Live from my Slow Boat to China -- the Amsterdam

From My Slow Boat to China - Day One

It is finally here! After a few years of waiting and much, much planning our China odyssey is finally underway.

In 2008 we did the whole 65 day Grand Asia but our only stop in China that trip was Shanghai and there is so much else in China we want to see. So in 2011 we booked ourselves to Hong Kong on the 2013 Grand Pacific planning to tour from Hong Kong after the cruise. Due to family obligations we had to push our trip up to 2014 - and eventually we decided to leave the ship in Shanghai so that we can do a proper 18 day tour of mainland China. We are sort of using this elegant cruise on the Amsterdam as our ferry boat or taxicab to China. It is only a small, insignificant detail that we get some wonderful ports along the way.

If you are interested, and if the internet cooperates, please join me on my "Slow Boat". Twenty six days to Shanghai.

I have to admit that we have some reservations about leaving the warm, nurturing environment of the cruise ship to go out into the hectic daily tour environment (suitcases out the door at 7 am) of a land tour but it does seem to be our best route to visit the China we hope to see. It was at DH's urging that I agreed to the full 18 day land tour - now HE is not so sure we made the right decision ... Men!

So ... here we are, once again, on the Amsterdam. We get to enjoy her luxuries until October 18 when we will leave the ship in Shanghai, fly on our own to Beijing, and pick up the 18 day Uniworld cruise/tour.

I have to say I had forgotten quite how Grand a Grand Tour can be!

We arrived at pier 91 about 11:20 this morning. We checked our luggage and then went to security. Now, DH and I fly at least a few times a year, and tend to cruise, on the average, almost as frequently. He is no stranger to metal detectors and could certainly see that we were approaching one. Yet, somehow, DH had to go back and forth through the device so many times that I pretended not to know him -- they finally just sent him for a hand scan -- I was surprised that they didn't require a full body strip search! Eventually, sometime before we were set to sail we were allowed to go on to checkin.

Now, a Grand Cruise is a little different than your ordinary seven day cruise. Most of the folks on board are very experienced Holland America cruisers - so, they looked at our boarding passes and told us to go to the four/five star check in line - which moved us forward and then merged us right in with everybody else! We were amused that they actually made a pretense of having a special line! Nevertheless check in was fairly swift and it was not too long before we were on board.

Since we are only taking a segment of the Grand Cruise we were not allowed to choose our own cabin - and we were actually assigned no fewer than three different cabins in the course of the past week. We ended up in a nice fairly midships location on the main deck. Nothing to complain about here!

After dumping our stuff and checking out our cabin we went to the dining room for the welcome mariner lunch where they passed out complimentary glasses of sparkling wine to enjoy with our meal - a Grand touch. The food was good, the service great and when we arrived back in our cabin - our luggage was there.

Our first challenge is always to unpack without killing each other - this trip not a problem. The land portion of our trip will involve no less than six domestic flights in China - so we must travel all 50 days with what we can carry in one 44 lb suitcase and one 10 lb carry on each. The trick was to pack appropriate clothing to cover both segments of the trip and still stay within limits (which did give me the excuse to shop for all new "light weight" travel clothing :) ) -- so far so good -- however there are a few items that we will probably donate to Holland America when we leave the ship -- most notably DH's tuxedo which is way out of date anyway and without it his suitcase will lose a nice few pounds! I think that our ancient electric toothbrush may also have reached the end of its tenure with our family. After all, we need to allocate some weight space for souvenirs!

After unpacking we had the mandatory disaster drill. They are now using the new three alarm system and I must say that in our cabin we are in no danger of missing a fire or call to abandon ship. The ship's emergency whistle is loud and shrill enough to break the glass in our cabin window.

We went up to the crow's nest to watch the sail away and then joined the ship's sail away party at the Lido pool. I was impressed. There were complimentary drinks and a huge assortment of "Market Style Snacks" and music by the Neptunes.

