Sea Day, April 22

 Monday, April 22, 2024

Each morning we would meet up with Jon and Michelle at the buffet for breakfast. The chat feature on the HAL Navigator app worked pretty well so we were able to connect and find each other pretty easily. Even without the app, the small size of the Zaandam meant a quick trip down each side of the buffet was all it took to find each other.

Breakfast in the buffet. 

At home Bob and I are set in our ways when it comes to breakfast. He has a bowl of oatmeal and I have two eggs and a piece of toast. You would think we would take advantage of so many breakfast choices when we are sailing, but we don't. Bob still has his bowl of oatmeal although he has a wider choice of toppings. Finding pecans to add to the oatmeal was a real treat. For me, the only change was to have poached eggs on an English muffin. On a few days I really splurged and had them put a small amount of hollandaise sauce on top!

At morning, the poached egg station was located where the Asian food is served for lunch and dinner. Besides eggs I could get cut up fruit and a choice of several kinds of sausages if I wanted without standing in separate lines. In addition, congee was available at this same spot. There were many people of Asian descent on our cruise and I found it fascinating to watch them order the rice porridge and then pick and choose from all of the unique toppings. Interesting to see, but I never had the urge to try congee. 

"The Daily", as HAL calls their newsletter, was full of activities to keep busy on the sea day. Most all of the offerings were ones we had seen just a few months earlier when we were on the Koningsdam. The Navigator App also has the same daily schedule where you can select the activities you would like to attend and then the app will alert you 10 to 15 minutes prior. Or at least most of the time that is what happened. Sometimes an alert would pop up hours after the activity had taken place!

On cruises, I enjoy attending the morning coffee with the cruise director. It is fun to get to know a little about the different staff members or entertainers when the cruise director interviews them about their role on the ship. "Coffee with Erin" was scheduled at 9:00 and I fully intended to go, but we lingered over breakfast so long, that I just didn't make it. Neither did I attend the lecture on "The World Up Close: Catching Waves" (the story of surfing) that was presented on the World Stage at 10:00. 

Michelle and I did meet back up at 11:00 in the Explorer's Lounge for the "Art of Flower Arranging". HAL is known for their elaborate fresh flower arrangements around their ships and on the Zaandam a single person was in charge of handling all of the flowers. The ship florist explained the process of putting different types of bouquets together and used the most beautiful flowers in his demonstration. I kept wishing they would give out samples or use the bouquet as a door prize!

Michelle and I were sure this bouquet would never fit into that vase...but it did!

After lunch I watched Bob, John and Michelle play some pickleball. The sport gives Bob a chance to meet others on the ship. This time the three of them got to know a Canadian couple (originally from Russia) who were just learning to play pickleball. The wife didn't quite understand and somehow got the idea that Jon was Michelle's son. Michelle is a couple of years older than Jon, but no where near old enough to be his mom! That became a running joke throughout the cruise with Jon often referring to Michelle as "mom"! 

The pickleball court on the top deck was plagued by wind.

While the three continued their game, I went back to the cabin to get ready for dressy night...so much easier to do when I am alone than when the two of us bump into each other trying to access the bathroom, closets, etc. And besides...Bob could shower, dress and be ready in about 10 minutes total!

Before the Step One Dance Company presented their program "Humanity" on the World Stage, free drinks were provided and Captain Ane Jan Smit and other ranking officers welcomed the passengers to the theater with a toast.

Cruise Director, Erin

Captain Ane Jan Smit

In the beginning days of the pandemic, the Zaandam was forefront in the news and I followed all of the reports. We had sailed on the Zaandam with Captain Smit in 2018 through the Panama Canal and he was again at the helm as hundreds of passengers came down with the new mystery illness (Covid) in South America in early 2020. The book "Cabin Fever" chronicles the saga as the ship was denied entrance into country after country all while people onboard were dying. A fascinating read and even more so because we were so familiar with the ship. By the end of this current cruise we had spent a total of 77 nights on the Zaandam. 

 

Some card playing and then time for bed. Early tomorrow morning the Zaandam would be pulling into San Francisco for a two-day stay!