Puerto Rico

Posted on February 13, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Westerdam from San Cristobal

Westerdam approaching San Juan

Approaching San Juan Puerto Rico, the crew of the Holland America Westerdam opened doors to the bow and balconies on several decks above that normally remain locked. People flocked onto the bow to watch the boat dock. Not being one for crowds, I quickly left the bow on deck 4. Instead, I headed for the balcony on deck 6, the same deck as our room, but on the opposite end of the ship. John wanted to stop by our room to get something for his camera. He said he would meet me there shortly. I opened the door and stepped outside. Score, I had the balcony to myself. I watched the castle looming in the distance and the crowd below scrambling to find room to take unobstructed pictures. The door opened. No, not John, somebody else. Oh well plenty of room for them and me. Where did he go, I wondered, after all he is the one with the telephoto camera. The door opened again, and once again it wasn’t him.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

I had to zoom my little pocket camera to the best of its ability and take pictures of the old fort castle myself.

Finally John showed up. He got lost trying to find his way to the end of the hallway that leads to the bow. I’d laugh if I hadn’t been lost at sea without ever leaving port myself.

The ship passed the castle and found its way into the dock at the port, amidst a mix of old and new buildings and construction of some sort going on right next to the dock. We had no shore excursions planned for this port. Sometimes we like to just get off the boat and see what we find. This time we decided to follow the blue brick road. Spanish ships of the 1800’s used furnace slag as

Blue Brick Road

ship’s ballast. Island settlers made good use of the blue brick cobblestones the ships left behind. Called adoquin, the blue bricks worked well for ready-made paving material. Modern cars have some difficulty maneuvering on these narrow streets intended for horse and buggy use. They often ride over the curb while turning corners. Sadly some of the blue streets have been paved over. We saw people working on one street, widening it and repaving. The city will lose some of its old world charm if all the blue streets

Castillo San Cristobal

eventually get paved over.

The road led us to Castillo San Cristobal, one of the two major old forts, or castles in old San Juan. For a very small fee, we went inside for a tour. It is self-guided, but they do provide a map.

garita

500 years ago, people built things to last. For all its crumbly appearance, most of the old fort is actually quite solid. It was a bit hot and muggy the day we were there, but inside the garitas, or look-out towers, a refreshingly cool sea breeze blew through. Nature’s air conditioning, making the temperature quite pleasant. The tower guards of yesteryear must have appreciated that.

Before we even got inside the castle, we noticed an iguana peeking

iguana lawn mower

over the wall from up above. After going inside, we went upstairs and found a whole lawn full of iguanas. A man who worked there said they are not native, but descendants of pets people turned loose. They let them stay because they are good lawn mowers and save time and money on maintenance. They also make a great tourist attraction, and don’t seem to mind posing for cameras.

Archways at el Morro

After touring San Cristobal, we set off to see Castillo San Felipe del Morro, otherwise known as El Morro. That was the castle we saw from the ship on the approach to old San Juan. We hadn’t gone far when the free trolley came by. We hopped on, glad for the ride, though on a cooler

cemetery with Ponce de Leon’s grave

day the walk would have been pleasant. Before going in, we paused for a look at the cemetery. Ponce de Leon‘s tomb is in the cathedral there.

The U.S. National Park service manages the old forts as national historic sites. They have a discount price for visiting both castles, and since we managed to dig up the receipt from the first one we only had to pay the difference and not the full price to see the second one. El Morro had a wide open space with many

cannon at El Morro

archways painted yellow and a long stairway down to a plaza overlooking the sea. Waves crashed against the rocks in a frenzy of wild surf at the bottom of the sea wall. An old cannon still pointed toward the sea, with no ammunition against threats of the distant past. We did see cannon balls fused into a giant pile at the other fort though.

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

We walked back to the ship from el Morro. We saw lots of brightly colored houses along the blue brick streets. John had fun taking pictures of interesting doorways, many of which had cats sleeping in front of them. People of San Juan seemed to like cats a

Cat in the Doorway

lot, we even saw a group of people herding a large black cat that must have strayed too far from home. Some places had doors made of iron bars instead of solid wooden doors. The cats there went in and out as they pleased. We saw lots of other unique things on the way back, cat-shaped iron chairs, parts of the wall that once surrounded the entire city, and a park taken over by a flock of pigeons. We found horse carriage rides too.

cat chairs

Horse Carriage Rides

el Morro

More Blogs About Puerto Rico

Bicycling in Old San Juan
Cats of Old San Juan
In Search of Cats
Paseo de la Princessa and Diving Pelicans
Staying in Puerto Rico

Posted in Caribbean, Holland America, Port Cities, Ports of Call, Westerdam | Tagged blue brick road, Caribbean cruise, castles, forts, Holland America, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Westerdam | 5 Comments

High Tea on the High Sea

Posted on January 29, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Westerdam in the Caribbean

Tea, not just a drink, but an English Tradition. Well European

Vista Dining room, Holland America Westerdam

Peeking in at the High Tea Display

tradition, I suppose since this is HOLLAND America, not England America.

A windmill sculpted in ice greeted passengers on the approach to the high tea on the Westerdam. Luckily, the sea had calmed down a bit and the ship stayed flat, or it would have been high tea on the really really high sea. Probably would have been more than a bit messy too. Earlier the boat rocked enough to slosh people in the pool from one side to the other, much to their delight. A genuine wave pool. But that having nothing to do with tea, I shall move on.

flowers or vegetables?

