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From Glaciers to Palm Trees - Spend 71 days with Bill & Mary Ann on the Zuiderdam - 9-7-22 to 11-17-22

WCB

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Report # 1   September 7, 2022   Wednesday   Leaving San Francisco to Vancouver   71 days on the Zuiderdam   78 degrees @ 4am and hot

 

We are heading off into much cooler weather as we fly north to Vancouver today, thank goodness.  Yesterday was a record-breaking 112 degrees at our place in the hills of the East Bay. Today, there was even a promise of higher temps , which seemed to make the news folks giddy with excitement. Wrapping up all the last minute things to do, one of those was the ever-important completion of the Covid tests.  It was done at Safeway at a reduced price of $69 each.  Remember the days these were free?  Not so anymore.  There was one glitch however, when one of our negative tests was not sent to our computer by the time we arrived home.  With a quick phone call to the pharmacy, it was re-sent and all was well.  Now our only concern was the fact that due to the extremely high temperatures, there was a possibility of having a brown out with the electricity.  Lucky for us, it never did involve our area.  It was one long night of sticky heat, with the exception of getting up at 2:30am for an early ride to the airport.  Yes, we were ready to go.

 

It has been a few years since we have flown to Canada, and things have changed.  Around 72 hours prior to our flight, we had to go online and fill out info for Arrive Can, a Canadian requirement to enter their country.  We had to send proof of our Covid vaccinations ( our two boosters were not required), and passport info, along with flight details.  They asked for an address and postal code of where we were staying, even though we were not spending more than a few hours in transit.  We put One Canada Place for the address of the cruise terminal and their postal code.  It worked.  Finally, HAL sent an email for us to respond to their health questionnaire.  Even our wonderful travel agent phoned to make sure we had done all of the necessary requirements, and wished us a safe trip and smooth sailing.

 

Our driver showed up close to 4am, and we were off in a van big enough for 10 passengers.  Lots of room for our four pieces of luggage.  He explained that once he was in the city, he would stay to pick up several guests coming off of a Princess ship at  Pier 27.  That was the reason for the larger vehicle, which was fine with us.  At first, we thought we might be ride-sharing, something we have done with other companies in past years.  At times, it took hours to get us to the airport.  Not so today.  We arrived with little commute traffic shortly after 5am, plenty of time for our 9am flight.

 

Checking in at the busy Canada Air desk was easy.  We did not use the kiosks, since we had to weigh and tag the luggage at the desk anyway.  All were 50 pounds or less.  It is not a surprise why so many passengers do not check bags in, because the rates are $30 first bag and $50 second bag.  Definitely gone up since our last flights in the beginning of the year.  With that done, we went through the security checkpoint, with only one of us requiring extra screening.  Naturally, my new knee is going set off the scanner every time.  The good thing is that nothing had to be taken out of our hand-carrys, and we did not have to remove our shoes.  Within a few minutes, we were both cleared.

 

Time for a relaxing breakfast, we stopped at Lark Creek Grill.  Surprising how busy the airport is during a weekday, especially this early in the moring.  Travel is back again….big time.

 

You may ask where we are going?  For starters, we are boarding the Zuiderdam in Vancouver for three back-to-back 7 day voyages to Alaska.  Twenty one days of scenic sailing, and Alaskan towns, and possibly……showers.  At this point, it sounds good.  Then the ship will re-position with a 50 day trip to the South Pacific, which will include the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Niue, and Cook Islands, with a stop in the Marquesas on the way back to San Diego.  Like we said, from Glaciers to Palm Trees!

 

Still waiting for our flight to begin boarding, so we shall follow up with more reporting tomorrow.  Should be a marathon day!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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julia

julia

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Yaaaaay, another long, detailed thread from Bill and "one of us!" 😅

I'll look forward to hearing all about the South Pacific, as we'll be on the Konigsdam for 35 days in February.

 

Bon voyage and safe, healthy travels!

