The Egypt trip has been cancelled…

Click here for source of this Glasbergen cartoon.

After the Greenland and Iceland trip, I rescheduled my trip to Egypt to travel on the Nile for a cruise and to see the pyramids and other archaeological sites in Egypt (i.e., Cairo, Alexandria, and Aswan).  I paid for the trip and had all of the arrangements finalized for this adventure.  However, a few health issues earlier this month (December) have resulted in my having to cancel my plans for the trip to Egypt and to the Mediterranean. 

I will be spending the month of January and February taking care of a few health issues, so I will not be traveling anywhere for a while.  I guess the gods of travel, Hermes (Greek), Mercury (Roman) and  Khonsu (Egyptian), haven’t provided a ringing endorsement to my planned travel to this region of the world. 

This trip to Egypt is still on my bucket list for a future date.  Atleast I've already traveled quite a bit in Italy and Greece.  Stay tuned.  I’m hopeful for a full bill of health by March 2023 so that travel can resume.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Well, I went through the Customs and Immigration process at 8 am per the instructions on my letter from the Excursions Office.  I then reported to the Ocean Bar to wait for the tour group to tender to Bar Harbor.  I waited about an hour and a half.  They then announced it was raining, and we may want to go back to our staterooms to prepare for a walking tour in the rain.  I decided it was better to pack than to do a two-hour walking tour of the Bar Harbor of years past.  It would be time better spent packing this morning.  If the weather clears, I’ll go ashore later today.  I’m not disappointed because I’ve visited Bar Harbor a couple of times.  

We’ve been so lucky on this cruise with regard to the weather.  I cannot complain about the not-so-great weather on the final day of the cruise.  Now it is time to pack for tomorrow's disembarkation.  

Hey, that's Maine under the fog and mist of rain. As I write this, the fog horn on the ship is blaring.

One of the islands is visible from my verandah.  The clouds seem to envelop the island.

The Zaandam followed us from Halifax to Bar Harbor. Our ship's itinerary overlapped their itinerary on these two ports of call.  That's one of our tender boats making its way ashore.

One other nice thing about this part of the trip is we're back in the USA and in the Eastern Time Zone.  Okay, now get packing!

Halifax Sail Away

Halifax has really created an excellent waterfront boardwalk.  Restaurants, shops, and bars are all along the route.

Lots of folks were watching since theree were two cruise ships in today.

Even a helicopter seemed to observing our sail away from Halifax.

The two bridges across the harbor are called the Halifax Harbour Bridges.  Both directions are toll roads.

Even the boat I had a tour and lunch on were watching the departure.  So long Harbour Queen.

Two harbor ferries pass one another in the harbor.

 Next stop Bar Harbor, Maine, USA!

Harbor Cruise in Halifax

I took the harbor cruise from the port.  It was a crowded boat, so I had some difficulty getting good shots.  One husband and wife with seats facing the water decided to stand the entire time.  This blocked me from taking shots.  We had lunch on the boat downstairs, and I could move around and get a few shots from the harbor.

Halifax has a wonderful harbor walk with shops, restaurants, and museums. I enjoyed this as I walked back to the ship after a lobster lunch.

The excursion description said we would be on a lobster boat.  I don't think this is a lobster boat, but it was our ride in the Halifax harbor.

this lighthouse was in the harbor but has been decommissioned.

Here's my ride:  the ms Nieuw Statendam.  It's in the pinnacle class which is the largest ships in the HAL fleet.

The Nieuw Statendam on the right and the Zaandam on the left.  The Zaandam is in the "Rotterdam" class which are the smallest ships in the HAL fleet.

Not much aquatic life was visible.  Here's a seal that stuck his head out of the water as we passed by.

This island is a park in the harbor that is protected.  It doesn't belong to Canada, but is leased for 1000 years from Britain for 1 pound per year.

I don't know who these guys were as we sailed past, but they kind of look official.

The only other wildlife visible were various bird species.

The Halifax port is a busy port that handles lot of goods from Europe.  These are all BMWs and Mercedes that were unloaded and will be transported across Canada.

The port also has lots of sailboats.

Arnetta, the tour guide, holds a lobster that escaped the cooking pot for the meal that was to come next.

Halifax, Nova Scotia: The final port of call in Canada

The ship pulled into the port of Halifax this morning.  I'm scheduled to take a boat ride to see them pull up lobster and to see several lighthouses in the area.  Here are a few shots I took as we moved into Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The docking process is controlled from the wing bridge which allows the officer to see the dock via a glass floor section.  He is directly over the side of the ship.

The port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

See if you can make out the officer standing over the glass panel and controlling the docking process with a joystick.

A man walking his dog takes time to watch the process.  It looks like the dog is a chocolate lab who doesn't seem impressed with the big ship docking.

There seems to be lots of folks taking pictures as we come into the port.

The final sea day on the cruise

Today was the final sea day on this 24-day voyage.  There are two ports of call on Thursday (Halifax, Canada) and Bar Harbor, Maine (Friday).  We were notified that all cruisers must meet for inspection from US Customs officials on Friday morning. 

