- 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 47, 20 Feb Albany, Western Australia
Albany sits on the south eastern coast of Australia about 250 miles south, south east from Perth. This is as far south of the equator as San Luis Obispo or North Carolina are north of the equator, so the temperatures here today are what you would expect to find in those spots in late August.
The ship was cleared around 8 AM but we weren’t in any hurry to get ashore as we had no specific plans. During my pre-cruise research for this port, there wasn’t anything that caught my eye, so we would just be taking it easy and spend our time ashore exploring Albany on foot.
Getting Oriented
Here is a map that shows where we were moored along with the locations for the following points of interest:
- Free shuttle bus stop
- Public Library with free Wi-Fi
- Coles Grocery store
- ANZAC Museum
The cruise terminal is nothing more than an empty warehouse which leads out to an area that was coned off with lanes for taxis and marking paths for the shuttle and tour buses. There didn’t appear to be any restriction to walking out of the port if you were so inclined.
Walkabout
We left the ship around 11:30 AM and found the shuttle bus about ready to leave for the 5 minute ride to the center of town. Helpful volunteers met our bus and were available to answer questions. A shuttle bus that would take you to the ANZAC museum for $15 AUS round trip was parked right around the corner. A taxi to the museum would probably cost about $12 each way so that would be the better value for more than 2 people.
After we got oriented, we headed north toward the center of Albany and the Coles’ grocery store.
Haircut
Along the way I spotted a barber shop with an open chair, so I decided to stop in and get my first haircut of the cruise. Jenny was my barber and she was very nice and chatty, giving us some insight to life in Albany. She grew up in Perth but moved to Albany years ago for the cooler weather and more laid-back lifestyle. The haircut cost $25 AUS ($20 USD) as compared to about $29 USD (including tip) on the ship.
Shopping
Coles was across street and a very close walk. We spent about 1 hour there browsing around and stocking up on some Tim Tams, batteries for my flash and a few other items that we couldn’t live without. A liquor store called LiquorLand is adjacent to Coles and we found a few bottles of wine that were difficult to get in the USA. Later we discussed the pricing of wines at LiquorLand with some other guests who went on many wine tours and we learned that the prices charged by LiquorLand were always less than when you bought the same wine from the winery directly.
After Coles we headed back toward the shuttle bus stop but we would take a detour to see a local landmark called “Dog Rock” which, as the name implies, is a rock that looks like the head of a dog. Virtually every business near “Dog Rock” seemed to use “Dog Rock” in their name.
Talking with a shop keeper
We always look for opportunities to interact with locals and when I spotted the Firearm and Archery store on York Street, I stopped in to see if they were willing to discuss firearm issues in Australia. The store was empty, and the proprietor was friendly, and we spent about 20 minutes discussing the various Australian laws that govern the sale and use of guns and ammunition in Australia along with other issues. Once another customer arrived we thanked him for a great conversation and continued on our way. I won’t comment further on the specifics of our conversation to avoid getting sidetracked, but I offer this as an illustration of a method to explore a town beside visiting the normal tourist stops.
Icky Finks
On the way back toward the library we stopped by a store called Icky Finks, which was a smaller version of a Michaels that you would find in the USA. The store is hidden behind the shops on east side of York Street and is accessible from Serpentine Road. They had some acrylic and polyester yarn, plus a small selection of knitting needles and other accessories. Near the front door, they had some security camera photographs of people who were banned from the store – probably for shoplifting, but there wasn’t any reason given.
Library
We brought our laptops with us to get them synchronized with various databases and get some updates. Doing some of this aboard ship is almost impossible regardless of how long you are willing to wait. The library offered up to 2 hours of free Wi-Fi and while the download speed was fine – the upload speed was about the same as the ship and worthless for my needs today. If you only want to browse the web or sent a few emails, the library is close to the shuttle bus and would be a fine choice for that purpose.
McDonalds
We heard that McDonalds had faster Wi-Fi, so we walked back up York Street to McDonalds where we bought some lunch and used their free Wi-Fi until it was time to go back to the ship.
All aboard was 4:30 and we didn’t want to leave early to walk back to the shuttle bus stop, so I called the local taxi company and booked a cab to pick us up at 4PM to take us back to the ship. The ride was about 10 minutes and cost $11.00 AUS.
Dinner
Popular Choices for dinner included: Tri-Tip Asada, with cilantro, lime crisps and a chipotle demi glaze or the Caribbean `Jerk’ Whole Roasted Chicken with Jamaican peas and rice served with grilled pineapple spears.
Evening Show
DivaLicious was in the Queen’s lounge for their second show. This performance featured more Opera Airas rather than the popular show tunes of their first show. They have amazing voices and their show is very entertaining – don’t miss them if they are performing at a venue near you.
