- Day D-2 Leaving Imperial Beach, California
- Day D-1 Arriving in Fort Lauderdale
- Day 1- The Grand Voyage Begins! 115 Days
- Day 2 – At Sea – Enroute Costa Rica
- Day 3 – Cruising the Carribean
- Day 4 – At Sea Enroute to Costa Rica
- Day 5 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6- Cruising the Panama Canal
- Day 7 – Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 9 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 10, At Sea – Enroute Nuku Hiva
- Day 11 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 12 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 13, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, Sailing toward Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, Sailing toward Avatoru
- Day 18 – Avatoru, Rangiroa
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti and taking the ferry to Mo’orea
- Day 20, Moorea, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Sailing toward Avatiu, Rarotonga
- Day 22, Avatiu, Rarotonga
- Day 23, Sailing toward Waitangi, New Zealand
- Day 24, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 25, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 26, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 27, Waitangi (Bay of Islands) New Zealand
- Day 28, Auckland, New Zealand
- Day 29, Sailing toward Picton, New Zealand
- Day 30, Picton New Zealand
- Day 31, Sailing toward Melbourne, Australia
- Day 32, Sailing toward Melbourne
- Day 33, Sailing toward Melbourne
- Day 34, Melbourne, Australia
- Day 35, Sailing toward Sydney Australia
- Day 36, Sydney, Australia
- Day 37, Sydney, Australia
- Day 38, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 39, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 40, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 41, Townsville, Australia
- Day 42, Cairns, Australia
- Day 43, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 44, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 45, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 46, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
- Day 47, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
- Day 48, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
- Day 49, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
- Day 50, Sailing towards Semarang, Indonesia
- Day 51, Semarang, Java, Indonesia
- Day 52, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Day 53, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 54, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 55, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 56, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 57, Hong Kong
- Day 58, Hong Kong
- Day 59, Hong Kong
- Day 60, Sailing toward Da Nang
- Day 61, Da Nang, Vietnam
- Day 62, Da Nang, Viet Nam
- Day 63, Sailing toward Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 64. Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 65, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Ms Amsterdam sailing toward Sihanoukville
- Day 66; Siem Reap to Sihanoukville – while Amsterdam is moored at Sihanoukville
- Day 67, Sailing toward Singapore
- Day 68, Singapore
- Day 69, Singapore
- Day 70, Singapore
- Day 71, Sailing toward Phuket, Thailand
- Day 72, Phuket, Thailand
- Day 73, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 74, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 75, Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 76, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Day 77, Colombo, Sri Lanka to New Delhi, India
- Day 78, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 79, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 80, New Delhi, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 81, New Delhi to Dubai
- Day 82, Dubai, UAE
- Day 83, Dubai, UAE
- Day 84, Sailing toward Muscat
- Day 85, Muscat, Oman
- Day 86, Sailing toward Salalah, Oman
- Day 87, Salalah, Oman
- Day 88, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 89, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 90, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 91, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 92, Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 93, Sailing toward the Suez Canal
- Day 94, Transiting the Suez Canal
- Day 95, Haifa, Israel
- Day 96, Ashdod, Israel
- Day 97, Sailing toward Piraeus, Greece
- Day 98, Piraeus (Athens,) Greece
- Day 99, Katakolon, Greece
- Day 100, Sailing toward Civitavecchia, Italy
- Day 101, Civitavecchia, Italy
- Menus and On Locations updated…more posts coming soon
- Day 102, Livorno, Italy
- Day 103, Monte Carlo, Monaco
- Day 104, Barcelona, Spain
- Day 105, Sailing toward Cadiz
- Day 106, Cadiz, Spain
- Day 107, Sailing toward Funchal, Portugal
- Day 108, Funchal, Portugal
- Day 109, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 110, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 111, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 112, April 26, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 113, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 114, April 28, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 115, April 29, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 116, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Day 117, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
- Day 118, Sailing towards Cartagena
- Day 119, Sailing towards Cartagena
- Day 120, Cartagena, Colombia
- Day 121, Transiting the Panama Canal
- Day 122, Sailing toward Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Day 123, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Day 124, Corinto, Nicaragua
- Day 125, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
- Day 126, Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
- Subscribe to this blog! – Check box at bottom of this page
- Day 127, Huatulco, Mexico
- Day 128, Sailing toward Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Day 129, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Day 130, Sailing toward San Diego, California
- Day 131, Sailing toward San Diego, California
- Day 132, San Diego, California
- Opening the Package! What is inside?
- That’s Entertainment!
- PACKING FOR A WORLD CRUISE
- How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 1
- Amazing end of cruise video!
- How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 2 – Pre and Post Cruise Expenses
- Holland America SELLS OUT 2017 World Cruise Inside Cabins – Segments still avail for less the $5,000 per cabin!
