We’re on the way to Vancouver with slightly more distance to go than on the old postcard above.
Middle-of-the-road, ever bigger cruise ships, in essentials at least, increasingly resemble each other. I fondly remember past, more intimate and distinctive vessels on which I’ve travelled. As recently as 2008, Kathy, Mike & I were aboard Explorer, a ship of only 25,000 tons.
One of my favourite pictures of Mike & Kathy was taken on Explorer while in the Amazon.
Now I’m on Holland America’s Eurodam, 86,000 tons, the largest ship I’ve ever experienced, but considered ‘mid-sized’. She’s hardly a streamlined ‘greyhound of the sea’ and, in fact, looks rather ungainly.
Here she towers above me at dockside.
Here she towers above me at dockside.
That said, my cabin’s comfortable; the food is good; the crew, as usual on Holland America, is friendly and helpful, and diversions abound.
Some Eurodam touches I enjoy include original paintings of Holland America ships …
… magnificent elevator doors …
… and some very funny pictures among scores in frames along the passageways. The chap in these, taken by a ship’s photographer, initially looks rather glum …
… but finally cheers up at what appears to be a 1950s costume party. Note the son’s headwear.
The mural behind Eurodam’s front desk is meant to evoke glamorous departures. However, I can assure you, the family and friends waving off Eurodam or any other cruise ship, for that matter, are now only found in coffee table books about the ‘golden age’ of travel. Security concerns have long since banished from dockside those who aren't sailing. Still, I applaud the decorative effort.
On such a large ship, it’s easy to find quiet spaces for reading. I often have this room with panoramic windows all to myself.
Examining the decor - at night the room’s a bar next to an Asian themed restaurant - I’m mildly surprised to discover a display of 19th Century opium pipes.
And even more surprised, while absorbed in a book, to think I’m hearing bagpipes … surely not… but wait, I really do hear bagpipes from somewhere overhead … why am I hearing bagpipes in the middle of the Pacific? I leave my book and find the way to Eurodam’s topmost deck, just above my peaceful sanctuary.
Sue from British Columbia is practising the Piper’s Lament for her community’s Remembrance Day service. When on freighters, I was told of a ship’s captain who played the bagpipes, but have never heard of a passenger. In years to come, I may well forget most of what happened on Eurodam, but definitely won’t forget the bagpipes!
=======================================================
Waiting for my plane at Vancouver Airport, I scan the newspaper headlines. I’ve arrived back in Canada on the day pot becomes legal.
