From Cool Alaska to the Balmy South Pacific, Sail with Bill & Mary Ann on the Volendam 9-6-23 to11-22-23 77 days

[WCB]

Report #22  September 26, 2023  Sea Day Enroute To Vancouver, Canada    Gale Force Winds, Rough Seas Overcast With Periods Of Rain Decks Locked Down     Part #1 Of 1........37 Pictures

 

Today breakfast was at 8am in the Pinnacle Grill, but 10am for the special brunch in the dining room.  For a change, many more folks showed up to dine in this nice restaurant.  They have missed out on a good meal doing other things these last six days we assume.  This cruise has been different because it appears that the guests are doing everything they can squeezed into 7 days.  The shows, bars, lounges, and especially the food venues have been most busy.  For the following 56 -day trip, we asked Endrian if he could take reservations for 10 dinners and he said of course.  There will be pop-up special dinners throughout the longer cruise, but since we do not do the wine pairings or the Tamarind, we chose days that are the regular Pinnacle Grill dinner.  Yes, we are going to miss Endrian as he has been one of the best PG managers ever.  Back in our room, we had two more HAL tiles with a note of gratitude for our loyalty.

 

We did have some rough sailing last night, but the motion ceased when the Captain took the ship into the channels between islands.  He announced early in the day that we would try to avoid Queen Charlotte Sound because it was extremely windy, raining, with rolling seas.  We feel like the horses that are galloping back to the barn at a high speed.  The winds were blowing strong enough for the crew to close off the promenade deck once again.  All of the teak lounges and pads were tied down like last week.  We did sneak under the rope, but we could only walk on one side due to the driving rain.  Others were doing the same.  By the way, when we travel inside the island route, we lose TV reception.  The internet has remained working, so that is a plus. 

 

We were invited to the Mariner Recognition Event at 11:30am in the Crow’s Nest.  There was a total of 14 guests, including us, but there were no medallion awardees once again.  Captain Whitaker was busy navigating our course through the islands, so he was a no- show.  Today, none of our names or days sailed were announced.  It appears that this tradition of recognition is going to be something of the past in our humble opinion.  We were welcomed by Glenn, the Cruise Director, who took the place of the Captain.  Francois and a few other officers were present but did not visit with the guests like they did last week.  Francois and Glenn will be leaving the Volendam tomorrow and heading home.   They will be missed also, but we could tell they are ready for a vacation.  We met with Jennifer when the small gathering was over.  She went over the information we needed for our room change that will take place tomorrow.  In the letter we got yesterday, it suggested we pack our loose belongings in the morning, and leave the rest for the room stewards to move.  Good thing we did not wait until tomorrow, because it took more time than we thought.  Well, that meant everything in the drawers had to be packed and everything from the bathroom as well as our collection of toiletries.  Our valuables such as computer, prescriptions, and jewelry, etc. would need to be hand-packed by us once the new room was cleaned and ready.  Hopefully that will be before 9am.  Housekeeping will move the rest, which will be four suitcases and the clothes hanging in the closet.  Tomorrow will be the normal “zero clearance” morning, so we will need to leave around 9:30am and be able to spend the short day enjoying Vancouver, even if it rains like predicted.  All aboard will be 3pm, but we will need to go through customs and immigrations, so that happens at 2pm. 

 

By the time we finished re-packing, it was 3pm.  So one of us went to the Dive-In to get one cannonball burger and a hot dog….fries too.  It stays hot when we get it ourselves.  The pool had been emptied and was being scrubbed.  The hot tubs remained running but had no customers.  Very few folks were laying on the lounges, and the decks were in the process of being power- scrubbed as well.  There may be Canadian inspections tomorrow, and they always have to be prepared.  And that is why this ship gets high marks every time.

 

Instead of walking outside, we went to check out the shops.  There was one Mary Frances purse that one of us had an eye on, but it was sold. In its place was even a nicer one – a white and pink beaded bag with the Eiffel Tower on it.  The name is Paris, of course.  It will join the growing collection at home.  The shop salesman handed us tickets for a drawing, but the time came and went and we forgot. Oh well…

 

Spotting our room attendants, we informed them that we were all packed and the bags and clothes were ready to go tomorrow morning.  They actually thanked us for being so neat for these three weeks, leading us to think that not all of the guests are so considerate.  They said they will miss us.  The same goes for us….they have been very prompt with their service and kept us quite comfortable.  Not a day went by that Imam asked what more he could do for us.

 

Dinner was in the dining room with starters of a breaded shrimp mixed salads.  It was the Culinary Council menu and was limited to what we really like.  We keep forgetting to request “hot” food, so when the halibut arrived, it was warm at best.  The rigatoni with a meat sauce was the better choice tonight.  At least it was warmer when served.  Desserts of a chocolate- filled craqulin? like a donut made us happy and quite full.  An amusing comment was made while riding the elevator today.  One lady said she can’t wait to get home and stop eating.  How funny is that?  We get it. 

 

Tomorrow will be another busy turn-around day, so it’s off to bed for us.

 

Bill & Mary Ann 

 

 

 

[Hogladyrider]

@WCB....people trying to cram everything into a 7 day cruise is something we notice for sure!

 

Now that we are retired we can relate to their "cramming" as they are probably on vacation which when working limits fun holiday time.  Being retired has lots of advantages, now we can cruise whenever and wherever we like without concern of using up vacation days!  Life is GOOD!

[cunnorl]

 Thank you for your wonderful descriptive posts about Alaska. We appreciate you taking us along and we now look forward to the South Pacific!

