tennisbeforewine

Thursday, January 12, 2023

At Sea en route to Nuka Hiva

Yesterday was my favorite type of sea day.  I did a couple of French lessons, finished a book from the new library, and took a nap.  Not only that, but we had breakfast in the Pinnacle, a perk of either being in President’s Club (not quite yet) or staying in a Neptune Suite.  Because last evening was our first Chef and Sommelier Dinner, we decided to have a late breakfast, skip lunch, and then be in The Pinnacle Restaurant at 6:00 hungry.

We do enjoy specialty dinners.  Since our ship doesn’t have Tamarind or Sel de Mer restaurants, there is a “pop up” from those places once each segment.  In addition, there are always Cellar Master dinners, usually twice  each segment, one with a lovely gourmet menu and another with an Italian theme.  The prices vary, but we believe that it’s well worth it, especially for the wine pairings of the Cellar Master dinners.

Last night’s dinner lived up to our expectations.  The Cellar Master, Jacques Louw, a longtime friend, and the Executive Chef Neil Ashworth worked together to provide us with a really delicious six-course dinner, each course paired with a matching wine.

We began with a really nice French sparkling wine (not from the Champagne region, so it can’t be called that) paired with pan-fried foie gras.  I know it’s not to everyone’s taste, but we really enjoyed it.  The foie gras was atop a toasted brioche with mushroom duxelles and with orange jelly on the plate.  As I write this, I realize that it really doesn’t sound very good, but everyone at our table loved it and cleaned their plates.  I wondered at the orange jelly, but it was just perfect.

Next we were served a coffee cup of pumpkin-sage cappuccino with a hint of cinnamon.  The pumpkin was the dominant flavor, and even though I really dislike Starbucks’ pumpkin spice anything, I loved this one.  It was a bit like pumpkin pie in a mug.  The wine served with it was my favorite of the night, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.  The wines from Cloudy Bay are Jacques’ favorites, and although I don’t like their chardonnay, I did enjoy this one.

The fish course was really delicious.  It was three pieces of butter-poached lobster alongside a small crab cake.  The sauce underneath was made from fava beans, and it made for a pretty plate, but the sauce was not my favorite.  Since the accompanying wine was Grgich Hills Chardonnay from Napa Valley, I skipped that one and had more of the Sauvignon Blanc.  I’m an ABC wine drinker:  anything but chardonnay.

After all of that, it was finally time for the main course:  a roasted veal chop which looked like a mini-tomahawk steak.  The wine sauce added wonderful flavor and I ate what I could of it, but I realized I was hitting “full” on my capacity.  The wine with this one was a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Silverado.  This was a perfect main course, even though I couldn’t quite finish all of it.

Finally it was dessert time.  Oh my, was it delicious.  We had a small tart made of chocolate fudge with sea salt, ginger, and vanilla gelato.  Even though I couldn’t finish the veal chop, I had no problem with this one. The wine for the last two courses was Italian, Frescobaldi Pomino Viin Santo, a very pretty and very sweet pink wine served in small glasses.

Were we finished?  Of course not.  Now it was time for the cheese plate.  Even though we shared a plate, we didn’t even finish.  The cheeses, an aged cheddar and a blue, were accompanied by dried fruit, nuts, and a beautifully curved sweet cracker.  What a perfect finish.

The best thing about  these dinners is that the courses, although many, are quite small.  We try to do our best to eat most of it, but I certainly wasn’t hungry this morning.

We’ve book three more specialty dinners on this segment, so if we get off the ship weighing 300  pounds, I shouldn’t be surprised.

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

At Sea en route to Nuka Hiva, Marquesa

Today is the first of eight sea days, during which we will travel across the Pacific to French Polynesia.  If you’ve read my posts before, you know how much I love sea days.  There is basically nothing to do and all the time in the world to do it.  No cooking, no housekeeping - what could be better?  The only drawback is that the “internet footprint,” or the places where internet is easily available, is poor in the South Pacific, so if I miss a couple of days of posting, that will no doubt be the reason.

Yesterday our port was Fuerte Amador, the port for Panama City.  The last few times we’ve called here it was a tender port, when we had to take the ship’s tenders (lifeboats) into shore.  Now they have built a large two-sided pier, but the port is still very much under construction.  In fact, the construction is such that passengers are not allowed anywhere except on the dock to take shuttles into one of two places:  either the nearby restaurant area or the mall.  We simply chose the next shuttle, since it was hot and the lines were long.   Since it was headed to the mall, that’s where we went.

The mall here is amazing.  As basically a non-shopper, I don’t spend much time in stores, but boy, do I recognize names:  Gucci, Fendi, Dolce and Gabbana, Jimmy Choo, Cartier, Tiffany - you get the picture.  Even if I were a shopper, I don’t think the limits on my credit cards would take me far in those places.  One of the nicest surprises was the huge grocery store in the mall.  The prices were a bit steep, but I can imagine that they pay a great deal in rent.  We went there for tropical juices (to go with John’s Captain Morgan), and ended up with Pringles for our cabin stewards and Goldfish for our pre-dinner cocktail group.  We used to get Goldfish in the Crow’s Nest, but apparently that’s not something they stock anymore.

The weather report called for thunderstorms in the afternoon, and since we were back at the ship by 1:00, it was still blue and sunny.  Then came the afternoon.  I was sitting at the desk in front of our window doing Duolingo French lessons when the lightning and thunder started.  I could see the lightning and then hear the thunder about five seconds later, so I knew it wasn’t too near.  Then came the BIG one.  It was so loud that I jumped up from my seat.  About five minutes later, I had a text from John saying, “Lightning scared us off the court.  We’re on Deck 9.”  Then came an announcement from the captain saying that lightning had struct the ship and destroyed an antenna (which was one of several, so it was redundant).  When I joined John, Rich, and Greg on the aft deck, they told me that they were happily playing pickle ball when that bolt hit the ship, and it scared the heck out of them, especially when the smoke rose from the destroyed antenna.  Of course that begs the question:  why would anyone in their right mind play pickle ball on the top deck during a thunderstorm?  Even John called himself a “dumb ass” for that decision.

As we were talking about their experience, the captain came by and I commented to him that his announcement was a bit late, because these two, pointing at John and Rich, had been playing pickle ball when the lightning struck.  He laughed and said he was sorry to hear that and, to make everyone feel better, he was buying all four of us a round of drinks.  Did I ever say that Captain Friso was a great guy?

