Venture with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2013 GW Voyage "Postcards from Paradise" 115 days

[cruz chic]

I can't believe it's almost over. I've enjoyed reading your thread.

[WCB]

Report # 119 Day at Sea April 29, 2013 Monday

 

The center of the La Fontaine Dining Room was jumping with staff preparing for the Grand Show Buffet during our breakfast this morning. This room would be converted into an extravaganza of over-the-top food displays, which would be consumed by the guests at noon. On past world cruises, these buffets have been the domain of Chef Bernie Riuz, who recently retired. Ed, who has also been on a few world cruises as executive chef, has taken Bernie's place for this trip. Well, nobody can really take Bernie's place, but Ed has kept the tradition of excellence going forward.

 

Picture-taking was from 11am to 12pm, followed by the onslaught of hungry passengers, who would consume all of the food by 1pm. We have been expecting to see this buffet much earlier in the trip, like around Eastertime. This year, the event moved to the end of the cruise, and we think it may have made a difference in the participation of the passengers. Every other year, the stairwells and elevators on deck four were jammed with folks waiting to enter the dining room. We arrived around 11:05am hoping to beat the crowd. Much to our surprise, there was no crowd. and we walked right in and up the steps to the center dining room. Perhaps many people did not wish to leave their job of packing, or maybe too many things were going on at the same time. Well, we were not complaining, because we go to the buffet strictly for pictures, and never eat a thing. Maybe we are a little paranoid about food being left out at room temperature for too long. Now is not the time we would want to get the "bug", if there was ever a good time to get it. Anyway, the folks seemed to enjoy both the viewing and the dining aspect, so it was well worth the trouble the staff goes to in presenting it.

 

The weather was beautiful today, so we took advantage of some time at the aft pool. Only one fellow swam in the pool, so we know that it must be cold.....too cold for us. Many white clouds were overhead, but it never did rain. We even sighted something big in the water, which some folks thought was a whale. It never broke the surface, so we believe we may have been looking at a sailfish or a marlin feeding right under the swells. Actually, the only thing close to a whale that we saw, was a Carnival ship with the "whale tail" stacks on the horizon.

 

This evening was the final formal night with the farewell dinner and baked Alaska. There were only four of us at our table, because Barb was in the Pinnacle Grill with some other friends. We did have a great time with Carol and Van, and we let them know how much we have enjoyed their company. Free wine and sodas also helped everyone's moods. For a change, we had just finished our entrees of surf and turf when the parade of waiters began. There are some advantages to a smaller table, because on the last three grand voyages, we were just getting served our entrees when the dessert parade began. This was much better tonight. And when our waiters finally served the baked Alaskas, they were not completely melted. It's funny that we are always served the ice cream treat on hot? clean plates. After dinner was over, we lingered at the table, talking until well after 10pm. Again, we were the last to leave the room, as the waiters were already stripping the ceilings and pillars of all decorations.

 

The entertainment tonight was the group The Unexpected Surfer Boys, singing the best of the Beach Boys. We think this is the same group that comes onboard every year. Their show usually includes music from Frankie Valle or the Four Seasons, so this should be a nice change.

 

One more day and night, and the Grand World Voyage will be history.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[whereintheworld]

Thank you Mary Ann & Bill for another wonderful world cruise with you aboard the Amsterdam. I admire how you find the time to write such informative, chatty and lengthy reports each day. I look forward to more of the same next year.

Jennie from Sunbury, Australia

[Scrapnana]

Bill and Mary Ann,

 

I have so enjoyed reading about all of your adventures around the world. Will you be continuing your blog as you do the last leg of your journey?

I noticed that you and the other bloggers have talked about the packing as a major issue. I have visions of just taking things and putting them into the suitcases without a lot of bother about neatness.

[windsor26]

Dessert was the best, a lemon tart with blueberries on top. We're going to miss these desserts, since we sure don't do this at home."

