The Captain gives an update on position and other information everyday at noon. He has absolutely no experience with using a microphone properly and his entire report is unintelligible. His first few words can be heard but then he drifts off and the rest is history. Fellow passengers on the ship have made similar comments and it is obvious when he speaks. No one listens because it cannot be understood. Kimberley follows the Captain with an update and she speaks very clearly. The Broadway training helped. Even the comedian we saw the other night made a joke about this. “This is Kimberly and I am here to tell you what the Captain just said…” This received a ton of laughs.

What I can gather from the Captain and Kim’s interpretation is that the stop at Macapa was for Port Authorities and/or immigration. I also believe we took on some pilots to navigate the Amazon River.

It is very hot and humid. Upper 80s and humidity level very high. At Kimberly’s port talk the other day she gave future forecasts for the area for next week. “We are expecting a high temperature of 59 f next week”. Huh? I had to laugh but our reliance on other people and the technology they use shows that we often don’t use enough common sense. Yes, 59 f is the forecast for Santarem, Portugal. Santarem, Brazil is on the other side of the planet. Kimberly said that this seems to be unusual for the Amazon area but that she would keep us “updated”. Many of the cities in Brazil were named after cities in Portugal. Maybe this is news to some but I’m sure some of the passengers here pulled out their sweaters.

The Amazon River from the rear of the Zuiderdam.

https://youtu.be/dXCj1QaeoyE

This video was taken shortly after we began to move from Macapa toward Santarem.

A sand bar in the middle of the Amazon. The home is probably an Airbnb.

Team trivia went quite well again. Mary seems to know most of the answers the rest of us get stumped on. We knew where the first highway was created, the number of claws on a cat, and the European country that has experienced the most battles. We missed the IQ number that represents the beginning of genius level (obviously). We had a tiebreaker. “How many earth years does it take to equal a year on Neptune”. We missed it.

Having a balcony or at least a window is very important on cruises, especially long ones. The inside cabin on a Carnival Caribbean cruise is fine. It’s the atmosphere of the many bars on dance clubs that the cruise is about. On this type of cruise, an inside cabin leaves one wondering. What is happening outside? Are we moving? Are we approaching a city? What does it look like? You will be asking yourself these questions anytime you are in the cabin.

We went up to the sports deck to swing a practice driver that we brought. It is a good workout and is supposed to increase your drive distance and accuracy. The latter is what I need.

We heard a group of percussionists out on the Lido. It was a group of instructors teaching the afro-brazilian style of music. I sat in for about 30 mins. They had snare drums, bass drums, tambourines and agogo bells. It was a blast. One of the instructors said that in order to play this style of music, you have to know how Brazilians dance. The puzzled look again on my face. Don’t people dance to the music that is made and not the other way around? Must be a failure in my education.

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon watching the ship traveling the river off of our balcony.

I have been keeping up with the news and I really have no respect for judges anymore. I lost respect for lawyers a long time ago and I guess a judge is just another lawyer but one that can’t be questioned. I have been to court many, many times with my businesses. Judges can make up law anytime they choose. No lawyer that has to work in the judge’s courtroom will ever question him/her (is it them now? I can’t keep up) . Take to judge to the judicial tenure commission? Not a chance.

Dinner was great as usual. I’m sampling every different dessert on the menu. 4 straight days of creme brûlée has made me somewhat of an expert. The opera cake was fantastic. Cheesecake also a hit. Not sure if there is a dessert I won’t like or try.

Cards to finish the evening under some distant lightning at the rear of the Lido. Few insects. I expected more but I am not disappointed. Terri is up 2 games to one.…

Day 8Day 8

Today we traveled southeasterly toward the opening of the Amazon River. Full speed when we left Devil’s Island but now we slowed to a crawl. Timing is important to cross over the opening of the river as it is shallow and the Captain is going to cross when the water is at it’s highest. Good thing we decided not to brush our teeth today.

