Sea Day #1

 January 22, 2023

Unlike our past experiences sailing the Pacific, the seas were calm overnight and we both slept fairly well. The blackout curtains in the cabin gave the impression that it was very early when we woke up, but when we pulled them back the sun was up and shining bright. 

Bob was a sweetie and ran up to the lido first thing to fill my travel mug with coffee. As I was getting dressed he made a 2nd trip and brought back a small bowl of oatmeal for himself. He didn't want to eat much because he was headed to pickleball. He did go and sit with me when I went to breakfast later. Poached eggs on an English muffin, bacon and fruit were my choice. After eating, Bob carried a lounge chair down the back stairs to put on our "private deck" on the back of the Navigation Deck (7) for me to use.

This might be a good time to explain our room situation. The Zaandam is an older ship and does not have any standard balcony cabins. The lowest level category with a verandah is a Vista Suite which would have cost us about four times what we paid for our obstructed ocean view cabin...#7083.

On our two previous Zaandam cruises we had ocean view cabins...one on Deck 1 and another on Deck 3. The window on the latter looked out onto the Promenade Deck, a popular place for walkers. That meant our view was usually of people passing by. But the cabin was convenient because there were numerous lounge chairs on the Promenade Deck and it was easy to get outside quickly if there was something to see.

On our cruise to Antarctica, we discovered two covered public decks at the back of the ship on Decks 6 and 7. They became a favorite place to view the frozen continent since the back of the ship was more sheltered from the cold winds AND rarely was anyone else there. For that reason when I saw cabin 7083 was available for the Panama Canal cruise I snatched it up. It is one of only two ocean view cabins on deck 7...almost all of the other cabins are suites that have their own balcony.

Photo from 2019:  The aft decks on the Zaandam were our favorite spots for viewing in Antarctica. This photo was taken on Deck 6, one level below our "private deck" by our cabin on Deck 7.

The small back deck also has an outdoor staircase that leads right up to the Seaview Pool area and into the lido buffet...a great plus in my mind. I'm pretty sure Bob wouldn't be willing to get my morning coffee if it involved long hallways and climbing multiple floors. Unfortunately there are some negatives to our room but I will pick up that discussion on the next post.

After I finished eating we split ways...Bob to the pickleball court and me to the main stage for "Coffee with the Cruise Director." Ryan's guest was Matthijs, the Staff Captain. The one tidbit I noted was that this voyage had 1,180 guests out of 1,450 maximum. 

The coffee chat wasn't well attended but the theater was almost full at 10 am for the shore excursions presentation. I was hoping to gain some insight into tips for touring old town Puerto Vallarta, but the speaker covered HAL tours and nothing else.

I sat on our "private deck", enjoying the view over the wake as I worked on the blog and read a bit. At 11:45 I walked up to the pickleball court. Bob was just finishing up. He was adding the names of the other players to his Navigator app so they could arrange future games together. Since our last HAL cruise, the Navigator app has been updated so that you receive an alert whenever someone sends a message. A great improvement! The app also lets you save a list of the activities you wish to attend and sends an audible reminder15 minutes prior to the start time. 

Lunch was at the buffet. As 3 Star Mariners, we had received an invitation to a 1:00 reception in the Crow's Nest. We don't usually attend that sort of thing, but we went. The Crow's Nest, with the wrap around windows at the front of Deck 9, was almost full when we arrived. To accommodate so many in the higher levels of HAL's loyalty program, an additional reception had already taken place earlier. Drinks were provided and the ship's officers and high ranking crew were introduced. The gal from the future cruise desk was there to highlight a few of the unique itineraries that HAL has planned for the coming year. 

For about an hour...maybe more...Bob and I sat on "our deck". That is after he hauled down a second lounge chair from the pool area. We read and napped and watched the beautiful wake behind the ship, forgetting that it was actually January! 

Needing to move our muscles, we went down to the promenade deck and walked a couple of laps. (3 1/3 laps make a mile.) Bob continued to walk while I went back to the room to shower and get ready for "dressy night" in the main dining room. Bob took his turn when he got back to the room.

I called and tried to make a reservation for the MDR but 7 pm was the earliest available. I was assured that they kept 40% of the tables for walk-ins and we should just show up. Hoping to be done in time to attend the Captain's Welcome Toast we arrived at the MDR a little before 5:30 when it was scheduled to open. We found they were seating people already and were shown to a table for 2. Our excellent waiter, Garis, made sure we were served promptly.

It was dressy night, a scaled back version of "formal night" but there were plenty of women wearing sparkly outfits. Lobster was only available with a surcharge, but the shrimp cocktail appetizer was pretty good. Our main courses were a filet (for Bob) and yellow fin sole for mine.

At the World Stage, the captain introduced the officers before his toast. The evening entertainment was Scott Pepper, a magician. Magic shows aren't my thing, but Bob really enjoyed the act.

Captain Michiel Willems

We weren't successful in finding any entertainment after the magic show. the "piano bar entertainer" sounded like a promising choice, but when we arrived CD Ryan was in the Mix Bar telling people that Clara Vee (the piano player) was sick and her show was cancelled.

Instead we finished the night by getting a cup of tea at the buffet and sitting by the pool while Bob gave me a lesson in how to play Spider Solitaire on my phone...his favorite time wasting game. It would have been nice to have a little snack, but the lido buffet wasn't open after 8 pm. It opens for an hour at 10:30 pm, but since we are turning our clocks forward for the 2nd night in a row, staying up until 10:30 didn't seem like a wise idea. I noticed there was no towel animal or chocolates in our room...even with it being a dressy night. (Note: The towel animal and chocolates appeared the following morning.)

The temps were getting warmer as we headed south and the calm seas were giving us a smooth ride. It was easy to forget we were even on a ship!

Tomorrow...another sea day.