Report #55 San Diego, California November 17, 2016 Thursday Sunny & 75 degrees 16 Pictures

For the first time this 53 day cruise, we had some trouble sleeping tonight.  The seas remained rough, even though there was no storm, the swells were significant.  Could be something to do with the sea water temperatures changing from warm to cold as we headed north.  Adding to the rocking and rolling, the lugging of the suitcases down the hallway lasted well after 1am.  It might have been our imagination, but we could have sworn we heard the fellows singing as they worked.  They sure do seem to like their jobs, even this one.

 

We were up at 5:30am, which is torture these days for one of us.  If we wanted to make breakfast in the dining room from 6:30 to 8am, we needed to be ready to go for the day.  It was going to be a long one, so eating a good stick-to-the-ribs breakfast was in order.  Our Concord buddies, Denise and Howard were already dining at their favorite table.  You can tell that they are really nice folks, because many of the guests and waiters stopped to say goodbye to them.  Of course, we already knew that.

 

The Amsterdam sailed quietly into the beautiful San Diego harbor very early in the darkness of the early morning.  That was good, since it may help expedite the disembarkation process.

 

We have a word or two about the final disembarkation.  Does it ever go off as planned?  Seldom.  It most definitely is not the fault of the staff or crew, but due to the fact that a few people do not attend the mandatory custom's inspections for all non US citizens.  Now maybe, they do not understand the directions we all received a few days ago, but we do know that a face-to-face inspection is required and it is held in the Hudson Room early in the morning.  So, at least six passengers had not attended the meeting, and had to be summoned after 8am, the time we were supposed to be cleared.  Absolutely no one is allowed to leave the ship until we are cleared by the local authorities.  For 20 minutes or more, these people were called by room number, names, and probably called " not-so-nice names" by 8:30am.  Gene, our cruise director, finally came on the PA and begged for these people to show their faces.  Finally……we were cleared.

 

The first called off were those who were sailing onward, which were only a handful.  Then, those folks who could lug off their suitcases and hand carrys off, got expedited cards with an X on it.  Most of these people got off without a hitch, unplugging the already crowded hallway on deck two.  That was not to last long.

 

Thinking that at least the stairway was emptied, we went to get in line.  We should have been next with our pink #1 and the rest of the expedited guests.  That's when someone decided that the automated gangway that connects to the terminal building was not lined up correctly and was unsafe.  You could see the panic in some of the passenger's eyes, as they had booked flights around 10am, and were in fear of losing them.  Not a good time to realize that booking flights that early are never a good idea.  In theory, they should be OK, but not when we don't get cleared on time.  It puts too much pressure on you, and eventually the staff, who end up taking the brunt of your frustrations.  In fact, the more seasoned guests who face longer flights with several connections, choose to spend the night in the final port.  That's what our tablemates, Bill & Sylvia did, thus avoiding the need to get off fast.  Great idea.   Sylvia thought so, because she will be happy to do her final shopping while here.

 

Funny story:  one couple that were standing in line with green # 2 had pulled their tags off, and pretended to be expedited.  People we did not  even know told us to watch them.  Wow, this sure brings out the worst in people.  As it turned out, it took almost ½ hour for the dock workers to get the gangway correctly positioned.  It was near 9:30am when we were finally able to go.  The staff member who was announcing pink #1 tags off first, was not going to let anyone else exit.  So ripping off tags did not work.  There has to be a better way to disembark the passengers here, and we are sure, they will be working on it.  Our last impression should not be pushing or shoving, and seeing guests get nasty with the staff.  Hate that….

 

Getting off was easy, finding our 2 pieces of luggage was easier.  Then going through the custom's line was fast.  No problems there, ever.  Since we do not take the ship's transfer to the airport, getting a taxi was a piece of cake.  Bet it took us less than 10 minutes to get to the terminal, a three mile drive.  We arrived before 10am, with plenty of time before our flight.

 

The best thing we could hope for at this point was to get "TSA" pre-check on our tickets.  Oh yeah, and have our luggage under 50 pounds.  Turned out both happened. Well, that made up for our stressful morning.