This morning signaled the grand opening of the new ship’s library in what was formerly the Screening Room on  Deck 3.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it contains well-selected books which are divided into sections:  fiction, biography, science fiction, etc.  Passengers may take two books (no check-out necessary) and return them when finished.  I think this is a great idea for long cruises, but I do have some concerns about whether unfinished books will be returned at the end of seven-day cruises.  My two choices were The Secret Lives of Church Ladies from the “new releases” section and Mrs Queen Takes the Train from the same area.

Can’t wait to start them.

Today is our first Sommelier Suites wine tasting at 12:00, just in time to be call pre-luncheon drinking.  We don’t usually do that, but our friend Jacques, the cellar master, can’t get another time slot, so 12:00 it is.  It gives us an opportunity to sample any of the wines on the three wine packages so as to decide what we want to order next at dinner.

I’m getting anxious to start on my new books, so I’ll sign off.  Life is good at sea, especially on sea days.

15 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

How were the Panama rolls?

Not only were the Panama rolls delicious (as usual), but we just saw a crocodile lying in the brown sand at the water's edge.  So cool!

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Transiting the Panama Canal

No matter how many times we sail through the Panama Canal, we are always amazed at the engineering that created it and sad to read that approximately 25,000 people died building it.  Finished in 1914, we sailed through it during its centennial year in 2014, and two years later Panama added a second canal alongside the first, resulting in a doubling of traffic, since it now accommodates wider and heavier ships.  Since the locks are 110 feet wide, the number of ships, primarily cargo vessels, was limited.  Our ship is 105.8 feet wide, allowing for two feet on each side.  Was it designed for the canal?  Of course.  If you wonder why a cruise through the canal seems expensive, it’s because it costs the company over a hundred thousand dollars for the privilege.

The original canal takes ships either from the Atlantic to the Pacific or vice versa, and does so by way of three sets of locks.  The challenge is to take a ship from one side, up to the higher level of Gatun Lake and then lower it first to Miraflores Lake and then to the Pacific.  One bit of trivia here:  the transit is not east/west or west/east; it’s actually north/south or south/north.  We’ve been sailing south all day.

We began this morning by going through Gatun Locks, which raises ships traveling toward the Pacific to the level of Gatun Lake.  There are three sets of chambers which raise the ship about 100 feet and take about two hours to traverse.  One of my favorite parts of the locks is watching the ships on the other side which are going the other way.  We often see people sitting on their balconies in bathrobes, having coffee and waving at us.

It’s easy to tell that this is a tropical area.  If the heat and humidity didn’t convince you, the bright green of the hills and trees would do it.  If one watches carefully, it’s possible to see the occasional monkey in a tree or even a caiman, a close but smaller relative of the alligator.  We’ve seen both in the past, but no such luck today.

After the first set of locks, the next memorable site was the Culebra Cut, an artificial channel which stretches eight miles across the Continental Divide.  Then, while we had lunch on deck, we transited Pedro Miguel Lock, which lowered us about 30 feet to enter Miraflores Lake.  There’s a visitor center here, but since we’re all remaining on the ship, I guess we’ll have to skip it.

As I write, it’s a little after 2:00, and we’re entering Miraflores Locks, our third set, and will spend a little over an hour descending 54 feet to the level of the Pacific Ocean.   I can see out our window that the “mules, “ or little trains, are busy pulling our ship into position in the first lock.  In the early days, actual mules were used to do this job, so when it was mechanized, the name stayed the same.

We’ve really enjoyed going through the locks alongside the m/s Volendam, which sailed from Ft. Lauderdale with us, parked alongside us in Puerto Limon, and is headed for its two-month round South America cruise.  We’ll also dock together in Fuerte Amador (for Panama City), and we hope to visit with a few friends - passengers, crew and officers - whom we know from previous cruises.

If you ever get a chance to sail through the Panama Canal, take it!    

P. S.  Loved the photos.  During lunch we were able to look down on the aft deck of the Volendam (it's shorter than we are) and see all the activity.  

January 7, 2023

Puerto Limón, Costa Rica

Although we’ve visited this port a few times, we never get tired of it.  The beauty of the countryside, the friendliness of the people, and the charm of the town always draws us back.  A few years ago, we took an excursion to Tortuguero National Park and enjoyed a boat ride on the canals there.  We watched for monkeys of all kinds, sloths (hanging around and living up to their name), beautiful tropical birds, crocodiles and caymans.

It was a beautiful boat ride, and we did see many of those creatures.

On this visit, we headed into town through the park.  We wandered through local markets, poked our heads into a few stores, and talked to a few locals, with my broken Spanish and their broken English.  Costa Rica is the most stable country in Central America, thanks to their Pura Vida (pure life) motto.  They abolished their military years ago to concentrate on things like education and health.  Tourism is very important and a major source of the country’s income.

Last evening was our first “Dressy” night.  HAL has decided that there will be a dressy night once a week, and then once a month a formal night.  Last night’s turnout showed what most passengers thought of that!  In the Ocean Bar, there was a sign saying “Tuxedo Junction” and virtually all the women were wearing gowns and the men tuxedos.  Throughout the ship we saw far more formal wear than what would be considered “dressy.”  I guess that most passengers, like me, keep a supply of formal wear for world cruises, and by golly, we’re going to wear them!

We were supposed to be mask-free after Costa Rica, but when the results of our covid self-tests were sent to Seattle headquarters, it was decided that we would be masked in indoor spaces until after Panama City.  We’re pretty used to them by now, and virtually everyone complies with the rule, even though we hear some complaining now and again.

Tomorrow is the Panama Canal, a transit we’ve done several times and which  always fascinates us.  According to the captain’s recent announcement, we’ll meet our canal pilot at about 5:30, but actually go through the first lock at 7;00.  I love watching the smooth mechanics of the locks and waving to the ships across from us, going the opposite direction.  The weather is always hot, but tomorrow we will have the treat of thunder showers and intermittent rain.  Fortunately our verandah is about half covered, so we should be able to remain dry.

The day after the canal will be Fuerte Amador, the port for Panama City.  It’s a fascinating city, looking like New York with its high-rises and not like the small town that it was on our first transit in 1967.  It will be our last port for six days, until we arrive in Nuka Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia.

It’s time to dress for dinner, but tomorrow I’ll give you a play-by-play of our transit of the Panama Canal.

Friday, January 6, 2023

At Sea en route to Costa Rica

If you have no other reason to go to Jamaica, go for the music.  As we disembarked the ship, we could hear wonderful reggae music and singing, and even if you don’t like reggae, it just really fits the place.  We arrived at Falmouth (home of Usain Bolt) at about 10:00 and as we got off, it started to rain.  Oh no, we thought, not the South Pacific again.  On our six-week Hawaii/South Pacific cruise in the fall, we had rain, and rain and rain.  In fact, after one day when it just sheeted down, the captain came on and said that in many years onboard ships, he’d never seen rain like that.

