Sue's HAL Panama Canal Cruise - March 2004

Who/When/Where:

Who: Sue (45)
Chris (17), my son

Dates: March 13 - 23, 2004

Ship: Holland America Line's (HAL) Rotterdam

Staterooms: 6101, Verandah Suite

Destination: Panama Canal - with stops at Aruba, Curacao & Costa Rica

Experience: Sue's 14th cruise, 5th on HAL; Chris' 6th cruise, 5th on HAL

INTRODUCTION:

At last - I'll be back on a Holland America Line cruise!! It's no secret they are by far my favorite cruise line (of the 4 I've tried), and although the Disney ships are familiar enough to feel like home now, HAL is my real home. Unfortunately, I don't seem to get there more than once a year, but with my Disney Vacation Club membership I end up on Disney cruises a few times a year. Both lines are nice, but are different in many ways. I firmly believe each passenger needs to determine what's most important to them, and figure out which cruise line is their personal best fit. For me, it's HAL.

My HAL experience began about 6 years or so ago, when Chris & I sailed on the old Westerdam to the western Caribbean. I would have been in my late 30's then, and although the average passenger age was definitely much higher, I prefer to cruise with older rather than younger people. At the risk of making unfair generalizations, the older folks I've cruised with have been more elegant, know how to behave, dress nicely for the evening, and of course have a lifetime of interesting stories/experiences to share. Chris & I repeated the western Caribbean itinerary a year or 2 later on the Ryndam, which is a much nicer ship than the Westerdam was! In 2002 we went to Alaska, cruising on the Rotterdam's sister ship, the Amsterdam. For the benefit of people unfamiliar with HAL, the Rotterdam is the flagship of the line(supposed to be the most elegant, nicest ship - but of course opinions may vary) and the Amsterdam is her sister. In 2003 we sailed on the Zuiderdam, which is a beautiful ship. However, I did not care for the higher than normal number of kids on board (when I'm on Disney I expect lots of kids and that's fine there), and the younger overall age of the passengers (especially those who dressed like they were on a Disney ship, with jeans and shorts after dinner). I would cruise the Zuiderdam again, but not during a school vacation period! We were lucky to have a full suite that time, thanks to deep discounting by HAL. This year we're back to a regular verandah stateroom, which is nothing to sneeze at (we had one on the Amsterdam). This will also be our first cruise longer than 7 days - this one is 10 days! HAL tends to recycle their ship names, which I find rather odd. The Westerdam that will be sailing soon is not the Westerdam I sailed on years ago - that one was pulled out of service and probably sold to some other line. My ship this cruise is the 6th Rotterdam. There's never more than 1 in service at any one time, though. Personally, I'm glad when the ships get older and not up to current standards HAL will sell them off to someone else. That ensures all of the HAL ships are worthy of my time and money. The one thing all HAL ships have in common is a name that ends in "dam". There are numerous references on board to the "dam" ships, which always gets a chuckle from the passengers.

When I cruise it's primarily for the ship. We could dock anywhere and it wouldn't affect my enjoyment of the cruise. My favorite thing about ports is the other passengers get off the ship, leaving me to enjoy it without any crowds anywhere. <g> On this cruise we have only 5 ports during the 10 days, which gives me lots of time at sea. Four of the ports will be new to us, but at 1 of them (Panama) we won't bother to go ashore. We've been to Half Moon Cay a few times, and it's got to be the most beautiful cruise line island out there. It usually wins the award in that category, and having been to Disney's Castaway Cay several times, I have to say the islands are extremely similar. Disney is a very close second. HAL doesn't have the separate beaches for families, adults, etc - because it's not necessary for them.

I went back & forth on shore excursions. Generally I find them boring, overpriced, and too often I am left feeling like I wasted my time (the exception was in Alaska). However, since these ports are new to me and there were a couple of things I wanted to see, I ended up booking excursions in Aruba and Costa Rica. In Curacao we'll wander around, and could take a cab to a beach but I think I'll just stick to the ship's pool. Hopefully in Aruba or Curacao I'll find internet access for a reasonable price, and spend an hour or so online. In the Panama Canal you cannot leave the ship unless you book an excursion (rule set by Panama), and since there's nothing I felt was worth doing we'll just stay on the ship. We'll be up early for the canal transit anyway, then leave at 4pm, so it's not a very long day.

Dining is a highlight of cruising, and on HAL I love that everything is so elegant. They serve on very nice china, have real silver, and service that's just more formal than on Disney. The only problem is being able to eat dinner for 10 nights in a row - not sure I'll manage to do that! I booked late seating for dinner (8:15), because getting to dinner for the early seating just cuts into the afternoon too much. The evening shows are presented after each dinner seating, so our show will begin at 10:15 each night - which is perfect. The night of the Chocolate Extravaganza we'll need to eat dinner in the Lido or skip dinner, and see the early show (or skip the show, depending on what it is). They open the extravaganza (it really is amazing - like nothing you've ever imagined) for photographs at 10pm and then for eating at 10:30. HAL has a specialty restaurant - formerly called the Odyssey, but now I think it's called Pinnacle Grill. It's changed from Italian to specializing in food from the Pacific NW. Everyone who's been there raves about the filet mignon, and says it spoils you for the rest of the cruise! They also have a warm chocolate grand marnier volcano cake that is a "don't miss". Service is extra attentive, and everything is prepared to your specifications - just like at Palo on the Disney ships. HAL charges $20/person for this dining room, and I've yet to find someone who didn't rave it was worth every penny & more. I ended up booking it for the first night, taking advantage of a 2-for-1 deal, and requested a dining time around 7:30.

HAL cabins are very nice, only slightly larger than the comparable categories on Disney. The biggest difference seems to be on the verandah - it's deep enough for a chaise lounge chair instead of just the little sitting chairs.  It's so much nicer to stretch out on a chaise lounge with a book or glass of wine, rather than sitting upright as if you should be at a table! Since I cannot stand cigarette smoke at all, I purposely booked the very first verandah cabin near the front of the ship. As we are cruising, there will be nobody upwind of me puffing away, so no chance of any smoke smell interfering with my enjoyment of the verandah. That may not be true when we're in port, but at least I know 5 days I won't be driven inside by a neighbor! Most people prefer midship because it's more stable, but I enjoy whatever movement I can detect, as it reminds me I'm on a cruise!

Chris actually prefers HAL over Disney too, and after his first Disney cruise asked if his future cruises could be on HAL. He found there were too many kids on board the Disney ships - but that's to be expected! He's always made friends with a nice bunch of teens on our HAL cruises, and I think it's more enjoyable when the group of kids is smaller. However, on this cruise there are 6 (SIX) teenagers on board, including Chris! As for kids age 12 & under, there are only 15 (fifteen). Hopefully some of the other 5 teens are closer to his age, and not all 13.

The Rotterdam is smaller than the Disney ships (61,000 vs 83,000 gross tons, 780 vs 964 feet long) but the difference in the number of passengers is greater than the difference in size. The Rotterdam carries 1316 passengers, while Disney carries 2600. HAL prides itself on a generous space ratio (amount of space per passenger) around 45, as compared to 35.4 on Disney. As a result, the ship never feels crowded, and with so many fewer kids on board the furnishings and artwork can be spectacular. Entertainment is more adult-oriented, thank goodness.

Packing has been a challenge since there's 2 of us and 10 days to be prepared for. Chris' stuff is huge - his shoes are twice the size of mine, and of course his clothes are a lot bigger! We have 3 formal nights, and I've rented him a tuxedo (& shoes) that will be waiting in our stateroom. There are 2 informal nights, so I'm bringing him a suit with a couple of ties (ties are optional, but he'll need one the night we eat at the Pinnacle Grill). We'll eat at the Pinnacle (specialty restaurant) on one of the casual nights (dressing in informal attire), so for the remaining 4 casual nights Chris has 2 pairs of dress slacks and 4 collared shirts. During the day he'll be in a swimsuit or shorts & t-shirt. If he decides to go up to the sports deck and play tennis or volleyball after dinner he'll change into shorts, but otherwise he'll be staying dressed like the rest of the passengers until bedtime. I expect to do laundry halfway through the cruise, and have packed accordingly. There's no point in bringing 10 days worth of clothes for both evening and daytime, when I can easily make time to throw a couple of loads in or send it out for HAL to launder for me.

During the day my plans revolve around fitness activities and laying by the pool or in the shade with a book or magazine. Teens do NOT like to wake up early, so I figure I'll do the morning fitness class and walk a mile or 2 before dragging Chris out of bed so the steward can make up the room without extending his shift! We'll probably eat breakfast at the Lido, and by late afternoon I'll be ready for the next fitness class and more miles on the promenade deck. Chris wants to workout in the gym, so we can do that as well. It should be a relaxing 10 days - at least that's my goal! And, for the first time I won't be leaving a HAL ship without my next HAL cruise booked. Just before leaving on the Rotterdam I booked the May 15th Zuiderdam to the western Caribbean as a solo trip!

The plans:

Sat 3/13: Embark in Ft Lauderdale, Set sail, dinner in Pinnacle Grill

Sun 3/14: Half Moon Cay

Mon 3/15: At Sea, 1st Formal Night

Tue 3/16: Curacao, Fireworks as we sail away

Wed 3/17: Aruba, Off-road Jeep Tour, Dutch dinner

Thu 3/18: At Sea, 2nd Formal Night

Fri 3/19: Panama Canal

Sat 3/20: Costa Rica, Aerial Tram excursion, Dutch Chocolate Extravaganza

Sun 3/21: At sea, 3rd Formal Night

Mon 3/22: At sea

Tue 3/23: Breakfast, Disembark Rotterdam

DAY 1 SATURDAY MARCH 13, 2004:

Plan: Embark in Ft Lauderdale, Set sail, Dinner in Pinnacle Grill

Actual: For whatever reason, it was easy to get Chris out of bed this

morning - guess going on a cruise is more fun than going to school or work <g>! We were on the road at 8 am, headed to our friends Adie & Lisa's house. They live near the port and would be taking us to the cruise while we left Chris' car parked at their place. We had to backtrack a little when Chris remembered he left his wallet and license in his car, but luckily we hadn't gone too far and Adie didn't throw us out of the car then! It killed her to drop us off and not be cruising with us, though - can't say I blame her.

Embarkation was so simple!! Coming into the port I saw a long line of people outside the Zuiderdam's terminal and thought to myself "oh no." It was sort of a nightmare boarding that ship, perhaps due to the higher number of passengers (1848 vs 1316). We got to our terminal, gave the bags to a porter, noticed the sign that said porters are salaried so tipping is not necessary after tipping the lady <g>, and went inside. The line going through security was the worst, taking 5-10 minutes. From there we checked in, sat down, and 10 minutes later were on the ship. We were given boarding group #2, and at 11:30 they announced groups 1 & 2 could board the ship. After the usual embarkation photo opportunity we were on the Rotterdam and being directed up to the Lido. Cabins would be ready at 1pm, which I felt was reasonable.

We found a table by the window, and I sat with our stuff while Chris went up to get his lunch - pizza, chicken, turkey, maybe fish, mashed potatoes, fruit, and I think that might have been all (up to this point). When I went up the line had gotten really long, since they only had 1 side open at this point. The other side opened at noon, and since I hadn't gotten to the food on my side I switched sides and got through more quickly.

I ate part of a turkey medallion that was pretty good, a little fruit, and I took some mashed potatoes but when I realized the nasty taste was sauerkraut neither of us ate them! They had a great dessert table set up, which I couldn't resist. A lady was having difficulty trying to cut a piece of pecan pie in half, so I ended up just taking her remains since I also wanted a smaller piece. Chris ended up with ice cream for his dessert - a scoop of banana and a scoop of vanilla, covered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream. The banana was really good - it'd be great in a milkshake! He went to the Lido Bar and bought his soda card for the week - $31.50 for unlimited soda from the bars on the ship.

We walked around for a while, and I noticed the giant "no jogging on this deck" sign on the lower promenade. Instead, joggers have to go up on deck 10 (VERY windy, and in direct sun) and do 10 laps to make a mile! Sounds like too much work for me, but we'll see. On this ship (and many HAL ships) there are staterooms on the deck with the promenade, and I can appreciate that someone in those cabins wouldn't want to listen to the noise from people jogging (although, with the advanced average age on HAL I wonder how many joggers there would

be). I also thought the outside areas of the ship looked a little haggard - in need of maintenance and sprucing up. The indoor areas were as lovely as always, though - thank goodness. We explored the inside of the ship, and then decided to call my Dad up in Boston. While we were on the phone they announced cabins were ready, so we went up to check it out!

