Discover 7 Continents with Bill & Mary Ann as we sail on the 2012 World Cruise

[WCB]

Report # 132 May 2, 2012 Wednesday Day at Sea

 

Even though the newsletter said there was a chance of showers, there were none that we saw. In fact, the day turned out to be one of the hottest and most humid of the trip. The Captain reported that the ship was doing 18 knots, but with an 18 knot following wind. That computed to absolutely no breeze on the outside decks. Stiffling.

 

Lots of people were walking on the promenade deck, but only for a short time. It seems that the goal is one mile, which is 3 1/2 laps. That was all it took today before they were overcome with the heat.

 

The upcoming port of Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, was the subject of Barbara's talk this morning. We noticed an interesting note printed in the shore excursion order form. It warned of pick-pockets in the colonial capital of Antigua. Children in abundance will beg for money, and we are requested to refuse them. Sounds like a sad situation, but we have seen the results of tourists giving money to kids. It is usually the smallest ones begging, but when money appears, the older ones come from out of nowhere. Lots of them. That's when things get scary. We have seen people throw the change in the air, run for their lives, diving into the nearest taxi. Best to heed the advice of those who know.

 

Since we will enter the Panama Canal tomorrow, Mike Millwood gave a talk on the canal's building. In addition to that info, we received a full list of guidelines in regards to the extreme heat and how to prevent heat stroke and exhaustion. One fact that most people do not know is that if you are taking seasickness medications or are using the patch, you are more likely to suffer heat stroke. These meds can interfere with normal sweating, which, of course, cools you off. Drinking gallons of water is also a must.

 

The day passed quickly as we spent some time swimming in the hot water in the pool. Why they use hot water in there is a mystery to us. Stands to reason that bacteria will flourish in those conditions. It was so warm in the sun today, way too many people were in the pool, leaving the water cloudy with lotion. Yuck. Good thing there are showers available to cool off as well. Since the world cruise ended, there are no bar fellows passing out iced lemonade or water anymore. They had us spoiled.

 

Another thing we noticed was that the buy one cocktail and get one for $1.00 has only been during 4 to 5pm in two bars. Yesterday, there were no specials. Since we have not been going to the Crows Nest, we don't know how crowded it is up there.

 

Two good movies were on this afternoon........The Colombian and the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Figures they would both be shown on the same day. Oh well, it was too warm to walk the deck this afternoon anyway. The newer Sherlock Holmes movie will be on tomorrow, and we may have to watch that.

 

Dinner was great once again. We ordered the lamb kebobs for appetizers, and they reminded us of the ones we had in Luxor. Hard to believe that was so long ago. The time is just going by too quickly. Anyway, we ordered weinerschintzel and a side order of the vegetable lasagna. Great combination. Our waiters only had two tables of two this evening, so we were served and done by 9pm. We could have gone to the showlounge to see Jeff Burghart, a comedian and impressionist, but we passed. He is from Comedy Central and Star Search, so he may have been good.

 

Looking forward to transiting the Panama Canal tomorrow, although we have done it more than a few times. It's always amazing.......

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[WCB]

Report # 133 May 3, 2012 Thursday Transit of the Panama Canal

 

Well, here we are, once again, transiting the Panama Canal. We've been lucky enough to have done this many, many times, and know about every nook and cranny of the passage. It is truly one of the most remarkable feats of engineering, starting with the first idea of how to make a maritime shortcut to get from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

 

The French began this project in 1880, eventually failing. The United States took over the building in 1904, and finished this massive undertaking by August 15, 1914. It came with a high price, not only financially, but with many obstacles and tragedy. Cholera, malaria, and yellow fever claimed the lives of 30,000 French, American, and Panamanian citizens. Flooding from tropical rain, terrible heat, and landslides causing accidents also contributed to the death number.

 

New construction has been going on since 2007, where the entrances are being expanded, Gatun Lake will be deepened and widened and elevated. New locks are in the process of excavation, and should be done by 2014. At that time, the Canal completes 100 years of operation. When all the work is done, the waterway will double the capacity to handle the increasing demand of worldwide trade.

 

Simply put, the interoceanic waterway uses a system of locks, raising the ships from sea level to the level of Lake Gatun. The lake is 26 meters above sea level and once through it, the ships cross the Continental Divide. Then more sets of locks lower the ships back down to the sea level. The water that is used to raise and lower the ships comes from Gatun Lake. The water is gravity-fed, poured through a main culvert system. It is then dumped out to sea. As long as the rain from the nearby forests continues to feed the lake, there is a constant supply to run the locks.

 

Before entering the locks, the ship is connected on both sides to electric locomotives called mules. With cables from the mules, the ship is guided into the cement-lined lock, keeping it centered and going straight ahead. It is incredible to see how close to the walls the ship gets.

 

Here are a few facts. The distance of the canal is 48 miles. Using this waterway saves ships 7,872 miles, by not having to go around Cape Horn in South America. Average transit time is 9 hours. The highest toll paid at the time this info was printed was $141,345. The lowest toll was 36 cents, paid by Richard Halliburton who swam the canal in 1928. The Panama Canal Zone employs about 9,000 people, mostly Panamanians since the control of the canal reverted from the US back to them in 2000.

 

It was so darn hot today, that we wisely spent more time inside, only occassionally going up to the bow to get some good photos. We decided it was a good time to continue the packing, especially the small stuff that needed double bagging. We still had a good view of the walls of the locks as the ship sailed into them, and was either raised or lowered by the water. We would pop up every so often, then come back to our cool room to rehydrate with lots of water and Coke. We never even made it to the pool today, knowing that it would be wall to wall packed with swimmers or floaters.

 

Once we exited the Canal and were sailing in the Pacific Ocean, we retreated back to the room to watch a complicated movie, Sherlock Holmes. It's one of those flics that have to be watched twice to figure it out. That was also a great time to download photos....all 400 of them. Yes, we have thousands of photos, but with the new construction in progress, we could see the changes from our last trip, which was last September. We can report that they have a long way to go before the work will be done.

