There are a lot of you that don’t believe I can dance since I never danced much on the QE2. The band and the host dancers were bad on the QE2 and they are so much better on the Amsterdam. These photos were taken by the ship photographer showing me cutting a rug at two of the balls. These are photos of photos. One was taken at the black and white ball and I am dancing with Glen, one of my friends. The other is at the Valentines Ball and I was dancing with one of the officers. He looks like a little Leprechaun anyway and we were mugging it up for the photographer.

I do like the smaller crowd as you really get to know everyone. I was sitting with Maurice at the culinary theater and Chloe (?sp), the tall silver haired man from the QE2, sat with us and we had a nice chat. I have talked to him more on the Amsterdam than on the QE2. And, he is just as nice to me as he is to Maurice.

When I make comparisons between the two ships please don’t misunderstand. I am not complaining nor am I criticizing. I am trying to objectively point out the differences between the two ships. Certain aspects are great on the QE2 and not so great on the Amsterdam. Certain aspects are great on the Amsterdam and not so great on the QE2. I hope these comparisons give you a feel for this ship since many of you plan to try it in the future. BUT, NO SHIP’S WHISTLE WILL SOUND AS GOOD AS THE QE2. However, the Amsterdam ‘s whistle is much better than most.

Our CSI leaders have an informal chat at ll:00 am on sea days. This morning I stopped by Ellen and as she was explaining what they did after one of their small dinners (mine will come later) she mentioned they stopped at the Ocean Bar and sat in Judi’s place. Everyone knows they can find me nine times out of ten at the Ocean bar between 7:30 and 8:00 pm having my before dinner cocktail but I didn’t know my reputation was so far flung that it was now referred to as Judi’s place.

By the way the reason for my before dinner cocktail and not wine with dinner; I have become allergic to the sulfides in wine and only have maybe one glass of white or a glass of champagne on special occasions and rarely one glass of a good red which I adore. Oh what a pity that youth is wasted on the young. But, think of all the money I am saving not having wine before and during dinner.

The Valentines Day Ball was the only event that warrants a comment so I probably will wait until tomorrow to post. The weather is now warm but windy. Too windy for me to walk out on deck.

The ship was decorated nicely and everyone in their red or pink best. All the staff were outfitted for the occasion. I actually danced but it always is so crowded for the balls. One thing I enjoy about the HAL ships is that all the officers join in the festivities and I danced with two of them. I also danced with a dance host, Tony, originally from Portugal, now living in Canada. Then I saw my tablemate, Melvin, wandering looking lost and I thought I should get him out on the dance floor . Gerta, another of my tablemates and one of the ladies that always dances with the hosts, got him out there. After that dance he beckoned me and I then danced with him. This is exceptionally good for Melvin as we tease him sometime about his shyness with the ladies which he has admitted is why he never married. He is a farm boy from Kansas but very bright having something to do with computers for Boeing.

The dance bands are very good. They have a good beat and you can actually dance to their music. On the QE2 the dance band was horrible with no beat and a mambo had the same tempo as a swing. The problem with the Amsterdam is there is no decent dance floor so the balls are extremely crowded. The QE2’s dance floor was much nicer.

I took a photo of all the gifts and cards received for Valentines day. The candy bar is from HAL and the little box had a few candy’s in it and that was from Barbara and Roger, my other table mates.

Just completed my walk for the day and it is gorgeous out there. This was at 9:30 am and it was about 70 degrees and little humidity. I didn’t have to wring out my sweater this time. By the way this is day 40 of the cruise. Time is just whizzing by

Received a box of Sees Candy (nuts and chews) and a valentine’s card from Shannon my adorable agent from CSI. Amazing how she could get it to me in the middle of the Atlantic all the way from Seattle.

Most of our exploration lecturers have been scientists or professors and lecture on travel, science, marine life and such. We now have two lecturers who are exceptionally interesting. One is an expert on African politics and culture. Fascinating and confirms my thoughts about this continent. He speaks about the big man myths and how it has devastated the economies of the countries over the years. Whether it is a leader like Mugavi or a leader like Mandella the people believed they were the future and that has not been the case. There was a tendency to blame everyone else for their problems rather than take responsibility for what went wrong. There is a shift now and the big man is no longer accepted. Taking responsibility and governing for the good of the people is now in vogue and he sees some progress for these countries in the future.