We're in the first verandah stateroom, as far forward as one can get. As a result, we have no neighbor on one side. The stateroom looked fine - although the verandah furniture was looking kind of shabby (once again - inside looks nice, outside needs work). We've got a chaise lounge, sitting chair & small table on the verandah - with plenty of space to move around. The beds were together as a queen bed, and I noticed on our personalized stationery it said Mr & Mrs Christopher Holland! When we met our cabin steward we let him know to separate the bed into twins. There are also 2 nightstands, large dresser/desk, tv with vcr, mini bar, long sofa, and another chair. The bathroom has a jacuzzi tub with a detachable shower head, and a nice vanity over the sink. There's more than enough storage space, so we'll be very comfortable for the next 10 days.

We were hoping luggage would arrive, but it ended up being 4pm before that happened. On HAL instead of it being thrown outside your door (like on DCL), your cabin steward goes & gets your luggage, then brings it inside your stateroom. The hallways aren't cluttered up at all - except on the last night of the cruise. We went for another walk, and stopped at the library to get a couple of books for me. We also did the spa tour, where I got my first glass of champagne this trip. The gym looks pretty good - lots of equipment for such a small ship - definitely more equipment than the bigger Disney ships. They had a

whole wall of free weights, too. We stopped by the Lido pool so Chris could have another lunch - a big plate of taco salad. They have burgers, hot dogs, and all the fixings for tacos here each day, so Chris was able to make it just the way he wanted.

We had the lifeboat drill at 4:15, which is always a pain. Our station was on the sunny side of the deck and I'd left my sunglasses in the stateroom, which was pretty dumb. Thank goodness it didn't last too long! The captain announced we were sailing about 30 minutes or so late, so I had time to unpack everything without missing the sail away. I'd brought some spray wrinkle remover at AAA, and it worked great on everything! I sent Chris to the laundry room to iron his white dress shirt, but that's the only piece we ironed. His tuxedo was delivered, and we also have 2 white robes in the stateroom.

Up on deck it was SO windy! The Zuiderdam was backing out, turned around, and sailed away - then it was our turn to follow. I think we're with them at Half Moon Cay tomorrow, which concerns me because the island will be very crowded. We were at the front of the ship as we left the channel, and were almost blown off the ship by the loudness of the ship's horn - Tim was listening on the cell phone, and was surprised how loud it was. We walked around a little more, then returned to the stateroom. Our steward (Daniel) was separating the

beds, and left our chocolates on the pillows and our Holland America Line canvas tote bag. I updated the report and Chris played with his cell phone until he lost service.

Tonight we're dining in the Odyssey - also called Pinnacle Grill. Our

reservation is for 7:30, and although it's a casual night we'll dress up a little bit because it's such a formal restaurant. They do allow you to follow the dress code for the evening, but casual just didn't seem right for that restaurant. I wore a dressy pantsuit, and Chris wore black dress slacks with a white dress shirt and tie.

We browsed through the shops for a while, then went to the Pinnacle Grill about 10-15 minutes before our reservation time. We were seated immediately, for what turned out to be a 2-hour meal. There's a $20 per person charge to eat here, but on the first night they offer a 2-for-one if you book it from home (we did). We were served by a team of 2, who were very busy with our section of the restaurant.

This may be the only menu I actually have in my hand, and I know people are interested in the specialty restaurant menu since HAL pulled it off their site, so here it is.

STARTERS:

Fragrant Chicken Thai Soup - coconut milk & lemon grass Ultimate Northwest Clam Chowder - double smoked bacon, clams, tender red potatoes

Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomato Salad - balsamic vinaigrette, extra virgin herb oil

Seasonal Greens - fresh NW pear, warm pecan crusted Oregon blue cheese, dried cherries & cider pear vinaigrette

Dungeness Crab Cakes - spiral shaved cucumber & sweet chili sauce Seared Duck Breast - pickled Walla Walla onions, blackberry relish Gerard & Dominique's Smoked Pleasures - black cod, salmon, scallops, wasabi cream

ENTREES:

From the Grill - features hand selected Sterling Silver Beef, unsurpassed in tenderness & taste, its flavor is enhanced by our own special seasoned rubs and the juices are sealed in by our 1600 degree grill. Servied with selection of hand crafted sauces - sun dried tomato steak sauce, classic bearnaise, horseradish mustard sauce

Filet Mignon - petite cut or pinnacle cut

Bone-in Rib Eye Steak

Porterhouse Steak

Halibut or King Salmon - troll caught in Alaskan waters, quick seared on our grill served with your choice of lemon garlic herb splash or sesame soy kalbi

Pan Seared Rosemary Chicken, cranberry chutney

Lamb Rack Chops, apple spice chutney, drizzled mint sauce

Seafood Cioppino - mussels, clams, king crab, halibut

Grande Wild Mushroom Ravioli, pesto cream sauce

SIDE DISHES:

Scalloped Potatoes

Oversized Baked Washington Potato

Grilled Asparagus with Bearnaise Sauce

Sauteed Button Mushrooms

Creamed Spinach

Honey Maple Three Bean Ragout

Lemon-Wheat Berry Basmati Rice

SWEET ENDINGS:

Not so Classic Baked Alaska (flamed tableside)

Warm Grand Marnier Chocolate Volcano Cake

Lemon Berry Angel Shortcake

Assortment of Cheeses

We started with an assortment of bread, along with seasoned oil and also butter. I ordered the Chateau St Michelle Riesling that I usually get at LeCellier, for $6/glass. Overall the wine and drink prices seem very reasonable - almost cheap. But, the wines sold by the glass aren't exactly the finest wines out there <g>! We ordered our dinners and they brought us a sampler plate with 3 tiny appetizers. There was a salmon thing with a bit of caviar on top, vegetarian sushi, and a ball of goat cheese rolled in crushed nuts. I enjoyed the goat cheese - didn't touch the other stuff, though. For my appetizer I had the tomato salad, and it was very good. There were 2 slices of red tomato and 1 slice of yellow, attractively arranged on the plate. Chris got the clam

chowder and raved that it was the best chowder he's ever had in his life. I think he would have made a meal of just chowder if he hadn't also ordered an entrée!

I had the petite cut filet mignon (7 ounces), which was delicious and so tender I almost didn't need a knife at all. As a side I had the lemon rice, which was pretty good also. Chris got the asparagus and the porterhouse (around 20 ounces or so) and not only ate every bite of his dinner he finished the last 1/3 of my filet! Everything was excellent, though - and at his age he can afford to eat like a pig once in a while <g>. For dessert we both went with the chocolate volcano cake, which is similar to the lava cake on DCL. It's presented with the cake in a covered soup crock, with fresh whipped cream topped with orange peel in a separate container next to the crock, a long twisted chocolate tube and a large curved cookie were also positioned on the plate. That dessert was SO delicious!! I see why people rave about it - it's heaven on a plate, lol. Chris ordered a latte, which was brought with a silver tray containing different sugars and also shaved chocolate. On the top shelf they had some of the chocolates (I think made by HAL) to sample - truffles, really.

We rolled out of there, glad to have had the chance to eat there. We stopped at the front desk to see if we could get Chris' name added to the distribution list for the teen activity schedules since the initial meeting conflicted with our dinner. A very helpful employee was standing next to us and offered to take Chris' name to the Club HAL director and get him signed up herself. We checked the Sky Room up on deck 10 to see if anyone was there, but it was empty. The schedule for teens was posted though, and tomorrow night they're having a casino night - should be interesting with only 6 of them <g>.

It was too windy to walk around outside, so we ended up returning to the stateroom. The wind is whistling by the verandah door, making a lot of noise - but hopefully it won't interfere with sleeping. I decided to attend the show tonight, and Chris decided to skip it. Usually the first night it's pretty dull - with lots of introductions of HAL people, and limited entertainment. Tonight they had Marty Brill, who was a comedy writer for MASH and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I was a little late, but found a great seat up in the balcony - with a clear view of the stage. They introduced each department head, who basically gave a commercial for their area of the ship, and then theentertainment

started.

The Rotterdam Cast did a song & dance number, but I don't think they were actually singing. It appeared to be a tape, but whatever. Next Marty Brill did a stand-up act, and he was very funny! At first I wasn't sure I'd like him, but pretty soon he got very good, and the crowd really enjoyed him. Some jokes were about old people, which is basically the HAL audience <g>. After Cruise Director Tom reviewed some of the activities for tomorrow the Rotterdam Cast came back for one more number, and that was my cue to leave. I'll catch them in a production show, but am not interested in a single lip-sync number thrown out there to end a comedy show.

Chris was in the stateroom, getting ready for bed. He'd ordered 2 sandwiches and a bowl of soup from room service, but said they were for tomorrow. I think once they came he realized he was way too full to eat --he isn't used to eating half a cow! He was asleep within minutes, so I finished up the report and headed to bed myself by 11:30. The drapes are open, so I'll let the sun be my wakeup call tomorrow. It was a great first day, and I'm very happy to back on a HAL cruise!

DAY 2 SUNDAY MARCH 14, 2004:

Plan: Half Moon Cay

Actual: I woke up shortly after 6 and decided to get up and wander around the ship. I found other people in the Lido Restaurant or sitting by the pool with a book, but it was mostly very quiet. I found the jogging area - it circles the Lido Pool, but on the deck above. I passed through the inside areas and took more photos, then went to the promenade deck (technically it's the lower promenade) and started walking laps. The lounge chair cushion on my verandah was somewhat ratty, so I picked up a new one from the storage area in the bow of the ship. After I swapped it out on the verandah I returned my old one to the storage area. We had approached Half Moon Cay by now, having followed the Zuiderdam in.

We talked about Half Moon Cay at dinner tonight and decided that since it was going to be so crowded we didn't need to try and make this a normal beach day - heading off the ship early, finding lounge chairs, and parking ourselves on a crowded beach. I walked a couple of miles, then returned to see if Chris still wanted to workout in the gym. They allow 14-17 year olds in there if they're with a parent or guardian. As expected, he just wanted to sleep, asking for another 20 minutes <g>. His Club HAL stuff had been delivered, but most of the activities don't really look like something he'd be interested in - but we'll see.

HAL sent out information on wireless internet. They'll rent passengers a wireless card for their laptop for $10/day, will rent a laptop for $20/day, and then you can pay to go online. There is no unlimited plan, and prices range from $.40 to $.75 minute depending on the plan selected. I think I'll pass, and see if there's much cheaper access from one of the ports.

Eventually Chris was ready to get up, and he wanted to eat in the dining room rather than the Lido. We were seated with 2 other couples, who were both very nice. I think I prefer making conversation at the end of the day better than first thing in the morning, lol - we'll stick mostly to the Lido for breakfast. I had the fruit/yogurt parfait, which was small but very good. The yum-yum man came around with the pastries and I got one of the tiny danish that HAL > does so well. Chris got a croissant and ordered 2 breakfasts - the traditional bacon & eggs thing and the pancakes. He ate it all, except for the hash brown that I ate.

After breakfast we went to the gym and worked out on the Cybex equipment. It wasn't very busy and the equipment was nice. I used a treadmill very briefly, until we decided to head ashore. We had to get a tender ticket in the Queen's Lounge (they do this to avoid the bottleneck at the gangway from having the entire ship rushing to fit on the first 150-seat boat). Our number was the next one called, so our wait was less than 5 minutes. Unfortunately, it was a mostly cloudy day and the clouds were not burning off. We had brief periods of sunshine, but mostly cloudiness.

At Half Moon Cay I was shocked at how uncrowded it was, especially considering the 2 ships in port. We found a couple of chairs very easily, dropped our stuff off, and went for a walk along the beach. Coming off the ship they had one of the photographers dressed in a tux shirt & jacket, with a speedo swimsuit. He was posing with guests as another photographer took the picture, but it was a little too creepy in my opinion. Nothing like having your photo taken with a formally dressed man who is missing his pants! When we were walking on the beach the photographers stopped us and we posed with the butler, but I have no idea if the picture will appear on our ship or the Zuiderdam!

Chris continued touring the island while I sat on my very windy lounge chair, but didn't really see any reason to stay on the island. I decided to go back to the ship with him, since a beach isn't any big thrill when you live in Florida. Once on the ship we went to the aft pool, where it was so windy I couldn't stay. We moved to the Lido Pool, and I found a chair under the open part of the roof. Chris enjoyed the pool and hot tub, and around noon got another huge taco salad for a snack. We stayed at the pool until about 1, then changed out of our swimsuits and went to the Lido Restaurant for lunch.

