North to Alaska - South to Hawaii & Tahiti with Bill & Mary Ann - 42 days - Statendam

Thanks for all your work and taking us along. I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the WC.

Until then, breakfast will just be..........breakfast.

As always, a complete pleasure to read. Safe travels home.

Your blogs from all your cruises which I follow have made me want to try HAL so we have booked a 14 day in December and hope to share your contentment with them Happy sailing on your next world cruise we are soooooo envious:p:p:p

Thank you so much for your thread. I really enjoyed it all. Thank you for the nice comment about canadians :). Looking forward to your world cruise thread early next year.

Thank you for taking us along with you - I'm looking forward to your next World Cruise.:D

You two are an inspiration! I've greatly enjoyed following along with you. Thanks to your reports, we knew to keep an eye out for the sea lions as we left San Diego last month on Westerdam.

Looking forward to following your world cruise!

Thank you Bill and Mary Ann for another fabulous trip report! I love travelling along with you and hearing of your adventures and I also love the detail you provide. :)

Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your voyages.

Thank you so much for your most enjoyable and well written posts. You have added immensely to the upcoming voyage with the same itinerary on which we will soon be embarking.

Thanks for the reports. I really do enjoy the level of detail and sometimes cut and paste them into some notes I keep on places we have not been. Glad you had a enjoyable and safe cruise.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to share your trip with us! Counting down the days until your world cruise blog :)

Thank you so much for taking us along on your trip. I totally enjoyed your World Cruise blog last year and am looking forward to another one. Can you tell us a bit more about Sydney, the young one you referred to? How many kids were on the cruise?

Karen

Thanks so much for doing your live report for the last 42 days. Certainly have enjoyed it, brought back fond memories of our cruise several years ago.

Report # 44 San Diego, California November 2, 2014 Sunday Sunny & 70 degrees

Our arrival to San Diego was much easier than the Captain had warned us about. There was a slight swell throughout the night, but not so bad as expected. But then, being situated on deck A may be a lot more stable than being on deck 10.

The fog was beginning to clear up, and we could see that it was promising to be a nice day.....no rain. We were scheduled to get off of the ship around 9am. But you know these things never happen that way. There has not been a cruise that we can recall that absolutely every guest understands the importance of customs and immigrations checks when entering a US port. The very patient cruise director made it perfectly clear that no one will be allowed to exit the ship until everybody has been accounted for. This includes the few folks that needed to declare purchases made onboard that more than likely exceeded the customs allowance of $800. per person. If you purchase something pricey onboard, they know who you are. You are red-flagged, and will be summoned to see the agents in the Hudson Room. usually that involves paying extra duty on such items. Another group of guests that need to be cleared with a face-to-face passport check are the foreigners, or non US citizens. People from both groups were called to the Hudson Room, but they were not all responding. You could hear the frustration in Rick's voice as he made at least four announcements for the last of the stragglers.

At least we were not delayed hours, like on some past trips. At that time, some people missed their flights. Today we were less than 1/2 hour delayed. For that reason, we always make sure we do not have an early flight, since you cannot be guaranteed getting to the airport 2 hours prior to the flights. In fact, the more seasoned travelers will spend a day or two in a disembarkation city after a cruise before making that flight home. It can be a stressful day.

Our purple number one tag was called at about 9:45am. The line was moving slowly to get off, but at least it was moving. It was easy to locate our four pieces of luggage, because if you go at the end of your line, most of the bags will have been picked up already. You just pray that no one wheeled off a piece of luggage the same size and color as yours. Yes, it has happened. But not to us. Your best bet is to attach something outrageously bright and colorful on your bags. We saw some neat luggage in the hall last night. They were covered in fabric with butterflies and birds. Not only were they easy to find, they would not show the wear and tear of the solid color bags.

Lining up to exit the terminal was not as easy. Why is it that some people are so anxious to be first? We about got our toes run over by some guys running outside, cutting into the line. Glad they weren't our tablemates.......

Transportation from the terminal to the airport is easy to come by in San Diego. Vans and taxis line up and you are on your way for the three mile drive. We got to the airport, off-loaded the luggage (which passed by ounces), and were free to relax until our flight at 1:40pm. Somehow we ended up with an extra piece of luggage to check, and flying with United, the charges are $25 for the first bag, and $35. for the second. For us not to have to worry about excess overweight charges and adding the fourth bag, we felt it was worth the price of $35. That would have not even covered our shared lunch in Nuka Hiva.

At least we were free to go back outside and soak up as much southern California sun we could until noon. While waiting at terminal 44, we ran into Rita and Rodger who were also waiting for their 1:40pm flight to Seattle, then a 4 hour layover for a 15 minute flight to Vancouver. Guess they could not get a straight through flight to Canada. It was a good chance to share some fun memories we had experienced with them at our table. Before we knew it, we were called to board the plane.

Just so we remember, we need to keep in mind the seating on these flights. We were in row 27, which was not the back, but close enough that the overhead bins were filled by the time we boarded. Only having small carryons, we got about the last spots near our seats. The only alternative was to have the attendant take one carryon and stashing them elsewhere, out of your access. Once the bag is gone, if you needed something in there, you would be out of luck. On a short flight it probably does not matter, but on a longer flight, that could be a problem. Something to keep in mind.

By the time we starting getting "happy feet" or antsy, the plane was landing 15 minutes early in San Francisco. Sure glad we did not have a long flight, like some of our tablemates. One had to fly to Minnesota, while the other to England. Don't envy that one.

At the baggage pickup, our luggage was among the first on the turnstile. Within 10 minutes we were ready to go meet our ride, which we had pre-arranged back in September. It was nice to get home, although we will miss the ship, the crew, and our new friends. But there's always email...........

Now the work begins. We have 8 weeks to prepare for the next big trip, and squeeze in Thanksgiving and Christmas. And as always, we know the time will fly by all too quickly.

Again, thanks for joining us. We will be back...........

Bill & Mary Ann

Thank you for the entertainment Bill and Mary Ann Have a great Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Very enjoyable, as always. Enjoy your time at home and getting ready for the long one coming up!

Thank you for your review. I am looking forward to your next one as well!

Nanci

You have a good holiday, and we'll be looking forward to your WC's report.

Thanks for the reports, also where can I view the photos that you took on your cruise?

Thanks so much for the review, we are taking this cruise in December. Would you be able to tell me if there was sushi served in the Lido for lunch or dinner?

Outstanding thread! Enjoyed every post and appreciate the time you took out of your cruise for your comprehensive and readable daily posts.

Already looking forward to your WC thread.

Thanks so much for the review, we are taking this cruise in December. Would you be able to tell me if there was sushi served in the Lido for lunch or dinner?

They had sushi everyday when we were aboard last year, and I can't imagine that has changed. I know they still had sushi every day in the Lido on our recent cruise.