Oosterdam March 4-20 Photos and more coming

I am finally caught up on everything after being gone for the extended Panama Canal transit. It took a little work to try to figure out how to post my photos so I will slowly be adding some as I resize them. My sister and I got a last minute upgrade to a Neptune Suite 4180. This aft suite was perfect for viewing the Panama Canal. The first photos are the Oosterdam as she had arrived into San Diego harbor at 2:30 AM and our departure on a chilly March 4 afternoon. We stayed in the hipster Springhill Suites right across from the B Street Terminal. A great location although it only had a shower and the room was Europe sized.

Looking forward to reading more & seeing more pictures.

Allan

Great start.

Looking forward to your review and more pictures.

Nice photos.

I will continue to follow.

Keith

We left San Diego a little bit late so I didn't get any more photos leaving the harbor as we had early dinner. We had 2 days at sea which was really relaxing allowing us time to get caught up with our friends, sign up for events and relax. Our cruise log shows that SD to Puerto Vallarta was 1027 miles at 17 knots. We were well offshore so whale watching was not optimal. Being in the aft Neptune on deck 4 the engine noise and vibration was noticeable but after having had an aft Neptune on the Noordam we were prepared for it.

Entering the bustling port of PV hundreds of dolphins were leaping in front of the ship. Better yet there were many sea turtles heading out to sea alongside. I think it is early for nesting season but PV has the light sand that they like.

We headed across the street to Wal-Mart to stock up on Diet Pepsi and bottled water. It is convenient for it to be first port in case something is forgotten. There was an area of vendor tents near the gangway one selling pharmaceuticals for people that like to stock up in Mexico.

We didn't have an excursion in PV so we went the rest of the day getting caught up with our friends, sign up for events and the first wine tasting. This tasting did not pitch the various wine packages so our friends were always trying to figure out what they had tasted and what package it was in. We brought on 18 bottles so didn't have that problem. Our head Wine Steward Michael was excellent and I learned new things. I think he is to the Rotterdam after the dry dock.

Since we didn't do anything in port and had 2 days at sea I am sharing some shipboard photos. Rudi's Sel de Mer. The quality and variety was great and service wonderful. Only gripe was my Dover Sole was browned which is a little much for that mild fish.

Enjoying your review! Thank you. Did they offer wine pairing for the Rudi's Sel de Mer dinner?

Hope you don't mind me playing with your pictures a bit. Just wanted to see if they would display outside of an attachment.

Great start!

Looking forward to reading more and seeing more photos.

Thanks.

I am finally caught up on everything after being gone for the extended Panama Canal transit. It took a little work to try to figure out how to post my photos so I will slowly be adding some as I resize them. My sister and I got a last minute upgrade to a Neptune Suite 4180. This aft suite was perfect for viewing the Panama Canal. The first photos are the Oosterdam as she had arrived into San Diego harbor at 2:30 AM and our departure on a chilly March 4 afternoon. We stayed in the hipster Springhill Suites right across from the B Street Terminal. A great location although it only had a shower and the room was Europe sized.

FlorenceItaly - no they didn't or perhaps we didn't notice as we had brought all of our wine on with us. Tinknock50 thank you for making the photos visible! One day I will learn to manage that.

I just finished a review of the ship and itinerary on CC. I think they have to review it before posting but it should be up soon. Lots of photos with that too.

FlorenceItaly - no they didn't or perhaps we didn't notice as we had brought all of our wine on with us. Tinknock50 thank you for making the photos visible! One day I will learn to manage that.

I just finished a review of the ship and itinerary on CC. I think they have to review it before posting but it should be up soon. Lots of photos with that too.

All I did was click on your attachment, when the picture opened, I right clicked on it, selected copy, and pasted in a new post. Or in your case, you could edit your post and paste there.

Hope you don't mind me playing with your pictures a bit. Just wanted to see if they would display outside of an attachment.

How did you do this with the photos, I have some from our Zuiderdam and can not get them to post at all, HELP and thanks, Linda

My review with photos that I spent a long time on yesterday still hasn't appeared. How long does it take to review them? I hope it wasn't a lot of work for nothing.

