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Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

Category: HAL History (page 2 of 11)

Day 05; 19 April 2026, At sea.

April 20, 2026 / / 2 Comments

So today we had a relaxing day at sea, while on our way to St. Malo. The distance is just too long to do it during an overnight and too short to run at a normal speed. So the ship is trundling along at 11 knots. This is just above minimum stabelizer speed of 10 knots and thus we had a comfortable ride although there was a long running swell from the West. Wind from the North East made it a bit chilly when on the windy side (starboard) of the ship and thus we saw very few guests walking around the decks. With this speed the ship is running on 2 engines, which together have enought output to make a speed of 16 knots. When the Rotterdam VI came into service in 1997, the company opted for one fast ship in the fleet, which could do 25 knots and thus visit more ports on a long cruise in the same time span. Fuel prices put a quick stop to that idea but the Borealis is still capable of doing that 25 knots, if needed.

Suuny but windy day on the ship. This photo was taken on the back of deck 8, where the 2nd pool used to be. The rim is still there but the centre has now been reformed in a sort of rock garden with a small stream running through it. The ring in the foreground is the entertainer stand.

When I was on board the Rotterdam VI, (Captain Bas van Dreumel) for a Fleet Master visit and Covid broke out, the ship was in lay-out “awaiting the end of Covid, which expected in about 14 days” in Puerto Vallarta. Then the challenges with the ms Zaandam cruise occured and the ship was sent to meet the Zaandam to provide extra medical care. Then  we put 4 engines on line (engine 5 was under maintenance) and raced with 23.5 knots towards the Zaandam. Those exploits are documents in the blog archive on this website. And I think that was the last time an attempt with the ship was made to run full out. I asked the first captain of the Borealis about it in 2023, when we went for the 3 day maiden voyage, if they had tried it out during the post lay-up trials and he said that chief engineer almost had a heart attack when it was discussed. But now with fuel costs and related, 25 knots is a dream (or nightmare) from the past. And so far during this cruise the ship has not gone faster then 15 knots, to maintain the schedule and that is nowadays for most cruise ships the same. Even to such an extent that one sees all sort of unusual bow forms appearing on the ships, all designed to have an optimum fuel consumption at lower and average cruising speeds.

Two modern cruise ships bow examples. An MSC mega liner on the top photo and the Icon of the seas (RCI) at the bottom. These bows are to give maximum fuel reduction at a certain average speed and a a comfortable ride when ploughing through bad weather.

We found out yesterday that the formal night (although advised on the website when booking, so one could plan their cruise) had been changed from todays sea day, to tomorrows port day (with last tender to the ship at 1900 hrs.) That caused a lot of confusion and quite some irritation as formals are normally on a sea day. So there is time to dress up, a special effort can be made to  enjoy cocktails and a have a nice stylish evening. Now people, if they want to participate, have to rush back from shore and get ready at the last minute. It will be interesting to see who many fail tomorrow to adhere to the dress code. We tried to find out why the change had been made but none of the crew knew anything than apart from “Operational Reasons”. It looks like  this ships management does not operate much transparancy with their teams, so that they can give a meaningfull answer to the guests. We are having dinner with the Hotel Director tomorrow and if I sit next to her, I will ask, as it does not make sense to me at all.

We opted for a quiet day just to see what was going on in the ship. By 10 am. the lounges were full as everybody vacated their cabins to let the stewardess do their jobs and with all the extra furniture added recently, there was ample space for everybody to sit and partake in what was going on. To my amazement, the Crows nest / Observatory had only 1/3 of the seats occupied. Maybe looking at the sea was not as exciting as going to other activies, who knows. This is day 5 of the cruise and the first time that Bingo popped up. It seems that the British public is much more interested in the daily “pub quiz” than in Bingo. (Although Bingo is quite popular in the larger cities in the UK) When it is time for “The Quiz”, the Morning Light pub, the Sports Bar and the Piano Bar are filled to capacity with eager people to try and win. I never stayed long enough to find out what the first prize is but it is a very popular past time.

The main lounge was open this morning for Church service, conducted by the Cruise Director and his assistant. I have not seen anything publicized about there being a priest, reverend, vicar or something similar on board. The days that on British ships the sunday service was conducted by the Captain (as being the on board representative of the British Monarch who is the head of the Church of England) are long gone. Overhere with a Norwegian Captain it would a bit odd anyway. Then the lounge closed again and the lectures had to take place in the Auditorium. Today’s topics were “How to build a Castle” and where “Cognac and Armagnac” was coming from. So the lighting technicians had time to work again although today there were signs outside saying that the lounge was closed due to rehearsals.

Then we went for lunch and opted for a shared table, same as we did during the first sea day. Today the main topics were a. what went wrong with the shuttle service yesterday and b. the reduction in wheel chairs, scooters and rollators we see on board. The latter might take some explanation as this is fairly new. For years the scooters, electric wheelchairs, rollators and related came on board in and abundance of numbers and sizes, and not only from guests who had booked handicapped cabins. Hence these mobility aids were left in the hallways overnight, causing a danger during an emergency as they blocked the emergency routes. Then the company’s tried to alleviate this by asking the guests when booking if they had a mobility add, and the size (so it fitted through the cabin door)  and that it had to be kept in the cabin. A lot of guests where not exactly truthful in their admissions and thus the problem continued to exist. Then Port State Inspectors turned their attention to it, and now the rule is, the mobility device has to be able to go into the cabin and stay there during the night. If not possible then you are not allowed to bring it on board. And yes, now over the whole cruise industry, guests are being refused on board, during embarkation, if the mobility device was not pre-registered and does not fit in the cabin. Hence the numbers of scooters and very wide electric wheel chairs, seen on board has reduced considerably.

Another topic that popped up was the increase in single cabins. (If you follow Holland America Line, then you will have noticed an announcement recently, that HAL is going to reconfigure a number of cabins on each ship to single occupancy) There is a large increase in single travellers, I think mainly to do, with the divorce rate among the baby boomers ,who have now time to travel, being higher than the generation before who did not, or were not allowed to divorce. The industry has been so far a bit ambivalent about single travellers, who needed to occupy a regular stateroom, marketed for 2 people. And are then charged anyways from 150% to the regular full price. The lack of single cabins on board had to do with the cost of building them as a single cabin needs the same “pipe” facilities as a standard double occupancy cabin. That price lays around $50.000 per cabin during  the newbuild. So although a single cabin can be made smaller, the newbuild price does not come down very much. Hence a lack of interest in cruise company’s to focus on single cabins. But now there is a new trend building momentum, of more and more single travellers, with funds to pay for single cabins. Thus the company’s are now looking into meeting them half way, making the cabins smaller, so more single cabins fit in the same section of deck and then not having to charge 150% or 200% to the single traveller but a more reasonable fare. How this is going to work out in the future nobody knows but it was interesting to talk about it, as one couple at the table, where planning to contine cruising, if one of them passed away. Main concern was, if the wardrobes would stay of a reasonable size, so that single cabins were also of interest during a longer cruise.

Future cruise desk. There is another one at this side but they now only have one person instead of 2. Fred Olsen does not offer much discount or extra’s anymore for booking onboard, so less and less guest book onboard. And thus they have reduced the FCC to one. Serving mainly those who have a hard time dealing with on line booking.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk, to convince ourselves that we could walk off our “built up” calories and to make room for more during the evening. As tonight there were extra appetizers to enjoy as we were going to the repeater party. With Fred Olsen it is called The Oceans Cocktail Party, as the repeat club is called “The Oceans Club”. They have Diamond Elite, Platimum, Gold and Silver levels. As we have done through the years several short cruises, we have now reached Silver level, more than 50 days……………. so party time. We have sailed on the Black Prince, where Fred started its modern cruising, then the Black Watch (ex Royal Viking), then the Balmoral (ex Crown Cruise Lines), followed now by Borealis and Bolette. Everytime mainly to see the ship and how it operated. The party started at 17.00 hrs. so we showed up at 17.15 to let the build up of early & eager free drinks persuers flow in. We had to run the gauntlet again, as the whole ships staff were lined up again in the entrance. This would have been ideal to have had this party in formal set up, but “for operational reasons” all the officers were in regular day uniform. Once the party started they were all gone and we never saw them again. One would think, if they have to be there anyway, then why not stay and do a bit of socializing.  Even the Hotel Director was gone and it is her department.

The Captain reading out the “numbers” for this party, with how many in each repeater day group. Cruise consultant on the side waiting to start her presentation.

The person in charge of administering the program is the Future Sales Consultant, a Lady called Nanomi from the Philippines. She invited the Captain to say some wise words (giving the repeater numbers for this cruise) acknowledging the top days on board, a couple with having 1200+ days. They received flowers and a bottle of champagne and then she showed how Fred Olsen had made their latest advertisement series. What I liked was that she then did not leave, as most of the staff with other company’s do, but she invited guests on the dance floor (the resident guitarist was providing music) and then danced with a large number of single ladies…………… so they were happy and another cruise sold. Compliments as I never have seen that dedication before.

Our future cruise consultant on the dance floor doing a sort of line dance with a gaggle of Ladies.

After the party we had to some time left before we had dinner at 19.00 hrs. in the Colours and Tastes restaurant, so we tried to find our sofar elusive inhouse pianist who we had seen playing at the Chef’s Table but who had eluded us thusfar in any of the public rooms.  We caught him playing in the Morning Light Pub between 1800 hrs. and 18.45. hours providing the sole spot of entertainment in the ship as first sitting was in the diningroom and 2nd sitting getting ready. (The next wave of entertainment started at 1900 hrs. with something going on in all the lounges) It is worthwhile for Fred Olsen to do this, as nearly all British guests go for cocktails and order a drink (or two) instead of what one sometimes see, is that the lounge is full of”concert attendee’s” and not a single drink insight.

The forward side of the Colours and Taste Restaurant.