A crowd began to gather in front of the dining room, waiting for the doors to open in anticipation of High Tea. Through the glass we could see the fancy display of delicacies amidst decorations made of food. What to do until the doors opened? Other people stood patiently waiting. But that’s other people, I generally have no patience for waiting. So what did I do? Got out my camera of course. Within minutes an army of cameras joined mine, though mostly taking pictures though the glass, while my tiny Casio pocket camera fit nicely into the spaces between glass panels. I did see one or two other people try to copy my technique, but they were lucky if they could get the lens in the open space. There is definitely something to be said for tiny cameras.

Finally a crew member dressed all in white opened the door. People flowed through in orderly fashion. Not too quickly, lines move a bit slow in the early days of a cruise as passengers are not allowed to serve themselves for the first few days to halt the spread of any germs they may have boarded with.

Watermelon Swan

Delicately carved watermelons atop poles, and bouquets of sugar flowers adorned tables overflowing with numerous fancy treats. What to pick? I tried a cucumber sandwich, about as traditional a tea treat as I have ever heard of. A cream puff swan and tiny chocolate cake joined the sandwich. What is that hollowed out flakey biscuit thing? Does the soup go in it? Yes, OK I’ll try one of those. I might have been a bit greedier if it was serve yourself, but that seemed like enough for point at the food you want and somebody puts it on your plate service. A good way to keep from putting on those extra cruise ship pounds as well as halt the spread of germs I think.

One nice thing about this cruise, group seating prevents dining

dining companion

alone. Apparently John wasn’t the only absent husband, having chosen poker over tea. I sat with several other women and we all had a nice chat with our tea.

“How drunk everyone looked this morning staggering around trying to walk on the rocking boat.”

“It was impossible to walk a straight line, I even saw someone bounce off the wall.”

“At least we finally left port.”

“This morning when the water was so rough there were a few people wishing we hadn’t.”

“Better stuck at the dock than adrift like the Carnival Splendor.”

“Those people were well compensated though.”

“We are supposed to get some sort of compensation for the late start and missed port too.”

We pulled the large chunks of butter out of our sandwiches and ate the rest. The biscuity thing tasted pretty good too.

mmmm

High Tea on the High Sea, a pleasant way to pass an afternoon on the ship. Later in the cruise they had some specialty teas, including the ever popular cupcake tea. With so many other things going on, this turned out to be the only tea I made it to. Better for the waistline that way I guess. The comic who joked about cruise ship passengers having 14 meals a day was probably not all that far off for some people. The seemingly endless food options is definitely one of the things most people enjoy about cruises.

Posted in Cruise Food, Holland America, Westerdam | Tagged afternoon tea, Caribbean cruise, carved watermelons, cruise food, High Tea, ice sculpture, vegetable boquets | Leave a comment

Coconut Lime Muffins

Posted on January 16, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Safari Quest in LaConte Fjord, Alaska

In September of 2010 we took a wonderful small-ship Alaskan adventure cruise. We hiked in the wilderness, walked on a glacier, saw a fjord full of ice bergs, and kayaked in serene waters. Every morning on our Alaskan wilderness cruise on theSafari Quest, breakfast included an option of fresh baked muffins. The variety changed daily. One morning we had coconut lime muffins. At least the early breakfast eaters did. Those tasted so good and were so popular I doubt there were any left for the stragglers. People liked those muffins so much we all talked about them for the rest of the cruise. Word must have gotten back to the chef because on the last day we had coconut chocolate chip muffins. I should have liked those even better. Coconut and chocolate are my two most favorite flavors. I know for a fact at least one person did like those better because he said so. But for some reason I was just hooked on the coconut lime, best muffins I ever tasted. Not having been brilliant enough to ask for the recipe, I’ve just thought about how wonderful they tasted off and on since the cruise. Then one day we had some overripe bananas and I didn’t feel like making banana bread. I tried making banana muffins instead. And discovered that making muffins from scratch without a box of muffin mix is actually quite easy. So I tried adapting a basic plain muffin recipe into a coconut lime muffin recipe. The first batch tasted a bit too limey so I made a few adjustments and the second one came out quite well I thought. So I decided to share my recipe. I’ve updated the recipe a bit since the first posting and they are better than ever now. Especially if you use heaping cups on the coconut, canola oil and sugar, and beat the egg with a touch of milk. For our lactose intolerant friends, this recipe also happens to be dairy free.

Coconut Lime Muffins

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 beaten egg

1/3 cup lime juice

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup canola oil

Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake papers and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir the first 6 ingredients together in a bowl.

Add the next 5 ingredients and stir with a spoon just until dry ingredients are moistened. Never overmix muffins, they don’t rise if you do. Spoon batter into the 12 prepared muffin cups. If a toasted coconut top is desired, sprinkle tops with coconut before baking.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Yum!

