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

[tright]

I can't seem to open pictures is anyone else having trouble 

[WCB]

We have had a glitch with the photo downloading.  Our son is working on fixing this problem.  Hopefully, the photos will be posted today.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[ottahand7]

22 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

What type of room were you in?  Was it a Neptune or pinnacle suite?  I’ve never seen a clock in a vista suite or balcony and I’ve sailed a number of times on pinnacle class ships.  The only clock to speak of is on the desk phone.

We were in a NS.    That explains the need for the clock.  We normally just use the TV, seems like it is on all the time..... 

[ON cruiser]

Bill & Mary Ann, it is a real treat to once again enjoy your evocative description of shipboard life, even though a new type of cruising for you. Glad you are enjoying it and keeping safe!  My wife and I are not yet ready to return to cruising but who knows, you may inspire us. In the meantime, when you are next back to Half Moon Cay, one of my favourite HAL places, I hope you do go in for a swim. The water there is the best!

 

Continued happy travels, 

 

ON Cruiser 

[Btimmer]

I'm enjoying your reports from the NS.  We sailed its inaugural voyage from Civitavecchia to FLL and totally enjoyed it.  On that voyage we were barred from HMC by high winds.  However, recently we visited HMC 3 times on two ships (NA and Rotterdam).  Interestingly at the far end of the crescent beach and past the horse corrals is a pretty good place to snorkel. 

 

We've also walked from Terminal 26 over the draw bridge to the Ft. Lauderdale beaches.  It's a nice stroll.  To save some time you might check out the possibility of taking the crew shuttle over to the strip mall area on 17th.  While we didn't take it, we did discover the possibility on one of our trips. 

 

We'll be arriving in FLL on 1/16 on the Zuiderdam from San Diego.  We'll then turn around and sail it back to SD.

 

Tim

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Btimmer

[DeepWaterMariner]

It's not a world cruise but still wonderful to read about your travels again.  That's especially true as we look forward to sailing again on HoAL in January for the first time since leaving the Amsterdam in Perth on the 2020 world cruise. We've done two cruises this year on RCCL but it will be like returning home to sail on HAL next month.

 

[WCB]

Report #11 Sea Day Tuesday-December 28,2021     Part #1 Of 1.........40  Pictures

 

Having a day at sea will give us a chance to catch up on recent news.  Originally, we were to have four ports to visit, namely Half Moon Cay, Ocho  Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico.  Before we left home, Cozumel had been dropped, followed by Grand Cayman, which was a disappointment, since our ship was to be the first one to visit for a very long time since the start of the pandemic.  The Cayman authorities (under British rule) was going to make HAL test everyone on this ship, or we would not be allowed entrance.  The Captain declined, so the port was dropped.  To replace Cozumel, another stop at Grand Turk was substituted, but that was also cancelled.  Are you confused yet???  We sure are…..

 

It is what it is, and we have to go with the flow.  Of course, all of the ship’s tours would be automatically refunded, and new excursions would be added for Cozumel.  This evening we received the When & Where newsletter with a statement regarding going ashore in Ocho Rios.  With the exception of the immediate port shopping area, people would need to use a government approved taxi bringing people to the pre-approved areas.  In other words, no independent touring on your own.  Recalling our first visit here many years ago, we remembered that the hassle factor was huge.  One very aggressive hair stylist chased us down the road to convince me to have my hair braided for free, just to entice others to have theirs done.  No thanks, was not in her vocabulary. Funny now, but not at the time.

 

The first thing we noticed was that the boobys were back, following the ship.  Obviously, they were searching for their favorite food, the flying fish.  Some of these curious birds flew up to our veranda, as if they expected food to be tossed to them.  Yes, we have seen folks doing that with seagulls while docked, something frowned upon by most captains.

 

After breakfast, we wandered through the Shops, looking for their HAL logo items.  Oddly enough, they seem to be few and far between.  Specifically, we were looking for a suitable reusable water bottle, one that is not plastic, which is not allowed on the ship anymore.  We did not find anything like that in any of their stores.  What we did find was name brand clothing such as Chico’s, Nautica, and even Tommy Bahama items.  The women’s section was full of lightweight tops from India, and they were reasonably priced.  In this same shop, we saw Tagua nut jewelry, which is very interesting since it comes mainly from Ecuador and is considered “green”.  It is made from hard nuts, and commonly used to make buttons.  The biggest selection has to be handbags and purses.  On the higher end is the Mary Frances line, which one of us has already begun a collection.

 

As far as jewelry goes, Effy now has a large presence on the ship.  Their choices are on the more expensive end, about as much as Merabella.  The watch display and the duty-free booze corner are still here.  Cosmetics occupies their own shop too.

