John and Diane are on board - at last!

[Suzcruz57]

Can’t wait to read along. Have a wonderful cruise.

[cruzingnut]

So good to hear that you are finally going to be back onboard a Dam ship!  If you know them, Sue and Leon are on also doing B2B for the same cruises.  They (as was I) were on the 1/2 2020 WC too.  Glad to hear that Manny and Kay are at least working now; I've seen Manny around for years and had Kay for a number of cruises over the years.  Enjoy and I'll sail along with you.

 

Linda R.

[canadianbear]

Glad I found this and will be following along!  Lovely photo of you both.  Have a great time! 

[CATandSQUID]

Holland America sets sail from San Diego (10news.com)

[madera1]

Have a fabulous time back on HAL!

[cruise kitty]

Looking forward to your reports, we're onboard in about 6 weeks 🙂

 

[Gretchendz]

I'm on the Nov. 7 cruise on Koningsdam. I'll be following your posts!

Edited October 10, 2021 by Gretchendz

[tennisbeforewine]

I had every intention of posting yesterday, but it just didn't work out - for very good  reasons We were so pleased that our flight didn't leave SLO until 1:48 so we would have plenty of time to get everything done in the morning.  Our friend Dave picked us up at 11:30 (can't ever get to the airport too early!) and we were dropped off at 11:45 - only to find out that our flight was delayed an hour.  Oh well, we figured, it's a nice new airport with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating so we could just relax and enjoy our seating.  Then we saw the text that said our flight would be delayed an hour an a half.  That sent us to the snack bar to indulge in a glass of local Sauvignon Blanc (more like a tasting glass, actually), and a bag of barbecue chips.  While we sat (and sat and sat), we received John's negative Covid test from CVS.  But where was mine?  I guess it was a waiting game. 

 

You know what happened next, don't you?  The next text delayed us even further.  By the time we boarded the flight, it was the actual captain who came out to explain that when the flight stopped in San Jose (San Jose?), mechanical issues meant it couldn't be flown.  I always feel better when they replace a plane instead of trying to fix it.  Then it flew to San Diego, and thence to San Luis Obispo.  Fortunately no one had a fit or tried to attack a flight attendant or even complained about wearing a mask.  It was a short, smooth flight with some beautiful views of the Channel Islands, and 45 minutes later we touched down in San Diego.  

 

We love living in a small city.  San Luis Obispo has a population of 50,000 and that's plenty for us.  But if I had to live in a big city, it would be San Diego.  It has beautiful weather, ocean all around, and a laid-back populace.  It's nice to have it only a 5-hour drive or a 45-minute flight (finally), so we'll just stay where we are.

 

We've stayed here before cruises before, and our choice of hotel is the Springhill Suites which, although it's not the cheapest (I don't think the word "cheap" fits any hotel around here), it's immediately across the road from the ship.  Usually we're excited to watch our ship sail in the morning of departure, but it's just been sitting here for several days, so we can just watch it.  

 

By the time we checked it, we were really hungry, and Miguel's had been recommended, so off we went.  It was almost a five-minute walk, even visible from our hotel room and it lived up to the recommendations.  When we checked in, we were told there would be a 40-minute wait, so we just wandered into the bar (which looks out onto the bay), found a table, and ordered the requisite margaritas.  We decided we were happy where we were, so we had the front desk folks take us off the reservation list and just stayed where we were.  My chicken enchiladas were delicious, and John really enjoyed his carne asada.  

 

By the time we finished (and the second round of margaritas hadn't arrived), we just asked for the check and headed back across the street to our really comfortable beds. 

 

This morning I checked the emails and texts and found my negative results from CVS - hooray!  On our email, there were two results from our SLO County tests - both negative and BOTH for John.  Oh well, that's why we were tested twice!

 

The view this morning is beautiful.  The ship sits there just waiting for us and 

we can't wait to board!

 

[lstrong]

Wonderful read so far!  Glad you liked Miguel’s. Let us know how your boarding went please. Enjoy being back on the ocean. Laurie

[happyglobetrotter]

Lucky you. Brian and I have to wait for next Dec. But we will follow your trip. Enjoy.

[dobiemom]

Fair winds and folliwing seas! 🙂

[sprinkles]

Bon Voyage, I will also be on her in five weeks!  