This rain just turned out to be a shower, and by the time I went back up to our cabin to get umbrellas, it had almost stopped.  Suddenly it was warm and sunny and it was time to see some of Falmouth.  There’s a gated area around the port where only passengers and registered local sales people are allowed and it was really crowded because there was a Princess ship docked next to us.

We bought our requisite postcard and then were directed to the post office, about a half mile away.  That took us out of the gated area and into the really interesting part of Falmouth.  We enjoyed seeing local shops and having people tell us a bit about the history of the city.  There’s a park which used to be a local “watering hole,” and of course now it’s called Water Park.

When we found the post office, we were happy that the clerk would take American currency for the necessary stamps.  We wrote the card, affixed the stamps (really pretty ones), and dropped it in the box outside.

John’s plantar fasciitis, which he’s had since last spring, is limiting our walking, so after the post office it was time to head back to the ship where he could rest his feet.  We had lunch in the lido (it was taco day!) and then, plantar fasciitis or not, John met up with Rich for an hour and a half of pickle ball.  Oh well.

One of our few disappointments about the Zuiderdam - after the Amsterdam - is that the Crow’s Nest is just not what it was.  After dark, instead of having a The  Station Band playing lively dance music and people jostling for seats, it’s quiet and one of our friends said he went up there and found only two people.  I do realize this is a First World problem, but we had to find a new bar for cocktails before dinner.  We’ve settled primarily on the Ocean Bar, but we occasionally frequent the Gallery Bar, a venue which is reminiscent of an English country house with walls filled with lovely paintings.  It’s fairly hidden away behind the casino, so it’s a great place to go when we just want a quiet drink.

The only excitement of the evening was that we changed dining tables.  Our first choice of tables was on Deck 2 in an area which is raised from the rest of the room and only accessible by three stairs.  Unfortunately, our friend Handler is in a walker now and has trouble with stairs, so our old friend and former waiter Tomo invited us to his station and that’s where we are now.

We had, as usual, a wonderful time at dinner, enhanced by the addition of one of Ginni’s White Russian cakes.  She had baked two of them at home, one for our table (and waiters) and one for the staff.  It was delicious, and even though the alcohol bakes out, it was easy to taste the Kahlua in the cake.

In answer to a question about our stateroom, we have been very, very fortunate on this cruise.  When folks were required to disembark in Perth in 2020, one of the future perks was guaranteeing a one-level upgrade on the next world cruise.  We booked a verandah, so we were upgraded to a Signature Suite,  a large and very comfortable accommodation.  Just two weeks before the cruise, however, the Upgrade Fairy struck, and we received a further upgrade to a Neptune Suite.  It’s large and incredibly comfortable and we feel really lucky to have it.  I did remind John, however, that unlike our first world cruise, this really WAS a once in a lifetime opportunity and not to get too comfortable.  We’ve added the newly available four-drawer chest to one empty wall and had our room stewards put the (also) newly available bar to a space next to our front door.  I’m not sure I like having our clothes handing right at our door, but it does solve a lot of problems.

This morning was our required covid test, for which every passenger was given a self-test with instructions.  We had a half-hour window to test ourselves and then show the results to our room stewards, who recorded either positive or negative.  Fortunately, we’re both negative.

I guess those masks really do help.   

So . . . we’re very lucky ducks and we really do appreciate our good fortune.  Thanks for following along, and I’ll look forward to having you check in with comments or questions.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

At Sea en route to Falmouth, Jamaica

Ahhhh!  That’s the sound of a passenger who finally folded her last tee shirt and hung up her last “dressing for dinner” outfit.  Why oh why do we always bring too much?

We enjoyed our second day in Ft. Lauderdale, both because of running into cruise friends and seeing the members of our cruise agency staff, including Tom Bauman, whom we’ve know for several years.  Monday night was our agency’s Bon Voyage dinner at a wonderful venue which isn’t a restaurant but only does catering and special events - which we certainly were.  It was really special to each of us.  One of the highlights of the evening was spending time with our favorite captain, Jonathan Mercer, along with his wife Karen.  We’d spent time together on previous world cruises, so it was wonderful to see them again.

After we returned to the hotel, we talked with Rich and Ginni and decided that since we all hate 50-passenger busses (anyone else?) that we’d call for an Uber.  The cruise agency bus was to leave the hotel at 10:30, so we arranged the Uber for 10:00 to avoid crowds in the lobby.  We were lucky enough to be in check-in group A at 11:00, so when we arrived at 10:15 we were surprised to receive a warm welcome and join a very short line.

That morning, John had spent about an hour and a half and a great deal of frustration completing our VeriFly on-line information, since we’d been told by previous cruisers that it would make check-in much smoother.  Not only did the officials there not want to see our online app, but some of them had never even heard of VeriFly.  Oh well, our paperwork was in good order as were our vaccination and booster certificates, so we sailed right through.  We know of at least one person who forgot his yellow fever certificate (required for West Africa), so it took him quite a bit longer to get through the line, having had to telephone the medical office where he’d been inoculated and have them fax the proper information.

Arriving at our cabin felt wonderful, since we knew we were now really ready for this 128-day adventure.  The only thing missing was our luggage, the six bags that had been picked up by Luggage Forward on December 14 and send to the ship awaiting our arrival.  The first three delivered were all John’s, so in the late afternoon, just before the sailaway party, John was completely unpacked and “tucked away” when my first bag arrived.  I had about half of that one complete when it was time to go to sailaway, and the other two arrived just before dinner.  We were so tired that unpacking after dinner was not on the agenda, and I finished this morning.  Our cabin now looks like two quite civilized people live here, even though the closets are stuffed to the gills.  One nice addition this year was the possibility of asking for a four-drawer portable chest of drawers as well as a five-foot hang-up bar which is attached to the ceiling by incredibly strong magnets.  Those two items made our unpacking possible.

It’s wonderful to have a sea day today, and tomorrow we’ll be in Falmouth, Jamaica, followed by yet another sea day (my favorite kind).  I’ll try to make sure my posts are more frequent than this one, now that we’re on our way.