 

There was a "bright star" announcement made shipwide around 6pm tonight. Someone was in trouble at the aft pool with all the medical staff summoned to go there. Will try to get the story tomorrow. Our friend Penny, who also is traveling to San Diego like us, seems to have the inside track to hear ship gossip and information. We'll ask her if we see her.

 

Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill tonight at 8pm, the last from our pre-booked package. We had to order the steaks, because they are the best you can get. The baked potatoes were the size of small footballs, which would have fed us for a week at home. Their tableside-made Caesar salad was the best, and served much larger than the meager salads in the dining room. At home, we like large salads, and stay away from the breads and desserts. We did save a little room for ice cream, another treat we do not indulge in at home.

 

Since dinner was longer than usual, we missed the 9pm show. It was a variety show featuring the last three entertainers. As we headed to deck three for a moonlight walk, we could hear Alfreda Gerald singing. Boy, does she have a set of lungs!

 

Tomorrow, we will be scenic cruising Gulfo Dulce, Costa Rica.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[WCB]

Report # 134 May 4, 2012 Friday Scenic Cruising Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

 

The day started with thunder, lightening and rain very early in the morning. We tend to wake up earlier after we put the clocks back one hour. If we had not done this last night, we surely would have missed the display. Sure did remind us of the last time we sailed in this area last fall, when we had massive thunder and lightening storms all the way down the coast from San Francisco through the Panama Canal. If this rain storm continued, it would spoil the scenic sailing today for sure.

 

By the time we finished breakfast, the storm started to clear up, leaving it very humid on the outside decks. At 9:30am, the On Deck for the Cure 5K walk was commencing. This time, it was well attended by many walkers. This walk is supposed to be non-competitive, but you would never know it by the way some folks make it a real race. Quite annoying, these walkers weave in and out of the tightest spots to get in front. There must be a compulsion to be first, even if it causes an accident along the way. A few ladies were out there with their walkers...you got to admire them for trying. The downside today was the humidity. Once around the deck, and everyone was already soaked from sweating. We gave up by 10am, and decided to go inside to email and cool off.

 

Today was the first time we ran into a slowdown with the computer. It took three times longer to send emails. At this point of time, we have extra minutes to use our package up, so we did not complain. The library was full of people today, since it was too warm to be outside we think.

 

But not too warm for us. Sunbathers were starting to claim their lounges by 11am, but we got ours in our favorite spot at the back railing. If there is a breeze anywhere, it will be back there. Even though the clouds were scattered overhead, we were glad because it kept it a bit cooler. The temperature in the pool has been unbearably warm, but today, it was finally colder and refreshing. And very clean.

 

Just as we were getting into the best part of our books, the pool games began. This time, the assistant cruise director organized a relay game around the pool. It involved running with a balloon in between the legs, then popping it on a lady's lap while she was sitting on the decorative pool chair. It was funny, because everyone had suntan lotion on, and could not keep the balloon where it should have been. The next game was people diving for spoons in the bottom of the pool. And finally, Brett threw a bag of plastic balls in the pool, where the contestants had to collect these balls by stashing them in their swimsuits. Bikini-clad young ladies did not participate, much to the disappointment of the men who were watching. The final prize was a free drink from the bar, and HAL hat pins.

 

We had the perfect spot for watching the scenic cruising of the Golfo Dulce. This sheltered body of water is located on the rugged southwestern coast of Costa Rica. The name itself translates from Spanish to freshwater, simply because many rivers flow into the gulf from the overabundance of rain. They don't call these mountains rainforests for no reason. This area gets over 240 inches of rain annually. All of this gulf area is protected by the national parks and preserves.

 

The first sighting of jumping dolphins came when one of us left the pool to go get the camera, of course. That was at the start of the sail in, where the small fish must be abundant. Two groups of dolphins were on each side of the wake of the ship, jumping 10 to 12 feet in the air. They seemed to fly for a few seconds, coming down hard on their bellies. Sure looks like fun for them.

 

The heavily forested banks and hills of the gulf house a large variety of animals and birds. Many types of monkeys, agoutis, reptiles, slothes, jaguars, oscelots (rare now), snakes, and birds live in this jungle. The only way to see any of this wildlife is to be onshore. There are a few campgrounds and huts scattered on the water's edge, but nothing like resorts you see elsewhere in the world. In fact, you would never guess that there are roads from the shoreline tie into the Pan-American Highway on the other side of these mountains.

 

There are some towns here, the largest being Golfito with a population of 35,000 residents. Because of the heavy rainfall, bananas were grown here. Today the major crop is palm oil. Since we did not see any evidence of shipyards or container ships, we assume the products are transported by land. In fact, in all of the times we have sailed here, and it has been several, we have never even seen another cruise ship sailing the same time as us.

 

The sky darkened all around us, but we never had more than a couple of drops of rain. In the distance, we could see massive rain clouds dumping showers, like cell clouds often do. We ended up staying past 4pm, when the Amsterdam was almost out of the gulf. It was a good time to order room service club sandwiches, and enjoy the rest of the sailing from the comfort of our room. And being that we are close to the water, we could see dolphins jumping right outside out window occassionally. By the time it began to turn dark, we saw lightening once again.

 

Perfect time to take a deck walk, we watched the lightening display on the horizon for an hour. The storm had to be be far away, because we could barely hear the thunder. By the time we left to go back, the rain had started to fall. Hope it doesn't rain all day tomorrow, but it can be expected. Those umbrellas we almost packed away will probably come in handy.

 

Dinner was formal, but no where near as formal as on the world cruise. There were no dining room decorations we have come to enjoy, and the waiters do not dress up in costumes to match the theme of the night. The only special touches are the chair covers and the candles on the table. Also, there were no gourmandises (the little chocolate candies) we always get after dinner before dessert is served. Oh well, that is why the per diem charge is much less on this cruise compared to the world cruise. No frills, and definitely no pillow gifts. Guess we'll survive............

