richwmn Goes around the world in a daze

[Seasick Sailor]

@richwmn Hi Rich. Nice to see you make an entrance on your Daily. Folks are working hard to keep it the top post on HAL..

 

After sailing for this amount of time, how likely are you to recommend taking this cruise to others? You have an honesty we have all come to trust.

[sandiego1]

On 4/3/2023 at 1:01 PM, 0106 said:

I just realized the MDR menu format has changed.  I like that the Vegetable Plate is offered daily because I frequently request extra vegetables.  I am concerned with the fine print comment “complimentary off menu items are no longer available”.  Thoughts?

I’m on the WC. Veggies have always been available. I ordered them from day 1. They just didn’t print it on the menu. Same with the cheese plate.

 

Also the off menu note has been printed on the menu since day 1 as well. Yet I regularly see people getting various items that aren’t on the menu (crudités, fruit plate…).

[Cruising Is Bliss]

Every cruise we've been on I tell the waiters at dinner the first night that every night we will want an extra plate of just vegetables. It's never been a problem in 26 years, on RCL, Celebrity, and HAL.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Cruising Is Bliss

[richwmn]

Apr 6 – Casablanca, Morocco

 

 

 

 

 

The place of legends. Despite leaving Agadir so late we arrived right on time. We were cleared to visit a little before 8:00am this morning. We will be here until 9:00pm, so a nice long day. The weather started out a bit overcast but looks to have improved. The temperature is 70F/21C with 60% humidity. It should be a nice day to walk around in just a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

April 6 – Casablanca, Morroco

 

As noted earlier, it was a very nice day to walk around. During the morning I got a couple of things taken care of. I left the ship with some friends at 1:35pm and after walking to the terminal got on the shuttle in time for it to close the doors and head into town.

 

The shuttle left us off at United Nations Square. This is a convenient location and is very scenic. Right near the drop off point is a market which has quite a selection of goods for sale. Since it is supposed to be a landmark, we took off for Rick’s Cafe. I was using Google Maps to get us there, but it was a bit confusing and we ended up walking thru some areas that were not the best. We got to Rick’s and it has limited hours which didn’t include when we were there.

 

We had decided to get a taxi back to the ship from there and when a driver that looked ok asked us, we said yes. That seemed to upset the other taxi drivers that were there waiting for fares. He promised to take us back to the ship for 10 euros, which is what we ended up paying him. I did hear from others that taxi drivers tried to charge more than the agreed amount.

 

We are not leaving Casablanca for a few more hours but I am in for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[StLouisCruisers]

Rich, have you run into anyone who went to the Hassan II Mosque while in Casablanca?  We walked there from our drop off point and took some beautiful pictures of the outside.  It is huge, and so is the huge plaza around it.  Very impressive and beautiful!  Quite a walk though so I'm not sure I would want to walk there again.  Of course, I was 5 years younger then!😳

[richwmn]

April 7 – Tangier, Morocco

 

 

 

 

 

It is evening on Zuiderdam after a very busy day.

 

We arrived in Tangier on time and were cleared quickly. My group planned on leaving the ship around 10:30am to see what was going on. We managed to get on a shuttle quickly which took us up to a park. We got off the bus there and after looking around the park for a bit we determined that as long as we headed downhill be would get back to the ship.

 

We headed thru the market which was a maze of small, pedestrian walkways. All kinds of shops selling just about anything. It was nice because the vendors were not pushy and a simple no generally was enough. There were a lot of very beautiful items for sale, and seemingly at good prices. During our walk we ran into two of the HAL excursion groups.

 

We got back to the ship and had lunch in the Lido. Since a large number of guests were ashore, the Lido was pretty empty and it went well. I had some things to do which lasted until trivia at 4:00pm. That session went well and afterwards we went to sail away. The Dance Band played from 4:30pm until 5:15pm or so, but the ship hadn’t pulled away yet. We went into the Lido for dinner and realized that we had pulled away and were headed for Cadiz.

 

The trivia session at 6:30pm was next and was again fun. Next was a little with the Dance Band in the Ocean Bar. Since the Promenade Deck was closed due to rough weather, we went to a balcony to see if the Rock of Gibraltar would be visible. It was overcast and too dark so we missed it today. Then it was time for trivia again which was snips of dialog or soundtrack of movies which we were to identify. We did very well on this one. We didn’t have a show on the World Stage tonight, but we do lose two hours sleep tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[StLouisCruisers]

Thanks for all the photos of Tangier!  Losing two hours in one night will be rough.  Hope you get enough sleep for your day in Malaga.

[richwmn]

April 8 - Málaga, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it is a short distance between Tangier, Morocco and Málaga, Spain we had no problem arriving on time this morning. Due to the two hour change in time everyone was dragging a bit and it was still dark until after breakfast. The ship was cleared on time and people started leaving around 8:00am.

 

I will be going ashore around 10:30am, which has been normal for the group I have been with. We will take the shuttle into town and walk around the area for a bit. One of the party likes to get a local beer in each port, but has been unable to in the last three due to Ramadan. It should be easier today. It is again sunny and mild and should be a nice day to walk around.

 

Menus to follow later

 

 

[richwmn]

April 8 - Málaga, Spain

 

Back on board a little while ago and had a lite lunch. We have been extremely lucky with weather since this cruise began. Today again was a reasonable temperature for walking around, and very little humidity. When we left the ship we missed our timing by about 5 minutes today. If we had been a bit earlier we wouldn’t have had to wait for a shuttle, but as it was we only waited about 10 minutes.

