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

Arureyre Iceland

0615h Monday morning, July 26th. And the Maasdam is approaching the pier at

Akureyri Iceland. It appears to be a larger community, and though there was blue sky on arrival, the fog has crept in while we were at breakfast.

Dorothy had a great sleep last night me too, I did not feel like leaping out of bed so I stumbled out as our tour group is meeting at 0745h.

We learned today that Akureyri is the 2nd. Largest community in Iceland and called the capital of the north. Reykjavik being the largest and capital city. The total population of the country is aprox. 350,000, most communities lay around the coastline along fjords, the mountains rise up, some at very steep angles, creating severe avolanche problems. We sailed up the fjord to the town at it's far end, Akureyre. The climate is milder than Isafjordur, and a tee shirt was comfortable for most of the day. In it's hay day the town had a bustling fish factory industry, but since the advent of fish processing ships, it's all done at sea and the factories are idle or reinvented as other businesses. Because of the warmer summers it is much greener, dairy farms are dotted all over and we stopped at a 17th. Century sod roofed farm house kept as a museum giving an idea of how life was in days of yore, they were a hardy breed.

for sure.

The only vegetables grown are potatoes and two fruits, blueberries and blackberries, most goods are imported. They have strict quarantine laws, so strict that those cute Icelandic horses can never return home once they have left the country, keeping their bloodlines pure.

We visited the botanical gardens today and were most impressed. A wide variety of plants and flowers all outdoors. They have an ongoing tree planting program mostly birch and conifers, to help prevent soil erosion on the steep slopes along the glacial formed fjords. There were no trees when the first settlers arrived but through planting they are creating small forests.

Grrrrrrrrrrr. We lose another hour tonight putting us on British summer time. I'm not sure if there will be one more for either Denmark or Holland, then on our return we'll get them back one hour at a time, so much more civilized in my opinion.

There was a crossing of the Arctic circle ceremony after we set sail this evening, all officers some crew and a few passengers jumped into the pool in all sorts attire, it was bitter cold by this time and steam was rising from the water, I was not among the brave and foolhardy but I did take photos.. Santa Claus then anointed them with Arctic sea water as they left the pool shivering and grabbed blankets to keep warm.

Toodle loo till tomorrow.

Happy Saturday,

At present we are sailing in the Denmark straights, half way between Greenland and Iceland, we've traveled 640 miles since leaving Qaqortoq with 360 miles till our 1st. Port of call in Iceland which is Isafjordur in the north west corner. We awoke to find the fog had lifted, some blue sky and sunshine. The wind is quite cool and we needed jackets to walk around the Promenade deck. 4 laps = 1 mile and it blew the cobwebs from our heads. I am still having trouble adjusting to the time changes even after a great nights sleep, also with using the stairs most of the time, my knees are feeling the strain, my head doesn't feel old but parts of me feel ancient:)

1621h

Had my nap after our walk around the deck, I still feel Zombie like, I honestly believe that when we fly to Europe the 7 to 9 hour time change is easier to adapt to after a day or so. We've crossed the Atlantic by ship 7 times this is our 2nd. East bound sailing. The first was in 1994 from Recife in Brazil to Dakar Senegal or the bump of Brazil to the bump of Africa a four day crossing with not as many time changes. Either because I was younger then or, perhaps it's my memory, I just don't recall it taking it's toll like this crossing. Knowing that we'll be refunded those lost hours on the return leg is helping me to "suck it up"….Yes I hear those teeny weeny violins playing and would I do an East bound crossing again?

Absolutely, so I'll stop banging on about it and never mention it again:)

There is a young Polish musician named Kuba, he plays many instrument but I've not heard the xylophone played like he plays, ever. He is able to make it sound like almost any instruments and even a complete orchestra, he uses 4 erm, sticks with knobs on :( the proper name eludes me at the moment, anyway he played a matinee show this afternoon and it was excellent.

It's nice to see the horizon again and as I stood at the rail, as I oft times do, and seeing the 180 degree line of sight and nothing but ocean and sky, I could see why mariners of old believed that the world was flat.

1940h..