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oakridger

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Hello Bill and Mary Ann!  I'll be right behind you in two weeks going to Vancouver to join the Nieuw Amsterdam.  I wish I left today too; the heat is horrible!  (I live close to Clayton)

 

I was at the Clayton Safeway yesterday too!  I got the new Covid booster, and a flu shot!  It would really have been funny to see you there.  I know what you look like from all your great pictures. 🙂

 

I followed your advice on a car service to get me to SFO and back and told Sunny that you recommended him.  He was pleased.

 

Anyway, I'm so happy to follow along with your new adventure.  Bon Voyage!

 

~Nancy

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LouChamp

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Sailed on the Zuiderdam her inaugural year in a neptune suite and a few times after. First HAL cruise on the old statendam in 1976 i think lol.  Anyway always love reading your posts and have a wonderful vacay and keep the food pictures coming! 

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report #2  Wednesday 9-7-22   Boarding Day Vancouver, Canada On The Zuiderdam....... Clear & Sunny 75 Degrees........Part #1 Of 1.....67 Pictures

 

The plane landed at the Vancouver airport to the nicest weather we can remember.  We found it interesting that the flight was only half full, not that we were complaining.  It was lucky that it took off on time, and not cancelled until the next flight.  Yes, that has happened to us many times flying from either Los Angeles or San Diego to San Francisco, as these are considered commuter runs.

 

It seemed like we were walking forever to reach the area of immigration kiosks, where we had to log in with our passports, answer some questions, and have our photos taken.  That generated a coupon that we handed off to the immigration official.  All was well.  We did take note that the Arrive Can had been attached to our electronic passports already, and there was no need to show anyone our printed paperwork.  In addition, there was no inquiry as to our recent Covid test.

 

Luggage carts were complimentary here…a nice touch.  We picked up two, and headed for the turntable for Air Canada.  These days, it is easy to find your luggage as most folks do not check bags.  At this point, a rep from HAL was there to direct us to the exit, where there were at least three cruise line counters set up.  The HAL group took our four pieces of luggage and promised we would see it in our room on the ship.  That was most welcomed news.  All we had to do was board the coach for a 40 minute ride across town to the pier.

 

By now, it was noontime, and the tree-lined streets and avenues were full of locals out and about for lunch and shopping.  We arrived at the pier at One Canada Place, where the Pan Pacific Hotel is located.  It is one of the nicest and scenic hotel/piers, where we have had the pleasure of staying and boarding many ships.  Today we chose to board directly, and gosh, it was some boarding process.  There was one other smaller ship in port, which was the Regent Mariner.  All together, it appeared that there were hundreds of guests in line to go through the screening.  This would have taken a long time, if it were not for the help of Henk Mensink, the Hotel General Manager of the Zuiderdam.  He must have been on the lookout, and lucky for us, found us.  It has been over two years since we last saw each other, and that was when the Amsterdam’s Grand World Voyage of 2020 was abruptly stopped in Australia.  Little did we know that the flagship of the HAL fleet, the Amsterdam, would be sold months later.  So here we are, on another “Dam” ship, and so glad to be back with Henk and his specially-picked crew. 

 

We joined the shorter line for the 4 & 5 star Mariners and suite guests, as well as President’s Club members (we understand there are only 4 of us on this trip).  Producing our passports, boarding passes, the current Covid test papers, and Covid vaccination cards, we proceeded to the next step.  By the way, the skew on the boarding passes did not work, so a small receipt had to be duplicated in order for us to continue.   Henk led us off to board, but we were stopped to have our photos taken.  Then we set off to board the ship, ending around the ship’s photographers.  That is one picture that seldom comes out good for us. 

 

Henk came all the way to our room, and we were soon joined by Shiv, the best Executive Housekeeper and his assistant.  He was there to confirm that all of our requests had been met, which they had.  There was an extra refrigerator, which we did not really need as there is one in the room anyway.  We discovered that it did not work, but decided to keep it and use it for a cabinet.  It also was a good place to put our bouquet of flowers.  Our room steward, Edy, arrived and said he was the only one servicing the aft cabins, which is unusual.  He did say he had half the amount of rooms, which is a good thing.  So, we had two bottles of California champagne on ice (also known as sparkling wine), a mixed bouquet of fresh flowers, and a bunch of gift cards from the front desk and our travel agency.   Trays of canapes and sweets were waiting for us as well.  Since there was no luggage yet, we headed off to satisfy the muster requirements.  While we were gone, we let the flat screen TV play the muster directions, a must-do as part of the drill.  Of course, we have seen it before and knew the drill.

