World Cruise - You?

[sail7seas]

I

 

 

<snip>

 

As Tri Wyono the Maitr'd explained... "You cannot ask a work cruise passenger to dine one evening at 6pm and the next evening at 8 pm and sit aat a different table wwith different dining companions. Not done on a world cruise!"

 

At Lauderdale 10th April the ship filled with trans canal people. Of the 300 that joined in New York about 270 were making the full cruise. We then cruised to Cartagena, Panama, Puerto Caldera , Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and arrived Los Angeles 23rd January.

 

On departrure LA we were back down to around 350 paassengers... but we had 150 entertainers on board!!!!! Even still, with 500 on board, not crowded at all and a fantastic atmosphere.

 

Captain Jacob Dijk in command.

Pieter Bos, Chief Officer.

Hans Hoffman, First Officer

Albert Schoonderbeek First Officer

Pieter Van Haattum First Officer

Peter Cordfunke 2nd Officer.

JJ Scherenga Hotel Manager

Yaanni Weggemans Purser

F&B Manaager Michel Busman

Marion Koopman Guest Services Manager

Tri Wyono Maitr'd

Wyan Sudana Mait'd Lido

Rick Spath Cruise Director

Sheri Tousey Hostess

Bertus Boon Chief Engineer

 

 

 

<snip>

 

One very good reason why I 'survived' was because I had a project to work on. At the end of the Xmas cruise... heading up to New York, I was contacted by Carnival Cruise Line and they wanted to commission six large paintings for their newbuild the IMAGINATION. I haad to politely decline as I was setting off on a world cruise and there was NO WAY I was cancelling. They came back with a soloution. Do one painting during the cruise.... ship it to the shipyard when we arrived in Italy, then the remaining five paintings to be done as soon as I got home and to be delivered no later than end July. In New York I went ashore, bought a large easel, canvas, stretchers, tacks, canvas pliers, paints, brushes, turps, pencils, paper etc etc...a full painting kit.... set me back over $1,000. I obviously need a space to work in. Chief Officer said he would fix me up with a spare cabin. I had a single up on Boat Deck... great promemade deck just outside... better than any balcony. Just before Panama a passenger just down the alleyway from me fellaand broke his hip. He and his wife were sadly put ashore in Panama and flown home. So... yours truly got their suite to use as studio!!!!! They took the beds out, covered the carpet and away I went. Every morning at sea I would get up early, have breakfast in the lido... make a large mug of coffee and head for the studio. I would paint until aabout 1130 then head for the Oceaan Bar and the join in the rest of the days activities. Port days I did not work and on ssome sea days I forgot the morning routine because of.... ship rolling too much, some other activity that I wanted to attend or... just once in a while.... the late night session in Tropic Bar.... well you can guess.

 

Anyhow, the breaakdown for the cruise was as follows:

 

Total Days 118

Days in Port 59

Days at Sea 59

Part Days at Sea 11

Evenings in Port 30

Evenings at Sea 87

Afternoon departures (before 1800) 25

Midnight departures 23

Total ports 49

Boat Drills 18 (EIGHTEEN at least once per week!)

Sundays at sea 10

Sundays in Port 7

Formal nights 30.... plus a few extras

Total Hours: 2827 or 117.8 days

Port Time: 695 hours

Sea Time: 2132 hours... or 88.8 days... roughly 75.4%

 

I kid you not... I still have the big wall chart that I made for the cruise and had it stuck up in the cabin.

 

It was a great cruise. Packing not a problem... just pack for like a ten day cruise and then rotate it 12 times. unfortunately not for the ladies thought... the last thing they wanted to hear was, "She wore that dress at the Venetian Ball or the Black and White Ball."

 

It is not a big deal staying on board for so long. You just don't think about it. Everyone knows that the only bad day is disembarkation day and that happened once in 118 days.... not every seven days!!!

 

I've not done a full world cruise since but have done a few half world cruises and some shorter segemts.. in SAGA ROSE and SAGA RUBY. Both of those ship are very much like the old ROTTERDAM.

 

Stephen

 

Ahhhhhhh... them good old days.

 

 

Ohhhh, Stephen. I SO love this post. Wonderful and huge thanks for sharing it with us.

 

What is really fun is we just sailed with TRI Wyono on Oosterdam. I near squealed when we saw him. It has been years. He has not changed an iota and is still magnificent. Fun story to share with you, one day. :)

 

Captain Jacob Dijk - We remember him Well!!!

