Month: January 2019

January 31, 2019 – Salaverry, Peru

We arrived at this port at about 2:30 am. I could feel a tug pushing us and I felt I was going to roll out of bed. We have arrived!

Today we had an early tour. Our destination was Trujillo and we were to see the downtown area and then on to a museum and archeological site.

Other than the guy selling hats, not too much excitement here. The next stop was a museum. The items in the museum were from a recent archeological find. A 1990 discovery of the Moche Culture. The site is in front of a mountain and was completely covered in sand. 5 to 15 meters in depth. The site is 2000 years old and the relics are in pristine condition. This area of Peru receives rain only every 20 years or so. The dryness and depth of the burial preserved these artifacts. The museum didn’t allow pictures. A quick google search will show some of the artifacts. The Moche Culture prayed to the god of the mountain which provided water and life. Human sacrifices were given.

We finished our tour and arrived back at the ship at 2 pm. A cold towel and glass of lemonade was waiting for us next to the “Welcome Home” sign as we boarded the ship.

We watched the ship pull out of the port at 4:30 pm and went to the Lido Market at 5:30.

We played a game of scrabble in the Library. Waxo is not a word? Who would have thought? Terri plays scrabble like she does golf. I stick to table tennis.

There was an encore performance of saxophonist Akos Laki and Isabel Commandeur. He is a great saxophonist but she is phenomenal. She did some broadway hits and also the classic Ave Maria. What a voice!…

January 30, 2019 – at Sea

We have crossed the equator and are enjoying Summer. I am amazed how calm the waters are and how nice the sun feels. The dome is open above the swimming pool all day long now. This area can get quite warm as it is protected from the ocean breeze. The humidity is very high. We have decided that the lounge chairs outside our room is the place to be. Not too warm. I know it is -13 back home. Not sure if I have ever experienced that temp.

I brought lots of books. I am in the middle of “Lies My Teacher Told Me”. Very interesting read. The focus is on how American History is taught using textbooks that have misleading and inaccurate information.

I’m not sure I want to relive it but “The Worst President in History” is up next. It will make me both angry and happy that it is over. I do have all of the Mark Levin books on my Sony Reader and I will get to those.

Communicating back home is easier than I imagined. We switched cellular carriers last year. I was a lifelong AT&T user and Terri had Verizon. T-Mobile offered 2 lines, unlimited data, and free calling in Canada and Mexico. It also offers unlimited data and free texting in every country save one on this trip. Service has only been 3G on the trip so far but it is still nice to have. This offer was for folks over 55 and is the same cost as we each paid separately. T-Mobile will roam on other cellular networks to pick up the best signal. It does this automatically.

We will dock in Salaverry, Peru tonight. We have a tour to do tomorrow and are looking forward to it.

We had lunch with a couple from Australia. They flew all the way to Ft. Lauderdale from Sydney to do this cruise. One of our stops is in Sydney. I’m not sure how I would feel about that.

We improved our score on team trivia. The winner had 9 correct out of 16 and we had 7. The engineer next to me was busy calculating how long it took the Sun’s rays to reach earth. He was correct. 8 minutes.

We did the golf challenge today. I am a fan of Putt Putt but not a fan of actually golfing on a real course. I expected the huge clown head or Ferris wheel to putt around. It was just a wrinkled up piece of green felt. 2 holes. The winner got a hole in one on each hole. Terri 2 putted each hole.

We did listen to the Station Band in the Crow’s Nest before calling it a night. Great 3 part harmonies. They need better chops on their instruments to match.…

January 29, 2019 – at Sea

Today we are headed south along along the coast of South America. The seas are very calm and there is a nice breeze.

I was up early as usual. I like to read the paper and have coffee. The ship has wifi and all passengers can login through a browser on a phone, tablet, or laptop. The Holland America Navigator appears after a guest provides the proper credentials. Use of this is free and it is useful to:

• view the ship schedule
• book dining reservations
• book shore excursions
• view current account and bill
• chat with other guests

It is also possible to connect to the satellite internet. This is not free and is sold by use or by package. Three different speeds are available. We purchased the high speed and cruise duration package. It is possible to stream with this package but buffering interruptions are common. Only one device per account can use the internet at a time. This can be a challenge at times.