 

On the way, we decided to have lunch in the Lido.  Salads and sandwiches filled that need, although it was a surprise to see some of the sandwich bar was self-serve. Not fans of that idea, we will stick to staff-served items. We should mention here, that there is a recommended mask mandate, not mandatory.  However, we have chosen to leave the masks on regardless of what others are doing.  One of us had the virus back in late January while on the Nieuw Statendam, and sure do not want to repeat that experience.  So it is “washy-washy”, hand sanitizing, and K95’s for us.

 

Our room keys were scanned for the muster, and we had to listen to a very short talk by a boat commander.  So much better than standing in a tight group for a very long muster drill, usually done in the hot sun.  There was an invitation to the Mariner’s welcome reception in the Crow’s Nest at 2:40 to 3:20.  We did attend, but only stayed briefly, as there were no more seats available.  Most of the guests had taken the forward facing lounges and were actually snoozing. One last stop was at the Seaview Bar, where we ran into the assistant beverage manager, Twinkle.  We have known her for many years, and she also remembered us.  Filling us in on the last two years, she said how happy she was to get back to work.  Like many of the crew, the pandemic really disrupted their lives.  Then she helped us out by explaining how the beverage package worked.  She tested it by giving us four cans of Coke Zero, which worked as part of our 15 beverage per person a day count.    By the time we got back to the room, the luggage had been delivered. 

 

We missed the sail away festivities at 4pm. at the aft pool, but did enjoy the sailing out of the harbor from the comfort of our extra-large aft-facing veranda. No kidding…it is big enough for a party.   What a beautiful day we had here in Vancouver.  Hope to explore the city when we return for three more visits in the upcoming weeks.  We did attempt to stash some of our belongings, but did not get far.  Tomorrow would be soon enough to do the chore. 

 

Dinnertime came at 8pm, and we headed for the upper dining room.  When we booked this series of cruises, we had a table request at 66.  However, we had been given a table at the side window.  It is not a bad table, but not one on the railing.  We had visits from the head waiter, and both the Maitre’D and his assistant.  They said they could relocate us at the beginning of the next cruise, where we said we would let them know.  Our waiters seemed to be really nice, so we may not want to leave them.  We had a salad, soup, and roasted chicken entrees.  Desserts were a lemon torte and a hot fudge sundae.  And since we have the Have-It-All promo on these trips, one of us ordered a decaf cappacchino.  It will be quite a challenge to reach the 15 beverages a day per person. 

 

There was no show in the Mainstage this evening, only lectures, not that we would attend anyway.  The Music Walk did perform this evening with the Rolling Stone and Billboard entertainers.   It had been the marathon day we had expected, and we were more than ready to turn in to the comfort of our room.  Looking forward to the motion of the ocean to rock us to sleep.  More tomorrow…………..

 

Bill & Mary Ann  

 

You can find pictures at our blog site below

 

 "Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann.

 

 

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cruzingnut

cruzingnut

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19 minutes ago, WCB said:

 

Henk came all the way to our room, and we were soon joined by Shiv, the best Executive Housekeeper and his assistant.  He was there to confirm that all of our requests had been met, which they had.  There was an extra refrigerator, which we did not really need as there is one in the

 

 

 

 

 

 "Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann.

 

 

  Oh, how wonderful it must have been to see Henk, Shiv and Twinkle!!!  I'm so jealous!  Glad you are onboard again and will be enjoying vicariously thru you.  I'd be wearing my mask too!  Stay safe and have a great time!  Tell Henk and Shiv that Dave (Rickerson) and I said hi and we look forward to seeing them on the world cruise next year. 

