MS Koningsdam February 19-March 1 AND MS Zaandam March 21 to April 22

[rafinmd]

Day Z27, Monday, April 17, 2017, Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

 

The Koningsdam is at sea from Rome to Dubrovnik. The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Tokyo to Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Key West to Cartagena.

 

KK, I’ve never been to Puntaarenas (except the one in Chile) and my tour went off in the opposite direction. I’m booked into Puerto Caldera again next year on the Crystal Symphony (combined with my Volendam/Westerdam Alaska) and unless there’s a hard to resist shore excursion will probably go for the shuttle to Puntaarenas.

 

When I went on deck about 5:30 there were lights in the distance ahead of us. With our early morning port arrival I walked 8 laps (about 2 miles) on the lower promenade deck.

 

Puerto Chiapas is not really a town, it’s partially a port specifically designed for cruise ships but with a twist. Most such ports are developed largely by cruise lines looking for a place to dock ever growing fleets of ships; this was a project of the Mexican Government spearheaded by Vicente Fox, and also includes a cargo dock. While there are large stacks of containers (primarily Dole) in that part of the port it looks like it could be readily be used by a second cruise ship should the need arise.

 

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We were docked about 6:30. The sun rose fairly faintly, finally emerging clearly from the haze as I rounded the stern on my last lap.

 

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The terminal itself is very nice with shops, wifi, and a pool but there is nothing of interest in the area. You either get away from the port, stay on the ship, or use the terminal facilities.

 

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My tour left about 8:30 and visited the city of Tapachula but primarily covered Mayan ruins. Our 30-minute drive to Tapachula was through mostly agricultural lands with Mangoes, Sugar, and Cocoa among the primary crops. Tapachula is not really a tourist destination but more of a city with a lot of business including a Walmart.

 

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We stopped at the main square and spent about 40 minutes there, looking first at the cathedral. Right outside the side entrance was a plaza dedicated to one of Mexico’s heroes, President Benito Juarez Garcia (1806-72) loved for his role in freeing Mexico’s slaves.

 

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Across the square was the old city hall, converted to a museum when a new city hall was built. It was severely damaged by an earthquake about 2004 and has languished abandoned but efforts at restoration appear to be starting.

 

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We had about 15 minutes of free time and I walked down one of the town’s streets and looked at the city Market, definitely not designed for tourists.

 

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Our next stop was the planetarium. I don’t think it had a real telescope; it seemed to be more of an educational institution. When we arrived there were some people dressed as Mayan warriors waiting for us, and before we entered the building they performed a “Jaguar Dance” on the pavilion outside the planetarium doors.

 

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The Mayan culture in the area dated to about 1200 BC, and the Mayans had an uncanny understanding of the workings of the solar system. In the planetarium we watched a video of the Mayan culture and how their cities reflected their understanding of the solar system.

 

It was another 30 minute drive to the archeological site of Izapa. The site, discovered in 1931, was occupied from about1200BC to 1200AD and at it’s peak had a population of about 10,000. The town was huge and only a tiny portion has been restored; most of it is on private property and off limits to visitors.

 

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It is on a much smaller scale than other Mayan sites; the pyramids are only perhaps 30 feet high and there is virtually no commercial tourist activity. The most fragile remains are called stelas, stone tablets. They are normally protected from the elements by green tin roofs.

 

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One of the features of the Mayan civilization was a game played on a court with a hard rubber ball. In other sites the walls of the court were quite high; our guide explained that the site is subject to flooding, and the excavation was not complete; enough silt was left in place to raise the site to the point where flood waters do not enter the site. It is not a game I would want to be part of. The losing team became slaves. The winners were deemed worthy to be an acceptable sacrifice to the gods, and their hearts were cut out and placed on a special altar while the rest of the body was thrown in the river and consumed by crocodiles.

