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'Twas the Cruise During Christmas - Zuiderdam 2018


POA1
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On 12/21/2018 at 7:27 AM, POA1 said:

Our plan today is to go to the Van der Valk Plaza Beach Resort. https://www.plazaresortbonaire.com/en  It’s a short cab ride from the dock. They have a nice beach and you can rent chairs and palapas.

I never heard of a palapa, had to open an online dictionary in a new tab to find out that a palapa was an  "open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves." https://www.thefreedictionary.com/palapa

This is more work than I usual go to read a trip report, but I guess I can not expect official reports from the Institute of Cheer to be dumbed down to my reading level. Thanks for your continued good work.

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1 hour ago, POA1 said:

 

Quite a bit of wind, but not a lot of motion.  Our balcony door was whistling from the wind for the better part of the first sea day. Not too loudly, but not melodically either.

I reduced such whistling by jamming a folded piece of thick paper between the door and doorframe, to push them fairly flush together.  There is occasionally an ad or flyer delivered to the cabin that can be sacrificed. :classic_wink:

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1 hour ago, POA1 said:

Sitting down to some tasty snacks at Michelle's insistence. 

 

 

 

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That's Dino's, a local draft. Lager for DW. Red for me. 

 

 

Looks like you got prime seats and Zuidy parked at the Mega Pier. Only if interested, there is a Starbucks at #1 Baden Powellweg ("weg" is Dutch for "way"), located off the footpath leading back to the pier (just north of the Renaissance resort). It's got free WiFi so lots of crew hang out there :classic_cool:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.1058497,-68.9387345,19.02z

 

Image result for Starbucks Willemstad

Edited by Copper10-8
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IMG_20181222_123022.jpg314519414_PerfectlyClear0001.jpg.93c03bb26c3f9178e4b3a1e3c2447b67.jpg

We had a sampling of appetizers. Michelle wasn't wild about the kroket, but she had everything else. She even went as far as a few fries with mayo. 

 

On our way back to the ship, the Queen Emma swing bridge opened for a tanker and the skies opened up for rain. Several people got stuck on the opened bridge. 

 

 

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Dinner tonight is in the Pinnacle Grill. We're going to try @frankc98376 's suggestion and ask for a sear on our steaks. It sounds like a good plan.

 

We were going to watch the Christopher Robin movie and get to bed early because we have an early day tomorrow. However, it was raining this afternoon, so we flipped the schedule around and watched the movie early.  That leaves us open in terms of clean. bright entertainments tonight.  We'll probably see at least one BB King show and some Billboard Onboard. We found some music trivia in the piano bar area last night. We were playing as undrafted free agents, which was a shame, because we got every single answer correct in the main contest and got two of the four in the bonus. For the bonus, you needed Movie, Song, and both Artists. It was "Whole New World" from Aladdin, but I drew a blank on the artists. I couldn't have even come close on a guess. It's Lea Salonga and Brad Kane. Wouldn't have had that in a million years.

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2 hours ago, POA1 said:

Dinner tonight is in the Pinnacle Grill. We're going to try @frankc98376 's suggestion and ask for a sear on our steaks. It sounds like a good plan.

 

We were going to watch the Christopher Robin movie and get to bed early because we have an early day tomorrow. However, it was raining this afternoon, so we flipped the schedule around and watched the movie early.  That leaves us open in terms of clean. bright entertainments tonight.  We'll probably see at least one BB King show and some Billboard Onboard. We found some music trivia in the piano bar area last night. We were playing as undrafted free agents, which was a shame, because we got every single answer correct in the main contest and got two of the four in the bonus. For the bonus, you needed Movie, Song, and both Artists. It was "Whole New World" from Aladdin, but I drew a blank on the artists. I couldn't have even come close on a guess. It's Lea Salonga and Brad Kane. Wouldn't have had that in a million years.

@POA1 Charred on the outside 🙂

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2 hours ago, frankc98376 said:

@POA1 Charred on the outside 🙂

 

It took a little explanation, but they're using the term crispy on the Zuiderdam. Excellent tip! Thanks. In the Zuiderdam vernacular, charred means well done, halfway to jerky. We asked some checking questions and arrived at "crispy." 

 

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We had a lovely table by the window in the PG tonight. The overhead lighting resulted in substandard photos. This had no impact on the food nor the service, but our pix turned out way too dark.

 

Important take aways: The molten chocolate cake is on the menu again. Between the lunch brownie dessert (which includes three of the four food groups: chocolate, coffee ice cream, and caramel corn) and the dessert she had tonight, Michelle feels that the PG has a lock on the chocolate dessert market.