Monday, January 2, 2022

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Negative 1 day to World Cruise

After two bumpy rides, we arrived safe and sound in Ft. Lauderdale, picked up our luggage and took a taxi to the Renaissance Hotel which our cruise agent, Cruise and Travel Experts, have provided in FLL.  They’ve had us here before, and we love not only the hotel but the area in which it’s located.  We’re in easy walking distance to The Boat Yard (our favorite FLL restaurant), Panera, Ross, TJ Max and, most importantly, Lab Doctor, where we now are the proud owners of two negative covid tests.  While other cruise lines are skipping the tests, and Holland America doesn’t require them on any other cruises, we have to be negative to board the world cruise.  We also are required to “mask up” for the first three days of the cruise in any public areas.  We really don’t mind these restrictions, because there’s nothing as annoying on a cruise as being quarantined.

As we walked into the hotel last night, we met our friends Martha and Bob going out, headed to The Boat House, where we joined them about a half hour later.  The weather is so nice that we sat outside and enjoyed 78 degrees alongside the waterway.

Later, we stayed in the lobby to welcome our friends Leslie and Handler, who had just flown in from  Austin.  Today’s arrivals will be our other table mates, Rich and Ginni, who will arrive momentarily.

We’ve picked up our “goodie bag” from our travel agent’s table and are all ready for the pre-cruise celebratory dinner tonight.  Every time we walk through the lobby we run into world cruise friends.  Actually, one of the top three benefits of a WC is getting together again with friends with whom we’ve cruised for years.  They’re from our state (California), other states, and even other countries, and we just love spending four months in such good company.

You may wonder what the other two of the top three benefits are.  From my personal point of view, the two are no cleaning or cooking for four months and, more importantly, seeing parts of the world that we had, as kids and young adults, only dreamed of seeing.  Who would have thought that we’d ride on an elephant in India or a camel next to the pyramids in Egypt?  Speaking of Egypt, I never expected to see the sunrise over the Great Pyramid and then walking inside it to the topmost chamber.

There are such wonderful sights in our world and on this cruise we hope to add more.

One of the areas that we haven’t explored much is western Africa, and that will be a new experience to which we’re really looking forward.  We’ll call at several new countries:  Angola, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, and Senegal.  We have a couple of independent tours set up, but we still need to do more research to decide exactly what we want to see.

As always, we’re excited that tomorrow is sail away day, and I’ll be keeping you up to date on where we are, what we see, and the best of our experiences.  Stay tuned!

Well folks, it's been three long years of Covid and no world cruises, but we're finally back and ready to join in 2023.  We're on our way to the ship, after a trying time at home.  Just in time for departure, our roof sprung a leak and started dripping water into the dining room.  Although we're in the middle of a mega-drought, and we need rain badly, why does it have to come in buckets?  

Our lovely house sitter Alicia managed to climb up into the attic, find the source of the leak (which we've been seeking for three years), call our friend Steve, and arrange to have it fixed tomorrow.  What a relief.

There was also some concern about just getting to Florida.  Our routing is San Luis Obispo to San Francisco (for an overnight) and then SFO to  Ft. Lauderdale.  There are only two flights from San Luis to SFO, and a couple of days ago John suggested we change our afternoon flight to the morning flight.  What a good idea!  Yesterday, the morning flight left 3-1/2 hours late and the afternoon flight was simply cancelled - all because of weather problems in San Francisco.  This morning, our only problem was a 20-minute delay and we were off and away.  Were our problems over?  Of course not.  We've seldom had such a rough flight.  I guess it's ironic that we love it when the ship encounters rough seas, but when the plane begins to bounce, we both grab for the armrest.  

Finally we arrived at SFO, and with reservations at the Grand Hyatt built into the airport, we didn't even have to go outside to access our room.  They were nice enough to find us a room at 10:30 this morning, so we were able to get what we needed out of our one bag and go for a sandwich in the bar.  Then it was time for a blissful 2-hour nap.  You may ask why we only had one bag each.  One of the joys of a world cruise is that most passengers (depending on cabin), have luggage pickup service.  Therefore, on December 14, a nice UPS driver came and picked up our six pieces of luggage, which we won't see until we walk into our cabin on the ship.  

This afternoon was college football on TV for John and Duolingo French lessons for me.  Now I know what it's like to be at the bottom on the class!  We thought we'd go back to the bar for dinner, but Quail and Crane, the excellent pan-asian restaurant, had a cancellation and we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner.  Because it's New Year's Eve, we were served a glass of excellent California sparkling wine before digging in to our pork dumplings and a bowl of fried rice that we couldn't begin to finish.  

Now our only worry is to go to bed right after the ball drops in New York at 9::00 so we can be up at 5:00 to check in at 6:00 for our 8:00 non-stop flight to Ft. Lauderdale.  

We're returning to returning to the Zuiderdam, since we were aboard for the Hawaii/South Pacific Cruise in the fall and we're looking forward to seeing the wonderful crew and officers that we've known from many previous cruises.  We're also curious to see the changes made in dry dock as well as the upgrades that are always evident on world cruises.  Most of all, we're looking forward to reconnecting with world cruise friends we've made over the years.  

Thanks so much for the pickleball video, Pete. Wind is definitely a factor. We tried playing on the Amsterdam as we sailed around South America on the 2020 WC —not a good idea! 

Yes, there are PB paddles provided and the announced time was usually at 9 am, but one could play at other times if no other sports’ activities scheduled. 

8 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Hi John and Diane,  Thanks for checking in.    

 

We are in 8070 and we can hear the elevator chime and the occasional trolley rolling overhead in the lido.   It doesn't bother us.   But we live in a condo and are used to more noises probably than most.   

 

But - you can definitely hear the trolleys.   I was in the Navy and slept under a catapult for 7 months and Judy sleeps thru ships alarms - so we aren't bothered by noises.    It's not loud or persistent like being under the BB King, but it is noticeable.    It's not worth it to us to pay for the 6th floor.   Plus we enjoy being so close to the Lido - easy to pop up and get coffee or hot water etc....

 

I'll check on the pickleball later - I'll pass on your regards to Henk

 

 

 

Thanks! 

Hey Pete and Judy, 

Once again your posts, photos and information updates are great, especially the news about next year’s WC and the staff that’s going to be aboard. If you see Henk, please tell him hello from John and Diane. I think that you said you are on deck 8 just under the Lido. We have a guarantee for 2023 but no definite room assignment yet. I was wondering how the noise was—one of us is a light sleeper and the other can sleep through any. Another question if you have time: I’m a pickle ball player and am curious to how the wind seems to be up there. The sports deck on the Amsterdam wasn’t great, but on the newer ships not too bad. Again thanks for your great blog. I think we last saw you guys at the hotel at the Sydney Airport before flying home—what an adventure! 

