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

[Copper10-8]

Day 7 - Saturday 09 APR 22 – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (con't)

 

So, for the overnight in Puerto Vallarta, we had big plans! HAL offers an evening excursion in PV by the name of ”Rhythm of the Night” / “Ritmo de la Noche” (overnight and/or evening stays in PV only) It basically involves a pretty good sized catamaran taking you for an about one hour long sunset sail southbound in Bahia de Banderas to what was once actor, director and screenwriter John Huston’s private hideaway, Las Caletas Beach, only accessible by boat. Upon arrival, you’ll have a seaside dining experience under the stars, followed by a folkloric (or acrobatic, not sure) show in their outside amphitheater and some dancing under the stars on the ride back to PV. It’s been about 12-14 years since we first took that excursion here and we liked it a lot, so we figured this trip was as good a time as ever to see it again.

 

And that’s when life starts throwing you curve balls! Yesterday morning Maria started sneezing and her head started feeling very congested. She was thinking head cold so, after lunch at Pipi’s yesterday we popped in a local pharmacy and purchased some decongestants, Vicks and cough drops. Since she’s prone to sinus infections, I talked her into a visit to the ship’s medical center at 4:00 PM (their consulting hour) yesterday where she was seen by crew physician Dr. Phillip Mong.

 

Of course, in the world we currently live in, she was tested for Covid-19 which thankfully came back negative. Dr. Mong also felt Maria was dealing with a head cold since she showed no signs of a sinus infection, and prescribed some additional meds. The not so good news was that, per CDC rules, anytime you present yourself to the infirmary with a potential respiratory issue, you have to be isolated (in your cabin) for 24 hrs. and then re-tested. Two negative tests and you're out of jail. I did not display any respiratory symptoms so was not isolated, was able to pass “Go” and collect my $200. But, there went Ritmo de la Noche at romantic Las Caletas Beach. What is a mother to do! 🙄

 

Back in the cabin, we ordered In-Room Dining and had a romantic dinner of chicken clucks and chicken noodle soup on our balcony (no candle light) as the Rhythm of the Night catamaran sailed by us. 🧐 We followed that up by watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Audrey Hepburn (there is a Dutch connection here) and George Peppard on our room TV. To their credit, that shore excursion showed up on our account as a 100% refund thanks to the Zuiderdam shorex team.

 

Happy to report that, as I’m writing this (Sunday 5:00 PM), Maria has had her 2nd Covid-19 test which also showed up negative, so she has been released from her one-day suspension in the penalty box and is also feeling better! 😍 When life throws you a curve ball, you hit it out of the park and make the best of it!

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Copper10-8

[boze9999]

Bad News ....Good News! Glad Maria is a-ok! We are doing this cruise over New Years and wish we were spending the night in PV during our cruise - this excursion sounds awesome!!

[Florida_gal_50]

22 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

Bad News ....Good News! Glad Maria is a-ok! We are doing this cruise over New Years and wish we were spending the night in PV during our cruise - this excursion sounds awesome!!

This excursion is awesome during the day but it’s very hilly.  I’m not sure I could do it anymore.  I have a friend that did it and hated it because it was so dark you couldn’t see anything.  I’d love to hear from someone that has gone.

[57redbird]

2 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

I'll be in PV next week. Pls LMK what you need and I can try to get it for you. ecoppola49 at gmail

Ellen --- in case you haven't checked your email ---- I've decided Thanks, but No Thanks.

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

This excursion is awesome during the day but it’s very hilly.  I’m not sure I could do it anymore.  I have a friend that did it and hated it because it was so dark you couldn’t see anything.  I’d love to hear from someone that has gone.

 

 

I will ask our tablemate tomorrow about that topic. He went to Rhythm of the Night last night. I do remember from last time there is some uphill walking from where the catamaran drops you off. Also remember there is a path you follow to/from the amphitheater and that it was lit with ground lights and yes, there is limited lighting because they want to project a certain mystique

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

I'm glad Maria tested negative again and is feeling better. 

 

We learned years ago to cross the street to the gas station to get a taxi.  

 

Since I'm not a shopper, I do not care for the new cruise terninal, mainly since you are forced to walk a long way through the building to get outside, and to return to the ship.  The old terminal complex had more authenic Mexican charm.  At least, there is a short cut to the Mercado.