[Stakeout]

Bon Voyage.. enjoy the back to backs.. we get on the Koningsdam Nov 14 thru Jan 9 on multiple back to backs 

[LuAnn]

It has been a beautiful day here in SD..you should have a fabulous sail away...enjoy...we're on board 12/12 so will be reading your every word!! 🙂 

[xjust4fun]

We are following just saw the video of Jeff cutting the ribbon…… Smooth sailing….

[maggieq]

On 10/8/2021 at 4:44 PM, tennisbeforewine said:

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!

Following along.  Have to ask how did your trip home from Australia in 2020 go?

[slb1949]

Bon voyage. Excited for you. Ours is January hawaii cruise.  Haven’t been on the koningsdam  larger than what we usually cruise  so will be watching for tips abs details. The covid test is the first stressful hurdle. 

[SLC1954]

The Koningsdam leaving San Diego last night.

[tennisbeforewine]

Sunday, October 10, 2021

San Diego, California

 

What a wonderful day this was!  Beside the gorgeous weather (sorry to those of you having terrible rain and flooding), we had some lovely surprises.  First, we discovered that our hotel included breakfast.  We’ve stayed here before, but I had forgotten that detail.  Then, when we headed out for a morning walk, we discovered that there was an actual Starbucks just across the street.  I am such a fan.  I’ve never in my life consumed a cup of plain coffee, but I’ve discovered that a non-fat cappuccino with a pump of mocha just hits the spot.

 

We had to check out at 11:00, so we found a table outside the Starbucks where we could have our 10:30 Methodist Sunday service online (as we been doing since March of 2020.)  We had our luggage with us, so afterward we found a bench overlooking the bay with room for three medium-sized cases.  We decided that one of us should walk down to the passenger check-in gate and see what was up.  That was a wonderful idea, because even though we had a 1:20 check-in time, they were letting people drop off their bags and then check in - and it was only 11:30!  Boy, did we cover the distance from the bench to the gate in record time!

 

It was sooo easy.  We gave our bags to some young men who were putting them in large containers and then taking them to the ship.  Then we began the check-in process which, as you can imagine, took rather longer than usual.  We first showed our vaccination cards and then the record of our negative covid tests.  Passports were next and then, finally, boarding passes.  It was time!!!

 

Finding our cabin was fairly easy, and room keys were in an envelope outside the room.  The only problem was that we had to walk forever to get to our cabin.  This is, for us, an incredibly large ship.  We, of course, are in the front of the ship and most of the places we want to spend time in (the dining room, the music venues, etc.) are in the back.  The good thing is that it’s only two floors up to the gym, our every morning destination before breakfast.

 

A highlight today was meeting up with wonderful former crew members.  We found Manny (our “nephew”) in The Retreat, Oscar on deck and then Endrian in the Lido, where he’s the assistant manager.  There were a few others, but I was too excited to remember names.

 

Since it’s Sunday, we had to keep our tradition:  we share a Dive-In burger and an order of fries after attending church.  It did not disappoint.  My favorite is the burger with sautéed onions, gouda cheese and some kind of special sauce.  The fries were great too.  They’re crunchy and cooked perfectly.  It was a wonderful lunch.

 

Holland America is very good at showing appreciation to its faithful passengers, so there was a cocktail party from 4:00 to 5:00 for 4 and 5 star Mariners.  We met some new friends, and stayed almost until it was over.

 

One of the highlights of our cruises is going to the back of the ship (there we are again) for sail aways.  Today, of course, was our first sail away, and San Diego provides a beautiful backdrop, especially on a blue and sunny day.  We had run into our friend Jeff, AKA Tanman, who I think has more days onboard than anyone else.  We’ve known him for years and even though we’ve been on separate ships in the last couple of years, it’s like we saw each other yesterday.  We met a few other cruise friends and decided that there were seven “world cruisies” on this ship.  We’re on for two weeks, but the others will be on longer, one couple for four weeks and Jeff for seven months on three different ships.  Yep, you read that right:  seven months!

 

Well, it’s time to go to the Rock and Roll music venue for a glass of wine before dinner at 8:00.  We’re still finding our way around the ship, but I’m sure we’ll be very good at it by October 24 when we have to get off.

[tennisbeforewine]

For Maggieq - Getting home from Perth was very smooth.  Actually, HAL and its officers and crew couldn't have been nicer helping us to disembark, get from Fremantle into Perth and provide internet assistance.  

