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

[airlink diva]

Thank you once again Bill & Mary Ann for allowing so many to enjoy the world cruise!

My dream is to one day take this cruise,but until then, I enjoy it each year from your postings.

So many of us are thankful that you take out time from your vacation to do so!

I hate that it's soon over,but look forward to 2012 world cruise!

[woodworker&knitter]

Thank you for allowing me to follow you on your cruise. I look forward to the next one.

[Sissas]

Thanks once again Bill & Mary Ann for allowing me to travel along with you on your marvelous cruise. I have truely enjoyed your daily reports and will be waiting for your next cruise. Enjoy your trip home and your summer. Sally

[Gail and Ken]

Just tuned into the Port Everglades web cam and saw the Amsterdam docked.. I see you are leaving at 5pm. I'll keep tuned in so I can see you sail off.. Thoroughly enjoying your cruise day by day. Have you booked your next one yet? Also do you ever post any of the thousands of photos that you take? Would love to put some faces with the adventures. Thank you and Bill for all the wonderful stories.

[oofroggie]

looking forward to meeting you on the 2012 world cruise

[DeepWaterMariner]

It has been a great pleasure following along on your world cruise, just as I have during your last two Grand Voyages. Since you started this journey we have been on two much shorter cruises of our own and each time we return home I've looked forward to catching up on your travels. Now that I know about the Ft Lauderdale webcam I'll try to catch your sail away this afternoon. If you are at the rail by the aft pool perhaps we'll all catch you on camera.

 

Welcome back to the USA and Bon Voyage again!

[Carolin]

thank you for taking me around the world. I have always been facinated with a world cruise and you have given me a wonderful glimpse. :)

[trikeman]

Just watched you pull out of port on the web cam. Hope you saw us waving and smiling at you. Hope the rest of your trip will be with sunny skies and following seas.

[Gail and Ken]

Saw you leave on your final leg of your journey.. Looking forward to your next post and how the luggage fiasco went..

[wander]

I am so sad that your cruise is ending because I have so enjoyed reading each of your posts. Now I have to find something else to look forward to each day when I get home. Thank you for being so generous in sharing your time and experiences with us.

[Bellair]

Well done Mary Ann & Bill for such a great, well written report.

 

When is the book coming out?

 

As we embark on the Japan to Vancouver trip in a few days, we hope we don't have 55ft waves as you did around Petroplavoski.

 

Now rest your writing hand in prep. for your next cruise....we will be anxiously waiting.

 

Regards

 

Noel & Pat

 

Report # 112 April 24, 2011 Easter Sunday Day at Sea # 5

 

Happy Easter to all! We woke up to a beautiful and sunny day this morning. Captain Olav has maintained a speed of 20.6 knots as we continued the Atlantic crossing. So far there have been several whales sightings on the horizon, although we have not seen them. The most sealife we noticed today were several tiny flying fish here and there.

 

Barbara, our port lecturer, had put out a survey for the world cruisers to vote on their "Seven Wonders of the 2011 World Cruise". Here were the results: 1. Petra - The Rose Red City

2. Easter Island

3. Ephesus

4. Jerusalem

5. Fjordland National Park (New Zealand)

6. Valleys of the Kings (Luxor Egypt)

7. Pompeii & The Temple of Karnak, Egypt (tie)

For us Petra, Jordan was marvelous to see, but we will have to wait until 2012 to visit The Valley of the Kings and Karnak in Egypt before we make our final judgement.

 

The big event today was the Easter Grand Show Buffet, held in the La Fontaine restaurant. We went to the 11am viewing for photo-taking, and were able to walk right in. For us, the picture-taking was all we needed. We never eat from this buffet when it is availble at 12 to 1pm. Better safe than sorry, because this food has sat out for hours already, and we sure don't want to gamble with any ill effects for the rest of our trip. Since it was Easter, we did take a few small foil-covered chocolate Easter eggs.

 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the sun and pleasant breeze on the aft pool deck. Only the true sun-worshipers were taking advantage of this weather instead of packing, which most all other people were doing.

 

Lo and behold, when we turned on our room TV, we found that CNN and the bundled channels were back on. Thank goodness, we were really tired of seeing the HAL ads on almost every available channel since we entered the Mediterranean.

