Day 4 Zaandam Repositioning Cruise

 

A day on shore & a chance to rest! The day started early – I was going to say bright and early, but it was still dark when we got up and moving. Sweaters and down jackets for watching our entry into San Francisco Bay. There ship was mostly deserted as we made our way to the secret deck on 6 forward, but be were soon joined by Laura and Larry and Pam (or Pat?) the weight lifter from my gym class yesterday and lots of other folks. It was a little foggy and the sun was rising right behind the bridge, so the pictures aren’t the best, but the experience of cruising into a city you know pretty well was a new one for us and we liked it a lot. More about that later.

Afterwards I went for a long breakfast in the dining room with a table full of nice folks. When I got back to the cabin we were both feeling ready to get off the ship, so we walked over to fisherman’s wharf and did the tourist thing for a while. We found some orange bandanas for Orange night. We went back to the ship and dropped off the bandanas, then headed in the other direction to the Ferry Building to have lunch with Ben & Joan & Avery & Hannah. They were wearing the dresses which I’d gotten them for their birthdays, which are very cute & made me feel good. The paper fans I brought for them were successful as well. We had lunch at Gott’s, and then headed over to the Exploratorium.

Portland’s OMSI is rated as one of the least good science museums in the country; the Exploratorium has to be one of the best. Each exhibit is hands (or eyes, or ears, or whole body) on, and each one has something fascinating. My favorite things were the monochromatic room, which was lit by low pressure sodium lights that made everything look like it was printed in gray scale until you shone a white light on it, and the revolving red-and-white ribbons that we stood inside of that made it feel like you were spinning, but without the nausea. Well, mostly. As usual it was too much fun to remember to take pictures, and as usual we barely made a dent in the museum. We’ve decided next time we need to go in the other direction!

The Klau family escorted us back to the ship. At lunch Avery had expressed some concern about our ship sinking like the Titanic, and I’d reassured her that unlike the Titanic we had plenty of lifeboats and that she’d see them when she saw the ship. I think sure she wasn’t fully reassured, because she had Dave point out our lifeboat. We did remember to get a picture, fortunately.

Back to the ship where it was nap time for me and reading on the Promenade for Dave. It was our dinner at the Pinnacle, which Dave had set up for 7:00 instead of our usual 5:00 fixed seating. I’d been ambivalent about going, but the food was very good and Dave’s “Stroopwaffle Cobbler” turned out to be more of a deconstructed brownie sundae which made him very happy.

After dinner we headed up to the Orange Party, where we arrived at the end of the officers vs guests music trivia night which seemed to be mostly made up of officers having fun and dancing, which was fun to watch. Apparently the officers once again beat the guests, except the guests won the bonus points by creating “the longest Conga line ever seen on the Zaandam”. Dave and I helped. I don’t know if that actually made the guests win because everyone was laughing too hard to care. Then it was time to do the Cupid Shuffle and a Dutch line dance that we learned on the fly. The picture of me is blurry but I’m pretty sure you can feel the joy.

A few bonus photos:

Ben making everyone go "ewww"

The view from the ship's bow camera

Day 3 - Zaandam Repositioning Cruise

We woke this morning to clear, sunny skies and did some Lido for breakfast. Discovery: the Belgian waffles, while tasty, are not crispy on the outside. I had a difficult choice to make for my 8:00 activity – did I want to try the bootcamp workout in the gym, which has changed since COVID to a more free-form, less challenging workout, or go to Tai Chi? I chose the gym and it was fantastic. There was only one other woman and she was a monster so we had a killer session. I know, but it made me very happy. It made us all so happy that the teacher asked if we wanted to do it again on Saturday night. Fortunately the timing isn’t good, so it will remain a jewel in my memory.

We started the 45 minute workout late because of a payment snafu, so by the time I got down to the art room it was too late to join the origami class (next best thing to napkin folding on this trip). So I got my computer and did some blogging until it was time to go to the whale lecture, which was interesting as anything having to do with whales is, but not terribly well done. It had pictures and videos of whales though and I always like that.

Meanwhile Dave went to Coffee with Clare and learned about the environmental engineering of the ship, including how they’ve managed to take the average daily food waste per passenger from about 1.5 to about 0.4 kilos, which is then essentially composted and can be dumped in the ocean as fish food if the ship is far enough out.

After the whales talk I went to origami class on time and made two origami whales which I am very proud of. Then I found Dave and we did some ship exploring and then had lunch. At our table was a couple who owned a house on High Street in Santa Cruz which they rent out for the school year while they go cruising or live in their travel trailer. Maybe Dave and I can rent our house to some Pacific University students and go for a world cruise.

