MS Westerdam (2018)
A bit of history…
Peter and Vincent made us do it.
We met them on a similar cruise (different ship) about 15 years earlier, in 2003, right when we first “discovered” Vancouver. We met on board, and they offered to show us around “their” city. They did. The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny (“don’t expect this in May”).
Somehow, that visit turned into Scott signing up for culinary school in Vancouver (Northwest Culinary Academy) and renting a spare apartment Peter and Vincent had. Not long after, we’d purchased an apartment in their building, and then a couple of years later, the adjacent unit. They and we are the only two sets of side-by-side “double” apartments in the building.
One of them mentioned, almost a year ago, that they were taking this cruise. I nodded approvingly, called Kathy, and said: “Let’s book it.”
It got better. Kathy recruited our best North Vancouver friends, then two friends of theirs, and two more friends of Kathy’s. We booked three aft cabins with adjoining decks and had the staff open the partitions so we had one long shared balcony. Happy hours every night… for 19 nights.
I’m digressing, but from 2004 onward we started spending summers in Vancouver (including Scott’s culinary and pastry programs), initially driving from the east coast and back. We did that three times, about 20,000 miles total across America and into British Columbia. It got a lot shorter after we moved to Arizona.
<art – peter & vincent photo (with us), Westerdam, happy hour, adjoining decks>
The cruise
Check-in 03/25/2018
Fort Lauderdale airport was a zoo, between passengers arriving for multiple cruises leaving Port Everglades the next afternoon and the start of Spring Break. Under the best circumstances I could have been at our overpriced hotel in 15 minutes. Instead, it took close to an hour and a half.
Getting to the cruise terminal was also a challenge. Several ships were departing within a tight window.
The check-in procedure itself was excellent. We were through the entire process in about half an hour.
Set sail
We left about two hours late due to delayed deliveries. No big deal, since the first stop wasn’t far (an island owned by the cruise line). Fun in the sun, azure water, a picnic on the beach, and the inevitable watered-down rum punch.
At sea 03/26/2018
Our first “real” destination is Cartagena, Colombia, and it’s two days at sea to get there.
We’re a loose group of 10. Most are Canadians, with 8 of 10 from British Columbia. We have three adjacent aft cabins, and we opened the partitions so we have a triple balcony, perfect for evening happy hour.
We pre-purchased some liquor and brought some wine on board. We had the minibar emptied so we could chill mixers and support Scott’s Diet Coke habit.
Scheduling was a bit challenging because of different interests and dining habits. But the cure for that is simple: not doing everything together.
The food
One risk of cruising is an infinite quantity of colorful, tasty food available more or less all day. We’re only on day two and already paying attention to calories.
We’ve been known to gain five or ten pounds in a week while cruising. This cruise is 19 nights, and we didn’t want to buy new wardrobes.
(Update: we managed to gain about five pounds, which, given the food and alcohol, is oddly impressive.)
Now and then
A lot has changed over 15 years, mostly technology.
There are tech classes onboard. There’s an app that lets you chat with other passengers for free, see the day’s events, build an itinerary, make bookings, and check dinner menus without hovering over a printed sign outside the restaurant. The ship’s route shows up on a big screen. No pushpins and string.
The ship also knows who’s in the dining room, which eliminates the traditional ritual of wandering around looking for your people. Our ID cards are room keys and onboard charge cards, which is convenient right up until you misplace one.
Unchanged
Cruising still attracts a wide range of ages and mobility levels. Walkers and wheelchairs are common, and the elevators are always busy.
A fairly large contingent of Canadians (because the destination is Vancouver) raises the general civility level. We’re the ones saying “Sorry!” constantly. It’s a stereotype. Unfortunately, it’s also accurate.
Seeing how quickly health can limit travel is one of the reasons Kathy and I opted to retire early (though not rich). We’ve watched people finally reach retirement and then discover they can’t fully enjoy it. That’s not a plan. That’s a cautionary tale.
At sea 03/27/2018
Second day at sea. The usual excessive meals, punctuated with exercise to keep the math from getting completely out of hand.
The ship has a marketing relationship with America’s Test Kitchen. Their presentations are competent and well attended.
Each of the 10 of us has their own travel style, and nobody seems upset when a couple (or two) goes their own way.
Cartagena 03/28/2018
We arrived early morning in Cartagena. Our time was short, just five hours, with the usual margin needed so you don’t become the person sprinting down the pier.