We had a delicious dinner, lobster bisque, luscious lamb chops and crème brulee for me, Dorothy had beef tenderloin and fruit plate. I've been cajoled into seeing the show tonight and agreed before I discovered that we donate another hour.

The show was very good, Live Wire performed again a mixture of modern and Celtic music, Marty Brill was the opening act, his brand of humor tickled my funny bone with lines like.

" Did you know that Chelsea Clinton is engaged?" Well Hillary sat her down and said, "are you having sex with this young man?" Chelsea thinks for a while and says, "Not according to dad!"…

Sunday July 24th.

Meanwhile back in our cabin, I am setting all the clocks forward an hour, will this ever end??? Oh sorry, I swore I'd not mention it again. I read till my eyes were droopy, switched off the lights at midnight and as soon as my head hit the pillow, "snap" my eyes were wide open, thinking of the lost 60 minutes and knowing I must rise early to see the scenery promised for those who didn't dance the night away. Switched the light on, read….switched the light off….Switched it on again, I'm now half way through my book and I only started reading it yesterday. It's 0300h and still light out.

I have no idea what time I finally fell to sleep, all I know is that we were soon rudely awoken by a rapping on the door, It was our coffee/wake up call. Drawing the curtains back I was greeted with thick fog, no photos of the beautiful entry into Isafjordur today but looking forward to our tour this afternoon. Had brekky on the lido deck with Buddy & Lynn our group leaders, they were on the Prinsendam with us last November, and they are fun to be with.

Strolled ashore in this small fishing community, It seems to be at the end of a fjord, we were greeted by a group dressed in traditional clothing who were very obliging when it came to photo taking. It has a small hotel and shopping district with tiny houses and apartment buildings dotted about, and roses planted along the sidewalk.

This afternoon we took a bus tour of the area, it originated as a fishing village, cod and halibut being the main catch. The fishing industry collapsed when the ban came into effect due to over fishing back in the 80's I believe, they now have a thriving fish farming industry. Because of the gulf stream it tends to be warmer than other parts of the country, -10 is the average low in winter and +20 is the maximum high but vicious winds can bury the village with snow.

At this time of year the sun barely drops below the horizon and the winter months it's the opposite and staying dark all day. Our tour ended close to our ship at the fishing history museum, we tried salt dried cod and salt shark, the cod was okay but shark is just a wee bit above the bane of my taste buds, tripe…. I shall not try it again. They handed out shots schnapps to take the taste away, I couldn't have that and even after dinner, and cleaning my teeth, I do believe I can still taste it, yuk!

Much of the populous still believe in elves and trolls, but more surprising to me was the fact that not only did the Danes and Norwegians populate these islands, but Scots and Irish too. Most of the Celtic genes come from the females and it's believed that when the Vikings raped and pillaged Briton, they took women to Iceland with them.

A tiring day after a l o n g night, no show for Toe or Mrs. Toe, we must rise early for our tour in Akureyri, so with that I bid you all a good night/day depending on where in the world you are.

Friday July 23rd.

Gday friends and as I'm feeling benevolent, foes n all :)

0800h They stole another hour from us last night, I didn't sleep too well and it's foggy with a good chance that our scenic cruising through Prince Christian Sound is in jeopardy which is a shame. Few places in the world offer the experience of watching the glaciers calve all around you with sounds like gunfire as the ice breaks off. The fjords are narrow and have a tight entrance, tricky maneuvering for the most experienced captains and in fog, way to dangerous besides which, we wouldn't see any thing. These things happen so there's not much to do but "suck it up". As I look outside I'm sure we'll hear the announcement shortly, such is life, so it's up to the Lido and breakfast but I shall return.

1052h.. Well, all sorts of things can happen behind the scenes and when the captain updated us from the bridge he informed us of a medical emergency (not uncommon on longer cruises with an elderly passenger list) the ship was turned around at 0300h heading back to Qaqortoq where a male person had to be evacuated by helicopter to the nearest hospital, all this accomplished with almost zero visibility but possibly saving the man's life.

As we neared Prince Christian Sound the fog lifted enough to make for a safe passage though the mountains were shrouded in mist and the rain continued to teem down making it difficult to photograph but I did take a few shots. Unfortunately visibility does not lend itself to showing the area in it's true glory. The thing is , we did get to see it.

