San Diego to Montreal in 134 Days

[richwmn]

It is time for another long cruise and I am going to attempt to post something each day chronicling my journey. I don’t consider this to be mine alone, so if anyone wishes to add their views please do.

 

This cruise consists of four bookings all on Volendam. I start with the holiday cruise to Mexico.

 

FRI 22DEC23 Sail from San Diego, California, US 5:00pm

SAT 23DEC23 Sea Day

SUN 24DEC23 Cruising Bahia Magdalena

MON 25DEC23 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

TUE 26DEC23 Pichilingue (La Paz), Mexico 8:00am 5:00pm

WED 27DEC23 Loreto, Mexico

THU 28DEC23 Mazatlan, Mexico 11:00am 5:00pm

FRI 29DEC23 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 7:00am 3:00pm

SAT 30DEC23 Zihuatanejo (Ixtapa), Guerrero, Mex

SUN 31DEC23 Manzanillo, Mexico 8:00am 4:00pm

MON 01JAN24 Sea Day

TUE 02JAN24 Sea Day

WED 03JAN24 Debark Ship San Diego, California, US 7:00am

 

Followed by the Grand Australia and New Zealand.

WED 03JAN24 Sail from San Diego, California, US 4:00pm

THU 04JAN24 Sea Day

FRI 05JAN24 Sea Day

SAT 06JAN24 Sea Day

SUN 07JAN24 Sea Day

MON 08JAN24 Sea Day

TUE 09JAN24 Honolulu, Hawaii, US

WED 10JAN24 Honolulu, Hawaii, US 6:00pm

THU 11JAN24 Hilo, Hawaii, US 8:00am 5:00pm

FRI 12JAN24 Cross International Dateline

SUN 14JAN24 Sea Day

MON 15JAN24 Tabuaeran (Fanning Island), Kiribat 8:00am 5:00pm

MON 15JAN24 Crossing the Equator

MON 15JAN24 Cross International Dateline

MON 15JAN24 Sea Day

TUE 16JAN24 Sea Day

WED 17JAN24 Sea Day

THU 18JAN24 Pago Pago, Tutuila, American Samoa 8:00am 5:00pm

THU 18JAN24 Cross International Dateline

SAT 20JAN24 Apia, Upolo, Samoa 8:00am 5:00pm

SUN 21JAN24 Sea Day

MON 22JAN24 Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands 8:00am 5:00pm

TUE 23JAN24 Lautoka, Fiji 8:00am 5:00pm

WED 24JAN24 Sea Day

THU 25JAN24 Mystery Island, Vanuatu

FRI 26JAN24 Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia

SAT 27JAN24 Noumea, New Caledonia 8:00am 5:00pm

SUN 28JAN24 Sea Day

MON 29JAN24 Sea Day

TUE 30JAN24 Brisbane, Australia

WED 31JAN24 Sea Day

THU 01FEB24 Townsville, Australia

FRI 02FEB24 Cairns, Australia

SAT 03FEB24 At Sea (Great Barrier Reef)

SAT 03FEB24 The Ribbon Reef Region

SUN 04FEB24 At Sea (Great Barrier Reef)