 

Tomorrow's port will be Puntarenas, not Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. It must have been changed at the last minute. This was good news that we got in a letter from the shore excursion folks late in the afternoon. Puerto Caldera is primarily a container port, while Puntarenas, 13 miles away, has a town and beach right off of the pier landing. We will have lots of company, however. The Royal Princess and the Zaandam will also be in the same port.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[Aussie Gal]

Mary Ann & Bill,

 

I doubt that one of the ship's in port is the Royal Princess as it is still being built and it s Maiden Voyage is not until June, 2013. The old one went to P&O UK this time last year as we were on her last voyage so at the moment there is no Royal Princess.

 

Jennie

[496and706]

Curious as to what a "bright star" announcement is.

[windsor26]

Curious as to what a "bright star" announcement is.

 

I am guessing from the continuance of the paragraph that it is the equivalent of Code Blue on Princess a medical emergency rush to the site.

[WCB]

Report # 135 May 5, 2012 Saturday Puntarenas, Costa Rica

 

Our port of call for today was originally Puerto Caldera. But for some reason, we ended up docking in Puntarenas, a much better option. We had been informed that the Royal Princess as well as the Zaandam were also docked. But that was wrong. The much larger Island Princess was docked across from us, and there was no sign of the Zaandam anywhere that we could see.

 

We have been here many times, and have taken most all of the tours. So we decided to explore the town and beaches instead. Honestly, we were glad not to be part of the HAL tours at this point of the trip. Sometimes the tour descriptions are written in a way to intice people to book them. Then when you get to some of these places, they are not what you expected. This can apply to the upcoming port in Nicaragua, for instance. We were here last year, took a short tour, and decided if we ever come back, we will stay close to the ship. Nicaragua is years away from having a structured tour program.

 

Back to Costa Rica. Here are a few fast facts about this Latin America gem. It is one of the smallest countries in Central America, but the most diverse and complex place of its size on earth, according to our newsletter. Because most of the country is rain forest, 27% of Costa Rica is designated as national park, biological reserve, wildlife refuge, or protected area. The flora and fauna number between 500,000 to a million total species. There are 50,000 species of insects, 2000 types of orchids, 208 species of animals, and 850 types of birds. There are thousands of species of butterflies and moths as well. Some of the wildlife includes mammals, amphibians, retiles, and exotic birds. Of the 135 types of snakes, only 118 of them are non-poisonous. The ones that are poisonous are among the most venomous in the world.

 

Costa Ricans are considered the most educated, with a 93% literacy, compared to other neighboring countries. They have no army, but do have a large police force. The temperatures on the coast are usually in the high 80's. And we can add that it is most humid here. Going into the mountains, you can expect cooler temps and rain......lots of it. Major crops grown here are the bananas, coconuts, and some of the best coffee you have ever tasted.

 

We found some of the souveniers that were created from local products. There is a large variety of hardwood trees, and fine examples of their useful products for sale were cutting boards and ice buckets. We bought one of each, always admiring them, but never buying. This time, we think have a little extra space in our luggage for these items. Also very nice, were the designs of framed art using butterfly wings as the medium. They were most expensive, but were locally-made, as were the wooden items.

 

The rest of the stalls along the beachfront had the usual beachwear, bags, sunglasses, towels, and cover-ups. Some silver jewelry was offered, but a lot of it was Mexican silver or alpaca. That looks good for a week or so, but it tarnishes easily, and never shines up like the real thing. Much of what we saw today we also saw in Stanley Market in Hong Kong. That's because it comes from Hong Kong.

 

We took two separate walks to town, then came back to the ship for ice water and Cokes. It was so warm out there, you don't last long. We did walk on the beach, but noticed parts of eel-like fish laying on the sand. Something had attacked these, devouring only the middle, and leaving the heads and tails. That was another good reason not to go in these murky waters here. There was also a major riptide, which would take one out to sea in a matter of minutes. The locals were playing in the muddy surf, but did not venture too far out into the deeper water. They probably did not want to end up like those fish cut in half.

 

By 3pm, we came back to the ship and spent the afternoon "cooking" at the pool. It would have been nice to go in the pool, but it was so crowded, we decided to take cold showers instead. By the afternoon, the partly cloudy skies cleared and it got even hotter. Most passengers were combating this heat with buckets of beer, gladly served by the bar staff.

 

In our room, we got hooked on an older movie, a Western, with Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson, and an actress who we could not remember her name. Knowing that we more than likely saw this movie many years ago, we had to watch it to the end anyway. It took three hours for it to end, because it was on TCM, with commercials.

 

Dinnertime was good again. The menu had some good choices with an entree salad of BBQ chicken, frizzled onions, corn, bell peppers, all on a bed of romaine lettuce. With a cilantro ranch dressing, it was perfect. This is as close to Mexican cuisine that it gets, and we love it. With three ports in Mexico coming up next week, we hope to see more of these treats.

 

Finishing our meal by 9pm, we ducked into the showlounge, deck five, at the standing counter near the get-away doors. There was an "award winning" Welsh entertainer, Mark Newsome, already on stage, playing the piano, harmonica, and singing too. He was OK until he started involving the audience. That's when we exited. We can report that the showlounge was full of guests. Unlike the world cruisers, these folks go to and do everything, because they have only a few weeks to do it. By the way, we checked out the Amsterdam singers and dancers last night, and they performed at high school level in our opinion. There was one good singer, and the rest, were mediocre. The majority of time, they were only lip-syncing and doing poorly at that. It did not matter to the audience, because they clapped at all the acts anyway.

 

We took our usual walk around the promenade deck, and had lots more company out there than we usually do. It was still warm and muggy, but the best part of the walk was watching the mountains of the coastline being lit up with strikes of lightening. At least the rain was up there and not where we were sailing. We lucked out today, because there was the mention of rain showers in the forecast, but it never happened. If anything, it was a fine day.