When one is retired and on vacation, time is meaningless. Thankfully the floor mats in the elevators are changed each day to help. I imagine before these mats, conversation in the elevator revolved around which day it is. Think of the absent minded player in a game of Euchre who asks “which suit is trump again?”.

We have been going to breakfast about 6:30 am and then up to the gym on sea days. Breakfast is served in the Dining Room, at the Lido Market, or room service. Guests can choose. We have been dining at the Lido Market which serves buffet style. The food has been very good and plenty of variety exists.

The gym is not very large but we find it adequate. The cardio equipment is placed in from of the windows and one has a beautiful view of the ocean while on the treadmill or elliptical trainers. There are machines, free weights and barbells. There is also a wooden floor where spin classes, pilates, or other classes are given. There are other classes at different locations around the ship. Some free. Some not. The locker rooms remind me of a very high end club. Showers, lockers, sauna. All available.

The lower promenade is where our room is located. It has a wooden deck all of the way around the ship. 3.5 laps around is a mile. People begin power walking and strolling as soon as the sun appears along this deck. We have chairs that are reserved for us in front of our door; we enjoy sitting, watching people and the ocean go by. Our room is on the starboard side of the ship. We will be headed West for a good portion of the trip and we will be looking North outside of our room. Today we head South and have the Western sky and sun. There are numerous locations around the ship to sit. The Lanai room that we have allows us to have easy access to our rooms as we enjoy sitting outside. For those who enjoy complete privacy, there are staterooms with balconies. There are also staterooms with just a window and inside cabins with no windows. After we booked the trip we upgraded form an inside cabin and are happy with our decision. The Lanai stateroom is brand new on the Amsterdam. They were added during a dry dock period last May.

The Grand World Voyage fills very quickly. 80% of the passengers aboard are repeat customers. The 2020 cruise is sold out. The 2021 cruise has a waiting list. There is an area on this ship where one can go to book future cruises. We have met many people who do the this cruise yearly and also do other cruises in between. Each year the itinerary is a bit different to keep things interesting for repeat cruisers. Retiring soon? Book now. Carmelle?

There are 200 crew members taking care of the 1400 passengers aboard. They are extremely friendly and helpful. Who wouldn’t want a warm, moist towel handed over on silver tongs as you stood in line for the tender on the way back from an excursion? Wipe off dust on your face. Warm towel in one hand, cool glass of lemonade in the other. Get the idea?

On the edge of the ship watching the Panama Canal go by? Why not enjoy a special Panama Roll and a cup of coffee brought to you on a platter. Think about anything you have done with a group of people and then imagine everything that could be complained about. Now imagine an answer to all of these possible complaints. We feel quite pampered.

The Captain is quite friendly and appears around the ship often. The entertainers mingle with guests also. Guests are older on this type of cruise and there are no children aboard. We have done the Carnival cruises in the past. 6000 passengers, 16 bars and a huge casino. Kids jamming the swimming pools. Not on this cruise. I do love kids but I like this atmosphere also. Maybe when the grand kids are a bit older we can go back and do one of those.

After the gym we sat outside, read and blogged. We did team trivia. Worst score yet. “This is the only creature that can turn its stomach inside out”. I don’t know why “starfish” didn’t come to mind. It must be common knowledge.

At lunch, we met with Bill the retired marine that we met at dinner last week and shared our excursion schedule with him. He will join us for three of our booked excursions.

At 2:30 a golf putting challenge was scheduled. We showed up and it was a ring toss game instead. I redeemed myself here after the trivia disaster and walked away the winner. The golf challenge is on for tomorrow. This is Terri’s forte.

Tonight is a black and white Gala night and costume ball. What a date I found!

We had dinner with a couple from Arizona. Brenda and Bob. We chose “open seating” for the cruise. It is also possible to choose the same table with the same folks every night. We like the variety. Bob …

January 28, 2019 – Panama City, Panama

We are at anchor in the harbor of Panama City. Very modern looking. Some very bright lights that reminded us of Times Square in NYC.

We were up early and took the first tender off of the ship. Today we visit the Miraflores Lock and Museum and also do a walking tour of old Colonial Panama.