As is custom, the “Ask the Captain” session was held.  The room was packed. 

Captain Eric Barhorst

Captain Eric Barhorst is Dutch, and he has such a wonderful sense of humor.  He shared information about the ship, and how it doesn’t tip over.  It only has 27 feet of ship below the water level.  He says the heaviest equipment and tanks weight the ship down and help to make it stable.  He would not answer the question related to Covid and how many guests were infected.  He said that it is against policy to discuss.  He said he believed the ship’s protocols worked well since only one staff member had become infected during the trip. 

Captain Eric Barhorst is much younger than I expected.  He grew up seeing large ships sail near his home in the Netherlands.  He made a decision as a kid to become a sea captain.  After naval college, he joined Holland America as an intern.  His entire career has been with Holland America.  He was the captain of the Eurodam prior to being named captain of the Nieuw Statendam.  

The ship's photography team shared the time lapse video of our trip through Prince Christian Sound, Greenland.  It was a great video (click here to view), but, in my opinion, the beauty of the Antarctica sailing (February 2018 blog entries) is so much better that the time in Greenland.  Click the links and you be the judge of which area is the most beautiful.

Tomorrow evening the packing will begin!

A disappointing Zodiac ride…

Well, my tours have been good on this voyage.  That streak ended with today’s tour.  The guide didn’t really know that much about what she was describing in the area, and her English wasn’t as good as other guides on this journey.  The brochure had warned us that this may happen in some of the small, out-of-the-way ports of call. 

The guide had the uncanny ability to get us in the worst position to take any photos.  She never realized she had us with our backs to the location she was describing; she was in a perfect location to see, but she neglected to make sure her clients were able to see the point of interest.  So, I missed getting any seals and most of my shots were impossible to take given the positioning of the boat. 

If that wasn’t enough, she had the worst boat-driving skill.  You better hold on tight!  The folks sat on the side of the boat, and it would have been easy to throw someone overboard.  She seemed oblivious to this and would speed up and hit the wakes of other boats.  So, my memories of St. Pierre and Miquelon will not be about a pleasant tour experience.

Here are a few salvageable shots from the tour.

Arriving at the tender docking location.  They handed each person a French flag and a map.

There seemed to be shrines to Mary all over the island.  Our guide never addressed it.

As the zodiac sailed, there seemed to be people in the most unusual locations on these small islands.

This waterfall was one of the few places that our guide made it possible to take a photo.

More people out hiking on these rocky islands.

This statue off Mary is perched high up on a rock formaton.  

It was hard to get a clear shot of the birds nesting on the side of the cliffs.

It was impossible to take photos of the seals.  I got this lone bird on a rock formation

The French had a fort to protect the harbor from Hessians soldiers.  At least that's what the guide said.

Learning to sail...

As I wait to go ashore for my tour, I watch the activities in the harbor.  There's a famous sailing school in St. Pierre and Miquelon.  I see the sailboats and the folks being monitored by their instructors in boats.  The zodiac I'm to use comes from this school.

It is a great day for a little practice at sailing.

This one successfully navigated around the buoy.

My elementary French lets me know that this boat is marked "Boat School."

Either this student is being commended or reprimanded for his performance today.

It appears I'm not the only one watching a boat in the harbor.  This looks like police officials keeping an eye on our ship.

A close-up of the three officials looking at our ship.  Are these Gendarms from the local police department?

Arrival in St. Pierre and Miquelon (France)

I had not heard of the island/nation of St. Pierre and Miquelon.  It consists of islands near Newfoundland and Labrador in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  These islands were part of New France in the days of exploration, and the area is still part of the France as a self-governing island.  It is not part of Canada.  

I learned yesterday that Newfoundland was independent but a part of the British Empire.  It eventually became part of Canada.  

The folks living on these island, St. Pierre and Miquelon, are French citizens.  So, France still has land in North Atlantic of North America in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

I’m scheduled for a zodiac ride around the islands this afternoon.  It looks like the sun is breaking through the morning clouds.  It should be a beautiful day for a ride around this French territory.  Stay tuned…

I learn new things all the time.  This is part of France, and it is in the North Atlantic.

The first tender goes in to prepare for the day.

I'm hoping that the morning fog and clouds will burn off later this morning.

The transfer from ship to shore has begun.  One tender in and one returning to the ship.

There are several lighthouses in the harbor.

This is the view from my cabin's veranda.

This looks like the dock for cruise ships.  I guess the Nieuw Statendam is too big.

I'm scheduled to take a Zodiac ride later today.  Here's a picture of two  Zodiacs in the harbor this morning.  My last time on a Zodiac was in Alaska in 2014.  There was a convoy of these inflatable motorboats led by a guide in the waters of Ketchikan, Alaska.  I was driving my boat, and you can see the pictures by clicking here.  I hope I'm just along for the ride today.