Thursday, 30 April 2009

The big buzz on board ship is the amazingly calm seas and unexpectedly pleasant temperatures (still in the upper 60’s). Since we are now less than 48 hours from our first port it looks like clear sailing will hold.

I attended a chocolate party-planning session yesterday afternoon, mainly because it was being conducted by the ship’s party planner, Melissa, a vibrant and attractive redhead. Will and I had met Melissa on our Hawaiian cruise in 2007 when she was party planner on the ms Zaandam

For last night’s dinner I used my invitation to the Pinnacle Grill, which usually costs a premium of $20, but was included in my Sommelier package. I must admit that the NY strip steak was among the best beef I have ever eaten—and that’s saying a great deal. The arugula, mushroom, onion salad with a creamy bacon dressing was also excellent. The wine service, however, was not excellent. Perhaps they need to hire an additional steward to help out, because the only one on duty was quite lax in her service. She didn’t bring the red wine for me to taste until after the salad had been served (and about 30 minutes after I had sat down), and not once during dinner did she offer to refill my glass. This might seem like a petty complaint, but the bottle was placed across a wide expanse of table and it was difficult for me to reach without getting up and banging things around. In contrast, Anthony, my wine steward in the Main Dining Room, and Cellar Master Bernardo, have been right on top of things, always cheerful, and attentive. I started my second bottle of the voyage: Sylvester Kiara Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, from California—quite nice and much more full-bodied than the Pinot Noir. I shall continue it tonight in the Main Dining Room.

The evening’s late entertainment was a juggler, about whom it will be kinder not to speak at all. I didn’t last more than 10 minutes into his performance.

This morning I had breakfast in the Main Dining Room rather than the Buffet. The menu is different and includes daily breakfast specials as well as the wonderful small cinnamon rolls Holland America is famous for. The Eggs Benedict, a regular item on the menu, was prepared perfectly.

Revell Carr continued his series of lectures with a talk on European international relations from the Spanish Armada to the Battle of Trafalgar, focusing on the very waters we are crossing. He uses excellent illustrations and charts that clearly mark out the details of the naval battles.

An hour in the sun on the Observation Deck at the very top of the ship gave a mellow finish to my afternoon. Now some rest before dressing for tonight’s formal dinner (the second of five).

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

I am waiting for room service delivery of breakfast this morning, so I’ll continue with yesterday’s activities until it arrives.
I usually try to find a theme for my shipboard photographs. On the ms Zaandam to Hawaii, for example, I took a series of the chairs, sofas, and lounges in all the public spaces—they were really quite interesting. While the décor of the Eurodam is elegant and tasteful, I haven’t found any one item particularly intriguing. I thought doorknobs and handles might work, but turns out there is not much variation on that theme. Perhaps flower arrangements . . .


Last night’s dinner highlight was sauerbraten with red cabbage, boiled potatoes, and spätzle. Although I was hard-pressed to finish it all, I did force myself to eat all the meat. After dinner the entertainment in the main theatre was the “new-style” acrobatic team of Ilia and Valerie (think of Cirque de Soleil). They are an elegant and beautiful young couple doing some incredible feats of balance and strength. Ilia was a pentathelete in the Russian Army and was quite impressive in the second part of the act when he performed in only white spandex shorts. I have since seen Valerie and their son (so there is a child on board; see earlier blog) around the ship; perhaps I’ll bump into Ilia too.

After this morning’s breakfast I spent some time in the sun by the aft deck pool. The captain’s noon announcement indicated that the weather is unusually good and warm—in the upper 60’s today, perhaps a little cooler tomorrow—with no rain in the forecast. Rough weather has moved down to the Caribbean where the folks are not enjoying pleasant cruises. The captain than gave a lengthy discourse on all the different kinds of measurements, from nautical and statute miles to furlongs and German miles. All I can remember is that we are 1,242 nautical miles from the Azores.

While at lunch I overheard a white-haired lady at the next table, probably in her 70’s, say she had been on six cruises—and that was in 2008 alone! This is already her second cruise for this year.

At 3:15 I joined a tour of the navigation bridge. This is a very rare occurrence; never had one offered on the other cruises I’ve been on. It was just a short walk through the bridge, but there were officers available to answer questions and the electronics were impressive.