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2018-12-23-Aruba-Card-sm.jpg

 

Map-2018-12-23-Aruba.jpg

 

Good morning and hello from the picturesque island of Aruba!  Our initial plan for the day was to take "the big bus tour" of Aruba, but DFIL decided he'd rather just walk around downtown, so we called an audible and changed or plans.  Michelle and I may head up to Eagle Beach for a bit, but we're a little conflicted because we live right on the beach at home. So, there's a chance we might stroll around with her dad and then come back to the cabana.

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44 minutes ago, killsport said:

Loving the stories! Not sure if it is another hidden easter egg, but the date on your Aruba photo has Fri, Dec 23 (I think you meant Sun, Dec 23)... if it's to see if anyone is paying attention, I want the Dam prize!!

 

Nope. That was a straight-up error. My "Live From" is RUINED.  Corrected graphic here. We've sacked the proof reader and the graphic artist. They've been put off the ship and have to find their own way home from Aruba, because we're not letting them use our company jet.

 

aruba-fixed.jpg.4ef79b8893f7dbce6b885bc511ce5650.jpg

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In days of yore, we used to do a pretty good job sampling the Drinks of the Day - or is it Drinks of the Days? They've got a holiday cocktail list on this cruise, so we're working our way through that instead. This is the Jingle Bell Julep. It's 1.5 oz Maker's Mark (not by request, it's in the recipe), 0.5 oz Chambord, 0.5 oz Triple Sec & Muddled Mint Leaves. In a rocks glass, garnished with mint. This one is good if you like regular mint juleps.  Just pretend that the Kentucky Derby is being run by reindeer and you're there.

 

 

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We had the drink at the Christmas Carol sing, which was held in the Ocean Bar. It was really well-attended. Standing room only.

 

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It wasn't a huge investment in time, as we sang a whopping three carols. They provided they lyrics for us (as shown by the lovely thumb model, Michelle.)  I have to give a shout out to this woman who was totally rocking a yuletide fascinator.  You go girl!

 

carol-hat.jpg.df4e571bb52898feb18572949fdd37f6.jpg

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19 minutes ago, POA1 said:

They've been put off the ship and have to find their own way home from Aruba, because we're not letting them use our company jet.

You've missed your calling. You should be the comedian on a cruise ship. I cannot tell you how many recent mornings my wife has stopped into my home office and asked why I'm laughing. Thanks for the very enjoyable entertainment! I mean clean, bright entertainment (what was I thinking!!??)

Edited by killsport
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In the spirit of putting the wrecking ball to the timeline linearity of this thread, we had lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on the first Sea Day. This was before the Carol Sing Along. (It was also a few days ago.  I'd like to request the ability to drag and drop my posts into a new order. It'll probably happen after they get that mobile Comic Sans thing cleared up.)

 

Lunch in The Pinnacle Grill - Sea Day - Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 (Gala Night, but this was during the day.)

 

The PG bread basket is slightly different at lunch. Sadly, our photos from dinner came out a little dark so I cannot actually prove that they're different. You'll have to take my word for it.

 

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Michelle and I had the beef carpaccio as our starters.

 

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My father-in-law had the crab cakes.

 

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Both the pretty lady and I had the blue cheese crusted tenderloin, medium rare.

 

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Michelle's father had the wild caught salmon. He likes it a little more done than we do, but it was still moist.

 

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For dessert, Michelle had the Warm Chocolate Brownie. It had three of the four main food groups: Chocolate, Coffee Ice Cream, and Caramel Corn.  She joined the clean plate club on this dish.

 

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Her dad had the the Berry Tower with Sabayon. He was hesitant to order it because he's reached the age where new foods can no longer be trusted. Michelle ordered it for him anyway. Once we got over the hump on sabayon by explaining that it's pretty close to ice cream base, he also joined the clean plate club. (I realize that sabayon is not exactly ice cream base, but it's egg yolks, heavy cream and sugar, so it's in the ballpark.)

 

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I opted for the coconut & caramel device. (Can you tell I am not looking at the menu for this one?) I ordered it full well knowing that I wasn't in the mood for dessert. It did not disappoint and I did not join the clean plate (glass?) club.

 

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I decided to experiment with the birds-eye view of my dish. It's the popular way to photograph food now, but I think I prefer the diner's eye view.

 

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A few shots of the charger plates from Chef Rudi's Sel De Mer. It's held in the PG tonght. (That's tonight as in Sunday, 12/23/2018 and not tonight as in when this post's material dates from. What a chronological mess!)

 

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Official Chef Rudi bread plate.

 

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@POA1,

 

Jumping in briefly here to wish you, the Mrs., DFIL & Poohby a super Holiday. Just home ourselves from the K'dam so looking forward to settling in, catching up & following along with your adventure now. 

 

Cheers. Dogstar. 

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