MS Amsterdam WC Finale, CPT to FTL

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Agadir, Morocco to Lisbon, Portual.

It was a windy and cloudy morning but not quite enough to interfere with my walk. The rising sun found just a small slit to make itself known but was on display most of the day.

There are 10 Cape Verde islands but the capitol is on Santiago Island at Praia. It was discovered by the Portugese in the closing years of the 15th century and was a colony of Portugal until the 1960's. Today it is run by a Prime Minister and President elected every 5 years. Praia is a port call that was only settled after our plans for West Africa were cancelled and the staff was scrambling to gather information about the island. We had been told that tourist infrastructure in Praia was very limited and our guide told us that the chief economic activity here was tourism. That is not a healthy combination, although the facilities are not as limited as we expected. With the volcanic soil, an extremely dry climate, agriculture is also very limited, and the unemployment rate is high. China is investing very heavily in Cape Verde, and being rewarded with access to fishing grounds (and perhaps some other ways the guide didn’t mention).

I had a morning tour that visited the city center and got out to some of the earliest settlements. The city center was less than a mile away but across the water and a 20-minute bus ride along the shore. We stepped inside the Cathedral (this is a predominantly Roman Catholic country), and looked at the supreme court, the market, and the Governor’s Palace (home of the Governor when Portugal ruled the island), and the statue of discoverer Diego Gomez. The Governor’s Palace is undergoing major work, financed by China and with plans on display in Portugese and Chinese.

It was another 20-minute drive to Cidade Velha (Old Town) where the island was first settled in the 1490's. The community was a thriving center of commerce in the days of slave trading but became a center of attacks by pirates and the town was largely abandoned and activity moved to Praia. It is now a UNESCO world Heritage site and slowly undergoing restoration. We started at the Fortress of San Felipe which had commanding views down onto the town and the harbor. Once at the town proper (at sea level) we toured Rue Banana with old houses in various stages of restoration and went inside the Our Lady of the Rosary Church, said to be the oldest church in the colonial world. Returning to the waterfront we saw the pillory, where man’s brutality to man took place in the slave trading days, and had a bit of free time at the waterfront where there were a number of cafes. We returned to the ship about 1PM.

After lunch I took the shuttle into town and used the free (but not very good) wifi in the square and had a nice view of the ship across the water. On returning I found the exact location of my room on the ship. Departure was listed as 5PM, but we were ready to leave a little before that for an easy sail out of the harbor.

We had a nearly full table tonight, missing just one member who was at a Seder dinner presented in the lido.

Tonight’s entertainment was encore shows by magician Dan Horn and singer Neil Lockwood. I was a bit tired and skipped both.

As today’s parting shot it had almost escaped me that April 15 is tax day in the US. Once a procrastinator, being away has given me the incentive to get that task completed early.

Roy

I am just back and have finally caught up with all of your reports Roy:D

Great reports as always:D

Sorry to hear about the internet. Internet on the Maasdam was bad as well for several days. Frustrating.

hoping it has improved for you.

I am just back and have finally caught up with all of your reports Roy:D

 

Great reports as always:D

 

Sorry to hear about the internet. Internet on the Maasdam was bad as well for several days. Frustrating.

 

hoping it has improved for you.

Thanks, Jacqui and welcome home. My problems have been with both the ship's internet and Cruise Critic itself; I think I'm starting to come up with workarounds. I found good wifi in one of the town squares this morning, it just won't work with my email account so I'll have to post to the blog later from the ship. UGH! I'll post to the future cruise list after my RCi companion cruise is confirmed. They go to one port that didn't happen on my first time to Alaska (on the ferry) so I thought I'd give that a try.

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Lisbon, Portugal, the last port call of her world cruise.

For the first time of the cruise my morning did not start out on the lower Promenade Deck. There was a full lunar eclipse and Dan Benedict was doing commentary on the aft Lido Deck. I spent some time there and took my walk on deck 9 where I could keep an eye on the moon’s progress. There were some clouds but the moon was visible until fully blocked in the earth’s shadow, and the moon set before the full eclipse had ended.

The Archipelago country of Cape Verde has 10 islands with 9 populated. San Vicente, where Mindelo sits, is smaller and less populated than Praia’s Santiago Island, but Mindelo has the main harbor and some of Cape Verde’s better facilities. The island is volcanic in origin and quite hilly.

My tour was titled “A stroll through Mindelo”, but we actually spent quite a bit of time on the bus. We rode to the Praca Novel to begin our walk, viewing a couple of statues and continuing to the waterfront with the Cultural Center (not much), the fish market, a replica of Lisbon’s Tower of Belém and a statue of navigator Diego Alfonso. We left the waterfront and stopped at the African Market, the Town Hall, and entered Mindelo’s main church, Nossa Senhora de Luz. Our stroll concluded at the Vegetable market. We left Mindelo and made our way along the slopes of Monte Verde, stopping at about the 1300 foot level for views of Mindelo and of surrounding islands. At that level it was pretty cool and windy. We continued to Baia das Gatas, on the Northwest corner of the island (Mindelo is to the Northeast) where there was a fishing community, a place for refreshments, a sandy beach, and where music festivals are held.

The roads of Sao Vicente are mostly cobblestone, and most of our travels were quite slow and bumpy, but the distances were short. Our final stop was a souvenir shop near the Praca Nova, where I excused myself from the group and tried the wifi in the square (very slow) and enjoyed the walk back to the ship (about a mile).

After lunch I took the shuttle into town and explored a bit more, and returned to the ship for the day about 3:30. In the future cruise talk Sunday I learned the Statendam will not be doing 7-day Alaska cruises in 2015, so before dinner I booked one for August. I expect to combine my Southbound Statendam cruise with a Northbound one on the Radiance of the Seas with just a few days in the Seward area.

With the ship in port overnight, attendance in the dining room was pretty sparse, including just 5 of 10 at my table. While we were eating Fred Olsen’s Braemar joined us in the harbor.

