San Diego to Florida Roundtrip 2022

We woke up around 7:30am to doors shutting and other noises.     But we didn't have to be off the ship until 10am for our HAL transfer to the airport.   The Lido was relatively empty for breakfast and I had my last standard breakfast (2 eggs over broken, one potato cake, one sausage patty and one piece of bacon).     It took about three weeks but the cook finally recognized my everyday order this past week.       When the announcement was made that immigration would be held on deck three in the main dining room I was a bit surprised.     The only time I can recall that immigration was held on previous cruises was in Asian or Russian ports.     We waited until there was a long gap between luggage tag color codes being called before going down and there was absolutely no line.     It took no more than two - three minutes and I even got extended questions about where I lived.     I...

Today is our last sea day before reaching San Diego.     Ethan's coffee chat was with the dance captain of the Step One Dance Company.     She explained a lot about what had to happen as the members of the troupe encountered Covid.     She, of course,     never called it that!   We attended a dance presentation by the Mexican Cultural Ambassadors as well as a game of Mexican "bingo".   I enjoyed a lot of time in the Crow's Nest looking forward and watching YouTube videos.     At one point several of us spotted some unusual water anomalies in the water far ahead of us.? As we got closer it turned out to be a pod of dolphins or porpoises.     And lots of them!   We totally enjoyed our last meal in the Caneletto with the super staff.     They transformed the dining experience for us there and I made sure to tell them and their bosses that and in the post crui...

With our last port of call behind us we have two sea days ahead of us until we reach San Diego for disembarkation.     The winds were quite strong in the morning and tge outside temperature definitely dropped.     We only did 5 activities during this first sea day.   As is typical for sea days, we started with Ian's coffee chat.     Today it was with Tim, a third officer, who is responsible for the administrative activities on the bridge.     He's about ready to move up to 2nd officer. Immediately following this, the Mexican Cultural Ambassadors gave a presentation on the weeping woman legend including an interpretive dance that was very haunting.   At 2pm Ian hosted Ask the Captain. I now know somewhat what it means to be a judge on the TV show THE VOICE where the judges gave to pick a contestant based only on their voice.     In my case, for over a week I've heard the voice from the bridge whic...

Continuing our tradition, we booked a snorkeling excursion for our last port of call on this voyage,   Majahuitas Cove Catamaran Snorkel & Yelapa Bay Beach.     The sail into Puerto Vallarta occurred during daylight and we arrived shortly after 9am. Fir the first part of the sail in we watched a presentation on the snake dance by the Mexican cultural ambassadors.      It's a very pretty sail in. The staff Captain brought the Zuiderdam into the harbor and did a 180° counterclockwise rotation docking us at the Puerto Majico pier which adjoins a big tourist shopping mall.       Per normal, we met in the Main Stage which was pretty full.     It seemed like clearance took a long while, but eventually Ian gave the clearance announcement.     Shore Excursions then began calling groups for disembarkation.     Our group was finally called and we left the showroom on the left side, got stickered, ...

Sea days for us typically start with Ian's coffee chat.     Today was no different.     Drew Frazier, comedian, was the guest and it was a nice interview.     Afterwards, the cultural program was a presentation on dances in Jalisco. We enjoyed lunch in the Pinnacle Grill.     In the afternoon there was actual dancing by them on the aft pool deck.     I spent much of the day reading my current mystery novel.   The Jukebox Rogues presented a masterful show featuring Broadway or West End musical hit songs.     Their set's last three songs featuring The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables, and Bohemian Rhapsody were very powerful. It was so good we repeated it at 9:30pm.  

Mid morning the Captain came on the PA system and said that due to several instances of experiencing strong underwater currents, we would be arriving at Huatulco about 1/2 hour late or around 12:30pm.     As we neared the port, he once again came on and reported whale sightings.   We were eating our customary lunch in the Lido, starboard side, when we started seeing dolphins or porpoises along with jumping tuna.     I adjourned to the Crow's best to watch the final sail-in and then went outside on deck 9 in front of the fitness center.     I really like entering ports during the day.     And this little port is a real cute one.   We met in the Main Stage for our excursion and departed around 2pm.     We assembled alongside the ship and then walked the long pier to an assembly area near our boat where the briefing was made and snorkel gear passed out.     It turned out that the ride to t...

