LIVE from the 2018 HAL Grand World Voyage!

At Sea – April 14, 2018

Up at 8 to get ready for water aerobics. After grabbing my juice and roll, I changed for Sit and Stitch.

We were the bridesmaids again at morning trivia with 10 points and the winners had 11.

1)Which churchman was the first to call South Africa “the rainbow nation”?

2)What is Cuba’s national animal?

3)Which Asian city has an egg-shaped space museum?

4)Which of the Canary Islands has the same flag as Scotland?

5)Which breed of dog is known as the “Apollo of Dogs”?

As I was going to have lunch I noticed that all the balcony cabins (I think the three ocean view cabins were discriminated against ;)) had a notice sitting up on their mail slot. I thought it was curious that they had one and we didn’t, so I stopped to read it. Since I never received one I can’t quote it exactly but the general message was that they had found a way to make the antenna work again and we had internet – at least for the time being. I went back to my cabin and picked up my laptop.

After I finished lunch and was waiting for Arts and Crafts I was able to get my three missing days up on Cruise Critic and on my blog.

In Arts and Crafts we made an African bead bracelet.

Instead of sitting by the pool I stayed in the Lido and was able to get up my pictures for the missing days.

The winning team (same one that won this morning) had 14 and we only had 11 at afternoon trivia.

1)What is Paul McCartney’s first name?

2)In what year did Buda and Pest merge?

3)What month is named for the Roman god of gateways and doors?

4)What father and son were in the movie Wall Street?

5)What are the two countries share the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere?

When I returned to my cabin I had two papers in my box. The first was from my travel agency saying that my tour for Monday was rescheduled from 8:15 to 12:45. We will be the only ones touring at that time so we should not have so many others to contend with and we will have three buses. The other paper was the offer of two tours/airport transfers for the 28th. I think I will take one of them because even though I love airports, I don’t fancy sitting around for six hours waiting for my flight.

Tonight was our penultimate Gala Night. The theme was “Fabulous Las Vegas – What happens on Amsterdam stays on Amsterdam”. Before dinner I listened to Jamm in the Piano Bar. Cass joined us for dinner again and told us that the two IT guys and an electrician spent all of yesterday inside the antenna dome making a work-around of the bad area. She also said that at about 1:30 the system was as loaded as it would take and she feared it would crash. Luckily, it did not. I had a seafood appetizer, the best filet mignon I have had on the ship, and an apple cheesecake for dessert.

The show tonight was the Amsterdam singers and dancers in a production called “Astoria”. The singing and dancing was fine but if you hadn’t read the blurb about it, the storyline was confusing. All in all, not my favorite one of their performances.

Tomorrow is our last sea day before two port days in a row.

Morning trivia…

1)Desmond Tutu

2)trogon (none of us had ever heard of it)

3)Hong Kong

4)Tenerife

5)Great Dane

Afternoon trivia…

1)James

2)1872

3)January

4)Martin and Charlie Sheen

5)Chile and Argentina

Great review.

loved your pictures

r

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Nice to see you posting again Kathi.

Glad the internet is sort of working again and hopefully all will be good soon.

I know all to well how frustrating it can be when the internet doesn't co-operate.

Nice that the assistant CD on vacation agreed to fill in as the librariran. Very kind of her.

Your posts are always fun and thank you for sharing with us.

Explanation for the tardiness of this post will be detailed in the next one - hopefully in a couple of hours.

At Sea – April 15, 2018

There was no water aerobics this morning so I slept late. Roll and juice and then Sit and Stitch.

In morning trivia we had 12 but the winning team had 15.

1)For which two films did Tom Hanks win back to back Best Actor Oscars?

2)What is a dactylogram?

3)What sport used the term “home run” long before baseball?

4)What war movie did Frank Sinatra direct?

5)What country lost wars to India in 1947, 1965, and 1971?