 

On the way out to the promenade deck, we passed through the photo shop, where we did spot a water bottle in their cabinet.  We inquired about purchasing one, and they showed us how to have it customized.  The price is the same with or without the designs or photos.  This was all done on a wall screen by scanning our cruise card, then entering what you wished to buy.  We could choose from many designs, as well as have our personal photo on the bottle.  Since we have not posed for any photos, they had none  on file.  So we picked the designs and will pick up the bottle tomorrow evening.  This photo shop has the now-gone Amsterdam beat as far as convenience and searching for your photos among hundreds of them.  The kiosks do the work for you.  The first time we saw this slick and easy way to buy photos was on a Disney cruise, so it just took HAL a bit longer to go modern.

 

It was time to get some fresh air, so we went outside for a walk.  That’s when we spotted a crew member riding a little floor scrubber, much like a street cleaner, only smaller.  Maybe that eliminates the need to hose down the decks every evening, leaving it very slippery.  After doing a few laps around the promenade deck, we went back to our room to do some computer work, like answer emails and figure out why some of the photos were not attaching to the reports.  With the help of our eldest son, we believe this glitch has been fixed. 

 

Once again, we were invited to a wine tasting, but did not attend.  If you were not part of the higher Mariner Society members, this tasting would cost $25 per person. On past cruises, we have attended these tastings, only to learn more about the process of growing the grapes and the bottling techniques.  Then, we would donate our red wines to guests seated around us.  No one ever turned the offer down.

 

We are still waiting for the shipboard credit to be posted from our travel agency.  Something went wrong, and HAL had no knowledge that it existed.  With the help of our travel agent, we shall see if this can be retrieved.  More glitches in the system, but it was a good thing we brought the invoice with us so help them track it down.  Dealing directly with the Guest Relations Manager has been unsuccessful, as we do not know where to find her. On the Amsterdam, Christel had an office where we could go directly to see her.  On this ship, you cannot find anyone’s office.  You need to make an appointment, which we will be glad to do to get this resolved.

 

What we did receive was another HAL tote bag, and more Diet Cokes for our President’s Club perk for this 7 day cruise.  What we missed was the invitation to the 4 & 5 star and President’s Club members welcome onboard party, which occurred on Sunday.  We needed to remind them not to drop us off of the list as we like to attend these parties.  And that was one reason we booked the back-to-back cruises like we did.

 

Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill this evening, a gala night.  Most everyone in there was dressed in their finery, which is nice to see for a change.  It has really surprised us to spot some younger guests coming into the Lido during lunchtime with only their swimsuits on.  No shoes either.  We are certain there is a dress code, but not so sure it is being enforced.  Anyway, we started with wedge salads, noticeably smaller than on our last cruise.  This is fine, because we had trouble finishing them.  We added the delicious clothes line bacon, then followed up with the 7 ounce filet mignon, cooked perfectly.  Sharing sides of mushrooms and a fully-loaded baked potato, we saved a bit of room for desserts of key lime pie and an almost baked Alaska.  Our waiter, Raj, from India was delightful, as was the attention from the entire staff.  Yes, we will be back for sure.

 

Tomorrow we will be in Jamaica, a port we have not been to in ages.

 

Bill & Mary Ann 

 

[leerathje]

Really enjoying your live blog!  Love that you are always so positive about things that happen.

 

L.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

In your last batch of photos was one marked "occasional algae" . It is Sargassum  which hosts more than 145 invertebrate species and over 127 species of fish and is part of the Sargasso Sea .

 

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sargassosea.html

 

 

 

 

[WCB]

Report #12   Ocho Rios, Jamaica   Wednesday – December 29, 2021   Mostly sunny & 80 degrees   Part 1 of 3      Pictures

 

Jamaica is the 3^rd largest island in the Caribbean.  Cuba and Hispaniola are the largest.  The island of Jamaica is 146 miles long, and is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.  There are 2.7 million people living here, with 800,000 of them living in Kingston, the capital.  This city also has the most English-speaking citizens south of Miami. 

 

Our port of call today was the city of Ocho Rios, located on the north coast between Port Antonio and Montego Bay.  There are several all- inclusive resorts here where the folks can explore the waterfalls, roads shaded by ferns, rivers, and beaches.  Some are even “clothes optional”. 

 

Jamaicans are famous for the native dish of jerk pork and beef.  “Jerk” is a seasoning consisting of allspice, pimento, cloves, garlic, onion, ginger, cinnamon, thyme and pepper. Jerk dishes can be served with breadfruit, rice and peas. A popular soup is called callalou, consisting of firey spicy, okra, and salt pork or beef.

 

Music is big here, and Bob Marley, the Reggae artist, was raised here, and is now buried here.  A big event here is the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival held in June.

 

Things to do and see here are tours of Dunn’s River and lunch, a cooking class with lunch, or a chair lift, bobsled, and zipline excursion.  One can raft on the Martha Brae River, have a dolphin encounter, or take the ho-ho bus.  Not sure this was operating today, due to Covid restrictions.