The other speaker is an Ambassador and his lectures are about the politics of the world in general and the future.

I will report tomorrow on the Valentine Day festivities.

First an explanation and a correction. The double photo will have to stay as it takes too long to figure out how to delete it. The ethers would not allow a download more than one photo at a time so I lost track of which ones were complete and which ones were not. The correction is that the world clock photo was taken from Deck 4, the middle of the clock.

VIRTUOSO: This is a travel agency in its own right but it also acts as an umbrella organization for CSI and others. No agency automatically belongs and they have to be asked to join. Many times they act for each other. If CSI doesn’t have enough passengers to warrant a leader and Virtuoso does then Virtuoso will act for CSI and vice versa. This is also true for certain tours . CSI use to be owned by Virtuoso but somewhere there was a devolvement. This is information I gleaned from Ellen one of our CSI leaders.

Yesterday I went for my mile walk on the Promenade Deck and when I finished I had to hang up my sweater and walk around drying my jeans. The air was dripping and even though it didn’t effect my walking my clothes were quite damp. Today the seas remain calm but most of the fog is gone and the sun is peaking through from time to time.

Went to the Captain’s Mariner brunch today and received a Dutch delft blue tile. I received another tile when I was on the Alaska cruise last summer with my Robin.

It seems I am always busy even on sea days but I don’t have any juicy tidbits to report. It has been relatively quiet. One note of interest so far my experience is that everyone is quite honest. If you drop something or leave something it is turned in rather than disappear One of my items to disappear on the QE2 was a beautiful lace shawl which I accidentally left in a chair for a few minutes. I left my camera for a few minutes and it was turned into the person in charge of the event immediately.

Not all good deeds go rewarded. A lady I have met came to bingo and asked if I would show her the ropes, which I did. The second game I yelled bingo and they announced I had a good bingo. She then realized she also had a bingo and yelled it out. We split the pot so I only won $12.00. She also won the last bingo for $48.00.

As on all cruises of this length there are a few people who are on the ship that have not only disabilities and illnesses but also some forms of dementia. I met a cute little old man on the elevator and asked him which floor he wanted. He not only couldn’t tell me which floor but he didn’t know he was on an elevator. I saw that he got off on Deck 4 and pointed to the front desk. I assume they were able to assist him to “wherever”.

This is day 38 at sea and it is overcast, 72 degrees and humid. We are on the long stint across the Atlantic to the West side of Africa and lose an hour every other day. It is not troublesome for me because they set the clock ahead at 2:00 pm so we lose that hour during the day rather than at night. We reach Walvis Bay, Namibia on February 18th and I am typing this on February 12th.

This is the first time I have crossed the Atlantic at this latitude and what a difference. Smooth sailing, warm, foggy and humid. Nothing like a crossing from New York to Southampton which is, of course, bumpy, cold to frigid, and stormy at times.

The florist on this ship create some really unique bouquets and I have included one of the bouquets leading up to Valentines Day. This ship is also filled with some wonderful art pieces but the Astrolabium is the centerpiece of the ship being three stories high. This photo is of the top on Deck 5 and the bottom portion is on Deck 3. This clock gives times of the world.

It seems there is always something special happening what with ccers, CSI, Mariners and HAL itself. Parties, meets, special dinners and luncheons. I don’t believe we had this many on the QE2 but I wasn’t part of CSI on that ship.

Finally ate at the Italian Restaurant with Barbara and Roger, two of my table mates and it was nice just talking and getting to know them. The other dinner mates seem to be a little more confrontational and talk often goes in disputable directions which can be entertaining but does not lend itself to learning about each other.

I’m not sure whether I have mentioned this before but I don’t feel like I want to go back to my old posts. So, if I have I am going to repeat myself here. Before boarding the ship I bought a package of ten dinners for the price of eight at the Pinnacle Grill. I just left the grill cancelling the Valentine dinner reservation as they are billing it as a romantic dinner for two. I certainly didn’t think it would be confortable sitting with another lady or even a man that I may not know for their romantic dinner.

