From Glaciers to Palm Trees - Spend 71 days with Bill & Mary Ann on the Zuiderdam - 9-7-22 to 11-17-22

[WCB]

Report #71     Tuesday November 15, 2022     Sea Day Enroute To San Diego, California   Cloudy With Showers Warm 70 Degrees  Part #1 Of 1.........35 Pictures

 

The Pinnacle Grill assistant manager was back today, which was nice to see.  We did not ask about Covid, but we assume that was the case, and she admitted to feeling much better.  At least we know that she was not the seriously ill staff member that needed to be med-evacuated today.  Later in the day, we did hear Captain Frank say that the crew member was a thirty year HAL employee, and he had visited him in the medical center, finding him in good spirits despite his condition. 

 

We did not attend the 11:30am Indonesian Luncheon today, but we did inform two of our breakfast waiters we would not be there.  They would be working the upper dining room for the event.  One of us decided that it was not worth the chance of an allergic reaction so close to going home.  Instead we took our usual stroll, and did listen to the Captain’s talk after 12pm.  Once he finished the basics of weather and position, he went into great detail about the upcoming medical evacuation.  By the way, the temperature was at least 15 degrees cooler today.  Feels more and more like Southern California this time of year.   Gone is that sticky humidity and intense hot sun.

 

Just before leaving our room to go walking, we noticed a small message in the veranda stateroom’s mail slots.  We did not read it fully, but we caught the message that the evacuation was planned about 1 to 2:30pm.  It would involve two helicopters, as well as two aircraft.  Captain Frank explained that the helicopters could not fly the distance needed for the round trip without being re-fueled.  And that is why there were two airplanes to do the job.  Now we assume the first helicopter was for the actual patient to be lifted, while the second one held a dive team in case there was an accidental drop in the water.   Never knew this could become so involved. 

 

In addition to the patient transfer, all of the outside decks were to be cleared, then closed off to guests.  And for our safety, all of the guests in cabins with balconies were requested to stay inside after removing all loose belongings.   Even a small towel or piece of clothing could be sucked into an engine causing it to crash.  The promenade deck would be closed off in the aft section we believe.  The actual pick-up would be done near the railing of the Sea View Pool.

 

We began hearing the helicopters around 2 :15pm when they began circling the ship at a distance.  They were soon followed by the airplanes.  This circling seemed to go on for a while before the first attempt at a pick-up was attempted.  It happened to be four decks above our veranda.  It must not have worked, because the helicopter took off, and circled back.  The second attempt worked as they moved the pick-up to the port side of the pool decking.  By then ½ hour had passed. 

 

Captain Frank came on the speakers to announce the med-evac had been completed safely, and the patient was on his way to the hospital in San Diego.  Not sure if we heard him correctly, but we thought he said it would take 5 hours of flying time to arrive there. We were sure we heard a sign of relief in his voice once this was done.  This was our second med-evac this trip, since we also had one with Captain Friso while in Skagway, Alaska.  That one was at nighttime in the dark, right after the ship left the port area and was enroute to the inside passage.  Now that the need for speed is over, we think we will be going at a snail’s pace back to California, or going in circles?

 

The internet began working better around noontime, so it is possible we are getting within range of another satellite footprint.  Backed up emails arrived finally, and we were able to send several.  It wasn’t the fastest connection, but it is working.  Just it case we lost the signal, we stayed inside and sent replies back to everyone. Also worked on sending the backed up reports for the last week or so.  The photos will have to wait we are afraid.  But they will be sent once we get home. 

 

Thought we would include some basic info about Tahitian or Cook Island black pearls, just in case there are some folks that may be in the market for them.  Black pearls are grown in the black-lipped oysters.  The spectrum of colors range from purple to champagne and even peacock green.  The Cook Islands claim to have the best due to the Manihiki lagoon where they are farmed.  Supposedly, these pearls are second only to the Australian Golden pearls or South Seas Pearls.

 

“Cultured” means a nucleus such as a round bead is inserted into the water sac of the oysters.  If the oyster cannot expel it because it is an irritant, a layer of nacre eventually coats the bead.  This is the substance that give the pearls their color.   Each pearl is judged by the number of layers, and there could be thousands of such layers.  The sheen, luster, as well as the symmetry contribute to the value of the pearls.  Also taken into account are the size, shape, and reflection as to their worth. 

 

The same can be said for Tahitian pearls originating from French Polynesian remote lagoons mostly in the Tuamotu atolls.   Did you know it would take opening 15,000 oysters to find a natural pearl?  We did not know this.  They are so rare, that they were reserved for royalty only. 