 

Tomorrow is the port of Corinto, Nicaragua.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[WCB]

Report # 136 May 6, 2012 Sunday Corinto, Nicaragua

 

The ship arrived to the port of Corinto, Nicaragua, around 10am this morning. We watched the sail into the port from the bow, where it was sweltering by 9am. Even though the predicted temperature was 90 degrees with partly cloudy skies, it felt like twice that with the heavy humidity. Unless you are born in a place with these conditions, it must be difficult to get used to this sticky, hot weather.

 

The port town of Corinto is basically a commercial area for transporting the many goods and products grown or made here. It is the only deep water port in the country. There is a population of 20,000 very friendly Spanish-speaking folks. There are some beaches with tropical surroundings, but we do not know where they were located, since they were not promoted for swimming. The major exports here are coffee, sugar, rice, cotton, and other basic grains, namely sesame seeds. Cigars are also made in the larger cities.

 

Corinto is the starting point for other tourist destinations. We were handed a well done booklet of Nicaraguan tourist areas and some history. Colonial Leon is the main city to visit, an hour and a half away from the port. Nearer are the villages of Chinandega and El Viejo, where we took a tour last year. Both towns were very rural with basic markets and churches, not particularly a tourist magnet. At least we got to see how the locals live and shop, and left us feeling grateful for the modern food markets we have at home.

 

In reading the brochure, we came across some energetic excursions for the young and thrill seekers. One such place is a vigorous hike up to the top of the Cerro Negro Volcano. After you take in the panoramic views, you are outfitted with elbow and knee guards, a helmet, and safety glasses. Then you ride a sand board down the volcano either sitting or standing. You are guaranteed to get sand in your pants and shoes, but you would have accomplished something very unique. This tour was not offered, since the area is probably too far away from here.

 

We waited until most of the tours had left, then took a walk to town. Last year we did not venture outside the port gate after we got back from our tour. It was also hot that day, and we went to have lunch somewhere cool on the ship. So when we exited the port and walked through the trees, we were surprised at what we found. There were dozens of stalls set up around a small central park. They had souveniers of the same items of wood products we saw yesterday in Costa Rica. The big difference was that these were much more affordable. We were not planning on buying anything big, but there was a large wooden salad bowl with six smaller bowls and forks....all for $25. It was too good to pass by, even though we will have to do some squeezing to get it in our shipped duffels. In less than one hour, we had covered the whole downtown. It was so hot that you could feel the heat reflecting from the streets and sidewlks. Almost unbearable. Ice water and cold sodas lured us back to the ship. We had plenty of time to go back later in the afternoon, because the ship was not leaving until 6pm.

 

There was no cooler spot to have a small lunch than our room. We picked up some slices of four cheese pizza, took them back to the room, and added two glasses of ice cold Coke. And a bottle of chilled water. Like we said, it was sweltering.

 

By 2pm, we took another walk. By now, it had clouded up, and to our surprise, it started to rain. For a few moments, it felt good, until the sky opened up and it poured. And if you remember, the forecast was partly cloudy. The first things taken out of my bag today were the umbrellas, of course. At the port gate, we took shelter under a doorway. A nice fellow came over to ask if we wanted a tour, which we politely turned down. but we did ask him about the rain. (His English was excellent.) He said that their rainy season starts at the end of May, and continues through September. This coincides with hurricane season, so heavy showers are a daily occurence he said. It just started early. Oh well, we were already soaked, so a little more water would make no difference.

 

The vendors were busy covering their goods or packing it up for the day. We bargained for two wooden trivets that cleverly folded up into small packable rectangles. Since the gunneysack awnings were rapidly filling up with rainwater, we decided it was best to head back to the ship. When we got there, a man was being hauled up the gangplank on a stretcher from a local ambulance. Wonder what happened there? Earlier this mornig while on the bow, Fritz, the ship doctor's husband, came down to talk to us. Sometimes he tells us about less serious injuries, but did not mention this one. Hopefully, it wasn't anything too bad, or else we would have heard about it from our buddy Penny.

 

Drying off in our room,we got caught up in an old but great movie, "Gunfight at the OK Corral". That kept us entertained until the sailaway at 6pm. The sun was setting behind the black clouds, and the rain had finally stopped. The plus side of the rain was it cooled everything off, including the nice breeze that was blowing across the decks. In no time, the ship was clear of the harbor, and we were on our way to the next port of Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, which is tomorrow.

 

Tonight's dinner was the BBQ'd rack of pork. It was delicious, as was their everyday onion soup, Caesar salad, and an appetizer of phylo dough-wrapped prawns in a sweet and sour sauce. Dessert was rum cake, which we seldom eat. Small scoops of vanilla and coffee ice cream, also a treat, left us full and happy.

 

Our assistant waiter, Artha, told us a story about one of his friends getting ripped off in Naples, Italy. His buddy went to buy an IPhone for about $200., but when he got back to the ship and opened the package, he found a piece of wood in place of the real phone. The package had been switched on him so fast, he never saw it happen. Now his friends tease him and ask how his Wood Phone is. A lesson learned for all of us, especially the crew, who seem to be the targets of these bait and switch scams.

 

A comedian and singer, John Joseph, was the entertainer tonight. We checked out the lounge, finding it standing room only once again.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[WCB]

Report # 137 May 7, 2012 Monday Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. You get what you immediately see from the pier, which is a long catwalk to a terminal building built like a pyramid. These thatch-roofed huts are called palapas, and are remarkably cool inside. This hut contained a counter for information, while on the opposite side, there were folks selling independant tours. Once out of the hut, was a 2 acre piece of property filled with numerous huts with tables full of souveniers. The entire area was landscaped nicely and tied together with paved walkways under many tall palm trees. There was a staging area where a type of fashion show was in progress. At one end near the boat harbor, was a bar/restaurant, selling mostly beer. This complex is where we spent our time and some money, since we have been here and took the only tour that was interesting to a coffee plantation with a lunch. It was nice, but a one time visit for us. Beyond this complex was nothing. It is built in the middle of an industrial area, so there is nowhere to stroll.

