Life and Live from Koningsdam on her New Year's cruise 26 Dec 21 - 02 Jan 22

[Copper10-8]

Day 5 - Thursday 30 DEC 21 – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco

 

Koningsdam pulled into the Terminal Maritima at approximately 6:35 AM. Once inside the basin, Captain Draper, using his A-pods, turned his ship 180 degrees using available space until her bow was facing westbound alongside Muelle No. 1, the cruise ship dock. During 2007, Puerta Vallarta gained a new cruise dock which now allows three large cruise ships berthing space. The then new dock (Muelle No, 3) is located on the north side of the harbor adjacent to the Navy base. The other two cruise ship docks are on the east side (Muelle No, 2, across the street from the Wal-Mart) and the original one of the south side adjacent the quayside market. The area leading to Dock #1 recently received a new terminal building full of modern airport-like duty free shops.

 

At Muelle No. 2 today was a smaller cruise ship by the name of Vidante Elegante which is operated by Mexican cruise line Vidante Cruises (owned by hotel/resort operator Grupo Vidante) however, I don’t believe she is in service as we speak. Grupo Vidante had/has grand plans to operate the ship on Mexican Riviera cruises but Covid put a stop to those plans, at least for noe. Vidante Elegante was born in 1990 as Crown Monarch for Crown Cruise Line but she has had lots of other names: Cunard Crown Monarch, Nautican, Walrus, Havens Star, Neptune, Rembrandt II, Jules Verne, Alexander von Humboldt II, and Voyager. So we woke up to a lovely view of the PV Wal-Mart (a crew favorite) and the adjacent Sam’s Club on the other side of Carretara Al Aeropuerto.

 

Puerto Vallarta is a city of approx. 250,000 inhabitants located at the center of the 25-mile wide Banderas Bay (Bay of Flags) and alongside the Sierra Madre mountain range (Think Night of the Iguana: “Baaadges?? I don’t got to tchoew you no stinkin’ baaadges”). The name honors former governor Ignacio Luis Vallarta. The climate is tropical (and can be humid) with sunny days most of the year. The rainy season takes place from July to September. The economy is based mainly on tourism and construction (lots of building still going on in and outside of the city) with a small percentage derived from agriculture and tropical fruits. The city proper comprises four main areas: the hotel zone along the shore to the north, Olas Altas - Colonia Emiliano Zapata to the south of the Cuale river, the Centro along the shore between these two areas, and a number of residential areas to the east of the hotel zone. The oldest section of the town is the area of Col. Centro near the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially Hidalgo Street.

Once again had our breakfast in the Lido around 10:00 am which, surprisingly was still rather busy Puerto Vallarta’s local time is one hour ahead of Baja’s Cabo San Lucas so we had lost one hour of zzz’s overnight.

 

Our game plan for the day was to have a relaxing morning, pick up a cab to El Centro / Viejo Vallarta and, more specifically, to a restaurant by the name of Pipi’s in order to have a Mexican lunch. I had first heard about Pipi’s from Oosterdam’s techspert around 2017 and we’ve been there three times now. It’s one of those places where, once seated, a senor shows up with a tray full of avocados, tomatoes, onions, who will then proceed to make you a bowl of fresh guacamole after a fair amount of mashing. There is usually also a 2-3 person band (violins and a bass) that comes to your table and will ask you what you want them to play for you. We picked that all-time Mexican classic Cielito Lindo (Beautiful Heaven or Beautiful Sweetie).

 

So we enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch, after which we made our way on foot to the nearby Malecon (Boardwalk) to look at the statues and Christmas decoration until we reached the Plaza Principal de las Armas where the beautiful La Iglesia de Nuestra Senora Guadalupe catholic house of worship is located. Also located caddy corner off the plaza happens to be a Starbucks purely to satisfy a craving and get some free Wi-Fi. We then made an exit stage right, crossed the nice plaza, and made a hook shank left where we were able to flag down a cab for the ride back to the Terminal Maritima for the grand total (fixed price) of $8.00 for the both of us and immediately realized that the cabbie with the Ford passenger van who had taken us to Pipi’s had obviously charged us the tourist / cruise ship / New Year’s rate of $20 for both. Let’s call that local entrepreneurship shall we!

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot; So, after getting out of cab, before you can enter the shopping area of the new terminal building, you are directed to have your temp taken by placing your hand on a mobile device that within seconds will tell you if your body temp is normal. We asked the security guard what would happen if the device registered your temp as “abnormal” and he stated that he/they would then notify the ship’s medical staff to come take a look at you and conduct follow up.