The snacks included shrimp served in shot glasses, oysters on the half shell, fried scallops, chicken and beef skewers, caviar "bites" served in a tasting spoon with all the trimmings, chocolate dipped marshmallows, and my favorite - lamb rib chops grilled in a curry sauce and served over a scoop of a mediterranean style salsa. The lamb chops were so good that I got greedy and had two -- I paid for my indulgence, however, as this was not only our first sail away, but my first chance to "wear my food" -- one of my trade mark activities -- as a bit of lamb complete with yellow curry sauce and red salsa sauce bounced down my new "light weight" lavender colored blouse. I might just be wearing that curry sauce all the way through China!

Dinner this evening was a somewhat pleasant affair. Table for 6 - we were the first to arrive, followed soon by a couple who took one look at either us or the table (we are not sure which was the offensive object) and immediately turned around and went to the dining room manager and asked to be seated elsewhere. The third couple arrived and actually stayed. We think we are at the "Shanghai" table as the four of us are leaving the ship in Shanghai. The rest of the meal was uneventful. The service excellent but a bit slow. First night.

Now that dinner is over, my sated person is getting ready for bed ... but ... there is thing missing -- anyone who knows me knows that I am addicted to the HAL "Date and Time" channel as I love to look at the map and see our location and stats ... all day long and into the night -- but horrors! I have not been able to find it - it must be down (possibly not yet programmed for our itinerary) ... what will I do until morning? I guess I will have to sleep.

Have a great trip!

Sounds like you are off to a wonderful start.

Bon Voyage and hello to all the cruisers.

Hope you have a fantastic trip! Looking forward to reading your review.

Thanks for including us in your amazing voyage. :) Looking forward to following along. Bon Voyage!!

Have a great cruise.

Looking forward to reading more.

Looking forward to following along on your journey.

Bon voyage!

Terri

Have a great cruise and land voyage. Looking forward to reading all about it.

Helen

The Amsterdam is such a beauty and China is amazing. We are thrilled that you will be posting reports and look forward to following you on this adventure. :D

As for the couple who spurned you and/or your dining room table, all I can say is, Bad Decision on their part!! :confused::eek: We fondly remember having the pleasure of sharing a table with you on a 7-day sailing to Alaska.

:D

Best wishes,

-Cat & Dave

I always enjoy your "Live from ..." threads anyway, but will especially enjoy it this time, I'm sure. Not only did I recently disembark the Amsterdam, so it will be interesting to note the differences in a Grand Cruise, but I will also be visiting some of the same ports on my next cruise. Love the idea of this preview!

Have a Grand time.

Have a great cruise. We did a Uniworld cruise in Europe, and they are very good. I'm sure you will enjoy yours in China.

Sounds like some pretty yummy snacks for the sail away!

Wonder what the tablemates did not like? Thats kind of rude the way they handled it, I bet your better off without them.

Thanks for taking us along on your wonderful cruise. Love the Amsterdam, and it sounds like you are off to a great start to an awesome cruise. We'll enjoy following along with your live reports. Wishing you an amazing cruise.:)

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures. Your tour of China sounds great and you will definitely have some wonderful experiences.

We are really, really looking forward to reading about your cruise on your "slow boat to China". We have never been on a World Cruise or any segment so we are interested in the differences between the World Cruise and an "ordinary" long cruise.

Now we will feel that we allready know you when we meet on the Amsterdam for the 45 day Tales of the Pacific.

Subscribing...have a wonderful trip:). I love your writing style!

Have a wonderful trip!!!

FABULOUS start to your posts from this wonderful cruise! What FUN!!

Have a super time and thanks a lot for your efforts to post for us on the HAL board.

From my Slow Boat to China - Day 2

For the past couple of years we have not been able to get away for very long periods of time so we have taken a few shorter cruise adventures. It is so easy to forget the wonders of the long and Grand cruise. Everyone on board is just so much more relaxed. The staff are more incredible than their normal incredible -- they cannot do enough for you and are constantly checking to see that they are meeting everyone's needs.

It is heartwarming to see how many folks embrace crew members that they have enjoyed from previous voyages and it is also incredible to see how there are even some crew members who remember us from our brief seven day Alaska this past July!