Chris wasn't terribly hungry, so he had a piece of halibut and some french fries. I had a piece of weiner schnitzel, which was very good, and a piece of bread. It was nice sitting by the window and seeing the Zuiderdam next to us. We checked out the desserts, and I got a delicious thing that looked like half a cannoli, with a vanilla custard inside and some hazelnut and chocolate. Chris got one too, along with a cream puff and a piece of lemon meringue pie. So far all the desserts have been excellent. We headed back down to the stateroom for a while, where I updated the report & read out on the verandah while Chris watched some tv. He headed up to play basketball at 2:30 and I went to the total body conditioning class at 3.

The class was terrific - only 5 of us in attendance, plus the instructor. It's a fitness guy here rather than a female, which is a nice plus (the women will understand <g>). The class ended at 3:30 and I went to see if Chris was still playing basketball but must have just missed him. I ran into one of the couples from breakfast and chatted with them briefly, then went down to deck 3 and did at least a couple of miles on the promenade. The Zuiderdam sailed away, and soon we were moving as well - headed to Curacao the day after tomorrow. At one point a young man was walking next to me, so I asked him if he was a teen (he was) and told him I had a son on board, and mentioned the casino night for teens tonight. He seemed like a nice kid - hopefully Chris will meet him at some point.

I went back inside and stopped at the Java Bar to pick up a decaf latte. This is all free on HAL, unless you add a shot of alcohol to your coffee drink. At the Java Bar they have several cookies (also free) to accompany your coffee, and for sweeteners they have brown sugar, different packets of sugar & sugar substitutes, cinnamon sticks, semi sweet chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. They also have all the usual toppings, and a wide variety of tea bags. They even have sugar-free cookies for people who need that. I noticed in the Lido Restaurant at the beverage stations they have a machine that makes regular & decaf lattes, cappuccino, espresso and coffee - a very nice touch! It's no longer necessary to pay concierge prices for access to one of these machines <g>. I returned to the stateroom & Chris arrived just as I got there. We hung out a little while, then he went to roam around the ship in search of teens while I bundled up in one of the nice warm robes and did some more reading out on the verandah. Around 6 I was almost finished with my book and decided to come inside. It was comfortable outside with the big heavy robe - thank goodness they're here since I didn't bring warm clothes! Coming in was a funny experience - the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to open the door, but once I got it open the drapes got sucked out along with a survey that had been delivered. It took the 2 of us to pull the drapes back in and pull the door closed (I went back out and got the survey so it wouldn't blow overboard).

I took my shower; Chris was watching some movies he got from the front office. He also went and got himself (none for me - thanks a lot) some ice cream. The ice cream here is great - each day they have around 6 or more flavors of real ice cream, plus the soft serve. They have the big waffle cones too, and all the usual toppings for ice cream in a bowl. The flavors change daily, and I can't imagine even the pickiest person not being able to find a flavor they'll like.

The ship was rolling or pitching (side to side) quite a bit! I enjoy the movement, but it made getting ready for dinner a challenge! Before Chris took his shower I had him open my bottle of wine (the moscato I drink on DCL), which was very tough with the cheapo corkscrew I bought. I enjoyed a half glass (there are 2 champagne and 4 wine glasses in our stateroom) of the wine and continued reading my book while Chris showered. Around 7:30 we went downstairs to the Ocean Bar for a before-dinner cocktail, but it was so busy we ended up at the Piano Bar instead. Chris got a non-alcoholic frozen strawberry-banana drink, and I ordered the white sangria. My white sangria was dark red, but they remade it with the sauvignon blanc when I brought it to their attention. It was very strange, and not something I'd order again - basically, a glass of white wine with a LOT of small chunks of fruit (including the rind) thrown in the glass. They also brought us a small plate of hors d'oeuvres - chicken cordon bleu, mini crabcakes, and a greek beef thing - all very good. At 8:15 the chimes summoned us to dinner, and we found our table pretty easily since we'd checked the floorplan yesterday. It is up a step or two and sort of juts out from the center of the room, with a railing surrounding 1 side - I like the location a lot. We were joined by Larry & Suzy from Ohio, and then Roger & Tricia from London. Tricia ended up returning to the stateroom due to being seasick, but the rest of us enjoyed a nice meal with terrific conversation. Suzy is just plain fun - she reminds me of Chris from the dvc board. Roger is very well traveled, and is an interesting conversationalist. Tonight there was an appetizer, soup and salad that appealed to me, so I decided to skip the entrée. I had the chicken satay appetizer, which was 2 small skewers of chicken and was very tasty. For soup I had the delicious chilled strawberry - I love that! For my meal I had the mixed greens salad - simple but delicious. Chris had the watermelon balls, clam chowder, strawberry soup, and the lamb entrée. His dinner was excellent, but he had eaten too much by that point and started to not feel very well. He returned to the stateroom before dessert, and was in bed watching the rest of a movie when I returned. The desserts didn't sound very appealing, but Larry mentioned a woman walking by the lounge he was in earlier said be sure to try the berry crisp, so that's what 3 of the 4 of us decided to order. It was very good - an assortment of berries under a crisp topping and scoop of vanilla ice cream. I ordered a chocolate cake slice for Chris, and brought it back to the stateroom.

Tonight's show features the Rotterdam Cast in Showstoppers - the best of the Broadway musicals. I arrived just before showtime and took a seat in the balcony so I could leave without being a disruption if I decided it wasn't worth my time. The big heavy curtain on stage was swinging back & forth something terrible. It seemed like the ship slowed slightly when the show started, as the movement became less. The cast did more of their own singing tonight, and the costumes were great. The set was pretty blah, but perhaps that was due to the ship's movement. On the Zuiderdam the production shows had nice sets, and were much more involved. The music was great, but I was exhausted - I kept nodding off and finally by 10:45 I snuck out to return to the stateroom. Chris was sound asleep.

Today was a nice day, despite somewhat lousy weather. It's incredibly windy and as soon as we started sailing the ship was rolling and pitching significantly. At first I thought we only noticed because we are so far forward, but it's just as bad midship and at the aft. I can't remember when it was this rough on my previous cruises. Our dinner tablemates all seem to be great, which is a big relief on a 10-day cruise! I was glad we left the island early, otherwise I never would have had the chance to have weiner schnitzel - something I love but rarely find. Missing the chance for burgers & ribs wasn't any loss < g>. I'm looking forward to tomorrow for our first sea day and hopefully sunnier weather!

DAY 3 MONDAY MARCH 15, 2004:

Plan: At Sea, 1st Formal Night

Actual: We turned the clocks ahead an hourlast night, and I later found out we'd be changing time zones 4 times this cruise!

I decided to just leave my watch set where it was, and will just remember if we're really on that time or not. It was a very rocky night - I could hear some of our stuff rolling around inside the drawers! I woke up shortly after 7, which was really just after 6 without the time change. I got dressed and went down to the promenade and walked a mile, then went to the aerobics class at 8. There were only 4 of us plus the instructor, and I'm not sure I'll bother with this class again. It was a good workout, but to me aerobics gets monotonous, so I'll stick to the other classes. I returned to the stateroom to change into my swimsuit, made myself a cup of cappuccino (I brought my hot pot and my own cappuccino mix), agreed with Chris that he'd find me by about 9:45, then went up on deck to find the perfect lounge chair. I ended up right outside the Lido Restaurant, below where the basketball court is - an easy spot for Chris to find me. Not trusting him to get there on time, I went into the Lido and got one of the mini danish, then sat on my lounge chair and had my danish/cappuccino breakfast in the sun. When 9:45 came and went with no sign of Chris, I returned to the stateroom and found him still in bed. I was definitely NOT pleased with him, especially since he knew going into this cruise he was expected to be up and out of the cabin in time for breakfast. He was the typical surly teen and I was the pissed-off parent in this wonderful family vacation moment <g>. At the Lido Restaurant he said he wasn't hungry, and I'd lost my appetite so we went our separate ways. He wandered the ship in search of teens and I did some reading on my lounge chair. It felt great out there - breezy enough to keep it from being hot, but not nearly as windy as yesterday. Chris got over his mood and decided to get breakfast, bringing the tray out to eat on the chair next to mine. He had some eggs, bacon, french toast and fruit, and said it was all good. The bacon was nice & crispy, just the way it should be. He never did find any teens anywhere, and all day was the only teen to show up for any of the teen events. Around 12 I was getting a little hungry so I went into the Lido Restaurant and got a banana and small slice of sugar free apple strudel (I don't care about sugar free - this was the dessert that looked the most appealing) and brought them back out to my chair. Just before 1 Chris was back, warning me that a big rain storm was coming. It had been partly cloudy up until that point, and the haze obscured most of the view of Haiti next to the ship. I'd been planning to go inside at 1 anyway, so I packed up my stuff and it started to rain just after I got under cover. It was a very brief shower - long enough for HAL to close the retractable roof over the Lido Pool (making that area VERY hot & humid - yuck).

We went to the stateroom to drop off my stuff and decided to send Chris' shoes out for a shoeshine. This is a free service on HAL - just call room service for pickup, and your shined shoes will be back within 4 hours. I changed into workout clothes and we went up to the gym to use the Cybex equipment for a while. We decided to get some ice cream, but found the line was pretty long and they'd taken the butter pecan I'd seen earlier off the list. I knew it would be back another time, and didn't see any other flavor really worth the calories right now. Chris picked up an egg salad sandwich from the deli bar and decided to skip the ice cream as well. When we returned to the stateroom, the shoes were already back! It was almost 2, so I headed to the movie theater and saw Intolerable Cruelty, starring George Clooney & Catherine Zeta Jones. HAL serves popcorn (free of charge) at their movies, but I skipped it this time. The movie was pretty good - some funny moments. Chris went to the 2pm teen event in the arcade and again was the only person. He did get to play the arcade games for free for a while, then picked up some more movies and ended up back in the stateroom.

After the movie I got a small scoop of butter pecan ice cream (it was back), and returned to the stateroom. I sat on the verandah for a short while - it's so nice out there! The lounge chair is against the first wall, so it's sheltered from the wind. The captain had announced earlier that due to the speed of the ship and the speed/direction of the wind we were traveling into, the effect on the open deck was 60 mph winds - a "fresh breeze", or gale force winds, depending on your point of view <g>. Around 4 I decided to go walk a mile on the promenade - Chris wasn't interested. My first sign something was amiss was when the windows in the door were soaking wet - the wind was blowing spray from the ocean all over the deck on 1 side of the ship. I did my mile, which is 3.5 laps, getting pretty wet & salty in the process. There were a few other people out walking, but nowhere near as many as yesterday. I went back inside and got settled out on the verandah. It was wonderful out there - not too windy and really peaceful between the sound of the ship and the waves. I read for a while, then took a short nap --it felt great! After that it was time for my shower, and we ordered a toasted cheese sandwich for Chris and a cheese plate for me. There were only 2 small pieces I liked, but I only wanted a few bites to go with my wine. Chris took his shower, while I poured a glass of wine and relaxed on the couch watching some of the HAL channels on the tv.

At 7:30 we were all dressed in our formal attire (tuxedo for Chris) and on our way downstairs to the Captain's welcome reception. As usual, there was a big crowd, and they had passengers snaking through long lines with 3 different photo stops. I'd much rather skip the photos and just get inside to sit down, but that didn't appear to be an option and I didn't make an issue of it. Eventually we got up to meet the captain, who turned out to be a fairly young guy with a great sense of humor. We were seated in the Queen's Lounge and soon a white-gloved steward in formal attire was there with a silver tray offering champagne, wine or orange juice. He called me by name, but I didn't know where I'd met him earlier. I got some white wine, and Chris had a glass of champagne (probably his first glass of champagne, unless he's had some with his pal Cheryl <g>). The captain introduced each of the department heads, plus the employee of the month, then announced he'd be leaving the ship in Curacao tomorrow. Evidently the real captain had to attend a meeting in Ft Lauderdale, so he was just subbing in for a few days. He also told us there were 1150 passengers on board, served by a crew of 560. At 8:15 we headed to dinner, where Larry & Suzy were already seated. Roger & Tricia were at the Pinnacle Grill tonight, so it would be just the 4 of us. An elderly couple came over and sat down, and we thought they'd been added to our table (we had 2 empty seats last night). The lady asked Suzy if she'd sat next to her last night, and that was our clue that they were at the wrong table. They said they were at table 138. We were table 166, lol - but they said since they were seated they'd just stay. Of course, the steward had other ideas, and they accompanied the people to where they were supposed to be. Tonight was the first formal night, and there were many tuxes being worn. There weren't as many sequined gowns on the ladies, but everyone we saw was definitely in formal attire - no deadbeats seen anywhere. Service at dinner was pretty prompt since there were only 4 of us, and everything was absolutely wonderful. Chris had the shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque, caesar salad, and the veal medalions over spaghetti carbonara. I had the onion soup and the same veal dish. The onion soup was excellent - not salty at all! The veal was outstanding - moist, flavorful, and perfect with the carbonara. For dessert we both went with the warm flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. It wasn't exactly warm, but it was delicious! Larry & Suzy commented that this was the best meal yet, and we had a wonderful time with them. Chris left to see if any teens were showing up for movie night, while I lingered a little longer with Larry & Suzy.