 

 

Are you ever at home? Thanks for such an interesting and informative blog

[WCB]

Report # 120 Day at Sea April 30, 2013 Tuesday

 

Well, here we are at day 115, and the final full one of this world cruise. The morning activities included a Grand World Voyage photo slideshow preview in the Queens Lounge at 9:15am. We think this was designed to get the folks up early and into the lounge for a champagne disembarkation talk, followed by a crew farewell at 10am. It is at this talk that Bruce gives all the info the passengers will need to know for a smooth transition from the ship to shore tomorrow. It is a massive undertaking for the crew to offload all the luggage that we have seen building up in the hallways on every deck. If all goes well, everyone that is leaving will find all of their bags, take them through the customs check, deliver the ones that will be shipped Fed Ex, then find their rides to wherever. No matter how well is is orchestrated, it will be a zoo, and that is the main reason that we have chosen to stay on for another two weeks. Anyway, that will be tomorrow, and we still have the day to relax as we sail towards Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Another important job that we have been asked to do is fill out the guest satisfaction surveys that were delivered to our room after 11am. The number system that is used to rate our overall experience of each service and department on the ship is extremely important to them. The highest mark is a "9", and believe us, that is what they want from everyone. Yes, in a perfect world, that would happen. Nothing is perfect, so by being truthful, this is the best way to bring about positive changes in the cruise experience for the future. And the pressure was on, with the powers to be requesting these forms to be returned by 1pm today. Hopefully all of the written comments are read. This is our opportunity to dole out the personal compliments as well as observations of changes we may or may not like. By the time we stopped by the front desk at 4pm to ask a question about the immiration and custom forms, the large box for these surveys was stuffed solid.

 

Again, the weather was nice outside, so while the folks were at the talk, we were walking and enjoying the flying fish that popped up every now and then. Many folks that we usually see out here doing the same as us, finally stopped to chat and ask if we were returning next year. Sometimes it takes people two or three years before they will talk to you. We know some passengers by sight, but don't always know their names. And in a few years, we may be friends. Who knows? Thanks to these trips, we have met some pretty nice folks that we keep in touch with all year until the next trip. We call them "keepers".

 

While at the back pool, we noticed that four stacks of lounge chairs were sitting up on deck nine. Bet those lounges are brought down to the pool deck tomorrow for the next cruise. We'll be paying close attention to the changes that take place for the next 15 days. It will be different. If we want to spend our usual sun time back there, we will probably have to come early and save our lounges.

 

We did a little more packing this afternoon...very little. Half of it is done, and we have two more weeks to accomplish the rest. It's a great time to tweak the list for next time. Bringing less is always the objective. By the way, we got the REAL final gifts today of two refrigerator tiles with the world cruise map on them. The card said it all.....remember that travel is not about the destination, yet far more about the journey to get there.

 

This was on our minds when we went to our final dinner with our buddies at table 311. Carol and Van have been the most compatable tablemates that we have met in a long time. We thank former host Ellen for sending their names to us last year to add to the table. And of course Barb, our pal from many years ago. We have shared many laughs together over many, many long voyages. And finally, after most everyone left the dining room tonight, we taught Van and Carol how to play "cork-forking". Hey, we can't get into trouble now, because it was our final dinner together. They absolutely loved flipping the wine cork into the flower arrangement in the center of the table, or should we say "trying" to land it in there. Easier said than done. They are such troopers that we could have stayed there for another hour practicing. But since we all have to get up early tomorrow, we said our goodbyes, exchanging email addresses, hand shakes and hugs. Hope our paths cross again on anothe DAM ship.

 

The "good evening" cards on the bed also said it all this fine night.........ships that pass in the night are quickly forgotten, but nights on the ship are remembered forever. We can second that thought.

 

Tomorrow ends the world cruise, and begins a new one that will take us through the Panama Canal and back to the west coast of California. Looking forward to it.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Skipper's Mom]

Bill & Mary Ann:

 

I've enjoyed reading your posts this year and last. Perhaps someday we can enjoy a World Cruise...

 

We are headed off in a few weeks on the Prinsendam, which is a dream come true for us.

 

We will follow your posts through the Canal and homeward. Thanks for allowing us all to experience a World Cruise through your eyes.

 

Lynne

[brownblonde]

Like all the other comments, I to enjoyed your postings for a second world cruise.

I could ask 40/11 questions but only did once about the pizza.

 

I would love to see you post your picture so that when we read the blog we also have a face to attach to the writing.

 

thanks and enjoy the Panama canal.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I've enjoyed everyone of your posts along the way. Thanks for including all of us in your adventures.

[snookymom]

Thanks again for "taking" me on another fabulous world cruise. Looking forward to the Panana Canal.:D

[KNOT2L82SAIL]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your thoughts on the world voyage. It has been a wonderful journey for me. I hope you continue and keep on posting until you have to leave the oh so lovely Ms Amsterdam.