In Arts and Crafts we made a beaded scissor fob. It was one of my favorite crafts we’ve done and I immediately put it on my stork scissors.

There was a nice cool breeze blowing by the Lido Pool so I sat there and finished my woolen scarf for Antarctica next year.

We were again the Bridesmaids coming in second with 15 (out of 17) in afternoon trivia. The winning team had 16. The theme was Nursery Rhymes. Amanda started working for HAL in the Club HAL program (for kids onboard). When she applied for the job of assistant cruise director she had to compile a trivia game. Today we had her questions. We also learned that the US and British Commonwealth countries have many different words in their nursery rhymes.

1)Where did the second little piggy stay?

2)What did Yankee Doodle call his feather?

3)What is the last word in “Little Jack Horner”?

4)Where did Little Miss Muffet get frightened to?

5)Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling ____.

Went to SINGO with Jamm before dinner. I had fruit, navy bean soup, prime rib, and a mandarin sundae for dessert.

Skipped the show.

Banjul, The Gambia tomorrow.

Morning trivia…

1)Philadelphia and Forrest Gump

2)fingerprint

3)cricket

4)None But the Brave

5)Pakistan

Afternoon trivia…

1)home

2)macaroni

3)I

4)away

5)after

Love the sounds of that beaded fob to put on the scissors.

Another nice day for you.

We enjoy the trivia questions.

Banjul, The Gambia – April 16. 2018

When I tried to post my blog last night I needed to redeem a new internet voucher. It was the replacement for the voucher code that would not work previously. It, of course, did not work either and there was nothing that could be done about it at 11 pm. So, I was up around 8 hoping to catch Kass at her desk in the library. She was there and said she would have to check with Seattle about a different code.

Since my tour did not leave until 2, I decided to spend the morning at the pool. Grabbed my roll and juice and headed to the Sea View pool. The sky was a beautiful blue and there was a slight breeze. The pool temperature was perfect. I spent from 9:30 until noon swimming and sunning. Picked up lunch and ate by the pool. On my way back to my cabin I took a piece of chocolate cake that looked a lot like the room service cake. As I was getting in the elevator Barbara (the EXC Guide) was getting off. She mentioned how good the cake looked and I said I hoped it was as good as room service cake. She said that the room service chocolate cake has continued to be as delicious as it was since she first started working for HAL 20+ years ago. I am glad that they did not mess with perfection!

Back in my cabin I found four codes from Kass to try. None of them worked. I left her a note that I would be by to see her later. Taking some pictures from my deck I noticed there were craft vendors along the pier so I quickly got everything into my purse and went down to check them out. Bought a few items. I am not a good negotiator because I feel these people have so little that haggling over a dollar or two is silly.

At 1:30 I went to the Ocean Bar to meet for my tour which was through my travel agency. We waited until about 2:30 before the buses showed up (I heard later there was a shortage of buses for the ship’s morning tours). We finally headed out about 2:55. We were told we would get to see all the sights and the ship had already been alerted that we would be past the 6:30 all aboard time.

Have you ever wondered why the country is called “The Gambia”? According to our guide it is because Gambia and Zambia used to be confused so they added “the”. The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa and, except for the short Atlantic coast, is totally surrounded by Senegal. Through its history, the country has been under the control of various European countries but was a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations until 2013. English remains the official language. 90% of the population are Muslim.

We started with a drive through Banjul (which is on an island) heading to the Kachikally Crocodile Pool which has over 100 Nile crocodiles. They are fed fish and are, therefore, not real interested in eating humans so you could actually pat them on the back (which I did).

Then on to the batik and tie-dyeing workshop where we were shown how both are done. They had some beautiful fabrics as well as wall hangings available but I did not buy anything.

Our refreshment stop was next at a guest house with a restaurant. There was a band playing (and some people danced) and we had a choice of a soft drink, bottled water, or a local beer (I had the beer) along with some of the local peanuts – peanuts are their biggest agricultural product. Surprisingly, the temperature was not overwhelming all day because of a nice breeze.