The museum was jam packed full of people. The Pope had just been in town and people came from all over to visit. It looked like a nice hands on museum perfect for children. There were too many people to make it interesting for us. I like history and engineering. I could have learned a few things but chose to go quickly through the museum and watch the locks from the balcony on the third floor.

Lots of politics here. Many banners and flags were held up on this ship. People on the balcony sang songs and waved banners back. Don’t ask me the words. People were also chanting on the balcony. One person held up a cross. Our guide spoke about how people are illegally migrating to Panama because of the economy and the use of the US dollar. Illegals are taking jobs from Panamanians and putting a strain on the social safety net. She said they are very tough on border security.

This is an old school bus from the US. It has been painted, outfitted with lights, and is used as a party bus. The drivers are generally 16 years old and like to race other party bus drivers. Safety seems to be of little concern The seats have been taken out and there are benches along the side. Loud music is played and drinks are served. These busses drive through Panama all night long. The final stop is the Police Station. I would guess that all sober people are off by then.

Our walking tour took place in the old section of Panama. It had walls completely around it (I know what you are thinking) and was settled in the 1600s. Three different influences on architecture here. Spanish, French, and American.

Many of the streets could easily pass for Bourbon Street in New Orleans. All that was missing was some live jazz.

I captured the church organ and the original church roof of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Both still working well. Work on the church began in 1688.

Our tour guide did a nice job and we parted at the port to take the tender back to the the ship. The tour lasted about 4 hours.

Back on the ship we spent the rest of the afternoon on the Promenade deck in from of our room. Nice breeze off the ocean.

We ate dinner at the Lido Market and came back to our room to call it an early night.…

January 27, 2019 – Panama Canal

The San Blas Islands were only about 80 km from the opening of the Panama Canal. By early morning we were at the opening of the canal. The canal runs from the Northeast to the Southwest. Three different sets of multiple locks transport us up to Gatun Lake and back down again. The Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and MiraFlores.

The canal transit took about 8 hours to complete. We spent our day on all sides of the ship but did manage to play team trivia and get a good work out in the gym.

We had dinner with a couple originally from Oklahoma who now live in Florida. They are taking the cruise as far as Australia and then going home. Karen and Ron haven’t done the full world cruise yet but have tons of cruising and travel experience. They lived in Saudi Arabia and Libya for a time when they were young. They have taken many, many cruises like most of the other passengers.

The team trivia earlier in the day didn’t go very well for our team. We decided to try Music Trivia. We would do better at that. Right? Wrong. I expected the game would be played like name that tune. Instead, popular tunes were played and some words would be garbled (aren’t they all?) We had to name the three garbled words. I don’t think I could name them if they weren’t garbled. …

January 26, 2019. – San Blas Islands, Panama

Today stop is a tender port. The islands have no port that a ship this size can get close to so we anchor a ways out and take the ships tenders out to our stop. There are over 300 islands in this group off the coast of Panama. 49 are inhabited and we are stopping at one.

The seas are calm and the tender process went smoothly. This tender/lifeboat is stored right above the walkway outside of our room.

We spent about an hour on this cramped island. The women and children were out selling their goods. The men seemed to be in the huts on hammocks resting. We heard television sets as we walked by some of the huts.

We tendered back and prepared for dinner. Tomorrow is the Panama Canal and the dinner theme is Panama hat night. We did not make dinner reservations in the main dining room so we ate in the Lido cafe. Still plenty of great food.

The main stage featured Mario D’Andrea. Italian born and raised in Australia. Currently he lives in Las Vegas. He opened with El Cumbanchero on his electric guitar. Great tune. He sang some classic Italian tunes, some Dean Martin and Chuck Berry. He is quite spontaneous and the house band members were digging through their charts every time he broke the set list. The pianist at one point just threw up his hands but they all took it in stride. A few times he lost his place in the introduction of tunes because he liked to talk. His final number was a Spaghetti Western Tribute. Great music and a very down to earth guy. …

January 25, 2019 – Santa Marta, Columbia

Our first stop was calm after a rough few days at sea. Santa Marta is at the Northern Tip of Colombia. We booked the HAL Taste of Tayrona excursion. We generally like to travel on our own but the first 6 stops or so were in ports with limited transportation or security issues. When booking a HAL excursion you are assured you will get back to the port on time to board the ship. When doing excursions on your own, you risk missing the ship if something happens with transportation.