 

The ship docked at the pier in Ocho Rios Bay.  We know we have been here before, but little of it was looking familiar.  Taking our time getting off, we expected not to be able to access town, according to the information we got yesterday.  However, that was not the case.  It was a fairly long walk from the ship to the start of town, far enough for locals to offer wheelchair transfers to shore.  Many took up on the opportunity.  Government taxis were gathered at the gate, where we were told that was the only way out of the terminal.

 

For the first time this trip, besides the mandatory mask requirement, we had our temps taken by local authorities, then an orange band was placed on our wrists.  Now we were free to walk through the closed gate.  Purell stations were set up everywhere we went.  Available to us were the Margarita White Sand Beach at Island Village, the Harbour Shops, and the Taj Mahal Shopping Center.  The latter one did look familiar.  There was nothing to stop us from continuing on towards town, although we chose not to go further.  By the way, more taxi drivers were outside the gate.

 

Crossing Main Street, we went into a few shops, but first being stopped at the door for another temperature check, and forced Purell.  The prices of souvenirs seemed to have gone way up since we were here.  But we have to say the vendors were willing to bargain.  We did buy a visor and a t-shirt like top from a few of the smaller shops.  On the way back, we strolled through Island Village, a property with more shopping, entertainment, jewelry stores, restaurants and bars.  Starbucks also.  One of the biggest restaurants here was Margaritaville, like we saw in Grand Turk.  It might have been a suitable place for burgers and beers, but it was still too early for us.  We just took pictures of the few birds we saw here.  At the port gate, we showed our room key, and were allowed back in.  We must have used Purell at least one dozen times by the time we got to this point. Our attitude was,” no problem, mon”.  Cruises ships are just beginning to come back, according to a vendor.  This particular lady called most of the passengers “cheap Charlies”, as they were not buying much today.  Her cost to set up her souvenir table costs her $25 a day, which she claimed she had not reached her rent money yet.  Of course, many people were on tours, and would be back later.  There were some nice wood carvings of bowls.  However, we have to keep in mind that we have a luggage weight limit going back, so have to refrain from buying heavy items. 

 

Passing through the terminal building, we were stopped for a vote on how we found the island today.  There were four Emoji faces, but we pushed the happy face.  The guard was pleased.  Back on the ship, we relaxed on our veranda, while watching the boat tours come and go.  At 2pm, we headed for a Lido/Grand Dutch Cafe lunch, and ended up coming back by 5pm.  All aboard was 5:30pm, and we wanted to be on the veranda for the sailing out of the harbor.  Needless to say, having this veranda has been really nice.  And having the opportunity to get a lot of fresh air sure doesn’t hurt. 

 

We are still experiencing problems with sending the blog with the photos attached.  Bear with us as we try to figure out the glitch in the process.  Earlier in the cruise, it worked fine, but now, not so good.  In addition, our incoming emails have been piling up, and not coming through.  For that reason, we have been going to the Front Desk area where it seems to work better. 

 

The sun set early, and we did have some scenic sailing as the ship followed the northern coastline of Jamaica, passing several smaller towns, as well as going past Montego Bay.  Once clear of the tip of the island, the ship headed west towards our next stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

 

Dinner for us was in the Tamarind Restaurant, which was fairly busy at 8pm.  The food and service was good, but we did experience a longer wait for our entrees.  At the beginning of this cruise, Presty had mentioned that about 28 dining room stewards were going home, and being replaced with 28 new crew.  This new set of wait staff would have to be quarantined before being able to work.  That tells us that they are short-staffed for a while, and that could be part of the reason our meal service was slower than usual.  Not that we were in any hurry to go somewhere, they did apologize profusely.  Once again, we said no problem mon! 

 

Looking forward to a relaxing day at sea tomorrow.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS  Pictures will be sent separately.

 

[iflyrc5]

On 12/29/2021 at 7:00 AM, WCB said:

Specifically, we were looking for a suitable reusable water bottle, one that is not plastic, which is not allowed on the ship anymore.  We did not find anything like that in any of their stores. 

 

Bill - In your post yesterday you said that reusable plastic water bottles are not allowed on the ship anymore - is this in fact the case?  Why would HAL not allow reusable plastic bottles - we have used them for years on HAL ships and around town.  I understand that HAL is wanting to be more green and I understand not allowing the one time use plastic bottles but we can't bring on our hard plastic reusable water bottles?   This makes no sense.

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

Bill - In your post yesterday you said that reusable plastic water bottles are not allowed on the ship anymore - is this in fact the case?  Why would HAL not allow reusable plastic bottles - we have used them for years on HAL ships and around town.  I understand that HAL is wanting to be more green and I understand not allowing the one time use plastic bottles but we can't bring on our hard plastic reusable water bottles?   This makes no sense.

We took and used our hard plastic water bottles on the NS three weeks ago - no problem at all.

 

[iflyrc5]

4 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

We took and used our hard plastic water bottles on the NS three weeks ago - no problem at all.