 

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I was back at the terminal about 1:30. The wifi there is $3 for 30 minutes and $5 for an hour. They enter the code so you cannot log off one device and then use another. Downloading the Windows update that had given me so much grief took almost the entire hour; I did a couple of things but not much. At the end of the hour the update had downloaded but was only 1% installed; I put the machine in sleep mode and resumed the update in my room. It was only about half done when I went up to the Ocean Bar for tea just after 3.

 

All aboard was at 3:30. I’m not sure how long final configuration of the update and rebooting took because I started it just after Captain Turner’s sailaway message. I am part of a loose group of “sailaway addicts” on the Holland America forum of Cruise Critic and we especially enjoy watching Fort Lauderdale sailaways where there is a tradition of ships blowing their horns as they exit the harbor. For the final sailaway from the dock I went up to deck 7 immediately behind the bridge wing and watched the process. Captain Turner rotates other officers on taking control of the ship as it leaves ports but rank does have privileges. While the Staff Captain had the controls it was Turner that pressed the button to blow the horn.

 

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Once we were away from the dock I went to the aft lido deck as we left the harbor; we passed the final breakwater into the open ocean about 4:10. I think everyone at table 84 had a good day at Chiapas although Dianne never left the port she did get a chance to get on the phone and talk to a number of friends. It looks like the bug is back under control, the basket of bread was back on the table. I was planning on the prime rib but switched at the last minute to the pork chop, along with the blueberry soup and raspberry tart.

 

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The featured entertainment was singer and instrumentalist Salvatore Hasard. We gained an hour overnight and after the show I spent some time in the mix where Lee Strubeck was having a sing along.

 

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My parting shot is a bit of local pride. Two of my fire department colleagues from a neighboring station have been selected for Lifetime Achievement Awards. I have not really crossed path with TJ Swiney but Julie Casey has been very active in the County Volunteer Association and I know her quite well. Congratulations Captain Swiney and Julie (photo courtesy Howard County government).

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/awards.jpg

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day Z28, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, At sea, MS Zaandam

 

shipfriend_max, I looked at the breakfast and had forgotten that I posted that under the Solo Challenge Blog. I don’t have the internet time to fix the blog right now, but it looks like I abbreviated breakfast in the link but not in the file name. This link should work to get you there:

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/dlybreakfast.pdf

 

I had a good day with the internet and have uploaded the Daily Navigators to the blog but am still holding off on posting the dinner menus.

 

The Koningsdam is at sea from Rome to Dubrovnik. The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Tokyo to Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Key West to Cartagena.

 

When I went on deck this morning we had just passed Huatulco which will be my final stop in Mexico on the Crystal Symphony. It was a bit hazy near the horizon and the sun slowly made itself known with some pre-dawn colors on lap 5. The first sight of the actual sun was just the top half through the haze on lap 8. The whole sun showed faintly on lap 10 and brightly on lap 11. It was behind us as we are traveling pretty close to due west.

 

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It was a fairly quiet day for me with nothing of interest on the program until 11 when Jay Christofferson spoke on “Natural History of Baja California”. In his noon update Captain Turner mentioned the flying fish and said that their leaps were designed as a defense from predators. Unfortunately the Zaandam may be mistaken as a predator, and sometimes that puts them in danger from snatching by waiting raptors. The high today is a pleasant 28/82 but will be a few degrees cooler Wednesday.

 

I had my second visit to the Culinary Arts Center for “Cooking with the Cruise Director”. Today it was set as a contest between current Cruise Director Mario and Cruise Director in Waiting Jordan. While Mark Brignone had some real culinary skills these 2 were just winging it in quite a comic performance. Jordan ended up putting a dish together in the form of a face.

 

 

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While I fell pretty short of sticking to the stairs on the Koningsdam and Crystal Serenity so far I’ve not been in an elevator on the Zaandam. I’ve seen enough of the stairs that I take them for granted but they each have their own character. The midship stairs are probably the least interesting. The “extra” stairs from decks 3 to 5 are just a plain circular landing; otherwise each landing is a set of 3 rather small paintings. The saving grace for the midship stairs is a nice circular work on the top landing.