After dinner I wandered around, stopping to chat with Tom the cruise director (he calls himself Tom Cruise….Director), then later ran into Roger & Tricia and chatted with them for a while. I bought a HAL Christmas ornament and a cheap pen to use at work, then returned to the stateroom. The show tonight is a harpist, and I figured if I had a hard time staying awake for lively singing & dancing, there was no way I'd make it through some lady playing soft music on a harp! Chris came in to get one of his cd's - he was the only teen again, so he & the Club HAL girl were listening to music. At least she knows he's only 17! I finished up the report and turned the shore excursion channel back on the tv to see a clip of our Aruba excursion. I did some reading, and got to bed by 11:30. Chris was back just after 11, once again the only teen who showed up but but the counselor asked him to keep showing up so she wouldn't have to go work with the little kids <g>. She gave him 2 HAL cd cases that say "dam tunes" and a nice keyring that says "dam keys". He can pretty much call the shots on what activity to do, regardless of the schedule - so he's happy. One of the first things he suggested was getting the chef to make a special seafood pizza he had on another HAL ship, so they're planning to do that soon.

Today was another great day - wonderful weather, rocky but fun seas (20-30 ft waves most of the day), fantastic dinner, and overall it sure beats being at work!

DAY 4 TUESDAY MARCH 16, 2003:

Plan: Curacao, Fireworks as we sail away

Actual: I was up shortly after 7 and wandered around the ship for a while indoors.

It was gale force winds outside and I didn't want to look like a total wreck right off the bat! As I was checking the dinner menu outside the dining room a steward was washing the windows - he surprised me by calling me by my full name, and he turned out to be the fig/mints guy I chatted with on the way out last night (he'd asked my name then - and of course Holland isn't too tough to remember on a HAL cruise, but he remembered the Sue also). I tried taking a couple of pictures of the dining room, but I think with the ships movement they're going to be too blurry. Seas were down to 7.5-12 ft now, but the wind was a killer.

I went to the 8:00 total body conditioning class, which ended up being canceled. The sound system wasn't working, and there were only 2 of us who showed up (3 person minimum for the free classes). I talked to the fitness instructor (Edward - a Scotsman) while we waited, and he offered to take us through some crunches, but without the music it wouldn't kind of dull so I passed. Instead I went over to the Cybex equipment but as soon as I started on one I realized I needed to let the muscles rest a day before using that equipment again. No walking, no exercise - might as well eat <g>! I went to the Lido Restaurant and got one of the mini danish I like, and a mini chocolate croissant. The croissant was nothing special, and I only ate a bite. The danish was delicious! Edward came by and told me I wasn't eating a very healthy breakfast, chatted a few minutes and continued on his way. I was sitting inside by the Lido Pool, and it sounded like I was on the beach thanks to the waves making noise in the pool! After sitting around a while I went back down to the stateroom (Chris was still in bed, but it was only 8:30) to update the report and decide what I could do that didn't involve getting windblown. He got up around 9:15 and headed up to the Sky Room to hang out with Angelina (Club HAL person). I grabbed my book and sat in the Explorer's Lounge after stopping to return a video to the front desk and the other book to the library. Around 10:30 Chris called me on the walkie-talkie, wanting to eat. I dropped off my book and went to get him at the Sky Room - he & Angelina were playing a game of Uno. The younger kids were involved in some activities off to the side - it looked like they must have all been there. Today was Dutch brunch in the Lido, so that's where we headed. Chris had some perch, salads, ham, pizza, french fries, and about 1 bite of a veal croquette that he didn't like at all. I saw nothing on the line that I really wanted, so I ended up at the deli station and ordered ½ of today's special sandwich - warm grilled roast beef fajita, on focaccia bread. It was delicious! We were passing islands as we ate, possible Bonnaire or Arube since we're still an hour from docking at Curacao. Chris got us some tiny Dutch pancakes - (proffitjes??) which were very good. He remembered them from our other HAL cruises. After eating he grabbed something from the dessert buffet and headed back to the Sky Room to continue beating Angelina at Uno. I picked up half of an apple turnover-type pastry and brought it down to the stateroom. It was very good - today's brunch had lots of apple pastry items, so I guess the Dutch must like that <g>.

I decided to watch our final arrival into Curacao from the Crows Nest up on deck 10. This bar has walls of windows on 3 sides, giving me a great view of the port. The buildings here are painted in bright colors, so it's a very attractive port. I found Chris and we went outside on deck to watch them secure the last of our lines, then we were headed off the ship. It was freakin' HOT in Curacao - and it's a pretty good walk from the port to the shopping area. They've got a pontoon bridge across the harbor, which looks like a regular road but it's supported by pontoon boats and bounces as people walk across. When ships need to pass the boat disconnects from one side and swings alongside the shoreline. We spent an hour or more browsing in the shops, but didn't really see much of interest. We got some of the Curacao liqueur (made from an orange grown only there) for Chris' dad, a couple of shotglasses, and a refrigerator magnet. Chris looked for a t-shirt but didn't see any he liked. Lots of stuff was really cheap, so I'm not sure how it would hold up - many t-shirts were only $5, for example. We were ready to head back, but the pontoon bridge had opened earlier and still wasn't closed. Luckily they had a sign in several languages so I knew to go to the free ferry for a ride to the other side! We were back on the ship around 2, and I went to the aft pool for about an hour while Chris watched a movie. I met him coming to the pool as I was leaving, and he decided to go play basketball while I walked a mile on the promenade. We took our showers and got dressed for a casual/tropical evening, sort of playing some of the plans by ear. Tonight they're doing a barbeque on deck, which is what Chris wants for dinner. I saw a couple of interesting things on the dining room menu, so I may end up going to dinner without him.

We went downstairs to the Ocean Bar, where I had the drink of the day (Island Paradise - vodka, coconut liqueur, orange & lemon juice, grenadine) and Chris had a great virgin banana dacquiri. The appetizers tonight were little pizzas, buffalo wings and fried mozzarella, all of which were excellent. We later went walking around deck 3 (on the promenade) and found our way out to the bow of the ship. Many ships today don't have this as an area accessible to passengers, which gives HAL a real advantage in places like the Panama Canal or Alaska. At 6 we went up to the Lido, where they had the tropical buffet set up next to the pool. They had a fountain in the pool, a tropical band playing, and the stewards were selling pina coladas made in an actual coconut! They looked really fun, but I still had my drink from the Ocean Bar at that point. It smelled great, since they were grilling right there. Chris got in line to get his dinner, while I got us a table. He came back with a big salad, and a plate that any Atkins dieter would be proud of - ribs, salmon, chicken breast & sausage. After he ate we walked around a bit and then returned to the stateroom.

I called room service to inquire about ordering from the dining room menu, and they said "of course". I thought that was the case, but after so many Disney cruises I wasn't sure - over there I think if you want to eat off the regular menus you need to get your butt into a chair in those restaurants. I ordered the tomato/mozzarella salad, which was very good. I also had the parmesan crusted chicken breast - at least part of it, since it was huge. It came on a bed of couscous with green beans and topped with angel hair carrots. I didn't touch any of the couscous or veggies <g> and Chris finished the chicken breast for me. For dessert I tried the cheesecake trio - 3 little squares of raspberry, chocolate chip, and crème brulee cheesecake. All of them were very good, and I was pretty much stuffed from eating every last morsel. Chris watched more of one of his movies while I updated the report. We'd gotten some mail - the cruise director had sent me some information for a friend, and HAL sent us an invitation to stay onboard for the next 10 day cruise for only $399 in an outside cabin (plus $200 taxes). I could do it as a solo for less than I'm doing the 7-day Zuiderdam in May! Unfortunately, I can't stay on board, which is VERY depressing. It'd be so cool to stay on for 20 days, especially at that kind of a price! I can't WAIT until I'm retired <g> , because then I would have done it.

I went to see the movie Duplex (Ben Stiller & Drew Barrymore) at 8, since the later showing was too late and I didn't want to feel rushed to get back to see it tomorrow afternoon. There were quite a few people in attendance, and it was an ok movie. I'm glad I didn't pay to see it, though. Chris played some basketball then returned to the stateroom an ordered a club sandwich, BLT with extra bacon, and shrimp cocktail for a snack. I don't know where he puts it, but I'm glad I'm not paying a la carte! I met him in the stateroom after my movie, and we went up to the Lido Deck to watch the games going on there. It was a lot of fun - just your typical silly games where the winning passenger got some "dam" prize. At 10:00 we started drifting away from the dock, and then the fireworks started. The country of Curacao does this for any HAL ships' departure from port, which is a nice gesture. I'm pretty blasé about fireworks, but watching them from the back of a beautiful cruise ship in a tropical country is pretty cool! When they ended we returned to the stateroom, where Chris finished his room service food and watched tv, and I finished up the report.

Today was another "dam" great day! We were the only ship in port, which was very nice. I wasn't thrilled with the shopping in Curacao and I think on my next visit I'll find an excursion to see more of the island. The people here were all nice, and not pushy like we've experienced in other ports of call. Overall it was a nice relaxing day, and the best part is we still have a week left! The worst part is I can't stay on board for the 2nd 10-days though.

DAY 5 WEDNESDAY MARCH 17, 2004:

Plan: Aruba, Off-road Jeep Tour, Dutch dinner Actual: First - Happy St Patrick's Day, and Happy Birthday to my friend Patty! They are having green beer on the ship later tonight, but I'm sure I'll pass on that <g>.

Yesterday I put in for a 6am wakeup call and pre-ordered room service breakfast for delivery between 7 & 7:30. We have to meet our excursion on the pier just before 8, and it was easier to just have breakfast brought to us. Unlike on Disney, breakfast on HAL is a full breakfast (speaking of room service) - eggs, omelets, as well as the cold stuff. The wakeup call came promptly at 6, so I got up & showered, then packed up what we'd be bringing ashore. Not sure how far the shopping area was from the ship, I didn't want to have to come back to the ship to get anything after our excursion. I got Chris up around 6:45 and at 7 breakfast arrived. I had a cheese omelet with bacon and a mini-danish. Chris had the 2 eggs breakfast with sausage, cereal, fruit, english muffin, croissant & juice. I made my cappuccino in the room while waiting for the food to be delivered. The room service waiter called us each by name, and brought a pot of coffee and 2 cups because he saw we didn't order any and thought maybe we'd forgotten. I thanked him, and showed him my cappuccino - so we won't get another pot of coffee next time < g>. The food was excellent - and there was plenty of it! My omelet g>filled half the plate, and came with 4 pieces of bacon. It was way too much, so I ate some of it, a piece of bacon, my mini danish and Chris' mini croissant. Chris ate most of his stuff - except for not finishing the cereal. They put the hot food on a really hot metal bottom that keeps it really warm, we take off the lid and remove the HAL plate from the metal thing, and everything was as hot as if a waiter just delivered it to our table in a restaurant.

