July 24, 2023 Sea Day #1

     Today is the first Sea Day. Zuiderdam is cruising from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Sydney, Nova Scotia. Clocks were advanced one hour overnight to Nova Scotia time.   There was thick fog again this morning which took a little longer than yesterday  to dissipate this morning. The ship’s course was northeast 60.56° having rounded the southern tip of Nova Scotia and travelling along its Atlantic coast at 14 knots. The 8 a.m. temperature was 15°C with a 16.5 km/hr wind. A jacket for walking on Deck 3’s Promenade Deck was not needed.

  We went to the main dining room on Deck 2 for breakfast and timed it, coincidently, to share a table with Ellen and David and were joined by Elizabeth from Florida. The service was much better this morning. Our waiter was Supri, our dinner waiter on Deck 3. He brought a carafe of decaffinated coffee for us since the others were drinking regular coffee.

  After breakfast we went to the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on Deck 10 in the Explorations Central & Café / Crow’s Nest. It was well organized with preprinted name tags for over 240 registered Cruise Critic followers. There was coffee and pastries compliments of Holland America. There was some “prizes” such as tour stickers or change the clock cards awarded for fun categories. There was even a small note given to you upon arrival, with three questions listed to ask a person that you did not know.  

  The captain made his daily announcement at noon mentioning that the waves were between one and two meters high and we were about half way to Sydney. Zuiderdam 

was off shore not far from Halifax where we will visit in a month on the return voyage from Rotterdam. 

  Early in the afternoon, Larry went to a talk about ships presented by Mike West, while Claire went the Tech for Travellers presentation which talked about apps to use when travelling. It was mentioned Google maps has an offline feature for saving maps when Wi-Fi may not be available. Another app gives you the location of Wi-Fi hot spots at a given location. The afternoon temperature of 24°C was just right for walking on the Promenade Deck. We were not the only ones taking advantage of the sunshine and warm weather. There were other passengers walking and other stretched out on deck chairs reading or napping. Up on Deck 9 people were enjoying the open roof above the mid ship pool or sunbathing.  Early afternoon we went up to the Lido for a little snack as we had not had lunch. There was a six blast alarm sounded which was soon followed by an announcement that there was an unexpected fire in the incinerator were they burn cardboard. This was followed shortly by another announcement that everything was under control.

  Mid afternoon there was a Mariners Reception for passengers at the three star and greater loyality levels. We sat with a couple from Hawai’i.

  The suggested attire this evening was Dressy, which is the most elegant level now. A decade ago, it was called Formal Night and many people dressed up in gowns and tuxedos. Sparkly blouses with pants for the ladies and a sports coat and tie is a dressy as you need to be now. We were surprised as we approached our table that there was another couple there, Cee Kaye and Brad. They decided this morning that they would like a permanent dinner reservation and were paired with us. They were very engaging. They live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and they told us about the Hot Air Balloon Festival held there every October.

  After dinner, in the World Theatre, was Captain Friso Kramer gezegd Freher’s Captain’s Welcome. Passengers were presented with a flute of sparkling wine as they entered the theatre. The captain introduced the senior officers – Staff Captain, Folkert Visser, who is the second in command of the ship; Chief Engineer, Wilco Otten; Environmental officer, Marcel van Zwol; Hotel General Manager, Glenn Cowley; Assistant Hotel General Manager, Amrish Bhat; Food & Beverage Director, Jonathan Werleman and Cruise & Travel Director, Tjalling Riedsta. The captain toasted to a good journey then the stage was cleared for the 7:30 p.m. show.

  Tonight’s entertainer was pianist Elliot Finkel who played tunes from Broadway shows and classical music. After the show we sopped at the Rolling Stone Lounge to dance.

     Steps  12,025

   

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