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Circumnavigate The Globe in 123 days with Bill & Mary Ann - 2011 World Cruise

WCB

By WCB,
in Holland America Line

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Nursekaye

Nursekaye

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I am so glad I found your post. I am really looking forward to "traveling" with you as I read about your adventures. I so enjoyed your last trip. Thank you so much for taking the time to write about your travels.

 

Have a great trip!!!!

 

Nursekaye from Illinois

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Love Cruises

Love Cruises

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Yippee! another blog from Maryanne and Bill. I so enjoy your summaries of your cruising even though I am "green with envy" as you embark on another grand adventure. Thanks so much in advance for letting all your cruise critic friends read all about your fun! HAPPY NEW YEAR and enjoy your circumnavigation!

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lindalans

lindalans

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Hello Bill & Mary Ann:

 

Having met you both in person during our Alaskan cruise aboard the Amsterdam, I too am really looking forward to following along on your newest adventure.

 

If Dr Wiseman is aboard tell her her diagnosis was correct, except it was bulging towards the spinal column & I am lucky I wasn't paralized. I was in hospital all summer, but am now fully recovered. :):)

 

Have a wonderful cruise and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future.

 

Lindy.

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mudscraper

mudscraper

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Hello Bill & Mary Ann:

 

Having met you both in person during our Alaskan cruise aboard the Amsterdam, I too am really looking forward to following along on your newest adventure.

 

If Dr Wiseman is aboard tell her her diagnosis was correct, except it was bulging towards the spinal column & I am lucky I wasn't paralized. I was in hospital all summer, but am now fully recovered. :):)

 

Have a wonderful cruise and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future.

 

Lindy.

Glad to hear your feeling so much better.

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Thank you all for your generous Bon Voyages!! We are getting really close now.

 

Linda........we are so glad you have recovered from your accident. It was a pleasure meeting and getting to know you. Hope we do meet again!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 2 Janaury 4, 2011 Tuesday Day two in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

 

The journey has begun! We left home promptly at 2:45am Monday morning, thanks to our taxi driver/son Ken taking us to the SFO airport. The best flight time for leaving SF to Florida is 6am, so that meant we had to check in by 4am. The plus side to this was that there was no wait at the check in desk, especially since we were flying first class ( first chance to use our AA frequent flyer miles).This time we checked 2 pieces of luggage, having had weighed it carefully before we left. It is always a concern that we will be overweight, and who wants to pay the overage? Not us. It turned out that one bag came in at 48 pounds, and the other at 50 pounds on the nose. Hey, we are getting pretty good at this! The agent commented that a few pounds over would have been OK with her. Of course, you cannot always depend on running into a nice agent like this lady.

 

And we had worried about the new security check that has been hyped by the news media. We did nothing differently and neither did they. Shoes and jackets off, computer out of the case, small liquids in baggie and walk through the usual xray door. That was it.

 

We had just enough time to relax with coffee and toast, then boarded the plane at 5:30am. First class is nice.......first on, first off, and plenty of seat and leg room. And food on top of that, although it wasn't the best we have eaten, it was sufficient.

 

The weather cooperated with us today. Our biggest concern is always the chance of January ground fog, which can delay flights. No, it was partly cloudy after a day of rain. It's always a treat to see the sparkling lights of the expanse of city below us as we flew out of SFO. The pilot circled, then headed east into the rising sun. As we neared the valley, you could see nothing but a layer of storm clouds beneath us, resembling a huge fluffy down quilt. It remained that way until we were well out of California.

 

The movie, You Again, began as the stewards were serving our third breakfast of the day. However, we had to read lips, because they had failed to pass out the earbuds. It really did not matter, since the movie was a bit silly anyway. Plugging in later was not much better, since the sound was interrupted by the plane's engines. Oh well, nothing is perfect.

 

The flight of about 5 hours was basically uneventful, which was great. We landed around 2:15pm, eastern time, met with the HAL rep at baggage claim, loaded our bags onto the handtruck, and boarded a bus just for the two of us, the greyhound limo, for the 45 minute ride to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

It was nice to check into the Westin Hotel, where we have stayed at on past world cruises. Not as opulent as other hotels, the Westin is comfortable with plush beds and good amenities. We ran into many friends within minutes of arriving. Many of us have traveled a day earlier in order to acclimate sooner to the time change. Did we mention that two HAL ships will be leaving on their Grand Voyages on Wednesday? The Amsterdam, doing the world cruise, and the Prinsendam, doing the South America/Antarctica cruise, will leave Wednesday from the pier at the same time. This does not happen often, so there should be some fanfare during our sailaway. And the complimentary cocktail party and dinner, hosted by our travel agency this evening will include Prinsendam cruisers that have booked with our travel agency. Since we know many of them, it should be a fun evening.

 

Today, we plan to take the shuttle provided by our TA to the Pompano Plaza, a 15 minute ride from the hotel. That will give us a chance to pick up some supplies, and perhaps eat lunch out somewhere. It would have been nice to relax by the pool, but the skies are heavily cloudy, and it would not be worth the risk of sunburn. As long as it doesn't rain, we will be happy campers. Warm and slightly humid....we can handle!

 

More to follow.........

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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