John and Diane are at it Again!

[alsas]

We will miss you and will follow along from the Rotterdam all the way around. Have booked Asia pacific 2014 and the world for 2015 we areSure we will make new friends to add to all the wonderful friends we have met over the years. Safe and wonderful travels and love to everyone from us.

[Johnny B]

Well, I guess it's official now: the luggage was picked up today and is on its way to San Francisco! It's actually pretty exciting, but not nearly as exciting as actually getting on the ship. We'll be seeing some old friends but missing others - Alan and Sandra, we really think you should be on this one.

 

Our history with cruising goes waaaay back. John comes from three generations of fishermen in Morro Bay, Cayucos, and Avila, but he'd MUCH rather travel by cruise ship than by fishing boat. When we were first married, it was in the days when wives put their husbands through college, and my first job offer was at a travel agency. It turned out that the cheapest way to travel ($50.00 each way from San Francisco to Hawaii for 5 days!) was by ship (the Lurline) and that just got us hooked. We sailed both ways a couple of times and then through the canal to Nassau, and now here we are, following the same route and ready to begin our fourth world cruise.

 

There's just something magical about being on a ship, and the two best things as far as I'm concerned are sailing through the tropical evening watching the moon and the stars and sitting on the balcony looking for flying fish. Nothing else even comes close.

 

We're so happy to have so many kind responses and hope to have the old blog live up to your expectations. We're going to try to attach a couple of photos from way back when as well as from our 50th anniversary party this summer. Hope it's not too shocking.

[Johnny B]

Failed on the first try, but here's our anniversary party photo.

[innlady1]

Failed on the first try, but here's our anniversary party photo.

 

WONDERFUL! I so look forward to your blog...yours is my favorite!

[Storylady]

Failed on the first try, but here's our anniversary party photo.

Congratulations on 50 years! And you both look great now and also then. Will look forward to reading your blog although I will have to read it when we return from the Grand Voyage to SA on the Prinsendam. Understand the Amsterdam and the Prinsendam will be docked in Lima together for two days.

 

Are you doing a private safari with others from Cruise Critic or is this something you planned on your own? Am curious as we will have plans to sail on the Rotterdam around Africa next year. So will be especially interested in your African Adventures.

 

Love the detail in your live reports. Thanks again for your detailed reports which do take time to do and precious internet minutes to send. Hope you see some improvement in the internet speed when you get onboard the Amsterdam. Thought I read that they were upgrading the service from slow to slightly faster.

 

Bon Voyage!! have a fantastic Cruise!

[Johnny B]

We booked our Africa overland with a company called Perfect Africa and dealt with a young man named Ryan. It's not terribly cheap (like our India overland a few years ago) but we have wonderful rooms in very high-end accommodations (like Livingston at Victoria Falls) as well as private guides and drivers. We figure it's worth it for this type of a trip. Hope your 'round Africa cruise is wonderful.

[Starr Mtn]

There's just something magical about being on a ship """"

 

Absoluately agree ! Always so enjoyable being able to share

your cruise experiences. I've been fortuntate to cruise albeit

handicpapped - and almost about 2/3 around the world - and

formally from CA - So you are taking me the rest of the Way !"

Wish I new a better way - so THANK YOU !

[Storylady]

We booked our Africa overland with a company called Perfect Africa and dealt with a young man named Ryan. It's not terribly cheap (like our India overland a few years ago) but we have wonderful rooms in very high-end accommodations (like Livingston at Victoria Falls) as well as private guides and drivers. We figure it's worth it for this type of a trip. Hope your 'round Africa cruise is wonderful.

 

Thanks very much for the info.

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks for the photos! I have been reading along since you started your threads and loved every one of them. My husband will say, "what did the teachers do today?", so it is nice to see whom I am reporting on.

 

Looking forward to your cruise with great anticipation. Have a great Christmas and New Years onboard!