Thank you again.

[Scrapnana]

Your comment about "ships that pass in the night" got me thinking about Tuesday night. The Amsterdam and the Nieuw Amsterdam passed each other near the Bahamas. Were the ships close enough to see each other?

[iduck]

Thank you for sharing your trip and all the fun you had. I will continue to follow you in my virtual cruise. Happy to be cruising with you to San Diego as this is my home port! And there is nothing virtual about it! lol! Thanks again!

[DFD1]

I've read and enjoyed every word.

Beautifully written and faithfully posted.

What a great treat!

Thank you so much.

[Traveling Dot]

Bill & Mary Ann

Thank you for taking me along on a virtual World Cruise. :) Loved every minute of it, someday I hope to be able to do one and perhaps meet you in person. Your blog and Qween Karen's blog have put the thought of a World Cruise in my sights and hope to be able to do one when I retire in a few years.:cool:

 

Thanks again for your wonderful description of the different ports, I really felt I was there with you.

 

Traveling Dot:)

[seafun]

I got a little misty-eyed reading the wrap up post. We are all so grateful for having been asked along on your trip.

And I knew the trip report was almost complete with the inclusion of the taboo and exotic "cork forking" game. :)

Glad to hear the tradition lives on.

 

 

 

[WCB]

Report # 121 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida May 1, 2013 Wednesday

 

This day was the ending of one long trip and the beginning of another shorter adventure for us. It was also turnaround day with over 1000 world cruisers going home, but more than 1300 newbies boarding. We understand that the ship will be bursting at the seams on the 20 day sailing to Vancouver, Canada. Some of the wait staff went home too, like about 100 of them. Only 40 or so guests stayed onboard like us to sail to either San Diego or go all the way to Vancouver.

 

The final stats on the world cruise as far as mileage is concerned, ended up over or about 35,000 nautical miles. The exact figure has disappeared from the TV screen, and as we write this at 10:30pm, we have gone 79 nautical miles since leaving Port Everglades at 6pm. Anyway, circumnavigating the world is a whole lot of miles, especially considering that 1 nautical mile is 1.15 statue mile. Remember the old days when the food consumption was disclosed at the end of a cruise? Such as the number of eggs eaten, or the pounds of beef, chicken, or fish consumed? Well, that information is not provided anymore, and we are grateful. The numbers would be staggering we're afraid. Anyway, it should be interesting to see the differences with this shorter cruise.

 

In order to be ready to get off the ship this morning for our tour, we got up early. We never did have a newsletter for today waiting for us after dinner. So there was no info on what time breakfast was being served in the dining room. Overhearing a waiter in the elevator, he said that breakfast time would be 6:30am. But since we had received a letter requesting us to allow at least a half hour to go through the US customs and border protection clearance, we skipped breakfast, picking up juice and yogurt in the Lido. We sure won't starve.

 

With our passports, room keys, the customs form, and our yellow stickers indicating we were on a tour, we left the ship, by-passing the waiting passengers who were also disembarking by groups. We went through the checkpoint in a couple of seconds. Piece of cake. Once out of the terminal building # 2, we found Barbara H. who directed us to the waiting tour bus. Our knowledgable guide told us there would be 50 of us, most of whom would be going to either Ft. Lauderdale or the Miami airports. Only 6 of us would be coming back to the ship. Now the holdup was the fact that the majority of folks were carrying several suitcases, as well as their hand-carrys for the plane. The bottom of the bus was filling rapidly. We had to wait in the bus for these folks to drag all their luggage through the customs line, then take the shipped bags to the Fed Ex truck. This took over an hour, so we did not leave the pier until 9:15am. Our guide said that sometimes the delay is 2 hours, so we guess over an hour was not bad.

 

This tour took us to the Las Olas area via the Ft. Lauderdale Beach. An interesting fact about that beach is that the sand was brought here from China. That is almost unbelievable. Then we drove to the Riverwalk area, where we had a pit stop, and a quick walk around the river. Our guide pointed out the different types of trees grown here, as well as old historic houses. A snake even slithered by us as we looked at the trees in this park. We were much more careful where we walked after that. Don't mind the lizards, but snakes? No.