Monday, February 21, 2022

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

What?!  Ft. Lauderdale?  Yes, that’s where we are and will be until Wednesday, the 23rd, when we fly home.  What’s up?  Covid.  With back to back cruises, each passenger who is continuing on the next week must have a covid test two days before the changeover.  Well, last Friday, we showed up for our tests and a half hour later, John received the phone call that no one wants.  He was told that the rapid test had been positive, but that one of the medical staff would come by to administer a PC-R test.  Well, guess what?  That was positive too.  Mine, however, was bright and shiny negative.

John had an hour to put together what he wanted to take into quarantine with him, and in less than half that time, he was completely packed, because we knew we’d have to disembark in Ft. Lauderdale.  John’s new “home” was about 15 cabins down from ours, and when I got off the next day with Rich and Ginni, John leaned over his balcony and waved at us.

The rule has been that if you test positive, you must disembark at the next port.  The next day, however, the rules changed.  Now only a 5-day quarantine is necessary, and if John tested positive on Day 5, he’s be “out of prison” and could stay on board until that day.  That made us very happy and all I had to do was change the date of John’s birthday dinner at the Pinnacle from the 22nd to the 25th.  We were sooo excited.

THEN, the other shoe dropped.  The Chief Medical Officer called John for a chat.  He explained that he has never had a Covid patient test negative on Day 5, but that even if he did, he could not eat at any of the restaurants on the ship for a total of 10 days.  Bummer!  Our choice, at that point, was to hope that John would test negative on Wednesday, but then have to eat in our cabin for the rest of the cruise, or to disembark and spend his last three days of quarantine in a Ft. Lauderdale hotel.  So . . . we decided to disembark and, after spending three days in beautiful downtown Ft. Lauderdale, fly home.

Having decided that, we found out from Mary Ann’s blog that the ship pays for the hotel and allows $100/per person/per day for meals.  That sounded pretty good until our driver dropped us off at what looked like the No-Tell Motel.  We decided that it was probably built in the 50’s and hadn’t had much of anything done to it since then.  The room was decorated in several shades of brown (none attractive), and contained two queen-size beds and not much else.  The young lady who checked us in told us, “You can’t leave your room.  We send you three meals a day.”  I asked if we were given a menu and she told us that the two choices were “take it or leave it.”  (not really, but that was pretty much it).  In addition, this hotel is used for overnight stays for cruise groups and busses are provided to take them to the cruise port.  The man in charge of this operation had a bullhorn in his hand and knew how to use it.  He thought he was pretty funny, too, because he just kept on talking.  The groups and their leader were in the front of the hotel, but somehow his spiel was broadcast to the garden/pool area where our room was located.  All in all, it was not a pretty picture.

That was it!  I tried to get in touch with the ship with no luck, but we asked Rich and Ginni and Leslie and Handler to go find our new BFF Kenneth (the Guest Relations Manager) and ask him to please, please, please do something about this.  We really aren’t terribly picky, but moving from a Vista Suite on the ship to this place was not what we had in mind.  About two hours later we received a phone call from a lovely young lady in Seattle, Mary Beth.  She told us that she cringes every time she sees that HAL is still using the (unnamed) hotel.  She gave us wonderful news, though.  We could check out and choose a hotel of our own and HAL would still cover it.  Bliss!  It only took about 15 minutes to find a really nice hotel (well under HAL’s limit of $300/day), call a Lyft, and head out.

Once settled into a really nice suite-type room, we ordered room service and that was it.  We were two happy campers.  We know that we are to eat all meals in our room, which is fine by us, but we can use Uber-Eats or any other meal delivery service to feed us.  The rules also say that we can walk outside for fresh air, and we do a lot of that, too, but John stays out of stores and I go in to buy whatever we need.

While we’d much rather be onboard the ship, the chances are that John would be in quarantine all week and I’d be hosting his birthday dinner without him. That just wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t even be able to visit with Jane and Bill, who flew down from North Carolina to join us.   On Wednesday we spend John’s actual birthday flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Denver to San Luis Obispo.  After all of this, I am really looking forward to being in my own house again.  We’ll continue to isolate in the house for a total of 10 days (from testing date), but it will at least be home.

Thanks for following along.  I realize that this blog leaves quite a bit to be desired, but it is the most unusual cruise(s) we’ve ever been on,  Thanks for your patience and for following along

Friday, February 18, 2022

At Sea en route to Bimini, Bahamas

Boy, has today been a day!  John was feeling better from his cold this morning, so after we had breakfast we headed to our 8:15 covid test appointment, which is required before doing a turnaround for back to back cruises.  And then it started.  The phone rang about a half hour later with a message that a member of the medical staff would be making a “house call” for a PCR test for John (not for me).

Sure enough, a nice nurse showed up, had John swab the nose again, and told us she’d call in about a half hour either way.  Well . . . it was a positive test, so John was asked how much time he’d need to pack things together.  We still have no idea where he was infected, but at this point it really doesn’t matter.  He found out that the quarantine time was now five days, so they said he’d be in a quarantine cabin for the remaining two nights of this week’s segment and then be required to stay in a hotel on shore for an additional three nights - at HAL’s expense.

Our first response was “Oh No” (not exactly in those words).  Next week is the official birthday week and we not only have a wonderful table reserved in the Pinnacle for the birthday celebration, but our friends Bill and Jane are flying down from North Carolina to help celebrate.

Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.  John moved into his quarantine cabin, learned how to use in-room dining, and it turns out he’s only about 15 rooms down the hall - behind the DO NOT ENTER door.

Then things changed.  Late this afternoon I received a phone call from Kenneth, the Guest Relations Manager, who told me that the rules changed this morning at about 10:00.

We now had two options:  do his two days on board, transfer to a local hotel for three nights, and then fly home OR do all five days ON BOARD, be retested on the 5th morning (Aruba - John’s actual birthday) and as long as he’s negative, he’s free to escape quarantine.  If he still tests positive, they’ll test him daily until he tests negative.  I gave him the choices, and it took him about five seconds to bet on Aruba!

So . . . we’re staying on, either half and half quarantine or (heaven forbid) 9 days in quarantine.  As you can imagine, we’re praying daily for a negative test on Day 5, and I’ll be letting you know how things are going.  The birthday dinner has been moved from February 22 to February 25 and we’re hoping that all eleven of us are healthy and ready to party.  Stay tuned.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Amber Cove (Puerta Plata), Dominican Republic

Yesterday was an interesting day, when we spent a couple of hours with Hyacinth, our driver/guide, circumnavigating the island of Grand Turk.   We learned that Grand Turk, is only one of the three Turks.  In addition, there are seven Caicos islands, and most tourism takes place there, primarily on the island of Providenciales.  We also learned that Carnival Corporation had purchased a section of beach, dug it out, and built tourist-type shops.  Included in the area is a large Margaritaville complex, with a restaurant (lines out the door), hotel, and enormous pool with tile at one end and a “beach” at the other.   

