Fire and Ice : A photo travelogue from Alaska thru the canal to the Caribbean and beyond

[scubacruiserx2]

We feel like  the best way to get to know our guides better is having a meal together . We don't think that Esther had been to West Deck so we asked her to make reservations . We wanted to try a number of local dishes so we ordered and ate family style .

 

 

 

 

And with the orders in there was time to take a couple pics

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We spotted these on the roof 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Esther lives with her mom we wanted to send food home for them . But it was another great job by Esther and we hope to see her and Aruba soon and we would highly recommend her .

 

 

 

It was now time to sail off finally North this time 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Before we could head North we have to sail rapidly South parallel to the island past the  cruise port , airport and the Hooiberg before heading out to sea and then turning North and sailing parallel to the island again , this time North .

 

 

The port where we were and the Tradewinds ship is

 

 

The West End where we ate

 

 

The flights had to wait as we raced past the airport

 

 

The Hooiberg ( Haystack) is 540' tall

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooiberg#:~:text=Hooiberg is a 165 m,virtually anywhere on the island.&text=The Dutch word hooiberg%2C literally,resemble a stack of hay.

 

 

The Southern refineries , no longer in use

 

 

As we moved away from the island we passed a couple of offshore oil rigs

 

 

And a final pass of the cruise port

 

 

Next up will be the Cellar Masters Dinner

Edited January 1, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[oakridger]

I really need to go on this itinerary again after I get my new knee!  I see how much I missed out on in the ports because I can't walk very far.  I'm planning on being good to go by next year!

 

~Nancy

[Hogladyrider]

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

I really need to go on this itinerary again after I get my new knee!  I see how much I missed out on in the ports because I can't walk very far.  I'm planning on being good to go by next year!

 

~Nancy

Just got a new knee Nov 7th.  Best of luck to you in your new knee.  It is a journey!

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Just got a new knee Nov 7th.  Best of luck to you in your new knee.  It is a journey!

 

Best wishes with the new hardware ladies . We have heard that a lot of the pain goes away after the surgery and rehab . Pat fell on her knee a couple of weeks before a transatlantic cruise and we had to cancel . It was a comminuted fracture in 3 pieces requiring screws , wires and a brace that required rigidity for months until the Patella fused . She's been recommended a new knee but the Doctor is using injections and would like to wait a little longer as long as the pain doesn't get too bad . 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Usually HAL markets their special events pretty well but we didn't read or hear anything about this dinner but the manager in the Tamarind told us . We were late comers so we were glad that we made the cut .

 

 

When we met in the Tamarind Bar it was SRO and they dragged a couple of round tables in the aisle and chairs over to the small tables . It felt like they oversold the event and I think it may have been the first time that we remember something like this .

 

 

 

After filling our glasses they moved another couple across from us .

 

 

 

Flaming the drinks

 

 

 

It was very cozy as we filled all of the seats at Canaletto and the menus came out .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It was nice to have a couple of relaxing days at sea before HMC so we laid low most of the day with dinner at the Tamarind . The food selection and service is almost always fantastic .

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after dinner we headed up front to watch Unity perform some Billy Joel music 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They didn't perform my favorite Billy Joel song We didn't start the Fire until the after party at Music walk which was way too crowded for our enjoyment .

[scubacruiserx2]

Sunday October 23 we were up early at for a rainbow , breakfast and the group meeting at 9 .

 

 

The Nieuw Amsterdam mural on the way to lunch

 

 

 

 

We have done it before but we know that you can order afternoon tea in a Neptune Suite so we invited the group of 13 to our room for afternoon tea and snacks . We haven't seen so much food for a group since our youngest daughter got married on a cruise ship !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We were glad that we had some food saver bags for those who wanted to save some for later . In this photo was 2 of the ladies that we left in Costa Rica .

 

 

The rest of the group

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Sunday Dinner special in the Canaletto is Chicken Parm 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the entertainment was freely given

 

 

[oakridger]

That musician from BB King on the trombone was a character!  It made it really fun when he was so happy and shared the fun spirit with everyone he encountered!  I spoke with him briefly in Canaletto too.  My favorite is Osso Bucco on the Monday special there.

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

That musician from BB King on the trombone was a character!  It made it really fun when he was so happy and shared the fun spirit with everyone he encountered!  I spoke with him briefly in Canaletto too.  My favorite is Osso Bucco on the Monday special there.

 

~Nancy

 

We like the Osso Bucco as well and wind up splitting it because it was so large . We also saw the Saxophone guy perform a Happy Birthday there . It seems like the the BB King's musicians like Canaletto .

[scubacruiserx2]

Monday October 24th found us having breakfast when we received the morning announcements about going ashore .