 

Guatemala is full of volcanoes (33 of them), mountains, rain forests, lakes, and jungles. Its population consists of mostly folks of Indian descent, the only Central American country to claim that distinction. The people are from the ancient Mayan civilization, considered of great strength and vivid creativity. Besides being the first to develop an accurate calendar, they excelled in the arts, commerce, mathematics, astronomy, and written language. While Europe was still in the Dark Ages, the Mayans were at their peak. As we recall, much mystery surrounds the decline of that advanced civilization.

 

Most of the tours today involved an hour 1/2 ride to Antigua, a Spanish city with colonial architecture. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 25,000 residents. Mountains and volcanoes surround the city, and are still active, exploding from time to time causing the earth to shake. Perhaps if we come back to this port in the future, we will suffer through the long bus ride to see the city. Like we recently stated, we are pretty much "toured out", and are using the time to pack instead.

 

Of course, there was still time to relax poolside this afternoon. Most folks were on tours all day. That reminds us about something funny. Around 8am this morning, we heard talking from a crowd of people outside our room. When we opened the door to go to breakfast, we saw a double line of people all the way past the center of the ship. Guess the tour groups were requested to meet onshore today. The funny thing was that the ship had not even been cleared by the local authorities yet. Now we realize why it is far better for the groups to meet in the showlounge. For us and the rest of the guests on this deck, we could not get out of our rooms.

 

While going online this morning, we saw that there were definite changes from the world cruise. The band width has been reduced, making emailing snail-paced. This was something that came up in the beginning of the tripin January, when passengers complained bitterly about the service. Stein Kruse, the CEO of HAL, explained that a great deal of money, like $30K a month for the increased band width. Now we know he was right on.

 

Captain Fred and his GOB (girlfriend on board) Brooke, were also at the pool today. The majority of the guests had no idea that Fred was not a passenger, or else they would have imposed themselves on him. It nevered failed with Captains Olav and Jonathon. When they appeared poolside to eat lunch, for instance, they were inundated with well-wishers. Eventually, they stopped coming to the public areas. From what he has told us on past cruises, Fred likes to take in as much sun as he can on this voyage. The rest of the summer will take the Amsterdam to Alaska, not exactly swimsuit weather.

 

We and the other 35 world cruisers were invited to a cocktail party in the Piano Bar at 7:15pm tonight, compliments of the Captain and Hotel Manager. Not wanting to be the first ones there, we arrived 5 minutes after the party started. We were lucky to find two seats left. It turned out OK though, because we visited with Cave Diver and his wife, both from Arizona. No, that's not his name, but his Cruise Critic handle. They have been on this ship since the start of the Asia/Pacific cruise last September, and admitted it was time to go home.

 

Even though we were 15 minutes late for dinner, our waiters were fine with that. We both ordered the veal chop with porcini mushroom gravy. It had to be the best chop we have eaten on this entire trip. In fact, all of the food has been excellent. We're thinking that having a table for two has made the difference with getting our food hot and in a timely manner. We were still done shortly after 9pm, which is good for tonight, since the clocks will be going AHEAD one hour, not back. We have no idea why, but remember doing this last year as well. It must have something to do with daylight saving time perhaps.

 

So it is already midnight, and time to sign off. Less than a week to go now..........

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Watson's aunt]

wow I am going to miss your posts

[Skipper's Mom]

Mary Ann & Bill:

 

We always have a table for 2. I guess it might be different on a world cruise to have a group, but we really prefer a 2-top and not having to wait for others to arrive, order, eat their different courses, etc. It's just our preference.

 

I'll miss your posts when you conclude this voyage.

[WCB]

Report # 138 May 8, 2012 Tuesday Day at Sea

 

We had a fairly lay low day with not too much going on. The seas and weather have remained calm and warm. According to Captain Fred, this particular area in which we are sailing has the reputation for rough seas, due to winds coming from the mountains. We've gotten lucky, and the winds are still today.

 

Usually while the lounge lectures are in progress, we do some emailing. Today, we had no luck logging on, only to be told by the internet manager that the system was down all morning. He had no idea what the cause was, but we did notice that Fox News was not receiving a signal too. Char, the future cruise consultant, was also out of luck. That shuts down her possible sales, so we know the cause of the interruption will be fixed and soon.

 

A Towel Creation book was being promoted in the daily newsletter. Come to think of it, we have had the least and most pitiful towels animals we have ever seen on a grand voyage. When you have to guess what the animal is, then it was time to quit. They did stop about a month into the world cruise. Sometimes the room stewards add eyes and perhaps your sunglasses on the animals, making them even more amusing. We've seen a row of pillow animals in some of the folk's window sills, knowing they were appreciated.

 

We continued the boring job of packing. Truthfully, we have done a little every day for weeks now, so the job seems to be a lot less stressful. The final focus is on keeping our two pieces of luggage for the airplane as light as possible. It does not matter how much the shipped duffels weigh, and we can say for sure that they are heavy.

 

Around 1pm, we took a break and headed for a bite to eat at the grill. Splitting a hot dog and an ice cold Coke hit the spot. The band, Sarah and the HAL Cats were playing poolside in the Lido. Everyone we saw was tapping their feet to the music, obviously enjoying it. So did we, since they were playing good music....up-to-date tunes as well as Elvis songs. Since we seldomed walked through here around noon or 1pm on the world cruise, we asked Raymond if there was a band in here on sea days. He said no, but he would like to see that happen. His suggestion to us was we should write that down on the final survey as a request for next year. We have done that on every Panama re-positioning cruise in the past, and so far, nothing has come of it. Perhaps it will take years to motivate the HAL folks to bring the world cruise into the 21st century. And the age of the passengers should have nothing to do with these changes, because there are as many senior citizens on this trip as were on the world cruise.

