The first thing I did the next day was to cancel my tour for Casablanca, which was marked strenuous. The ship had an ice cream social in the middle of the afternoon and I met a lot of my DV people there. I had dinner with Beryl, Nona and Lenora for a change but went back to my usual seat for the show with my tablemates. It was Michelle Montouri who has been on the cruise ship entertainment circuit for donkey’s years. She’s good.
On Thursday, April 6, we docked in Casablanca, Morocco. I delivered my newsletters first thing in the morning and went out with Beryl and Lenora around noon. It took us to the middle of town and Beryl decided to just go back to the ship. Lenora and I were bent on going to the real souk but we couldn’t find it, until one guy told us it was just across the street. That was easier said than done with all the traffic, but there was an underground passage, if you could find it. We asked around and the light rail station attendant finally told us where the rabbit hole was. We took it and popped up in a real souk. Here it is, complete with pussycat.
And with Lenora, who was delighted with the leather jacket she bought, a little after this picture was taken.
Unfortunately, it was Ramadan, so there were no food or drink outlets open or we would have had a snack, rested a bit and poked around some more.
We got back in plenty of time for me to do a little more work . I had dinner at the table as usual and were entertained by comedian, Paul Adams, who was pretty good.
For a change, I had a ship’s tour out of Tangier, Morocco, the next day. We went to Asilah, an old fortified town dating back to the Phoenicians, now a lovely seaside resort. It looks like they overbuilt before COVID and a lot of new condo projects seem to have run out of money. We pit stopped at a restaurant before the walking tour and I happened to spot three of four calèches waiting for fares. I was still in a mood to baby my right knee and left ankle and found a willing partner named Nancy. It was only going to be $10 each for a 35 minute horse and buggy ride around the city. Of course, we saw the modern city, rather than the refurbished old one, which was closed to all but foot traffic. No matter. It was easy on our legs and a lot of fun. There was no live entertainment again, so I got to bed early.
Malaga, Spain, where we were next, on Saturday, April 8, is the antipode of Auckland, New Zealand. That means you can draw a line from one to the other straight through the center of the earth. A lot of us had been here before, but a few of us decided to see the Picasso museum and I was one of them. Beryl, Nona, Lenora and I got on the Hop On Hop Off bus and rode it the full way around once. Back at the ship, Beryl got off and Nona, Lenora and I stayed on for the Picasso Museum. The nice thing about going around twice is that you then have the seats right up front on top, where you can get some good pictures. A nice gal named Jeri, joined us, as there are four such seats. Jeri has been cruising ‘round the world since I started with Elvon. She has MS, and had the first very light packable scooter I had ever seen. She still has it, or a newer version.
When it came time to get out for Picasso, her scooter was boxed in behind someone else’s power chair. Neither she nor I could move it. It was like I rubbed the lamp. I looked up and there was Pat Sanders, all big and strong like he had been on the catamaran, when I needed him. He solved the problem in a New York minute and we four were on our way to the museum. Jeri and her “caregivers” got special treatment, of course, jumped the line, went around to the elevator, used the handicapped bathrooms and all. Jeri has a brother, who, on hearing of her diagnosis, many years ago, crowed that now she could take him to Disneyland and they would get in to everything fast.
It was a brilliant museum and they didn’t care how many pictures you took. Here are a couple I particularly like. Still Life with Skull and Three Sea Urchins, Paris 1947
and Musketeer with Sword, Mougins1972
Picasso grows on you over time, a lot of time. The more you look his work, the more you see that more than meets the eye. I still see a dog on the forbidden sofa, looking guilty, in the first one, but I can also make the title fit. The Musketeer has a good few add ins, more hands, more swords, more faces. It’s very cool.
As was what we did next. We had beer and tapas on the square before we rejoined our HOHO We were glad we did, because we waited almost an hour for the thing. Luckily, we had the time.
We had dinner guests, lecturer, Dr. Shreeyash Palshikar and his wife, Peeta. They are both 2nd generation Americans with Indian fathers and American mothers. He lectures on Indian Magic and performs some. He has taught at Yale, Oxford, University of Pittsburgh and Albright. They were a lot of fun. It was a movie on the world stage and I had never heard of it, so to bed with my book again.