Peter Bos - then Chief :)

Albert Schoonderbeek - then First Officer ;)

Marion Koopman - GRM magnificent - still !!!!

 

The memories......

 

It's always the people that makes it wonderful. It's always about the people. :D :)

 

Really enjoyed reading it all.

 

[sail7seas]

Sail ---- We are considering Grand Voyages' date=' but a WC would certainly be too long (even if we could afford it!!)

 

We still have three of our parents alive so being away two months would be about the maximum we could consider. I would probably become homesick for our grandchildren, three of which live in the same town as us, because that has happened previously on our 28 day voyages.[/quote']

 

 

I so hope you get to do a Grand Voyage. That is likely what we will choose to do. It isn't quite time yet but hopefully soon DH will agree to be out of his office long enough.

 

Staying 'tuned' to hear your decision. :)

 

 

 

Some persons dominate the floor but they are a minority. Since cliques are not my game so I do not belong to any of them. Yes, there are some cliques. For ex. some persons on the 7th floor (suites) who do not speak to anyone on the other floors and spend the whole cruise in the Neptune lounge. There are some president club members who look down upon all the others now able to buy days ($300 day credits, etc) to achieve the 1,400 days total required to belong to the VIP club.

 

Yes there are persons always sitting in the same chair in the Explorers' café, and some others acting as if they were owning part of the ship (or the whole ship). But they are part of the cruise and the best is to ignore them. A cruise is a small village, a reproduction of society and a longer cruise allow time to see the good and bad of some passengers... Just normal life.

 

90% of the people on a world cruise are nice and worth knowing. I manage to avoid the other 10%.

 

Just one funny anecdote. On the last WC, there was a lady who was completing the daily quizz at the library about 5 minutes after sheets had been distributed. every single day. She always had perfect score. The librarian figured out that she had managed to pile hundreds of previous quizzes and was running to her room to copy the answers down. So this is how some people stay entrertained on a world cruise.:D

 

Louise

 

Really interesting, Louise.

Thanks so much for sharing. Gives all of us a better 'feel' for what it's really like. Posts like this are so helpful for those of us in the 'decision mode'.

 

It's a huge committment and requires lots of thought and consideration IMO

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

[that is so sad about the woman who felt the need to cheat on the daily quiz. How pathetic.]

 

 

 

[SwissMyst]

.......

[that is so sad about the woman who felt the need to cheat on the daily quiz. How pathetic.]

 

[/b]

 

 

Uh, oh. Now we will have rumors of the Daily Quiz Police, just like rumors of the Fashion Police. :eek:

[Sir PMP]

World Cruise -You ?

 

NO! Too many old people with an attitude....

[kazu]

Some persons dominate the floor but they are a minority. Since cliques are not my game so I do not belong to any of them. Yes, there are some cliques. For ex. some persons on the 7th floor (suites) who do not speak to anyone on the other floors and spend the whole cruise in the Neptune lounge. There are some president club members who look down upon all the others now able to buy days ($300 day credits, etc) to achieve the 1,400 days total required to belong to the VIP club.

 

Yes there are persons always sitting in the same chair in the Explorers' café, and some others acting as if they were owning part of the ship (or the whole ship). But they are part of the cruise and the best is to ignore them. A cruise is a small village, a reproduction of society and a longer cruise allow time to see the good and bad of some passengers... Just normal life.

 

90% of the people on a world cruise are nice and worth knowing. I manage to avoid the other 10%.

 

Just one funny anecdote. On the last WC, there was a lady who was completing the daily quizz at the library about 5 minutes after sheets had been distributed. every single day. She always had perfect score. The librarian figured out that she had managed to pile hundreds of previous quizzes and was running to her room to copy the answers down. So this is how some people stay entrertained on a world cruise.:D

 

Louise

 

 

Seriously Louise - why in heaven's name would anyone want to spend the day in the Neptune Lounge:confused::confused: Different strokes for different strokes is all I can say.

 

Unbelievable why someone would go to all that work to win the daily quizz. Kind of a scary thought:eek:

[Lady Chew]

Uh, oh. Now we will have rumors of the Daily Quiz Police, just like rumors of the Fashion Police. :eek:

 

As someone mentioned earlier, Trivia on the WCs is a killer sport! We've noticed that on the shorter cruises as well (14-day & up) ... man, those folks are serious!

I think I'll stick with a few Bingo games here & there ... although some of those players are way too serious as well!

