MS Amsterdam WC Finale, CPT to FTL

[rafinmd]

Thanks, Kathi. I've been spoiled on Crystal, the internet's been pretty good, hope it stays that way. Oddly, it's been terrible in my hotel, went basically down just as the Maasdam was leaving, and I'm not relegated to posting from McDonalds.

 

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Singapore to Ko Samui, Thailand. The MS Amsterdam is in Durban, South Africa. When it arrives in Cape Town the Amsterdam will be in the exact same berth where the Serenity not sits.

 

My alarm clock was packed away but I awoke about 4:45 and took a final 5-lap (1.5 mile) walk on Serenity's Promenade Deck. The weather was very pleasant, warm enough without a jacket and a sliver of moon was still bright as I walked. Sunrise was not until about 6:45 and I was a bit direction challenged, but first saw the rays shining on the top of Table Mountain and soon the sun itself on the opposite side of the ship. Since my MS Amsterdam guaranteed cabin had just been assigned, I stopped at the Computer Center and printed off an updated copy of my boarding pass and then used the remainder of my computer time in my room.

 

As an independent traveler, my instructions were that I could leave the ship anytime between 8 and 10AM, so I lingered through breakfast headed down the gangway about 9:45. The Victoria and Alfred hotel is only a half mile from the pier, but there's no easy way to get there and it was about a 10 minute taxi ride. There are lots of little waterways around the waterfront, mostly with swing or draw pedestrian bridges

 

Of course my room was not ready but they took my luggage and told me I could come back between 1 and 2. I had made some plans for my stay here but they are proceeding far faster than expected. While the Amsterdam does not arrive until April 1 I have a safari Monday and Tuesday and thus have only the weekend here. I had planned on visiting Robben Island Saturday, but the ticket office is less than a 5-minute walk from the hotel. Heading over to check on availability, there was a ferry leaving in less than an hour. I walked around the harbor a bit more and boarded the ferry about 10:30.

 

Just one hour after stepping off the Crystal Serenity, I was moving on a boat again for the 1-hour ride to the island.

 

Robben Island has been settled for about 500 years and for most of that time there has been a penal colony there. In the Apartheid Era the main prison held about 900 people, all black male political prisoners. Until the mid-70's it held both regular and political prisoners, but then a more humane prison was built for the ordinary convicts. For a time it also served as a leper colony. The prison was closed in the early 1990's, and soon reopened as a museum.

 

I visited Robben Island previously in 2005. At that time, I believe all the guides were ex-prisoners but today they only do the tours inside the prison itself. Our guide was a prisoner from 1980-84, and described torture which was fatal to one of the 5 people he entered with. Prisoners were expected to work during the day, many in hard, dusty labor in a limestone quarry, and often had vision damage due to working in the bright white quarry where sunglasses "were not part of the uniform". For most of the time the 8x8 cells had only mats to sleep on. The cells were now empty except that Mandela's cell was "furnished" as it was when occupied. We also saw the separate house where Robert Sobukwe was held in total solitary confinement for many years.

 

When our tour of the prison was complete we boarded a bus for a tour of the rest of the island. We passed a cemetery for lepers, the prison for ordinary convicts, superintendent's house, post office and the quarry where the prisoners worked. At a reunion of former prisoners in 1995, Nelson Mandela picked up a piece of rock and dropped it and 1200 other former inmates did the same. That pile of rocks now stands as a memorial to the people who toiled there. As we returned to the ferry dock the guide pointed out a boat on blocks. It was the boat used to ferry prisoners to the island.

 

I was back in Cape Town about 2:30 and in my room on the second (3rd in American usage) floor about 3. I took a long walk about 5, mostly trying to get my bearings in the area, and after several missteps finally found a store to buy a few groceries.

 

I stayed in the hotel for the evening, catching up on computer issues and watching some friends sail away on the Fort Lauderdale Webcam.

 

As today's parting shot, it is now over 20 years since Robben Island closed as a prison. The former inmates who are here to tell the story first hand are a living resource which is slowly diminishing in numbers. Let us never forget the stories they are sharing.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Ko Samui, Thailand. The Crystal Serenity is still in Cape Town until 6PM. The MS Amsterdam is at sea from Durban to Cape Town.

 

I slept late today getting up about 6. While I am close to the Serenity, there are lots of tall buildings and it's out of my sight completely. I walked to the end of the breakwater to watch the sun come up, and could get occasional glimpses of Serenity's masts, but not much more.

 

Most of my day was centered around the Hop On, Hop Off bus. Other Serenity passengers had used it Friday, and 2 more were with me as I purchased my ticket. The bus has 2 routes and a 2 day pass looks like a good option, also including a couple of extras.

 

Ticket in hand, I started off by walking into town and the church I plan to visit Sunday. It wasn't a long walk but it wasn't a very attractive one either and I think I'll use the bus to get there. The church was near one of the Hop On Hop off stops . We passed the "Company Garden", a smallish but very nice park and continued to the government complex with Governor's Residence, Parliament, and a statue of Louis Botha in the entrance.

 

Apartheid was based on the premise that people of different races couldn't mingle, and Cape Town's district was a vibrant interracial community that the government couldn't allow. The government forcibly relocated 60,000 people, bulldozing their homes. The area remains mostly a wasteland of grass and weeds to this day.

 

When we got to Table Mountain it was time to "Hop Off" the bus. A cableway runs from the 1,000 foot base to the summit elevation of about 3,500 feet. Constructed in the 1920's, the system the system has been upgraded several times, and the cars now carry about twice the original capacity of 30 people. The floor of the round cars rotates slowly giving everybody more or less equal views. Even with the increased capacity, getting to the top took nearly an hour, only 5 minutes of which was the actual ascent. It is also possible to hike up to the summit, but not an easy feat.

 

The top has a cafe, souvenir shop, trails, a jazz group, and stunning views. It was slightly cloudy today, and there were times of great and times of murky views. When the view was clear, the Crystal Serenity was a tiny dot but looking down on it the surrounding buildings did little to hamper the view. The trip down went much faster. After coming down from Table Mountain, the tour continued back to the starting point along the coast. Camps Bay was a very nice beach.

 

One of the extras that comes with the 2-day pass is a "canal tour". The canal runs parallel to the waterfront perhaps 15 feet above the level of the sea. The ride was pleasant, but most of the shore was condos, with the exception of one nice look at the Serenity. On the way to the canal cruise I passed Nobel Square (dedicated to South Africa's 4 Nobel Peace Price winners, Albert Lathuli, Archbishop Tutu, F W DeKlerk, and Nelson Mandella), and passed a seal sunning itself outside the Aquarium.

