- 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
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- 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
The Australian coast lies about 20 miles off our port side as we sail north towards our next port. We need to stay at least 12 miles away so they can run the casino and open the shops. Not sure about Australian ports, but when we are in USA ports the ship will charge state sales tax for drink purchases.
The weather remains near perfect, with nice puffy clouds against the light blue sky contrasting with the deeper blue sea. I walked a couple of miles on deck 3 this morning while listening to my book. Tender 9’s hull has been repaired, but the screws are still missing. Not sure when they will be reinstalled.
The Lido deck around the main pool is closed all day as they set up for the “Party of the Century”. Everyone from ship that we talk to promises that this will be over the top. Orlando is new to HAL and with his boss from Carnival Corp also on board I am sure he will want to impress. All good for us.
I noticed some buff young men peering down into the LIDO from deck 9 and I scurried over to see who they were and discovered they were the Australian Life Guards! I asked if they were really life guards or actors hired to play life guards. They assured me they were really life guards. Their names are Anthony, Giora and Sam. Anthony is a local celebrity and he stars on an Australian TV Reality show called “Bondi Rescue”. I learned that there is a difference between Life Guards – a paid position – and Life Savers – which are volunteers. Anthony is a Life Guard while the others are Life Savers.
Learn more about Bondi Rescue Here
Good Morning Amsterdam hosted Melvyn Foster a new lecturer who will be starting tomorrow. He has been on HAL ships before so I am sure many folks will know him. Mel, who is 70 years old, mentioned his female traveling companion – (not sure of her name) and when he approached her in the audience one of the HAL singers appeared in the doorway and broke out in song! He then asked her to come forward where he got down on one knee and proposed. She said, ‘Yes, of course”.
I was wondering how the new folks who arrived in Sydney would be integrated into the rest of passengers. The staff has been taking extra time to explain things that we have all come to know – which is nice for the new people. For example, during Barbara’s Port Talk she repeated her general travel tips for all the new passengers.
One of the popular classes is Watercolors with sessions at 9 AM and 1PM. They have a regular following and are usually quite full. I stopped by today to see if they would be able to accommodate new people joining this cruise. One of the instructors told me that they had 5 or 6 open spots and since everyone proceeds at their own pace, new people would be able to start now and still enjoy the class.
The other new lecturer is Andrew Johnson who spoke today about Saint Valentine and how he became Saint and how he became associated with love. He was good and had a nice delivery. The Queens lounge is consistently ¾ full for the guest lecturers.
I stopped by the Culinary arts Center for the demo on cooking the Halibut – Pinnacle Grill Style!
Our cruise critic roll call group was scheduled to have it’s second Meet and Greet today. However, about a week ago, the event manager called and asked if we would reschedule because they needed the Crows Nest to host a Mariners event. They offered to send out invitations if I gave them a copy of my roster. They printed and delivered invitations to all the cabins. Nice!
I decided to show up at the crows nest anyway in case someone didn’t get the word and there was one couple who misread the invitation and stopped by today.
While waiting for the scheduled start time, I was able to peek inside the Crows Nest and see the special lunch set up for the Mariners. Very nice with an inviting menu.
Today’s main event was the Australian Beach Party, scheduled from 5:30 to 9:00 PM. They spent all day setting up and did an amazing job with decorations, covering the pool deck with bags and bags of real ‘clean’ sand and bringing in more tables and chairs along with extra food stations. The pool was filled with giant beach balls and there were signs everywhere giving the distances to various ports of call.
The party was in full swing when we arrived at 6:30. The party band, Hipnosis, was very good and there were many people dancing everywhere. Between the pool and the pool bar, the Australian Life Guards were posing for pictures. In addition to the Australian Life Guards, all the HAL singers and dancers were in attendance wearing swimsuits and were busy dancing and playing tug of war with the Life Guards and each other. The mood around the Lido was festive and high energy and you couldn’t help but smile and almost break into a dance just walking around.
The food offered by the pool were giant unpeeled prawns, served cold, rock lobsters, again cold, but these were split and easier to eat and finally oysters. The seafood was OK but not among the best cold seafood you will find and many people chose to grab hot food and peeled shrimp in the LIDO and bring it out to the pool. The drinks were all complimentary and they had nice drink stations set up, or you could order from the wandering wait staff or go to the sea view bar yourself. You could order anything and were not restricted to simpler mixed drinks.
The waiters and entertainment staff were all wearing life guard uniforms. Even Hotel Director Henk was seen in a life guard outfit. The Captain came down for a bit and was seen dancing with some guests in his uniform. The party continued at full force until 9pm when the band wrapped up. The DJ continued for another 15 minutes and then they announced the party would continue in the Crows nest.
The Australian party was a lot of fun, but the food didn’t quite live up to its billing. It was still pretty good and the pre-party hype probably pushed expectations too high. Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful time and the place was packed until closing time.
Earlier in the day the Captain announced the Mooloolaba port was cancelled due to sea conditions, saying they would be looking at other options. More to come in the morning about our revised schedule.
This entry was posted in 2016 Grand World Voyage, Sea Day