 

Very close to this park was the sightseeing boat tour on the Carrie B, a double-decker "paddle" boat. It held a lot of people, like about 300. We noticed that another bus group that had joined this boat had on HAL stickers with a different number. We are certain that they came from the Veendam, which happened to be docked near us. Now the bad news is that we had just heard through the grapevine, that this ship has recently gone into "red" alert with the dreaded virus. Over 600 of their population was ill and quarantined. Now here we were, mixing with some of these folks on this small vessel. Good thing we brought the Purell. Despite the fact that the hotdogs and pretzels looked really good that they were selling, we decided that eating on this 1 1/2 hour trip was not a good idea. We would wait until we were home, which should be before 1pm.

 

The boat ride took us down the New River, where we saw homes of the rich and famous, as well as some of their opulent yachts. This river and the Intercoastal Waterway has been dubbed the Venice of America. Millionaires Row is an understatement on the prices of these waterfront homes with private docks and fabulous swimming pools in their manicured yards. One such home was over 30,000 square feet with an electricity bill that ran around $4,000. a month. Funny thing....only two people live there. One nicety that these homeowners forfeit is privacy, as many vessels and water taxis bring tourists past their backyards and docks all day long. The only home that had a private pool was unusual, since it was built on the roof, accessible with two elevator lifts....a his and a hers. It was actually fun being "peeping Toms" today, imagining what it would be like living this type of life style.

 

The bus was back to the pier by 1pm, and the six of us departed, leaving the rest to be brought to the airports. This worked out quite well, because we were able to pass around all the new passengers who were going through the boarding process. They did not look like happy campers, bringing back memories of the embarkation four months ago. We were lucky to have been processed quickly, as that was not the case with most of the world cruisers back then. By the looks we got being escorted past everyone, we bet we hear some grumpy stories later on today.

 

We still had time to eat lunch at the pool grill, since most of the new guests had not discovered that area yet. We got our cheeseburgers and fries within a few minutes. And while we were waiting, one of the cooks brought us each a hot slice of four cheese pizza. It's so nice to be recognized by the kind cooks and waiters.

 

Since the all aboard time was 4pm, followed by the mandatory muster drill, we figured we had enough time to find our way out of the terminal building and make our way to a nearby Walgreens we had spotted on our way in this afternoon. Terminal four is not our usual docking place, so we knew this would be our last chance to pick up some important supplies such as chips, salsa, and sodas for room snacks. It took about 15 minutes to walk there. We ran into Char, the future cruise consultant along with Jacquie, the nicest internet manager we have had on previous cruises. Of course she is friendly, because she is Australian, and we hope to see her again on this ship. Jacquie told us that one of the crew from the Veendam, where she works, has joined our ship, but will remain in isolation for three days, even though they are not sick. Too late for some of us, who have already been exposed to these folks while on the Carrie B today. Hope that Purell does the job it says it does. We used it all day long.

 

Anyway, we said our goodbyes, and got back to the ship right before the rain began. It started lightly, but by sailaway, the rain was coming down hard. We had hoped to see friend Karen, who had disembarked today, speeding by the ship in a small boat. Guess the weather cancelled that trip for her and her friends. We did watch for her, but all we saw was the pilot boat.

 

The ship finally left late at about 6pm. We hardly ever leave on time from this port. Also, we got a new Captain today, Fred Eversen, the alternate commander who takes over now and through the summer months when the ship is in Alaskan waters. Fred is a cool guy, very accessible, younger than most captains, and well liked by the crew. He always remembers us and the other folks that stay on from the world voyage.

 

Tonight we changed from the lower dining room to deck five, because fixed seating is always upstairs. Open seating is downstairs on deck four from now on. Prior to the cruise ending, we had requested a twosy-foursy on the railing. Translated, that means a table for four set for two. So we are now at table 83, and are happy with it. On our way into the dining room, a new guest was entering with shorts on. Even though they were nice shorts, we wondered if he would be stopped. To our surprise, Presti, one of the head managers, came running from the kiosk, and informed him that he needed to have long pants. His only excuse would have been that he did not get his luggage yet, and could not change. We never did hear the excuse, so he must have left quietly. Perhaps he did not know about the rules. Now he does. And so does everyone else that was in line near him and his wife.

 

All through dinnertime, we saw what we thought was flashes from cameras. No, it was lightening, which continued for hours. Cool. After dinner, we took our usual walk to find the rain was coming down hard and the thunder was roaring constantly. Gosh, we sure hope this storm will be gone by tomorrow. Last year, it rained all the way to Aruba.