 

Tonight's dinner was the last formal evening, with The Black and Gold Ball following afterwards. It was also the "Baked Alaska Parade", denoting the end of this voyage. The only problem with that was this parade started shortly after 9pm. We had ten at our table, which included Judi's boyfriend, Joe, and Julie, our guest officer. Therefore, we had just been served the entrees, when the lights were dimmed and the parade began. Once the napkins began flying, we all had to cover our quickly cooling dinner plates to keep the crumbs off. Barb had just started her second course of soup, let alone her entree. What's the rush we asked? Oh well, we clapped and cheered as our waiters ran by with the real sparkler-lit dessert, then dove into our dinners before they were cold. The chefs followed the waiter's dessert parade, and deserved the round of applause they got from everyone.

 

Now the funny part. When the plates were given for our dessert, they were hot. And the Baked Alaska is mostly ice cream. Yep, melted dessert again. It was still good with the cherry topping. Most of our tablemates left for the ball, but Barb, Ellen, and we stayed behind, as we usually do. Tom M, our other wonderful host, joined us to linger a bit longer.

 

We had the final pillow presents waiting for us in our room. One was a very useful cookbook, written by Chef Bernie. He compiled 150 of the most popular recipes we have enjoyed on this trip. Most of the ingredients will have to be down-sized, so he included the equivalents in the back of the book.

 

The other gift was 2 fridge magnets with the 2011 world cruise map printed on them. All of these gifts given tonight are easy to pack for the folks going home tomorrow.

 

One more sea day, and the this fantastic trip comes to an end.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS Yes, we will continue the reports on the next Panama cruise beginning April 26th. And Norma may be the name of the "hat lady".

[Socal404]

I've been following your entire World Cruise, and want to thank you for an excellent job! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Can't imagine being on a ship for 123 days. 15 is about enough.:)

[marysb]

Can't imagine being on a ship for 123 days. 15 is about enough.:)

.

Oh boy, I sure could go for 123 days,not a problem. Thanks Marianne and Bill for giving us an excellent inside view of your wonderful trip. You write so well, that it truly felt we were there with you - it was easy to picture all beauty, fun, and adventure of your voyage.

Mary

[WCB]

Report # 113 April 25, 2011 Monday Day at Sea # 6

 

Well, here we are, on the last day of the world cruise. We can honestly say that we do not know where or how the time went by so quickly. It has been an impressive journey that we will never forget, that's for sure. In a nutshell, Bruce, our CD, put things in perspective with his comments in the daily newsletter. The title of this cruise was "The Gems of the World". And they included the spectacular gold of Incan Peru, the turquoise-blue of the South Pacific, the emerald hillsides of New Zealand, and the opalesque colors of the Great Barrier Reef. From there things got exotic with the pearls of the Orient, rubies and rajahs of India, the sheikhdoms of the Emerites, the ancient treasures of Egypt, and the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean. Yes, the Amsterdam has been the elegant home away from home for all of us.

 

But it was time to say goodbye. At 10am, the champagne disembarkation presentation was held in the Queens Lounge, followed by the crew farewell. Bruce delivered all the information that most everyone needed for a smooth debarkation tomorrow in Ft. Lauderdale. Since we and 31 others are staying onboard, we did not need to attend the meeting. However, we did make it a point to watch it on our room TV later in the day, mostly because we will not see this again on the following trip. The best part of the talk was watching and listening to the crew members, who fill up the stage to sing the farewell song. We know it must have brought tears to many eyes in the audience, and they are not all ladies.

 

Once the presentation was completed, everyone's luggage numbers and colors, the guest survey, and the preliminary shipboard account statements were waiting on the mailslots. We had intransit tickets, which we will take with our passports to go through a separate line for the US Customs and Border Protection team onshore. We will have to spend some time off of the ship before we are allowed to re-board. Usually the shore excursion office offers tours for those in transit, but on this trip, there are none at all. A shuttle to a shopping center would have been nice, but we were told there are none. Perhaps if we want to go somewhere, we'll need to take a taxi. All aboard time will be 4pm approximately.

 

After breakfast, we went to deck five to try the internet. It was down once again, so we spent some quality time saying goodbye to friends that are leaving tomorrow. Many of them will be back for the 2012 world cruise, which is only 8 months away. The way time flies, it will be here before we all know it.