Finally it was Easter Sunday in Cadiz, Spain. I never did run out in the morning to experience the Easter festivities in Cadiz, but I was told they were very interesting. Those who saw the statues being carried in the streets were glad they did. A couple even found the churros con chocolate and pronounced it wonderful. I have learned not to try to do too much. Just do the task at hand well. So I worked over my bus lists to be sure they were in order and found my way to the appointed lounge at Noon.
Everything went smoothly. It was a good hour’s drive to Jerez. The commentary was informative and the people at the Real Tesoro winery knew what they were doing and how to handle large groups. The place was beautiful, and we had a good winery tour. The reception rooms were gorgeously decorated and the picture I have chosen to share resonates with me. You probably won’t wonder why.
Once we had received our education on the making of fortified wines, we gathered in a very large room for wine, tapas, and flamenco. What was not to like? The dancers were great, the wine flowed freely, and we missed seeing the horses on the way out because so many people were buying wine. They gave me a free bottle and I added two to it. I’ll be serving them at our farewell dinner.
We got back in plenty of time for dinner and a show. It was Rodrigo, a local Portuguese Instrumentalist, and he was excellent. The instrument was the Chapman Stick. You can google it. It was interesting.
To be clear: When I posted my first apology to Denise Davenport, I used the words “unfounded suspicion” which I meant to mean that the statement was false. She was not guilty.
This blog is a diary and a log, before it ever becomes a blog. I record a lot of things that cross my mind that have no business in the public domain. I have just removed a part of a paragraph from 3.3, that should never have seen the Internet and I owe Denise Davenport an apology. It was an unfounded suspicion that I meant to keep to myself. I am deeply sorry.
You may have noticed, we are in the boring bit of the cruise. I do my best to make things a bit interesting but this is relax and catch up time. It’s Monday, March 27, 2023, we’re at sea and we have dinner in the Canaletto tonight, which is part of making things interesting. I touched bases with its manager in the morning and promised her a final list, with seating chart, in the afternoon. Lots of people are still in quarantine, including two that I talked to before office hour. It’s bacterial, all right. The ship is now giving out azithromycin and Imodium to all that complain.
One passenger came by office hour to find out where the National Museum of African American Culture was, Gambia or Senegal. That got me into a lot of googling as it wasn’t that obvious. I eventually pieced together that it was the Museum of Black Civilization in Dakar and it was city center, right across from the large theatre and Renaissance Square. This lot has 38 million dollars of Chinese money in it and the museum was opened in 2018. It looked good on Google, but it didn’t answer my queries. We would need secure transportation as Senegal is notorious for robberies, muggings, etc. I canceled my expensive tour to the pink lake, in favor of this new museum. Rome2Rio wasn’t helpful. I gathered they didn’t recommend traveling around in Dakar. The ship’s $699 private tour for 9 people might be the best way, not cheap for a short ride, but the safest bet.
Twenty-four very merry people dined in the Canaletto and drank eight bottles of my wine. It would have been better if I weren’t always seeing the same faces, but still very good. It was a dressy night and Dee and Tracy looked fabulous in their African dresses. There was an excellent production show after dinner.
It was a very quiet day at sea on Tuesday, March 28. A nice, concerned passenger came to my office hour, very happy to be out of quarantine. He also wanted to know how my acupuncture is going. The jury is still out on that one. I am feeling some better, some worse. I have to start taking notes as Dr. Kim seems to be consulting me on what to fix. It’s slim pickings in the dining room, as a lot of produce had to be thrown out because of the gastro-intestinal problems and the entertainment is getting sparser. There was a game show at 7:00 pm tonight, while we are eating, and nothing at 9:30 pm, when we are done and ready to be entertained.
On Wednesday, March 29, we docked in Banjul, Gambia. I had been hearing how lucky I was to be a Canadian for a week or so now, as Gambia was taking some sort of revenge on the USA by pricing its VISA for US citizens at $155. Most people just decided not to get off, taking their own revenge. Well, Gambia figured that out from the paltry number of VISA applications they got and just decided to charge the ship the $155 per American on board, whether they got off or not.
Then they set up a very nice market on the pier, where I found out I had paid at least $20 too much for the wooden mask I had got in Abidjan and bought Robbie a life-sized pal.
Judging from some of the vehicles that dropped the vendors off, they do pretty well with these pier markets and probably have to be related to a customs official, to secure a piece of dock. The women were dressed beautifully in their own wares, like this one who made a client out of Dee. That, by the way, is not difficult.
