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Trekking the Globe with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2017 World Cruise - 126 Days


WCB
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Report # 1 The “Trek” begins soon……………December 27, 2016 Tuesday Partly cloudy and too cold

 

It seems to always be the weather in northern California this time of year, that gets us thinking of warmer places in the world. That is probably what drew us to cruising the seven seas during the winter months of the year. The world cruise fit the bill, so here we are, once again, wrapping up the holidays and preparing to hit the road on New Year’s Day. The 2017 HAL’s Grand Voyage will be on the Amsterdam for 111 days, followed by a Panama re-positioning cruise for 15 more days. The nice thing is that our trip will end in San Francisco, a rarity. The best aspect is that we have no flight after the cruise…..just a short drive home.

 

So here is the itinerary, which has been amended more than once due to unrest in some of the areas we will visit.

 

Jan 4 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

 

Jan 7 Santa Marta, Colombia

 

Jan 9 Cruising the Panama Canal

 

Jan 11 Puntarenas, Costa Rica,

 

Jan 12 Corinto, Nicaragua

 

Jan 13 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 

Jan 16 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

 

Jan 19 San Diego, California

 

Jan 25 Hilo, Hawaii

 

Jan 26 – 27 Honolulu, Hawaii

 

Jan 31 Cross the International Dateline

 

Feb 2 Majuro, Marshall Islands

 

Feb 7 Guam, US Territory

 

Feb 8 Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

 

Feb 12 – 13 Osaka, Japan

 

Feb 15 Kagoshima, Japan

 

Feb 16 Nagasaki, Japan

 

Feb 18 Incheon (Seoul), Korea

 

Feb 20 Jeju, South Korea

 

Feb 22 – 23 Beijing, China

 

Feb 26 – 27 Shanghai, China

 

Mar 2 – 3 Hong Kong, China

 

Mar 6 Nha Trang, Vietnam

 

Mar 7 Phu My, Vietnam

 

Mar 9 – 10 Singapore

 

Mar 11 Port Kelang, Malaysia

 

Mar 15 Colombo, Sri Lanka

 

Mar 18 – 19 Mumbai, India

 

Mar 22 Muscat, Oman

 

Mar 28 – 29 Aqaba, Jordan

 

Mar 31 Transit the Suez Canal

 

Apr 2 Rhodes, Greece

 

Apr 3 – 4 Piraeus (Athens), Greece

 

Apr 5 Nauplion, Greece

 

Apr 6 Iraklion, Crete

 

Apr 7 Mykonos, Greece

 

Apr 9 Valletta, Malta

 

Apr 11 Palma de Mallorca, Spain

 

Apr 12 -13 Barcelona, Spain

 

Apr 15 Cadiz, Spain

 

Apr 16 Casablanca, Morocco

 

Apr 18 Funchal, Madeira

 

Apr 26 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

 

End of the world cruise - the Panama Canal cruise continues…….

 

Apr 29 Cartagena, Colombia

 

Apr 30 Transit the Panama Canal

 

May 2 Puntarenas, Costa Rica

 

May 3 Corinto, Nicaragua

 

May 4 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 

May 5 Huatulco, Mexico

 

May 8 Cabo San Lucas

 

May 11 San Francisco, California

 

Of course, this is subject to change. We were supposed to have a two day stop in Istanbul, but that was changed about a month or more ago. Personally, we are happy for the deletion, since we will be stopping in some new ports instead. Two other uncertain stops in our opinion, are in Jordan and Morocco. Recent warnings have been announced for the areas in and around Petra, the major highlight in Jordan. And finally Casablanca, a place we were scheduled to see on two different cruises, but were turned away at the last minute. One thing for sure……..the company (HAL) will not put their crew, passengers, and ships in harm’s way. We thank them for that, no matter what the inconvenience.

 

Hopefully, we will be spending some warm days, emphasis on “warm” in Florida before the cruise begins. Our travel agency gives us one night in a hotel, along with a cocktail reception and dinner on January 3rd. Our four duffels were picked up on December 15th, so all we will take are two suitcases and hand carrys. If all goes well, the bags will be delivered to our stateroom….the same one we always get. Seems like we just left there. Actually, we did just six weeks ago, when we finished the Tales of the South Pacific last fall. On that cruise, the weather was unusually hot and humid. This upcoming world cruise will be different. The ship will not cross the Equator this time, as we will be heading north to chilly Japan, Korea, and northern China during their winter time. Packing had to include some serious warm clothing and down jackets….the ones we used in Antarctica.

 

And while we are in the area, we plan to leave the ship in Beijing for an eight day land tour. We shall be flying to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, the giant pandas in Chengdu, and Guilin and the Li River, coming back to Hong Kong. Should be an interesting side trip…….quite different from the big animal safaris we have come to love doing.

 

A nice reminder of the fact we are HAL’s President’s Club members arrived today on our doorstep. We were gifted two sets of Waterford crystal votive candle holders…….a welcomed addition to our growing collection of special presents.

 

We shall be “Trekking the Globe with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2017 World Cruise”. So, stay tuned, and the adventure will begin in a few days!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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Excellent! I am looking forward to experience the thrill of a Grand World Voyage by reading your post about your experiences. Thank you for taking the time to post on your busy itinerary! I truly do appreciate it tremendously! This will be the only way for me to have the pleasure of enjoying a Grand World Voyage until at least I retire, which will not be any time soon. Again, thank you.

 

 

David

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I normally follow along each year with your posts. This year it will have to be the last month in a half since I'll be doing the Grand South America and my Internet access will be limited. Within a few days a host of Grand cruisers will be filling the skies heading to Fort Lauderdale. Have a great trip. I'll catch up on your posts when I can.

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Nothing beats seeing the world first hand ... and with your long globe-trotting history, observing the changes with each visit. We were amazed at the major changes (for the better) just in Cabo San Lucas within a few years.

 

Love to hear about what changes you find in the world cruise ports you have visited in the past. Bon voyage. Safe travels.

(We shared one of your Tales of the South Pacific and a very brief hello.)

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Look forward to seeing you on board!

 

We are doing a six day China overland, are you disembarking in Beijing and embarking in Hong Kong? We are off in Bejing and back on the second day in Shanghai. We might cross paths in X'ian.

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