 

All week, we have noticed that the crew has been scrubbing, painting, and sanitizing every inch of the vessel. They are getting ready for the inspections by the CDC when we arrive in the first US port of Ft. Lauderdale. Every area of the ship needs to pass with high numbers, which they usually do. And of course, with the start of a new voyage, the staff will go into full service in the Lido, the pool grill and dining room areas for at least 48 hours.

 

We had the promenade deck and the aft pool deck almost to ourselves. Now everyone was packing. Luggage started appearing in the hallways early in the day. After dinner, the bags will start to disappear to the holding area on the ship to be off-loaded early in the morning.

 

This afternoon, we received a letter from Captain Olav welcoming us on the next cruise. As special bonus, we are excused from the required muster drill (unless we want to go.....hmmm.....probably not), and a complimentary Pinnacle Grill dinner. That was a very nice gesture we think and it is gladly accepted.

 

While emailing, friends Birgit and Maurice happened to come over with a large potted green plant that they had bought along the way. Since they were going home to Vancouver tomorrow, they were on their way to the front desk to give it to them. Instead, they happily gave it to us, so we can enjoy the plant until we leave in San Diego. Then, we will pass it along to our lovely ladies at the front desk.

 

Dinner was a mix of happy, but nostalgic guests, happy to have spent four months together, but sad to say goodbye. Around dessert time, one waiter stood in the orchestra pit on deck five, to thank us all for being such good customers, most of whom are repeat passengers. Then all the waiters stood together singing a farewell song. That seemed to spark something that made most people get up and start doing the last of their goodbyes and email exchanges. Then it was like a mass exodus from the dining room. We know that some people will go to the 2 for 1 cocktail time in the Crows Nest for one last big hurrah. The rest of us will go to bed early. That is why the showtime tonight was 6:30pm for second seating guests and 8pm for the early diners. We heard that the entertainers, Max Dolcelli and Kimika, were good. Also last night's musician, Ian Finkel, put on a very good performance.

 

And so ends our final day of the 110 day of the circumnavigation of the globe. But don't worry, we will be back tomorrow, continuing the reports for 13 more days.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[ScottishMaid]

Thank you for writing every day. I have learned so much about many ports. I especially enjoyed reading about Easter Island.

[Why Knot Me]

Bill and Mary Ann, Thank you so much for your trip reports. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them and will miss my daily check-in with you.

 

I have a question... what is the range of the cost of a World Cruise? My DH and need to plan for retirement :). We're several years away and still have a 13 year old at home, but a World Cruise is now on our list of "must do".

 

Thanks again.

[WCB]

Report # 114 April 26, 2011 Tuesday Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

 

Today is the disembarkation day for all but 33 of us lucky passengers that are staying on for up to 17 more days. Yes, the 2011 Gems of the World Cruise has come to its final end.

 

The Amsterdam maintained a speed of 20 knots all evening to reach the port in Ft. Lauderdale at 6am. It would be a trying day for all, especially the crew. At 6:45am, the crew members were summoned to present themselves with their passports for the US Customs and Border Patrol inspections. Once they were cleared, which was after 8am, the passengers were called off in groups, depending on when their flights left or if they had independant travel.

 

Since we were considered "in transit", we did not need to get off of the ship until 9:45am. At that time we would join the rest of the in transit group and proceed together to the customs and immigration line. That gave us plenty of time to have breakfast in the dining room, which opened from 6:30am to 8am.

 

Afterwards, we kept busy watching the beehive of activity on the pier with scores of luggage being offloaded, then piles of supplies being loaded on. A German shepherd dog and his handler walked in between every basket of stacked luggage, stopping long enough for the dog to get the smells he was looking for, whatever that may be. Apparently, there was no problem, because once finished with the inspection, the dog just wanted to play catch with a piece of heavy PVC pipe. Dogs will be dogs. All of these Fed Ex tagged pieces of luggage were then transferred eventually to the large semis to be taken to their facility for shipping within 5 to 7 business days. What was nice about this service, was the fact that no one had to gather all of this baggage and take it through the customs/immigration line. However, not so for us and the other 31 passengers going onwards.

 

This is when things got interesting. We had just gotten to our room to gather our passports and in transit tickets, when our room number and name was announced on the public speaker system. We and one other guest were being summoned to the front desk to go down as a group. That was a first for us. Unknown to us, several from our group had already debarked, because they were headed out to shopping malls.

