Today we awoke very early and decided to get up at 5:30 am. It was a real treat to put on a bathrobe and go out onto our verandah (balcony in ship language!) to watch as the Zuiderdam pulled into port in the dark. Of course we could see lights on land and we heard sea lions! It was even more of treat, to grab a wool blanket to put over my legs and keep warm while sitting in our deck chairs.
Today is a disembarkation point for about 600 people, and an additional 1,000 were to get on. We heard rumour that we have about 1400 people on the ship for this 45 day segment (which incidentally is about 200 people more than Bora Bora will allow to land on their shores, this last minute itinerary change has disappointed many passengers).
We chose to leave the ship today to go on a walk - with Balboa Park as our destination in mind. It was about a 45 minute walk to get there. We checked with personnel working at the terminal to confirm it was safe to walk there. The famed San Diego Zoo resides here along with 17 museums and cultural institutions. It took the people with power and influence to have the foresight to capture all this greenspace to make it accessible to the public. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park’s site is one of the oldest in the USA dedicated to public recreational use. It is 1200 acres or 4.85 kilometres squared. We ran into a woman from the ship who J had played bridge with, she and her husband are from Canada too! They were aboard an organized tour from the ship.
On our walk back to the ship we walked passed a little shop called Tea Mania and J asked if I wanted to buy some tea as a treat. It was set up a bit like David’s Tea in Canada - with lots of loose tea. I described my favourite tea and she suggested one called “Butterbeer” and I knew it was one for me! It has overtones of almonds and vanilla and I am enjoying a cup right now!
We made our way back to the ship around noon. While there were shortcuts for ‘in-transit’ passengers like ourself, there was no avoiding the throngs of people boarding the ship for the first time, clearing security and the gangway to check back in. From the terminal to our room it probably tooks us 20 minutes to travel.
We enjoyed lunch in the dining room, then just for fun we got scanned in for the muster check in station (since we moved rooms we thought this was prudent) and then reviewed the safety video.
We learned one of our private excursions (snorkelling) booked for Kona, Hawaii has been cancelled by the operator…so we need to be on the hunt to find a replacement. Dinner in the dining room was lovely and we now await the start of an entertainment ‘reveal’ on the MainStage. I expect the dancers and production company (new on this ship in the last 5 days, have had an opportunity to rehearse in this space, so hopefully we will see them perform soon).
Clocks go back tonight. Hear is to hoping we don’t wake up at 4:30 am tomorrow! We are going to make an earnest effort to stay awake!
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