Damage done, in the hot African sun, we got back on board and I found us a bus for our Kilmainham Jail add-on in Dublin, now just a month away. I had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill with Pat and Shari Sanders and it was just lovely. I like them a lot. I like all my people a lot. It’s a great group. The show was magician-mentalist Brendan Peel, from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He’s very good, not more than 30 and very easy on the eyes.
If you thought the last port wasn’t much, the next one, Dakar, Senegal, was actually negative. At 8:00 am, with the World stage full of people waiting to go on tour, came the announcement that no one was going ashore at all, at all. There had been violent demonstrations in the city the night before and Holland America wasn’t putting any of its precious passengers nor crew ashore. We would remain in port for the day, as we were expecting a 40 foot container of food stores, and truckloads of fresh produce, to replace that which had been tossed, along with its bacteria. We also had a few people to board, and a few passengers who needed medical assistance ashore. So, we waited in the hot African sun, snug in our air-conditioned vessel, and made like it was a sea day. There are worse places to be. One of them was doubtless the meeting, also on board, mind you, of our Captain, Hotel Manager, Security and Food and Beverage Managers, with the Senegalese top level Customs officials, attempting to have our stores cleared to board. Exercises in futility have little pleasure component. The next day, we learned of the crew of an oil tanker being held for ransom by Senegalese pirates, off shore, another worse place to be. The Captain’s sad announcement at sail-away, begged our patience as we wouldn’t be eating as well for a few more days, but at least we wouldn’t run out of wine or toilet paper.
I had a newsletter planned for March 30 but moved it up to today, since I had the time. I had thought I was seeing some results from the acupuncture, but, by what happened as I was delivering my newsletters, it seems to be that my knee’s and my ankle’s defenses had been broken down and I was exposed to a lot of pain. I barely crawled back to my room by the end. But rest and elevation works every time, and I made it to sailaway, dinner and the movie – Top Gun Maverick – another kids’ movie, this one American-style.
Friday, March 31, 2023 was another sea/work day and a busy one. Dinner was fine and Spencer Robson was on stage. He’s billed as a vocalist and impersonator of famous singers. In fact, he’s an excellent singer with a massive range and not much good at impersonation at all. He needs to just go it as himself.
On Saturday, April Fool’s Day, at sea, the clocks went forward. There’s still no Internet to speak of, so I log and prepare blogs, and go see people face-to-face at office hour. I tried to walk the deck but it was blowing a gale out there, so I walked the corridors. There was a vomity smell on the other side of our corridor, near the midship elevators. They had the shampoo machines and vacuums out in force, because the block party is at four. I went to Ben Sack’s drawing class at one, not because I wanted to learn how to draw, but because I wanted to show my face to Ben Sack. He and Elvon and I had spent many the happy sailaway on the Amsterdam, usually followed by nice dinners on the back deck. I like him a lot, as a friend, and his class was a lot of fun, too. I may even go again. I tried to put in Lynann’s Allianz claim for the second time, but the Internet failed in the middle of it. I was smarter this time, though, and saved the paragraphs I write in a Word file.
The block party was fun, as usual. What wasn’t so much fun was the acupuncture that followed it. I had been keeping notes for Doctor Kim and my notes said that I had woken up with my ankle, knee and hip pain better, but still there. I had put my sketchers on, which are softer than my Mephisto sandals, and done a couple of laps around the corridors, which had elevated the pain level in the left foot and right knee. After I sat for an hour, both of those still hurt and so did my right lower back. He went to work and by the time he was done, I could barely walk to the elevator. I limped up to Happy Hour and farther to dinner, where we had a super guest, the magician-mentalist, Brendan Peel. I don’t think he’s even thirty. It changes the conversation when you have someone at the table with his whole life ahead of him.
There was a costume party that night and Nona was trying to win best home-made costume as Miss Holland America 150. That’s Holland America Line’s age this year, not Nona’s. I had promised to go up and cheer loudly for her. To my great delight, Brendan joined me. Nona didn’t win, but I might have if I had had the presence of mind to wear a “COUGAR” sign and parade down the runway with him. Next time, I’ll be prepared.
