Almost Live: Maasdam - Seattle to Sydney 2019

[KirkNC]

Just a shout out to Tim who did an excellent job with the M&G!  It was very well attended.

 

i would echo Tim’s positive reporting on speakers.  We are seeing 4-6 talks a day and most are very well done.  The one yesterday on Iwo Jima included a very moving short film with interviews from survivors.

[Btimmer]

The Captain just announced that due to security concerns we are skipping Jayapura, Indonesia which is coming up in a few days after we visit Saipan tomorrow and Guam the next day.

 

Yesterday we passed by South Iwo Jima  which is the mythical home of the Japanese School of Wizardry in the Harry Potter series.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Btimmer

[Krazy Kruizers]

42 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

The Captain just announced that due to security concerns we are skipping Jayapura, Indonesia which is coming up in a few days after we visit Saipan tomorrow and Guam the next day.

 

Yesterday we passed by South Iwo Jima  which is the mythical home of the Japanese School of Wizardry in the Harry Potter series.

 

Great picture.

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am enjoying reading the various reports here.

 

Sorry about another missed port.

[bcummin]

I wonder what is happening in Jayapura, Indonesia?

Barbara

 

P. S.  Google reports protests and riots.

Maybe another port could be substituted???

Edited September 7, 2019 by bcummin

[Ken the cruiser]

Cool picture! As a side question, has Club Orange made it to the Maasdam yet? We're within the final 30 days of our cruise and were curious just in case we got an upsell to a NS.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[Btimmer]

5 hours ago, bcummin said:

I wonder what is happening in Jayapura, Indonesia?

Barbara

 

P. S.  Google reports protests and riots.

Maybe another port could be substituted???

Civil unrest.  There were no options to substitute a port.  We're in a pretty remote area of the world.

[Btimmer]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Cool picture! As a side question, has Club Orange made it to the Maasdam yet? We're within the final 30 days of our cruise and were curious just in case we got an upsell to a NS.

No club orange and I don't expect it to make it to this size ship.

[erewhon]

Super photos of the islands, thank you.

[Btimmer]

We had a good visit to Saipan today.  Here are a few pictures.

 

 

 

The above picture is of Tinian Island from which the B-29's took off to drop the A-bombs on Japan. The 4 runways were not visible to us but are at the top of the low cliffs.

 

The picture below is our location off Tinian  Island.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The reports and pictures are great.

[Adventures Unlimited]

We had a great visit in Saipan yesterday too.  Ours was an underwater visit.  LauLau Beach with Axe Murderers Tours!

 

This is my first try attaching pictures so hopefully it works.

[cat shepard]

6 minutes ago, Adventures Unlimited said:

We had a great visit in Saipan yesterday too.  Ours was an underwater visit.  LauLau Beach with Axe Murderers Tours!

 

This is my first try attaching pictures so hopefully it works.

 

 

Gorgeous pics! Thank you for sharing.

[ScottishMaid]

Awesome pics!

Jill and Joe

[erewhon]

Adventures Unlimited,

Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos

[Btimmer]

It was a wet day in Guam today.  Much of our time was spent at the Micronesia Mall but we did fit in a trip out to Two Lovers Point and got to practice being lovers. Despite the rain it was a good day for us.  We had seen the war related items on our 2015 visit, but we had never seen the main town.

 

Beauty queens passing out leis

 

Sonething guys would appreciate 

 

Two Lovers Statue 

 

 

Perpetual motion machine 

 

port of Guam 

 

[Btimmer]

The Captain just announced that there is another tropical depression ahead of us but since we have an extra sea day available due to missing Jayapura, he may divert us around the worst of the weather.  

 

Currently we're waiting for the Coast Guard to arrive as they are escorting us in some fashion that I don't yet understand.

 

We had a nice send off earlier in the pouring rain.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Btimmer

[Krazy Kruizers]

Different tours with lots of great pictures.

[bcummin]

Thank you, Tim for sharing so much history and details of Iwo Jima and Saipan.  So good of your captain to get Tinian Island included.

I am pleased that the trees on Saipan seem to have recovered since the 2015 typhoon just before we visited.

Nice photos from Guam.  I was surprised how much resentment our 2015 guide there had for the Spanish colonists, which included some of his ancestors.

Barbara

Edited September 9, 2019 by bcummin

[erewhon]

Thanks for the update.

[Btimmer]

Here's the latest routing map for our course to Wewak, Papua New Guinea.  Even if our port stop at Jayapura hadn't been cancelled, we could not have made it due to the storm.  There is quite a bit of motion to the ocean today. In his noon announcement, the Captain noted that much of the waters we are sailed through now have not been accurately charted so we need to stay a fair distance from any land.

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by Btimmer

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the weather update.

 

Great pictures.

[ScottishMaid]

Here's a link to a website with swell. Look at bottom left to see different date predictions.

https://magicseaweed.com/SW-Pacific-Surf-Chart/52/?type=swell

[Btimmer]

Today at the coffee chat the Executive housekeeper announced that instructions from Seattle now ban the creation of towel monkeys.  Political correctness gone amuck. 

[erewhon]

Thank you for showing us the route map to Wewak.

Are the other towel animals still permitted?