The Zaandam arrived at the port of San Diego quite early – well before sunrise. We were docked starboard by 7am, and Clare started debarking announcements before 7:30am. There were about 350 guests leaving the ship today, while about 400 of us stayed. By the time we leave this afternoon, the ship should be totally full with close to 1400 passengers.
Breakfast was the normal "port day" time of 7:30am, even though we had expected to have a zero-clearance count, that did not occur. If for some reason we had left the ship earlier, we would not be allowed back on before 9:30am. Not a problem since we had plenty to do before heading into town. With 10 complimentary dinners to book in the Pinnacle Grill, we worked out the dates and presented them to Zhandy, the Pinnacle Grill assistant manager. Since we do not have an interest in some of the pop-up events, we chose days at sea for the dinners. We may change our minds and try the Tamarind, although the pop-up dinners are not always the same as in the dedicated restaurant on the larger HAL ships.
We came back to our room after breakfast to find two Legendary Canvas tote bags (not plastic) as well as two insulated 13.5 ounce covered mugs. Useful and a nice touch. Today is the official start of the 51-day Legendary Tales of the South Pacific. It is also the last one scheduled for the next two years. That was one reason we booked this voyage again this fall. Another weekly event was the cleaning of our veranda, which was also in progress when we returned. A separate crew handles the scrubbing and hosing, which is nice. We have never noticed a build-up of salt ever since we boarded a month ago.
Then we had a knock on our door, and there was our deck supervisor with a case of 24 Coke Zero's. Since we did not expect a President's Club delivery, we said this might be in error. No, he said, this is a little something from Leonie and Cynthia who were both leaving the ship today. How sweet and thoughtful was that? Ladies, if you happen to be reading this, we thank you for your kindness and sincerely hope to sail with both of you again. We also want to thank April, our Mariner rep, who also left a nice message saying goodbye. You have done a wonderful job of making us feel welcomed and taking care of our perks.
The weather today was not the usual sunny and balmy day we have always enjoyed. Overcast skies and cooler temps greeted us. That would change later in the afternoon. Working online kept us busy until 11am, then we went off the gangway which was loaded with the new passengers. Once again, we were like salmon going upstream trying to get off. Once through the terminal, we turned right and headed down the Embarcadero. Docked across from us was the Caribbean Princess, a big one with 24 lifeboats. The Zaandam was dwarfed by her size.
Despite the overcast skies, the temps were in the mid 70's and climbing. There was noticeable humidity in the slight breeze and we were glad we wore our shorts today. Passing the USS Midway aircraft carrier and museum, we learned that this vessel saw action in Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War operations, and the Persian Gulf. It was retired in 1992 and is opened for touring these days.
Seaport Village, a charming waterfront complex has unique shops, many eateries, and landscaped fountains with views of the bay. It's always fun passing by the boutiques and souvenir shops there. Along the way, we passed by numerous street vendors who seemed to be selling the same items for fairly good prices. Looking for a simple visor , we came up empty-handed. There were tons of baseball caps for the guys as always. Passing by some of the most impressive yachts in the marina, we came upon the Hilton Hotel where we walked through the lobby and out the door to the pedestrian bridge over the highway below.
Crossing over, we ended up close to Petco Park - home to the San Diego Padres. Following our path from last year with a little help from Google maps, we located a nice CVS that was actually still opened for business. Much of their inventory was under lock and key…..even simple everyday items like toothpaste, deodorants, and shampoo and conditioners and cold meds. We asked the clerk why the need for locked cabinets and she said "theft". Mostly done by the homeless folks. She did not feel that this store will stay opened either, especially after we told her that two CVS pharmacies had closed by Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Such a shame. We made our purchases, and continued down Market Street, passing through the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District. This appeared to be the center of the city's nightlife with theaters, galleries, concert and symphony venues and dozens of neat cafes and bars. It was already getting busy with the lunch crowd, and we were also on the same page…..thinking about lunch. All aboard was 4pm today.
At the end of Market Street, we located the Cheesecake Factory in a shopping complex. They serve a salad we love at home, so we took a high-top table that we prefer in the bar area. The booths were full with a 25-minute wait. As we mentioned earlier, the skies had cleared, and the sun came out making it a warm day. The Stella draft beer and Coke Zero really tasted good. We shared the Mexican tortilla salad with their special brown and French bread with added ranch dressing on the side. We did see plates of various cheesecake servings going to some nearby tables, but we did not indulge. Just sitting and enjoying the meal while taking in the scenery was fine with us.
Heading back to the ship, we went through x-ray in the terminal, which was virtually empty. It appeared both ships had loaded the majority of their passengers already. Doing some info-gathering, we learned that the Caribbean Princess was enroute to LA, after doing a 7-day Coastal run. This was not a turn-around day for them. We were back to the room by 3pm. And there we stayed until it was time for the mandatory passenger emergency muster drill at 4pm. This was a full drill where we had to go to our boat assignment and be logged in with the boat captain. Clare had announced this drill, specifically saying do not bring food or drinks, and please leave your life vests in the cabins. Well, guess what we saw? Drinks from the bar and life vests with the straps dragging on the floor. Duh??? And the ever-present cell phones, which were asked to be turned off. Might as well be talking to the wall. On several cruises in the past, we have seen some guests asked to put the phones away and pay attention. This type of full muster drill has to occur every 3 months we were told. On the remainder of this voyage, we will have more stream-lined drills by scanning our cards at our muster station. Much easier.
Sail away was around 5:15pm, but shortly before that, a few guest names were announced that had not attended the muster drill. Hope they found them because we were pulling away with or without them. Instead of a 3,4, and 5 star as well as President's Club members Mariner gathering in the Crow's Nest prior to sail away, there was an exclusive reception in the Lido Pool area from 6:30pm to 7:15pm. These longer cruises do tend to attract guests with the higher amount of pure sea days, so the venue must be moved to a suitable place. Of course, that is right in the middle of dinnertime for many, and we are not sure how the attendance was, since we did not go this time. Instead, we cracked open one of our bottles of sparkling wine and stayed on our veranda for the entire sailing out of the scenic harbor and well beyond. It is always fun watching the diving pelicans and lazy seals on the buoys. And we also got the view of Coronado Island and the military complex there that makes us proud to be Americans.
With the beginning of this legendary voyage, there was a change with the menu selections. Much to our liking, there were several Mexican appetizers and entrees. We both tried the open-face tostada with spicy toppings, one seafood cocktail with a touch of jalapeño pepper, one tomato/mozzarella salad, and the best beef enchiladas we have tasted yet. Desserts were watermelon and one scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream.
Showtime was an aloha performance by a fellow named Erwin Urbi with Home In The Islands. Now we are heading into the Polynesian culture part of the world with many activities to match the theme.
We will have six sea days to reach Kona.
Bill & Mary Ann