Cruising-along

Yes we were at Komodo Island recently. We ended up taking the ship tour. It’s a tender port and extremely hot and humid. Our 1.5 hour tour turned into 2.5 because several in our group had problems doing the walk in those conditions. One poor woman had to be carried back on a stretcher. 
 

That said, we’re so glad we did it! Bring lots of water (they will supply more too). The battery-operated fans we had were life savers for us. 
 

The ship will get your visas for $60 p/p or you can get your own. We did it the easy way and let the ship do it after hearing about problems folks had on our roll call. 
 

Tendering isn’t the easiest in this port. Some people on our tender decided not to try. 

Greetings from the lovely Volendam!

We have been in Fremantle (Perth) for 2 days and having a great time. 
 

Yesterday along with Lorraine @cruising sisterand Caron @Cruisercl we went on a tour with others from Cruise Critic to the Pinnacles Desert. It was one of the best tours we’ve ever been on. We had dinner and wine while stargazing. They supplied the telescope and binoculars. A good time was had by all!

We didn’t return to the ship until midnight so it was a bit hard to get up early for our wine tasting tour today (but worth it on all counts). 

I’m having trouble uploading photos but here are a few. 
 

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

trombone

Oops, I meant saxophone!

We thoroughly enjoyed the talent of Daniel Mallari last night. Having family members who were trained in opera, we appreciated his voice and amazing range. He hit every note perfectly. If only some other recent performers could do the same!  He got a standing ovation and deserved it. 

Akos Laki the night before also put on an amazing show with his trombone performance. HAL get more talent like these two!

Greetings from hot, hot Broome, Australia. We took a tour this morning organized by Cruise Critic and had a good time. So good to get back to the A/C on the ship though!

Good afternoon from Komodo Island and the Volendam!

We took a tour today with Lorraine @cruising sister and Caron @Cruisercl to see the dragons and dragons we did see!

DH and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
 

Our guide took this photo, optical illusion. We were really several feet behind the dragon. 

Female returning to her nest

19 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

That is a beautiful picture; it will be lovely when you finish it. I wish I had the patience and eyesight to do them. 

What do you do with them when complete- frame, keep, gift?

Thank you!

I frame them and then try to find a spot to hang them. 🤣 40+ years means a lot of projects. 🙂

In the past I’ve made many gifts of baby and wedding samplers but there haven’t been any babies or weddings in awhile. 
 

Good morning from the Volendam! Everything continues to go very well. We had an amazing flight over the Great Barrier Reef out of Cairns, and now have 4 sea days on our way to Komodo Island. We have an excursion to see the dragons. 
 

This morning will be another Sunday brunch where we’re served “small bites”. It will be our 3rd time, each time is a different menu. This morning Caron @Cruisercl will join us. 
 

I’m taking advantage of extra free time on these sea days to work on a new counted cross stitch project. I love the European intricate scenes. 
 

Rich maybe we should have given Trevor Knight more of a chance last night. We found him boring and not a very good singer. Maybe his talent lies more in his guitar playing? For the first time in my memory we left early, in the middle of his third song. 

On 2/2/2024 at 1:23 AM, kazu said:

 

There is one night where the PG is not available on the Coastal.  So far, Morimoto is not showing so hopefully a pop up Tamarind or Cellar Master (you can’t blame a girl for dreaming can you?  😉)

Jacqui we went to the Tamarind pop up with Rich and the Dailyites but were disappointed. Very cut back menu, none of the best items and wrong advice about the spice in one item. I hope they get better at it. 😉

We had a nice day in Cairns. We took the flight over the Great Barrier Reef and enjoyed it very much. 
 

20 hours ago, albingirl said:

Maybe that's why they serve it in the lido. They can just mop down the tables if it gets sloppy. Just a thought. 

The tables are all covered with disposable paper covers that are replaced between diners. And we were given bibs. 🤣

23 hours ago, Khlela said:

not sure why people keep mentioning it being messy. ALL seafood boils are messy

All the ingredients sit in a few inches of broth. Your hands are covered in this broth. 😉

I also live in the PNW so have had seafood boils there plus in the South where DH comes from. Never have been as messy as this. 

