This voyage starts with 6 days at sea, from San Diego to Kona, which we love.  Many people prefer a busy cruise, stopping at a different port every day – we enjoy the sea days particularly at the start of a long cruise.  It gives us plenty of time to shift from the rhythms at home to the rhythms at sea.  On long cruises, the cruise line books a variety of lecturers who give talks on various relevant(?) subjects.  We have enjoyed such topics as “Tectonic Plate Movement, famous criminal cases in Los Angeles, the affect of classical music on the mind, the structure of waves, and many more.  On this leg of the trip we have 5 talks on Hawaiian culture and history and 5 days on famous criminals of Australia.  We went to a few of them but mostly focused on doing nothing – it was wonderful.

Part of our time is often spent getting familiar with the ship, but it didn’t take long this time as the Zaandam is a sister ship to four others we have been on which are similarly laid out.  Unlike most newer ships this ship only holds about 1000 passengers as opposed to 5 or 6 thousand on most new ships.  The cruise line can get 1000 people on a 51 day cruise, but probably  couldn’t fill a large ship – not as many people willing to take off that length of time.

Here are some photos from around the ship.

We will start with our home for the next 51 days.  We normally book an inside cabin to save money, but they offered to upgrade us to a “room with a view”.

Next is the Lido Market (buffet) where we take most of our meals. We seldom go the dining room – too stuffy, too slow.

The rear deck swimming pool and outside dining area.

 

The pickleball court – a new addition.

The main swimming pool, with the roof open,  It is surrounded by tables which provide and excellent location for outside dining or blog writing.

The Crows Nest.

View from The Crows Nest.Deck three for walking.  3.5 laps equals one mile.

Tomorrow we land in Kona – I hope to see the volcano from the ship as we get close,