SUN 04FEB24 The Far North Region

MON 05FEB24 Scenic Cruising Torres Strait

TUE 06FEB24 Sea Day

WED 07FEB24 Komodo Island, Indonesia

THU 08FEB24 Sea Day

FRI 09FEB24 Sea Day

SAT 10FEB24 Darwin, Australia

SUN 11FEB24 Sea Day

MON 12FEB24 Broome, Western Australia, Australi

TUE 13FEB24 Sea Day

WED 14FEB24 Exmouth, Australia

THU 15FEB24 Sea Day

FRI 16FEB24 Fremantle (Perth), Australia

SAT 17FEB24 Fremantle (Perth), Australia

SUN 18FEB24 Sea Day

MON 19FEB24 Albany, Western Australia, Australi

TUE 20FEB24 Sea Day

WED 21FEB24 Sea Day

THU 22FEB24 Port Lincoln, Australia

FRI 23FEB24 Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island, Austral

SAT 24FEB24 Adelaide, South Australia, Australi

SUN 25FEB24 Sea Day

MON 26FEB24 Melbourne, Australia

TUE 27FEB24 Sea Day

WED 28FEB24 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

THU 29FEB24 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

THU 29FEB24 Port Arthur, Australia

FRI 01MAR24 Sea Day

SAT 02MAR24 Sydney, Australia

SUN 03MAR24 Sydney, Australia

MON 04MAR24 Sea Day

TUE 05MAR24 Sea Day

WED 06MAR24 Milford Sound, New Zealand

WED 06MAR24 Cruising Fiordland Natl Park

THU 07MAR24 Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealan

FRI 08MAR24 Timaru, New Zealand

SAT 09MAR24 Akaroa (Christchurch), New Zealand

SUN 10MAR24 Wellington, New Zealand

MON 11MAR24 Napier, New Zealand

TUE 12MAR24 Tauranga (Rotorua), New Zealand

WED 13MAR24 8:00am

THU 14MAR24 Auckland, New Zealand

FRI 15MAR24 Waitangi (Bay of Islands), New Zeal

SAT 16MAR24 Sea Day

SUN 17MAR24 Sea Day

MON 18MAR24 Nuku alofa, Tonga 8:00am 5:00pm

TUE 19MAR24 Cross International Dateline

TUE 19MAR24 Sea Day

WED 20MAR24 Aitutaki, Cook Islands 8:00am 5:00pm

THU 21MAR24 Rarotonga, Cook Islands

FRI 22MAR24 Sea Day

SAT 23MAR24 Bahia d Opunoha, Moorea, French Pol

SUN 24MAR24 Bahia d Opunoha, Moorea, French Pol

MON 25MAR24 Huahine, French Polynesia

TUE 26MAR24 Papeete, French Polynesia

WED 27MAR24 Papeete, French Polynesia 5:00pm

THU 28MAR24 Fakarava, Tuamotu, French Polynesia

FRI 29MAR24 Sea Day

SAT 30MAR24 Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesi

SUN 31MAR24 Sea Day

MON 01APR24 Crossing the Equator

TUE 02APR24 Sea Day

WED 03APR24 Sea Day

THU 04APR24 Sea Day

FRI 05APR24 Sea Day

SAT 06APR24 Debark Ship San Diego, California, US 7:00am

 

Next we have a transit of the Panama Canal from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale.

SAT 06APR24 Sail from San Diego, California, US 3:00pm

SUN 07APR24 Sea Day

MON 08APR24 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

TUE 09APR24 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 8:00am 3:00pm

WED 10APR24 Sea Day

THU 11APR24 Huatulco, Mexico 8:00am 2:00pm

FRI 12APR24 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala 10:00am 6:00pm

SAT 13APR24 Sea Day

SUN 14APR24 Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera), Costa 8:00am 6:00pm

MON 15APR24 Sea Day

TUE 16APR24 Enter Panama Canal Balboa

TUE 16APR24 Cruising Panama Canal

TUE 16APR24 Exit Panama Canal Cristobal

WED 17APR24 Cartagena, Colombia 11:00am 5:00pm

THU 18APR24 Sea Day

FRI 19APR24 Sea Day

SAT 20APR24 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

SUN 21APR24 Debark Ship Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 7:00am

 

And finally, moving from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal.

 

SUN 21APR24 Sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 3:00pm

MON 22APR24 Sea Day

TUE 23APR24 Sea Day

WED 24APR24 Newport, Rhode Island, US

THU 25APR24 Boston, Massachusetts, US 10:00am 7:00pm

FRI 26APR24 Portland, Maine, US 7:00am 1:00pm

SAT 27APR24 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 10:00am 6:00pm

SUN 28APR24 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada 10:00am 6:00pm

MON 29APR24 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 8:00am 5:00pm

TUE 30APR24 Cap-aux-Meules, Iles de la Madelein

WED 01MAY24 Sea Day

THU 02MAY24 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

FRI 03MAY24 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

SAT 04MAY24 Debark Ship Montreal, Quebec, Canada

 

Quite a bit of this will not be new to me, but I expect to have a very nice cruise.

[rafinmd]

Have a wonderful time.

 

Roy

[TiogaCruiser]

Safe travels to you and thank you for taking us along.

[aring75]

Thanks for taking the time. Looking forward to following along!