Posted in Cruise Food, recipes | Tagged coconut lime muffin recipe, coconut lime muffins, cruise food, dairy free, food, lactose free, muffin recipe, recipe, yacht cruise | 2 Comments

Lost at Sea Without Ever Leaving Port

Posted on January 7, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Holland America Westerdam

One good thing about sitting in port watching all the other ships

crane lifting back-up generator

leave – nobody gets seasick! Our ship was scheduled to leave a bit later than most, but left a lot later than that. The backup generator did not pass the coast guard inspection upon returning to America from the Westerdam’s previous cruise in Europe. As fixing it would take several days, they brought in a temporary one and made modifications to place it on deck. The generator arrived on time. Problem was, the crane could not lift it. It took until the next morning to get a larger crane, so we had about a 16 hour delay before departing.

generator on deck

One could have quite a nice vacation on a cruise ship without ever leaving the boat, in fact there are a number of people on board who do just that. They enjoy having the ship to themselves while the majority of the guests explore the ports. Gamblers and shoppers are a bit lost for entertainment as the casino and stores close in port, but there are more shows, lectures, demonstrations, and of course food and bars than any one person could ever see, do, eat or drink. And the gym is open every day too. Somehow I just didn’t find time for the gym this cruise, except for signing up for a lecture during my initial explorations and putting in for a drawing for free spa services. We went to the drawing, but didn’t win.

Morning came and the ship had not moved. Much. It relocated to a

view from the sports court

different slip at the port. The crane arrived and work began to lift the generator in place. Dodging the Tai Chi class and the people in the sports court, I managed to take a few pictures. I could see the new Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas just behind us, preparing for her maiden voyage. We had breakfast in the Vista dining room, the only place to get the eggs benedict I have to have at least once on a cruise. We watched an endless sea of food go by, but seemed to have lost our waiter after he took our orders and served pastries. Eventually he found his way to our table and we enjoyed our food.

Checking the daily schedule I found that the computer class I wanted to take started before the lecture I signed up for in the gym would end. Sigh, what to do? Not wanting to skip either, I tried to do both. I sat near the back at the flat stomach lecture, planning to sneak out in time to go to the computer class. Meanwhile, John went to a cooking demonstration. While I was in the lecture, the captain made an announcement that we would not have time to go to Grand Turk, but would head straight to Puerto Rico once the ship got underway. As compensation for missing that port we were eventually offered a choice of 10% of that cruise or 20% off a future cruise.

“Why don’t we just skip an at sea day?” I heard a person behind me ask.

“Yeah we have two of those,” their friend replied. “I’d rather see grand Turk than have the extra day at sea.”

Perhaps a good plan if we could just beam the ship to Grand Turk Star Trek style. Maybe their brains were lost in space. I had wanted to try the power snorkel excursion offered at Grand Turk, but better to have an opportunity lost than to end up drifting at sea with no power like the Carnival Splendor.

digital workshop (sponsored by Microsoft)

After a time, I checked my watch and knew I would have to leave if I wanted to get to the computer class on time. So I lost out on the end of the lecture. Only I couldn’t find the computer class. I had found the room the day before, but where did it go? After endless wanderings I finally found it. No sneaking in as the door was at the front of the room. And all the computers were full. “I’ll just zip up to my room and get my laptop then, is that OK?” I asked. It should have just taken a few minutes, but in my haste I forgot to check the signs by the elevator for fore and aft rooms. If you go the wrong way far enough then you go around a corner and end up on the odd numbered room hall instead of even. When in such a hurry that you have lost all major brain function, it takes awhile to catch on that no matter how many times you go up and down the hallway, the even-numbered room will never appear between any odd-numbered rooms. Oh yeah, other side.

Finally, I got the computer. Now where was that classroom again? Not realizing yet that it was the old library, I couldn’t use the map or deck plans to find it as the computer workshop was not listed anywhere. More aimless wanderings. About halfway through the class I finally found it. Then I was really lost. Not only did I have no idea what they had learned so far, I did not have the same photo program.

Trying to attend two things at once just doesn’t work. Make a choice and stick with it. I ended up taking the computer class again later. I took part 2 and realized I really needed all of part 1. After that I got there early enough to get a computer, but always had my laptop along just in case.

On the way back to my room, I walked through the shops. The

ship's shop

shops! Open!! That meant only one thing….. Finally the ship left port!!! I stopped to buy a sweatshirt since I had neglected to bring one.

It did not take long to hit some relatively rough water. Walking a straight line became impossible as everyone staggered down the hallways like so many drunks. Some perhaps wished we had not left port after all. I took a Dramamine just in case, but did not feel seasick at all. The rough stretch only lasted a day or so before the water calmed down for the rest of the cruise.

Posted in Holland America, Randoms, Shipboard Life, Westerdam | Tagged Caribbean, crane, cruise, Fort Lauderdale, generator, Microsoft Digital Workshop, Westerdam | 2 Comments

Fort Lauderdale

Posted on December 18, 2010 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Fort Lauderdale, through Lido deck window

Finally the much anticipated day arrived. Time to leave for our Holland America Caribbean cruise on the Westerdam. Work was a bit slow so I got to leave a couple hours early. I had already packed the previous weekend, but the extra time came in handy for taking a shower and making dinner before my sister (the house sitter) arrived. She got there just about the time the food finished cooking. I couldn’t have asked for better timing. After dinner we fed the dog and horses together so she would know where to find everything they would need.

