- The Journey Begins – The 2018 Grand World Voyage
- Leaving San Diego for Fort Lauderdale
- Arriving in Fort Lauderdale and our first day
- Fort Lauderdale – Day 2
- Day 1 – The Adventure Begins
- Day 2 – Our First Sea Day – Abba Fabulous!
- Day 3, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
- Day 4, At Sea En Route Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica
- Day 5, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6, Transit the Panama Canal
- Day 7, Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8, At Sea
- Day 9, At Sea
- Day 10, At Sea
- Day 11, At Sea
- Day 12, At Sea
- Day 13, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, At Sea, Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, At Sea
- Day 18, Avatoru, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- Day 20, Mooera, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Day 22 – At Sea
- Day 23, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
- Day 24, At Sea
- Day 25 – Alofi, Niue
- Day 26 – At Sea – Crossed Dateline – Jan 29th GONE!
- Day 27 – At Sea
- Day 28 – At Sea
- Day 29 – Auckland, NZ
- Day 30 – Tauranga – 3 Feb 2018
- Day 31 – Napier
- Day 32, At Sea – Super Bowl Monday
- Day 33, Port Chalmers, Dunedin
- Day 34, Fjordlands National Park – Milford Sound
- Day 35 – At Sea – Enroute Sydney
- Day 36 – At Sea
- Day 37 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 38 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 39 – At Sea
- 2020 World Cruise Possibilities
- Day 40, Hobart, Tasmania
- Day 41, At Sea
- Day 42, At Sea
- Day 43 – Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
- Day 44 – Adelaide, South Australia
- Day 45 – At Sea
- Day 46 – At Sea
- Day 47 – Albany, Western Australia
- Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth
- Day 49 – Perth Yarn Crawl
- Day 50 – At Sea
- Day 51 – At Sea
- Day 52 – At Sea
- Day 53 – Benoa, Bali
- Day 54 – Benoa – Bali
- Day 55 – At Sea
- Day 56 – At Sea
- Day 57 – At Sea
- Day 58, Puerto Princesa
- Day 59, – At Sea
- Day 60, Manila, Philippines
- Day 61, Manila, Philippines
- Day 62 – At Sea
- Day 63 – Hong Kong
- Day 64, Hong Kong
- Day 65 – At Sea
- Day 66 – At Sea
- Day 67 – Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 68 – Siem Reap (ms Amsterdam at Sea)
- Day 69 – Siem Reap
- 2020 World Cruise – w/detailed dates
- Day 70 – Singapore
- Day 71 – At Sea
- Day 72 – Phuket
- Day 73 – At Sea
- Day 74 – At Sea – Enroute to Sri Lanka
- Day 75 – Columbo, Sri Lanka
- Day 76 – At Sea – Enroute to the Seychelles
- Day 77 – At Sea
- Day 78 – At Sea
- Day 79 – Victoria, Seychelles
- Day 80 – At Sea
- Day 81 – At Sea
- Day 82 – St Denis – Reunion Island
- Day 83 – At Sea
- Day 84 – At Sea
- Day 85 – At Sea
- Day 86 – Maputo – Safari Day 1
- Day 87 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 2
- Day 88 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 3
- Day 89 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 4
- Day 90 – Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 91, Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 92 – At Sea
- Day 93, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Day 94 – At Sea
- Day 95 – At Sea
- Day 96 -Luanda, Angola
- Day 97 – At Sea
- Day 98 – At Sea
- Day 99 – Crossing the Equator
- Day 100 – At Sea
- Day 101 – At Sea
- Day 102 – Banjul, Gambia
- Day 103 – Dakar, Senegal
- Day 104 – At Sea
- Day 105, Praia – Cape Verde
- Day 106 – At Sea
- Day 107 – At Sea
- Day 108 – At Sea
- Day 109 – At Sea – April 23, 2018
- Day 110 – At Sea
- Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Day 112 – At Sea
- Day 113 – At Sea
- Day 114 – Fort Lauderdale
- 2018 World Cruise Entertainers
Day 34, 7 Feb — Fiordland National Park
Today was different than our typical sea day as we would spend almost all the daylight hours cruising thru the scenic Fiordland National Park in New Zealand. The casino was closed and many of the other activities such as Tai Chi and Crafts were not scheduled.
The bow was open all day and the other viewing spots were busy with observers. It was quite chilly and windy in the morning and I only spent a few minutes out on the bow. The observation deck on Deck 6 forward was a little nicer and I spent some time there taking in the sights as we cruised Dusty Sound.
Fiordland rolls, juice and coffee were available in most of the viewing stations until 9 AM and in the atrium on Deck 3, right off the lower promenade deck. I assumed that Fiordland rolls were Panama Canal rolls by a different name, but as you can see by the picture, they have a distinctive appearance and used a kiwi fruit filling. They were quite tasty. We left Dusty Sound around 10 AM, entering Doubtful Sound around 11:15 AM.
Even though many other events were not scheduled today, Ben held his drawing class on schedule and continued his discussion on drawing perspective.
An hour later we departed Doubtful Sound and cruised along the New Zealand coast until around 3:15 PM when we entered Milford Sound. Milford Sound has the most interesting scenery with plenty of waterfalls and wildlife. Some people spotted some dolphins, but I didn’t spot any.
The Norwegian Jewel, the ship that was in Dunedin yesterday along with us, was already deep in Milford Sound and we spotted her off in the distance. She would pass us as we were heading in and she was on the way out.
While we were in Milford Sound, the sun came out and the weather warmed. A little after 3 PM, waiters appeared on all open decks passing out small cups of Dutch Pea Soup. No one was quite sure about the tie-in between Milford Sound and Dutch Pea Soup – and I guess there doesn’t need to be one, as it was quite tasty and a nice treat on a cool day.
High Winds
It wasn’t obvious at the time, but we had a tail wind as we sailed into Milford Sound. Once we turned around at the end of Milford Sound, the tail wind became a headwind and the once comfortable open decks became chilly and quite breezy. We were sitting by the Lido Pool when the wind kicked up and the nearby umbrellas went airborne and flew over the chairs and crashed into the bar. Fortunately, no one was nearby and the alert staff quickly gained control of the umbrellas and held them in place until they could close the dome.
For dinner I enjoyed the Seafood Curry while Judy ordered the Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage. At her request, the galley was able to substitute Marinara sauce for the Pesto sauce. If something is not the way you prefer, it never hurts to ask for a modification. Sometimes they can accommodate your request and sometimes they can’t, but it is always worth asking the question.
Queen’s Lounge
In the Queens Lounge – Violinist Fiona Pears was the headliner. She put on a marvelous show and wowed the crowd with her skill and enthusiasm. The daily “When and Where” didn’t mention she played the violin and I assumed she was a vocalist. There is a perception, probably accurately based on experience, that when certain instruments are explicitly mentioned, the showroom attendance is down, so they tend to leave out those details when describing the some of the acts. We are now conditioned that if the nature of the show is not specifically mentioned, it is probably a flute, violin or accordion player. We go to the shows regardless as we enjoy them all and seeing so much quality live entertainment is one of the best parts of any Holland America Cruise and world cruises in particular.