 

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I have also used stairway Oscar a fair amount. The stairs themselves are very plain but they do incorporate the nice aft decks, including some nice, lightly used loungers on decks 6 and 7. While these decks are not as nice as the ones on the Crystal Symphony, they are nicer than probably at least 90% if today’s mainstream ships.

 

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There was a 2PM repeat of the virtual bridge tour that I watched on the first segment. It was followed by a 3PM lecture, “The Challenges of Urbanization” with Dr. Stephen Sloan. I skipped it in favor of Ryan’s Travel Trivia in the Crows Nest. I did not do well. I was ok with the travel questions but bombed completely on the questions involving movies, food, and drinks.

 

Diane had discovered that a colleague from her field in Montreal was on the ship and had dinner tonight with his family. It was otherwise a nice dinner. I enjoyed the Peach and Ginger soup, the Lasagna, and the Peach Crisp.

 

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The sunset was somewhat hazy like sunrise and ahead of the ship but happened soon after I got back from dinner.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dusk0418.jpg

 

The featured entertainment was Magician Mark Haslam. He was very good with card tricks but I would have preferred someone with a wider range of magic.

 

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I’ll take my parting shot from today’s Daily Navigator. It noted Holland America Lines was founded on this date in 1873. Happy Birthday, HAL.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day Z29, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, At sea, MS Zaandam

 

The Koningsdam is in Dubrovnik. The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Tokyo to Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is in Cartagena.

 

Our next to last sea day was cooler than most but still very pleasant. We passed Acapulco in the early morning hours and spent the day heading in a mostly westward direction. Despite a layer of clouds on out starboard rear the sun broke through quite vividly about 2/3 of the way through my 5-mile walk.

 

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It was an extremely busy sea day. Things started off at 9:30 with a talk by Stephen Sloan on “The Challenges of Global Migration”. Continuing with the Zaandam stairways, the aft stairs are graced with large abstract art pieces; copies of pieces from a museum of the Netherlands. Today’s photo is the landings from deck 5 up to Club HAL.

 

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A cruise this long attracts a lot of frequent cruisers and there were almost 100 medallions awarded at the 11AM Mariner presentation, 88 Copper medallions (100 days) and 8 silver (300 days).

 

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With an ending in Vancouver there are a lot of Canadians on board and I was the only American at my table at the Mariner Luncheon which followed.

 

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The afternoon continued with Ryan’s 2PM talk on my final 2 ports, Cabo San Lucas and San Diego. He was followed at 3 by Dr Jay Christofferson on Tropical Coral Reefs. In the couple hours after that talk I got an early start on the task of packing.

 

We were reunited at table 84 with just 2 dinners together after tonight. I chose the fruit appetizer, turkey roast, and blueberry sundae.

 

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There was a country line dance at 9 in the Crows Nest. I didn’t go but Mario introduced the evening show in appropriate cowboy attire.

 

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There was a period of my return to HAL when I could almost predict who the guest entertainers would be from cruise to cruise. The acts have changed this year and I haven’t seen the old HAL standbys, most of the guest entertainers have been new to me. Tonight was the exception. Female vocal impressionist Karen Grainger (the woman of many voices) was resident performer on the Crystal Symphony for about 2 years and an absolute favorite of mine. I found her act this evening as good as ever. Her cast of characters (primarily female) were mostly the ones I remember her doing, Cher, Celene Dione, the Bee Gees, Barbara Streisand, and many more. An absolute favorite of mine is her duet of “On My Own” by Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald where she stands in one direction doing the female part and then turning to face “herself” when she sings the male part becomes almost a dance where the roles change in rapid succession. There were a few changes from the show I remember; she closed with Sarah Brightman’s “Time to Say Goodbye”.