 

Serenity's sailaway was scheduled for 6PM, and I walked down to the end of the breakwater to watch the departure. I heard 3 blasts of the horn (unseen behind harbor buildings) at 5:45 and the mast came into view 10 minutes later. With another blast of the horn the ship cleared the breakwater about 6:05 and picked up speed. I had expected to have a pretty solitary vigil, but there was a pretty good crowd on the breakwater. Many had family members working on the ship. (I would go down to watch Amsterdam's arrival but will be on safari).

 

On the way back I noticed that the Robben Island museum has a mainland piece. There is a small building on one of the jettys that was the departure point for ferries going to Robben Island, and it is now a museum. It closed at 5 but I would like to go back if time permits.

 

As today's parting shot it's always a bit bittersweet watching your ship go off without you. The people on the final segment of the world cruise had a timely start and seem off to a great cruise. May it be so.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Cape Town to Walvis Bay, Namibia. The MS Amsterdam is at sea from Durban to Cape Town.

 

My morning walk was to the far end of the large port basin where it turned out there were still buildings between me and the sea and the clouds were quite thick, but the sun at least found a way to make itself known.

 

I set off at 9 on the HopOnHopOff bus's outer loop, going as far as central Cape Town. Their map had marked out a 25-minute central walking tour with my church at about the 3/4 point of the walk. The walk took me along pedestrian and commercial streets, past St. Georges Cathedral, and through the Company's Garden's, There are several styles of landscape and a prominent statue of Cecil Rhodes, imperialist, philanthropist, and founder of both the colony of Rhodesia and Rhodes scholarships. The walk got me to Central Methodist Mission just in time for the 10AM service. It seemed to be quite a varied congregation, and the organ was lovely.

 

The remainder of the bus route was largely a country drive, with my one remaining stop being the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. On the way there we passed the hospital where the world's first heart transplant had been done.

 

The Gardens are very large with a lot of diversity, and a wide variety of walking paths. In addition to the usual things you would expect in a botanical garden there was a display of petrified wood and a sculpture garden.

 

The remainder of the tour looped first through wine country and then back along the coast with lovely beaches on one side and grand mountains on the other.

 

I returned to the Waterfront about 3:30 and briefly toured Jetty 1, the transfer point for people going to Robben Island during it's years as a leper colony and as a prison. There were 2 waiting rooms, one for visitors and a second for prisoners.

 

 

The final part of my day's touring was the HOHO bus "Night

tour". Leaving the V&A waterfront at 5:30, we essentially followed the red route in reverse, but going to Signal Hill instead of Table Mountain. Since I had been on most of the route twice already, the only new thing I noticed was a tower with a ball that used to be raised and dropped precisely at 1PM so ancient mariners could precisely set their watches, important for taking sextant readings.

 

At Signal Hill the views were superb but the real attraction was the sunset. The sun came down clearly and crisply, with a lovely orange color persisting after sunset. We returned through darkness by a more direct route, arriving back at V&A about 7:30.

 

When I returned to the hotel there was a message in the room with a driver's name and pickup time for my safari tomorrow.

 

I'll take as my parting shot a portion of Pastor Alan Storey's Benediction, which was posted on a screen as he spoke. There are actually some other parts I liked better but wasn't quick enough with the camera to capture them:

 

"May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy".

 

Roy

[lagunaman]

I really enjoy reading you reports and pictures !

 

Interesting comparisons twixt Crystal and HAL, have sailed

the former twice, whereas I am 4 star on the latter and it's now

great to have free laundry !

 

However,do recall Crystal as being truly 5 star, but the rates are

now just too high,plus find that HAL has more interesting

itinerarys

 

Last Autumn (Fall to you) sailed 66 days on the Statendam/ back to back

 

The first S Pacific cruise, I was really fortunate to have Mary Ann & Bill as table mates and on the S America portion, Frank from Toronto was on the table

 

A great guy and an avid cruiser too,also joining in Cape Town thru Ft Lauderdale-sure that you will have a lot in common and have told him to look out for you

 

I am soon leaving on the Volendam Trans Pacific-brr- but need the change from the intense heat of April here in Phuket !

 

"Bon Voyage"

John

[rafinmd]

Thank you, and Bon Voyage, John.

 

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Sihanoukville to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is in Walvis Bay, Namibia. (I'll be there in 4 days), The MS Amsterdam is at sea from Durban to Cape Town.

 

I put in a wake up call for 5AM and spent the early morning organizing my bags for the safari and cruise, leaving the hotel about 6:45 for the end of the jetty and a very nice sunrise. After my final packing tweaks and email checks I left my room about 8:45.

 

My pickup was set for about 9-9:15, with my driver arriving about 9:15. There was already one couple in the van and we stopped near the convention center for a second before heading down the highway. Aquila advertises they are "less than 2 hours from Cape Town", but between a rest stop and construction we arrived about noon. I think I have been in this area before. I have made 2 Rovos Rail trips between Pretoria and Cape Town and a scenic stop was made at Matjiesfontein which our information packet listed as nearby; by my GPS it is about 30 miles towards Johannesburg, the railroad tunnels on the trip are about 10 miles towards Cape Town. Rooms were to be ready at 2, so I relaxed on the grounds for about an hour before visiting the buffet for lunch.

 

My chalet is rustic but comfortable. There is no phone or TV but there is a wood stove and electric heat inside, a tub in the washroom, and an outside shower. My patio has a fireplace. The chief thing lacking is power outlets. There are 2 outlets, with the room having a fridge, coffee maker, and heat. To use either the heat or anything of mine, I need to unplug either the fridge or coffeemaker.

 

Before I knew it 4 o'clock rolled around, time for the first game drive. Aquila uses large safari vehicles (converted trucks) and mine had all 24 seats filled. Aquila is quite large, but it is not like a natural park. The animals are owned by the park and are enclosed in 2 fenced areas, one for the lions and one for everything else. It is also essentially a desert area without a lot of places for cover for big animals.

 

Our first stop was near a water hole where there were ostriches, zebra, plentiful springbok and a few hippos in the water. They mostly stayed under water and were difficult to photograph. My apologies for the hippo photo; I was taking a bit of video when one came up unusually high; the photo is actually of that paused moment on my computer screen.

 

We followed a pair of rhinos for some time and then spotted the elephants in the distance and went towards them. Our ranger Yanney explained that there are only 2. They came from Kruger National Park which was being overrun with elephants and some had to be either relocated or destroyed. We briefly followed a second pair of rhinos and then Yanney parked the truck and we had a little snack. He retrieved some rhino dung and explained that they only process a small part of what they eat and the balls were mostly filled with unprocessed grass.