Did a little walk about in Montevideo and following the theme of old coca cola trucks I thought this one was interesting. The colors for coca cola are black and red in some of the SA countries. Only one good reason coca cola would change their logo colors---SOCCER (football). If a rival team who is truly an enemy has colors of red and white coca cola goes to their backup colors of red and black.

We just had our second meet and greet for cruise critic and it will be my last. I know another reason ccers are not coalescing. We do not have a fearless leader like Charlie. She convened the meet 5 minutes before its time and 5 minutes later ended the meet. Smart but no street smarts. After this event I decided I needed air and I walked a mile on the Promenade Deck.

You will recall I mentioned the mock wedding in an earlier post but I had so much to cover I hadn’t told you about this event. The mock wedding was a spoof and really a going away party for Casey Moran who is a very nice man and yet one of the Amsterdam characters. I met Casey at the Westin Hotel at the CSI party. It was freezing and like Sir Galahad he put his jacket around my shoulders
(not over a puddle) He is a young man, a waiter for a well known restaurant and I believe he is from New Hampshire. Rhonda the bride planned the whole thing with a wedding dress, cake, flowers, formal invitations, etc. The vows which were presented by one of the cruise staff were hilarious. After the wedding vows there was an immediate divorce proceeding so there could be no doubt it was a spoof.. I believe Rhonda really wanted the wedding to be real. I saw her sitting at the Lido Deck Bar at sail away from Buenos Aires and heard her shout “Goodbye Casey”. Casey, Rhonda and a few others were the regulars at the Crows Nest.

There is one feature of the good ship Amsterdam which I applaud. It is my belief the person who thought of it should be nominated for sainthood. All the elevators have removable mats. The mats are replaced everyday with the proper mat stating the day of the week. Without this feature I would not know the day of the week.

First, I was able to read your comments and I don’t have the answers regarding Virtuoso but I will check to see if they have a representative on board and ask their representative. Cruise Specialist didn’t give us free tours but you received $400 credit on the tours or as a credit on your shipboard account. Second, yes the river is still muddy and I believe muddier as I don’t recall it being this dark.

I took two tours in Buenos Aires; the basic city tour and then the tango dinner at night. During the morning tour it was pouring. Even some thunder and lightening. Very unusual weather we were told. El Nino. Couldn’t get a decent shot of the balcony where Eva Peron would greet her supporters (the peronistas) because of construction and the weather. But I did get this shot of her grave marker in the old cemetery. The cemetery is like a city with streets and buildings. Very interesting. Buenos Aires is larger than Rio do Janero or at least it appears so and it is a very modern city with a lot of sky scrapers.

That night we boarded our buses for the jaunt to Senor Tango. My dinner was awful as I made the mistake of ordering chicken rather than the steak. This plate is a regular size and the Argentine steak covered 1/3rd of the surface and was about 2 l/2 inches thick. That is why I ordered the chicken as I would eat about an inch of the steak. The chicken was so dried out you couldn’t even poke it with a fork. The other food with it was good so I didn’t complain. I was afraid they bring me one of those giant steaks.

This is Ellen one of my trivia team members and she sat with my Mom, Marcie, Joan and me. The tango show was excellent but it was long and I was beat. This was one of our CSI tours and we lost another world cruiser this time to a fall, broken hip and then surgery for a hip replacement. We are now down to 168.

The next day Joan and I went on a mission. We did get a pedicure but there was not enough time to get a manicure.

For days now the tour supervisor and speaker has been telling people not to wear jewelry and good watches like a Rolex. Well, one man did not heed the warnings. A guy jumped on his back, knocked him to the ground and cut the band of his Rolex. It all took less than ten seconds. He then ran away, jumped on a scooter and vanished with the Rolex, of course. Another scheme is the mustard squirt. Someone sprays mustard on your clothes and while you are trying to wipe it off they get your wallet, camera, or whatever else they think they can sell.. Well, our fellow passenger had listened and when the mustard was sprayed he started yelling. He didn’t lose a thing.