 

Linda

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 3   Thursday, 9-8-22   Scenic Cruising Inside Passage   Sunny & 60 degrees   Part #1 of 1    57 Pictures

 

It seems that for every 20 miles we sailed north, the temperature dropped a degree.  And that’s exactly what we expected.  The nice part is that the sun has stayed out, and there is no sign of rain…..yet.   It may come as soon as tomorrow as we head towards Tracy Arm, followed with our first stop in Juneau.  In the meantime, we enjoyed soaking up the warmth on our veranda.  It has been so unforgivingly hot at home, we never thought we could feel cold again.  Wish we could send some of this coolness to our family and buddies back home.

 

After sleeping pretty well last night, we began our day with our first breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill.  Our greeter remembered us from the Nieuw Statendam last spring, which is always nice.  At 8:30am, it was already busy in there with the suite folks.  On a side note, there is Club Orange on this ship, but their special dining area is located in the main dining room on deck two.  One of the first things the wait staff learned about us is the fact we like hot coffee, and lots of it.  It became like a challenge for the waiters to keep our cups full.  And that they did so gladly. Today’s breakfast was fairly simple with Greek yogurt and fresh berries, Belgium waffles with a slice of ham.  Oh yeah, we shared a blueberry muffin with our fresh-squeezed orange juice.  The bakers have done a great job with their breads so far, and that can be dangerous.  We could have had a mimosa, but we refrained.

 

We attempted a walk around the outside deck, but failed to bring sweatshirts.  We lasted one round, then ducked inside.  Maybe we’ll try it later. At least we know the deck goes completely around, and not what was written in the Berlitz book, which stated you cannot get around the bow of the ship.  We took a stroll through The Shops, to check out their items.  Found they were similar to all of the ships, except for the Alaskan smoked salmon, warm clothing, and some local jewelry.  We bet that in three weeks there will be a good sale on what will be left before the ship heads south to the palm trees.  And good news……there were no pushy sales people, at least this early in the day.  Hope it stays that way.  If we were seeking items from Effy, their high-end jewelry collection, we could have attended the Shopping Show in the Rolling Stones Lounge in the morning, and had a chance to get a pendant if we were the first of 200 people there.

 

We had a big job waiting for us in our room, so we spent the better part of the day getting everything stashed.  Once again, we brought the super duper ceiling magnetic hooks along with some wooden dowels.  So now the wall where the thermostat is located, is full of colorful Tommy B short sleeve shirts on hangers.  Even hung some over the mirror behind the bed.  Did we mention that this ship has the felt-covered thin hangers that are sold at Costco for instance?  They are great.  A shoe bag worked well for all the small stuff from toiletries to masks, over-the-counter meds, a sewing kit and scissors, as well as small lotions and potions.  The best thing is that the pouches are clear and everything can easily be located.

 

This time the jewelry pouch (a small version of the shoe bag) was hung on a hanger from the ceiling too.  It is so much better than the plastic container I used on the previous cruise, where the earrings got all tangled.  We thought ahead and purchased 20 small magnetic hooks that one of us used to hang necklaces…all from the ceiling.  There is absolutely no metal in the walls, and attempting to use Command hooks failed.  There is a gritty texture to the walls and the sticky pads do not work.  But they will hold on any wooden surface, such as found in the closets and around the desk area.  That’s where a full size calendar was hung along with clips to display the daily newsletter and invites, etc.  Speaking of invitations, we did receive one for a James Suckling’s Wine Tasting in the afternoon.  As most everyone knows, we seldom drink wine, so we did not attend. 

 

While we were busy as bees, a technician arrived to find out what was wrong with the extra refrigerator.  We explained it was not working correctly, but we would keep it and use it as a cabinet.  Not sure he really understood that, but he agreed.  Later, he came back with a set of three plastic drawers, larger than the nightstands.  Well that will be convenient, so we asked him to leave that also.  Sailing on the Amsterdam, we always had drawers in the desk.  But here, there are none but the two small drawers in the nightstands.  So, in the end, we ended up with uncrowded closets with extra shelf space in there.  The four empty suitcases fit under the bed.  Job done!