The primary entertainment was a movie in the Queens Lounge, but Debbie Bacon took he piano bar out to the aft Lido deck for the evening. I was a bit surprised that a real piano had been set up out there rather than the electronic keyboard I was expecting. Her theme tonight was pairs of songs, such as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” with the theme from “Titanic”.

Fatigue pretty well caught up with me today and I found myself napping at my computer after dinner and I'd planned to skip the parting but changed my mind overnight. Our 2 lecturers left us in Cape Verde. I had found Dan Benedict's presentations pretty boring and could easily have been unimpressed. What did impress me was his passion and willingness to meet people on deck virtually every night. For his final day, the lunar eclipse was awesome, and I'd never have known if he hadn't brought it to our attention. Dan, you really left on a high note.

Roy

Thanks, Jacqui and welcome home. My problems have been with both the ship's internet and Cruise Critic itself; I think I'm starting to come up with workarounds. I found good wifi in one of the town squares this morning, it just won't work with my email account so I'll have to post to the blog later from the ship. UGH! I'll post to the future cruise list after my RCi companion cruise is confirmed. They go to one port that didn't happen on my first time to Alaska (on the ferry) so I thought I'd give that a try.

 

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Lisbon, Portugal, the last port call of her world cruise.

 

For the first time of the cruise my morning did not start out on the lower Promenade Deck. There was a full lunar eclipse and Dan Benedict was doing commentary on the aft Lido Deck. I spent some time there and took my walk on deck 9 where I could keep an eye on the moon’s progress. There were some clouds but the moon was visible until fully blocked in the earth’s shadow, and the moon set before the full eclipse had ended.

 

The Archipelago country of Cape Verde has 10 islands with 9 populated. San Vicente, where Mindelo sits, is smaller and less populated than Praia’s Santiago Island, but Mindelo has the main harbor and some of Cape Verde’s better facilities. The island is volcanic in origin and quite hilly.

 

My tour was titled “A stroll through Mindelo”, but we actually spent quite a bit of time on the bus. We rode to the Praca Novel to begin our walk, viewing a couple of statues and continuing to the waterfront with the Cultural Center (not much), the fish market, a replica of Lisbon’s Tower of Belém and a statue of navigator Diego Alfonso. We left the waterfront and stopped at the African Market, the Town Hall, and entered Mindelo’s main church, Nossa Senhora de Luz. Our stroll concluded at the Vegetable market. We left Mindelo and made our way along the slopes of Monte Verde, stopping at about the 1300 foot level for views of Mindelo and of surrounding islands. At that level it was pretty cool and windy. We continued to Baia das Gatas, on the Northwest corner of the island (Mindelo is to the Northeast) where there was a fishing community, a place for refreshments, a sandy beach, and where music festivals are held.

 

The roads of Sao Vicente are mostly cobblestone, and most of our travels were quite slow and bumpy, but the distances were short. Our final stop was a souvenir shop near the Praca Nova, where I excused myself from the group and tried the wifi in the square (very slow) and enjoyed the walk back to the ship (about a mile).

 

After lunch I took the shuttle into town and explored a bit more, and returned to the ship for the day about 3:30. In the future cruise talk Sunday I learned the Statendam will not be doing 7-day Alaska cruises in 2015, so before dinner I booked one for August. I expect to combine my Southbound Statendam cruise with a Northbound one on the Radiance of the Seas with just a few days in the Seward area.

 

With the ship in port overnight, attendance in the dining room was pretty sparse, including just 5 of 10 at my table. While we were eating Fred Olsen’s Braemar joined us in the harbor.

 

The primary entertainment was a movie in the Queens Lounge, but Debbie Bacon took he piano bar out to the aft Lido deck for the evening. I was a bit surprised that a real piano had been set up out there rather than the electronic keyboard I was expecting. Her theme tonight was pairs of songs, such as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” with the theme from “Titanic”.

 

 

Fatigue pretty well caught up with me today and I found myself napping at my computer after dinner and I'd planned to skip the parting but changed my mind overnight. Our 2 lecturers left us in Cape Verde. I had found Dan Benedict's presentations pretty boring and could easily have been unimpressed. What did impress me was his passion and willingness to meet people on deck virtually every night. For his final day, the lunar eclipse was awesome, and I'd never have known if he hadn't brought it to our attention. Dan, you really left on a high note.

 

Roy

Thanks Roy. I had the same issues on our cruise. If the wifi was working, it seemed that Cruise Critic just went on total stall. I feel your pain and your ugghh. I said it a few times myself on our cruise;)

Roy, I'm really enjoying your reports from the Amsterdam - and I can see you are planning more travel. BTW, my daughter disembarked the Statendam yesterday in San Diego and emailed me from the airport that there is indeed a rumour going around that she has been sold. They also had 9 days of the dreaded Code Red, and all passengers were being taken off early to allow for a thorough cleaning and disinfecting. She said the disembarkation process in San Diego was a mess, too! She missed her breakfast!

Roy, I'm really enjoying your reports from the Amsterdam - and I can see you are planning more travel. BTW, my daughter disembarked the Statendam yesterday in San Diego and emailed me from the airport that there is indeed a rumour going around that she has been sold. They also had 9 days of the dreaded Code Red, and all passengers were being taken off early to allow for a thorough cleaning and disinfecting. She said the disembarkation process in San Diego was a mess, too! She missed her breakfast!

Thanks Sorry the disembarkation went wrong. Code Red, unfortunately can happen any time, hopefully we won't see it in Alaska.

Roy

Roy, have enjoyed your reports. If you get the chance, please say hello to Jeff Peterson from the Beckham's in Georgia. We have the same kind of doggie, a Coton, and have been with him on several cruises. Thanks and will watch for your future reports.

I did not see Jeff but did see (ventriloquist) Dan Hall leaving the ship in the early am) He did say he Jeff would be going to the airport with him and he would relay the message.