Even the jigsaw puzzlers ... I was waiting for Mr Chew to come out of the casino one night so we could go in to dinner, and I sat at the table to see if I could stick in a few pieces, and during the next 15 minutes I was approached twice and told I was "doing it wrong" and that I was sitting on the wrong side (of a 4-sided table!)

[kazu]

As someone mentioned earlier, Trivia on the WCs is a killer sport! We've noticed that on the shorter cruises as well (14-day & up) ... man, those folks are serious!

 

I think I'll stick with a few Bingo games here & there ... although some of those players are way too serious as well!

 

Even the jigsaw puzzlers ... I was waiting for Mr Chew to come out of the casino one night so we could go in to dinner, and I sat at the table to see if I could stick in a few pieces, and during the next 15 minutes I was approached twice and told I was "doing it wrong" and that I was sitting on the wrong side (of a 4-sided table!)

 

Would be happy to join you at a game of Bingo again Laura:):)

[SwissMyst]

As someone mentioned earlier, Trivia on the WCs is a killer sport! We've noticed that on the shorter cruises as well (14-day & up) ... man, those folks are serious!

I think I'll stick with a few Bingo games here & there ... although some of those players are way too serious as well!

Even the jigsaw puzzlers ... I was waiting for Mr Chew to come out of the casino one night so we could go in to dinner, and I sat at the table to see if I could stick in a few pieces, and during the next 15 minutes I was approached twice and told I was "doing it wrong" and that I was sitting on the wrong side (of a 4-sided table!)

 

 

Ack, ack, ack ....now the Puzzle Police! :eek: Next Crusinetta ship building extravaganza will be the BusyBodyBiddie--Damn. :p

Edited July 30, 2012 by SwissMyst

[Topsham]

What a wonderful remembrance. I am glad you got to relieve it one more time. Thanks for taking us along with you. I can't quite get over my own RTW cruise done back in 1977 either so I hear you. We saw the Saga Rose on her last trip somewhere in the Caribbean a few years ago. Those small ships were all quite grand in cruising traditions that just can't be replicated - it was all about ships at sea in those days, not entertainment, diversions and sanitization of the ocean-going rigors of sea travel.

 

 

Nice to remember. I have several reminders in the house... no matter where I look. I have an old travel page framed and hanging in the bathroom.... Holland Ameruica Line with a photo of the Oceaan Bar on the old ROTTERDAM!!!:eek: Another item sitting on the shelf in the studio... a large teak nameboard that says s.s. ROTTERDAM. It was made from teak from her decks and made for me by the ship's carpenter as nameboard a for the top of a tender. A gift from Captain Dijk in exchange for a painting I made of his motor yacht.

 

 

I made the final cruise in the SAGA ROSE..... 35 days around the Med... almost two tears ago. She was almost as special as the old ROTTERDAM. In fact she has a place in history... she made more world cruises than any other ship... including QE2!

 

What ship did you cruise RTW in 1977?

 

Stephen

[happyglobetrotter]

Seriously Louise - why in heaven's name would anyone want to spend the day in the Neptune Lounge:confused::confused: Different strokes for different strokes is all I can say.

 

Unbelievable why someone would go to all that work to win the daily quizz. Kind of a scary thought:eek:

 

It has something to do with first class not wanting to mix with steerage I guess.

 

As for the purposes of winning the quizz, this is all done for an Amsterdam pin.....

[SwissMyst]

It has something to do with first class not wanting to mix with steerage I guess.

 

.....

 

Don't let your imagination run away with you. There is no steerage or first class on HAL ships.

[SwissMyst]

Nice to remember. I have several reminders in the house... no matter where I look. I have an old travel page framed and hanging in the bathroom.... Holland Ameruica Line with a photo of the Oceaan Bar on the old ROTTERDAM!!!:eek: Another item sitting on the shelf in the studio... a large teak nameboard that says s.s. ROTTERDAM. It was made from teak from her decks and made for me by the ship's carpenter as nameboard a for the top of a tender. A gift from Captain Dijk in exchange for a painting I made of his motor yacht.

 

 

I made the final cruise in the SAGA ROSE..... 35 days around the Med... almost two tears ago. She was almost as special as the old ROTTERDAM. In fact she has a place in history... she made more world cruises than any other ship... including QE2!

 

What ship did you cruise RTW in 1977?

