*LIVE* from Aboard the Zuiderdam! 4/22-5/19

[ironin]

We can see why, K.K! Thanks so much for following and leaving a note or two behind. BTW, how's your hand? Healing well?

[ironin]

Tonight will be our third formal night. We're hoping to make headway in reducing the growing backlog of unpublished posts to the blog:

 

1) Canaletto experiences - dined 2x already

 

2) Le Cirque evening

 

3) Dinner with the Chef Evening

 

4) Wine Tasting I

 

5) Pinnacle Grill lunch

 

6) Pinnacle Grill again

 

7) Cartagena - so many photos so hard to choose!

 

8) The fabulous crew members we've met

 

9) Flower show - orchids - appropriate as it is the national flower of Costa Rica

 

10) More artwork aboard ship

 

11) The rest of the menus

 

Take care.

[ironin]

Tonight will be our third formal night. We're hoping to make headway in reducing the growing backlog of unpublished posts to the blog:

 

1) Canaletto experiences - dined 2x already

 

2) Le Cirque evening

 

3) Dinner with the Chef Evening

 

4) Wine Tasting I

 

5) Pinnacle Grill lunch

 

6) Pinnacle Grill again

 

7) Cartagena - so many photos so hard to choose!

 

8) The fabulous crew members we've met

 

9) Flower show - orchids - appropriate as it is the national flower of Costa Rica

 

10) More artwork aboard ship

 

11) The rest of the menus

 

Take care.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We can see why, K.K! Thanks so much for following and leaving a note or two behind. BTW, how's your hand? Healing well?

 

i am in physical therapy -- wrist, hand and fingers are not in improving

thanks for asking

[Krazy Kruizers]

looking over your pictures -- i saw a plate of the panama buns

hope yours were as good as all the ones we have had on our cruises

[kazu]

Tonight will be our third formal night. We're hoping to make headway in reducing the growing backlog of unpublished posts to the blog:

 

1) Canaletto experiences - dined 2x already

 

2) Le Cirque evening

 

3) Dinner with the Chef Evening

 

4) Wine Tasting I

 

5) Pinnacle Grill lunch

 

6) Pinnacle Grill again

 

7) Cartagena - so many photos so hard to choose!

 

8) The fabulous crew members we've met

 

9) Flower show - orchids - appropriate as it is the national flower of Costa Rica

 

10) More artwork aboard ship

 

11) The rest of the menus

 

Take care.

 

Looking forward to it. You two are very, very ambitious. And we all appreciate it. A whole new look at cruising from a blog point of view for me.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Panama - who couldn't ;) We loved it and only did a partial. Have a great time and thanks :)

[ironin]

Canaletto, Pinnacle Grill lunch, and Le Cirque evening photos just went up - a bit out of order within the posts, but I'm sure everyone can figure out what may be what ;-)

 

We'll append captions later - we think.

 

Its faster to load the menus via email and then move them later, so for the moment, the PG lunch & breakfast menus, the Le Cirque menu, some MDR menus and other stuff are on the main posting page.

[Cruisin_Greg]

Ironin!!

 

Thank you so much for your time and effort in your blog. My wife and I are particularly interested in this thread/blog, due to the fact we will be on the exact reverse repositioning cruise in late September from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale, celebrating my 50th birthday. Seeing you live the cruise currently through your eyes/words, are just heightening our anticipation. Thank you again.

 

Greg

[ironin]

Photos, and the menu, from our "Dine with the Chef" evening earlier in the cruise have now been posted to the blog.

[almare]

Photos, and the menu, from our "Dine with the Chef" evening earlier in the cruise have now been posted to the blog.

 

What a terrific menu! Your photos of each dish are mouth-watering. I hope you had a fantastic time.

 

Ron

[Krazy Kruizers]

Photos, and the menu, from our "Dine with the Chef" evening earlier in the cruise have now been posted to the blog.

 

checked it out -- sounds great

[ironin]

We just uploaded 4 posts about Cartagena. We can't stop thinking about it.

[ironin]

Ron & K.K.: It was delicious and great fun. Despite the chef being on the stage, interaction with the group was informal and spontaneous. As it turns out, so many applied for the dinner that they ended up having two during the cruise. The second one was last night.

 

The behind-the-scenes ship's tour, OTOH, still has vacancies.

[pstata]

Ironin!!

 

Thank you so much for your time and effort in your blog. My wife and I are particularly interested in this thread/blog, due to the fact we will be on the exact reverse repositioning cruise in late September from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale, celebrating my 50th birthday. Seeing you live the cruise currently through your eyes/words, are just heightening our anticipation. Thank you again.

 

Greg

 

Greg, we are on the Zuiderdam 9/24/11. Is this the same cruise as yours?