I expect to see tablecloth’s being reused at dinner this week and also the towels around the pool. We all have to make an effort here as no one could have possibly planned for this. Maybe they will notify the next cruise ship that comes into the Amazon the conditions here so they can plan in advance.

Team trivia is going quite well. We knew what the Leaning Tower of Pisa was originally used for and which poison is believed to be a cause of the fall of the Roman Empire. Napoleans’ height? I said 5′ 6″, the team elected 5’4″. Answer – 5’6″. What did ancient Egyptians use as pillows? We also got that right. Maybe it was our experience at Pompeii that taught us this.

We crossed over the “bar” into the Amazon at about 1:30. You could see the fresh, sandy, water from the Amazon mixing with ocean water. Land could be seen far off the bow but nothing off the port or starboard side. The water now was all the color of the Amazon. A brownish, sandy color.

Dinner is always a 90 minute experience. Most folks observe the dress requirements but there are those who insist on wearing jeans. Jeans remind me of hard work. Dress clothes feel like leisure. Maybe few agree.

I am using a small portable router that I carry around with a battery pack. This allows us to share the one internet connection that we purchased. It also lets us both use our laptops, ipad and phone at the same time. Without this, each device has to either login and kick the other device off or one has to purchase internet for each device. This is the way to go. The internet is not cheap onboard.

The evening entertainment was a second show of Camila Andrade. I feel that most of the entertainers that do the cruise ships only have one show in them and we decided to skip this. We played cards out on the Lido. Lights dimmed because of the insects of the Amazon. The sky was full of stars and it was really incredible. A pretty fierce game of cards turned sour as a strong gust of wind blew the cards off the table. Wasn’t I winning? We called it a night.…

Day 7Day 7

French Guiana

We arrived this morning to Devil’s Island at about 7:30 am. This is a tender port and the Captain spent sometime with anchoring and positioning of the ship for the tendering process which was to begin at 8 am. The water was rough.

From our balcony we can see three islands. These are known as the Salvation Islands and are off the coast of French Guiana. I remember a trivia question that asked what the southern most bordering country of France was. The answer was Brazil. France considers all of its territories to be part of France. These islands were part of the now infamous French penal system.

The island referred to as Devil’s Island has been closed since 1953. We will be visiting Ile Royale. The other island is known as Saint Joseph Island. St. Joesph Island was known as the Reclusion and was used to punish prisoners in solitary confinement. Devil’s Island was used mainly for political prisoners. It operated from 1852 to 1953. There were many escapes from the island and probably the most famous was Henri Charriere who wrote the best selling book Papillon in 1969. The book was made into a movie in the early 1970s. Dustin Hoffman and Steve Macqueen starred in the movie that showed the harshness of the penal system. The film opens as I remember it with an execution by guillotine. Some of the scenes were shot on Devil’s Island.

Ile Royale was the reception center for the general population of prisoners. They were housed in moderate freedom because of the difficulty in escaping. You can view the mainland from these islands but even if you did manage to swim ashore, you are still in a foreign land, far from home. There is a restoration project on this island to preserve and rebuild the structures that remain.

We went down the exploration cafe to get tender tickets at about 7:30, expecting a crowd. Since it was very hot and also raining, few passengers were there. We managed to get on the first tender at 8 am and arrived at 8:15. We spent two hours wandering around viewing the sites and also did a walk around the island. It was very hot and humid. By 10:30, we were ready to head back to the air conditioned ship.

We spent the afternoon on the promenade deck and did some reading in the shade. We had a view of the islands and of the tenders going out and coming back.

Many graves from the 1930s. Prisoners were buried at sea.

The evening entertainment was comedian Sid Davis. Sid’s humor was based on telling stories about his experiences in life. One of the stories he shared was about how his father was sent to the store for certain items and came back with the “no name” brand for every item. Instead of laundry detergent “All” it was the brand called “Some”. He had a hilarious list of items. He also recalled his experience with Cap’n Crunch. He talked about the cereal that tore up the roof of your mouth and left it as raw as a skinned knee. I found it funny that other’s have experienced similar instances with this breakfast cereal.