One thing I have to add about NS 4180 is that is was very bad for our diets. We were getting wafted in fragrances of the pastry kitchen each morning and our cabin smelled of croissants.

We left Puerta Vallarta late as there were 3 taxis of passengers that arrived after our 2:30 departure time and they were waited for - about 15 minutes late. They didn't even run for the ship according to observers.

The ship's log showed 685 miles to Huatulco at 18 knots. The beautiful weather continued. We stayed onboard for Huatulco, the port is very small and we had no excursions planned. One photo is of Steak Tartare from the Pinnacle Grill scaled down to a more modest size at my request.

Love your review and pictures.

My review with photos that I spent a long time on yesterday still hasn't appeared. How long does it take to review them? I hope it wasn't a lot of work for nothing.

 

One thing I have to add about NS 4180 is that is was very bad for our diets. We were getting wafted in fragrances of the pastry kitchen each morning and our cabin smelled of croissants.

 

We left Puerta Vallarta late as there were 3 taxis of passengers that arrived after our 2:30 departure time and they were waited for - about 15 minutes late. They didn't even run for the ship according to observers.

 

The ship's log showed 685 miles to Huatulco at 18 knots. The beautiful weather continued. We stayed onboard for Huatulco, the port is very small and we had no excursions planned. One photo is of Steak Tartare from the Pinnacle Grill scaled down to a more modest size at my request.

 

 

 

CC gets a lot of reviews to read and look over.

This was discussed on another board a few days ago. It could be a couple of weeks before your review id accepted. Or it may not be accepted at all. None of us know how they select reviews to be posted.

How did you do this with the photos, I have some from our Zuiderdam and can not get them to post at all, HELP and thanks, Linda

Thanks Krazy Kruizers! I will try to add more detail on the excursions in this thread. I did see that the reviews may be out of order also so I will keep looking to see if it passed muster.

Next stop was Puerto Quetzal Guatemala. Our voyage log showed 342 miles at 19 knots. Throughout the Pacific cruise we remained quite far from shore and it go hotter each stop but the fair weather continued. We did not book a shore excursion but did go ashore as there was a palm shaded area with bars and vendors right at the ship. We stopped at a pleasant bar for some local beers and their free internet. It was much slower than on the ship but the price was right and the local beer with a rooster on the bottle reminded me strongly of the old Detroit beer Stroh's. No photos of the bar because my sister is in them. Worth a stop and friendly people.

We left on time and headed to Cornito, Nicaragua. It was a short 227 miles at 17 knots. The port is commercial and there is no shopping right at the port. I recommended that the port allows vendor tents at the gangway as were in PV in the Nicaragua feedback form. We had a tour to the horse farm that was about 40 minutes away.

The horses and their trainers were wonderful. It was an exciting show and well worth the money. They also let us get very close to the horses as they cooled off after their performances. My sister inquired about the Gypsy Vanner horse in the show and one of the young men took us to a horse in one of the stalls and pulled out a coal black Gypsy Vanner which was very accomodating. We were able to get many photos of the beautiful horse up close. They also took us to a small hospital where special needs children were treated for free with physical therapy and medical care in addition to riding therapy.

We were in the ill-fated last bus 23 and us laggards at the end of the group were in the attack of the killer bees. The last 30 or so were heading into the gift shop when the attack started. One man directly in front of me was in the midst of a swarm and was swatting madly to avoid the bees. Our guides caught the issue right away and began to herd us in the gift shop. I got stung once although I did not swat or run. The bees followed all of us in the building but most of the stinging had quieted. Our guides then herded us into a vestibule and out towards where the rest of the group were already gathered for lunch. The bees continued to follow but they did not enter the pavilion. One lady was stung very badly as were several of the guides. She was treated with ice and Benadryl. It appeared her head and neck. Both of the people that got the worst of it weren't seen again and were probably evacuated.

