Life and live from Zuiderdam's 10-day Mex Riviera/Sea of Cortez cruise

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

44 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks. What is you estimate for departure?

Pretty sure he said around 1815 hrs / 6:15 but it will depend at what time those delayed flightsts get into Lindbergh so those folks don't have to fly down to Cabo tomorrow

Edited April 4, 2022 by Copper10-8

Laminator · April 4, 2022

Enjoy your cruise!!!

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

33 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

Pretty sure he said around 1815 hrs / 6:15 but it will depend at what time those delayed flightsts get into Lindbergh so those folks don't have to fly down to Cabo tomorrow

1800 / 6:00 PM and Zuidy is on the move in San Diego Bay

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

DAllenTCY · April 4, 2022

In case you didn't see this on another post:

TiogaCruiser · April 4, 2022

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

FYI Capt. Friso just came on the P/A with an approx 1 hr delay due to late arriving pax winging it into Lindbergh Field

Is Friso a nickname for Frank? Or his real name? (I thought I saw Frank on the When and Where).
(Actually, the deck where we were was pretty loud, and I thought he said “Frito”.)

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

1 hour ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Is Friso a nickname for Frank? Or his real name? (I thought I saw Frank on the When and Where).
(Actually, the deck where we were was pretty loud, and I thought he said “Frito”.)

So, Capt. Frank van der Hoeven was supposed to arrive today and take over from Capt. Friso Kramer, or officially Friso Kramer gezegd Freher (that's a long one, even for Dutch standards!). However, Capt. Frank had flight connection issues so didn't make it to SD in time. That's why we still have Capt. Friso, at least until Cabo on Tue 😉

Btw, here's a cool story from Capt. Albert as to how Capt. Friso got his name. He was my boss for several contracts on Amsterdam until he received his promotion to captain and had Volendam as his first command

https://www.captainalbert.com/current-captains-and-their-schedules/captain-friso-kramer-gezegd-freher/

20 March 2019; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. – – Captain Albert's Blog –

erewhon · April 4, 2022

46 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

So, Capt. Frank van der Hoeven was supposed to arrive today and take over from Capt. Friso Kramer, or officially Friso Kramer gezegd Freher (that's a long one, even for Dutch standards!). However, Capt. Frank had flight connection issues so didn't make it to SD in time. That's why we still have Capt. Friso, at least until Cabo on Tue 😉

Btw, here's a cool story from Capt. Albert as to how Capt. Friso got his name. He was my boss for several contracts on Amsterdam until he received his promotion to captain and had Volendam as his first command

https://www.captainalbert.com/current-captains-and-their-schedules/captain-friso-kramer-gezegd-freher/

Thank you for the link, interesting to read.

SJSULIBRARIAN · April 4, 2022

These two Captains switched mid-cruise when I was on the Voldendam (Alaska) in 2019.

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

Day 1 - Sunday 03 APR 22

We pulled out of the driveway and left the homestead at 1115 hours (11:15 AM) exactly after saying goodbye to Stiv, our cat who was already fast asleep on our bed. Maria’s mum Carmen will be “cat-sitting” for 10 days. We soon, after a stop at a local Starbucks, entered the south-bound 405 Freeway, aka the San Diego Freeway to our destination, San Diego. Took the 74-toll road which makes the drive a tad shorter by-passing Santa Ana, John Wayne Airport, and Costa Mesa and thankfully discovered that traffic was pretty light which put big smiles on our faces. We dealt with the usual congestion back on (now) Interstate 5 going through Oceanside/Carlsbad and, after passing Camp Pendleton, Oorah! The weather was not great, overcast, and cloudy, about 65 Fahrenheit; even got some drizzle on the windshield at a couple of places, incl. in La Jolla.

Once in San Diego itself around 1:15 pm, our usual plan is to pull into the cruise terminal lot and off-load our luggage, handing it to a porter. We knew that there would be three ships in port today; Koningsdam, Zuiderdam and a Disney ship. Zuiderdam had been assigned the Broadway Pier terminal by herself, which would be a new embarkation experience for us. San Diego has had two separate cruise ship terminal since September 2009 when the then brand spankin’ new 52,000 square foot Broadway Pier cruise terminal and events center with the blue-tinted windows, saw-toothed roof and tridescent corrugated metal exterior officially opened. So with the north and south berths of the larger, albeit dated, B Street cruise terminal, that gives San Diego three cruise ship berths.

