Posts from — March 2014

The weekend of March 21st to 24th was this years Family Ski Vacation. This year we rented a large condo – Bridgegate #11; it had three levels, 4 bedrooms, hot tub, large kitchen and lots of space, even for a group our size.

Everyone arrived on Friday night and it was so great to have time with them all before the busy part of the weekend started.

Saturday after breakfast we had time to play with the grand kids and then it was time to head down to the main village to walk around and everyone to explore Sun Peaks.

It had started to snow lightly on Friday night and continued through most of Saturday. This years family group photo very impromptu, however it was also probably one our better group photos.Plus look at these pictures of the grand kids; aren’t they special?

By Sunday morning there was 2″ to 3″ of new snow, so everyone was very excited about the day of skiing ahead. Brenda and I looked after Oliver and the rest went skiing at different times of the day. They all came back saying it the conditions were great.

After skiing it was still light outside so we all went outside and even Oliver got to try the skis that had been rented for Zachary. Sage and Conrad went sledding and with help of there Dad they had some pretty crazy rides down the hill on the sled.

Monday morning came too soon and it was time for everyone to head home.

Another great family vacation 🙂

We arrived into San Diego very early on Sunday, it is home to the USA Navy’s 3rd Fleet, which is part of the Pacific Fleet.

Once we disembarked we caught a cab over to the hotel and got settled in for a couple days. After a while we headed to the Gaslamp Quarter of the city which is an older area that has been refurbished and now has lots of shops, stores, restaurants, etc.

From here we headed towards the marina and then we were out to dinner.  On Monday we caught the Hotel Shuttle over to the San Diego Zoo. Lots to see and do here as there is over 125 acres to cover. We started by catching the Aerial Tram to the top of the Zoo and then we worked our way down the hill.

The Zoo of course has every imaginable animal and species, etc. It is divided into different Countries and regions.

After a lunch stop we caught a 4D Movie that was included in our ticket price. On the way into the movie there were these 2 Macaws which were very similar to the 2 that we saw in Costa Rica. By the way, these are real!

A 4D movie includes the 3D glasses and then the 4D part is wind, water, chair vibrations, etc. that you feel as part of the experience

After the Zoo it was back to the hotel a dinner out and time to get ready to head home on Tuesday morning.

Saturday was our final day at sea prior to arriving in San Diego.
Since it was our last day on the ship we chose to have breakfast delivered to our stateroom; this is truly one of the nice perks of cruising. However, we were about 30 miles offshore and it was a little cool to sit out on the verandah.
After breakfast we dressed warm and headed down to the lower promenade deck for a walk – 8 laps equals 2 miles.
Then we each headed our own way to take in the many activities on-board. Below are pictures of the hand sanitizing stations set up at the entrance to the Lido Pool Deck and Lido Restaurant.

Dress this evening was casual and the entertainment in the show lounge was “Dancing with the Stars” at Sea Finale.

Tonight’s animal towel art was a monkey.

It’s been a great cruise 🙂

This morning the ship arrived very early into Cabo San Lucas. We got up at around 6:15 a.m. and they had already dropped anchor and were preparing the tenders for transferring guests.
People started going ashore at 7:00 a.m. so they could get to their pre-booked shore excursions. The four of us had nothing definite planned except to find a beach and go for a swim.
Once ashore we walked past the usual parade of tour sellers, trinket sellers, etc. etc. Cabo San Lucas is a very busy seaside port with lots of sailing tours, fishing tours, whale watching, etc. It is also certainly more developed and built up than Zihuatanejo. The marina is huge, lots of expensive yachts, high-rise apartments, fancy hotels, shopping malls, etc. etc. Also, there are lots of small fishing boats with pelicans sitting on the engines, waiting for the odd fish, soaking up the sun and making a mess 🙂 We finally made our way around the marina, through the side streets until we came to a really nice sandy beach. It was still fairly early in the day, but we got our beach towels down and all went for a swim and then soaked up some sunshine.

After a bit Brenda and I headed back to the ship while Dean and Judy stayed at the beach for a little longer. The last tender was at 1:30 p.m. so it was a short port day.

Once we lifted anchor and started out of the bay we passed near a Cabo San Lucas landmark called Lovers Beach and the Arch.