For a sea day it was relatively busy.     The staff Captain has kept the ship motoring north at 20 knots (fast) since we left Puntarenas. The seas were pretty flat and I'm sure the stabilizers dampened any movement.   Ian's coffee chat was with Neil, the Future Cruise Consultant.     It was much the same as his previous interview. Next was a brief presentation by the newly embarked Mexican Cultural Ambassadors who are actually from Tucson, AZ.     Afterwards I spent some time updating my blog for yesterday before we went to the Port to Table Demonstration about cooking Chile Rellenos which was a repeat.     Afterwards I stopped by the photo center to check some things out.     We then watched a Mexican cultural dance exhibition at the aft Lido pool area.     It was blazing hot in the Central American sun.   My wife attended the Mexican Dance lessons while I lounged the rest of the after...

Cuteness is the word for today.     Our selected shore excursion was to visit the Sloth sanctuary, botanical garden, and an oxcart     factory.     The tours were delayed in departing (as they were on the previous leg of the trip.     A Covid vaccination card had to be displayed and they photographed it.   The first stop after a little over an hour drive was at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center.     This group is privately funded and accepts no government funded.     Volunteers come for 3 month stints. All of the animals are rescues.      Many of the birds and monkeys are former pets or bar owner's animals.     Many of the birds and monkeys were abused and one monkey was an alcoholic and particularly aggressive.     There were parrots, coati, deer, hogs, parakeets, multiple varieties of monkeys, raccoons, macaws, lizards, & sloths. There are even a few wild m...

As is normal for sea days, my morning started with attending the coffee chat which featured Amanda who is from Seattle.     She trained as a dancer but is now the entertainment director on this ship which she joined 1/2/22 when we did.     After that I had breakfast and spent the remainder of the day catching up writing my blog with a break for lunch and a wine tasting of Pacific NW wines.     At the tasting, we were joined by Diana whom we have cruised with previously.     It was a fun time chatting with her and comparing our reactions to the wines.     She liked the dryer white wine while we liked the sweeter Mt. St. Michelle Reisling.   Tonight I received a reward for all the one finger keystrokes on an iPhone doing these posts. It unfolded like this.   At the last minute we decided to eat in the Main Dining Room for Gala Night as escargot was on the menu.  We showed up shortly after 5:15pm and wer...

Today, January 21, 2022, was a super     day in Panama.  We hovered in position over night just off Fuerte Amador which is at the end of a breakwater connecting Isla Flamenco with Panama City and was built from Panama Canal construction debris.  We took an all day (HAL) tour (Best of Panama) which took us from the Pacific Ocean city of Panama City to the Atlantic Ocean city of Colon. (This bus trip is the reverse direction of a bus excursion we did on our first transit 9 years ago on the Celebrity Century.).    At a high level, we drove directly to Colon, went over the new Atlantic Bridge two directions, visited the new Atlantic end locks at the Agua Clara visitor center (terrific stop), motor coached back south to the Chagres River and did a boat tour up to an indigenous tribe's village and watched a presentation, spotted fauna on the return trip, and motor coached back to the ship via the Pedro Miguel Locks via a different route. ...

Today marks our 6th transit of the Panama Canal (2nd in just over a week, and 3rd in about 3 months).     For me it never gets old, and today again I got up at 5:30am to enjoy this full transit.     The southbound transit typically begins at dark or near dark as the locks are quite close to Límon Bay where ships stage.     For the Zuiderdam, a reservation fee of $35,000 was paid (or about $500/passenger).     While the locks operate 24/7, cruise ships typically begin their transits in the morning.   First to board is the pilot.     Later, line handling crews board.     Total navigational command is given to the pilot, and the line crews handle the lines to the mules.     I should add that there is a seven year wait to become a pilot.     Then the most experienced pilots can earn $30,000 PER MONTH.     It's a coveted occupation.   We passed under the Atlanti...