 

We were in PV several times since November, and I liked when the Koningsdam docked at Dock 3, since I enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the traffic.  I also found it was closer to Wal-Mart.  Yes, passengers also go to Wal-Mart.  They had the gate open to exit the port. I also noticed the shuttles to the cruise terminal running fairly often.

 

The brown taxis could enter the pier area, but the yellow and white taxis dropped passengers off outside the port gate.  When we were at Dock 3, several vendors were set up in a parking area inside the gate.  We could go through security in the gatehouse, which was a big plus.

[Copper10-8]

21 hours ago, zelker said:

@Copper10-8  Hi, John. 

 

Please give Ivan (aka "Vin Diesel"), Itsar, Melissa (aka "Muffin" or "Melikka") and Alyssa (aka "Aly" or "Alykka") a big hug for us and tell them that even though it's only been a week since we left them, John and Barb miss them terribly!!  They're the BEST and took such good care of us for 35 days, even when we both were "under the weather" 😞 and couldn't enjoy 7075 for 5 and 10 days respectively.  And if you see Maja (Guest Service Mgr), give her a hug for us, too.

 

Enjoy the remainder of your cruise!

 

Barb

 

 

Done to all, Barb! They each give you and John their best! They are looking fwd to Alaska and Vancouver

[Copper10-8]

16 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Here’s a bit about that Méxican cruise line whose ship was docked on the adjacent dock

 

https://www.vidantacruises.com/en/itineraries.html

 

Personally, I’m interested in more information, if they’ll take gringos.

 

Hey, great to finally meet you and your husband at the Walk for Ukraine on Deck 3 this morning! 🙂 

[KroozNut]

Any word from the Captain or other staff on how many pax were under COVID quarantine for this voyage? And where are the quarantine/isolation cabins located?

[TiogaCruiser]

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Hey, great to finally meet you and your husband at the Walk for Ukraine on Deck 3 this morning! 🙂 

Likewise!

[Copper10-8]

33 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Any word from the Captain or other staff on how many pax were under COVID quarantine for this voyage? And where are the quarantine/isolation cabins located?

 

Nope, sorry

[zelker]

44 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Any word from the Captain or other staff on how many pax were under COVID quarantine for this voyage? And where are the quarantine/isolation cabins located?

Just on Zuiderdam for 35 day Hawaii/French Polynesia cruise.  Isolation cabins were on Deck 6 and as far as we could tell (from our own experience 😞) on our cruise, everyone was forward of the forward elevators and all (including crew) were in verandah cabins.  HAL never shares case numbers of pax or crew.

[Florida_gal_50]

14 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

I will ask our tablemate tomorrow about that topic. He went to Rhythm of the Night last night. I do remember from last time there is some uphill walking from where the catamaran drops you off. Also remember there is a path you follow to/from the amphitheater and that it was lit with ground lights and yes, there is limited lighting because they want to project a certain mystique

Thanks. I think the bathroom was up there too if I remember correctly.  I'm a water drinker so I tend to spend some time in there :).

[Florida_gal_50]

14 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

I'm glad Maria tested negative again and is feeling better. 

 

We learned years ago to cross the street to the gas station to get a taxi.  

 

Since I'm not a shopper, I do not care for the new cruise terninal, mainly since you are forced to walk a long way through the building to get outside, and to return to the ship.  The old terminal complex had more authenic Mexican charm.  At least, there is a short cut to the Mercado.

 

We were in PV several times since November, and I liked when the Koningsdam docked at Dock 3, since I enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the traffic.  I also found it was closer to Wal-Mart.  Yes, passengers also go to Wal-Mart.  They had the gate open to exit the port. I also noticed the shuttles to the cruise terminal running fairly often.

 

The brown taxis could enter the pier area, but the yellow and white taxis dropped passengers off outside the port gate.  When we were at Dock 3, several vendors were set up in a parking area inside the gate.  We could go through security in the gatehouse, which was a big plus.

They did have some vendors as well the day I was there.  I don't want to shop at walmart at home so I don't do it in Mexico.  How odd about the taxis.  I've been the Puerto Vallarta a ton of times.  I've never been at that dock.  Thank you for the information.

[Copper10-8]

Day 8 - Sunday 09 APR 22 – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Part II

 

Sunday dawned with Zuiderdam still safely and securely alongside Muelle #1 in Puerto Vallarta, and the parrots blaring away. Since Maria was isolated until at least 4:00 PM today, we ordered breakfast through In Room Dining and consumed it on our balcony under a nice blue sky, while enjoying our vista.