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Lisbon, Portugal to Southampton, England.

Once again I skipped the Lower Promenade Deck but this time my walk took me into central Mindelo, where wifi was working beautifully in a square by the Catholic Church. On the way into town the full moon was very bright, and I passed a statue by the waterfront commemorating an early transatlantic flight. It was well past official sunrise when I shut down my computer but the sun was just peeking above the hills of Sao Vicente. A sweet aroma was wafting by, and a bakery across the street from the square had fresh baguettes. I bought one intended for lunch, but ended up stopping at a local restaurant and the baguette was still a tasty evening snack.

With Fred Olsen’s Braemar in port the supply of buses was limited, but there was one tour. Volcanic Cape Verde was not very well named. We did see a volcano but only for about a minute as we drove by and it was the least prominent part of the tour. On the way out of town our guide Amanda (with driver Mr. John) explained that Cape Verde’s independence day was July 5, 1975. We stopped first on the slopes midway up Mount Verde (the same spot as yesterday). The view was basically the same except that there were now 2 cruise ships in port. We continued past the cutoff to the beach we visited yesterday and this time stopped at Praia Grande Beach, an undeveloped beach with ample sand but strong dangerous currents. The beach is very popular in season for sunbathing but not really appropriate for swimming. At this stop we were offered a taste of the local liquor, nicknamed “punch”, appropriately for the wallop it delivers.

As we continued around the north end of the island Amanda pointed out the volcanos and stopped while a few people took pictures but we really didn’t learn much about their history. Continuing on we saw the island’s “farm belt”. With the extremely dry climate agriculture is a challenge, but a small valley is fertile and does produce useful crops with irrigation. We paused for a while to see the small patches of garden, some quite lush and others out of season. We returned to the Amsterdam about 11:30, swinging past Mindelo’s local beach, about a 3/4 mile walk from the ship.

I took the shuttle back to town and explored a bit more, also trying the wifi at the same place as this morning and finding the pace glacial. I walked back to the ship, pausing for coffee at a café but making a lunch of it. My final return to the Amsterdam was about 2:30.

A local group, Cape Verde Corda, performed in the Queens Lounge at 3:30, 6 men with various stringed instruments and one female singer. A couple of the guys did some background vocals but they mostly just played their instruments.

The afternoon was very windy. At 4:30 Captain Mercer announced preparations for departure were about complete and we would sail soon. I went up to deck 6 forward for sailaway and by 4:45 we were “singled up”. I figured we wouldn’t stay that way for long with the winds we were facing, and we started backing up within about 2-3 minutes. Once away from the pier, the wind swivelled the stern around and we were making our way out of the harbor.

I watched our departure a longer than I would usually since I had a 6:30 reservation at the Pinnacle Grill. This was my first ever Pinnacle dinner, and the steak was excellent. The evening entertainment was the movie “Grudge Match” and I passed on it. We do gain an hour tonight as we start our main westward leg. We are actually a little bit North of Barbados and are sailing nearly due West.

As tonight’s parting shot, I find Cape Verde a bit puzzling. My

first time here (sort of) was in 2005 on my first visit to South Africa. I was on a 19-hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg and stopped at Sal Island to refuel. Our guides all referred to Sal Island as Cape Verde’s prime tourist destination but I don’t think people were even allowed to leave the plane. Those horrible flights were a big part of the reason I ended up on the Amsterdam to conclude this experience. It just seems really strange that there seemed to be neither interest in or opportunity to leave the flight at a “tourist destination”.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Shanghai to Dalian, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Lisbon, Portugal to Southampton, England.

Well, if today was Groundhog Day Phil would not have seen his shadow. I actually woke about 4:30 and took care of business online (except I still cannot get into Cruise Critic). It had been very windy when we left Mindelo but the winds are now coming from behind us and our speed is making them feel more manageable. I was out soon enough to finish my walk by 7.

As part of our Holy Thursday devotions communion was served although the service was shortened a bit by the weekly crew drill. Barbara had her talk on Barbados and Castries at 10, and a new lecturer, Jill Eyers, presented “Birth of an Ocean” on the separation of Africa from South America to create the Atlantic Ocean.

The highlight of the afternoon was the Indonesian Crew Show. These shows are usually held late at night and moderately attended but today it was absolutely proven that the Queens Room cannot seat everybody at once. I ended up joining about 3 other people camped out on a little platform at the port wing of the stage. I could see but was looking almost directly sideways at the stage. It was the usual superb show with the Angklung Orchestra playing My Way as well as the usual Spanish Eyes.

All but one of us were present for dinner at table 311. For those who have been on the world cruise from the beginning concerns about packing are taking hold. The evening entertainment was the “Incognito Artists”, 3 singers whose repertoire leaned towards opera.

Tonight’s parting shot is a note of concern for fellow blogger Pat (gowithme). She had back spasms today and was in too much pain to make it to dinner. May healing come your way quickly.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Dalian, China. The Crystal Serenity is completing her World Cruise in Southampton, England.

While we are in the tropics the trade winds have kept the temperatures very comfortable. This was my second consecutive walk under near complete cloud cover but the sun finally did announce it’s presence around breakfast time.

Our Good Friday devotions in the Hudson Room were standing room only despite a conflict with “Good Morning Amsterdam” in an equally packed Wajang Theater with Gene interviewing Captain Mercer.

At 10 we met the second lecturer to come aboard in Cape Verde. Tom Goltz opened his series with “Columbus: Separating Myth from Fact”. In the afternoon Jill Eyers continued her presentations with a lecture on Volcanos considering the types of volcano and what the dangers are.

I had a pretty quiet afternoon with just Jill Eyers’ lecture on my schedule. At his daily update Captain Mercer reported we had recently passed “Rocky Seamount. While we are generally riding on 3 miles of water this under sea mountain rose to about 600 feet below the surface, quite a formidable undersea mountain. It will be a bit warmer but still mid-70's F. (mid-20's C).

