Join Pete and Judy on their FIRST World Cruise on the Amsterdam

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 71, Sailing toward Phuket, Thailand

 

Early this morning I while just settling in to enjoy our room service breakfast, I heard the distinctive sound of a boat motor and high rpm very nearby. I went out on our balcony and sure enough a small fishing boat was closing on us heading the opposite direction and would pass within about 50 yards. Other much larger ships were nearby, some heading in the same direction and some going back toward Singapore. I recall one of the ships officers telling me that in these waters small boats consider it lucky if they can maneuver so their wake is cut by the Amsterdam or if they can cut across the Amsterdam’s wake. I am not sure if this is what was happening with this small boat, it was never on a collision course, but it was very close.

 

 

Virtuoso Pianist Filip Wojciechowski was the guest on Good Morning Amsterdam. He started playing the piano when he was 7 and now 39 years later he is still going strong. Gene asked if he had to be forced to practice and learn piano as many youngsters are often required to take an instrument by well intentioned parents. Filip said that he fell in love with music and the piano immediately and it has been his passion ever since.

 

The Shore Excursion manager, Nyron, and the Location Guide, Barbara, teamed up on presenting an overview of the available shore excursions between Phuket and Oman. After Phuket tomorrow, followed by two sea days, we will be spending the day in Hambantota, Sri Lanka which will be the first time for the Amsterdam and only the second time for any Holland America Ship. Barbara mentioned that the Hambantota local tourist bureau is eager to get more cruise ships and still figuring out what they needed to make their port more attractive. I would expect that we will get a warm welcome – we will see if it tops the one we received in Semarang, Java, Indonesia, where we had a full honor guard and marching band.

 

Nyron mentioned that Cricket was very popular in Sri Lanka, but not very popular with Amsterdam guests as they had only sold one seat on an excursion featuring a visit to the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium and an opportunity to discuss everything Cricket related with the manager.

 

After the presentation on excursions, I hung around the Queens Lounge to listen to Guest Speaker Revell Carr discuss the maritime activities and explorations sponsored by the Dutch over the years.

 

It was very hot and muggy outside and we stayed inside all day to enjoy the air-conditioning. We spent most of the afternoon watching the news from the USA about the primaries and Judy continues to knit on her Lotus Shawl. It’s a lovely pattern with an intricate lace pattern that she is knitting in a lace weight linen yarn. She says it requires her complete attention and will only knit it when she is in our cabin. Here is a link to here project page on Ravelry

 

Here is a picture - more on the blog

 

 

I had good luck with the cards again and won the Texas Hold’em tournament.

 

A combination of haze and humidity while uncomfortable, does manage to produce some beautiful sunsets. Judy captured this one today.

 

Prime rib was on the menu tonight and it continues to be very good. In celebration of St Patrick’s day tomorrow, the ship was selling tickets at dinner to a special St Patrick’s Day pub crawl tomorrow evening from 9-10 pm. Most of the people at Table 52 bought the 4 special drinks for $19.95. Full report tomorrow.

 

Mel Mellers, was on the main stage tonight and presented an entertaining magic show with comedic twists.

 

 

We will be in Phuket tomorrow docking some distance from the town. Apparently due to local union issues, we cannot charter a shuttle bus to town. Everyone must negotiate with the taxi drivers on the pier. Gene, Barbara and Henk will be on the pier to assist folks in making arrangements.

 

More pictures on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[Yellow Lab's Rule]

Thank you for taking the time out each day to write in your blog. Since I stumbled upon it a few day's ago, I'm now caught up and must say I'm addicted. Checking to see each day has there been an update. Doing a world cruise is on my bucket list. When you have some spare time, can you provide details on how you prepared to be away for home so long? I'm most interested in what arrangements you made with your mail and finances. Do you have someone at home going through your mail perodically? How about paying bills? Are you paying things yourself on-line? prepay some bills? If you are paying bills on-line are you using your own lap-top or phone? Did you give someone power of attorney in case of an emergency back home? Any insight you can give for preparing to be away for home so long would be appreciated.

But, most of all keep enjoying your vacation!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Thank you for taking the time out each day to write in your blog. Since I stumbled upon it a few day's ago' date=' I'm now caught up and must say I'm addicted. Checking to see each day has there been an update. Doing a world cruise is on my bucket list. When you have some spare time, can you provide details on how you prepared to be away for home so long? I'm most interested in what arrangements you made with your mail and finances. Do you have someone at home going through your mail perodically? How about paying bills? Are you paying things yourself on-line? prepay some bills? If you are paying bills on-line are you using your own lap-top or phone? Did you give someone power of attorney in case of an emergency back home? Any insight you can give for preparing to be away for home so long would be appreciated.