Got that done without any issues and left our tagged luggage with one of the many porters on the Broadway Pier. We then drove to our No. 1 choice for long-term parking, the Park and Fly lots along Pacific Hwy however, just like New Year’s, found only one lot operational without an attendant inside the booth. Plan B was what we did last December and that was to drive to the Aladdin parking garage on Kettner Blvd. which had “plentong” available parking slots plus and airport-like shuttle van which took us back to the Broadway Pier and we were good to go! There was a bit of a line at the cruise terminal slinking its way around the east and south side of the building but it moved relatively fast (35 min from getting in line to boarding Zuidy). Got into a conversation with a couple of Zuiderdam’s laundry attendants and learned that they once again have full crew shore leave privileges in all their ports! Great to hear and good for them after spending just about all of 2020 and most of 2021 without such privileges, meaning in them being cooped up on their ships!

Once inside the building, security screening (metal detector for humans and X-ray machine for carry-ons) by contract security was up first. Next up moving westbound inside the terminal, was the check-in process (passport and boarding pass) which of course now also includes the obligatory health check screening. A nice and efficient agent by the name of Mary-Beth agent checked our original Covid vaccination record (two shots of Moderna plus a booster for each) as well as our negatory Covid test result taken on Friday. Once satisfactory accomplished and checked off, one continues to proceed in a westerly direction through said terminal where another nice agent takes your pic via a "facial recognition" machine (one of several). It "spits" out a little paper boarding pass with minimum info on it. Your actual /ship's I.D./room key is in a sealed envelop in the mail slot outside your cabin.

Walked by the non-obligatory “welcome onboard” pic dude because I did not want to subject the glass of his lens to my ugly mug and walked the plank to Deck 2 where ship security scanned us on. Our cabin is on Rotterdam deck, starboard side, in semi-close proximity to the Neptune Lounge where concierges Melissa and Alyssa “reside” however, Melissa is currently “under the weather” so her place was taken by guest relations supervisor Jennifer from the Republica Dominicana. Those NL concierges do one heck of a job keeping their guests happy. We grabbed ourselves a quick bite (Back-flip) at the Dive-In sitting at one of the Lido pool tables.

Since the HAL ships got back into business since late Summer last year, the current “Covid mustard drill” involves you having to mosey down to Deck 3 where you physically check in with an attendant via his electronic hand-held device. About six feet away was another attendant wearing a PG uniform who gave you a very brief speech about safety and sends you along with a reminder to watch the safety video in your stateroom and to listen to the captain’s P/A announcements.

Captain Friso Kramer did come on the P/A system to give us additional safety info, departure info incl. us being delayed somewhat while waiting for guest with airline connection issues. Also delayed with similar issues was his relief, Captain Frank van der Hoeven who, as it turns out, did not make it at all by departure time, meaning that Capt. Friso, instead of going home today, would be stuck with his ship, and us, at least until Cabo San Lucas.

Zuiderdam let go of her lines and shoved off her berth at 6:02 PM with Capt. Friso backing his big ship up, turning her around in the Bay attempting not to back into the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) moored at Naval Air Station North Island on carrier row, then following the perimeter of Naval Air Station North Island, passing Naval Base Point Loma and its sub dry-dock, with a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered fast attack sub in maintenance, and then heading towards Point Loma with Old Point Loma lighthouse high up on the cliffs, and the entry into the Pacific Ocean where the pilot was dropped off on his fast boat. Zuidy then set a southbound course towards the Estados Unidos Mexicanos. We had already decided to have our dinner on the Lido tonite.

Our two stateroom stewards are Ivan “the terrible,” the lead, and his assistant Itzar. So, dinner was a casual affair in the Lido Market. We both wound up having the steak salmon with mashed potatoes which was tasty. There were no shows in the Main Stage showroom on embarkation day, but they did have something that interested both of us, and that was a presentation by Ian, Zuiderdam’s British Cruise and Travel Director, entitled “Origin Story” Holland America Line’s First 150 Years. This was a well done/well-presented (by Ian) look at HAL history in photos and film, from its early beginnings in Rotterdam all the way up to the 2020 pandemic and current recovery. Glad we went to see this presentation at 8:30 PM!