The Borealis has one speciality restaurant, the Colours and Tastes, located on Deck 4 midships, where Holland America used to have the Marco Polo which later was changed to the Pinnacle Restaurant. When the ship was taken over and came back in service in 2022, they kept the restaurant as is, but now it has seen a refit, and is a lot les atmospheric but also a lot barer bulkheads, also tables and carpets are a lot lighter. We did not like the fact that the windows into the corridor has been changed from framed in 3 partitions with dark wood to a single wide window, that made it look as if the diners were part of an establishment in a certain area of Amsterdam, known for showing off the wares for having a good time.  Also the lack of table cloths did not do it much good, This restaurant has a cover charge of 20.00 pounds a person so a table cloth could be expected instead of a marble colored formica top.

The Italian Menu. Ample choice and very well prepared.

The menu rotates here every 4 days, from Meat Grill, Italian (2 menus) and Far East. This cruise there was only option 1 and 2 going so we went for Italian. Which was very good with attentive service provided by Adi Setiayo from Bali and overseen by the Maitre from India. The latter remembered me from our last cruise, so one way or the other I must have made in impression.

All the Holland America paintings have been removed and replace by the modern Olsen House style. One left over, are these plates who used to be in display outside the Lido midships bar.

We decided to forgo the comedian again and went for a quick round, around the ship and then decided to turn in early as I wanted to work on the blog, as there will be little time tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are in ST. Malo which is a tender port as the tidal difference is about 12 feet or 4 meters. Then a tender platform is much easier to get on and off from, than a steep gangway.  We are expected to start tender service around 08.30 in the morning. We have tickets for 11 am. Weather is supposed to be sunny but windy with temperatures around 14 – 15oC or 59oF. out of the wind.

Day 02; Pauillac for Bordeaux, France.

April 17, 2026 / / 7 Comments

At 07.00 we arrived at Pauillac. The Captain had explained last night that he had never been here but that did not really matter as it was thick fog so he could not see anything anyway. The town is located in the estuary of the river Gironde and the river is still very wide and deep here. So nearly any sort of ship can dock as the length of the berth is 300 meters plus. I came by here the last time in 2010 with the ms Prinsendam but we went up the river all the way to Bordeaux. The Prinsendam could do this as her funnel was lower than the clearance height of the bridge just outside Bordeaux and the length of the ship was just short enough to swing around in the river at high tide. According to the french pilot it “izzzze not possible to zwing on ze low tide az-ze the zhippe will go bumpe”. He spoke english with a distinct french pronounciation. Luckily here at the much wider part of the river, the chance of going “bumpe” is a lot less and thus the good ship Borealis docked without any hiccups.

A left over from the Holland America Line days. Terracotta soldiers. I have no idea why Fred Olsen kept them, but it still looks nice.

We are docked about a 1 mile down river from the town of Pauillac at a rather new berth, so I assume it was put in by the authorities to entice large cruise ships to visit, and then for the guests to go by coach to Bordeaux. There is a smaller dock, more of a breakwater to protect the local marine just outside the town, and that was used by river boats today. We saw their guests lateron marching accross to the road to go and visit a local winery.

A change from HAL days. The whole Explorer Lounge was changed directly after take over, into a chinese tea room and Garden Room. See here the garden side. As nearly all British are wild about gardening , this works very well on this ship even if not expected on a cruise ship. In the morning this place is really full and many guests are examining the gardening books laid out on the large center table.

And that is what Pauillac is all about. Wine, wine, wine. The town itself has over 20 wineries and estates and the local Office du Tourism, is nearly completely dedicated to selling wine and accessories such as bottle openers, which are available in a dizzying variation of designs. Due to the mile travel distance Fred Olsen had laid on a 15 minute shuttle service; first stopping at the train station for those who wainted to take the train to Bordeaux and then at the Tourist office for those who wanted to inspect downtown. With taking the train came the advise,  that as it was a branch line, the service was not very frequent and ” sometimes did not go at all”. Luckily in this case not a big problem as we are here for 2 days so everybody can make it back even when delayed by a train “that did not go. The shuttle service also ran through the night, albeit with a lower frequency but I think not many will have gone ashore during the night as the nightlife here in Pauillac only seems to consist of a Pizzaria staying open past midnight.

The Boulevard of Pauillac following the rivers shore line. As one can see it is not the most exciting place and the road is a main district road which can be very busy. But the place is all about wine and not about regular shopping or night life.

We decided to go ashore around 11.00 once the rush at the shuttlebus was over. The ship was conducting a General drill and we were treated to announcements over the General P.A system. This is understandable for drills but the ship does it for nearly everything. Arrival announcements in the cabin, Cruise directors updates in the cabin, gangway movements due to the tides etc. Luckily this captain is not big on announcements but Fred Olsen has another Norwegian captain who likes making announcements and standard comes into the cabin just before departure. If that is in mid afternoon he upsets those having an afternoon nap. Not for a short announcement but with reading out half of the Berlitz Guide write up for the next port. And that all with a grating Norwegian “Hu-de-Buh” accent. It can really spoil your afternoon nap. Announcements can be made, like it was done during Holland America Line times, over the tv on the “View from the Bridge” channel, but this is not used here and everything comes into the cabin. Maybe appreciated by all the hearing aid owners on board but not by me, I like my piece and quiet when in the cabin. Well that was my rant for the day.

Another shot of the boulevard of Pauillac. How a British telephone box ended up here, I do not know but there was no telephone inside. Maybe once in the past it had a direct line to the UK, especially for British home sick tourists. Who will ever know how it came to end up so far into the French Country side.

Company’s are nowadays required to make regular announcements to keep the guests informed and knowing the ship intimatelly, I could follow the proceedings quite well. Fire on B deck with the assembly of the teams outside the Engine Room meant that the fire was in the cold room/ store room area as the assembly station always has to be 2 vertical sections (e.g. 2 firescreen doors sections) away from the fire. The area of the fire is called the HOT zone, the first area away, the WORK zone (only people in breathing apparatus allowed) and the 3rd zone is called the SAFE zone, where everybody is allowed to assemble and support the teams who are going to tackle the fire.

The shuttle service was extremely well organised with English speaking traffic controllers at both ends of the route and the shuttle service ran on its 15 minute cycle, even during French Lunch time when it is not uncommon for a shuttle service to be completely shut down for an hour. By the time we arrived at the Tourist office and the end of the downtown boulevard, most of the town had gone for lunch so shops and all related were closed. The cafe’s on the boulevard were all open and were doing a roaring trade with about 50% French and the rest English and American customers. Unfortunately the mussles are not in season yet (July to January) otherwise we would have gladly joined in. You can of course find restaurants who serve mussles (frozen) all year around but this is sort of frowned upon by many french restaurants.

This is the main historic highlight of the town, the church of Saint Martin, rebuilt in 1826. They charge 5,– Euro admission but unless you are really into churches, not the most exciting place to visit.

So we walked the front streets and the back streets and did not see a single (french) soul. The church of Saint-Martin is a bit of a strange happening as it was a rebuild of a previous church. This one was razed down when it became too small and then by using materials from another church down the road, a new church was cobbled together in mid 19th. century Greek Style. It resulted in a very austere design and definatelly did not have the “wow factor”. But because of living in England we are spoiled anyway as even the local church in our local back garden is from the 12th. century with all the stories to tell that come with it’s history. Then her ladyship wished to inspect the local supermarket to see if the prices were similar to those in England. They were. Petrol prices were higher than in the UK but that had mainly to do with the amount of tax levied on the basic petrol price by the French Government. For the rest the prices were much higher than recently, courtesy of Ball-room Johnny and his activities in the Middle East.

I could not resist this photo. It seems that the local authorities are really concerned that somebody would steal heir bottle bank, so they put a fence in front of it. But it was still used.

By 14.30 hrs. we were back on board and decided to test the pizza’s in the Fresco restaurant. That was a resounding success with the caveat that the free wine and beer for lunch does not extend to outside eateries on board. So I have to find out how it works for the small restaurant at the hamburger bar starboard forward of the Inside pool as it is inside.  Somehow it does not make sense but we do not really care whether it is free or not. How much free “chateau plonk” and Heineken beer can you drink anyway ??.

The outdoor “All Fresco” sitting area for the Pizza place. I like the layout much better than with Holland America as it looked a lot less gloomy.

Then it was time to upload the blog and to get ready for cocktails at 19,00 hrs. For tonight we selected the Piano Bar on deck 5 with the Resident Piano Man Paul Burton. He has been with Fred Olsen for a very long time and a firm favourite of the guests. Or as he says himself, I am very popular with guests, waiting / killing time, before going to dinner. He prefers to play music, at least in the early evening, of composers long dead, and also tells then something of the background of these old songs. So this evening he dissected two songs from the movie Casablanca (Humphry Bogart and Ingrid Bergman) and I found out that the music in this movie was on average much older than the movie itself. It was just repackaged for that movie. One is never too old to learn something new. So he promised to continue to reveal  more of this useless and irrelevant information during the course of this cruise.

Dinner options for the Lido buffet evening meal. It is a buffet line, but not much self service as the cooks are handling the plates and also the tongs for rolls etc. It all helps to prevent Noro-virus from spreading.

Dinner was of the regular good standard and as expected it was a much less hectic affair tonight. Guests where not marching in en-masse when the doors opened and I think quite a few went ” for casual” to the Lido restaurant, called “The View” here on the Borealis. Dress code was casual today and indeed a lot of T-shirts were observed but many gentlemen, including Yours Truly, still opted to wear a jacket or a more stylish tropical shirt.

The show tonight were the 4 singers, mentioned before. We are now all confused as the ship gave the impression that they had just boarded but tonight we found out that they had been at sea already for nearly 6 months. What is nice with Fred Olsen is, is that the company does not enforce standarization that much so all the ships are equal in entertainment quality with the program strictly controlled by a manager in the office. Hence the 4 singers could sing tonight their own favourites and as we have learned through the years, if you let them sing their own favourites, songs that work the best for their type of voice, then you always get a very good show. Tonight was no different.

Tomorrow is our 2nd day in Pauillac with more tours to Bordeaux and the surrounding country side. Most tours are half day but there are 2 tours of 7 and 8 hours long, giving more time in Bordeaux. Temperatures are expected to go up a bit, sunny with a maximum of 23oC / 74oF here on the river; so Bordeaux. more inland, will be a few degrees higher.

