Live from the Westerdam-Join the "Pearls of the Pacific" gang's South Pacific Cruise

[cranethie]

I'm here at Tullamarine airport ready to join in the fun - Friday morning here in Australia and it will be Friday morning when we arrive in San Diego :).

Just a few hours flying to go - like 14 to LA plus a short hop down the coast and then we really will be ready to rumble :) :)

[JP1320]

We've arrived, the sun is shining, and the flight was good. The mountains were out in all their glory, it is a very scenic flight. Now we are headed out of lunch and perhaps a bit of shopping. My suitcase arrived without a lock, so I guess it was opened. Very strange - the contents look undisturbed, will have to check later.

 

Like you Victoriann, we arrived last night into SD, it was cold at the airport at 20:00hrs, well cold for us Floridians. However, today it is glorious sunshine, took a wonderful walk early in the morning along the bay before heading into the Gas Lamp district for a much needed walk about. Had lunch in the Seaport Village area, just a light snack as we will head back to the Gas Lamp district tonight for dinner at Blue Point. So nice to get in a few days early as you can adapt to the time difference pretty quickly.

 

Watched the sunrise from our balcony this morning and the Crown Princess pull into the dock and thought, we are next.

 

Looking forward to posting a few photos, maybe a little later.

 

Joe

[kjw869]

Smooth sailing to all aboard. :)

 

I hope this makes up for your Oceania cruise Jacquie and Jose. We'll be boarding the Westie a few day after you disembark.

 

Sure wish we could meet you guys.!! We keep missing you. :(

 

I used to live in the area and miss it tremendously.

 

Have fun, we'll be watching!

Edited March 31, 2016 by kjw869

[Lizzie68]

We've arrived, the sun is shining, and the flight was good. The mountains were out in all their glory, it is a very scenic flight. Now we are headed out of lunch and perhaps a bit of shopping. My suitcase arrived without a lock, so I guess it was opened. Very strange - the contents look undisturbed, will have to check later.

 

Ann, when you have a minute can you let me know which flight you opted for? They have made it so hard to get there from here.:( Email addie in my signature, same as before. :)

[Vict0riann]

Hi, Lizzie, we took an Alaska Airlines flight out of Seattle -DH doesn't like Seatac, but it went fairly smoothly. The TSAPrecheck line was closed, so we had to go through all the usual rigmarole, and he was patted down more extensively than he liked!

 

We went shopping after we settled in at the hotel, and had huge sandwiches at Nordstrom's Cafe for lunch, so we might just go to a Spanish restaurant down the road and have tapas for dinner! This is a bustling town! Lots of choices.

 

I think tomorrow we will take the trolley tour. I look at people on the street and wonder if they are "Pearls of the Pacific"! I think I should recognize somebody... Haha.

 

Can't wait to board!

[DJ Cruisers]

Arrived in San Diego last night with everything except a luggage strap. TSA checked one of our bags and didn't put the strap back on! Just happy to have all the luggage.

 

Beautiful day here in San Diego. Enjoyed walking along the harbor.

 

Hello to my sister, Gail. We miss you already!

[kazu]

Weather in San Diego is great (much better than in Canada, anyways). Got in early yesterday and off to the Zoo today. Saw the Grand Princess leave yesterday from our room at the Grand Hyatt ... lovely sight... will soon be our turn.

Safe travels to the rest of our Roll Call and look forward to meeting you all on Saturday. In the meantime, I will brush up on my wine tasting skills to ensure I am ready for next week.

Cheers and see you all soon !

 

That's one of the nice things about our cruise. Taxmantoo is doing our own roll call wine tasting for us :). Our shipboard co-ordinator for HAl (Amanda) always treats me well and has secured us the piano bar with two wine glasses for each person ;). We are paying corkage or buying on board.

 

We have lots of things planned and they should all be fun, but I am awaiting this one with bated breath ;)

 

I'm here at Tullamarine airport ready to join in the fun - Friday morning here in Australia and it will be Friday morning when we arrive in San Diego :).

Just a few hours flying to go - like 14 to LA plus a short hop down the coast and then we really will be ready to rumble :)

 

Cathy, I think you are flying the furthest of the roll call. Snoringunicorn had quite the trip but I think you win the prize for the most hours in the air :)

[AliceS]

OK...I'm ready to go. Have never been on Holland before and I'm nervous about that. I'll figure it out after a bit. I know that I have a bad cabin, but Il make the best of it. I don't know your lingo about stars and suites and such, but I look forward to meeting everyone and seeing these beautiful ports of call.

 

To put things in perspective, I was to be in Las Vegas right now with friends. They lost their 36 year old son. I changed my plans and come direct to San Diego. What BBKing noise can bother me now?? Life has moments that give us all a new outlook.