Kimberley announced a ship wide water conservation effort on the ship. Were we going to run out of water? I was really confused by this. When I got back to the room, a note from the Captain explained that we wanted to have a draft as high as possible going through the shallow sand bar that crosses the entrance to the Amazon. This made sense but to create some urgency or importance to this effort the line “we do not want to have to load up on some possible unsafe water from this region”. I think this is something learned from the government. Don’t appeal to the intelligence of people, play to their fears. I have visited the ships water department and they have all of the sanitation facilities necessary. My guess is that no water can be dumped into the Amazon and they are trying to limit the amount in the holding tanks. I’m sure the fear works better than anything.…

Day 6Day 6

The seas are getting rougher as we move along the coast of South American towards Devil’s Island. Walking from one side of the hallway to the next is now common practice for all passengers and crew. It almost feels normal.

Our balcony on the back of the ship was a great idea. This part of the ship receives the least amount of wind and we will have the best seats in the house as we move up the Amazon river over the next week.

We went to the gym after breakfast and hit the treadmill. Pure concentration is needed to stay on the belt as the ship rocks back and forth. It’s a built in extra workout.

Terri went to team trivia after lunch and then to watercolor painting. I went to the port presentation given by the cruise director Kimberley. Tomorrow will be our first tender port on this cruise and we have been warned of rough seas. If this is the case, the ship’s tenders may be cancelled and we will skip Devil’s Island. If we do proceed, tendering may be vey slow as some of the passengers will struggle to get on the tender as the swells move the ship up and down.

The experience down the Amazon will take us to four stops in Brazil. We have been warned about heat/humidity and insects. Keep the balcony doors closed.

I spent time on the balcony after the port talk spraying clothes with insecticide and letting them dry. I am using a potent mixture that was recommended by the nurse who administered all of our vaccines on the 2019 cruise. Yellow Fever is the concern on Devils Island and Malaria in the Amazon. We have already been taking hydroxychloroquine to prepare.

Terri reported that the team did very well and that she knew Juliets last name in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Who knew? I would have guessed Smith.

I brought many books to read on this trip but have barely had a chance to read. I am almost finished with Henry Winkler’s “Being Henry”. An easy and very good read. He is very funny and talks about his struggle with dyslexia and not being diagnosed until age 34. I highly recommend it. Very entertaining!

Dinner in the main dining room is slow but our seats offer a great view. The Lido offers most of the same food at a cafeteria style setting. I prefer the more formal dining room and having the chef decide on the balanced portion of items that are presented with your entree. The Lido reminds me more of an all you can eat style restaurant with folks lining up at the food troughs. Over eating is very easy to do.

The evening entertainment was percussionist David Meyer. It took most of his performance for me to remember that we saw his act back in March of 2019. A very exciting show where he played an instrument called the xylosynth. It was a 3 octave keyboard instrument where he used 4 mallets. 2 in each hand. The show was exactly the same as it was 5 years ago but was still great. Baba O’Riley was the opening number and the closer was the March from Carmen. I gave his show a 10. Very impressive!…

Day 5Day 5

Trinidad and Tobago

Today we arrived in Scarborough, Tobago. Tobago is one island in the Country of Trinidad and Tobago. According to our cruise director Kimberley, Trinidad is the much larger and more industrial island. Trinidad is one of the largest exporter’s of oil and natural gas. Tobago remains closer to it’s natural state. Trinidad and Tobago are off the northern coast of Venezuela.

We decided back in our days of planning that Tobago was so similar to the many Caribbean Islands that we have been to that sight seeing was out and golf was in.

The ship was docked and ready for passengers to debark at 8 am. Our tee time was 10 am at the Magdalena Resort (formerly the Tobago Plantations Golf Course).

Uber was out in Tobago but TT Ride Share was available. I downloaded the app, created an account, was verified by the company and was ready to go when we hit the dock.