There is no longer satellite TV until we reach Lisbon, although internet service continues to be available. Several shipboard channels show films and informative programming. Of course, as you might guess, I brought along my own supply of CDs and DVDs. I re-watched L.A. Confidential, with very young Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, and am halfway through Last Orders, based on the Booker Prize novel by Graham Swift. The film is, so far, very faithful to my memory of the novel and a tour-de-force of British actors: Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Tom Wilkenson, Tom Courteny, Helen Mirren. I’m also well into a contemporary novel about two post-adolescent friends in war-torn Beirut, DeNiro’s Game, by Rawis Hage, who currently lives in Canada.

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

I watched the patient being off-loaded in Bermuda early yesterday evening (I had gone on deck to watch the brief sunset over the island), so the rumors of his demise were a bit premature. I had wondered, given the huge capacity of the ship’s freezers, that they couldn’t just keep a body on board until the Azores.

  

The “Friends of Dorothy” meeting had a larger turnout than I expected, somewhere between 25 and 30 gentlemen, mostly from south Florida, but I did meet a couple (realtors, natch) from Phoenix.

This 18-day cruise continues on to the Baltic from Copenhagen for an additional 10 days, and almost everyone I have talked to is going for the full 28 days, many of them booked to return from London on the Cunard line.

The weather is quite pleasant, 70’s yesterday, upper 60’s today, so I am glad I didn’t bring my heavy anorak from Alaska.
Dining alone is quite pleasant, especially with a bottle of wine and my little notebook to write in. From my table I can watch the parade of diners in various degrees of finery and pleasantry. Of course, some people are curious about my dining alone in the Main Dining Room (rather than in the informal Lido or other venues); one young lady even asked if I was a professional food critic, since she had seen me writing notes.

Dinner highlight was spiced apple vichyssoise and I continued to work on my bottle of Pinot Noir from the previous night—I should be able to finish it off tonight and start a new bottle tomorrow.

The lectures on this cruise have been vastly superior to the other cruises I have been on. Today, J. Revell Carr, former president and director of Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, recounted the amazing story of the HMS Anglo-Saxon, a merchant marine ship sunk by the Germans in the early part of WW II. Seven sailors started out in an open lifeboat—and two survived the 70-day journey to the Bahamas. Ironically, one of the survivors headed back to England in a ship that was torpedoed before reaching Liverpool, and he never made it home. The one long-term survivor lived out his life with all the symptoms of major traumatic stress disorder.

I finished reading Pelevin’s novel, which creates an entirely new myth of were-wolves and were-foxes that offers an alternative to the Vlad the Impaler, Dr. Polidori, and Bram Stoker version (and different from the X-Men story, as well). It’s too bad that the narrative is marred by the central character’s tendency to offer synopses of a wide range of philosophies and scientific theories. The relationship between the narrator and her lover, Alexander, is honest and often moving, but it is weighed down by the discourses and interruptions. The novel was recommended by the NY Times Book Review; if anyone else has read it, I’d be interested in your thoughts.

I’m finishing this entry in the Crow’s Nest Lounge at the top of the ship, with the tour consultant on one side answering questions about ports we’ll be visiting (actually, very good answers to very specific questions), and the DJ on the other side giving juggling lessons (don’t ask).

Hope all is well with my readers. More later.

Monday, 27 April 2009

It’s only noon and today has already been quite eventful. So before picking up where I left off yesterday afternoon, I will report that I was awakened at sun-up, by an announcement over the emergency system (which is piped into every stateroom no matter what time of day): “Bright star on Lido Deck starboard.” This was not to welcome the sun, which was straight ahead not off to the left, but the indication of a medical emergency. At about 10 am the captain announced that we were changing course and heading southeast to Bermuda because a passenger needed medical assistance that could not be provided on board. He told us we would be going at top speed (22.5 knots), rather than normal speed of 18.5 knots, and would reach Bermuda about 6 pm (where we will anchor three miles off shore). He assured us that we would still reach the Azores at or ahead of our scheduled time.

I was thus awake a little bit earlier than I planned, but it was well worth it. While yesterday’s sunrise provided a rosy glow, today the sun rose out of the sea directly in front of the ship, in the center of my stateroom window, pulling us directly towards it:

“The sun up—
Flat on the line of the seas,
Sees the line of the bow
Bow to the plumb
Plumb up—
Uplights the sun.”