 

The new terminal shopping area at PV Muelle No. 1 from which you will eventually reach your gate that leads to your ship’s gangway can best be described as one of those cruise line / Carnival-financed shopping area similar to Grand Turk. Whether you want to or not, you are forced to transit different stores which sell everything from alcohol to cartons of cigarettes, to boxes of rum cakes. Quite ingenious but also very commercialized! The authentic PV flea market is still there outside T1, as are the noisemaking parrots.

 

Back on good old Koningsdam, we had a 7:00 PM reservation at the Tamarind Asian Fusion restaurant on Deck 10 aft overlooking the Seaview pool. Tamarind serves an excellent Sate or Satay sampler / appetizer with peanut sauce, Enak Sekali! For our main dish, Maria chose the Panang Red Curry Coconut Chicken, while I had the Wasabi & Soy Crusted Beef Tenderloin. We each had a warm Sake which warmed up the innards nicely. For desert Maria had the Passion Fruit Cloud and I chose Yuzu Cheesecake. The Tamarind is always a nice experience for us with elegant and graceful service from the Asian (Indonesian or Thai) ladies who work in there. We learned that, under the current Covid rules, K-dam’s officers are able to have their breakfast and lunch inside Tamarind (compared to say, the Lido Market)

 

After that nice dinner, we decided to chill out by watching a move – Kingsman; the Secret Service – with Colin Firth and Michael Caine, among others, on the big screen in our cabin. We regained that “lost” hour from yesterday back. No chocolates on the foot end of the bed! See ya manana for New Year’s Eve!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Day 5 - Thursday 30 DEC 21 – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (con't)

 

So we enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch, after which we made our way on foot to the nearby Malecon (Boardwalk) to look at the statues and Christmas decoration until we reached the Plaza Principal de las Armas where the beautiful La Iglesia de Nuestra Senora Guadalupe catholic house of worship is located. Also located caddy corner off the plaza happens to be a Starbucks purely to satisfy a craving and get some free Wi-Fi. We then made an exit stage right, crossed the nice plaza, and made a hook shank left where we were able to flag down a cab for the ride back to the Terminal Maritima for the grand total (fixed price) of $8.00 for the both of us and immediately realized that the cabbie with the Ford passenger van who had taken us to Pipi’s had obviously charged us the tourist / cruise ship / New Year’s rate of $20 for both. Let’s call that local entrepreneurship shall we!

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot; So, after getting out of cab, before you can enter the shopping area of the new terminal building, you are directed to have your temp taken by placing your hand on a mobile device that within seconds will tell you if your body temp is normal. We asked the security guard what would happen if the device registered your temp as “abnormal” and he stated that he/they would then notify the ship’s medical staff to come take a look at you and conduct follow up.

 

The new terminal shopping area at PV Muelle No. 1 from which you will eventually reach your gate that leads to your ship’s gangway can best be described as one of those cruise line / Carnival-financed shopping area similar to Grand Turk. Whether you want to or not, you are forced to transit different stores which sell everything from alcohol to cartons of cigarettes, to boxes of rum cakes. Quite ingenious but also very commercialized! The authentic PV flea market is still there outside T1, as are the noisemaking parrots.

 

Back on good old Koningsdam, we had a 7:00 PM reservation at the Tamarind Asian Fusion restaurant on Deck 10 aft overlooking the Seaview pool. Tamarind serves an excellent Sate or Satay sampler / appetizer with peanut sauce, Enak Sekali! For our main dish, Maria chose the Panang Red Curry Coconut Chicken, while I had the Wasabi & Soy Crusted Beef Tenderloin. We each had a warm Sake which warmed up the innards nicely. For desert Maria had the Passion Fruit Cloud and I chose Yuzu Cheesecake. The Tamarind is always a nice experience for us with elegant and graceful service from the Asian (Indonesian or Thai) ladies who work in there. We learned that, under the current Covid rules, K-dam’s officers are able to have their breakfast and lunch inside Tamarind (compared to say, the Lido Market)

 

After that nice dinner, we decided to chill out by watching a move – Kingsman; the Secret Service – with Colin Firth and Michael Caine, among others, on the big screen in our cabin. We regained that “lost” hour from yesterday back. No chocolates on the foot end of the bed! See ya manana for New Year’s Eve!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Sorry, ran out of time 🥴 so will write Fri / New Year's Eve festivities, Sat / New Year's Day, and Sun / Disembarkation Day after we get back home on Sat PM 

 

Thanks for sailing along with us! We had a great time, masks et all!

[Florida_gal_50]

I’ve enjoyed your thread.  Thanks for taking us along.  Looking forward to together rest once you are settled.

[VintageGeo]

It's been a fun and entertaining journey, Copper. Thanks again for the ride.

 

Lori & George

 

[Florida_gal_50]

27 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve enjoyed your thread.  Thanks for taking us along.  Looking forward to together rest once you are settled.