Darn it, I just remembered I didn't get any Greenland coins, I make a point of collecting a few in our travels. I usually exchange a dollar for a few, I'm having too many senior moments of late.

1614h. The rain continued falling for most of the day and it's under these conditions that the glaciers and icebergs show their best side bringing out a dazzling display of colors for the naked eye to behold. Against the grey sky and eeriness of the mist shrouded mountains it was an awe inspiring sight and just as one has to break eggs to make an omelet, so must one get wet to take a half decent photo. On reviewing ours they just don't do it justice.

Tonight is French night, which the menu will reflect, escargot, frogs legs, crepes and the like are on the menu. In the Rembrandt theater the show will be a follies of some sort and the night will end in the Crows Nest lounge with the Ice ball. It will be our second formal and we will try to stay up a bit later than the norm but please don't wager any money on me making it much past 2300h.

2000h. I had noticed yesterday that fresh fish was being loaded and "sho nuff" it found it's way onto the menu. I had escargo followed by Qaqortoq cod, Dorothy had the bouf wellington, both were delish. Dessert was a difficult choice, and four of the six at our table chose the Grande Marnier soufflé, all I can say is yum yum.

I didn't make it to the show lounge but Dorothy did, escorted by a lovely gentleman from our table., well two actually, Bob and Ed, We've decided to miss out on the ball, our biological clocks are in total disarray and we have at least two more hours to lose before we are on UK time.

I bid you all a good night, there are only two bars signal strength, not enough to sent this winging it's way through cyber space, I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Oohhhh we have satellite

THURSDAY

Howdy,

At around 1300h after two days of fog fog fog, out of the mist loomed a land mass, a welcome sight for many. We passed a few small icebergs then the town of Qaqortoq with it's paint pot colored houses became clearer. No fog now but rain rain rain giving the town an eerie feeling as the low clouds came and went. After lunch we tendered in wearing our weather proof coats with the hoods up. The Floridians and Californians among us were feeling the cold, those of us from Canada felt quite at home though it was more like our November than July.

The cost of living is astronomical here and most of the Inuit are living off the Danish government welfare program.

It was very dreary as we wandered around and so after an hour we checked out the gift shop there were sealskin products whalebone carvings and various touristy trinkets with Qaqortoq or Greenland stamped, painted or printed on them, we purchased a fridge magnet and joined the queque to tender back to the Maasdam. It was good to see Qaqortoq, but I wouldn't want to live there.

A hot shower, fresh clothes and a latte soon had us feeling in fine fettle, I loaded the photos into the lappy, by then it was time for dinner…..

Dorothy has gone to see the show, I'm having some quiet time doing this.

I have found a spot with full bars from the satellite so I'll have a go at sending this, then I shall curl up with my book.

Greetings all,

Still lot's of fog, the fog horn has been sounding off all last night and all day. Voice from the bridge informs us that we are heading into iceberg territory, we should start seeing them in the morrow, "seeing" being the key word and not bumping into them.

We met our cruise director today, she is not typical of persons with that title, rather quiet, does her job well with none of the brashness of others we've met, She comes from Co. Durham close to Dorothy's home town so I just listened while they talked!

Toe went to the show tonight for the 1st. Time, it was very good, a couple from Ireland he on guitar and she on violin, they played a mixture of Irish and Broadway show tunes kept our feet tapping and hands clapping. We then walked about inside, twas too chilly on deck stopping here and there to chat and had a look in the Jewelry shop to see the two watches made from material that was brought up from the depths when the wreck of the Titanic was discovered, the designer who's name eludes me, purchased some of the metals and made 2012 of these watches with huge faces that may appeal to the well heeled with a watch fetish. I do have a watch fetish but I'm not well heeled so I shan't be buying one. Watch #1 is only a mere $22,000.00. Watch #2 is conditionally sold and it's going for $14,000.00. I forgot to ask if they were water proof!!! :)

The itinerary shows us at sea tomorrow, but for reasons we were told but I can't recall we arrive in Greenland at 1300h tomorrow Thursday. I have my toque, waterproof coat and gloves at hand, we will be at anchor and so will tender into the town. In warmer climes we try to avoid sitting in the enclosed bow of the lifeboat, it gets uncomfortably hot. I have a feeling that everyone will try to hog the bow this time.

