The Inside Cabin
  1. Day D-2 Leaving Imperial Beach, California
  2. Day D-1 Arriving in Fort Lauderdale
  3. Day 1- The Grand Voyage Begins! 115 Days
  4. Day 2 – At Sea – Enroute Costa Rica
  5. Day 3 – Cruising the Carribean
  6. Day 4 – At Sea Enroute to Costa Rica
  7. Day 5 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
  8. Day 6- Cruising the Panama Canal
  9. Day 7 – Fuerte Amador, Panama
  10. Day 8 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
  11. Day 9 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
  12. Day 10, At Sea – Enroute Nuku Hiva
  13. Day 11 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
  14. Day 12 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
  15. Day 13, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
  16. Day 14, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
  17. Day 15, Sailing toward Nuku Hiva
  18. Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
  19. Day 17, Sailing toward Avatoru
  20. Day 18 – Avatoru, Rangiroa
  21. Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti and taking the ferry to Mo’orea
  22. Day 20, Moorea, French Polynesia
  23. Day 21, Sailing toward Avatiu, Rarotonga
  24. Day 22, Avatiu, Rarotonga
  25. Day 23, Sailing toward Waitangi, New Zealand
  26. Day 24, Sailing towards Waitangi
  27. Day 25, Sailing towards Waitangi
  28. Day 26, Sailing towards Waitangi
  29. Day 27, Waitangi (Bay of Islands) New Zealand
  30. Day 28, Auckland, New Zealand
  31. Day 29, Sailing toward Picton, New Zealand
  32. Day 30, Picton New Zealand
  33. Day 31, Sailing toward Melbourne, Australia
  34. Day 32, Sailing toward Melbourne
  35. Day 33, Sailing toward Melbourne
  36. Day 34, Melbourne, Australia
  37. Day 35, Sailing toward Sydney Australia
  38. Day 36, Sydney, Australia
  39. Day 37, Sydney, Australia
  40. Day 38, Sailing towards Townsville
  41. Day 39, Sailing towards Townsville
  42. Day 40, Sailing towards Townsville
  43. Day 41, Townsville, Australia
  44. Day 42, Cairns, Australia
  45. Day 43, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
  46. Day 44, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
  47. Day 45, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
  48. Day 46, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  49. Day 47, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
  50. Day 48, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
  51. Day 49, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
  52. Day 50, Sailing towards Semarang, Indonesia
  53. Day 51, Semarang, Java, Indonesia
  54. Day 52, Jakarta, Indonesia
  55. Day 53, Sailing toward Hong Kong
  56. Day 54, Sailing toward Hong Kong
  57. Day 55, Sailing toward Hong Kong
  58. Day 56, Sailing toward Hong Kong
  59. Day 57, Hong Kong
  60. Day 58, Hong Kong
  61. Day 59, Hong Kong
  62. Day 60, Sailing toward Da Nang
  63. Day 61, Da Nang, Vietnam
  64. Day 62, Da Nang, Viet Nam
  65. Day 63, Sailing toward Phu My, Vietnam
  66. Day 64. Phu My, Vietnam
  67. Day 65, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Ms Amsterdam sailing toward Sihanoukville
  68. Day 66; Siem Reap to Sihanoukville – while Amsterdam is moored at Sihanoukville
  69. Day 67, Sailing toward Singapore
  70. Day 68, Singapore
  71. Day 69, Singapore
  72. Day 70, Singapore
  73. Day 71, Sailing toward Phuket, Thailand
  74. Day 72, Phuket, Thailand
  75. Day 73, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
  76. Day 74, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
  77. Day 75, Hambantota, Sri Lanka
  78. Day 76, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  79. Day 77, Colombo, Sri Lanka to New Delhi, India
  80. Day 78, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
  81. Day 79, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
  82. Day 80, New Delhi, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
  83. Day 81, New Delhi to Dubai
  84. Day 82, Dubai, UAE
  85. Day 83, Dubai, UAE
  86. Day 84, Sailing toward Muscat
  87. Day 85, Muscat, Oman
  88. Day 86, Sailing toward Salalah, Oman
  89. Day 87, Salalah, Oman
  90. Day 88, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
  91. Day 89, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
  92. Day 90, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
  93. Day 91, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
  94. Day 92, Al’Aqabah, Jordan
  95. Day 93, Sailing toward the Suez Canal
  96. Day 94, Transiting the Suez Canal
  97. Day 95, Haifa, Israel
  98. Day 96, Ashdod, Israel
  99. Day 97, Sailing toward Piraeus, Greece
  100. Day 98, Piraeus (Athens,) Greece
  101. Day 99, Katakolon, Greece
  102. Day 100, Sailing toward Civitavecchia, Italy
  103. Day 101, Civitavecchia, Italy
  104. Menus and On Locations updated…more posts coming soon
  105. Day 102, Livorno, Italy
  106. Day 103, Monte Carlo, Monaco
  107. Day 104, Barcelona, Spain
  108. Day 105, Sailing toward Cadiz
  109. Day 106, Cadiz, Spain
  110. Day 107, Sailing toward Funchal, Portugal
  111. Day 108, Funchal, Portugal
  112. Day 109, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  113. Day 110, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  114. Day 111, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  115. Day 112, April 26, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  116. Day 113, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  117. Day 114, April 28, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  118. Day 115, April 29, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
  119. Day 116, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  120. Day 117, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
  121. Day 118, Sailing towards Cartagena
  122. Day 119, Sailing towards Cartagena
  123. Day 120, Cartagena, Colombia
  124. Day 121, Transiting the Panama Canal
  125. Day 122, Sailing toward Puntarenas, Costa Rica
  126. Day 123, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
  127. Day 124, Corinto, Nicaragua
  128. Day 125, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
  129. Day 126, Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
  130. Subscribe to this blog! – Check box at bottom of this page
  131. Day 127, Huatulco, Mexico
  132. Day 128, Sailing toward Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
  133. Day 129, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
  134. Day 130, Sailing toward San Diego, California
  135. Day 131, Sailing toward San Diego, California
  136. Day 132, San Diego, California
  137. Opening the Package! What is inside?
  138. That’s Entertainment!
  139. PACKING FOR A WORLD CRUISE
  140. How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 1
  141. Amazing end of cruise video!
  142. How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 2 – Pre and Post Cruise Expenses
  143. Holland America SELLS OUT 2017 World Cruise Inside Cabins – Segments still avail for less the $5,000 per cabin!
  144. How Much Does it Cost to Go on a World Cruise? Part 3 – Onboard Spending and Calculator

