Zuiderdam Panama Canal April 19 to May 7

[pepsigirl64]

Hello from a lazy day at sea, yesterday was the Panama Canal. It was a very busy day, it started at 530am, before the sun came up. We were on the go all day long, on the bow, to the aft, from port to starboard over, over and over again. Deck 10, 9, 4 and 3 over and over. Inside and outside. We saw it all. If you ask me, the weather was very warm, if you ask DH he will say a few choice words followed by HOT. I will say that going from outside to inside is WONDERFUL. The pre cruise telling myself that it is going to be hot has really been working. At 10am we found ourselves in the Crow’s Nest, is it too early to start drinking?? The bartender said it was okay, so I had an Epic Spiced Daiquiri. It was refreshing and a bit citrusy. I drank it so that is all that matters. Drinking before noon, it was 5 o’clock somewhere, right?? DH wanted to take a nap, but I was not going to sleep through the Panama Canal, we went to the room and I made myself very comfy on the bed, feet up on pillows (they are very puffy) and my head positioned so I can see out the door. DH on the couch for about 5 minutes until I told him to look outside, then his rest was over and he was in and out the door to take pictures, he likes trees!! About a half of an hour for a rest then we were out again for the rest of the day. Mid afternoon snack was the best Mango Daiquiri that I have ever had. We played some trivia and came in third, not good enough to win the pin!! Dinner was pizza at the Lido, we had a freshly made one so it was very tasty. They had 5 onion soup, so I enjoyed some of that too. The night show in the Vista Lounge was a magician, we tried to go to the 8pm showing, but if you don’t get there really early, forget it!! We went to our room and called it a day, by now my feet were so puffy we called them little sausages, the worst that I have ever encountered. My wonderful DH took our ice bucket and soaked a towel in it and wrapped my feet. By 830 we were in bed, the end of a wonderful day. Our overview of the Panama Canal is amazing. It is so incredible to think that it was made over a hundred years ago. We were followed by another cruise ship called Regatta, it wasn’t as big as we are. It cost the Zuiderdam over $350,000 for our transit.

 

We woke up at 8am after a long sleep, it was very nice. After breakfast we played a game of trivia on the Olympics, it was each person for themselves. We each got 4 out of 15, we should have cheated off of each other then we would have gotten a few more!! For the first time ever they had a County Fair, it was cute. On the Atrium Deck 1, 2 and 3 they had Art, towel folding, napkin folding, vegetable carving, food and water tasting, the casino gave a deck of cards for rolling a double (or he cheated and made it a double!!) Our regular trivia game was at 1pm, a taco somehow jumped into my hands and some banana bread pudding jumped into DH’s hands. It is amazing to see these things happen. We didn’t do well on our trivia today, not a good work the brain day!! After lunch DH has gone to juggle for awhile and he left me at a nice table to write this letter.

 

The rest of our day will continue to be lazy, but that is the usual thing we do on sea days!! I have been handing out Hershey Kisses to everyone (mainly the crew) and have become to be known as the ’kiss lady” . Some special treatment comes along with the giving of kisses!!

 

Last night we were gently rocked to sleep and today is a smooth day, scattered clouds. Someone said the weather was suppose to be in the 70’s, but it is the warmest 70’s that I have ever experienced. So far we have only had one meal in the pool area mid ship, to humid for me. The mid ship pool is an area that we usually pass through quickly from the Lido heading to the Crow’s Nest.

 

I am going to close this update on our lazy sea day. I will update in a few days. I am not sure where tomorrow is, either Costa Rica or Nicaragua. Thanks or reading, I enjoy the response!!

:D

[SilvertoGold]

Pepsigirl

 

Thanks for taking the time to write these posts. You are a hoot!

 

Love your writing!!! Are you SURE you're not an Englsih major???

 

Hope you will write about the Mariner Brunch -- always interesting to hear about how each ship does this.

 

Kepp having a dam good time!

[startwin]

Loving your reports:) You are doing the exact-same cruise we did last year (and will be doing again next April). Your Panama day sounds much like mine - I was all over the ship, seldom sat down all day. With one exception.... our roll call has a wine tasting session in one of the suites during the afternoon (we each brought a nice bottle) while we viewed from the balcony. That was my introduction to chocolate wine, oh my so yummy - and so potent. Good thing I didn't have to drive home;)

[Mumsysailor]

 

...