 

Our final stop was in the lions area. They are efficient predators and if mixed with the other animals there would soon be no other animals left. They have a large range area but their diet consists mostly of deceased farm animals brought to their range. Cats are active mostly at night (we didn't see leopard at all) and they were mostly lying around although there was one near fight.

 

On the way back to the lodge we saw some antelope, and some buffalo hanging right around the gate we use to get back to the lodge. Fortunately, there was an alternate exit available. We returned to the lodge about 6:30 and dinner was at 7. I hope to be in bed tonight by 10. Returning from dinner was a familiar site that I’ll see more of once on the Amsterdam. There was a towel elephant waiting on my bed.

 

As my parting shot, today is another example of why it is good to have choices. With relatively little effort I was able to get to a place with a very interesting array of wildlife. It was not in the class of places like Kruger National Park, and would not likely hold my interest for a multi-day stay, but it was an excellent experience for the time that was available.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Walvis Bay to Luanda, Angola.

 

I dug out my alarm clock and set it for 5AM. At that time it was very dark and a bit of a chill. Packing and repacking seems to be a neverending affair, but I was pretty well set when game drive time came at 6:30. Coffee was served before the drive and extra blankets were on hand to fight the morning chill.

 

Our safari vehicle was still pretty full but a couple less people than yesterday. Aquila apparently has no leopards running free, and Yanney started things off by taking us across the highway to the rehab pens. One leopard was near the front, walking around as if on the prowl. A second was in a more restricted cage a bit further back and with a shelter. He was on the roof of the shelter with about a 2-pound chunk of animal in his mouth, but retreated into the shelter when we approached.

 

As we left the rehab center for the open range the sun was starting to come out behind us leaving a pretty reddish glow to the hills in front of us. Our game drive was shorter and less productive today, but we saw more antelope and buffalo and a wildebeest for the first time. The lions were less active than yesterday, and seemed to be longingly eyeing an animal roaming on slopes in the adjacent range. We returned to the lodge and breakfast about 8AM.

 

Checkout time was at 10 but our transportation back to Cape Town was "between 12 and 1". I checked email for a while and was glad I had left my Kindle in my carryon. As 1PM drew close our ride was not yet here but one of the couples returning to Cape Town reported they had no trouble getting lunch. The remaining 3 of us headed off to the restaurant. The restaurant was quite busy as a group on a HAL shore excursion had just arrived. I was just starting desert when the report came that our driver was here.

 

We left Aquila a little after 1. I was booked to return to the V&A Hotel, but my driver kindly agreed to drop me at the port. With a comfort stop and dropping the 2 couples off at their hotels, I arrived at the dock about 3:40. I'm not sure how it was handled for most people, but by the time I arrived there was no checkin in the terminal. I showed my passport and ticket at the gangway and was directed to the showroom at sea. I was on the way to my cabin by 3:50.

 

There were a couple of hiccups, one of my own doing. There was no "On Location" in the room, and perhaps I'm a bit too Crystallized but I was expecting a card with my dining assignment. A visit to the front desk got me the daily bulletin and the staff reminded me that my dining data is on my keycard. My waitlisted request for early seating was confirmed.

 

It would probably have been safe to do some walking at Aquila, but I didn't do it. I headed for the Lower Promenade deck and found that a section was roped off as one of the tender/lifeboats (mine, actually) was partially lowered. I made 3 round trips between the roped off areas, about a 1.5-mile walk. By the time the walk was over it was after 5 and time to prepare for my 5:30 dinner. My suitcases were still mostly packed. On the way to the dining room I ran into my room steward Rifqi (along with Heri). The room is set as a queen bed and I requested that it be reconfigured as twins to make it easier to see out the window. With all my luggage still on the bed we agreed it could be done tomorrow.

 

Table 129 is a 6-top, near center aft, with a big picture window that today looks out on a group of scrungy cargo sheds. My dining steward, Fremin indicated that the others were on a late tour so it was just me. The citrus salad, chilled soup, and chicken marsala were all excellent, and it was a quick 1-hour meal.

 

I organize most of my packing using cubes and after dinner I just put the cubes in the closet unopened. I have a lot more unpacking to do tomorrow. The room suits me quite well; I enjoy having the full bath. (I'll hold off on sending pictures to halfacts until I have the room in both Queen and Twin configurations).

 

I think many people have late tours today and the presentation in the show lounge was a movie.

 

As today's parting shot, it almost escaped me that today is April Fools Day. I hope all the pranks you encountered were good and kind ones.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Walvis Bay to Luanda, Angola.

 

I still can't say that I find a difference between HAL and other beds but I slept well anyway. After rising at 5 I had a pleasant 6-lap (1.5 mile) walk on the lower promenade deck. When the time for sunrise came around (about 7am) the rain told me there would be nothing to see.

 

Leaving the ship at 8:30 I inquired of Barbara the exact location of the shuttle back from V&A waterfront. She told me and suggested I take the shuttle there (it wasn't supposed to start until 9 but was already running. Soon after I left a drizzle started and I had to work my way around some puddles but was soon at McDonalds where about 1:70 got me hash browns, coffee, and about 40 minutes of high speed internet. When I left the sun was out and I walked back toward the center of town, having another look at the train station where 3 wonderful journeys began or ended. I was back on board about 11, and the meeting with immigration took only a few minutes.

 

This is my first time on the Amsterdam. It seems more like the Zaandam than the Rotterdam, all in good ways. The entire lower promenade deck is public space, without loungers taken up by Lanai Cabins, there is an outside stairway all the way from deck 2 up to the Lido Deck, and there's aa aft lido deck pool rather than a retreat (and no garish movie screen).

 

Muster was at 1:15. The letter from the Captain said "All newly embarked guests", but in his announcement Cruise Director Gene Young made it clear the drill was for EVERYBODY. I expected sailaway to be at 2. At 1:50 and again at 2:05 6 stragglers were called by name to meet with immigration. At 2:30 Captain Mercer came on the PA and said we would sail at 3. At 2:40 the pilot appeared, and at 2:45 the lines were "singled up", and we held that way for 15 minutes. After making a sharp turn to port we were headed for the breakwater. I stayed on deck until we passed Robben Island (about 3 miles off to starboard, and then started the painful process of setting up internet.

 

My table mates were no shows again, which both Fremin and the supervisor said was very unusual.

