BTimmer's Almost Live from the Nieuw Amsterdam - Sea to FLL 10/2-23/21

[510picker]

I’m curious if they still have every day offerings on the dinner menu of steak, chicken and salmon. I’m an adventurous eater and enjoy trying new things, but my wife tends be a little less adventurous and appreciates the daily offerings. 

[Btimmer]

23 minutes ago, 510picker said:

I’m curious if they still have every day offerings on the dinner menu of steak, chicken and salmon. I’m an adventurous eater and enjoy trying new things, but my wife tends be a little less adventurous and appreciates the daily offerings. 

In the Specialty restaurants the menu is the same thing daily.  In the main dining room the menu changes daily except for the "indulgences" which are fixed.  We, too, are adventurous eaters, but we generally eat in the Lido which changes daily for the most part.  Next time we are in the MDR, I'll enquire about your question.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Btimmer

[VMax1700]

9 hours ago, Btimmer said:

This one will likely be in the top 5 of this trip.

Can't wait to see the other 4 !!

[bcummin]

Thank you for sharing this cruise with us, Tim.  I am pleased to read in your blog that Angela had turned  in a comment card complimenting crew for outstanding service.  And they were extremely thankful.  I can remember using sea days to write out long comment card lists of compliments to everyone from a good captain down to the laundry folks who made us so happy.  This brightens their days and helps their careers.

Barbara   

[Btimmer]

Thanks Barbara.

 

For those who want to see the Nieuw Amsterdam transit the canal northbound, we should be on the Mira Flores camera at 6:45am, Sunday, 10/17/2021 Central Daylight Time. I can't guarantee the exact time.

Www.Multimedia.Panama-Canal.com

[Cruise Suzy]

The above didn't work for me. This did

 

https://multimedia.panama-canal.com/Webcams/miraflores.html

[Essiesmom]

Passing Cocoli Locks

 

 

Miraflores Locks

 

 

Weather certainly a bit wet...  Pedro Miguel Locks

 

[Btimmer]

Thanks for sharing the pics from the webcams.  It was a fun and punctual transit (and mostly dry).  I'll share a few more pictures tomorrow when I have more time.

[leerathje]

On 10/15/2021 at 4:15 PM, Btimmer said:

Thank you.  I'm shooting with a Nikon P900 with an 83x optical zoom.  This photo was of the dolphin about 1/4 mile away ahead of the ship.  When I start seeing activity, I start zooming in and shooting and review the pictures later.  This one will likely be in the top 5 of this trip.

 

I do the same!  So many photos of nothing, or almost nothing, but when you get the shot...mine was at Road Town, Tortola.  2 pelicans were flying away from me....when the wings slightly curved, I got the perfect "2 eyes" shot!  Remember the film camera days of 24 photos on a roll?  😆

[Essiesmom]

3 hours ago, leerathje said:

 

I do the same!  So many photos of nothing, or almost nothing, but when you get the shot...mine was at Road Town, Tortola.  2 pelicans were flying away from me....when the wings slightly curved, I got the perfect "2 eyes" shot!  Remember the film camera days of 24 photos on a roll?  😆

I always tried to buy rolls of 36.  EM

[travelnap]

11 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

I always tried to buy rolls of 36.  EM

I also remember all those rolls of film that needed to be developed when the trip was over.  I used to buy the three packs of film that had 2-24 shot rolls and 1-36 shot roll.  I can remember shooting between 20 and 25 rolls of film if it was a good trip with lots of photo ops.  Instead of deleting the ones I didn't like like we do now, they just didn't make it into the photo album.  Much easier now with the digital formats.

[Btimmer]

Here are a few of the many pictures I took while transiting the Panama Canal.

 

Entering the Mira Flores lock from the Pacific Ocean.

Leaving the Mira Flores locks 

 

 

Emptying 21,000,000 gallons by gravity into the Atlantic.

 

 

The brand new Atlantic Bridge opened this year.

 

 

a double rainbow

 

[0bnxshs]

Tim, did NA use the new locks?  It looks like you were headed toward them in the one shot.

[Btimmer]

1 hour ago, 0bnxshs said:

Tim, did NA use the new locks?  It looks like you were headed toward them in the one shot.

No, the NA is a Panamax size ship and fits the old locks.

[Btimmer]

Our short stay in Aruba was very nice.  We met up with friends who live on the island that we had met on a previous cruise in Asia.  This trip they took us to an Aloe farm and factory, snorkeling at Catalina Beach, and dropped us off at Queen Wilhelmina Park so we could see the iguanas.  From there we walked back to the ship with a stop at a Cuban restaurant for lunch.  
 

The Carnival Horizon was in port with us and the Norwegian Sky was moored in long term cold storage nearby.
 