 

Again, we got interested in a movie, the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean, and never made it to the aft pool. It has been crowded back there, with some annoying people saving seats for invisible people that eventually arrive to join them at 4pm. There are rules against that, but if they are not enforced, they are useless. A sign is posted in both pool areas saying that personal items left on lounges will be removed after a certain amount of time expires. We have never seen that happen.

 

Tonight was formal, the third one of this 15 day journey. We both ordered the surf and turf, then exchanged the meat and fish. One of us does not really like lobster, so the small sized filet mignons worked out well. Again, we were finished with our meal, although not rushed, by 9pm. The entertainer was an interactive? comedy by America's funniest conman, Bob Arno. That sounds like audience participation to us, and not our cup of tea. We see by tomorrow's newsletter that the Unexpected Boys will be onstage tomorrow. Now, perhaps we will go to see them, since we missed their show on the world cruise.

 

The port for tomorrow is Zihuatanejo, Mexico, a place we have visited once many years ago.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[wwb]

I have read each and every post of your world cruise and have salivated at some of the wonderful places you had the opportunity to visit. We plan on doing some extended cruising when we retire in 15 or so years. In the meantime, we travel to exotic places in short bursts of vacations (our longest was a land vacation of 26 days to Australia) and live vicariously through postings on Cruisecritic.

I haven't commented to date, but I chuckled when I read you were traveling to Zihuatanejo. All I could think about was Andy Dufrein (spelling??) in "Shawshank Redemption" teliing "Red" to remember that town and come when he got out. I loved the scene( and of course the beach) when he arrives in Zihuatanejo.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and again a big "Thank You"

Wendy wwb

[WCB]

Report # 139 May 9, 2012 Wednesday Zihuatanejo, Mexico

 

Our port of call today was a combination of the towns of Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa, both northwest of Acapulco. The village of Zihuatanejo is a tranquil authentic Mexican setting, just the opposite of Ixtapa, which is a modern oceanfront resort. We visited this area several years ago, while on a Princess cruise, and took a tour to Ixtapa. Like today, our visit was rather short, 7am to 1pm, and having to tender to shore made our visit even shorter. We never did explore this sleepy village, so we planned on doing that today.

 

Last night, we had a note saying that our carpet would be shampooed between 10 and 2pm today. We took some time to load our duffels on the bed, so they would not wick up the cleaning solution. The rugs looked much nicer when we got back onboard, but they were still damp. We turned the heat up and ran the fan all afternoon to speed the drying. It worked.

 

All of the tour groups left the ship after 7am, before the sun was even up. We had no problem with crowds taking the tenderboat over by 10am. Even at that hour, the town was barely waking up. What we found were narrow brick-lined streets with hotels, restaurants, and boutiques. The seaside waterfront had dozens of cafes, small bars with beers for $1.00, and souvenier shops.

 

We began our walk to the touristy marketplace that offered many locally-made handicrafts. Wooden and ceramic items, painted gourds, clothing, and knick-knacks were displayed in each shop. Our main item to purchase was toothpaste, having run a bit short. There were no supermarkets that we could find, but there were some corner mini-markets that sold some food items and toiletries.

 

The cafes and local restaurants looked like nice places to have lunch. Too bad we have to leave so early today. We did see some folks drinking the reasonably-priced beer, but it was too early for us. What a shame to have to pass on the wonderful Mexican food here. Oh well, there is always tomorrow and Friday for indulging in the local tasty cuisine.

 

We made our way back, walking the beachfront avenue lined with cafes and shops. Several lady vendors were hawking jewelry. One had a turquoise bracelet that would match a set we bought in San Francisco of all places. We stopped at one nice spot with benches to watch the birds in the surf and also have a water break. The weather was nice today,very warm, but no where near as hot and sticky as in Guatemala two days ago. We expect that the further north we head, it will continue to slowly cool off.

 

Taking note of the line of returning passengers forming on the pier, we waited it out before heading back to the tenderboats. The last boat was supposed to leave at 12:30pm, but we would never make that time. There would continue to be more boats coming to accommodate all of us who wished to spend as long as we could here.

 

The ship left the bay around 1:30pm, and proceeded northwesterly towards to the next port of Puerto Vallarta. Arrival time there should be around 8 or 9am. Since we have heard no negative news concerning tourists there, we assume all is well and safe enough to stop there.

 

We were pleased to see that the Unexpected Boys were back onboard and would be entertaining this evening. We stopped in the showlounge at 7pm to find the seats were full of people. When the show began, the identical one we saw on the world cruise, the boys had the audience in their hands. We have to admit they were good singers, and their act flowed with the familiar songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The crowd loved them.

 

It won't surprise you that dinner was good again. We had small chef salads and the entree of veal parmiagana with spaghetti. Doesn't get much better than that.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS We would like to thank the folks in 7018 who left a very thoughtful note in or mailslot today. It is nice to know you have been following our blog for a couple of years, and have enjoyed it. Yes, we do leave in San Diego. It's about time to go home! Thanks!

[brownblonde]

I'm glad I came across your blog and I posted after the world cruise, but here I'm again.

I just am curious as to what possesses you to do this each world cruise ,day in and day out??

 

It is work and time. Is it your way of keeping your journal?

[WCB]

Report # 140 May 10, 2012 Thursday Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

 

It's hard to believe Puerto Vallarta used to be a sleepy fishing village populated by Mayan and Aztec natives many, many years ago. In fact, when we first visited here, we saw no modern hotels or restaurants, let alone condos and seaside resorts. This town really took off after the film, The Night of the Iguana, was made here in the early 1960's. It starred Richard Burton and Ava Gardner, but the biggest scandal of the time was the relationship of Burton with Elizabeth Taylor, who moved here to be near him. That would not even raise an eyebrow nowadays.

 

We have been here many times, and enjoy the city a lot. We waited until most of the tours had left by 10am, then headed off for the day. The ship was docked right across the street from a Walmart, a Sams Club, and a new shopping mall. Bet the crew will all go to Walmart to pick up supplies and room snacks. There were numerous offers for a taxi ride to downtown, but we passed on the ride. We really need to get some exercise. We got that and more.