 

This evening's entertainment was a concert by the duo Paige Mac with a mix of music styles. They were not really my style, and this was their first time on a cruise ship. They seemed to be having trouble with the ship's motion. On the way back I stopped by the mix for Debbie Bacon. She was probably the best I've seen on HAL although I wasn't impressed with the "SINGO" game. The song list she presented was limited to the 70 numbers represented on the Singo cards and I don't really know what her repertory was, but she's the first HAL Piano Bar enter I've seen who knew "Hello Dolly".

 

As today's parting shot, I'll note a few things that have been different compared to my recent HAL voyages. The internet is likely the biggest irritation. I as I write this I haven't yet tried to go online so there's still a story in the making. Just trying to register was an exercise in frustration, as it refused to accept my data. When I visited Explorations the librarian (who apparently is the point of contact) suggested that I try my middle name instead of my first. After several false starts, we finally figured out that where it said "First name" it really wanted both my first and middle names. Just changing the wording to first name(S) would have helped. I also learned that while the prices have stayed the same, there is no longer a bonus for signing up early in the cruise. I was surprised that we weren't getting the usual tote bags, although later Rifqi came by with a bag of goodies which included a shoulder slung bag and some other nice things. If I remember correctly, the washer prices on the R/S class ships are unchanged but I'm told the dryers are free. Life jackets (still not worn to muster) now have a new section that fastens across the chin. I'm sure I'll find a lot of additional changes as the voyage continues.

 

Roy

[RuthC]

"Mix"? :eek: You said "Mix". I hadn't known that the Piano Lounge on this ship had been converted to "Mix".

Please tell me that they have just changed the name, but not the arrangement. Please! I'll be on the Amsterdam this August, and was looking forward to going to, if not a real Piano Bar, at least a Piano Lounge again.

The Mix is a terrible set-up, imo.

 

Or, at least please confirm that it really is The Mix, as appears on such ships as Ryndam, Maasdam, Veendam. I'll have some time to reset my expectations. :(

[rafinmd]

RuthC, this is my first time on the Amsterdam, and I may be wrong about the terminology. I was just thinking that all the piano bars were now called mixes. I'll try to include a photo in a future update.

 

The Crystal Symphony is in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is in Luanda, Angola.

 

The seas were fairly rough overnight. When I rose at 5 things had calmed down considerably, and I combined a load of laundry with my 5-mile (18-lap) walk. The sky was by far the clearest I have seen so far. I think the tenders are new. The twin catamaran boats hang down pretty low, at the lowest point I only have about 2 inches of clearance from the straps that secure them. Anybody over about 6'2" needs to use care when walking under them. I found the internet very uncooperative today. My first try I got virtually nothing done; on my second try I was able to post to Cruise Critic, but could not send emails with pictures or files.

 

Enrichment programs are a Holland America weakness, but they have been stepped up for the World Cruise. There was a Protestant devotion in the Hudson Room at 9. I had read on other world cruise blogs that Pastor Flo would be on board for the entire World Cruise, but when I showed up Pastor Don was in charge. He indicated that Joe, Flo's husband had heard issues and they had left the ship in Cape Town.

 

Things continued rapidly with the Namibian Brewmaster joining Gene on Good Morning Amsterdam and the Barbara's talk on Walvis Bay in the Queens Room at 10. The morning activities wrapped up with an 11PM presentation on stargazing in the southern hemisphere.

 

Self service was resumed at noon in the lido but I was attracted by the menu to the main dining room. I have made my specialty restaurant reservations, lunch in the Pinnacle Grill April 7, dinner in Canaletto April 15 (Gambia), and in Pinnacle April 16 (Senegal). In his midday update Captain Mercer advised we were in strong winds but fortunately they are blowing in our direction. We are about 20 miles off the coast and passed the Nemibia-South African border about 9AM.

 

The final presentation of the day was by John Palmisano on Marine Mammals. After dinner there was a reception in the Explorer's Lounge for those of us who embarked in Cape Town (about 110 of us). The evening entertainment was comedian Kevin Devane.

 

Today's parting shot is wishes for a full and pleasant recovery for Joe and strength and comfort for Pastor Flo as they deal with Joe's health issues so far from home.

 

Roy

Edited April 3, 2014 by rafinmd

[RuthC]

RuthC, this is my first time on the Amsterdam, and I may be wrong about the terminology. I was just thinking that all the piano bars were now called mixes. I'll try to include a photo in a future update.

Thanks, Roy. You've given me back some hope, at least. A picture would cinch the deal. Appreciate it.

[Oahucruiser]

Loving your entire blog, as always, and can't believe you are on the final third of your adventures. Having read many of the blogs from the Amsterdam's world cruise, the biggest complaint from the start has constantly been the slow or non-existant internet. I hope you have better luck. Enjoy!

[rafinmd]

The internet has been terrible. Blog entries with pictures have not been getting through and may have to be posted when I find wifi at a port.

 

The Crystal Symphony is in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Luanda, Angola to Principe, San Tome and Principe.

 

Namibia was once a Dutch colony, then German for many years, and ceded to England after World War 1. It became part of South Africa, and finally gained independence in the early 1990's. Walvis Bay is Namibia's only deep water port. The country is rich in minerals but extraction is slow because water is quite scarce. The chief economic engines are mining and tourism, especially from Germany, and German is still quite widely spoken. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn early this morning and are geographically in the Tropics, but it doesn't feel that way as there is a cooling current from Antarctica.

 

Most of Namibia's coast is a desert with great sand dunes reaching almost to the water. It has a history of danger to shipping due to the sand having a high concentration of magnetite making a compass inaccurate, and the cool Antarctic air reaching the land creates a dense fog most mornings.

 

On my 6-lap walk I could see lights on shore but by sunrise it was cloudy with some fog. Lines went out about 7 and we started another round of face to face inspections with immigration officials.

 

My tour was arranged by my travel consortium. Our meeting time was 8:45 and I had a high number for the immigration inspection. Our hosts are just a few cabins down from me and we walked upstairs together to wait for immigration. They suggested we just line up as they were anxious to meet the guide, and we went through with no problem. The port was restricting the number of vehicles near the ship, and we did not meet the guide until about 9:45 so we were off to a late start.