The next day was Palm Sunday in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands. Nona and I got off around eleven to walk into town. It was farther than we had hoped but a doable project. The approach was pretty, and even interesting, with lots to read about the famous travelers who had visited before us, like Charles Darwin, et al. Nona wanted to peek into the church. She found out mass was starting in 15 minutes and I was happy to join her in attending. I don’t usually go to church, except for weddings and funerals, but 11 years of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary had taught me all I need to know to behave myself appropriately.
There had been a float parading around the neighborhood after the 11 o’clock mass and it appeared at the back of the church just before noon. It was a pretty float . I liked the expression on the donkey’s face. He’s wondering what to do about all these people. He got to keep wondering through the whole mass, because the float didn’t fit the width of the aisle, so the men carrying it just came out from under it and left it there.
After mass, we waited around a little to see if the float would get paraded around the streets any more, but that was over. We picked up our palm fronds and went off in search of tapas, since we were technically in Spain.
We found the tapas and some of my people, too. They let us join their table, as there wasn’t a vacant one. So, Nona had a Sangria, I had a beer, and we shared, croquetas, and iberica y queso. The walk back to the ship just about did me in. I was limping badly by the time I got there, every step agony in knee or ankle. Time for rest and elevation and maybe the end of acupuncture. It was obvious that it had broken down the defenses my body had erected to help me cope with my old injury and worsening arthritis. Only it hadn’t given me anything to replace them. After a couple of hours with my feet up, I was enough better to get to dinner and the comedian, Paul Adams, whom I had seen before and like.
I woke up an hour late, at sea on Monday, March 20, thanks to the way technology and I have been handling time changes. I sometimes wear two watches, one for my steps and one for the time. My phone doesn’t always know what time it is either. The result was that I had to scramble to be in the right place at the right time to turn my passport back in. There are worse problems, but I don’t seem to have them.
There’s a bug going around the ship. A lot of people have the runs. The ship is treating it like Norovirus and testing like mad. Five people I know have it already. People are passing around Imodium. It’s a treat. I’m trucking along, with nothing but my usual structural complaints. I have heard a ton of good things about the acupuncturist on board and have decided now is the time to give that a try, so I had a consultation and my first appointment. We’ll see how that goes. We had a very nice entertainer on stage, Naomi Tagg, a South African violinist. We liked her a lot.
The next day, I got off the ship in Luanda, Angola, with Wells, Dee and Nona and we took the shuttle to the market. I still haven’t found pants, I like. It wasn’t much of a market and not much of a day. Had a sailaway/happy hour with the Starrs and Mario Kalman and there were only 3 of us at dinner, thanks to the crud. The entertainment was an old movie “Death on the Nile” and it was a lot better that the new Academy award nominees they have been feeding us.
Back at sea on Wednesday, March 22, it was an ordinary work day, with a couple of people at office hour. There were only three of us at the table, though. I didn’t want to sit through the comedian again, so Wells suggested “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”, which had won best picture and was on our stateroom TVs. So I watched it and it was your typical Kung Fu Movie, a genre whose time must have come. It was in Hong Kong when I was there in the 90s. We considered them kids’ movies, because they are.
On Thursday, March 23, at sea, we all had a body temperature check. There are plenty of people sick but the Norovirus tests are coming up clean. Now the suspect is food brought on at Cape Town, likely fruits and veggies. That explains why yours truly stays healthy when all around her are succumbing. Beryl came by to thank me for her birthday cards and give me a candy lei to celebrate her birthday. Vicki is back, having taken Azithromycin. See? Bacterial. I parsed my shipboard bill, so far, and sorted out my expenses. Christof Van Der Berg, was on stage. He is the singer, pianist from Shades of Africa. Alone, he didn’t seem quite as slimy, but he emotes too much for my taste. The kind of guy you have to shut your eyes to appreciate, even though he is pretty good looking.
Still at sea on Friday, March 24, I worked on my expense account, our Farewell Dinner and table seating for our Canaletto dinner. I am still learning of people in quarantine. Nona spent an hour in my cabin, going over the shore excursions she and Beryl have picked for Africa and Europe. I signed up for most of them. She also taught me a new web site www.whatsinport.com, which is pretty helpful. I started working on transportation for my Kilmainham Jail add-on to our shore excursion in Dublin. Then I got the Newsletter that I had been working on printed and delivered. Naomi Tagg was back on stage, just as good as the first time.