 

The flight was full, but on time.  We boarded before 1pm, and the flight took off at 1:45pm.  The only thing we don't like is the fact that the overhead compartments fill up with what we consider over-size bags. They run out of room almost every flight now.  By the time we got settled, served a tiny bag of pretzels, and ½ of a soda, we were landing by 3pm. 

 

We were greeted with clear, sunny skies, but a definite chill in the air.  Summer is over for sure.

 

Our driver picked us up at 3:45pm.  What we did not expect, was a three hour ride home in the worst commute traffic we have seen.  We must have passed by 6 tow trucks, clearing accidents on the 40 or so mile ride to Clayton.  At least we knew our driver, Kenny, who we have met many times over the last few years.  He kept us entertained with up-to-date local news and some pretty funny jokes.  The three hours did go by faster that way.

 

We pulled into our driveway by 7pm, ate a quickly made light meal, and headed straight to bed.  It had been a very long day, but we would do it again in a heartbeat, since we had a fabulous time on the good old Amsterdam.

 

We have 6 weeks to enjoy the upcoming holidays, and get ready for the next big cruise when we leave January 1^st.  And as we already said, we will be back……………

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

Arriving to San Diego

 

Downtown

 

The busy harbor

 

Yacht harbor

 

Bunkering fuel for the sail back to Hawaii tonight

 

The moon in the morning sky

 

Naval vessels

 

The Crystal Symphony – we will be sailing back to San Diego in 2017 on her

 

Need to switch to Crystal for the Panama Canal cruise in 2017

 

A big loading day for the Amsterdam

 

Unloading luggage with shoreside help

 

The terminal in San Diego

 

US Customs and Border Protection – a good thing

 

Outside the cruise terminal

 

Seals everywhere

 

Low flying plane at the nearby airport

 

 

Report #54 Sailing Towards San Diego, California November 16, 2016 Wednesday Sunny & 80 degrees

Once again, we are not certain where the daily forecast comes from.  It is not from looking out the window, and reporting what is really happening.  Yes, it was occasionally sunny, but that was in between clouds and rain showers.  The seas were rough all through the night, and got worse during the day.  The winds blowing across the decks were clocked at 42 knots.  Temperatures were nowhere near 80 degrees, but a cool 60 or less, not counting the wind chill.  This is more like the California coast we know well during the month of November. 

 

On Deck for a Cause was held at 10am, with another 5K non-competitive walk on the lower promenade deck.  They raise money for six international cancer organizations, and the walkers get a complimentary t-shirt for their donation.  If it wasn't so cold outside, they may have had a bigger turnout.  Of course, we think this was the third walk since we boarded in Seattle back in September.  Many folks had already been there and done that.  We did enjoy the music that was played during the walk, which lasted until 11:30am.  They tend to play tunes from the 60's and 70's, which we remember well.

 

The hallways were full of guests lugging their stuffed suitcases down to deck three.  There is a scale outside the Head Housekeeper's office, so many people took advantage of it.  It would be nice if these scales were on each passenger deck, saving the people from using the elevators.  One fellow jokingly told us that he wished he could flush his extra stuff down the toilet.  At least we think he was joking…..  We always bring our handheld digital luggage scale, which works well if the ship is not moving a whole lot.  You need to take an average of several readings, since the scale varies at least a pound over or under.

 

We forgot to mention that we went to the final farewell champagne show in the Queens Lounge yesterday.  Always sad to say goodbye, but the new video that is shown with the crew and staff is hysterically funny.  The first time we saw it on the world cruise this year, we really had a good laugh.  This clip was a mix of the original, and definitely shots from this particular cruise.  Ended on a really high note.  There is no more disembarkation talk…..just documents sent to your room a couple of days ago.  Directions were given for putting our luggage out before midnight this evening, what we need to pack and what we need to keep in hand carrys, and the ID and keyroom card we will need to check out.  The customs form was included in the envelope.  Disembarkation times were listed according to the colored luggage tags.  If all goes well with getting cleared with the local officials, disembarking will begin at 8am.  That usually never happens that early, but there is always a first time.

