Live from the Nieuw Statendam

[DrKoob]

Puerto Plata...was really hotta and other things

 

Can't remember the last time I wrote two posts in one day but I thought that since we are on a sea day (for the non-cruisers that means no stops today) and have three ports in the next three days (Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba), I would get yesterday's stop out of the way today, while I have some time to write. But I don't want to overload you so I will post it tomorrow (which for you might be today).

 

Yesterday we were in beautiful Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic (DR). Kathleen and I have always been under the impression that we had been to the DR two other times because we had stopped at a small port called Labadie while on a Celebrity ship. Turns out we had the island (Hispaniola) right but the country wrong. Labadie is in Haiti so this was our second visit to the DR. But we had never been to this side of the country before.

 

The ship actually docks at Amber Cove which is just 13 kilometers west of the city of Puerto Plata. Amber Cove is a port developed by the Carnival Corp for all the ships under that umbrella to dock for this city. Imagine if Disney created the Caribbean without rides...you get Amber Cove. Lots of shops, pretty grass, clean and spic and span surroundings.

 

We were only in Amber Cove long enough to jump on a bus with our guide Rrrrafael 😜. He really, really rolled that first R. We were doing a tour (along with the Sail with Seth crowd) called "Flavors and Traditions of Puerto Plata: In partnership with Food and Wine magazine." I am not sure why it has this title because we saw no one or heard nothing from Food and Wine magazine. What we did do was:

1. Took the bus into Puerto Plata while Rrrrafel told us all about the city and the Dominican Republic.
2. Stopped at the town square and walked around while Rrrrafel told us about the buildings and traditions of Puerto Plata.
3. Went to a cigar factory/showroom where I was told that one person got to roll and smoke his own cigar. Being highly allergic to cigar and cigarette smoke/smell, I (and the rest of our pod of four) stayed outside while this part of the tour took place so I can't say for certain that's what happened.
4. Went to a chocolate factory to see how chocolate was made and taste hot chocolate (like we were cold 😜) and a tiny brownie. Personally I consumed neither. Not a big chocolate guy. But I was told both were great.
5. Had lunch at an outdoor restaurant where they had set up a buffet of rice, beans, chicken, tortilla chips, salad and your choice of water or soft drink. It was very "nice." Not bad, not great. just "nice."
6. Toured the grounds of the restaurant where there were koi ponds, artwork and a variety of flora including orchids.
7. Went to a rum distillery where we saw a film about how rum is made and how great that distillery is and then we got to taste some rum. Eight different kinds but if you poured them all in the same glass, you might have an ounce.

 

That was the tour folks. To me it was a typical overview of a city tour, Rrrrafel did a great job and because we were with Seth, we had some good old fashioned fun. And I loved it because I got to do my second favorite kind of photography (after general travel photo), street photography. I love taking pictures of interesting people with interesting faces or doing interesting things. I think I like to do this because I spent more than 50 years doing high school and college yearbooks as a student, a teacher and a rep for Jostens Yearbooks. I can't sell them or use the ones I take in any commercial way because I would need a release from the people I shot. Still, I love taking them. My daughter tells me, "Dad, when you die I will look at these and wonder who the heck they are and should I save them because they might be family?" So I also take them to bamboozle her.

 

To see my Puerto Plata pics, again you will need to Google Jim Bellomo and look for my blog. It should be the first thing that comes up. Cruise Critic will not let me post a link to it from here.

 

After people see my street photography stuff, they often ask if I ask permission before I take the picture. I don't. Mostly because they have no idea I took their photo. In all the pics above I was more than 100 feet away using a very long (300mm) zoom lens so they had no clue I was taking any photos of them. I do have a rule that if there are street performers and I shoot their picture, I always tip them. It's the right thing to do. If I don't have money for tips, I don't take the picture.

 

When you see a panoramic photo in my shots, it is actually not done with my iPhone set on Pano. I take these with my Nikon. When I say I take "them" with my Nikon, the photo above that shows two ships (Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam) on opposite sides of the pier is actually made up of 26 individual photos I took while standing in the same spot and turning my body almost 360 degrees. The two ships were actually parked at the pier right next to each other like you can see in the next shot. Then I open those 26 pictures (most of my panos are much less photos–the last one only has 16 photos) in Photoshop and merge them together. They create huge pictures that I could print up to billboard size. I have always loved taking them.