[Johnny B]

In regard to our overland tours, I forgot to mention that no matter how upscale our excursion may be (like using only Oberoi hotels in India), they are always half the cost of HAL's shore excursions or less. Using a tour agency inside the country where we're traveling has always helped keep the cost down too.

[cccole]

Can't wait to "join" you on this cruise. Thank you for the early Christmas present. Will you have some new ports of call on this cruise? Cherie

[trikeman]

We got a small taste of what it would be like on a WC this year with a 30 day cruise. I envy anyone who can do this and I'm happy for them. We will be reading you posts and dreaming about doing this some day. Have a great trip and if you have time please add a little bit more enjoyment to your cruise every day for us who have to put up with the snow.:D

Edited December 13, 2013 by trikeman

[Johnny B]

It's easy to add enjoyment to a world cruise. John and I believe that anyone who thinks they have anything to complain about while on a world cruise really needs to have an attitude adjustment. We are just sooooo lucky!

[SilvertoGold]

It's easy to add enjoyment to a world cruise. John and I believe that anyone who thinks they have anything to complain about while on a world cruise really needs to have an attitude adjustment. We are just sooooo lucky!

 

Very nicely said and this could be applied to any cruise!

[madera1]

Looking forward to following your trip. Love your photos and reading about your first cruise. We will be in Cayucos for New Years. We love the central coast.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Scrapnana]

It's easy to add enjoyment to a world cruise. John and I believe that anyone who thinks they have anything to complain about while on a world cruise really needs to have an attitude adjustment. We are just sooooo lucky!

 

I agree! Looking forward to reading of your adventures. Enjoy!

[Johnny B]

John grew up in Cayucos! Have a great holiday.

[Johnny B]

Thanks for asking about new destinations on this year's cruise. One of the things we love about HAL's world cruises is that there are always several ports where we have not called before. This year is no exception, and sailing from San Francisco adds even more. We will call in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia, three countries to which we have never traveled, and we're looking forward to seeing many of the historical sights in each of them.

 

While we've been to some ports in the South Pacific, this year we're adding Fiji and New Caledonia. In 2012 we were scheduled to call in New Caledonia, but storms off South America forced a change in itinerary so we had to miss that one.

 

Two fairly exotic destinations that we're looking forward to are Yap, in Micronesia, and Papua, New Guinea. After college, we had hoped to serve the Peace Corps in Micronesia, but John's draft board didn't look kindly on that. When I think of New Guinea, I think of headhunters, but that doesn't seem to be a problem any more (one would hope).

 

A port we've been looking forward to for years is The Seychelles. We were scheduled to call there in 2010, but there were problems with pirates in the area, so we had to cancel - so sad. We're hoping we have better luck this time, and since it's an overnight port, we're even thinking about staying in a beachfront hotel for the night, but not sure yet.

 

While we've been to South Africa, our African overland adventure will take us to Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe to see as many animals as possible as well as Victoria Falls.

 

After Namibia, where we called in 2010, we'll stop at St. Helena (where Napoleon died) and Ascension Island before continuing to The Gambia, Senegal, and Cape Verde, all new ports for us. After that, we are homebound across the Atlantic.

 

We do love to visit new places, and nearly walk the leather off our shoes when we visit them. We also enjoy return visits to places like Sydney and Thailand because there's always much more to see. You'll be hearing probably way too much about our new discoveries, so we hope you'll stay with us until then.

[Lady Chew]

 

Looking forward to reading about your adventures again. I use them as ammunition to "persuade" Mr Chew to take a world cruise one of these years!

 

We were supposed to go to Papua New Guinea on our Grand Voyage in Sept2012, but just a few days before we were scheduled to arrive, there were some sort of protests going on, and the port was cancelled at the recommendation of the port agent. They could not guarantee the safety of passengers, and were afraid that a busload of tourists could become a target of some sort. We never found out what the whole story was ...