Tonight dress was formal and the show was our Soprano and Tenor of the Veendam entertainers. From here we have a day and a half sailing to make it to San Diego for Sunday morning disembarking and the end of our cruise.

Today was another full day at sea on our way to Cabo San Lucas.
We are trying to keep it low key today, but there is so much to do and enjoy onboard.

Here is a couple pictures of the exercise spa area and someone doing “planks” 😉
After breakfast we all signed up for “Walk for a Cause” which starts at 9:30 a.m. which is a 5 km walk for cancer and includes 10 laps around the lower promenade which is on deck 6.
The remainder of the day we just hung out or walked around the ship taking in some of the events and sights.
Dinner was a casual evening and then it was off to the evening show. Tonight there were three performers: A Comedian, Lazslo & Claudia and Cecil Welch.

More animal towel art 🙂

We arrived into the small fishing village of Zihuatanejo early this morning and anchored in the bay. The crew then started to deploy the lifeboats that were to be our “Tenders” for getting everyone ashore.Since many guests had pre-booked shore excursions they were the first ones off the ship and it wasn’t until about 10:00 a.m. that we got on shore. Zihuatanejo is a really nice little fishing village. It feels very safe and the people are very friendly. Yes, there is the traditional street sellers trying to get you to buy their wares, but one “No Gracias” is all that is required and they leave you alone.We took the beach walk along Playa (Beach) Municipal, then to Playa Madera and finally took a hike up and over a hill to Playa Ropa. Dean and Judy headed off to enjoy a day in the sun.

Brenda and I sat for while and then headed back to the Market to do some shopping. After purchasing a few things we found a little restaurant to have a couple of Cervezas and use their Internet connection so we could download e-mail.  After that we caught the tender back to the ship.

Tonight was casual dress in the dining room.

More animal towel art 🙂

On Tuesday we were at sea all day, so it was another busy day onboard. Brenda and I did our 2 mile walk around the deck early on and then we went our separate ways to take in other ship board activities.
In the early afternoon we went to “Dancing with the Stars” hoping to learn the Tango. However, they were teaching the Argentinian Tango and we wanted to learn the Traditional Tango; so right after the introduction video we snuck out of the theatre.
Prior to dinner this evening and most nights we made a point of getting together with Dean & Judy for a “Happy Hour” drink and reconnect from the days activities. This evening was Formal attire and there were lots of long dresses and tuxedos.

The entertainment after dinner this evening was a couple named Lazslo and Claudia who played violin, they were fantastic.
Another great day aboard the Veendam.

Some more animal towel art 🙂

We arrived into Puerto Quetzal at about 8:00 a.m. this morning. Once we disembarked we hopped on a tour bus to travel to the city of Antigua.
The bus ride was about an hour and a half. The road for the first part was a 2 lane freeway and was fairly busy, especially where it came to exits and or turnarounds for sugar fields and the processing factory. Once we left the freeway we started to climb up towards the backside of Volcano Agua where the town of Antiqua is located.
Antiqua is located at around 1400 meters so the road got quite steep in spots.

As we got closer Antiqua we had to pass through a small village and the roads were quite narrow, it is obvious that they were never designed for larger tour buses to pass through.
As we entered Antiqua the road system narrowed up even more and in order to enter the town we had to go up a one way street the wrong way with the help of a local police official.

After this we arrived at the tour bus stop which is located at the jade factory and museum.
Once in Antigua we were on our own for about three hours to explore the city. The streets were all cobblestones and rocks placed there from the time of the Spanish, so it was very rough to drive on and difficult to walk on. The sidewalks were narrow and for the most part quite uneven; the tour brochure said this was not a place to visit if you had mobility issues and they were right about that.
We visited the local tourism office and went to the second floor to get a good view of the city, then toured through a few churches, wandered around the street checking out the Spanish architecture. We then visited El Mercado which is the local shopping market; El Mercado was an explosion of colour which included many local and imported handicrafts from the region.
In addition to El Mercado there was lots and lots of street vendors selling blankets, serapes, flutes, jewellery and many other handmade local handicrafts. Some of the sellers were very persistent and the average response of “No Gracias” did not stop their attempt to sell you their wares.
Finally around 2:30 p.m. we boarded the bus for the ride back to the ship.
Evening dinner was casual dress and then we attended the evening show which was a re-visit to the “Rat Pack days of Las Vegas”.