 

Our plan today, before Maria unfortunately coming up with a head cold, was to meet up with Ine and Ton, two Dutch friends who have made Puerto Vallarta their winter home now for several years. Being the trooper that she is, Maria ordered me to go alone while she planned to order lunch, once again through room service, to watch at least one movie on the cabin TV, and to take a nice long nap. The anti-biotics seem to be helping her cold!

 

So I wound up meeting Ine in her Suzuki hatchback at 11 out in front of the shopping terminal, and she expertly drove us to Viejo Vallarta / Zona Romantica to Mundo de Azulejos aka the Tile Factory @ Venustiano Carranza 374 only to find out it is closed on Sundays. So much for that little project but we tried. Next up was a drive to their winter home where Ton was waiting for us. We spent about an hour there chatting and catching up after which Ine drove the three of us to Restaurante MockoCity Chai in the Parota Center, Avenida Francisco Villa 1010 for a nice light lunch.

 

We followed that up with a little sightseeing tour of the Hotel Zone and Marina culminating in a stop at Playa Bocanegra near the end of Runway 04/22 of Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport and took some pics. We finished up at the Starbucks in Nima Bay near the Marina, after which they drove me back to the cruise terminal where we said our goodbyes. It was good to see them since we have known each other since 2005. They are flying back home on Wednesday, the same day we’ll be back in San Diego and driving home. Have a safe flight, actually two of them, one a long one!

 

Back on board, Maria received a visit from one of Zuiderdam’s nurses around 4:45 PM outside our cabin door where she got her 2nd Covid-19 test. About 45 min. later she received a call from the infirmary that the 2nd test, like the 1st, came back negative for Covid, so she was immediately released from “house arrest”. She was also feeling better since the antibiotics had apparently kicked in! Life is once again good!

 

Zuiderdam left PV at about 5:15 PM en-route back to San Diego. It looked like a pretty tight maneuver for Capt. Frank, having to deal with that PV pirate ship ‘Marigalante’ /Spanish galleon replica of the Santa Maria which was berthed just to the left of Zuidy’s stern. He slowly moved his big ship sideways towards starboard and, once clear of the dock and the pirate ship, moved ahead towards the harbor entrance and open sea. Puerto Vallarta’s pilot, the same one for many years, was disembarked at about 5:40 pm and once aboard his pilot boat, dipped his BB hat, took a bow and waived several times to Zuiderdam’s captain and passengers with his boat’s whistle blowing also. Nice gesture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Day 8 - Sunday 09 APR 22 – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Part II (con't)

 

Dinner for the two of us was back inside the main dining room at 8:00 PM where we caught up with our tablemates, updated them on Maria’s trials and tribulations, while David gave us his review of the Rhythm of the Night. For dinner, we both received an authentic “Rijsttafel, courtesy of Jonathan, Zuidy’s F&B manager. Haven’t had one in many years and it was once again “enak sekali” (delicious)

 

Rijsttafel comes from Indonesia, and the dishes served are authentically Indonesian, but the concept of rijsttafel was certainly created by Dutch colonists living in the Netherlands East Indies / now independent Indonesia. Inspired by Nasi Padang, which is an Indonesian dish of rice surrounded by multiple meats and various vegetables in zesty sauces, the colonial Dutch created the massive feast we know today as rijsttafel as a way to sample as many different Indonesian dishes in one sitting as they possibly could.

 

Essentially, rijsttafel allowed the colonial Dutch people to sample regional dishes from as many of the far-flung islands of Indonesia (there are thousands) as they possibly could in one meal. It was also a great way of impressing visitors and showing off the culinary wealth of their colonial empire. It took off in Amsterdam post-World War II when thousands of Indonesians migrated to the city; and since they knew the Dutch loved their rijsttafel, they set up the restaurants you see all over the city today.

 

Today, in those restaurants on terra firma in Holland / the Netherlands, a Rijsttafel is a nearly unending parade of small plates all filled with different spicy-sticky-sweet Indonesian cuisine. All accompanied by rice, of course. The myriad of plates (typically in the dozens) are all laid out on the table at once in true feast fashion, and you simply help yourself to the selections as you wish.

