North , South and Central America on the Nieuw Amsterdam photo travelogue. Easter 2022 .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

Playa La Bocana

 

 

 

Everything was fresh and made to order (except the crackers)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Returning to the ship

 

 

A chapel at the beach

 

 

Banana Boat

 

 

 

A view from the beach

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

A view of the Bay

 

 

Beach view

 

 

Most everybody left the water and moved to the beach before we could leave

 

 

The sail away

 

 

 

And a pod of dolphin as we left

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Easter Sunday at Canaletto

 

 

Minestrone

 

 

Antipasto

 

 

 

 

Sunday special Chicken Parmigiana

 

 

Tomato Risotto was kinda bland but Pat really liked the pickled peppers

 

 

Our server Okta offered Pat a few more peppers

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Another sunrise astern and a day at sea

 

 

 

We were a little early for breakfast so we looked at some of the the Disney reproductions on the way and some Peter Max . The year that my wife and I met (1976 ) , Peter did a series of Lady Libertys .

 

 

 

 

 

[echoshipmate]

On 5/19/2022 at 2:07 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Thank you Doug . We did just book the trip from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale and the last Alaskan cruise on the NA before that trip on September 25th . New ports for us will be Skagway , San Francisco and Avalon . Can you recommend anything for first time visitors there ?

Just saw your post about booking the trip from Vancouver to Fll this October! Glad you will be joining, as you know, this is, I think, a wonderful itinerary. I bet we will run into each other, maybe in the retreat or some other spot. As far as the ports new to you, as you probably know,  in Skagway, a lot of people take the train up into Canada but the route has been shortened for track repair and also not having to do all the Canadian entry requirements. As for San Fransisco, we were there a few months ago on a California coastal. We walked along the embarcadero up to the Ferry building, about a 20 minute walk where there are small shops and take out restaurants to grab a bite. Next time for us, we would probably go to Fisherman's Wharf and wander, lots to see and do. Later, we did take an Uber into North Beach, an Italian neighborhood about 10-15 minute ride. We met my niece who lives in the Bay area and we chose a wonderful, very local Italian restaurant Sodini's, maybe 15 tables or so and an old time bar. Food was great, not crazy expensive, opens at 5pm, and tables were full by 6, no reservations taken. In Avalon, we stayed on the ship, so no help there. Lovely harbor, a tender port.

I am already excited, and your food pics make me hungry. We enjoyed many of the same dishes from Canaletto, PG and Tamarind on our NA cruise last October. Take care.

Doug

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, echoshipmate said:

Just saw your post about booking the trip from Vancouver to Fll this October! Glad you will be joining, as you know, this is, I think, a wonderful itinerary. I bet we will run into each other, maybe in the retreat or some other spot. As far as the ports new to you, as you probably know,  in Skagway, a lot of people take the train up into Canada but the route has been shortened for track repair and also not having to do all the Canadian entry requirements. As for San Fransisco, we were there a few months ago on a California coastal. We walked along the embarcadero up to the Ferry building, about a 20 minute walk where there are small shops and take out restaurants to grab a bite. Next time for us, we would probably go to Fisherman's Wharf and wander, lots to see and do. Later, we did take an Uber into North Beach, an Italian neighborhood about 10-15 minute ride. We met my niece who lives in the Bay area and we chose a wonderful, very local Italian restaurant Sodini's, maybe 15 tables or so and an old time bar. Food was great, not crazy expensive, opens at 5pm, and tables were full by 6, no reservations taken. In Avalon, we stayed on the ship, so no help there. Lovely harbor, a tender port.

I am already excited, and your food pics make me hungry. We enjoyed many of the same dishes from Canaletto, PG and Tamarind on our NA cruise last October. Take care.

Doug

 

Thank you Doug for some insider tips and thoughts , much appreciated and certainly food for thought ! We're looking into flights and accommodations for the big trip to Vancouver and the ship . It's only our second trip there and Alaska .

🙂😎

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Breakfast at the Pinnacle 

 

 

 

 

A Full English Breakfast for her

 

 

And I went light

 

 

A little too light and I needed a visit to the Neptune Lounge

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Lunch was the the Pinnacle

 

 

 

I wish that I would have ordered Dive in Fries with the burger . Is that possible ?

 

 

 

 

[CA-Oenophile]

On 5/19/2022 at 2:07 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

San Francisco and Avalon

We did the CA Coastal on Ruby Princess last Oct/Nov. On day of sailing we walked to Coit Tower from the cruise terminal. 