 

Packing did not take too long, as we had brought the minimum of stuff this trip.  Finally got the clothes down to a small amount.  With complimentary laundry and a one to two day turn-around, we never ran out of anything.  Sure love that perk.  Just a reminder, it really helped having brought pre-spotter with us, as the laundry has not always gotten some spots out.  Modern detergents used here are not quite as strong as what we use at home.  Fruit extracts are used in the dry cleaning machines….not toxic, but not as good either.

 

We took the time to secure our table for the 2017 world cruise while we are still onboard.  Philip, the dining room manager, gladly took our request for us and all of our tablemates.  He even put it in writing, and delivered it to our room within an hour or so.  He even secured it for the 2018 world cruise, since we have that deposited on record too.

 

At 2pm, we watched a room movie, The Legend of Tarzan.  It was pretty entertaining, and not at all what we had expected.  Far better than trying to walk the decks that were getting sprayed with sea mist and stronger than ever winds.  Everyone we know to expect on the outside deck was not there, probably packing like everyone else.  Except for Jack and Shirley who are staying on, going back to Hawaii for two more times.  Hope the seas are going to be better for their sailing.

 

There was a guest talent show at 2pm.  Missed it to watch the movie, so maybe it will be televised later.  Or maybe not.

 

Last minute sales included Merabella Luxury gemstones at up to 50% off.  Key words: up to.  The casino was busy with folks trying to get their losses back.  Good luck………..Clearance sales at the shops, also "up to" 75% off.  The busiest corner belonged to Luciana, who was taking last minute future cruise deposits at the $100 per person deposit.  You cannot go wrong doing this as the deposit is good for up to 4 years, when it is refundable.  Extra shipboard credit makes it worth it.

 

Lastly, the spa special included a 20-20-20 combo for $99.  Twenty minutes each of scalp, shoulder, and neck massage, hot stone massage, mini facial, lime and ginger exfoliation, or foot and ankle massage.  After packing all day, that might be a bit of heaven, don't you agree?

 

The final show in the Queens Lounge was held at 7:15pm.  It featured Darlene and the HAL Cats, their last concert.  Somehow, we managed to miss their performances, but heard they were a whole lot of fun.

 

At dinnertime, we heard all about the passenger talent show.  According to Sylvia, it was brilliant…..spoken by a true Brit.  In her opinion. some of the acts were quite good, especially the singers.  We know for a fact that some of the fellows had plenty of practice at the late night karaoke sessions in the Crows Nest.  Meaning to go up there sometime during this cruise, we never seemed to make it.

 

Dinner was great as always.  Six of us showed up to share the final evening together and re-live the special islands we visited on this trip.  Funny thing about tonight, it has been the roughest, rock and rolling day we have had in 53 days.  Guess we can consider that a good thing.  Sure made it difficult for the waiters to serve us, being much more careful than any other day.  The dining room seemed to be much less full as well.  With the disembarkation tomorrow, many folks called it an early evening.

 

Hopefully, we will cross paths with this lovely group again in the future, as it was a delight getting to know them.  Wishing them all a safe trip home to Alabama and England, we called it a night ourselves.

 

Luggage lined the hallway as we made our way slowly to our room.  Did not appear that any of the suitcases had been moved yet, so we guess the fellows will start later and be done by midnight.

 

Looking forward to a rock and rolling sleep….a real feeling that we are at sea and on a ship.  Should be in San Diego before 7am.  At this point at 11pm, we are 110 nautical miles from San Diego, and have traveled a total of 13,510 nautical miles for this entire cruise.  And we have done it entirely in the mighty Pacific Ocean.

 

It's has been our pleasure sharing another trip with you all.  And we will be back soon…………

 

Bill & Mary Ann

Report #53 Sailing Towards San Diego, California November 15, 2016 Tuesday Sunny & 80 degrees 23 Pictures

Another day at sea, but one without a lot of rain clouds.  It was definitely cooler, but with the sun out, it was perfect.

 

When we went to breakfast, we found that the staff had decided to do a special "Sunday-style" brunch from 11am to 1pm.  So the center of the dining room was closed to the guests.  We were relocated in the back, but did not have our usual waiters.  Sometimes it takes a change like this to realize how quickly we have been spoiled.  Not that the new waiters are not good, they just don't know what we like.  There were no yogurts and blueberries waiting on the side counter.  Actually most all the blueberries are gone now, unless the waiter knows you, and you order blueberry pancakes with 30 berries on the side.  Otherwise, they say no berries for you.  We are trying to order bacon not so crispy/almost burned.  We tried for medium-cooked, but it still came crunchy to brittle.  Perhaps tomorrow, we will ask for limpy, and see what comes. 

