Cruise Report Three – Sept 25, 2007

At Sea, Bearing Sea

There will be no tomorrow…. Only the day after.

At 2:00 AM tonight we will not only be turning our clocks back one hour, we will be moving ahead to the 27th – there will be no 26th of September for us. Another way it could be put is: “move your clocks back one hour, and your calendar one day ahead, or move your clocks ahead 23 hours!!!

From our Navigator;
“Today we continue sailing on a westerly heading with an average speed if 19 knots. Around 10:00 am we will start our passage through Unimak Pass (through the Aleutian Chain) and later in the evening we alter our course to the south, sailing along the coast of the Aleutian Islands. The weather forecast for today is an outside temperature of 51 degrees with a west-southwesterly wind of force 6 (around 35 to 42 knots).”

As we moved through the pass from the Pacific to the Bering Sea, the seas became quite calm, however that lasted about an hour, then it was back to “business as usual”.(rock and roll)

Although we have a small group of Cruise Critics, the staff is very accommodating. We have coordinated with the Beverage Manager, Anurag Muley, for meeting space to be made available on the day prior to each port visit. Part of Anurag’s job is to coordinate the use of every meeting space onboard; a daunting task. I asked him if he would be visiting his family on this trip and he answered, “In about three months!”

Well, we’ve got to get dressed for our evening festivities…. More later.

This morning we received “door mail” from the hotel staff “ Cordially wish to invite you to a Get-Together & Appreciation Cocktail Party out of gratitude towards you as group Host Mediator…” in the Crow’s Nest on deck 9. It is their way of showing appreciation to those who are hosting “groups” onboard. Ann and I qualified because of Cruise Critic. It was a very enjoyable time as we were able to meet and talk at length with the “social” staff. The Social Hostess Jacqueline Inglish, is a young woman from Canada, and she spent quite a bit of time with us. Cocktails and snacks were served. Yum, Yum. Of course we had already eaten dinner!!

During the day we were afforded views, through the fog and clouds of the Aleutian Islands. Hard to make out much of the geographic features though. Sea birds seem to enjoy the company of the ship as she sails through water this close to land.

Day 6 – Thursday, September 27 Crossing the International Dateline

Today we are continuing on a westerly course, with the seas “quartering to our port”, or almost following us as opposed to coming at us broadside. This makes for a beautiful serpentine wake. Gone is the “slamming barn door”…. For now…

We continue inviting our fellow Cruises Critic members to lunch in the main dining room. This gives us a chance to get to know our new “family” better, and hear their interesting stories. Today Nick, Dianne and Melinda were our “guests”. Nick’s interesting story was of the first night one of their table-mates (table for six) was so obnoxious, that everyone requested to be moved to a different seating assignment. Apparently this woman carried her attitude to the point of insulting everyone and everything she touched.

This morning’s door mail brought our “Crossing the International Dateline Certificates”. A separate certificate is issued to each passenger – “It is hereby decreed that the day of September 26, 2007 – Be it known to all that I, Knight of the Hours and Monarch of the Magic Meridian, do grant passage to Holland America Line’s ms Amsterdam, which under special dispensation of Neptune, doth journey across our broad Pacific. Let the 180th chain of time be parted for her glorious advance. And from Jack Wayne Cummings our Chronological Majesty accepts the gratuity of ms Amsterdam’s twenty four hours from your rich bounty, and rewards you with added joy and prosperity for all your other days”. Signed by Captain Dirk van den Berg – Master.
Also included in our door mail was “Background at a Glance” for our first port of call; Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia. Petro = Peter and Pavlov = Paul –sk seems to be added to a lot of Russian words. We arrive at Saturday the 29th at 8 AM. We are scheduled to depart at 6 PM.

More later….. Jack and Barbara (seasoned sailors)