February 7-10
Since there isn’t reasonably priced and reliable internet on the ship, I decided to just write the blog as we go along and upload it to WordPress later when we arrive back in Florida. I can understand not having internet at sea but I would think it should be reasonably simple to provide it when docked in port. Everyone is running around town seeing if they can find a hot spot! I found a Starbucks this morning and downloaded my messages, responded to the three most urgent and then ran to catch our bus. Enough of that!
Our cruise has gone very well so far. After the obligatory safety drill, we pulled out of San Diego just as the sun was setting. The first two days were spent sailing from there to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There are always lots of things to do on the ship – cooking classes, kitchen tours, eating, walking, swimming, sleeping, and reading a good book. We’ve done all of this and more. The entertainment crew is excellent and we were treated to two great musical shows the first two nights. Last night was a comedian – Deryck Cameron from Los Angeles. He’s a big black guy and was very funny; no bad words, no off-colour jokes and best of all, Rob Ford even made it into his show.
Today
we did the Taste of Mexico tour which included a walking tour of Puerto Vallarta and then a visit to a real Mexican restaurant where they taught us (hands on!) how to make salsa, guacamole, tostados and enchiladas. Of course we got to eat the things we made and were presented with a cooking certificate at the end. I always thought of Puerto Vallarta as a big place, but in fact it is quite small and has really only become a tourist destination since the filming of Night of the Iguana. The walking tour included the obligatory stop at the Opal Shop, but I don’t think any of us bought anything. They were certainly prepared though with almost as many salespeople as tourists.
Dinner tonight was a most fascinating experience. George and I chose open seating so that we can meet other people. Our dinner companions tonight were the protestant (Episcopalian) pastor and his wife (a paralegal), and a Jewish lawyer & his wife from Montreal. So much for never talking religion or politics at the dinner table! The conversation just flowed and we were all disappointed when it was time to leave.
February 11-12
Wednesday was another day at sea as we sailed from Puerto Vallarta to Huatulco. We spent a quiet day listening to the port talks for Guatemala and Nicaragua, doing a bit of laundry, reading and eating. The entertainment was Juan Carlos Pablo, a Cuban classical pianist. He put on an excellent program including many favourites (the Typewriter Song and the Flight of the Bumblebee) and one or two of his own compositions. His commentary was quite humourous and added to the presentation.
Thursday morning we arrived in Huatulco, Mexico, a return trip for me since Barb and I were here some 20 years ago for a week. Wow, what a change! The restaurant – Ver del Mar – down at the beach, that we visited while waiting for a guide to return us to our hotel, is still there. The beachside church is still there, as well, although it is now a permanent building. The pier is new, as is a lagoon for small boats and all the stores surrounding the beach. The Mueva Hotel (one of only two resorts) where we stayed is gone but there are now 5 five-star hotels and 24 four-star hotels in Huatulco. We found it to be a very friendly, clean city and our guide said it is now the best place to come in Mexico – virtually no crime, and still quite undeveloped (ie – no Walmart or Sams Club as in Puerto Vallarta).
Our tour today was called Tropical Flowers and Fruit Extravaganza. We drove up into the mountains about 35 minutes to an organic farm called Hagia Sofia. It is being developed by a man from Lebanon and includes tropical flowers from all over the world and fruit trees of every description. While not all the plants were in bloom – the best time to visit is November and December after the rainy season – there was enough colour for us to enjoy the walking tour. Many of the trees were just developing their next crop including mango, limes, papaya, avocados, and others. When we returned to the entrance area, two Mexican women had quesadillas ready for us and we were also able to sample mango and jackfruit from the farm. Our guide, Omar, lived in Toronto for 11 years working as a framer in the construction industry. He spoke excellent English and took us on a little side trip so we could see the harbour area from above.
The entertainer tonight was Colleen Williamson, a soprano, who sang tunes from old-time musicals. She did a great job considering we are experiencing our first “rough” seas – normal in this area – and standing still requires great effort. We should be through this area soon and the captain reports that calm seas should return by midnight.