After this, we spent time taking in the B.B. King’s All-Stars in their lounge who were awesome with sweet sounds. We learned from the band’s trumpet player that most of the musicians were brand new to HAL and had met each other for the first time in Memphis, TN for rehearsals just prior to joining Eurodam. They sound really good and had folks dancing on the floor.

We called it a night around 10;45 PM since we would be losing an hour with the Zuidy’sv clocks going one hour forward at 0200 hrs.

May be an image of text that says 'Sunday'

May be an image of one or more people and outdoors

May be an image of 6 people, people boat racing, sailboat and outdoors

May be an image of twilight, cloud, nature and ocean

travelnap · April 4, 2022

Copper, I hope you two have a great cruise. I look forward to following along with you. I did this itinerary years ago on the old Ryndam. My first cruise with HAL so it got me hooked. Do they still have the ship's tour from LaPaz to Todos Santos? Great tour but got tired of hearing Hotel California. Enjoy your cruise.

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

8 minutes ago, travelnap said:

Copper, I hope you two have a great cruise. I look forward to following along with you. I did this itinerary years ago on the old Ryndam. My first cruise with HAL so it got me hooked. Do they still have the ship's tour from LaPaz to Todos Santos? Great tour but got tired of hearing Hotel California. Enjoy your cruise.

They sure still do have the Todos Santos shorex and I know what you're saying about Hotel California 😉 so, just for you, here's some shots of that "Eagles" institution from our last visit ...... 🙂

KroozNut · April 4, 2022

On 4/2/2022 at 6:31 PM, 12cruise2 said:

We are in San Diego now and will be on the 10-day Zuiderdam cruise with you, and stay on for the 9-day following it--why not, what the heck, we say!!! I'm glad to hear Henk AND Crystal are on; someone had mentioned Henk during the 35-day cruise, but no one had mentioned Crystal and I'm glad to hear she's on board. She was so kind to me a couple of years ago on the Amsterdam on a cruise.

We'll be on the 9-day with you!

KroozNut · April 4, 2022

On 4/2/2022 at 7:04 PM, DAllenTCY said:

The Zuiderdam will be at the Broadway Pier.

The Koningsdam and Disney Wonder will be at the B. Street Pier.

Please be aware of the two different locations.

In the past ride share and taxi drivers have dropped off at the wrong location.

Be aware and ask for confirmation when you arrive.

David

David,

On the 13th (when we depart), the Zuiderdam will be at the B Street Terminal. Is that the one closest to the Wyndham Hotel and the Star of India?

Copper10-8 · April 4, 2022

7 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

David,

On the 13th (when we depart), the Zuiderdam will be at the B Street Terminal. Is that the one closest to the Wyndham Hotel and the Star of India?

David's secretary says Yes 😁

The-Inside-Cabin · April 5, 2022

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Day 1 - Sunday 03 APR 22

We pulled out of the driveway and left the homestead at 1115 hours (11:15 AM) exactly after saying goodbye to Stiv, our cat who was already fast asleep on our bed. Maria’s mum Carmen will be “cat-sitting” for 10 days. We soon, after a stop at a local Starbucks, entered the south-bound 405 Freeway, aka the San Diego Freeway to our destination, San Diego. Took the 74-toll road which makes the drive a tad shorter by-passing Santa Ana, John Wayne Airport, and Costa Mesa and thankfully discovered that traffic was pretty light which put big smiles on our faces. We dealt with the usual congestion back on (now) Interstate 5 going through Oceanside/Carlsbad and, after passing Camp Pendleton, Oorah! The weather was not great, overcast, and cloudy, about 65 Fahrenheit; even got some drizzle on the windshield at a couple of places, incl. in La Jolla.

Once in San Diego itself around 1:15 pm, our usual plan is to pull into the cruise terminal lot and off-load our luggage, handing it to a porter. We knew that there would be three ships in port today; Koningsdam, Zuiderdam and a Disney ship. Zuiderdam had been assigned the Broadway Pier terminal by herself, which would be a new embarkation experience for us. San Diego has had two separate cruise ship terminal since September 2009 when the then brand spankin’ new 52,000 square foot Broadway Pier cruise terminal and events center with the blue-tinted windows, saw-toothed roof and tridescent corrugated metal exterior officially opened. So with the north and south berths of the larger, albeit dated, B Street cruise terminal, that gives San Diego three cruise ship berths.

