Day 06 - 08/08/22 - At Sea to Greenland

I first thought I could sleep in on this welcomed sea day.  But the daily program indicated that BettyAnn, our Cruise & Travel Director, would be having a coffee chat at 9am.  So I had to respond to the 8am alarm.

 

After my customary breakfast, I met Angela up in the Explorations Cafe area where BettyAnn hosted the coffee chat with the hotel General Manager, Rene , who's been with Holland America for 30 years.  Among other things he commented on the company's experiences with mask wearing and the current mandatory indoor mask requirement.  He said that HAL's experience with passengers being compliant with wearing masks correlated with lower Covid infection rates. So for this long voyage they are insisting on mask compliance until Iceland to hopefully control the spread of Covid.  He doesn't want anybody quarantined to their cabin during that time.  He also confirmed that the last cruise had a high Covid infection rate but offered no statistics.  He also reported on the success of the re-introduction of the library on the Rotterdam in the former Microsoft training room. The Nieuw Statendam is likely to get the library retrofit in its next drydock next year.

 

We spent the rest of the morning in the Main Stage watching a shore excursions presentation and an excellent EXC talk on Canada followed in the afternoon by Michael Douglas' exceptional talk on Arctic ice.  He has an engaging self deprecating style.  All of these presentations were the inside and packed which is a welcome change from our recent prior cruises.

 

I spent the remainder of the afternoon writing and due to the stormy weather, access to the outside decks was restricted. Fog and low clouds and stormy seas persisted throughout the day. Captain Eric did report a sighting of Northern Lights at 4am today.

 

Following our Lido dinner (fabulous baked salmon), we watched Cantaré on the Main Stage.  We then adjourned to listen to the piano duo (Gabe & Megan) in Billboard Onboard. This duo is really good.  

We also enjoyed chatting with a couple who watched our tender challenges yesterday from their balcony.   

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