TTFN, I'll check the satellite signal tomorrow and with luck this will be on it's way before arrival.

THURSDAY

Good morning, it looks like we still have signal, so I'll give it a try

Smee again,

Dorothy woke me at 0700h I was not a happy camper, we are 4 time zones east of Calgary and I have slept fitfully, waking in the middle of the night and then falling into a deep sleep and feeling disoriented when I'm awoken. We have two sea days ahead and I'm hoping to be adjusted by the time we hit Greenland.

We sailed into St. John's harbor at 0800h a historical town and capital city of Newfoundland, again we lucked out with the weather, the expected high for today is 27c and it was comfortable in t shirt and shorts. We traveled to Signal Hill where the first telegraph contact was made between North America and Europe, and on up to Cape Spear, the most Eastern point of North America. It was considerably cooler up there and we needed our coats. There were whales in the bay but we only saw their backs break the surface of the ocean.

Arrived back at dock side around 1400h, too late for the main dining room so went up to the lido restaurant for lunch. Dorothy has gone ashore I'm about to have a nap.
I lied, I didn't have a nap, decided to visit the explorations café and get the blog off early. Bad idea, I'm not able to say if it was satellite trouble, or my own incompetence, I tried to upload the photos I wanted to share with you, GRRRR I watched the revolving (thingy) that shows the photo is being uploaded but finally got fed up as it was putting me into a state of hypnosis and my eyelids were getting very heavy. Switching from upload mode to blog mode I copied and pasted the text and tried sending it but the gremlins were having a great time eventually disconnecting me with nothing accomplished except a P'O'd Toe having used up 20 minutes and getting nothing sent.

Had dinner, twas very good, chicken for D and beef for me, I finished off with cherries jubilee and I forget what Dorothy had. walked around the deck and the sun is still quite warm, those who have been this route before claim they have never had such good weather. It begs me to wonder is we could get lucky in Greenland!!!! Captain James Russell-Dunford made his apologies over the (tannoy) for keeping folks awake last night, visibility was poor and the fog horn was sounded through most of the night, I never heard a peep:)

:(:(:(:( Grrrr r@#^&*^%$#@ Tried to send this again, another nine minutes with nothing to show for it, the internet manager doesn't seem to be bothered by this and some of the pax are getting a bit hostile with him. To be fair to him, we were warned that this could happen, I'm thinking I may have to wait and suss out an internet café though I'm not hopeful that Greenland will have any. There are no tours in Qaqortoq, as the community is very small.

I'm going to have an early night so I shall don my nightshirt, light my wick and climb the wooden hill, night night all, I have no idea when I'll get this off but I know you all know, if I could I would but I can't so I won't. zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz.

Wednesday July 21st. I think!

Morning! And a foggy one too, definitely cooler so long sleeves for me though they're only needed if we are out on deck. Captain Hornblower is living up to his nick name today as we can't see much except well erm fog. I'll make one more try to get this away and thus caught up, no pics though, to make things easier I hope.

So now I will attempt to do this again, expecting different results. Yeah well some of you knew I was a bit erm "different" anyway. :)


Patience is a virtue it fills me full of woe, I'ts sometimes found in females, but never found in Toe

Smee again,

Dorothy woke me at 0700h I was not a happy camper, we are 4 time zones east of Calgary and I have slept fitfully, waking in the middle of the night and then falling into a deep sleep and feeling disoriented when I'm awoken. We have two sea days ahead and I'm hoping to be adjusted by the time we hit Greenland.

We sailed into St. John's harbor at 0800h a historical town and capital city of Newfoundland, again we lucked out with the weather, the expected high for today is 27c and it was comfortable in t shirt and shorts. We traveled to Signal Hill where the first telegraph contact was made between North America and Europe, and on up to Cape Spear, the most Eastern point of North America. It was considerably cooler up there and we needed our coats. There were whales in the bay but we only saw their backs break the surface of the ocean.