At dinner we had cake and champaign in celebration of HAL’s birthday and little bears on our beds afterwards. My fellow blogger is reported to be somewhat improved but still not up to dinner. The evening entertainment was Singer, Pianist, and Raconteur Marty Henne with “I Got Gershwin” featuring songs and stories of the Gershwin Brothers. It was a very good show.

Today’s parting shot comes from a small note in “On Location”. This is the 141st birthday for Holland America. Much has changed in the past 141 years since the “dam” ships carried mostly immigrants and the “dyke” ships carried a mix of people and cargo. While people may lament some of the changes in all those years, most of their competitors from the distant past are relics from the dustbins of history. Going to the “Ann Landers Question”, “are you better off with him/her/it than without” the answer to that question is clear to me. Happy Birthday, Holland America.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Tianjin (Beijing), China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Southampton, England to Bordeaux, France.

The cloudy weather continues with the sun only being really visible for a while through some broken clouds midday. It was another day of mixing my morning walk with laundry. I did not actually finish the walk until nearly 8, first with the laundry room detours and then hanging around the TV. I missed the Captain’s Good Morning Amsterdam interview and saw most of it on TV, but missed one story while brushing my teeth. Finally, about 7:30 I caught up with his tale of a fire on a cargo/passenger vessel off Ascension Island and being adrift for 3 days in open lifeboats in shark infested waters. Fortunately, everybody was fine except for one sailor who broke his leg going from the lifeboat to the Ascension pier.

It was a typically busy morning. Protestant devotions were well attended but there were a few empty seats. The day’s lectures were “Volcanoes of the Caribbean” by Jill Eyers and Tom Goltz on Bartolome de las Casas, a 16th century defender of the native people of the Caribbean. When I returned to my room there was a ribbon and medallion on my bed commemorating my 100th day on HAL.

The highlight of the day was the 3PM Filipino Crew Show. Mostly a showcase of Philippines culture, there was one number that I couldn’t fit into that mold. One of my favorite shows on the Crystal Symphony is Diva starring Karen Grainger. (See entry for March 4). She does impressions of many singers, including “On My Own”, a duet between Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald. As the song goes between parts she turns around, flips her hair into a slightly different style, and raises or lowers her voice to match the singer she is imitating. Beverage attendant Nestor did something very similar with a song “Forever”. His costume had a business suit on one side and a long, red dress on the other, and as he went between parts he brought the appropriate part of the costume to face the audience and went into a falsetto voice if needed. I didn’t see the connection to Philippine culture but he was spectacular and brought the house down. The other special highlight of the show as always was the Tinikling (Bamboo Dance). I arrived a half hour early to snag a (not very good) seat and there were people seated on every available ledge and many standing.

My fellow blogger Pat is on her feet again, but was not at dinner tonight as several of my tablemates were in Canaletto. The evenings entertainment was Irish Soul, the Amsterdam Singers and Dancers only production show this segment. Cruise Director Gene Young came out to introduce the show wearing a large bunny hat. It’s a bit difficult to judge an entertainment team based on a single show but I’ll try. I think my expectations started out quite low since most of my tablemates seem not to like them, and I was just moderately pleasantly surprised. The team consists of 5 singers and 4 dancers. I think the dancers were far better than the 2 female “bookends” from recent R and S class cruises, interacting in ways that they just couldn’t, but Alex and Natasha from the Prinsendam were superb and just a notch above these 4. The singers were fine, but I didn’t relate to them as much as I did on the Prinsendam or the Veendam. Part of that may be that they performed so rarely to avoid repetition on the World Cruise but they just didn’t click with me. Still, I enjoyed the show.

Debby Bacon in the Piano Bar teamed up with her husband Ron on the guitar for tonight’s shows. We gain another hour tonight which I think brings us to Barbados time, with only one more hour to gain in the final week.

Today’s parting shot is a simple one. A blessed Easter to all who celebrate it.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Dalian, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Bordeaux, France.

While we gained an hour overnight I put off changing my clock, setting my alarm off at 4. With the extra hour, my walk was approaching completion when the 6AM sunrise service began. Sunrise was 5:50, still covered in clouds, but today they are thin enough that a glow showed through.

I normally worship in an Interfaith Center (IFC), a concept adopted by the developers of Columbia in a period of great ecumenical activity. Originally my congregation shared a building with several other protestant denominations and with Catholic and Jewish congregations. Most of the other tenants have moved away and it is now just us and the Catholics, along with a Hispanic Catholic group. Most of the groups still band together for a sunrise service on our local lakefront. I felt very much at home today as Pastor Don and Father Bob joined forces and a service was set up around the Lido pool, so even the water was a familiar element (although the pool was sloshing a bit heavily). I can’t say the service was packed, but it was certainly more people than I normally see at that hour. We also had our individual services in the Queens Room.

It was no holiday for the crew as we had a packed schedule of activities. The senior officers joined together for a Q&A session at 10, followed by a presentation by Tom Goltz on “Spanish Galleons, Then and Now”. When I returned from all these activities there was a box of chocolate truffles on the bed. I hope this is fleet wide and not just a World Cruise extra as fellow Cruise Critic member and choco-holic RuthC is currently on the Oosterdam.

A special Easter Brunch Buffet was set up in the dining room. This elaborate affair took up the entire center section of the dining room, leaving huge stacks of chairs in the aft exterior stairwell. The brunch opened for photos at 11 and for dining at noon. It must have been extremely popular as I waited until after the Captain’s daily report, and there was still a line to get in at 12:45. I skipped the brunch and enjoyed the very uncrowded lido.

In the afternoon Jill Eyers spoke on “Stories in Stone” exploring the things we can learn by studying rocks. I did get up for afternoon tea in the Crows Nest, soon followed by a Mariner Appreciation Cocktail Party in the Queens Room.