 

There were 9 of us on the tour and a van drove us about 15 miles up the coast to the access point for our dune drive. We transferred to a pair of Land Cruisers with our guides Marcus and Fritz. On our roughly 2 hour tour of the dunes we saw a variety of wildlife (all small) including a whip snake, a gecko, a skenk (a legless lizard), chameleons, and a sidewinder snake as well as a number of varieties of vegetation. The animals we saw mostly eat bugs, and are prey to birds. There are some larger animals in the area but they are mostly active at night. We also passed some vestiges of a prior railroad, a victim to shifting sand dunes. In places the dunes were several hundred feet high, although the ones we toured were roughly 200 feet. In places, only a couple hundred yards separate the ocean from the dunes, with the highway running in between. We returned to the ship about 2.

 

Holland America works with a youth charity in Namibia and the ship was visited by a group of youth from the Bernhard Nordkamp Center. They hung out in Club HAL, had hot dogs and pizza in the lido, and at 2 their choir put on a concert in the Queens Room. I caught the tail end of the concert after getting my own pizza. Departure target was 5PM; by the time the immigration checks were completed and the pilot arrived we left just in time for me to see us pull away from the dock before dinner.

 

2 of my tablemates (John and Dianne, but not the bloggers of the same name) were at dinner; they had not been feeling well for a couple of days. They said the other 2 usually only show up on formal nights. The evening entertainment was comedian, singer, and guitarist Dan Riley. His major (but not exclusive) style was comic lyrics to old songs (think Weird Al Yankovic). On the way back I spent a few minutes listening to Debby Bacon on the piano.

 

As today's parting shot, Namibia may be at a crossroads. Our van driver thought they were developing a close relationship with North Korea, while our guides thought his assessment was overblown. I'm a bit surprised, I didn't think North Korea got close to anybody. I hope Namibia can find it's way to be a real part of the world community.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam to Da Nang Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is in Principe, San Tome and Principe.

 

A quiet night gave way to a clear morning, although there was just a band of clouds on the horizon at sunrise. As we continue moving west sunrise/sunset are getting later, now in the 7:20 range. The internet was down overnight but MARGINALLY back up when I returned at 7 from my walk. (In the evening I got a welcomed call from the front desk restoring 2 hours of internet that I had lost.)

 

In the morning devotions we learned that Pastor Florence and Joe have successfully made it back home. The daily lecture schedule is becoming standard with Barbara's port talk on St. Helena at 9, John Palmisano on the amazing life of sea birds a 11, and astronomy buff Dan Benedict on "Cruise Ship Astronomy's 10 Greatest Hits" at 2.

 

The timing of Captain Mercer's midday announcement seems a bit variable. It is not listed in the program but came at 12:40 the first sea day and 12:35 today. After the routine navigational and weather information he dropped a bombshell on us. Due to concerns about Ebola our itinerary is being extensively changed:

 

http://wcmedley2014.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/itinchange.pdf

 

Calls to Ascension Island, Banjul, Gambia, and Dakar Senegal have been cancelled.

 

Praia, Cape Verde has been added for April 14.

Mindelo, Cape Verde has been changed from April 18 to an overnight April 15-16.

Barbados has been moved from April 23 to April 22, and

We will visit St. Lucia on April 23.

 

I don't understand cancelling Ascension Island but it must have been too far out of the way for our revised itinerary. A final effect of the itinerary change is that I had booked my specialty restaurant reservations to be the nights we had late sailaways, the 2 West African ports. April 16 still works for the Pinnacle Grill, but I changed my Canaletto reservation from the 15th to the 22nd, where we have a later than original sailaway from Barbados.

 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet but I did find time to buy a couple of future cruise deposits, hopefully for an extensive visit to Alaska in 2015. There was a pre-dinner cocktail party in the Crow's Nest arranged by my travel agency's consortium.

 

My 2 remaining tablemates were present at dinner. They are from the Windsor, Ontario area but winter in Florida.

 

This evening's primary entertainment was a show by Neil Lockwood and his tribute to Elton John. He put on quite a good show, and we gain an hour tonight.

 

Today's parting shot is a followup to February 28, with my prayers and best wishes for the people of my home church (St. John United) as they continue their revitalization process, and for the wisdom and courage to proceed with the process to strengthen and revitalize this faith community's outstanding history.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Da Nang Vietnam. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Principe, San Tome and Principe to Takoradi, Ghana.

 

There's a sameness to he morning conditions except that by gaining an hour overnight sunrise came while I was still walking.

While a Sunday there was still quite a full schedule, starting with an 8AM communion service by Pastor Don in the Queens Room.

 

Before the "Good Morning Amsterdam" interview with Neil Lockwood I verified that the schedule had been changed beyond the itinerary by eliminating the final formal night. Gene said that was due to passenger feedback while the HAL executives were on board between Durban and Cape Town. We now have only 3 formal nights in 27 days.

 

Speakers Dan Benedict spoke about "The Southern Hemisphere Skies" at 10 and John Palmisano's lists of Top 10 Marine Animals at 2. In his noon update Captain Jonathan expanded his comments on the situation West Africa is facing with Ebola present in the cities rather than just the rural areas as in past outbreaks. He spoke of flights arriving in Dakar virtually empty and leaving full, much as I experienced with China in the SARS epidemic.

 

Dan Riley presented a matinee show in the Queens Lounge at 3 centered largely on music of country artists, and the Amsterdam Singers did a jazz show in the Ocean Bar between diner seatings. I was hoping they would take a group bow so I could picture them as a group (I haven't seen them in the Queens Room yet), but they didn't.

 

The dining room was extensively decorated in black and gold for the Great Gatsby dinner.

 

The main evening event was the Great Gatsby Ball in the Queens Room. I also briefly listened to the Neptunes in the Ocean Bar and to Adagio in the Explorers Lounge.

 

Today's parting shot is a wish for a quick resolution to the problems Ebola is causing in West Africa. It is a minor inconvenience to us but a very serious issue for the people who call the area home.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Da Nang Vietnam to Hong Kong. The Crystal Serenity is in Takoradi, Ghana.

 

 

After being on South Africa time since March 23, I gained an hour for the second consecutive night, and sunrise came soon after 6AM. It was a cloudy day but the clouds were thin enough that the rising sun's glow came through. I was not happy with the way eggs were done in the lido here (much better and equally good on Crystal and the Prinsendam), so I went down to the dining room for my ham omelet.

 

Whatever the reason, the Hudson room was packed to capacity today for Pastor Don's devotions. It is usually about half full. When it ended "Good Morning Amsterdam" was still in progress in the Wajang Theater with Astronomy Lecturer Dan Bennett as Guest.

 

The norm for sea days has that our 2 speakers give presentations at 10 and 2 unless Barbara does a 10AM port talk, then the morning presentation is at 11. Today's presentations were John Palmisano on Penguins at 10 and Dan Benedict on "Invasion from Earth: Space Exploration from Sputnik to 1984".