Now back to yesterday. I was ready for a nap when I received a phone call invitation to a wine-tasting at 2 pm (part of the Sommelier package I purchased): Napa Valley Riesling, New Zealand Chardonnay, Sonoma Valley Merlot, and California Coastal Cabernet. The Cellar Master was quite entertaining without being condescending, and I was able to chat with him later during dinner.

Although I promised to give only the highlight from each meal, I must report last night’s Captain’s formal dinner in full: Pâté de Fois Gras with Ruby port marmalade, Waldorf salad, and poached pear (yes, that’s pâté two days in a row); jumbo shrimp cocktail; rack of lamb with Dijon mustard and garlic crumbs, served with a Pinot Noir sauce, ratatouille, and potato pie; chocolate crème brulee for dessert. Started a bottle of La Bouré-Roi / Les Sanglies/ Pinot Noir 2007, which I shall try to finish tonight.

Today, I attended a fruit and vegetable carving demonstration this morning with master chef Brandon, who is quite a hoot. This afternoon is a lecture on the Azores, followed by tea and then a meeting of “The Friends of Dorothy” (for GLBT passengers at) at 6 pm. I don’t expect a big turnout, but I might be surprised.
I’ll close for now with pictures of my stateroom. I think I will post most pictures on a separate website (Kodak, probably), rather than filling the blog. I’ll let you know where they will be.

           

Sunday, 26 April 2009

The sea is calm and the sun is shining as the Eurodam heads directly east across the Atlantic. My stateroom looks out on the bow and I watched a warm pink light spread across the horizon at about 7 this morning. We have turned the clocks ahead one hour and will gain five more hours before we strike first land in the Azores.

The ship is stunning. In spite of 2,100 passengers, it seems almost empty at times.

Before leaving Ft Lauderdale yesterday, I walked the three blocks from my hotel to the beach (about the maximum I can walk these days). I was instantly reminded of how beautiful the city is—bright post-modern architecture, thick almost indestructible grass, swaying palms and a lovely beach. But it took only a few minutes to remember the five reasons why we decided to relocate to Tucson rather than Florida:

1. Humidity

2. Humidity

3. Humidity

4. See picture below

5. See picture below

As I checked in at Port Everglades I was surprised by the number of passengers in shorts and tank tops—do they know we are crossing the Atlantic? I also learned from a crew member that there are no children on this cruise (except for those of us in our second childhood).

Life Jackets on the new ship are much easier to use: no more squeezing them over your head and tying the straps in back and front like a strait-jacket. Now just put your arms through the sleeve-holes like a vest and buckle up in front. That’s it!

I have a lovely table for myself in the dining room, although the main table steward seems a little surly; perhaps he’ll warm up over the next few days. Tonight is the first formal night and I intend to create a sensation in my tuxedo. I also start my special wine service tonight (more about that tomorrow).

The ship’s mantra, so I’m told, is “If you see it; eat it” (just imagine the possibilities). My mantra is, “if it’s on my plate, I’ll eat it”; that should keep me from overloading my plate. Don’t expect an item-by-item description of the food. I’ll just give each day’s highlight. Saturday evening’s highlight was an antipasto platter with duck breast pâté; several kinds of European cold cuts, including prosciutto; fruits, and corn relish. Excellent.

I will post more about today’s wine tasting and pictures of my stateroom tomorrow. Now it’s off to dinner.

Friday, 24 April

Friday Evening 10 pm

Hello from Ft Lauderdale, where I am spending the night before the cruise begins tomorrow.

The flights from Tucson and Dallas were both on time (15 minutes early actually), and I am very impressed by how American Airlines treats passengers needing assistance—they actually call you by name and help you board early.

The new terminal D at DFW has an interesting NYC skyline sculpture that’s about two stories tall. There were quite a few cruise passengers on the flight from DFW, but I kept my incognito.

I checked into the Gallery One Doubletree Suites in Ft Lauderdale about 8 pm; I have a suite that is about half the size of my house in Tucson with lovely views over the canals. I have already been to the Galleria Mall to buy two ties and have dinner at P. F. Chang.