Everyone I have spoken to were extremely impressed with yesterday's sail away party - kudos to Henk Mensik and all of the folks on board who were able to make that happen.

Word is that there are about 1000 passengers on board and that about 850 of them will be doing the full 78 days.

We awoke this morning to a grey sky, foggy and rainy, temperatures in the low to mid fifties, the seas looking somewhat angry - just what I like to watch. There was a significant wind yet the Amsterdam which is a ship that is really a ship (not a floating high rise barge) sails beautifully (with the help of the Captain and the bridge crew) and we have only experienced a gentle rocking motion - just what we enjoy.

And -- I am happy to report that the "date and time" channel is alive and well and was probably alive and well last night also -- I was just too tired to look for it in the right place. I am happy to share that we have been cruising at about 14.5 knots, have already sailed 378 nautical miles and that this morning our winds were running 7 to 8 on the Beaufort scale but have now significantly diminished -- and we now have some sun and only shallow swells. And, as I write this our position is 50 degrees 49.88' N and 130 degrees 0.69' W. I am sure that you have all been hanging on the edge of your seats to know this. Well, now you know.

Last night next to the chocolates was the expected room service breakfast menu - but again we had forgotten that on Grand Voyages the menu is expanded to include all sorts of goodies that can be ordered at any breakfast hour and without writing in the choice. Our unused menu from today seems to have been taken by the cabin stewards so I will have to wait to share the diversity of our in room dining choice until I can snag one of them more permanently. I will really enjoy this on port days when we have an early excursion.

We had a leisurely dining room breakfast at a "honeymoon" table for two.

Our first Cruise Critic meeting was this morning and I have never seen so many people present - and was delighted to see a number of folks with whom we have previously cruised. Henk Mensik (hotel manager) and Gene Young (our cruise director) both stopped by as we enjoyed our complimentary mimosas as well as the usual beverages for such gatherings.

At lunch we shared a table with a woman we ate dinner with in 2007 on the Grand South America. Wow! This is definitely its own microcosm -- a world apart and away.

And then it was New York Times crossword puzzle time - and luckily today was Monday so both DH and I were able to complete the whole thing without having to work together, though I did finish before he did.

This afternoon we first spent about an hour in the Explorer's Lounge talking to the ship's technical staff to see if they can figure out why I cannot download my personal email account though I can readily get my anonymous aol account. We also waited in line to see the ship's librarian to regain the 27 minutes of internet time that continued to tick off after I was booted off line this morning. Internet minutes restored -- email not so lucky.

We then completed our transition from normal person to a resident of the alternate universe on this ship. We had massages. Ahhhhhhh.

Dinner went well this evening - all done with first night confusions. Our table for six is still a table for four and that is probably better all things considered. We then did what we seldom do and attended the show (comedy by Lee Bayless). He was OK but I was still in my alternate universe and fell asleep almost immediately.

Back at the cabin, even though tonight was not a formal night, we were presented with our first "pillow gifts" of the cruise - two "Moleskine" traveller's journals - nicely bound with plenty of space to record all and everything. Very lovely books complete with maps, conversions, international airport codes and other travel reference materials. They may be useful to chronicle things once we get home or to plan our next adventure. Unfortunately they are a bit heavy for us to take on to China so we will just mail them home from Kodiak.

Love your report.

Sounds like your cruise is off to a good start.

I always enjoy reading your travel reports.

Thank you.

Glad to hear those high winds calmed down. Thanks for bringing us along. m--

Slow Boat to China - Day 3 - September 23

Today is the second of three sea days on our way to Kodiak, Alaska. Though there are grey skies the seas were pretty good this morning. As I write this it is almost four in the afternoon - I just returned to our cabin and noticed the waves spraying water - and lo and behold, according to my favorite "date and time channel" we are experiencing Beaufort Force 9 winds (46 knots) broadside to the starboard side. I am a bit surprised as I did not actually sense that type of weather - or is it that I am just becoming a good sailor. We are currently 685 nautical miles from Seattle and 580 nautical miles from Kodiak.