Arrived back at dock side around 1400h, too late for the main dining room so went up to the lido restaurant for lunch. Dorothy has gone ashore I'm about to have a nap.
I lied, I didn't have a nap, decided to visit the explorations café and get the blog off early. Bad idea, I'm not able to say if it was satellite trouble, or my own incompetence, I tried to upload the photos I wanted to share with you, GRRRR I watched the revolving (thingy) that shows the photo is being uploaded but finally got fed up as it was putting me into a state of hypnosis and my eyelids were getting very heavy. Switching from upload mode to blog mode I copied and pasted the text and tried sending it but the gremlins were having a great time eventually disconnecting me with nothing accomplished except a P'O'd Toe having used up 20 minutes and getting nothing sent.

Had dinner, twas very good, chicken for D and beef for me, I finished off with cherries jubilee and I forget what Dorothy had. walked around the deck and the sun is still quite warm, those who have been this route before claim they have never had such good weather. It begs me to wonder is we could get lucky in Greenland!!!! Captain James Russell-Dunford made his apologies over the (tannoy) for keeping folks awake last night, visibility was poor and the fog horn was sounded through most of the night, I never heard a peep:)

:(:(:(:( Grrrr r@#^&*^%$#@ Tried to send this again, another nine minutes with nothing to show for it, the internet manager doesn't seem to be bothered by this and some of the pax are getting a bit hostile with him. To be fair to him, we were warned that this could happen, I'm thinking I may have to wait and suss out an internet café though I'm not hopeful that Greenland will have any. There are no tours in Qaqortoq, as the community is very small.

I'm going to have an early night so I shall don my nightshirt, light my wick and climb the wooden hill, night night all, I have no idea when I'll get this off but I know you all know, if I could I would but I can't so I won't. zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz.

Wednesday July 21st. I think!

Morning! And a foggy one too, definitely cooler so long sleeves for me though they're only needed if we are out on deck. Captain Hornblower is living up to his nick name today as we can't see much except well erm fog. I'll make one more try to get this away and thus caught up, no pics though, to make things easier I hope.

So now I will attempt to do this again, expecting different results. Yeah well some of you knew I was a bit erm "different" anyway. :)


Patience is a virtue it fills me full of woe, I'ts sometimes found in females, but never found in Toe

Hello, it's that man again.

I awoke at 0200h thinking that it was time to get up, then saw my watch and was happy to see that I didn't, the next thing I recall is Dorothy waking me up, I had slept through the room service delivery, vey unusual for me.

We arrived at Ste Pierre at 01000h and it was a beautiful day, the best they said so far this year, we had the choice of walking the 2 miles into town or use the ships tender. We walked in and took the tender back to the ship. It is one of the few vestiges of Colonial France, they use the Euro and a phone call to France is a local call. Al Capone used to run his alcohol business from here during the prohibition, there is a hat that supposedly belonged to him on display, we didn't see it though.

Tomorrow "Tuesday" we call into St. Johns, Newfoundland, we have a tour booked that takes us to cape spear where the first ever telephone call was made from North America to England by Marconi I do believe.

The computer course I've been taking has my head in a whirl, I've been out of the class room for far too long. I do hope that the satellite reception won't be as bad as they say, but if so, you'll know I'm not ignoring you.

Ciao for now

Tony

PS having trouble uploading photo's:(

SUNDAY JULY 18th. 5pm Atlantic DT

Some where off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Hi again each and all, the Maasdam has traveled a distance of 375 miles since leaving Boston, that was the news from the bridge at 1pm.

As you will know the satellite gods were with me this morning and I managed to send yesterdays blog off to the four corners of the world. We've had a fairly busy sea day, after our walk we went to the Rembrandt theater to listen to the port excursions manager highlighting the places of interest in our first three ports of call. Then we attended a cocktail party, hosted by our travel agency. ...We met up with three other couples who we've travelled with before and caught up with all the news since our last e mails which were last week :)

After lunch we listened to the guest lecturer, a scholar who has spent much of his life traveling and learning about the various Inuit peoples of our planet. We shall be visiting with the Inuit in Greenland, Iceland and Norway I believe. It was very interesting and strange hearing some of the language which to my ear sounded like clicks and throat noises.