We passed through the shops to the taxi stand, where we found a taxi/van driven by Hyacinth.  She was a wonder; while navigating the narrow roads of the island, she told us the history of the place and all about what we were seeing.  The island is only about seven miles long and a mile and a half wide.  It was hit by a severe hurricane a couple of years ago and because of its flat geography, has not fully recovered.  The double whammy of hurricane and covid have pretty much devastated the island, and tourism only began mid-December of last year.  Regardless of their circumstances, however, the residents are open and friendly, Hyacinth being one of the best examples.

After we returned to the port area, we decided it was time for lunch.  Our friends Bill and Jane had recommended that we try Jack’s Shack, about a half mile down the powdered sand beach.  We were lucky enough to grab the last table out on the sand, and then find some menus.  We skipped the hamburger/fried fish section and decided that, since we’d never had them, that conch (konk) fritters were going to be our lunch.  When I picked them up, they were fresh out of the deep fryer and served with a dipping sauce that was hot enough to burn my lips off.  In a word, they were delicious.  Thanks, Jane and Bill.

Last evening was an amazing celebration.  Jeff Farschman, whom we’ve known since 2008, celebrated his 3000th day on board an HAL ship.  That doesn’t include purchases; it’s just feet on deck.  He was inducted into President’s Club several years ago (at 1400 days), but we’ve been told that there is no one currently sailing who has 3000 or more.  Jeff spends about seven months a year at sea, so it will take him about four more years to get to 4000 - and he’s counting on it.  There were nine of us at The Tamarind restaurant to help Jeff celebrate, and midway through dinner about 20 officers joined us to even further enliven the celebration.  It was a wonderful evening.

Today we called at Amber Cove, another HAL-created port with a large visitor center, several restaurants, a pool, zip-lining, and several other activities.  We wandered around the port, but since it seems that John has caught my miserable cold (his first in two years), we really weren’t in the mood to go further afield.  The next time we call here, though, I’m jumping on that zip-line, grabbing a seat at the swim-up bar, and maybe even renting a kayak, an activity I really enjoy.

Tomorrow is a sea day, leading up to Bimini, Bahamas, on Saturday and back to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday.  The days seem to rush by, and after Sunday, we’ll only have one more week to go.

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands

First of all, let me apologize for so many days without a post.  I have been fighting a really rotten cold and haven’t really had the energy to do much except blow my nose and take some really world-class naps - and no, it’s not covid.  I’ve had this problem before with air conditioning, and it has raised its ugly head again.  Today, however, not only am I going to try to catch up, I’m feeling much better and plan to go ashore with friends.

Sunday was a good day, since we had five of our best cruise friends come aboard.  Leslie and Handler arrived mid-day, while Jeff, Ann and Cathy came onboard earlier in the morning, having taxi-ed over from the Zuiderdam.  They’re on for six or seven months (!!!), and just transfer ship to ship to ship to accommodate their travels.  Leslie and Handler will be joining us at our table for dinner, but Jeff, Ann and Cathy prefer anytime dining.

During this week’s cruise Jeff, who has been in President’s Club for quite some time, is observing his 3000th day on board. “ How can anyone do that?” you may ask.  The key, I believe, is staying onboard for about seven months of every year.  He will be celebrating with dinner at the Tamarind this evening, and eight of us (our table of six as well as Ann and Cathy) will be joining him.  I don’t know if he’s HAL’s passenger with the most days, but if not, he’s certainly close.

It was wonderful to see everyone dressed up for the Valentine’s Day Gala Night.  John pointed out to me while we were deciding what to pack that my red Valentine’s Day gown was one that I’d had since 2008 and that it was time to find a new one.  That translates to “Check out Nordstrom online.”  I actually found two that I thought I’d like, so I ordered them both, since Nordstrom makes it so easy to return things.  The one I thought I’d just love was a disappointment; I don’t think that neck to ankle sequins are appropriate at my age.  The one that I was sure I would dislike was really quite nice, so that is what I packed.

On short cruises - and most people are on these for one week - the concept of “gala night” is quite different than on the long cruises that we’re used to.  One of our friends commented that on a recent short West Coast cruise she had to speak to the maitre d’ to have him ask a man to leave the main dining room.  What was he wearing on Gala Night?  A tee-shirt and shorts.  Even on non-formal nights, men are asked to wear collared shirts and shorts are NOT allowed.

We met, as usual, in the Ocean Bar, since our beloved Crow’s Nest is just so different now.  I’ve added a couple of photos of our Valentine’s Day outfits.  Then we proceeded to the dining room, where I had decorated the table with all kinds of Valentine’s candy.  Those in front of Ginni’s place were non-chocolate, however, as she is highly allergic - poor thing.  No See’s candy for her.

Today the six of us are meeting at 10:00 to find a taxi-van to tour the island.  We don’t plan to be out more than about three hours since it’s a fairly small island.  I don’t know whether lunch will be on shore or back on the ship, but I do plan for one of my wonderful naps.  My cold is almost gone, but the rest will do me good.

Tomorrow is Amber Cove (Puerta Plata) in the Dominican Republic, a country we’ve never visited.  The other side of the island of Hispaniola is the nation of Haiti, and we’ve been there, but it’s always good to add another country to our list.

Regarding the number of passengers next week, we were told that the number is now 1200 - down a hundred.  Love it! That's 44% of capacity.

Friday, February 11, 2022

Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

As much as I love small ports, it’s ever so much better to actually dock instead of having to tender.  When we pulled up at the Cozumel dock this morning we were only somewhat surprised to see three other ships here, one Carnival and one Royal Caribbean and one too far away to tell.  I guess with Caribbean ports being limited, ships go where they can.

We had a leisurely morning on the ship while hundreds of people headed off to shore excursions - everything from deep-sea fishing to zip-lining to archeological tours to scuba diving.  It’s lovely when you feel that you’re the only people on the ship.  We didn’t want to break our record of never having skipped getting off at a port, however, so at about 11:30 it was time to head into town for some walking around and lunch.  I swear, there are more diamond stores here than any place I’ve ever been.  Fortunately I’m not an avid jewelry person, but it was fun to window shop and I was able to perfect my greeting of “No, gracias.”  Along the way John found a new tee-shirt and we found a post card for our granddaughter.  We have a tradition which began in 2008 on our first world cruise which has us sending her a post card from every port.  By now her collection is sizable, but it warms our hearts to know that at age15 she still keeps them in her “treasure box.”    