 

By the way, we did hear a story about the embarkation being delayed for the new people. Hard to not hear since we were all in an elevator, this lady blamed the leftover world cruise folks who reportedly refused to leave the ship this morning to clear the roster. Hmmm, that's new to us, as we were part of this number of guests. We said nothing.

 

Anyway, the beat goes on, as the new cruise begins.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[rafinmd]

Bill and Mary Ann, like so many others have said, thank you for taking us along in spirit. I look forward to wrapping up the final segment of next year's world cruise with you in body next year.

 

Roy

[KNOT2L82SAIL]

Bill and Mary Ann.... I second the big thank you for continuing your blog. I was sooo happy to see a new entry. I have taken that same tour in Fort Lauderdale and loved it. Good thing I did not see a snake!

Stay healthy ...and I will be looking forward to your next entry.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your reports and stay well.

[Cindy]

 

The "good evening" cards on the bed also said it all this fine night.........ships that pass in the night are quickly forgotten, but nights on the ship are remembered forever. We can second that thought.

 

Tomorrow ends the world cruise, and begins a new one that will take us through the Panama Canal and back to the west coast of California. Looking forward to it.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

I enjoyed every one of your posts...thanks so much for sharing your magnificent voyage with us.

I got a little misty-eyed reading this post. I just love the sentiment on the "good evening" card! That may soon find itself cluttering up my Cruise Critic signature!:)

[bcnvcanada]

Your last entry of the world cruise was awsome. I have enjoyed your blog every day, with coffee and now will have a few more days. Enjoy you days in the sun and relaxing.

[WCB]

Report # 122 Day at Sea May 2, 2013 Thursday

 

Day two at sea found the folks on the Amsterdam about back to normal as far as routine is concerned. As for us, we showed up for breakfast later than usual, expecting our favorite table for two to be occupied by new people. We were happy to find that our usual greeter had saved the table, remembering that we were still on the ship for two more weeks. The only difference we found this morning was that there was a long line of folks waiting to be seated. Suppose it takes a while for the staff to match the faces to their room numbers. It comes easy to them on a world cruise, because most of us are here so long. Now they have to start over and over for 7 and 14 day cruises all summer. Actually, there were some changes with the food this morning compared to the world cruise. There were no more butter flowerettes in the bowl....only thin square pats of butter. The last of the cute glass jars of jam are almost gone, replaced by the round aluminum containers. It all tastes the same, but the presentation is not as nice.

 

One good thing, the rain had stopped and we were left with mostly cloudy skies and pleasant breezes. Perfect walking weather. You can spot new cruisers immediately, when they insist on walking clockwise around the promenade deck. We have to admit there is no written rule that suggests we walk counterclockwise on this ship. But it becomes a dangerous thing when people cut the blind turns around the bow and aft sections. Too bad it takes an accident or two before it is printed in the daily newsletter to all walk in the same direction....counterclockwise.

 

All morning, we passed by a string of lowlaying islands. We could not see any buildings, but did spot sandy beaches and trees. Checking out the ship's map, we saw that we were cruising the northeast part of Cuba, then much later, we dropped south and went in between Cuba and Haiti. In fact, at 10pm this evening, we saw the lights on the island of Cuba.

 

Wondering about the size of the crowd at the back pool, we set off to see the changes there. As it turned out, there was no huge mob like we had last year. Could be the overcast skies kept the sunbathers inside, but that was just fine with us. The amount of lounges did increase by double with 45 chairs on each side of the pool. There's still plenty of room to spread out. There was new music being played on the outside speakers, but quietly. That changed when Kevin, the now Show Host, came out to recruit guests to play name that tune at 1pm. Since he had no takers, he promised to leave us in peace and quiet until 1:30pm, when another set of pool games was to begin. By then, more people had come out, and he found enough to make two teams. He conducted two very funny contests, and awarded silly prizes to both the winners and runners up. He may have cut the games time short, because we could hear thunder in the distance, and rain looked imminent. We did not stick around to find out.

 

Lunch came via room service, while we worked on downloading photos from yesterday and finished typing reports. TNT is back with multiple episodes of Bones and Castle, two of our favorite series. Sure we have probably seen some of these shows, but they are much better than some of the movies we have viewed a dozen times this trip alone. We could have attended the complimentary wine tasting we had been invited to. But as we do not drink much wine, it would be a waste. It's still nice to be asked.

