Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Join Pete and Judy on their FIRST World Cruise on the Amsterdam

The-Inside-Cabin

By The-Inside-Cabin,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the pic of the dining room. Looks festive!

 

I noticed the small tables don't seem to have the bowlers. I can understand no umbrellas over the smaller tables, but there should be room for the hats. I wouldn't want to be left out of the fun if I were at a small table.

Or am I just not seeing correctly?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks for the pic of the dining room. Looks festive!

 

I noticed the small tables don't seem to have the bowlers. I can understand no umbrellas over the smaller tables, but there should be room for the hats. I wouldn't want to be left out of the fun if I were at a small table.

Or am I just not seeing correctly?

 

Every table and place setting received a bowler, alternating black and gold. This picture was taking while they were still setting up, so they may not have finished.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
Every table and place setting received a bowler, alternating black and gold. This picture was taking while they were still setting up, so they may not have finished.

Thanks for the info. Glad I asked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Oceans are vast, open spaces and sailing across the Pacific day after day is a constant reminder. Since we left Panama I have not seen another ship, of any size, except when very near our ports of call. Now I don’t spend that much time scanning the horizon, but this is consistent with my Navy cruising as well, seeing another ship in the middle of the ocean is rare.

 

When we started the cruise we had our room steward instruct the mini bar stewards to empty our mini bar of the liquor bottles and restock it with 5 diet cokes, 5 ginger ales and 2 beers. The good news is that the mini bar attendant checks our fridge every day and replaces what we have used. Going thru the mini bar steward gives you the mariner discount on your purchases as well and you never have to think about restocking the fridge since it happens automatically.

 

GMA-dancers-singers.gif

 

The Amsterdam singers and dancers were the guests on Good Morning Amsterdam. They each had an opportunity to introduce themselves and give a brief overview of their background. This show is always interesting and is a great way to start the day. The show is not broadcast live, but is looped a few times throughout the day.

 

Barbara presented her port lecture for Waitanga, Bay of Islands in New Zealand, our next port of call. We learned, among other things, that New Zealand is holding a referendum this year to change their flag to a completely different look. I kinda like the new flag, but we won’t get a vote.

 

I entered my first black jack tournament today. For $10 you are given $1500 in play chips and play 7 hands. The tournament takes place over 3 days and the top two people for each day meet in the finals on the third day. I needed to win 12000 in 7 hands which would require an aggressive approach. I went “all in” on the first hand, with the dealer showing a 7 and me being dealt 15. I hit and drew and ace, hit again and bust. The dealer had 16 and drew a 10 and busted, but I was out….I will try again tomorrow.

 

All of the daily activities are in the “On Location” program which is delivered to your cabin around 6pm each evening. A copy of each “On Location” is available on the blog under World Cruise Reference so you can see the wide variety of activities available on a world cruise. Far more than you find on a shorter cruise.

 

Judy and I usually share a plate from the Lido for lunch. Today we had some delicious turkey meatballs and fish and chips. The food has been exceptionally good at every venue this cruise and is clearly a notch above what we have experienced on our last short cruise, a 7 day Alaska. For example, on shorter cruises the “always available” shrimp cocktail in the MDR is on the skimpy side – on this cruise, the always available shrimp cocktail has giant shrimp that you normally find in the Pinnacle.

 

The weather remains near perfect and I took a stroll on the Promenade to check on the repair progress for Tender 9. One of the props has been removed but not much other progress was visible from our vantage point. They have closed the promenade under the tender so you can’t walk a continuous circles around the promenade so people have little choice but to walk in both directions as they complete their laps around deck 3. While most of the people affected by the incident took the incident in stride, we heard that one couple was demanding compensation for missing lunch on the ship and being forced to buy lunch ashore. Horrors!!

 

The BINGO game was scheduled for 4pm and I was there to try my luck one more time. Unfortunately only 15 other people had the same idea so the game was cancelled as they need at least 20 people for the game to take place. However as some consolation, they gave everyone 3 Grand Dollars for showing up.

 

Tonight is a Gala night and the theme is “Bowlers and Bumper Shoots”. I wandered down to deck 5 about 4pm to see what the dining room looked like as they had finished setting up for the evening. A “Bumper Shoot” is an umbrella and a “Bowler” is the hat as you would expect. Above each table was an open umbrella, and at each place setting was either a gold or black bowler cap.

 

While checking out the dining room, I discovered Debby Bacon, the Piano Bar star, rehearsing in total silence on an electric keyboard wearing headphones. She creates a lot of music every night and is simply amazing.

 

Dinner was amazing. The Gala dinner menu is on the blog. Most of the people at our table ordered the Lobster Pot Pie – which was fabulous. Really good with a lot of lobster in a delicious sauce baked to perfection. The Key Lime pie for desert was fantastic and the service remains perfect.

 

Tonight’s entertainment was provided by Adam and Lisa Press of La Musica, with whom we had dinner a few nights back. They were fabulous and sang a wonderful variety of classic hits with modern arrangements. The highlight was a beautiful medley of the classics from Phantom of the Opera. They received an enthusiastic standing ovation.

 

La-Musica-Gif.gif

 

We stopped by the Crow’s nest about 11:15 to see what was going on – and we discovered that the dance floor was fairly busy and everyone was having a great time! A little surprised to find this much energy this late on a world cruise but it was good to see.

 

More photos, menus, complete list of daily activities and more on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

Edited by The-Inside-Cabin
Link to comment
Share on other sites
WeBeCruisers?

