So today was a disembarkation day for a number of guests. We were sad to have to say good-bye to some of the friends we made this trip. There are still some who, like us, are traveling on to Vancouver.
The people who are embarking today are either doing a 5-day quick get-away and will disembark in Vancouver or they plan to stay on and also do the first sailing to Alaska by the Koningsdam.
Everyone had to meet with Customs in the World Stage today. We all got a letter that told us when to go. In-transit guests would be last. I guess some in-transit guests were too anxious to get off the ship and explore because the Cruise Director kept announcing for in-transit guests to get out of the line.
Once the Cruise Director announced that it was our turn, we joined the line. The line was long, but it moved quickly. We had to show up with our passport and our ship card. Once we were approved by Customs, we had a green sticker applied to our ship card and could leave the ship if we wanted.
We did not. We went to the NY Deli for sandwiches and spent a quiet afternoon people-watching. Why didn’t we get into the pool? Even though it was a beautiful day in San Diego, the weather had turned considerably cooler. The new people were coming in with hoodies, leggings and sweatshirts. I began to believe I had planned poorly, wardrobe-wise, for the next few days.
If you do go to San Diego, I highly recommend the Zoo, the Gaslight District, Old Town, and Coronado Island to visit. Be sure to leave a whole day just for the Zoo.
Today was King’s Day in the Netherlands. It is their national holiday celebrating the reigning Dutch Monarch’s birthday today. The ship would be celebrating tonight with their Orange Party.
I have never seen the Orange Party held on embarkation day, but the embarkation just happened to fall on his birthday so … Party On! I guess many of the embarking passengers had already gotten notified of this happening as they came on board sporting all manner of orange attire and some looked like they had started partying the night before.
I had a feeling that the vibe for these next five days was going to be very different than the last 17 days.
Next Up – San Francisco, California
Loved reading all the adventures for your cruise . San Diego is a great city and only place that I visited and felt that I could settle there.. In all my travels, yet to find any place that could beat Seattle in weather and greenery. When is the your cruise? Looking forward to reading about it. I am thinking to go on some 7 day cruise in February to celebrate our anniversary. Will use your blog for inspiration 😃