Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

John and Diane are on board - at last!

tennisbeforewine

By tennisbeforewine,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

tennisbeforewine

tennisbeforewine

Posted
Posted

It was March 21, 2020, when we were unceremoniously ejected from the Amsterdam world cruise in Perth, Australia.  Since then, we've had to depend on FaceBook posts, old photos, and the HAL Cruise Atlas.  We've booked some cruises, but I'm sorry, planning and thinking about future cruises is NOT the same as sitting on the balcony watching the sea go by or wandering the hallways and greeting old friends, both passengers and crew.  

 

Now we have something to really get us excited:  our two Koningsdam 7-day B2B cruises begin this Sunday from San Diego, and WE CAN HARDLY WAIT!  Of course there are drawbacks, as we experienced this morning.  The fact that HAL requires a negative test within two days is a bit of a bummer, but to make sure we had at least one back in time, we spent our morning getting tested - and then tested again.  At 7:30 we were at the local Veterans' Hall, where the San Luis Obispo County Health Department was happy to jam a Q-tip up my nose and tell me it "should" be back in 1-2 days - but don't worry because we guarantee it in 5."  Great!  Then at 10:00 we drove down to the closest CVS with a drive-though to have another test, one which they tell us comes back in 1-2 days.  If for any reason neither of those come though, we'll Uber back to the San Diego Airport for a quick antigen test before our 1:20 (Group B) boarding.  Our second 7-day cruise is to Mexico, and we don't know what the Covid testing situation will be.

 

One of the bits that pleases us about this cruise is that at least two of our favorite crew members are aboard:  Manny and Kay.  They were both wine stewards in the dining room, but after the reshuffling, all MDR wine stewards were dispensed with and wine will be taken care of by dining room stewards.  Manny was going to be the wine server in the Silk Bar adjoining the Tamarind restaurant, but now he's going to be the beverage server for the Cabanas, and Kay said she'll be working in the Crew Bar.  It's such a shame that they have to work so hard and learn so much to become a wine steward and then have that position removed.  We're just excited to see them.

 

So . . . tomorrow the adventure begins.  We'll be flying from San Luis Obispo (nonstop) to San Diego and then headed for our overnight hotel, from which we can see the ship.  Usually we can watch our ship sail in early on boarding day, but this time it's been sitting there for awhile.

I'll keep you up to date on our adventures.  No matter how many problems there are, we'll just be glad to be back on board!

DSC_0201.jpg

  • Like 29
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FlorenceItaly

FlorenceItaly

Posted
Posted

It's good to hear from you.   Kay was our wine steward on our 51 Day South Pacific cruise in October 2019 R/T San Diego.  She is a DELIGHT!    Hopefully, eventually, she will be working a more out front position.  Have a wonderful cruise and thank you for your LIVE review.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jhsocal

jhsocal

Posted
Posted

Interesting that you were assigned a boarding time. Pre-covid, sometimes we were assigned an arrival at port time, not a boarding time. Something new? Hope your boarding experience is covered in future postings. have a wonderful time!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rkacruiser

rkacruiser

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, tennisbeforewine said:

I'll keep you up to date on our adventures.  No matter how many problems there are, we'll just be glad to be back on board!

 

It's been so long since we sailed together.  I am looking forward to reading your reports.  Neither of you appear to have aged one day!  Bon Voyage!  

 

                

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...