 

After breakfast, we ran into Ian, the staff engineer, who was conducting some of his crew members on some work being done on the lower promenade deck.  He confirmed that all of the narrow panels in the ceiling on both side are going to be discarded.  All the pipes that have been hidden, will be fixed or replaced, and insulated and painted white.  It looks better already.  This should have been done a long time ago.

 

The aft deck was almost crowded today with new sunbathers trying to get a little color before disembarking.  Even though it was cooler, the sun could still burn you.  Very deceiving when the breeze is blowing.

 

The guest speakers are on their final talks, while sales were taking place around the ship.  The photo department is pushing their photos, but we have no idea of the price of the pictures.  It is not posted anywhere that we could see.  Gift watches were the hot item, and the Le Vian collection was available in the ship's shop.  Park West held their final art auction in the Ocean Bar.  Since we are outside most of the day, we miss all of this.  Maybe avoid is a better word.

 

Also in the mail this morning were everyone's shipboard account bills.  We have not exceeded our credit, and we even were surprised to find an additional $50 plus tacked on to the account.  Seems we were due a refund on some more port taxes.  We are certain the passengers were happy about that.

 

We spent some afternoon time packing one suitcase, writing comments on the new let us know cards, and figuring out some extra tips for waiters and room stewards.  Now all we have left are two more suitcases, and we will be ready to go.

 

Before dinner, we went to deck three for a quick walk to see how far the sun had gone down.  It was fairly windy, and one of us did not realize that one earring had fallen off accidently.  From there, we headed up to deck nine, where the wind was howling.  That's when we noticed the earring was missing.   Thinking it was lost up there, we back-tracked, but came up with nothing.  Not that it was an expensive set, it was more like a keepsake from Brazil many years ago.  Convinced it was gone forever, we went back down to deck three to talk to Shiv, in case we did not see him tomorrow.  Just then, a woman that we have never seen before, stopped us and asked where the dining room was that had a view of the water at the front of the ship.  Obviously, she was confused.  She admitted that every time she leaves her room, she gets lost.  While we were chatting, she suddenly said she had my earring.  No way. Funny thing…..I was just about ready to take the other earring off before we saw her.  She had found it in the gutter on deck three and was on her way to the front desk with it.  With over 1000 passengers on this ship, what are the odds we would connect at the time we did.  Shiv said it was kharma.  By the way, we brought the lady into his office, and he seemed to know where she was trying to find.  It was La Fontaine dining room on deck four.  Only it is located in the aft, not the front.  She was most happy that she found the owner, as was I.

 

Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill.  Something we need to remember is that lots of folks book dinner in there towards the end of the trip. It was the most crowded we have ever seen it, even at 8pm.  Something told us that it was over-booked as we had to wait almost 20 minutes for a table to be set.  Perhaps they are understaffed in this restaurant too.  Once we were seated, we waited even longer, but once our order was taken, our meal arrived at a steady pace.  It was worth the wait for the delicious Caesar salads and the bone-in ribeye steaks.  We savored every bite all the way from the start to the desserts of a soufflé and cherry Garcia ice cream.

 

The entertainment were the singers and dancers of the Amsterdam.  The theme was Love Crazy, promising to be an uplifting and heartfelt experience.  And it was……..

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

The second to last possibility for a good sunset

 

And it looks promising

 

A few scattered clouds

 

Different levels of clouds

 

We are going to lose the sun behind the cloudy horizon

 

Slipping behind clouds

 

The upper sky got nicer

 

Darker by 5:24pm

 

That's about it

 

The after glow

 

As seen from deck nine aft

 

Interesting cloud formations

 

Taking on the color

 

Deeper the later it got

 

Even better

 

No rain today

 

The best it got

 

Fading

 

But still good

 

The stacks still show the classic ship design

 

Pretty dark by 6:15pm

 

The last flower left

 

Saved the good champagne until last

 

 