 

On ships, they can’t do that of course, so ours tonight consisted of a single plate of Pisang Goreng (banana fritters), Rendang (Beef Sumatra), Peya Ayam (a chicken drumstick), Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Krupuk (shrimp crackers), prob. forgot one or two other dishes, with on top of it all, a Sambal Goreng Telor (a fried egg with tart and spicy Sambal sauce). If you want it hot/hotter yet, they will add a spoonful of Sambal, which Puguh, the asst, dining room manager assigned to our section, was more than obliged to do on my plate.

 

Sambal however, if you eat more than a wee bit/pinch of it at one time, will immediately cause both eyes, your nose and ears to appear as in a 4th alarm fire, that will force the local hose draggers, sorry firefighters, to quickly get out of their lazy boys, interrupt their daily watching of ‘Project Runway,’ slide down their shiny poles, and into their even more shiny fire trucks to respond to said alarm. Make a long story, shorter, our Rijsttafels were delicious!

 

We finished up the night with the 3rd show on this particular cruise by the Step One Dance Company in “In Tandem,” without a doubt our most favorite show of theirs because it involves all fast-paced Latin/Brazilian/Italian songs accompanied by high tempo dancing. Loved that one.

 

Called it a night afterwards to allow Maria to continue to recuperate. Tomorrow is the first of two consecutive sea days on our way home to San Diego. See ya then!

 

 

 

 

 

Special guest appearance in tonight's "In Tandem" show by BB King's vocalist Charles Daniels

 

 

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

Your dinner looked so good.

[57redbird]

@Copper10-8  Please thank Ine for providing her chauffeur services on Sunday!

Edited April 12, 2022 by 57redbird
spelling

[Copper10-8]

2 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

@Copper10-8  Please thank Ine for providing her chauffeur services on Sunday!

 

Yes, done so yesterday! 😉

 

[KroozNut]

Love your thread, and can't wait for you to get home (to SD), so we can board on the 13th!

[oakridger]

While on a trip to Bali way back in 1976 I was feeling a bit of stomach distress so thought some scrambled eggs would be best for breakfast.  What I was served was scrambled eggs all right.....with sambal mixed in!!! 😲 Ho boy was my stomach really unhappy after that!!!  I do really love the Indonesian Americanized food I have had here in San Francisco, just not the super hot stuff!

 

~Nancy

Edited April 12, 2022 by oakridger

[h20luvr]

Outstanding thread!  Great info written in an enjoyable fun style.  Thank you!

[Copper10-8]

16 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Your dinner looked so good.

 

It was, as the Indonesian people say, "enak sekali" (very delicious) 😉 

 

When I was working on the dam ships, the staff captain would, at times, organize a "Family Makan" (makan means "to eat" in Bahasa) for the Deck/Nautical Dept. Those would always take place all the way forward of the ship, at the bow, in a space known as the Bo'sun store.

 

The entire deck dept. would show up, so sailors, quartermasters (now called AB helmsmen), the Bosun, the asst. Bosun,  the boatmen/life saving attendants, the fire safety attendants, the deck machinist, the deck storekeeper, the locksmiths, all the navigating officers, the staff captain of course, the captain when not otherwise disposed (Capt. Tim Roberts in the last pic), the cadet officers, the security team, and the medical team (all fall under the staff captain)

 

The Makan would consist of Indonesian food as described above, incl. Sate Ayam with peanut sauce. A good time was had by all at those family Makans. A chance to get to know each other in an off-duty capacity which led to unit cohesion for the entire dept. 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

It was, as the Indonesian people say, "enak sekali" (very delicious) 😉 

 

When I was working on the dam ships, the staff captain would, at times, organize a "Family Makan" (makan means "to eat" in Bahasa) for the Deck/Nautical Dept. Those would always take place all the way forward of the ship, at the bow, in a space known as the Bo'sun store.

 

The entire deck dept. would show up, so sailors, quartermasters (now called AB helmsmen), the Bosun, the asst. Bosun,  the boatmen/life saving attendants, the fire safety attendants, the deck machinist, the deck storekeeper, the locksmiths, all the navigating officers, the staff captain of course, the captain when not otherwise disposed (Capt. Tim Roberts in the last pic), the cadet officers, the security team, and the medical team (all fall under the staff captain)

 

The Makan would consist of Indonesian food as described above, incl. Sate Ayam with peanut sauce. A good time was had by all at those family Makans. A chance to get to know each other in an off-duty capacity which led to unit cohesion for the entire dept. 