 

Bags packed...tours planned...thanks to friends and new experiences to enjoy. I head to San Diego tomorrow and will see you all on that DAM ship on Saturday.

Edited April 1, 2016 by AliceS

[sherifa]

We have enjoyed 2 days in lovely San Diego..cruise on the America from the SD Maritime museum and had a close encounter with a Fin Whale! So exciting! Today we hopped on bus 215 to Balboa Park and enjoyed the day wandering with lunch at the Prado. I was in awe at the cactus and rose gardens. Huge and Too beautiful to describe!

 

This is a dream trip for us and we are so excited! We, too, have been wondering if people we pass could be RC members. Can't wait to meet everyone tomorrow night! So happy everyone had a good trip here and that sapper1 found her bag! It won't be long now!

[Traveling Dot]

I'm in the air over Utah. Will be landing in less than an hour. Couldn't sleep on the flight so will most likely be very tired when I get to the hotel. Can't wait to meet the group tomorrow for dinner.:)

[erewhon]

I'm here at Tullamarine airport ready to join in the fun - Friday morning here in Australia and it will be Friday morning when we arrive in San Diego :).

Just a few hours flying to go - like 14 to LA plus a short hop down the coast and then we really will be ready to rumble :) :)

 

Wishing you safe travelling, good luck transiting through LA.

[Happily@Sea]

I got a notice today, since I have a US passport - I don't have to go through immigration Saturday.

 

They haven't told where they'll put us as they 'zero count' the ship.

 

Disembarkation will not start until after all non-US citizens have been seen by immigration. [about 9 am] Just a little timeline for those of you arriving Sat am.

[cruisinjudy]

We are all packed, ready to be picked up at 7 am tomorrow to fly to SanDiego.

[Scrapnana]

I left my house at 4 am EDST and arrived in San Diego just after 11 PDST. Two uneventful flights that were both on-time and United did not lose my luggage. I was checked into my hotel (Horton Grand) before noon. Picked up toiletries in the afternoon. Planning to make it an early night (or at least early for me). Only plans for tomorrow are to get a bottle of wine and go to our roll call dinner. Hop the weather stays as beautiful as today!

[Lizzie68]

I left my house at 4 am EDST and arrived in San Diego just after 11 PDST. Two uneventful flights that were both on-time and United did not lose my luggage. I was checked into my hotel (Horton Grand) before noon. Picked up toiletries in the afternoon. Planning to make it an early night (or at least early for me). Only plans for tomorrow are to get a bottle of wine and go to our roll call dinner. Hop the weather stays as beautiful as today!

 

Glad to hear you and your luggage arrived together and on time.:D Just enjoyed today's update on your blog.

[1of4]

I left my house at 4 am EDST and arrived in San Diego just after 11 PDST. Two uneventful flights that were both on-time and United did not lose my luggage. I was checked into my hotel (Horton Grand) before noon. Picked up toiletries in the afternoon. Planning to make it an early night (or at least early for me). Only plans for tomorrow are to get a bottle of wine and go to our roll call dinner. Hop the weather stays as beautiful as today!

 

I was thinking about you all day yesterday...guilty of remembering your lost bag before the Panama transit. Thanks for the blog update. Love the pictures and the hotel looks lovely.

[kazu]

Nice to see a number from our roll call post :)

 

Looking forward to meeting a lot of HAL posters that I have "known" for years and some that I have come to know on our roll call.

 

Speaking of meeting, today I meet a CC member I have long admired - taxmantoo - his wit is outstanding. Along with that he is a sommelier so we are meeting at the Wine Bank to gather wine for our roll call tasting. He will be leading one of them ;). I am just the wine carrier, one armed I may be, but I have a DH and will carry wine to the ends of the earth. - LOL. :)

 

So, a little recap on yesterday in San Diego so far for those coming. Lots of well known restaurants here and we will be to one of them tonight for our roll call get together - pre-cruise dinner. But yesterday, DH and I went for a bit of exploring including the Gas Lamp district and hit upon a restaurant that was pretty dam good. Rocking Baja Coastal Cantina. It's just down from the Wine Bar on 5th street.

 

DH had the rocking Baja fajita & I the tequila shrimp. All I can say is double yum. Very good food, great service. I tasted DH's and he tasted mine and we both give it a huge thumbs up. I confess, I walked out of there with the tastes in my mouth trying to figure out the recipe for mine. Definitely recommend. I am embarrassed to say I forgot to take food porn pics, but I will get into the swing of things in that department.

 

Well by about 2pm my stupid arm was starting to pain so we headed back to the hotel, ran into sapper1 and her DH shared some laughs and then at the manager's reception had the pleasure to meet SusieKIslandGirl. A fun time for sure.

