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John and Diane are at it Again!

Johnny B

By Johnny B,
in Holland America Line

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Johnny B

Johnny B

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Tuesday, March 18 - Day 73

At Sea en route to Victoria, Seychelles

 

St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in extravagant fashion on the ship last evening. At dinner, the waiters wore cute little green flat caps as well as green vests, and each table had a paper “pot of gold” adorning it. The only strange thing that we heard commented on over and over was that there was no corned beef and cabbage on the menu. There was lamb stew, however, but I still enjoyed my vegetarian Indian option, even though I’m not a vegetarian.

 

At 9:30, Debby Bacon, our multi-talented Piano Bar entertainer, performed “in the round” in the Queen’s Lounge at a one-time only concert. Sheets of lyrics were distributed, and Debby played and sang (along with the rest of us) such traditional songs as “Molly Malone” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” We had a great time, as did everyone else it seemed. There were three guitarists accompanying her, including her husband Ron, as well as one of the guitarists from the ship’s orchestra and the ship’s dentist, who was adorned in a Rod Steward wig - he’s also the keyboard player for the Protestant services.

 

The party continued in the Crow’s Nest, where we heard a report that the pub crawl was a great success. The band played some danceable music and the dance floor was surprisingly crowded. There were a lot more passengers up there than usual, probably by about a factor of ten, and we even stayed until about 11:30. The good thing about staying late was that we turned our clocks back by one hour last night, so instead of getting to bed at midnight, we “actually” turned in at 11:00.

 

Today was just another sunny day in Paradise, with blue skies, temperatures in the eighties, and even the captain and his wife sunning around the aft deck pool. The weather on this cruise just couldn’t be any better, unless you prefer it cold. I skipped the pool, though, to watch today’s movie, “The Dallas Buyers’ Club,” which won Oscars for Matthew McConaghey and Jared Leto. After seeing the movie, which was pretty gritty, I can see why they won. I’d give it two thumbs up.

 

It’s a regular evening tonight, but we are scheduled to arrive in Victoria, Seychelles, at about 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. Apparently we dock about a mile from town, so it should only be about a twenty minute walk. We’re going to wander into town and see if there’s a restaurant calling our name and then probably take a taxi back. We’ll stay overnight and all of the next day, when there will be a shuttle provided to ferry us into town.

 

We’ve really enjoyed our three sea days and, having rested sufficiently, we’re ready to visit one of the most beautiful places on earth.

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MMDown Under Holiday Sharing Rare

MMDown Under

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I just have to say how much I am enjoying your daily posts. Whether its a day at sea, somewhere I've been, or somewhere I'd love to go, your descriptions make me want to be there. I am still smiling thinking about the tuk tuks. We rode in them in Bangkok and then a couple years ago in Iquitos, on the Amazon. They are so much fun!! Thank you again for taking us along on this amazing adventure. Cherie

 

Me also.

 

Your discipline in writing interesting daily blogs is really impressive. I know how exhausted you can be after a day's sightseeing, especially in the humid tropics.

 

PS On St Patrick's Day, did they offer Concannon, the traditional Irish dish made with three staples of Ireland - potatoes, cabbage and bacon?

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Johnny B

Johnny B

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Wednesday, March 19 - Day 74

Arriving at Victoria, Seychelles later this afternoon

 

Here we are, approaching what is arguably a collection of the best beaches in the world, and it’s raining outside. Quelle domage! The captain warned us yesterday that today would be rainy, but we’re all hoping that tomorrow, when we have a full day here, will be blue and sunny enough for a visit to the beach. We’ll arrive at Victoria this afternoon at 3:00, and what we do then will depend on the weather. There’s the walk into town as a possibility, but there’s an on-deck barbecue for dinner (for those who are interested), and the big-screen movie tonight is Twelve Years a Slave.

 

Before dinner last evening, there was a “Spotlight” performance by our extremely funny Irish comedian, Paul Brogan. He must know a thousand jokes, and then he had us singing Irish songs like “My Wild Irish Rose.” It was an entertaining half hour.

 

After dinner there was a return engagement of Journey South, our wonderful singing duo of English brothers. They began the show with just the two of them onstage with an acoustic guitar and their amazing voices. They sang some great song covers, including “”Maggie May,” and then the orchestra’s saxophonist came onstage to accompany them. For the last two songs of the evening, most of the orchestra chimed in, and it was another outstanding concert. When I get some reasonably priced (read: free) internet, I’m going to look at their website (Journeysouth.com) and see if their CD’s are on Amazon.