[carolyn22]

Quick question about luggage storage on the Volendam. I seem to remember on the Amsterdam that they could store your luggage somewhere for you on the ship during the World cruise. Do you know if there is similar storage area for luggage on the Volendam?  A friend and I are sharing an outside cabin for the 94 day Grand Australia voyage, and we are wondering where we can store all of our luggage. (With two women, you can imagine we are bringing a lot although we are going to try not to go too crazy.). If there is no storage place on the ship, do you think we could get two big suitcases (4 in total) under the beds?

[WCB]

Report #23   September 27, 2023  Vancouver, Canada  Docked Starboard Side To Pier  6:30am-4pm  Overcast With Light Rain 60 Degrees  Part #1 Of 3.......77 Pictures Of 174

 

Well, today begins the “legendary” Tales of the South Pacific, as these longer cruises are now described.  This 56- day journey will take us to warmer climates and a most beautiful piece of paradise.  We will definitely welcome the warmer temperatures, even if it comes with a few tropical showers.

 

The Volendam was docked at Canada Place, Vancouver at 6:30am about the same time we awoke.  Breakfast was early, also at 6:30am, but we arrived closer to 7am.  It was very sad to say goodbye to Endrian, the manager, as he will be leaving for home in Indonesia.  His flight was at 1am, and it will take him up to 24 hours to get home.  We could tell he was happy as a clam. 

 

If all went according to the plan regarding the room change, we should still have a few hours to enjoy Vancouver, especially since it is our final stop here.  Yesterday we packed most everything we could fit in the four suitcases and left the clothes hanging in the closets.  The housekeeping crew came at 9am and quickly loaded a trolley with our stuff to take to deck six.  They even took the small refrigerator because we asked to keep it and also the tower fan.  We followed with our valuables, stashed it away, and left the room just as the announcement came for everyone to leave the ship for the zero clearance.  Perfect timing.  Stopping at the front desk, we asked about our new keys and were told they would be delivered to our room mail slot by the time we got back.  Fine, that will work.

 

So we left the ship at 9:30am with our passports, old room keys, and the intransit cards to show anyone who asked.  We ran into Sarah Coles once again, and she reminded us to be sure to go through the customs check on the way back.  We promised to never miss that step ever again. 

 

The weather today was overcast and rainy.  By the time we went outside, the rain had begun to let up.  It was cool, but not really cold.  This is the first time in three weeks that the waterfront was not busy with runners, bikers, and tourists.  We learned one thing…..do not walk in the designated bike lane.  They take their right-of-way quite seriously, maybe not quite as bad as in Amsterdam, but pretty close.  We figured the wet weather kept the locals inside until later.  We were correct.  While we are on the subject of locals, we must comment on the pride they all take in keeping their city clean.  Sadly, we cannot say the same for San Francisco where we come from.  They are doing something right here.  Following our usual route, we walked the waterfront all the way to Stanley Park and the kiosk there.  The horse-drawn carriage ride was still being offered.  Before they left, we did have a chance to pet one of the horses.  A young gal was preparing them for the next 1 hour tour, and the carriage was filling with young families with kids.  Knowing that we needed to make it to the restaurant by noontime, we had to head back and not venture any further. 

 

Lunch was at the Steamworks Brewery once again.  We have decided that their Hawaiian pizza is the winning choice, and two Lions Head Lagers would be the perfect drink.  We did add a dessert of the apple galette, since it is so good.  We would need the extra energy to unpack again when we get back.  Around 1:30pm, we started back, hoping that the majority of folks would be gone and the new guests already boarded.  We did complete the journey back correctly, stopping at the kiosks and scanning the passports.  Truthfully, there was no one directing the folks once again, but we followed the arrows and got it right.  There were several guests going through here and that included up to 3200 Sapphire Princess guests that were boarding their vessel as well.  We learned at dinnertime, that our ship only has 700 guests doing this 5- day sailing down to San Diego.  That is less than half of the 1718 people that the ship can house. 

 

When we arrived to our new room, there were no keys in the mail slot.  However, we met our new room attendant, Anom, who let us inside.  He said he would check to see what happened to our keys.  In the meantime, we called the front desk, and were informed that someone would deliver them as they were not printed yet.  Oh well, we needed to unpack, and set up our room, pretty much the same as a regular boarding day.  It took us until 4pm to get 99% organized.  We could not leave the room to go to the sail away or else we would be locked out.  Finally, Jennifer arrived with new keys in hand……but they did not work.  She admitted they had just installed a new printer and they were having problems.  Within 10 minutes, another girl had keys that did work.  We were free to roam, but way too tired to go anywhere.  We just watched the sailing out of the harbor going under the Lions Head Bridge from our veranda.  The rain had begun to fall lightly, so we did not miss anything at the aft pool gathering.  By the way, we are really going to like this new room with the balcony.  It will be much more useful with the soon-to-be warmer weather.

 

The ship left at 4pm, and we are heading around the bottom of Vancouver Island, where we began getting blocked signals for the TV reception.  The internet was working, but that was cutting in and out as well.  We sure hope the signal is as good as it was on deck one.  It certainly is improved with the new system installed.

 

Dinnertime came quickly, and we headed to the dining room, one floor down.  Convenient location, we are about in the middle of the ship now.  We were hoping to see friends Bill & Leta at their usual table on deck four, but we did not see them yet.  We ordered very tasty and hot chicken tenders, one Caesar salad, and a bowl of room service chicken noodle soup.  The soup came piping hot.  One of us might have to order that more often.  Mains were one chicken dinner and one pork tenderloin with lingonberries….really good.  The maitre’d and the food and beverage manager stopped for a visit, and that’s when we learned there were only 700 guests.  Both levels of the dining room were half full.  Better for us, since our waiters can be more relaxed for 5 days.  Then we will have a full ship after San Diego when the cruise officially begins.  We were close to ordering a light dessert, when Leta, our good friend appeared at our table.  She and husband Bill were seated on the opposite side of the upper dining room against a window.  They spotted us, and Leta came by for big hugs.  So nice to see they are back cruising….it has been 3 ½ years since we last saw them, and that was when the 2020 world cruise was halted in its tracks.  She visited for a few minutes then went back to her table.  When we finished dinner, we briefly stopped to say hi to Bill and promised we will have 56 days to catch up on all of the news.