 

I'm not really big on specialty restaurants. Today was just my 3rd Pinnacle Grill visit, all lunches to date, and the first time in Pinnacle outside the Prinsendam. I prefer the Prinsendam's Pinnacle. The 2 restaurants themselves are equally nice but Amsterdam's has no view. The burger was very good but entirely too big.

 

When I returned from dinner there was a welcome flyer from Tourism St. Helena in the mail slot. The evening entertainment was Multi-Instrumentalist Andy Bunger, preceded by a session of Majority Rules. Dan Benedict held stargazing sessions at 9:15 and 11:00 up on the sports deck, although the clouds did not cooperate. While up on deck I stopped by the Crow's Nest and decided the Katherine Stone Band was not my style.

 

As today's parting shot, congratulations to the Afghan people for a great election turnout. I hope your decision was a wise one.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Hong Kong. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Takoradi, Ghana to Dakar, Senegal.

 

When I started my walk today it was cloudy but there were lights up ahead, as we were making our approach to St. Helena. The island was discovered in 1502 and for many years was a resupply stop for ships passing between Europe and Asia in the days before construction of the Suez Canal. It is probably most noted for the exile of Napoleon to the island 1815-21. Today it is quite a sleepy little town with a population of about 4,000.

 

About 1,000 ships a year called at St. Helena in the glory days but now visits are rare. Today was a doubleheader as the RMS Saint Helena was in port this morning. The boat arrives about every 3 weeks on a run starting in Cape Town and calling on Walvis Bay, Saint Helena, and Ascension, carrying people, mail, and containers of cargo. Like us, the Saint Helena was parked out in the harbor and everything was taken to or from the ship in small flatbed motor launches, moved between pier, launch, and ship by large cranes. The island will change dramatically in the next few years as a new runway is now under construction.

 

The harbor is too deep for an anchor so we stopped and set the computers to keep the ship drifting in place, and tendering started very slowly about 8. I got a tender ticket about 8:10, was not called for over an hour, and it was close to 10 when I landed on shore. There was quite a swell at the little dock and disembarking people from the tenders was pretty tough.

 

The 5x10 mile island is volcanic and rises sharply from the shore with Jamestown sitting in a small valley. Leaving town requires making quite a steep ascent.

 

For a pedestrian, the most efficient way of doing that is Jacobs Ladder. It was built in 1829 as an inclined plane used to move manure out of town and bring agricultural products grown on the plateau down to market. It was originally powered by mules. Today it is strictly a stairway with 699 steps each rising about 11 inches. A village and old fortifications stand at the top.

 

Getting to the top took me about a half hour, constantly pausing to catch my breath. The trip down was quicker, and seemed relatively easy but when I got back to sea level my legs were so rubbery I thought I would fall. After several minutes I could sort of walk, but even several hours later my walk is not right.

 

It was probably not the right day to have a walking tour, but I did. Starting at noon at the tender pier our guide Basil took us around the town and talked about life here. The biggest difference here is of course isolation with the Saint Helena the island's only reliable link to the outside world. While generally self governing, the residents are UK citizens, and the UK pays about half the budget and provides military protection. There is a 12-person legislature, 5 of whom are in the cabinet.

 

We went in through the old fortress gate and Basil took us to the base of Jacob's ladder and demonstrated the easy way down, a slide on the banisters, and pointed out the museum where a model of the inclined plane was displayed. Prominent in the town square are the jail (ancient but Basil says used for drunks on weekends) and St. James Church, the oldest Anglican Church in the Southern Hemisphere. Across the road were the court house (it doubles as the legislative chamber) and the Castle, which now holds government offices.

 

Most ships have a place where plaques representing their ports of call are displayed. I understand that this is normally part of an exchange, but we rarely see the ones given to the town by the ship. Several were displayed in the Castle. I did not see any from Holland America, but easily spotted the one for the Crystal Symphony's 1997 maiden call. (I just found the Amsterdam's for her maiden call in Baltimore on Deck 1 at the midship elevators).

 

Our final stop was the Consulate hotel, where we were given tea and I stayed to use the wifi. The hotel's satellite internet was not a lot cheaper or faster than the ships, but it was enough better to update my antivirus software and to do some research on a Fire Department tax issue. I returned to the ship and had a late lunch about 3:30.

 

I think sailaway was a bit ahead of our 5PM time and Captain Jonathan had a surprise for us. We are deviating a bit west and will attempt a brief call (or at least a scenic sailby) at Ascension Island on Thursday.

 

The evening entertainment was the Divas of Motown. An exciting port day had also been pretty draining and I slept through most of it. I also attempted this post after the show and woke from a nap at my computer screen about 11 with a very unfinished post.

My photo blog entry will be especially delayed since I missed the time where the internet was least awful.

 

My parting shot changed a little since I didn't post until after the latest daily news updates were distributed. Congratulations to National Champion UConn (I assume there is a new woman's champ but it wasn't in the summary), and congratulations to the voters of Quebec on choosing a course that should assure the future of Canada at least for now.

 

Roy

[Vict0riann]

Yes, Roy, Canada will stay whole, at least until the next referendum! :)

 

Your cruise sounds great - hope the visit to Ascension Island will make up for the missed ports in Africa. It really seems like the right decision, not to make the African stops - ebola is scary!

Are you going to be going past/near Tristan da Cunha?

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Hong Kong. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Takoradi, Ghana to Dakar, Senegal.

 

Several factors conspired to extend my walk this morning until nearly 7:30. In my state of exhaustion last night, I had left undone things normally completed in the evening. While I was walking pretty much normally, my legs were still not up to par after yesterday's visit to Jacob's Ladder, and finally the rising sun was one of the best I've seen this trip. For most of this voyage we are sailing pretty much West and the sun is coming up behind us, but until Cape Verde we're headed more or less Northwest and it's to our aft starboard quarter. The sun announced it's presence with a beautiful red glow about 40 minutes before sunrise and came up very crisply, then shining down from the rear corner was over my shoulders as I walked forward.

 

After morning devotions with Pastor Don and "Good Morning Amsterdam" with Andy Bunger there was an addition to the program with Barbara's port talk on Ascension Island at 10 in the Queens Room. It sounds like this is a very iffy tender port with unpredictable swells at a rather crude tendering dock, but at least we're trying.

 

The day's presentations were Dan Benedict with "Invasion from Earth: Part 2", 1984 to the future at 11 and John Palmisano with "Killer Whales and Humpbacks" at 2. There was an extra lunch option with a Mongolian Cookout by the Lido Pool. Tour descriptions were sent out for our 3 new port days, and I found something of interest for each of the ports. I had a rather quiet afternoon I started to feel pain in my thighs with my continuing walking and stair climbing.