We had two short photo stops – one at the King Fahad Mosque (the largest in Banjul) and Arch 22. Our next stop was at the National Centre for Arts and Culture which contains a variety of artifacts. We were supposed to have some time to visit the largest market, the Albert Market (formerly known as the Royal Albert Market), but it was already 6:30 so we only had a chance to walk down the street and peeking in the shops (no shopping). Glad I bought what I wanted at the pier.

We finally got back on the ship at 7:00. I had already decided that I was not going to eat in the MDR because I needed to get my internet voucher situation sorted out. I went back to see Kass. She had e-mailed but had not received a reply so I decided to see if I could work out something with Guest Relations. The young man I talked to didn’t seem to believe that none of the codes Kass had sent worked so he tried them all. When they did not work for him either he called someone, got a code, and I finally had my service again. The bonus 100 minutes for purchasing before the cruise is nice but I am not sure I will buy it again.

By the time I had my voucher issue resolved it was 7:55 and I wanted to go to the 8:00 show of the group 4Ever. They were just as good as before.

Had room service dinner and worked on the blog and pictures until after midnight.

Dakar, Senegal tomorrow.

The scissor fob is a very cleaver idea.

It took to the "nursery rhymes" trivia question before I finally got all 5 right. Thank you for posting them, they have made my day!

I'm glad you made your port call at Gambia. The ebola outbreak caused it to be canceled in 2014. Hope you are still enjoying as your World adventure enters it's final weeks.

I am really enjoying your posts. You have a zest for activities I find refreshing. Thanks for the time you take to share and I appreciate the energy you take to get online when there are so many challenges sometimes!

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Wonderful report. Glad you decided to see the pier vendors before you took your tour.

Frustrating not to get the right code for internet. Glad guest relations was able to help you out.

Love the pictures.

Dakar, Senegal – April 17, 2018

I signed up for a private excursion on Cruise Critic to visit Goree Island. We met in the Ocean Bar at 8:00 but had to wait for the ship to dock and get clearance. We were picked up and taken to another part of the pier to catch the 10:00 ferry. After a wait, the boat started loading and it was something of a free-for-all. Standing in a line was not the order of the day. We were able to get seats and took the 20 minute ride over to the island.

Goree Island played a prominent role in the west African slave trade for many years. It was first claimed by the Portuguese in 1444. It went back and forth between the Dutch and the Portuguese until the British took over in 1664. The French invaded and it remained under mostly French control until 1960 when Senegal became independent.

Because Senegal has the westernmost point on the African continent as well as a long coastline, Goree became one of the main places to hold slaves until their transport to the Caribbean, North America, or South America.

Our first stop was at the “House of Slaves” built in 1776. Here slaves were kept and prepared to be sent away. At one time there were 28 houses like this. Our guide told us how 15-20 slaves were chained in each of the small cells. He also told how the slaves were supposed to be at least 60 kg and would be forcibly (beaten if they did not eat) fattened up before being put on the ships. We also saw the “Door of No Return” where the slaves would touch African soil for the last time.

We then walked around the island (there are no cars, motorcycles, etc.) stopping at a craft market and a workshop where they make sand paintings (I bought a small one). Our guide wanted us to walk to the top of a hill for a view but none of us were interested.

We had lunch at a local restaurant and came back on the 2:00 ferry. Getting on and off the ferry was very much like getting on and off a tender with lots of rocking and large steps. I have a number of bruises where the men literally lifted me.

When we returned to the pier there were vendors selling things and I spent the last of the Euros and dollars I had brought with me.

I arrived back on the ship in time to play 3:30 trivia. There were not many of us playing so I joined another team. We came in 3rd with 11.

1)What country is known as “The Land of Milk and Honey”?

2)What type of tragedy do these numbers have in common? 007, 103, 191

3)Which northeast state has cities/towns named Mexico, China, Palermo, and Madrid?