We had a nearly full table for our final formal night of the cruise. People on the full world cruise are starting to pack, I’m not ready for that yet with over 7 days left before Fort Lauderdale, as much as the full length of many regular cruises.

There is often a pillow gift on the bed on formal nights. We did not have one, but still there was a nice surprise as we get an extra hour tonight. I thought the last hour would come after our upcoming ports, but now that Daylight Savings Time is in effect on the East Coast we may be getting back on Eastern time. The evening entertainment was a repeat performance by the Incognito Artists.

Today’s parting shot concerns the Serenity Prayer, used by Father Bob in closing his homily. “Grant me the courage to change what I can, the grace to accept what I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference”. I used to be a fan of that prayer, but have recently soured on it. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me fine as far as it goes but has a major omission. Why is there no mention of “The gratitude to savor what should not change”.

Roy

I love your parting shot Roy. So true, sometimes we neglect to appreciate and savour what we have :D

I fear the chocolate truffles are a World Cruise thing;)

Roy, thank you very much for trying to get my message to Jeff Peterson. I will be contacting him soon to find out which ship he will be on this summer. Also, thanks for the update on your fellow blogger, Pat. Have been missing her blogs the last few days and hope she is feeling much better.

Thank you for taking your time and funds to take us CC'ers along on your journey.

Thanks Jacqui and Cruisergal1208.

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Dalian to Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in LeVerdon, France.

After rising a little before 5, my walk was delayed as I had my first success in nearly a week logging into Cruise Critic and spent about a half hour online. It was a clear morning but I did not quite make it for sunrise between the time zone change and my delayed start. I finished my walk about 7:30.

This was a bit of a departure from the normal rhythm of sea days with neither of the regular lecturers presenting. After morning devotions Gene interviewed Marty Henne on Good Morning Amsterdam and Barbara gave her talk on our final 2 ports, Dominica and St. Maarten at 10. There was a Mongolian cookout on the Lido Deck but today was the day for Mariners Brunch for the 3-star and under mariners. I shared a table with 2 other segmenters and 3 people on the full World Cruise who had limited HAL experience. I had the berry soup and beef tenderloin.

In the afternoon there was a souvenir market in the Atrium but the main event was the Passenger Talent Show in the Queens Lounge. There were 14 acts of various quality, and 3 “official” numbers by the Guest Choir, followed by “Happy Birthday” for cruise Director Gene.

The evening entertainment was the Action Comedy of Michael James. He did some juggling, but mostly tricks on a unicycle (including carrying a lady on his back), and on a freestanding ladder (juggling knives on the ladder). Debby Bacon held her final session of Singo tonight. I was eventually a winner on “As Time Goes By”.

This evening’s parting shot is a slightly belated Happy Birthday wish for Cruise Director Gene Young. May you have many more.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from LeVerdon, France to Lisbon, Portugal.

It was the clearest morning we have seen for some time, and although the day was starting to brighten as I went up to the Lido for coffee about 5:20, the moon was quite prominent overhead. By the end of my 1 ½ miles (6 laps) walk we the south end of Barbados was looming on our port side. We picked up our pilot about 7 and lines went out 35 minutes later. The winter season is winding down and it appears we will be the only ship in port for all of our Caribbean calls.

Although my tour didn’t leave until 9:45 I headed ashore as soon as the ship was cleared, about 8:10. Barbados claims free wifi, my experience was a bit mixed. I took a bench soon after entering the terminal and found the service very slow (1/4 as fast as on the ship) and the signal dropped about once a minute. Giving up I enquired at the information desk about wifi in town and he suggested going to the outside benches where the tours left. I found the signal there reliable and pretty quick, but found the reliability seriously degraded in the afternoon with more people on it.

Barbados is unusual among Caribbean islands as the product of shifting continental plates rather than volcanic activity. The rocks are mostly sedimentary with a lot of limestone, and my tour was to Harrison Caves. Named for Thomas Harrison, who owned the land on which they sit in the 18th century, the caves were opened for tours in 1981 and modernized in 2007. They are accessed by a tram system through mostly artificial tunnels dug for easy access. The caves are near the center of the island and about a 40-minute ride from the port.

After viewing a video we boarded the trams for a 40-minute tour of the caves. We mostly stayed in the trams but had a couple of stops where we could get out and move closer for pictures. The caves were interesting but not a lot different from other similar caves. On the way back we got some views of the east side of the island and some of the areas where sugar, bananas, and flowers are grown along with livestock. Barbados has a special species of sheep with no wool, an adaption to the warm climate. We returned to the ship about 1.

The heart of Bridgetown is about a mile east of the port along a seaside walkway. I took a walk in and looked around a bit, viewing markets, a small waterway that appeared to be a river (our guide said there were no rivers), and an arch celebrating Barbados’ independence. I returned to the port about 3:30, spending some time online before returning to the Amsterdam.

All aboard was 5:30 but Captain Jonathan came on a little before that indicating we were ready to leave. He said we would pass the Pitons in St. Lucia around sunrise tomorrow morning. We actually pulled away from the pier about 5:50.

With sailaway later than our 5:30 dinner time I opted for the Canaletto Italian Restaurant. I enjoyed the food although I don’t think the new menu setup with a number of “plates” works well for solos. A bigger concern was there was a table of about 6 right behind me and they were quite loud. I think they would have drowned out the HALcats, and the other section with the 3-year-old girl would have been more peaceful. I was quite happy to leave Canaletto.

The evening entertainment was the finals of this segment’s “Dancing With the Stars” competition:

1: Heidi:Fox Trot:29+15

2: Ellen:Tango:30+10

3: Annie:ChaCha:29+5

4: Tiana:Fox Trot:27

5: Norm:ChaCha:25

6: Asheel:Tango:24

Unfortunately, I thought Gene was entirely too long winded and what should have been a 45-minute action packed celebration of the contestants became a 65-minute marathon I almost walked out on several times.