 

PS: Sorry about the headline. I couldn’t resist.

[DrKoob]

Beautiful Bonaire impresses us

Yesterday (Friday the 28th) we were in beautiful Bonaire. One of the three ABC islands, they are predominately known for their diving—both scuba and snorkeling. I could go on and on about their politics, their industry and the rest of it but if you really want to know—click here—for a link to the Wikipedia page for Bonaire.

 

What I will tell you about is the two (yes 2) excursions we took and how impressed I am with the island. First let me say that we are NOT divers of any kind. We leave that to our friends Mike and Cathy. They do the snorkel thing and the scuba thing. They live in Florida so they have warm water. We live in Washington where if you go in the water, you freeze to death in less time than you can say, "GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

 

So we started off the morning with a ship's excursion called "The Best of Bonaire." There were three groups of about 12 people in three different vans. We had settled into one of the vans when the head of shore excursions asked for volunteers to move to another van because they had miscalculated the numbers on ours. We were in the front so we said we would switch. Best decision of the day. I have nothing against the guide and driver on the original van but the new van had a guide that made our day—Gladys. Now we really doubt Gladys is her real name because she acted like it was a joke all day long but if you are in Bonaire doing this tour, get Gladys. The woman is a HOOT! Not to mention an excellent guide and you could tell how much she loves her adopted island—Bonaire. She is originally from Wisconsin but has been on Bonaire off and on since 1963 so she knows her stuff. Her driver was a guy she called Cheech because of his past life as a cop confiscating marijuana and being in charge of burning it after the perpetrators were caught.

 

These two took us all over the island and while Gladys regaled us with stories, history, geography, science, nature and local customs, Cheech kept a VERY sharp eye out for the best flora and fauna he could find. And find it he did, time and time again. Check out my pics to see what I mean. He found parrots, parrot fish (he was good at parrot stuff 😜), lizards and all kinds of other stuff. Then he would slow down or stop so that us photographers could get the pics we were after. (BTW: I am so sorry I did not get a photo of Gladys or Cheech—my bad.)

 

We were out touring with Gladys and Cheech for 3.5 hours and other than my knees giving me problems from sitting for so long we had a great time and saw a bunch of great stuff as you will see in the photos.

 

To see my Bonaire pics, again you will need to Google Jim Bellomo and look for my blog. It should be the first thing that comes up. Cruise Critic will not let me post a link to it from here.

 

Our second excursion a little later in the day was a short but very nice trip on a glass-bottom boat. Having never been on a glass-bottom boat before I thought maybe I could get some great underwater photos without going underwater. And our guide and skipper Kim took us out to the coral reef around a large island called Little Bonaire that is just off the main port. While we were able to see some very pretty fish, the only photo I could even slightly make work is the one of the turtle you see below. The other pics are from the boat ride but just not the underwater parts.

 

To sum all this up, I would say the one thing that most impressed me about Bonaire is that they have not succumbed to the usual cruise-type shops. No Diamonds International, etc. Also, both guides we had were so in love with their island and the things their government (which is funded and supervised by Amsterdam—Bonaire being a Dutch protectorate) is doing for their people, their environment and the flora and fauna of the island. Everyone here has health care, an education, a guaranteed retirement...all things that every human should have a right to.

 

PS: To the absolute best of our knowledge, we have not heard of a single COVID case on board. This morning there was a little bit of delay getting cleared into Curacao but we were let in. We were supposed to stay in port until 11:00 pm (since we are only going to Aruba tomorrow) but there is a COVID-related curfew on the island at 9:00 pm so everyone has to be back on board by that time.

[ottahand7]

42 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

We were out touring with Gladys and Cheech for 3.5 hours and other than my knees giving me problems from sitting for so long we had a great time and saw a bunch of great stuff as you will see in the photos.