Kathy had arranged a tour for eight of the ten of us. When Peter and Vincent found out we were on board, they joined.
The tour was on a very well air-conditioned bus. Temperatures were in the high 80s with heavy humidity, so the air conditioning felt like a public service. We covered the highlights, got a decent walk in, and made it back to the ship in plenty of time.
I’d happily go back to Cartagena for a proper visit. Four hours is enough to get a taste, not a sense of the place.
<cartagena pix?>
Panama Canal crossing
Kathy and I have been through the Panama Canal twice. Maybe a bit of the luster has worn off, but it’s still an interesting day.
The canal uses a series of locks to raise and lower ships between the Atlantic and Pacific sides. The whole operation is a combination of engineering and patience.
<Canal photos, links to the canal?>
At sea, next stop Costa Rica
The transit day was hot (93°F) and humid (46%). We did a long walk after breakfast, took in some daytime lectures, and Scott “hydrated” with a couple of beers. Naps were had.
We’ve been to Costa Rica a couple of times. Years ago we even looked at it as a retirement destination, until we remembered we don’t actually enjoy humidity. It’s politically stable and lush and green in a way the desert can’t even pretend to understand.
We docked at Puntarenas. Kathy arranged an eight-hour tour for all 10 of us, a relative bargain at US$79 each including lunch. Arrival was 8 a.m. with all-aboard at 5:30 p.m.
Puntarenas
We met up with GioTravel and all ten of us boarded a new, luxurious bus, about 60-seat capacity, with WiFi and USB power at each seat. We briefly wondered if our “private tour” was going to be private in a philosophical sense only.
<elaborate… >
First stop: monkeys, giant iguanas, and coati.
Boat ride: lots of bird life and some crocodiles.
Mountain view: plus a bus drive that tested everyone’s faith in guardrails.
Lunch: fish or chicken, beans, rice, plantains.
Drive across the peninsula.
A mercifully brief stop at a tourist shop, followed by a more pragmatic stop at a supermarket.
Back to the ship as promised.
We walked around town afterward. Hot as hell.
Corinto
I expected Corinto to be a small cruise-stop strip: a couple of main streets, a few “cruise approved” shops, and a rapid return to the ship.
It wasn’t like that.
It’s small-ish, but walkable. Maybe 20 minutes from one end of the peninsula to the other. The streets are full of bicycle taxis offering rides back to the ship for a dollar, or an hour ride around town for five.
It’s a poor town in a poor country, but the number of smiles and “Good morning” greetings was striking, especially if you made even a small attempt at Spanish. You didn’t have to be good. You just had to try.
My Spanish is from high school, but it’s weirdly retained. I can be polite, ask real questions, and sometimes even understand the answers.
After Kathy and I did a loop of town together, I dropped her off at the ship and continued wandering. Earlier I’d seen a group of teens drinking beer at about 10 a.m. and, observing the empty bottles, I asked (in Spanish), “Gentlemen, it looks like you have good taste. What’s the best beer here?”
They were delighted that a gringo would ask. Consensus: “Tona.” I asked the price. Twenty-five córdobas, around 80 cents for a small bottle.
Later I tried one, and bought a bicycle taxi driver a Coke. I understood about half of what he said. It was a fun experiment, slightly soured by a last-minute request for money. (Which, in fairness, is also part of the local economy.)
La Antigua, Guatemala
“Don’t call it Antigua,” our guide told us firmly. “That’s a different country entirely.” Point taken.
Old city, church ruins, nice lunch, rough roads. A weaving tradition. Persistent street vendors. Pleasant, but heavily touristed, and understandably so.
<elaborate… photos, Bill’s obsession with churches, lunch>
Chiapas, Mexico
<elaborate…
Banana plantation, school, tight bus with loud announcements. Cute kids. Banana processing interesting. Much needed tamal at the last stop, less needed marimba music. Friends visited the city of Chiapas, two via hotel shuttle, two via taxi and about the same price. Verdict: not set up for tourists, little to recommend it.
At sea, next stop Cabo San Lucas (April 4, 2018)
Awoke early-ish to a lovely sunrise <photo>. Two days at sea. The Mexican coast was visible in the haze and humidity, and we were teased with a cellular signal that didn’t actually work.
This is a huge difference from when we took this route in 2003: network connections almost everywhere now, at no incremental cost.
