Venture to the Caribbean with Bill & Mary Ann on the Nieuw Statendam & Nieuw Amsterdam 12-18-21 to 4-26-22

[dchip]

Thanks for the wonderful journey through the Caribbean.
 

You picked the right time to come home. Lovely weather for the next 2 weeks. 
 

Safe travels today!!

[1ANGELCAT]

Welcome home, thanks again for the great adventure.🎉

[WCB]

Report # 129   Day at Sea enroute to San Diego, California    Monday - April 25, 2022     Very cool & 65 degrees   Part 1 of 1........0 Pictures

 

The Pinnacle Grill was full of people this morning at breakfast time.  The diners must have been lined up at the door before 8am, probably due to the time change last night.  We had a mimosa and a pontsetiia  to help fortify ourselves for packing later.  “Later” came right after we went back to our room.  At least we had already sent two pieces of luggage home from Ft. Lauderdale.  It shipped from Florida on April 6^th (via Fed Ex), and arrived to our home in California by April 13^th.  It wasn’t cheap, but worth it since we had paid for overweight bags (65 pounds each).  We had a good friend who injured his rotator cuff while schlepping bags on his way back from a cruise.   Eventually, it required surgery.  We never forgot his story, and keep it in mind when doing the same thing.  

 

So, we did have to buy another duffel bag while in Ft. Lauderdale.  Good thing we did not wait until we were on the ship to buy one, as they don’t sell them here.  On the grand voyages, they do carry them, because the passengers tend to buy a lot more stuff.  And there are the extra ship’s gifts to consider.  

 

For some reason, one of us always thinks it will only take a short time to double bag the toiletries.  Wrong…..it took all morning.  We had squeezed in as much as we could in the shipped bags, but we still had extra stuff left.  The clothes were easier.  After the job was almost done, all three suitcases were close to the 50 pound mark or a little less.  Hope our handheld scale is correct, as the ship was moving up and down quite a bit.

 

It was a good time to “cash out” at the front desk, as well as getting a copy of our shipboard account.  Think we may have mentioned that they do not automatically print your account summary and send it to your room anymore.  They expect you to download it to your cell phone.  Not us…we don’t own one.  So while she was doing that, I asked about how many folks would be leaving the ship in San Diego.  She said about 350.  More will join the ship, then it will sail north to Victoria.  From there, it will start the Alaska season.  

 

As well as getting our yellow one ship tags, we had a letter with instructions for tomorrow.  Specifically, we will need to see the US Customs and Border Protection inspectors in the Stuyvesant Room on the ship at 9am.  We will need to bring our keycards and passports, but no luggage.  Guess this will take the place of the facial recognition technology we had in Ft. Lauderdale.  Once passed, we will receive an immigration card needed to disembark.

 

During his noon talk, the Captain said that conditions would remain about the same the rest of the way to San Diego.  We will arrive very early, pick up a pilot, then be alongside by 8am.  All aboard for those who are continuing on will be at 9:30pm.  Why so late, no one seemed to know.

 

It was time for a lunch break in the Lido.  We had small salads, because we made reservations in the Pinnacle Grill tonight.  Sitting near us, was a couple who continuously coughed.  We highly suspect that more people are sick, but will not report it.  We went for a walk on the promenade deck and just about froze.   It was the coolest on our side of the ship – starboard.  No sun at all. 

 

Back inside, we strolled through the Shops expecting to see a lot of shoppers, but there were only a few.  It was a surprise for us to see tables full of bargains for Alaska things.   Of course, the vendors are smart selling the Alaskan sweaters, knit scarves and hats, and sweatshirts.  People were buying those for sure.

 

We got the final Journeys booklet with the sticker of this 19 day Panama Canal Cruise.   We forgot to mention that the TV reception has been terrible ever since we left the Canal.  Even worse as we travel the coast of Mexico.   Cannot count the times we phoned and asked if it was happening ship wide, or was it just our TV.  Never did get an answer on that question.  The internet has been spotty…..coming and going, as well as losing the connection.  That’s not exactly what you need when trying to confirm airplane flights and the ride home.  Eventually it did get accomplished.

 

It was time to crack open the bottle of sparkling wine we got almost 3 weeks ago.  It has been chilling in the refrigerator for days now.  Too bad it is too cold on the veranda to enjoy it out there.  We toasted the end of another fun cruise, as we slowly sipped the drink for an hour. 