Bon voyage 🥂

[Lady Arwen]

Wow!  This sounds fantastic….a true adventure.  Thank you for sharing this experience with us.  I’ll definitely be following along!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I like your itinerary. Have a wonderful time!

[richwmn]

I realized after my first post that my spacing was off, just like the beginning of last year where I copied the style. I moved down in my posts from last year to get the spacing that worked best.

 

My travel this year actually started on Tuesday. A friend volunteered to take the 90ish mile trip to take me to a hotel near the Atlanta Airport. I have no interest in getting up at 3am in order to get to the airport two hours early. I stayed at a hotel I have used before that is nice and only about 10 minutes from the terminal. Not much can go wrong in 10 minutes, but there is still a chance.

 

When I checked into the hotel, I asked for a 7:30am shuttle, and they suggested that 7:00am might be better so I took that. From the time I left the hotel to arrival at the gate took me about an hour and a half. I was surprised at how close some people were pushing their arrival. In the shuttle I talked to two ladies who were flying to Los Angles a day late after missing their flight the day before due to problems with TSA.

 

When I left the hotel the Delta App said my gate would be A29. When I checked in, it had been changed to B37, no problem. I got to the gate plenty early and was checking Cruise Critic when I realized that it was about time to board and they were still boarding another flight at B37. I checked the App again and the gate had been changed – I never heard a notice. Luckily the new gate was B31, very close. I was one of the last to board. After we boarded there was an announcement that our flight time would be about 4 hours rather than the scheduled time of over 5. That put us into San Diego about noon. Since I was in no hurry, I didn’t arrive at my hotel until about 1, and they did have a room available for immediate check in. I recognized the hotel as one I had stayed in before.

 

So far I have had a good nights sleep and have made up 2 hours of the time difference. I woke up at 4am. Hopefully a little better tomorrow. The included breakfast was good and the San Diego weather is messy today and expected to stay the same.

 

[Alberta Quilter]

Wow, have a great time, Rich!  I really enjoyed Isles de la Madelein!  I hope you do, too.

[Cruising-along]

Enjoy your time in San Diego and the Volendam, Rich!  Looking forward to sailing with you again (this time for 94 days!)  

[aliaschief]

Enjoy your cruise Rich. Great itinerary. We may cross wakes as the Onward and Volendam are in the general vicinity especially around Australia. 
Bon Voyage! Volendam was our first BHB cruise in 2007.

[pmjnh]

Wow, just wow! Have a wonderful cruise(s). Bon Voyage!

[VMax1700]

Hope you have a great cruise and wonderful adventures.

Bon Voyage!

[ottahand7]

Have a great time Rich!  What an itinerary.   Glad you made it to San Diego expediently.   

[dfish]

[kazu]

You have an amazing adventure ahead of you, Rich 👍. Looking forward to all of your posts and even more, joining you on April 21st 🙂 

 

I hope you have an absolutely fabulous time.  Bon Voyage!

 

[richwmn]

1 minute ago, kazu said:

You have an amazing adventure ahead of you, Rich 👍. Looking forward to all of your posts and even more, joining you on April 21st 🙂 

 

I hope you have an absolutely fabulous time.  Bon Voyage!

 

Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of months

[Bill B]

That's the best B2B-B2B I've seen!

[cunnorl]

Have a wonderful and safe trip Rich. Thanks for taking us along.

[Hlitner]

WOW, what an amazing itinerary :).  I love the round trip trans pacific and am very jealous.  Enjoy the cruise and best wishes for calm seas, great weather, good health, and lots of fun.

 

Hank

[CNSJ]

Wow!  A great trip indeed.  I wonder how this 134 day trip compares cost wise to the World Cruise?  

[canadianbear]

What an amazing, amazing cruise!   Have a fabulous time!  Will be following along to hear about your journey.  

[richwmn]

13 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

Wow!  A great trip indeed.  I wonder how this 134 day trip compares cost wise to the World Cruise?  

In general terms, about the same. However, you have to realize that a large part of it is a 'Grand Voyage' so that is part of the deal.

[cruising sister]

Have a great time and I will see you in a couple of weeks!

[Overhead Fred]

[sunviking90]

Have a wonderful cruise! We are very envious. Your itinerary is fantastic and I think I would much prefer it to a world cruise. We are just off the Volendam December 10th and she’s in great shape.