Pacific Ocean, west of Costa Rica

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Pacific Ocean, west of Costa Rica

We are now under way, heading to Nicaragua.

Our day started with a lazy morning at our hotel/condo in Jaco, Costa Rica.  After a bit of packing, we had our usual breakfast of tropical fruits, coffee and toast and then took a dip in the pool.  We had the entire pool to ourselves, since the surfers were challenging the ocean waves. We enjoyed swim thoroughly.

We checked out of the hotel, applying our leftover colones to our hotel bill and grabbed our taxi to head to the port of Caldera, located about an hour north of Jaco.  We enjoyed seeing much of the area in the daylight that we had passed after dark on the way in, especially the river filled with 16 ft long crocodiles (swimming not recommended).

We had no trouble boarding our ship, since we were one of the half-dozen staff members new to Statendam at this location.  We were last on this ship 15 years ago, before starting our careers as cruise-ship lecturers and, after a lunch in the Lido, we enjoyed re-discovering the ship. 

Statendam is a relatively small ship, by today’s standards, with fewer than 1300 passengers.  We appreciated how Holland-America has worked to preserve the traditions of their 140 year-old line.  Unlike many of the new mega-ships, HAL does not find in necessary to have every square foot of the deck, a revenue-producing area.

After meeting with the ships Event Manager, Linda, we retired to our room to unpack.  Following a spectacular tropical thunder and lighting show, featuring simultaneous booms and flashes, the ship pulled out of its dock at the industrial port of Caldera. We headed northwest to Nicaragua.

Following a fine dinner in the Rotterdam restaurant, we enjoyed the entertainment provided by the ship’s singers and dancers at the 10:00 show. We were amused by the fact that we were younger that most of the audience at the program. 

We turned in shortly after 11:00 after a busy day.  Donna reported the following morning that she did not remember her head hitting the pillow.