We took this route, 1.2 miles, (Google says 30 minutes round trip but took longer) not including Coit Tower time.  https://*****.com/5dtervzy

We walked through Levi's Plaza.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi's_Plaza

Take the Filbert Steps up (276 feet elevation gain).
https://www.sanfrancisco4you.com/sehenswuerdigkeiten-san-francisco/filbert-steps.html

Check out Coit Tower and the views.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coit_Tower

And return via Greenwich Steps.
https://www.sftourismtips.com/greenwich-steps-in-san-francisco.html

Maybe you'll see the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/parrots-telegraph-hill

 

On Catalina Island we tendered in after breakfast and walked the boardwalk. It doesn't take long. We came back to the ship for lunch, then returned to Avalon for a 2 hour golf cart rental at http://www.catalinaislandgolfcart.com/
The golf cart was fun and a good way to spend the afternoon.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Another beautiful day at sea !

 

 

 

And Dinner 4 - 2

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The night time entertainment was Jose Sarduy - A Cuban pilot with the American Air Force . Being a Miami native I thought that the guy was pretty funny .

 

 

 

Another bit from Youtube

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

43 minutes ago, CA-Oenophile said:

We did the CA Coastal on Ruby Princess last Oct/Nov. On day of sailing we walked to Coit Tower from the cruise terminal. 

We took this route, 1.2 miles, (Google says 30 minutes round trip but took longer) not including Coit Tower time.  https://*****.com/5dtervzy

We walked through Levi's Plaza.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi's_Plaza

Take the Filbert Steps up (276 feet elevation gain).
https://www.sanfrancisco4you.com/sehenswuerdigkeiten-san-francisco/filbert-steps.html

Check out Coit Tower and the views.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coit_Tower

And return via Greenwich Steps.
https://www.sftourismtips.com/greenwich-steps-in-san-francisco.html

Maybe you'll see the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/parrots-telegraph-hill

 

On Catalina Island we tendered in after breakfast and walked the boardwalk. It doesn't take long. We came back to the ship for lunch, then returned to Avalon for a 2 hour golf cart rental at http://www.catalinaislandgolfcart.com/
The golf cart was fun and a good way to spend the afternoon.

 

 

 

Thank you for the great photos and what you saw and did . We're excited to be in the planning stage ! 👍

[scubacruiserx2]

When we couldn't find any guides available for Manzanillo we booked a HAL tour . We then looked at the internet and decided that we could DIY for what we wanted to do . We canceled our tour and used the money as our budget for the day . A distant full moon before the sunrise .

 

 

The US Coast Guard Cutter Alert

 

 

An Aerospatiale HH 65 Dolphin Helicopter

 

 

 

So this is how they wash the Pinnacle windows

 

[scubacruiserx2]

It's always comforting to see the Coast Guard on duty nearby

 

 

 

 

Fire and Rescue staged on the pier

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Manzanillo is known as the "Sailfish Capital of the World "

 

 

Some street art

 

 

 

 

 

Snoopy going Marlin fishing

 

[scubacruiserx2]

More street art

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had been looking for what we thought was a supermarket called Waldo's

 

 

It was located under this arch which was located under the sailor kissing the girl fresco

 

 

It turned out to be more like a Dollar store ( or should we say a Peso store )

[scubacruiserx2]

Along the bay the signs of the zodiac were displayed in bright colors

 

 

 

 

As we tossed a water bottle in the recycle bin we heard our names . It was Mercedes and Joel from the Pinnacle . In their street clothes and with their hair down we almost didn't recognize them . We sat at a shade tree and couldn't resist a photo of a lady about our daughters age and a couple of kids about our youngest grandsons age . We sure missed them !

 

 

 

It was starting to get hot and we wanted to head to the East where we saw a restaurant that we wanted to try about a half a mile away 

Edited May 23, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It looked like the little mermaid sitting on a rock taking a selfie

 

 

 

This area was dedicated to fishermen and was where the fishermen sold their catch

 

 

 

 

The Dolphin Restaurant where we were the first customers at noon

 

  

Edited May 23, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

A room with a view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food was very fresh and at a good price . We did choose a quick cab  ride instead of a walk at siesta time . The snacks were gifted to our cabin attendants who didn't seem to get much time to go ashore . 

[canadarocks]

Thank you so much for the amazing photography and commentary!! 

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, canadarocks said:

Thank you so much for the amazing photography and commentary!! 

 

Thank you for your kind comments and we hope that you will stay tuned . 👍

[scubacruiserx2]

As we were returning to the ship on the pier we were told by a local to look at a couple of schools of fish by the pier . 

 

 

 

 

We have been SCUBA diving for a long time in many places but we have never seen a fish like these nor can we locate them or their name . Does anyone know these fish ?

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

I heard a big splash while on the verandah and ran and grabbed the other camera in time to find a breaching humpback

 

 

 

I had yelled to Pat and to Tari and Rio our cabin attendants who we had just talked to . Pat did get this video clip

 

 

 

When I went into the hall to call for out to let people know I had a whale sighting , I had a different sighting .

 

 

 

Across the bay was the Dolphin Restaurant

 

[albingirl]

Love your thread.  Thank you.