 

In the old days, the path to downtown was not all paved. Now there is only one spot where we walked about 50 feet through the dirt road. The rest has been nicely paved. Sidewalks near town have been widened as well. Now we don't have to walk so close to the condo and time share sales stores, where the vendors try to entice us inside to discuss buying vacation rentals. We were the least bothered by street vendors or shop owners today. We had the feeling that with the recent tourist incidents involving robberies may have scared some ships from stopping here. In fact, we were sure that this port was going to be cancelled, but it was not. We never even noticed extra security at the pier or in town, so things must be back to normal.

 

We lucked out with the nice weather today, although it did get rather hot in the afternoon. Every time we passed a hotel or large building on the main street, a strong breeze blew from the beach. The breeze and a large bottle of water helped keep us hydrated. We had every intention of going to the Riverside Cafe on the Rio Cuale in downtown. However, we ran into Char and Barbara H, who arrived there by taxi before us. They said today happened to be Mother's Day in Mexico, and the restaurant, also their favorite, was full of locals. They had a special brunch buffet for today only, and expected the restaurant to be full for at least another hour. None of us wanted to wait that long, since we had to be back by 4:30pm at the latest.

 

We headed back to town for a while, thinking of a suitable replacement for the Riverside. Most all of the restaurants in town are geared towards people that are looking for American style food and cheap beer. That's when we remembered another creekside restaurant called Oscar's. It is built on the river and the beach, so we turned around and headed back. Barbara and Char had the same idea,since we spotted them sitting at a table near the river, but in the sun. We chose to sit on the beachside tables instead, and enjoyed the constant breeze that flowed through the open-sided restaurant. Ice cold Pacifico beers were the first thing we ordered, followed by a plate of quesidillas and cheese nachos. Fresh salsa was served in a gravy boat, along with a bowl of chips. We both ordered entrees of chicken enchiladas, with bean dip, and guacamole. The meal was marvelous. The best part was being able to sit and relax while watching the activity on the beach. What we missed was being able to see some iguanas that are usually hanging out near the riverbank. It is even more amusing watching Barbara H, our port guide, flinch and jump in her seat when these lizards get too close. There are few things that bother her, but snakes and iguanas are among them.

 

Walking back, we took our time, stopping at the Fiestamericana Hotel for a cooling off drink of Coke. We had just about finished the large bottle of water, getting little relief from it. Shade was as important as liquid at this point. We sat at the bar next to the hotel's swimming pool. It was torture watching the little kids standing in the fountain in the pool's center, wishing we were with them. It was a short distance to the beach, which was not private, but government owned. We knew from past experience that if we stepped one foot on that sand, we would be vendor bait. So we took photos of the beach and continued our walk. It's a guess, but we think the hike today was around 4 miles one way.

 

We were back to the ship by 4pm, and cooled off in our room for awhile. The sailaway was at 4:30pm, which we watched from deck nine above the Lido pool area. The deck BBQ was in the process of stocking up the tables with food, and cooking steaks and chicken on the grills. The poor waiters and servers were wearing wool ponchos and cowboy hats. Had to be really hot. At least, the atrium roof glass was opened to get fresh air. Once the ship got away from the protected bay, the wind came up, and the roof had to be closed to within a few feet.

 

There seems to be a problem with our computer in our room when we are in port, and the gangway is near our room. We cannot turn on the unit without getting the blue screen. That shuts us down from doing anything. Downloading the photos is not possible at all. Once we left the port, it was fine. We accomplished that job while watching the movie Caddyshack for the tenth time. It really was funny.

 

Before we knew it, our reserved time for the Pinnacle Grill arrived. This was our gift from Captain Fred for sailing on this back-to-back sailing. They have added a ground filet mignon hamburger (1/2 pound) on the dinner menu, and just for fun, we ordered them. We did not know that they would come on a large bun, or that we would get a huge serving of french fries....skinny fries at that. Skinny fries, now that's funny....wish they really were. Anyway, we had added baked potatoes and mushrooms to our meals, so we could not do justice to all of it. We saved a tad bit of room for desserts of Jerry Garcia's cherry ice cream and bread pudding.

 

The clocks went back one hour, which was wonderful. We need the extra sleep after our hike today, well at least one of us does. And tomorrow's last port of Cabo San Lucas will bring more walking for us. And another Mexican lunch too. Last fall, we missed stopping at this port, one of our most favorite places. We were traveling on Regent's Navigator, and for some reason, we did not have enough time to make it to Acapulco on time without eliminating Cabo. Disappointed, we were nicely surprised with a generous shipboard credit of $200 per suite from Regent for missing the port. This will never happen on an HAL ship, but then, this is not an all-inclusive cruise like Regent was.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[OldCodger73]

Bill and Mary Ann, let me add my thank you for taking us along on your cruise. It was really enjoyable.

 

You'll be getting off in San Diego on Sunday and we'll be getting on the Amsterdam for a mini 4-day Pacific Coastal cruise to Vancouver. It'll be our first cruise since 2010 so we're really looking forward to it.

[kazu]

Wow - Bill & Mary Anne - your cruise is nearly over:eek: We are all going to miss your informative blogs. :( Enjoy the little time left and safe travels home. Thanks so much for taking all of us along - it's been a blast:)

[MMDown Under]

What a wonderful Mother's Day present to arrive home on Mother's Day, after your world cruise and Panama cruise.

 

Thanks Bill and Mary Ann - the time and effort you put into your detailed blog is much appreciated by your many followers.

 

I've loved following your blog for yet another world cruise and look forward to future blogs.

[DAllenTCY]

You have made the first 5 months of the year sail by! Thanks for your daily posts, everyone of which I have read and form which I have learned somthing new. I hope you read my note about your duffles and who you should see upon arrival in San Diego.

David

[cruz chic]

I'm enjoying reading your posts on Mexico. I miss going there now that the cruises are few and far between.