 

There was no live show this evening, but the Origin Story of HAL’s 150 years was shown once again.  One interesting thing we noticed was that the Casino was advertised as being open all night for slot machines and electronic table games.  Is it possible that there are some last-minute stand-by guests that got on the ship with their  deeply-reduced casino deal?   We will have to make a trip through the casino tomorrow and check out how busy they are.

 

Going to sleep like babies tonight….

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

[cunnorl]

 Sounds like you are off to a great start on the next leg of your adventure. Enjoy and thanks for taking us along.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Enjoy you cruise!

[WCB]

Greetings to everyone!

 

Carolyn - The Amsterdam had storage space for any luggage you wanted taken out of the room.  We will ask if this applies to the Volendam as well.  We have stashed our airline-sized luggage under the bed with no problem.  We had discovered that any souvenirs we buy, gifts we get, and extra toiletries can be stored in these suitcases.  Remember, once you have them taken out of the room, you cannot ask for them back until disembarkation time.  Feel free to go crazy.

 

Thanks for the nice comments as well.  We are off to a great start with some sun shining this morning.

What more can we ask?

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[WCB]

Report #24  September 28, 2023    Sea Day Enroute To San Francisco, California    Cloudy With Light Rain All Day 59 Degrees   Part #1 Of 1...... 22 Pictures

 

Life onboard carried on as usual starting with a nice breakfast, but missing the manager Endrian.  Yuli, his most capable assistant has taken the reigns until San Diego.  Last night we did not get The Daily newsletter, so we assumed that breakfast time was 7:30am.  It was not, but the doors were opened for the early risers anyway.  The dining room opened at 8am.  There are always extra newsletters on the front desk along with the NY Times crossword puzzle and one Sudoku puzzle.

 

The weather had improved with mostly blue skies and the sun shining on the horizon.  We have almost forgotten what a beautiful sunrise looks like.  Unfortunately, it would not last long.

 

While we are thinking about it, here are a few things we noticed that are different in this A category room compared to the deck one room.  There are four electric plugs on the desk area, three of which are 110.  If you need more 110 plugs, bring a plug strip or borrow one from housekeeping.  Our strip from home does not have a surge protector.  They will not let you use the newer style.  There is only one USB port located in the lamp on top of the refrigerator cabinet.  The newer ships have many more ports.  One is better than none, which is what we had in the deck one room.  There are no felt hangers on this ship.  We did have those on the Zuiderdam’s world cruise this year.  We did request wire hangers and got plenty of them.  Lastly, there are laundry package options on this 56- day journey.   Laundry by the bag (stuff it to the gills) is $35, while unlimited laundry (no dry cleaning) is $588.  Unlimited pressing is $224.  The blue cloth laundry bag is $15 and the laundry return garment bag is $10.  If you happen to take these home with you (by accident?), expect a charge to your account.  Same goes for the beach towels and the nice soft blankets for the veranda use.  Now we are really appreciating the perk for complimentary laundry.  By the way, so far the return on the laundry has been the same day. 

 

Well it was great sitting on the veranda while the sun was shining.  Little by little, the clouds appeared and by 1pm it was raining.  Darn….  Oh well, it was time for another Mariner welcome onboard gathering in the Crow’s Nest, which we thought was 11:30am.  But really, it was 11am, and we went late anyway.  No problem, the second gathering began at noon, so we stayed for that one.  Instead of the sparkling wine, they served sangria and another sweet wine.  Not big fans of sweet wine, we opted for the sparkling wine.  The nice bartender poured us two bottomless glasses.  Sitting at the bar, we scanned the room to look for our buddies Bill & Leta.  Turned out they were buried in a group of folks sitting across the room at the windows.  Eventually, they spotted us and came to join us.  We all agreed the motion of the ocean was much more noticeable because the ship was doing 14.8 knots…too slow for the stabilizers to work well.  This theory was confirmed by the food and beverage manager who took some time to work the crowd.  We visited with our friends until 1pm, then figured it was time for lunch.

 

Once again, we had been invited to the Sommelier wine tasting at 1:50pm but did not attend.  We do appreciate the invite anyway.  The next time we see Hannah, the Sommelier, we shall ask if they are doing the light finger food pairing with the wine tasting.  After Covid, many of these snack-type tasting were discontinued.  And we had a reminder that we still had time to sign up for the Have-It-All perk for $60 per day per person.  We had it once on a shorter cruise because it was a built-in perk.  We never came close to utilizing its value.

 

A run to the Dive In was a good choice because there was no line at all by 2pm.  We had a burger, hot dog and fries again and the order was filled in less than 10 minutes.  It is nice sailing with only 700 guests.  The walk to get here is further now that we have moved more midship.  So perhaps that will help burn the calories of one French fry.  Dream on…..

 

Taking another afternoon walk, we found the promenade deck to be deserted except for two other couples walking like us.  Joining the three lanai room guests (bundled up like mummies) on their lounges,  were a handful of crew members working.  On our way back, we did find a crowd in the Explorer’s Lounge and figured it was time for trivia, a most popular game for many folks.

