Wulff's Blog: 2012 Pacific Cruise III: Vladivostok, Russia & Days at Sea

Sat Apr 21 At Sea heading for Vladivostok.

After a liesure breakfast, I headed over to the Mondriaan Lunge for "Good Morning Zaandam". Cruise Director Michael interviewed the Chief Engineer and members of the technical department.

This was followed by a presentation on Alaska by Kevin and Travel Guide Wallis.

Actually, this was mostly a day of rest.

Tonight was formal night (We had a total of six of these dress up nights). Our table was graced with flowers every night, this time with reddish roses.

Everyone looked so nice at our table so I took pictures, starting with Californians Liz and Emil.

Then Floridans Jim and Peggy (originally from Kentucky):

Eleanor, another Californian:

Liz volunteered her husband to take my picture.

Then came dinner served by our waiter from Indonesia.

I ordered sirloin steak, medium well.

The Moscow 4 was slated for Show Time tonight.

After the show the performers were available for visits.

Sun Apr 22 Vladivostok, Russia 8:00am 5:00pm

Vladivostok ( Russian for "listen") is Russia's largest port city on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai. It is situated at the head of the Golden Horn Bay, not far from Russia's borders with China and North Korea.

As usual, I was up early, and as usual I was fortified with a heft breakfast on Lido deck.
The omelette was custom made.

I took photos as we eased our way into port.
The bridge shown here is the Russky Island Bridge from the mainland to Russky Island. The island is where the 24th Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. will take place this year. The bridge will become the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world upon completion.

Closer to port: The city is the home port of the Russian Pacific Fleet. Russia's Pacific Fleet is parked in the waters off the coast of Vladivostok, in Golden Horn Bay. The population of the city, according to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, is 592,069, down from 594,701 recorded in the 2002 Census.

As the main naval base of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, the city was officially closed to foreigners during the Soviet years. It was at Vladivostok that Leonid Brezhnev and Gerald Ford conducted the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in 1974. At the time, the two countries decided quantitative limits on various nuclear weapons systems and banned the construction of new land-based ICBM launchers.

My tour started with sight-seeing expedition would take us past the Central Train Station (left on map) and the Lenin Statue en route to the Naval Memorial. Vladivostok is the eastern terminus for the worlds longest passenger route, the Trans-Siberian Railway. An epic train journey from Moscow takes six nights and there are departures every two days.

The tour started off in the rain, but that did not prevent us from fulfilling our agenda. Our Russian guide is pictured right.

We began with the Military Memorial area. The Blessed Nicholas Cathedral is located in the repeatedly rearranged historical building of a church-school, built in 1907 in memory of Russian warriors, fallen in the Russian-Japan War of 1904-1905.

A wall near the chapel is dedicated to fallen military men.

The bell tower and the Church of the Holy Virgin’s All Mourners’ Joys Icon is of particular interest in this church compound.

Also part of the complex is the Submarine Monument dedicated to those who perished in World War II.

The rain continued, but we were still committed to our mission:

Our next destination was the Orthodox Cathedral of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in Pokrov Park. This is easily the most majestic building in Vladivostok. It was built in 1902 but destroyed in Soviet times and the surrounding cemetery was turned in to a recreational park. In 2007 the cathedral was rebuilt and today its five golden domes remind the residents of their glorious ancestry and important traditions.

Since this was Sunday a service was being conducted. I was somewhat surprised at the tolerance shown towards the many tourist who crowded into the entrance way.

Our next stop entailed a long upward walk up a hill. Fortunately I had my cane with me. The hike was worth the excellent view of Golden Horn Bay from the Eagle’s Nest. This viewpoint provided a bird's eye view of the famous bridge of Vladivostok.

The Zaandam could be seen in the mist docked below.

Above our observation deck was a monument to Russians St. Cyril and St. Meph. I gambled by pointing my camer upwards that the rain would not hit my lens.

Some chose to use a few minutes in the souvenir shop atop the Eagle’s Nest, but I headed back to the bus.

The best part of our tour came last -- Some of Vladivostok’s gifted children performed a special 50-minute dance recital that included traditional Russian songs, local costume and dances.

Audience participation followed and then cookies were distributed to the audience.

Shelly White, Australia's leading piano and vocal entertainer, performed for Show Time.

Mon Apr 23 At Sea

On the way to breakfast this morning I passed by the Lido swimming pool. A strong wind was rocking the boat riling the water in the pool that it fought to get off the ship. The deck was all wet. The monitor on our TV last night listed the wind at 60 mph.

Dinner tonight included good old Hungarian stuffed cabbage.

A Las Vegas Hall of Fame Entertainer, Bob Anderson, sang a musica tribute to Frank Sinatra and friends. Naturall, that included Dean Martin (right) and Sammy Davis Jr

Tue Apr 24 At Sea

Another weight-watcher breakfast: I was watching my weight and it was alarming.

I looked out through the Lido windows and was amazed at the sight of floating ice.

The door leading outside had a posted notice:

So I stepped out on the deck and took pictures of
the bobbing ice.

Soon the ice increased and was coming together.

Good Morning Zaandam today had Bob Anderson as the guest. The interview revealed that Anderson knew everybody in the Vegas crowd and was an insider.

At 10:00 am Ian Rumley-Dawson was guest lecturer for the Exploration Series and spoke on Albatrosses.

Because I was a Holland American Mariner (veteran), I received an invitation to the Captain's Lunch for 11:30.

Ice continued to build up and the ship decreased speed.

Formal dinner tonight:

Show Time magic stuff at 8 pm.

Wed Apr 25 At Sea

The ice situation had reached a dangerous level and for safety reasons the captain was forced to backtrack our course. See yellow line on map.
He had to cancel Pettropaviovsk from the itinerary
so we headed south of Hokkaido Island of Japan.
Pettropaviovsk was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy. Bering reached Avacha Bay on July 10, 1740, and laid the foundation stone for the harbor town, naming the new settlement Peter and Paul.

The Exploration Speaker Ian Rumley-Dawson gave a presentation on Polar Bears.

After taking care of the interesting Polar Bears, Ian touched upon the ice jam that had stymied our ship. He noted that early explorers to this region had wooden ships that could be crushed from the ice pressure. He used this picture in his lecture.
The present situation for the Zaandam was brought about by the strong wind that pushed the ice together and jammed our route.

After dinner, and on the way to Show Time, I again stopped to listen to the Adagio Strings in the Explorer's Lounge. Bach and Mozart were featured.

Show Time: "Unforgettable" time less Classics

Thu Apr 26 At Sea

Again, we were fortunate to have Naturalist Dr. Ian Rumley-Dawson for a Wildlife Forum

He spoke aboute the birds that we had seen on the open water. I was wondering about those thousands of birds we had seen skimming along the water. He showed us the remarkable migration route of these short-tailed shearwater birds.