By 6:30 I could see we were approaching Aruba. It was very smooth last night, I guess because we were traveling so slowly. We finished up breakfast before 7:30 and got ourselves ready to go ashore. Since our excursion calls for us to wear swimsuits, I'll load up on sunscreen in case this jeep is open-air. We got off the ship and met a couple from the Alaska/British Columbia border (Bill & Marinka). A bus came and transported us to the place to get our jeeps - bright yellow ones that seat 2 in front, 2 in back. There was no cover, so we got completely windblown! As a total Miss Priss, I had to pretend like I didn't mind getting my hair all messed up <g>. Chris & I shared a jeep with Bill & Marinka, with the women in the back and the men up front. Bill drove first, as we drove caravan-style (4 jeeps plus the guide) towards Casibari Rock Formation. At first glance Aruba was surprisingly flat, and soon it began to look like a barren desert. Tall cactus plants were everywhere, along with palm trees. Goats roam all over the place, and Marinka said they're somewhat sacred here. We saw several during our drive. The Casibari Rock Formation is basically one of 2 big piles of huge rocks, which have a steps up to the top (steps are other rocks). At one point we had to duck through a short tunnel. The view up top was really nice, though. The ship's videographer was with our tour, and I ordered a copy of the cruise video. It'll have all of our ports, including the Panama Canal transit, and we should be in it somewhere. From Casibari Rock we continued to the northern coast to the Natural Bridge. By this point we were off-road, bumping along kicking up dust! The surf is very strong on this side of the island, crashing into the rocks along the shore. The guide explained this side has lots of sharks too, while on the southern coast the only sharks are the timeshare salespeople <g>. The Natural Bridge is smaller than I expected it to be, but it was still cool to see. Basically, the pounding surf eroded out a portion of the rock to form a natural bridge. Chris took over driving from this point, as we bumped along the coast to the historic gold mine ruins. Bill was a real instigator - as we approached a big mud puddle that the other jeeps went around, Bill coached Chris on when to accelerate and had him drive right thru the middle - kicking up a bunch of mud onto the side of the car (& some onto Marinka). An old guy in the jeep ahead of us later said that's what he wanted to do <g>). Bill had Chris looking for the bumpiest ride - each time I caught him whispering or signaling to Chris I knew he was up to something, and Chris had fun going along with his ideas. It made the ride a lot of fun, though - and we didn't do anything that would damage the jeep.

At the ruins we noticed many weird piles of rocks. People come and make a wish, and stack a rock on another rock. Then someone else comes and makes their wish and puts a rock on top of one of the stacks - so there were all these funny-looking stacks of rocks everywhere! We kept driving, stopping at the Alto Vista Chapel (historic site - catholic), then continued to the tip of the island at the California Lighthouse (named after a ship named California ran aground before the lighthouse was built). After this stop we were back on the south side and stopped for about 20 minutes at a beach. The water was gorgeous, and most of the people on our tour went swimming. I know there are several timeshares DVC members can trade into on Aruba, and although I doubt I'd ever give up Comedy Warehouse for Aruba, I would feel comfortable coming here if I was looking for an island beach vacation. After the beach stop we returned to the tour company office, where they drove us in a mini bus back to the ship. In a nutshell, this excursion was GREAT - I'd highly recommend it. We all agreed it was a fantastic way to see the island, and we hit all the sights. There are also 4 wheel all terrain vehicles you can rent, but I think I'd get tired of that after 3-4 hours! Chris said this excursion was equal to the one we did on the glacier in Juneau, which is very high praise. Back at the ship we went onboard to return the towels and get some lunch before heading out again. I had part of a piece of veal picatta and some oven roasted red potatoes - not eating much because what I really wanted was the pecan praline waffle cone I had for dessert <g>. Chris got the veal, salmon, Irish stew, french fries, pizza, and today's wrap sandwich (mixture of egg and chicken salad on a tomato tortilla), then went for a brief swim, then got a waffle cone! We walked off the ship and I found an internet place very soon. We wandered around a while looking in a few shops, then I let Chris go off since he was bored. He walked around a bit, then returned to the ship & went swimming. I shopped a little longer, and found a unique item only found in 1 store for Adie & Lisa, and another shot glass for Sheila's son. Most everything else was the same old crap seen on every island, which didn't have much appeal. I stopped at the internet place and got online for an hour, then returned to the ship. Chris was in the stateroom watching tv or a movie. I checked out the dinner menu and it looks like they've canceled the planned Dutch night in favor of a menu for St Patrick's Day. Unfortunately besides fruit cocktail and tomato basil soup there's not really anything on it I want - but since we skipped dinner in the dining room last night we really should show up. I updated the report, Chris took his shower, and then I headed down to walk for 2 miles on the promenade. After wandering around the inside of the ship a bit afterwards, I returned to find Chris sound asleep under the covers in his bed. I let him sleep, and took my shower, then relaxed in the stateroom with a ½ glass of my wine until around 6:45. I started waking him up then, the agreed upon time, but leaving us both in foul moods. I am so sick of having to nag him to death for 20 minutes to get up, so if I ever start talking about another cruise with Chris I hope one of my friends will help me come to my senses! We finished dressing (informal night - suit for him, less formal black dress for me), and then we went down to have cocktails & hors d'oeuvres in the Ocean Bar.

The cocktail of the day was a Harvey Wallbanger, which isn't exactly my kind of drink. I got a glass of wine, somewhat disappointed the selections are so poor. Chris got a frozen cappuccino drink, which had a green stripe poured on top of the whipped cream in honor of St Patrick's Day. The appetizers were sausage, bitteburn (pastry wrapped sausage), and chicken sate. He was bored sitting in the lounge, so after a while we walked around the ship and the promenade until it was time for dinner. We came back in just as the steward was ringing the chimes.

Tonight all 6 of us were at dinner, which was nice. It was fun to hear about what the others had done in port today and yesterday. The dining room was decorated for St Patrick's day, as were some of the lounges. Chris & I both had the fruit cocktail for an appetizer, and he followed his with a salad and the linguine with marinara sauce and mussels. I didn't want any of the entrees, so I had potato soup as my next course and tomato basil soup when the others had their entrees. Larry had a tuna steak he said was excellent, and Roger enjoyed the orange roughy. Suzy's steak was less than thrilling, especially after she had the filet at the Pinnacle Grill the night before! Chris didn't finish his meal, and I think he's been eating so much during the day he's just not as hungry by the end of the day. He was going to try the teen pool party at 9:30, so he left after our main course to get changed for that.

For dessert everyone else had the carmelized apple tart with cinnamon ice cream, but I went with the frozen watermelon pie (sorbet) that Chris had on the Zuiderdam last summer. It was ok, but not something I'd order again. After dinner I went to the Explorer's Lounge with Larry & Suzy to check out these chocolates HAL makes. The Champagne Strings (band) had moved from the dining room to the Explorer's Lounge, where they play classical music for the rest of the evening. Suzy showed me the tray of chocolates, and we each took a couple. They were delicious - I'll have to remember to stop back on future nights! I said goodnight to them, and went upstairs to the Lido. Chris was the only teen at the pool party, but he was enjoying the pool and hot tubs anyway. I chatted with the Club HAL people for a few minutes, then went up to the Crows Nest to watch us sail away from Aruba without getting blown around by the wind. We actually left 5 minutes early, which was good because I had plenty of time to get downstairs for the show at 10:15.

Tonight's entertainer was Russ Stevens, an unbelievable magician. I've seen several magicians on cruise ships, some of the really big names on tv, and Lance Burton in person at his show in Las Vegas, and none of them were as amazing as this guy! If you have the chance to see him, don't miss the show. Nothing he did was ordinary - it pushed the limits beyond what I thought a magician could do, and the time flew by. I'd never heard of him before, but I'll watch for his name to appear in the future.

After the show I returned to the stateroom, where Chris was listening to his cd's. Tonight I had him check with our cabin steward to see what time he normally got off work in the morning so Chris would know when he'd need to be out of bed. I'll just let him sleep in as late as he wants tomorrow, since we're not going anywhere - he just needs to not prevent Daniel from getting off work on time. They worked it out that Daniel would come to do our cabin as close to last as possible, and if Chris is still in bed he'll get up then and get out of the way. I finished up the report and was in bed by 11:30, reading a little bit before I made Chris turn off the tv so I could sleep <g>.

Today was a mostly wonderful day - except for bitching at Chris to get out of bed this morning and afternoon. I'm sure it's no fun for him, but I don't need that crap either. The jeep excursion was the highlight of the cruise so far, and I'm very glad we did it. It really surpassed my expectations. Likewise, the magic show tonight was amazing - just unbelievable. Now we have a sea day to look forward to, followed by a couple more ports, then 2 more sea days. I can't believe how quickly this trip is passing, but I guess that's a sign of a really good vacation.

DAY 6 THURSDAY MARCH 18, 2004:

Plan: At Sea, 2nd Formal Night

Actual: Sunrise wasn't until just after 7, so I didn't wake up until then. After getting dressed I checked the dinner menu for tonight then walked a mile on the promenade. Quite a few people were walking this morning, and it wasn't nearly as windy as it had been on our other sea day. At 8 I took the Total Body Conditioning class, with about 4-5 other people. Edward the instructor did a good 45-minute class, using weights for extra resistance. I went back to the stateroom to change into my swimsuit and by 9 was on my way upstairs to the Lido to get some breakfast - hungry this morning! I brought one of my Disney styrofoam cups (left over from a DCL cruise) with the powder for my cappuccino and just added hot water at the Lido. HAL doesn't do styrofoam, and I wanted a cup I could just throw away afterwards (plus it holds more <g>). For breakfast I had french toast and mini-danish, eating inside the restaurant but taking the danish & cappuccino to my lounge chair.

It was a beautiful day - nice breeze (not gale-force winds), totally sunny, and all was perfect until a smoker set up her chair immediately behind me and her smoke was blowing right at me. Combine that with the arrival of her husband and son-in-law, who talked loudly non-stop and I decided to find myself a more peaceful place where I could actually finish a paragraph in my book <g>. I went up a deck, and found a great spot next to a non-smoker, and things were wonderful from that point forward. When I got hot I went in the pool to cool off, but otherwise I lounged around on my chair reading or dozing. A man from the exercise class this morning asked if I played tennis, as he was looking for a tennis partner - but I haven't played since high school (and not very well back then, either). He thought I looked like a fitness instructor (a very old one), and I guess he assumed I might be a tennis player as well. It was flattering, but I wasn't about to embarrass myself on the court! Chris got up around 10:30 and was wandering around most of the day. He got the gyros for lunch, along with some ice cream and I have no idea what else. At 1:30 I attended a presentation by the future cruise consultant - basically a HAL commercial, but I didn't mind. I stopped by her desk later and picked up a Caribbean brochure for 2005 since I don't have any cruises booked for that year yet. I wish I could do the South American cruises, or the transatlantic, but if I was to ever take that much time off from work at one time then I'd have to give up most of my Comedy Warehouse trips - so I'll have to wait until I retire in 15+ years.

Around 2 I went into the Lido and ordered today's hot sandwich - fresh mozzarella cheese, lettuce & tomato grilled on focaccia bread. We were just discussing this type of sandwich on fortress last week, and I'd never heard of it being served warm. It was actually very good, though - and I love the focaccia bread here. By 2:45 or so I'd had enough sun for the day, so I went inside and stopped at one of the shops to buy a Rotterdam photo album before returning to the stateroom. I looked over the 2005 Caribbean brochure and found a 10-day cruise that maybe Sheila & I can do that November. I've got nothing to lose by booking it now, except for having to put down the deposit for both of us. If she can't go, doesn't want to go, and I don't ask someone else to take her spot, I'll just cancel and get my money back - so I might book it.

