Sea Day #7

February 2, 2023

Ground Hog's Day. Funny how the thought of six more weeks of winter didn't even cross my mind today. Back home it would be a blessing if we found out we would have "only" six more weeks of winter. In our little part of the world we are lucky if our snow is all melted and the lake has thawed by the end of April. 

At breakfast I stopped to talk to a lady I had met earlier in the cruise and found out that she and her husband had lived in the same town in Minnesota where my son and his family live. Today we chatted about the weather back in Minnesota and I showed her a photo of a giant snowman that my son had texted to me that is near their home. As soon as she saw it she said "that is right by our old house!" They no longer live there, but their former home is in the same neighborhood as my son! Funny how you can be on a ship with nearly 1200 guests and still find that one person that you have something in common with!

Thirty foot snowman! Source: fox9.com

The seas were a little less rocky today but bad enough that Bob's pickleball games didn't happen. Instead he went to play ping pong while I attended the coffee chat in the theater. Ryan's guest today was the head engineer on the Zaandam. There were lots of questions about the fuel, electrical systems, etc. What I found interesting was that he is married to the future cruise consultant onboard and the logistics of being together with different contracts.

The "Ask the Captain" Q & A session wasn't going to start for another hour so I walked back to our room and enjoyed a beautiful morning sitting on the back deck watching the wake. Each day the water is getting a deeper shade of blue.

The Zaandam location

I got back to the theater just as Ryan was finishing up an encore presentation of the 150 year history of Holland America. He talked about joining the Zaandam in Buenos Aires in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. At the time passengers were starting to get sick, but no countries would let the ship dock so they continued sailing up the west coast of South America trying to get back to the United States. Panama was refusing to let the ship go through the canal, but they finally reached a top secret agreement where they could sail through the new locks in the middle of the night. A requirement was that all lights would be off and curtains drawn. Seven people passed away by the time the ship had reached Florida and many more were very sick. 

Last year I purchased the book "Cabin Fever" that chronicles the journey of the Zaandam. It was particularly interesting to me because by the time we finish this cruise, we will have spent 59 nights on the Zaandam. Knowing the places on the ship (and even some of the crew) that are mentioned in the book really made it come alive.

The Q & A session with Captain Michiel Willems was very interesting. He has a great sense of humor and very little accent so was easy to understand.

Bob was not in the room when I returned so I went looking for him up on the lido deck. He was just leaving the ping pong table and I suggested we eat lunch at the Dive In since we were nearby. Bob put in our order and got a pager. I had the Cannonball Burger and he had a chicken sandwich and fries which we ate at one of the tables by the midship pool.

A busy place on a sea day.

I went back to the theater for yet one more presentation...part 2 of Ryan's home videos that he made giving a behind the scenes tour of some of the places passengers never see on the ship. Today he had scenes from the mechanical type areas...the engine room, bridge, recycling center, freezers and coolers, etc. Making the videos was a great idea!

Video that Ryan took on the bridge.

The net had come off the Sea View pool so my afternoon plans were to swim. Bob decided to join me. The ship was still rocking quite a bit and the pool water would slosh from one side to the other causing large waves. Over the years I have accumulated a bunch of cruise related items, but one of my best purchases was inflatable pool noodles that I ordered from Amazon. (Although the price is increased quite a bit from the $5.95 that I paid!) The water in the pool is over my head, but with the noodle I could ride the waves back and forth from one side to he other!

I spent time on the back deck again giving my swimsuit time to dry. Bob changed into clothes and went to walk on the promenade deck. I think he may have fit in a little more ping pong too.

It was dressy night so we showered and made ourselves presentable for dinner in the MDR. Bob had the steak and shrimp and I had yellow fin sole. Because no cruise is complete without tiramisu, that is what I had for dessert. The tiramisu was the "no sugar added" version so it wasn't quite the same as the traditional dessert, but still good nonetheless.

On our way to the theater we took a detour through the library to check out the puzzle we had worked on the previous night. It had been completed except for four missing pieces. Puzzle working is a popular pasttime on the Zaandam with multiple puzzles in progress at the same time throughout the library.

The Boyband Evolution was back in the theater with a new show...this one even better than the last. Excellent 4-part harmony!! The rest of the evening followed our standard routine...the Mix Bar to listen to Clara Vee on the piano and then a cup of tea by the pool. We finished the night by getting organized for our day at Half Moon Cay...the first tender port for the cruise.

A free "Mariner Cocktail"...thanks HAL!