As if that wasn't enough, I then took in a computer class, and found that I knew a little more than I thought I did, BUT still with much to learn. Chris the teach, talked about Windows 7 and as my lappy is of that ilk I was keen to learn. After the class I found that it was the FULL windows 7 and I only have the

starter version. I definitely want to upgrade though after seeing what can be done with it.

We are off to the Pinnacle now for our anniversary dinner and Toe may even take in the show.

Gosh darn, I forgot to take the camera up for pics of us in our glad rags, we do look quite spiffy even if I say so myself, Oh well we'll be doing it again so I'll try to remember when we do. Dinner was excellent as is usual in the Pinnacle, for starters we had the crab cakes ,mmmm. Dorothy had le French onion soup, lobster bisque for me followed by lobster tail and Mrs. Toe had a filet of beef with jumbo shrimp, now there's an oxymoron! For dessert we were presented with a chocolate mousse anniversary cake, we were not expecting it and I'd primed my taste buds for their crème brulee :( It will taste so much better next time as we didn't have the heart to spoil the obvious enjoyment they ha__ surprising us.

Dorothy went to the show, I went to the cabin to do (paper work)…and read for a bit before turning in as we lose another hour tonight.

There's been a definite drop in temperature as we head north east and it will continue to decline as we get further north. We're prepared though and have sweaters, gloves and head wear plus plastic rain coats for Europe.

I had a strange dream last night and consequently had a fitful We are approaching Ste Pierre and it's quite misty, so no pics his morning, I'm told the fog will burn off by lunch time.

Saturday July 17th. 2010

Ahoy there,

We are now aboard Maasdam, and in our home away from home for the next 35 days. Dorothy is busy unpacking and hanging things up, putting things in drawers and I'm supervising at a safe distance...

There's a bit of a breeze across the decks ridding us of some of the humidity, so we are not dragging butt as much as yesterday. We have a day at sea tomorrow so we can veg out after the busyness of "Bawston"

I hear the ships whistle calling us to mandatory life boat drill, the rules have been changed and, they now no longer require us to don life jackets, for safety reasons I'm told ????

Tomorrow is the 18th and will be the first of 10 formal nights and our 46th. year of togetherness, I've booked a table for two in the Pinnacle grill to celebrate this millstone, OOPS, milestone, what a difference one letter makes!

We were feeling quite peckish by the time we went for dinner, it's early seating these days at 5:45, the late seating is at 8:30 and a bit late for us. We have a nice table for 6, overlooking the wake, another nice couple from Calgary and two single gentlemen one from Florida and I forget the other. I had mussels, a gazpacho soup, New York strip, and a decadent dessert. Dorothy had a spinach, mushroom and gorgonzola cheese salad with an Italian dressing. Fruit plate for dessert. It was very good.

We are still zapped of energy but tomorrow is another day and we'll feel much better after a good nights sleep..Ste. Pierre is a French colony giving them some claim to fishing rights. It's not a very large island and we'll just go for a walk about and see what the locals do for fun.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying summer/winter for those down under and you know who you are.

Till next time

Love n hugs

Tony & Dorothy

SUNDAY JULY 18th.

Our early night turned out to be not so early, (A) because the clocks went forward an hour (the joy of east bound travel) and (B) as soon as my head hit the pillow my mind went into overdrive and I ended up reading till 0100, I was up at 0600, did my ablutions had brekky in our stateroom then joined Dorothy on Promenade deck for a walk. One of the benefits of traveling with HAL is, they are one of the few shipping lines who still have a wrap around deck, and 4 circuits equals one mile, I did 2 laps and Dorothy did her usual 8.

When we opened our cabin door this morning there were white paper bells hanging there with some colored butterflies and our slot had some wedding anniversary cards which we thought was a nice touch.

I tried to blog last night but the satellite was acting up ,hopefully I can get it away today.

July 16th. I think! Boston

Good afternoon,

We arrived safely into Toronto yesterday, a little later than promised but still an hour and a quarter to make our connection, plenty of time Right? Sorry wrong...As we had to clear US customs and immigration in Toronto no problem except the line looked like it was for the latest Disneyland attraction, snaking for what seemed like miles.