 

We stayed two nights in Perth, one dining with one of John's former students who now lives there and one at a local pub with our cruise buddies Rich and ginni.  That was actually a bittersweet dinner, because everyone knew that all bars and restaurants were closing the next day for a very serious lockdown.

 

We flew to Sydney (did you know it's farther from Perth to Sydney than from San Francisco to New York?), spent the night at an airport hotel and, thanks to United miles, were able to upgrade to business, both for comfort and safety reasons.  At that point, no one knew whether they would get infected from others or not.  

 

When we arrive at SFO, we were the only passengers in the arrivals area.  Getting through immigration (a shout out to Global Entry) was a breeze, and then, after saying a tearful goodbye to our friends, headed to the car rental area - where we were the ONLY customers.  

 

Driving home was almost otherworldly, with just a few cars on the road.  The downside, of course, was that so many places were closed that finding a restroom was quite the challenge.  Upon arrival in San Luis Obispo, we wished blessings upon two of our dear friends who had brought us all the necessary provisions - including a 30-pack of toilet paper!  

 

So . . . our disembarkation was much better than it could have been.  We're just over the moon happy to be back on board again.  

[CampbellsAK]

I’ve lurked on these boards for years and am finally jumping in. Thank you for your helpful and interesting posts. We are sailing on this itinerary on November 7. Let us know what the mask policy is in the gym - we were told you did not have to wear a mask while exercising. I’m also curious about the Promenade deck - from videos it looks quite narrow so I’m wondering if masks are required there since it looks like it might easily get mobbed with people. I’m a twice a day promenade walker - on the Konigsdam it doesn’t look like I’ll be stopping often to take in the view since it’s mostly lifeboats.

[tennisbeforewine]

We were in the gym this morning with a total of fewer than a dozen people. Most kept their masks on (as we did), but two did not. We didn’t see a crew member who might have enforced the rule (clearly  stated on the entry door) and we didn’t think we qualified as “mask police.”  
the gym, however is really large and well equipped. 
 

We haven’t taken a lap around the deck yet, but I do remember it (from 2016) having some narrow bits. Compared to the Amsterdam’s promenade (our frame of reference), I felt a bit claustrophobic in parts. 

[Florida_gal_50]

25 minutes ago, tennisbeforewine said:

We were in the gym this morning with a total of fewer than a dozen people. Most kept their masks on (as we did), but two did not. We didn’t see a crew member who might have enforced the rule (clearly  stated on the entry door) and we didn’t think we qualified as “mask police.”  
the gym, however is really large and well equipped. 
 

We haven’t taken a lap around the deck yet, but I do remember it (from 2016) having some narrow bits. Compared to the Amsterdam’s promenade (our frame of reference), I felt a bit claustrophobic in parts. 

That is good to know.  If there is one place masks should be worn it’s  in the gym.  I own my own personal gym equipment so I haven’t had to deal with masks other than walking while exercising.   I should do a trial at home to get used to it.

[tennisbeforewine]

Monday, October 11, 2021

Avalon, Cataliina Island

 

As strange as it seems with all our traveling, there are some nearby places we haven’t visited, and there doesn’t seem to be any good reason.  For a long time our friend Jerry would ask how many times we had visited Paris (a question to which we don’t have an answer), and then would follow it with, “Then why haven’t you been to the Grand Canyon?”  The same is true of Catalina Island.  Our daughter’s been here twice for school trips in elementary school, but we’d never been.  We have now corrected that omission.

 

Sailing into Avalon, the main town on the island, the first thing that one notices is the Avalon Pavilion, a beautiful round building with faux pillars which sits right on the water.  It’s a theatre, a casino, and a ballroom which we’ve heard are all beautiful, but since it was locked up today, we’ll have to take other people’s word for it.

 

This is a tender port, and since we weren’t in any hurry, we just went about our usual morning routine:  gym, breakfast, shower.  After I spent about a half hour at the front desk getting online, we were ready to board our tender and head for land.

 

Avalon is different from what I’d expected, but to tell the truth, I don’t know exactly what I expected.  There is the cutest little “downtown” area that reminded us of a combination between Key West and a small European coastal town - with a bit of California hippie thrown in.  The main means of transportation (and almost the only one) is golf carts.  They are everywhere, and when I looked down a side street at the parking places, I think I must have seen ten golf carts for every other vehicle.  They are freely rented on the main street, and I think I noticed that one rental agency was charging $55 a day.  We took a pass but decided that this was definitely a place which was way overdue for a visit of several days or even a week.

