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Good Thursday morning. We lost another hour of sleep last night so kind of a slow start. We are heading out in a couple for La Serena. We are definitely south of the Equator. The layers are on me already! A few photos from the Balllestas Islands 2 days ago. Have a great day! Nancy

We are off the coast of Chile in the Humboldt Current. Just some up and down and an escort of Peruvian Boobies. We had our visit in Lima just in time. Someone in our GSA FB group posted an article that the protests are moving into Lima. So grateful we got to see Peru. Next stop is Coquimbo/La Serena tomorrow. We will take an Uber into La Serena to see the Japanese Gardens and walk around the town. Our internet problems have been solved with a lot of $$. We are now unlimited on 4 devices no needing to sign in and out. We burned through our 4000 minutes due to our continued ignorance of the HA wifi. Now I can forward my good photos to my email so I can post them on FB. When I got kicked off I got back on but only dare to do so on my phone only. Thanks for doing the reports Roy! Prayers for Sarah, Tana, Kathi, Jacqui and for all others on our Care List and for the people of Ukraine. Pinnacle Grill food porn from last night. Halibut, steak tartare and crab cakes. We are truly lucky all food is top notch! Nancy

Thank you for doing all the reports for us Roy! I will be running off ship internet because we will be at sea for 2 days. No word on our evacuated passenger and the jellyfish parade alongside the ship continues. We went to the Ballestas Islands by open boat yesterday and the Candelabra glyph which was nice that last evening the captain took the ship off route to show all aboard this notable site. We saw many seals, waterbirds and dolphins. My good photos are on my non Facebook camera. We are loving this ship, food and service have been superb and all are thrilled with the 50% off all cocktails in 4 different bars throughout the pm. Ballestas, Candelabra and our Canaletto osso bucco last evening. Have a wonderful day. Check in tomorrow. Nancy

We are now on day 21 of 81 days on the Volendam. This is a charming older ship that is one of the last the HA has to easily enter small ports. Carpet may be faded in halls but furniture and seating is excellent. We sailed the New Statendam our last cruise. It is all about expectations. This ship was built in the 90s. We love this small ship. One of the old complaints was about the TVs which are now large flat screens. Only ding is ocean view has only one outlet for charging but our Vista Suite has three. Food and beverage on this ship is at the top of a any we have had in HA.

Good Monday morning. We had to have an evacuation last night. Once we cleared the port out Captain came on the mic and said we needed to evacuate someone and it would be attempted by boat. It was finally completed at around 8:30 just as the Ravens game was kicking off. I have no details other than what we could see port side aft. There was cooperation by nearby ships, a fishing trawler anchored near us lit up the side of the ship and other tugs assisted on the other side. Prayers for this person and for all on our Care List and the people of Dnipro Ukraine. Some photos of last evening and the masses of jellyfish drawn by the ship's lighting. Nancy

Another wonderful thing is they served a wonderful lunch with Pisco sours and nice Peruvian vino. The red was very nice.

We have the NFL playoffs in our cabin and in the Crow's Nest on the Volendam in Lima Peru.

@smitty34877 prayers for Tana. 🙏

Good Sunday morning. As predicted yesterday was a great day but very tiring. We boarded our bus at 8:30 and returned to the ship at 4:39. We visited a private art museum, the Pachamac ruins and a hacienda. It was designed to give us the best overview of the area in one day. Museo Larco was part museum part horticultural garden. Just the storage area had 45k pieces of pre-Columbian pottery and they were all large. The galleries had wood sculpture and metal pieces in addition to pottery. Next up was a long drive along the coast to get to the Incan ruins that were found in the desert by the ocean. It is now protected but the country is poor so the restoration has been slow. It has a border with a shanty town. Finally a beautiful hacienda out in the country for a Paso horse show and a delicious lunch. We drove a lot of the way back to the ship on the Pan-American highway. The night before dinner we had a nice walk around the Plaza de Las Armas and our dinner at Casa Aliaga. Heavy police presence throughout Lima area. Most protests are in the rural areas. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Nancy

@smitty34877thanks for the darling Camilla update.

Good Friday morning. We are nearing Callao and would think we may arrive a little early. Sad news for all booked to go overland to Machu Picchu have their tours cancelled due to continuing political unrest. All tours around Lima are a go. Tonight we board our tour bus for the 75 minute drive to Lima to have a private dinner at Casa Aliaga. One of the oldest European homes in South America it was built by the ruler of Peru, Pizarro. Then we will get to see the beautiful lights Lima is known for. We have an early start on Saturday when we go to Inca ruins and a Paso horse farm for lunch. We had the Cellar master dinner last night with lovely wines and terrific food. Usually we pass on these because of some foods I won't eat. I went over my "allergy" to truffles with waiter, chef and maitre d. Somehow my plate of beef and beet tartare had truffle oil so John ate most of it. The waiter came and owned up to it that the table numbers were redone for the dinner and my clean food went to table 4. Thankfully I am not allergic just hate the taste and smell. Prayers for all on our Care list, Sarah, Jacqui, Kathi and the people of Ukraine. Have a wonderful weekend.