Our ride came to take us to the airport. After slogging through very rainy streets we left the car, got our bags checked in and waited for the plane. We like to travel cheap, so we took the redeye overnight flight to Miami. It was the only direct flight where I could go on the greatly reduced companion fare.

iguana sunning on a rock

We arrived in Miami several hours early for our 10:30am meeting with Art, whom we had met on the Inner Sea Discoveries Alaskan cruise on the Safari Quest. We decided to find something for breakfast while we waited. I wanted to try something that you can’t get everywhere. John likes to stick with the known, so we ended up at Burger King. He’s really got to get a bit more adventurous now that we have our new site My Travel Tastes up. Actually he eats all sorts of weird things in other countries, grasshoppers, scorpion-on-a-stick, fish eyeballs, that sort of thing. But try to get him into a local cafe instead of a fast food chain? Maybe the new website will help.

Art picked us up at the airport and took us to the local Bass Pro Shop. He figured

Jaws at the Bass Pro Shop

John would like that. They had a very nice restaurant there where he treated us to lunch. We ate out on the covered patio and watched birds swimming around in the pond. Now and then a bird came begging for food. An iguana sunned itself on a rock near the water. On the way out we met jaws.

Art dropped us off at the cruise ship dock. We had quite a few hours yet before the scheduled departure time, so not much of a line had formed. The check-in went fairly quickly. My new rolley bag was small enough to keep with me, but John brought the mega-bag so he had to give it to the luggage guys before we checked in. They had the rooms open about half an hour after we boarded. In the meantime we had a meeting with the hotel manager, who set up a few special things for us since we are writers. We skipped the welcome aboard lunch since we had just eaten.

We had a room on deck 6, the upper veranda deck, same as we had when we cruised on the Oosterdam. Except we had a veranda then, and an inside room this time. Definitely much nicer to have the veranda. After the first couple days, we took to leaving the TV on overnight with the sound off. Tuned in to the bow cam channel, the screen remained dark until the sun came up, so at least we knew when daylight came. Sort of like an electronic window.

John wanted a nap after our sleepless night on the plane, but I am used to sleepless nights as I rarely sleep the first night in a new place. Armed with the map provided in a little packet with my room card key, I set out to wander about the ship. Westerdam is a sister ship of the Oosterdam, so I thought I would find my way around a lot easier than I actually did. The Westerdam had some recent remodeling so this ship was not exactly the same. Not to mention too many years passed to remember the exact layout.

The crow’s nest lounge, which had been the poker room on our card player cruise on the Oosterdam, now housed and internet café and the library instead of taking up the entire front room of the 10^th deck as it had back then on the other ship. The lido deck sported a new Italian restaurant for dinner service, the Canaletto.

sculpture at the family pool

The rest of the layout of the lido deck seemed much as we

sculpture at the adult pool

remembered from the other boat. The midship pool on the Lido deck has a sliding cover which they close at night, or I would assume in bad weather, though we didn’t really have any. Somewhere along the line, somebody decided to have the midship pool open to all ages, and the aft pool for adults only. Judging from the pool sculptures, this was not the original intention when they built the ship.

atrium on the Westerdam

I found the showroom at the bow on decks 1,2, and 3. The dining room filled the stern on decks 2 and 3. In between were most of the other public areas. The photography area, shops, the casino and numerous bars.The shops and casino are never open in port. In the former library, I found the digital workshop, where computer classes would take place. On deck 2, I found the Queen’s Lounge where John spent a lot of time watching culinary demonstrations.

After a bit of exploration, I thought I knew my way around. I saw our original rooms

boat light above the atrium

near the theater, and even wandered through the disco area. The Westerdam has a beautiful atrium. I really liked the boat light hanging above it, though I never could get a really good picture of it. In the gym, I signed up for a lecture the next morning on how to get a flat stomach, and entered a raffle for free spa services.

Whenever I wandered back toward our room, I checked the mountains of luggage piling up near the elevators on our deck for John’s mega bag. I never did find it. Eventually someone delivered it to our room.

From our ship, we could see quite a few other ships in port. Several other Holland America Vessels, and the new Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas, preparing for its maiden voyage. About 5:00 other ships started

Holland America ship leaving Fort Lauderdale

leaving the harbor. That was our original departure time, but we had received an email a couple weeks before the cruise stating a change to 7:00pm instead. Alas, that was not to be. The captain made an announcement that upon arrival from Europe, the coast guard did an extensive inspection of the vessel. The back-up generator did not pass their scrutiny. This was about the time that the Carnival Splendor had just been rescued from drifting off the coast of Mexico. So getting stuck in port with all our ship’s amenities fully functional did not seem too bad, and they expected to get underway within a few hours.

Sitting in the Vista dining room around 8pm, we enjoyed a lovely dinner. One of our dinner companions complained that she was not enjoying herself yet as the ship had not left port. I could not see how anyone would be doing anything different right then in or out of port, and since the ship is a floating resort one could honestly have an enjoyable holiday right there. We did meet people on board who never left the ship regardless of what port we visited. They liked the quiet times on board when everyone else left.

Posted in Holland America, Port Cities, Westerdam | Tagged boat light, Caribbean, Fort Lauderdale, Holland America, jaws | 2 Comments

Does Lauren’s towel elephant REALLY trump my towel turkey?