We left the ship about 8:30 am. HAL excursions are able to leave first. We boarded busses on our way to Tayrona park which took about an hour. Along the way we saw how people lived here in Santa Marta. It reminded us of the Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Plenty of cars, trucks, busses, and horses pulling carts. People lived in small cinder block homes with corrugated steel roofs. The businesses along the way were constructed in the same way and there was no lack of patrons. It was very hot here but most locals were in long blue jeans.

The bus ride was about an hour and traffic was heavy. We arrived at the park and went for a short hike to the ocean. The park was quite dense with vegetation. We thought we might see a monkey or two; but saw none. The wild life we saw was limited to a few lizards and a gecko. The view of the ocean was spectacular. The waves were huge. We did go for a short swim but the undertow was very dangerous. We munched on some fruit provided by the tour and boarded the busses to come back. Most of Colombia is mountainous and beautiful. 

The largest legal crop in Colombia is coffee. Of course, the real cash crop is cocaine. Another reason we booked the HAL tour was the unknown drug cartels.

We arrived back at the port and had a few hours left before we had to board the ship. We walked into downtown Santa Marta and visited a market with locals selling their goods. Lots of jewelry, fruits, coffee and junk. The shipped was docked in a working port and we had to get on a shuttle bus at the entrance of the port.

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January 24, 2019 – at Sea

Another rough day and night put us near Jamaica.

I started the morning at the gym and hit the elliptical trainer. I decided to do an hour at level 10. What made at even more exciting than usual was the ship moving through the great swells. I really had to hang on. After about 40 mins I decided to look at the different metrics on the machine. I had to push a button to get to the next metric. Steps per minute, steps per hour, size of stride. When I saw the last one I was sure that Leonard Falcone was in the room

Anyone see the significance here?

Terri took in the Abs class. She was back before I was even finished. “Lame” is what I remember.

We did team trivia again and did not do as well as yesterday. The questions were a lot tougher than the previous day and there were a few that had all 6 of us without even a reasonable guess. The same team who won yesterday, won again today.

We spent much of the afternoon in our room. I don’t usually get seasick. I blame it on the quiche right before the treadmill.

Dinner was interesting. After decades in sales, Terri has no problem getting people to talk. People love to talk about themselves and the two couples who we joined constantly stepped on themselves as they tried to one up each other. As we looked across at each other we began to roll our eyes a bit. I sat next to Anthony and we talked about our careers. When he learned what I did he told me that he played the oboe in his High School band. His wife Nancy played the clarinet. (yes Mrs Smith, I did invite them to join the community band). Terri joined in with, “you know Anthony, Jeff always says one bad oboe can kill a 100 piece band”. Anthony muttered something about not liking a reed instrument and the conversation went in other directions. Dinner ended and the two couples left. Terri had some wine left so we sat a bit longer and struck up conversation with a couple at a table next to ours. Turns out Jim and Jean are mutual friends with Tom and Marcia from Bucyrus, Ohio. Marcia worked with Terri for years and Tom makes a mean fried bologna sandwich. He also drives a classic 60s GTO. Great friends.

The evening entertainment was fantastic. Isabel Commandeur from the Netherlands. She was the winner of the show “What’s My Name”. The same show as “American Idol” here.What a great voice. She belted out some great tunes from the 40s – 60s and included Venus by the Dutch group Shocking Blue. It was great show and I am sure we will be hearing a lot of her in the future.

We finished the evening in the Crow’s Nest listening to the Station Band play Latin and Salsa Music. They have a very authentic sound. We felt like we were at Camino Real in Southgate eating a burrito and listening to the mariachi band. One glance at the solid asian band closed the vision.

Tomorrow is our first port. Santa Marta, Colombia

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January 23, 2019 – at Sea

I thought you might enjoy this handy map given to me by the class of 2018. You might see a familiar face if you look at our starting location. I’ll keep the map updated as to our location.