 

Dinner was good this evening, and so was the service from our new waiters. Having a table for two means timely service and hot food. Nestor, our favorite wine steward who we have known since 2007, came by and stopped to visit once the busy part of his wine pouring was about over. He must be moving up in the business, because he has an added computer job in the beverage manager's office for the last two years. And it is well-deserved if he moves into a higher position sooner or later.

 

Passing through the casino around 9:30pm, we can say that it was fairly crowded with gamblers there. Many of the slot machines have signs on them indicating that it is OK to smoke, as long as you are playing the machines. A busier place was in front of the stores on deck five, where the 75% off sale was still in progress. All of the leftover 2013 world cruise clothing was being snatched up rapidly. We bought some things ourselves earlier in the day.

 

One more day at sea, and we will be in Aruba.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[WCB]

Report # 123 Day at Sea May 3, 2013 Friday

 

When we got into the elevator on our way to the dining room this morning, a lady joined us and remarked quite loudly that today was FRIDAY. Of course, she was referring to the carpet on the floor that said "Friday", like no one else knew that. And we all went along with it and decided we all wanted what she was drinking this morning. Ha, ha.

 

Actually, the line was longer getting into the dining room, because we were told that over 200 people showed up all at once to be seated. Make sense that most everyone will take advantage of the nicer aspects of this trip like dining room service, since it only last 15 to 20 days. Panca, one of our favorite assistant waiters, said he felt like it was 1000 people, as he was busy trying to fill all of our coffee cups. We had a long wait for our waffles and french toast, but we had no where to go in a hurry, so it did not matter.

 

During our walk, we noticed that there is no more free lemonade being served on the promenade deck. Instead, one of the bar staff fellows came out with a cart full of bottles and mixes for cocktails. Also, we may have forgotten to mention the warning about bringing alcohol onboard from now on. Only wine and champagne will be allowed. This rule was ignored for the last 115 days, as the world cruisers bought copious amounts of liquor from every port.

 

We spent the afternoon at the aft pool, where we did listen to more up-to-date music, although it was loud. We think they test out the group, and if no one complains, they play what they like. The majority of the new passengers are from Canada, and are really fair. For some reason, they insist on trying to get a tan in a couple of days. Even using sunscreen, it cannot be done. We know. Anyway, lots of these folks are sporting some serious sunburns, still sitting at the pool, but covering up with the towels. At least, it was not that hot today. The weather has remained pleasant, but mostly cloudy and overcast. Perfect set-up for burning. Anyway, one humorous gal came over to us and said, "Holy doodle dogs! Where did you get those tans???" We really laughed, because we never heard that phrase before. Perhaps it is a Canadian expression or it was the beer talking.

 

Later in the afternoon, we went to the front desk to inquire about our shipboard credit for this 15 day cruise. We have not had a statement since April 14th, so we did not know where we stood. At first, the nice gal said that we got all of our credit in January, which prompted us to say this was a separate cruise with a different booking number. Finally she found that the credits had been posted last night. One of the credits came from booking this cruise while on last year's world cruise, the second one came from our travel agency, and lastly, one came from owning Carnival stock. It will come in handy, because now that the world voyage is over, we have to pay the daily gratuities of $11.50 a day per person. The total of the shipboard credit should cover this expense. Convenient.

 

On every back-to-back cruise, we have always gotten some extra perks. They include chocolate-covered strawberries, a small bouquet of flowers, and a complimentary Pinnacle Dinner. So far, this has not happened. Also missing is the canvas bag for the 4 star Mariners. Maybe this will all come later, or maybe not at all. Will keep you posted on that. We did have a special invite to a cocktail party with Captain Fred tomorrow evening in the Crow's Nest. Being that it will be held in the starboard side, we assume the group will strictly be the leftover world cruisers.

 

Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant for us tonight. This will be the first of two meals we were gifted by being 5 star Mariners. Also a nice perk. The food and the service were better than excellent, although we felt like we needed a long walk outside after eating.

 

Tomorrow we shall be in Aruba, a fun stop for us. Hopefully, the Captain was wrong about the chance of rain.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[startwin]

Bill, you raise some very interesting points (additional perks to going on a World Cruise)..... being able to bring "copious amounts of liquor onboard in ports"...... now having to pay the $11.50/day service charge. Do you not have to pay that whilst on the World Cruise?