Final post

Thursday August 19th 2010

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At Sea.

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It is with a sad heart that I have to say this will be my last blog entry. I just received word from Jolene, that my Mum passed away last night, she had a heart attack over the weekend and passed peacefully at 1900h Wednesday evening.

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We'd had our ups and downs over the years but I loved her and I'm sitting here feeling a bit lost. She is at peace now and hopefully reunited with Dad.

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Thanks for following us on our journey, just cant wait to get home now.

Tony

Corner Brook Newfoundland

Corner Brook Newfoundland.

We had a great day here, it's a beautiful part of our country and strange but true, closer to the UK than it is to Calgary.

This will be short, I'm tired after a busy morning sightseeing and moving cabins "yet again". We have a day at sea tomorrow, I look forward to that. This is the third attempt at writing the blog tonight, and I've somehow managed to delete the two previous attempts while trying to copy and paste. #&#@*&

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Friday we'll be in Bar Harbor Maine, our final port before arriving in Boston, It's been an excellent trip but we are ready to go home.

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Toodle loo for now.

St Anthony Newfoundland

St Anthony Newfoundland….

Had a rude awakening this morning after a great nights sleep, it's 0800, our coffee just arrived and the captain announced that we were lowering the tenders already. I'd slept right through. All I can see from our cabin are rugged green hills and a few low lying buildings. We're told it's a pretty little place so we're looking forward to going ashore.

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We'll go to the dining room for breakfast and let the hoards push and shove for their tender tickets. The lady who hands them out threatened to call security if the pushing didn't stop at our call in Greenland on Sunday, that cured the rudeness in a hurry, but some twit reported her for being insolent, we and others came to her rescue though and Dorothy drafted a letter to the captain with signatures telling how it really went down.

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The tenders were late leaving the ship due to a heavy swell making it dangerous to step from ship to life boat, the Maasdam then moved closer to the harbor entrance where there was less swell, making it a short tender ride. Had there been any wind we would have had to miss this call, so we were indeed lucky.

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St. Anthony is a fishing village, hit hard by the moratorium on fishing, we had hoped to book a whale watching and iceberg tour but darn it, Holland America had booked every available boat. The weather is awesome though so we walked around the town chatting to the locals and that was fun. Dorothy wanted to check out the shopping so I left her to it and headed for the tender dock and back to the ship.

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It was a reminder of home to see the RCMP and a Tim Hortons coffee shop, also the "Newfy" dialect which we hear a lot of in Alberta

as many Newfoundlanders work on the oil rigs and tar sands. I had conversations with at least three who had sons living and working in Calgary and it's environs.

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After our time ashore, we had lunch and went to our cabin where the carpet was wet and bumpy just as it was last week when they'd shampooed it. I had my nap, woke up and found it was wetter and bumpier, "My god I thought, we're sinking". Called the front desk who responded right away, seems that we'd sprung a leak in the wall, our cabin and the one next door were flooding. Two pieces of luggage under the bed were soaking, Dorothy's slippers were drenched and it's very squelchy.

There was much apologizing from the hotel manager on down through the ranks, and a temporary move for tonight.

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We had just finished dinner when a humpback whale breached and entertained us for a few minutes off the aft end, as our table is right by the window we had an excellent view. You'll all be pleased to know that I had fruit plate for dessert, see, I knew I could do it :)

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So here we are in our temp. quarters, at the port side on Promenade deck, Dorothy's gone to the show and I'm calming myself after all the excitement. The staff are bending over backwards for us, all rather embarrassing, I mean these things happen. I'm glad they had another cabin though, I just went to retrieve some things and it's a real mess in there.

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To be continued.

Monday August 16th.

We awoke this morning and looking out saw a blanket of thick fog, with the drone of the fog horn alerting any shipping of our position. As I stood at the rail at the aft end, I couldn't help thinking, that "this is the stuff of "Agatha Christie Novels" …

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I feel a lazy day coming on and I'm quite happy chatting or listening or reading. I love the sanctuary of our cabin and do my best thinking there alone or at the rail. I'm preparing mentally for leaving the ship, new friends and come Saturday I'll be anxious to get home.

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Our cabin boys are busy cleaning, I'm sitting here on a couch facing the escalator composing the blog, when a gentleman I've not seen before stops and says "hi, where are you from?" I tell him Calgary, he says "I'm from South Carolina" and the next thing we're talking hockey and now I'm late for a meeting with our cruise group. That's life on sea days, if I don't make the meeting, no big deal, there's always another one.

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The Grand Show Buffet was held in the Rotterdam dining room at 1130h. featuring ice, vegetable cheese and fruit carvings. There's an awful lot of work goes into this, by a group of very talented chefs and cooks. I took a couple of photos from the upper dining room, it was crowded down there so we went up to the Lido for lunch leaving others to devour the delectable delights of the buffet.

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We sailed out of the Danish Straights I believe, off the coast of Greenland and into Canadian territorial waters , the fog lifted and It's blue sky and sunshine now but a chill wind whipping across the decks. The temperature is 14c but feels a lot colder. I let the wind blow the cobwebs away, went in to read and fell asleep book in hand. After an hour I woke up, had a shower and read some more, I'm half way through my fifth book and feel fairly relaxed, for me that is.

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Where has this day gone? Seems like we just had breakfast and now it's time for dinner…... After dinner our travel agency hosted a cocktail hour in the Crows Nest, the hotel manager and the cruise director were there with the usual blah blah blah, there were 113 in our group, it was quite noisy (free booze) so I said my goodnights and came to the cabin, Dorothy went to the show, but showed up about 20 minutes later, she was not impressed with the singer.

Tomorrow St. Anthony's NFLD, I wonder if they named it after me :)!

Saturday PM

I'm glad I was able to capture some satellite signal this morning, the further toward

Greenland we go, the more fickle it seems to be. Sometimes I can get logged in only to find the e mail or blog site won't come up and by the time it becomes obvious that "It aint gonna happen" I've used up more minutes.

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We're into fog again with rain, winds and the high only 14c, there's a moderate swell and in all a typical North Atlantic experience. We expect this for the next few days which will make our call tomorrow in, Southern Greenland, "interesting"! I stood at the rail gazing at the fog for a while, the wind messed up my hair do, shucks and it's formal again tonight. :)

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There's plenty going on around the ship but after lunch I came down to the cabin for some quiet time, read my book (just started my fifth) had a nap and will try to stay awake for the Officers Black & White Ball which doesn't start till 2230h, way past my bed time.

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Nanortalik means "Land of the Polar bears" in the Inuit language, the bears arrive on ice floes but great care is taken to keep them from visiting. The port (although we'll be tendering) was first established in 1797 as a whaling and sealing station.