Rain, wind and rough seas all day as we headed around the Northeastern edge of Cuba. Rough seas are typical in this area and we have experienced this on other cruises.

We began to settle into shipboard life today. There is no lack of things to do. We decided to try team trivia. After arriving at the Ocean Bar we learned that teams consist of 6 members. We found a group with 4 people and started to chat it up. Skip, the leader of this group ask where we were from. Michigan!, we said proudly. Not sure if we were of the correct caliber, Skip asked if we knew the Motto of Michigan. “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you”, I proudly beamed. Correctly assuming we were full of useless information, we were invited to join. Skip is from Maryland but went to the University of Detroit. Our team correctly answered 13 of 15 questions. Not enough to win but enough to convince the team to stick together for the cruise.

Later in the afternoon I chose to go for a walk. The walk around the lower promenade was very windy and the ship was being tossed by huge swells. I imagined myself being tossed overboard quite easily. One lap around convinced me that it was much safer inside and we spent the afternoon exploring different areas of the ship.

Dinner was in the main dining room and we were seated at a table for 8. 6 of the people had done this cruise before. One woman was on her 10th world cruise. All of the folks had retired from various occupations. Next to me sat Bill who just retired from the Marine Corp after 23 years. We chatted for a while and I learned he was from Oklahoma. I told him about Dan from the previous night. Dan was also from Oklahoma. Bill had approached Dan at the Lido bar because he was wearing some Oklahoma paraphernalia. I asked Bill if he was by himself (he was) and did he go to the singles meetup (he did). I shared the comment about Aunt B and the smile on his face told me everything.

The evening show was comedian Jeff Burghart. Great impressions of Johnny Carson, Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood. He also did a great impression of Tom Jones, including singing “She’s a Lady”, with a live band for backup. His humor targeted the audience at hand. Very good show. Great laughs.…

January 22, 2019

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Our day began with our neighbor Courtney picking us up at 8:15 am to take us to the airport. What service! We felt better to error on the side of too much time with the crowds we expected at security. There were none. Our flight left about 11 am. Our flight was uneventful and arrived in Miami about 1:40 pm. The Holland America (HAL) folks were there to meet us and called for a shuttle to take us to Port Everglades. When we arrived we again went through security and expected to wait in a very long line as we have done on previous cruises. What a great surprise. We were next in line! Check in took us 5 minutes! A HAL rep collected our passports, took a photo and issued ID cards for each of us. This card gave us access to the ship, our room, and doubled as a credit card for onboard purchases. We later learned that boarding began at noon and ended at 4 pm. Most of the 1400 passengers had already boarded.  We started to get settled into our room as our boxes began to arrive and then our luggage. The king size bed takes up a good portion of the room and we struggled to get by each other as we unpacked. The mandatory lifeboat drill was at 4:15. We constantly saw folks getting re-acquainted with other guests and staff members. 80% of the passengers on this cruise have done this before. Most have been retired for years and are in various sorts physical condition. Unlike our recent trip to Seattle, we feel quite young here!

The lifeboat drill took 15 minutes and Captain Mercer gave us some brief announcements. I couldn’t help but think it was actually Sean Connery when he gave us the ship shheduule. Back to unpacking. We did manage to fit 4 months of clothes and various electronics in our room. Our room has a door to the hallway and one sliding door out to the Lower Promenade. This was an upgrade from the inside cabin we originally booked. 

We had dinner at the Lido market and then we were off to the Bon Voyage party. The Station Band entertained the guests and there was a dance floor.  We sat at the Lido bar and I had a few Martini’s and Terri had some wine. The bar tender decided to mix a “birthday drink” for me (no it isn’t). A mix of Vodka, Gin, and Grand Marnier with a twist of orange. Quite potent. We struck up a conversation with a gentlemen next to us. Dan was a single man about our age. He is currently employed and never married. He did work in Detroit for a few years and we had a lot to talk about. We talked about the age of a good portion of the passengers and it was nice that we were at the bar with folks our age. He had just done the “singles meetup” before the Bon Voyage party. I asked if there were any available women. He said, “yes, but they all look like Aunt B” ! We won’t ever forget that line. We ended up closing the party and went back to our room for the night.

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Ft. Lauderdale 9pm January 22, 2019

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