Sea Day #2 (And a tour of our cabin!)

January 23, 2023

Our morning was an exact repeat of the day before. Bob went up to the lido first thing to fill my travel mug with coffee and then once I was dressed we both went back for a quick breakfast before going our separate ways...he to pickleball and me to the coffee chat with the CD.

The guests at the chat were the female officers of the Zaandam. Interesting to hear about their various roles and how they came to work on a ship.

Coffee Chat with Ryan Baird and the female officers.

I had an hour to kill before the CD's port talk at 11 am. I went to guest services to inquire about the logistics for transferring to the Nieuw Statendam in Port Everglades. They assured me they would get back to me when they were sure about which piers the two ships would be docked. They also mentioned that we would be responsible for checking in online for the next cruise. This concerned me a bit. We did not have any Wi-Fi on the ship so I hoped we might have cell service at Half Moon Cay on our last day. This proved to not be a problem because the Holland America website can be accessed through the Navigator app on the ship. I was able to get checked in without needing wi-fi or cell service. I also stopped at the shore excursion desk to double check on some details for the tours we had booked through HAL.

Once my business was taken care of there was still time left before the port talk. I took my iPad and went to the Crow's Nest. Trivia was taking place (which had attracted a large group of passengers) and I had fun listening to the questions. I knew the answers to 2 or 3 questions but overall would have had a dismal score if I had been keeping track.

The CD (whose new title is Cruise and Travel Director) gave the port talk in the main theater. I was disappointed that yesterday's talk was strictly about ship excursions but this time Ryan covered what to see and do in the ports without purchasing a tour. It was useful information since we were not doing a tour in Puerto Vallarta.

Port talk with Ryan, the CD

Lots of useful info for DIY touring.

The theater was standing room only for the port talk and I knew that the mass of people would all be heading to the buffet at the same time for lunch. For that reason, I convinced Bob that we should eat in the MDR instead. We were seated immediately and had a very short wait for our food to arrive. Bob had BBQ chicken spring rolls and a club sandwich. I had a bowl of tomato soup with a half croque madam sandwich. The lunch menu was very limited and didn't change from day to day other than possibly a daily special.

Rather than ordering dessert, we went straight from the MDR to the buffet. Bob wanted to pick up some cookies for his bedtime snack but while we were there he found a piece of blueberry pie he thought he needed.  I picked up a serving of the "no sugar added" strawberry mousse. There is always at least one desert labeled NS (no sugar added) but I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean "sugar-free".

Going back to our room we took the route across the pool deck and down the outdoor stairway. I was happy to see that OUR lounge chairs were now empty (earlier they were occupied.) I was hoping other people didn't discover OUR deck. It was so handy to have the outdoor space just steps from our cabin...and it was in the shade and protected if it should rain.

Looking forward from our cabin at the very back of Deck 7. It is a LONG walk to get to the theater.

Our cabin door is on the right of this photo. You can see how close we were to the exit door leading to the aft deck that we began calling "OUR private deck."  The room on the other side of the hallway is a handicapped cabin. Notice how low the room number is placed.

Aft deck near our cabin. The stairway leads up to the Seaview Pool on the lido deck. Another staircase leads down to a similar (but larger) public deck at the back of deck 6.

I was happy with the location of our cabin, but as I mentioned in yesterday's post, there are some negatives to the stateroom. The room has a VERY odd layout. The hallway door opens with a direct view of the bed. The tiny desk area is so close to the foot of the bed that it is almost impossible to get the chair pulled out far enough to sit comfortably. The small closets are also at the foot of the bed and when opened, the doors are touching the bed. Compared to other ocean view cabins, there is very little storage.

This is what you see when you enter the cabin. There was no window at the head of the bed even though the curtains might make it look as if there was. (We used the ledge behind the curtains for extra storage.) 

The view from our window was blocked by the stairway leading up to the lido deck.

The TV on the desk is a new interactive TV just installed on the cruise before ours.
Unfortunately it takes up half of the tiny desk area. 

The vanity area was larger than some rooms.

The shower was OK...but small.

The room did have a small loveseat, but it was tucked into an alcove where a wall was just inches from your legs. The space at the end of the couch was unusable except for random storage. The window looked out over the wake of the ship, but required looking through the stairway railing (hence the obstructed view category.) The identical room on the port side of the ship was not blocked by the stairs and would be slightly better for this reason.

I kept my carry on bag and backpack stored behind the end table. 

I will hold my final judgement until the end of our two weeks onboard and then decide if I made a smart choice in choosing cabin #7083. For the price we paid, I won't complain regardless.

Bob and I parked in the lounge chairs. I read a library book (Spare by Prince Harry) that I had downloaded on my iPad. The loan will expire in 8 days and then the book will magically disappear. I'm pretty sure that I will not have the book finished by then. Bob read for awhile and then took a nap, wrapped in a blanket because it was cool in the shade. 

Neither one of us was hungry, but we still went to the MDR for afternoon tea at 3:00. The tea is only held on sea days and I wanted to experience it at least one time. I noticed on the Navigator online schedule that each tea time had a theme...French Tea, Queen's Tea, cupcake tea, etc. Today was Dutch Tea. Each table had a 3-tiered serving tray with various sweets and 3 tiny finger sandwiches.

Too much caffeine in his tea?

Afterwards there was time before dinner so we went down to the promenade deck and walked. I made two laps and then left Bob to continue walking. At the coffee chat this morning one of the officers mentioned they had seen dolphins and whales when they sailed through this area on the previous cruise. I kept my eyes on the water but saw nothing...not even waves! The ocean was about the calmest that I have ever seen while cruising! (Note: We did see dolphins eventually!)

After checking the MDR menu, we decided to have dinner at the buffet. In the past we would have never even considered NOT going to the dining room in the evening. Now we have gotten lazy and would rather stay more casual and just eat at the lido. Also we have learned that most all of the dishes from the MDR are being served at the buffet on the same night. So instead of choosing between the steak...or the fish...or the seafood...or the pasta...all are available at the buffet! There were very few people in the lido buffet which made me wonder if there was something else going on that we were missing!

The evening entertainment was a comedian, Jose Sarduy. His act was both funny and clean. Most of his jokes centered around his Cuban heritage and the fact that he is an Air Force reserve pilot! Not the background of a typical comedian!

The piano bar entertainer was still sick, but tonight the pianist from the ocean bar filled in. We couldn't get a seat inside the Mix Bar where he was playing, but sat in the walkway outside where we could hear the music. He seemed to be doing a decent job as a substitute. I wondered if Clara (the regular performer) had Covid?

A cup of tea by the pool on the lido before going back to the cabin to get ready for our first port of call the next day. Coming up...Puerto Vallarta.