Around 11 am we left the ship with our tablemates, Rick and Margaret, to head out to Stanley Market for some sightseeing and shopping.   Stanley market is on Hong Kong island, across Victoria Harbor and then about 12 miles down a winding road past Repulse Bay.   We decided to take public transportation since we had the time and wanted to check out how the system worked.

Hong Kong Island with Route to Stanley Market

Hong Kong Island with Route to Stanley Market

Once again we walked thru Harbour Place, down to the promenade and over to the Star Ferry Terminal. There are three Star Ferry Terminals: Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai. Tsim Sha Tsui is the only terminal on the Kowloon side and Central is the terminal most used by tourists on the Hong Kong Side. The Star Ferry terminal on the Kowloon side (Tsim Sha Tsui) has different piers for ferries going to Central and to Wan Chai. It is important to follow the Star Ferry signs for your correct destination – most likely Central, if you are leaving from Kowloon, or Tsim Sha Tsui if you are leaving from Hong Kong. You will also have a choice of whether to travel on the ferries upper or lower deck – the upper deck is seasonally air conditioned and costs 50 cents HK more (only 6 cents USD). The signs leading to the loading platforms will be marked “Upper” or “Lower” in addition to the name of your destination terminal, so be sure to head to the platform appropriate for you deck preference.

There are several ways you can pay your ferry fare which will be $2.00 HK for the lower deck or $2.50 HK for the upper deck. (The price is different on weekends and holidays.) The simplest way is to buy a token with coins at one of the machines near the turnstiles. Follow the directions that are posted on the machine in English.   The machine only takes coins, but does make change and you can buy more than one token at the same time. Once you have your token, put it into the turnstile and follow the signs to the ferry. There are ways you can buy an Oyster Card which will allow you to ride buses and the MTR, in addition to paying for you ferry, but please read other resources if you are interested in learning more about those options. The Oyster Card is seems to be similar to the system they have in the UK so if you are familiar with that one, you will probably be right at home here.

