Then the Great Day arrived, the dedication of the ms Koningsdam. Yours truly under the able supervision of his lord and master arrived yesterday on the Koningsdam to be present for the dedication of the newest ship of the Holland America Line fleet. The ship arrived yesterday afternoon at 14.00 hrs. in Rotterdam. Due… read more of “20 May 2016;…”
Today we have a relaxing sea day, sailing almost straight south towards Kiel and the “Kieler Bucht” as the Germans call it, the curve in the land in which Kiel is located. Just south is the entrance to the Kieler Canal which is also an interesting area. (See my old blogs in the archives) It… read more of “13 May 2016; At…”
Well there was some good news today, the good ship Zuiderdam could dock after all. Somehow the cruise ship dock at down town was available and there we went. We did so with a delay, a not unusual delay, as there was a ferry in the way. The downtown dock Stadsgarten is next to two… read more of “12 May 2016;…”
We picked up the pilot at the bright and early time of 06.00 in order to make it to the dock by 07.30. Helsinki is hiding behind a lot of reefs and rocks and it takes about 90 minutes to sail through the channel and then swing at the dock before going alongside. The… read more of “11 May 2016;…”
We are here during a Russian Holiday; of the 9th of May, День Победы Den Pobedy, which translates in to English as Victory or Liberation Day. As there were gun salutes, fireworks (and it was nice weather) downtown St. Petersburg was heaving and the crew who could went ashore and had a great time. Some only… read more of “10 May 2016; St….”
St. Petersburg means is a very early arrival to facilitate the full day tours. Such an early arrival is possible because the sun rises quite early in this area making it easy to sail through the narrow approach channels. This early morning saw little wind and little wind is a blessing because the channel is… read more of “09 May 2016; St….”
We approached Tallinn this morning with a Gulf of Finland that was completely flat and with the sun shining brightly. That always scares us as it gives a good chance for –very low hanging clouds- but it is still too chilly. So we had a grand approach and an even grander day. Tallinn has a… read more of “08 May 2016;…”
Warnemunde is a port where we stay a little bit longer to make the tour to Berlin possible. At the same time it gives the Cruise Director the chance to get local entertainment on board. THis means a local Brass band, which we call in Holland an Oompa – Oompa Band, due to the constant… read more of “07 May 2016;…”