 

Stashing the last of our clothes in the suitcase, they will be ready to put outside the room after dinner.  Speaking of dinner, we did go to the Pinnacle Grill for our usual meal of wedge salads with the candied bacon on the side, warm bread, the 7 ounce filet mignons with tempura onion rings, and a shared order of French fries.  Absolutely no room for dessert, we were happy campers. 

 

Passing through the Billboard Onboard, we were glad to see pianist, Hyperion Knight, performing for a packed room. Even extra folding chairs had been set up into the hallway for the folks to sit.  Now this is what the passengers like.  Judging from his performance, he will get the thumbs up.  We have had the pleasure of listening to his concerts on many world cruises.  Glad to see that he is still doing it.  Very talented fellow.

 

Well, the bags are out in the hall, and we are ready to turn in early for a change.  Breakfast at 6:30am will come all too soon.

 

Stay tuned………….we will be back with final thoughts as soon as the dust settles.  Sure has been fun sharing our adventure with you all.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[ottahand7]

Safe travels home!    Looking forward to your final update and for your 2023 world cruise.  We will be going around SA about the same time.   

[jlnprt]

Love reading about your trips. When is your next cruise?

[Florida_gal_50]

Safe travels home.  I’ve enjoyed your thread so much.

[Harley57]

Thanks so much for ‘taking’ us along.  I’ve followed your blog for years and always find it so enjoyable.

[LouChamp]

Thank you for your extensive reporting. Loved to revisit some of the cities and ports we have grown found of as well as HAL which we love. Stay in good health and happiness 

[albingirl]

Thank you for this wonderful thread.  I've enjoyed it so much.  Safe trip home, too.

[rkacruiser]

Friends, welcome home!  The USPS cartons of mail you must be confronting!  When I returned from my Grand World Voyage in April, 2008, I didn't clear just that issue until the late Summer of that year!  

 

There are both pre-cruise and post cruise issues that those who sail on such voyages that some don't consider.  Stay well; stay safe!  

[forwardho]

As always ,thank you for a detailed cruise report that took us along on your adventure. I appreciate all the hard work and time that you put into reports.

Jill

[WCB]

Report #130     Tuesday - April 26, 2022   Flying home from San Diego................A warm and sunny day - 78 degrees......Part 1 of 1..........17 Pictures

 

Well, we were up at 5am this fine morning, and watched the slow sail into the scenic harbor of San Diego.  The closer we got, we began seeing sea lions, most of them laying on the buoys.  They did not budge one inch, even with the armed Coast Guard boats zooming by them.  That always impresses us when we arrive at a US port.  The Coast Guard is very serious about security, and keep all the small pleasure boats well away from the ship.

 

Oceana’s Regatta was already docked ahead of us, and was undergoing clearance. We watched as their guests began trickling off a few at a time. And although we were docked by 8am, the ship was not cleared until 8:35am.  Our gangway was opened by 9am, as well as the crew gangway.  Then we saw one couple being escorted off of the crew gangway with their luggage in tow by a gowned and masked medical person.  We knew it was Covid related, since we had the same type of escort back in January, but in Ft. Lauderdale.  And while we were on our veranda, we saw more folks in the deck four rooms that had been vacant.  Every one of them was sneezing and coughing, and although we cannot prove it, we also suspect Covid.  More than 2/3^rd ‘s of the guests will be sailing on to Canada, so these quarantined guests will probably stay in these rooms until then. 

 

Our call for the customs and borders inspection was 9:30am in the Stuyvesant Room, where several agents were sitting at desks checking passports.  They scanned them and took a picture of them on a cell phone.  They we had a red sticker applied to our room keycard, and handed a pink slip declaring we had been through inspections.  This was supposed to be handed off when we went through the ship’s security, however, no one wanted them.  The sticker was enough. 

 

Not wanting to get off too soon, we hung out in our room until 10am.  Then the call came for the last of the guests to see the inspectors.  That’s when we decided to leave.  We had hoped that we had gotten a call from the Event Coordinator, Teresa,  who had phoned the day before promising to personally escort us off of the ship.  Not that we really needed it, but it was a promise.  Well, that never happened, unlike the send-off we got from Jonah on the N. Statendam.   Major difference with the protocol, and perhaps, the training.

 

Once we were in the terminal building, it was really easy finding our three bags, as most of the guests had been there and gone.  In fact, the HAL rep said please…take them all, as she laughed.  Just joking of course.  Pulling them outside we found the taxi line.  But now, it was about 10:20am.  We were making good progress, and it sure would have been nice if our flight had not been changed to 4pm.   Now we were going to have quite a long wait before we flew home. 