Overnight the seas were a bit choppy as the Captain had projected.     We slept in a bit and Ian's scenic cruising commentary was nice as we sailed into the moorage area of Cartagena's port.     We passed by the ancient fort, terrific skyline views with all the white buildings shimmering in the morning sunlight, the container port with its many blue cranes.   This "service" stop was just to let the pilot come on board, do some form of clearance activity and we would be back on our way to the Panama Canal.     No passengers or crew were permitted to disembark.     While we hovered in position, a Colombian Navy vessel kept watch.     After a couple hours or so, the ship rotated clockwise and sailed back out of the harbor, discharged the pilot, and headed out to sea towards the Canal.   We relaxed onboard during the afternoon where I caught up on my blog and watching YouTube videos.   ...

This was definitely a lazy day at sea.     Rúben Vilagran was the coffee chat guest.     He's from Spain and was a delightful guest.       A crew boat drill took up most of the mud morning and I took in the EXC presentation The Deep Blue which was about turtles, messages in a bottle, and seeking Spanish Treasure.   At lunch we had a delightful chat with a couple from Florida with special emphasis on their 1977 GMC motor home that they restored.     The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting in the overflow area for the Lincoln Center Stage and a presentation on the works of The Schuman's.     It was rated annoying when the couple in front of us talked through the entire concert.     Other guests noted it as well. I love watching the sea pass by just below this window on deck 2.   Dinner was in the Pinnacle and we both had salmon.     It was delicious and the staff ...

After the early morning drama from yesterday, today was calm.     So much so I slept in missing the 9am Coffee Chat.     After breakfast we did make it to a feature full future cruise presentation.     Neil, FCC, did a nice job of presenting future cruises without just doing a laundry list.     Several were intriguing.   I attended a small Cruise Critic meet and greet and also booked an interesting shore excursion for our stop in Panama after the Panama Canal. We skipped the Marconi EXC presentation as we'd seen it before but took in the Lincoln Center 2:00 presentation of Mozart compositions that was delightful.     I also learned that we got upgraded to the video capable internet for the rest of the cruise for only $20 each which was net of our 5 Star $30 discount.     Also we received another $50 each in shipboard credit because of the itinerary changes.     HAL is certainly trying to k...

Well, this day certainly didn't start like any other cruise ship day we've experienced!     Around 12:15am I was awakened from a dead sleep by a woman's screams and sounds of objects hitting walls and more yelling.     It sounded like a full on domestic argument.     I reached for the phone and dialed 90.     After many rings, a sweet Philippine voice asked, "How may I assist you?" I reported what we were hearing and the response was that somebody would be sent up.     The noises continued and about 10 minutes later two fellows showed up (as viewed through our peep hole) to deal with the issue.     They must have said the magic words as there was not a peep the rest of the night.     This was definitely a first for us.   8am came and I finally awakened and my wife had been up for a while and the bow camera was turned on on the TV and I could see we were docked.     So I...

We slept in until 9am before heading to the Lido for breakfast.     While eating, the Captain came on the PA     system with an important announcement for all guests.     His message was that the Bahamian authorities had refused to give the ship clearance to disembark passengers at Half Moon Cay which is Holland America's private island. He indicated that the threshold number had surprisingly been reduced unannounced.     His voice definitely conveyed disappointment.       So, no snorkeling today.     Instead we walked the deck and relaxed in deck chairs watching Eleuthera Island pass by at 13 knots.     Ian announced a few changes to the schedule including FREE bingo at 3pm at the Billboard Onboard location.   At lunch in the Lido we had a very pleasant extended conversation with the Pinnacle Grill Manager who's from Turkey.     He explained that the Pinnacle hadn't...

For this sea day, it turned out to be fairly active.     Ian's coffee chat with Neil, the Future Cruise Consultant, was very interesting.     He's from Canada, married to a lady from St. Petersburg, Russia, and living there.     There was lots of discussion about that topic.     At the end of the coffee chat, a lady came up to us and asked me, "Are you Btimmer?" She had been following this thread and my blog.     We enjoyed a very pleasant chat particularly about how this cruise was her first without her husband who passed away about a year ago.       If you're on the ship this cruise or the return voyage and want to meet up, generally for the coffee chat, we sit on the left side of the stage in chairs with a table for our drinks and a roll. At lunch we're usually seated by the sushi bar.       I spent the rest of the morning relaxing before attending Ian's m...