 

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I’ll take my parting shot from one of the other changes in Grainger’s act. Near the end she got serious and included a tribute, “I will always love you” by Whitney Houston. It was likely too soon after the death for this when she was on the Symphony, but that death was too tragic not to go noticed. Whitney, Rest In Peace.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day Z30, Thursday, April 20, 2017, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

 

The Koningsdam is in Kotor. The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Tokyo to Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is transiting the Panama Canal.

 

I was in Cabo 4 ½ years ago on the Crystal Symphony. As I looked back at my notes from that trip some things seemed very familiar but most have changed drastically. Both times it was short port calls with an early arrival and departure. I remember the area around the port being an ugly construction zone but now the construction is complete and the area around the port is touristy but attractive. It was quite early when I quit walking but came out again just after sunrise with the sun showing brightly above the tender the crew was preparing to lower.

 

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In 2012 I had an active tour which went into the nearby desert and featured a camel ride. That was not offered today (although our guide mentioned the possibility) and I had mostly a harbor boat tour. Once off the tender we crossed the dock and boarded the Caborey, a large catamaran for about an hour tour to the end of the Baha Peninsula. We passed people kayaking, large rock outcrops, lovers beach (right next to divorce beach), and the hallmark of the area, the stone arch known as El Arco. As we cruised Jacques Cousteau provided narration, also talking about the travails of the fishing industry, with the government leasing fishing rights to Japan but not enforcing the conditions. We were served cold drinks and there was wifi on the boat; I was able to download Mobile Passport to my phone and an app recommended by Ryan, maps.me to my IPAD. There was not time on the cruise to download any actual maps.

 

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When the Caborey returned to the dock we were transferred onto a bus for a short scenic stop at a restaurant overlooking the harbor. We had about a half hour there and we were again offered cold drinks. Coffee was also available and I opted for that.

 

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We returned to the tender pier about 10:15. On the way to the restaurant we had passed a Starbucks about a half mile from the tender dock and I spent a little time there downloading a couple of maps to my Ipad. I boarded the Zaandam for the last time about 11:45. I passed a number of US Dollar ATM’s which Ryan had warned were not operated by banks and likely to collect account numbers and PIN’s and suggested they not be used.

 

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The weather in Cabo was not REAL hot but warm enough to make a refreshing visit to the jacuzzi feel really good. The forward stairs up to the pool are mostly adorned with paintings by Stephen Card; starting with the deck 5 landing we have Nieuw Amsterdam I (1911), the SS Spaarndam II (1928), and the predecessor to the most recent Statendam, with a vertically oriented picture on the landing leading to the Crows Nest.

 

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I was still in one of the Lido Pool loungers when Captain Turner gave his sailaway message and we started our final journey to San Diego about 1:50.

 

Another carryover from my 2012 Crystal Symphony cruise was that our early departure from Cabo as our last port of call ended with a formal (now called Gala) night. Of those of us at table 84 only Diane is staying on to Vancouver and she spent most of the day sleeping in. The Rhode Island couple were on the same tour as me. I went for the fruit plate and fruit/cucumber salad as well as the surf and turf (I don’t eat seafood but my tablemates were more than willing to share the lobster tail), and finished with Tiramisu.

 

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The featured entertainment was the Zaandam Singers and Dancers in Heat. The show was introduced by our official new Cruise Director, Jordan Steve. When he gave the program update after Captain Turner’s sailaway message I thought Mario might have just been busy but the handover was officially announced at the show. He will be working under the mentorship of Mario until Mario disembarks in Vancouver. On the way to the Mondriaan Lounge we had a near picture perfect sunset. We gained our final hour overnight as we moved to Pacific time.

 

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My parting shot is a wish for a long and successful cruise director career for Jordan. Congratulations.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

As usual, I am catching up with your wonderful reports and great pictures.

[rafinmd]

Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is in Panama City.

 

Thank you Krazy Kruizers.