 

The first pearl farms began in 1961 in the lagoon of Bora Bora, with the aid of Japanese technology.  The first harvest was two years later, and was highly successful.  These pearls range from pale gray to deep black.  The government of French Polynesia regulations dictate that 80% of the pearl’s surface cannot reveal the underlying nucleus.  All those that do not qualify under these rules, are considered rejects and cannot be sold.  Their quality is judged from A to D in value, and size and shape also play into their pricing.   Expect a significant dent in the wallet when buying these undeniably beautiful treasures. 

 

We suspect that the sidewalk tables outside the market in Papeete do not sell the best quality of pearls, although they look pretty nice.  We have been told that these pearls will not hold up when drilled for making pendants or earrings.  They crack easily.  The best bet in making serious purchases are the guaranteed jewelry shops. And that’s that.

 

Dinnertime arrived shortly after a minimal sunset.  Guess they all cannot be spectacular.  With too many clouds on the horizon, the sun peeked through briefly, then disappeared like it has been doing for days now.   We are noticing that the sunsets are earlier every night as we sail in a north-easterly direction. We are going to miss sharing these sunsets with our buddies on deck four most every evening.

 

So what’s for dinner?  Starters were one smoked chicken with marinated papaya, and one crispy shrimp appetizer.  Entrees were one barramundi on a bed of hot mashed potatoes, and linguine with chicken meatballs coated with a red tomato sauce and topped with parmesan cheese.  Since there are only two nights of dinner left, we indulged with desserts of a whiskey torte and a scoop of pineapple sorbet.  So much for another not-so-lazy day at sea.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

[1ANGELCAT]

Thanks for another wonderful adventure. Safe travels home.

[WCB]

Report #72      Wednesday  November 16, 2022      Sea Day Enroute To San Diego, California     Sun With Clouds 75 Degrees     Part #1 Of 1.........44 Pictures

 

Finally, our last day at sea, and we were greeted with bright sun and blue skies.  The sea conditions could not be better with no more than 3- foot swells and little wind.  The temperature felt close to 80 degrees.  We are guessing at the number because the nifty wall thermometer has been packed.

 

Today was all about farewells, beginning with the Pinnacle Grill at breakfast.  Raj has been our primary waiter, although the entire staff is used to serve the food.  It’s not always efficient, but that’s another story.  Anyway, Raj is going home tomorrow, we assume to India, but returning to a different ship in January.   He has been fun. All of the staff have been most friendly.

 

We spent the morning catching up sending reports, as the internet seemed to be working.  Not the fastest speed, it eventually allowed some emails to download.  During this time, we finished most of the final packing, keeping out just what we needed for Thursday.  Weighing each piece and dividing up stuff, we ended with each one just under 50#.  By the way, we did see a luggage scale by the front desk for the guests to use.  It is still approximate due to the ship’s movement.  At the moment, we are going at a slow rate of 10 knots, so the ship tends to roll a bit. 

 

There was a combined staff and crew farewell at 10am in the Mainstage.  That always brings tears with some of the guests after these longer cruises.  On the other hand, it may bring tears of joy to some of the crew members, happy that this trip is over.  We find that with the longer the cruise, the more demanding some folks become and their expectations are big.  We make an effort not to be this type of passenger…..ever.

 

We still had some shipboard credit to use and we were successful in finding a few more small treasures.  Also, we had to pick up the Effy certificate for the Tahitian pearls we purchased.  It is never easy to do this, as the guarantees are kept elsewhere under lock and key.  The very nice salesgirl could not leave her area of the store to retrieve it, but said the other salesman would be back shortly.  Once he was there, she would be free to run and get it for us.  Of course, their hope is that we continue to look at their extensive collection and find something else we could not live without.   Sorry, it did not happen this time.

 

Going outside for a walk on the promenade deck, we had a nice surprise though.  We spotted the first bird we have seen since leaving Nuku Hiva a week ago.  It was a white and black masked booby, all alone, and flying very close to the ship.  We both whistled, and believe it or not, the bird responded by gliding within six feet of us. No kidding.  Can this be a learned behavior because cruise ship folks feed them?  Years ago while on a Mexican cruise on a Princess ship,  we saw people throwing food to hundreds of seagulls from their balconies while docked.  It didn’t take very long before the captain came on the outside speakers saying, “stop it now”.  And they did.  We never saw anything like it again.