Graham and Pauline @grapau27 prayers for Sarah and I am glad her surgeon recommended the injections. I hope they can begin soon. We ran into Linda in Manta yesterday toting a brand new aqua suitcase to replace her ruined one caused by luggage direct. So nice to make contact with a fellow Dailyite. Roy thank you for the Daily and the Care reports. Prayers for all who need them, Kathi, Jacqui and the people of Ukraine. We are off the northern coast of Peru with a day at sea. A great Pinnacle Grill dinner last night as the wine for my on going 70th birthday celebration continues. We tasted this wine out of barrel when we visited Cos in 1996. Our first of our carried on wine with dry aged Delmonico for me. John had a filet. Our sunrise this morning.

We had aft Neptunes for Alaska and Panama Canal on Oosterdam and Noordam and for the view these are the best. Only drawback is that some of the NS communication didn't make it back to our end. Volendam is so small the trip to the lounge would not be that far.

We are going to be in South America during the playoffs. Any feedback from the Oosterdam or Noordam getting an NFL feed for ships in the Pacific?

We are currently on the Volendam Grand South America 74 days with about 66 left. Our food and service is at pre pandemic quality. Each ship is different but our MDR, Lido, Pinnacle and Canaletto have been terrific. The breads and pastries are abundant and excellent. Food is hot when it arrives other than breakfast coffee in the MDR so we just get breakfast in the Lido. A lot of our staff are new but they work so hard to get our meals to us hot and plated beautifully. I can say the same for the Nieuw Statendam from last February. Sorry for an opportunity to drop some food porn. First two MDR last 4 Canaletto.

A recent Lasagna photo aboard the Volendam MDR. More from Turks and Caicos December 2022 on the Volendam.

@grapau27prayers for your Sarah!

Good morning from Manta, Ecuador. We crossed the Equator around 4 while all were asleep. We both are battling wifi issues because we had "vampire" Kindle readers eating up all our internet. I have been in Guest Services lines more than I ever have imagined. Our cruise has been wonderful so far other than a ship of sniffling, sneezing and coughing passengers battling bad colds. John is laid up with it currently. I am so glad I packed my nebulizer because I have been using it a lot. We had our Block Party last night and with free wines it was well attended and fun. Only thing that broke it up was it was Gala night and people had to get to dinner. Today we will walk around this fishing town and just relax. Food and service on this ship has been excellent and we are meeting some nice folks. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Photos sunrise at sea Tuesday,sloth reserve Gamboa Panama, Chaga (Crocodile) River Gamboa, Panama Canal viewing stands, last night's Gala dinner, Manta. Have a wonderful day! Nancy

We are past the first locks in the canal. We are inside because port side is frying us. I am still battling my cold and so glad I packed my nebulizer so I don't get bronchitis. Second time I had to go to my "what if" suitcase under the bed in 5 days. Day 2 I ripped my shin on the plywood corner of the bed so I had to fetch my wound care kit. Mishaps are over! I can't handle any heat though we did go on our Monster bus in Puerto Limon yesterday and it was well air conditioned and fun. Saw the poison dart frogs and a sloth in the wild. No monkeys but many pretty birds when I did my own excursion at our rest stop. Griping part 2. I did my feedback about lack of pm happy hours and I got a call yesterday afternoon from Fernando Chief Wine Steward and afternoon happy hours are returning . No it is still 50% off a couple of draft beers in Mix pre-dinner. Probably getting stale. It is 50% everything off in the 9-11 hours. Boo. I thought maybe it was to keep people from mingling prior to Covid testing but I guess not. Everyone on the Zuiderdam has to keep wearing theirs. We will have a relaxing day with canal transit and I hope that I am better tomorrow. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Have a nice Sunday. Nancy

Good Saturday morning. Prayers for all on our Care list including @JazzyV, @kazu and @Scrapnana. Thank you for the Daily and Fleet Reports Roy! We are at in Puerto Limon with the Zuiderdam. We have a shore excursion this afternoon to do a jungle tour. Sadly I have a bad cold so I had to drag my suitcase out from under our bed and get my nebulizer out. That is what I have to do whenever I get a respiratory infection. Thank God it isn't Covid. Our day yesterday. Canaletto, wine tasting and a beautiful sunset. Have a great Saturday! Nancy

Thanks for all your replies today. I can send some feedback that we are definitely an outlier and not directed by "corporate" to only have a night time happy hour. On a happier note the Volendam Mariner reception had free flowing sparkling, white and red wine. I am sure that many of us went back to our cabins for a bit of a nap and celebrating no more masks (we met our less than 2% threshold) and enjoying our Mariner reception. 🍾🍷

Printed in our Daily program. Responding to complaints I guess. 50% off some beers. Volendam Saturday events.

So sad to hear about Jacqui and Kathi. @kazu and @Scrapnana. Prayers for their speedy recoveries. Passed our Covid tests and less than 2% positive. Masks are off for now. 😀 A drunken afternoon with 3 and 4 Star reception on the heels of the 5 star reception. I think that Fernando the Chief WS said we went through 300 bottles Then the gratis wine tasting for 4+5 Star Mariners. We did get to the World Stage for the history of the Panama Canal. Everyone is having a.grand time. Some feedback on Happy Hour scheduling on BHBs. Waited for a wee bit more. Costa Rica tomorrow then our evening passage through the Panama Canal. Have a weekend! Nancy

Toot toot! 😂🙀

No deal on drinks makes for a dead.bar. A lively spot encourages more banter or casino time. Really lonely in Mix and casino. Might as well go back to cabin to rest up tomorrow. Boring.....