San Diego and Northbound to Victoria

May 4, 2014

The weather is beginning to change as we head north towards San Diego.  The temperature is dropping and the wind is picking up, although the seas are still relatively calm.  Not much is happening on the ship, and the infection control measures continue.  We had the last formal night of the cruise, with “surf and turf” one of the entrees for dinner.

May 5, 2014

After a morning walk as the sun rose, with temperatures cool enough to require a jacket, we settled into the “at sea” routine, except that we avoided the crowds of people.  At noon we participated in an Indonesian Richstaffel lunch put on for those in suites.  The food was spicy and reminded us of our trips to SE Asia in the early 1990’s.  We did attend the evening show with the full cast of the Zuiderdam performing a high energy performance of singing and dancing to Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.

May 6, 2014

The Zuiderdam approached San Diego harbor before dawn and was docked at the “B” Street pier downtown by 0600.  The clearance process by US Customs was lengthy and we did not get off the ship until after 0900.  We took the shuttle to Balboa Park where we met Kathleen and Kyle, fellow cruisers from our transatlantic voyage several years ago.  After a tour of Balboa Park, led by Kyle, we enjoyed lunch on the patio of “Prado”, a nice restaurant located in the park.  The ship departs relatively early, so we arrived back on board before 1500.  

The ship finally departed at 1600 in brisk winds which really picked up as we exited the harbor for the 1231 nautical mile run to Victoria, our next stop.  By the time we were fully out in the Pacific, the winds were in excess of 30 knots, with seas to match.  Dinner was a high motion affair in the increasing bow quarter seas.  The ship rocked and rolled all night, and all the outside decks were closed due to the high winds, which exceeded 60 MPH at times.

May 7, 2014

The decks remain closed since the winds continue strong out of the Northwest.  The seas are at times enormous, but seem to be decreasing somewhat as we continue north.  With not much else to do, we had a leisurely breakfast in the Pinnacle Restaurant.  Our walk will have to be on the inside decks.  Miriam had lunch for the first time in the main dining room with Dorothy Vaccaro, one of our evening tablemates.  Dinner was the next highlight of a long and relaxing (boring) day.  The show was another high energy full cast production by the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers.

May 8, 2014

Sometime during the night we passed though the winds from the northwest and the winds are now from the south at 29 MPH, with following seas.  The ship speed has increased to around 19 knots in order to make Victoria, BC by 1600 tomorrow, but the motion is very calm with the seas coming from dead astern.  At midday the visibility decreased and the fog horn came back on as we steamed towards Crescent City, CA.  The ship continues at the highest level of infection control.  I guess we have to be glad that it is only the hands that have to be sanitized every time one enters a public area, even the shops.