February 13
Because of the delay in leaving Mexico (getting clearance from the authorities) and the rough seas, we were quite late arriving in Guatemala. The port is at Puerto Quuetzal, which is actually the cargo port, but there is nothing within about a 90-minute drive. We went by bus to the colonial capital of Antigua and arrived just before 1pm. Since we hadn’t had lunch, George and I went to the old convent which is now a very nice restaurant. Mother would have approved of the lovely white table cloths!
We hired a local guide, Monolo, to provide a walking tour of the city and visited a number of sites including the Arch of Santa Catalina, La Merced Church and Monastery, El Carmen Crafts Market and St. Charles University. Antigua was the second capital during colonial (Spanish rule) times but was destroyed in the 1800s by an earthquake. We also visited a Jade Museum, which was quite interesting. My two favourites were the lilac and light green jade colours. Unfortunately, we had both left the Visa card in the room safe – so alas no purchases! It was dark when we arrived back at the ship and we were both pretty tired.
February 14
Saturday morning we docked in Corinto, Nicaragua. This too is the cargo port, so again we had a fairly long drive to reach the tourist area. Originally, we were scheduled to visit a school where the children were going to play musical instruments and perform for us. The tour was cancelled because the teachers were away on retreat, so we decided to have a light day and just do a four hour tour. The tour took us to Leon, another colonial town, which we toured with our guide, Bosco. We visited the second largest/busiest cathedral in the country and climbed 53 stairs to the roof where we had a panoramic view of the city. After a quick drink in a local restaurant, we boarded the bus to return to the ship. In both cases – Guatemala and Nicaragua – the long bus drives allowed us to learn a lot about the two countries. Both are relatively new to the tourist industry and are very keen to encourage visitors to return.
February 15
Sunday morning, after church service, we docked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Although we’d been in Costa Rica a number of years ago, this port is quite a bit south of where we stayed so the territory was all new. We decided to go to a botanical garden up in the mountains called Pura Vida – good life. Our guide was a young woman, Katryn, just newly married, who did an excellent job of keeping the thirteen of us engaged in conversation when our van experienced a flat tire along the way. It took about 45 minutes for the van driver to get the lug nuts off and get the new tire in place. We all stayed in the van with the air conditioning on while he sweated away outside. We gave him a round of applause when he returned to the van. The gardens, again a private sanctuary, were quite beautiful and the view of the bay below was stunning. After returning to the ship we enjoyed a barbeque-dinner around the pool with two women from BC.
February 16
Monday was a day at sea so I registered for a cooking class in the Culinary Arts Centre. There were only six of us that showed up (six paid but didn’t come!) so we worked in pairs on three different dishes. At least two of them George and I can use in future for our gourmet dinners. After we were done, they treated us to lunch in the Pinnacle Grill, where we were served the three different dishes – made in the ship’s kitchen. Guests are not allowed to eat anything made in the Culinary Art Centre. The entertainer on Monday night was Den West, a string player from Nashville. During the course of 45 minutes he played six different stringed instruments including guitars, banjo and Hawaiian steel guitar. Quite a talent!
February 17
Tuesday was our big day of going through the Panama Canel. We were up at 5:45am to see the sunrise from the upper deck, enjoy a Panama Roll (a specialty of Holland America) and watch as we began our 48-mile trip through the canal. We arrived at the first lock about 7:30am. They brought a commentator on board, which was very helpful to understand what we were seeing and how the locks actually work. When you realize that the canal is over 100 years old and much of the infrastructure is still the same (and working!), it really is an engineering marvel. Because it was a very hot, sunny day, we spent most of our morning on deck 6 which afforded us loungers in the shade and an eye-level view of what was happening at each lock. A medical evacuation from our ship delayed us by about 45 minutes at the second lock. In the afternoon, we camped out in our stateroom and watched much of the proceedings on our television, in between naps. The entertainment tonight was Noche Caliente, a high-energy, colourful musical production with a Latin American theme.