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We are hoping for two reasons that the weather will brighten, #1 it's very scenic we're told and the fjords sheer walls, spectacular. At the upper end of the 45 mile inlet, the Tasermiut glacier is said to be an impressive sight.

#2, in clear weather the Northern lights are visible but are at their best between late August and April. Perhaps we'll get lucky but what ever, it'll mean another pin on our world map.

1730h. 15 minutes till early seating, we're all spiffed up so me and Mrs. Toe are just about ready to go. There'll be one more formal before we leave the ship, probably next Thursday.

Dinner was great again, Dorothy had beef tenderloin, I had the surf n turf. Some had Icelandic cod, it was good too. Dorothy had raspberry sundae but I forget what I had! :)

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The fog rolled in and out at dinner and the ship became quite wobbly, the wobbliest it's been for the whole cruise. Walking back to our cabin, everyone had a sailors gait, it will be interesting to see what happens at the black and white ball, Dorothy has taken off her heels and I don't blame her. The show room is at the prow or pointy end, it will be very wobbly there, wobbly plus bubbly should make for an interesting evening, I think I'll take the camera.

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Last night we put the clocks back an hour and we do the same again tonight, Toe is a happy man.

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Sunday August 15th. Nanortalik Greenland.

We ended up missing last nights shindig. Dorothy was too tired, as was I, we were rocked to sleep by the motion of the ocean and when we awoke it was still very foggy. It was cold and windy until about 45 minutes before our arrival, then it suddenly cleared and was sunny all day. The Inuit again were very friendly and happy to sea the ship come in, it helps their economy and they were ready with signs all over making us welcome.

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The first tender left at just after 1015h. It was about a 15 minute ride to the harbor and the local kids were all at the pier side welcoming us to their little town. The captain mentioned that we'd been dodging icebergs all night and there was one huge one and a number of smaller ones not too far from where we dropped anchor.

We spent a couple of hours wandering around town saying hello and explaining where we were from, this was the best weather they'd had in the last three weeks so we lucked out again. After that we tendered back to the ship and enjoyed the seafood buffet lunch they'd prepared on Lido out by the pool. There were crabs legs, oysters, scallops, shrimp and a whole lot of other foods, we were spoiled for choice and it was really good.

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The anchor was weighed at 1700h and we're headed for Newfoundland, less than 15 minutes after we moved out we were in thick fog again, the people in the suites will no doubt hear the fog horn throughout the night. I will not bore you with dinner details other than to say it was great.

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No show for Toe, I'm going to have another lazy evening, reading and hopefully getting the blog sent, we can't see the glacier due to the fog and I suspect there'll be no Northern Lights display either, it's all rather eerie out there, I love it……...

Reykjavik days one and two

Thursday August 12th.

Good morning, we have just arrived at the pier in Reykjavik, to grey skies and

rain, with our tour not leaving till 0900h we had time for breakfast in the dining room.

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What a contrast to yesterday (weather wise) but we can sing in the rain, no problem. Our tour left at the appointed hour, first. We visited a heritage settlement where homes, churches etc. had been relocated, and opened to the public to show how life was back then.

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We were surprised to learn that the temp. in winter does not get much below freezing but they do get wind storms which can make life a tad difficult. We saw more sod roofs and houses with special entrances for the sheep to come in at night or during inclement weather. I distinctly remember seeing similar at a heritage site in Wales except without the grass roofs. I can't begin to imagine what life was like under those conditions, although sleeping with the sheep may gave been fun if one was on the outs with the Mrs. :)

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Reykjavik which means (hazy inlet) due to the geothermal steam is the capital, it's a modern city and looks much larger than one would expect for a city of only 170,000 inhabitants. Iceland has been hit hard by the current economic times and like other countries is suffering major belt tightening. I saw tee shirts with

"Don't *%&# with Iceland, we have no cash but plenty of ash" and a volcano spewing ash silk screened on the front.

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No doubt a money maker for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit!

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Next was the museum showing prehistoric and Viking artifacts, complete with skeletal remains, where DNA has been extracted from teeth and is believed to

date back to the evolution of mankind. A display of more recent implements like razors and hair clippers, made me feel old as I remember them from when I was a boy.

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Tonight Icelandic performers will come aboard for a show at 2100h, while tomorrow we are going to the thermal waters and (Blaa Lonid) the blue lagoon. We leave at 0800h :( After dinner we were in the crows nest for an hour before the Icelandic group came aboard, I left Dorothy with our table mates to see the show while I came down to put this together.

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It was great having internet available on the quayside, I was able to get a few overdue emails away, and post a short message to my ostomy group. It seemed so fast compared to the satellite I've been used to for the past month. I found the mouse awkward at first as I've been using the touch pad on the net book and my fingers got confused.

Friday August 13th.

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Good morning Vietnam! Oops wrong year wrong ship….

I was up at 0545h and my butt is dragging, "still", sleep did not come easy, hey ho, at least I'm on vacation. No need to rush, our tour doesn't leave till 0800h. Cereal and yogurt, a nice cup of hot water and I'm raring to go back to bed :)

The rain is pouring down, I can barely see across the harbor for the mist and I'm wondering if there'll be any "Kodak" moments today. Ed our table mate who has taken the VOV cruise each of the last four years says our tour today is very picturesque, we'll have to wait n see, and if not this time, what better excuse than to take it another time.

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It continued to teem down for most of the morning making photography rather difficult, and once off the paved road it was quite a bumpy ride. We arrived at the geothermal lava fields passing the electricity generating and treatment plant, and the pipeline that carries thermal heated water to homes and industry to Reykjavik. It was interesting to see the bubbling mud and steam rising eerily out of the fissures. The lava fields, some smooth others huge piles of black craggy boulders looking more like the surface of the moon than planet earth.

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Next stop, the blue lagoon where many were bathing in the warm, mineral rich waters, we had coffee and Icelandic cakes, no icing though. The gift shop had the usual assortment of tourist "stuff" and skin products made from the minerals, all at highly inflated prices.

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Our last stop was another Viking museum featuring a full size replica of the ship that sailed to Newfoundland in Y2K celebrating the new millennium and to prove that Vikings were indeed the early discoverers of North America. We were a bedraggled looking bunch as we boarded the bus to head back to the ship but the sun came out, the mist cleared giving us the view that we'd missed this morning.

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1500h. Everyone made it back to the ship in time for our sail away, It's full speed ahead in order to make Greenland, our next stop….