Oh my.  This should have said looking forward to more once you are settled.  

[gknep]

Thanks for your report. Really enjoyed reading it.  Don't take this the wrong way, but the quicker you get off the ship the quicker I get on the ship. We sail tomorrow! 🙂

[Boatdrill]

On 12/29/2021 at 6:43 AM, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yes absolutely.  I don’t know why so many people are struggling with this.  I was tested on a Friday morning at 9:30 am.  I boarded the koningsdam at approximately 1:30pm the following Sunday.  When the staff looked at my paperwork no one batted an eyelash.  Easy peasy.

There was an issue for some pax flying from the US to meet the Rotterdam in Amsterdam for its inaugural cruise. At the time, HAL's required deadline for a pre-cruise negative test was given in HOURS, not days.  Pax were denied boarding because the time of their test exceeded  the required time limit, even though it was technically the correct number of days.  Since then, HAL changed the policy to DAYS, rather than hours. For example: Two days, not 48 hours.   

[treesah]

Thanks for sharing.  Very entertaining and even educational.  Your bride is very talented.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking us along, very enjoyable.

Looking forward to reading more.

Safe home.

[Dunmore2]

Copper, thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I’ve learned valuable tips and I can’t wait to try them out! You have a kind and patient way of responding to your many inquiries. There are many who can take lessons in decorum from you. 

[GTVCRUISER]

Koningsdam back in San Diego this morning 

[travelnap]

Copper, Thanks for taking us all along with you on your voyage.  At least we get to enjoy a cruise through your eyes.

[Copper10-8]

Our neighbors to the south in San Diego this morning! We have several HAL President Club members on board, Jeff F. Is one of them, for those of you who follow him on his blog, who will transfer to Zuidy today. They have spent 12 weeks on K-dam. Then go on several weeks on Z-dam, and will then transfer to R-dam in FLL for more days added to their already impressive days with HAL 😃

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Copper10-8

[sandiegoscribe]

Thanks Amigo, Our bags are packed and we're ready to board this afternoon. Thanks to your postings, we're feeling really good about our decision to go ahead with the cruise. Cheers!

[GTVCRUISER]

1 hour ago, sandiegoscribe said:

Thanks Amigo, Our bags are packed and we're ready to board this afternoon. Thanks to your postings, we're feeling really good about our decision to go ahead with the cruise. Cheers!

I will be back onboard the Koningsdam January 9th 2022 ........7 more days 🙂

[Florida_gal_50]

11 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

There was an issue for some pax flying from the US to meet the Rotterdam in Amsterdam for its inaugural cruise. At the time, HAL's required deadline for a pre-cruise negative test was given in HOURS, not days.  Pax were denied boarding because the time of their test exceeded  the required time limit, even though it was technically the correct number of days.  Since then, HAL changed the policy to DAYS, rather than hours. For example: Two days, not 48 hours.   

Hal cruises  are only leaving from the USA now.  What happened several months ago from Europe isn’t relevant.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[albingirl]

Such a great review.  Thanks so much; it's been fun following along.

[CRu1853!!]

Copper10-8, Glad to follow along on another of your great trips. I am unable to see any of your photos though. I am on an Ipad and have switched from Safari to Chrome with no luck. Would appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks. 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, CRu1853!! said:

Copper10-8, Glad to follow along on another of your great trips. I am unable to see any of your photos though. I am on an Ipad and have switched from Safari to Chrome with no luck. Would appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks. 

That's very strange.  I switch between chrome and safari on my iPad and I have no problem seeing the pictures 

[CRu1853!!]

Florida Gal, I know it’s strange. I can see some but not all and especially missed most of the earliest postings. 

[DaveOKC]

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Our neighbors to the south in San Diego this morning! We have several HAL President Club members on board, Jeff F. Is one of them, for those of you who follow him on his blog, who will transfer to Zuidy today. They have spent 12 weeks on K-dam. Then go on several weeks on Z-dam, and will then transfer to R-dam in FLL for more days added to their already impressive days with HAL 😃

 

Do you know how Jeff F. got tested for his Zuiderdam trip?  We are planning on going from Koningsdam to Zuiderdam same day in April and are wondering how the Covid testing requirement will be handled.

[Love the beach]

Thank you for taking us along! Safe travels home!

[Copper10-8]

56 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Do you know how Jeff F. got tested for his Zuiderdam trip?  We are planning on going from Koningsdam to Zuiderdam same day in April and are wondering how the Covid testing requirement will be handled.

 

He got tested onboard K-dam yesterday along with the other "transferrees"  but I don't know the results 

[DaveOKC]

5 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

He got tested onboard K-dam yesterday along with the other "transferrees"  but I don't know the results 

Thanks - I was just interested in how, where and when he got tested as I am planning on the same transfer.