Rotterdam 2024, Fort Lauderdale....

What a wonderful day here in Fort Lauderdale!  Today was marked with a bit of sadness as Captain Werner Timmers brought his ship, Rotterdam, in for the last time.  He will be moving to the Nieuw Statendam after a well-deserved vacation.  The Rotterdam family will greatly miss him… Speaking of vacations, I decided that today was a good time to take a three-week vacation…  Many of you are thinking, “that’s all he does!” But what I’m talking about is taking my last three weeks on the Rotterdam and relaxing with my friends and enjoying the sun…  I’m taking a three-week hiatus from doing my blog.  It takes a lot of time and energy and I think I’ll give it a rest until we set sail April 5^th to the Mediterranean…   It should be fun, lots of great ports still ahead like Aruba, Curacao and the Panama Canal…  Not sure how I’ll react to putting the big camera away, kinda like a crack addict in recovery… Today, also brought our wonderful friends Laura & her sister Bernice from Cape Breton Nova Scotia back onboard and one of our favorites, Claes de Groot, the Guest Relations Manager….  Looking forward to a fun, relaxing three weeks on the Rotterdam…

Rotterdam 2024, George Town, Grand Cayman...

Happy Valentine’s Day. Busy day in Grand Cayman, four ships in town including the Zaandam that we did not notice hiding behind the Carnival Horizon. Last evening we decided to not go ashore…turned out to be good decision with a possible 13,000 passengers invading Georgetown. In addition, all shore bound tenders were suspended late morning due to the swells. Our day on the ship was spent lounging in the sun. Sea day tomorrow and back to Fort Lauderdale. Sending best wishes and congratulations to my niece Ali and her husband Jay on the birth of their second daughter yesterday.

 

Rotterdam 2024, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica...

Because of staying up late for Super Bowl, I did not intend to take sail in photos this morning, especially with an 0730 arrival.... I went out on the deck around 0730 and lo and behold, I realized we were late arriving into Puerto Limon and was able to capture quite a few photos. It was a sunny, hot and humid when we got off the ship. A couple of iguanas were sunning themselves along the pier. Being creatures of habit, we went first to Balvanero Vargas Park and spotted the sloths in the trees. After walking through the park, we followed the sea wall around the waterfront and took some photos. We walked to the pedestrian mall and wanted to visit the municipal market but it was still closed. Next, we made our way to the new Sacred Heart Cathedral, with its modernist spire and design. The church was open and the interior is very modern but a stunning design. The lighting inside the church was really not very good. We circled the block to see the original church that has since been abandoned. Although, rundown Puerto Limon does have some interesting architecture and colorful open air market places. It is our normal routine to scour the markets for hot chiles for the Indonesian crew…we managed to buy 2 kilos of Habaneros today! The crew will be happy tonight to have fresh sambal for dinner!  We also found some street art on the walls of the Big Boy Stadium. On our way back to the ship we made a second stop at Vargas Park to see the sloths. Back on the ship, we relaxed in the sun…the heat index was around 96F. We packed it up early today in the sun as tonight we have been invited to the Tamarind Restaurant for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the launch of the new Morimoto dining experience.