 

We were there in seconds, and were met by an HAL rep, who asked if we had filled out the customs forms. No, we were told we could NOT clear customs in Ft. Lauderdale, since we were in transit. The HAL rep called the port agent, who said, yes, we do. Well everyone grumbled, because that meant that we probably could have shipped our four duffels from here after all. Wish the Fed Ex gals had gotten their information correct before we went through this process. Well, it was too late now.

 

We hoped to have a chance to clarify this switch of information with the folks actually doing the customs/immigrations checks. Expecting a separate line for the 33 of us, as promised, we were lumped in with everyone. Oh well, we had to be off of the ship for a while, so we might as well spend it standing in line, chatting with friends. When our turn came to present ourselves to the officer, we asked if we could have shipped our luggage from here today, even though we were intransit. Her answer was yes. Now we really were going to get to the bottom of this. What was really confusing, was the fact that one couple did not even have to turn in the declaration form. Hmmmm, this is your government at work!

 

Just as our group was being led into the waiting area, one of the Fed Ex gals came by on a run. Great opportunity to question her on this mixup. She still said no, we said yes, and we decided to call over the port agent. He said, yes, we had to clear customs today, and yes, we could have sent our luggage off. Despite the fact that we could no longer do this, it felt really good being right. We all were promised to have help with our luggage at our final destinations. Time will tell.

 

We were finally led upstairs to the point where we boarded the ship back in January. By 11:20am we were allowed to board ahead of the new guests, who were just starting to arrive. Our room keys were still working, but their kiosk was not. At every start to a new cruise, all of the previous information has to be wiped out. None of the bars registers were working, along with the internet. By 5pm, we are sure all will be in order, we hope.

 

Back in our room, we had a bottle of champagne waiting for us with a card from Captain Fred Eversen and Bart Groeneveld, who has been promoted to Hotel Manager. It was a good feeling to be welcomed back, despite what we all just experienced on the pier.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon unwinding at the aft pool, where a strong breeze was blowing, but the sunshine was hot. Shortly, we were joined by strangers, some old, but mostly younger than the typical world cruisers. Looks like this segment may be fun after all. One thing we noticed was there were no throngs of school age kids. We saw one young girl about 10, who was traveling with her parents and grandparents. Hope some more kids come onboard, or she will be lonely.

 

The lido restaurant had stayed opened for lunch later than usual. Many new guests were still arriving, and probably had nothing to eat all day. Salad, sandwiches, and dessert bars were opened until 5pm like always.

 

Knowing that we only have 13 days on this coming segment, we knew we had to make one more reservation in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner to use our freebie. The line was long, but worth the wait to get a reservation at 8pm. It was also a good time to visit the ladies at the front desk to get a printout of our shipboard account, since we never got the final one last night. Now the only job left was to check on the internet to see if our leftover minutes rolled over to this voyage. We still could not log on, and the new internet person was not available until 7pm. We'll just have to trust the the former internet team credited the account just as they promised. They did not always do this. It was "use or lose", just like leftover soda and wine cards. Now we understand that these cards are credited back to the original buyer's account before the cruise ended at 2am last night.

 

The muster drill was announced at 4:15pm, but we did not attend. That was fun. The sailaway party began shortly afterwards at the aft pool deck, and we did attend that. By now, the wind was howling across the deck, the skies had clouded up, and it looked like rain. A new band, Sharon and the HALCats, played great songs for an hour. Their singer was really good. Yep, the music is looking up.

 

The Amsterdam was delayed by about 20 minutes, waiting to load the last of the supplies and to finish pumping fuel. This party had to be the most crowded one we have attended so far. Drinks were being sold right and left, while people were dancing to the music. Matt, who had been the Assistant Cruise Director on the world cruise, is now the DJ. He got the party started off with introductions of bar managers Willie and Raymond, who have stayed on the ship.

 

Now the big mystery of "who was coming to dinner" would be answered soon as 8pm rolled on by. The two of us and Judi were expecting a table of 10 guests, but the only ones to join us tonight was a very nice couple from the state of Washington. Janet and Larry had flown the redeye special the night before, so they were surprised they made it to dinner tonight. Looks like we will be getting along fine with them. Of course, we miss Barbie, Ellen, Joan, Sue and Laurie, who were already home or well on their way. It won't be that long before we join Barb and Ellen on next year's world cruise, Godwilling. Many of the fixed second seating guests upstairs were missing tonight, probably going to the Lido instead. Oh yeah, the downstairs dining room is open seating between 5:15 and 9pm.