February 18
Today, Wednesday, was George’s birthday and we have avoided balloons on the door! Our port-of-call was Cartagena, Columbia. We chose not to do any of the shore excursions since the reviews were not very complimentary. We spent mostly a quiet day doing laundry and spending time by the pool while the majority of people were ashore. I went out for a walk to the welcome centre to see the animal sanctuary and take pictures of the birds.
In the evening, we had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill – a steakhouse that had been transformed to be a replica of La Cirque in New York. It turned out to be a four-course meal which included a Chateaubriand that was probably the best we had ever tasted. George declared his meat absolutely perfect! They brought a birthday cake and the waiters sang happy birthday, but we arranged for the cake to be kept for tomorrow at lunch since we didn’t want to miss the desert included on the menu. In fact, desert was delayed for 15 minutes because my chocolate soufflé didn’t turn out and cook had to make another one! Because dinner took longer than normal, we skipped the entertainment and just went back to our stateroom.
February 19 – 21
Thursday and Friday were sea-days. George participated in a 5km walk to raise funds for cancer research while I went to a cooking demonstration by the Executive Chef who is retiring. He has been with Holland America for 23 years and was reduced to tears when his whole team joined him on stage for a few minutes at the beginning of the show. His able assistant was a young Aussie who did many of the other demonstrations earlier in the cruise. They were quite a fun team with lots of kibitzing about, which helped to lighten the mood after the tearful start.
It really is amazing how time passes so quickly, even when you aren’t doing much. It often felt like we were heading off to another meal having just eaten the last one!
The entertainment on Thursday evening was probably the best of the cruise. It was a classical musical production by two of the regular entertainers who just happen to be engaged. His name is Jonathan Bragg, a wonderful tenor from Dallas. Her name is Emily West, a soprano from Calgary. We’re not sure if they knew each other before signing on with Holland America or not but their obvious romantic relationship definitely added to the presentation. Their rendition of Oh Danny Boy reduced me to tears and others mentioned similar reactions to some of the Italian love songs. The standing ovation went on for many minutes at the end and I heard the next day that a number of people went back for the second show.
The entertainment on Friday was in two parts. In the afternoon the Filipino crew did their show and in the evening Dancing With the Stars at Sea took centre stage. Each day the stars (entertainment crew) taught a different dance and then six people were chosen or volunteered to be contestants on the show in the evening to perform one dance with one of the stars. It really was great fun – especially the judges commentary – with the youngest contestant winning first prize and representing the Veendam at a Holland America-wide contest at Disneyland later this year. She has a chance to win a Grand Cruise!
Well, Saturday has come all to soon and it is hard to believe that it was two weeks ago that we began this journey. It’s been wonderful and relaxing, and we’ve met so many interesting people. Due to heavy seas and strong winds we were three hours late arriving in Fort Lauderdale so it was early afternoon before we disembarked. We’re now in a hotel in Florida City ready to begin the last leg of our journey to the Keys and then back to the north side of Fort Lauderdale to see our golf buddies again.
A visit and tour of the Turtle Hospital was very interesting. Turtles throughout Florida have contracted the papilloma virus which causes ugly growths both internally and externally. If they can catch them early enough the external ones can be surgically removed with laser and the turtle can be rehabilitated. If not, the virus often spreads to the turtle’s internal organs which eventually causes death. Of course, there are many other dangers lurking for turtles including boat propellers and plastic fishing line. Some of the turtles have what they call “bubble butt” caused by an injury to their shell that results in air pockets under the shell. This prevents the turtle from being able to dive for food. These turtles can’t be rehabilitated since the only treatment is to velcro weights (back end of this turtle) to the shell to counteract the buoyancy caused by the bubble. The weights often have to be changed as the turtle grows.
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