Buying Star Ferry Tokens

Buying Star Ferry Tokens

We ended up on the lower deck because we didn’t know there was an upper deck option till after we boarded and learned more about the differences.   After a short ferry ride, maybe 10 minutes, we arrived at the Central Terminal and headed up to the second floor and walked about ¼ mile on a pedestrian bridge until it ended and then went down to the street and into the a building called One Exchange Square where we found the bus stand for bus number 260 – the express bus to Stanley Market. The fare to Stanley Market was $10.60 HK which is listed on the route information sign that also marks the bus stop location. Bus number 6 also goes to Stanley Market, but while a little cheaper, is the local and stops more frequently, but you get there eventually.

Bus Stop Information

Bus Stop Information

While walking across the pedestrian bridge we saw a huge Apple logo on a nearby building and we could see people scurrying about inside one of the largest Apple stores I ever came across. We would stop there later.

Apple's largest Hong Kong Store

Apple’s largest Hong Kong Store

Fifteen minutes later a very modern double decker bus arrives and we board, putting our fare into a box near the driver. You don’t need exact change, but they don’t make change, if you only have a $20 HK bill and the fare is $10.60 HK, then you can put $20 HK in the fare box and consider the $9.40 HK a donation to the Hong Kong transit system. The fare box is simply a box with a slot – no need to feed your paper bills or coins into any machine or reader or wait for him to acknowledge your fare deposit. Simply put your money in the box and keep moving. The driver will say something if something isn’t right, otherwise keep moving and find a seat. Head to the upper deck if you want a better view.

Put your fare in the box next to the drivers hand

Put your fare in the box next to the drivers hand

Once you are on your way, the busses next stop is announced by a recorded voice in English and shown on a sign next to the driver.   When your stop is next, press one of the nearby “stop” buttons to alert the driver that you want off at the next stop. This is where the MAPS.ME app helps a lot as you can track your progress on your phone – again no internet or cell service required – and make sure you don’t overshoot your stop.

Nice Modern Bus

Nice Modern Bus

Thirty-five minutes after later we arrived at Stanley Market. The bus followed the waterfront and we had some great views of Repulse Bay along the way. If you wanted to get off, you could do so, and wait 20 minutes or so for the next bus. You would have to pay again, but when full fare is only $1.35 USD, you can splurge a little. The fare is also less the closer you get to Stanley Market so if you do get off, check out the bus stop sign for the exact fare required.

Stanley Market is a relatively small area right next to Stanley Bay and you could probably walk up and down every street in less than 20 minutes if you didn’t stop to do any shopping.   While the shops are on “streets”, they are really more like wide sidewalks and automobiles are prohibited.   There is a wide variety of shops but the big categories are clothing, particularly cashmere, electronics, Chinese garments, T shirts, souvenirs and general Knick-knacks. The market was busy, but not crowded and you didn’t have to fight your way thru any crowds. When you were in a store, there was usually never more than 2 or 3 other people. We wandered thru all the streets with shops and stopped in 5 or 6 in about 90 minutes.   We picked up a few souvenir keychains, some pashminas and cashmere scarves. There was much to choose from and the prices were great – a nice cashmere sweater was marked for $27 USD – and that is before you start to bargain.   After we were finished shopping we were ready to head up to Victoria Peak but since Rick and Margaret had already been to Victoria Peak, they elected to stay in Stanley Market.

Stanley Market

Stanley Market

More Stanley Market

More Stanley Market

We were now a little pressed for time so we summoned an UberTaxi since there were no ordinary Uber cars available.   You request an Uber Taxi the same way as any other Uber but the difference is that you are calling an actual taxi – the red ones you see everywhere. Certain taxi drivers have chosen to work with Uber and can so they can tap into to a larger customer base and accept credit cards. Ordinary Hong Kong Taxis only take cash. Our driver arrived in 10 minutes and his car looked like an airplane cockpit with 3 different phones mounted on the dash, each working with a different dispatch service. This guy was definitely working hard to maximize his business.   With Uber taxi, the driver runs the meter, as normal, but at the end of the ride, he enters the fare into his UBER app, your UBER account is charged and he gets reimbursed by UBER later. No money changes hands.