With one exception.... our roll call has a wine tasting session in one of the suites during the afternoon (we each brought a nice bottle) while we viewed from the balcony. That was my introduction to chocolate wine, oh my so yummy - and so potent. Good thing I didn't have to drive home;)

 

Ooh I'd forgotten about the chocolate wine. Yes, very yummy.

 

I'm loving being reminded of our trip last year through the Panama. Keep the reports coming Pepsigirl and thanks once again.

 

Mumsy.

[startwin]

Ooh I'd forgotten about the chocolate wine. Yes, very yummy.

 

I'm loving being reminded of our trip last year through the Panama. Keep the reports coming Pepsigirl and thanks once again.

 

Mumsy.

 

Indeed, Mumsy.... you and I definitely enjoyed that chocolate wine:D

[canadianbear]

I finally have time to check out CC and find you are doing a great job of updating about the cruise we were supposed to be joining you on.

 

Thank you so much for spending the money on the internet to do this and let us know how things are.

 

I'm really enjoying your report so keep it coming! Hoping to maybe do this cruise in 2014 if all goes well so will be taking notes of any hints you might drop:D

[Himself]

Glad you are having a nice cruise. It sounds like you enjoyed the Panama Canal.

[San Diego bound]

Really enjoying the post. We board the ship on May 7th and I need to know all I can about the ship since we never sailed on HA before.

 

I read today that you are in the Pacific and heading toward San Diego. Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip and are able to keep us informed.

 

Arleen

[Socal404]

Hi Teri,

 

I knew you would love the Panama Canal. It does tend to become a VERY LONG DAY! We did this cruise back in 2006, on the Celebrity Infinity. Tell John to suck it up with the weather.:eek: It's going to be hot. After all, you are closer to the equator. Being from the east coast, heat and humidity are the name of the game. That's why I moved to sunny socal.

 

Loving your commentary.:) Please keep it up.

[San Diego bound]

Hi Teri,

 

I knew you would love the Panama Canal. It does tend to become a VERY LONG DAY! We did this cruise back in 2006, on the Celebrity Infinity. Tell John to suck it up with the weather.:eek: It's going to be hot. After all, you are closer to the equator. Being from the east coast, heat and humidity are the name of the game. That's why I moved to sunny socal.

 

Loving your commentary.:) Please keep it up.

 

Our stories are similar -- we went to the Panama Canal on Celebrity back in 2010. We loved the cruise. Last year we moved to San Diego and now are planning an Alaska cruise on the "Z" -- Life is good!

[pepsigirl64]

I will begin this installment with Saturday night, we ended the lazy sea day with a light show. There was lightening so bright it lit up the sky. We went to bed with our curtains open and watched the sky. :eek:

 

Costa Rica Sunday April 28, started at 7am. We were suppose to meet a few other couples on the pier at 8am, we got there at 805am and they had already left. Oh well, we did our own thing. The walk to the end of the pier was about 600 feet, which to me was like a mile. We ended up getting into a tour bus with 3 other couples for a 4 hour tour at $30 each, it worked for us! It ended up being around 6 hours before we returned to the ship. We drove for over an hour through the countryside, going through little towns along the way. We were headed for the Crocodile River Tour. Another $30 each and we were on a river boat, seeing birds, cows and crocodiles. Our boat driver got out and fed the crocs some fish, he was within arm’s length from them. He did this with 4 different crocs, the biggest being 16 feet long. It was a “wow” moment. It was an hour boat ride along the river. At this moment, I will say it was HOT and HUMID, the air conditioner sure felt good when we returned to the van. He tried to take us to a waterfall but an electricity line had fallen along with a tree so the road was blocked, good thing it happened before we got there. He took us to the “chosen” souvenir stand where we wondered around and had a cool bowl of ice cream. We had to eat it fast as it was melting!! The highlight of this trip for me was the visit to see the Carpathian monkeys. We drove through a very poor area to a home that lives by the forest and the people care for these wild monkeys. For a $3 donation, we got some fruit and fed it to the monkeys. They jumped onto us, sat on our shoulders and our heads and took the fruit out of our hands. It was Awesome :D, the best ever. We got back to the ship around 330pm, on board time was 430pm. By now, I am exhausted and full of pain. Getting in and out of the mini van did a number on my knee and ankles. I was in tears by the time I made it to the ship. We went to the room and I collapsed into a Teri puddle. At 430 it was Team Trivia and I wanted to be a team player so off to the Crow’s nest we went, oh goodie it‘s happy hour. I need a drink, after taking 2 motrin, I topped it off with a Bahama mama. Should feel better soon. We wondered around until about 6pm then decided it was a good night for room service, so we went to the Dining room to get a menu. I had a salad with a piece of Caribbean Jerk chicken on it and DH had 2 dinners, grilled salmon and a New York Strip steak. I topped my salad off with a mango blueberry crisp. By 830pm we were both asleep for the evening.

