MS Amsterdam WC Finale, CPT to FTL

[rafinmd]

Well there are a lot of live commentaries right now with Bill and Maryann, Esri, and JohnnyB, but here's one more. I'm almost packed and the Airport Shuttle picks me up before 7 tomorrow morning. I have a couple days in Seoul and then on to Bali for 4205, Java Sea Jewels to Singapore. I'll actually disembark Symphony a day early to pick up 4305, Temples and Safaris, ending in Cape Town.

 

I have a 4-day layover in Cape Town until the Amsterdam arrives.

 

This thread will be pretty quiet for the next month, but I hope to come back from time to time if there's something of interest to HAL cruisers. I'm going to post links to Crystal's webcams, because there will be a couple of places where HAL and Crystal ships together while I'm on Crystal. If so, I'll try to make a reference to it here. First the Crystal Symphony:

 

http://kroooz-cams.com/symphony/symphony1.php

 

And also the Crystal Serenity:

 

http://kroooz-cams.com/serenity/serenity1.php

 

Each site has 3 cameras of potential, bridge, port, and starboard. The links are to the bridge cameras, but they have links to the port and starboard cameras at the bottom of the picture.

 

In addition to here, I'll be reporting 3 other places.

 

While on Crystal, I'll be reporting on their forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1995613

 

I have a cruise critic thread covering the entire journey set up on the Maryland Cruisers forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1994482

 

My blog with pictures will be:

 

http://wcmedley2014.wordpress.com/

 

Roy

[rkacruiser]

Roy,

 

What a wonderful, adventurous travel experience! May it be a pleasant and very safe one for you! We look forward to whatever/whenever you are able to post concerning your travels.

[Copper10-8]

Awesome itineraries Roy! You're gonna see a lot of nice places and things in the world! Enjoy, take care and be safe!

[aliaschief]

Roy, You have the knack to plan awesome cruises. Wishing you a wonderful cruising experience.

 

We will miss your daily post here on Hal CC but I have to admit to a lot of jealousy.:D

 

Got your link on favorites. Smooth seas my friend.

 

Safe travels and Bon Voyage!

Edited February 24, 2014 by aliaschief

[erewhon]

Roy,

 

Thanks for providing the links so that we can follow your adventures.

 

Sending you best wishes for a fabulous time, good health and safe travelling.

[rafinmd]

Greetings, and thank you all. Well, I'm nowhere near HAL yet but also not quite at Crystal either, and this is enough out of the way I thought it might be of interest. BTW, I haven't seen cabin assignments yet on either Serenity or Amsterdam.

 

The Crystal Symphony is in Lombok, Indonesia. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Halong Bay, Vietnam to Chan May, Vietnam. The MS Amsterdam is at sea from Yap, Micronesia to Manila, Philippines.

 

I set a 5:30 wakeup call but was up a few minutes earlier. The weather in Seoul is colder than Baltimore when I left but warmer than current Baltimore weather, with quite a haze. My room at the Grand Hyatt comes with a daily breakfast buffet and I was down early to be ready for my 7:50 tour departure.

 

The tour was to the DMZ. There were about 15 of us in an 18-passenger minibus. We didn't actually enter the DMZ proper, but were a barbed wire fence away in a "Civilian Control Area" The DMZ is about an hour North of Seoul, almost all expressway.

 

Our first of several stops was at Imjingak, a site just outside the Civilian Control Area. A complex with many facets, there is a summer amusement park, several memorials and exhibits, a place where people can honor their loved ones in the North (and in times of unusual openness there may be some family reunions), and the place where our guide secured our permits to enter the Civilian Control Area. Our time here was quite short, and there was a space with a number of ribbons that appeared to be family memorials, but I didn't quite get there.

 

On leaving Imjingak we entered the Civilian Control Area via a bridge. We stopped at a check point where MP's (all young Korean men are required to perform 21 months of military service, although steps are under way to reduce it to 18 months) came on the bus and inspected all our passports.