Edited December 15, 2013 by Lady Chew

[Storylady]

Thanks for asking about new destinations on this year's cruise. One of the things we love about HAL's world cruises is that there are always several ports where we have not called before. This year is no exception, and sailing from San Francisco adds even more. We will call in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia, three countries to which we have never traveled, and we're looking forward to seeing many of the historical sights in each of them.

 

While we've been to some ports in the South Pacific, this year we're adding Fiji and New Caledonia. In 2012 we were scheduled to call in New Caledonia, but storms off South America forced a change in itinerary so we had to miss that one.

 

Two fairly exotic destinations that we're looking forward to are Yap, in Micronesia, and Papua, New Guinea. After college, we had hoped to serve the Peace Corps in Micronesia, but John's draft board didn't look kindly on that. When I think of New Guinea, I think of headhunters, but that doesn't seem to be a problem any more (one would hope).

 

A port we've been looking forward to for years is The Seychelles. We were scheduled to call there in 2010, but there were problems with pirates in the area, so we had to cancel - so sad. We're hoping we have better luck this time, and since it's an overnight port, we're even thinking about staying in a beachfront hotel for the night, but not sure yet.

 

While we've been to South Africa, our African overland adventure will take us to Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe to see as many animals as possible as well as Victoria Falls.

 

After Namibia, where we called in 2010, we'll stop at St. Helena (where Napoleon died) and Ascension Island before continuing to The Gambia, Senegal, and Cape Verde, all new ports for us. After that, we are homebound across the Atlantic.

 

We do love to visit new places, and nearly walk the leather off our shoes when we visit them. We also enjoy return visits to places like Sydney and Thailand because there's always much more to see. You'll be hearing probably way too much about our new discoveries, so we hope you'll stay with us until then.

When calling at Noumea, there is a Hop on Off Bus offered in the Cruise Terminal. We wanted to go to the Aquarium. The person we bought the tour recommended purchasing tickets for the aquarium. He took US dollars. But the aquarium didn't. Several people got there, but were disappointed that they couldn't get in the museum. So if you plan to see some of museums either pay up front or make sure you have local money.

 

I hope you make it to Yap. It is totally unique. Make sure to go where the houses with Stone Money are located. There are several within walking distance of the center of Colonia. And there are some Stone Money Paths. It has been years since we have been there, but I do remember one close to town. When we were there we took a guided tour to the North End of the island one day and the south end on another day. Unfortunately, there isn't enough transportation on the island to accommodate the Amsterdam, but there is plenty to see in the heart of Colonia. When we were there, it was recommended that women not wear short shorts. And it seems it still is recommended that women and men not wear the short shorts--see info below from Yap tourist bureau.

 

"I have heard about Yap's intact culture, and I don't want to offend anyone. What should I wear or do when visiting the villages?

 

Women should cover their thighs when in public places. Long shorts (down to the knee) or sarongs are fine, as are jeans or slacks. Men should also not wear shorts that are "too short". Bathing suits should be used for swimming or on the boat or poolside."

 

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to reading your adventures. Wish I could write as well as you do!!!

Edited December 15, 2013 by Storylady
Missing a word

[azrose]

saying "bon voyage" as I follow your journey!

[cccole]

Thank you for taking the time to give some details about your ports of call!!! I can't wait. When we were in San Francisco for the America's Cup there was a cruise ship in port and I thought how beautiful it would be to sail out of San Francisco Bay. Wishing you a fabulous Bon Voyage, Cherie

 

p.s. In case you have time in a post can you tell us how you chose the room you will be in for this voyage?

[TENNCruisers]

We are looking forward to following your adventures. Enjoy and safe travels.

Orlin and Barbara:)

[c&c4me]

We enjoyed sailing with you on the 2008 & 2012 World cruises and will be following your blog on a daily basis. Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Darrel & Karen

[Scrappy cruiser]

Safe travels to you! I will eagerly look forward to all of your posts. Thanks for taking us along on this adventure.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Scrappy cruiser