 

The menus were different, as we expected. But just the format. It appeared to us that most all of the usual entrees were offered, as well as the alternates. In fact, all of us ordered the pork cordon bleu, and it came hot and crispy.....one of the best dinners yet. Hope this trend keeps up. The biggest difference we noticed was that the butter was cut in pats, not the flowerettes. Think we can live with that!

 

We were all tired, and since there was only one showtime at 9:30pm, which we already missed half, we turned in for the evening.

 

Those that stayed up late could enjoy the new entertainer, Roy Kassel, in the Piano Bar, the band, The Neptunes in the Ocean Bar, the Adagio Strings in the Exploeres Lounge, and guitar soloist, Michael Liebler, and Sharon and the HALCats in the Crows Nest.

 

Until tomorrow,

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[kazu]

Ahhhh Mary Ann & Bill - I have to say thank you again. Great posts - can't believe you are going to let us cruise through you again.

 

the luggage fiasco is really a bit much. what a shame.

 

enjoy your extra days - we all envy you ;)

[luvcdays]

Thank you Bill & Mary Ann for taking us all along on your wonderful world cruise! I am sad that it is over, but looking forward to your cruise next year.

 

Take care. It will be here before you know it.

[DAllenTCY]

I'm sure that every ship has to clear US Customs at the first US port, so I'm sorry about that mixup. As for help with your duffles when you arrive in San Diego, please e-mail me off list. I'm @ aol....same name.

David

[I Luv Crusin]

I am so glad you are taking us along with you to San Diego! I'm trying to figure out how to pay for a cruise like this! Maybe in about 15 years!! :rolleyes:

[cccole]

All I can say is Xie xie, Toda, Salamat, Gracias, Shukraan, Cam on, Grazie, Merci, Gracies, and Thank You!!!!! I'm sure I missed thank you in some of the places you visited but I did not miss any of your reports. I hope you enjoy the final segment of your cruise. Cherie

[WCB]

Report # 115 April 27, 2011 Wednesday Day at Sea

 

Before we begin with today's news, we have to add something we forgot to mention yesterday. Remember we told you that we received a bottle of welcome onboard champagne? Well, that was not all we received. After lunch, we came back to the room to find a room service fellow waiting outside our door. He had a plate of huge chocolate-dipped strawberries and a small bouquet of fresh flowers for us. The mystery is that there was no card to accompany the gifts, and he had no idea who had sent them. We learned later on that the 33 of us world cruisers all received the same gifts. That really brightened our day, considering the hassle we went through in the morning. An educated guess is that Captain Fred and Bart sent them as a special gesture.

 

Anyway, we went to the dining room for breakfast around 8am, as usual, and found the room was full of guests. We were seated in the former "suite and veranda guest section". On regular trips such as this one, the veranda passengers are seated on deck five for their dining room breakfast. The new menu was still in use, but the butter was served cut, not flowerettes once again. Of course, we are just joking about the trivial necessity for the butter to be flowers. It was obvious that the staff underestimated the number of guests that came to the dining room this morning, because there was a lack of waiters to handle such a crowd. Even Presti and Komang, our long time Head Waiters, were serving coffee and bussing dishes. About 20 minutes later, more wait staff were taken from the Lido and sent down here. It will take at least two days for them to figure out people's patterns. Then they will adjust the crew accordingly.

 

We took our morning walk on the promenade deck, where we were almost run over by over-anxious speedy walkers. They were just determined to burn off those extra calories from last night's dinner, we are sure. Did we mention that 3 1/2 laps around this deck equals one mile? So how many laps would it take to burn off enough calories contained in one serving of a chocolate volcano cake, for instance? Miles and miles we're afraid. Life is too short, eat dessert first, is our motto!

 

Around 10am, the public announcements came from Jimmy, the new Cruise Director, with a reminder not to miss the morning's activites. This happened rarely on the world voyage. Another reminder came along around 4pm, announcing BINGO, and other evening events. Bet that woke up many people taking naps at that time of day.