We grabbed our clubs which I had stored on our balcony and were off the ship by 8:15. Luckily our T mobile account was good here and we had cellular service. Service was good but the availability of drivers was not. Not one driver appeared on the app. Probably works better in Trinidad.

This left us at the mercy of regular cab drivers. Most of the folks getting off the ship were boarding busses for tours they booked through HAL or other organizations. Cruise Critic is a popular 3rd party platform that many also use.

We went up to the Taxi stand and were told that it was $50 USD to get to the course. When I used the ride share app to get an idea of costs a few days back I got a price of about $5 USD. The $50 quoted was round trip. I haggled as best I could and managed to get it down to $45.

It was a 20 minute drive down the coast to the course and the sights along the way reinforced our decision to play golf. The ocean was beautiful but the surrounding town was poor and run down.

We arrived in time to hit a bucket of balls to warm up and get on the course an hour early. I gave our driver instructions to pick us up at 2:30 pm. All aboard was 4:30.

The course was in good shape and very challenging. The wind was a factor as the ocean was in view for many of the holes. The course was lined with many beautiful homes.

We finished our round at about 1:15 and sat outside and had a drink. Other folks from the ship were there as this was the end of one of the HAL bus tours.

Our driver arrived on time and we were back at the port at about 3 pm. Ship security approached us as we boarded and said that we cannot store the clubs in our room. They would store them for us (probably next to the smuggled steamer). Less hassle for a us.

No evening entertainment tonight. We finished with a game of cards. We are now tied.…

Day 4Day 4

We have settled on a location on the Lido for breakfast. Doing this, the staff quickly learn your names and habits. Often times, coffee, juice, water, or whatever you have in your morning routine will be delivered to your table without you even asking. Jose is taking care of us.

The food is incredible. There is so much variety and everything tastes great. The executive chef came out to greet passengers at dinner last night. He is a tall and muscular Scot with a heavy accent. I asked if he was responsible for all of the great food. He said that when passengers praise the food his assistant is responsible. When passengers complain, he is responsible. I haven’t seen anyone complain yet but that will be just a matter of time. He would not be someone that I would like to complain to but the age group we are traveling with has reached the point of entitlement and tends to complain freely as a source of human interaction.

It is tempting to want to try the local food when the ship is in port but then the question becomes why? There is so much variety on board. Local dishes are always presented on days in port. It also becomes a question of safety. Can we drink the water in this port? Is it clean? It is easy to see why the all aboard time on these days is usually 4:30 pm. Everyone wants to get to dinner on the ship. No reason to have a later time. There will be no passengers to wait for. They will all be in the dining room.

We often will try a local dish for lunch. If the food is very hot, we feel safe. Getting ill on a cruise would be no fun. We carry ship water with us are quite careful.

The gym has been crowded with yoga and class stretching. Often times these classes will be held at a different location on the ship because they tend to get large. We shall see if they get moved. The tread mills on this ship thankfully don’t have the tv screen that is right in your face. I don’t like these. I’d much rather watch the ocean. The gym is above the bridge. We see what the captain can see.

Team trivia was a first. We answered every question correctly! We are the only team that has an official Canadian team member. Susie answered the question about the name of the first Canadian prime minister correctly. The winning group gets a free drink from the bar! Team trivia is getting better! I sent an email to Jose from our African cruise as he is not aboard. Jose was a professor at MSU while I was a student. He is really an expert in languages and was a key member of our team. He had just finished an Asian cruise and said that he played trivia faithfully with two other folks that were on the African cruise with us.

While we enjoyed our winning drink, the conversation turned political. I asked Susie about a term I had heard others use. Canada is now known as Chinada as it is becoming more like the communist country. She shook her head yes. She is from British Columbia and said that Vancouver is run by the Chinese. She talked about those formerly known as Eskimos, now referred to as Inuits. You can’t call them Eskimos anymore as Inuit is the correct political term. It reminded me of things back home. She had no idea what the DEI office is. My explanation just produced familiar head shaking.