We woke up to the view of Colombia in the distance.     By the time we finished watching the interview of Kristin Key, comedian, in the Coffee Chat and were seated in the Lido for breakfast, we were hovering at the Cartagena port entrance.     About an hour later with nobody being allowed to go to shore, we rotated and headed out of our moorage for their open sea with the skyline view of Cartagena on our port side. Along the way, our pilot was disembarked. Interestingly, while moored, I spotted a submarine in the harbor and snapped a photograph of it.   The rest of the day was restful doing very little but updating my blog.     We were also able to schedule a snorkeling trip at Half Moon Cay on our last day and verify that our significant onboard credit would roll over.     It has accumulated because of the cancellation of ports plus not having a daily charge for crew incentives.     I even caught a short nap...

I surprised myself by waking up early at 6:15am     to be able to view the bridge of the Americas which besides the skyline of Panama City is one of the first major scenic attraction when doing the South to North .       The transit began around 7am and ended just after 4pm when we entered the Caribbean Sea.         This transit was our 5th one and each has been nice.     On the south part of the canal one passes through two sets of locks (Miraflores and Pedro Miguel) which raises the ships a total of 84-85 feet.     The French originally want to build a sea level canal, but the American, John Stevens, figured out a lock system was needed.   On the north end of the canal are the Gatun locks which have 3 chambers to lower us back down to sea level.     Also at the Gatun locks is the Gatun Dam which forms the world's largest manmade lake, Gatun Lake.     I'll n...

After a fun day in Costa Rica, it was good to have a sea day.     The coffee chat was with George, Restaurant Manager.     While he was a bit shy, it was interesting. The remainder of the day we spent not doing much of anything.       The evening program was a set of two Panama Canal related movies on the main stage.     The first was Big, Bigger, Best about building large canals.     The second was 'Men & Mosquitoes' about conquering yellow fever and malaria as well as the technical challenges the American engineer, John Stevens, solved that the French failed at.   We're ready for another exciting transit of the canal tomorrow starting around 7am.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica is a port we have visited a number of times.     Our last visit was on the Maasdam on an Easter Island voyage.     We did a fabulous crocodile viewing trip then, so this time we decided to do a more historical tour so we booked a trip into San Jose to visit the National Theater and Central Bank Museum.   The ship arrived on time around 8am and berthed on the starboard side of the long finger pier.     Shortly after we docked, the Regent Seven Seas Explorer pulled in and berthed on the port side of the dock.     Supposedly it's one of the most expensive cruise ships on the high seas.   We reported to a standing room only main stage shore excursion assembly point just before 9am for a scheduled 9:30am departure.     We waited and waited and finally clearance was given by Ian.     And we waited some more.     The Peruvian shore excursion lady even gave her ...

As is our custom on sea days, we started the day with Ian's coffee chat.     Today's guest was Marc Yaffee, the Native American comic.     He as a good guest and will be performing later tonight. There was an EXC multimedia presentation by Ian on the Deep Blue which we had seen before so we passed on it and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.   After lunch the chef did a Port to Table cooking demonstration on Tacos.     The rest of the afternoon I spent catching up on my blog.     We tried to make a Caneletto reservation for 5pm, but it's booked through the end of the cruise, so we enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill once again.     The Pinnacle has been surprisingly easy to get reservations for.   Mark Yaffee did comedy at the early hour of 7:30pm and afterwards we watched the new James Bond movie, No Time To Die on the Main Stage.     It was packed more than any other performance we've seen on three ...

This port was added to our itinerary to replace the     Puerto Caldera, Guatemala port which was closed to us.     We've been here before and did a Mayan ruins tour.     While the port building is a huge & attractive     native looking hut shaped building, there is really nothing to do at the port proper.     There was a shuttle to Tapachula which is about 30 minutes away, but we opted for a HAL Tree of Life & Chocolate tour.   It was about a 40 minute bus ride to the ruins at Izapa at a different location than we previously visited     The last mile was especially challenging as the road was quite narrow cobblestone type road with local vehicles obstructing the roadway.     At the end of the road was our site, which was a collection of stone tablets covered by fiberglass A frame clad structures.     Each item had a brief description of it and many of the stones were qu...