This morning we sailed into Puerto Corinto Nicaragua. The passage in was pretty interesting even the Captain mentioned it was a fairly tight and tricky docking procedure. Once near the dock the Pilot spin the boat around 180 degrees by using the bow thrusters and the engine. Disembarkation was a little delayed this morning, however we are not leaving port until 5:30 p.m. so lots of time to explore the town.
Today we opted to stay near the port and we just wandered into the town of Corinto. There was the usual gauntlet of side trip hucksters, bicycle tours, etc. etc. In fact there are significantly more pedi-cab styled bicycles that carry 2 – 4 passengers, than there are cars. The local residents use these as their source of transportation for shopping, traveling around town and of course those lucky enough to own one, the pedi-cab is their source of income. 
Our first impression was that Corinto is very poor and having a cruise ship the size of the Veendam stop for the day is a real boon to the economy. About one block from the port there was a street market with a few vendors selling all sorts of local handicrafts, tee shirts, knick-knacks, etc. This was also the first time we have been approached by young children asking for money. They knew how to say “you got a dollar” and some of them had gum or pencils to give you and some just wanted the money.
A little further on there was a town centre building and local dancers were performing, so we contributed a couple dollars towards the performers.

As we walked around a local by the name of Peter had been chatting up Dean trying to get him to take a bicycle tour of the town. Well, Dean agreed and we were off on a four-seater bicycle adventure. What a tour, Peter started by riding us down the main street and then headed on the road out of the town center area to where the local residents live. This area is very poor and most home are wood and corrugated steel roofing panels salvaged from who knows where. The better off folks have a home built with cement and steel and or tile roofs. Doors and windows are generally wide open however many front windows and doors have steel bars for security. Although they have a water system and sewer system there was evidence of some homes not being hooked up to these services and some of the streets had dishwater running in the gutters.

Along the way we stopped at a local beach where a tsunami had wiped out a lot of the coast line and many houses a few years back.

We then stopped at Peter’s home to meet his family and extended family. From here we headed back to the ship and onboard the ship. Finally, check out this hydro pole in the main center of town 🙂
Tonight is an Oscar’s Party in the main showroom.

More animal art 🙂

Today we disembarked in Punteranas Costa Rica, this was a slight change in plans based on tides and our cruise schedule. Originally we were supposed to sail to Puerto Caldera.
Once we got off the ship we boarded a tour bus to go to the Eco Tropical Mangrove River Cruise. The tour director was a young guy named Chris and the bus driver was Rolando…….. they were both very good at what they did and certainly helped make it an enjoyable day. For example Chris explained that Costa Rica has over 100 variety of snakes; but thankfully only 22 are deadly poisonous 🙂
Even though the distance wasn’t that far the bus ride took a bit over an hour, the last few miles were over a very bumpy and potholed gravel road.
As soon as we arrived they got us aboard the river boats and the Eco Tour started.

One thing that was real neat to see was the large termite nests that were in many of the trees. The first part of the river was very narrow and the vegetation was right to the rivers edge and it was very thick.

The Mangroves were very dense and it certainly helped hold the humidity in and around the river….. it was very warm and muggy.

Not too long into the boat ride we saw many species of birds and a crocodile. Then a little while later we heard a bunch of loud screeching and the guides pointed out a pair of Macaw’s. One was scarlet red and the other a brilliant blue, it was amazing and they were spectacular, but just too far away in the dense forest for our cameras to take a good picture.
We then headed out to the main river which feeds into the ocean. There we saw a few more crocodiles and one was a pretty good size at about 9′. These crocodiles can go to the ocean for a short while even though they are fresh water crocodiles, however after a few hours they must return to the fresh water as they cannot survive in the saltwater.
From here we headed back to the main Eco tour area and boarded the buses to head back to the ship.

Tonight after dinner we went to Showtime and the performer was Cecil Welch  who was a trumpeter that performed for 20 years with Henri Mancini. He was amazing and it was great to listen to the music and hear about his musical background/experiences.

Then at 10 p.m we went to the movie which was the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park Live……….. we stayed for a while, however it’s not the same as being there live.

Now, more animal art.