 

Thanks for that info - we are boarding 2 Feb for 6 weeks and plan to bring our normal bottles

[Florida_gal_50]

14 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

Bill - In your post yesterday you said that reusable plastic water bottles are not allowed on the ship anymore - is this in fact the case?  Why would HAL not allow reusable plastic bottles - we have used them for years on HAL ships and around town.  I understand that HAL is wanting to be more green and I understand not allowing the one time use plastic bottles but we can't bring on our hard plastic reusable water bottles?   This makes no sense.

Yes of course you can take the reusable plastic bottles on.  You can't take the water bottles that aren't meant to be used again i.e. water bottles that are purchased for a couple of $ or less.  You can also buy aluminum (?) Bottles of water on the ship.  Its pricey though.  I think the small bottle is $3.50. 

[Florida_gal_50]

56 minutes ago, WCB said:

Report #12   Ocho Rios, Jamaica   Wednesday – December 29, 2021   Mostly sunny & 80 degrees   Part 1 of 3      Pictures

 

Jamaica is the 3^rd largest island in the Caribbean.  Cuba and Hispaniola are the largest.  The island of Jamaica is 146 miles long, and is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.  There are 2.7 million people living here, with 800,000 of them living in Kingston, the capital.  This city also has the most English-speaking citizens south of Miami. 

 

Our port of call today was the city of Ocho Rios, located on the north coast between Port Antonio and Montego Bay.  There are several all- inclusive resorts here where the folks can explore the waterfalls, roads shaded by ferns, rivers, and beaches.  Some are even “clothes optional”. 

 

Jamaicans are famous for the native dish of jerk pork and beef.  “Jerk” is a seasoning consisting of allspice, pimento, cloves, garlic, onion, ginger, cinnamon, thyme and pepper. Jerk dishes can be served with breadfruit, rice and peas. A popular soup is called callalou, consisting of firey spicy, okra, and salt pork or beef.

 

Music is big here, and Bob Marley, the Reggae artist, was raised here, and is now buried here.  A big event here is the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival held in June.

 

Things to do and see here are tours of Dunn’s River and lunch, a cooking class with lunch, or a chair lift, bobsled, and zipline excursion.  One can raft on the Martha Brae River, have a dolphin encounter, or take the ho-ho bus.  Not sure this was operating today, due to Covid restrictions.

 

The ship docked at the pier in Ocho Rios Bay.  We know we have been here before, but little of it was looking familiar.  Taking our time getting off, we expected not to be able to access town, according to the information we got yesterday.  However, that was not the case.  It was a fairly long walk from the ship to the start of town, far enough for locals to offer wheelchair transfers to shore.  Many took up on the opportunity.  Government taxis were gathered at the gate, where we were told that was the only way out of the terminal.

 

For the first time this trip, besides the mandatory mask requirement, we had our temps taken by local authorities, then an orange band was placed on our wrists.  Now we were free to walk through the closed gate.  Purell stations were set up everywhere we went.  Available to us were the Margarita White Sand Beach at Island Village, the Harbour Shops, and the Taj Mahal Shopping Center.  The latter one did look familiar.  There was nothing to stop us from continuing on towards town, although we chose not to go further.  By the way, more taxi drivers were outside the gate.

 

Crossing Main Street, we went into a few shops, but first being stopped at the door for another temperature check, and forced Purell.  The prices of souvenirs seemed to have gone way up since we were here.  But we have to say the vendors were willing to bargain.  We did buy a visor and a t-shirt like top from a few of the smaller shops.  On the way back, we strolled through Island Village, a property with more shopping, entertainment, jewelry stores, restaurants and bars.  Starbucks also.  One of the biggest restaurants here was Margaritaville, like we saw in Grand Turk.  It might have been a suitable place for burgers and beers, but it was still too early for us.  We just took pictures of the few birds we saw here.  At the port gate, we showed our room key, and were allowed back in.  We must have used Purell at least one dozen times by the time we got to this point. Our attitude was,” no problem, mon”.  Cruises ships are just beginning to come back, according to a vendor.  This particular lady called most of the passengers “cheap Charlies”, as they were not buying much today.  Her cost to set up her souvenir table costs her $25 a day, which she claimed she had not reached her rent money yet.  Of course, many people were on tours, and would be back later.  There were some nice wood carvings of bowls.  However, we have to keep in mind that we have a luggage weight limit going back, so have to refrain from buying heavy items. 

 

Passing through the terminal building, we were stopped for a vote on how we found the island today.  There were four Emoji faces, but we pushed the happy face.  The guard was pleased.  Back on the ship, we relaxed on our veranda, while watching the boat tours come and go.  At 2pm, we headed for a Lido/Grand Dutch Cafe lunch, and ended up coming back by 5pm.  All aboard was 5:30pm, and we wanted to be on the veranda for the sailing out of the harbor.  Needless to say, having this veranda has been really nice.  And having the opportunity to get a lot of fresh air sure doesn’t hurt. 

