My First “Live”- Zuiderdam May 11, 2024 TA

[mawvkysc]

No problem @scubacruiserx2

 

 

Day 10:

57 degrees F Sunny. Calm waters but not flat. It felt great on my promenade walk. I did a 15 minute mile! Woohoo. 
 

Did the  City On The Sea presentation. It was fun at the end to clap for all of the team members. 
 

I missed the start of Cake Me Away. But I did have a scrumptious cream puff and the Mille Crepe cake. 
 

Went to the guest lecture. I knew his speaking style was quite dry but gave it a try to see the maritime paintings. It ended up all being paintings of tourist spots by one artist. It had nothing to do with the history of maritime painting. 

 

[SonuvaBeach]

3 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

I like your avatar!

[mawvkysc]

The bag of laundry came back in 24 hours. I can’t believe how much we fit in it. They got a stain out of my pants but they weren’t pressed. They didn’t totally get the stain out of my husband’s pants. I’m fairly sure I’ll be able to get it out when we’re home. Everything was folded so nicely. 

Edited May 20 by mawvkysc

[mawvkysc]

I freshened up the bouquet. If you need a knife there is one on the corkscrew by the ice bucket. 

Edited May 20 by mawvkysc

[pbxtech]

We just booked Zuiderdam today for a 10 day Southern Caribbean in Dec. It will be the first time for us on Holland America.  

 

[mawvkysc]

3 hours ago, pbxtech said:

We just booked Zuiderdam today for a 10 day Southern Caribbean in Dec. It will be the first time for us on Holland America.  

 

Sounds great. We’ve been quite happy on Zuiderdam 

[mawvkysc]

I got a great facial which included a lot of shoulder massage. That  was really nice. Upsell wasn’t too bad. 

After dinner I caught the 80s set at Billboard s as NS then the all request set. The crowd was smaller probably due to there being a port day with immigration tomorrow. 

 

[mawvkysc]

k

[mawvkysc]

The mozzarella salad was good. The spinach dip was as well but lobster was barely detected 

 

The cod was excellent! The pork chop was dry. 
 

Peach crisp was good. I didn’t like the flavor of the cream in the Paris Brest. I wish I could’ve had another cream puff from this afternoon. 
 

The Grasshopper was delicious from the Billboard bar. 

Edited May 20 by mawvkysc

[USN59-79]

It is interesting and enjoyable to read a blog by one who is on their first HAL cruise, but is an experienced cruiser.  About the lack of name tags:  For many years the majority of the crew other than ship's officers were from either Indonesia or the Philippines.  Because many of the Indonesians were Muslim, and religion forbids alcohol; usually the bar persons were from the Philippines and the stateroom and dining room persons were from Indonesia.  Pre-Pandemic we had our wine poured by wine stewards in the dining rooms.  I think that has changed.  On my last cruise on the Westerdam, I just had my wine bottle delivered to my table and I served myself.

Ray

[BetsyS.]

Have a great day in Ireland! 😊

[EJLobster]

I will be boarding the Zuiderdam on Saturday- 1st HAL cruise. yes, excited!   Where is the best place for coffee/ espresso?  Any place to get it other than Lido Buffet?  Thanks!

[mawvkysc]

6 hours ago, EJLobster said:

I will be boarding the Zuiderdam on Saturday- 1st HAL cruise. yes, excited!   Where is the best place for coffee/ espresso?  Any place to get it other than Lido Buffet?  Thanks!

Specialty coffee is available in the Crow’sNest deck 10 forward. Also for our cruise they have been serving specialty coffee all day in the Pinnacle Bar. 

Edited May 21 by mawvkysc

[SonuvaBeach]

29 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 And we like yours , it's a more natural shot . The one that I took was following us indicating that it was being fed ( maybe by a dive Master ) and had lost it's fear of people . The normal behavior is to recede into it's cave or swim away as in our video .

 

 

 

 We hope that @mawvkysc  and the Zuiderdam cruisers have a great day today in Ireland  and note that the moray is wearing it's green !

Mine was taken while on a photo shoot for a dive resort in the Abacos. In a previous life, I was an underwater photographer.

[mawvkysc]

Day 11- Cobh Ireland 

67 def. F. It started overcast and became sunny. A glorious day. 
 

 

 

[mawvkysc]

Going through immigration was fast. We were group 2 because of having a HAL tour. This will cover us for the rest of the trip. So glad we don’t have to do it tomorrow as it’s a tender port. There is an agreement that covers us even though Great Britain is not EU. 
 

We did the Jameson Tour  which includes a drive through Cork. The guide was very clear. The countryside was beautiful. The bus was comfy and has USB ports fyi. I learned a lot about whisky. The Jameson grounds are lovely and historic. 
 

We were berthed right in town which was very convenient. The tour got us back in plenty of time to explore Cobh. Cobh is lovely.

 

We got fish chowder at The Quay restaurant on the water. It was tasty and had a fair amount of seafood. The soda bread was really nice. It reminds me a good bit of brown bread which is a traditional bread in New England. I also had delicious ice cream. 
 

If you’re into thrift stores there is one right on the main waterfront. I had to pop in. 
 

We are currently in the Crows Nest  We got a front row for sailaway. I’ve hardly been up here the whole cruise. I thought I’d be here often but fell in love with the promenade deck. 

[mawvkysc]

[mawvkysc]

[mawvkysc]

[mawvkysc]

Front row:And it just started pouring. 

[mawvkysc]

And it’s leaking!

[mawvkysc]

Orange Night. Dutch Dinner

[BetsyS.]

Great menu! I LOVE HAL's pea soup!!   I like the brisket, Dover sole and halibut.

My favorite desserts are the fruit crisps. Thanks for sharing the menus, pictures, and daily programs. 😊

[VMax1700]

Glad you enjoyed Cork, Midleton and Cobh.  Sorry that the 'sprinklers' turned on a little earlier than expected 😉

Just for information you are referring to the 'Common Travel Area' which permits unhindered travel between Ireland and UK, even though UK is not in EU.  

Cobh is a great town on a nice day, and you had a nice day.  

Hope you come back again! 👋

[mawvkysc]

I forgot to mention that on the last dressy night my husband made a lot of crumbs and the special crumb sweeping tool showed up! 😆 

 

The pea soup was great! The bacon in it was really good. 
Bay shrimp cocktail 👍 

Dover sole was good. 
Klapstuck was tender, tasty and the gravy was excellent. 
Bosche Bol was fabulous! The cream inside was light and not overly sweet. 
 

We went to the port talk and headed to the cabin. We’re tired! We watched the sequel to Fisherman’s Friends in prep for Cornwall. There are a lot of good movies on demand in cabin. So wish there had been a shore excursion to Port Isaac.  

Edited May 21 by mawvkysc