Posted on December 3, 2010 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Westerdam

As anyone who has ever cruised knows, every night you return to your room to find a new towel animal created by your cabin boy. At Thanksgiving time, I posted a picture of a towel turkey from my recent Holland America Westerdam cruise on my facebook. Lauren of Australia posted a towel elephant saying she trumped my towel turkey. So I want to know, does the towel elephant really trump the towel turkey? How about the hanging towel monkey from the Westerdam. Does it trump the towel elephant from somewhere in Australia?

You can still vote on this poll, it never closes!

Voting Instructions: Click yes or no, then click on the vote button. When it registers your vote it will show you the results.

If you are looking for towel animal instructions, please visit my towel animal folding blogs for directions on how to fold a towel turkey, a towel elephant, or a towel monkey. For an assortment of other animals see the towel animal page.

towel turkey

Lauren’s towel elephant

hanging towel monkey

Posted in Holland America, Randoms, Towel Animals, Westerdam | Tagged cruise ship animals, towel animal poll, towel elephant, towel monkey, towel turkey, vote | 5 Comments

Westerdam, Before the Cruise

Posted on November 28, 2010 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Holland America Westerdam

August, 2010. I finished my workweek and settled down at my computer. I had to check on any last minute adjustments to the scheduled time for meeting my sister and niece the next morning for our annual horse camping trip. There in my email inbox I found an email from John. He had left a couple days prior for a fishing trip in Alaska. A forward from SkyAuction.com. Book it, he said. Who can resist these prices? There it was, a 3 day sale on Caribbean cruises from Holland America, starting at $249 per person. I’ve wanted to do a Caribbean cruise for awhile, and on Holland America specifically ever since I read once in the Mariner Magazine they send to past guests that on Half Moon Cay, their private island, they have horseback riding that includes a swim in a warm ocean. I’ve taken my horses to a cold ocean, but there is not much swimming involved in that. They had five or six different cruise options. Eliminate everything that doesn’t stop at Half Moon Cay, and the ones over $400, and that left the Westerdam, Eastern Caribbean. I didn’t care where else it went or what boat it was, just give me Half Moon Cay.

What do you know, a new way to buy cheap cruises. And we do like things cheap, so I booked it. Or thought I did. The next morning I tried to leave for my camping trip. I got a phone call saying my credit card had been denied. How could that be? I had no balance on a card with a ridiculously high limit. So I had to delay leaving for my trip and investigate. Turned out that they had dropped the formerly sky-high limit to $1000. $20 less than the total price of the cruise once you add in the exorbitant fees and port taxes all cruises charge. (These taxes are the same regardless of the actual price paid for the room. For this trip, our taxes cost slightly more than the room.) They agreed to up the limit enough to pay for the cruise. After straightening out that mess, I was finally on my way for the camping trip.

The next week I applied for a new passport. One that expires in October just will not work for a cruise in November. I had to get that done in plenty of time to be sure I’d have it. I went to do the online cruise registration on Holland America’s website and did not get far before coming to the page that needed passport information. I remained stuck at that point until I got the new passport. While on Holland America’s website, I noticed they had us in the lowest possible room category. The drawback to booking this way, we did not get to choose our own room. I kind of figured we would go in whatever room doesn’t sell, but if we expect the worst than anything is an upgrade. Or perhaps we actually will have that room. I noticed only two in that category while glancing through the deck plans. The ones at the end of the hall closest to the showroom on the lowest deck with passenger rooms. Not the quiet sort of room I would choose, but conveniently located to get in and out of the shows quickly. There is less motion on the lower decks too. So far I have not had any motion sickness problems on cruise ships, but you never know.

New red bag compared to mondo bag and small bag

September 2010. We went on an American Safari Cruises / InnerSea Discoveries cruise to Alaska. I went to pack and remembered that I broke my big rolley bag last time I went to Australia. I have not needed it since so never replaced it. My small ones were too small, but John’s mondo bag that I borrowed for that trip is too big. I really needed to get a new bag before this cruise. I looked in the local stores, but they only had 5 piece sets. I just needed one bag. Perhaps I could find something online.

I went to the store looking for a new swimsuit for the hot tub

Cruise Pants

on the Alaska trip. (I did not find a swimsuit I liked, good thing I had an old one.) I found a new pair of cruise pants instead. What exactly are cruise pants? Anything with lots of secure pockets! Perfect for shore excursions. Who wants to carry a purse while dangling from a zip line or riding on a horse? Yet you can’t get on or off the boat without the ship’s card and there are often places to shop… Things like that are far too important for open pockets, hence the cruise pants with pockets that fasten securely. A good pair has enough room for a small camera, chapstick, a comb, all that sort of important stuff. I have no idea if said pants come anywhere close to being in style, but you know what? I don’t care! When you see grandmas, they never seem to wear anything remotely resembling the latest styles. Perhaps stylish grandmothers exist, but I have never seen one. So I always figured when I am a grandma, I no longer have to care. No kids around to embarrass by what I wear. Since I have

Panasonic Lumix Underwater Camera

no contact with anything having to do with the latest fashions in my daily life anyway, I wouldn’t know hot from not if it bit me. Point being, I am a grandma, I can wear what I want and not care what anyone else thinks. So I bought the cruise pants. These even have strings at the bottom that draw the legs up shorter. Probably intended to convert them to capris, but for me drawn up at their shortest they almost don’t drag the ground. I will have to do something about all that excess string though.

