San Diego to Florida Roundtrip 2022

We arrived right on time at Huatulco at 8am.     This was a new port for us so we didn't know quite what to expect.     I had booked us on a 5 Bay catamaran tour that had a swimming portion so we brought our snorkeling gear with us to use.   The tour on the Tequila was good.     I found it amusing that we had to don our life jackets (but not buckle them) so the harbormaster would see us in our life jackets as we left the port area.       We scenic cruised to the south with our guide giving commentary about each of the bays.     He indicated that there is a plan to build a significantly large number of new condo units in the next ten years which will destroy the pristine nature for sure.     At one beach we saw the remains of Club Med which was popular back in the 1970's but has struggled through the years.     It's also worth noting that these beaches are the home to thousands...

This is our second sea day in a row as we head to Huatulco, Mexico which is a substitute for Puerto Caldera which was closed to us.     It was a pretty busy sea day which started with a coffee chat with Ian and one of his assistants, Erica. This was followed by another canned EXC talk, Catching Waves, about surfing.     It was pretty interesting even though we had seen it before.   With a long gap, our next event was a presentation by Sandra, Mexican Cultural Ambassador, regarding 'Day of the Dead'.     It was quite good hearing about it from the perspective of a Mexican.     Later we took in a Lincoln Center Stage performance of Latin classics.       In the evening we watched another performance by the Jukebox Rogues featuring songs from musicals.     It was so good we went back for the late show after watching Marc Yaffee, the comedian, in the BBKing Blues club.     I shou...

Losing an hour of sleep really wore us out today.     We made it to the 9am coffee chat which featured the comedian, Dave Burleigh, and we ate breakfast afterwards. Sandra, the Mexican cultural ambassador, then gave a presentation on Mexican foods. The first Main Stage event was a canned EXC presentation, HEROS, about the unlikely sports heroes of the Caribbean which we've previously seen. After lunch there was a Port to Table cooking demonstration about cooking Chile rellanos.   General Covid antigen testing began today and we took our test at 3pm and had to wait in our room for 1/2 hour in case we tested positive.     Fortunately we didn't!       The cultural event of making papel picados was probably the highlight of the day for me.     These items are made using colorful tissue paper which is folded in half and a pattern affixed to it.     The tissue is then cut out following the pattern line...

Ian's scenic cruising commentary was our awakening sound on the stateroom television as we sailed down the coast of Baja California.     After a quick Lido breakfast, we watched the sail in as the Captain guided us through the maze of fishing boats.     We fell in line behind the Norwegian Bliss and we were further protected by a circling high speed Mexican Coast guard boat.     There were lots of dolphin and whale sightings as well.     The Koningsdam was already at anchor and the Bliss took a position next to it but with enough room to swing on the anchor chain.     We took the furthest position out and dropped our anchor.     Clearing seemed to take a long time and I headed for the main stage to check on tender tickets.     On the way there I encountered     Captain Van der Hoven and we had a nice brief chat.     He apologized about not being able to be more sociable and ...

Today was a delightful sea day traveling at 19.5 knots which makes the ride pretty smooth with the stabilizers extended. There were some things new and somethings old.   In the morning was the return of the coffee chat with Ian our C&T Director.     His guest with the head chef who was also from England.     We also had the chance to chat briefly with Ian and reminisce about our last cruise together pre-pandemic on the Volendam.     Also returning was Debbie giving the shore excursions review for our upcoming ports.     I ended up booking excursions in all of the ports using the HAL mobile APP. Ian then gave a repeat EXE talk on Marconi which was quite good.   After my sushi lunch I kicked back and watched the Koningsdam and the ocean in front of us from the Crow's Nest.     We also watched a presentation on Mexican Wines, a new EXC talk on Games (very good), and a craft class on Mexican paper ...

When we boarded, we noted a service truck had been wedged under the gangway, but by the time I went off the ship, it had been freed.     But the roof definitely got pushed in. The driver was not a happy camper.   We spent the afternoon getting lunchThis is our third cruise since cruising resumed after the pause.     As I indicated previously, we booked the HAL shuttle from the hotel to the cruise port.     It turned out to be the best $19 per person we've ever spent on a cruise.     We left the Sheraton at 11:17am and were sitting in the waiting area 1/2 hour later.     There was another 1/2 hour wait and we were on the ship by 12:30pm.     I did forget my CPAP machine in the terminal so I had disembark to retrieve it.     , wandering around the ship, attending a very sparse Mariner's reception (less than 45 people in attendance), unpacking, calling cruise friends who follow us, and watc...

We rang in the New Year last night watching the Nashville New Year's Eve program followed by a small display of fireworks near the Little Italy area of San Diego.  Today there was no hurry to get out of bed so we didn't!  We watched the Rose Bowl parade and a couple bowl games on TV before heading out to stroll down to the cruise terminal using the really nice walking/biking path.  Lots of folks were out using it.  It was about a two mile stroll down there.  Two luxury cruise ships were there:  The World and Regent Seven Seas Mariner.  We've seen The World in the Mediterranean and in Asia.  It's a condominium ship and units start at around $1,000,000 plus annual fees!  From there we headed downtown and passed by the very scenic vintage looking train station and found a 7-11 to enjoy a couple of sodas.  We continued walking the downtown area and found a Jack in the Box that was open for walk-in traffic.  My burger and...