 

I think the word of the day today was wind. I started the day with a trip to the laundry room. While I have free laundry as a 4-star Mariner I won’t count on getting laundry back the same day and I wanted to get EVERYTHING washed. With the washer running about 5:20 I started my usual coffee run and found the lower promenade deck roped off. Although some people ventured out in spite of the signs, the deck stayed officially closed all day.

 

Since I would not be walking I went online first thing in the morning. After moving things to the dryer about 6 I walked some on inside corridors, taking the stairs from deck to deck. The aft stairs are abstract paintings, except that the deck 1 landing is decorated with memorabilia from many of the ports the Zaandam has visited over the years.

 

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The sun came up very beautifully a little after 6. There were light clouds near the horizon and the clear sunrise was matched by vivid colors.

 

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I continued walking after retrieving my clean clothes. The forward stairs have more gifts from Zaandam’s many ports on the landing down to A-deck, decks 2-4 have Stephen Card paintings of the 3 Zaandam’s. The first was a steamship from 1889, followed by a motor ship built in 1930, and finally the current Zaandam, placed in service in 2000.

 

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Most of my day was spent packing and organizing for departure. I had a break at 11 when Dr. Jay Christofferson spoke on biodiversity and the Galapagos Islands. When Captain Turner gave his noon update we were passing Mexico’s Cabos Island. We will enter US waters and switch to light diesel fuel about 4:30AM. By the end of the afternoon I had packed everything I wouldn’t need the final evening.

 

We had one final sad dinner at table 84. Only Diane will be staying on to Vancouver while most of the people she knows will disembark in San Diego. I enjoyed 2 fruit items, a plate of fruit and Cherry Soup as well as spaghetti and a blueberry crisp.

 

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The featured entertainment was a combination of magician Mark Haslam and singer Amy Edwards. I skipped the show but spent some time at the mix where Lee Strubeck was featuring the Rat Pack. My 2 big bags went out about 8:10 and 8:45.

 

My parting shot is a wish for healing for the people of Paris.

 

Roy

[AV8rix]

Thank you for your AWESOME live-from! Interesting that you were able to use the self-serve laundry at 0530. Most of the time I've not seen them unlocked until 9 or 10 or so. Wish I'd asked you earlier if the only self-serve is down on Main. Used to be one midship up on Verandah, but now deck plans show just a blank spot. Whatever, don't bother answering. I'll be aboard in four days and will find out for myself.

 

Thanks again!

[rafinmd]

Susan, the only laundry I saw was on the Lower Promenade. Well, we're docked now. I'll post on disembarkation later today.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Day Z32, Saturday, April 22, 2017, Disembark San Diego

 

The Koningsdam is on a 2-day call in Athens. The Crystal Symphony is in Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Panama City to Quepos, Costa Rica.

 

At 5AM the moon could be seen overhead but the regular blasts of the horn indicated there was low lying fog. I think we were a bit late arriving in San Diego but when I finished my 6-lap walk we were at the dock.

 

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The first arrival at a US port is always a hectic day on a cruise ship and this was no exception. There were 2 Immigration inspection stations on the ship where all non-US citizens had to meet with agents. The crew met with inspectors in the Mondriaan Lounge while passengers reported to the Explorers lounge. There were long lines at both stations although they were reported to have moved pretty quickly.

 

Offloading luggage was much like our final restocking of the ship. A huge fork lift extended its tongs far out to pick up pallets from inside the ship and dropped them on the dock where 2 other fork lifts took them into the terminal. The process looked awkward but moved pretty efficiently.

 

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I went up to the Lido for a final omelet about 7:30 and by then the fog had burned off. On our starboard side the USS Midway was obscured by buildings but visible and on the port side there was a nice marina area.

 

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This was my first time disembarking independently as a 4-star mariner. I had the option of leaving within a window of 8:40 to 9:30. I was meeting my nephew and looking for about a 9am departure. We were actually called about 8:55 and I told my nephew I was starting to leave.