 

We are still experiencing problems with sending the blog with the photos attached.  Bear with us as we try to figure out the glitch in the process.  Earlier in the cruise, it worked fine, but now, not so good.  In addition, our incoming emails have been piling up, and not coming through.  For that reason, we have been going to the Front Desk area where it seems to work better. 

 

The sun set early, and we did have some scenic sailing as the ship followed the northern coastline of Jamaica, passing several smaller towns, as well as going past Montego Bay.  Once clear of the tip of the island, the ship headed west towards our next stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

 

Dinner for us was in the Tamarind Restaurant, which was fairly busy at 8pm.  The food and service was good, but we did experience a longer wait for our entrees.  At the beginning of this cruise, Presty had mentioned that about 28 dining room stewards were going home, and being replaced with 28 new crew.  This new set of wait staff would have to be quarantined before being able to work.  That tells us that they are short-staffed for a while, and that could be part of the reason our meal service was slower than usual.  Not that we were in any hurry to go somewhere, they did apologize profusely.  Once again, we said no problem mon! 

 

Looking forward to a relaxing day at sea tomorrow.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS  Pictures will be sent separately.

 

When I've been at Ocho rios before there was nothing there. I think it was right by a sugar mill if I remember correctly.  I "think" that carnival built a cruise port there and that sounds like where you were docked.  Can you confirm that?

[Btimmer]

22 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yes of course you can take the reusable plastic bottles on.  You can't take the water bottles that aren't meant to be used again i.e. water bottles that are purchased for a couple of $ or less.  You can also buy aluminum (?) Bottles of water on the ship.  Its pricey though.  I think the small bottle is $3.50. 

On our two recent HAL cruises in October and November, the Hal shore excursions provided water in the typical plastic bottles, and those weren't taken away when we returned to the ship.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

On our two recent HAL cruises in October and November, the Hal shore excursions provided water in the typical plastic bottles, and those weren't taken away when we returned to the ship.

Yes but the company line is that you can’t.  Can you get away with it? Maybe.  It was reported on a eurodam cruise in Europe a few months ago that someone got on with a plastic bottle without getting in confiscated. So for giggles I did the same thing on the koningsdam with no issue in November so in practice it doesn’t appear to be happening.  Would I count on that? Nope.

[WCB]

Report #13 Cozumel, Mexico   Friday- December 31, 2021   Part #1 Of 1........20 Pictures

 

We woke up to a much warmer day this morning, as the ship headed north-west towards the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.  For much of the afternoon, our veranda was in the hot sun.  Could have fried an egg on the chaise lounge in fact.  We did relax out there, but kept it at a minimum.

 

Running into friends Susie and Woody in the Orange Club, we promised to go early to this morning’s Mariner Society Recognition Event.  That way we would have time to visit with them.  Sadly to say, they were supposed to be on this ship for two months, but had to cancel due to health reasons.  We have been friends and tablemates for many world cruises ever since 2007, so when they announced their Sunday departure, we were all sad.  Since they are sailing with family members, they have a table for eight right now.  The plan was to switch to a table for five when Barb comes onboard this coming Sunday.  Oh well, life happens, and it is not always the way we expect it.  And we always feel that things happen for a reason, making it easier to accept it.

 

One other President’s Club member had fallen in her room last night, and broke her wrist.  She had planned on boarding the Rotterdam Sunday, but now has to have surgery on her wrist.  You just never know what is around the corner, do we?  We wished her well.

 

So at 11am, we congregated in the Ocean Bar for the event where a few members received their medallions.  Once again, Captain Noel gave a nice speech, admitting he had to make it different from a week ago, because there were several of us that had been on last week.  He was quite pleased that we had all trusted HAL enough to be traveling again, helping him and his staff to keep their jobs.  To the best of his ability, he promised to keep us all safe.

 

Today on the news, we heard that some cruise ships have reported a higher Covid level, and the CDC was recommending folks not to cruise.  If there is a problem on this ship, we have not heard about it at all.  Never before have we witnessed so much cleaning and sanitizing happening inside and outside.  Most all of the passengers wear their masks, with a few exceptions of the younger crowd.  Every crew member wears the R95 masks….some with a regular mask under that.  So we figure that is how the Captain is keeping us all safe as humanly possible.

 

Anyway, we all got a turn getting our photos taken with the Captain and Hotel Manager, and once again, the photo showed up in our mail slot.  The four of us spent some time with Jonah, the Event Planner, who answered more of our questions.  Then we went to Susie & Woody’s handicap room on deck eight.  We believe it is the same category as our room, but much larger to accommodate his electric scooter.  Too bad they will not be staying long enough to really enjoy it.

