- 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 52 – 25 February 2018
Coffee Chat
My day started with the Coffee Chat with Hamish. Today’s special guest was Patrick Murray and Matilda. Coffee Chat takes place in the Explorer’s lounge and for most of the Coffee Chats the room is about 75% full including the extra seats that set up along the adjacent passageway. Today the Explorers Lounge was overflowing with standing room only and very little of that. This was by far the largest Coffee Chat crowd of the cruise to date.
Patrick discussed how he started working as a ventriloquist with Regency Cruise Lines in the Caribbean for several years and got to know many Jamaican women, a few of whom inspired him to create his current character Matilda. Over time he gradually began to phase out the other characters and his show is now performed exclusively with Matilda. Throughout the interview, both Patrick and Matilda took turns answering questions and bantering with each other and Hamish. Patrick remarked that he was able to work in about 30% of his second show into the interview since he was leaving in Bali and wouldn’t have a chance to do a second show. Patrick is a wonderful ventriloquist and comedian and his show is one you shouldn’t miss.
Knitting
Rick made a surprise appearance with a knitting project that claimed he was working on in secret for weeks. It looked a lot like the blue scarf Kathi (Scrapnana) is knitting.
Casino
I managed to qualify for the finals of the Blackjack tournament which was held today at 3PM. The tournament pits 7 players against each other and the winner is whoever has the most tournament chips after 7 hands after starting with $1500 in tournament chips. There are 3 qualifying periods over 3 days, which costs $20 per attempt or 3 for $40. The 7 people with the highest chip totals after the 3 rounds assemble after the 3rd round for the finals.
I ended up in second place after winning my first bet where I bet my entire stack. This allowed me to bet small for the remaining 6 hands and put in position to win the tournament if my single remaining opponent lost while I won the final hand. It didn’t work out that way as we both won and I couldn’t make up any ground.
I played two Texas Hold’em tournaments, winning one and losing the other.
Room Service Lunch
For lunch I ordered room service. I chose the Chicken Quesadillas and the Cobb Salad. .
Dinner
Conor, keyboard player from the Amsterdam Orchestra, joined us for dinner. We remember Conor from the 2016 World Cruise. He told us that this is his fourth consecutive World Cruise. He was a great dinner guest and we always enjoy his performances with the Orchestra in the Queen’s Lounge.
Kangaroo was on the menu and several of us decided to give it a try. As expected it tastes more like beef than chicken , with a very similar texture.
Our assistant waiter, Billy, will be leaving the ship in Bali. We will miss him, but we are glad he will get to spend some time with his family. We also learned that he was recommended for a promotion for his next contract. Well deserved!
Queen’s Lounge
Llia and Olesja, billed as a “Spectacular Duo Acrobatique” put on an amazing acrobatic show this evening. After their show wrapped up, Olesja called Hamish to the stage and asked him to remove his jacket and Hamish joined the show with an impressive demonstration of “planking”.