4)Who was the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes?

5)Where were the cancelled 1940 Olympics supposed to be held?

Back to my cabin to put away my laundry and then to the Piano Bar for 5:00 trivia. We had 13 and the winning team had 16 (out of 17).

1)How many points does a blank tile in Scrabble score when used as a “q”?

2)Why type of bird was used as a “gas detector” in coal mines?

3)What did Clive Sinclair call the first pocket calculator in 1972?

4)What age was dawning in the musical Hair?

5)In what Italian city was Michelangelo raised?

Went to sail-away after trivia and sat with Marilyn and Rodney.

At dinner tonight we had Barbara (the EXC Guide) dine with us. It was good to talk with her and hear how she got started with HAL. Good news – we have fresh fruit including watermelon again – so I had fruit, Cesar salad, roast beef, and ice cream for dessert.

There was no show tonight.

We gain another hour tonight and have a day at sea tomorrow.

3:30 trivia…

1)Israel

2)airplane crashes

3)Maine

4)Marie Curie

5)Tokyo

5:00 trivia…

1)zero

2)canary

3)the Sinclair Executive

4)Aquarius

5)Florence

Enjoyed your report and photos from Dakar, thanks.

Wonderful report of Dakar -- pictures.

Hope your bruises heal quickly.

Trivia questions were easy today.

quote=Krazy Kruizers;55867006]Trivia questions were easy today.

I just thought I was getting smarter!!!

At Sea – April 18, 2018

I slept until 8:54 so no water aerobics (I later found out Amanda is sick so I am not sure if they even had it). Got my roll and juice and went to Sit and Stitch. I have started a shawl with some of my Australian alpaca.

Only four of us for morning trivia (Rodney and Marilyn had gone to lunch) and we had a score of 11. The winning team had 14 out of 15.

1)What must be held to speak in Lord of the Flies?

2)What is the only creature that can turn its stomach inside out?

3)What flying invention did Fred Morrison originally invent?

4)Which day is the end of Rio’s Carnivale?

5)How many times is the word “duke” repeated in the song The Duke of Earl?

In Arts and Crafts we made a volcanic stone bead bracelet.

Sat by the pool and started a new book and then knitted for awhile.

We did dreadfully in afternoon trivia with only 7 points. The winners had 13 out of 17. Here are five of the ones we missed.

1)What was 17th century astronomer, Keppler, accused of never doing?

2)Who wrote, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”?

3)In what year did Panama declare its independence from Colombia?

4)What year was Muhammed Ali’s last as a heavyweight champion?

5)What was the most popular name for boys in the US in 1960, 1970, and 1990?

My travel agency had its last cocktail party and I decided to try one more time. I went, got a drink and was getting ready to leave when Tom came over and talked to me for awhile.

At dinner I had fruit (watermelon is back!), a salad, beef brisket and an apple tart for desert. Today was the start of the 145th anniversary of the founding of what is today Holland America. They kicked off the festivities with a “Chocolate Surprise”. Starting at 9:00 they brought around various treats throughout deck 5 and the Crow’s Nest. We got some in the dining room.

I met Rodney and Marilyn while walking through the library and we went to the show together. The group was called Savannah Jack and they were terrific. At the 8:00 show they started singing songs from the 1950s to 1970s. Many people who had been to that show returned for the 10:00 show where the songs ranged from the 70s to mid 80s. They will return for another show and dance party.

Morning trivia…

1)conch shell

2)starfish

3)frisbee

4)Shrove Tuesday

5)125

Afternoon trivia…

1)bathing

2)Keats

3)1903

4)1979

5)Michael

Treats to celebrate HAL's 145th birthday sounded great.

Great that you have fruit back.

Love the pictures.

Thanks for all your reports, you have had some interesting excursions.

Was there a 145th HAL Birthday cake?.