After lunch more exploring and then it was blogging and off to Line Dancing practice with Clare. My partner from yesterday, Pam, found me and introduced me to her friend Janet and we had an absolute blast learning the Cupid Shuffle and 5-6-7-8, which we will dance at the Orange Day party on Saturday night. The class was HUGE.

I had a short break for blogging before meeting Dave for the afternoon Beer and Pretzels, which had fresh soft pretzels in two varieties and some very good German beer and an officers-vs-guests solo cup stacking game which the officers won both versions of. Dave had found during the Coffee with Clare featuring Murat that Murat (food and beverage director) that Murat had told his staff to get some real German beer instead of choosing from their suppliers rather uninspired list. There was a huge line when we got there, which was unusual for this cruise – they even had to set up extra tables. 

Then it was time for more blogging on our veranda, where Dave found me after a peaceful afternoon of reading on the Promenade deck. We headed down to the future cruise desk and got ourselves signed up for the 35 day Hawaii & South Pacific cruise, after waiting out the people ahead of us who had to discuss every option for at least an hour (I left to take a shower, and Dave was just getting started when I got back).

Not much to report about dinner besides a lot of laughing with Laura and Larry. We’ll be at the Pinnacle Grill tomorrow night, and they have a cocktail party Sunday night, so it was our last dinner together. We’ll probably see them in the Ocean Bar, where we like to hang out & listen to music. Which we did, after going to see Steven Scott doing his “Catskill Comedy”, which was less funny that his sketch comedy. It was an early bedtime – we pass under the Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow morning at 6:30!

Day 2 - Zaandam Repositioning Cruise

 

We both ordered decaf coffee that might not have been, so neither of us slept very well. We didn’t care because 1. We’re on vacation so naps and 2. The door to our balcony stays open, so we could leave it open and listen to the water (and the ships’s foghorn), and 3. The ship got out of the channel and into the ocean and began the wonderful gentle rocking that makes you not care if you’re sleeping or awake. Instead of the racing thoughts that sometimes happen when I can’t fall asleep, it’s more of a peaceful hum while my body relaxes more and more. Highly recommended.

We woke up early – about 6:30 – but I didn’t feel like getting up and moving to go to abs class, so we went to the Lido for breakfast, where Dave discovered that ordering 2 eggs benedict gets you 4 eggs with accompanying accoutrement, and I discovered that I don’t care for Holland America congee. Hoping for oatmeal tomorrow. After breakfast I went to Tai Chi, which was very good, and Intro to Pickleball, which was entertaining, although we spent the entire half hour learning the rules, which I still don’t know what they were. Dave went to the morning Coffee with Clare, where Clare the cruise director interviews various senior staff people. Today it was Murat, the food and beverage manager, and Dave learned a lot about how they provision the ship for the 51 day cruise (it includes flying the requisite non-tropical fruits and veggies into Fiji) and other interesting cruise facts and stories. Then he went to the cooking demo, which was a BBQ salmon bowl with mango-avocado salsa, which was also very well done. The cooking demos vary in quality from ship to ship and chef to chef; this one was one of the better ones.

In between activities I stopped at Guest Services to see what I could find out. What I found out was very disappointing – no, they will not let us bring guests on the ship in San Francisco, and no, we are probably not going to get on the long cruise- they have overbooked it as it is, and are unlikely to get to the wait list. So that was sad, and we had to adjust our attitudes, which we partly did by going to the future cruise desk and getting quotes for future cruises so we can have something to console ourselves with. Two cruises sound good – a 35 day Hawaii/South Pacific or a 35 day “Voyage of the Vikings” which includes the 2026 total solar eclipse. The computer was down, so we don’t know the costs yet. But it made us feel better.

After lunch, which we did in the dining room by ourselves so we could leave when we were done, I was planning to go work out by Dave’s lectures had sounded more interesting than my workouts, so I decided to go with him to the next one – a lecture on the Titanic with an Aussie twist. It was fine, and I did get a short nap. Then I had some free time to blog while Dave headed off to the wine tasting.

At 3:00 was the long awaited salsa dance class. Last time we were on the Zaandam we had the best dance teacher EVER, so I set my expectations very low since there was no way this class could be as good. And it wasn’t, but it definitely exceeded expectations and I had a blast. They suggested we partner up so I got with the woman next to me (we exchanged names and I immediately forgot hers) and forced myself through my first-born-child reluctance to be anything but perfect and between us we figured it all out! Clare was the main instructor, and it turns out she used to be in the dance troupe with Freddy. Freddy is no the director of entertainment on the ship, with the white shirt and gold stripes and everything, but he has not lost his moves. So that was fun.