The passport came, so I went back to Holland America’s online

Netbook

check in. Got that done and moved on to the next page where they want flight info. Sigh, stuck again. We haven’t booked our flight yet. But while I was there I booked the horseback swimming shore excursion. That way we are sure to get it, I would be seriously disappointed if we waited to book until we got onboard and found out it was full.

I got my flu shot the other day. Cruise ships and airplanes have a lot of people packed into a small space. Nobody likes to get sick on vacation. Lots to do before a cruise.

October 2010. We finally got our flight booked. We’ll fly in the day of the cruise, and spend one night in Miami before flying home the day after. No more snags on the online registration, got that finished. Almost anyway, I just need to get more ink for my printer so I can print out the edocs and the luggage tags. I found an affordable wheeled bag at overstock.com. Cheap even. Slightly bigger than I wanted, but not the embarrassingly large mega-bag I took last cruise, so it’s all good.

The new bag arrived, it’s not too big after all. Its size seems just about right. I also got an underwater camera. Perfect for snorkeling. I got a netbook of my own too. Now I should have everything I need. Well except a new swimsuit, but the old ones will work.

November 2010: I still haven’t printed out those edocs yet. Good thing I didn’t do it too soon though. First the departure time changed, and then we got a room upgrade. Seems I figured correctly that Skyauction cruise sales fill the rooms nobody picks. Nobody will complain about an upgrade, and just about everybody about a downgrade. We got moved to a nice quiet deck with nothing but rooms above, below, and all around it. Still an inside room, but we can’t complain at the price we paid. Tomorrow I will put new ink in my printer and print out those edocs. I finally used up the last of the little bit of ink it had left.

We found someone to look after our animals and someone to take us to the airport. We even had somebody to pick us up in Fort Lauderdale. Nothing left to do but go on a cruise!

Posted in Holland America | Tagged Caribbean, cheap cruises, Holland America | 3 Comments

Oosterdam, Mexican Riviera

Posted on November 19, 2010 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Oosterdam in Ketchikan, Alaska

We enjoyed the card player cruise on Carnival Spirit so much, we decided to take another one the following year. Again we picked the Mexican Riviera for price and convenience, but there the similarity ended. We had a different ship, Holland America‘s Oosterdam, which went to completely different ports. We booked a bit late, and all the cheapest rooms were taken so for once we had a veranda.

December 2006, we flew into San Diego and took a cab to the cruise ship dock, hoping for early boarding. Alas, it was not to be as there had been some sort of illness on the previous cruise and the entire ship had to undergo extensive cleaning and sterilization. We did not have to wait long to drop off our luggage, check in, and have a seat in the ample waiting area. Which did not seem so ample as more and more people checked in, yet nobody could board the still-in-the-cleaning-process ship. Holland America did the best they could, opening up another room filled with folding chairs and serving snacks and beverages.

Finally the ship opened up to allow people on board. We explored the ship, which seemed quite nice, and having that veranda was definitely an advantage. I recommend that anyone who can talk themselves into spending the extra bit for a veranda do so. Having a veranda is so worth it, especially when visiting warm places. We also again carefully selected a quiet room with nothing but other rooms on not only that deck, but the ones above and below as well. The staff took extra precautions to keep germs under wraps, and nobody that I am aware of got sick on this cruise, so their efforts seem to have paid off.

We had the crow’s nest lounge for the poker room. A large room with awesome views. What a wonderful poker room, the rest of the guests who had not booked through card player must have been so jealous. They always had snacks and drinks available right there in the room so some people did not even leave for lunch. It did close for dinner and when at shore, or some may never have left. There was one drawback to having a nice room at the front of the boat near the top though. The higher you are and the farther from center, the more exaggerated the motion. And we were tailing a hurricane so not the calmest seas. It got to be a bit more than one of the dealers could take. There’s no faster way to shut down a poker game than to have the dealer vomit on the table. I’ve never seen an entire table of players jump up and back so quickly in unison before or since. The card player staff rapidly sent her to her room with instructions not to return until she felt better, and re-assigned the players to other tables, while closing and cleaning that one.

This trip John brought nice clothes, so we got to eat the lobster, and even posed for the formal pictures (but did not buy them.) They had poker tournaments as well as live games and I played in a ladies tournament that had all sorts of extra prizes in various hands as well as the main prizes for the winners.

We did not have any shore excursions planned in Mazatlan, so we just got off the ship to see what we could find. We found a very inexpensive bus tour that took us to see interesting geographic places with a lot of history, cliff divers, an open air market of local craftsman where I found some Christmas gifts to buy, a tour through an area of nice homes where some famous Americans keep houses, and to a shopping area with some touristy stores where I found a nice, yet cheap necklace in a jewelry store. There’s always something to do whether you pre-book anything or not. It’s often cheaper not, but if there is something you really want to do then I recommend pre-booking to ensure you get to do it because what you do if you just get off and do whatever is pretty random.