 

Our biggest job of the day was picking up the aluminum water bottle in the Photo Shop we had custom-made yesterday.  That brings up the subject of plastic water bottles.  Knowing we read the restrictions somewhere, we found the info on page 11 of our boarding pass and contract.  Under Alcohol Policy, it is written that plastic water bottles are not allowed.  It was not explained any further here, but you can go to their complete alcohol policy online at hollandamerica.com or in the online Know Before You Go section.  One thing for sure is that the disposable plastic water bottles are no longer sold on the ship, but you can buy a 16 oz. aluminum bottle for $4.50 plus 18% gratuity.  You can re-use the aluminum water bottle if the cap is put on properly.  Or else, it leaks.

 

Lunch included a stop at the pasta bar.  One of us ordered linguini with marinara and Bolognese sauces topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.  A homemade bun made the dish perfect.  It is nice that we still have many food choices after 2pm.  We have yet to go to the main dining room for lunch.  In fact, we may have mentioned this already, but on port days, there is no lunch served in the dining room, Orange Club, or the Pinnacle Grill. 

 

It may have been a good day to go to the pool, but we have not done that yet on these trips.  Today we would have burned for sure, and the last time we walked to the Seaview Pool after lunch, there was very little space left.  And we are still a little afraid of crowded spaces with unmasked folks. We do have another Covid test coming up Saturday, we think.  

 

Dinner was back in the main dining room, where we found out that on the next cruise beginning January 2^nd,  the upper dining level will be closed.  There will be only 1000 guests onboard, a drop of 600 compared to this 7 day trip.  So we agreed to moving downstairs to a round table for six for the following 10 or 11 days.  There will be only three of us (unless Barb cancels), then we will have room for guests if we wish.  With the new scare of Covid being on cruise ships hitting the news, there may be some last minute cancellations.  Nobody knows yet.

 

In our mail slot, we did have a map of Cozumel, which is a good sign that we will be going there, and will be allowed off of the ship.  Will let you all know.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[HALrunner]

40 minutes ago, WCB said:

Report #13 Cozumel, Mexico   Friday- December 31, 2021   Part #1 Of 1........20 Pictures

 

We woke up to a much warmer day this morning, as the ship headed north-west towards the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.  For much of the afternoon, our veranda was in the hot sun.  Could have fried an egg on the chaise lounge in fact.  We did relax out there, but kept it at a minimum.

 

Running into friends Susie and Woody in the Orange Club, we promised to go early to this morning’s Mariner Society Recognition Event.  That way we would have time to visit with them.  Sadly to say, they were supposed to be on this ship for two months, but had to cancel due to health reasons.  We have been friends and tablemates for many world cruises ever since 2007, so when they announced their Sunday departure, we were all sad.  Since they are sailing with family members, they have a table for eight right now.  The plan was to switch to a table for five when Barb comes onboard this coming Sunday.  Oh well, life happens, and it is not always the way we expect it.  And we always feel that things happen for a reason, making it easier to accept it.

 

One other President’s Club member had fallen in her room last night, and broke her wrist.  She had planned on boarding the Rotterdam Sunday, but now has to have surgery on her wrist.  You just never know what is around the corner, do we?  We wished her well.

 

So at 11am, we congregated in the Ocean Bar for the event where a few members received their medallions.  Once again, Captain Noel gave a nice speech, admitting he had to make it different from a week ago, because there were several of us that had been on last week.  He was quite pleased that we had all trusted HAL enough to be traveling again, helping him and his staff to keep their jobs.  To the best of his ability, he promised to keep us all safe.

 

Today on the news, we heard that some cruise ships have reported a higher Covid level, and the CDC was recommending folks not to cruise.  If there is a problem on this ship, we have not heard about it at all.  Never before have we witnessed so much cleaning and sanitizing happening inside and outside.  Most all of the passengers wear their masks, with a few exceptions of the younger crowd.  Every crew member wears the R95 masks….some with a regular mask under that.  So we figure that is how the Captain is keeping us all safe as humanly possible.

 

Anyway, we all got a turn getting our photos taken with the Captain and Hotel Manager, and once again, the photo showed up in our mail slot.  The four of us spent some time with Jonah, the Event Planner, who answered more of our questions.  Then we went to Susie & Woody’s handicap room on deck eight.  We believe it is the same category as our room, but much larger to accommodate his electric scooter.  Too bad they will not be staying long enough to really enjoy it.

 

Our biggest job of the day was picking up the aluminum water bottle in the Photo Shop we had custom-made yesterday.  That brings up the subject of plastic water bottles.  Knowing we read the restrictions somewhere, we found the info on page 11 of our boarding pass and contract.  Under Alcohol Policy, it is written that plastic water bottles are not allowed.  It was not explained any further here, but you can go to their complete alcohol policy online at hollandamerica.com or in the online Know Before You Go section.  One thing for sure is that the disposable plastic water bottles are no longer sold on the ship, but you can buy a 16 oz. aluminum bottle for $4.50 plus 18% gratuity.  You can re-use the aluminum water bottle if the cap is put on properly.  Or else, it leaks.