Chris was watching a movie, so I went to walk a mile on the promenade, and then stopped at the cruise consultant. She tried to pull up the Nov 2005 cruise but it wasn't there. When she logged off and went back in she found it, but the ports were different than what is in this brand-new brochure! She emailed Seattle to find out what the heck is going on, and will send me the correct itinerary & prices once she hears from them. Back in the stateroom Chris was hungry, since he didn't eat a massive lunch like he has on previous days. He called room service and ordered a BLT with extra bacon, and I poured myself a glass of wine and sat out on the verandah with a magazine I'd started earlier. This is a nice lazy day - it's almost decadent in that I'm not really doing anything productive or worthwhile except relaxing! During my morning by the pool stewards were walking around offering (free) lemonade to everyone, and during my afternoon walk they were also on the promenade wheeling around iced tea for everyone. That's a really nice touch I've never seen on Disney, and don't remember on NCL either. Tonight is our 2nd formal night, so after our showers we got dressed up - tuxedo for Chris, black velvet dress with glittery beads for me. We had another wonderful evening with our table mates - we definitely got lucky this time! As we approached the dining room the mint guy (Yoman) saw us and started calling out "Sue Holland, Sue Holland", and greeted Chris as well. As soon as we got to our table the wine steward was there with Chris' glass of coke, as he has been every night since the first one. Tonight when Chris finished his first coke the guy brought him a BIG glass (pilsner) and set it down in front of Chris and scurried off. We love the sense of humor the crew shows, in their quiet subtle way. Dinner was very good again tonight. We both had the almond crusted chicken finger appetizer, which Chris loved. I actually like the chicken finger appetizer on Disney better, but these were also good. For soups Chris and everyone else got the Italian Wedding Soup - beef broth, meatballs & pasta. They all pretty much declared it ok. I had the creamy apple chowder, which was out of this world delicious! I should have ordered a couple of bowls and let that be my dinner! Chris also had a caesar salad, and I decided to again skip the entrees and have a caesar salad served at that course. I didn't care for the dressing, though - it was too strong. I should have asked for another apple chowder, but I knew I was already eating more than I needed to. Chris got the lamb chops, which were excellent. Suzy loved the salmon she got, Roger enjoyed his sirloin strip steak, and I forget what the others had. I remember cornish game hen and osso buso being on the menu. For dessert most of the people at our table pigged out and ordered 2 since they had trouble deciding. Tricia & I were the only ones who stuck with a single dessert (crepes suzette for her, Costa Rican coffee crème brulee for me). The crème brulee was good, and I don't normally even like crème brulee. Chris got the hershey's chocolate cake and a pineapple mousse in a pastry shell. We said goodnight to our table mates and serving crew, and as we were exiting the dining room Yoman had a line of people waiting for mints & figs. He saw us and started telling them all "this is Sue Holland", lol. If only my name could get me a few free cruises <g>. Chris went up to the Sky Room to let the Club HAL teen person (Angie) know he'd be playing Uno with her for a while. They're keeping score, and so far he's winning by a pretty wide margin. I wandered through the Explorer's Lounge and got a piece of chocolate, then returned to the stateroom to finish up the report and read the schedule for tomorrow. We'll be up really early, so I decided to skip the show tonight. It's a production number, with the Rotterdam cast performing numbers associated with a variety of famous entertainers. Chris made plans with Larry to meet on the bow of the ship early tomorrow morning, so hopefully I won't have to nag him to get up! Today was probably the most relaxing day so far - I love life on board and all the little nice touches that remind me I'm on a HAL ship. It's no wonder I can never wait for last minute bargains - I can't stand not knowing I've got another HAL cruise booked.

DAY 7 FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2004:

Plan: Panama Canal

Actual: Last night we turned the clocks back, so we had an extra hour of sleep. Unfortunately tonight we turn them forward again, so we lose an hour before our very early, very long Costa Rica day, and then we turn them back again. It seems like it would be so much simpler just to stay on ship's time instead of changing the clocks 4 times in 10 days! The wakeup call came at 5:30, and Chris was actually out the door before 5:45! He grabbed the Sony camera, and I'll use the Kodak. It was still dark outside but I could tell we were sitting outside the canal waiting for them to process our paperwork, and I could see one of those monstrously huge cruise ships up ahead (either Royal Caribbean or maybe the Grand Princess) on our side. We're expected to start entering the locks around 6:50 so I wasn't in any particular rush to get outside to stand around in the dark <g>. I made a cup of cappuccino to take with me, and was down on deck just after 6.

I found Chris out on the observation deck at the bow of the ship. We could see the start of the locks, with the Island Princess just entering on the left side. A non-cruise ship from Nassau was going through the right side, and we followed when it was our turn. Stewards were serving coffee, orange juice and Panama rolls on all outside decks. The Panama rolls are like a donut, filled with mandarin orange and a custard-type filling. They were actually much better than I thought they'd be. Passage through the locks was fairly slow, and we arrived in Gatun Lake almost an hour behind scheduled. We passed through 3 sets of locks, each one raising us around 25 feet or so. Trains on either side of the ship forward & aft keep us centered inside the canal, since we only have 2 feet to spare on either side. The canal is 110 feet wide, and the Rotterdam is 106 feet wide.

Passing through was interesting, and the Panama Canal expert narrated the entire journey from the bridge. Towards the end we went to the aft of the ship for the final section of the passing. We anchored across from the Island Princess and eventually passengers with excursions started to be tendered off the ship. The Panama government doesn't allow anyone off the cruise ships unless they are on an excursion, and we were staying onboard today. We had a little breakfast in the Lido (mini danish for me, cereal & belgian waffle for Chris) and then headed out separate ways. Chris went up to the Sky Room for Uno, then eventually ended up in the stateroom watching a movie. I spent an hour on a lounge chair by the aft pool, then at 11:15 went to see the movie Hope Springs (Colin Firth, Minnie Driver). I'm not sure I'll bother with any more movies - this one wasn't that great, and I think I've seen about 5 years worth of movies (for me) this past week! I stopped in the stateroom and saw Chris had already eaten lunch from the Lido. When his movie ended he decided to take a nap. I went back up on deck, figuring I'd get a little lunch and lay by the pool for perhaps an hour on my other side. On my way I through in a load of laundry, deciding that 30 minutes would be enough sun time today after all. After transferring my clothes from the washer to dryer I went up to the Lido and got a half roast beef sandwich grilled on their focaccia bread, taking it down to my verandah to eat. It was delicious! I was going to do the 3pm body conditioning class, but not enough people showed up. Instead, I did a little work on the Cybex equipment and then walked 2 miles on the promenade. Again someone approached me wanting to know if I was an aerobics instructor. Her compliments couldn't have been more timely, after pigging out on the sandwich even though I wasn't really hungry at the time (Dr Phil wouldn't approve). After my walk I walked around indoors, then found Chris still napping in the stateroom. We'd be late departing today as well, but since we have such a short distance to get to Costa Rica I don't imagine it will be any problem. We were scheduled to depart at 4, but actually left around 4:30. Chris still didn't want to get up, so I left the verandah door open so he'd hear the horns and the narration of the transit (I didn't want him sleeping all day and not be able to sleep tonight since we have a tour leaving at 7:15 am tomorrow). I decided rather than going out to the bow of the ship with everyone else, I would watch the transit seated on my verandah while sipping a glass of wine - much more civilized! By 4:40 Chris had gotten up <g> and came out to the verandah to watch the crossing after all.

Eventually we decided we'd have a better view down lower so we headed for the promenade. Along the way we stopped in the Ocean Bar to get a coke for Chris and a cocktail of the day for me (something with rum, banana liqueur, orange juice & pineapple juice - very good). Since we had 3 sections of the lock to pass through, we did the first one from the side of deck 3, the next from aft deck 2, and the last from the front of the ship on our deck (6). It was dark by the time we got through the canal, and the narrator said there was a big crocodile sitting on the bank of the canal but it was a little too dark for us to see him. I noticed at least 2 cruise ships had sat outside the canal all day, which amazed me. Who would come on a cruise the Panama Canal and then sit outside without going through any of it??? That makes about as much sense as going to a restaurant and ordering your favorite meal but then only looking at it - not eating it. Once we were through the canal it was almost 7pm so we returned to the stateroom for showers and to get ready for dinner. Tonight they're doing the Dutch Night menu, since we didn't have it on Wednesday. Tomorrow's schedule was delivered and I was completely confused to learn we are turning the clocks back again tonight - we did the same last night, so now we're 2 hours earlier than we were in Aruba. I'll have to look at the big map downstairs to make sense of it, I guess <g>. Turning back is good though, as it means an extra hour of sleep.

Dinner was enjoyable, with everyone present. Chris wasn't feeling very well (tired), so he was kind of quiet and didn't eat much. Larry & Suzy had spent the day drinking rum in Panama, so they were alternating between very silly and very tired. Tricia and Roger did the railway excursion today - they said the train ride out (1 hour) was fabulous, but the 2.5 hours back by coach was pretty miserable. They said it would have been a much better excursion if they'd been able to take the train out and back.

Anyway, the food - Chris got the little shrimps appetizer, chilled 3-berry soup, and the Heineken-batter fried cod. I had the 3-berry soup, which wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Tonight I ordered an entrée - the Bami Goreng, which is a spicy Indonesian noodle dish that's a big hit on HAL's Dutch Night. It was good - but I could only eat half of it and even that felt like too much. Some of the others got beef, and Larry got both the Bami Goreng and the giant bay scallops, which he said were excellent. Chris went back to the stateroom before dessert, and the 3 ladies all ordered the chocolate tulip - chocolate mousse in a tulip (Dutch flower) made from dark and white chocolate. It was delicious, as always! Larry got the Dutch apple tart, Roger had bananas foster, and Tricia also had a pineapple sorbet along with her chocolate tulip. By the time dinner ended we were all ready to call it a night! Tonight's show is Simon & Son, the only father/son piano team in the world. If I didn't have to be up so early I might have stopped by to check them out, but I wasn't interested enough to see them if it meant not getting to bed until 11:30 or later. Instead, I stopped by the front desk to request a 5:45 wakeup call, picked up a chocolate from the Explorer's Lounge, then finished up the report and did a little reading before going to sleep.

Today was an interesting but long day. The Panama Canal crossing was very interesting, and we both enjoyed that very much. I don't consider it a highlight of my life, however - it's a cool thing, but that's about it. The glaciers in Alaska were much more of a WOW for me than a canal - but I know many people will disagree (& that's fine by me). I found out at dinner the reason we were late entering the canal this morning was due to some woman in Panama who was in labor and on her way to the hospital. She got to the crossing just as we were about to start, so they held us up and put the bridge back up for her to cross first. We also found out it cost HAL (who passed the cost on to all of us, of course) something like $140,000 in fees to cross through the portion of the canal we went through today. Suddenly the $3 toll to cross the causeway to Sanibel Island from home doesn't seem so outrageous! Also, one of the cruise ships sitting outside the canal area was the Queen Mary 2, which is too damn big to fit into the canal (why any cruise line would buy a ship too big for the canal and then have an itinerary to the canal within it's first year is beyond me) and too big to even get close enough to see the beginning of the locks. It had to stay in deeper water. Roger mentioned the QM2 is 2.5 times the size of our ship, which is hard to imagine. Some people like the huge ships, but not me - and not the loyal HAL passengers. HAL did recently announce after the 4th Vista Class ship (1848 passengers) is done in 2006, they're not going to do any more "big" ships - they're going back to the smaller ships (1200-1300 passengers) that work so well for them.

Tomorrow will be another long day, and will be our final port. It's sad that the cruise is winding down, but if this was a 7-day cruise tomorrow we'd be home instead of in Central America! I like the 10-day cruises much more than the shorter itineraries - I'm definitely getting spoiled <g>.

DAY 8 SATURDAY MARCH 20, 2004: Plan: Costa Rica, Aerial Tram excursion, Dutch Chocolate Extravaganza Actual: The wake-up call came at 5:45, but I had gotten up around 5:15. It was strange looking at the other ships in port - freighters & cargo ships! Puerto Limon isn't really a tourist spot, and as such all the excursions seem to be at least an hour or 2 away from the port. Our room service breakfast was delivered at 5:46, so it was a good thing I was up early (it had been ordered for 6-6:30). Everything was delicious once again. We both had the eggs & bacon with an english muffin, and Chris also had sausage, cereal & juice. I had a sliced banana and he had a melon plate. I made cappuccino for myself, and we watched CNN while eating breakfast.

We hung out in the stateroom until about 7, then went downstairs to the Queen's Lounge to meet our tour. Bill & Marinka were there, so we joined up with them for the day. On the way to our bus, and elderly lady tripped and cut her head open - lots of blood everywhere, and soon an ambulance arrived to help her. The guy behind her said she wasn't watching where she was walking, and didn't step over something - lousy way to start a day on vacation. I think HAL might have more than its share of medical complications due to the age of its passengers - they had to take the cruise director's dad off the ship in Panama, he was in such bad shape.

We boarded the bus for the 2 hour drive to the rainforest. Along the way the guide narrated almost constantly, giving us all kinds of information on Costa Rica and answering questions. Their #1 product these days is bananas, with coffee being #2. We passed banana plantations, pineapple plantations, and even cocoa farms. This part of Costa Rica is the poorest, where nobody wants to live unless they don't have a choice - due to the constant rain. There is no dry season here, unlike on the Pacific coast. A piece of land with a small cement house can be had for $10k, yet if you have a car (many do not) the gas will cost you almost $3/gallon. Many houses didn't have windows - they put a piece of wood up in the hole where the window would be when they want the house closed up, and just remove them during the day. Some that did have windows had sheets as drapes - or no drapes at all. Americans who retire to Costa Rica don't live in this part - they live in the central or Pacific coast areas.