Today’s parting shot: Congratulations to Heidi, and to all the contestants.

Roy

Thanks for taking so much time posting each day on your blog, Roy! As always, I have enjoyed everything you have experienced. Having taken numerous Cunard world cruises, this has given us a great perspective on the itineraries of other cruise lines. We'll be on the QM2 for a bit over a month later this year and will be back before your TA on her; would have liked to have met you. Enjoy your last days and the train home.

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Lisbon, Portugal.

Thanks for taking so much time posting each day on your blog, Roy! As always, I have enjoyed everything you have experienced. Having taken numerous Cunard world cruises, this has given us a great perspective on the itineraries of other cruise lines. We'll be on the QM2 for a bit over a month later this year and will be back before your TA on her; would have liked to have met you. Enjoy your last days and the train home.

Thank you. I firmly believe that variety is the spice of life and a fresh experience is greatly to be desired. I would suggest that, if you haven’t done it before, you experience a shorter Holland America cruise before making such a commitment. What is nothing to some people may be a real negative to others and it’s better to know that before being committed to something for months. For me the biggest disadvantage of Holland America compared to Cunard is that Cunard’s enrichment programs have both a better quality and better variety.

It was quite a cloudy morning as we approached St. Lucia but on my walk I was treated to a lovely profile of the Pitons, 2 prominent volcano cones on the South end of St. Lucia in the day’s first light. There was not a real sunrise, but the obscured sun produced some lovely colors by the Piton summit as it bounced between the clouds. Captain Mercer seems to favor docking with the bow pointed in the direction of departure. We did not do that today and simply pulled up to the dock facing the dead end of the harbor.

This was my third visit to St. Lucia, all within the last 18 months. I was here on the Celebrity Summit in December 2012, and on the Prinsendam this past December. I hadn’t realized it but St. Lucia experienced severe floods soon after my last visit (Christmas Eve) with about 170 inches (4 meters) of rain in one day. Several were killed and there was a lot of damage.

My tours here have all been South of Castries, and today I picked a basic 3-hour tour, Island Splendor Drive. We spent most of our time along roads I traveled last time, this time looking more intensely at areas I passed through last time on my way to the Pitons.

We passed through the town of Castries, with a huge 400-year-old tree gracing the town square. Soon after leaving town we stopped at St. Marks, an old colonial home, where the family still resides on the upper levels. We toured the ground floor rooms and were given a drink and snack on the porch. The home had a great view of the harbor and we could see that one of the starboard tenders was in the water, likely the reason for our docking position.

About 20 minutes later we stopped at Eudovic’s Art Studio, where several artisans explained their techniques and the woods they used for carving, and then spent a few minutes in the gallery. I don’t think anyone bought anything, likely a reflection on people considering the impending journey home.

The one stop that was a repeat from my previous visit was Marigot Bay, at a bluff overlooking a lovely cove and seaside village. On the way to the southern end of our journey we pulled to the side of the road at a banana plantation where we saw large bunches of bananas in blue bags in the final stages of ripening. Each bag had a color coded streamer at the bottom, with the streamers replaced with different colors on a regular basis to keep track of the curing time on the vine.

I passed quickly through Anse La Raye, a small fishing village last year and this was our southernmost stop. There were small colorful houses and a pier going a bit into the harbor. There were a few shops and snack bars along the quiet shoreside and streets. On the way back we had only a brief photo stop at an overlook where a lovely arch dropped to the water.

Returning to the ship about 11:30 there was time for a walk into town. There are 2 cruise terminals in Castries. The one most used (I’ve been there all 3 times) is a bit isolated but has a large complex of shops. The second is near the center of town but is rarely used. Our dock is about .4 miles from town but it’s twice that walking around the harbor. The town has some nice sights but unfortunately I forgot to bring along my camera.

I returned to the ship about 3. The port has quite good wifi, with a $5 charge for the day, and I spent about an hour on line. All aboard was 4:30, but everyone was ready a little early. By our sailaway time of 5PM we had swivelled perpendicular to the pier on our way out. At sailaway there was a steel drum seranade on the aft lido deck.

There were 5 of us present for dinner, and Marty Henne had a second show, “Songs you Know written by people you don’t”.

Today’s parting shot comes from the raconteur side of Marty Henne. He was talking about one liners, and unexpected sources of humor. Before Nixon’s visit to China, Henry Kissinger went there to make preparations. He and China’s premier hit it off, both history buffs, and they would try scenarios about “what if” something had been different. Asked “What if Kruschev had been shot instead of Kennedy, what would happened”. Kissinger’s reply: “Well I know one thing, Onassis would not have married Madame Kruschev”

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Gibralter.

It was another cloudy morning which ended up giving way to a sunny day. The sun “rose” on my morning walk, but only a through a pinhole sized opening in the clouds. As we approached Dominica, the mountains were silhouettes through a light mist or fog. This is my first visit to Dominica, and we pulled up to a dock which did not appear to be in much of a protected harbor.

I had a very basic tour today, a “train” tour of the city. As we were leaving the pier and getting into the town our guide explained that Dominica is 16 miles long, 9 wide, and 305 square miles with a population of 69,000. On our way out we passed monuments to independence and heroes of the world wars. We made a stop at the botanical garden where we saw huge bamboo groves, fishtail palms, and a few parrots, and were given drinks (fruit juice or rum punch). On our way out of the Botanical Gardens we got a look at nature’s destruction, passing a school bus absolutely crushed by a tree falling in a hurricane.

We crossed the Roseau river which our guide claimed was very clean and clear and had fresh water shellfish, and made a visit to the cathedral, apparently a temporary one as the primary one is undergoing restoration. All of this was within about a half mile of the ship and we returned around 10AM.