 

The shuttle dropped us at an interesting area, that was easily walkable to many interesting places. One thing that was evident was that Málaga is preparing for an Easter celebration tomorrow. Along the streets they had viewing stands set up for a parade and many places seemed to be decorated. There were other cruise ships in town with us today and the area was crowded. We looked at the line to enter the Roman Colosseum, but they were longer than we wanted to wait in. The same was true for the Cathedral. We did find a small Cafe that we stopped at. It was another very nice day and a good walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

Menus for tonight:

 

 

 

 

[julia]

Rich:

Hi...  the viewing stands aren't actually for a parade, but rather the "processions" that are put on by the various parishes.  They are really incredible to watch, as they display their elaborate alters to the public.

[richwmn]

April 9 – Cádiz, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter from Spain! Like yesterday it was a short leg from Málaga to Cádiz so there was no problem due to late departure. We arrived and the ship was cleared on time and the first guests made their shore excursions without a problem.

 

Last night was pretty quiet, dinner was good, little entertainment. I got a good nights sleep to make up for losing two hours the night before. At breakfast we planned our meeting and went our separate ways.

 

A little after 10:00am I headed to Billboard to meet, then leave the ship. As we left the terminal the HOHO bus was suggested so that was our plan. It was a great day to be on the open deck of the bus. The ride lasted a little over an hour and was very informative. We got off one stop before the ship and walked the rest of the way, stopping at a small bar for a beer. We returned to the ship for lunch, and now the next thing is lightning trivia, followed by Dinner in the MDR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

April 9 – Cádiz, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you Rich for sharing your wonderful pictures!  Malaga and Cadiz are very pretty!  I am glad you have had good weather for your ports.

[richwmn]

April 10 – Lisbon, Portugal

 

Good morning from Lisbon! We are currently sailing up the Tagus River and should be docked and ready to disembark shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by richwmn

[richwmn]

April 10 – Lisbon, Portugal

 

Menus and activities for today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

April 10 – Lisbon, Portugal

 

Back to Lisbon after almost six years, and the city has changed. In September of 2017 I spent about two weeks in Spain and Portugal between cruises. In Lisbon I stayed in a hotel on Rossio Square, MyStory Rossio. Going out the front door of the hotel you are in the middle of a very busy area in Lisbon. While there I managed to walk to the river and then turn the right direction and come across three cruise ships, including Prinsendam. What passed for a cruise port then was ships against a dock, some land, a chain link fence, and a couple of security guards. In contrast, today we have a nice concrete dock with a jetway into a very nice building. The building is very well set up for transient, as well as embarking passengers. It is a cruise only port, with easy access to public transportation, HOHO buses, and other attractions.

 

We got off the ship and turned left. This took us to Commerce Plaza, which I remembered but didn’t know the name of. It was a lot more crowded than I remembered, but possibly this was because today is a holiday in the EU. We crossed the plaza and headed up the pedestrian street to Rossio Square and it was as I remembered it. It was crowded, but since it was a bit early for European lunch it wasn’t bad. We walked a little further to the next stop for City Sightseeing Tours (HOHO bus) and got tickets and waited about five minutes for the next bus to arrive.

 

It should be noted that Lisbon has two sightseeing bus companies. The red bus (City Sightseeing) and the yellow bus. In the past I had tried both on different days and found them to be very similar. Since then I have seen the red buses in more cities and tend to select them when given a choice. We did the red route (the red bus has at least three different routes), and went around the entire circuit. Everything looked familiar but most areas had been cleaned up and looked better. Another note here, in the town there is a large parking lot that is part of each route for the red (and possibly yellow) buses. The bus pulls in there and parks. Everyone must get off the bus and transfer to another. It might be to give the driver a break before starting the route again. In any case, we got on the replacement bus and took it back to where we started. We then found a sidewalk cafe and had lunch. By this time there was a crowd.

 

After lunch we walked back thru Commerce Plaza, then back to the ship. It was a very good day and the weather again was beautiful.

 

The hotel I stayed in while in Lisbon

 

 

 

 

 

Zuiderdam at the new terminal

 

 

[richwmn]

April 10 – Lisbon, Portugal at night

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

April 11 – at sea destination A Coruña, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning, back to sea.

 

Last night was uneventful. The Lido was completely turned into a Portuguese diner. It was nicely decorated and set up. Starting at 6:00pm until after sail away at 9:00pm the Ocean Bar Band played next to the mid ship pool.

 

Today will be a leisurely day with nothing really planned except the normal sea day trivia sessions. The 6:30pm time will have a ‘Scribble the Scramble’ session, which is not a game that I enjoy. Last night’s session was more difficult than normal, but we did manage to get nine correct and the winner only got 11.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

April 12 – A Coruña, Spain

 

 

Position at 7:00am

 

Position at dock.

 

I had to deal with ‘work’ last night so nothing to report on ships activities, other than triva which was good. Entertainment was Zuiderdam Dancers. I did listen to the Ocean Bar Band for a few minutes, always a nice experience.

 

This morning we arrived just a little bit late and weren’t cleared until about 8:15am. I walked off with a friend and walked around a cute little city for about an hour. The morning was pleasantly cool and it made for a nice walk. This is another easy city to walk around as the ship is moored pretty much in the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

A Coruña, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by richwmn

[richwmn]

A Coruña, Spain at night

 

 

 

 

[richwmn]

April 13 – at sea destination Portland (Weymouth) England

Activities don't want to upload right now, I'll try again later

 

 

 

 

 

 

[travelnap]

Rich, Thanks for taking us all along with you.