 

The line for the gangway (deck 2 forward) ran back almost to the midship stairs but moved fairly decently. While I’ve heard horror stories about the process in San Diego things actually went pretty well and it was just a short walk from where my bags were to the Customs line. There were only about 3 people in my line which moved quickly. Although I had checked yes to having food he sent me quickly on my way.

 

The one thing that could have been improved on disembarkation was directions. I saw no signs leading me to a meeting point and had walked a couple hundred yards before finding someone to ask. He directed me to “the third lane in the lot”, and I walked across the crosswalk and plopped my bags down to wait. The process from first call to setting down my bags was about 30 minutes, mostly waiting to clear the gangway.

 

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A car pulled up that I thought might have been Keith, but then both the hood and the trunk were opened and people started milling around it. Turns out he had been selected for a “random search”, and said to wait, he needed to come around and get me. We were soon on the way.

 

It was perhaps a 15-minute drive to his house, not far from the beach. He and his wife Tracey (the only previous time I’ve met her was at the cruise where we celebrated their wedding) had twins just about 9 months ago. When I arrived they were both sleeping but soon Andy stirred and watched him play until about 10:30 when my rental car reservation was set.

 

We stopped at my hotel on the way to the airport where I had hoped to just move the bags once but the room was not yet ready. At the airport Keith gave me detailed directions and I picked up a Toyota Corolla, my vehicle for the next 2 days. When I returned to the house Carolyn was also playing on the floor.

 

It was noon and we headed out to a Mexican restaurant. I’m not really a fan of Mexican food but they had a nice caesar salad with chicken that hit the spot. After lunch mostly the twins played on the floor while they each got a little bit of nap time.

 

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I left about 4 for the hotel with a stop at Target for supplies, mostly snacks. My room at the Best Western 7 Seas is pretty quiet but I’ve yet to get comfortable with the road setup around the hotel. I ended up getting dinner far later than planned at a Panera about sunset.

 

My parting shot will be a wish for a great cruise for those continuing on to Vancouver. It was a pleasure traveling with you.

 

This will be my final regular post on the HAL forum, continuing on the Carnival and Crystal Forums. I will be back in September with "Around the world on Amtrak, KLM, and HAL."

 

On May 5 both the Symphony and Amsterdam are due in Huatulca, and I will post pictures then (unless people would prefer I start a new thread)

 

Roy

[RuthC]

On May 5 both the Symphony and Amsterdam are due in Huatulca, and I will post pictures then (unless people would prefer I start a new thread)

I'll keep reading along whether in this thread, or a new one. Please do whatever is easier for you.

Thank you so much for taking me/us along on your amazing adventures. It is my one way to see so many places I will never get to. You always have interesting tours, and excellent pictures to reflect them.

I even like the dinner food porn!

[Krazy Kruizers]

No -- you don't need to start a new thread -- I am enjoying following along on this one.

It was horrible last year when we got off in San Diego. Only 1 elevator was working -- the lines were horrible. Some people tried carrying their suitcases down the stairs and fell -- several people got hurt. Glad your embarkation was better. And started on time.

Love your pictures.

[rafinmd]

A quick update

 

I’m now on the Crystal Symphony but haven’t forgotten my past cruises. I just thought I’d just share a quick photo of my “wall of remembrance” from my past voyages. Crystal does not sell magnets but the steel magnets hold them quite well. My World Cruise hat from the Crystal Serenity is sitting on my Zaandam magnet, and my magnet from the Carnival Inspiration now holds the lovely inaugural season tile from the Koningsdam. Sadly, the Koningsdam plate is a little too heavy to go on the wall.

 

 

I’ll be back in a few days with some photos of our shared port call with the Amsterdam.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Nice picture showing how you remember previous cruises.

Looking forward to your newest adventure.