 

Stephen

 

Since this is time for hoary old sea stories let me add my own excess from my RTW on the Lloyd Triestino Galileo Galilei. She later sailed under several names and became the first all-suites ship named the Meridian that started Celebrity Cruise lines.

 

Then she was bought as a Singapore-based gambling ship renamed the Sun Vista and sank off Penang, Malaysia a number of years ago after an engine fire- all rescued safely. Where she now still rests as a wreck diving destination.

 

I had an old pack of playing cards from the ship with the logo on them and knowing I would be passing close by her resting spot on a future cruise I got the GPS coordinates and asked the ship's navigation to let me know when we would be passing close by in the Malacca Straights.

 

I could see off on the horizon the dive spot and at that time I flung the Joker card into the sea to rejoin her ... and my own wonderfully vivid memories of that first long-term romance with the high seas and cruising.

[itravelalot]

DH and I are talking about it now, but not actually going to do it for 10yrs when our son goes to University.. We love to travel on land and cruise, though reading some of these previous posts, I wonder how we would manage with all those days on the ship.. I think I could take it, I wonder about DH... maybe like others have said, we should do a "practice" on a Grand Voyage first...lol ;)

[serendipity1499]

Interesting question Sail..I'm not sure I could do a World cruise now, as believe DH might become antsy & decide to leave the ship in Timbuktu...:eek::eek:

 

However, we did a five month cruise in our Sailboat with our Cruising Buddies, also in their sailboat when we were much younger..Our biggest problems were grocery shopping, doing laundry in public facilities, both boats had crew with a couple of medical emergencies & both boats had a couple of mechanical problems..One boat was laid up for one week in the Carolina's & the other for 10 days in the Chesapeake..We still all had a wonderful time..:)

Unfortunately, these wonderful Friends are not going with us on the Grand 68 day cruise around S.A..I can tell you they will be truly missed!

Still have not tossed my bucket list out...I would love to do Alaska again but doubt I could convince DH to fly that long distance..Maybe someday we could do the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings from Boston.

Will let you know when we get back if we would be able to stand World cruise some day..

Cheers...:)Betty

[kazu]

It has something to do with first class not wanting to mix with steerage I guess.

 

As for the purposes of winning the quizz, this is all done for an Amsterdam pin.....

 

In all honesty I have never seen this 'first class' thing. Not much difference in the cabins other than real estate and a few amenities. anyone one of these cruises is spending big money:eek:

 

In any case - I haven't been on a world cruise but any cruise I have been on I didn't see the 'suite' people sticking together. Kind of a scary thought. Definitely if the day comes we can get away for that length of time I wouldn't book a suite if that is what it means (not to mention we probably couldn't afford it/choose to):)

[Topsham]

Since this is time for hoary old sea stories let me add my own excess from my RTW on the Lloyd Triestino Galileo Galilei. She later sailed under several names and became the first all-suites ship named the Meridian that started Celebrity Cruise lines.

 

 

 

Swiss Myst...

 

 

Ahhhh lovely story. Thanks you. It is so nice to meet people who really do understand what shiboard life is all about and how good it can be.

 

I do know the Galileo.... AKA GRACELESS GALILEO!!!

 

After her time under Lloyd Triestino (1962 to 1983) she went to Chandris as the GALILEO and in 1990 became MERIDIAN then later SUN VISTA.

 

I don't think she was 'all suites' because as GALILEO she carried 1,262 passenger and then when rebuilt as MERIDIAN her pax number went to to 1,428. Of course that was because they added on a block of cabins forward in front of the bridge where No. 2 Hatch was.

 

I visited her once as MERIDIAN and was not everly impressed but she did have a loyal following.

 

As built in the 60s she was certainly a notable ship. Externally quite beautiful with some striking interiors, but of course she was built for the Australian run so not what we would call 'luxury'.

 

Back ion the 1960s the old MAASDAM and RYNDAM used to cruise to Bermuda. Very small ships, 700 passengers in a ship half the size of PRINSENDAM... known as the Economy Twins... for obviously reasons. But they cruised and were popular. I sailed in MAASDAM when she was later under the Polish flag as STEFAN BATORY. Small cramped, no facilities in the caabins... toilet and bath down the corridor. If you need a bath you asked the steward and he would tell you what time... a fifteen minute block that you had... nothing more. Polish food, Hungarian wine, no cruise director. The entertainment consisted of the purser setting up the old record player and putting a few 33s on. Wine... $6 a bottle. Drinks 75 cents. I tell you what... I would take STEFAN BATORY over ANY cruise ship around today! It was not about balconies or shows or gourmet food... it was all about people.