Based on your review I looked up Best of Bonaire on the HA Already Booked pages.   Did you get out and walk around at all?  I would like to book it there is some walking time.   How many people were on each bus?    Switching over to your photos next.   

Edited January 29, 2022 by ottahand7

[DrKoob]

1 hour ago, ottahand7 said:

Based on your review I looked up Best of Bonaire on the HA Already Booked pages.   Did you get out and walk around at all?  I would like to book it there is some walking time.   How many people were on each bus?    Switching over to your photos next.   

 

There definitely was some walking time at the National Park, near the Salt Production facility and at the Slave Huts. And each bus had a max of about 10. They were smaller, airport shuttle type buses. My brother was with us and he is six foot nine inches and didn't have a problem.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Beautiful Bonaire impresses us

 

I agree with your assessment.  I have visited the island only once during a HAL cruise and was impressed with the warmth of the people and what I experienced.  It's a little visited Caribbean gem in my opinion.  

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I love Bonaire too. It is so lovely and uncluttered. We do not scuba - just enjoy the island's beauty. A couple of times when we were on Bonaire, there was an Arts and Craft type fair near the dock. I have two T-shirts from the Bonaire Animal Shelter which I treasure.

[dchip]

Love your photos and approach to photography!! Bonaire is a wonderful island. We have been there several times where I snorkeled. The last time we also did a tour of the island. Did you not see any flamingos at the salt ponds? It was the first time I ever saw them fly. What a treat that was. I don’t want to hijack your thread with a photo but I got some really good shots. 
Cheers and keep those photos coming, Denise

[RICHARD@SEA]

19 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Beautiful Bonaire impresses us

Yesterday (Friday the 28th) we were in beautiful Bonaire. One of the three ABC islands, they are predominately known for their diving—both scuba and snorkeling. I could go on and on about their politics, their industry and the rest of it but if you really want to know—click here—for a link to the Wikipedia page for Bonaire.

 

What I will tell you about is the two (yes 2) excursions we took and how impressed I am with the island. First let me say that we are NOT divers of any kind. We leave that to our friends Mike and Cathy. They do the snorkel thing and the scuba thing. They live in Florida so they have warm water. We live in Washington where if you go in the water, you freeze to death in less time than you can say, "GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

 

So we started off the morning with a ship's excursion called "The Best of Bonaire." There were three groups of about 12 people in three different vans. We had settled into one of the vans when the head of shore excursions asked for volunteers to move to another van because they had miscalculated the numbers on ours. We were in the front so we said we would switch. Best decision of the day. I have nothing against the guide and driver on the original van but the new van had a guide that made our day—Gladys. Now we really doubt Gladys is her real name because she acted like it was a joke all day long but if you are in Bonaire doing this tour, get Gladys. The woman is a HOOT! Not to mention an excellent guide and you could tell how much she loves her adopted island—Bonaire. She is originally from Wisconsin but has been on Bonaire off and on since 1963 so she knows her stuff. Her driver was a guy she called Cheech because of his past life as a cop confiscating marijuana and being in charge of burning it after the perpetrators were caught.

 

These two took us all over the island and while Gladys regaled us with stories, history, geography, science, nature and local customs, Cheech kept a VERY sharp eye out for the best flora and fauna he could find. And find it he did, time and time again. Check out my pics to see what I mean. He found parrots, parrot fish (he was good at parrot stuff 😜), lizards and all kinds of other stuff. Then he would slow down or stop so that us photographers could get the pics we were after. (BTW: I am so sorry I did not get a photo of Gladys or Cheech—my bad.)

 

We were out touring with Gladys and Cheech for 3.5 hours and other than my knees giving me problems from sitting for so long we had a great time and saw a bunch of great stuff as you will see in the photos.

 

To see my Bonaire pics, again you will need to Google Jim Bellomo and look for my blog. It should be the first thing that comes up. Cruise Critic will not let me post a link to it from here.