[AV8rix]

Roy, I conveyed your regards to Ryan, the location guide on Zaandam. He said that he remembers you well.....and I think that he meant that in a nice way :D:D:D

[kazu]

A quick update

 

I’m now on the Crystal Symphony but haven’t forgotten my past cruises. I just thought I’d just share a quick photo of my “wall of remembrance” from my past voyages. Crystal does not sell magnets but the steel magnets hold them quite well. My World Cruise hat from the Crystal Serenity is sitting on my Zaandam magnet, and my magnet from the Carnival Inspiration now holds the lovely inaugural season tile from the Koningsdam. Sadly, the Koningsdam plate is a little too heavy to go on the wall.

 

 

I’ll be back in a few days with some photos of our shared port call with the Amsterdam.

 

Roy

 

Love the pic Roy.

 

I am so glad I ubscribed to your blog. I really enjoyed reading it off line and thank you for sharing your incredible aventure

[rafinmd]

Thanks Krazy Kruizers, Av8rix and kazu.

 

The Crystal Symphony is now docked in Huatulco, facing out to sea. The Amsterdam is scheduled to arrive at 1PM Central time (2PM Eastern, 11AM Central). As she approaches, she should be visible on Symphony's bow webcam:

 

http://www.kroooz-cams.com/symphony/symphony1.php

 

I can't guarantee that as the image refreshes at 3 minutes but I expect it would come in the picture.

 

Once the Amsterdam docks it should show up on the Starboard camera (button at the bottom of the immage or replace the 1 with a 3 in the link.

 

We will be leaving at 5PM Central time (6 Eastern).

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

A visit between ships, May 5, 2017

 

I was going to include this in my May 5 report but when I saw my list of photos decided it had to be separate. In my final days on the Zaandam I had been following some reports from the MS Amsterdam World Cruise and knew it was ending. I also knew that her next itinerary was through the Panama Canal to Alaska. Not really expecting anything I looked at the itinerary to get an idea where I might get a glimpse of the Amsterdam and discovered that both ships would be in Huatulco on May 5.

 

I have 2 relationships with the Amsterdam. I am booked on her in September/October from Vancouver to Hong Kong, and a good friend from Cruise Critic (who I’d never met personally) was onboard. Crystal is one of a very few cruise lines which allows passengers to invite guests aboard (with a 7-day pre-authorization required), and I invited him to join me for lunch. I think we just barely made the cutoff date for the authorization.

 

Symphony was in port 9-5. Amsterdam visit was 1-11 so I paid a morning visit to the town. I was back on the Symphony just after 11 and hung out in my room until about noon with one eye on our bridge cam in case the ship was early. I went up to the upper decks about noon and as I walked forward on the Sun Deck the Amsterdam was little more than a faint spec.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/1stlookadam.jpg

 

It was getting quite warm and I took shade in a lounger in the shadow of one of the satellites.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/mylookout.jpg

 

The Amsterdam appeared in the space between the sun deck metal wall and the railing as I watched.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/approaching.jpg

 

Soon it was much closer and I decided it was time to go down to the promenade deck. When I reached the promenade deck it was very close.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/veryclose.jpg

 

My guest is the Security officer on the Amsterdam (Copper10-8 on Cruise Critic). He had said that when we came into port he would be in the gangway calling out the distances to the dock up to the bridge. Soon he was readily visible. When we arrived and docked we had the gangway at the tender landing. On the Amsterdam that gangway is at the bow and I knew the Amsterdam would need to come in forwards since that gangway is at the bow and would extend past the accessible part of the pier if she backed in. I followed that hatch as she came forward along the dock and finally stopped. I had called out but was not heard.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/myguest.jpg

 

Once the lines were out I went out to the dock and paused at the hatch to verify our 2PM meeting plan and then went closer to shore for a photo of the 2 ships together.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/2ships2017.jpg

 

At 2PM John was not quite ready so I was directed to sit under the Amsterdam’s shaded popup for a few minutes. There was a table under the popup and after a few minutes I realized that the person at the table was Amsterdam’s location guide. They are usually standing at the gangway for the first hour or so after the ship docks to answer last minutes. It was Barbara H, the venerable location guide for the World Cruise, sensibly sitting in the shade on this hot day. I did ask her if she would be on the Grand Asia and she doesn’t expect to.