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Tonight there will be a luau in the Crows Nest, a show in the Rembrandt lounge and as every night, the adagio string quartet from Canada playing in the Explorers lounge. If one prefers to watch a movie there's always a current one showing in the

Wajang theater and a whole bunch of other things to do if one is so inclined.

Tonight we gain another hour which our bodies will thank them for, personally I've never had so much trouble with my body clock adapting, I've done lot's of walking and stair climbing, I get really tired but even with my sleeping pill have trouble sleeping.

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Dinner was really good tonight, fresh Icelandic haddock was our choice and it was excellent. I skipped lunch so didn't feel the least bit guilty ordering the hazelnut mousse "a la mode", Dorothy did her best to shame me though by ordering sorbet, but it didn't work :)

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Saturday August 14th.

Good morning once again dear ones, with the extra hour and my pill I slept through the night and felt well rested when I woke at 0700h. Dorothy was already gone, doing her laps on lower promenade, we'd decided to have breakfast in our cabin and with perfect timing both Dorothy and breakfast arrived at the same time.

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To be continued.

Heimaey Iceland

I had an awful night and felt like I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards when our steward delivered the coffee. Once my feet hit the deck and I'd completed my morning routine I felt a bit better, Dorothy did her 10 laps then we went to the Lido for breakfast.

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After breakfast and after our room had been serviced I tried catching up with a nap but to no avail so checked out the Explorations lounge and had a go at today's Sudoku. Big mistake, I drove myself mental for about an hour and was happy to see some of our group show up for a chin wag. After that I found a quiet corner and read for a bit, I'm well into my forth book now. My eyes were getting heavy so back down to the cabin I go but as soon as my head hit the pillow, the committee who hold regular meetings in my head were going at it gangbusters, I tried not to get involved but nary a wink did I get, then Dorothy, who'd attended the talk on Greenland came by to tell me it was lunch time already.

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We could see the Icelandic mountains from our lunch table, and watched a school of Minke whales showing off about 50 yards to starboard. We went out on deck for a better view, and watched their antics till they tired of being the main attraction and swam away.

Now we’ve arrived at Heimaey where we can see the two volcanoes Eldfell and Helgafell. Eldfell last erupted in the 70's and added two square miles of new land albeit black volcanic lava in contrast to the green of the mountains adjacent to it. We are told that the people of Heimaey are the friendliest of all Icelanders, it is so isolated and gets very few visitors, the harbor is small so only small vessels and ferries can enter the narrow entrance.

The Maasdam has drifted as close as local regulations allow, we'll be tendering in but can't drop anchor for fear of damaging under sea cables and cutting of power to the town. The ship will stay in place using it's thrusters and screws thus giving a shorter tender ride.

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This port is a first for Maasdam, and Holland America for that matter. The queue for tender tickets was a mile long so we waited until what we thought would be a good time to go. Well what a dogs breakfast that was, the Rembrandt lounge where the tickets were handed out was a zoo we finally got our tickets and waited for our number to be called.

It was 1450h when we entered the lounge and 1605h when we decided not to go. Had we gone we would have had very little time there, and then queue up to come back :( It was a hard decision but the right one we felt, at least we saw the whales and took some pics. Those who went ashore enjoyed their visit.

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Perhaps you'll remember the movie, "Free Willy"? Keiko the whale was the star and lived for a while in the Heimaey harbor until he was ready to be released back into the wild. It really is a beautiful area, the ocean a lovely shade of green and with it being such a glorious day, if we hadn't know better it could have been the South Pacific. The air is so clean and the mountains thrust up out of the sea, their sharp green edges etched in a blue sky.

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Barb, our travel guide informed us that the Puffin colony is watched over by the locals, who created a sanctuary for injured Puffins some affected by oil and other contaminants that occasionally wash up on the shores of this little island. She also said that Puffin is a delicacy that the islanders feast on from time to time! Imagine, a Puffin muffin for breakfast.

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The dining room was not too busy at early seating, most passengers were still ashore. We could see a small passenger vessel docked there, it had to be small as it was too shallow for Maasdam and she's not a big ship. Our captain did mention that in another life she was named the Stockholm who infamously hit and sank the Andrea Doria, just out of New York in 1956 with a loss of 46 passengers.

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It is only a hundred and a bit miles to Reykjavik where we'll overnight tomorrow, we left Heimaey on time and will inch our way there, I guess.

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Time to see if we have satellite connection! Grrrrrrr Will try later

hooray i have satellite

Leaving Dublin & Sea day

Monday evening August 9th.2010

The Dublin dock area is huge, we were parked at Alexandra Quay among P&O ferries, Irish ferries and a fleet of cargo ships. Across from us was the Silver Seas, Silver Cloud, it arrived behind us this morning.

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All passengers were aboard early so we were able to push away about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The captain announced that to make it to our next port "Heimaey" Iceland on time he would have to go flat out, so the extra time was a bonus. He made an interesting maneuver with the thrusters pushing us out into the narrow channel, pivoting 180 degrees then heading out into the Irish sea, turned left pointing the bow toward Iceland where we are scheduled to arrive at 1400h the day after tomorrow, "Wednesday"

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Coffee has been ordered for the much more respectable hour of 0830. In about 55 minutes from now we will be passing between the western most tip of Scotland and the Eastern most tip of Ireland heading in a North Westerly direction into the Atlantic Ocean. It is expected to be a little wobbly at last, as so far the seas have been extremely tranquil, more in keeping with the Pacific really.

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After dinner we joined our table mates in the Crows Nest for an hour of jazz with a quartet from the HAL Cats band, they were excellent. I was tired so slipped out for a breath of the sea air that's been shrinking my clothes and no, I did not have the fruit plate, I'm ashamed to tell you what I did have but it was yummy. :)

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I was hoping to capture a promising sun set but living on the starboard side, got my timing wrong and missed it. Soon we'll be back in the land of the midnight sun, oh well I have taken a few over the past three weeks so I've not been skunked.

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Time to tuck myself in and read for a while, I'll wish you all bon nuit, goodnight Mrs. Calabash, where ever you are:)

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Tuesday August 10th. 2010.

0905h

Good morning, coffee arrived on time, Dorothy was up and walked her two miles while I was still clutching my stuffed Teddy and dreaming of fruit plate! I had slept well so fell out of bed, stumbled to the bathroom, completed my ablutions and dressed just in time for the room steward to think I'd been up for ages.

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We are spoiled for choice with activities today, for me it's a toss up between the lecture by Canadian author George Sranko, or the computer workshop. There's a host of other activities too but those are what appeal to me. This afternoon we'll take in the talk on our next two Iceland ports of call. In the end I missed the talk and computer workshop. Our host's Buddy & Lynn hold coffee chats on sea days so that's what we decided to do, "tempus fugit" as they say and the next thing we knew it was almost time for lunch.