On Saturday, March 25, we were in Takoradi, Ghana. It was hot, there was a pretty good market on the pier and Nona said it wasn’t worth going into town, so we just contributed a bit to the local economy there. I finally found some pants. I was getting pretty sick of the few I had. I did some work, enjoyed sailaway, had dinner and went to bed early, because the movie didn’t interest me.
On Sunday, March 26, we docked in Abidjian, Ivory Coast. There was a shuttle to a market in town and Nona and I took it. The big circular market has been torn down and is being totally rebuilt, but there was a smaller one we could access. Ivory Coast is not a very safe place for tourists, so there was a 10-foot-high iron fence around the market. Nona had bought something there in November and the vendor had given her a gift, so she had a gift for the vendor, a little fabric bowl she had made in Arts and Crafts class, filled with Holland America pillow chocolates. Nona had a picture of the vendor to show around and we soon found her. She was delighted with the chocolates and ate all but one of them on the spot. That one she gave to her assistant. They needed to be eaten fast because it was hotter than the melting point of chocolate. There were many hugs and many pictures, but none of them were in my camera.
Then we went to the bead seller that Nona had found to have the best prices last time. I am not sure we got the best prices this time, but I went away with four necklaces and Nona with three. The power was out in the market and the vendors were showing such wares as were inside the huts, by the light of their cell phone flashlights. Yes, everyone has one of those. In one dark hut, I finally bought a mask for $60, not knowing whether I was getting had, or not. Back at sailaway, where I got this nice picture, there were a few people in sports jerseys, which were the dress of the day. It wasn’t working very well. I didn’t go to the Sports Trivia Game, which replaced real entertainment. Tell you the truth, it wasn’t much of a day. But, it was a slice of life, and I do love life.
We were at sea in Africa on Monday, March 13, 2023. We’ll be in Cape Town tomorrow and I have two excursions plus dinner at GOLD for 23 people, so I paid attention to all that stuff.
Then I reserved the big table in the Pinnacle for May 7 and found out the ship expects me to pay full freight for the dinner, even of the guests are 5*. That sticks in my craw and I’ll be planning a work around. I had 16 copies of the GOLD restaurant list printed to go in with the newsletters and delivered same. The entertainment was “Shades of Africa” a white male pianist with two African ladies with fabulous voices. The guy gave me the creeps, but the women were wonderful.
On Tuesday, March 14,we docked in the much anticipated Cape Town, South Africa. We had a private tour out of Cape Town today, with Tsiba-Tsiba. It means “Hop Hop”. Colleen Mes was our guide. She was dressed in soft rainbow colours, all the way to her shoes. Addy loved it and we were sure not to lose her on Table Mountain. We had paid extra for FastTrack tickets up the Cable car and we went straight there. It was brilliant sunshine and no tablecloth at all. We really got the view.
You could see that the fog was moving in, though in this picture of the cute little animal that lives up there. She’s called a dassie, and she had two little ones, but this is my best picture.
The ship’s tour buses had started arriving, so we didn’t stay too long. As it was, the line up for the cable car back down was getting long.
Our next adventure was Chapman’s Drive, one of the most beautiful drives in the world. It reminded me of the west coast of California, that was in our back yard for so many years. We were tourists enough to go drive it every so often, especially when we had guests, but often just because it was a beautiful day. This was a beautiful day, for sure, and this drive took us from one coast to the other, Atlantic Seaboard to Indian Seaboard. We went through a Scottish named village called “Glencairn” and a navel base at Simon’s Town. Colleen had lived here, having been an officer in the South African navy. It had boom town fronts, like Calistoga and was near Boulder Beach, aptly named, and home to a large colony of penguins.
We walked down to visit the penguins. It was exceptionally windy and we collected rather a lot of salt and sand on our walk to the beach, but it was well worth it. It’s interesting how close to town this penguin colony is. Look at the houses just above it.
I got a close up of one, too. I thought he was looking very dapper in his tuxedo.
And I love this one of a class of schoolchildren:
Luckily there was a little market there, or I might have no souvenirs at all. As it is, I now have a goodly number of them, so I won’t be coming home empty handed. The patchwork pants I bought ripped the very next day, but the beadwork should stand up nicely. We had lunch at Harbour House on Kalk Bay. It was delicious and the view was breathtaking, but the service was slow, and we were an hour late getting back. That only gave me a half hour to shower and get ready to meet everyone for dinner out. Almost everyone was on time, except for Cindy and Frank, who had taken the HO-HO bus and only got to table mountain later in the day, when the wind had picked up so badly that the cable cars were being filled with ballast and could only take half the number of passengers. They ended up with a nice dinner on the waterfront, though.