Day 1: At Sea, 15 April 2026.

April 16, 2026 / / 3 Comments

Today we have a sea day, while sailing from Southampton to Pauillac which is a small wine village on the west shore of the river Gironde, at the edge of the Medoc, a French wine region in the Bordeaux area. There is a weather front coming over and that gave us this morning gale force winds of up to 35-45 knots and combined wind and swell of about 3 meters. Which is high enough to make the ms Borealis move about somewhat. (The S and R class are not affected by any sea movement up to 2 meters but when it goes higher the ships get slowly affected). We were slightly affected this morning and the ship had put out the sea sickness bags in the staircases. Weather improved rapidly after lunch time with the depression moving away and the sun came out and visibility got better very quickly.

The Fred Olsen Fleet. BS = Borealis, BT = Bolette,  BL = Balmoral

While sailing south we are hugging the french shore line  around the coast of Normandy and Britanny and although following the shipping lanes (a sort of highways at seas) we were close enough to the french shore to be able to use our mobile phone with land coverage. If you are not careful, the moment the ship is more than 3 Nautical Miles from shore, it goes to Martime Coverage and that can be quite costly. So it is important that have you phone on airplane mode when not seeing any coastline around you while at sea, even when you have global roaming.  We did not see much of the French coast but that was mainly due to the Frontal Weather system which brought rain with it as well.

Cruise schedule for 8 days. Soutahmpton – Pauillac, La Pallice, St. Malo, Cherbourg, Southampton.

This cruise we are going to Pauillac where we stay from 07.00 hrs in the morning to 18.45 hrs the next evening, giving the guests an ample chance to take one of the wine tours. Then it is a short hop to La Pallice (For La Rochelle) were we are from 07.00 to 20.00 hrs. Then we have a sea day, followed by a full day call at Saint Malo. That is a tender port with the ship anchoring in the estuary. The next day is a full day call at Cherbourg and from there is goes back to Southampton. We have now observed that the ship is not completely full and that might be the  reason that we have new joining cast and singers on board with support staff; and a whole technical team for renewing the lighting in the show lounge. I estimate that about 50 cabins have been handed over for that operation. Most of the entertainers have taken the chance to have their nearest family on board, who are present in full force wherever these new singers are performing. Fred Olsen seems to have taken on a new Entertainment Company, to train these people but we have not found out yet what that exactly entails.

The “Fresco” on the aft Navigation deck with the pizza place.

So what has Fred Olsen done with the ship during the most recent upgrade? They have finally (re) opened the pizza place which HAL had on the aft navigation deck. Insiders might remember that HAL had the brain wave to remove the aft -outdoor- pool on both the Rotterdam and the Veendam so it could add more cabins. The pool area was then reduced to a wading pool. This no doubt increased revenue for the ship but the operational results where not that great. The wading pool never worked as most of the guests were not able to “step/climb” over the rim of the pool and there was nowhere to store your personal stuff, so when sitting on a stretcher in the wading pool, guests blocked a second sunlounger away from the pool for their towels and bags. Then common sense prevailed and none of the other ships underwent this treatment. But the remodeling did give the chance to make a bigger outside serving bar on the starboard side and to install a pizza kitchen / outlet on the portside. When the ship was handed over to Fred Olsen in 2020, the status of the pizza ovens was considered to be in a too bad a condition to re-open when sailing started again in 2022. So the place stayed closed until further notice. In the last dry dock in Autumn 2025, the area was completely renewed and is now in full swing again. Holland America prepared full size pizza’s there (handed out in a pizza box) but here it is slice only, but freshly made and of excellent quality. For the rest they also do other small bites such as cheese and ham croissants etc.etc.

The next thing is that they have remodeled is the library by removing the easy chairs and putting more regular tables and chairs in so there is more seating for the Cafe. The Barista counter of HAL is still there, but Fred has gone one step further and have changed it into a complete cafe same as on their other ships. You can still sit there and read a book but instead of reclining (and falling asleep) you sit now straight up to read your book or magazine.

The Crowsnest / Observatory which under HAL had declined to an “indepth” shore excurions study place, which never really worked that well as all the machinery broke down very rapidly, has now been fully restored to a day and evening lounge. The bandstand is back and all evening there is entertainment. Hurrah.

I believe on other HAL ships where the crowsnest was also converted to an EXC indepth shored and port immersion area, this is also rolled back somewhat to what the Crowsnest used to be, with a new dedicated library on one of the lower decks.

Here on board, the repeat guests are a bit confused by all the happenings going on. With the showlounge been refitted during day time, the lectures are now in the Auditorium (ex Cinema/ kitchen) but as this place can only take 299 guests, they have to repeat the lecture in the afternoon. That is not always appreciated as a lot of guests want to take a nap in the afternoon. The average age of our guests is the same as with HAL and then you need to re-charge your batteries for to be ready for the hard work of eating again  in the evening. As nearly all the guests are British it means that nearly everybody wants to be out and about for cocktails in the evening, both for 1st and 2nd. sitting. So they need some downtime. The music venue times are adapted to this, with the entertainers taking a break while first sitting goes to dinner (18.00 hrs) and 2nd sitting is still trying to fit in their cruise clothes from last time. Then 2nd sitting cocktails start at 1900 hrs., dinner at 20.00 hrs.and the show at 22.00 hrs. Then between 23.00 hrs. and 24.00 hrs. there is music in the Observatory, the Night Club, the Ocean Bar and the the Morning Light Pub (ex HAL casino area)

The new singers “warming up” the captains party

Tonight was formal night with the Captains welcome on board party, which is still done in the respectable way as HAL used to do until about 2010 -2012. With a Receiving line with all of those who were going to be introduced (and yes with 10 white uniforms in a row, it feels abit like running the gauntlet), free drinks (wine, beer ,G&T, champagne), nibbles (canape’s and hot appetizers) followed by a speech from the Captain.

Captain Stefan Ravneng

We observed this Captain for the first time on the ms Balmoral when he was rather new in function and his speech and presence on stage was quite awkward. But by now, he felt more comfortable, made some jokes and his speech was running smoothly. Fred has the routine that the staff officers introduce themselves and that is great fun to see. With the staff captain being the easiest with handling the microphone, the Chief Engineer having the shortest speech of all (name and where he is from only) and the Cruise Director the longest. Then the champagne toast, followed by the announcement to get out of the lounge, to make room for the 2nd show. That results then in an enmasse march through the ship to the diningroom. They where well prepared as somehow they had managed to clear first sitting out completely by 19.45 so they could handle this 2nd sitting invasion.

We decided not to go to the show, I do not particularly enjoy comedians but to go to a concert of the strings. (see yesterdays blog) For those who sailed with Holland America longtime in the past, we then had the Rosario Strings from the Philipinnes on all the ships, one extended family, that never used sheet music but still could play anything. We have them now here on all of the ships of Fred Olsen. Tonight they had a sort of easy listening concert in the Ocean Bar, partly classical, partly crooner songs, and yes no sheet music or tablet in sight and yes they played everything by heart and to a very high standard.

The 2 male singers of the Singers group on board.

This was followed by a Country and Western hour, performed by the new singers and again, with all the family in attendance. I always have reservations about seeing english people in cowboy outfits, but they sang the songs with a nice american accent. Near the end they decided to do a line dance and then it was time to leave. There is only so much one can take, when a large number of octogenarians, fuelled by aa ample amount of (free) alchohol decide that they were 25 again. Free alchohol comes from the fact that the booze during the captains party was free and also the house wine and beer in the diningroom.

Tomorrow we are in Pauillac. We are suppoed to dock in foggy conditions at about 06.45 and then it should warm and sunny for the rest of the day, with temperatures around 21oC or 70o Fahrenheit.

An attempt at an American Line dance, on a moving ship.

Day 0: Boarding the ms Borealis. 14 April 2026.

April 15, 2026 / / 6 Comments

Fred Olsen keeps refitting the Borealis, (ex Rotterdam VI) and the Bolette, (ex Amsterdam III), after they bought them from Holland America (or officially from Carnival Corporation) for US 20 million back in 2020. Carnival Corp felt it needed to get rid of all the ships in the corporate fleet that were making less then 10% yield on the ship turn over and that meant that the 4 S class ships went and also 2 R-class ships. Also the whole Ecstacy class of Carnival Cruise Lines went and a few ships of Costa Cruises as well. Carnival reduced its costs during Covid lay-up and Fred Olsen got two very good ships for an even better price. We went on the 3 day maiden voyage of the Borealis, for the start up  in 2022 and to get the painting out of the captains cabin to go back to the ss Rotterdam V in Rotterdam. Then came back to see what the Fred product looked like after a year in operation. See both write ups on this website under the heading My cruises and reviews.

The ms Borealis. (photo from wikipedia)

The Borealis went in dry dock just before its 2026 world cruise and then “she who shall be obeyed” expressed the wish to see the ship again, to inspect the latest upgrades. Thus it was decided to go on an 8 day cruise to French ports and as it includes a call at Cherbourg it meant that I could visit my favourite French Maritime Bookshop in the terminal / maritime museum. It is very hard to buy French Maritime books in England, even via the internet, as the french publishers are absolutly not interested to export to the island.

Her Ladyship had booked this cruise while on the last one so we got a good on a suite.  Hence I am now sitting in suite 7038 (portside aft, one but last) to write my daily blog. Fred did not keep the Neptune Lounge which HAL had for the suites unfortunatly , (it is now a sort of emergency command center) and that is still felt as a great ommission. The Germans who bought the Prinsendam II, now Amera, did keep the Neptune Lounge, they call it the “Gold Lounge” and it is very popular. I think if Fred had kept it, it would have been much easier for them to sell the Deck 7 cabins as it would then have offered something extra to the guests, instead of just paying for a large cabin.

Welcome on board by the Strings in the Ocean Bar. As this bar is leaning into the Atrium, the music can also be heared at embarkation level.