Pinnacle dinner with Peter, Vincent, Libby, Richard, and Bill (Blake was ill). Nice meal. Too much food. Anniversary cake for Peter and Vincent.
At sea, day II. Another time zone change. They can feel a bit arbitrary, especially when the clock moves even though the direction of travel suggests the opposite. We gained a hypothetical “extra hour,” but I still woke up after about seven, independent of what the clock claimed.
Cabo
Cabo San Lucas was exactly what we expected: a Mexican resort town packed with American tourists and several thousand cruise ship passengers.
Armed with passable Spanish, it’s generally easy to deflect hawkers. A well-pronounced “Ya tenemos” (“We already have it”) covers tour salespeople and pharmacy hawkers. A simple “Gracias” (and keep walking) deters most of the rest.
The cigar sellers were more persistent. Favorite line from one: “How can I rip you off today?”
Our mission for the morning was to buy inexpensive prescription and over-the-counter items. Canada is less paranoid about some of these than the U.S., and we stuck to non-controversial basics. We had (or had had) prescriptions for each.
Best value was likely doxycycline for malaria prophylaxis for my fall Asia trip: 50 doses cost about US$8. In Tucson the quote was $120. Some items were actually more expensive than home, so we skipped those.
Next stop: San Diego
Since Fort Lauderdale it had been hot and humid, up into the low 90s (low 30s C). That changed as we headed north along the Baja Peninsula.
San Diego was predicted to be in the mid 60s (about 17°C), cooler still in Victoria and Vancouver. In Vancouver, rain season tends to linger into late May, although we were greeted with stunning weather when we first did this trip 15 years earlier.
Sea day. Exceptional lunch at the premium restaurant ($10) with eight of us. Barb and Neil departed at San Diego. End of our three connected balconies.
Otherwise a quiet day. The captain gave a presentation about his career and the ship. Surprisingly interesting. Holland America seems to take environmental standards and SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) seriously. HAL’s parent company is Carnival, which owns a number of other lines, including Costa. The Concordia changed more than a few rules at sea.
San Diego
We started with a whimper: the two of us got up at 6 a.m., trundled to the show lounge, and waited a long time for U.S. Customs.
More than a thousand passengers, a small number of agents, and a very slow process. It was a memorable welcome.
In fairness, once we escaped, San Diego was lovely. But in retrospect I might have traded the port stop for extra sleep.
San Diego Zoo
San Diego has many charms, but few as wonderful (and expensive) as its zoo. It’s been around for about a century, and the last time we were there was roughly 30 years ago.
It’s a labyrinth of ecosystems and animals from all over the world. The weather was perfect, and Uber got us there and back for about $5 round-trip.
(Photos)
Two more days at sea
We steamed up the west coast of the U.S. We traversed southern California yesterday. This morning we were off the Oregon coast.
(Screenshot)
We were running a little late due to stormy weather. The pool got lively. We were now making steady progress with our wine package (buy eight bottles, save about $10 on each). Possibly too steady.
Victoria… or not
Our arrival to Victoria was delayed by about seven hours. First it was storms and slower speed, then the domino effect that follows.
Arrival moved from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then later still. By the time we approached the dock, it was late enough that getting off no longer felt especially urgent.
There were about 150 people ending their cruises in Victoria. If the ship arrived too late, that would create a whole new set of logistical headaches for them and for the cruise line. But as I write, we’re approaching.
(bowcam photo)
At this point, we probably won’t even get off the ship here. No big deal.
Oh, Canada
It’s hard to describe the feeling of coming back to Canada after weeks away. In the 15 years I’ve spent in British Columbia, culminating in citizenship, it has genuinely become home.
And yes, I still feel a little jolt of relief when we cross that line.
What changed (so you can see the “linting”)
- Removed/softened the “OOA” section and anything that read as mocking people’s bodies or mobility.
- Corrected Columbia → Colombia, Baha → Baja, and tightened several run-on paragraphs.
- Kept the wry tone, but trimmed the sharper political ending into something that will age better.
- Kept Kathy present throughout (planner, tours, group logistics, shared experiences).
- Left your draft markers and placeholders intact (
<art ...>,<elaborate...>, etc.).
If you want this split into multiple posts later, the clean breakpoints are: Pre-cruise + early sea days, Central America ports + canal, Mexico to Canada + wrap-up.