The rest of us ate at GOLD, the African experience, complete with a drumming show and Mali puppets. Contrary to the warning I got from the Scipios, the food was excellent. It was not a buffet. It was served family style at the tables, piping hot, by attentive, colorfully dressed wait staff, who couldn’t do enough for us. There were fourteen different dishes and we could have ordered seconds of any that struck our fancy. We didn’t need them. We were pretty full with what we got. The whole thing was ridiculously inexpensive, including the beer and wine and the shuttle bill for the ride there and back, came to $2 each.
On Wednesday, March 15, we were still in Cape Town, and Cape Town is close to Stellenbosch. When I visit a famous wine growing region, I go wine tasting. Dee had gone on safari to Etosha, so Wells was happy to join me. We booked with Tsiba-Tsiba, and got Eileen, who had been recommended by Linda and Bob Eckert. Doris, Frank and Cindy decided to join us, as the ships tours were all sold out by that time. Eileen was great. She said she knew so much about wine because she had been drinking so much of it for so many years, kind of like yours truly. She wasn’t drinking today, though. She had a lot of driving to do. The first thing she pointed out was how lucky we had been, having been to Table Mountain the day before, because today it had a full tablecloth. It’s pretty, but not from up there.
We were going to Stellenbosch, about 35 minutes away, where they have been growing wine since 1685. You have to wonder why they are considered a “new world” wine growing region. I guess because Europe has been making wine since Roman times. The Dutch colonists tried their hand at it first, but it was the French Huguenots, who had to come and teach them how to do it. Still, that was in about 1688 to our 1970.
You say “geezers” I say “guysers”. These things are geysers and, with a lot of sunshine, they deliver nice, free, hot water. They are mounted on the roofs of all the newer public housing.
And on every kind of housing, to the very poorest, you’ll find satellite dishes. I took a picture, but you know what they look like. There’s not the reverence for Nelson Mandela here that we saw in the Eastern part of the country. His promises haven’t been fulfilled rapidly enough and the natives are restless again. We passed the township of Khayelysha, and it went as far as the eye could see in all directions, second only to Soweto, which is outside Johannesburg. It’s no fun living in corrugated tin shacks where the summers are hot and dry, the winters cold and wet, and the roofs leak.
In contrast, the town of Stellenbosh is very pretty, all white and grey Cape Dutch architecture. There are no high-rise hotels. They are mostly old mansions with tasteful additions. The people walking the streets are almost all white. So are the students in the university, which we passed through. The industry was and still is, farming, cattle and viticulture, mostly. Eileen tells us it can be a wonderful place to shop and she is happy to lead a shopping tour, but that will be for another visit.
95% of the grapes in Stellenbosch are hand picked, due to the ready availability of cheap labour. Our first stop was Rustenberg, which stands on 800 hectares and has been in the Barlow family for four generations. It was the kind of tasting I love, where you sit in the old family garden, cooled by a gentle breeze. Just look at us. We each bought one bottle, which is all the ship will allow, without charging us $18 to drink it. I got a good Peter Barlow C.S. for $33, where the very nice S.B. was going for $6. It is very good.
We moved on from there to L’Avenir, where Ryan greeted us with a lovely 5-pair cheese and wine pairing, including a 50-year old vine Chenin Blanc. That was served outside, too, and was lovely.
We had a delicious lunch at another winery and I am sorry, but I forgot to write down the name. I did take a picture of the whimsical sign in the loo, though.
Our last stop was Meerlust, which has been in the same family for eight generations. They are important in South Africa for having been the first producers of a Bordeaux blend. We tasted inside, surrounded by history, and the wine was good, but it wasn’t nearly as lovely an experience as Rustenberg and L’Avenir. We were somewhat delayed getting back, by a herd of cows crossing the road. Nice.
For some reason, a day of wine tasting always takes the stuffing out of me. I try to drink a lot of water, but I think it’s the dehydration. I was the only one of the six of us who made it to the table and that was fine with me. I was too tired to be good company. I had an onion soup and a “Brazo de Mercedes”, which is custard and meringue and I went to bed, missing the South African Youth Choir, who were doubtless great.