 

This evening was “dressy” and for the most part, people were decked out nicely.  What was missing was the Captain’s Welcome in the World Stage.  The official start of the Tales of the South Pacific will commence on October 2^nd in San Diego and there will be a welcome then.  From what we have been told, three hundred of us will continue forward, and the other 400 will disembark.  In fact, there were flyers on several rooms to fill out that information on getting off.  Ours will come November 20^th or so before this trip ends. 

 

Our dining room dinners were pretty good. Starters were a crab Louis and tomato soup.  For the first time, a real surf and turf entrée was on the Gala menu.  Turf was a tender filet, and the surf was lobster, with a little too many pieces of shell attached.  Considered a “legendary” cruise, the menu format has gone back to what we have on a grand voyage.   The best dessert was the strawberry shortcake, just the way we have it at home. 

 

Showtime in the World Stage featured a comedian by the name of Simon B. Cotter.  We thought the time was 9:30pm, but looking closer at the newsletter, it had changed back to 9pm now.  Then at 9:45pm, a chocolate surprise was happening on deck 5. 

 

On our way back from dinner, we checked out the activity in the Casino.  It was barely occupied with guests mostly at the slots.  And many were smoking.  That is one thing we do not like, but then it is easy to avoid going through that part of the ship.

 

We have another day at sea on the way to San Francisco.  Hope the rain goes away.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[ottahand7]

I have enjoyed following along with your great narrative of your long cruise.  I recall from your world cruise this year you mentioned that a hamburger was offered in the MDR.   I hope they will do that on Legendary voyages too. Please let us know if that addition is offered. We had no hamburger offered on the Grand South America last winter.   I am glad you are enjoying the Volendam, we loved her.  

[geocruiser]

Bill and Mary Ann,

I am enjoying reading about your cruises so very much.  Thank you for taking the time to post and bring us along on your cruise via Cruise Critic.

[WCB]

Report #25    Friday  September 29, 2023     Sea Day Enroute To San Francisco, California    Overcast With Rain   55 Degrees  Part #1 Of 1........0 Pictures  Casual Dress

 

Oddly enough, the carpet in the elevator said “Sunday”.  We don’t think so, but then the day of the week has not been included on the Daily paper ever since we boarded in Vancouver.  Of course, we do have a calendar where the itinerary is printed and all of our reservations for dinner are posted.  Once we retired, it seems like every day is a “Sunday”.

 

We noticed that when we left breakfast that the newly remodeled Captain’s Corner was nearly finished.  The walls were lined with shelves and tables that were already beginning to be stocked with some of the more expensive HAL logo clothing.  Instead of seeing the pieces of artwork on the walls, now there is a nice cubbyhole for the special items for sale.  It is not ready to open yet, but we suspect when we reach San Diego, there will be a grand opening.

 

An article appeared in yesterday’s newsletter concerned the game of pickleball, which has become quite popular on the ships these days.  Now court reservations are required.  One hour sessions can be booked on sea days from 12 to 4pm, and on port days, it is 9am – 4pm.  And be prepared to play doubles if the demand is high.  In addition, there was a meeting for those to learn the rules and regulations of the game.  Perhaps court etiquette is discussed, which leads us to think there have been some problems in the past….you think?

 

Mostly a rainy morning, we took our walk outside and believe we ran across a brief ashes-to-sea burial.  Mariner officer Jennifer and her assistant carrying a large bag were leading two ladies to the aft railing on the promenade deck.  We have seen this private ceremony on the N. Statendam, but the area had been roped off briefly for the private event.  Researching HAL’s website, we learned that all of the legal details are provided for this service.   It is a nice option for those who wish this type of burial. 

 

The sun did peek out enough to spend some time on the veranda.  The cool breeze erased any heat that the sun provided.  That should change in a week or so.  It is a perfect place to relax and read a book.  Did we mention there is a self-serve library onboard?  It is not huge, but they do stock a large number of up-to-date books with several copies of the best ones.  We noticed that many debarking guests donate the paperback books they have brought with them. 

 

Lunch was from Dive In again with a chicken back-flip and a cannonball burger.  Fries too.  No lines, no waiting.  This won’t last either.  The seas have calmed down and it feels as if the Captain has slowed down in order to get to SF on time tomorrow morning.  During his noon talk, he mentioned the speed limit on this coastline is regulated to protect the whales.  Now we are on the lookout for some.  We have seen many humpbacks while sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge, so we do plan to be up for the entrance to the bay.  Following up with that theme, there was an EXC talk about the Pacific Giants this morning at 10am, and another lecture featuring port highlights (promoting shore excursions) by our cruise director, Kimberly at 2pm.  We know the city well since we were both born and raised there.

 

Dinner was in the dining room, which was very empty or half full depending on how you look at it.  Even the waiters were milling around with little to keep them occupied.  A lot of polishing was happening at their workstations.  Mario, our waiter asked what we were doing tomorrow, and we told him a lot of walking and going out to lunch.  He and his buddies are very thrilled to be here, but not sure if they will have much time to get off for very long.  All aboard for them is 2:30pm….for the passengers it is 4:30pm.  More than likely there will be CDC inspections as well as a crew drill.    Anyway, we ordered one Caesar salad, one arancini appetizer, and one hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.  The soup is still made with spaghetti, not noodles.  It is good, but egg noodles would be nicer.  Our mains were the Club Orange special.  On all of the cruises we have been on since 2021, the Club Orange selection was printed in full on a special menu.  Now it just says you have to ask what it is.  There is no way to make your decision earlier in the day, because the actual meal is not described.  Most every evening we inquire as to what the special is, and our waiter has to go ask someone.  So far it has been Peruvian chicken or short ribs.  Jambalaya has not been mentioned so far.  So tonight we ordered the short ribs, but forgot it came with a puddle of runny mashed parsnips on the plate.  Not a favorite of ours, we will remember to ask about the entire contents of the entrée.  Could have substituted a baked potato for instance.  Oh well we did not feel stuffed, and we added desserts of a blue sorbet with a flavor that cannot be identified, and one hot fudge chocolate sundae with no marshmallows. 