 

Our second excursion a little later in the day was a short but very nice trip on a glass-bottom boat. Having never been on a glass-bottom boat before I thought maybe I could get some great underwater photos without going underwater. And our guide and skipper Kim took us out to the coral reef around a large island called Little Bonaire that is just off the main port. While we were able to see some very pretty fish, the only photo I could even slightly make work is the one of the turtle you see below. The other pics are from the boat ride but just not the underwater parts.

 

To sum all this up, I would say the one thing that most impressed me about Bonaire is that they have not succumbed to the usual cruise-type shops. No Diamonds International, etc. Also, both guides we had were so in love with their island and the things their government (which is funded and supervised by Amsterdam—Bonaire being a Dutch protectorate) is doing for their people, their environment and the flora and fauna of the island. Everyone here has health care, an education, a guaranteed retirement...all things that every human should have a right to.

 

PS: To the absolute best of our knowledge, we have not heard of a single COVID case on board. This morning there was a little bit of delay getting cleared into Curacao but we were let in. We were supposed to stay in port until 11:00 pm (since we are only going to Aruba tomorrow) but there is a COVID-related curfew on the island at 9:00 pm so everyone has to be back on board by that time.

Just a note to yuor covid comment - there have been cases on board during your cruise - one couple that has done a HAL World Cruise for years(WCB /Maryann & Bill from CA) & is doing 108 days on your ship & one other HAL vessel) are now quarantined in a Florida hotel after being tested onboard & one of them positive for covid.  They were quarantined onboard for several days.

 

They post here on CC also

[BellKat]

10 minutes ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

Just a note to yuor covid comment - there have been cases on board during your cruise - one couple that has done a HAL World Cruise for years(WCB /Maryann & Bill from CA) & is doing 108 days on your ship & one other HAL vessel) are now quarantined in a Florida hotel after being tested onboard & one of them positive for covid.  They were quarantined onboard for several days.

 

They post here on CC also

This is Jim‘s wife Kathleen. I have been following along with their adventures. They got off the ship the day we got on & should be getting back on the day we leave. We are getting increasingly frustrated with people who refuse to wear their masks - on busses, during performances. Even though the Cruise Director Betty Ann comes on the PA before EVERY performance and reminds people that masks are to be worn. Grrrr! They don’t understand if ships get too many cases, they will stop cruising. The CDC seems hell bent on shutting down cruising (although they have backed off a bit). I won’t do my usual rant. 

 

I’m sure there are cases on board right now but no numbers are being announced. 

[Cyberhwk]

17 minutes ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

 quarantined in a Florida hotel after being tested onboard & one of them positive for covid.

 

I'm guessing they came down with symptoms and reported it?  Or are there routine screenings?

[RICHARD@SEA]

3 minutes ago, BellKat said:

This is Jim‘s wife Kathleen. I have been following along with their adventures. They got off the ship the day we got on & should be getting back on the day we leave. We are getting increasingly frustrated with people who refuse to wear their masks - on busses, during performances. Even though the Cruise Director Betty Ann comes on the PA before EVERY performance and reminds people that masks are to be worn. Grrrr! They don’t understand if ships get too many cases, they will stop cruising. The CDC seems hell bent on shutting down cruising (although they have backed off a bit). I won’t do my usual rant. 

 

I’m sure there are cases on board right now but no numbers are being announced. 

It must be frustrating to be onboard doing the right thing & having a few dummies able to screw things up for everyone.

 

As far as the CDC - perfect no,,,,, (i follow Dr Fauci suggestions) but now the ports have the right to deny ships docking with the minimal # of cases aboard a ship.  Quite a few ships have been denied due to just a few cases onboard com[pared to the many of hundreds / thousands of passrengers & crew.

 

The cruise lines are more concerned about staying afloat so to speak ratheer than passengers.

Its all about the $$ Benjamins, Corporate management & lawyers unfortunately.

 

Stay safe

[BellKat]

17 minutes ago, Cyberhwk said:

 

I'm guessing they came down with symptoms and reported it?  Or are there routine screenings?

They were tested because they are on several back to backs & are required to be tested before each segment.

[dchip]

21 minutes ago, Cyberhwk said:

 

I'm guessing they came down with symptoms and reported it?  Or are there routine screenings?