Report #52 Sailing Towards San Diego, California November 14, 2016 Monday Sunny & degrees 12 Pictures

Sunny?  Well not exactly.  Cloudy was more like it, with a little sun peeking out at times.  No way was it 88 degrees, but perhaps 70 something degrees.  The wind was a factor in keeping it cooler today.  Remember when we were complaining about a zero breeze?  Watch out what you wish for, because today's winds were brutal at times.  Yesterday, the sea swells got deeper, and the waters were choppy.  We were and still are getting some significant pitching and rolling as we are hitting areas near Acapulco now.  The difference is that we are not near the coast, but arriving much further away from land.  We knew the balmy hot weather was going away soon.

 

During our walk this morning, we found that the remaining narrow ceiling panels had been removed from the lower promenade deck.  Most of the perforated metal strips were so rusted that they were fallen down in pieces anyway.  The pipes and drains on the opposite side have been repaired or replaced, and the insulated pipes have been heavily painted white.  It looks 100% better, and by keeping it open, fixing leaks should be a breeze now.  In fact, there should be no more leaks for a long time.

 

Kainoa talked about the history of the hula at 10am, followed by Charlie U continuing his talk about Charles Darwin.  Hard to cover such a fascinating subject in a couple of days, but he kept it interesting.

 

We spent probably the last day at the aft pool, literally holding on to our lounges as the wind whipped around us.  Occasionally, the pool water drifted over our heads, and for a while, it felt good.  Only the serious outdoor folks were out there today.  One gal we know from Southern California mentioned she might have to tie herself down with bungee cords.  She certainly has the towels secured with those cute clips from a famous bed and bath store.  In order to get our suitcases down in weight before we left home, our clips had to be left behind.

 

At 3pm, there was the traditional Indonesian Crew Show in the Queens Lounge.  We had to squeeze in the back door on deck five to see some of it.  Lots of crew members had snuck in there to watch their buddies on the stage.  Just about everyone was in there, which is nice for the crew.  They really put a lot of work into this performance, practicing on their own free time.  Normally, they use the free time to sleep in between shifts.  So we all appreciated their effort.

 

We ordered room service Caesar salads and a chicken sandwich to share.  Our order was complete and very good.  Since it was so cloudy and threatening rain, we stayed inside to watch a movie, The Duel.  Once again, it was a western and at times, brutal.  Glad we did not live back in those pioneer days.  Took a hearty breed of folks to survive.

 

Our travel group met in the Piano Bar at 7pm for a farewell party, hosted by Tom M.  Since there were only about 20 of us, we fit comfortably in the smaller venue.  This was nice for a change, as we are always in the Explorer's Lounge on the world cruise.  Hard to visit with so many guests.  Tonight, a very nice single lady from southern California asked to join us.  During our conversation, we discovered we had things in common, such as our previous travel agency that no longer exists.  We had drinks of our choice, and trays of never-ending appetizers of caviar, shrimps, quiche, and pate.

 

Dinner followed and we ordered one fish and chips, and one Asian chicken meal.  They had run out of the Asian noodles, and substituted linguine instead.  It worked fine.  As always, we all go silent when the sweet treats arrive.  We get lost in the sugar rush.  Obviously, we are going to miss this too, as we do not do dessert at home.

 

There was a variety show tonight: Bettine Clemen, the flautist, and Garry and Janine Carson, the Vegas magic and comedy act.  Trying to stay up for it.

 

Back at our room, we had received our disembarkation package with one customs form and luggage tags.  We have the option of getting off from 8am to 9:20am, or whenever we get cleared from the local authorities.  That should not be a problem, since most everyone is disembarking tomorrow, as this is the end of the Tales of the South Pacific.  There are a few folks continuing on back to Hawaii, and some will stay on through the world cruise.

 

Anyway, guess it is time to start the packing…………

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

No sunset tonight

 

Rain may be on the forecast

 

Dramatic skies

 

Will have to look for the super moon tonight

 

Will be hiding up there

 

Ominous

 

Slight tinge of the sunset

 

That was it

 

Cocktail party in the Piano Bar

 

Cheers once again

 

Tom M with guests

 

Tom giving his farewell talk……eat good, think thin!