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We'd been invited to lunch in the Pinnacle grill with friends from California so we skipped breakfast. The voice from the bridge announced that we had covered 295 miles since our departure from Dublin, we have a headwind slowing us down but still expect to reach Heimaey on schedule. With the wind we are making maximum speed, 18 knots. Temperature is in the high 50s,f and will be dropping as we get further north. Lunch was good though I wasn't hungry, saving my appetite for dinner perhaps. I took some sea air while standing at the rail contemplating how to solve the worlds problems, decided it was above my pay scale, so went to the cabin for a nap.

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Dress is formal tonight and following dinner there's the masquerade ball. We had planned on going but didn't feel up to it once we got back to the cabin. Dinner was good and though I didn't have the fruit plate, I had lemon sherbet rather than the tempting chocolate choices. Sorry no pics, but it takes waaaaay too long :(

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To be continued….

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Dublin

Monday August 9th. 2010.

I slept poorly and the 0630h coffee came much too soon, once out of bed and two cups of coffee later I felt almost human and was ready for our tour to Ballyknocken House and Glendalough.

We travelled through Dublin city crossed the Liffey River and out into the countryside, where ancient roads were very narrow, winding and caused much consternation to some of the many from large cities who'd not experienced roads built for the horse and carriage era.

The sun shone brightly, the fields, forests, and farms alone worth the price of the tour. Our first stop was at Ballyknocken house, a working farm/cooking school/bed & breakfast set in a green hill side. The young woman who runs the family business has a TV cooking show and has authored numerous cook books. She gave a lesson in bread and scone making, then we got to sample her creations along with home made butter, rhubarb & ginger jam and black current jam. It was really good.

Next up was a 10th century ruins and burial grounds I have always been interested reading headstones in old cemeteries, many of these were weather worn but I did see some that were readable and dated in the 1600s. We spent an hour with our guide she was great and knew her history, with a lovely Irish lilt making her easy to listen to.

This tour also ran in the afternoon, allowing the smart ones to have a sleep in, maybe it rained on them! Some, including Dorothy were dropped off in the center of Dublin, there was a free shuttle bus for them back to the ship. My knees were letting me know that they'd had enough so back to the ship for me. We passed Trinity Collage The old railway station and enough Guinness ads to let us know we were in Dublin. Dublin Too has a Wheel just like the centennial eye in London, it didn't look too busy though.

Ireland had done well adopting the Euro and with free education through university, produced well educated people who attracted multinational companies to set up shop in Ireland. The money was rolling in and people had lots to spend real estate took off at an alarming rate and the banks were lending like crazy. But alas, it all came crashing down in 08…Ireland is once again exporting it's people, and Canada is high on the list we were told. Many are sorry they switched to the Euro, life is very expensive now.

As a Calgarian, I have much empathy for Ireland, we too know boom and bust, based on the OPEC price of oil. It's not pretty, none who experienced the early 80s in Alberta will forget 21% interest rates and people walking away from mortgages that were worth more than their property was. I hope Irelands economy rebounds, history says it will but we can only hope and pray I guess.

A sea day tomorrow hooray, This voyage is very port intensive and quite grueling, I have to admire those in wheelchairs walkers and canes taking it all in stride and doing it.

I shall try to get this off while many are ashore, and the satellite hopefully will not be as busy. I will also try to title this time, I've a bad habit of forgetting to do that.

TTFN… T

PS wow that came up fAST :)

And so another day ashore comes to an end and a lovely day it was too, the various shades of green were in evidence everywhere. The golf course, fields and trees, thatched roofs and flowers showing a summers day in Ireland at it's very best

Though rain was forecast, we didn't get a drop, and tendering service went smoothly both to and fro, now we have added Ireland to our list of places visited, with a call at Dublin to look forward to after Liverpool tomorrow. We've decided to take the hop on hop off bus to get our bearings in Liverpool, Dorothy wanted to take the tour into North Wales but we were late putting in our request, I find the all day tours very tiring so wasn't overly upset at missing out.

As we sat down for dinner the Maasdam weighed anchor heading for England, we were 45 minutes late departing due to a tour bus that was a bit tardy getting back. A good reason why some pax will only take the tours sold on board, had they been on their own, it would have been too bad so sad and they'd have been in a pickle.

Osso Bucco was on the menu, it's the favorite of a character in a series of books I've read and I always mean to try it but so far have not. Instead I had a very nice scallop dish after a chilled peach soup, and a "lo-cal" !?! blueberry sundae for dessert.. Are my clothes shrinking due to the sea air do you think!!?

Woke up this morning as we sailed up the Mersey river with a bit of an ache in my heart. I had hoped to meet up with some of my ostomy friends from the UK. We kind of made loose arrangements but due to British weather being fickle, there was no guarantee we would get into Liverpool. So now here we are and I'm brooding over what might have been.

I would have felt so bad with the distance and expense of them travelling to Liverpool only to find that the Maasdam had canceled the port. The weather is dull and overcast, in keeping with how I feel but that's life and I know we'll enjoy our day.

We left the ship at about 0900h, purchased tickets at the pier for the HOHO bus and the Beatles museum plus the maritime museum. The architecture of Liverpool is awesome, the water front as seen from the ship very moving. Living in Calgary which is so new, our memories of the old world fade and though I had not visited Liverpool before, those memories for some reason came flooding back.. From the open top double decker bus we strained our necks taking it all in. A skyline of ancient and new with many museums, churches, towers and the cathedral. Liverpool was bombed heavily during WW 11 but as fate would have it many historical buildings survived. We rode the bus for almost a complete circuit, then hopped off to visit the Beatles museum. This is a must see for all Beatles fans, it is so well done and transports you back in time some 50 years. There's memorabilia from their school days on up, with the Cavern and other places they played, recreated in the finest detail, everyone enjoyed this very much.

I am so glad we did that but I was getting tired and begged out of the maritime museum, I know I'll regret it but in a word I was knackered. Dorothy and Trish our friend from Virginia carried on while I walked back to the pier. It's a beautiful walk along the river, I could see the ship but made the mistake of staying on the walkway and found my passage blocked. So retraced my steps with some help from a friendly port worker, did the security bit and dragged my butt up the gangway and headed for our cabin and a power nap.

My power nap was not to be, thoughts of all the places we've been and seen over the past three weeks played havoc and my head was spinning so I read for a while (my 4th. Book) and waited for Dorothy to get back, she did not arrive empty handed, she'd picked up a few gifts and made a pit stop at Tesco's for a bottle of wine. It's been a great day marred only by the fact that I didn't get to meet up with my UK ostomy friends, I shall raise a glass to you all tonight.