But being in a Suite cabin, meant that we could board at 12.30. However upon arrival we found that a lot of later boarding guests had not kept to the advised reporting time and thus the hall in front of Security was choc -a-bloc with no doubt very eager cruisers. It did not help that the lady in charge did not have a microphone, to address the murmuring crowd, resulting in a lot of confused people as her voice did not penetrate the many hearing aids around. The terminal has a P.A system but it seems to be very difficult to arrange a microphone from those in charge. We have seen the same in terminal 101 and that one is used by much larger ships and the apron there before entering the terminal proper is also very small.

The Morning LIght Loung. Which used to be the Casino with Holland America and the first thing Fred ripped out when taken over the ships in 2020.

The good ship Borealis was docked at the Southampton berth 102, the Horizon terminal, which even for only 1200 guests too small at the entrance, so it is important that guests arrive at the time mentioned on their booking and not earlier.

Check In was a fast experience until they saw my Dutch passport. Thus I needed an ETIAS, to get into Europe. This was of course not the case, as the Netherlands is part of the European Union, and it would be the same as having American Citizens needing a Visa to re-enter their own country. Then they realized  that it was about coming back and so I needed an ETA. (UK tourist visum). Not needed either as  I had a “settled status” for the UK, permanent approval to live on the island. Thus they wanted to check that. That is easy enough as long as you can access the UK Government website.  So we did, but again, the request was not correct as that information is supposed to be verified only by an “Official Authority” (like His Majesties Customs and Border Control) and the check- in ladies do not have that status. But you cannot blame them for not having been properly briefed by their boss, who obviously did not know the rules. So we googled my Settled Status file, checked the photo and all was well in the world.

When we came on board security found out that the Check-In Ladies had become so confused with the whole happening that they had entered my photo under Lesely’s name and vice-versa. So we were escorted to the Front Desk for it to be corrected and then all was well in the world. Never a dull moment when travelling.

At the gangway the whole ships staff was lined up, including the Captain, which was Captain Ravegner, whom we had met while on the ms Balmoral of Fred Olsen. (see write up on this website under cruise reviews) There we somehow then ended up at his Captains table and he then remembered that Lesley and I had entertained his whole table as he is a much more reserved Captain than I have ever been.  For this cruise, apart from 1 seaday, tomorrow, and 1 more twards the end there is a French port,everyday so I doubt if we will see him very much out-and-about.

A small show on departure from the singers on board. Slightly marred by the fact that they only faced the bar and kept their backs to the rest of the audience around the pool. The Cruise Director who was present, unfortunately did not see the need to correct this,

Suitcases had made it to the cabin in less then an hour, between Taxi and cabin door and that must be a record for Southampton for a medium size ship. But today we were the only cruise ship in so maybe they had the best trained Longshore men working the ship. We dropped our trolley’s and went for Lunch in the Lido while it was still quiet. Fred has stewards everywhere and they assign you a table when you come in ensuring the restaurant is being filled up from the back going forward. It looks a bit over the top but it works very well as it stops all the chaos of guests running around and blocking each other while occupying a table here and there. Basic wine, soft drinks and Heineken Draft Beer are free  during lunchtime an dinner. For more premium drinks you have to pay or ensure you have a drinks package. Lido Lunch is less exurburant than at Holland America. It sits somewhere just under Cunard Line and is on par with Saga Cruises. (same age group). The dessert lay-out is one of the best I have seen on Four Star ships, so kudo’s. Except, they have taken out the Soft Ice machine at the ice cream station. Maintaining those is a bit of a “pain in the a…… for the cooks but Holland America (served) and Cunard, P&O and Saga (self serve)  so even it under British Flag it must be possible.

This cruise they are changing the complete lighting in the show lounge. Also the old cast is leaving in 2 weeks and a new cast has just boarded so the ship is full of entertainment people and supporting staff.

Then it was time to check our Dining room table as that is always a challenge with Fred. They have the system that the highest repeaters (Diamond and Elite) are assigned teh best tables  the mere mortals like us can only wait to see wht we get, even when you have a Penthouse or a top suite. Then they tend to push the Penthouses and Suites into the Indian Ocean Room (the deck 8 the starboard wing, called Queens Room with Holland America) because “it is nice and quiet there”. Not many suite people like that and as a result they all move out to the main dining room and then the room is assigned to groups or travelling technicians. And those groups do not like to follow the dress code. Indeed we were assigned to this room, so time to take action. The alternative table offered was exactly the same as we had a during a previous cruise so I suspect that this  is sort of preprogrammed. But there is always a manual bypass, so we compromised on a table for 2 overlooking the ocean at the stern. For 2nd sitting at 20.00 hrs.that is not a problem as the ship will be mainly sailing South to North so no sunshine glaring into the diningroom.

Lifeboatdrill is “do it yourself” by watching the Safety Video and then go to your lifeboat outside to be checked off. Then at 17.00 hrs. the Captain came on the Tannoy with some wise and safe words, together with the Cruise Director for completing the Boat Drill requirements.

These big Holland America suites come with ample storage so unpacking was a doddle and did not upset the martrimonial peace as there are more drawers than we could possibily find use for. It is only an 8 day cruise, With the cabin comes a bottle chamapgne (the real stuff, not sprankling wine and canape’s so we had cocktails in the cabin.

All afternoon we had been on the look-out to meet our cabin stewardess but she was nowhere to be seen, No meet and greet, no cabin facility explanation, nothing. Yesterday was the end of a 70 day South America and antartic cruise and with it came a very large crew change, so maybe she was part of that. Will find out in the coming days.

Sail away was very poorly attended, due to the weather no doubt, as it was overcast with rain showers in Southampton and thus the Magrodome stayed closed. That directly affects the quality of the sound (echo’s back from the roof) and that made the interest for the cruise staff and singers acitivities minimal.

Dinner was of a good Fred standard with very fast service as on the first night, everybody “marched” as soon as the doors for 2nd sitting at 20.00 hrs. opened. Again there was free house wine, draft beer and soda’s included with dinner.  We made it more then timely to the show scheduled fot 22.00 hrs. which was a revue show with songs from the movies, such as Blues Brothers, Mama Mia and Les Mesarables, starting with  the Greatest showman music This group of performers will go home in 2 weeks time and they had their performance down pat,  after having been so long on board. Audience was very sparse as most guests had decided to retire early as it was an forward. But they did miss something very good.

Tomorrow we are at sea. Sailing south along the French coast towards  Pauillac. Weather is supposed to be a low gale (35 knots of wind) and we are going against it, so the ship will move about somewhat with combined wave and swell of up to 3 meters. Temperatures in the mid 50’s. or 14 oC.  (subject to rain and wind).

 

2026 Feb 19; Barcelona, going home and Verdict.

February 22, 2026 / / 8 Comments

By 05.45 hrs. some 20 sleepy guests had assembled in the lounge and were by 06.15 on the coach to the airport. The check-in was already open so we could flow straight through. Although early in the morning, Bacelona airport was already very full, with early flights going to the USA and Far East via various hubs in Spain or Europe. That was maybe the reason why we were taken so early to the airport as our flight was not until 11.10 hrs.   But all went well, and flying via Amsterdam brought us back to England by 17.00 Hrs.

The verdict.

This was a very nice cruise on a beautiful ship (if Nordic laid-back is your taste) and with very good service. The weather was not that great but then we do not go on a cruise for sunny weather or to bake in the sun.

The organisation for pre boarding and leaving the ship also went very well, if you keep an eye on the Italian penchant for making everything chaotic.

The drinks package of $ 25,– a person a day, was well worth having, if you enjoy cocktails and drinks in the evening. Wine, Beer and soft drinks are included with lunch and dinner.

There is only one announcement a day, the arrival announcement. For the rest is all quiet, except that on sea days the Captain seems to do a noon time “Voice from the Bridge” announcement. There is all day, soft classical music wafting through the public area’s. Whoever choose the music, did a good job as it was never irritating.

The ship has self service laundry’s on each deck and they are free. They come with Iron Board, a settee and a TV for when you get tired of looking at the the washing machine program. Much appreciated by myself as I always need an ironing board for my shirts after travelling. (Even after having done a training class on U-tube……………….)

There is the Viking Society for repeat guests but there are no medals or tiered levels based on days sailed. You simply get more discount if you sail more. They do throw a party each cruise and it comes with a short show by the Cast.

The Glare, testing friendliness. I do this every cruise, as standard. Looking each officer and crewmember straight in the eye when passing by, with a sort of open eye stare and observe the reaction. The crew  all scored 100%,; all cheerful and friendly. And looking at their body language it seemed to be a happy crew.  Officers were less; only very helpful and friendly when approached but not always when passing by or just being around in general. That gives a total score of 80%.

I did not see any engineers this cruise but the deck department did not always make the cut and also Front desk was lacking. Not when at the desk, “all smiles and concerns then”, but when they walked by.  Special compliments to General Manager Emma Harking from England. So far the most active and the most omni-present Hotel Manager I have seen on our last 10 cruises.

The food was without exception presented and cooked to a very high standard, I just found that for the quality of the cruise and standard the choices were a bit limited in the World Café for the rest nothing what so ever to remark.

So do we recommend Viking? Please read the daily blog and if you want to have a laid-back cruise with good food, nice crew and very little challenges, then yes.   This was a 7 day cruise and the ticket price included flights from our preferred local airport in England.

We had booked the lowest standard cabin, which is still an outside cabin with balcony, as we did not have any idea about what Viking was all about.  Total cost came to £5,468.00 UK pounds, or 4567 in euros or 5490 in US dollars. That gives a British per diem, per person of  290 pounds a day.   AND WE THINK THAT FOR THE SERVICE PROVIDED, WHICH HOVERS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 5* AND 6*, IT IS VERY GOOD.

So we have booked another cruise , on the Viking Polaris in 2028 with what Viking calls The Northwest Passsage but it is more of poking the nose in (Baffin Bay) and then going back again. That is a 13 day cruise from Nuuk in Greenland and as it is a sort of Expedition ship and with difficult flights and a higher cabin catagory, a lot more expensive. But one only lives once…………… and thus we do it while we still can.