Dave was still tasting wine, so I went and sat in the Explorer’s lounge and listened to the classical trio (violin, cello, piano) nicely playing non-demanding music – you know, the kind that sounds pretty. It was a nice moment of down time. Then it was up to the cabin to shower and change for “dressy” dinner, which used to be formal night.

A note here about “up to the cabin”. 7055, our cabin, is at the aft end of the ship – super convenient to the Lido (1 floor up for breakfast) and the dining room (either 2 or 3 decks down for dinner and lunch, respectively). Most activities are midships or forward, and mostly on deck 4 and 5, except the gym and the forward bar, on 8 and 9 respectively. So there is a lot of up and down and back and forth. I haven’t been doing a lot of hills because of my back, and the stairs are killing me. It’s better today – but I’ll do some targeted training before our next cruise.

When we go to our table Larry & Laura weren’t there and didn’t show up until quite late, which of course I had to think meant they didn’t want to sit with us. But once they showed up we were back to our rollicking good times. Dave and I split a bottle of wine  and so did they, and we hug out until after second seating had started. Then we went off to hear the singer on the big stage, Tiffany Dissette, who was pretty enjoyable, surprising both of us.

We split up – I went to watch the “game show” while Dave hung out in the Ocean Bar. The game show featured Clare as the host and 3 staff members – Murat the Food & Beverage director, Byron the assistant cruise director, and Freddy the dancer/entertainment director as the panelists. They were given a category like famous people, and then we were shown who they were supposed to be and they had to guess by asking yes/no questions. It was very fun. Then I joined Dave in the Ocean Bar and we listened to more music. Laura came over to say they hadn’t known it was dressy night and also that she was now a fan of Tanzanite, which Dave has not been buying me any of in the on-board or in-port jewelry store since 1993. Larry isn’t buying any for Laura either, apparently.

Then it was time for a walk to the secret 6-forward deck where the dark skies are. It was less windy than we expected (and way less windy than it was on the Atlantic side of our Panama Canal cruise, where you had to hold on with both hands) but still chilly and a little foggy. Then it was time for bed.

Tonight’s towel animal: pig? dog?

Day 1 - Zaandam Repositioning Cruise

 

First things first; I completed my Pilates Acadamy Level 3 Comprehensive Certification a week and a half before we left, so the part where I leave all sorts of things at home (toothbrush charger, kindle, heated eye mask, tbd) is not my fault. 

Because the cruise left from Vancouver BC, a short flight from Portland, Dave and I thought it would be fine to fly up late that morning. This was a very unusual move for us as we are nervous travelers and like to be everywhere very early. As it turned out, between the flight being delayed and the entire city of Vancouver being under construction, things were way tighter than we liked. The cruise line asks that all passengers be checked in by 2:30; we arrived at the cruise ship terminal at 2:27. Which meant we had the very strange experience of rushing through the cavernouse rooms and hallways with smiling people every 10 feet pointing us on to the next hallway. Needless to say we made it on board and were even able to attend the cocktail party for Mariners with at least 3 stars, which is how many we have.

The thing is, at this point we don’t know how long we’ll be on board. The cruise we’re on – the 5 day repositioning cruise which moves the ship from its summer itineraries in Alaska down to San Diego for its fall voyages – continues onto a 51 day round trip of the South Pacific, going to many cool places. We are waitlisted. At the cocktail party we ended up chatting with the hotel manager, and when we told her we were waitlisted she asked for our room number and said she’d look into it, which seems promising.

After the cocktail party we did some touring of the ship. We were last on this ship for a 15 day Panama Canal Cruise in February of 2023, but they seem to have replaced much of the carpeting (they often do that after I sail on the ship) and it all seemed very unfamiliar, except for the parts that seemed familiar. We also took a cruise after that on a P&O ship in Australia (BEST cabin ever), and the two ships blended together in our heads. 

 
While we were touring I noticed the Navigator App saying that our next scheduled event was the first seating of dinner – we thought we were waitlisted but it turns out we weren’t. So we did some unpacking and headed off to dinner, where we were seated at a 6-top with Larry and Laura from Alberta, who are on the cruise for the 50^th anniversary of United Floors, a Canadian flloring supply company. The other couple did not show up. Larry and Laura turned out to be very good tablemates and we stayed at dinner watching the scenery – our table is next to the windows at the rear of the dining room, which is the farthest aft on the ship, so the scenery and sunset were both lovely.

After dinner we went to see the comedian, Steven Scott, who was good at imitating noises with his mouth and was pretty good. Then we went to the Ocean Bar for some music and chair dancing, then out for a walk to the Sky Deck where it was dark but very windy, and then back for more music and chair dancing. And that was the first day.