 

Looking forward to friends boarding tomorrow and also a nice hike with a great lunch.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

 

[geocruiser]

1 hour ago, WCB said:

Report #25   

The soup is still made with spaghetti, not noodles. 

 

 

I had to smile when I saw this.  I did not know what a noodle was as a kid.  My mom always used spaghetti in her soups.  She was Italian.  To this day that is what I use most of the time

[WCB]

Thanks for following along.  So far, we have not had the opportunity to go to a dining room lunch.  On the Zuiderdam's 2023 world cruise, they did offer hamburgers at lunchtime in the dining room.  We shall check the menu on the TV and see what the menu has to offer.

 

We grew up with Campbell's chicken noodle soup, which had nice egg noodles....still does.  

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[geocruiser]

51 minutes ago, WCB said:

Thanks for following along.  So far, we have not had the opportunity to go to a dining room lunch.  On the Zuiderdam's 2023 world cruise, they did offer hamburgers at lunchtime in the dining room.  We shall check the menu on the TV and see what the menu has to offer.

 

We grew up with Campbell's chicken noodle soup, which had nice egg noodles....still does.  

 

Bill & Mary Ann

That was a treat for me if my mom would buy it!!  She made her soups.

[TiogaCruiser]

11 hours ago, WCB said:

 

So tonight we ordered the short ribs, but forgot it came with a puddle of runny mashed parsnips on the plate. 

 

 

My gosh, of all the vegetables it could have been.

Edited October 1, 2023 by TiogaCruiser

[LouChamp]

17 hours ago, geocruiser said:

I had to smile when I saw this.  I did not know what a noodle was as a kid.  My mom always used spaghetti in her soups.  She was Italian.  To this day that is what I use most of the time

Aloha.  Interesting you posted your experience as a child. As an italian I make my own sauce/gravy but in an “emergency” use Raos sauce as I frequent their restaurant for years. Campbells bought their sauce line and the CEO was asked if they would hopefully not change the product. He stated that if they haven’t changed their chicken noodle soup for over 100 years, they would not now lol 😂 

[geocruiser]

Bill and Mary Ann,

In your report #24,the sunset pictures were beautiful.  Thanks .

[WCB]

Report #26   Saturday  September 30, 2023   San Francisco, California  Docked Starboard Side To Pier  8am-5pm  Morning Overcast With Some Sun  60 Degrees  Part #1 Of 7........69 Pictures

 

We were up early to watch the Volendam glide under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge this fine Saturday morning.  And we lucked out as there was no low fog blocking our view.  There were overcast skies, but not extremely cold with temps in the low 60’s.  The Oceana’s Regatta had beat us into the bay and took Pier 27, the newest cruise terminal in the city.  We had the oldest one at Pier 35, however, that put us closer to Pier 39 and all of the stores and restaurants.   With the assistance of a tugboat, the ship was safely alongside before 8am.  Without the use of the more modern azipods, the ship needs more help with local tugs. 

 

There were a few tours offered here today and the most comprehensive of them, in our opinion, was the Ho-Ho bus or the Big Bus 2½ hour ride.  The ship’s price was $63, but if you bought tickets on the Embarcadero, they were $49.  A tour of SF with Alcatraz for 4 hours was $100, while SF with a drive to Sausalito for 6 ½ hours was $110.  There were no wine country tours but there was a ride to Muir Woods and Sausalito for 4 hours for $110.    Any one of these excursions would be a fine way to see the city, where both of us happened to be born and raised.  

 

For a Saturday morning, the area was not too crowded yet,  but that would change.   We learned that there were several events happening and one of them a 45 year celebration of the building of Pier 39.  The other event was a swim race called Swim Across America held at Aquatic Park. 

 

After breakfast, we left the ship just as the crew drill was ending around 10 am.   Walking The Embarcadero, we passed Pier 39 and the Jeremiah O’Brien ship which was docked near us.  There was another celebration taking place here later.  We have heard and seen so much negative things about the city we have known so well, that we were happy to see that this part of town has been kept clean of trash and a rough element of society.  We did hear a very vocal religious speech-giver and a group of fellows performing street entertainment.   That has been part of the city since we were little.  We believe there is a large number of homeless folks, but that is in the Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building.

 

Passing through Fisherman’s Wharf brought back years of memories with all of the famous fish restaurants our parents brought us to.  The names are still there, but we are not sure the original families still run them.   At Hyde Street, we saw the historic sailing ships and the Aquatic Park where the swim event had just taken place.  Many of the contestants had on wet suits, but those who did not were wrapped in thick beach towels.  Right up the slope from the beach area is Ghirardelli Square and a shop where you can buy the best chocolate ever.  And that is just what we did…..buy some chocolate squares by the pound.  Or we should say by the half pound.  These days it is worth it’s weight in gold.  This time of year, they offer a most delicious seasonal special of  caramel pumpkin spice chocolates that are to “die for”.  We will savor these one day at a time, as we will the sea salt dark chocolate squares we purchased.  

 

Back-tracking, we passed Del Monte Square where the factory used to be.  Several street vendors were selling things from Mexico and even Guatemala.  Much of the merchandise was targeting the children.  And there were many of them out with their parents today.   We were in search of some peanut brittle, which we did find at a candy shop near Madame Trussand’s  Wax Museum.   Our last stop was at CVS for a few necessities, like popcorn.  It still shocks us to see so much of their normal merchandise under lock and key due to shop-lifting.  Then it was off to lunch at the Hard Rock Café.