Bill and Mary Ann are doing a series of back to back cruises. HAL tests all 

intransit passengers before the next cruise. If you test positive you go to a hotel for quarantine. Hopefully they will reboard  the NS on 2/2/22. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by dchip

[iflyrc5]

20 minutes ago, Cyberhwk said:

 

I'm guessing they came down with symptoms and reported it?  Or are there routine screenings?

They are testing guests that are staying on board doing a back to back and that is when one of them tested positive. 

[DrKoob]

42 minutes ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

Just a note to yuor covid comment - there have been cases on board during your cruise - one couple that has done a HAL World Cruise for years(WCB /Maryann & Bill from CA) & is doing 108 days on your ship & one other HAL vessel) are now quarantined in a Florida hotel after being tested onboard & one of them positive for covid.  They were quarantined onboard for several days.

 

They post here on CC also

 

Just want to point out that the reported cases were on the cruise before us. Not on ours. I have not only not heard of anyone on board but have not seen anything on the boards. I am going to pointedly start asking. We have been following Maryann and Bill's thread and we knew they got off before we came on...so even though they are on a longer cruise, they aren't on ours. 

 

My biggest complaint about COVID procedures is trying to figure out why some people don't think they have to follow the rules. When they boarded they agreed to wear a mask in all public areas except when eating or drinking and yet we have seen at least 30-40 people at different times, inside when not eating who either don't have it on or don't have their noses covered. Why are these people special? When I ask them, they say they "hate the masks." Guess what, SO DO I! I hate them with a passion. I also hate red lights when I am driving, I have a few people I would like to punch in the face and I would love to have a bunch of chickens living on the patio of my condo. But I don't because I agreed (a social contract) to not have chickens, to not assault people, to not run red lights. The same way I agreed to wear a mask at all times in public. 

 

Someone please explain why the rules don't apply to these people.

[RICHARD@SEA]

5 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

 

Just want to point out that the reported cases were on the cruise before us. Not on ours. I have not only not heard of anyone on board but have not seen anything on the boards. I am going to pointedly start asking. We have been following Maryann and Bill's thread and we knew they got off before we came on...so even though they are on a longer cruise, they aren't on ours. 

 

My biggest complaint about COVID procedures is trying to figure out why some people don't think they have to follow the rules. When they boarded they agreed to wear a mask in all public areas except when eating or drinking and yet we have seen at least 30-40 people at different times, inside when not eating who either don't have it on or don't have their noses covered. Why are these people special? When I ask them, they say they "hate the masks." Guess what, SO DO I! I hate them with a passion. I also hate red lights when I am driving, I have a few people I would like to punch in the face and I would love to have a bunch of chickens living on the patio of my condo. But I don't because I agreed (a social contract) to not have chickens, to not assault people, to not run red lights. The same way I agreed to wear a mask at all times in public. 

 

Someone please explain why the rules don't apply to these people.

Yes...sorry they were on the cruise prior to yours....hopefully your cruise will be covid free,

 

 

As far as your last question....its simple

 

The people that dont follow the rules are selfish, &  ignorant.

[BelleEpoque]

On 1/25/2022 at 10:05 AM, DrKoob said:

Feel free to ask any questions you might want to know about. And if you are interested in seeing my pics you will need to go to my blog. I can’t link it here (due to CC restrictions) but I can tell you that if you Google Jim Bellomo it should be the first thing that pops up.

Enjoying your cruise reports! Thanks for sharing. I am sailing on HAL Rotterdam in a few days. 

 

Curious if you have done much specialty dining on the ship? At reduced capacity, is it relatively easy to get reservations at the specialty dining restaurants? Or any of the specialty dining restaurants open for lunch on this sailing during sea days?

 

I usually prefer to have big meals at lunchtime (failing that, an early dinner usually works), and i prefer to make reservations day before or day of because I want to make sure I am in the mood and actually hungry enough to enjoy the experience. on my last sailing in october (different cruise line) specialty dining was easy to come by, even day of, but no options at lunchtime. 

[regnig]

1 hour ago, DrKoob said:

 

.............................................