Well Connected Taxi Driver

Well Connected Taxi Driver

Victoria Peak is a little village with a couple of pretty good size shopping malls and a modern building, that looks like an anvil, that is home to the Victoria Peak Tram with a viewing platform on the roof.   There isn’t much of a view from street level here and we learned that the nearest view point was a 20 minute walk or a $48 HK escalator ride to the top of the Victoria Peak Tram Building.   We opted for the escalator ride to the top of the building and in a few minutes we were rewarded with absolutely stunning views of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Visibility today was at least 20 miles and the haze was present, but not too bad. We spent about 30 minutes soaking in the view before heading down to catch the Victoria Peak Tram back down the mountain. The tram only takes cash so we needed to visit an ATM in the shopping center before we could pay for our ticket. There wasn’t any line for the tram going down, but to our surprise, the line going up was and least 200 yards long. Taking a taxi or bus to the top of Victoria Peak and then taking the tram down would probably be the way to go to avoid the longer line going up.

Shopping at Victoria Peak

Shopping at Victoria Peak

The "Anvil" building with viewing platform on top

The “Anvil” building with viewing platform on top

View from the Peak!

View from the Peak!

Pete and Judy at the view spot

Pete and Judy at the view spot

Once off the tram we were planning to take a taxi or Uber back to the Ocean Terminal, but we were surprised to see a bus pole labeled 15C Star Ferry Central right outside the tram entrance. The bus was just pulling up so we hopped on and were on our way. The fare was something like $3.40 pp, and the smallest I had was a $10 HK bill, so I shoved the $10 into the fare box for both of us and we took our seats. $10HK is about $1.25 US so I wasn’t going to complain about overpaying a little bit for a 1 mile or so bus ride.

One of our IPhone charging cables quit working so we wanted to stop at the Apple Store we saw earlier and get a new one.   We used our familiar MAPS.ME app to locate the Apple Store along with a nearby street so we could press the stop button at the appropriate time. It was now 6:00 pm and with an all aboard of 7pm. We didn’t have a lot of time to shop so we bought our cable and headed back to the pedestrian bridge and down to the Star Ferry Terminal. By 6:30 we were back on the Kowloon side and went thru the nearest 7-11 to exchange our last remaining Hong Kong dollars for Snickers Bars and other odds and ends. 15 Cents was all that remained of our Hong Kong Dollars as we headed back thru Harbour Mall to the ship.

We "splurged" for the upper deck on the Star Ferry return

We “splurged” for the upper deck on the Star Ferry return

Embedded into the tile of the hallway in Harbour Place leading to the ship are a series of silver metal plates, about 18 inches across, that mark the path back to the ship. We hadn’t noticed these previously on our earlier walks thru the terminal.

Metal Plates marking path to cruise ships

Metal Plates marking path to cruise ships

Kate Ross, one of the new lecturers, joined our table for dinner and she will be with us until Dubai. One of our other tablemates got to know her thru Cruise Critic before we left and prearranged her arrival at our table.   Another reason to participate in roll calls is that you may find interesting dinner companions in advance and as we all know, having great dinner companions can make any cruise more enjoyable. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other and we’re looking forward to many more conversations with her over the next few weeks. After another wonderful dinner, we all posed for our Table 52 tradition – the Jazz Hands photo – and we will add it to our collection.

Our new tablemate and guest lecturer - Kate!

Our new tablemate and guest lecturer – Kate!

Sail Away was in the Crow’s Nest at 9pm, there were about 100 people still in attendance when I wandered thru around 9:30. The waiters were passing around grilled duck pot stickers which were pretty good. I didn’t stay long and was soon off to the Queens Lounge to see flautist Clare Langan’s 10:00 pm encore show.

Clare opened her show by explaining the correct pronunciation of her title – Flautist. She humorously went thru a long list of various names she has been called over the years including Flutist, Fluteter, Flirtist or Florist.   Her show was fantastic and the crowd enjoyed her performance of a variety of songs once again.

Clare Langan

Clare Langan

Clare turned in another great show

Clare turned in another great show

Returning to our cabin we discovered our 5th “pillow gift” of the cruise. You can find them all by looking under the World Cruise Reference tab. You will also find copies of the Cruise Logs and other items future cruisers may find interesting.

Ballistic Carry On Travel Bag

Ballistic Carry On Travel Bag

Tomorrow is a sea day and then we will arrive in Da Nang where we will leave the ship for our independent overnight adventure to Hue and Hoi An.