 

It was noontime by now, and the place was rapidly filling up with large groups.  We were lucky to get a hightop table near the bar.  Our meal was a shared plate of cheese nachos with grilled chicken and guacamole.  Our choice of draft beers were a Lagunitas IPA and one Stella Artois.  We couldn’t resist the hot fudge brownie sundae, which we split of course.   The owner of the café helped us how to re-join their club which has changed in recent months.  We’ll have to do it online back on the ship.  He also advised us that we can obtain a real HRC card by visiting one of their casinos which we did not know.  On our way out, we purchased a city T, the priciest one this year.  Guess inflation continues to shock everyone nationwide.

 

We could not leave Pier 39 without seeing the sea lions.  The crowd had increased and we can say we have not seen this many tourists here in a long time.  Even the sea lion area was totally crowded.  We made our way past the onlookers and then back to the ship.  By now, it was after 2pm, and some of our crew members were on the run since their all aboard time was closer to 2:30pm.  They know not to be late.

 

Back in our room, we ran into both room stewards, the nicest fellows, and asked if we got get a chair pad for the lounge on the veranda.  Jito, the assistant, said he would be happy to “steal” one for us, which we said that would be great.  No rush though as we know they were busy.  Well, within 5 minutes there was a knock on the door and there was our clean chair pad.  It is really nicer to have the cushion since the lounge is quite low to the floor and the pad helps us get up easier.  

 

Sail away at the aft pool was around 5pm, so we grabbed the camera, and off we went.  Friends were boarding today and we knew they would show up for the sailing out of the harbor.  And that they did.  It was so nice seeing them and hearing they had arrived on time and were already settled.   They have done this tropical cruise several times like us, and we all look forward to nicer weather as soon as possible.  The sun had come out in the afternoon and it felt so nice.  But once the ship sailed under the Golden Gate, the winds were bone-chilling.  Never saw a deck clear out so fast.  The four of us left by 6pm going inside in hopes of warming up.  Looking forward to catching up on news with them now that we have 54 more days to do it. 

 

It was a casual dinner in the dining room, but hardly anyone was there at 7:30pm.  Bet they spent a busy day in the city, and went early to dinner.  The menu was the culinary one, which we think we had just a few days ago.  It was Caesar salads for starters and a chicken meal with sour corn?...now that was odd.   Tasted odd too.  The other choice was rigatoni with a sausage sauce which was OK.  Only one craquelin dessert was needed, then it was off the bed for us.  There was an impressionist, Tyler Bryce, on the stage tonight at 9pm, a ½ hour earlier now.  There are a few adjustments on this legendary cruse compared to the repeated Alaskan runs.

 

One more day at sea, and we will be in San Diego.

 

Bill & Mary Ann 

 

 

 

[Ready2go11]

You mentioned your friends got on board in San Francisco. I have never seen an embarkation availability for SF when booking online but on past cruises I have seen folks get on board. How do you arrange a non standard embarkation port like that?

[WCB]

Report #27    Sunday October 1, 2023  Day At Sea Enroute To San Diego, California   Cloudy With Some Sun  62 Degrees  Causal Dress  Part #1 Of 1.........34 Pictures

 

Today will be the final one of this 5 day cruise from Vancouver for about 400 guests.  And being that it is a Sunday at sea, there is another 10am brunch in the dining room.  Of course, we prefer the Pinnacle Grill and did go there by 8am.  There were many customers to our surprise. 

 

The skies have remained cloudy, but the chill in the air was gone.  Last night we did experience some strong winds, but it has calmed down nicely today.  All we need is for the sun to appear, and all will be right with our world at sea. 

 

Days like this one at sea are perfect, so one of us can work on photos without burning the candle at both ends.   That tends to catch up with us with port-intensive itineraries.  No doubt we will have some relaxing time as we will be spending 5 days sailing towards Hilo, Hawaii. 

 

At noon, Captain Whitaker bid his final goodbye to all as he is heading home after 2 months at sea.  Captain Paul Eschenfelder will take over in San Diego for the legendary Tales of the South Pacific.   We do not believe we have had the pleasure of sailing with him on past cruises. 

 

For only the second time this trip, we ordered a simple room service lunch at 2pm.  They said to expect a 30 – 45 minute wait time, but it finally arrived after 50 minutes.  During that time, there was an announcement that dolphins were spotted on the port side.  Since one of us was sitting on the veranda, the splashing could be heard well before the announcement.  There must have been hundreds of dolphins in this pod, as they swam under the surface, jumping when least expected.  What a display they put on as they played in the wake left by the ship’s sailing.  The ship’s speed had been reduced to a mere 10 knots and it seemed as if we were crawling along.  Now we know why there is such a strict speed limit in these waters.  This part of the California coast also has many whales that migrate south.  We had hoped to see some spouting humpbacks, but there were none to be seen.  Since we are sailing in international waters, it may be too far from the coastline to see the whales. 

 

For some unknown reason, ever since we re-located from the Dolphin deck, we have had problems with the internet.  The signal has not been as strong as it was.  In fact, this afternoon, we could not send the blog.  No one at the front desk could explain our problem, since there were no reports of any outages.  So we went down to deck five to the library/computer area and we had a strong connection with emails going out immediately.  Once again, we stopped at the front desk, and reported the problem.  They said they would investigate this for us.   Sometimes the location of the hotspot in the hallways can affect the signal strength.  Perhaps we should have contacted Jennifer, our girl Friday, but we learned from her earlier that she will be going home tomorrow and we will get a new Mariner expert in San Diego.  Hope he is as good as she has been with us.