Just after 1700h we pushed away from the pier with a decent crowd ashore waving us bon voyage Over the loud speakers Gerry and the Pacemakers "Ferry across the Mersey" played, Then Rod Stewart's "Sailing" It slowly dawned on me that this could be my final visit.

A wave of emotion washed over me and leaving the land of my birth aboard a ship felt somehow different than before, perhaps the nostalgia of a bygone age when life seemed simpler or seeing England slowly merge with the horizon wondering will I ever be back, I don't know but tears welled so I headed to our cabin, a bit bewildered and wondering why after 43 years I felt this way.

After a hot shower and a change of clothes I felt somewhat better, then it was dinner time, so I put on my "game face" and joined in the chit chat, every one had lots to say about their day. Dessert was a toss up between chocolate torte with a mound of vanilla or the fruit plate, life is tough and full of decisions! About an hour after we sailed I was amazed at the number of windmills and oil & gas rigs we were passing in the Irish sea, seems to me that everyone's drilling these days.

Tomorrow Dublin.

Amsterdam days 1 & 2

Amsterdam

Wednesday, early,

Toe is draggin butt, slept well and was due a good night but the wake up for passport inspection came much too soon. It was well organized and went smoothly but I'd rather have stayed in bed, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to tie my shoe laces!

The sky Is overcast with a chance of rain, and as I look out I can see the city is already bustling. Had breakfast, I think! Then sleepily located our group meeting place and off we went to see some of Amsterdam. First stop was at the at the Anne Frank Huis, by now the rain was coming down heavily and the line up outside the was very long. Our group bypassed this line as it had been pre arranged by our agency, long before we left home.

To actually be there, and see what was endured is moving to say the least, I observed many with teary eyes, and my vague memories of those war years flooded back. Next we visited the Rijksmuseum which is only part open due to renovations. The guide was awesome and knew the history well. We saw the famous "Nachtwacht" or Night Watch by Rembrandt and other works of his and then we left in the pouring rain for our canal tour. I have never seen such numbers of bicycles and umbrellas, all competing for space on crowded sidewalks and narrow roads.

The canal cruise was great though we could have done without the heavy rain cascading down from the glass roof and windows. The architecture, especially in old Amsterdam was amazing, you can see so much of the city from the canals we even observed trade being plied as we cruised past the Red light District.

After two and a half hours we were back at the cruise terminal, we'd had lunch aboard the canal boat so went directly to our cabin for a much needed snooze at approx. 1300h.

1730h.

Oooooh that was a lovely snooze, We showered, changed clothes and it will soon be time for dinner the sun shines once again and I feel a lot livelier, Tomorrow we are on the cheese, windmills and clogs tour, leaving at 0800h so it won't be a late night for me. We've had plenty of exercise so far, and this bod of mine is rebelling, aches and pains in muscles I forgot I had.

Our dining time is 1745h. We used to take late seating, 2030h, but for the past, I'd say 10 years we found it too late for us. There are two fixed dinner seating's aboard, both mentioned above. These are the traditional times going way back to the age of ocean liners But the advent of "any time dining" a few years back appeals to more and more, I see a time when traditional dining fades into history, this in my opinion it will change the dynamics of a Holland America cruise. With traditional dining you get to know your table mates and by the end of the voyage firm friendships have been made, this appears to appeal to less and less as does formal wear, to my mind definitely the end of an era.

It is now Thursday August 5th. I don't recall what I had for dinner last night all I know is that instead of the fruit plate I ordered for dessert turned into Crepe Suzette. We were both tired after our busy day and turned in early, it wasn't long before Dorothy was sleeping soundly, I read through tired eyes but but as soon as I turned out the light, I was wide awake. This went on for ages so this morning I was not ready when to get up when our wake up coffee arrived.

The tour we took was called windmills, cheese and clogs and a drive through the countryside to Volendam. We enjoyed it in spite of the rain in the morning, the afternoon was sunny so we put the umbrellas away.

Clog and cheese making were interesting to see and the few 17th. Century windmills, preserved and still

Working made for some good photos.

We have a sea day to get rested up tomorrow so I'll bid you adieu and see if I can get some signal strength.

Dover Kent UK

We are waiting for the Maasdam to be cleared by the authorities then we'll wander ashore and take the bus up to Dover castle, had a light breakfast, caught the shuttle and we were at the castle by 0915h. It opened at 0930h so we formed a queue and waited. The ticket booth opened right on time, we were given our "dork dots" (stickers to say we paid) and we were free to wander until the 1100h tour of the wartime secret tunnels and underground hospital was due to commence.

The tour was really good and very informative, it must have been hellish living and working under those conditions. I wish I'd counted the stone steps we climbed, my legs are telling me that there were many more than I'm used to, when we weren't climbing stairs we were ascending steep inclines, I'm sure I've used up most of the decadent dessert calories that I've consumed so far.

After about 3 hours at the castle, the shuttle took us to down town. I found the library and used their internet, as visitors we were allowed a half hour, at no charge too. Back to the ship for a late lunch, I really should be taking a nap as I slept badly again last night. I don't know why I'm still having trouble sleeping, other than the frequency of time changes, I don't recall such difficulties in the past.

1640h.

Ahh that's better, a snooze and a shower, I'm feeling almost human again, we are about to slip our lines and head out into the English Channel, cruising first through English territorial waters, then French and Belgian before entering Dutch waters at about 0400h. tomorrow Wednesday. I'm aiming to be on deck at 0500h. As we enter the lock for Amsterdam. Now it's time for the sail away celebrations, catch you later.

300 passengers disembarked and were replaced by another 300, the sail away was fun though I didn't spend much time at the soiree, I was out on deck 6 taking photos. Sea traffic was busy with ferries coming and going, the channel was even busier with vessels moving in all directions. The white cliffs looked grey as we left so I'm glad I took photos this morning.

I almost chose the fruit plate at dinner but, at the last second I was coaxed into having the chocolate volcano it was delish. We are now well on our way to the Netherlands and the sea is unusually placid. We have not been to Amsterdam and look forward to spending two days there. Oh we get to set our clocks forward an hour tonight, yippee! and the tour leaves at 0830h :( so no show for Toe, I'll finish this then hit the shower. Oh no we've just been informed that all non Europeans on our deck must present themselves with passports, to Dutch immigration at 0700h, is there no peace for the wicked! Night night to all, where ever you are.