Glad to hear that the entertainment on the cruise continues to be excellent. That is one of the things we enjoyed most while we were on the cruise.

Hard to believe that your trip will be over soon.

Have you heard if the 2020 itinerary has been finalized yet? We’re interetsed in seeing what it when it’s finalized.

Thanks for all your reports, you have had some interesting excursions.

 

Was there a 145th HAL Birthday cake?.

No cake so far.

Glad to hear that the entertainment on the cruise continues to be excellent. That is one of the things we enjoyed most while we were on the cruise.

Hard to believe that your trip will be over soon.

Have you heard if the 2020 itinerary has been finalized yet? We’re interetsed in seeing what it when it’s finalized.

No word yet. I am looking forward to seeing the completed itinerary although most years there has been few changes from the proposed.

Hope you both are doing well!

Kathi,

I have enjoyed reading your blog of the World Cruise so much since I had hoped to be sailing on it as well. I wonder if you are planning on doing a summary of your thoughts when you return home. Did the cruise meet your expectations? Possibly a comparison to your World Cruise on Cunard. The good, bad, or ugly if there is any?

Kathi,

 

I have enjoyed reading your blog of the World Cruise so much since I had hoped to be sailing on it as well. I wonder if you are planning on doing a summary of your thoughts when you return home. Did the cruise meet your expectations? Possibly a comparison to your World Cruise on Cunard. The good, bad, or ugly if there is any?

Yes, I am planning on doing that. I have been asked a number of times for a comparison of a WV on Cunard vs. HAL. It may take me a bit of time (all those suitcases to unpack:eek:) but it will come.

Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde Islands – April 19, 2018

I was not overly impressed with today’s tour. We were told in advance that the buses might not have a/c or a PA system and ours did not but since it was a cool day and we only had 13 on the bus it was not a problem. What the problem was is that we did not do many of the things on the itinerary.

The EXC description says that the top three reasons to book were:

1. The Santo Domingos village arts and crafts cooperative

2. The Cape Verdean Botanic Gardens in San Jorge dos Oragos

3. The vibrant wholesale market of Assomada

We did not visit any of these. When someone complained the guide told us that the arts and crafts cooperative had been closed for two months, that because of the drought there was nothing to see at the Botanic Gardens, and the road was torn up so we couldn’t get to the wholesale market.

Because of the drought they substituted a visit to Eco Centro (basically a plant nursery with a few animals) for the gardens. Unfortunately, it was at the bottom of a steep cobblestone slope that some of us did not want to chance. Most of those who attempted it said we did not miss anything.

We went to Assomoda for a bathroom stop at a bakery. We did not see anything else in town. The road was torn up but no idea if the market was still there or not.

The only two things that went as advertised was lunch and the visit to the former concentration camp in Tarrafal. The camp was used by the Portuguese for opponents to the fascist regime in Portugal from 1936 through to 1974. It was modeled on the **** concentration camps.

We had lunch in a nice restaurant on the water. The food was good. We were told that there was a market nearby but when we walked there it had only one stall selling souvenirs and nobody was there to take money. We then had an almost 2.5 hour drive back to the ship. Definitely not the best tour ever.

When I got back on the ship I decided to go up to the Lido Deck and get a seat for the sail-away party. The lure of free alcohol had many people with the same idea. It was 4:35 and the place was packed (the party did not start until 5). As I was finding a seat Ed came over and asked me to join them. Ed and Cyndi were seated with John and Margaret (from the dinner table). We had a good time talking, listening to the Station Band, watching people dance, and of course, drinking. I was drinking rum punch but they were very weak.

After the party we all ate dinner in the Lido together.

I did not go to the show.

We gain an hour tonight and we have five days at sea before our final port.

Thank you for taking the trouble to write such an interesting blog.

Seems you have been busy, when not touring, reading, doing arts and crafts and knitting. When you compose your comments on your experiences on this world cruise, can you please include all the things you have made?