The Inside Cabin

Day 98 – At Sea

by | Apr 12, 2018 | 2018 Grand World Voyage, Sea Day | 0 comments

  1. The Journey Begins – The 2018 Grand World Voyage
  2. Leaving San Diego for Fort Lauderdale
  3. Arriving in Fort Lauderdale and our first day
  4. Fort Lauderdale – Day 2
  5. Day 1 – The Adventure Begins
  6. Day 2 – Our First Sea Day – Abba Fabulous!
  7. Day 3, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
  8. Day 4, At Sea En Route Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica
  9. Day 5, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
  10. Day 6, Transit the Panama Canal
  11. Day 7, Fuerte Amador, Panama
  12. Day 8, At Sea
  13. Day 9, At Sea
  14. Day 10, At Sea
  15. Day 11, At Sea
  16. Day 12, At Sea
  17. Day 13, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
  18. Day 14, At Sea, Enroute to Nuku Hiva
  19. Day 15, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
  20. Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
  21. Day 17, At Sea
  22. Day 18, Avatoru, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
  23. Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
  24. Day 20, Mooera, French Polynesia
  25. Day 21, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
  26. Day 22 – At Sea
  27. Day 23, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
  28. Day 24, At Sea
  29. Day 25 – Alofi, Niue
  30. Day 26 – At Sea – Crossed Dateline – Jan 29th GONE!
  31. Day 27 – At Sea
  32. Day 28 – At Sea
  33. Day 29 – Auckland, NZ
  34. Day 30 – Tauranga – 3 Feb 2018
  35. Day 31 – Napier
  36. Day 32, At Sea – Super Bowl Monday
  37. Day 33, Port Chalmers, Dunedin
  38. Day 34, Fjordlands National Park – Milford Sound
  39. Day 35 – At Sea – Enroute Sydney
  40. Day 36 – At Sea
  41. Day 37 – Sydney, Australia
  42. Day 38 – Sydney, Australia
  43. Day 39 – At Sea
  44. 2020 World Cruise Possibilities
  45. Day 40, Hobart, Tasmania
  46. Day 41, At Sea
  47. Day 42, At Sea
  48. Day 43 – Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
  49. Day 44 – Adelaide, South Australia
  50. Day 45 – At Sea
  51. Day 46 – At Sea
  52. Day 47 – Albany, Western Australia
  53. Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth
  54. Day 49 – Perth Yarn Crawl
  55. Day 50 – At Sea
  56. Day 51 – At Sea
  57. Day 52 – At Sea
  58. Day 53 – Benoa, Bali
  59. Day 54 – Benoa – Bali
  60. Day 55 – At Sea
  61. Day 56 – At Sea
  62. Day 57 – At Sea
  63. Day 58, Puerto Princesa
  64. Day 59, – At Sea
  65. Day 60, Manila, Philippines
  66. Day 61, Manila, Philippines
  67. Day 62 – At Sea
  68. Day 63 – Hong Kong
  69. Day 64, Hong Kong
  70. Day 65 – At Sea
  71. Day 66 – At Sea
  72. Day 67 – Phu My, Vietnam
  73. Day 68 – Siem Reap (ms Amsterdam at Sea)
  74. Day 69 – Siem Reap
  75. 2020 World Cruise – w/detailed dates
  76. Day 70 – Singapore
  77. Day 71 – At Sea
  78. Day 72 – Phuket
  79. Day 73 – At Sea
  80. Day 74 – At Sea – Enroute to Sri Lanka
  81. Day 75 – Columbo, Sri Lanka
  82. Day 76 – At Sea – Enroute to the Seychelles
  83. Day 77 – At Sea
  84. Day 78 – At Sea
  85. Day 79 – Victoria, Seychelles
  86. Day 80 – At Sea
  87. Day 81 – At Sea
  88. Day 82 – St Denis – Reunion Island
  89. Day 83 – At Sea
  90. Day 84 – At Sea
  91. Day 85 – At Sea
  92. Day 86 – Maputo – Safari Day 1
  93. Day 87 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 2
  94. Day 88 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 3
  95. Day 89 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 4
  96. Day 90 – Cape Town, South Africa
  97. Day 91, Cape Town, South Africa
  98. Day 92 – At Sea
  99. Day 93, Walvis Bay, Namibia
  100. Day 94 – At Sea
  101. Day 95 – At Sea
  102. Day 96 -Luanda, Angola
  103. Day 97 – At Sea
  104. Day 98 – At Sea
  105. Day 99 – Crossing the Equator
  106. Day 100 – At Sea
  107. Day 101 – At Sea
  108. Day 102 – Banjul, Gambia
  109. Day 103 – Dakar, Senegal
  110. Day 104 – At Sea
  111. Day 105, Praia – Cape Verde
  112. Day 106 – At Sea
  113. Day 107 – At Sea
  114. Day 108 – At Sea
  115. Day 109 – At Sea – April 23, 2018
  116. Day 110 – At Sea
  117. Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
  118. Day 112 – At Sea
  119. Day 113 – At Sea
  120. Day 114 – Fort Lauderdale
  121. 2018 World Cruise Entertainers