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading about your travels.

Thank you.

[Mickb]

Dear Mary Ann & Bill

You have made a long damp grey English winter very bearable with your entertaining posts as you cruised round the world. Having always been worried that I would either get cabin fever or die of boredom on a world cruise, you have convincingly changed my mind.

Thank you both for the time and effort that you have made to take us with you on your odyssey.

Mickb

[WCB]

Report # 142 May 11, 2012 Friday Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

 

We can imagine the days when this port was a secret place where pirates could hide in the 16th century, seeking refuge from the seas. Cabo San Lucas is situated on the tip of the Baja Peninsula, 1000 miles long. Between 10 and 15 million years ago, violent seismic activity along the San Andreas Fault caused this peninsula to separate from the mainland, creating the Sea of Cortez. In fact, this sea is the world's youngest marine formation, another place we would like to explore someday.

 

The waters around this area are filled with wildlife which include the gray and humpback whales, although we have never been sailing here at the time they migrate. We did spot some very large sea lions as we tendered to shore. Local fishing boats were on their way out to sea in the hopes of catching tuna, marlin, and dorado. Most all sport fishing is catch and release only. When these boats return to the harbor, they will fly flags indicating what type of fish have been caught. The shore excursion brochure offered a 5 hour tour today for $209, although we are certain that one can book this tour on the pier. There were numerous offers given to us to pay the local captains for a private boat. Once we left the tenderboat landing, we were approached by so many fellows asking if we wanted to scuba dive, snorkel, kayak, or sail to Lands End that we lost count. We are sure many folks took them up on the offers, despite the fact that there was a warning in the newsletter NOT to take these independant tours. Sometimes, the boat operators will take you somewhere cheap,but will charge something ridiculous to go back to the harbor, a bait and switch scheme. Another warning was about the dangerous riptides and rogue waves posing serious danger to swimmers. That was enough to keep us out of the water.

 

Our plan for the day was simple. Take a leisurely walk around the harbor, shop for some napkins to match our colorful Mexican tableclothes we already bought here, and have lunch somewhere. Checking out all the small shops up the side streets, we found one little place that had the blue napkins we have had trouble finding in the past. Despite the fact that two ships were in port, the Amsterdam and also the Statendam, the shops were not too busy yet. Most of the cruisers stay on the harborside, and don't know to explore the outer streets. Things are better priced away from the harbor, we think.

 

We learned something we always suspected while talking to one vendor. Mary Ann had her eye on a poncho-like top yesterday in Puerto Vallarta. It was priced at 80 pesos, which was about $7. Not finding the right color, she decided to look today at Cabo. Well, the very same tops were from $25. to $40. depending on who you asked. When we mentioned to the one vendor about the price difference from PV, he said yes, he drives down there and buys his stock at those prices. Then he charges 5 times more for the items, and did not apologize for it. Learn something new every day.

 

While we were walking on the waterfront, a nice couple came over to us, and asked if we were from the Amsterdam. They recognized us from previous cruises, and they did look familiar to us, although we have never formally met. Also members of the same travel group as us, they were down here in Cabo, staying at their time share further down the coast. They wanted to know all about the world cruise, especially who had worked on the ship this year, such as the bridge instructors, the cruise director, and who the Captain was. Comparing cruises, we realized that we had all been on the Prinsendam for the South America/Antarctica cruise in 2010. We had a good laugh over the strange experience we had on that ship back then. The ship had just come out of a drydock, but the work was far from done. These things you never forget. We wished them well, and said we'd look forward to seeing them in the future. Small world......

 

Lunch was starting to sound good, so we made our way to the Puerto Paraiso Mall, and a place called Senor Greenburgs. But it wasn't there anymore. A new restaurant had taken over their spot by the name of Baja Brewing Co. The only Mexican thing on the menu was an ahi tuna quesidilla with guacamole. We asked if they could substitute chicken, and they said absolutely. This cafe had an outdoor patio on the harbor front, so it was nice to people-watch while we dined. We figured with the influx of spring breakers, most of the restaurants, bars and cafes have adjusted their menus to include mostly American type food. Hamburgers fixed in a dozen different varieties is the mainstay.

 

We took our time walking back, taking pictures of the tons of fish and pelicans in the harbor waters. A huge sea lion popped up every now and then, obviously on the constant hunt for fish. There must be an abundance of feed, because this sea lion was well fed.

 

Usually, we make our way to the nearest beach to walk in the surf across from the tenderboat landing. There is a new complex of condos in the process of going up, and access to this stretch of beach has been cut off. There probably is a way to get to it, but it would take more time than it was worth. As we made our way back towards the pier, we noticed that the Statendam had blown their horn three times, and was leaving. Captain Fred replied with loud blasts from the Amsterdam's horn as a way of saying adious. The Captains did single toots, with Captain Fred having the final toot, as he always does. It's comical, but nice to see the connection to a sister ship.

 

Our turn to leave was 5pm, which we did. Once the ship left the shelter of the bay, the brisk wind picked up, and drove most of the sunbathers away. We knew this chill was coming, and it was fun watching the crowd leave, surprised by the sudden change. That was the first thing we noticed when we went on the promenade deck this morning. The heavy humidity was gone, although the heat was still there. We did have a nice breeze, which kept things comfortable on shore.

 

Downloading photos and watching an old movie, Storm Chasers, kept us busy until dinnertime. Since today was a busy one with most folks on tours, we noticed that the dining room at 8pm was half empty. Many people had taken advantage of the Lido buffet on deck eight for an early dinner. Usually at this point in a two week cruise, people have tired of dressing up for dinner, and choose to stay in shorts and eat at the buffet. We are spoiled, and always like going to the dining room. With only two nights left, we will spend tomorrow doing the last of the packing. Hate this part of the trip........

 

One thing was good however, the clocks went back for the final time tonight. We are finally on Pacific Time.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing your World Cruise adventures/reports, they have been very enjoyable to read.