My Souvenir Memories: Sea Day #8

February 5, 2023

After not sleeping well the night before, I slept soundly. I was aware of the ship movement...probably the most we've experienced so far. Once again, as soon as I woke up I reached for the meclazine and got a dose for both Bob and I. Looking out the balcony door, the lack of white caps meant the wind wasn't too bad, but the swells were very large. Walking in a straight line just wasn't possible.

Breakfast was in the buffet, but we need to get familiar with the layout on the Nieuw Statendam. I found the poached eggs, but there were no meats available at the same station. That means I have to stand in line at two separate spots instead of getting meat and eggs at one place like on the Zaandam. Bob found the oatmeal but said there were fewer toppings.

Our Navigator app was acting up so our first order of the day was to get that straightened out. On our way to guest services we noticed that the exits to the promenade deck were blocked off because of the rough seas. That ruined Bob's plan for the morning (to walk). No chance there would be pickleball either. The fix for the Navigator app was to log out and back on and it seemed to be working (or so we thought). Now Bob and I can send messages to each other which often comes in handy.

Bob and I parted ways. I went back to the room and he headed to the ping pong tables. As I was sitting on the balcony working on the blog, he texted that he had gone to the gym to lift weights instead.

I enjoyed my balcony time immensely. The temperature was perfect and the winds were light enough to not be a bother. I got another text from Bob later in the morning that he had left the gym and gone to play ping pong. A little after 11 am I went to see how the ping pong was going and Bob was just getting ready to leave. I suggested we pick up pizzas at the NY Pizza and Deli which is on the same level but kitty corner across the pool from the ping pong tables. We each ordered a pizza and salad. We were given a pager but ate our salads while we were waiting on the pizzas to be baked.

New York Deli and Pizza

The midship pool was a hub of activity. A few were swimming, but most were reading, playing cards, and even sleeping. I am more of a recluse I guess because I much preferred the solitude of my own balcony with only the sound of the sea. While we were waiting on our pizzas, a guy walked by with a pickleball paddle and Bob found out they were actually playing...but it was very windy on the sports deck.

Instead of the navy blue towels like on the Zaandam, the pool towels were many different pastel colors...pretty!

We asked for the pizzas to go and got them in boxes which made it easy to carry them back to our cabin and enjoy on the balcony. Our cabin is right by the aft elevators and stairs on deck 8 which makes it convenient to run up the one flight to the buffet. And we did just that. After finishing our pizzas we went and got some dessert and a cup of coffee and brought back to enjoy on the balcony.

Bob loves his tie-dye shirts (which he made)...sort of his signature look. 😄

Achmad, our room steward, knocked on our door and delivered our clean laundry that we had sent out yesterday. It came with a nice handwritten note from the crew in the laundry department thanking us for letting them wash our clothes. Perhaps I should start sending a note to Bob with his clean underwear at home? 😉

The folded clothes came back in a basket wrapped in tissue paper.

The hanging clothes.

Bob decided he would go check on the pickleball situation and left the cabin. I had debated about going to a session on "Ask the CD" or even the Lincoln Center stage, but decided I was just enjoying the luxury of my own balcony. We don't usually book a balcony stateroom, but with Covid still a real possibility (especially on a cruise ship) I thought it was a good time to splurge.

At 3:00, I finally did leave the room and attended the "Where Will You Cruise Next?" presentation in the main theater. I knew going in that it was just a sales pitch, but I enjoyed hearing about some of the more interesting cruise itineraries.

The promenade deck was no longer roped off due to the strong winds so I decided to walk a lap (three laps makes a mile.) It is different from walking the promenade deck on the Zaandam because much of the time you are walking BEHIND the lifeboats instead of UNDER the boats. Another cruise ship was passing by, but too far away to identify. Several times during the day we could see other ships. This is high season for the Caribbean so lots of cruising going on.

Missing the sea view from the Zaandam promenade deck.

I had finished showering by the time Bob returned around 4:30 and then it was his turn. Open seating began at 5 pm in the MDR, but it was closer to 5:30 by the time we got there. We requested a table for 2 and were told at first there were none available. Then the hostess said we could be seated upstairs (where the early fixed seating passengers were already part way through their meal.)

I'm guessing our showing up at an odd time made things difficult for the waiters...or maybe they were just short staffed. Regardless, the meal did not go well. We each ordered two appetizers, but our soup never arrived. It was taking so long to get served that we didn't mention the oversight. After we finished our main course it was another VERY long wait for dessert. We were almost ready to get up and leave when it finally arrived. On the Zaandam we could order two appetizers, a main course and dessert and be done in less than an hour...much, much less time than what it took to be served tonight. And we might as well have been sharing a table since our "table for 2" was so close to the adjacent table. At least the two girls sitting next to us were friendly and we had a nice conversation.

The evening show on the World Stage was the Step One dancers doing their show "Humanity". Luckily the show didn't start until 7:30 since our meal would have made us late for a 7 pm performance. But...the captain's toast was at 7:15 before the show and the theater was close to being filled by the time we got there. We barely found two seats together.

Captain Eric Barhorst

Cruise Director, Gage Griffin. (He looks SO young!)

This made the 3rd time we had seen this particular show...on three different HAL ships. What a difference it made seeing the performance on the round stage with the video screens surrounding the whole theater. The video effects often made it feel as if WE were moving and might be a problem for someone already experiencing motion sickness!

The Rolling Stones Rock Room band had just started to perform as we left the theater. It was so loud that we didn't want to watch. And just as well...the place was standing room only with several people deep around the perimeter of the room. BB Kings Blues Club was also packed on both levels. No seats available and so many people standing that it was hard to see.

I was getting irritated, but Bob suggested that we go back to the Billboard Onboard and get a seat for the dueling pianos that were to start in a half hour. Well...others had the same idea and there were no seats there either. At that point we gave up and came back to our room.

The night ended on a good note, however. Bob and I sat on the balcony (after he ran up to the buffet to get a cup of tea). The almost full moon was reflecting on the water and lighting up the puffy clouds in the sky. We could see another cruise ship off in the distance. Ships are so pretty at night when they are all lit up!