 

* *

 

We had a wonderful afternoon touring the island under blue skies and puffy clouds. I guess the rain this morning was about it. We had every intention of walking into town after we docked, but a book club friend grabbed my arm and asked, “Do you want to join us on an island tour? We need two more people.” So . . . downtown is postponed until tomorrow, and instead we had a wonderful tour of most of the island. The tropical trees and flowers are gorgeous and a highlight was stopping at one of the resorts which overlooked an amazing beach and had one of the most beautiful infinity pools I’ve ever seen. The rates, of course, began at $700 a night - and that was in the low season and didn’t include the 15% service charge nor the 10% tax - but it does include breakfast.

Jude, our guide, told us about another resort which cost $5,000 (yes, five thousand) a night, including one’s own butler and all meals and drinks. I’ll bet you’ll all run right down and stay there.

 

After finishing with a brief drive through the town of Victoria, we returned to the ship, dropped off our stuff and headed to the midships Lido pool area for our Creole barbecue dinner. It was delicious, with seafood skewers, steak, and barbecued ribs as well as all the accompanying goodies. Then I decided to go to the big-screen movie and lasted about 15 minutes. It was just too brutal for me, especially on the big screen. As an alternative, I headed to the Deck 8 aft pool area, where the amazingly multi-talented Debby Bacon was performing a “Concert under the Stars.” We sat with friends, enjoyed a bit of wine, and just had a wonderful time.

 

Our first half day in the Seychelles was just wonderful, from start to finish. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to a walk through town, a visit to the Botanical Gardens, and then a taxi to one of the beach resorts. As long as the weather holds, we’ll be in good shape.

 

P. S. You have to remember that this is also my journal, so it's really no sacrifice to take the time to write it. And no, they didn't have anything Irish for dinner except for the lamb stew.

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Johnny B

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Thursday, March 20 - Day 75

Victoria, Seychelles

 

What a wonderful day we had. The weather was in the mid-80’s, the sky was blue, and there was just enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable. It was just what the weather in the Seychelles ought to be.

 

We began the day with the mile walk to the botanical gardens which, while they are lovely, are better known for the two dozen or so giant tortoises there (about three or four feet from stem to stern). While we were there, we watched at least three ship’s tours come and go, each of which spent no more than 20 minutes enjoying the gardens. We were probably there for almost an hour, after which we headed to downtown Victoria, a cute small town with a produce market in the center and lots of really interesting stores. We went into a beautiful Hindu temple and also saw a mosque, a large Catholic church and St. Andrew’s, the local Anglican church. We also discovered that most things in the Seychelles are really expensive, as they are on many islands. John looked at a tee-shirt that he liked, but as it was about $45.00, he took a pass.

 

After spending the some in town, we found the taxi rank and hired one to drive us over to Beau Vallon, home of one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen. As in California, beaches in the Seychelles are publicly owned, so each resort must provide access. We found the beach, took off our shoes, and just walked and walked, sometimes in the water and sometimes on the sand. There’s a beautiful Meridien Resort as well as several others. Next to the Meridien is the Berjaya Resort, where we washed the sand off our feet and had a lovely lunch.

 

After lunch, we headed down the beach, found what we thought was the perfect place (in the shade), and spread out our towels. Walking into the water there was amazing; it is so close to body temperature that you really almost don’t feel like you’re entering water. I just walked and bobbed and swam in the absolutely gorgeous blue, green, and turquoise water and then went back up onto the sand for some sunning. It was a wonderful experience.

 

The hotel whose beach we had used was nice enough to call us a taxi, so we headed back into town for a brief walkabout before taking the shuttle back to the ship. Before boarding, we checked out the little market stalls at the dock, where John found a tee-shirt that used up the last of our rupees.

 

Sailaway, from 4:00 until 5:30, was around the midships pool, and unlike most of these events, it featured an open bar and six different kinds of pizza. We began with wine, but then I switched to Diet Coke because I’m really a sissy drinker. Two is my absolute limit, but one is better. We sat with Jeff, his table

mates (and our friends) Cathy and Ann, and then joined Ellen and Aart to move to the aft pool area where it was quieter - at least until we got there. By the time we moved, we had left the dock, the ship had turned around, and we were sailing among some beautiful green islands. We stayed until it began to get dark, and John got some great photos of the sunset behind the clouds.

 

We really could not have had two better days in the Seychelles. The weather was perfect (unlike the forecast) and we got to enjoy a tour, the botanical gardens, and the beautiful beaches for which these islands are famous. In addition, the people who live here are really friendly and have the Polynesian attitude toward selling: if you like it you’ll buy it, but we’re not going to try to push it at you. As you can tell, we just loved this port.