 

Our first stop in the Civilian Control Area was "The 3rd Tunnel". Our time there started with a 7-minute video depicting the war and hostilities since. After the video we saw a model of the Panmuneom village where the cease fire was hammered out. While the intense warfare has stopped, there is nothing like peace. The north has made several actual and attempted attacks over the years. In the attempted realm, it is believed they have dug about 20 tunnels across the DMZ although only 4 have been discovered. I'm not sure when the tunnels were dug, but ours was the 3rd to be discovered, in 1978. It is about a mile long, and 73 meters below the surface, and I think is the only one open to tours. The authorities are very restrictive about photography, and especially here. We had to put our cameras in a locker and go through a metal detector before entering the tunnel. Our guide Sue did take photographs of us starting down the tunnel, but she went no more than 50 meters down the 350 meter access tunnel. Once down, we had access to about 250 meters of the original tunnel, but I turned back quickly to save my strength for the climb back to the bus. The tunnel was about 6 feet wide, and I bumped my helmet on the roof, although there was pretty much room to stand up.

 

Our second stop was at the Dora Observatory. This hill is probably about 70 meters above the surrounding countryside, and a viewing platform is mostly reserved for the military but one end is accessed by visitors. Photography is allowed, but only from behind a yellow line about 10 meters back from the wall at the edge of the platform. Standing near the wall I could see a little bit through the fog and haze, but from the camera's vantage it was pretty much just fog. There were military observation towers all along the fence and one was within camera range. Dora also had a souvenir shop.

 

Our final DMZ stop was at the Dorasan Train Station. South Korea is geographically a peninsula, but is effectively an island since land access to the rest of the world is blocked off. There have been times where the North Korean Regime has been relatively open, and in the past train tours to the North have been possible. Tracks exist that would permit rail access from Seoul all the way to Europe, but of course it isn't politically possible. The people of South Korea have improved the facilities with first rate track and a lovely station, all ready should the political climate allow it. A map in the station shows rail access to Beijing, Moscow, and Paris, a pipe dream waiting to happen.

 

Returning to Seoul, we made that imperative shopping stop at an Amethysts store, and we were dropped off at Itaewon station about 1:30, where a Hilton shuttle returned me to the hotel. I spent most of the afternoon and evening in the hotel, but did take a couple of short walks. Dinner was at the hotel.

 

As today's parting shot, this has been a once in a lifetime experience. I had just passed my 10th birthday when the Armistice was signed. I have few real memories of the Korean War but it certainly influenced my early childhood. Seeing a little of the area as it was then and is now has been a real eye-opener. At this time Korea's President is talking of unification, but the prospects seem quite dim at the moment. I think our best hope is that the extremely repressive regime will be the spark that brings the will to end it. Let it be soon.

 

Roy

[Copper10-8]

Interesting tour Roy! They didn't let you go to Panmunjeom and the Military Armistice Commission Conference Room?

[aliaschief]

Roy, I'm really enjoying following your Blog. Great pics and read. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe.

[rafinmd]

Interesting tour Roy! They didn't let you go to Panmunjeom and the Military Armistice Commission Conference Room?

 

Not on this tour. There are 2 separate tours, the other goes to Panmunjeom but would not have visited the tunnel. There was also a combined tour which I probably should have considered, but not the day after a 15-hour flight. I have a 7-hour flight this afternoon, so all in all, I don't regret taking it a little bit easy.

 

Roy

[Copper10-8]

Not on this tour. There are 2 separate tours, the other goes to Panmunjeom but would not have visited the tunnel. There was also a combined tour which I probably should have considered, but not the day after a 15-hour flight. I have a 7-hour flight this afternoon, so all in all, I don't regret taking it a little bit easy.

 

Roy

 

Got it! Safe flt and outstanding upcoming cruise(s)

[kazu]

Wow Roy, your adventure is off to a great start. Nice to hear you got there safely and totally agree that you take it easy on day one. Can't blame you one little bit :)

 

Sounds wonderful - I will be following with a bit of green around the gills (envy not seasickness).

 

Looking forward to cruising vicariously with you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have a wonderful cruise(s).

That is some adventure you are embarking.

Bon Voyage!!

[erewhon]

Roy,

 

Thank you for your interesting report.

[rafinmd]

Thanks all and a quick update. I' currently sitting in KAL's Business Class lounge in Inchon, will board in about 1 1/2 hours and should be in Bali just after midnight.