But, most of all keep enjoying your vacation![/quote']

 

 

Be sure to checkout the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com for more information, pictures, and reference items.

 

We have a mailbox service and a neighbor picking up mail from time to time. All our bills are paid on line automatically regardless of where we are. Being away makes no difference.

 

Internet is pretty reliable although slow. Use phones and laptops

 

Tax extensions filed before we left

 

No one has POA

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Pilot getting onboard for our final approach to Phuket

 

 

We will dock in 90 minutes

 

 

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[jig]

We had a bus from the pier to Phuket town. Like Saigon on your own. They did a small walking tour of the city and then dropped us off at a mall. We had several hours. There are some great temples there. Also most of rhetorics are German. You'll see lots of them.

Wonder what there is to see in that place in Sri Lanka that I've never heard of?

[The-Inside-Cabin]

We had a bus from the pier to Phuket town. Like Saigon on your own. They did a small walking tour of the city and then dropped us off at a mall. We had several hours. There are some great temples there. Also most of rhetorics are German. You'll see lots of them.

Wonder what there is to see in that place in Sri Lanka that I've never heard of?

 

 

We are on private tour to "James Bond Island".

 

 

 

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[Scrapnana]

Thanks for the pictures of Judy's gorgeous shawl. I can understand why she only works on it in your cabin!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Today's GPS track to James Bond Island

 

 

 

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[Yellow Lab's Rule]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Yes, I'm following your blog as well. That makes perfect sense to set up automatic payments. That is not something I do now, but for long trips I'll definetly implement.

Have a great time on the rest of your cruise.

[jig]

The James Bond island was a very popular trip. As it was my first time there, I like to see the main city or town first. If I go back then I venture further away.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Attending Barbara's port lecture on Sri Lanka. I have nothing planned. Suggestions welcome.

 

First stop Hambantota

 

[teamflames]

If money is no object look up Tea Trails, I know others have taken a helicopter up there, do a tour of the tea fields and factory and then 5 course lunch!

Not sure about that port.

Lots of possibilities around elephants, safaris or visit an elephant orphanage.

I didn't care for the cities in Sl.

The ancient cities are very interesting but not sure how close to the ports they are, it used to be very cheap to hire a car and driver

 

 

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[MMDown Under]

Love your lotus shawl, Judy. You are a very talented lady to make such a beautiful work of art.

[MMDown Under]

Attending Barbara's port lecture on Sri Lanka. I have nothing planned. Suggestions welcome.

 

First stop Hambantota

 

 

When I visited Ceylon on my first overseas cruise, I took a tour to Kandy, in the hills, which was one of those unforgetable highlights, as it is such a beautiful place. I'l always remember the tea plantations and the elephants moving logs. I guess it depends how long you are in port, what you will be able to do.

 

BTW The passengers who boarded in Colombo were leaving Ceylon because of the changes taking place, as Ceylon later became Sri Lanka.

[jig]

You have an overnight in Colombo so kandy is the way to go. Your docking behinnd the old town. We went to the Hilton and hired one of their cars and driver for a day. It is a very good and reliable trick. It's 3 hours to get there. But you have the time. On day two the old town is now all open. There was lots of no go areas years ago. There is a nice botanical gardens. Lunch at the galle face hotel and a must is the market in the Tamil area. That would be a full day two.

[jig]

galle face hotel.

[jig]

tamil market.

[jig]

while not having a large Moslem population they have one of the nicest mosques.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Love your lotus shawl, Judy. You are a very talented lady to make such a beautiful work of art.

 

Thanks! Judy has 40 rows left but each row has over 400 stitches. She says that is a lot!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 72, Phuket, Thailand

 

Today was going to be hot and sticky. You could tell as soon as you stepped outside and felt the heavy moist air, already a little warm at 6:30 AM when the pilot boat pulled alongside. By 7:40 am the Amsterdam was moored and the ship was cleared soon afterwards. We were in an isolated port area, with the nearest commercial or tourist area several miles away. Due to the restrictions imposed by the local taxi union or association, the ship was unable to hire shuttle busses to take guests into the central business district, requiring everyone to take a taxi. Fortunately the taxis were relatively inexpensive. A friend of ours booked a taxi for the entire day for about $40 and he would take them wherever they wanted and wait while they shopped. It is always a good idea to have the location of where you want to go written down, especially the location of where the ship is, to avoid confusion if the driver doesn’t speak English well. Better yet would be to arrange a driver and car in advance. A friend of ours arranged for a van with driver holding 6 people for $78 all day.