 

 

 

 

We were in no hurry to get to the island and waited a bit until the crowd thinned before going ashore 

 

 

 

We had booked the Lobster lunch as our only plan . And to take some photos also . The tenders here were more roomy , safer and more open which was much nicer that being squeezed into the orange boats .

 

 

 

 

[albingirl]

11 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Monday October 24th found us having breakfast when we received the morning announcements about going ashore .

 

 

 

 

We were in no hurry to get to the island and waited a bit until the crowd thinned before going ashore 

 

 

 

We had booked the Lobster lunch as our only plan . And to take some photos also . The tenders here were more roomy , safer and more open which was much nicer that being squeezed into the orange boats .

 

 

 

 

Always a great blog from you.  Enjoying it very much.  Thank you.

[scubacruiserx2]

6 hours ago, albingirl said:

Always a great blog from you.  Enjoying it very much.  Thank you.

 

Thank you very much and we're glad that you are enjoying it . 🙂😊

[scubacruiserx2]

We wandered down the beach a little enjoying the view and looking for the Lobster Shack . We had bought our lunch tickets the night before in the Canaletto but when we showed up we were told that we didn't have reservations so no lobster . Fortunately Weman who was managing the Canaletto recognized us and corrected the issue on the spot .

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite breezy and the fancy paper plate tried to blow away . The wooden utensils may be eco friendly but they didn't cut it .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We returned to the ship after lunch to pack a little . HAL would be moving us again to a different room in the morning and we would be meeting our oldest grandson for the next cruise . It was his 20th birthday present .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

While we were ashore the guys did a nice job of cleaning so we took some photos of the cabin which we submitted to HALfacts yesterday .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Some HMC outtakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This boat brought the food to the island to feed all of the hungry and thirsty people

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We wanted to watch our last sunset at sea on this cruise so we ordered dinner for delivery

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Good morning Port Everglades

 

 

 

The last time that we were in transit was in Vancouver but we had a guide and left the port for a tour . This time it was a turn around to board for our next cruise . All of the in transit people met in BB Kings and there were about 25 of us .

 

 

After about 15 - 20 minutes we headed out together

 

 

Whether disembarking or embarking there's a long hall to walk

 

 

 

The line for the eye scan . We had to swipe our old cards before we left the ship and had been given our new cards which we swiped when we reboarded .

 

 

The agents and scanners were in the distance and the scanning process only took a couple of seconds . They had a line of chairs for us and after zeroing the ship we reboarded about 20 minutes later .

 

 

It was much more easy and quick compared to Vancouver  😊🙂

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It was our grandson's 1st cruise on HAL so we wanted him to enjoy the suite life and it was only $100 for him to go for the week . We and he really wanted to go to Grand Turk where his best friends mom is from and still has family there . We wanted to SCUBA with him and there's a nice place there to eat . When we booked it we had to pay in full and the schedule was a day at sea , Grand Turk , HMC , Nassau and back the next day . About a month later HAL eliminated Grand Turk and rescheduled the trip with Key West taking it's place on day 1 . After we began the cruise in Vancouver we realized that when we folded out the sofa sleeper that it would mean at 6' 3'' Tyler's feet would be touching ours and that we would be on different schedules . So we canceled his stay in our room and got him the room next door where we could open his balcony to join ours . We went to our room first which was the same room that we had for Alaska . The clothes were hanging in the closet and we emptied our bags to put things away . We were in 5188 and he in 5182 . Our room was still in the cleaning process as there was a gift for the cabin attendant so we went and looked at our Tyler's room .

 

 

Tyler's room

 

 

 

 

 

 

A shower only - no small tub as in other class ships

 

 

We headed down to lunch in the MDR

 

 

 

 

[oakridger]

I'm sure everyone was much more comfortable in separate rooms.....especially with a 6'3" young man!  Two bathrooms is always good also!!

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

7 hours ago, oakridger said:

I'm sure everyone was much more comfortable in separate rooms.....especially with a 6'3" young man!  Two bathrooms is always good also!!

 

~Nancy

 

It worked out great . Just as we finished lunch we went down to meet him at the port and he had just cleared and was boarding as we met .

[scubacruiserx2]

We had a little free time before we ate lunch and met Tyler so we shot some photos of an empty ship waiting to go .

 

 

 

 

 

A Sellabration at the Lido Pool

 

 

 

We used to park at this lot but we prefer to park off site and they have a van deliver us to and from the ship

 

 

The ladies in the Neptune Lounge had heard about Tyler so we introduced them before returning to our interconnecting rooms now that Tyler's balcony divider was open

 

 

 

 

Time for our sail away at 1500