 

At 4pm, there was a drawing in the Effy Shop.   Since we had 15 tickets, we decided to attend.  Never winning much of anything, such as the lotto, we were more curious to see how this gathering would go.  And it went as expected – drawn out instead of immediate drawing.  The head salesman droned on and on about the company – blah-blah-blah, while everyone began to fidget.  Finally, a few pink tickets were pulled, the first one was a “no show”.  It was dropped on the floor.  Another pink ticket had a winner.  Now it was time for the red tickets, and two ladies were also winners of a mystery gift bag.   If it was the same as the one Barbie won last spring, it contained a few useful items and a very tiny necklace and earring set.  Of course, you were free to take it to any Effy store, and upgrade it to something more expensive.  We were among the first to leave this event, since many of these people were maskless, as well as jammed in the store. 

 

By the time the sun was setting it was close to 5pm, an indication of how far north we have traveled.   The skies were 99% cloud free, and as the Captain mentioned in his noon talk, we may have a chance at seeing the elusive green flash.  Although we did not see the green flash, we did notice that the sunrays were dancing on the horizon, like pulsating orange colors.  And that was that.  We do have photos, but will submit them tomorrow. 

 

Dinner time came quickly, and we ordered chicken noodle soup, two ham and chicken croquettes, and a Caesar salad.  Then, the gourmets we are, the best thing on the menu tonight were cheeseburgers.  Yes, burgers with French fries.  And not the soggy steak fries, but crispy hot ones.  Made us happy campers.  No room for dessert, we said our goodbyes to both maitre’ds Johnny and Francisco. Our waiters Adrian and Carl will be back on the world cruise, but probably will not be our waiters as they will be assigned to a different area. 

 

Back to the room, we lugged the three suitcases out the door and parked them against the wall for pick-up later.  Got to get some quality sleep, because tomorrow will be a long day.  They always are.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[hallpau]

Safe travels home and looking forward to seeing you in January.

[00649]

We will be sailing on this cruise in February. where did you purchase your black pearls,any other info you can share about buying pearls would be appreciated. 

[DAllenTCY]

Thanks for sharing such a great trip for us to read about.... and dream about....someday. 

 

Tomorrow in San Diego we will finally have facial recognition scanning for disembarkation.

 

They have set up numerous stands in lieu of podiums for CBP staff.....although CBP will be monitoring.

 

You just missed this milestone by a few days.

 

David

 

 

[WCB]

Report #73     Thursday November 17, 2022    San Diego, California  Debark Day   Sunny And Warm 70 Degrees   Part #1 Of 1........26 Pictures

 

Well the time has come when everything has come to an end.  The Zuiderdam sailed slowly towards the final port of San Diego, but not before picking up the pilot at 5am.  We did see this because both of us were up well before our alarm clock went off at 5am.   We were docked around 6am, an hour ahead of the scheduled time of 7am.  This was a good thing because we had recently received a notice that the US Customs and Border Protection Inspection could take a longer than normal time.  They wrote, ”In layman’s terms, from start to finish, the entire process may take up to 4 hours”.   We were highly discouraged from booking early flights or other travel arrangements before 11:30am.  If you had not reserved your flights at this point, good luck.

 

The best news was that the ship was cleared before 8am, but only the expedited guests (those who pulled their own luggage off), would be allowed to leave.   Up to that point, no luggage had been unloaded in the cruise terminal.  By the way, we understand there are 49 guests continuing onward for the Panama Canal re-positioning cruise.  Our President’s Club buddy Howard is one of them.  We will see him at the hotel in Ft. Lauderdale right before the world cruise leaves January 3^rd.   We also learned that the Panama Canal cruise has over 1700 guests.   A pretty full house.

 

Our final breakfast was good as usual, although many of the regulars must have had other plans, like room service or the Lido.  Our waiter Raj as well as Remco the manager, made a sweep through the room to say goodbye to all of the guests.  They are both headed home today and Remco may be on the same flight to SF that we are on.  Upon leaving, assistant manager Alejandro gave us both a hug.  Hope to see her on a future cruise, since she was a lot of fun as well as good at her job. 

 

Last evening, we confirmed our pick-up ride from SFO to our home.  Every detail is in place, and now all that is left is wait for the time to leave, which for us is as late as 10am.  By then, finding our luggage should be easy.

 

When we saw the Diamond Princess coming into the harbor of San Diego, we decided the better time to leave the ship would be 9:30am, just in case that ship was cleared quicker than us.  Most all of the luggage colors and numbers had been called off by now, and we breezed right through security and down the gangway.  Henk and Maja were down at the bottom of the escalator, saying goodbye to the guests.  We got hugs from both of them, promising to see each other soon, then off we went to find the three bags.  But first, we had to present ourselves to the immigrations folks who had a counter set up on the way.  We did have our passports ready for inspection, but we did not need them as the agent used the facial recognition screen instead.  Dropping the masks, it took seconds to get an “OK” for each of us.