The choices are extensive for lunch, and while we looked around we realized that although we’ve seen dozens of them, we’d never eaten at the (apparently) very popular Señor Frog, so it was time to play the full tourist card and head in.  We discovered a couple of things:  eating here, while the food is pretty good, is all about “the show” put on by the servers.  If it’s your birthday or anniversary, be prepared to have the entire crew come to your table, sing loudly, put balloon animals on your head, and generally be the center of attention.  Even though John’s birthday is next week, he threatened me with death and dismemberment if I told anyone.  He hates, above all, to be the center of attention.

The drinks, for those of you who haven’t had this wonderful tourist experience, come in a glass called a “yard.”  There’s a bulb at the bottom and then it narrows into the neck which is about 22-24 inches tall.  I’m still not sure why they call it a yard, but I guess when they began it actually was a yard tall.  I’ve looked it up and found out that it contains 28 ounces, so that’s how much La Paloma John had.  (BTW, the La Paloma is actually the Mexican national drink.  The margarita has American origins).  He said it was pretty strong, but I had limited myself to a Diet Coke, and I couldn’t even finish that.  The tacos were pretty good, but we probably enjoyed the show as much as anything.

Then it was back to the ship for a nap before John headed out to pickle ball and I began writing.  In answer to a question about pickle ball and wind, John said that it depends on the location of the court.  Since this court is a bit sheltered, he said today was the first time they noticed any wind problem.  On the (old) Amsterdam, the court was right at the top of the ship, so wind was almost always a problem.  It also depends on the location of the ship, since mid-ocean can be pretty windy.  Hope that helps.

We knew to expect it, but today we received our notice that our Covid 19 test will be tomorrow at 9:45 AM, as is expected of passengers on back to back cruises.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

This evening is dinner at the Pinnacle, postponed from last night.  We’re looking forward to it, since the food really is excellent.  I’ll be reporting on it tomorrow, our sea day before Ft. Lauderdale.  We’re really looking forward to FLL, because our friends and table mates Leslie and Handler are joining us for the remaining two weeks of our cruise.  It’s always better to cruise with friends.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Belize City, Belize

We dropped anchor in Belize, which used to be British Honduras, at about 7:00 this morning, and found that we’d have ferries from the shore to tender us there.  John and I had booked an archeological tour to Altun Ha, a Mayan city discovered only about 60 years ago.  Before we headed to the ruins, however, we had a spectacular boat ride up the Wallace River through incredibly tropical surroundings.

During our 90-minute boat ride, we saw dolphins (who love to “surf” the wake), howler monkeys, manatees, a huge sleeping crocodile, insect bats, and some iguanas.  Life is never boring on this river.  We disembarked at “The Iguana Stop,” a small cafe/shop/iguana station.  While our tour description had assured us that “Lunch is not included,” we arrived to a plate of grilled chicken, salad, and beans and rice, washed down with fruit punch.  After a chance to eat, check out the local wares, and have a “comfort stop,” we boarded a bus to take us to Altun Ha.

While driving through the jungle of trees and plants on the way, it’s easy to see how an entire stone city, complete with pyramids, failed to be discovered for almost 1100 years.  Apparently it was first inhabited  from 1000 BC to 200 AD, with the earliest monumental construction in about 100 BC.  Most of the structures, however, date to a period from 200-600 AD.  The site began its slow decline in about 900 AD and was abandoned over the next 300 years.  After a local hurricane about 60 years ago, the local people were looking for stones to rebuild their homes and found that many of those stones seemed to be part of other buildings.  This led to archeological exploration beginning in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Altun Ha contains two main complexes with smaller residential areas.  The most important building is called Structure B4, where several royal tombs were found.  Among the funerary objects found there was a solid jade sculpture, the largest piece of jade  found in the Maya world.  It was a head of the Sun God and weighs nearly 11 pounds.  It’s so valuable that it’s kept in the Belize Central Bank.

For John, the most exciting part of this visit was that he climbed to the top of this temple, from which he had a wonderful view of the entire area.  I climbed about 1/3 of the way, but my fear of heights got the better of me, and I gave it up.

Our one-hour bus ride back to the dock ensured that we were happy to be on a ship’s tour, because even though we climbed on board an hour late, the ship waited for us.  I know that HAL always includes that in their shore excursion ads, and we’ve never had this problem on our independent tours, but they do actually wait for their passengers.

Tomorrow is Cozumel, and we’re looking forward to a nice Mexican lunch and perhaps even a margarita.

Regarding the number of passengers, this week it’s about 1600 (60%), but next week we’ve been told it’s about 1300 (48%). This week has been very comfortable, so next week should be even more so. 

We were tested at Lab Doctor which did a Covid-19 antigen rapid test for $49.00.  The results were ready in about 20-30 minutes and happily accepted by HAL, since it was a "supervised" test.  They do not allow home tests unless they're the kind where someone on the computer supervises you. 

The office is across the street and down one block from the Embassy Suites, where we were staying.  The exact address is 1425-A SE 17th Street, Ft Lauderdale, and it's part of a small shopping area.

Hope this helps.  BTW, I'll be checking with the front desk on how many passengers there will be next week.  

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Falmouth, Jamaica - Home of Usain Bolt

One of the things I like about the larger ships is the choice of restaurants.  There are several from which to choose:  The Pinnacle, Sel de Mer, Canaletto, New York Deli and Pizza, The Grand Dutch Cafe, and the Dive-In.  Our very favorite, however, is the wonderful Tamarind with a “Pan Asian” menu of such treats as satay, shrimp tempura, Chinese five-spice baby back ribs and crab legs, among others - and that’s just for appetizers.  Main courses include cashew barramundi with red Thai curry, Szechuan shrimp, red curry coconut chicken, Mongolian barbecue lamb chops and vegetable tempura - again, among others.

It’s always good to run into crew members we’ve known in the past, and last night was no exception.  We spent quite a bit of time speaking with our wine steward, Edward, whom we’d known from a previous cruise as well as the Tamarind manager whom we’d met on the 2016 Koningsdam.    

Besides the food, I love the ambiance of the place.  It’s a bit dark and remains fairly quiet.  Overlooking the Sea View Pool and the ocean, it’s a beautiful place to eat.  That’s what we chose for our dinner last night, and we just loved it.  As one is seated, a hot towel is put in front of the diner and a small cup of green tea is poured to “cleanse the palate.”  Then it was down to business:  looking over the menu for the best choices.