[Krazy Kruizers]

you are fortunate that you are on a long cruise and they were able to offer to chef's dinner nights

[2tsquared]

ironin,

 

I just started reading this thread tonight and have since gone on to your blog. Your pictures are just phenonmenal and your description of your daily activities informative -- mixed with a great sense of humor! DH and I will definitely have to sign up for both the wine pairing and mixology class, with a note to selves to make time for a nap afterwards! :D

 

You mention the Dine With the Chef Dinner and the Wine-Pairing Dinner, were you able to book these activities in advance or did you have to wait until embarkation (noting that we should also look for the 2 friendly wine stewards).

 

I do have one question for you: I read recently (somewhere on the Boards) that the ship (referring to the Z) has taken to shutting down its stabilizers at night to save on fuel. Apparently, this makes for a less-than-stable night for sleeping. :eek: Have you noticed this happening?

 

Looking forward to continuing your adventures with you!

 

tt :)

[ironin]

Hi, 2tsquared! Thanks for the compliments.

 

WRT your questions:

 

The two dinners can only be booked once aboard or, as was in our case, if there is a table manned by wine stewards selling packages to guests waiting to board, it can be done then.

 

I'm not sure why, but we noticed a much more pronounced rolling of the ship the night before and while approaching Costa Rica. Didn't particularly notice it yesterday in Nicaragua (something else had our attention-see below), but we're approaching Guatemala at the moment and it's the same as the day before yesterday.

 

They are having continuing problems with the holding tank system for the sewage. Quite a few verandah & suite staterooms have effectively become Ocean-view only due to the fumes and the stench. For us where we are, it's been about 50-50 as far as usability so far. We know they're working on it, but the complete lack of communication isn't appreciated.

 

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year thus far for Corinto. There was no breeze. You can probably imagine what the verandah smelled like. We just try to roll with the punches and went elsewhere.

[2tsquared]

ironin,

 

Thank you for your reply. It does seem you've had a few "challenges" on this cruise, starting with Code Red (we've been through that as well . . . oh well) and now the sewage problem. That would not make us very happy either. We've booked our first "aft" suite this time around and the rolling has me more nervous than anything else (I get dizzy on a merry-go-round).

 

Wishing you much fresher air and smooooooth sailing going forward! Will also look forward to your continued reporting of your travels.

 

tt :)

[bcd2010]

ironin,

 

Thank you for all the wonderful postings on your blog. I notice from the daily planner, they have aqua aerobics (nearly?) every morning at 9. Have you been anywhere near the pool at that time to notice how many people attend? This is really the only type of exercise I can do but the pool doesn't seem large enough to contain more than a dozen people, tops. If you have a chance to check on it, would you let me know (I suppose it might be different on sea days vs port days)?

[Cruisin_Greg]

Greg, we are on the Zuiderdam 9/24/11. Is this the same cruise as yours?

Yes it is! :)

[Cruisin_Greg]

Good evening Ironin!

 

I didn't notice if your early stops in the itinerary included Half Moon Cay. I'm curious what the cabana situation was like, or if you possibly even attempted to book one? I've been trying to keep a dilegent eye on the Excursions, to see if/when they might become available, but no luck as of yet. I'm starting to wonder if I'll need to wait until I board the Zuidy, and head right to the Shore Excursions desk then. Thank you for your thoughts.

[ironin]

bcd2010:

 

Neither of us has been in the Lido pool area about that time but we'll try to check in there this morning and will let you know later what we saw.

 

Cruisin_Greg:

 

We didn't go to HMC so I'm afraid we can't be much help.

 

Photos of recent shore excursions in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala will be posted later today. We hope. Internet connection has finally reverted to norm aboard ship --- sloooowwww ;) . Not complaining! We've had marvelously fast connections at any time of day up until the last couple of days.

[ironin]

With any luck, photos from Costa Rica and Nicaragua will finish uploading soon. As anyone who has done this while aboard ship knows, slow speed occasionally causes the mail to time out. Can't be helped. Sorry about the delays.

 

Choppy seas yesterday morning resulted in long lines at the infirmary. Things calmed down by the afternoon, although judging by the relative lack of passengers, stomachs did not. We did the "behind-the-scenes" ship tour yesterday. Had a good time. Our shirts were the ones being pressed when we went into the ship's laundry. *LOL*

 

Aside to whoever asked about the stabilizers being turned off mid-cruise to save $: No.

 

Sewage problems appear to have ended after a letter was sent to all cabins asking for cooperation in not flushing unapproved items down the toilets.

[malibu2]

Thanks so much for the info on your cruise. We will be doing it in reverse in Oct. so was very interested in your ports. When we have sailed going north up the Pacific it has always been a bit rolly and alot of sea sickness. I always wondered if there is an under currant along the coast that causes this.

[sail7seas]

What an amazing job you are doing with your Blog.

 

The photos are fabulous and it's a treat looking through them.

Seems you are having a great time..... :)

 

Thanks for all your efforts to share this wonderful cruise with us..

Continue to enjoy.