 

When we travel, we always send our granddaughter a postcard from every port, and this one was no different.  She’s been receiving them since she was about four so the “treasure box is quite full)  and we found a lovely  map of the island, wrote it, and popped it in the mail.

 

After our walk to the Pavilion/Casino, it was beginning to feel a bit like lunch, so we decided to wander back while looking at seafront restaurants.  John expressed a wish for fish and chips and we looked particularly at restaurants that served them.  After a walk almost to the tender pier, we had seen several places which were rather nice sit-downs, but what really spoke to us was a little shack-like place at the end of the pier which had fish and chips (and a LOT of chips) in a little basket-like paper plate for about eight bucks.  Such a deal.  Now that we’d found a place which had what John wanted, did he get what he had asked for?  Of course not.  He had a buffalo burger, since Catalina Island is famous for its herds of buffalo.  I had the fish and chips, so we shared and enjoyed both choices.

 

After a bit more wandering about, including some side streets, it was off to the tender for us and back to the ship.  We’re great afternoon nappers, so I’m pretty sure that’s what’s coming next.  It’s getting cooler and windier, so a nice toasty nap will really hit the spot.   

[san diego spartan]

15 minutes ago, tennisbeforewine said:

Monday, October 11, 2021

Avalon, Cataliina Island

 

As strange as it seems with all our traveling, there are some nearby places we haven’t visited, and there doesn’t seem to be any good reason.  For a long time our friend Jerry would ask how many times we had visited Paris (a question to which we don’t have an answer), and then would follow it with, “Then why haven’t you been to the Grand Canyon?”  The same is true of Catalina Island.  Our daughter’s been here twice for school trips in elementary school, but we’d never been.  We have now corrected that omission.

 

Sailing into Avalon, the main town on the island, the first thing that one notices is the Avalon Pavilion, a beautiful round building with faux pillars which sits right on the water.  It’s a theatre, a casino, and a ballroom which we’ve heard are all beautiful, but since it was locked up today, we’ll have to take other people’s word for it.

 

This is a tender port, and since we weren’t in any hurry, we just went about our usual morning routine:  gym, breakfast, shower.  After I spent about a half hour at the front desk getting online, we were ready to board our tender and head for land.

 

Avalon is different from what I’d expected, but to tell the truth, I don’t know exactly what I expected.  There is the cutest little “downtown” area that reminded us of a combination between Key West and a small European coastal town - with a bit of California hippie thrown in.  The main means of transportation (and almost the only one) is golf carts.  They are everywhere, and when I looked down a side street at the parking places, I think I must have seen ten golf carts for every other vehicle.  They are freely rented on the main street, and I think I noticed that one rental agency was charging $55 a day.  We took a pass but decided that this was definitely a place which was way overdue for a visit of several days or even a week.

 

When we travel, we always send our granddaughter a postcard from every port, and this one was no different.  She’s been receiving them since she was about four so the “treasure box is quite full)  and we found a lovely  map of the island, wrote it, and popped it in the mail.

 

After our walk to the Pavilion/Casino, it was beginning to feel a bit like lunch, so we decided to wander back while looking at seafront restaurants.  John expressed a wish for fish and chips and we looked particularly at restaurants that served them.  After a walk almost to the tender pier, we had seen several places which were rather nice sit-downs, but what really spoke to us was a little shack-like place at the end of the pier which had fish and chips (and a LOT of chips) in a little basket-like paper plate for about eight bucks.  Such a deal.  Now that we’d found a place which had what John wanted, did he get what he had asked for?  Of course not.  He had a buffalo burger, since Catalina Island is famous for its herds of buffalo.  I had the fish and chips, so we shared and enjoyed both choices.

 

After a bit more wandering about, including some side streets, it was off to the tender for us and back to the ship.  We’re great afternoon nappers, so I’m pretty sure that’s what’s coming next.  It’s getting cooler and windier, so a nice toasty nap will really hit the spot.   

Enjoying your postings.  We are anxiously following along as we hope to board the Koningsdam on 10/31!  

 

FYI - the pavilion you are referencing is the Catalina Casino.  It is not and never was to my knowledge an actual casino.  I think that confuses a lot of people.  We did a very nice tour of it years ago.  Too bad it was closed for your visit. Hopefully if you'll get to visit it if you return.