At the aloe farm

 

snorkeling view

 

Iguana

 

Last minute delivery of chips

 

Refueling tanker departing 

 

sunset

 

we're now sailing at 20 knots for Half Moon Cay.

[canadianbear]

Sounds like a great day in Aruba!  Nice to be able to see friends there too.

[Btimmer]

We've returned home and cooked our own meals and made our own bed for the first time in 3 weeks.  It was a great cruise.  Thanks to all of the crew and passengers that did make it such a memorable return to cruising. 

 

We did enjoy 2 days of snorkeling on Half Moon Cay.  And not an hour after leaving the island, the rain started and continued on into Fort Lauderdale.  We enjoyed a nice visit with a friend before boarding our flight that evening to Seattle where we went on grandparent duty for the next two days in a different temperature of rain.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Btimmer

[canadianbear]

11 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

We've returned home and cooked our own meals and made our own bed for the first time in 3 weeks.  It was a great cruise.  Thanks to all of the crew and passengers that did make it such a memorable return to cruising. 

 

We did enjoy 2 days of snorkeling on Half Moon Cay.  And not an hour after leaving the island, the rain started and continued on into Fort Lauderdale.  We enjoyed a nice visit with a friend before boarding our flight that evening to Seattle where we went on grandparent duty for the next two days in a different temperature of rain.

Enjoyed following along and your photos.  
Welcome back  home to the reality of cooking and making the beds!  Bet the grandkids were happy to see you.  

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, Btimmer said:

We did enjoy 2 days of snorkeling on Half Moon Cay.  And not an hour after leaving the island, the rain started and continued on into Fort Lauderdale.  We enjoyed a nice visit with a friend before boarding our flight that evening to Seattle where we went on grandparent duty for the next two days in a different temperature of rain.

Really enjoyed following along, thanks so much for all of your posts! 

 

How did they handle the overnight at HMC? Were there any evening activities ashore? I am assuming they closed things up overnight. Sounds like a lovely way to spend two days. 

[Btimmer]

12 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Enjoyed following along and your photos.  
Welcome back  home to the reality of cooking and making the beds!  Bet the grandkids were happy to see you.  

That was an understatement.  The 10 year old granddaughter texted us before we got there indicating she was looking forward to seeing us. . .

[canadianbear]

5 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

That was an understatement.  The 10 year old granddaughter texted us before we got there indicating she was looking forward to seeing us. . .

 Well that’s a nice welcome home! 

[Btimmer]

11 hours ago, zgscl said:

Really enjoyed following along, thanks so much for all of your posts! 

 

How did they handle the overnight at HMC? Were there any evening activities ashore? I am assuming they closed things up overnight. Sounds like a lovely way to spend two days. 

The stop at HMC was really a two day stop.  Nobody from the cruise ship is allowed to stay on the island and most of the workers are taken home to other island(s) each night.  A skeleton security crew stays on the island 24/7.  At the end of the first day we had to be back on board the ship so that we could depart for a slooooowwww overnight sailing in the Caribbean.  We were back in our mooring position (we never dropped anchor and the GPS system along with the bow thrusters and azipods kept us in position all day) by 8am on the second day.  We then departed at 2:30pm for FLL to meet the FLL pilot at 12:45am.

 

We loved being able to spend two relaxed days there and have the comfort of our teensy inside stateroom for sleeping.

 

I'll put more in my blog when I update it.

 

[bcummin]

23 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

That was an understatement.  The 10 year old granddaughter texted us before we got there indicating she was looking forward to seeing us. . .

 

My experience is that granddaughters do love to text.

Glad that you enjoyed your cruise and are back with loving grandchildren.

Looking forward to your blog updates.

Barbara

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, Btimmer said:

The stop at HMC was really a two day stop.  Nobody from the cruise ship is allowed to stay on the island and most of the workers are taken home to other island(s) each night.  A skeleton security crew stays on the island 24/7.  At the end of the first day we had to be back on board the ship so that we could depart for a slooooowwww overnight sailing in the Caribbean.  We were back in our mooring position (we never dropped anchor and the GPS system along with the bow thrusters and azipods kept us in position all day) by 8am on the second day.  We then departed at 2:30pm for FLL to meet the FLL pilot at 12:45am.

 

We loved being able to spend two relaxed days there and have the comfort of our teensy inside stateroom for sleeping.

 

I'll put more in my blog when I update it.

 

Thanks for this! That makes a lot of sense and is basically what I expected would happen. 

[Caribbean Chris]

We’ll be doing a similar two-day call at HMC on Rotterdam soon (11/05 5-day Bahamas sailing). Do you recall whether there was a lobster lunch option offered (passengers could reserve at a fee) on HMC as there used to be pre-Covid!