A-Z .... The ABC and D Islands on the Zuiderdam

[scubacruiserx2]

6 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Majestic Princess which is a new ship / class for us, Sydney to Adelaide (6 days), we were supposed to be on her back in 2018 when she was only a few months old but accepted a move over offer. We are now cruising with a few of Rosie's sisters and their partners and then catching up with friends in Adelaide (as we lived there for 7 years).

 

Wow that sounds great ! Funny , our next cruise is on a Princess where we're going to try for a Transatlantic again . 😉

 

[cat shepard]

17 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Our guide said that as the water evaporates it is pumped from pan to pan increasing in salinity and that a microorganism thrives in the briny water .

interesting. Love the pink horizon! And the dancer.🦩

[scubacruiserx2]

28 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

interesting. Love the pink horizon! And the dancer.🦩

 

Brenda also told us the the pink horizon was the rookery and and the adults took turns babysitting while the other parents were out feeding .

[MicCanberra]

I was told the flamingos take on the pink colour from eating the brine shrimp. they are also the only animal that only feeds upside down.

[RAS4331]

22 hours ago, JNAL2T said:

Thanks so much for this review. I am sailing on HAL for the first time in January on the same ship. I love seeing the posted menus. Could you tell me, in addition to the items listed in the MDR, do they have additional items nightly? I have only cruised Princess and Celebrity who offered a "classics" menu each night with steak, chicken etc. We have some less adventurous folks in our group!

Thanks again

Yes, there were several items that were available every night for those who didn't like the nightly menu -- a strip steak, chicken, salmon, and I think one or two other items which I can't recall.  I'm not a real adventurous eater, but I never ordered from those standard items -- I always found something on the menu that appealed to me.  The food was excellent - there wasn't a single meal that we didn't enjoy.

[RAS4331]

We were on this cruise, too.  It was our first cruise.  It seemed like we were the only "newbies" on board!  I was amazed to realize that many people take multiple cruises per year -- lucky folks!  Anyway, we were thrilled with our cruise and enjoyed every minute.  Thank you for your detailed review and wonderful pictures!  I enjoyed re-living our cruise by looking at them.   (I did take photos but mine aren't as good as yours).  🙂

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful reports and great pictures.

 

Back in the 80's when we started cruising, we were also told that the flamingos got their pink color because of all the shrimp they eat.

[scubacruiserx2]

We did a quick check on Wikipedia and this is what they said about feeding .

 

 

Feeding

 

American flamingo and offspring: The arcuate (curved) bill is well adapted to bottom scooping.

Flamingos filter-feed on brine shrimp and blue-green algae as well as insect larvae, small insects, mollusks and crustaceans making them omnivores. Their bills are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down. The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae, which line the mandibles, and the large, rough-surfaced tongue. The pink or reddish color of flamingos comes from carotenoids in their diet of animal and plant plankton. American flamingos are a brighter red color because of the beta carotene availability in their food while the lesser flamingos are a paler pink due to ingesting a smaller amount of this pigment. These carotenoids are broken down into pigments by liver enzymes.^[25] The source of this varies by species, and affects the color saturation. Flamingos whose sole diet is blue-green algae are darker than those that get it second-hand by eating animals that have digested blue-green algae).^[26]

 

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I was told the flamingos take on the pink colour from eating the brine shrimp. they are also the only animal that only feeds upside down.

 

Eating upside down is kinda funny .

[scubacruiserx2]

11 hours ago, RAS4331 said:

We were on this cruise, too.  It was our first cruise.  It seemed like we were the only "newbies" on board!  I was amazed to realize that many people take multiple cruises per year -- lucky folks!  Anyway, we were thrilled with our cruise and enjoyed every minute.  Thank you for your detailed review and wonderful pictures!  I enjoyed re-living our cruise by looking at them.   (I did take photos but mine aren't as good as yours).  🙂

 

Congratulations on your first cruise ! After this cruise we're sure that you can understand why people want to take multiple cruises every year . We did begin cruising more often after retirement ( and having the house paid ) , and we're lucky enough to live near a cruise port so go when the prices are good . Photography is a nice hobby that replaced working and I 'm sure that our photos , like yours will , will help you to remember good times , good people and the places that you travel to . And Cruise Critic allows you to share them .  😎

[scubacruiserx2]

A last shot of the salt pan , a " Christmas Tree " with a couple of presents beneath it and a late lunch at Dive In . They had run our containers for the sauce so we had hot dog papers .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After eating we took a walk around and found that emergency exit doors were being installed on the sides and aft to the MDR .

 

 

[fatcat04]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:15 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

After eating ourselves into a food coma we were overtaken by a nap . But we did wake up in time for Tea . And while I'm not much for the sandwiches I do enjoy the scones .

 

 

Trying to get caught up.

Is that one of the new sugar dispensers I see on the tray? I was wondering how they would do room service sugar since they have eliminated paper sugar packets. 

[scubacruiserx2]

11 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

Trying to get caught up.

Is that one of the new sugar dispensers I see on the tray? I was wondering how they would do room service sugar since they have eliminated paper sugar packets. 

 

Well spotted , yes it is . We also had one in the room next to the coffee maker .

[3rdGenCunarder]

Thank you for all those pictures of Bonaire. I wish HAL would include that in more cruises. I'm doing the partial canal, which includes Aruba and Curacao. Since we're there anyway, it would be so easy to add Bonaire. 

 

I love the flamingos in decorations around Bonaire--on walls, mosaics in the sidewalk, even their mail service is "Flamingo Express."  

[scubacruiserx2]

31 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Thank you for all those pictures of Bonaire. I wish HAL would include that in more cruises. I'm doing the partial canal, which includes Aruba and Curacao. Since we're there anyway, it would be so easy to add Bonaire. 

 

I love the flamingos in decorations around Bonaire--on walls, mosaics in the sidewalk, even their mail service is "Flamingo Express."  

 

Yes when you've gone that distance and you're that close it would be nice to add another day . This was our sail in to Bonaire the last time we went .

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We had front row seats looking at the bow of the Crown . My wife told me to take a closeup of who was "manning" the bridge .

[leerathje]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We had front row seats looking at the bow of the Crown . My wife told me to take a closeup of who was "manning" the bridge .

 

Looks like a Llama!  HAHAHA!!

 

L.

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, leerathje said:

 

Looks like a Llama!  HAHAHA!!

 

L.

 

 

 

 

It is . A Llama and a penguin .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Sailing away from Bonaire and into the sunset .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cat shepard]

Beautiful sunset!

[scubacruiserx2]

Dinner was served at 18:30 and we finished at 19 : 00 and requested that our tray be picked up . The tray was picked at 21:40 when we were in bed in our PJ's . The Where and When for Curacao .

Edited December 31, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

2 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Beautiful sunset!

 

We liked it with a clear horizon . 😎

[scubacruiserx2]

Some out takes from Bonaire

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Lol, that llama had me laughing.