Our next cruise is in April, when we do a 5 day return to the ms Borealis (ex Rotterdam VI of Holland America) as My Lord And Master wants to see the latest upgrades they have made. It looks like that Fred Olsen has now completed / restored all what Holland America had but some of it went sort of by the way side after Covid.

I hope you will join us then.

 

2026 Feb. 18, Day 07 Barcelona Day 1, Spain.

February 22, 2026 / / 1 Comment

This morning we docked in Barcelona and were assigned Berth B, while the Costa Tuscani was at Berth D. Between 2010 and 2020 Barcelona heavily invested in new and state of the art cruise terminals which  now run from A to H  and then there are still the 3 small (old) ones at the World Trade Center. Unfortunately the mood in Barcelona has turned against the very large influx of cruise visitors and now there is the plan to demolish 2 of them again.

Cruise terminals in Barcalona

How that will work with nbr. H, I do not know as that one seems to have been built with MSC investments so their very big ships can dock there.  I do somewhat understand the concern of the Barcelonan’s as with all 8 big terminals full: with on average 2000+ guests on board, there are at least 16000 extra people milling around in downtown (and most of them, marching, during some moment of the day up and down the  Las Ramblas If it is a change over port day, then the approaches to the airport are clogged up with tour busses.  So a definite challenge to for the City Fathers, City Mothers and City Persons, (I am very inclusive…. to find a good balance between the needed revenue a large chunk of money for the Gaudi Church (La Sagrade Familia) and other buildings comes from the cruise industry) and still protecting the locals way of life in down town.

Photo of the Atrium taken from deck 3 down to the grand piano (Steinway size B) This is were we will wait tomorrow for the coach to the airport.

We have been to Barcelona many a time, so we decided to stay on board. Also because we have to pack in the afternoon,  we had booked a speciality restaurant booking in the evening, and we have a  coach connection to the airport at 05.45 tomorrow morning. And we were far from the earliest casualties as some guests were leaving at 02.45 in the morning.

The stern of the Viking Saturn. On top the Norwegian flag, as Viking is the last cruise company to have Norwegian registration which must be costly. Under the flag, the “Infinity pool water catcher box” under the deck 7 pool. At the water line, the “duckfoot” an extension with a dual purpose, it improves stability as it increases the surface size of the ship and also it inproves fuel economy as it acts as a “spoiler”, which you often see at the back of sports cars. (Photo courtesy, somewhere on the internet)

But it gave me the chance to walk the ship from top to bottom and to have a very good look at the interior. The outside of the ship is not so much different from the current design of other cruises ships, with a dumpy funnel, a macrodome, balconies all around the superstructure and the public rooms on the lower and the top decks with the majority of the cabins in between. But the inside design of the ship (and those of the other 12 Viking ships as they are all similar) varies considerably from other cruise company’s.

What I think is very cool is the gangway button in the lifts. When you do not know where the gangway is, you just push the button (above deck 8) and it goes to the right deck. I wish all ships would have that.

If the theme of the mega liners of Carnival, RCC,NCL and Celebrity is noise and action, here the theme is Nordic Tranquility. That might not be enjoyed by everybody but the fact that Viking is able to keep churning out a new ship each year (and this year even 2 with LNG propulsion) means that there are more than enough people who do like it.

The deck display next to each lift. Good and easy to read. The  only irritating thing is, it rotates with the gangway deck indication. So you have to wait until it comes around again.

This success is due to 3 things: smaller ships (40 – 60.000 tons is small nowadays), very good and balanced service and an harmonious interior that is consistent through the whole ship.  The ships must have been designed by a team that was given a concise briefing, did their job, and then the results were checked, to see if the briefing was followed. The President, Mr. Torstein Hagen comes from a maritime background and does therefore understand that a ship has to remain a ship, and that the end result should still be a ship and not a coorporate and ego-tripping muddle of Sr.Vice Presidents. And I think that has worked very well on these ships.

This is Deck 2 portside Atrium with sitting areas and game tables, both analog and digital.

The centre of the ships is “The Atrium” but is also called “The Living Room”.  (Saga Cruises has a similar concept).  It is mainly a lounge to sit and relax, especially on level 3. There is no library but there are bookcases full  (with very high quality books) in every corner and on every level. As well as in other lounges like the Explorers Lounge (crowsnest) on deck 7& 8). Game corners  everywhere integrated as a part of the overall concept. And the game corners were very busy, especially with guests travelling together and who enjoyed time together before the afternoon tour or after the morning tour.

Portside Forward Atrium Corner, deck 2. “Viking Museum”.

Then there is a bit of Nordic history (up and until the early 19th. century Sweden and Norway were one country) on level 2. Here is also the Future Cruise Specialist, whose office is hiding behind a very nice Viking Saturn model. Look for the model and you know where it is. The most lively part of it all is on deck 1. Here is Guest services located, but it has no counter. No, there are 6 desks with attendants (number in use depending on expected traffic during the day) so a discussion can take place in a more intimate and professional setting, instead of being “processed” at a long counter with multiple  slots.

Two of the six front desks. These two are in use on very busy days,

Shore excursion has a small stand there, for meet & greet, but for more indepth issues they take you to one of the Guest Services desks.  Diagonally opposite is the Bar, a combination of a coffee and cake stand and a regular bar.  I think it is located in this corner to be next to the Gangway, so guests can pick up a coffee before going off the ship or have a drink when coming back after an exhausting tour.  Then late afternoon it changes more and more into a bar and there are always 20 – 30 guests present. By 18.00 hrs. the cocktail crowd starts gathering before dinner, for cocktails and to listen to the Resident Pianist or the Classical duo. (The latter alternate between the Livingroom and the Explorers lounge)

The bar in the Atrium. To the left are high chairs & tables for eating your cookies or a lunch time roll. Low chairs and tables are all around the Atirum.

To my amazement it all works here extremely well, there is no noise, just the buzz from polite conversion with a tinkling piano in the background. The fact that the space is 3 decks high has no impact at all on the atmosphere. Where you walk the deck is marble but were you sit it is all carpet and thus no scraping noises and also no echoing noise.

A corner of the “Chefs Table” speciality restaurant.

Behind the Livingroom is on Deck 1, portside is the “Chef’s Table” a speciality restaurant (see further down) with a rotating menu. On the starboard side is Manfredi’s the second speciality restaurant that focusses on Italian Cuisine.  (see write up from some days ago). On the port side there is also the “The Kitchen Table” were there is a separate chefs cooking area and also options to do cooking classes.

The starboard side of “The Restaurant”. As you can see there is art everywhere and the long blueish painting is called “twilight” by Kenneth Blom painted for the ship in 2023.

Then on deck 2, there is the main dining room called “The Restaurant”.. (I think the designers wanted to ensure that a guest would not get confused about its purpose……….) This is horseshoe shaped and runs all the way around the stern. With in the center aft, a table for 14 guests. Indeed the Captains table, although Captains tables are not a regular feature of the Viking program. Normally a Captains table is 10 seats or less, but 14 can work very well, if there are Captain & 3 officers in attendance, you have a host at “each corner” of the round table).  I used to do that in the grey mists of time when on the South Pacific cruises and I resurrected the Captains tables from the old World Cruise days. Officers loved it, much more than having their own table as they knew that the Captain would run the show, keep things under control and would ensure that conversation flowed. (as well as the booze)

The Parfume and gadget shop. There is also a boutique and a jewellery store.

Then going towards the bow, there are the shops, on deck 1 and deck 2 (in my opinion overpriced and with very limited choice) and on deck 2 also the Spa, gym, and beauty salon. This is all very nice but I did not see too many customers. But maybe that was because we did not have any seadays.  On Deck 1 is the show lounge and that is a very clever set up. At each side in the back there is a Cinema and in the evening they pull away the bulkhead with the movie screen and it becomes part of the Show lounge.

The “Star Theatre”. The cinema on the starboard side is open and now part of the Theatre. The port side is still closed as there was a movie in progress.

The sightlines are very good as there are no pillars. (Every show lounge on every ship, can be without pillars, but it depends on how much a company wants to pay. Because a “free view” lounge without deck supports” calls for a heavier steel deck construction and that costs money, but it can be done. The seating rows are benches  and then a row in front of chairs( see the brown pillows in the above photo) and there are small tables in between for drinks. Also that works, unless you have a very – very tall and big person in front of you.  Drinks are served before the show starts from a very nice and large bar in the staircase behind the show lounge. Directly behind the showlounge is the Night Club called Thorshavn.

The Torshavn night club as seen from the entrance. The light stand on the left is fabricated in the shape of trombones. Not original as Holland America has the same one on board on the ss Koningsdam since 2016.

Then you get Deck 7 and 8 (outside deck).  At the bow, is the Explorers Lounge with music in the evenings. The only thing that irritates is  that the constellation display on the wall behind the bar, reflects onto the front windows and thus it is hard to see outside after dusk. But you can solve that by going up one of the 2 glass staircases to Deck 8, where there is no reflection. The music can still be heard as there is a gap with below.

Deck 8, upper level Explorers Lounge. Mainly meant as a quiet study area with lots of books about exploration. Note all the books in the bookcase.They are all real and of high quality.

Deck 8 Explorers, is mainly meant as a quiet place to read or work on the computer. There are nice books and a lot of Nordic heritage on display, including old farm utensils. Above this lounge, on deck 9 outside are games (skittles, ping pong, mini golf) but insulation is very good as I could not hear anything below, although there was a very lively group at the poing pong table with very piercing voices.

The study table at the far right corner has a glass top and doubles up as a historic display case about life in (winterly) Norway.

On the starboard side, deck 7, is a small food outlet (I would call it a small catering hatch that looks after a very small restaurant called  “Mamsens”. This is a Nordic version of breakfast and lunch nibbles based on Nordic specialities. Apart from the waffles, it was a bit too far out of range for our taste interest.

Mamsen is located in the starboard aft part of the explorer’s on Deck 7 and is a very small restaurant.

It was also never very full and the Chinese guests on board where complaining to the chef about why there were no noodles. Somehow they did not grasp the concept, and the chef, a very cheerful lady from Zimbabwe, could not make them understand either.  I listened to  the conversation with great interest, especially when one of the group tried to get into the kitchen to verify if there were indeed no Noodles.  (Maybe “Mamsen” is also a word for noodles in Chinese or Korean ???).