[dobiemom]

Thanks for this installment. I hope the motrin and Bahama Mama did the trick and you are up and running again soon. :)

[pepsigirl64]

Hi from the Zuiderdam just hanging around in a very calm sea. I need to correct myself from my previous Costa Rica post, we saw Capuchin monkeys. Carpathian, Capuchin…it was monkeys!! :D

 

Nicaragua Monday April 29, after sleeping all night we got up around 8am. We docked at 10am so we went to breakfast and slowly started our day. We didn’t have any plans for an adventure, just going off the ship to see if we get inspired. It was a little walk to the gate, but luckily I was scooting! We just walked around the area outside of the gates, a very poor town. Lots of people selling things in the area, same stuff different people. We walked down the street for a bit, everyone is very friendly there, but the surroundings really make us appreciate our home. DH found a belt and wallet that he liked, so we contributed to the country some money. It was very warm so we decided to go back to the ship around noon. All of the tours that we could have taken involved a long bus ride into the major towns, so we opted to just be happy with setting our feet down in another country. A group of CC members took a tour that I heard was very good. I will ask her to post about it when she returns home. Otherwise you can read about it on our roll call as it was discussed there. Our day in Nicaragua concluded at 5pm, we went out on deck 10 to watch sailing away. We played our daily game of trivia and won! I must say I contributed the questions that needed the most answers, Who were the original members of the Jackson 5? Also, what are the four things that your tongue can taste? In case you need to know, it is Tito, Germaine, Jackie, Michael and Marlon. Also bitter, salty, sour and sweet. Yay, we got a pin, woohoo!! I gave ours away. We opted for the Lido buffet for a late dinner, something simple for me, chicken and mashed potatoes. DH had some beef with a curry sauce, spinach, carrots and potatoes. Tonight we checked out the night club, Northern Nights, it was request night. It is so quiet in there, not musically, buy lack of people. It was only us and another couple that left after 20 minutes, so we talked to Jeremy, the host, we had traveled with him before on the Oosterdam. After an hour we left so Jeremy could start his birthday celebration. We have to set the clocks forward an hour, so bed was around 1am.

 

 

Sea Day Tuesday April 30, I woke up at 8am, very calm seas this morning. I saw some dolphins jumping around. We went to the Lido for a few danishes and saw turtles by the dozens out swimming around, that was neat to see. Today is the Mariner Brunch, but first is a medal presentation. DH gets his 100 day medallion, Yay. I got mine last year when I left him at home and went on the 14 day Alaska cruise with my Aunt!!! At my presentation there wasn’t any hand shaking or touching, today the Captain and Hotel Mgr shook everyone’s hand as we entered the Queen’s Lounge. At the presentation the Captain again shook hands and gave the women kisses on the cheek. The lunch was the same as usual, an option of a Salmon salad or Apple pear gazpacho. The main course was Braised Short Ribs, a fish entrée or a Quiche. Dessert was the Key lime tartlet. It was very quick service we were done by 1230, just in time to go to Team Trivia. We have been doing very well, but seem to fall one or two short of winning. We missed “How many eyes are in a deck of cards?”, well we (along with the rest of the crowd) didn’t count 2 heads on each card, UGH. We wandered to the Lido deck in search of some ice cream, did I tell you that my favorite is chocolate soft serve? Today is my day, so 2 bowls were eaten very happily. After wandering around the ship for a bit, we ended up in our room to sit on our balcony and enjoy the calm sea. It was a little warm after sitting awhile we went in our room and fell asleep. A nap was obviously needed on such a busy day of doing nothing. It can be quite exhausting wandering around aimlessly. Tonight is a Formal night, but after being lazy all day we don’t want to dress up. Room service of Shrimp Cocktail, Surf/Turf and a basket of rolls will be delivered at 630. A delicious ending to a lazy day! :D