In Puerto Vallarta we booked a zipline tour through the ship. We could have booked this on our own, but it would have cost nearly as much and not included transportation. And had the added disadvantage that if you go off by yourself and don’t come back in time the ship will leave without you. Ship’s personnel took us to a waiting area where we were met by a driver from the zip-line place in a 4-wheel drive semi-open vehicle referred to as a jungle bus. Arriving at the zip line tour, it pulled in on a narrow dirt road and parked next to a small saddled burro. Must have belonged to one of the employees. Apparently it was accustomed to large loud vehicles rattling up and stopping withing a few feet of it, as it hardly gave us a glance.

Following our safety talk and how to instructions, we climbed a trail to our first platform. The runs from one tree to the next got longer , steeper, and faster as we went. They started us out easy so we could get used to it. We even got to swing across from one platform to another on a rope swing at one point. At the end we got to repel down a tree. We got a lot of exersise, but I definitely recommend zip lining to anyone who is in good physical condition, has some stamina, and is not afraid of heights.

In Cabo San Lucus we again did not book anything through the ship, but this time did not look for random whatever either. John already knew we could go parasailing from previous visits to Cabo. So we found a parasail boat among the many activities people hawked to passing tourists at the dock. In Cabo they have the sort of boats with a large winch where you take off and land right on the deck of the boat and never have to get wet. I have seen people in other places parasail and land on the water, I bet the way we did it was much easier. All the fun and none of the work, they hooked us up and sent us in the air and reeled us back down. The closest we will ever get to flying without sprouting wings. I totally recommend parasailing for anyone who wants an idea of what it feels like to fly.

As always, there is plenty to do at sea, endless food offerings, shows, classes, pools, and even internet access. Sitting on the veranda with a good book has its merits too. Since this was a poker cruise, we played a lot of poker too.

Posted in Holland America, Mexico | Tagged Cabo San Lucas, card player cruises, Mazatlan, Mexico, poker cruise, Puerto Vallarta | 4 Comments

Ketchikan, InnerSea Discoveries part 8

Posted on November 6, 2010 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Safari Quest in Walker Cove

Day Nine: We woke up at the dock in Ketchikan. Everyone had raved so much about the coconut lime muffins, we got coconut muffins again. This time with chocolate chips, still all warm and melty.

Ketchikan Tour

After breakfast I took a little walk on the outside deck and saw the Norwegian Pearl tied up across the dock from us. Looking up at the much larger ship, I saw people on their balconies looking down, watching me watching them. Here we all are in Ketchikan. What a different cruise experience on American Safari Cruises or InnerSea Discoveries seeing wild Alaska versus the large ships touring the tourist ports. I’ve done and enjoyed both, they are just very different. Earlier in the cruise when someone mentioned going back to the real world after the cruise ended, Kevin said that nature is the real world, the rest is man made.

House Above a Tunnel

The former mayor of Ketchikan, a Tlingit native, met us at the dock for a walking tour of the town. We docked right next to the Aleutian Ballad, a former Deadliest Catch ship. Now it gives a Bearing Sea crab fisherman’s tour. John has done that tour and says it is one of the best.

I saw a lot more of the city this time than I did the last time I was in Ketchikan. That time the rain was dumping buckets. We made it about as far as the first gift shop before running back to the boat. This time our beautiful sunny weather continued. Our tour guide talked about an eagle statue. He explained the origins of the name of the town came from an Indian word describing the sound of an eagle’s wings when you get too close. At least I think that is what he said. I was not paying that much attention. I found a house above a tunnel through the rock quite distracting. I’ve only seen that once before, where I-90 goes through Mercer Island near Seattle.

Creek Street

We saw some totem poles and the original hospital and moved on to Creek Street. Once the red light district, it now houses gift shops. True to its name, the creek does run through. You can look over the railing and see all sorts of salmon acclimating to the fresh water for their final upstream journey.

After a bit of shopping time, we made our way to the visitor’s center. From there you could book pretty much any tour

Sea Creatures

Ketchikan has to offer, and they have a lot. Everything from horse drawn trolley or Duck rides (amphibious vehicle) to float plane rides for aerial tours over the Misty Fjords, or with other destinations in mind. They have a myriad of other choices to fit any budget.

We met our bus, and took a detour on the way to the airport to check out Snorkel Alaska owned by Fred Drake. My husband John did this tour on a previous visit and says it is awesome. They showed us a collection of critters usually spotted on the tour. They explained that you really won’t be cold as they have wetsuits and things to keep you warm. John tried the snorkeling on a previous visit and said that is true.

We got to the ferry just in time to drive on before it left for the island on which sits the Ketchikan Airport. The destination of the infamous bridge to nowhere that never got built. The plane took off from sunny Alaska and landed in rainy Seattle, sadly the end of a wonderful journey.

InnerSea Discoveries and American Safari Cruises have combined and are now known as Un-Cruise Adventures.

More Blogs About Ketchikan

Dolly’s House
Duck Tour
Trolley Tour
Rainforest Hike
Snorkel Alaska

Posted in Alaska, Port Cities, Ports of Call, Shore Excursions, Un-Cruise Adventures | Tagged Alaska, cruise, Ketchikan, yacht | 1 Comment

Misty Fjords National Monument, InnerSea Discoveries part 7

Posted on October 30, 2010 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Walker Cove, Misty Fjords National Monument

Day eight: We woke up to another sunny day on our InnerSea Discoveries cruise. This time in the Misty Fjords National Monument. Other than a touch of early morning mist, Walker Cove where the boat anchored up for the night remained mist-free.