Day 98 – At Sea – April 12th

4 AM wake up call

For the second time this cruise, we had an actual first stage alarm. You may recall that the first one was during our late seating dinner back on 10 March. That turned out to be caused by some residual smoke/fire from the incinerator. This time the alarm sounded around 4 AM waking me immediately. Judy didn’t wake up and I decided to let her sleep unless things took a turn for the worse. About 15 minutes later, the Captain came over the public-address system and informed us that the problem was with the incinerator again and the situation was under control and the alarm cancelled.

Crossing the Equator

For the fourth time this cruise we will cross the equator. We will be crossing around 11:30 PM this evening. The Shellback ceremony will take place tomorrow around 10 AM. Preparations for the ceremony have begun in the Lido pool area. They’ve started hanging pirate flags and other similar Crossing the Equator decorations.

This Crossing will be extra special since it will occur at the intersection of the equator and the Prime Meridian – which will make us all “Emerald Shellbacks.” The Captain mentioned during one of his noon navigational updates that he received numerous requests that the ship deviate from its original course so that we would cross at the prime meridian. Apparently, it wasn’t too far off course as he agreed and we will be crossing there tonight.

There are 3 types of “Shellbacks”:
• Ordinary Shellback – cross equator anywhere
• Golden Shellback – cross at the international date line
• Emerald Shellback – cross at the prime meridian

I first crossed the equator in 1985 on board the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga, when I was in the US Navy. I became a Golden Shellback while I was on board the aircraft carrier, USS Ranger, in 1993.

The Crow’s Nest will host a Prime Meridian and Equator Crossing party tonight at 11 PM.

Internet Outage

For most of the cruise the Internet has been remarkably good. Much better than I experienced on the 2016 World Cruise. During the 2016, cruise uploading pictures was a chore and I typically had to do them one at a time. This cruise I’m able to upload them in a single batch and am successful most of the time with only a few needing to be reloaded.

Around midday I noticed the Internet was not working. Soon we received a notice that the Internet was unavailable. This has happened from time to time during the cruise but after about an hour it seemed that something more serious was going on. This was confirmed in the afternoon when we received a letter from the IT officer, a copy of it is HERE, that said the power supply failed that powers a critical internet system component. The letter went on to say that Internet conductivity may not be restored until Senegal or Gambia 4-5 Days from now.

Fortunately, I didn’t have any extraordinarily pressing business that required access to the Internet and we are still receiving satellite TV. A little to my surprise, we still received the daily New York Times in hard copy. Since we were still getting Cellular at Sea I suspect that they are using the cellular service to download the copies of the papers at the print shop and deliver to the cabins.

Early this afternoon the Captain announced that one of our diesel engines had a problem requiring us to slow to 10 knots instead of our normal speed of 16 knots. We never heard any more about this engine problem so I suspect it was resolved later on in the day.

Liver Soup!

A few days ago, I commented that no one at our table ordered the liver when it was available a few days ago. Tonight, we had the option of ordering “Liver Dumpling Soup” which I had never heard of before, and everyone at our table took a pass.

Omar

The entertainer in Queen’s Lounge this evening was a performer that went by a single name, Omar. He was billed as being able to play up to 20 different musical instruments. He displayed his talent on about 10 during our show. These included the violin, bagpipes, pan flute, recorder and guitar. Here is a short video of some of the highlights.

Prime Meridian Party

After the evening show in the Queen’s Lounge, I headed up to the Crow’s Nest for the Prime Meridian party. This was also billed as a pajama party and many people wore their robes, a few people wore pajamas, but about half the crowd was in street clothes. The Crow’s Nest was comfortably full, with many people standing around staring at the large TV screen watching our position as we got closer and closer to what will ultimately be all zeros on the latitude and all zeros on the longitude.

The Station Band played terrific music and the dance floor was full of people enjoying the music. As the ship neared the Prime Meridian/Equator the crowd gathered around the large TV screen and watched the final seconds before the screen indicated we had crossed. As it turned out we probably missed the precise crossing point by 30 or 40 feet and with the precision of today’s GPS systems it was shown on the screen that we never did hit 000 latitude and 000 longitude at the same time. We would hear later that the only way to do this exactly would be to stop the ship and maneuver to the precise point, so we were happy with coming extraordinarily close and declaring ourselves Emerald Shellbacks.

Here is a video of the Prime Meridian and Party.

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