 

Stephen

[Topsham]

Don't let your imagination run away with you. There is no steerage or first class on HAL ships.

 

 

 

As Tri Wyono, Maitr'd on the old ROTTERDAM used to say.... "Before 1972 we had two classes. Now we have no class at all!":eek:

[Allis154]

A WC is our dream trip :) We plan to retire in december (a few years away), and leave for a world cruise that year (although it may have to be the following year :( ). Our gift to ourselves. We have been planning for this since our first trip on the QE2 in 2003.

 

The longest I have been onboard so far is 28 days. DH has only done 14. In a few months we will sail from Sydney to Seattle, at 49 days. Can hardly wait!

[Scrapnana]

My dream trip since 1996 has been a world cruise. Some friends have asked if I will be bored with all those sea days. At home I get bored about two times a year for about a half hour and then I find something I want to do. Can't imagine being bored on a ship!

 

On my last cruise I never even got to see a number of places onboard. I also found I never had enough time to do all the things I wanted to.

 

I retired 7 months ago and booked my world cruise 4 months ago. I'm already thinking about where I want to go on my second world cruise!

[Going Coastal]

Scrapnana,

Hope you will report back with your experience on your first WC. My DH has just retired and we are working up to one by trying 63 consecutive days this year.

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

[Scrapnana]

Going coastal,

 

I would like to learn how to write a blog about my experiences. I am enjoying reading the ones from this year's HAL world cruise.

[Going Coastal]

Yes, those are always great. Let us know if you start one

 

When are you leaving?

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

[antique sailor]

AHOY SHIPMATEs

past n future

 

Was browsing the posts and discovered this one. Had to read it all

Thoroughly enjoyable especially those from .. TOPSHAM.

My first partial WC was in 1958 on the Hazegray cruiselines. It was very inexpensive but had a lot of rules and was very crowded. The occasional

ports were very interesting but we all had to dress up and be back to the ship by midnight. No sleeping late in the AM Breakfast opened at 0600 and over at about 0730. Generally the same menu. We could order almost anything but got scrambled eggs and minced beef on toast (sos ) most

of the time. No spa or gym but we got a lot of exercise frolicking on the

top deck in our colorful shirts. Some days we could leave before dark.

There was no lounge so no liquor was availabe. The staff was so jealous of any pasengers who snuck any aboard they would confiscate it and punish the guilty persons.

 

I continued with this cruiseline off and on for 23 trs and enjoyed a lot of it. Then I retired. My DW who was in the Navy received orders to Naples Italy. We had aaa choice; take govt. transportation or go on our own and get reimbersed minus the gov cost. In a moment of weakness we chose the QE2 ,5 days from NY to Southhampton in the cheapest class they had. must say not a good way to start civilian cruising.

 

My DW served 20 yrs and ret in 1993 In all her travels she never been to Australia. Somewhere along the line I had promised her a vacation trip to Sydney. Finally she put pressure on for the trip and I started looking at airline prices from Jax Fla and hotels etc. Being a cheapskate at heart there was no way...The sunday paper had an add for the Final WC on the S.S. Rotterdam . I spent hour with travel agents and discovered it was the least expensive way to see Sydney and everything else. We did it!

 

I remember all the Staff listed and still see some of the once in a while The avg age of passengers on 1997 WC was 74 in 1998 it was 73 because someone had their son aboard with wife n 6mo old child.

I remember some Cliques but most of them died off and a lot moved to other cruise lines after the way we treated on the 2002 cruise. We went again in 2011 and really enjoyed it HAL has definitely been "Carnivalized"

but it is still the overall best in that $ class

sorry for the long speech.. I could write a book...but nobody would buy it

 

GARY

[Scrapnana]

antique sailor,

 

Sounds like you and the Mrs, really like world cruises. After following the blogs from the Amsterdam's WC this year, there does seem to be a number of repeaters. I'm hoping I am one who will want to do several.:D

[Going Coastal]

Reporting back from the first test to see if we are suited to a full world cruise. The 65 days on Solstice from Auckland to Seattle went smoothly and we now know that the time on board would not be a problem.

 

We loved it and are moving on to the second test. Will we like a small ship? We need to know this since almost all of the full transits use small ones.

 

To this end we have booked 31 days on Azamara this fall. I would love to hear from any of you that have spent extended time on an R type.

 

Thanks for your input.