I took a couple of walks around the city. While it is small and compact it is not great for walking, with lots of parking on what should be sidewalks, and hazardous drainage channels everywhere. At one time I crossed a crosswalk which ended with a 2 foot drop to the sidewalk. It was very much a matter of watching where we walk. The main sights on the walk were the Anglican and Methodist churches and the Cathedral within about a block of each other. The main find was the Roseau library which had wifi. I found the sign quite confusing as it said free but listed prices.

I went back after lunch and found the wifi free and very high quality. After much confusion I think the prices on the sign were for using the library’s computers and the wifi actually was free. My final return to the ship was about 3PM.

Sailaway was set for 5PM but at that time the gangway was still in place. A short time later an ambulance pulled up and one passenger was taken away. A very sad ending to somebody’s cruise. Our lines all came in at 5:15 and we were just making our way out of the harbor as my 5:30 dinner time came.

There was an entertainment double bill this evening. The Amsterdam singers put on a show at 7. They have had only one regular show this cruise but have done a couple of sessions in bars. In these sessions (and most of tonight’s show) they had solos one by one, but tonight there were also several songs where they interacted as a group. Tonight’s show, and especially those numbers were superb. The other show was the Casablanca Steel Orchestra. Between shows I went briefly back to my room and got a peek at Friday’s “On Location”. The show then is one of my favorite entertainers and I decided that unless Casablanca was great I would catch up on other things. I stayed for about 2 plus numbers and they were ok but not really my cup of tea.

As today’s parting shot the reports are fairly sketchy but it looks like this year’s Boston Marathon was a huge success. Congratulations to Meb Keflezighi and to the organizers of the event. Boston, after last year you deserve a success and it looks like it was a great one.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Lisbon, Portugal.

As I rose and started my walk we were still some distance from St. Maarten but there were other islands within view. There were clouds around the horizon but enough breaks that the sun mad it’s presence known without actually coming directly out. We pulled into St. Maarten about 7:40, the only ship in town on a very big dock. This is my 3rd visit here after the Crystal Symphony in 2002 and the Celebrity Summit in 2012.

I had a morning tour booked called See and Sea. We drove around the harbor to the French side and had about 45 minutes of free time at the picturesque harbor of Marigot, before continuing North for the Sea portion of the tour. We stepped aboard a small semi-submersible boat and went about a half mile out into the clear water to a coral field. The sightseeing portion of the tour took us down to a compartment perhaps 6 feet below the surface with glass sides. A diver swam around the boat with food and swarms of colorful fish came swimming by, with an assortment of colorful coral just below us. After a few minutes we continued to an area with a grassy bottom where large sea turtles were hanging out. I saw several but between the swimming turtles and moving boat found them quite hard to photograph. Our boat tour was probably 15 minutes each way in transit and about 20-30 minutes in the lower compartment. Our return trip took us around the eastern side of the island and finally back to the ship around 11AM.

We had the Mariner awards ceremony a few days ago. All the milestone recipients were called up individually for photos with the Captain and Hotel Director except for those at the 100 day level (about 200 of us). I had understood that the medallion recipients (mine was copper) would be presented those photos but nobody took down our names as we lined up for the photos. When I returned from the tour my photo was lying on my bed. A nice little touch.

When I returned the internet was also not working. I had been contemplating a walk into Phillipsburg (about a mile each way), and that was taken as a sign that I should do so. I spent about an hour at the internet café and had lunch, returning to the Amsterdam for the last time about 2PM.

The final sailaway of the World Cruise was an elaborate affair with free drinks around a very crowded Lido pool with the Casa Blanca Steel Orchestra providing the music. We slipped away from the pier for our final 2 days at sea about 4:45.

All but one of us from table 311 were present for a pirate themed dinner. The evening entertainment was one of my favorites, Shirley Dominguez at the harp. While harp music is generally pretty bland Dominguez is anything but. I was hoping she would play Mama Mia which did not happen, but Zorba the Greek was fantastic.

As today’s parting shot, I see a couple of little news summaries but there’s a lot I don’t see. In particular, I often see baseball scores but rarely standings. It’s seemed like most days when I see the scores the Orioles are losing. I finally saw some standings today in the Canadian news summary. While the O’s are in fact in last place I was pleased to see they are now above 500. May the Orioles keep their heads above water and go on to a winning season.

Roy

This is strange. I've been unable to log into Cruise Critic and finally I decided to have a look at the RCI forum and I've been logged in ever since. My laptop, Amsterdam's internet, and Cruise Critic are a really bizarre combination.

The Crystal Symphony is in Nagasaki, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is in Monaco.

Normally, when On Deck for a Cause is held I would walk just 3 miles in the morning and 3 more at the event. Today’s event overlapped the Protestant devotions, so I walked my full 5 miles in the morning and an additional 3 laps after devotions. I did my final laundry today, finishing the walk and the laundry just after 7.

The walk (or what I saw of it) was pretty dead and sparsely attended, likely because there had been several others since the World Cruise started. I saw only a handful of walkers on deck and there were refreshments in the Atrium afterwards. I saw very few takers although I was only there a few minutes. A new lecturer (apparently a one and done), Dr. Keith Nurse, spoke on “Caribbean Carnivals”, with an emphasis on Trinidad. When I left the lecture the “Cause” refreshment table was being taken down.

Tom Goltz had a program at 2PM on the Spanish American War. Most of the rest of the day was devoted to packing, and one other action that may not be quite right. I normally spend Christmas with my family in Central Florida, and the Ryndam has a New Years cruise out of Tampa that fits with that and also gets me back home before my volunteer responsibilities resume in January. When my booking came back, it was for Christmas week. I went back to the Future Cruise person and it will hopefully be straightened out.

At a closing cocktail party in the Queens Lounge there were a number of tributes and speeches including a recap of the ports by Barbara and a comedy sequence where most of the senior staff received pies in the face, except for the shore excursion manager who was accosted with about a dozen stickers. There was a “Chef’s Dinner”, but without the usual round of introductions, just a dignified meal. The evening entertainment was comedienne Rita Rudner. She was pretty good. The Piano Bar was a bit sad as it was an evening of farewell songs.