We were back at sea on Thursday, March 16. They upgraded the Navigator App last night and today there’s no Internet at all. It goes through the Navigator App, you see, and that’s not right yet. It wasted hours of everyone’s time. The ship ran a Silent Auction to benefit the Bernhard Nordkamp Centre in Namibia. My Maori blanket wasn’t auctioned after all, it was on sale for $25, but the nice lady who bought it said she planned to pay $50 for the charity and because she liked it so much. There are a good few of us on board, who know how to run a silent auction, who were pretty disappointed for the children. Shades of Africa were on stage again after dinner.
On St. Patrick’s Day we were in Luderitz, Namibia. It is a tender port, so I just delivered a newsletter and stayed on board to work some more. The sailaway was a mess, with a St. Patrick’s Day party Lido Poolside and sailaway on the aft deck. One didn’t know which to go to. I circled and gave up and went to the Crow’s nest. At dinner, I ended up selling Lynann one of my necklaces because she hadn’t hardly got to shop. She was out with one of her former students and his family. He’s twenty-nine, now. Having been a first grade teacher has its rewards. The comedian on stage, Martin Beaumont, was not very funny at all.
The next day, Saturday, March 18, 2023 wasWalvis Bay, Namibia.
Walvis bay is a good port and has a number of good tour operators. Nancy Martyn and Jim Place had booked one, expecting Nona to join them but she was on safari and had replaced herself with me. It was the Dune Ride, which I had always meant to take some time. Nancy and Jim live in the other Pinnacle suite, so now I have seen both of them. Lucky me. It was a half day tour that started at noon, which suited me fine. Our driver/guide, Leo, first took us to Sandwich Harbour to see the flamingoes and pelicans and the salt pans. Our tour company was mctoursnam@gmail.com, if you want to do this after you read the whole thing. Namibia has only been independent for 33 years. It was first colonized by the English, then the Dutch and latterly, the Germans. There’s pink algae in the water, along with the salt and you see it best in the salt ponds. The company exports almost a million tons of salt a year and seawater in the only raw material.
Leo is the tour company’s best guide, so we went first into the dunes, blazing the trail for the others and finding things like this little gecko that Leo spotted by the seven holes he digs to stay covered by sands. I’ll bet his translucent little body burns in the sun.
Leo spotted a seal on the beach, too, and took us in for a closer look. The next time I come here, I am taking the catamaran tour out into the water, where seals and pelicans come aboard and play with the tourists. Out in the dunes, there are also oryx, springbok, ostrich and jackals. Apparently, there is a lot for them to eat but it didn’t look too appetizing to us. It just looked like a lot of sand with a bit of scrub here and there.
And then we started driving through the dunes. OMG. It was like a natural roller coaster. I whimpered softly for Mama, a few times, and at one point let out a blood-curdling shriek, embarrassing myself thoroughly. Here’s our guide, with some very close dunes to give you a sense of the size of them.
We stopped at a valley in the dunes, and they fed us a delicious lunch, put us back in the jeeps and shook us up again. It was fun, and I am glad I did it, but you won’t catch me coming back for more. That’s ticked off the bucket list.
Back on the ship, there was a Biergarten Festival in the Lido, poolside, for a sailaway with a wonderful sunset. Dee was back on board after a fabulous safari at Etosha. Her pictures are incredible. We had Maja, the Guest Services Manager, for dinner at the table. We all like her a lot.
Sunday, March 19, 2023 At Sea
I was planning on making this the day I broke my fast early and went to Sunday Brunch on the ship, which, I am told, is wonderful. But I had a major tightness in my mid section, which a whole can of gingerale had not managed to dissolve, so I decided to skip that. Al and Sobie Toledo were down in the atrium, using the phone provided for emergency calls. Al’s niece had died, and they had to go home for the funeral. They will get off in Luanda, tomorrow, and back on in Dakar, Senegal, ten days later.
Addy came back. She still hasn’t got her photos backed up. Vicki is helping her with it but Vicki couldn’t get off the ship yesterday because of a stomach bug. It’s going around the ship. We’ll all be spending a lot of time washing our hands. I had a few cocktail party and dinner cancellations because of it.
In the end, only 40 people came to our 5th cocktail party and 24 to dinner. In a time of norovirus, that’s a good, brave turnout. As usual, we had a lot of fun at dinner. The singers and dancers were back on stage again and we like them a lot, too.
Helen Megan 