 

The airport was busy for a Tuesday morning.  We arrived there before 11am, and asked if it was too early to check in our three bags.   Locating a supervisor, they told us to go ahead and check them in, and they would get them going as soon as the time would allow.  Our handheld scale had worked well, since each piece was under 50 pounds. 

 

From there, we went back outside for fresh air to take a walk and sit in the sun somewhere.  By the way, we did leave our masks on, and most of the airport employees wore them.  But not all.  One out of four people had masks on.  The social distancing was still in force as well as washing hands and using sanitizer.  That drill is burned into our brains now and forever. 

 

The weather could not have been nicer….warm but not too hot.  We sat outside the end terminal people watching.  Interesting what you end up seeing.  At times, more than you want to know, especially more than you want to see.  Moving back towards the United area, we sat long enough to waste some time until about 2pm.  Then it was time to go through security.  The earlier group had gone through, and the traffic was light here.  One of us read a sign saying that if you were 75 plus, you did not have to remove your shoes.  That applied even if you did not get the TSA pre-approved OK on your ticket.  Neither of us got it.  So when it came time to go through the xray portal, Bill did not take his shoes off. No problem.  Since I was “close” to 75, figured I might get away with the same thing.  Well, no, that did not happen.  When asked why I left the shoes on, I said it was my knee surgery that made it difficult to do.  No lie here, that still is a hard chore.  So after passing through the more serious xray, I had to sit in a chair and have my shoes swiped with a chemical, followed with a general pat down.  At no time did the guard listen when I told her I had a new knee that set off the signal.  Finally she was satisfied, and said…have a good day.  Yes, and you too, as I walked away. The final thoughts on this was that I do not look like I am 75 yet. Ha-ha.

 

Finding our terminal, we sat more or less until it was time to board.  Disability folks were called to board first, and we were among those who were slow in walking due to the knee.  This flight was sold out, and they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats for a future flight.  No takers, we began loading  around 3:45pm.  Trying to stay awake, we think we left almost on time.  There was just enough time for the stewardesses to serve a beverage before we were landing in San Francisco.  Uneventful is the best flight you can have.

 

Gathering our luggage, our driver was right on time to pick us up.  Even though we left the airport at 6pm, the traffic was not horrible.  Usually our flight gets in around 3pm, and it is much worse.  This time we got home by 7:30pm.  And it sure felt good.  We will have our work cut out for us….never a dull moment, but we do enjoy it.  During the time we were gone, a very large tree came down near the barn, and the weeds have grown by leaps and bounds. The hardest thing was figuring out what was for dinner, which turned out to be something very simple.  Followed by a couple of pillow chocolates, no less. 

 

We shall return with a summary soon.  So stay tuned……

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[oakridger]

Welcome home!  I get so much enjoyment from your blogs and trip reports, and I really appreciate your efforts to share with us!

I live fairly close to you and have been looking for a new car service to and from SFO.  Would you mind sharing who you have for these pick-ups and deliveries?  Thanks.

 

~Nancy

 

[WCB]

Hi Nancy,

 

So happy you followed along with us.  You can reach the limo service at - ah4limo@gmail.com.  Very reliable.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[oakridger]

Thanks, I'll contact the limo service.  It sounds like your yard/weeds will keep you busy for awhile!

[felma531]

Welcome home! We have enjoyed following your adventure and we were thrilled to meet you in St. Thomas. Hope your plans for Alaska and a world voyage will come to fruition! Maybe the tree clean up won't be too bad. We're sure Mary Ann will find many projects with her fabric purchases. Thanks for taking us along- we enjoy the travel log and the pictures. Monty and Margaret your Alabama friends

[WCB]

Hi Margaret and Monty,

 

So happy we met you two in St. Thomas.  With every visit after that, we thought about you guys.

We sure do have many projects to keep us busy until the fall arrives.

Perhaps we will meet on another cruise someday.

Happy to know such nice folks from Alabama!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Calgary3]

I'm sorry your trip had to end.  I loved reading your blog and seeing all your gorgeous pictures.  Hope those weeds and tree are taken care of by now.  Very much looking forward to your next trip.

 

Grandmaw from Calgary

[Kellybc]

Have been enjoying your reports for years. Was especially interested in this one since we’re booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam Panama Canal April 2023. Hope all is well with you.  I’m looking forward to your summary.