 

Staying at the Embassy Suites. It's quite nice and all is good. Rooms are quite up to date, staff very pleasant. For those familiar with the ES in FLL, I think layout wise with the lovely outdoor pool area, the nice bar area for the Manager's Reception and the many trees and water effects that the one in FLL has, I prefer it over this one. This one seems more crowded but it is spring break here so there are a lot of families staying which adds to the population of the hotel. From a view perspective from the room, I think this one wins. The BayView rooms have a great panorama of the bay, the pier & the Midway.

 

Still doing some time zone adjusting. Somehow it is easier for us to go forward in time zones than to go back. Maybe we are just used to going forward when we travel more?

 

Good to see everyone arriving WITH luggage ;). Looking forward to our dinner tonight, putting some faces to names & seeing past cruise friends again!

 

 

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[chefestelle]

2 parts tequila, 1 part lime juice, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 tsp (based on a cup of tequila being the two parts) of either paprika or cumin depending on what that flavour is you're looking for. You can adjust the last ingredient up to 1/2 or down to 1/8 depending on flavour preferences. Marinate and grill... Wish I was going with you!

 

 

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[TiogaCruiser]

If anyone is still looking for something to do today, San Diego Mairtime museum is interesting. They have (at least last time I was there) a pilot boat harbor tour that goes under the bow of the Midway. Also a sub and several wooden sailing ships. (I got to spend 4 days on Californian, sharing the salon with 17 others as we cruised Catalina).

[kazu]

2 parts tequila, 1 part lime juice, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 tsp (based on a cup of tequila being the two parts) of either paprika or cumin depending on what that flavour is you're looking for. You can adjust the last ingredient up to 1/2 or down to 1/8 depending on flavour preferences. Marinate and grill... Wish I was going with you!

 

 

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Thanks :). They had cilantro and red chili flakes in it as well - but it wasn't hot nor rich a really nice taste. I'll be playing with this when I get home :)

 

If anyone is still looking for something to do today, San Diego Mairtime museum is interesting. They have (at least last time I was there) a pilot boat harbor tour that goes under the bow of the Midway. Also a sub and several wooden sailing ships. (I got to spend 4 days on Californian, sharing the salon with 17 others as we cruised Catalina).

 

Thanks so much for the suggestions :). Your experience on the Californian sounds interesting!

[sherifa]

If anyone is still looking for something to do today, San Diego Mairtime museum is interesting. They have (at least last time I was there) a pilot boat harbor tour that goes under the bow of the Midway. Also a sub and several wooden sailing ships. (I got to spend 4 days on Californian, sharing the salon with 17 others as we cruised Catalina).

 

Second here for the Maritime Museum! The Star of India is one of 3 original tall ships still sailing. Very impressive. Learn a lot by chatting with workers on the new ship, the San Salvador.

Looking forward to a great gathering this evening. One more day!!

[chefestelle]

Thanks :). They had cilantro and red chili flakes in it as well - but it wasn't hot nor rich a really nice taste. I'll be playing with this when I get home :)

 

 

 

I think the only sensitive balance is tequila to lime juice. Sweet Thai chili would be awesome too! Hmmmm second prize to all those who have to stay behind is grilled prawns for dinner!

 

 

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[kazu]

Thanks :). They had cilantro and red chili flakes in it as well - but it wasn't hot nor rich a really nice taste. I'll be playing with this when I get home :)

 

 

 

I think the only sensitive balance is tequila to lime juice. Sweet Thai chili would be awesome too! Hmmmm second prize to all those who have to stay behind is grilled prawns for dinner!

 

 

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Hmmm, sweet Thai chili would be good ;). Thanks for the info on the balance. You all deserve that 2nd prize :)

 

 

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[sapper1]

We have been here in San Diego for two nights and we are still waking up in the middle of the night due to the time difference. Hopefully that will end soon.

 

I was so pleased to see my missing bag arrive yesterday afternoon that I could have cried. I have nothing but praise for the way Air Canada handled the situation. I had three different phone calls from them to reassure me that things were under control and the bag would arrive.

 

Jacqui neglected to mention that when the two of us went to buy wine to take aboard, we were carded! We thought the girl was joking but she didn't think we were old enough and refused to sell us the wine until she saw picture ID. We had a good laugh about that. Someone needs to buy that young girl some glasses. It's been fifty years since I was carded.

 

We enjoyed meeting SusieKIslandgirl and her husband at the Embassy Suites manager's reception last night. Tonight we have a pre cruise dinner at the Fish Market to go to and we are looking forward to meeting everyone.

[cruisinjudy]

We are at PDX. A group of people waiting to board are also on Westerdam. Our flight boards in about half an hour