Tonight was a formal night although I left the tux at home as the definition of formal has been softened quite a bit. A suit works fine. Terri looks spectacular here standing next to my Dad!

The evening entertainment was proceeded by the Captain introducing his executive staff. Decades of experience here. Most of the staff works behind the scenes but our cruise director, Kimberley, had a successful broadway career and is doing a great job in her role on the ship. She has the most interaction with the passengers on the ship.

The ship is like a tiny country operating in international waters. The difference between it and a real country is that there is someone to take responsibility for everything that happens on the ship and the people responsible own it. I have many complaints back home but reaching out to Joe Biden doesn’t seem to do anything. Maybe I should try Kamala.

The evening entertainment was the Zuiderdam singers and dancers. They performed a show called “In the Mood” that featured music from the 30s and 40s. Canned music was used but the house band backed up the rhythm section. I’m not sure why but I guess they were part of the show. The vocals were spot on and the dancing was excellent. I’m guessing that all in the group are in their 20s but most carried some extra baggage that I was surprised to see. They will be doing 18 different shows on this cruise.

Tomorrow we arrive in Tobago at 8am.…

Day 3Day 3

Today we learned that Brazil has paused the Visa requirement until April. All of the work, stress, and money for nothing. I’m sure our money will be refunded since we don’t need the Visa. That’s what any good government agency would do. Later in the day we received a notice that there will be no refund but the Visa is good for 10 years! Exciting news!

The Chinese Visa was another experience. Many of the countries that require a Visa also have a timeline that must be followed. An application can only be submitted so many days or months in advance. For China, 6 months in advance for a 10 year Visa.

The Chinese Visa application is available online. It must be filled out online and submitted. Then an appointment must be made. The the applicant must print the application and hand it to a Chinese Consulate at the scheduled appointment time. Where is the consulate? Chicago handles the midwestern states. We drove to Chicago in early October and showed up at our appointment time of 1 pm. Unfortunately, 40 others had the same 1 pm appointment time. We were given a number and a place to sit. The 3 consulate workers behind the glass windows behaved like typical government workers. There is really no one that they report to so they make up the rules as they go.

Out turn came at about 2:30. Efficient. I handed the consulate our application along with 2 copies of each of our passports and a signed agreement that everything is correct, by penalty of law. We also need two copies of our drivers license. This we didn’t have. There was a copy machine in the room but we had no change. Terri scrambled to find quarters. Someone in the room generously gave us some change. Back to the counter. Everything submitted. The consulate took our passports and application, wrapped it in a rubber band and put them both in a pile. “Ready next week.”

Huh?

Can’t you mail them to us?

“No”, said the consulate.

We live near Detroit, I said.

“Have a friend pick them up”, said the consulate.

“Huh? What friend?”

We nervously left our passports and I made plans to return the next week. Each Visa was $180. There are companies that will secure the Visa for you. $1000.00 plus the cost of the Visa. The train ride out to Chicago the next week went well. I felt better when I had the passports back in my hand.

Government at it’s finest.

After breakfast I went to the MainStage to listen to the presentation of the upcoming HAL excursions. Our first Port of Call is Tobago. We have a tee time at 10 am but I wanted to be sure we weren’t going to miss some great excursion.

Terri did some laps around the promenade.

Team trivia went well again. I think this is a winning combination. We missed 3 answers this time. We missed the nautical term RMS but did get the woman who moved in with Don Johnson when she was only 15 and the country that invented the suits on a standard deck of cards. Who knew?

2nd place for our team.

We booked a regular table in the dining room that we will have for the rest of the cruise. Near the window. Great for sunsets.

We ran into Janet and her husband from the 2019 cruise. Janet was a regular on team trivia. Her husband was just an occasional player and it may take a few more days to remember his name.

