Day 2 – Arrival in Victoria

We pulled along side the dock here in Victoria on time at 7:00 a.m. after a short trip of just 53 nautical miles. The weather here today will be just about perfect – sunny and 19 degrees C. We're not quite sure what they did for seven hours in the Strait of Juan de Fuca but we made it on schedule. We’re in cabin 1938, which means we are on the first floor and closer to the water than we’ve ever been. This could be quite the experience particularly if we hit some rough seas during the next 35 days. Now I know how the Irish felt on the Titanic. We’re not planning any tours here in Victoria, just a shuttle into town to pick up a few supplies. We tried to contact David and Sandra for lunch but they are enjoying the weather in Portugal so it’ll be just Deb and I for the day.

There was a shuttle to take us into town from the pier at Ogden Point ($11.00 CAN$ PP) so we opted for the shuttle rather than the ½ walk into town. On the shuttle we got a chance to speak with a lady from Chile and she warned us about some of the criminal elements that we would soon be faced with in the southern hemisphere. Once thing she told us was, be wary of anyone who wants to stamp your wrist for whatever reason as a lot of times these admission type stamps contain hallucinogenic drugs so that they can take advantage of you. As well regardless of the destination in SA she said to be on the lookout as their fingers are like "feathers" – you won’t feel a thing but you’ll be missing something for sure.

It’s a very short stop here in Victoria, only 5 ½ hours before we’re off to sea and heading for San Diego. So far so good. We’ll keep you posted.

We’ve been two days at sea heading southbound to San Diego on Day 4 – in a reasonably calm sea but with overcast skies. We’ve speant the time getting familiar with the ship, visiting as many of the venues as we can get in – even cooking show learning how to make Penne Alla Boscaiola.

By comparison, MS Zaandam vs. Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-of-the-Seas – we are 181,603 less in total gross tonnage and 409’ shorter (1.3 football fields) with a total passenger capacity of 1,432 people as opposed to Oasis’s of 6,296 - so we are sizably smaller by a long shot. It’s kind of nice though, we’re not experiencing the lineups that you get on the mega ships but it does rock and roll with just a little white water.

Today we decided to attend the Guest Lecture Series – Welcome to Latin America that was held in the two-level Mondriaan Lounge. We arrived a little late just as Dr. Montgomery was starting her presentation on Latin America – Unintentionally, I managed to draw the attention of cruisers around me by missing the last step on the stairs and was about to roll over the balcony as people let out with a loud gasp! Thankfully all is well other than a couple of well-placed rug burns on my knees and a little dab of Polysporin to aid in the healing process from Dr. Deborah.

At the time of writing, we’re just off the coast of Oxnard, California (we’re miles off shore – we can’t see a speck of land – all we can see is the white caps from our first floor window) just north of Los Angeles. Having traveled some 1059 nautical miles from Vancouver we are anxious to make land tomorrow so that we can tour downtown San Diego and pick up a few supplies presently not available on board. Traveling under our Canadian passports we will need to clear U.S. Customs in the morning before being allowed to disembark at 08:00 a.m.