These bees are everywhere in Central America and the southern tier of the US. It could have happened anywhere in any country or tour so I would not avoid this beautiful place because of a freak event. If you get near a swarm don't swat or run. It goes against our reflexes but the more adrenalin in humans the more riled they get. Easier said than done.

We had to wait in the lunch pavilion until the last minute to get on our buses to return to the ship. We got to the ship at 1:55 with a 2:00 departure. They served a tasty lunch and sold beer and sodas and gave out bottled water. I wouldn't have eaten it but I didn't know when they were going to let us go back to the ship. If you have a sensitive GI system avoid it or feast on the cookies that they offered. It didn't bother my sis. It did bother me. Next excursion I brought 2 croissants from the ship. Again, I would go back in a heart beat. A truly beautiful farm.

Gypsy Vanner

I loved this farm so more photos. Look how close the horses got to us. Thrilling. Below are the freeze brands on a few of the horses.

Great review with great pictures.

We have been to Corinto a few times -- nice little place. Not a lot of tours.

We did an excursion in Costs Rico a few years ago which included a train ride through the country side. A swam of bees came onto the train. I got 1 bite -- perfume does attract them. About 3 or 4 other passengers got bitten badly. Our tour guide wrote down all our names and cabin numbers. With in an hour of our getting back to the ship, the nurse called to see how I was. I was okay but a couple of the others who were bitten had to get shots right away.

Keep up the reports.

Not a peep of follow up with those of us that were only bitten once or twice. It really got swollen and painful. I cannot imagine the agony of the woman who got so badly bitten on her scalp and neck. A travel agent at our lunch table was on a different bus and she is allergic and did not bring her epi-pen. She did not get stung. I think she learned her lesson. It would be a good idea to have some type of guidance of what to do on tours to avoid them (perfume) and what to do if an attack happens and bring your epi-pen if allergic.

After our horse farm adventure we left right around 2 PM. I had time to get back to the cabin and watch the dock hands release the aft lines. The port is a working port but leaving the port were colorful fishing boats brightening the harbor.

Off to Puerta Caldera Costa Rica which was 263 miles and 19 knots. We took the line's Pura Vida Gardens tour. It was a pretty drive once we got out of the metro area. Puerto Caldera is much more affluent than the town of Corinto. No sad horses and dogs near the roads. The feedback on the tour shared that the switchback road up to the top of the mountain ranged from exciting to scary. I am afraid of heights and I would call it both but I am glad we did it.

Pura Vida Gardens was established by an American and he is proud of his property as he met us when we got off the bus and was around to answer questions while everyone enjoyed the fruit snack. There were 2 parts to the tour. The guided walk by our Holland tour guide who was excellent, I don't recall her name. First was a walk downhill to see a waterfall and an ocean view. Part 2 a much more strenuous up and down climb through the jungle like gardens. Holland called this a moderate level activity but I would call this one for fit people if one wants to enjoy the full gardens. Our guide told us if we had a hard time climbing the hill from the waterfall the second part would be too strenuous. I think all but three forged on and the griping began. It was a lot of up and down over dry pavement ( could be very tricky if wet ) and it was probably 90 degrees. The flowers were beautiful and we were lucky to have a morning appearance of the Macaws who were courting. There was fresh fruit and water for a snack and there was supposed free wifi but I didn't have any luck getting on. I would recommend this for folks that like horticulture, bird watching and butterflies. The butterflies were much less accomodating constantly flitting around but never lighting long enough for a photo.

Forgot the mating Macaws.

Between my new computer crashing and a few home problems, I am just getting caught up with a lot of threads.

Love your report and all the fabulous pictures.

On to the big event the Panama Canal. Since there was so much territory covered I will split it up. From Puerto Caldera to the Canal was 263 miles at 19 knots. The fine weather continued. We probably entered the Canal at around 7 AM and I remember that we had exited by 5:30 because we were able to make happy hour in the Ocean Bar and our 5:30 seating in the MDR.

Ships waiting their turn to enter the canal.

Entering the Canal Zone

View of a large ship entering the new locks.

Miraflores locks closing.

Culebra Cut bridge