 

At 10:30am , we went to catch up on emailing on deck five. What a mob scene we ran into at the ship's stores. Many items had been put on sale for 75% off. However, there were absolutely no 2011 world cruise items anywhere to be sold. What was flying off of the shelves were the ladies short sleeve t-shirts with the "diamond-studded" designs on them. Originally, they sold two for $30. Today, they were 75% off of that price. Well, the lines of ladies were so long, that the salesman in the liquor store had to escort them 10 at a time to his register. Other sale items were the warm weather clothes, such as swimsuit cover ups, summer type dresses, light weight jackets, and so on. Yep, the ship really made out well today. Good idea, because the Amsterdam is heading for the Alaska season, where the clothing will change.

 

There was also a drawing being held outside the liquor store. The crowd was cheering as they waited for their ticket to be possibly announced . That was the most noise we have ever heard in that area. These new people are really a good crowd.

 

Barbara, our port lecturer is still onboard. She and shore excursion manager Irene teamed up together to give a talk all about the upcoming tours available in the ports of call. At 2pm, Barbara gave a talk on things to do and see in Cartegena, Colombia, our first stop on this voyage.

 

The sun was out, so naturally, we went to the aft pool deck to see how crowded it might be. Much to our surprise, the lounge chairs were full of guests already. Even more lounges had been set up compared to the world voyage, and there still were no lounges for us. Our nice deck crew members quickly saw the dilemma, and brought more lounges for several of us. The wind blowing across the deck today was fierce. It was a challenge to keep the towels on the chairs before sitting down.

 

The pool had finally been un-netted, and it was full of people cooling off. There would be no swimming today only bobbing up and down in place. The one little girl we mentioned that was onboard came to the pool with grandma to swim. It appears that she is the only kid on this cruise. Even though the aft pool is reserved for adults, no one questioned the little girl going in there. Believe it or not, some passengers do complain if kids use this pool.

 

We lasted back there, watching hats, shoes, and drink receipts blowing overboard. We surely would have remembered this severe wind if we had it back in January. Weather can be unpredictable in this part of the world, especially as hurricane season approaches.

 

Even though there are many repeat movies on the room TV, we were able to watch one that we had not seen in the late afternoon. You know that we do have a DVD player in our room, but we never took the opportunity to order the complimentary movies made available this way. Most of the selections are on the older side, but at least it give you more choices.

 

The enterainment for us was early at 6:45pm, where Captain Eversen treated everyone to a glass of champagne as a welcome onboard treat. The show with the Amsterdam singers and dancers following his toast. We expect to see most of the late 10pm shows will be early for us from now on. It is a smart move by the staff, because it frees the guests up to visit the bars, ship stores, and casino where they can spend more money.

 

Dinner was formal this evening, the first of four planned on this 17 day cruise. Much to our surprise, we had an officer join us. He was Vince, the head security officer. He and his wife have been with the ship since Hong Kong, where the need for security was increased with our upcoming ports from southeast Asia through the Suez Canal. Vince talked about his previous career as an FBI agent and also as head trainer for the Iraqi police officers recently. Boy did he have some thrilling stories involving his work. We could have sat there for hours listening to him, but it was already nearing 10:30pm, so we all bid each other good evening.

 

One more sea day, and we will be in our first port of Cartagena, Colombia.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[bet410]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts about the WV and look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip. I was interested in the fact that Capt. Fred is now on the ship and that Barbara has remained on board. Capt Fred was our captain on the GV we took in 2009.

 

Was there any indication that Bruce and Barbara will be doing the WV next year? We so enjoyed both of them on the GV!

 

Enjoy your last several days of travel!

[WCB]

Report # 116 April 28, 2011 Thursday Day at Sea

 

We put the clocks back one hour last night, which leaves us just 2 more hours to be back on Pacific Time. Another reminder that we are nearing home in the San Francisco Bay Area pretty soon.

 

The seas were pretty choppy as we sailed between the islands of Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica during the evening hours. In fact, we overheard some new guests, a little green around the gills, complaining about the ship's movement. We have experienced much worse over the years, and lucky for us, it does not bother us.

 

Breakfast in the dining room this morning was more organized as the staff is dealing with far higher numbers of guests choosing to dine there. Over 300 passengers were fed in there this morning, according to one of the Pinnacle girl waiters.

Of course, the service and food are so good there, why not?