Once we arrived at the rainforest we were taken to see a video about the making of the aerial tram (yawn), and then put into groups of 5. A guide would accompany each group, since the tram cars hold 6 people. It's very much like the old skyride at the Disney parks, except the tram looks like a basket with 3 benches that each seat 2 people. The tram portion of the tour took 1 hour & 10-20 minutes, and was a really nice ride. We were the lucky group who actually saw a monkey - the others didn't. Besides the monkey we saw 2 birds, lots of insects, and of course many trees <g>. I was hoping to see a monkey, but really wanting to see a bunch of them - instead we saw just the one. After the ride they fed us a buffet lunch of native fruit, salad, rice, chicken, & black beans. I tried a cup of Costa Rican coffee, but didn't like it any more than American coffee <g>. Chris had a glass our soursap juice, which is a fruit grown there that isn't sour at all. We had a little time for the souvenir shop, which had a very limited selection of overpriced stuff and then we rode back down the mountain in a wagon pulled by a tractor. On the bus ride back the driver kept stopping, which drove Chris nuts because he wanted to go swimming and knew we'd be back before 3pm. We stopped at a banana plantation, a cocoa farm, and also just along the road so the driver could catch 2 of the poison dart frogs in a glass for us to all see. They're adorable - about an inch big, bright red except for black legs. Their skin is poisonous, due to the ants they eat. We had to wait while the guide showed each person individually, then the driver released them back where he got them because they're very territorial and would not survive if moved. On the way to the tram the driver stopped at a fruit stand by the side of the road and bought us a bunch of tiny bananas they don't export. We all got to try one, and it was excellent - much better than the tiny bananas I've seen in Publix back home. With all these extra stops, it was at least 4 before we were back at the ship. They had a flea market set up at the port, so I went over there and bought some coffee for people at work, and a shot glass for Sheila's son, then got back on the ship. Chris was already on board, eating a big salad in the stateroom. I wandered around a bit, had part of a piece of cheesecake, then decided to walk around the promenade. The special sailaway drink was Malibu, banana liqueur, orange juice & pineapple juice, so I got one of those and took it back to the stateroom to update the report. Chris went up to play basketball, and I ended up sitting out on the verandah reading and enjoying the shade on our side of the ship. Different local musicians were playing/performing on the dock below me, which added to the atmosphere. I took my shower, and at 5:45 the captain announced we were waiting on a tour bus that was stuck in traffic - expected to arrive at 6pm. All onboard was 5:30, so we will probably leave a little bit late. Eventually I heard cheering through the open verandah door, and the bus had driven right onto the dock to discharge the passengers. By 6:15 we were backing out of the dock area, and then the Rotterdam turned around 180 degrees and began sailing towards Florida. We'd decided we would skip the dining room tonight, in favor of the Lido Restaurant. Part of the reasoning was I didn't want to sit through a big dinner and then have the chocolate extravaganza an hour later, so this gave us the flexibility to eat earlier. Also, there wasn't really anything on the menu I had to have, plus I wanted to see how they did dinner in the Lido since we've never tried it before. Since we'll eat early, I'll try another movie - School of Rock, which Chris says is supposed to be funny. The show tonight is a singer named Donnie Abraham - I've never heard of him, but the program says he's like Englebert Humperdink, Kenny Rogers & Barry Manilow. I'd probably go if there were no alternatives, but I think I'll try the movie instead.

We went up to the Lido a little before 7, and once up there Chris announced he wasn't hungry - grr! It was pretty busy, and I didn't want to take up a table with just me eating, plus it looked like more food than I wanted. They have tablecloths on the tables, a pianist playing music, and passengers go through the buffet line to pick up their appetizers and salads. Then a sample of each entrée plate is on display and you order which one you'd like and they bring it to you. They also have custom pizzas made to your order. I ate part of a fruit cocktail, then we wandered around for a little while. Eventually Chris ended up in the arcade while I poured a glass of wine and sat in the Java Bar looking over the program for tomorrow. We saw School of Rock at 8, and it was pretty good. After the movie he went to bed, and I went up to the Lido to photograph the Chocolate Extravaganza. It was a beautiful display and both sides were busy with people shooting video or taking photos. Everything was going along fine until I was near the end, and what I thought was a man came butting into line in front of everyone, entering through the exit. Not only that, he was eating a strawberry dipped in chocolate, and went over to a plate of them and disposed of the little stem on the one he'd eaten by putting it on the pile of other chocolate strawberries! Around that time I realized it was a she - dressed in a manly shirt and with a unisex haircut, and she took another strawberry & started eating. 30 minutes later when the line opened up for eating she barged in again, bypassing everyone behind me and waltzing in front of me - attempting to take a ball from one of those trees of pastry balls stacked on top of each other. The poor steward just about had a stroke, telling her "let me do it". I never did figure out if there was something wrong with her or if she was just incredibly rude. Anyway, I got a few things to nibble on and brought them back to the stateroom. I left some cheesecake and a chocolate strawberry in the fridge for Chris in the morning (but not from the tray that woman used for her trash <g>).

The excursion today was enjoyable, but something I'd classify as "once in a lifetime" for me. Hopefully my next visit to Costa Rica will be at a different port, and I won't be repeating the aerial tramway. I'm glad I did it, but don't feel the need to repeat it, especially since it takes all day to get there and back. Tonight we turn the clocks forward an hour - losing an hour of sleep, but I don't have anywhere I need to be in the early morning hours so I guess it's no big deal. We seem to be cruising at a pretty good speed, and have picked up some wind again. The ship's moving quite a bit, so I expect to be rocked to sleep tonight!

DAY 9 SUNDAY MARCH 21, 2004:

Plan: At sea, 3rd Formal Night

Actual: The bright sunshine woke me up around 6:30, and I was up by 7. I took a very wet & windy mile walk around the promenade, then wandered around inside the ship. Chris said his stomach was bothering him, and it has been off & on for several days - so I stopped at the front desk and picked up some seasickness medication for him. It's definitely been rougher than he's ever experienced, day after day. Hopefully this will do the trick. I swung by the Lido Restaurant and picked up some fruit and mini-danish, then returned to the stateroom to make my cappuccino. I had my breakfast out on the verandah this morning. I plan to see the cruise consultant at 9, then have the Mariner's Society reception at 11:30, so I may not change into my swimsuit until after that is finished.

At 9 I went up to book a cruise with the cruise consultant, knowing I can always cancel or change the dates or itinerary if this one doesn't work out. That didn't take very long, so I changed into my swimsuit and went up on deck by the aft pool after all! It was pretty windy, but also a beautiful sunny day. Around 11 I still hadn't seen Chris, so I returned to the stateroom and found he'd just gotten up. I left for the Mariners' Reception just before 11:30, with instructions to Chris to get his butt in gear and have some turkey noodle soup from the Lido. He never took the seasick pills, thinking his stomach was upset from the lunch yesterday and not due to the movement of the ship.

There was a huge turnout for the Mariners' event - it filled the lower level and balcony of the Queen's Lounge. I had a glass of white wine, and when the steward came around with the hors d'oeuvres I had a mini eggroll. Generally on HAL ships it seems like at least half the passengers are repeat cruisers, and I imagine that percentage might go higher on the cruises longer than 7 days. I've never noticed this event having to overflow into the balcony before, and we're sailing with fewer passengers on board. HAL recognizes alumni with pins when you reach 25 days and 50 days of cruising with them. The next levels are medallions given for reaching 100, 300 and 700 days. There was one lady on board who's up to 779 days on HAL ships - makes my 38 days seem kind of pitiful <g>. The event ended at noon and I returned the stateroom & found Chris gone (yay) so I went back up to my chaise lounge by the pool and read for about an hour. I stopped at the Lido to get another ½ roast beef sandwich grilled on the focaccia bread, and took it down to the stateroom to have lunch on the verandah. Chris came back from eating soup and swimming, then went to get a banana colada from the bar before coming back to sit outside with me for a while. He seemed to be feeling better now that he was up & about and had put something into his stomach. Eventually he went inside to watch tv and I walked a mile on the promenade before coming back to change into my sneakers so I could use the treadmill up in the gym. After getting all hot & sweaty up there, it felt great to come downstairs and lay down on my cool verandah lounge chair! We've seen several flying fish today, which are something I don't think I've noticed before. Chris took a shower and then went to get a sandwich to eat, while I signed the papers to book the 2005 cruise. I'd better call Sheila to let her know before she reads it here <g>. I also started thinking about what longer cruise we can do for our 50th birthdays - in just 5 years. At 4 I took the Abs, Buns & Thighs class, then returned to the stateroom to pore over transatlantic and complete Panama Canal cruises on my verandah (while finishing the bottle of wine).

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the stateroom, and left for our final formal night around 7:45. We ran into Larry & Suzy and sat in the Piano Bar with them before dinner. It was just the 4 of us tonight, since Roger & Tricia had another reservation at the Pinnacle Grill. The wine steward told me he had a bottle of wine for me - it was a gift from the cruise consultant! I can't possibly drink a bottle of wine in 2 nights, so I shared it with Larry & Suzy. Dinner was fabulous, and the dining room looked great. For the final formal night they cover the tables as well as the chairs, so everything looks even more elegant. The others all had the shrimp cocktail, which had 4 huge shrimp. They all also had the Kickin' Crab soup, and all raved about how wonderful it was. I ordered a salad - boring, but nothing else appealed to me. For entrees they all had the lobster tails, with Chris ordering 2 portions and Larry & Suzy also ordering the chateaubriand to make it a surf 'n turf. They all commented how wonderful the lobster tails were - not overcooked, and they were huge. I had the prosciutto wrapped chicken breast, which was pretty good. It came with wheatberry risotto and green beans. Instead of a dessert menu tonight was Baked Alaska night, but on HAL they also bring plates of cookies and a steward comes around with a tray of mini French pastries. Most people eat this stuff while waiting for the Baked Alaska, but I don't know where they put it all! Our steward showed us tricks with toothpicks while waiting, and he rewarded us with another plate of cookies & truffles even though we couldn't figure it out. The Baked Alaska was paraded around the dining room, with music playing - the usual cruise ship schtick <g>, and they had a guy standing by with a torch in case any of the sparklers needed relighting. I didn't want any Baked Alaska, so our steward made me a frog from one of the dessert menus instead, lol. All in all it was a fun meal, with lots of silliness. After dinner we stopped at the stateroom for Chris to change out of his tux, then went down to see the 10:15 showing of Something's Gotta Give (Jack Nicholson & Diane Keaton) in the movie theater. This was probably the most well-attended movie, and with good reason. We both enjoyed it, and I don't even like Jack Nicholson! The movie ended at 12:15, so we went back to the stateroom to turn in for the night.

It was another great day, from start to finish. The wine was a nice surprise, dinner was great fun, and I did quite a few fitness things in between all the relaxing. Days like today are what cruising is all about - for me at least.

DAY 10 MONDAY MARCH 22, 2004: Plan: At Sea Actual: I was awake shortly after 7, and went to walk a mile on the promenade before the morning exercise class. Today it's cloudier than it has been, and we must be traveling directly into the wind because it feels much windier than it really is. It was a pretty damp walk too, thanks to the spray from the waves. At 8 I did the total body conditioning class - my last one of the cruise. I'm glad I was able to keep up with doing something every day while I was away from home, although I'm looking forward to getting back to my workout place. The class was pretty good, with only 3 of us plus the instructor. This instructor (Ed) will be on the Oosterdam in a couple of weeks, and I imagine he'll want to stay there since his girlfriend is one of the dancers on board that ship.

After the class I got some sliced bananas and mini danish from the Lido Restaurant and decided to have breakfast on my verandah again. The bananas were in some sort of sauce, which I didn't care for. Except for at the very beginning of the cruise, I've not seen any whole bananas anywhere - and that's really what I wanted. Back in the stateroom I made my cappuccino, packed up Chris' tuxedo rental stuff, reviewed my bill from the front office, and sat on the verandah with breakfast. I'm hoping the clouds will go away - it even rained lightly for a short period this morning. Sure enough, by 9:30 it was a bright sunny day! I changed into my swimsuit, applied lots of sunscreen, and was up on deck on a lounge chair by 10.