 

We enjoyed another Pinnacle Grill dinner this evening with our favorite wedge salads, clothes line bacon, and warm rolls.   Mains were lamb chops and halibut.  All cooked perfectly with added sides of skinny fries and a baked potato.   There was a tad bit of room for their best orange sorbet for dessert.  

 

The entertainer this evening was the comedy of Simon B. Cotter once again.  He is said to be the winner of Canada’s Comedian of the year.  If we have not mentioned it, the Ocean Bar has a cocktail pianist at happy hour, and the Ocean Band later.  The Mix offered a piano bar entertainer, and the Explorer’s Lounge had a classical violinist this afternoon and evening. 

 

San Diego….here we come.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

[57redbird]

On 10/1/2023 at 8:28 AM, Ready2go11 said:

You mentioned your friends got on board in San Francisco. I have never seen an embarkation availability for SF when booking online but on past cruises I have seen folks get on board. How do you arrange a non standard embarkation port like that?

Following --- wanted to do that for our cruise in Feb -- boarding in Hawaii since we've been to all the islands.

 

[dchip]

Bill!!!!!!! Those dolphin photos are epic!!!!!! So glad you saw them. We enjoyed watching them from Deck 8. 
Denise and Howie, too. 

[WCB]

Report #28    Monday October 2, 2023   San Diego, California   Docked Starboard Side To Pier   Mostly Sunny And Warmer 70 Degrees   Part #1 Of 3..........77 Pictures Of 191.......Casual Dress

 

While we were sailing into the harbor of San Diego very early in the morning at 6am, there was a medical call for the staff in the Lido.  Boy, that is surely not the way someone expected to either end their trip or begin a new one.  When these things occur, we seldom hear the outcome unless it happens to be somebody we know.  And as always, we wish the person well.

 

One of us was already up at 5:30am, so we may as well both get up and watch the sail into San Diego even if it was dark.  We could hear the sea lions barking along the shoreline near the Naval Base at Point Loma.  The night lights of the city were pretty as we passed by Shelter and Harbor Islands on the left side and Coronado Island on the right.   Airplanes were already landing and taking off at the international airport, which is busy all day long.   The Volendam was docked before 7am, and the good news was that we were the only cruise ship here today. 

 

From the looks of it, the weather was going to be perfect with a few scattered clouds, but mostly blue skies.  The forecast on TV said there would be light rain, but we can never depend on their accuracy.  Today was no exception… there was no rain.  We set off for breakfast at 6:45am, but we were not the first there.  Many customers lugged their bags to the Pinnacle Grill to relax in there to wait for their colored tags to be announced.  We were cleared by the local authorities after 7:30am, and the call for debarking guests started shortly after that.  Should be an easy debark since only 300 folks were getting off. 

 

While we were enjoying our breakfast, all of the deck six port side verandas were being cleaned.  Then we discovered that there was a plumbing project taking place next to our cabin door in the hallway.  Workers had the panel in the ceiling down and the plumbing door opened wide.  Good time to take the computer down to deck five and the library to try to send emails.  We still have trouble understanding why we get a better signal directly below our room, and get a poor one just a floor above.  Reporting the problem yesterday, we had hoped someone would try to fix it, but nothing had changed yet.   Our friends down on Dolphin deck report good speed, just like we had when we were there.  Go figure….

 

There were a handful of shore excursions today starting with airport transfers.  Those with early flights could get a transfer for $29 per person.  If you had time because of a later flight, you could book that same transfer and add a zoo tour for $125 pp.  A 6 ¼ hour tour to the zoo was $130, and the Old Town Trolley was a 2 hour ride for $70.  City highlights was $75 for 4 hours, and if you added the airport transfer, it would cost $90.  When we fly home from San Diego, we always take a taxi, since it is only about a 3 or 4 mile ride for less than $30 for both of us. 

 

Leaving the ship at 10am, we took our usual route along the waterfront to Seaport Village, a very touristy spot with shops, cafes, and some nice restaurants.  We passed all of the sights like the Midway Naval aircraft carrier, many street vendors, ticket kiosks, and the info center, where we picked up a good downtown map.  A convention center is here as well as a really nice marina and yacht harbor.  Some of the sailing vessels moored here are quite impressive.  High rise hotels face this harbor and marina, some higher and newer than others. 

 

Entering one of the big ones, the Hilton, we found our way to the walking bridge that spans the highway below and connects to the area of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.  Following Park Boulevard, we walked behind the stadium to the historic Gaslamp Quarter.  This part of town is filled with many eateries with outside dining and dozens of shops.  We did locate a CVS, but they did not have what we needed, so we continued on.  There was a sports grill and bar on one corner in this district, but we failed to remember the name.  Going down some streets, nothing looked familiar, so we found Market Street and heading back downhill where we knew to find a Cheesecake Factory.  

 

By now, it was time for lunch and more so….something cold to drink.  So it was Cheesecake where we ordered those Stella draft beers and a Skinnylicious Mexican tortilla salad.   Every Monday at home, it is Cheesecake day for us, so this was perfect.  These salads are huge and easily shared.  They also served their signature sourdough bread and the Indian brown bread.  The best thing was sitting and relaxing for an hour or so. 

 

On the way back, we passed by the Sante Fe railroad station, then back to the waiting Volendam.  We were back by 2pm and happy to retreat to the comfort of our room for a while.  The plumbing job was completed and the veranda clean.  Bad news is that there was no TV reception all day.  Perhaps after we leave the port, it will be restored.  Nope, still nothing at dinnertime.  Calling the front desk, they said there was a glitch, and the IT guys were working on it.   Again, not the best way to begin a legendary voyage.