One might expect a “Blond Helga” as cook in a pure Nordic restaurant but here we had a lovely lady from Zimbabwe.  And no, she did not serve noodles.

Behind deck 8 Explorers are cabins and behind on deck 7 Explorers is the winter garden  and then the covered pool. Main focus point of the Winter Garden is “High Tea” in the afternoon. (When the General Manager found out about our experience with “the trolley” from the beginning in the cruise, she was there every afternoon to make sure it did not happen again. On each side of this place are seats and loungers, that Viking calls “The Lanai concept”.

The Wintergarden, a bright and open space.

As a side note, I have never seen a Hotel manager / General Manager so omini-present as this Emma from England. I hope that Viking appreciates it as she was everywhere, where the regular supervisors could not be for a moment. It is always nice to see a hotel manager walking through the diningroom, but he/ she does not need to be there as it is full of supervisors and related. Better to keep an eye on the flow in other areas.  So very Good.

The “ceiling” of the Wintergarden. Nordic pine made to resemble a forest. I wonder if the birds would like it when the Dome is open.

The aft part of Deck 7 has the small “Hamburger Bar”. The product is extremely good but it is a bit limited. Hence guests switch for one lunch between the two venues as the Lido, called the “The World Cafe”, is just  behind it. Again very good food but I had expected a few more options to choose from. There is a very small asian outlet, which is extremely good (Asian Chef). Then there are the regular counters, topped off with a nice ice cream stand.

The World Cafe. This is the portside.

Behind it all, another bar, which is very busy as softdrinks, beer and wine are included at lunch time for everybody. (Same as Saga and Fred Olsen and also most 6 star company’s) Then there is an outside terrace, called the “Aquavit Terrace”,  which today was in use as it was chilly but sunny. The stern of the ship has a infinity pool with in the front a jacuzzi.  To stop the Infinitiy pool water from raining down on the balconies below, there is a sort of box hanging under it. This makes  the ship look a bit weird from the outside. The first time I saw it, I thought it was some sort of cherry picker basket for cleaning windows.

The Infinity pool at the stern of the ship on deck 7.

On deck 8 aft, carefully hidden away from the guests, is a black glass wall under the aft end of the funnel. Inside is a Officer / crew bar. A very clever setup and it would other wise have been a wasted space  and there is also a hidden corner for smokers. For guest smokers there is a smoking section on the sb. side midships but I never saw it very busy.

Guest smoking area on deck 8 sb. side. Still a very civilized way to slowly commit suicide.

That completed my tour of the ship. Then we had to pack. Luckily we had not bought very much, apart from a Soup Spoon in Pisa.  But we still had to go the shops on board as we had booked another cruise with Viking, on the Viking Polaris to the West side of Greenland and Baffin Bay. For that we received $200,– on board booking credit but it had to be spent this cruise on board. Unusual, as it normally goes on the credit for the next cruise that you have just booked. So the shops still made some money as all the “on board bookers” came marching in. Now I am the proud owner of yet another Power Bank, a set of suitcase locks (TSA approved) and some perfume for her ladyship. It made the day of the very friendly Turkish shop attendant who could just scrape in her commission before she left tomorrow to go on leave in Antalya. Her next ship is the Viking Star for another 6 month contract.

The “Kitchen table” on Deck 1, where under guidance of the chef you can take cooking classes and also eat your own cooked food.

We had booked the Chefs Table for 19.00 hrs. on this last day as most other days were filled up. The higher category cabins (all of them, apart from us sinners living on deck 3) could make their bookings from home but the standard Verandah cabins  had to wait until on board. It did not make much difference in the end, accept the early times being booked up. Tonight we could go at 19.00 hrs., after cocktails, and the place was nearly empty. I think the packing and leaving the next day had reduced the enthusiasm for a “last extravagant supper” somewhat. This restaurant runs in 3 set- menu cycles,  Italian, Asian, Californian, but the names might differ somewhat from ship to ship. If you take a future cruise, it might be different again, as Viking has 21 of these options floating around the fleet. 5 courses with wine  included in the cruise fare.

The most puzzling thing on board is this staircase that leads from the back of “The Restaurant” deck 2 to the back of Manfredis Italian and the Chefs Kitchen on deck 1. and it goes nowhere else. It looks like a very posh way for the Dining room manager to commute between his restaurants. The piece of art on the wall is called “paper and wood” by Johanne Ness and Hanne Overland.

With it comes a wine paring of 4 different wines. Also included. If you have bought the drinks package ($ 25,— a day, but going up) then you get slightly better wines. Price wise I think, as wine is very personal, a I preferred the “cheaper” Pinot Noir with the Asian lambchops much more than the Spanish Tempranillo offered. But as far as wines are concerned, I was already very happy that they stored our favourite white wine (Austrian Veltliner, in this case Bereich Wachau) as Veltliner is not always on board. (Azamara has it, but Cunard does not)  So we had a very good dinner and then it was time  to put the suitcases outside as at 05.45 we had to be ready for transfer to the airport.

The blank bulkheads in the forward and aft staircases are covered with scenes taken from the Bayeux tapestry depicting the Normans (Norseman or Northman or Vikings) coming from Normandy, France, led by William the Conqueror in 1066 and defeating the English/ Anglo Saxon King Harold at Hastings.

Weather for tommorrow for when going home:  Overcast with rain during the day and temperatures aruoud 13oc / or 55 oF.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/ships/viking-saturn.html

 

 

2026 Feb 17; Day 05, Sete, France.

February 18, 2026 / / 2 Comments

The last time I was in Sete, was in 2001 as captain of the ms Noordam (III). Then we docked in downtown Sete and we could walk directly into downtown. (50,000 inhabitants). Since then the port has been upgraded with a combined cruise and ferry pier. All very nice, but now you have to take a compulsory shuttle to the Gate, where the bow of my Noordam went 25 years ago. I am all for improvement but the compulsory shuttle service was setup in the French way and thus a bit more complicated than necessary.

Sete dock. A very nice new dock with ample room for the compulsory port shuttle bus and the Ferry docking at the other side. In the good old days we used to dock opposite of where the high apartment building is located and then just walk into town.

By 11.10 we were expected on the dockside and put in a nice sightseeing coach so I was quite happy. We left late as once again there were guests missing and then we drove out of the gate. I was now expecting that this sightseeing coach would drop us off somewhere in downtown for our walking tour. That was not the case, we lined up behind 4 other (shuttle) busses. Then we had to wait because the shuttle busses left every 10 minutes and it was not possible to speed that up, so we had another 20 minutes delay. Once our coach had made it to the official stop, we were allowed to disembark and the walking trip started from here. As the whole trip was supposed to last 2 hours, we had lost 30+ minutes as the tour guide kept the ending time the same. So 1hr.30 minutes instead.

Sete Jousting. This is the red team training boats, there is also a blue team.

Once lined up we marched into town and stopped at each bakery and patisserie for a look in the windows as cookies and pies are the big thing in Sete. Then on the canal there were the “jousting boats”. Once a year in August, there is a jousting duel on the water in rowing boats, a tradition that might even go back as far as Roman Times when Sete was already a port. The photo shows the bare training boats. During the jousting, a sort of bridge / platform is constructed at the stern of a heavier boat and the “jouster” stands on top of it with a pole, trying to push the opposite person into the water. The rowers have to manuver the boat in the best position possible and avoid being pushed into an impossible position so that the jouster cannot do the job.

This is the real happening with the boats that have the ramp with jousting platform.

Although Sete is small, it is a very nice place and it was very pleasant to walk around there; compact but interspersed with canals. Here the fishing fleet of the town is located and our Guide was very proud to announce that little Sete as 3 times as many Tuna fishing boats than Marseilles. There are several canals that go through the city and they are flanked on each side by restaurants serving the fresh catch of the day.

This canal connects the sea with an inland lake and is very popular with small time boaters and fishing enthousiasts. Mussles and fresh oysters even grow on the bridge pillars.

Then it was on to the covered market (Les Halles in french) to look at more cookies but now also at the Fish stands, cheese stands and other local specialtiy boutiques.  And that was the tour. Those who wanted could stay behind, those who wanted to go back to ship could follow the tour guide, although in Sete you cannot get lost.

 

The outside of the fish market. It was restored sometime ago and, an architect was let loose to create an inspring roof, and he came up with a………………………………… a fish net cover.

Then it was waiting again for the shuttle bus. The ID card checking and boarding of the shuttle bus was supervised by no less than 5 security guards. I have never felt so protected when stepping on a bus. We were back by 14.30 and time to take a nap as all that walking (and especially all that eating too much) does make you tired.

The inside of “Les Halles”. It is open every day from 07.00 to 13.00 hrs. and the place to go for “fresh” shopping by the locals.

We had cocktails in the regular atrium lounge , then on to the dinning room again; good food, good service but nothing special, and tonight we were early as we wanted to see the crew farewell and then the “Beatles show”.  Doors opening at 20.30 hrs.  The farewell show opened with a speech by the Cruise Director about how wonderful we were, as we sailed with Viking.

 

The crew farewell show with the -tall- captain in the middle.

Then a short speech by the thus far very elusive Captain. We have not heard a peep from him all week, no departure announcements, nor anything else, but it as it is compulsory to be part of the crew farewell, there he was. I have not been able to get anything out of anybody about what he is supposed to do as far as announcements go, but I do not get the impression that Deck and Engine are very much involved with the guest operation. So the Captain is more a “Chief Bus – driver” than anything else. It feels more  that the guest well-being is solely the job of the Hotel department. Headed by the Cruise Director and the General Manager.  Her name is Emma Smith and she is from England. We spoke several times with her as she is very visible in the ship and indeed “manages by walking around”. Also her office, on the side of the  Atrium with the door open, and directly approachable.