Monday August 2nd, at sea

Greetings and salutations, we did indeed get an hour back last night, I was so excited and took Dorothy up to the Crows Nest Lounge to celebrate and listen to the band. My eyes were droopy but I sucked it up, it was very pleasant. So here we were sitting at the "pointy" end of the ship, sailing in the North Sea which was flat as a pancake and a sunset that was nothing less than spectacular.

Where's the camera when we need it? In the cabin of course! I hustled down to get it but by the time I returned the best part was over, I did take a few nice shots though. I should have slept soundly, I certainly fell asleep in a hurry, woke up and saw the time was only 0030h. Grrrrrrrr, read till after three slept well, woke up and saw the time was 0830h. so I jumped up showered and completed my ablutions, then found I'd miss read the time, it was only 0630h:):):).. Up on deck the eager beavers were doing their laps, four times round is a mile, I stood at the rail thinking, 'have I ever seen the North Sea so placid" and you know, I don't think I ever have.

Mrs Toe was still catching up on her beauty sleep, so I went up to the lido, had a light breakfast of cheerios, blueberries and yogurt, washed down with a nice cup of hot water. Then being the thoughtful husband that I am, brought a cuppa down for Dorothy, and earned a few of the brownie points I've used up over the past week or so.

On deck it was a little blustery, I was going to watch Dorothy walk her two miles, cheering her on as she passed me each lap. Instead I took my book to the explorers lounge and read till she came to find me. By this now it was time for the "sea day" morning coffee chat with Buddy & Lynn our hosts from Cruise Specialists, who we book our trips with. Tonight they are hosting another cocktail party, oohhh free cocktails, that should be well attended.

We'll make the most of the hour gained, because after our call in Dover tomorrow, they're going to "snatch" it back as we head for Amsterdam. I really feel for the crew who's time clocks must be battered with the constant time changes. Our Indonesian cabin stewards Ecko & Irwin are great, with ready smiles from early morning to late in the evening.

Dinner was very good and the cherries jubilee that we ordered for dessert, excellent. We were fashionably late for cocktails and from our seats by the window the sky looked promising for a glorious sunset. In the end it was disappointing I was on deck for about 40 minutes, the clouds were like a painting then the sun dropped down with little fanfare so I'm glad I'd taken a few shots earlier.

I want to be up to photograph the white cliffs, and compare it to the black & white I took with a brownie, from a ferry in the mid 1950's. 300 pax are leaving in Dover and another 300 will board for the trip back to Boston. We hope to visit Dover castle, many are taking the train to London, we may have if we had more time but the overnight is in Amsterdam, so Dover it is for us..

To be continued.

Tuesday July 3rd. Dover UK

0515h

We are making our approach into Dover harbor, It's a beautiful day and I'm positive I see bluebirds over the white cliffs. I have feelings of nostalgia as I look out, it’s been too many years since I last saw this landmark, I was young, foolish and thought I knew everything. They look the same as they did back then but so much better through the modern lens. When I look over to where the coast of France should be all I see is pollution and wonder if the ripples on the water are caused by trains beneath the waves.

We're about to dock and next to us is a huge ship, NCL's Norwegian Sun, the town will be crowded today.

Let's see if I can get on line.

Oslo & Copenhagen

1500h July 31st.

If this is Saturday it must be Oslo! And good fortune has stayed with us, it seems so far, that while in port we've had good weather and the following day the port we left had rain. Or as today, Oslo was blessed with sunshine while yesterday they had flooding.

Dorothy walked miles this morning, I started off with her but I wasn't feeling so good and made my way back to the pier. She took about 81 photos to my 12.

Oslo is another picturesque city with new structures old structures and ancient structures, still plenty of trees but planted after the Viking age, the Vikings had used most of the wood to build their ships and homes.

The Norwegians are very proud of their of their cities and the history that goes back 10,000 years.

We took a short bus tour this afternoon, and made it back just before the ship sailed. We definitely could have used more time here, but we had to be back on board at 1430h in order to arrive in Copenhagen on time tomorrow morning.

Oslo has a museum for just about everything, a very modern opera house, and claim the longest shoreline in the world. Many own sail boats and all forms of skiing are very popular. We saw the new ski jump that is in the process of being rebuilt for the 5th. Time…. Because of the terrain there's an abundance of tunnels some with forked intersections which I don't think I've ever seen before.

We drove through embassy row and noted the Canadian embassy and ambassador's residence. It was nice to see our tax dollars at work! We also saw the Norwegian Nobel Institute, The Resistance museum and the Nasjonalgalleriet where Munch's "The Scream" hangs….We saw more Castles, Palaces, where the Royals live and appear much loved and more connected to the people than in some monarchies and city hall which was opened in 1950 in honor of Oslo's 900th birthday.

We are at present sailing back down the Fjord and will continue on a slight South Easterly course to the next port. We are told yet again that the approach will be spectacular but in order to appreciate it, we should be on deck a 0530h erm, I think not, I need my beauty sleep, I'll see it all as we leave.

It was quite cool on deck as we sailed away, I stayed out for a while, then jumped in the shower, spiffed myself up for another dinner in the Pinnacle grill, this time courtesy of our travel agent. Our meal in the Pinnacle was sumptuous and tasted good too:) I'm reluctant to tell you what I ate, especially after telling you yesterday that I would have a fruit plate.

First there was a well dressed clam to nibble on and tide us over until our appetizer was ready, which was crab cakes stuffed full of Dungeness crab. Next came the lobster bisque with chunks of lobster, it was yummy to say the least. Dorothy had lamb which she said was excellent, I had surf and turf, a filet of beefand 2 huge shrimp or scampi, or perhaps small lobsters, it was mmmm good. Gosh darn, there was no fruit plate on the menu, so I chose the least decadent item! A not so classic baked Alaska made individually with Tom & Jerry's ice cream and bing cherries. :( I shall have no desert for four days now, maybe.

I have company this evening, Mrs. Toe didn't go to the show so we are sitting here chatting about our day. As I look out, the fog has rolled in, we'll read for a while and have an early night, and though our stay in Oslo was short we really did enjoy it.

Satellite signal is weak tonight :( perhaps tomorrow!

Sunday August 1st.

Well we lucked out again and woke to blue skies as we sailed into Copenhagen, the only Danish port on this years VOV itinerary. It was a busy place today with four ships in port and all the popular sites were crowded. Our travel agency has arranged tours in many of the ports, for their own clients, this was one of them and there were only 18 of us today.

The first stop was at the Rosenborg Palace, built in the 17th. Century and open to the public. It is quite grand and all the contents, furniture, wall hangings, chandeliers, jewelry etc. all as they were when it was lived in. Judging by the paintings of the various occupants, methinks there had been much inbreeding!