 

Lunch included a stop at the pasta bar.  One of us ordered linguini with marinara and Bolognese sauces topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.  A homemade bun made the dish perfect.  It is nice that we still have many food choices after 2pm.  We have yet to go to the main dining room for lunch.  In fact, we may have mentioned this already, but on port days, there is no lunch served in the dining room, Orange Club, or the Pinnacle Grill. 

 

It may have been a good day to go to the pool, but we have not done that yet on these trips.  Today we would have burned for sure, and the last time we walked to the Seaview Pool after lunch, there was very little space left.  And we are still a little afraid of crowded spaces with unmasked folks. We do have another Covid test coming up Saturday, we think.  

 

Dinner was back in the main dining room, where we found out that on the next cruise beginning January 2^nd,  the upper dining level will be closed.  There will be only 1000 guests onboard, a drop of 600 compared to this 7 day trip.  So we agreed to moving downstairs to a round table for six for the following 10 or 11 days.  There will be only three of us (unless Barb cancels), then we will have room for guests if we wish.  With the new scare of Covid being on cruise ships hitting the news, there may be some last minute cancellations.  Nobody knows yet.

 

In our mail slot, we did have a map of Cozumel, which is a good sign that we will be going there, and will be allowed off of the ship.  Will let you all know.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

Thanks for the updates! Happy New Year!

[seagarsmoker]

Thanks for the wonderful update and Happy New Year!

[cunnorl]

Love following along. Happy New Year!

[rkacruiser]

Happy New Year WCB!  

[albingirl]

Back to the plastic bottle thing, we are very happy that HAL doesn't have them anymore.  Too much plastic in the world, and the oceans and land don't need the garbage.  On a positive note, we loved this ship so much, we booked another cruise in March.  Thanks for your awesome review!!

[WCB]

Report #14   Cozumel, Mexico   Friday – December 31, 2021   Partly cloudy & 78 degrees   Part #1 of 3…………..77 Pictures

 

Happy New Year’s Eve!

 

We woke up this morning to find that we were not the only ship in Cozumel today.  On the contrary……there were seven cruise ships here, including us.  Honestly, we thought there goes social distancing, and more than likely we would not leave the ship. The other ships were Brilliance and Liberty of the Seas, Carnival Pride and Dream, Celebrity’s APEX, and Silversea’s Silver Moon.  The Nieuw Statendam docked in between the two Carnival ships at the Puerta Maya Pier.  Even at half capacity, there will be a whole lot of people in town. 

 

At breakfast, we were told that none of the crew members will be allowed shore leave today.  We could not help but notice there was a lot of sanitizing happening everywhere we went, even in the Shops, which were closed.  Every nook and cranny was being sprayed.  Now we are hoping this is just precautionary, but are convinced if there is something going on with Covid spread, we may never know about it. If this was the case, all of the guests would have been denied access to the port as well.  The ship will be in Ft. Lauderdale in a few days, and we know the staff goes the long mile to make sure they get high marks with the CDC.  We would say the effort has doubled.

 

We did manage to dig up a few interesting facts about Cozumel, which is actually an island off of the eastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.  The island is 35 miles long and 10 miles wide.  A high speed ferry transports people to and from Playa del Carmen on the maiinland, a 35 minute ride.  The island of Cozumel is famous for their coral reefs, turquoise waters, and powdery white sand.  And for that reason, the Corona beer commercials have been filmed here.

 

Back in 1959 and 1961, Jacques Cousteau, the famous underwater researcher, brought attention to Cozumel with diving documentaries, thus the diving adventures put Cozumel on the map.  There are more than 40 dive sites where one can see reef fish and multi-colored corals.  The temperature of the water is 77 to 82 degrees year round.  You can see moray eels, sea turtles, nurse sharks, manta rays, and even the rare black coral. Even caves.  Many years ago, we took a tour that was called drift-snorkeling.  The dive boat dropped us off in deep water, then we went with the current and back to the boat which went ahead of us. We never did see any tropical fish, but we did pass through a large cluster of small blue jellyfish, which stung everyone.  We could barely feel the stings, but one young boy (our dinner mate at the time) had an allergic reaction to them, and had to be taken back to the ship for immediate treatment.  Not sure they offered that tour today. In fact, we missed the chance to check out the tours on the TV, but  we assume most of them were water-related.

 

History shows this island was always a commercial port for sea trade, and also a spot for the pirates to hide.  Here is an interesting fact – chewing gum gave this island a resurgence in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  The gum was made from the elastic sap of the chicosapote tree, thus the name chicle or Chicklets was born.  You can see these little packets of gum being sold everywhere in Mexico.

 

So at the Puerta Maya Pier, we discovered we were in a shopper’s and diner’s paradise.  We studied the traffic and congestion before leaving the ship, and decided this area was large enough to handle the people.  And besides, many of them were on tours.  The terminal building was actually Dufry, duty-free shopping.  Alcohol, perfume, and cigarettes could be purchased here at good prices.  Beyond this building were the numerous restaurants, bars, high end jewelry stores, and tons of souvenir shops – big and small.  None of these places were packed with too many people, and if you entered a larger shop, your hands were sprayed with Purell.  Masks were also mandatory. And we have to add that this complex was very well-maintained.