 

Someone please explain why the rules don't apply to these people.

Because some, far too many, people think they are really special and that the rules don't apply to them.

[DrKoob]

3 hours ago, dchip said:

Love your photos and approach to photography!! Bonaire is a wonderful island. We have been there several times where I snorkeled. The last time we also did a tour of the island. Did you not see any flamingos at the salt ponds? It was the first time I ever saw them fly. What a treat that was. I don’t want to hijack your thread with a photo but I got some really good shots. 
Cheers and keep those photos coming, Denise

Thank you for the compliment Denise. Do you post your photos anywhere? I would love to see them. If you go back on my blog to July you will see my Galapagos pics which are probably the best I have taken...or maybe try May/June 2019 when we went to Scotland. Or all of my pics (that I have rights to) are here: https://jimbellomo13.picfair.com/ 

 

Jim

[DrKoob]

25 minutes ago, BelleEpoque said:

Enjoying your cruise reports! Thanks for sharing. I am sailing on HAL Rotterdam in a few days. 

 

Curious if you have done much specialty dining on the ship? At reduced capacity, is it relatively easy to get reservations at the specialty dining restaurants? Or any of the specialty dining restaurants open for lunch on this sailing during sea days?

 

I usually prefer to have big meals at lunchtime (failing that, an early dinner usually works), and i prefer to make reservations day before or day of because I want to make sure I am in the mood and actually hungry enough to enjoy the experience. on my last sailing in october (different cruise line) specialty dining was easy to come by, even day of, but no options at lunchtime. 

We have already done all the specialty restaurants and I am planning a full report and blog post with pics later this week (during the sea days) so stay tuned. 

 

The only lunches I am aware of have been in Pinnacle Grille. We have not done those. I totally get your wanting to eat early. By the time you eat at a specialty you just want to roll into bed. Reservations and walk-ins on this cruise are totally available. Most nights there are plenty of empty tables in all of them we walk by to get to our regular dining spot, Club Orange. 

 

Watch for more before the end of the week. 

[iflyrc5]

Jim - if you get the opportunity please ask if they know the number of guests on the next NS cruise leaving 2 Feb.  We are on that one and the next 3.  I too am concerned about the "special people" that won't follow the masking requirement that we ALL agree to when boarding.  I don't like them either but if board then I must follow their requirements - simple - if you don't want to mask up then don't cruise.

 

One other question - on the Koningsdam there was a sensor that turned on LED lights on the floor when you got up at night - do the cabins on the NS have this feature?

 

Thanks again for the great photos.

[albingirl]

9 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

We have already done all the specialty restaurants and I am planning a full report and blog post with pics later this week (during the sea days) so stay tuned. 

 

The only lunches I am aware of have been in Pinnacle Grille. We have not done those. I totally get your wanting to eat early. By the time you eat at a specialty you just want to roll into bed. Reservations and walk-ins on this cruise are totally available. Most nights there are plenty of empty tables in all of them we walk by to get to our regular dining spot, Club Orange. 

 

Watch for more before the end of the week. 

Enjoying your review very much.  We loved the Cannelletto on your ship.  The staff are all top notch and the food was great.  I went for half portions because they give you so much.

[dchip]

13 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

Thank you for the compliment Denise. Do you post your photos anywhere? I would love to see them. If you go back on my blog to July you will see my Galapagos pics which are probably the best I have taken...or maybe try May/June 2019 when we went to Scotland. Or all of my pics (that I have rights to) are here: https://jimbellomo13.picfair.com/ 

 

Jim

Thanks for the link to your photos. I used to post on phase.com several years ago. Lately I have just been posting here and there on FB. I have an Instagram account but always forget about it!! I will attach a flamingo photo here though. I took it on my iPhone which is great because it’s live and you can see them fly.  Hubby was about a 100’ away from me and alerted me to the bird taking off. 

[BelleEpoque]

12 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

Watch for more before the end of the week. 

Thanks! Good to know that Pinnacle might be an option for lunch. Looking forward to your upcoming onboard dining report. 

[smlnd]

Were passengers able to get off the ship in Aruba today?