John and Rich had exactly the same first two courses:  the baby back ribs and the red curry coconut chicken.  Ginni opted for the shrimp tempura and the barramundi, and I had the satay and the lamb chops.  Of course food was shared across the table and we enjoyed everything we ate.  There are five “side dishes,” and while we thought we remembered having to choose among them, in actuality all five were brought to the middle of the table to share.  I loved the bok choi, but my favorite was the Dungeness crab fried rice. We had all saved room for dessert, and shared those, too. Rich and John enjoyed their mango posset, I had the passion fruit cloud, and Ginni had the three house-made sorbets.   I’ll add some photos of our choices at the end of this post.  I think it goes without saying that it was a wonderful meal and I’d recommend it in a heartbeat.

Although I love sea days, today’s port and our choice of activity were almost as good.  We opted for the ship’s shore excursion to the Bamboo Beach Club, a 20-minute drive away.  Our guide for the drive was a charming Jamaican young lady named Sanique who kept us entertained by teaching us how to speak “Jamaican style.”  The Beach Club is  a funky little place with a nice beach, fairly good snorkeling, and some great rum punch and jerk chicken.  While we relaxed on our lounge chairs, we watched several of the staff dance on the beach to reggae music.  For about two and a half hours, we consumed the beverages which were served, and then enjoyed a plate with jerk chicken, jerk fish, yellow rice, and cornbread.  There was a dessert of banana bread pudding with ice cream offered, but we’d had way too much to eat and took a pass on it.  We had the added benefit of meeting a fellow passenger who had also been on the 2020 “half-world cruise.”  John had already met another 2020 world cruiser while playing pickle ball.   The Beach Club  was such a relaxing place that it was almost like a sea day.

After we returned, John and Rich decided some pickle ball was called for, but after playing for about five minutes, the rain came down, so they adjourned to the Sea View Bar for a beer.  All in all, it’s been a great day.

Monday, February 7, 2022

At Sea en route to Falmouth, Jamaica

Ahhhhh, a sea day.  There’s nothing to do but sleep late, go to the gym, and do whatever you like, and what a beautiful place to do it.  We are very happy to be on the Rotterdam, and it is everything we hoped it would be.  As the newest ship in the HAL fleet, everything is bright and shiny, and the crew makes sure it stays that way.  We have had the pleasure of meeting with crew members we’ve known from other ships (primarily the Amsterdam), and it’s like old home week when we recognize each other.  The ship is very strict about Covid protocols, with reminders from the captain as he makes his daily updates, and passengers are reminded to “mask up” by staff throughout the ship.  We were taking photos of one of our favorite former crew members, and when we asked him to briefly remove his mask, he told me that if he did that he’d be in danger of losing his job.  I believe the Covid numbers on this ship are lower than any other, and we can certainly see why.

Even though I am a lover of sea days, today was an even better one.  From

10:00 until 11:00 we were invited to a Captain’s Reception for 4 and 5 star mariners where we were greeted by a nice young man with a tray of glasses of bubbly.  Since it was a bit early, I took it over to the bar and had some orange juice added.  The captain spoke for a few minutes and was accompanied by his senior officers.  Then they left and most of those attending just sat around chatting and asking for refills.

This afternoon at 2:00 there’s a wine tasting to which we’ve been invited in the dining room, but I think we may take a pass since I can only manage so much alcohol during the daytime.  Besides, 2:00 is John’s pickle ball appointment, so that just won’t work.

This evening we’ve made reservations for the Tamarind restaurant which is one of our favorite places.  The food served is classified as “pan-Asian” and if you even like Asian food a little, you should book it whenever you’re on an HAL ship which has one.  In fact it’s so popular that it’s hard to book a table if you wait too long.  The four of us decided we wanted to eat there tonight and our preferred time was 7:00.  I was told that our choices were 5:00 or 8:00, so we opted for the latter.  We are really looking forward to it.

One of our activities today was an outing to the Shore Excursion counter in the Crow’s Nest.  We are very fond of setting up our own independent tours, but since we did no preparation at all for this cruise, we decided to let HAL take care of them.  In Falmouth, we’re going on a beach/lunch outing, and in Belize City and Cozumel, we’re going to as many Mayan ruins as possible.  We’re both history buffs, so we’re really looking forward to those ruins.

Thank you for your nice comments, and since we’re not nearly as techie as “Inside Cabin” Pete, we’re working on those photos.  We’ll see if they work today!

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Half Moon Cay (pronounced “key”)

AKA “The Private Island”

Since we celebrated my birthday at sea last October on the Koningsdam, it seemed only fair to celebrate John’s (much more momentous) birthday

on the other side of the country.  When we mentioned to our Texas friends Rich and Ginni that we were going to be in the Caribbean for three weeks, they jumped right in made a reservation, and then extended the invitation to Bill and Jane in North Carolina, Leslie and Handler in Texas, and Will and Nancy in Michigan.  Except for Will and Nancy (who would be driving around the country in their new RV), everyone else signed up and we had Shannon, our cruise agent, reserve us a table for eight.

Sadly, Jane tested positive just before flying down to Ft. Lauderdale, so they won’t be joining us and they will be sorely missed.  Leslie and Handler are flying in next week and will be coming aboard on the 13th - just in time for the Super Bowl, I guess.  The other four of us went to a testing facility across the street from our hotel on Friday, spent $49 each, and in 15 minutes had four negative antigen tests.  Hooray!

After two nights in Ft. Lauderdale and a wonderful dinner on the waterway at The Boatyard, we slept in Saturday morning, went for a walk, and then called our Lyft for the 15-minute drive to the ship - and what a ship it is!

It is easily the largest vessel we’ve ever sailed in, with a capacity of 2800 passengers.  Fortunately, there are only 1600 aboard, so crowding doesn’t seem to be a problem.  It is the newest ship in the HAL fleet and is really quite gorgeous and shiny.  We do miss our old, familiar Amsterdam, but we’re learning our way around this beauty.

Since we’ll be on for three weeks, we’re taking our time figuring things out.  As we unpacked our one (yes, only one!) suitcase each, I realized that whoever designed the storage in these cabins did an excellent job.  We quickly put everything away and still had room to spare.  Of course that was when I noticed the things I had forgotten to pack, including any jewelry except what I was wearing.  Thankfully, Ginni has enough of it for both of us, and since they’re just two doors away, I’m sure I’ll do just fine.

Today is Half Moon Cay, HAL’s private island, but we’re in no hurry to go ashore.  John went to play pickle ball at 9:00, and we figure we’ll take a tender at about 10:00 or 10:30.  All aboard is 2:30, giving us time for a nap and prepare for the first gala night - an excuse to plunder Ginni’s collection.

Tomorrow’s a sea day, and if you’ve read my posts before, you know how much I love them.  See you then.