- 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
- Subscribe to this blog! – Check box at bottom of this page
- 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
Always frustrating when your flight arrives at an airport early only to find that there is no one to operate the jet bridge and you end up waiting till your original arrival time to get off the plane. But that is far better than arriving late and having to run to make a connection so we were happy to be in Atlanta and in the same time zone as our final destination.
Our arrival and departure were both in the A concourse, so we avoided the long walks and a train ride and spent our 2 hour layover relaxing in the Skyclub.
The plane for our final leg was a Boeing 757-200 with the new Sky Interior. Very nice and complete with the “new car smell”.
The weather approaching Fort Lauderdale was a little overcast so we couldn’t see the ground very well on our final approach from over the Atlantic heading west. As we ducked under the clouds for the last time, Port Everglades appeared all at once out the right window and what a view – 6 cruise ships in port at the same time: Constellation, Island Princess, Maasdam, Emerald Princess, Zuiderdam and the Serenade of the Seas.
The airport is going to be crowded – but we snuck in after the big wave of arrivals yesterday and the flood of departures later today and tomorrow. As we came down the escalator toward baggage claim, we spotted a Princess rep holding a sign next to a Celebrity rep. A little further back were the HAL rep in a little pop up booth next to the NCL rep. We had arranged for a driver service to meet us with an SUV so we could avoid trying to find a cab that could handle all our bags and the case of wine. They had those little push carts to rent for $5 and we used two and went to our belt to await our bags.
You know the day is off to a good start when your bags are the first to arrive. They were so close together, I had to scurry a bit to get them off before they disappeared back inside, but I managed.
The Box appeared OK but was wrapped in TSA inspection tape, so I was relieved that I didn’t see this soggy red box on the belt. I used a specially made wine container I bought on Amazon Wine Packing Foam for $16. It worked great and I think you could have dropped this from 10 feet and it would have survived.
The driver was waiting in the cell phone lot so we were quickly on our way to the Hyatt Pier 66. Here I realized I made a mistake with my Hotel selection. Sure the hotel was close to Port Everglades, but I wasn’t going to walk, and the taxi price for this short trip was not going to be that much less than a hotel 5 miles away. The Hotel was a madhouse.
Six ships were turning around – so we had everyone getting off the ships staying here after there cruise, along with the people who stayed here last night waiting to get on those same six ships. If there is ever a day you may get a early check in, it would be a Monday – but not today as the hotel was jammed with those “Cruise People” in both directions!
The front desk clerk asked for my cell phone number so she could call once the room was ready. But after she heard the 619 area code, she paused and said she could only call a local number…really…this is 2016 (does anyone worry about domestic long distance anymore?) I was tempted to tell her she could send me a fax, but I smiled and said I would be in the lobby and check back later.
We ended up waiting in the lobby for 3 hours till our room was ready. Judy made good use of the time knitting her latest project.
Once in the room, we inspected all the bags – and finally opened The Box. Everything was A-OK and ready to make the final trip to the Amsterdam tomorrow.
We took an Uber to a Walgreens about 1 mile away for a few things – I needed some tape to put The Box back together.
Back in the room, we were getting more and more excited as we realize our Grand Voyage is right around the corner and the final journey – The Check In – will consume most of the day tomorrow.
Coming attractions: Checking in as a 3 star (100 days on HAL) in a sea of 4 stars and above – will my line be so short might it actually be faster? We plan to leave the Hotel at 10:45 to try and get in front of the rush. Time will tell so stay tuned.
This entry was posted in 2016 Grand World Voyage, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, North America, USA
We will be following you folks during this cruise, as we have good friends doing the entire cruise and another couple that is doing the Sydney to Hong Kong Segment.
Enjoy reading about your adventures:-)
Thanks!
That is so funny about the hotel lady not wanting to make a “long distance” call. I didn’t think any phone company made that distinction anymore. Maybe she was using a pay phone.
I have to catch up on these posts. Great job Pete!!