 

The entertainment in the show lounge was the comedy and humor of Jeff Peterson, another act that is new to me. One of his gimmicks is an Aladdin's lamp on stage that has a candle sized flame at the spout that becomes a 3-foot flame when he tells a lie. I've been cheating on Debby Bacon. The piano bar is a pretty good wifi hot spot and I go on line there at the end of the day sitting off to the side while I post, and then moving to the center when I'm through and shutting down. Good wifi and a great atmosphere; unfortunately, Windows is a bit noisy shutting down. I've been using an earphone to kill the noise, but tend to put it in the wrong jack. Last night I got it right. I think Debby is the best piano bar enter I've seen on HAL.

 

It wasn't an official stargazing night, but it was clear and Dan Benedict was up on deck 10. Too dark for a photo, but I saw Mars and the Southern cross.

 

As today's parting shot, this is a voyage of continuing surprises, and certainly not one that gets boring. With 2 itinerary changes in the last week, the question that comes to mind is "where are we going next". I think HAL dropped the ball a bit by dropping Ascension in the first place with neither an explanation or a clear reason why it was appropriate, and I think that created widespread unhappiness. The latest itinerary is I think the best solution with both a couple of additional ports and a call at a destination many of us wanted to see.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Yes, Roy, Canada will stay whole, at least until the next referendum!

 

Your cruise sounds great - hope the visit to Ascension Island will make up for the missed ports in Africa. It really seems like the right decision, not to make the African stops - ebola is scary!

Are you going to be going past/near Tristan da Cunha?

 

Sorry to be so long responding as it was a very busy day. We were not able to tender ashore and just completed a 2-hour scenic circumnavigation of Ascension.

 

1. I have no legal say, but I feel I have a stake in Canada. My parents were both born in Quebec south of Montreal, and much of my family still lives about 30km South of the Mercier bridge, so I have a deep interest in the area.

 

2. While I always hated the initial decision to skip Ascension, I have mixed feelings about Africa. Yes, Ebola is scary, but there are a lot of scary things in this world. I have been following 2 Crystal World Cruise blogs, and they have completed one of their West Africa calls (Takadori Ghana) and are likely in Dakar right now. I have not seen any reports of concern on those blogs about the safety of the calls, and I think different people can reasonably come to opposite conclusions with as little as we know. I would have preferred to continue with the itinerary as planned but am not at all upset about that change in plans.

 

3. Tristan da Cunha really sent me to the atlas. I think the answer is we were anywhere near it. They are related politically and one of the atlases had them close together in little map insets, but a second atlas told a very distant story. The first atlas had the latitude and longitude numbers for Tristan, but didn’t show North, South, East, or West. When I got the proper hemispheres from the second atlas and loaded the location in my GPS, Ascension is about 700 (nautical) miles North of St. Helena while Tristan is 1322 miles to it’s South. Direct distance from here is 1755 miles, while it was only 1500 miles even from Cape Town. Sometimes the way things are shown in an atlas may not be much help.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Hong Kong. The Crystal Serenity is in Dakar, Senegal.

 

The morning was on the cloudy side. There was a lovely tint to the sky about 40 minutes before sunrise but the sun's appearance only showed through a small slit.

 

The morning shipwide was fairly quiet with only the morning devotions on my schedule among general events. The other thing was the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at 10 in the Crow's Nest, just as Ascension was becoming clear ahead of us. We had a large attendance of Cruise Critic members and organizer Mary Ann, Cruise Director Gene, and Hotel Manager Henk gave short speeches.

 

Ascension is a very remote outpost in the South Atlantic with a population of about 1000, none permanent. Most are contract workers from St. Helena, but there are also RAF and some American military people. It is a major center for communications relays.

 

We arrived at our anchorage just before noon. Tender tickets were due to be given out at 11:30; I think they must have started well before that as I was given number 28 (starting at 11). At 12:15 Captain Mercer announced that the swells were worse than in St. Helena and that we would not be able to go ashore. Some residents came aboard on a local boat and most set up shop in the Atrium while a few naturalists made a presentation in the Queens Lounge. While the vendors did a brisk business our sail around the island took about 2 hours with Barbara in the Crow's Nest DJ booth giving commentary. It was very windy, the sun was very bright, and it got hot, but the views were well worth the effort.

 

Unfortunately, the card where I wrote down what my photos were dropped out of my pocket, so I effectively lost many of my photographs. Here's what I do remember:

 

While some people took what I thought were undue risks for that perfect photo vantage, we started our circle at Georgetown, and soon went by a set of antennas used by the BBC and a wind farm. A small, steep, rock island was a sea bird nesting area used quite intensively when Ascension was overrun with feral cats (that population has been brought under control and the bird nesting areas are rebounding). We passed some rocks jutting out of the ocean shoreside like giant teeth and then the airfield used mostly by the RAF but also by American Forces with a weekly flight from Florida. As we made our way back to Georgetown we got a good view of Green Mountain. The swells seemed to have worsened during our time around the island and there was some difficulty getting a boat out to return the locals to the island, but eventually one did make it. The crew set up a "bucket brigade" to transfer unsold merchandise back to the transfer boat. We stowed the tender platform and with a blast of the horn were off about 4:30.

 

With my tablemates often absent I have been moved to a new table, a 10-top with quite a lively crowd including Esri from Cruise Critic. It is a mix of solos and couples, and people on the full cruise and segmenters. It looks like a fun table. Freman and Joseph are still my dining stewards. We were treated to free drinks as consolation for not getting ashore (hardly the crew's fault).

 

The evening entertainment was ventriloquist Dan Horn along with a dog and his partners Gladys and Orson. After the show Cruise Director Gene Young came out dressed as a pirate to highlight tomorrow’s equator crossing ceremony. We also gain another hour tonight on our way to Cape Verde.

 

Today's parting shot is a continuation of that from 2 days ago, congratulations to UConn for the National Women's Championship.

 

Roy

[dfish]

I'm enjoying your cruise, Roy. Thanks for bringing us along.

 

Debbie

[rafinmd]

Thank you, Debbie.

 

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Hong Kong to Xiamen, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Dakar, Senegal to Agadir, Morocco.

 

As we have left Ascension behind and are headed for Cape Verde, we are on a more northerly course and today the sun came up straight out on our starboard side; near 6AM as we gained an hour overnight.