 

John had asked if it would be ok to come in uniform or if he needed to change to “civies” first. I was told either way was fine on the ship but when he came down the gangway he was in his full dress uniform. After the short walk to gangways his Amsterdam ID was replaced by a Crystal “visitor” badge and we made our way around ship.

 

I had never given it a thought but he remarked at how wide the Crystal Cove is. (I think on all HAL ships there is either the promenade deck or shops/offices between the Atrium and the sides of the ship). We continued to the Galaxy Theater (closed) and the casino, Hollywood Theater, Bistro, and Starlite Club before going up briefly to my room and then through the Lido to the Trident Grill.

 

We got lunch at the Trident, my usual grilled ham & cheese and John a burger along with iced tea for John and skim milk and coffee for me. When we were finishing one of the bartenders took our picture and then John invited me over to the Amsterdam for a tour of the crew areas. We continued past the pool and around Palm Court and then over to the Amsterdam.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/lunch.jpg

 

John’s staff took my Crystal ID and gave me an Amsterdam visitor pass and then we headed for parts of the Amsterdam I’d never seen. Our first stop was John’s cabin which was very near the gangway. I’m sure regular crew cabins are pretty small with bunk beds but the officers do pretty well with a good amount of space and a porthole.

 

I’ve been on a number of behind the scenes tours but never on HAL. Much of what I saw was pretty familiar but with subtle differences. My photo of the crew mess and recreation area did not turn out well but it’s the only one I have. John explained the sigh above the bar, the name is Dutch for “leaky azipod”. I was cautioned not to ring the bell in the bar; the tradition is that anyone who rings the bell buys everybody a drink.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/officerbar.jpg

 

We looked around some other areas on A deck, primarily the marshaling area where the 3 electric fork lifts used to move supplies to and from the cargo hatch were charging.

 

Down on A-deck we visited the engine control room. It looked very similar to other engine control rooms but I think some of the newer ships have bigger monitors but otherwise they were very similar. We did not see the actual engine room but the monitors showed the engines quite clearly. We continued to the laundry room with huge washing machines and dryers and pressing machines which make pretty quick work of pressing and folding huge piles of linens. The trash rooms is a busy place where all waste is sorted and most of it gets sold for recycling.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/laundry.jpg

 

Our last stop was the bridge. A quartermaster and officer are constantly on watch. In addition to a photo taken by one of the crew members I got a nice shot of the Symphony from the Amsterdam’s bridge wing.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/amsbridge.jpg

 

I departed the Amsterdam about 3:30. John’s next contract is on the Oosterdam and I think will be onboard for my one-night voyage from Seattle to Vancouver in September.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Maasdam in New York

 

I don't see a sailaway thread yet so I'll post here.

 

The Maasdam followed the Crystal Symphony and is docked very close to us.

 

Before the Verrazano Bridge I could see the Maasdam but it was not close enough for a photo. This was the first usable photo I could get as we were near the top of Staten Island and the Maasdam was almost under the bridge:

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/vbridge.jpg

 

About the time we were in midtown Manhattan the Maasdam was much closer:

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/closing.jpg

 

We had just set lines out as the Maasdam was ready to enter the dock.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/arriving.jpg

 

Here's the Maasdam pulling into terminal 89; we're in 91.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/docking.jpg

 

This will be my view of the Maasdam tonight at sailaway:

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/myview.jpg

 

Roy

[Boytjie]

Maasdam in New York

 

I don't see a sailaway thread yet so I'll post here.

 

It looks like you posted at the same time I created a thread for the sail-away!