BTimmer's Almost Live - Zuiderdam 1/2-30/22 -San Diego to Florida RT

[0106]

3 hours ago, Btimmer said:

Thanks, I'll check it out.  The internet out here can be sketchy.

I can read all of your blog posts.  Informative and interesting.  Thx

[Btimmer]

53 minutes ago, zelker said:

Looks like a seal with a fish in its mouth

Actually, it's a sea lion.  How would you like a 1,000 or more pounds resting on the transom plate?  It's a common sight to see on fishing boats returning to the harbor.

[Btimmer]

It was time to get crafty and participate in a cultural activity of making papel picado (literally paper punch).  
 

 

[rajkr74]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

aw okay that is what I thought too 

thanks.  

California Sea Lion.

[Btimmer]

Red sky at night . . .

 

 

 

Main dining room at 7pm

[boze9999]

For inquiring minds regarding the covid testing....HAL tested approximately half of the guests today (day 4) and are testing the other half tomorrow (day 5). Generally smooth process. As the guest, you do your own nasal (front of the nose) swab test. As others have said, you go back to your room and after 30 minutes with no call from medical....you tested negative and are free to resume your ship activities! Certainly reassuring (unless you tested positive!) as we all move into the remaining 10 days of the crossing!

[Btimmer]

We were just informed by the Captain that due to the level of Covid cases among the guests and crew, our stop in Guatemala has been cancelled and Chiapas, MX has been substituted.  No case numbers were given.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Btimmer

[cruzingnut]

7 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

We were just informed that due to Covid cases among the guests and crew, our stop in Guatemala has been cancelled and Chiapas, MX has been substituted.  No case numbers were given.

 

This is pretty scary that Guatemala has been canceled on the basis of just half the ship being tested?   Yikes.....  I'd be watching for suitcases being offloaded tomorrow in Huatulco possibly. 

[aliaschief]

Great reporting and pics. Thanks for sharing your cruise adventure.

[Hogladyrider]

@Btimmer...whatever you did now I can see the blog entries...thanks!

[boze9999]

12 minutes ago, cruzingnut said:

 

This is pretty scary that Guatemala has been canceled on the basis of just half the ship being tested?   Yikes.....  I'd be watching for suitcases being offloaded tomorrow in Huatulco possibly. 

According to the ship, all cases were asymptomatic with a few with very mild symptoms. The protocol is excellent and those affected will be quarantined and monitored - not disembarked (unless of course someone is very medically ill). 

 

[br111]

Thanks for all your reports! Is the testing being done specifically because of the canal do you know? Or due to that and the length of the cruise? We're on a partial transit on Eurodam later this month and trying to figure out if we'll be tested too. Upside is that it's obviously good for the ship as a whole (and probably what every ship should be doing at least during Omicron). But it would seem pretty nerve-wracking too! I wonder how many asymptomatic people the mass-testing will catch.

 

Let us know if there's any info on how many positives come back!

Edited January 6, 2022 by br111

[boze9999]

9 minutes ago, br111 said:

Thanks for all your reports! Is the testing being done specifically because of the canal do you know? Or due to that and the length of the cruise? We're on a partial transit on Eurodam later this month and trying to figure out if we'll be tested too. Upside is that it's obviously good for the ship as a whole (and probably what every ship should be doing at least during Omicron). But it would seem pretty nerve-wracking too! I wonder how many asymptomatic people the mass-testing will catch.

 

Let us know if there's any info on how many positives come back!

I am sure testing protocol is up to the HAL and the CDC. In getting on a ship nowadays, I would just expect to be tested. FYI -  Over the past 90 days, We were tested on each of our 14 day cruises. We were not tested on a 10 day Caribbean cruise. 

[Btimmer]

As has been stated, one should expect testing.  The Captain specifically stated the testing was for the Panama Canal transit.

 

The second half testing is well under way.  For our 3 week Sea-FLL on the NA, we were tested three times; for the Rotterdam 10 day ABC islands cruise, none.

[Btimmer]

On a lighter topic, below are a few pictures of our inside stateroom 7109.  It's been a good room and works for us.  I would note that the bathroom vent is set to continuously blow into the room.  That plus the working air conditioning is providing a good flow of air.

 

There is no couch, but there is a chair for the desk.  Additionally there is a refrigerator in place of the desk drawers.

 

Our window on the world, the bow camera, really needs replacing or cleaning as it's very obscured.

 

Inward view

18 masks among other things 

View towards the hall; the curtain is essential as there is much light penetration from the hallway and the automatic toe kick lighting.

The circle above the toilet is the vent blowing air into the room.

Left closet 

Center closet

 

Doorway closet

Edited January 6, 2022 by Btimmer

[zelker]

@Btimmer  No cloth masks?? (as has been reported since HAL resumed sailing)

[Btimmer]

3 minutes ago, zelker said:

@Btimmer  No cloth masks?? (as has been reported since HAL resumed sailing)

Yes, we were not provided cloth masks like we were on the NA and Rotterdam.  My understanding is that they were judged as not as effective as the paper ones.  That being said, we brought our cloth ones along and are using them as well as the paper ones.  All the crew appears to be wearing N95 masks; I've not seen any wearing the HAL coth masks.

[zelker]

2 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

Yes, we were not provided cloth masks like we were on the NA and Rotterdam.  My understanding is that they were judged as not as effective as the paper ones.  That being said, we brought our cloth ones along and are using them as well as the paper ones.  All the crew appears to be wearing N95 masks; I've not seen any wearing the HAL coth masks.

Too bad.  I've read that people think HAL's cloth ones are very comfortable but I have read where they (CDC?) now suggests cloth aren't as good as N95s or surgical masks.  That said, I've also read that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask (such as they provided you) works well because the cloth mask helps keep the edges of the surgical mask closer to your face and is better than wearing two surgical masks together.  Hopefully they'll give you more disposable masks during the course of the cruise since it is advised to replace with a fresh one each day.

[Btimmer]

1 hour ago, zelker said:

Too bad.  I've read that people think HAL's cloth ones are very comfortable but I have read where they (CDC?) now suggests cloth aren't as good as N95s or surgical masks.  That said, I've also read that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask (such as they provided you) works well because the cloth mask helps keep the edges of the surgical mask closer to your face and is better than wearing two surgical masks together.  Hopefully they'll give you more disposable masks during the course of the cruise since it is advised to replace with a fresh one each day.

I tried the paper mask under the cloth Mask but found it very uncomfortable.  
 

I continue to believe HAL will do what's appropriate and I am comfortable being onboard.

[Btimmer]

 

The pictures below are from today's snorkeling in Huatulco while on the 5 Bays Pontoon boat shore excursion.  
 

I'll do a separate post for the other activities we did.  This port is a hidden gem and the little nearby town provides a glimpse at the non touristy Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures go out to our quarantined shipmate.  You'll find that thread elsewhere in this section.  Please make a post there as encouragement.

[canadianbear]

Great underwater photos.  We love snorkelling.  Was this a ship or private excursion?  
 

This is one Mexican port we have not been to before.  Enjoying your blog and posts.  Thanks for taking us along! 

[Btimmer]

13 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Great underwater photos.  We love snorkelling.  Was this a ship or private excursion?  
 

This is one Mexican port we have not been to before.  Enjoying your blog and posts.  Thanks for taking us along! 

We were on a catamaran shore excursion that included swimming time. We simply donned our snorkeling gear and checked out a likely site and scored.  I'll try to extract some coral pictures on our next sea day.  The coral was very much alive.

 

Huatulco was really a hidden gem but has been visited by HAL ships in the past.  We were the second cruise ship to stop here this season.

 

Glad you are enjoying following along.

[Florida_gal_50]

9 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Great underwater photos.  We love snorkelling.  Was this a ship or private excursion?  
 

This is one Mexican port we have not been to before.  Enjoying your blog and posts.  Thanks for taking us along! 

I really enjoy huatulco.  I think it’s my favourite Mexican port on the west side.

[Florida_gal_50]

On 1/6/2022 at 12:55 PM, zelker said:

Too bad.  I've read that people think HAL's cloth ones are very comfortable but I have read where they (CDC?) now suggests cloth aren't as good as N95s or surgical masks.  That said, I've also read that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask (such as they provided you) works well because the cloth mask helps keep the edges of the surgical mask closer to your face and is better than wearing two surgical masks together.  Hopefully they'll give you more disposable masks during the course of the cruise since it is advised to replace with a fresh one each day.

I’ve been doing this.  I’m wearing the n95 underneath with a cloth over top. Yes, it’s not comfortable but it’s about a thousand below where I live and has been for most of the last month so it helps me keep warm when I’m outside.  That said it would totally suck in the hot weather of Panama.  Hal’s cloth masks are definitely comfortable and I have a lot of masks.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[boze9999]

For those of us on this sailing, this was just posted by guests on the Eurodam - their ship cannot stop in Colombia due to requirement for covid testing - not sure if our pre-canal test suffices?