I started my reading with a novel not on the list I posted: The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor Pelevin, translated from the Russian (N.Y.: Viking, 2008), originally published in Moscow in 2005. It's a first-person narration by a 15-year-old female fox, who is really 2000 years old. She works as a prostitute in present-day Moscow, and except for her tail which she keeps hidden under her clothes, she passes for a voluptuous teenager. Before you think I am reading something salacious, please know that it is a marvelous satire of contemporary Russian politics and economics. The narrator's philosophizing sometimes disrupts the flow of the narrative, but she gives lots of jolly tidbits; this one is most appropriate for the moment: "to hunt aristocrats you have to travel to Europe (although some believe that the best place is a transatlantic cruise)."

I promise that future posts will be more interesting—or I’ll just stop writing.

The Ones I Leave at Home

While I'm travelling, Will, Jake and Luke will be enjoying the end of Spring in Tucson.

Will and I standing at the Grand Canyon, October 2007:


Luke and Jake:

Books I'll Be Reading

Novels I plan to read on my voyage:

Hage, Rawi. De Niro’s Game. N. Y.: Harper, 2007. Originally published in Canada in 2006.

Christensen, Kate. The Great Man. N. Y.: Anchor (Random House), 2008. Originally published in New
     York in 2007. [Pen/Faulkner Award Winner]

Grant, Linda. The Clothes on Their Backs. N. Y.: Scribner, 2008. Originally published in Britain in 2008.
      [Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize]

ms Eurodam

Holland America ms Eurodam

Ship’s Registry: the Netherlands
Passenger Capacity: 2,104
Crew: 929
Gross Tonnage: 86,700
Length: 936 feet
Beam: 105.8
Maximum Speed: 23.9 Knots
Maiden Voyage: July 2008
Passenger Decks: 11

My Oceanview Stateroom: 10001 / Spa Stateroom, located on the Panorama Deck (Deck 10 at the top of the ship), includes special spa amenities; 185 square feet; looks out the front of the ship and is located directly above the navigation bridge.

Stateroom Amenities:
Two lower beds convertible to one queen-size bed, bathtub and show.
Luxurious beds featuring premium euro-top mattresses and finely-woven cotton linens
Deluxe waffle-weave and terry cloth bathrobes
100% Egyptian cotton towels
Premium massage showerheads
5X magnifying mirrors and salon-quality hair dryers
Complimentary fresh fruit
Ice bucket and serving tray for in-stateroom beverages
Flat-panel TV and DVD player
Ice service, shoeshine service, nightly turndown service
Complimentary 24-hour room service

TRANSATLANTIC ITINERARY

Fri 24 April 9:40 am lv Tucson (TUS) / American Airlines 1150
1:50 pm av Dallas-Ft Worth (DFW)
3:49 pm lv Dallas-Ft Worth / American Airlines 576
7:25 pm av Ft Lauderdale (FLL)

Sat 25 April 5:00 pm ms Eurodam leaves Ft Lauderdale
Sun 26 April - Fri 1 May Six days at sea crossing the Atlantic

Sat 2 May 11:00 am av Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores
5:00 pm lv Ponta Delgada

Sun 3 May One day at sea

Mon 4 May 4:00 pm av Lisbon, Portugal
Tue 5 May 5:00 pm lv Lisbon

Wed 6 May One day at sea
Thu 7 May 8:00 am av Bilbao, Spain  
5:00 pm lv Bilbao
Fri 8 May One day at sea

Sat 9 May 7:00 am av LeHavre, France  
8:00 pm lv LeHavre

Sun 10 May 8:00 am av Harwich, Great Britain  
8:00 pm lv Harwich
Mon 11 May 7:00 am av Rotterdam, Netherlands  
5:00 pm lv Rotterdam
Tue 12 May One day at sea

Wed 13 May 7:00 am av Copenhagen, Denmark: disembark
 

Thu 14 May 8:40 am lv Copenhagen (CPH) / AirBerlin 8217

10:00 am av Dusseldorf (DUS)
1:00 pm lv Dusseldorf (DUS) / AirBerlin 3530
2:50 pm av Los Angeles (LAX)
6:25 pm lv Los Angeles (LAX) / United 6458
7:52 pm av Tucson (TUS)