Today’s parting shot has another local ring. I see in the news digest Michael Phelps has gotten off to a good start in his quest to return to competition. Despite some youthful indiscretions, Phelps has been a tremendous asset to Maryland. Best wishes for another great Olympics, Michael.

Roy

The Crystal Symphony is in Kobe, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Monaco to LaSpezia, Italy.

My final full length walk was uneventful under pleasant conditions and partly cloudy skies. While the major activity of the day was packing (some bags were even in the hallway Saturday), there was a busy program.

Protestant worship at 8 in the Queens Room was well attended. It was my turn to read the scripture (Beatitudes). At 9:30 Hotel Director Henk Mensink was Gene’s guest on Good Morning Amsterdam, followed by a Paul Goltz lecture on Che Guevera. At his midday update Captain Mercer indicated we would pick up the pilot at 4:45 AM, and would berth at Pier 26, where the World Cruise had begun many months ago.

The final redemption of Grand Dollars came after lunch (my 10 were just enough for a lanyard), and Jill Eyers closed out the enrichment series with a talk on fossils. Despite it’s weaknesses, I still haven’t gone through all my internet time (about 2 hours left), but also am still unable to log into Cruise Critic, either from my laptop or the ship’s computers. That gets frustrating after a while.

All 10 of us were present at table 311 for the closing dinner; I and several others enjoyed the Chateaubriand. At the end we had a crew parade and they sang us a farewell song. There was a single show of the orchestra in “Take 5", mostly jazz and mostly solos by band members but also including a number where they demonstrated playing a number on portable devices from a keyboard on a laptop screen to a phone sized device. As I left the Queens Room the last glow of dusk was hanging over the bow.

Today’s parting shot covers the world of unintended consequences, usually presumed to be a bad thing. I really never intended to take this last voyage, but backed into it when I found myself looking for a way home from Cape Town. This is actually the longest time I’ve yet spent on a single ship at once (a brief record to be broken at least twice in the near future), and I think the longest I’ve yet been away at once. As long as it’s been, I can’t believe how quickly the end is coming. I would have to call this a very good unintended consequence.

I do plan to report on the trip home but will not have internet access on the train, so the conclusion should come after the fact.

Roy

Thanks for your advice on taking a different line for a world cruise and we definitely agree with you about the extremely good and consistent quality of Cunard's enrichment programs. This always draws us back as it will again for a bit over a month on QM2 in August. Have a good trip on good old Amtrak, which we use frequently, and we'll look for your blog in October.

Cheers from Hawaii, Patti

Welcome back! Thanks for your excellent reports.

Yes, thank you for your report. I'm so grateful that you and others take the time (and internet aggravation) to let us ride along with you.

Thank you Patti, POA1, and shrimp56.

The Crystal Symphony is in Kobe, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is in LaSpezia, Italy.

I set a wakeup call for 5 but actually awoke at 4:45 with lights far closer to the ship than I expected. When I got out on deck 15 minutes later the condos at the entrance to the port were behind us. I walked 7 laps (2 miles) and the lines went out about lap 4. I finished my walk about 5:50 and returned to my room to make some final online checks. The sun came up an hour later, largely hidden in a few low-lying clouds, but the colors immediately before sunrise were beautiful. The Coral Princess arrived in port about an hour after us.

My tag was Blue 3 with an estimated time off of 9:15-9:45. Some things about disembarkation went well and others not so great. A nice thing is that we do not have a deadline to be out of our rooms. What I would like to see improved is the information process. Numbers are called when it’s your turn but it would be nice to know what the different tags are and the order they will be called. As it is, all we know is pretty much “not yet” until it is actually your turn. Mine came at 10:15. I was quite lucky not to have a problem leaving the ship. I had been wearing an old shirt that isn’t coming home with me, and left it in the trash about 9:30 when I went to the Queens Lounge to await my final call. About 10 I realized that I did not have my room key. With a quick trip back to my room it was still in that shirt pocket. As we left the ship Hotel Director Henk and Cruise

Director Gene were at the gangway with “thanks” and “farewell”.

The terminal was a bit chaotic. Most luggage colors were marked by signs but blue was not. There also didn’t seem to be much order to the numbers, once I found the blues, the 1's, 2's, and 3's were not very well defined. I walked around for quite a while before locating my second bag. Customs and immigration, which I had feared, was a breeze. When I walked up to the line, every agent was busy but nobody was ahead of me in the queue. I was at the curb in about 5 minutes. It was about a 15-minute ride to Amtrak’s Fort Lauderdale station. The service there was a little less than I was hoping for, apparently with just one agent. My luggage is now sitting on a cart, and will not be checked until the final hour before the train leaves. I had hoped to check my bags and head out to McDonalds for wifi, so I’m glad to have been online before leaving the ship.

My train arrived on time and I was soon settled into my cozy home for the next 24 hours. It wasn’t long before I was in the diner for lunch, at a table shared with a couple from the Amsterdam who had done the full world cruise. The journey through Florida brought back memories, having spent many Christmases in Central Florida with my parents, first in Lakeland (the drive-in theater across the street from their mobile home park still appears to be open) and in Kissimmee, where my mom spent her final 10 years. Some things have changed, but it’s still very familiar.

The sun went down as we approached Orlando, and a steak dinner soon followed. We played cat and mouse with the schedule. When I called it a night about 10 we were about 20 minutes behind.

As a parting shot, I’m sure many things have changed while I’ve been gone, but some things are stubbornly stable. I was back on the Crystal Symphony when Flight 370 went down, and not too far from the crash site. Since then I’ve been halfway around the world by ship with many stops, but there still is no trace of the missing plane. May the families of the victims soon get some answers.

Roy