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Johnny B

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Friday, March 21 - Day 76

At Sea en route to Mauritius

 

Today is the day we set aside for packing. On Sunday, in Mauritius, we’ll disembark the ship for a ten-day overland to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, visiting Johannesburg (very briefly), Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls, and then spending the last two days in Cape Town awaiting the arrival of our ship, which we’ll rejoin on April 1.

We’re each taking one small suitcase, and deciding what to take for ten days is a challenge. We’ll be places where we have to dress for “the bush” as well as places where we’ll have to dress for dinner, so the clothes have to be carefully selected. Of course, once we begin to look in our suitcases for clothes, we’ll find that we’ve forgotten something.

 

We also have to begin taking anti-malaria drugs on Sunday, two days before we enter malaria areas, and then we’ll have to take them for 32 days, or 7 days after we leave Senegal, which is the last malaria area we’ll visit. Of course that means that we’ll finish only shortly before arriving back in Ft. Lauderdale, but it’s better than contracting malaria.

 

Our schedule, arranged by a South African travel agent called Perfect Africa, allows us to spend almost 36 hours at a wonderful resort in Mauritius, followed by a flight to Johannesburg for overnight before flying north to Chobe Chilwaro in Botswana, which is famous for its huge number of elephants. I’m really looking forward to the elephant picnic while we’re there.

 

After three days there, we’ll be driven to Zambia, where we’ll stay at the Livingstone Hotel and see Victoria Falls, long a “bucket list” item for John. Then we fly to Cape Town, via Johannesburg, where we’ll stay at the Mount Nelson Hotel for two nights before rejoining the ship there. We are really looking forward to the whole trip.

 

One thing we’ve learned on four world cruises is that it’s always better to book overlands through a company in the country we’re visiting. For example, in 2008 when we wanted to visit India, I emailed the India Tourist Office in New York to ask for names of some Indian travel agents that we might use. We settled on one and were so happy with our tour that we’ve done it ever since, including overlands to Egypt, Thailand, Peru, China, and South Africa. There are so many benefits to independent travel. First of all, it’s far less expensive than ship tours. Our India overland, staying at the same Oberoi hotels that the ship used, but with a car, driver, and private guide everywhere, cost $1700 for five days, while the ship was charging $5600 - really! Of course they got lunch and dinner and we only had breakfast, but still . . . Actually, having our driver or guide take us to “locals only” restaurants was a huge benefit of the tour. Often we would be the only non-Indians dining there, so we’d have to tell them not to make our curry too hot. We met some really interesting people with whom we enjoyed exchanging information about where we all lived. Another advantage is being able to see something you’re interested in and making an unplanned stop there, something you can’t do as part of a 40-person group. Also, it’s easier to get into restricted areas with just three of us (including our guide).

 

So, the bottom line is that we’re looking forward to another wonderful independent tour, and since we’ll expect to find internet everywhere we stay (we hope so, anyway), I should be able to continue the blog “in the field.”

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windsor26

windsor26

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Diane as you have some time in Mauritious can I recommend the Casela Bird and Lion Park Not for the birds but you can book an hour walking with 2 young wild lions and interact with them and then stroke cheeetah's All done in very good safe and happy conditions Our time there was magnificent and they supplied photos and video of the walk on a DVD for $25 which is a great memory

 

You can arrange this yourself of course but we booked for a group of us before we got there through http://mauritiusattractions.com/activities.php

 

Good luck

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Johnny B

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Saturday, March 22 - Day 77

En Route to Port Louis, Mauritius

 

What a lovely, lazy day. Packing is as done as it’s going to get but I just know I’ve forgotten at least one something. We also have our passports and we know how to use them! The only packing glitch is that I sent out two bags of laundry two days ago, one to wash, iron and fold and the other containing three shirts for the trip marked “Press Only.” Which one do you think came back yesterday? Yep, the one that needed the full service. I haven’t yet had the pressed shirts returned, and I’m getting rather nervous. I spoke to our room steward this morning, and as it’s almost dinner time, I called the front desk and asked them to do something, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Today was all about being adrift on a wonderful ocean (the Indian, to be specific). There’s a gentle swell out there, just enough to remind us that we’re at sea, and we had a glorious, sunny morning which ended just about noon with rain clouds approaching. Since about 2:30 or so, it’s been rain, rain and more rain, which is lovely to watch through the expansive windows of the library.

 

Other treats are ocean-bound. Watching hundreds of flying fish move across the surface of the waves is really amazing, but today we had an even better treat. About 12:30, Gene, the Cruise Director, came over the intercom and announced that a school of about 200 dolphins was off the bow of the ship and looked like they were going to divide into port and starboard groups. Sure enough, when we ran for the view, there were just dozens and dozens of the little devils jumping and cavorting through the waves, looking for all the world like they were just having a wonderful time. It looks like they had all just signed up for an “E” ride at Disneyland (remember those?). Anyway, we watched as long as they were in sight, and then had to discuss the event with everyone around us because we all through it was so spectacular.