 

With luggage in tow, we went right outside, got a taxi, and were to the airport within 10 or 15 minutes.  We had until 1:47pm until our flight left, but getting to the airport was a good move.  It was crazy busy, unless it is like that everyday.  We guessed that with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up next week, many folks were flying somewhere for that event today.  Checking in was easy, although one of our bags was ever so slightly over-weight, while the other two a bit under.  The agent said it was OK.  For the first time, we noticed there were scales along the wall near the United counters for the people to check the weight.  Such a good idea, that way you could divide things up and not worry about over-weight charges. We got our boarding passes, then proceeded back outside to wait in the sunshine.

 

We had until noon or so, before we had to go back inside the building.  Walking the length of the terminals and back again, we sat outside near the International Terminal for a while.  Then we had a surprise……Francisco, the dining room maitre’d came from inside and chatted with us for a bit.  He was on his way home to Indonesia, a much longer and convoluted set of flights than we had.  We had a good conversation regarding food-related subjects as well as serving techniques.  We could tell he loves his job, and he does it well.  Bet we meet on another ship in the future.

 

Then we had to line up for the security check.  There were no signs showing things we always used to do, such as separate your small liquids, take out computers, take shoes and jackets off, or empty pockets.  We did end up doing all of the above except the small baggie of liquids.  One of us was chosen to do the special xray, probably because of the fact I did not take off my shoes, as it is too difficult wearing a tight backbrace.  Anyway, I passed the test, and we were free to go.

 

It seemed that our flight might be delayed, because the plane was late in arriving.  But when it did land, the turnover was quick but we still ended up losing 20 minutes or more.  That time was miraculously made up in the air because we landed at SFO right on the money.  Within minutes, we retrieved our luggage, and met up with our driver.  On the road by 4pm, we ran into the normal commute traffic, and it took up to three hours to get home.  Our driver said he thinks the traffic has gotten worse than before Covid hit in 2020.  Anyway, we pulled into our driveway about 7pm and were happy to be home safe and sound.  However, it was really cold.  We have six weeks to bundle up before we head off to the nice weather again.  Until then, thanks for joining us on another fun journey from Glaciers to Palm Trees!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[TonyC1952]

Thanks for taking us along!!!!!!!

 

[canadianbear]

Really enjoyed all your posts and photos.  Was wonderful following along.  As much as we miss cruising we still are not ready to leave Canada yet so appreciate all that do these “live” threads. 

[Essiesmom]

You needn’t have worried about Diamond Princess.  She had no passengers.  Her first post-Covid cruise will leave Sunday 11/20.  EM

Edited November 19, 2022 by Essiesmom

[whogo]

As always, your live blog has been a delight to read. Thanks for keeping me entertained.

[travelnap]

Thanks for letting us travel along with you again.

[carolyn22]

I always enjoy reading about your cruises. Thank you for taking the time to let us live vicariously through you!

[Traveling Dot]

Thanks for taking me along virtually on your cruise.  Looking forward to reading your next cruise. 😎

[CruisingGrandmaW]

Hi Bill & Mary Ann:

Hope you are home by now.

Thank you for your "Live" & your blog.

Always enjoy following your cruises.

Hope your Holidays are wonderful.......and you get some rest before your GWV 2023.

[bennybear]

I have so enjoyed following along!  I wish you’d had better weather in French polynesia,   It am so glad you have been able to avoid getting ill by following precautions.  That gives me hope!  Although I am concerned for the crew member who was ill. 
I too love tahitian black pearls and have a gorgeous necklace and a few earrings.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy that purchase!    I have found some gorgeous ones at the big box store.
welcome home! 

[tright]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise.  Looking forward your world cruise. 

[ottahand7]

Thanks for taking us along and thanks for sharing your misfortune with your Kindle.  I have a new one due on our front porch tonight.  Our next will be too long for no Kindle and my addicting Word game like Scrabble. Will follow your World Cruise while we are going round SA. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

[WCB]

Greetings to all!

 

Many thanks for the wonderful comments now and along the way.  They are certainly appreciated by both of us.  We did arrive home safely and are trying to get the details for the Grand World Voyage taken care of.  It is quite a list.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS  The Tahitian pearls were bought on the ship in the Effy Shop.  Also, we are glad that the Kindle incident tipped some of you off to possibly buying a new one.  That's what we intend to do soon.

 

 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.!