Oh but I forgot, we waited to claim our luggage at the carousel we were sent to, only to find that because we were connecting to the U.S. of A. wrong carousel. Ta a, offr we go to find the right place, found our luggage and then joined the "conga line" as mentioned above.

Get through that line up to go through security, a samba line this time. and when my turn came, was directed to the "new BODY SCANNERS" It was a "beam me up Scotty" experience. I had to place my feet in the foot marks on the ground, hold my arms above my head and wait for the scanner to revolve around me, was told to step out and wait.

A gentleman approached me and said " excuse me sir, do you have a medical appliance there", and he pointed to where my urostomy pouch hangs off my lower belly. "I said yes I do" and he said " thank you sir" and allowed me to go. I could not believe it, I had anticipated having to show n tell. but no, so of we go at a fast clip, we had 10 minutes to make our connection. Not the best advertisement for U.S. security me thinks!

Our gate fortunately was located near by and we made the flight by the skin of our teeth. and they say "getting there is half the fun". That is the joy of travel these days though and we have to put up or shut up.

The Fairmont is a gorgeous property, but at a kings ransom we expected it to be, what we didn't expect was the upgrade to a suite. with that I thought I'd better not complain about the $14 plus tax to connect to their wifi. Just think, had I not paid for the connection, you all would not have had to suffer through this diatribe and there's no way I'd deprive you of this.

So, we get to spend the night here in a very comfortable bed and leave at 11am to board the M/V Maasdam.

Stay tuned.

No more sleeps

Good morning happy campers,

We were rudely awoken at 5am by the not so mellow tones of the alarm clock and after tending to our ablutions waited for Yvette to pick us up and drive us to the airport. At 6am on the nose she arrived and after loading our luggage, whisked us away.

The Deerfoot trail was smooth going and we were at the airport within 25 minutes. I had checked in on line yesterday, printed our boarding passes and paid for our excess baggage, Air Canada now have a 1 bag per person policy and by paying on line for excess, save $10.00. enough to buy us a coffee at YYC.

Until next time, keep on keping on.

Maasdam in P.E.I.

The Maasdam was on the Regis and Kelly show today, it starts aprox. half way through the 9 minute clip.

Bags are all packed, now it's hurry up and wait.

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/index.html

The Maasdam was on the Regis and Kelly show today, it starts aprox. half way through the 9 minute clip.

Bags are all packed, now it's hurry up and wait.

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/index.html

Three more sleeps

Well the luggage is all up from the basement and our bedroom looks like a bomb hit it. I shall supervise the packing, and make sure my little yellow rubber ducky doesn't get left behind.

I checked our cruise critic board today and found that one of our group had to cancel, he'd had some kind of an accident whilst getting his luggage up from the basement. Can you imagine? I felt bad enough when our March cruise was canceled due to the earthquake in Chile, I shall be treading very carefully until we're ensconced in our stateroom on Saturday.

I was checking Dorothy's camera today and found this photo, she's the latest addition to Jolene, Tim and Aidan's home and her name is Lucy. When we visit she loves to bite my toes.

Perhaps one more post on Thursday, until then

7 days and counting till we leave for Boston, I've been begging Dorothy to let me help pack? The answer is still NO, I'm shattered. :)

I took this shot of Prinsendam last November in Istanbul. She is the smallest ship in the HAL fleet and our favorite.

I just received this photo of M/S Maasdam berthed in Boston today, she will do two Canada/New England cruises prior to ours.

# of passengers 1258.

12 days to departure

Hello friends & family,

As blogging seems to be in vogue, I thought I would have a go at it. Dorothy and I leave for Boston MA on July 15th. We'll stay for 2 nights at the Fairmont Copley Square, then on July 17th. we'll board M/S Maasdam for her 35 day Voyage of the Vikings form Boston to Europe and back via Greenland and Iceland.

We will celebrate our 46 anniversary whilst on board, this will be a new experience as we usually don't travel at this time of year. I think the past 46 years have flown by, Dorothy says they've dragged, hmmmm.

For those who know me and my computer skills or lack there of, you won't be surprised that it's taken me two and a half hours to get this far BUT I won't give up. Now hold on, I can hear those groans:)

As this is my test page, I'll finish here and try to find how to invite you in. Stay tuned