Kayak in the Morning Light

Some people went for an all day one-way paddle in kayaks. The early morning light made for some interesting photos with reflections of the brightly colored kayaks in the water. Safari Quest picked the long distance kayakers up later in the afternoon on the way out.

We followed them for a bit and saw all sorts of sea life clinging to the rock walls. The walls dropped just as steeply underwater as they rose above it. Lots of sunstars, starfish, seaweed, and some crabs. Amazing how those crabs can scuttle along on a near vertical wall without falling off.

Curious seals popped their heads out of the water nearby, swimming toward the kayaks for a closer look. A tiny cove led to a waterfall. It seemed to erupt from the ceiling of a tiny cave up close, but from a bit farther back it ran down the entire hill. Everyone paddled their kayaks in for a close look at the waterfall. One kayak got a bit too close. It’s a pretty cold shower under an Alaskan waterfall.

Kayaks at Waterfall

We paddled on, enjoying the scenery. A tree grew on a low ledge, not far above the water. About 30 feet up it ran into another ledge. From some angles the upper ledge looked like a ceiling, stopping the tree from further upward growth. From the other side, a kink in the trunk showed how the adaptable tree grew right around the ledge, resuming its upward climb above it. We paddled along for awhile enjoying the magic of nature in all her splendor. Eventually we parted ways with the group, heading back to the yacht while they paddled on.

For lunch we had clam chowder and do-it-yourself sandwiches. Dessert was orange poppy seed cake.

“It looks like a sandcastle,” I said.

“Oohh, it’s the mountains of Misty Fjords!” Donna exclaimed.

Tree in the Rock Wall

“Actually it is an octopus,” Mary (who works on the boat) said.

I stepped up where floor rises to the next level, 8 inches or so higher. “It does look like an octopus from here.”

“Don’t tell the pastry chef we didn’t know what it was,” Donna said.

The important thing is, it tasted good.

After lunch anchors away and off toward Punchbowl Cove, picking up the kayakers and anyone who went out for a last minute skiff ride along the way.

Punchbowl Cove

En route to Punchbowl cove, some people got off for a skiff tour, planning to rejoin Safari Quest there. Sitting in Punchbowl cove, waiting for the skiff to return we marveled at the near vertical granite walls towering above our heads, giving the cove its name. On our sunny cruise we could see the tops of all the walls. I sat in the bow of the boat and imagined what it might feel like on a misty day. With the cliff tops nowhere in sight the boat could feel no more significant than an ice cube floating in a giant punchbowl obscured by the rising fog of dry ice. Finally the skiff returned, its occupants cold, but happy as they had seen a bear. They saw an elephant seal too, which they nearly ran over assuming it was a log.

After dinner people shared their worst trip ever stories. Most involved lost luggage. Art took the cake with his tale of a cruise in a hurricane that destroyed all the ports so the ship had nowhere to go. The captain kept the boat afloat by hiding on the leeward side of islands. Not an easy task when that is subject to change at the whim of a wild wind. They fell right out of their chairs in the dining room, rolling until hitting something solid. Sleeping involved finding solid objects to sandwich themselves in between in order to stay in one place and not slide into things. To top it off, he needed badly to get off the ship to attend a funeral, though at that point everyone wanted off the ship regardless. Far from never wanting to cruise again, he eventually became a cruise writer and cruises frequently.

John had a pretty good tale too. Sitting at the airport in South America, a large group of military types with big guns announced they wanted to use his luggage to train their drug sniffing dog. Unable to refuse big guys with bigger guns, he watched as they inserted a large brick of contraband into his bag. He wondered if this was a set-up for his arrest. Soon another rough looking bunch came by with a dog that completely ignored him. The next group sadly removed the drugs. Now he was left to wonder if dogs back in the US would sniff him out for the residue of the drugs that had been there. And who would believe that wild tale if they did?

Not having any travel disasters of my own to share, I interjected with the only story I had. Sticking to the subject of airport dogs, I recalled the time in Australia when we all had to set our bags down for the fruit-sniffing beagle. The old lady next to me had an open topped shopping type bag. The dog dived in and dug away, searching frantically.

“I had an apple in there yesterday,” she said sheepishly.

Yes that was the best I could do. Pathetic, I know. Well I did have the one about canceling Christmas. We were supposed to go to Australia to visit our daughter for Christmas, but due to John’s work schedule we departed Christmas Eve. And arrived the day after. Yup, you lose a day on the way over. So in protest I bought no gifts, mailed no cards, did no baking or decorating, and you know what? Easiest Christmas ever, it was actually kind of a relief not to do all that what with all the traveling.

That evening we had a slideshow. Along with the official ship’s slides of the journey

Beached

taken by Kevin, we also each added some of our own. I was thrilled that people liked mine. I had been a bit nervous about that. They are all experienced professionals with fancy cameras. I am new at this with a little point and shoot digital and no giant telephoto lenses like everyone else has. I had some different sorts of shots though as most people like to get objects out of their pictures and I like to work them in for added interest when I can.

Un-Cruise Adventures is now the name of what used to be InnerSea Discoveries and American Safari Cruises.

Posted in Alaska, Un-Cruise Adventures | Tagged adventure, cruise, fun, kayak, Misty Fjords National Monument, nature, travel, yacht | 3 Comments

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