Got that done without any issues and left our tagged luggage with one of the many porters on the Broadway Pier. We then drove to our No. 1 choice for long-term parking, the Park and Fly lots along Pacific Hwy however, just like New Year’s, found only one lot operational without an attendant inside the booth. Plan B was what we did last December and that was to drive to the Aladdin parking garage on Kettner Blvd. which had “plentong” available parking slots plus and airport-like shuttle van which took us back to the Broadway Pier and we were good to go! There was a bit of a line at the cruise terminal slinking its way around the east and south side of the building but it moved relatively fast (35 min from getting in line to boarding Zuidy). Got into a conversation with a couple of Zuiderdam’s laundry attendants and learned that they once again have full crew shore leave privileges in all their ports! Great to hear and good for them after spending just about all of 2020 and most of 2021 without such privileges, meaning in them being cooped up on their ships!

Once inside the building, security screening (metal detector for humans and X-ray machine for carry-ons) by contract security was up first. Next up moving westbound inside the terminal, was the check-in process (passport and boarding pass) which of course now also includes the obligatory health check screening. A nice and efficient agent by the name of Mary-Beth agent checked our original Covid vaccination record (two shots of Moderna plus a booster for each) as well as our negatory Covid test result taken on Friday. Once satisfactory accomplished and checked off, one continues to proceed in a westerly direction through said terminal where another nice agent takes your pic via a "facial recognition" machine (one of several). It "spits" out a little paper boarding pass with minimum info on it. Your actual /ship's I.D./room key is in a sealed envelop in the mail slot outside your cabin.

Walked by the non-obligatory “welcome onboard” pic dude because I did not want to subject the glass of his lens to my ugly mug and walked the plank to Deck 2 where ship security scanned us on. Our cabin is on Rotterdam deck, starboard side, in semi-close proximity to the Neptune Lounge where concierges Melissa and Alyssa “reside” however, Melissa is currently “under the weather” so her place was taken by guest relations supervisor Jennifer from the Republica Dominicana. Those NL concierges do one heck of a job keeping their guests happy. We grabbed ourselves a quick bite (Back-flip) at the Dive-In sitting at one of the Lido pool tables.

Since the HAL ships got back into business since late Summer last year, the current “Covid mustard drill” involves you having to mosey down to Deck 3 where you physically check in with an attendant via his electronic hand-held device. About six feet away was another attendant wearing a PG uniform who gave you a very brief speech about safety and sends you along with a reminder to watch the safety video in your stateroom and to listen to the captain’s P/A announcements.

Captain Friso Kramer did come on the P/A system to give us additional safety info, departure info incl. us being delayed somewhat while waiting for guest with airline connection issues. Also delayed with similar issues was his relief, Captain Frank van der Hoeven who, as it turns out, did not make it at all by departure time, meaning that Capt. Friso, instead of going home today, would be stuck with his ship, and us, at least until Cabo San Lucas.

Zuiderdam let go of her lines and shoved off her berth at 6:02 PM with Capt. Friso backing his big ship up, turning her around in the Bay attempting not to back into the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) moored at Naval Air Station North Island on carrier row, then following the perimeter of Naval Air Station North Island, passing Naval Base Point Loma and its sub dry-dock, with a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered fast attack sub in maintenance, and then heading towards Point Loma with Old Point Loma lighthouse high up on the cliffs, and the entry into the Pacific Ocean where the pilot was dropped off on his fast boat. Zuidy then set a southbound course towards the Estados Unidos Mexicanos. We had already decided to have our dinner on the Lido tonite.

Our two stateroom stewards are Ivan “the terrible,” the lead, and his assistant Itzar. So, dinner was a casual affair in the Lido Market. We both wound up having the steak salmon with mashed potatoes which was tasty. There were no shows in the Main Stage showroom on embarkation day, but they did have something that interested both of us, and that was a presentation by Ian, Zuiderdam’s British Cruise and Travel Director, entitled “Origin Story” Holland America Line’s First 150 Years. This was a well done/well-presented (by Ian) look at HAL history in photos and film, from its early beginnings in Rotterdam all the way up to the 2020 pandemic and current recovery. Glad we went to see this presentation at 8:30 PM!

After this, we spent time taking in the B.B. King’s All-Stars in their lounge who were awesome with sweet sounds. We learned from the band’s trumpet player that most of the musicians were brand new to HAL and had met each other for the first time in Memphis, TN for rehearsals just prior to joining Eurodam. They sound really good and had folks dancing on the floor.