The evening entertainment was Chris Ritchie promoted as one of the UK’s most sought after entertainers. Chris did impressions of some major male vocalists. Elvis, Neil Diamond, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Tony Bennett. He also sang “Old Man River” from Showboat. Good voice, great range. Nailed most of the vocalist styles. I thought his Tony Bennet was the weakest of all. While he sang he had photos of the musicians behind him. Nice touch but more were needed as they got old during the tune. The house band rocked. They are solid!

We finished the evening on the rear of the Lido with a deck of cards. Terri let me win. I’m up by one!…

Day 2Day 2

Breakfast and then the gym. We did meet a couple that was on the African trip with us at breakfast. Mark and Marcia. We didn’t really know them well but we remembered that they were often on the winning team at team trivia.

It is very easy to over do it in the Lido. Everything you can imagine is offered and it is very fresh and very good. Lots of discipline required here.

The gym was adequate and very similar to the other HAL ships we have been on. It is common to see many members of the HAL dance team keeping in shape and they were there. Nothing like a 22 year old to remind you what you used to look like. The first few days we expected to see folks that will work out one day and never return. The ice cream station calls quite loudly in here.

We had lunch out by the pool. Beautiful day and nice to be in warm weather again. I happened to see Clare walk by and called him over. He was on the African cruise and was a part of our group trivia team. Terri asked if he was still homeless and he said that he now lived in near Reno. He almost appeared to be embarrassed that he was back with the “non-homeless” folks. He said he would join us for group trivia and that Kathy and LJ were on this cruise also. That leaves only Jose missing from the Africa team trivia group.

Team trivia went well and we scored 15 out of 17. We knew the element symbol for Mercury and the Ph of water but missed the author of the book Picture of Dorian Grey and the number of Lords a Leaping from the song the 12 days of Christmas. Number 12 is the only important one in my opinion. We did answer the Ostrich question correct after missing it numerous times in past trivia games. How many toes does an ostrich have on each foot? The winning team scored a perfect 17.

After trivia we went to a Brush Stroke art class. I thought it may be similar to calligraphy but it was very different. I learned to use an ink calligraphy pen in my orchestra class at MSU. Our compositions had to written by hand, in ink. The computer program Finale was still decades away. I sat next to a young lady that appeared to be about 25. I asked here if she was one of the ship’s dancers. “No, I’m a guest”. I’m really not sure why she is on this cruise and what 25 year old has 4 months to spare to go on a world cruise. I did learn that she never learned cursive writing in school and she was surprised to learn that the computer I learned on in college took up the whole floor of a building, yet had less computing power than my cell phone. Terri did nice work here in this class. My art was as illegible as my handwriting.

The Starlink Internet is working fantastic. Finally an internet connection that is fast and stable. Hope this lasts for the rest of the trip. I think this is really going to change things as far as the clientele that is able to do the longer cruises. Maybe it is now possible to work remotely on the ship?

We had dinner in the main dining room and the food was outstanding. We did recognize and said hello to more folks that we have cruised with in the past. It’s really quite amazing that we are saying hello to folks that we haven’t seen in five years.

The evening entertainment was Brazilian Vocalist Camila Andrade. Wow. She performed classics from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Her cover of Girl from Ipanema was outstanding. Of course she sang the Original Portuguese version. What a difference. The house band accompanied her and they were outstanding. It appears that the entertainment is back to where it was pre-pandemic. I’m looking forward to rating all of the entertainment for the rest of the cruise. 10 here!…

Day 1Day 1

Wednesday January 3, 2024

Thanks for joining us on another world cruise.

Today we flew out of Detroit at 10:05. Our neighbor, Courtney, was kind enough to drop us off.

It does take some thought to prepare for being away from home for 4 months. Mail (post office only holds for 30 days now), bills, taxes, yard. What do we shut off? What do we turn down? What stays on?

These are really the easy items. The real challenge is planning what we will do at each stop. About a year of planning is what we spend on doing this. Each stop has a HAL or third party excursion already booked or other plans such as hiking or snorkeling already made.