 

By the way, we need to make a correction regarding the name of the ship’s captain.  It is Captain Paul Adams.  The other captain we mentioned will be a guest lecturer later in the cruise.  The new hotel director is also named Glenn and is from Australia.   We shall also have a new Mariner rep, and hope to meet some of these officers perhaps tomorrow at the reception in the Crow’s Nest.  

 

Sail away took place around 5pm with not only drinks for sale, but also some canapies, which is the first time for us to see some food served at these events.  Our friends from home joined us, as did some friends of theirs that boarded today.   Rosie and Randy, who we met back in 2013 and 2015 joined the ship today too.  They probably knew we would be back at the aft pool ready to take some photos of our departure.  Out in the bay, it was a lot cooler, but we all hung in there until we were out to sea.  We had many pelicans, seagulls, cormorants, and sea lions to see on our way out.  We even got shots of the famous Coronado Hotel in the distance as we left.  Pretty much chilled, we all headed back inside.

 

Now that we have a full ship, the dining room was busy, especially at the early opening time of 5pm.  Any time dining seems to be the trend so far as we can see.   Starters for us were a seafood crostini and a Caesar salad, and one very hot French onion soup.  Sure was good.  Mains were a tenderloin steak, but sliced thinly with all recognizable vegetables.  Quite tasty.  One of us ordered the Club Orange special of Peruvian chicken, however, after waiting for a while our waiter Mario came and said they did not have it.   Sliced leg of lamb was substituted.  Now the last time we ordered the lamb, we were disappointed because it tasted like cardamom and was tough and dry.  Tonight’s lamb must have been cooked on the spot, and it was the best so far.  Desserts were the mini hot fudge sundae with chocolate sauce, nuts, and marshmallows.  The scoop has been down-sized to a little bit of ice cream, but they are doing us a favor.

 

Now we will have more than a few days at sea on the way to Hilo, Hawaii.  Looking forward to it.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

[WCB]

Report #29  Tuesday  October 3, 2023  Sea Day Enroute To Hilo, Hawaii   Partly Cloudy With Lots Of Sun  64 Degrees  Part #1 Of 1.......5 Pictures  Gala Night

 

On this legendary voyage, on sea days, breakfast will be at 8am in the dining room and 7am in the Lido.  Port days will be a half hour earlier, like it has always been.  Showing up right after 8am at the Pinnacle grill, we noticed there were few customers.  Guess boarding day was so busy that many guests slept later.  Can’t say we blame them.  The result for the few of us at 8am is the fact we have the attention of several waiters.  And they are spoiling us.  We also met the new manager, Bagus, who has stepped in for Endrian who went home. 

 

Today the weather was warm in the sun, but cool in the shade.  It was 64 degrees with 12 mph winds, which picked up a lot by late afternoon.  The ship is sailing at 15 knots with some listing. Heading primarily west, we have not dropped enough south to feel that tropical heat.  It will be here soon enough.  And despite some passing clouds, it has not rained.

 

There was another reception for the 3, 4, & 5 star Mariners and President’s Club members at 11am in the Crow’s Nest.  Usually this is held on boarding day, but too much was happening, and it was moved to today.  Much wiser.  There were so many of the star members, there were two starting times.  Not wishing to stand in a line at the entrance, we went about 10 minutes late.  Well, there was no line, but the fellow at the entrance hesitated letting us enter.  He did have a list, but failed to ask our names.  We assured him we had been invited, and he said please come in.  As it turned out, he was the new Mariner officer who replaced Jennifer.  Saying no more to him, we took our usual seats at the bar. 

 

The Beverage manager, Russell, came by and chatted for a while.  When we told him that story, he laughed and motioned Arnold to come over and meet us.  Well, he was surprised and apologized for the mix-up, as he should have known who his customers were.  Hearing this conversation, the nice bartender pulled out a very good bottle of real champagne and poured us two drinks.  We doubt if he forgets again, or we will tease him forever.  He is a nice young man from the Philippines and quite friendly. 

 

Johan, the food and beverage manager promised to get us a weekly menu of the Club Orange dinner entrees.  He followed through because this evening, he came to us in the dining room with the list that gave the entrées with the sides as well.  It will repeat on a weekly basis.  We thanked him for doing this, and it will save time for our waiter who has to look it up on his device every night.

 

We also met the new Hotel Director, Glenn Cowly, who listened about the lack of TV since yesterday.  He did admit the problem could be a number of things, but never went as far as saying something was broken.   To be fair, we read our reports from last year’s cruise, and we had similar problems with both the TV and internet.  It seems like our internet is working better, but no one has taken credit for fixing it.  The TV reception came on briefly this afternoon, but it did not last more than ½ hour.  By the time we finished dinner, the channels were back. 

 

Lunch was a Dive-In chicken sandwich and a hot dog with fries.  It was ready within 5 minutes.  Really great service when there is no line. 

 

Tonight’s dress was “dressy”, and guess what?  The majority of passengers dressed up just fine.  This time we saw some tuxes, suits, and jackets for the fellows.  The ladies always look great and tonight was no exception.  And we saw only one t-shirt on a guy but no baseball hats.  Things are looking better.  Starters for us were shrimp cocktails, a salad, and a hot bowl of tomato soup.  Very good.  Mains were lamb chops but with customized sides of mashed potatoes, diced carrots and a pile of asparagus.  Also tasty and colorful.  Desserts were a crème brulee and sliced pineapple.

 

Better news:  the clocks went back one hour, thank you.

 

Bill & Mary Ann