WeBeCruisers?

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just started following your postings can you summarize what a world cruise is, etc. (I can assume and I have read your opening) and more importantly how you take your notes, do you have a voice to text phone, do you take notes all day long, as you go or do you summarize at night? Thx in advance.

 

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

Edited by WeBeCruisers?
Wording.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Just started following your postings can you summarize what a world cruise is, etc. (I can assume and I have read your opening) and more importantly how you take your notes, do you have a voice to text phone, do you take notes all day long, as you go or do you summarize at night? Thx in advance.

 

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

 

 

I carry a note book and an iPad and jot done notes and reminders all day...if the lighting is ok I will take a snap and post an update on the spot..more on what is a world cruise later 25aa8472c1ca147dffc4fed6daa0efd9.jpg

 

Another beautiful day at sea

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

Posted
  • Author
Posted
That's awesome!!! Is there a charge for this class, or are all fitness classes free of charge? Thanks for posting this. Cherie

 

 

The Tai Chi class is free. There is an extra charge for cycling, yoga Aqua aerobics is free as well

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NMLady

NMLady

Posted
Posted
Won my first Texas Hold Em Tournament.

 

Congrats. I am impressed. My husband loves those Texas Hold Em tournaments.

Since you are brand new to the game, I am doubly impressed at your win.

I love your enthusiasm for so many of the shipboard activities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 25, Sailing towards Waitangi

 

I started yesterday’s post with the comment that I rarely ever see another ship while cruising the vast Pacific. Early this afternoon I open the curtain to my room and look outside and see the container ship ANL BINDAREE of Monrovia which just goes to show, that while such sightings are rare, they are not impossible and no sooner than you state you never see something is a sure sign that one will soon appear.

 

Good Morning Amsterdam was moved to the Queens Lounge, the large theater, because the guest would be author Paul Theroux and he was expected to draw a crowd. I wandered down a little early and caught the end of the Tai Chi class that was in progress. The Tail Chi class is offered every day at 9am in the Queens Lounge and attracts about 70 students.

 

The Queens Lounge was 90% full at 10 AM when Good Morning Amsterdam started with author Paul Theroux. As you may recall, Paul was the author of the book “The Happy Isles of Oceania” that we received as gifts a week or so ago. Paul explained how he still writes one book a year and he writes everything longhand and never uses a word processor. As a seasoned world traveler, he responded to a question that his favorite place to live is the North shore of Oahu followed by Nantucket Island in the summer.

 

Today’s cooking demo was preparing Dutch Raisin Rolls and Onion Bread. The Amsterdam Bakers discussed the proper way to knead and prepare the dough and offered a few other tips. They had some samples already prepared that were shared at the conclusion of the show.

 

Paul Theroux offered to sign copies of his book at 1pm in the lounge across from the Ocean Bar on Deck 5. He spent 2 hours signing 375 books and the waiting time was about 45 minutes.

 

Book-Signing.gif

 

Guest speaker Alan Wright explained how to star gaze in general and in the southern hemisphere in particular. He offered to lead stargazing excursions up on deck 10 any evening when the skies are clear, but unfortunately the forecast is for overcast skies and not ideal for viewing stars. He will be aboard until we reach Sydney so we are hoping we will have some good conditions before then.

 

I entered my first Texas Hold’em tournament today and this is the first time I have played Texas Hold’em, ever. I spent the last week reading and studying “Texas Hold’em for Dummies” and watched a tournament a few days ago. The buy in is $60 and you then play with $4000 in casino chips. There were a total of 10 players and the objective is to be that last man standing. I played true to the book’s recommendation and found myself holding my own and after 1 hour, it was down to me and one other person. On the final hand I was dealt a pair of threes and went “all in” and it turned out that this hand would be all that I needed and won me the $350 first place prize.

 

Pocket-Threes.gif

 

The Promenade deck has re-opened all the way around as the work on Tender 9 has paused or they have gone has far as they can onboard. Now that you can walk underneath the tender, you can see the damage to the hull remains.

 

There are 6 male dance hosts available during the evening hours to dance with the ladies. They are quite popular and are rarely not dancing.

 

Before dinner, I stopped by the Queens Lounge at 7:15, one hour before the first show, so see how many people were already waiting. There were about 75 people already in position.

 

Half of our table was invited to the 3rd Captains dinner of the Cruise. Everyone on the full world cruise will be invited sooner or later and the dinner takes place every Saturday if the ship is at sea. Below is a photo of the menu from tonight’s dinner. Starting at 6pm in the Pinnacle Grill, each dinner has a special menu that is not repeated. Our tablemates reported that the dinner was fabulous – it tasted great with an amazing presentation. Everyone also received a porcelain salt and pepper shaker with the Holland America Logo. We heard that preparation for this meal starts at 3am an continues throughout the day.

 

Menu.gif

 

Bobby Brooks Wilson wowed the crowd with another high energy show at 10pm. He has a wonderful sense of humor and puts on a great show. One woman was so enthralled that she threw a red bra onto the stage, but it wasn’t clear if she was wearing it at the time or brought a spare from her cabin.

 

More pictures on the blog, along with the daily "On Location" guide

http://www.theinsidecabin.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whogo

whogo

Posted
Posted

"this is the first time I have played Texas Hold’em, ever." Oh, how many times that has been heard around the poker table!:)

 

I have been enjoying your blog immensely. Neat that Paul Theroux is onboard, I'm a big fan. I prefer his travel books to his fiction, just reread The Great Railway Bazaar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...