What to bring? The tendency is to over pack. This is especially true with clothing. A good portion of the trip will be in the southern hemisphere where summer has just started. Most of the day on the ship is in T shirt and shorts. Dinner is different. Nice attire is expected. The laundry turnover is fast so one could really get by with minimal casual and formal clothing. The days in port can be different. I expect it to be rather cold when we get to Japan and China as winter will be close to ending. I think we are prepared because it was 31 degrees when we left Detroit and the attire we wore will work on the coldest days of the trip.

Medication? Good luck getting your insurance company to cover 4 months of medicine up front.

Visas? Which countries require them. It is the responsibility of each passenger to obtain all Visas that are necessary. The Brazil Visa proved to be the most challenging. Brazil made the decision to require those from the USA, Canada and Australia to obtain a Visa. This new requirement goes into effect on January 11, 2024. We arrive on January 10 so a Visa is definitely required. We knew about this requirement sometime in June. An e-visa will be required and the website that handle this will open on December 2. On December 2, I applied for both of our Visas. Four items were required. A copy of the passport picture page, a photo that is 2” x 2”, a bank statement that is current and showed a balance of at least $2000.00, and prove of transportation to and from Brazil. Each item had to be in the correct format, jpg for photo, pdf for the other items and less than 1 mb each. The photo had to have a neutral background with no shadows on the face. It took many tries at uploading. If the file was too big, it would not upload. There were also other reasons the files wouldn’t up load but the reasons remained a mystery. The website was extremely buggy. I had more luck uploading from my phone than I did my computer. After many, many hours, all files were uploaded for both of us. As I later learned, this was no reason to believe that all requirements were met. I received an email from the visa service that Brazil hired that they needed a bank statement uploaded. Unfortunately, there is no one to argue with. I uploaded the same bank statement and then tried to call the visa company. No one answers the phone. I sent an email and received an automated response. “Someone would get with me in no more than 48 hrs”. I’m still waiting for them to do that. I even went on X and sent notes to whomever monitors. Lots of responses. Nothing helpful. No need to worry. The website states that the visa turnaround time is 5 days. Five days came and went. Nothing. There a website to check on the status. “Under Review” is what was next to our names for almost all of December. HAL was still insisting that if a passenger does not have a Brazilian Visa, the passenger cannot board the ship. A Facebook group for the HAL World Cruise showed that many, many, others were in the same situation. Many began to cancel the cruise or Brazilian Shore excursions. Our Visas finally did arrive a week before we left. HAL then decided that they would let all board and those who do not have a Visa for Brazil must stay on the ship. It’s nice when governments get involved in these kinds of things. Everyone is always happier.

Most of the passengers on these longer trips are very cautious. Those that live in the northern states tend to leave for Ft. Lauderdale days before the cruise starts. They are petrified that the ship will leave without them if they are late. There is the chance of a snow storm or bad weather that may delay the flight but just the same we left the day of the trip. All aboard is 4:30 pm and we land at 1:20.

The airport is close to Port Everglades. Planes fly right over the port. As we expected, we were virtually alone at the HAL desk in the airport. The clerk called for a bus and we were on the bus to the Zuiderdam with one other couple. They were sailing on the Eurodam. The cruise ship terminal was empty and it only took a few minutes to check in.

When we arrived at our room, one bag that we had shipped on December 14 was waiting for us. Golf Clubs. 2 more bags arrived in a few hours. The 4th bag required a visit to security. Someone tried to smuggle in a garment steamer. This item is clearly not allowed and was taken for the duration of the cruise. Shame.

The sail away party was on the Lido deck at 4:30 pm. We met Joe and Ann from the Grand Africa Cruise and also Nancy and Stan from the 2019 World Cruise and the Grand Africa Cruise. Later we bumped into Richard from the Grand Africa Cruise. Richard is good at team trivia and we already made plans to join him in the Crow’s Nest on Thursday.

The ship didn’t leave at 4:30 as planned. Some of the HAL personnel said they were waiting for 2 truckloads …