 

There were many activities happening today, one of which was a Pre-Colombian Culture Jewelry presentation in the Queens Lounge. The talk was followed up with the unveiling of the collection in the ships store. We had taken our own sneak peek of the jewelry last night, assisted by Delic, one of the friendliest sales girls on the ship. We've had our eye on a necklace that has been on display for the entire world cruise. Nothing in the special collection from Colombia could hold a candle to this piece, which was a three-stranded freshwater pearl and turquoise necklace. And to sweeten the deal, it went on sale the day we left Ft. Lauderdale. Having done some homework on these pearls at home, we knew this was a deal that we could not pass up. It was a good way to use up some shipboard credit that could not be cashed out at the end of the cruise.

 

There was an invitation for another Mariner guest wine tasting at 2pm in the dining room. If we drank wine, we could order a navigator or admiral package now with a 50% loyalty discount. It is a nice perk for the wine lovers among us. However, we passed on the invite once again.

 

By going to the pool later around 1pm, we found that many of the "lounge lizards" had gone to lunch. The wind was still blowing strongly, but the sun made it worth the while. Just about all of the newbies are red to crimson with sunburns. We had to laugh when several friendly folks asked how we got our tans. When we said we have been onboard since January, they looked at us like we came from Mars. Oh, you're some of those that sailed onwards. Which then leads to many questions about the trip, which we don't mind sharing. Hey, the more people that are interested in such a long trip should be good for Carnival stockholders right?

 

At 2:30pm, Matt, our DJ, summoned willing passengers to participate in pool games. Surprisingly, it took him some time to coax 10 people to do this on a moment's notice. Since you never know what to expect in these games, most people shy away from it, including us. Three contests were involved, all relay-type games. The first one included a large apple being passed to each other under their chins, no hands allowed......very funny when it is done between strangers. One team never got the apple passed at all. The next one had people blowing up a balloon, swimming the pool's length with the balloon in teir teeth, then passing it to the next one in line. The same team won again. Now came the best one........the frozen water t-shirt pass. Yes, that is super large t-shirts, that was soaked in a bucket of ice water, then put on the first set of swimmers. They jumped in the shallow end and raced back and forth, where they took off the shirts and put it on the next swimmers. Well, it was all very amusing until one young lady almost lost the top of her swimsuit along with the t-shirt. We can only guess what Matt, the DJ, actually saw because she was facing him, and not the crowd when the accident happened. When Matt yelled, "I love this job" over and over, we knew for sure what he saw. The embarrassed gal was a good sport and continued on with the game. We think her team came close to winning again, even though Matt called it a draw. He awarded all of them an HAL insulated drink cup, which was guaranteed to keep hot drinks cold and cold drinks hot. OK, anything for a laugh. This type of frivolity would seldom happen on a grand world voyage, but it did seem to entertain the crowd back there today. And remember, the more folks that are out in the hot sun, perhaps the more drinks they will sell. The roaming bartenders worked the crowd all afternoon, serving many cocktails and ice cold beer. A win-win for everyone.

 

We skipped lunch, because we had our first reservation in the Pinnacle Grill tonight. Cooling off for a while in our room, we watched a good action movie, The Tourist. It was a rerun, but we managed to miss it the four times it has been shown.

 

Dinner at 8pm was marvelous in the busy Pinnacle Grill restaurant. The friendly waitress mixed a caesar salad tableside while we watched. It was far fresher with way less dressing than you get in the dining room. We both ordered the bone-in ribeye steaks, with button mushrooms, sauted onions, and one baked potato for two. The sauces on the side were great.....sun-dried tomato and horseradish-mustard. We did a fairly good job of finishing our plates, saving a bit of room for ice cream and bread pudding. Never being rushed, we were finished by 9:30pm.

 

We did a few laps around the promenade deck, until the mist from the waves started getting us too wet. A few stray birds were actually flying alongside the ship, an indication we must be nearing land. We should be arriving to Cartagena around 6:30am, and we rather doubt we will be up to see the sail in.

 

There was a surprise gift on our bed this evening. It was one HAL bag, however it was not the typical beige canvas bag, but a waterproof navy blue tote bag. This bag may be more useful for going to the pool or the beach.

 

On a side note, we'd like to thank everyone on Cruise Critic for your wonderful comments. It's been a pleasure for us to document this trip, even though we bury everyone with the details. But it's the details we wish to recall for future trips, a diary of sorts, which we hope to enjoy reading years later.

 

Mary Ann & Bill