 

I don't expect to post today's yet to be finished post here but thought I'd share that today's likely parting shot will be more of a question than a statement. I noticed that the Seoul area has a lot of water and wondered if there were ever any cruise ship visits. I found that cruisetimetables listed the port of Inchon and the first cruises I saw were Ocenia and Regent. Thinking the port might be too small for Crystal or HAL I took the schedule a bit further out and was surprised to find visits listed by RCI and Princess listed. Does anybody remember any HAL visits to Inchon, and what ships and how long ago.

 

Roy

Edited February 27, 2014 by rafinmd

[jbhcw]

thank you very much for posting your blog on CC!! Am enjoying all the WC threads and have bookmarked yours!! Safe travels:)

[rafinmd]

This thread will be pretty quiet for the next month, but I hope to come back from time to time if there's something of interest to HAL cruisers. I'm going to post links to Crystal's webcams, because there will be a couple of places where HAL and Crystal ships together while I'm on Crystal. If so, I'll try to make a reference to it here. First the Crystal Symphony:

 

http://kroooz-cams.com/symphony/symphony1.php

 

Each site has 3 cameras of potential, bridge, port, and starboard. The links are to the bridge cameras, but they have links to the port and starboard cameras at the bottom of the picture.

 

Roy

 

Tomorrow we are due to be in Samarang, along with the Rotterdam. With a little luck you should be able to see it on at least one of Symphony's webcams.

 

At this time we are exactly 12 hours different from Eastern time.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

My apologies for what turned out not to be very good information about Semarang. Regrettably, the Symphony does not have (or at least publish) an aft camera, which is what would have been needed.

 

I was a bit surprised that the Rotterdam was not yet in sight when I left on my tour at 8AM, but I did see a few passengers with HAL stickers in Borabodur, and it was on the dark side when I returned from my tour. Here's the Rotterdam passing my balcony on her way out to sea.

 

 

 

The Rotterdam was just briefly visible on our bridge camera, shown here in the upper left corner.

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

And also the Crystal Serenity:

 

http://kroooz-cams.com/serenity/serenity1.php

 

Each site has 3 cameras of potential, bridge, port, and starboard. The links are to the bridge cameras, but they have links to the port and starboard cameras at the bottom of the picture.

 

Roy

 

Well, I hope I'll have less egg on my face this time but the Crystal Serenity arrives in Singapore tomorrow and with luck the Amsterdam will appear on her webcam (above). My tour starts about the time the Serenity arrives, but I'll try to check the webcam sometime during the day.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Just a quick note that the Crystal portion of my journey is almost complete, and I'll be picking up this thread in a couple of days. Still no cabin assignment.

 

Roy

[RuthC]

Nice to hear from you, and looking forward to reading about the HAL portion of the trip.

(my, but those two earlier cruises seem to have gone by quickly!)

[Boytjie]

Enjoy Cape Town!

[innlady1]

Just a quick note that the Crystal portion of my journey is almost complete, and I'll be picking up this thread in a couple of days. Still no cabin assignment.

 

Roy

 

As always, I'm enjoying following along on your adventures...what a wonderful itinerary you have...continue to enjoy, Roy!

[hallpau]

Thanks all and a quick update. I' currently sitting in KAL's Business Class lounge in Inchon, will board in about 1 1/2 hours and should be in Bali just after midnight.

 

I don't expect to post today's yet to be finished post here but thought I'd share that today's likely parting shot will be more of a question than a statement. I noticed that the Seoul area has a lot of water and wondered if there were ever any cruise ship visits. I found that cruisetimetables listed the port of Inchon and the first cruises I saw were Ocenia and Regent. Thinking the port might be too small for Crystal or HAL I took the schedule a bit further out and was surprised to find visits listed by RCI and Princess listed. Does anybody remember any HAL visits to Inchon, and what ships and how long ago.

 

Roy

 

Roy,

In response to your question. HAL Amsterdam usually visits Incheon on their Grand Asia voyages. I was there on the 2011 Grand Asia and looking forward to visiting again on the 2014.

 

Pauline

[rafinmd]

Thanks all. BTW, for my fellow sailaway addicts there was a familiar site at my last port of call, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Like the Florida ports, this one had the familiar white truck.

 

 

Roy

[Scrapnana]

Roy,

 

Hope the last leg of the World Cruise is great! I have not been able to keep up with your trip so far due to slow or non-existent internet. I will catch up when I get home.

 

Have fun!

 

Kathi