I slept very well last night but awakening was difficult as we have not yet turned our clocks back so that it was a very dark 7 am this morning. Word has it that the first turn of the clock for our trip will be tonight.

After another wonderful dining room breakfast DH and I did our first morning walk with the intention of another this afternoon but quite frankly, I am not sure I want to battle the wind. Then it was up to the crow's nest for the battle of the NY Times crosswords and quiet reading.

We did not have to have such a quiet morning -- if we wished during the day today we could have done one of a number of physical fitness classes, guided meditation, Bridge Instruction, Sit, Knit and Needlework, watercolor class, aqua aerobics, listened to our location guide Barbara talk about the ports of Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, gone to the Culinary Arts Center to see the Pinnacle Grill chef prepare Alaskan sea food or later join Samantha for a presentation called "for the Love of Chocolate - Trivia, Treats and Martinis". There was "techspert" time today, dance classes, Arts and Crafts, Casino tournaments, Wii bowling and both Team Trivia and Pub Trivia. Our current lecturer did a talk this afternoon on Seward's folly, and,of course, there are movies.

For those who want to know ... Debbie Bacon is in the Piano bar, we have guitar soloist Larry in the Crow's nest with the Neptunes in the Ocean Bar, and Adagio in the Explorer's Lounge.

Our first formal night is tonight. I will report back later.

OK - first formal night. The dining room was decorated with international flags and a Fourth of July style table centerpieces with metallic streamers and flags. The menu, however, was a typical formal night menu not the international dinner menu.

When we arrived our six top table was set for four. Our dinner partners arrived as usual - but not far behind them a lovely couple of women whom our companions had met in one of the bars arrived also and sat in the empty two chairs. Our waiter was very patient and reset the extra two places while trying to find out which table was their original table so that they could let their server know - but the women (as well as our trusty regular dinner companions) were a tad inebriated and they could not find their room keys - they asked if the waiter thought that they were possibly stow aways ... meanwhile Captain Eversen and a woman whom we presume to be his wife (all right, you caught me, I did not go to the Captain's welcome reception so who knows for sure) were seated alone at the table behind us.

Our very patient waiter (fully aware that tonight he was being observed by the Captain as well as his usual boss) proceeded with the taking of orders and the dinner service to, shall I say, a very lively table. He did an excellent job! It was quite the experience and the rest of the dinner shall forever stay on the Amsterdam.

When we returned to our cabin, tonight there were, once again, pillow gifts. The Grand Voyage totes. I was a bit concerned that our Grand Voyage color might be brown since all of the balloons at the sail away party were brown -- but in fact our color is a pleasant deep royal blue - almost navy. Our totes are very nice canvas cross body bags stuffed with goodies: a leather luggage tag and strap, a small zippered canvas pouch containing purell, pepto bismol tablets, a few bandages, spearmint sunscreen lip balm and a small tin of mints - they are labelled "Irony Peppermint sugar free mints" "a gesture of kindness" -- what are they trying to tell us?

There were also 2014 "Grand Pacific and Far East Voyage" commemorative pins and two "Seattle Chocolates" (both are gone now - I am not saying how but I will probably not fit into my clothing by the time we get to Shanghai -- just sayin') rather than the usual bed time chocolates.

For the record I have still not been able to successfully download my att.yahoo account personal email even though I have had no difficulty at all getting on to cruise critic to post to my thread - I think there is a message here also.

So DH and I went up to the Explorations Lounge to try one more time to download email -- and we found Barbara our locations guide and Christopher the librarian, in their formal clothing, washing down all of the chairs, table, etc in the explorations and the desk area where the cruise consultants sit - they were using a disinfectant. Concerned I asked about this and was told that they were doing this because it was the third day of the cruise and they always do this on the third day of the cruise ... now I know. I have to say that that is one part of the job that I did not imagine these folks would be doing. It is definitely not easy to work on a ship.

We set the clocks back one hour tonight.

Another great day report.

Can't wait to see what you think of Kodiak -- we have been there a couple of times.