We saw the Tivoli Gardens which was apparently built to keep the common folk's amused and thoughts of insurrection at bay. It must have worked as Denmark still has a monarchy. We then went to Amalienborg Palace, home of the current monarch, The building style reminded me of the Vatican with statuary spaced along the balustrades. Our guide mentioned some connection but I'm darned if I can remember what, please excuse me, I was having a senior moment. The Royal residence was completed in the year 1749.

We watched the changing of the guard which lacked the pomp and ceremony and awesomeness of the same event at Buckingham Palace, a biased view I suppose but then I was born a Brit.

Copenhagen had it's share of buildings razed by fire as did most old world cities and like Oslo, some were spared, for no obvious reason.

It's almost 1700h and we're due to sail for Dover, I'm going to the Promenade deck to take some photos of what should be another spectacular sail away with many locals on the quay side to wave us off. I just love that part of our voyages, leaning on the rail watching the thrusters push us away and the shoreline gently fading as we slowly make our way into the straights.

The Main dining room is at the aft end of the ship on two levels surrounded by large windows. Our table is next to the aft windows and we have a great view each evening. While we dined, the straights became busier with small craft and ferries plying between Denmark and Sweden. We passed Hamlets castle on the port side and wouldn't you know, I didn't have my camera handy…I shall not bore you with the menu, but no matter how hard I searched, I could not see the fruit plate :)

Not only do we have a sea day tomorrow but we get to put our watches back an hour, hip hip and all that., I shall make the most of it though because, after Dover we head for a two day visit to Amsterdam and they take away that hour. After the Netherlands we'll claim all the time we lost as we head North West and I for one will be grateful for that.

Now let's see if I can get connected.

July 29th

0715h

A rapping on the door meant our coffee had arrived, it was a short night for me as I read till about 0130h. A quick shower, breakfast in the lido then off to the show room to collect our "dork dots" the sticky circles with a # showing which tour we were on.

Our tour left at 0830h, a short drive around Bergen to get our bearings, then up on the funicular to the top of Mount Floien for a panoramic view of the city and what a view. Maasdam looked like a toy ship from way up there.

Bergen, we're told receives rain 360 days a year, I guess we lucked out with patches of blue sky and sunshine. There are still a few wooden houses left, from the 15th century most however were lost in the many fires that ravaged the city over the centuries. The remaining buildings have been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO.

After our mountain top tour which is oft times canceled due to inclement weather, we came down and walked around the small downtown visiting the "Fisktorget" where an impressive array of fresh fish, shrimp and even whale meat was for sale. Bergen is an expensive city, as are most of the areas we've seen due to extremely high taxes, giving us a real appreciation of where we live for we have no provincial sales tax in Alberta and a federal GST of 5%, though we still complain.

Edvard Grieg the composer was a native son of Bergen, his home is now a museum and his burial site is located in the cliff below. The town is very proud of him.

The tour guides have an incredible command of the English language, and could quite easily be mistaken as being from the UK, many of them studied there and have picked up the local dialects and colloquialisms. Our guide this morning studied in Newcastle as was evident in some of her pronunciation.

Oh, I told a porky and my nose is growing, not only are the preserved wooden shops and houses a heritage trust site, the whole city of Bergen is.

I like this town very much... Living in Calgary where everything is so new, I miss the charm and history that's so evident almost everywhere in Europe. It's difficult to grasp that this city was populated long before King Olav chartered it in the year 1070.

2000h

The sail away was spectacular and we got to see some of the scenery we missed sailing up the fjord at 0500h. The locals said today's weather was unusually warm for July. Ed, one of our dining companions has taken this cruise 4 times prior to the current voyage said this was the first time he'd seen the view from atop Mt. Floyen so we count ourselves lucky.

The Norwegians are a very friendly people, and extremely superstitious, I had known that Trolls were a part of their folklore but I didn't know to what lengths they will go to, to avoid upsetting the little elves. We were shown a house yesterday where a huge rock sticks up about 4 feet into the basement. They believe that the trolls live under the rocks and to disturb them would bring big trouble. There are t

Troll likenesses every where, Dorothy thinks they are ugly but I find them cute.

I've just started my third book and with a sea day tomorrow I'll be well into it by the time we reach Oslo on Saturday. I've lost track of the days and have to check the itinerary just to see what day it is, either that or look at the floor mats in the elevators which have the day of the week woven into them.

I'll bid you all bon nuit and chat some more tomorrow.

0925h Friday July 30th.

Good morning/night to those down under and Western North America.

Dorothy is out striding out her two miles, I had a leisurely shower, rising at a more sedate hour this morning. I awoke in the night around 0230 and read for a bit, it was dark telling me that we are way south of where we were recently.

Today we attend brunch with the Captain, no big deal, just something they do for repeat passengers, although we've cruised many times, we're rookies compared to some who have 8 or 9 hundred days with Holland America, some over a 1000 days, we're way too young and fiscally challenged for those numbers.

There will be the usual uttering's from the cruise director and Captain telling us how important we are to their business, blah blah blah, but they do put on a nice spread.

Had our mariners brunch, twas tasty, I skipped the salad had a mixed berry chilled soup " I love chilled soups" then sole & veg for the main course followed by key lime pie for dessert.

Listened to the speeches, and blah blah blahs, there were 12 couples with over 1400 days and 4 with over 2000. Of the approx. 1200 passengers, 1142 were repeats which does say a lot for HAL.

Both of us enjoy these lazy days at sea, they give us opportunity to recoup from the busyness and early wake ups on ports of call days. It is overcast and raining with more whitecaps than we've seen since leaving Boston, yet one would be hard pressed to know we were aboard a ship, she is so steady. These are the seas I remember as a child standing on a beach or promenade wondering what adventure awaited across the English Channel, North Sea or especially the Atlantic Ocean. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day I would have such opportunity.

I had been concerned about travel with an ostomy after my surgery in 2007, and convinced myself at the time that I had seen much of the world and if I never sailed again so be it. Yet half way through my chemo an opportunity arose and we decided to put it to the test. A 20 day Hawaii sailing was available from Vancouver and back only an hours flight from Calgary.

I'd had 5 months to acclimatize myself and become familiar with all that an ostomy entails. Everything went smoothly and even though there was a "red alert" on board for the dreaded Noro virus, by adhering to the rules re hand washing etc. it proved to me that my wanderlust and our love of travel would not be curtailed. Since then we have spent some 75 days aboard the "Dam" ships, with only one ostomy incident and that was my own "Dam" fault.