[canadianbear]

Pepsigirl-hope you're having a great time today in Huatulco! Thinking about all of you having a wonderful time:D and waiting patiently for another update!

[solocanadian]

Teri: Thanks for your posts and answering my questions about Piano Bar and Duvets. Captain sounds like a pet. I may qualify for my silver 300 day medallion on this cruise. Would be nice if I did and they did it in the Queens lounge. Wow, a hand shake and kiss from the Captain! Thanks again.:D

[pepsigirl64]

Wednesday May 1 Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. We were here from 8am to 430pm, we should have taken a tour here, but now we know for next time. The tour of choice would have been to the Mayan ruins and a chocolate demonstration. We got off the ship and wandered around the port area, it was a very nice area and hot. The only taxi’s available were to a single destination, which we had no idea where to go. They offered a shuttle bus to town for $10 each round trip, in town was a museum, church and a Mercado. We decided to stay at the port. Part of the area had a pool that looked really refreshing on this warm day. After looking at the items for sale, it was time to refresh ourselves back on the ship. For lunch we feasted on Fish and Chips, it was really good, so we had seconds. A nap was taken, then off to trivia and happy hour. We haven’t gone to the dining room for dinner as much as we usually do, but dinner in the Lido has been good, everything has been so hot and tasty.

Thursday May 2 Huatulco Mexico. We got up around 8am after we docked in Huatulco. We have been followed by the Regatta, an Oceania cruise ship since the Panama Canal, they pulled in next to us. The ship is very small compared to us. In Costa Rica they were next to us also, from our room we look down upon the bridge. We went for breakfast, met another couple that we have been hanging out with and off we went. We walked down the pier into town, on the left side is a beach that looked so inviting. We wandered around town and was asked by so many people to sit and have a drink, sometimes you just have to keep walking. We decided that we wanted to go into the water, :eek: YES, INTO the water at the beach. So we went back to the ship and changed into our swim suits. It was a short walk over very firm sand and into the water, with the fishes. I kept telling them to move and they did!! The water was so refreshing, I was up to my head in the water still standing on the ground, it was GREAT. I stayed in for about an hour, DH also came in for awhile. It was so much fun. I am a bit toasty, and DH has nice sunburn on his leg where I missed with the sunscreen, oops. We came back on the ship for some lunch around 2pm, we are leaving at 430. Trivia went well, only missed 3, but not good enough to win a pin, bummer. . We had room service tonight for dinner, Salmon for DH, Chicken for me and we split some BBQ ribs. Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake, you know how much we didn’t care for that!!! NOT. We also shared Queen of Pudding, a baked lemon custard topped with meringue. We enjoyed our dinner sitting on our balcony with a cool breeze. The show at 10pm was a ventriloquist, my favorite. After our usual spin through the late night buffet to pick up some cookies we headed to our room for bed.

Friday May 3, Sea Day. We slept until 10 this morning, and have been watching an episode of Bonanza as we get ready to head out for the day. 1pm is Trivia, our schedule for the day is jammed packed as you can see. :D
　

[dobiemom]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=Indigo]Thanks, Pepsigirl. Only 4 more days and you pick me up in San Diego! :D [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[PathfinderEss]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=darkred][B]Really enjoyed following along on your cruise. Sounds like your having a good time. [/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[cruz chic]

I"m enjoying your thread. I love a Panama Canal cruise.

[madera1]

Sounds like a very relaxing cruise. Glad you are having fun and thanks for sharing with those of us sitting at home right now.

[canadianbear]

So thankful for your sharing the cruise with us all...I know your part of the trip is almost over :(

Hopefully many of those, when they get back, will do a review with photos so I can see all that I missed! :D

For those carrying on to Vancouver it looks like you will have fantastic weather-it's like summer here!