We called it a night around 10;45 PM since we would be losing an hour with the Zuidy’sv clocks going one hour forward at 0200 hrs.

Thanks for your great report and pictures!

Here is a pic I took of you sailing by the Silversea Muse on your way south from Imperial Beach along with a close up.

St Pete Cruiser · April 5, 2022

A fellow Holland America historian such as yourself, and me to a lesser extent, can't help being awed and impressed with The Origin Story. Were you just a little wet eyed when they showed the Nieuw Amsterdam going into the war effort and then returning to its home country? How about Bill Miller's commentary? All the things that Holland America did including three good meals a day even for third class knowing if they arrived at Ellis Island ill, the company had to carry them back to Europe?

KroozNut · April 5, 2022

1 hour ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks for your great report and pictures!

Here is a pic I took of you sailing by the Silversea Muse on your way south from Imperial Beach along with a close up.

Beautiful!

DAllenTCY · April 5, 2022

As my secretary has noted....on April 13th, the schedule shows Zuiderdam on the south and Disney Wonder on the north at B. Street.. The Ruby Princess will be at the Broadway pier.

San Diego Gas & Electric is working on upgrading the shoreside power supply. A new transformer was installed a week ago; however, the project is a bit behind.

The plan was for all three ships to have electricity from the dock via cables.

The Zuiderdam only has a connection on the port side....thus the south side.

So, we have to be patient. At this time of year just about every day has a ship or two berthing here. The remaining work requires conduits under the pier.

As it stands, 2 of the 3 will "plug in" and be able to lower emissions from the shipboard engines.

In the near future, all ships here for the day will be able to cut their onboard engines to a minimum (if not shut down) until an hour or less before sailing.

David

Edited April 5, 2022 by DAllenTCY

KroozNut · April 5, 2022

11 minutes ago, DAllenTCY said:

As my secretary has noted....on April 13th, the schedule shows Zuiderdam on the south and Disney Wonder on the north at B. Street.. The Ruby Princess will be at the Broadway pier.

San Diego Gas & Electric is working on upgrading the shoreside power supply. A new transformer was installed a week ago; however, the project is a bit behind.

The plan was for all three ships to have electricity from the dock via cables.

The Zuiderdam only has a connection on the port side....thus the south side.

So, we have to be patient. At this time of year just about every day has a ship or two berthing here. The remaining work requires conduits under the pier.

As it stands, 2 of the 3 will "plug in" and be able to lower emissions from the shipboard engines.

In the near future, all ships here for the day will be able to cut their onboard engines to a minimum (if not shut down) until an hour or less before sailing.

David

Thanks David. Do you mind sharing the link where you find that kind of detail on where each ship will berth on a particular day. I would find that very useful. The site I'm using now (cruisemapper.com) only shows the ships in a specific port for a particular date, not which terminal or berth.

The-Inside-Cabin · April 5, 2022

1 hour ago, KroozNut said:

Thanks David. Do you mind sharing the link where you find that kind of detail on where each ship will berth on a particular day. I would find that very useful. The site I'm using now (cruisemapper.com) only shows the ships in a specific port for a particular date, not which terminal or berth.

https://www.portofsandiego.org/21-22-cruise-season

Copper10-8 · April 5, 2022

4 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks for your great report and pictures!

Here is a pic I took of you sailing by the Silversea Muse on your way south from Imperial Beach along with a close up.

Awesome pics, thanx! The sunset-lit sky supplied a perfect background last night vs the gray overcast

Copper10-8 · April 5, 2022

4 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

A fellow Holland America historian such as yourself, and me to a lesser extent, can't help being awed and impressed with The Origin Story. Were you just a little wet eyed when they showed the Nieuw Amsterdam going into the war effort and then returning to its home country? How about Bill Miller's commentary? All the things that Holland America did including three good meals a day even for third class knowing if they arrived at Ellis Island ill, the company had to carry them back to Europe?

You bet! Great story and very well presented by CD Ian Page last night!

Alphen · April 5, 2022

Will follow along on your always detailed and amusing trip reports, hope you and Maria have a great cruise.

Copper10-8 · April 5, 2022

MON 04 APR 22 - Day Two – At Sea

Had a great night of sleep and woke up about 0700 on our way southbound in the Mar Pacifico which gave us a really smooth ride overnight. Upon awakening, the seas were still pretty smooth under overcast skies. Temps were in the high sixties. We are basically paralleling the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California in a southbound direction towards the very tip of adjoining Baja California Sur.