- How Much Does it Cost to Go on a World Cruise? Part 3 – Onboard Spending and Calculator
Day 2 – Enroute to Costa Rica off the coast of Cuba
We didn’t get to sleep until close to 3am as we were determined to get everything put away before we slept. Mission accomplished and we finally got to get some sleep.
Morning would come quickly and we put in our room service breakfast order for 9AM…The breakfast menu is posted here on the blog under Daily Activities. This menu is twice the size of the menus we had on the Oosterdam last summer. Not sure if this is now standard on all HAL ships or whether this is a perk of the Vista suites. The menu is impressive. Waffles for room service! Wow! I almost feel I have to check every box just to try it all and with 114 days to go, we will probably get the chance.
The Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was at 10:30 in the Crow’s nest. The ship did a fantastic job setting up coffee and pastries. We printed 195 nametags for everyone on the roll call and had plenty of volunteers that came early to help with final nametag assembly. There was plenty of great conversation as people met old friends and new. Lots of energy in the room. A great start to the cruise.
After the smoke cleared, there were 45 name tags left, so we had about 150 people show up for the meet and greet – a very nice turnout.
After the Meet and Greet, I met with the Casino manager to help set up the slot pull. Very helpful and they will send out invitations to everyone who RSVP’d for the slot pull scheduled for January 8th.
Time for lunch in the Lido. A very nice selection – we had the pork and catfish.
There were two lectures today – the morning lecture was on the Bermuda Triangle and the afternoon was about Christopher Columbus. We caught the afternoon lecture on Columbus before we ran off for the daily crafts events.
During the Crafts Class we made a lanyard we could customize with beads. The class was well organized and the Instructor, Judi was great and ran a wonderful class.
We learned that the Trivia game had over 25 teams! Wow! I ran into a passenger who explained that one team won with a perfect score. Here is a picture of him displaying his “winnings” Dam Dollars – not sure what they will ultimately be worth.
We spent most of the afternoon in the cabin relaxing and catching up on the blog. The weather was pleasant as we sailed off the coast of Cuba and Judy spent some time on the deck outside our cabin.
The internet was working again, but was intermittent and frustrating when trying to upload files. Still working on my upload methods to minimize connection time.
At 6pm we saw the movie – “Best of Enemies” in the Wajang Theatre. We enjoyed the movie and the theater is very nice.
Time for dinner at 8pm and we were joined by 3 more people for a total of 7 at our 8 top. Conversation continued to be lively and engaging and everyone seemed to be good fit.
Dinner was fantastic and the service superb. We have about 100 days on HAL ships and this dinner was probably the best service we ever had. Really, really good. A MDR menu is also posted.
The show was at 10pm was “The Talk of the Town” – a wonderful medley of songs by Neil Diamond, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and others performed by the HAL singers and dancers. The show was wonderful, and performed at a pleasant volume (at least for us in the upper deck.)
Before the show started, Cruise Director Gene Young introduced the Location Guide, the IT person, Culinary Arts Manager and his assistants. It was easy to see why Gene is such a popular Cruise Director.
Back in our cabin, we received our first gift of the cruise a “Boat Bag of Swag”. Very nice and it will come in handy.
We are quickly learning that the Grand Voyage is definitely a cut above the typically outstanding Holland America Cruise. All the staff is exceptional, an all-star team. The selection of daily events is overwhelming – so many activities to choose from. This Grand World Voyage is off to a great start but we will probably need a vacation from our vacation when we get back to San Diego.
Seriously, this blog is fantastic! We booked our first World Cruise this past summer. We will be sailing on the Amsterdam on January 4, 2017. I had been hoping and praying, for the last six months, that someone would do a comprehensive blog including menus and daily events/ activities. Your blog is it!!
I posted on the CC thread that I so appreciate the fact that you will actually answer questions. Not all World Cruise bloggers do and it can be frustrating, at least for me, because I am reading to be informed, as well. With your blog, I get the added advantage of being entertained, too!
Since reading your blog, this afternoon, my husband has been unable to remove this gleeful grin from his face. It has and will add to our pre-cruise excitement in such a big way! You seem like such a fun and adventurous couple and anyone on board the ship would be very lucky to share your company!
Thank you, once again, for going to all the trouble to do this! I can hardly wait to read the next instalment.
Cathy and Barry
Oakville, ON
Thanks for the kind comments and reading my blog. Glad you are enjoying our commentary
This is wonderful! Thank you. I am booked for my first HAL cruise in May, and I have your posts to give me an idea what to expect!
Glad you are enjoying the blog…thanks for following
Too much fun. You guys are just having too much fun. 😉
Thanks! We are having a great time
Dear Pete and Judy
This is an outstanding blog! We love your enthusiasm, detailed writing and photos!
We love to hear about the going-ons shipboard, food and decorations.
Have a truly Grand cruise!!
Patricia