[pepsigirl64]

Hello Everyone, :)

This post is a bit late as we there wasn’t any Satellite Service since we were in Puerto Vallarta on May 4, it was a possibility that it would be down until our arrival in San Diego.

May 3 was a Sea Day, so you know what we did….not much. We played Hide and Seek with members of the Exploration Team. Five of them hid on the ship and there were four of us trying to find them, we had to get their signatures. I really thought that I had an advantage because I was on a scooter, HA, I was wrong. Amanda the party planner dressed like a Bell Hop and was polishing the floor in the atrium, I went right past her. Lance the travel guy was playing the puzzle in the Library, Jeremy the Show Host was in the fitness area, who goes there?? Charlotte the Librarian was in the shops and Scott the Computer Tech was at the entrance to the Culinary Arts lounge. They had all changed clothes to help hide themselves, it was a lot of fun. Since there was only 4 of us, we all got a drink from the bar for participating. I had a Mango Tango and DH had a Pina Colada. Then it was off to Happy Hour, must have a Frosty Chocolate Mint Buzz!! Trivia has been scheduled at Happy Hour a few times in the Crow’s Nest, it makes for a very crowded bar. The rest of the day we wandered around the ship, ate in the MDR, they had Chile Relenos, yummy, I had two! The show was a singer, she was very energetic and sang songs from all era’s.

May 4, Puerto Vallarta, we have been here many times, so all we did was look around in the area around the ship. I wanted to find a metal sculpture of a hummingbird to go with one that I got several years ago in Mazatlan. I found one, YAY. Then it was back on the ship, I can only take so much “hey lady, come look in here, I got good stuff for you”. We enjoyed the quiet day on the ship eating chocolate soft serve ice cream. There was a great BBQ by the midship pool that we enjoyed for dinner with our friends. Ribs, salmon, chicken, sausage, corn on the cob and many salads were the fare for the evening. It was nice sitting by the pool without the humidity which is usually hanging around, instead there was a cool breeze. The evening entertainment was a comedian. After the show we made our usual rounds of Northern Lights to listen to some music, tonight was Elvis Hour, then onto the Lido to scan the buffet.

May 5, we are just starting our day, a few of the highlights on our schedule are Junk Food Wars, trivia (of course), The Marriage Game and the Dessert Extravaganza. Tonight is the Black and White Ball, our final formal night.

I will now leave you with this episode of our adventure. :( We have one more sea day then we will arrive in San Diego. I will sum up our cruise as WONDERFUL, no complaints at all. A little disappointing at the beginning not being able to go on the Behind the Scenes tour, but I got over it. Service is great, as always. Food very tasty. It is always hard to end a DAM cruise, but luckily we only have to wait 3 months and we will be off again on another DAM adventure!!! I have had a lot of fun writing these episodes to share, thanks for tagging along. To those of you boarding as I am departing, Happy Travels to you. When you are in the Lido be sure to ask about the Kiss Lady, I made myself popular, LOL.

THANKS, TERI :D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

[SIZE="3"]Thanks for taking us along Teri :) I will take up posting where you left off ;) Hope you have a smooth disembarkation so everything and safe travels home.[/SIZE]

[dobiemom]

[quote name='pepsigirl64']I will now leave you with this episode of our adventure. :( We have one more sea day then we will arrive in San Diego. I will sum up our cruise as WONDERFUL, no complaints at all. A little disappointing at the beginning not being able to go on the Behind the Scenes tour, but I got over it. Service is great, as always. Food very tasty. It is always hard to end a DAM cruise, but luckily we only have to wait 3 months and we will be off again on another DAM adventure!!! I have had a lot of fun writing these episodes to share, thanks for tagging along. To those of you boarding as I am departing, Happy Travels to you. When you are in the Lido be sure to ask about the Kiss Lady, I made myself popular, LOL.[/quote]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]Thanks, Terry. You kept me entertained while I wait for you to come to San Diego. Have a safe trip home! :) [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[erewhon]

pepsigirl64,

Enjoyed reading all the reports of your cruise.
Thank you.