Baja California, “lower California” in English: Lower California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California / Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California, is a Mexican state. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California / El Territorio Norte de Baja California. It has an area of 27,071 square miles and comprises the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula, north of the 28th parallel, plus oceanic Guadalupe Island. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U.S. State of Arizona and the Gulf of California (also known as the "Sea of Cortez"), and on the south by Baja California Sur. Its northern limit is the U.S. state of California.

One of the perks of a Neptune Suite is the ability to have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant (until 0930 on a sea day/same hrs. as the main dining room) so that’s exactly what we did. They have an all-Indonesian staff inside there with the exception of a lone gentleman from Serbia, Radomir (talked some soccer with him, a big Partizan Belgrade fan); the host is Rini. We both had a craving for eggs benedict minus sauce with Greek yoghurt on the side. Makes for a quiet and relaxing breakfast in there.

After petit-dejeuner, we took a stroll of the ship to have a look see at places like the Gym, EXC in the Crow’s Nest, the Gallery Bar instead of the Northern Lights, Lincoln Center Stage, Billboard Onboard, the shops, etc.

We had lunch in the Lido Market and each had a very nice turkey sandwich on multi-grain bread and spent the rest of the PM jelling in our room. Maria sketched a “sea day doodle” of a very cool Zuiderdam / compass heading for Mexico (see [pic). Around lunch time, the sun came out and burned the overcast, present since departure day in San Diego yesterday, completely away. Spent some time on the balcony and it got hot! Paid a visit to the Explorations Cafe up in the Crow's Nest for a cup of Java and ran into Zuiderdam's security officer Darren, a 30-year copper with the Hampshire Constabulary in the UK. Nice and pleasant/outgoing gentleman!

So, tonight was the first gala night of this 10-day voyage. Most folks, with some exceptions, had made an effort to follow the guidelines; even saw some tuxedos being worn. I had brought a dark suit with lavender tie. At 7:15 PM, Capt. Friso Kramer had his captain’s welcome, complete with champagne toast, in the Main Stage. According to his speech, which included the trials and tribulations of his replacement attempting to (unsuccessfully as it turned out) reach San Diego in time yesterday, this was the first toast and staff introduction on Zuiderdam since the restart of operations. I say staff introduction because, unlike the relatively small event on other dam ships, this was a full department head introduction with a total of eleven (11) staff (cruise & travel director, hotel general manager, staff captain, chief engineer, environmental officer, food & beverage director, asst. hotel general manager, executive chef, guest relations manager, senior doctor and future cruise consultant) all on stage, like the “old days”, Btw, I stated in error the other day that Henk’s wife Crystal is also working on Zuiderdam however, she is not. She’s home in Holland taking care of family issues. Zuidy’s GRM is Maya. The main entertainment in the show lounge after the staff intro and toast was by pianist/humorist/songwriter Dale Gonyea.

Dinner for us was our first visit to the main dining room at our assigned table #7 on Deck 3. We met our five table mates, hailing from Walnut Creek, San Bernardino and Orange County, so that made for an all-Californian table. Turned out to be a lively table with lots of conversation and laughter. For our selections, Maria had the rock fish (without the rocks) and I chose the filet mignon which were both excellent.

Post dinner, we had a very enjoyable meet in the Ocean Bar with Jonathan, Zuiderdam’s Food & Beverage manager and did a lot of catching up. I had last seen him while working Zuiderdam in 2016 when he took Maria and I, Zuidy’s shorex specialist Tamara, shop staffer/jewelry expert Irene, and the lead singer of the BB King’s out for a seafood dinner in his native Aruba, a night and drive in his car not to forget The F&B manager is a reintroduced rank/title with HAL which pretty much replaced the COM (Culinary Operations Manager) with the added responsibility of the Beverage Dept. although there is also still a Bev Manager. Jonathan, along with Asst. Hotel General Manager Manish, both 4 1/2 stripers, are now the two positions directly beneath Hotel GM Henk and above/in charge of the Dept. Heads.

We called it a night around 1145 hrs. and retreated to our floating abode. Oh yeah, pillow chocolates are back! ☺️Tomorrow/Tuesday is our first port; Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico