Our Latest Cruise Revisited

I took me longer to get them online than it did to take 'em.

Back in May, I did complete some blog entries during the trip. We headed down to Seatac airport to catch an Alaskan Airways flight to San Diego. During our three night stay, we accidentally visited Mexico for a few hours. We did the zoo, too. Then we got on our the Holland America ms Veendam for a five night coastal trip to Vancouver. We spent a half day in Seattle and a whole day in Victoria, BC. The eight-night journey went without a hitch.

To individually select from the more than 90 photos, use this option. Or, if you'd rather run through a slideshow of all the photos, just click here.

Sailing into Home Port

The ship was in no hurry as it had paid to dock from 7:00am. We ate the last 'blow out breakfast' up in the Lido Restaurant. We were able to walk around the ship a bit before waiting until we were to disembark. We got out by 9:15 and walked right over to the terminus of the SkyTrain station with our bags. It was a typical 35-minute ride to this apartment building in New Westminster.

There were clothes for washing, food to be bought, and a dead hamster to bury. This is the second one which has expired during a vacation.

ms Veendam in Victoria

Holland America starts its Alaska Cruise season tomorrow. In order to waste time on this repositioning cruise, we docked all day at Victoria. It is a delightful town for tourists as it still seems a bit British. However, it was not new to us as we live just across the water and visit from the Southern Mainland fairly frequently.

Today, we strolled leisurely into town. We bought tickets for Mystic India at the National Geographic IMAX that's part of the British Columbia Museum. The show was worth going to. Everything looks spectacular in IMAX format.

We returned to the ship for late lunch at the final show of the journey. It was nice having a hotel room waiting at the dock.

Update from Seattle

I've been out of touch for a few days only because I'm too frugal to spend the cash required for wireless at sea. I can't do much in one minute if it costs 75 cents; I'd be too nervous.

Right now I'm up in the Lido Restaurant on the top of the ship. We docked at Seattle a few hours ago and we hiked up to the market and looked around.

We slowly head to Victoria tonight and have the entire day there tomorrow.

I'll get back to regular blogging on Sunday and even 'back fill' missing information and pictures.

It's been a great trip so far ...

An Extra Suitcase for This

It was formal night. Getting dressed for dinner is always special and the Tribute to Broadway by the Veendam cast and ensemble was interesting. Some lines such as the Norwegian Cruise Line have gone completely casual, but I rather enjoy the traditional aspects of Holland America Lines. Even though cruising has gone mass market, it's still a little fun to remember how sailing must have once been. As long as there are no killer icebergs!

At Sea

We explored the ship last night. Many of the fellow passengers had started in Tampa, FL and sailed through the Panama Canal. This ship is a nice size, holding only 1200 passengers and the 500 or so staff. The meals are, of course, immense.

The water was very rough last night. Sailing isn't always as smooth as the Inside Passage that we once cruised in 2001 on the way to Alaska. Modern stabilizers do a fine job when the waves are from the side but not much can be done when running headlong into seven foot waves.

Wishing You Were Here

We did spend the whole day at the San Diego Zoo yesterday. It was actually quite relaxing.



In a few hours we'll be boarding the Veendam.

To the Zoo

This morning we're off to the San Diego Zoo. We bought the vouchers online through Expedia while still in Vancouver.

Yesterday was surely busy. We crisscrossed the city as well as traveling down to Tijuana, Mexico. I feel like we surely got our money's worth from thw 5-buck day pass. The day started out a bit cloudy but then the sky got very blue. I'm even a bit red faced.

SD

I'm typing from the Holiday Inn Bayside, San Diego. I'm in the room and have to get moving. It's time for a shower. We got in last evening and I was surprised it was so dark at 8:00 pm. We walked about a half mile and ended up having dinner at a Denny's.

More later ...

South Bound

This morning we're off. In order to get the cruise deal, we have to fly out of Seattle. Getting down to Seatac is a slight hassle but as the flight is late in the day, we will be arrive in plenty of time by getting on the 9:00 am bus that leaves from downtown Vancouver. As we've a lot to do, I shall enter some information that I typed yesterday while my students were taking the course final examination.

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Can I be doing this again, already? It doesn’t seem very long ago that I had my laptop in class during a previous final examination. I suppose it really wasn’t long ago for these intensive courses fly past like greased pigs. Have pigs learned to fly? I’d suggest that perhaps only the slippery ones have.

I find myself sitting in front of a classroom. I’ve already corrected the listening part of the final exam. I administer that separately, so I can keep busy while they are completing the writing section.

As I want to get these grades turned in a soon as possible, I have also opened a copy of the course marks in an Excel spreadsheet. All the columns have been filled in. The only free spaces are those where the final exam scores will go. Then, there’ll be an instant numerical grade in the last column. The weightings of the activities and assignments create a rather lengthy formula:

=(Q10*0.45)+((R10*2)*0.15)+((S10*16.667)*0.1)+((T10*16.667)*0.1/2)+(U10*0.25).

Basically, it all adds up to a single decision. The result helps me decide if a particular student is ready to go on to the next COMM course. I suppose there are numbers that contribute to more far-reaching choices. Numbers used by structural engineers might help design a part which is capable of handling the lives of thousands of people. A number may allow the pinpoint accuracy needed for a spacecraft to hit the surface of another planet. Still, I think the ramifications of my formula are significant. The number in my last column has the ability to determine the future actions of twenty-two people.

The Last Big Ship - Five Years Back

In the past, I blogged about when Jay and I took an Alaskan Cruise. Some of my readers may not realize how important the Vancouver-Alaska route [link expired] is to the cruise industry.


I have mentioned cruises a number of times this week. This is simply in anticipation of a coastal cruise that we'll do in May. We'll head north from San Diego until we arrive at the home port.

A Sneak Preview

On Monday, I briefly blogged about a coastal cruise we'll be taking next month. Although this week my doctor chided me about my weight, actually I'm mostly looking forward to the buffets! I remember the fantastic food of Princess Cruises when we did an Alaskan cruise. I am wondering how the food will be on Holland-America.

The initial three nights in San Diego will be interesting too. I haven't been to southern California since I was a kid on a family road trip.



By complete coincidence, I was looking through some folders with my digital photos. These particular ones were taken on National Day in 2002 when friends took the oath of citizenship at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. We needed to walk by a ship, so I snapped a photo. It appears as if the name on the side is the Veendam. That means it is exactly the same ship we'll be on from May 9th to the 14th.