 

This evening we’re having dinner in Canaletto with our friends Bill and Marty. The four of us did the same thing about six weeks ago, and we had such a good time that we decided that a repeat was in order. Marty even has her sewing machine along and has promised to evaluate a threatened “wardrobe malfunction” in one of my evening gowns and to help fix it.

 

We’re really excited about getting off in Mauritius tomorrow and then enjoying a wonderful time at the Oberoi Resort. We stayed at several of them in India in 2008, and welcome any excuse to visit another.

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Johnny B

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Sunday, March 23 - Day 78

Port Louis, Mauritius

 

We disembarked the ship this morning and walked right into heaven - otherwise known as the Oberoi Hotel, Mauritius. (Google it if you don’t believe me) We were met by a nice man with a sign bearing our names and he escorted us to a car from the hotel. On the way there, we asked about an ATM, and he made a detour to take us to a bank. So accommodating!

 

When we arrived and drove through the beautiful gardens of the hotel, we pulled up in front of the main building, where we were greeted by Mark, the General Manager, and believe me, that’s never happened on one of our hotel stays before. The lovely young lady with him presented us with virgin Mojitos which we drank while they pointed at different parts of the hotel. Even though we had disembarked at 8:30 and it was now not even 9:30, they were happy to take us to our thatched-roof bungalow and show us all of its amenities. I swear, this place is at least twice as large (maybe more) as our ship stateroom. There was none of that front desk nonsense; all of the necessary paper work was completed in the comfort of our bungalow.

 

The coffee table in the sitting area was arranged with a carafe of coffee, a basket of croissants, and two beautiful plates of sliced fruit. She told us that if we wished, we could go to the main dining room for a full breakfast, but since the fruit and pastries was our second breakfast of the day, we took a pass.

 

The bathroom in this room is very much like the one we had at the Oberoi in Jaipur, India. First of all, it’s huge, and it has floor to ceiling windows surrounded by a small garden enclosed by a stone wall. Inside, there’s a 4’ x 4’ all glass shower, but the highlight of the room is the marble bathtub, about 2-1/2 feet deep, 8 feet long, and about four feet wide. I feel like Cleopatra, and even though I’m more of a shower girl, I WILL be taking a bath this evening.

 

After settling in, we took a walk to check out the property. Directly below our 20 x 20 patio is a huge lawn leading to the adults only infinity pool. From there, we walked along the beach to the casual restaurant which serves lunch and dinner and is next to the other pool - just as beautiful as the first. Then we continued our jaunt to the main dining room, where we have reservations for a 7:30 dinner, and the dining room manager showed us around. The service at this place is absolutely incredible.

 

As we wandered around the property, each of the hotel employees that we encountered greeted us with “namaste,” an eastern greeting in which the palms are put together in front of the chest, accompanied by a brief bow of the head. Go ahead, I know you want to try it!

 

Satisfied that we had seen everything that we needed to, we changed into swimsuits and spent an hour and a half at the adults-only pool, coddled by the attendant who brought us ice cold bottles of water as well as plates of skewered fruit. I could really get used to this treatment. When we were ready to leave, we took our towels down to the container for them, but were reminded by the young man on duty that that was HIS job. Then we wandered down to the lunch restaurant, where we sat at a lovely table next to the ocean and enjoyed stir-fried noodles for me and Creole fried rice for John. We do enjoy the spiciness of Creole cuisine and just love trying foods from other parts of the world (as well as local beers).

 

At about 5:00, it was cocktail hour, so we opened a bottle of Champagne (that we brought with us), sat on the terrace, and watched the Amsterdam sail out of Port Louis on its way to Reunion, where it will spend the day tomorrow, thence continuing on to South Africa. I cannot say it clearly enough: This is the life!

 

P. S. If you want to see some photos of our little bit of heaven, check our Facebook page at DianeandJohnStJohn.

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momatibm

momatibm

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I tried to find them on Facebook and could not find them. I have been following their adventures on Cruise Critic for years and wanted to have a peek at their adventure. Any advice?

 

I have the same problem--only does a web search doesn't recognize the text string for Facebook.

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Johnny B

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Thanks for the clarification on the Facebook page. Now we know that it's

 

DianeandJohn StJohn

 

with a space in between. John does the Facebook entries with photos and I do the CC blog.

Glad you're enjoying both. The photos aren't nearly up to Jeff's standards, but we do try!

Diane

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