 

For the most part it was a pretty relaxed day at sea. After 9AM devotions with Pastor Don there was a 10AM Shore Excursion presentation and an afternoon presentation by Dan Benedict on "New Southern Constellations of Pianclus". I also attended a session on speeding up Windows computers. There were some good reminders, but nothing really new.

 

The highlight of the day was the 11AM Equator Crossing Ceremony at the midship pool. About 10 "pollywogs" (crew members crossing

for the first time) were assembled in a small cage. The senior officers were seated at the head of the pool, and King Neptune summoned the pollywogs up in groups of about 2-4, representing various departments. Each pollywog was accused of a "crime", forced to kiss a huge fish, covered in slime, and then the jury produced a verdict, sink or stink. For "thumbs down" the pollywogs were dumped in the pool, for thumbs up they were sent to the opposite end of the pool from the officers to stew in their mess. It was a bit different from other ceremonies I've seen but a lot of fun. In his midday update the Captain said we will actually cross the Equator about 11PM.

 

The theme continued with dinner as the dining room was decorated with clusters of fish balloons, and the waiters were dressed as pirates. Two of my tablemates were away in the Pinnacle, but we had 2 temporary guests at the table.

 

There was just a single show in the Queens Room, the Motown Divas at 7:15, with a "Rock the Boat" party at 9:30 in the Crows Nest featuring the Amsterdam Singers. As I write this it hasn't yet happened but I hope to stop by.

 

I discovered my "cheat sheet" from yesterday’s Ascension circumnavigation. The island where birds nested during the height of the feral cat invasion was Boatswain Island, and the runway is Wide Awake airfield. I am adding pictures to today’s blog post for Whitehorse Peak, Whale Point, and Devils Ashpit.

 

Today's parting shot: Congratulations to our new shellbacks, and thank you for being good sports.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Xiamen, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Dakar, Senegal to Agadir, Morocco.

 

It’s been a frustrating day. I did stay up to watch our equator crossing, which happened at 11:38PM and tried one of the things covered in the computer speedup class. I ran the disk checker on my netbook, and the computer has been essentially useless since. I was able to get into safe mode and copy my user files to a thumb drive but nothing else is working. The one thing I was unable to recover was my email list for these reports, so if somebody is getting them and doesn’t want them, please let me know.

 

I actually got up a little before 5 but my morning walk was extended another half hour between running a load of laundry and fighting with the netbook. It was a cloudy morning and I never actually saw the sun until a half hour past sunrise, and there were periods of rain through the day.

 

There is a Dentist on board and he helps out as the accompanist at the Protestant devotions. There are crew drills at 9:30 Saturday mornings, and today we started the closing hymn with Dr. Joe at the keyboard but finished acapella.

 

There was a typical sea day lecture schedule with Barbara’s port talk on Cape Verde at 10, Dan Benedict on “Southern Constellations of Lacaille” at 11, and John Palmisano on “Across the North Atlantic” at 2. I attended Barbara’s talk but was distracted by computer issues during the other two.

 

Afternoon tea on the World Cruise has been mostly in the Crow’s Nest, but today’s Cupcake Tea was in the dining room with a superb assortment of goodies.

 

There’s an entertainment double bill with Magician Jeff Peterson and Multi-Instrumentalist Andy Bunger, plus Debby Bacon is doing another round of “Singo” in the piano lounge. I will likely try to post and turn in early.

 

As today’s parting shot we have both Passover and Palm Sunday coming up. Here’s a wish for a great holiday for those who celebrate either.

 

Roy

[Cruisergal1208]

Roy, have enjoyed your reports. If you get the chance, please say hello to Jeff Peterson from the Beckham's in Georgia. We have the same kind of doggie, a Coton, and have been with him on several cruises. Thanks and will watch for your future reports.

[rafinmd]

Roy, have enjoyed your reports. If you get the chance, please say hello to Jeff Peterson from the Beckham's in Georgia. We have the same kind of doggie, a Coton, and have been with him on several cruises. Thanks and will watch for your future reports.

 

Thanks. I'll try, but I think Jeff is leaving the ship soon.

 

Cruise critic has been a problem, making me log in and then telling me continuously to log in again. I've been keeping up a little better with the wordpress blog.

 

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Xiamen, China to Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Agadir, Morocco.

 

Update on Saturday night: I did not get to Jeff Peterson’s show but did see Andy Bunger’s “Classic Rock. It was his interpretation of many classical pieces, mostly on percussion and opening with one of my favorites, Bach’s Toccata in D Minor. I thought it was one of the best shows of the cruise. Singo continued in the piano bar until virtually everybody had completed their cards. I was one of the last, filling all but 7 of the numbers before getting a line; number 36 would have completed all my rows, down, across and diagonally at once, but that turned out not to be my final number.

 

http://wcmedley2014.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/singo.jpg

 

My Saturday internet experience was very poor, and I went on line first thing Sunday morning, delaying the end of my walk until just after 7:30. It was cloudy around the horizon but the rising sun did find a small space to shine through.

 

At the Palm Sunday service Pastor Don confirmed that he and Father Bob have agreed on a sunrise Easter service, on the Lido Deck aft, conditions permitting.

 

Both of our current lecturers are leaving us in Cape Verde. John Palmisano’s final presentation was “The Magnificent Seven”, highlighting the special biological features of each of the world’s great sea regions. In the afternoon Dan Benedict spoke of the Travelers Century Club and their rules for getting to what they recognize as 321 “countries” (While they claim some rules they go by I don’t recognize the US, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, and Prince Edward Island all as separate “countries”. He compared that list to the destinations Holland America in general and this World Cruise have visited. He will do a final skywatch program the morning we arrive in Mindelo as a lunar eclipse is expected. The Future Cruise Consultants also put on a program of 2014 and 2015 future plans. I finished my day’s activities off with tea in the Crows Nest. It is a lovely location; I wish it were big enough for the number of people who come to the special (e.g. cupcake) teas.

 

It sounds like most formal nights on the Amsterdam World Cruise are theme nights with special decorations in the dining room. That was missing, but when I looked at the original program the theme was supposed to be the Equator Crossing which actually happened a couple of days ago. Sans decorations, we enjoyed seeing each other across the table. Most of us had the Alaskan King Crab while I went for the Chicken Kiev. After dinner Rifqi and Heri had left a lovely ceramic plate on the bed.

 

The evening entertainment was vocalist Karl Morgan, a young Welsh chap who did mostly songs from the 50's. As today’s parting shot, I don’t see a lot of news but I did enjoy looking at North American temperatures. Welcome Spring.

 

Roy