Then  we had a toast, with champagne handed out when coming into the show lounge followed by about 30% of the officers and crew marching onto the stage. Not much different from other company’s, only here with Viking, they pulled it off somehow with having all the crew lined up properly, instead the chaos you normally see. (and believe me it is not easy to do that, as it is not the same crew that is assigned each week, and they all want to stand”next to their friend” instead of being in the right position)

The “Beattles song show”.  I have a lively imagination but I had to stretch my Beattle’s imagination very far…………………. to figure out the connection of striped pajama’s with the Beattles. The Cast felt the same when I complemented them after the show. Why not have them wearing “Sergeant Pepper” costumes to make it a big more colorful ?

The show was about all the Beatles Songs and the singers were extremely good again. The same cannot be said about the person who designed the stage clothes as that was far from comprehensible. Especially after the costume change half way through when the men were dressed in a sort of prison uniforms.  But the show was very good and the Singers rightly received a standing ovation.

Then we decided to go for a nightcap and poked our nose into the Torshavn nightclub.  Quite intimate but again the sound level was a bit too much. So we went back to the Atrium Bar for a nice Brandy Alexander and a portwine.

The Thorshavn nightclub. On the stage the guitar player acting as a warming up act, for the very good, but very loud house band.

Tomorrow  we are in Barcelona for 2 days, with the second day being the dis & embarkation day. Tours will be going all over the city, Gaudi’s church and buildings of course and other city tours but also one to the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, which is a 6 hour tour, and one I had never seen before. Cost for that one was well over $ 300,– and for that price I prefer to watch U-tube.

Expected weather tomorrow : sunny but chilly with temperatures of 13oC or 55 Fahrenheit

 

 

Day 10, 2025 Dec. 26; At Sea. Day 2.

December 27, 2025 / / 3 Comments

This morning we woke up to a slighty moving ship with a movement that a sailor calls “gentle” but a landlubber calls “annoying”. But the weather chart stays positive and the Bay of Biscay and surroundings remained very gentle, or -blue- on the chart.  So happy campers all around today.

Weather / sea forecast for today.

This is our second day at sea since leaving the Canaries Islands. 2nd Day of Christmas, called Boxing Day, as in England that used to be the official day of opening the “boxes” with the presents. Most of the crew finds this very funny as in their cultures they open their presents during Christmas Eve. So the joke of the day was, “have you been boxing ?”

As a reference to last night for those who do not know what Christmas “crackers” are. These are paper tubes and you pull at each side, with the person opposite to you at the dinner table. They then come apart with a “crack”.. Inside there is a paper crown (referring to the 3 kings of bethlehem) and the idea is to wear them during the christmas dinner. Inside is also a present, the quality depending on how expensive the cracker is. We had a honey stick, a wooden stirrer to get the last honey out of a honey pot & and a small steel cake form to make christmas cookies. Then there is the (rather naff) Christmas joke. “What sort of nut can you use to hang something on the wall ?……………. a wall-nut.

After breakfast we went for a walk-a-bout and ended up with a Q&A interview from the Cruise Director with our Lady Orchestra Conductor. Which was interesting to listen to as not many of us really know what goes on inside an orchestra. Unfortunately, no “juicy” anecdotes to liven it all up, but still very interesting. One could see that she is a real conductor and not an entertainer.

We made it early to lunch to day as we were sort of pressed for time as at 13.30 hrs. we had the 4th. and last recital of Robin Colville the piano player and we did not want to miss that. After that there was a full 1h.45 min. musical show in the Theatre at 16.00 hrs. which Lesley did not want to miss. I never know if my “cultural time span” can last that long, so we investigated first if we could find some places to sit, where she had a good view and I could slip away if to all got too much.

The Maestro explaining his first piece and on the balcony two saiors (the dark shapes in the corner under the saffolding) tying up the steps. Life is never dull on a cruise ship.

The piano recital was very good as usual but as it had been pushed to 13.30 it sort of interfered with the ships routine. While the Maestro was explaining the background of his first piece, above him on the balcony, suddenly “swish-swish’ could be heard caused by two sailors securing a scalfolding with pulling ropes through. Luckily they saw the light and did not start working, while below Griegs Solveits Song burst out of the piano. Then half way through the concert a steward came by with a trolley with rattling crockery. He had to go in the pantry in the back to prepare for English High Tea at 15.00 hrs. After the plates had been transfered to their locker, he switched on the pantry light (luckily there was a pole between the pantry and the stage so the performance was not affected). And then he switched on the heating cabinet (I think for warming up the teapots). Now all of us in the back could listen to Griegs First Piano Concerto accompanied by electric humming from a pantry. This was most likely a worlds first: ” Variations on Grieg’s Piano Concert no.1 by a Heating Cabinet”. ……….. I love to be part of World First premieres…………………………….

After the concert we walked past the shops and suddenly they were busy. This occurence happens near the end of the cruise and is called “The On Board Credit Effect”. If you got spending credit with your cruise and have not spent it, then now is the chance. The shops responded accordingly with 15% extra discount on certain items. We have run out of on board credit already, courtesy of cocktails every evening and the daily internet cost, so my bank account will take another hit when we leave the ship.

For the latter we got the luggage tags today. Cunard has the system that you have to pull off the old tags and then you get new ones and hence new ones were delivered. There are also companies who tell you to leave the tags on, as it incorporates the disembarkation color. Disembarkation time depends on what sort of cabin you have, or if you are independent or have scheduled transport. With our cabin level we can leave at any time, so we will aim for 08.03 off the ship, with the taxi waiting to take us back to the hotel at 09.00 to collect the car. Then I hope to be on the way by 10.am as it is a 5 hr. drive home, plus stopping for petrol and groceries.

The poster being used in the UK for this musical

Today we had a special cast / stage performance of a musical/play called “Come from Away”, telling the story of the little Newfoundland town of Gander that suddenly had to host 7000 air plane passengers when the USA closed its airspace when 9/11 occured. Doubling the size of the town when a large number of planes deviated to their old airport. The whole effort lasted1h.45m, and there was a full house. One at 16.00 hrs. and one at 20.00 hrs. And it was really, really good, with  a well deserved standing ovation at the end.

This picture comes from a website advertising the musical in the UK. There is a scene in there, “Kiss the Fish”, which is a tongue in cheek ceremony to become a “NewFoundlander’.  The town of Gander granted “membership” to all stranded passengers who were there and agreed to “kiss the fish”.

According to those who had seen the performance in London with “real professionals” and paid a high ticket price for the privilige, advised that this one here on board was soo much better. And I am not amazed as with the plethora of (large) cruise ships out there, the stage shows and its actors are getting better every year as the supporting teams behind them are getting more and more professional and better financed. Again no photos from the show itself, as somebody will  get upset when you do so……………..

Then it was cocktail time and we met Pamela Curtis. This was the Lady who was the highest repeater this cruise with 1250+ days. I posted the photo on day 3 when she got the flowers during the Captains Loyalty party. That photo was seen by my blog readers in Los Angeles, who then contacted Mrs. Curtis to let her know that she was now world famous. She then contacted me to meet for a  drink and a chat. Hence tonight. This is for my readers in Los Angeles.

Cocktail Time in the Commodore Club with the highest day repeater on board,

Tomorrow is our 3rd sea day, passing the coast of Normandy and then entering the outer reaches of the English Channel (or La Manche in French, as we are on the French side). Looking at the weather chart and knowing the way a Vista Class ship behaves, I think we will get some more movement. Not really rolling or pitching but more of the yawning movement that we also had south bound. It should not affect anybody very much as we all had enough training southbound.

Day 9, 2025 Dec. 25; At Sea.

December 26, 2025 / / 5 Comments

On departure the Captain announced that we would have a smooth ride home, only somewhat marred by a strong wind on the bow. In general he was right. The sea swell was not predicted to go above 3 meters and that is something a Signature/Vista class ship can handle without too much issue.  However where there is 3 meters, there is also 3.5 meters and 2.5 meters and hence the ship was not completely still in the water.  I think the guests who occupied the cabins at the stern, did not completely agree with the captains assessment as there was some movement; and around lunch time today the ship was even pitching  But compared with going south at the beginning of the cruise we are having an easy ride.

The sea state expected today. It is still mainly blue. and that is good.

We opened our Cunard presents this morning and found two nice christmas balls for the tree at home and two christmas crackers with inside white and brown truffles. And the card from the company. Lesley and I have stopped giving each other presents a long time ago as after so many years of marriage we already have everything and if not, the wish is so electic that both would buy the wrong present. Hence  you could say that this cruise was our christmas present. And a very nice one, albeit a very expensive one.

The presents we found on our bed last night. Nothing “big” but nice to receive as a souvenir. The teddybear on the christmas ball is dressed in a Cunard Bell-boy custome.

After breakfast in the cabin (not that we are so posh but it is the best way to stay away from a very calorific breakfast), we had a walk around and were just in time to see Father Christmas arriving in the Atrium. This ritual is nearly the same on every ship. Santa Claus suddenly pops up out of the funnel greeted by as many screaming children as possible (we do not have that many on board this cruise but they still were capable of making a lot of noise). Then it goes in parade into the ship, at a distance followed by  the parents, as not every little Johnny stays with the group. Some of them see this as a chance to explore somewhere he has not been yet and then needs to be scooped up by Pa or Ma.

Santa Claus in the Atrium, flanked by his elf and two “snow persons”.

Cunard uses the Atrium for these occasions as Santa can sit on top of the stairs and thus can be approached that way by the childeren but also a lot of guests can have a look down from one of the 3 levels and at the same time do not need to stay for the whole “procedure”. Also adults were invited to have their photo taken with Santa Claus, an Elf, and two “snow persons”. Quite a few still felt like children at heart……….

At 10 am. The captain hosted the Festival of The Carols and Lessons in the main Theatre. This is a typical english thing, grounded in the fact that the King is the head of the English Church. On the ship the Captain is his representative and thus assumes that title of head of the church as well. Therefore it has been a long tradition on the British ships that the Captain leads the Sunday Morning church service on board.  On the British cruise ships this tradition is still here and the Captain still heads the service, at least when sundays are at sea. For Christmas, this service had been padded out somewhat with carols and the Master of the Vessel reading “The Lesson”. There is a merchant navy prayer & sermon book out there, so if there is a Captain, who is not so familiar with the spiritual side of life, then there are templates that can be followed.