Love this!

[Copper10-8]

Day 9 - Monday 11 APR 22 – At Sea

 

After departing Puerto Vallarta on Sunday late afternoon, Zuiderdam’s navigators set a northwesterly course across the southern part of the Gulf of California /Sea of Cortez towards Cabo San Lucas. The Sea of Cortez (Mar de Cortés) / Gulf of California (Golfo de California) is considered part of the Pacific Ocean. The body of water was named after Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés who conquered the Aztec Empire and sailed its perimeter between 1539 and 1540. It was renamed the Gulf of California by the Mexican government. The name "Gulf of California" predominates on most maps in English today however, the name "Sea of Cortés" is the one preferred by most local residents.

 

We had a light breakfast of fruit and cottage cheese and hot oatmeal in the Pinnacle Grill, entering this fine establishment at 9:19 AM (they shut down for breakfast on sea days at 9:30 AM). “Light” because we would be back in there for a PG lunch at 12:45 PM.

 

There is no Mariners reception scheduled for this particular voyage so, upon return to our cabin, we found two Royal Goedewaagen Mariner “tegels” / tiles on our bed (see pic). Mariners are folks who have sailed on HAL ships for at once

 

Dutch company Royal Goedewaagen is one of the oldest earthenware / ceramic factories of Europe and are the makers of, but not limited to, the famous Dutch Blue Delft products. These particular tiles we received are from the 2018-2020 series that depict the bow and upper structure of a ship from the HAL Vista class with one of the bell towers of the hotel New York, the former HAL HQ in Rotterdam, in the background. The 2018-2020 series of tiles is basically a copy of the 2017-2018 series without the “ms” (motor ship) in front of the four ship’s names of the Vista-class in the lower right corner of the tile.

 

HAL has come out with a 2021-2022 series of tiles (see pic of the Vista-class ships series) however, they were apparently not yet available on Zuiderdam for this voyage and/or HAL is attempting to lower the inventory on the earlier tiles. This series depicts sea monsters with the crown of the Statue of Liberty on the approach to New York harbor in all four corners. That crown has seven points representing the seven continents and oceans.

 

At 9:30 AM on boat deck/deck 3, they had the “On Deck for a Cause” non-competitive walk going on. This has been going on for years on HAL ships however, in lieu of the tragic situation happening in Ukraine for six plus weeks, the proceeds are now going into a fund to provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees.

 

At around noon time, Zuiderdam passed Cabo San Lucas, our first stop a week ago, on starboard side, as we now started heading northbound along the coast of Baja California Sur. Capt. van der Hoeven was nice enough to sign my Stephen Card’s great HAL book “The Spotless Fleet,” the 30th captain’s signature received so far.

 

Baja California Sur or South Lower California in English, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur / Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur, is the second-smallest Mexican state by population and the 31st admitted state of the 31 states which, with the Mexico City, make up the 32 Federal States of Mexico.

 

The state is named after the peninsula on which it is found, Baja (Lower) California, with the term “Sur” meaning “south.” The name California applied to this peninsula along with the area now known as the state of California in the United States. The coat of arms emphasizes the state’s connection to the sea, including images of silver fish, a silver shell, and a blue background.

 

I had a 12:15 appointment with Alex, Zuiderdam’s future cruise consultant inside the Neptune Lounge and was able to book a couple of cruises for 2023, a northbound Pacific coastal cruise on Koningsdam and a Alaska land/sea cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam 🙂

 

This was followed by a 12;45 lunch reservation inside the Pinnacle Grill where Maria, still feeling better, had the crab cakes, shredded chicken bibb salad, and Strawberry Pavlova, while I had the Tomato Broth with Spicy Lemon Grass Chicken soup, the PG burger, and some cookies & cream ice cream.

 

At 2:00 PM, cruise & travel director Ian hosted Capt. van der Hoeven in his “Ask the Captain” Q & A inside the main stage, which lasted for pretty much 45-50 minutes and was informative. We have never sailed with this captain before but he comes across as an outgoing, pleasant, informative individual with a good sense of humor.

 

We did pretty much nada and jelled in the cabin for the remainder of the afternoon, watching the Pacific Ocean pass by with a couple of sea birds keeping formation on the starboard side of Zuiderdam’s bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Copper10-8