 

It was already 2pm, so we ordered a room service lunch. It arrived rather quickly. One of us had a chicken Caesar salad, the other had the chicken noodle soup (without the spaghetti, let alone the noodles). Is that a cutback?  We shared a club sandwich, with was half the size of what we remembered.  Probably better for us.  Working on reports and photos took up the rest of the afternoon.  Most of the day, Captain Friso sailed in and out of the passage.  Our veranda has the best panoramic view of the aft seas.  With the use of powerful binoculars and the good camera, Bill was able to take pictures of whale blows, an eagle, a school of dolphins, many sea birds, a few fishing boats, and a surprise display of killer whales.  What a treat.  Around 6:30pm, the ship slowed to a crawl, and apparently picked up a pilot from a boat.  We could see the evidence of a separate wake as we continued sailing on, capturing a photo of the exiting vessel.  We had made last minute reservations in the Pinnacle this first gala (Dressy) evening at 7:30pm, and we made it by the skin of our teeth.  Had we attended the Captain’s Welcome, we would have arrived even later.  Been there, done that, and it would be crowded in the Mainstage for sure.   Not our thing, even though we have continued to wear our masks while inside the ship.

 

We failed on the Have-It-All perk today, as we forgot to collect our beverages.  Will have to catch up tomorrow.

 

When we boarded yesterday, we discovered a nifty little orange booklet called The Basics.  Among other things, it outlines the dress code.  Tonight’s was labeled Dressy, taking it up a notch with slacks, skirts, dresses, blouses, collared shirts and jackets.  The term Gala was not mentioned, but Formal was.  The suggested attire for that is suits and dresses.  Casual is described as smart attire, but no distressed jeans, shorts, beachwear, or tank tops in the table service restaurants.  This evening in the Pinnacle Grill, we saw a mixed bag of clothing, but most all acceptable.  Only one young fellow strolled in with distressed jeans complete with holes.  He was not asked to change.  As for us, we dressed a bit more on the Formal side….tux and glitter.

 

Dinner consisted of wedge salads with warm rolls and garlic butter as well as a bell pepper/cream cheese mixture.  We shared a clothes line bacon appetizer to eat with our salads.  We did not see any extra charge for ordering more than one or two appetizers, however, if you chose to order more than one entrée, there was an additional fee.  Our main was the same…..the small filet mignon, medium.  It came almost rare, and not quite as hot as we normally prefer it.  A baked potato, one serving of sauteed mushrooms, and one order of French fries rounded out the meal.  We will have to request the waiter to serve the food as hot as they can, or else it comes lukewarm. Perhaps that was due to the fact our meals sat on a side table for a bit too long.  Desserts were one crème brulee and an Almost Baked Alaska, which almost had no ice cream in the middle.  Frankly, I can do without the meringue and cake, and just have the Cherry Garcia ice cream.  What had been in the middle of the cake (not even Cherry Garcia) had melted out completely.  Of course, our waiter had no idea it wasn’t up to par, but we explained the mess I left.  He offered another one, but we declined, laughing on our way out.  Perhaps the next time, I will order the Key lime pie, which is always tasty and sweet.

 

And speaking of sweets, yesterday we had informed Edy, our room steward, that we did not need towel animals, cute as they are, we figured it saves him some precious time.  Instead, we opted for two pillow chocolates daily.  He said no problem, and for two nights, we have had them on our bed in the evening.  He did not have to go to anyone for special permission, as they had to on the N. Amsterdam and Statendam.  For the Dressy night, we did not receive the Seattle’s Best formal candies.  Not sure they serve those anymore.

 

The clocks went back one hour tonight, affording us the time to compose this report.  We could have gone to see the Humanity Step One Dance Company performance, but that is one we have attended a few times.  Best to keep up with the reporting.  One of these evenings, we will have to check out the Music Walk and see how crowded those shows are.

Tomorrow we shall stop briefly in Tracy Arm, then continue to Juneau, the capital of Alaska.  Want to bet there will be many other cruise ships there?

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS   We were very sad to hear of Queen Elizabeth’s passing today.  Captain Friso came on the speakers and gave a moving speech about her amazing life and service to her country.  God bless the Queen!

 

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