That was as much christmas as we could find, the rest of the morning had the standard items, with dancing in the Queens Lounge, Shops sales, Casino open, etc., followed by the next music recital by Maestro Robert Colville, who did not disappoint and even did two encores  (Highland Chatedral and Variations on Lambeth Walk) so he over ran the alloted time. That caused several of the audience to leave because when it is time to choose between culture and lunch, …………………………………….guess what wins.

His Majesty the King, Charles II of Great Britain & the British Commonwealth. The general focus of his speech was on working together and reconsiliation.

By 15.00 hrs. a lot of guests were assembling in the Royal Court Theatre to listens to the “Kings Speech”. For me of dual persuation, feeling British after 32 years but still having a Dutch perspective on life, I always feel it necessary to follow both.

His Majesty King Willem Alexander of the Kingdom of the Netherlands spoke about cherishing of what connects us. Our mutual responsibilities, Our Democracy, Our Rights of Law and Our Environment. And the need to instill these values into our children.

No doubt the other Kings and Queens of Europe had similar messages for their loyal subjects in a world that is getting ever more polarized and less repsectful of each other.( I do not know if there is a International Queen & King conference before christmas but it would make sense as most of the contents of these speeches were similar but with a local tweak)

So with these  Royal Reflections,  I hope 2026 will be a better year.

The crew had their christmas downstairs, also received presents from Cunard, and had Santa Claus downstairs for photos.  Upstairs the afternoon was the regular seaday routine with offerings from all the concessionaires and then by 17.00 hrs. cocktail time geared up again.  Tonight was formal night with a theme of Red & Gold. Looking around the ship, quite a few of the ladies, including my Lord & Master, had found a dress with red & gold. I could join in with a red jacket and gold cumberbund & bow tie, but in general the Gents where less brave than the Ladies. (Although I saw a few gentlemen in very fancy jackets). As mentioned before, we normal go to the Commodore Club for cocktails and 99%  were in formal, and about 60% color themed. The amplifier challenge from last night had been fixed and tonight we had a Duo, called the “Radio Duo” with smooth songs.

Christmas dinner was a variation on the christmas dinner but (I assume) re-imagined by Top Chef Michael Roux so a lot of the trimmings were not present. But we had fancy christmas crackers to pull.

The Lavelles. Three British Ladies who gave a very nice show. They will do another one later on in the Queens Lounge. (Photo Courtesy from somewhere on  the internet, a poster of when the Ladies were performing)

The show tonight was  a group of three Ladies “the Lavelles” who sang Motown hits from the 1980’s etc. And they were very good. Motown is not my first choice but the songs were belted out on “full volume” and high energy.  This was followed by a short performance from the cruise staff and cast with the 12 days of Christmas. The nice thing of this song is, that if it is done right, it goes completly wrong and ends up in complete mayhem. We were not disappointed………. and it was good fun to watch. Unfortunately I cannot show photos as there was this voice on the Tannoy again, advising everybody that recording was strictly forbidden. As mentioned before, I will never understand that.

Tomorrow is our 2nd day at sea, and the weather looks very good. Smooth seas, hardly any wind and with only a low swell running. Tenperatures are slowly dropping and by the time we reach Southampton, it will be down to 6 or 7o Celcius.

 

 

Day 8, 2025 Dec. 24; Arrecife de Lanzarote, Spain.

December 25, 2025 / / 7 Comments

Christmas is coming.

The more south we go, the less swell there is, and apart from an occasional bump, the ship sailed quietly through the night. Ending up at Arrecife harbor by 07.30 in the morning. With us again the ms Ventura and we were joined later by the Mariella Explorer, sailing for TUI. The Ventura was at what they would call here the cruise ship pier as it is the closest pier to town. Tui is sometimes doing change over’s here but uses the end of the sea wall, where they have a large marque for handling guests and luggage. We were at the same pier but slighlty further in.

Today the marquee which acts as a cruise terminal  was in use for screening the returning guests of both the Mariella and the Victoria.  The harbour is a considerable distance from the town of Arrecife and hence there was a shuttle service available to reduce the 30 minute walk to an 10 minute bus ride.  The Ventura guests did not have a shuttle as they only had a 15 minute walk from their ship directly into town.  The shuttle ran very frequently (waiting time limited to loading time) and dropped everybody off at “The Marina”. From here it was another 8 minute walk to the boulevard where the first restaurants, bars and small hotels were located. From there, walking alone the waterfront, it was another 5 minutes to the main shopping street. “The Marina” turned out to be made up of bars and restaurants, (and a Burger King)  and a few souniver shops. There was a small Arts & Crafts market outside so those for whom it was too far to walk into town, could still do some shopping thearapy.

The shuttlebus transfer is charged at $ 10,– a person, but is included for Queens and Passenger Grill guests and those on full fares. They scan your cruise card when boarding the coach and, if applicable, the $ 10,– gets charged to your account. It works the same way for the crew, who travel free of course,  and the “Traffic Controllers”, who control the guest flow to the coaches, shove a few crew onto each coach. That is something I can always appreciate as crew cannot always wait until “all the guests are gone” as they simply do not have the time. Not that many crew went ashore, the distance & time is simply too much if you only have a few hours off. Those who went, ended up in a super market again (same chain as yesterday) to stack up with whatever a crew member needs.

The ground cut open for further development. No sand, no flowers no greenery, apart from some mosses. Barren as far as the eye can see,

Drving into town, is basically driving over an asfalt road  with on either side lava as Lanzarote is a volcanic island that only recently (million years ago or so) became extinct. Long time ago I did a tour around the island which was facinating and beautiful as long as “stark” is what you like. What I remember mostly is how hot it was, so when in later years I could see more lava and rocks in Iceland with a much more gentle temperature, it shifted my focus point somewhat. But today (cold for local standards as all the old locals had thick coats or vests on) it was a perfect day to take the tour. But we went into town.

In case you wonder what Santa drives in Spain ? It is not a sleigh, it is a VW bus.

At the entrance to the town was a christmas fancy-fair, similar to the one we saw yesterday in Las Palmas. I wonder if that is a sort of Christmas tradition they have one in each port during the festive season on the Islands. Fully focussed on the younger clientele of course, but a Ferris Wheel and Bumper cars also get adults excited. It was still closed but it might have opened up around 17.00 hrs. as that happened at Las Palmas last night. The little pubs & terraces were by 11.00 hrs. already full with eager clientele and it was interesting to see that the menu’s were in Spanish, then German and only occasionally in English or French.

The main shopping street, at a quiet moment. This was lunch time so all the tourists had moved on to the pubs and restaurants.

The main street was a very nice and clean shopping street, full with christmas decorations so it seemed that here, they kept restaurants and pubs outside of the main street environment. I do not know how it works retail wise but for the flow of traffic (several 1000 cruise guests marching in and out) it worked very well.

The main view when coming off the shuttlebus. All that is white are small hotels with restaurants and bars under it. German is more widely spoken here than English.

We were back by 13.00 hrs. and decided on lunch in the Lido Restaurant as they had Spaghetti Bolognaise on the menu, cooked A-la-minute and that is something even a Queens Grill Chef cannot beat.  Disappointing was that the soft ice machine was for 50% out of order and the other one was in ” cleaning mode”  and thus lunch did not have a perfect ending. Hopefully they have a technician who will understand the “grave emergency” of getting this repaired ASAP, otherwise I will get withdrawal symptoms.

The Queen Victoria Officers Choir on the Atrium staircase. One of the cast members was conductiong and also leading the rehearsals of the Guest Choir on the ship. I did not recognize many of the officers but the gentleman in black on the top left of the photo is our Maitre d’Hotel of the Queens Grill.

The ship is gearing up for Christmas and that started today, more christmassy tables started to show up with candy houses, we now also have one opposite the Grills Bar, and the officers and crew are walking around with santa claus hats.

Latest edition to the christmas displays. The square thing in the right hand corner is a traditional Christmas Cake. which is a very dense cake, so you only get/take a small sliver and then eat it with very thick cream. 

Tonight at 17.00 and 19.00 hrs. there was the christmas choir performance of the officers of the Victoria but at 17.00 hrs, it was solely made up of Hotel Officers as Deck and Engine were still on full standby as we also sailed at 17.00 hrs.  At 18.15 hrs. there was storytime, read out by the Captain.

The rest of the evening had the same program as normal with the exemption of: at 23.30 there was the Christmas Eve service for protestants in the Queens Lounge with a Reverend and at the same time  the Roman Catholic service in the Royal Court Theatre with a priest in attendance. For the Jewish, the Channukah candles were lit at the entrance of each restaurant and the Pursers desk (last candle, last night) but I do  not know if we have a Rabbi on board this cruise as well.

When I was Captain in the past I always encouraged it, when all three were on board, with the request if they could not do something together especially for the crew. One year, the 3 of them  organised  a-get-together with the crew and announced themselves on the posters as : “The Holy Trinity” . Inviting all  Officers and Crew for a service without boundaries in the Crew Mess”.  That was such a success that it was repeated a day later upstairs on request of the guests , when they found out about it from the crew.  It did not always work as sometimes some of them were too rigid in their convictions but when it did it was always a great success. Even groups of the muslim community showed up.  I think the first year it worked was, when the protestant representative was  a Vicar of the British Seamans mission, “The Flying Angels” and they are known not to take things too seriously, most of them being ex sailors themselves.

The main show was focussed on Christmas as well, with a Cast performance called “Deck the Halls” with christmas songs made popular by various artists.  In the Queens Lounge the regular dancing was going on (every night by orchestra or recorded music for squence dancing) but tonight the two singers and orchestra had everybody ball room dancing to christmas tunes.

Back in the cabin. we found a Christmas card from the company, two Christmas “crackers” with chocolates and two baubles to hang on the christmas tree at home.

From Lesley and I:

Merry Christmas to all my readers and we hope that all your christmasses will be as bright as the star of bethlehem.

As you can see below, Santa Claus would prefer to be somewhere else at Christmas.

For Santa Claus himself though not all his own wishes are coming true……………………………………

 

 

 

 

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