Greetings from the lovely Volendam!

We’re in Townsville, Australia today. The morning didn’t start out very well. We were booked on a private tour with CC’rs to Magnetic Island and were looking forward to it very much. 
Unfortunately all the ship tours and independent passengers were in the same, single line to debark. It took forever and even though we left our cabin as soon as the announcement was made, it took too long and the tour left without us. I do think they left 10 minutes early, but that’s to be determined. I guess this is why some people congregate early even though we’re told not to. 😕
 

We ended up taking the free shuttle into town with @richwmn, did some shopping and then had lunch together back on the ship. It was nice to get back to the A/C, very hot and humid in town. 

20 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

No idea of the brand, but DH had bacon bits both times in his chowder and had noticeable amounts of clams & potatoes. 

 

Here's what was left of the boil pot when he had finished it.

And here's the crumble dessert I failed to post earlier.

I was hoping other ships do a better job on the chowder. Ours was like water. 

We enjoyed it recently on the Volendam. Very tasty but messy as others have said. No Mariner discount. 
The chowder was *not* anything like Ivar’s (native Washingtonian here). Extremely thin and only a couple clams and tiny bits of potato. No bacon to be seen. 
Other than that we enjoyed it but most likely wouldn’t go again. 
 

Currently on the Volendam for 94 days and booked on the November 42-day round trip Ft. Lauderdale cruise. Basically the same minus NYC. Having a great time on the Volendam!

As for home insurance, the person you mentioned lives in the UK. Our home insurance doesn’t have that rule. 
As for Facebook, only if a person is foolish enough to post “publicly” and not “friends only”. You can even limit further. It’s very easy but so many people don’t know that. 

I have never worried. We’re very careful about who knows we’re away, have caring and watchful neighbors and a fantastic home security system. 

Good morning (the 28th) from the lovely Volendam! We are having 2 lazy sea days before arriving in Australia. This has been a great cruise!

At home (the 27th) today is our daughter’s 45th birthday — how did my youngest get that old? 🤣😉
It seems like yesterday when I was 45 myself. 
 

Prayers for all on the Care list and cheers for all celebrating. 
 

Some photos from our day in Noumea New Caledonia yesterday. 
 

On 1/25/2024 at 12:39 PM, richwmn said:

wouldn’t have been happy with the songs

Au contraire Rich! I was fine with his rendition of Sweet Caroline. He did a much better job than the piano

bar entertainer (not hard to do, but it really was good). He can carry a tune unlike someone else. 
 

We enjoyed his whole show. 🙂

Good morning (the 26th) from the Volendam! Yesterday we were on Mystery Island and today,  in Easo, New Caledonia. Having a wonderful time! 
 

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. ❤️❤️. I had a very nice day and dinner in the Canaletto with DH, @richwmn, @durangoscots, @Cruisercl and @CruisingSister  

It would have been in the Pinnacle Grill but they canceled a 3-month reservation to accommodate the President’s Club. 😕. It’s the only thing that has gone wrong on this fabulous cruise and I have voiced my opinion. Offers of a free dinner (or all the apologies)  don’t make up for how that was handled. 
 

Thank goodness for our great Dailyites, it was a great evening!

On 1/23/2024 at 2:16 AM, syesmar said:

Are they giving out paper recipe cards?

I was told you can ask for one. They probably don’t want to print off more than they need. 

On the Volendam now and there have been a few cooking demos.
 

Bear in mind that this is a Grand Voyage, I don’t know if that is the reason. No charge, and no samples. 

Good morning from the lovely Volendam!

As Lorraine @cruising sistersaid, we had a bit of excitement last night but all is well. 
 

Here are a couple photos for the Garden Club, the grounds of the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in Apia, Samoa. 
 

Last night the Lido had a seafood boil for $35/pp. It was the first time offered on this cruise (to be determined if we have it again). 
 

We enjoyed ourselves and the food was plentiful and good. Some improvements could be made such as the chowder was watery and not a bit of bacon. 3 clams and a few tiny pieces of potato. Not like Ivar’s as advertised. We thought the rest was very good although quite messy because everything was sitting in a broth (tasty but messy using fingers). We did get bibs though. 😉