Chris stopped by with a burger and nachos for lunch, but it was too windy for him to eat where I was. It was windy enough that you didn't dare get up off the chair without holding the towel down or it would have blown away! He wandered around a while and then went to watch some movies. It's nice having the vcr in verandah suites, and the front desk has a pretty large library of videos. Around 12:30 or so I decided I'd had enough sun & wind for the day, and returned to the stateroom to drop off my stuff. I walked back up to the Lido Restaurant and got a plate of pasta for Chris, along with some desserts. After delivering it to him I went back up and got my ½ grilled roast beef sandwich on focaccia, and ate it out on my verandah. I had a couple of HAL brochures (Europe & Panama Canal) and went through them identifying itineraries I'd like to consider for a longer trip at some point (perhaps 2008). It's never too early to start planning <g>! During the afternoon I packed the big garment bag and stored it out of the way, then went and walked a couple of miles on the promenade. I checked out the dinner menu, and saw they're serving chocolate pots de crème tonight! I absolutely loved that last year when Chef Gordon made it in Hilton Head, and I was somewhat disappointed to have to skip Hilton Head this past week in order to do this cruise. The chocolate pots de crème definitely take the edge off that disappointment, lol. I filled out our comment card and embarkation paperwork - getting ready to leave a cruise ship is such drudgery. Tonight the show for 2nd seating dinner people is early - most likely so we have time to pack before it gets too late. Marty Brill (comedian) is back, along with Donnie Abraham (singer). We left the stateroom around 5:45 and went to the Piano Bar for a glass of wine for me and a virgin cappuccino colada for Chris. Eventually we wandered around the ship but stayed indoors since they had warnings up about the strong wind on the outside decks again. We saw the early show at 6:45 and Marty Brill was great once again. Chris enjoyed him, too. Next was Donnie Abraham, and I was floored by his voice! That man can sing! His choice of music was definitely geared towards the older HAL passenger < g>, but there was no mistaking he's got a gorgeous voice. He's also got g>the whitest teeth I've seen in a while - I was tempted to go get my sunglasses, lol! The entire show was under an hour, which passed pretty quickly.

We had time to kill before dinner so we returned to the stateroom. I updated the report, Chris watched cartoons on tv, and we left for the dining room shortly after 8. Since tonight is the final night we brought our tips for everyone. HAL doesn't permit their staff to recommend any tip amounts, so I used the Disney Cruise Line brochure and took their recommended tips for the 7-day and 3-day cruises and just added them together, then went from there. DCL doesn't include the wine person in their tipping, because they charge a 15% gratuity at the time of service. Our wine guy had been great with Chris & his sodas, so we tipped him well.

All 6 of us were at dinner for the last night. Tonight was the only night an alternative dinner wasn't being served in the Lido - I'm assuming to encourage people to show up at dinner and hopefully tip their servers. As of May 1, HAL will be adding $10/person/day to each stateroom's account for tips, which I think will be a big improvement (& convenience). Dinner tonight was very good. For an appetizer I had tomato and mozzarella - 3 small tomato wedges each with a piece of mozzarella. Chris had the fried shrimp and also the tomato/mozzarella. There was a spicy gumbo served that the others said was very good, and a chilled carrot soup that I don't think anyone ordered. I had a tomato & red onion salad next, and rather than an entrée I had another of the tomato/mozzarella appetizers. Chris and most of the others had prime rib, which was very good. For dessert I had the chocolate pots au crème, which wasn't as good as Chef Gordon's but it was still wonderful! I ate all of mine and finished Chris'! Chris had the chocolate, a piece of snickers pie, and tiramisue - but didn't eat all of it. He liked the snickers pie the best. Following dinner the stewards all assembled on the 2 curving staircases (the dining room is 2-story) and with the musicians playing sang a goodbye song from their country (all the dining room stewards are Indonesian). We said goodbye to our table mates - they've been good company this cruise.

Leaving the dining room I noticed an open door and went to see what it was - but it turned out to be a ladies' room, lol! However, I was impressed - it had a huge room with probably a dozen individual seats at makeup mirrors! I went back to the stateroom & returned with my camera <g>. The restrooms on HAL are nice, though. For example, there are no paper towels - on HAL you have real towels to dry your hands. It's a nice little touch that sets them apart - just like not using styrofoam cups or paper plates.

We returned to the stateroom and packed the rest of our stuff and put the luggage out. Chris played solitaire on the computer for a while, and I did some reading. Tomorrow we'll have breakfast in the Lido and prepare to leave the ship - and if Adie & Lisa don't show up for some reason we'll beg HAL to let us stay on board

DAY 11 TUESDAY MARCH 23, 2004: Plan: Breakfast, Disembark Rotterdam Actual: The Rotterdam was backing into her docking spot when I woke up at 6:30. I let Chris sleep a bit later, but had to get him up in time to get to breakfast before it ended at 8. HAL handles debarkation well, in my opinion. The dining room & Lido are both open until 8am and passengers just show up wherever they choose to eat, at whatever time. There's nobody telling you to eat your breakfast at 6:45 <g>! Every stateroom has a debarkation number, and you leave the ship when your number is called, which eliminates the stampede mentality I've seen on Disney. Your number is based on your after-cruise plans - flight time, method of leaving, requested time off the ship, etc. We're number 14. They won't call a number until everyone in that number has settled their account (we do express checkout but if someone doesn't want to give a credit card before today they don't have to). Until your number is called, you wait in your stateroom - no crowding the hallways & public areas, thank goodness! It's a very comfortable & civilized way to prepare to leave the ship, and they expect to start calling numbers at 8:30.

We went up to the Lido Restaurant and got hot water to mix with my cappuccino, and a tray of food for breakfast. I wanted their French toast since I'd only had it once this trip, and Chris got a belgian waffle with strawberries & whipped cream, and some French toast. We brought the food down to the stateroom and ate on our verandah one last time. By 7:45 they were calling for one cabin occupant to report to the front desk, then called for the people who needed to report to Customs. We called Adie & Lisa around 8:15 to let them know what's going on, and met them outside just before 9:30. We ended up getting home just after noon, discovering a dead battery in my car when I went out to meet a friend at the gym! I guess it's back to reality - thankfully Chris & a friend took it to have Saturn replace the battery, since the car is less than a year old.

SUMMARY:

This was a wonderful cruise - great itinerary, fabulous ship, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a nice, mostly-adult cruise. HAL does it right, and has a large loyal following as a result. The Rotterdam is gorgeous, and with all the art onboard it's almost like cruising in a museum. The crew is gracious, friendly, and eager to please. Many of them will go out of their way to learn and remember the names of a large number of passengers. Many of them also have a wicked sense of humor, and are just plain fun! Our cabin steward did a super job taking care of us, and once he noticed that I pulled an extra blanket out of the closet, each night that blanket was on my bed waiting for me. The wine guy always made sure Chris' coke was waiting for him, and was promptly refilled - amusing us when he'd bring giant glasses and fashion extra long straws by putting 2 together <g>.

Our dining companions were terrific this cruise - no clunkers in the bunch. We all enjoyed each other's company, although there weren't all that many nights we were all present, since everyone ate at the Pinnacle Grill at least once, and seemed to miss another dinner or 2 for other reasons. Larry & Suzy have cruised HAL at least 6-7 times prior, but this was the first time for Roger & Tricia (they've cruised Celebrity extensively). Roger was a bit surprised at the number of really old passengers on board, and wondered if that was normal - lol, I assured him it was, especially on the cruises longer than 7 days. Roger's probably 55-60 years old, and didn't expect to feel like a youngster <g> . Our stateroom was in a perfect location, and if Sheila & I do the November 15, 2005 Volendam cruise we've got the exact same one - #6101. It's 2 decks below the gym, Lido & aft pool. It's 1 deck above the bars and upper level of the dining room, 2 decks above the movie, Pinnacle Grill, front desk & Java Bar, and 3 decks above the promenade. Being the first cabin, all the way forward, there was nobody upwind of me sitting on a verandah with a cigarette! We had more storage space than we needed, even for 10 days. We bought the video of the cruise - the videographer attended the major events and some shore excursions, producing an hour-long video of our voyage. We appear in at least a couple of places, and last night at the show a couple saw us and mentioned we needed to buy the video since we're in it so much <g>. It's fun to have the memories, but also great to see some of the stuff others did that we might have missed.

It was nice to hit some different ports this time, although for me the ship is always the primary destination. Put me on a HAL ship and I don't care where it goes - I'll be happy! Curacao was pretty, but next time I'll do an excursion to see more of the island. Just hanging around port to shop was nothing special. Aruba was the most fun - we loved the jeep tour, and the beautiful sights we saw. In Panama we were wise to just stay on the ship. Our tablemates each did an excursion, and both couples had somewhat mixed reviews. Getting off to go to the lodge was a waste of money - it costs $35 or so per person and you're fenced in so you can't go anywhere except the pool and the bar. We have pools and bars on the ship <g>. The railway was a great ride out (1 hour), but the 2.5 hours back by bus was not much fun, according to Roger & Tricia. In Costa Rica we found out all the little extra things our bus driver & guide did for us, every other tour group experienced the same thing. It made for a very long day, and although it was enjoyable - I resent them trying to convince us that our tour got to do 'special' things others didn't. Perhaps it was a ploy for more tips. I wouldn't mind going back to Costa Rica, but on the Pacific side rather than the Caribbean. Roger & Tricia loved their San Jose tour, although they were gone from 7am until 6pm due to the extra stops at the banana plantation, etc. They said San Jose is definitely worth a visit. Larry & Suzy did some tour that involved a jungle ride, and although Larry enjoyed it, Suzy thought it was a big waste of over$300 for the 2 of them. I'll mention some of the highlights and a couple of 'lowlights'. But overall I loved this cruise and would gladly do it again some day. My next cruise will be repeating the Zuiderdam in mid-May, this time doing the western Caribbean itinerary. After that I have Disney cruises booked for September and November/December - and will probably cut back on the cruising somewhat in 2005 in order to get back to some of the other places I enjoy (like Hilton Head) and to have more time at Disney/Comedy Warehouse.

Highlights: Pinnacle Grill - the food was excellent, service superb, and this is definitely worth the fee charged. The menu isn't very extensive, but it's certainly good for a meal or two. Unlike Palo on Disney though, if you were able to get in here every night you'd be repeating many of the same foods.

Jeep tour in Aruba - Chris ranked this one way up there with the helicopter/glacier trek we did in Alaska, and I would have to agree. It's a great way to see the island and have fun doing so, and I'll definitely look for off-road jeep tours in other ports.

Food in general on HAL has been great. There's not always something on the menu I want, but I'm an extremely picky eater and don't blame HAL for that. I can't think of anything we had in the dining room or Lido that wasn't terrific - both in terms of taste & presentation. Fireworks leaving Curacao were much bigger/better than I expected, and it was a really nice touch. It made sailing away extra special, and fun! Relaxing with the cocktail of the day and hors d'oeuvres before dinner is always nice, especially when dinner isn't until 8:15! Drink prices are very reasonable, and my only complaint would be regarding the wines available by the glass - not exciting at all. Chris' virgin smoothies were $2.95 or $2.75 - a great deal! Verandah - We go lots of use of the verandah, and it would be hard for me to cruise HAL without one. I don't have one on the Zuiderdam next time, unless I get upgraded, but since the single supplement with a verandah is 190% and without is 150%, I opted to keep the cruise as cheap as possible since it's just an "extra" cruise I've thrown into the plans. The verandahs on HAL are fabulous - easily almost twice as deep as the ones on Disney and other cruise lines, and that's a big part of the reason they're so irresistable to me on HAL. Stretching out on my chaise lounge with a book or glass of wine is so much nicer than sitting on something the size of a hotel balcony in a straight-backed chair! Entertainment - The magician was absolutely amazing, and Marty Brill's comedy shows were excellent. In general the quality of entertainment appears to be very high - although being only 45 some of it isn't exactly my cup of tea <g>. Not yet anyway - give me another 30 years or so!

Lowlights: Curacao - not much near the port. The shopping was mostly the same cheap stuff - but that's true of most ports. Next visit I'll find an excursion or simply stay on the ship.

Wine selection - pitiful.

For Chris - lack of other teens was somewhat disappointing, but he still enjoyed his cruise. He just spent more time watching movies than he would have if other teens were available to hang around with. He prefers the Zuiderdam of all our HAL cruises, and is hoping to convince his Dad they should cruise the Z again next year.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope something you've read has been of value/interest to you. I also hope with the comparisons to Disney Cruise Line I haven't come across as bashing DCL. I won't deny I consider HAL to be superior, but I also enjoy my DCL cruises and look forward to future cruises on both lines. Different doesn't always mean one is good & one is bad, after all!