1620h. time for another shower and then dinner. To be continued……:

That was lovely hot shower, we're dressed and ready for dinner. Unlike Dorothy, I do not peek at the dining menu during the day, it's always a surprise for me, I do hope there's no tripe!!!

Dinner was very edible, a seafood appetizer, chilled watermelon soup and Norwegian cod caught yesterday. All meats have been excellent but living on the prairies and so far from the ocean, I'll chose fresh fish at every opportunity. Another decadent dessert and a cappuccino, oh dear perhaps the fruit plate tomorrow!

It would be remiss of me not to mention Barbarah Haeni our travel guide, she's from New York with a love, no a passion, for history and very knowledgeable in all areas we have and will be visiting. Today's talk was on Dover and London, although I grew up and spent 26 years in the UK, my knowledge pales in comparison. She is a gifted speaker who brings everything to life and her talks are always well attended.

I looked at the map on the way from dinner and noted that as we head for Oslo, we're not too far from the UK and almost parallel with Scotland, The last time we were in Scotland was on our honeymoon in 1964, we were so young then and thought we knew everything, looking back though we were quite naïve.

TTFN I'll check the satellite to see if it's a go.

Bergen Norway Thursday July 29th.

Happy Tuesday, it was a short night! And I have since learned that we do indeed lose one more hour tonight meaning we'll be an hour ahead of the UK…. As it was a sea day I slept in till 0830h and if truth be told, I could have used another hour or two. Dorothy was long gone doing her mile and a half around the deck.

We listened to a talk on the Danish ports of call, met and mingled for a while, then I slipped away and re

Dorothy did not see the white line or feel the bump as we crossed the Arctic circle, I saw and felt it much more so than when we've crossed the equator ;) Possibly due to the cold temperatures, not forgetting the prevailing winds.

Tonight is the third of 10 formals, I think I'll give the tux a rest and wear a suit. The laundry has a deal on board, where for $20.00 you can stuff a bag with as many articles of clothing. as you can cram into it, Dorothy has it down to a fine art and gives free lessons.

There is not much of a satellite signal so I'll probably send this off tomorrow when we reach Norway. I sent an email copied & pasted and from log on to log off it took 10 minutes. I thought our PC at home was slow, but sea satellite is certainly slower. After our call at Alesund tomorrow, we start visiting larger cities, they'll have internet cafes, where I'm hoping to catch up on our email.

We've really enjoyed being in the North, cold, fog and everything, that and the midnight sun has been quite an experience plus the warmth of the Inuit and Icelandic peoples leaves an indelible feelings etched in our hearts.

Looking back over my notes, I can't believe I've not mentioned the smooth seas, since leaving Boston there's not even been one wobble. This of course may well change when we arrive in the North Sea. We don't mind wobble, it reminds us that we're at the mercy of mother nature and of where we are, far from the hustle and bustle of our daily routines. Our cabin is amid ships and apart from the faint vibration of engines, we have to remind ourselves that we are at sea.

Just back from an excellent dinner, They took on fresh Iceland cod yesterday, I had some broiled and was it ever good. Was going to skip dessert tonight but soufflé grand marnier was on again and I lacked the will to pass it up. Dorothy has gone to listen to the three Texas tenors and I'm sitting here in my ginch tapping out the world as I see it.

The fleet has opened a new dining choice called Canaletto, the six at our table have reservations for tomorrow (Wednesday) night. I'm hoping they have some tomato based pastas as I'm not an enthusiast of the creamy Alfredo dishes. I'm missing my daily "O"land fix, I've tried a log in a couple of times but the satellite is so slow. If anyone from the board is following this blog, please tell the others that Toe misses them and sends love n hugs.

Wednesday July 28th. 1536h

Alesund Norway.

This morning we awoke to blue skies and sunshine, Maasdam was heading to the entrance of the "Stor" or big fjord where Alesund is located. We were a little behind schedule due to high wind in the night. We ate in the dining room then watched our approach to this charming city. As we slipped into our berth, I could see on the port side that we had company, the QM2 was also in port so we knew it would be busy.

ad my book until lunch time. Most of us who left Pacific and mountain time zones are feeling the effects, so I don't feel like such a wimp. This morning was foggy but the sun is out now I'm pleased to say that the clothes we packed for the cooler part of our voyage worked out very well.

Fishing is the main industry here, hence the coat of arms bearing a fishing boat atop three fish. It is home to some 40,000 residents and Klippfisk (salt cod) is the local delicacy as it seems to have been in our last four ports. The town burned in 1904 and was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style which was popular at the time. Walking is easy in the down town area and that's what we did for about an hour.

Our intention was to purchase tickets for the site seeing train that meanders through the narrow streets up to a mountain top with great views of the three islands that make up this area. We joined the ticket queue and missed the 10.15 so walked around until it was time for the 11.15. There appears to be two of these trains on wheels, and the tour lasts for about an hour. Nearing the mountain top the road really narrowed and our train competed with busses and other vehicles for space, it was a tight squeeze in places but all vehicles cooperated without the blaring horns and one fingered waves that are the norm in much of the world.

This was the maiden call for Maasdam so there was an exchange of plaques between the Mayor and Captain Russell-Dunford. This has been a tradition for many years and it's very interesting looking at the many plaques from cities all over the world that hang in the aft companionway.

All passengers were accounted for and we pushed away from the quay at 1600h an hour late because of our late arrival, they'll put the pedal to the metal so to speak and make up the hour before we arrive in Bergen in the morning.

We are dining in the Canaletto tonight as mentioned, so time for me to abandon my two fingered symphony, shower change and get myself all shipshape and Bristol fashion. In all it was a pleasant day, tee shirt warm, marvelous views and not having to rush for anything.

Now to find out if we have satellite, Oh my, it looks like we have bars, hip hip hooray.

Oh no, now only two bars, grrrrrrrr. I shall try again after dinner,

1900h July 28th.

Dinner was very good, and very Italian, I had an excellent sea food zuppa full of shrimp, scallops and calamari. Cod Italian style ? And a tremendous tiramisu, 3 flavors each served in a shot glass shaped "thingy" with straw shaped chocolate adornments. It's amazing how 6 strangers can bond after such a short period of time and one of the reasons we prefer the traditional dining. Most ships now offer as you like dining where you make reservations each day or just show up and hope to be seated soon after. As mentioned previously our table is 2 couples and two single guys, very diverse but all seasoned cruisers, with why fly when you can get there by ship attitudes. Conversation has definitely not been boring, and no subject has been taboo to date.

Sorry, I've been trying all evening but can not get a connection :(:(:(

I'll have another go early in the morning……….

Finally a connection