 

We continued walking out onto the main street in search of the Hard Rock Café.  The last time we were here, maybe 6 years ago, we sure did not remember seeing this pier area.  Either that, or we did not walk any further than the HRC.  At the time, we were docked at least a mile or more further up the coast.  We did locate the restaurant and the shop, but had decided to buy just a city t-shirt…..no food.  Disappointed, we discovered they did not sell any city t’s.  So much for that.

 

This whole area was full of more souvenir shops, and probably sold their items for much less than at the pier.  One place of interest was a leather shop, where we found a nice man’s wallet.  Looking for a smaller version to keep my room key and driver’s license, the one I picked up was a real snakeskin wallet.  Guessing it was perhaps $20, it was more like $100.  Decided I did not need it that badly, since I do have many more similar to  these at home.  We will have many more ports to search for another one.

 

Having walked for two hours, we headed back to the ship for lunch.  It was obvious that many folks had stayed onboard, because the Lido restaurant, Dive In Grill, and Deli and Pizza  were all busy.   We had our Lido salads, then headed down to the Dutch Café for toasted ham and cheese sandwiches with a shared dish of fries.  And a few little cookies.  Perfect.

 

We had more fun watching the passengers coming back from town as they passed between the two ships.  The Carnival group were singing and dancing while carrying bags full of their treasures they bought.  For some of the older guests, there were fellows on bikes, like tuk-tuks, bringing people back and forth to the plaza. 

 

Ship’s horn began to blow, one at a time, warning folks it was close to all aboard time.  For us that was 5:30pm, although some boat tours got back late, and the guests took their sweet time walking back.  Each vessel took a turn leaving, except for the Silver Moon, who was left behind. Captain Noel wins the prize for the longest horn-blowing ever.  The sun set as we left the island, ending a rather fun day.

 

Dinner this evening was gala, appropriate for the New Year’s Eve celebration.  But when we walked towards the upper dining  room, a line had formed to enter the room.  It wound around the corner and right through the Photo Shop.  Could that many people be waiting for a formal photo?   It turned out that extra sanitizing was being done in the upper dining room before the late seating guests could enter.  Now we really wonder what is going on, as we have never seen this practice on any other ship. Delayed by about 20 minutes, guess there was no way we would be able to participate in the New Year’s Eve Party held in the Lido Pool area at 9pm. 

 

And that leads us to the meal service at the 8pm fixed dinner.  The wait staff, from our head waiter to our servers, have been most attentive.  As hard as they have tried to move the meal along, the wait time has not been good.  We have figured out the drill over the years we have been sailing.  Even though we are a table of two, we are grouped with surrounding tables and served all together, most of the time.  Unless the head waiter intervenes, which he has frequently, our courses arrive with the surrounding tables.  Usually when we have our world cruise group of up to eight guests, we don’t mind some space between courses.  But serving a table of two should not exceed one hour.  The cuisine here has been tasty for the most part, but more often than not, the food is warm at best.  Now we are very happy that we have the option of specialty dining, which was full to capacity tonight.  If we had been thinking, we could have gone to Club Orange, and had the same menu there.  In fact, Tanto, our morning waiter, showed up.  He said it was very quiet at 8pm in Club Orange, so he was sent here to help.  We still think the wait crew is short staffed, with the 28 waiters still under the 10 day quarantine since boarding in Florida last Sunday.

 

At each place setting, we had paper New Year’s Eve party hats, the only decorations for the occasion.  Entrees for us were the lobster and steak combo, with desserts of a chocolate mousse and a glass of strawberries with liqueur.   

 

Both bands, the BB King’s Blues and Rolling Stone Rock Room Band, were not in their usual spots tonight, as they were playing at the Lido Pool.  That continued well past midnight, but we chose not to attend  because we knew it would be way too crowded.  Some folks are letting down their guard, and not wearing the masks as required. And to be fair, if you are actively eating or drinking, you can skip the mask.  We are certain there was a lot of drinking, because until after 1am, we could hear the noisy party-goers filtering down the hallway. 

 

Since we are nearing the end of this cruise, we had some mail reminding us of another Covid test tomorrow.  We also got the letter for in transit guests along with our in transit card to show in Ft. Lauderdale.  Finally, we got another letter explaining that they are experiencing a technical difficulty with one of the Azipods, which may slow us down a bit.  In addition, due to stronger than normal currents on our way to Curacao next week, we will be arriving six hours later than expected.  This will not bother us, as we have not booked any excursions there.

 

We are now headed around the north coast of Cuba, and Captain Noel warned we may have some rough currents.  So far, it has  been pretty smooth sailing.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[forwardho]

Following your posts as always. I do love the details you provide.