We arrived to the harbor of San Diego around 6:30am in the dark. The Zaandam docked starboard in the Princess slip and turned around for an easy exit later this afternoon. There was some low fog, but by the time it lifted, the skies were blue and cloudless. Eventually the temperature rose to 86 degrees, 54% humidity, with 13.8 mph winds.
Breakfast was at 7am, although there were few customers. We think we already mentioned that 400 folks were headed home, so many of those may have been Neptuners who usually dine in the Pinnacle Grill every morning.
Debarkation began at 7:30am right after the ship was cleared. The process was done before 9:30 am. We stayed onboard until 9:45am then left the ship for our hike. It was not a zero-clearance day like we had in Vancouver, which worked better for those of us that were intransit.
Docked at this berth, we had to walk through a giant empty tent, across the parking lot, and following the terminal building to the exit. We noticed that the taxis, Ubers, or Lyfts were not allowed in the parking lot, but were parked outside of the gates. Only the buses were coming into the immediate area.
Our walk took us past the ferries that brought people on a bay tour or to Coronado Island. Tickets could be bought right there at a kiosk. By the way, there were a few excursions offered through the ship. Several were short tours with an airport transfer. Two were the trolley and the Seal tours. Both ran about $90 for 2 hours. There was a trip to the San Diego Zoo and one to a wine tasting somewhere out of town.
We had to be careful to watch the time since all aboard time was at 3:30pm. So we strolled past the USS Midway aircraft carrier. Some of the staff onboard this museum hung a giant banner saying "Welcome Home" to the troops on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The Seaport Village was the next complex to see with dozens of shops, cafes, and restaurants . There is something for everyone there if you are into shopping. The fishing boat marina was next, followed by the yacht harbor with some pretty high-end sailboats and private yachts. Access to these vessels is under lock and key with tons of security we assume. The Convention Center was next, and it seemed to go for miles. We arrived at the Hilton Hotel, which was a stone's throw away from the Coronado Bridge. Usually we pass through this hotel and take the skybridge to Petco Park. Today we figured we were short with time so we took a short cut and headed down the elevator to Harbor Drive. All we had to do was follow this main avenue all the way to the Cheesecake Factory, which is on the backside of Seaview Village, more or less. On the positive side, we were in the shade for most of the hike back.
We did run right into the complex shortly after noontime and ordered two much needed Stella draft beers. We were the first customers to sit in the bar area where they have high top tables. Within 15 minutes, all of the tables were filled. Good timing, we suppose. We have one of these restaurants near our home and go there once a week, ordering the same Skinnylicious tortilla salad with extra ranch dressing on the side. It is always an ample salad, and we share it. Two types of loaf bread were served also. We seldom do dessert, but today their special was pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream. Needless to say, it sure was good. We shared that as well. Relaxing for an hour was heavenly in the air-conditioned restaurant, so it was hard to pry ourselves out of our chairs.
We wanted to be back to the ship by 2pm because we had an invitation to a welcome reception in the Crow's Nest for ¾ hour. The invitations no longer say 3, 4, 5 star Mariners and President's Club. It simply states that the gathering is for the top Mariners onboard. We knew that once onboard, if we headed for our room, we would never leave it. So it was straight up to deck nine and the Crow's Nest. The Mariner group had occupied most of the seating except for one area that had a sign on it for President's Club. Meeting Margaret, the new Mariner rep was perfect timing since she just joined the ship today. We have it on good authority that she is a "gem". We sat in those deep chairs that are difficult to get up from. One of the reasons we don't go to the Crow's Nest is due to these chairs. One of us would worry about getting up when the time came and found it wise to drink cranberry juice on ice.
We did not recognize any other guests and definitely no other President's Club members. But a younger couple, Wendy and George, came into the room and asked to join us. They were from Boise Idaho and were very nice and easy to talk to. We stayed long beyond the 2:45pm cut-off point and were offered even more beverages. Then the Captain announced the mandatory muster check....the easy one with scanning your room keys. Once again, we were exempted.
We watched the sailing out of the scenic harbor from our veranda. Right before we left, the Captain came on with his sail away talk. We have 754 nautical miles to reach Cabo San Lucas doing a speed of 18 knots. Then he added some unexpected info regarding Hurricane Simon that was cooking off the coast of Baja California....right in the direction we are headed. This storm was expected to intensify by the weekend, and there might be some changes to our itinerary. There was no decision made from HAL headquarters as of yet, but he would keep us updated. We checked out the situation online, and it looked bad. However, the hurricane in the Gulf was even more dire, and the news concentrated on that area instead. Again, time will tell......
Leaving the harbor, we passed several boats, Coronado Island, buoys complete with resting Stellar sea lions, and some military vessels. There were few birds to be seen this time. The thin veil of fog was coming into the bay and it did cool the air off. If there is a hurricane out there, we saw and felt no evidence of it yet.
Dinnertime had some good items. We had starters of soup and salad with mains of pork tenderloin and Parmigiana chicken with spaghetti. A thin slice of raspberry-swirl cake was shared by both of us. Showtime was the singer, Teacake Ferguson with groovy tunes guaranteed to keep us smiling, singing, and dancing.
Tomorrow.....a day at sea and a day to rest up.
Bill & Mary Ann