 

We had arranged a private tour with people we met thru Cruise Critic. There would be a total of 10 people sharing a van and guide to visit James Bond Island, take a tour through some caves in a canoe and then visit a Muslim floating village named Koh Panyee Village. Our cost was $69 pp.

 

There wasn’t any immigration, security or agriculture inspectors on the wharf. A small fence with a gate marked the security zone between the ship and the port area.

 

Our driver was waiting outside the gate area and we were on our way by 8am. We had about a 90 minute drive north to Phang Nga Bay and we wanted to get an early start to give us some buffer on our return for traffic or other issues.

 

The road to Phang Nga was two lanes for the most part, a little wider when going thru some towns. Traffic flowed easily around 50 mph. Along the way were the hodgepodge of typical small shops you see in most southeast Asian countries. Interspersed with some of these smaller shops were large, modern stores similar to Home Depot in the USA or a large supermarket. We passed a small peloton of serious cyclists on high end bicycles pedaling north along the side of the road. I couldn’t tell if they were expats or locals, but they were training and not out on a sightseeing tour. As we left the more populated areas we drove thru agricultural areas with rubber trees lining the road.

 

Phang Nga Bay is the jumping off point of many tours heading to James Bond Island and other picturesque islands in the area. We learned that about 3000 people a day will leave Phang Nga Bay on various tours. One of the most popular forms of water transportation is a long narrow boat called a “Long Tail”. The principal feature of a “Long Tail” boat is what looks like a 6 cylinder standard automobile engine mounted on a pivot point with a long shaft protruding from the engine drive shaft. At end of the shaft is a propeller which is lowered into the water and is used to propel as well as steer the boat when the engine is pivoted left or right.

 

 

Lifejackets were mandatory and they were passed out as we boarded the boat. There were 12 of us, including the boat operator and guide, on a boat that could have easily held 40 people. There were easily two dozen similar boats tied up to the piers waiting for their passengers as we motored out to sea. Once clear we accelerated to about 25 mph and headed out toward James Bond Island. There were a few other boats heading in the same direction, some larger and some smaller. A few operators were using modern power boats with triple 300 hp Mercury’s pushing them through the water.

 

Twenty minutes later we beached our boat on the sands of Ko Khao Phing Kan Island which is the main island next to the smaller rock formation called James Bond Island. Only the front part of the boat was in the sand, so we all had to step over the seats in front of us until we got to the front of the boat where we could step onto a small ladder in the sand and step down to the beach. There wasn’t anything to do on the island other than take pictures of James Bond Island and shop for souvenirs in some stalls set up in the center of the island. There wasn’t anything for sale here that we didn’t see for sale eventually right on the pier, so while the prices may be different, there wasn’t much variety. Thirty minutes later we were back on our “Long Tail” and headed over to a floating barge near another island with a small cave and Mango trees.

 

 

From the floating barge we boarded inflatable canoes in pairs with each canoe powered by a single person with a double bladed paddle. There were probably 50 similar boats in the water, which was quite shallow, only a few feet deep, and we all followed the same route through a natural stone arch under the island. There was a larger boat on the other side of the stone arch that was selling some sort of drink in a large coconut with a straw. We never got close enough to the boat to inquire how much it cost or what was actually in the coconut. We entered a small cove on the other side of the island, the water was now at low tide, maybe 2 feet deep, when we saw a strange amphibian fish called a Mudskipper. They would crawl out of the water and across the muddy bank, pause for a bit, then crawl for a few feet in a different direction before heading back into the water.

 

When we first entered the canoe, we were sitting with our feet completely in the boat. After a bit, and after being encouraged by our paddler, we took off our shoes and sat sideways with our feet dangling in the water, which was quite warm. The canoe felt more stable this way and we felt more comfortable paddling around. On the way back to the floating barge, our paddler cut a small hole, shaped like a heart, in a leaf and then took our picture thru the opening. It turned out to be a pretty interesting picture.

 

Once we were back on the barge, we reboarded our “Long Tail” and headed off to the floating village called Koh Panyee which was constructed on series of piers and pilings adjacent to a large limestone rock. One interesting feature of this small village was a soccer field built on some plastic, interlocking floating bricks. It seemed quite small and there wasn’t any way to prevent the ball from going into the water. Our guide explained that when the ball fell into the water, someone jumped in to retrieve it.

 

Aside from the fact the village homes and business were all built on these piers, there wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the place and if it were on land it would be completely unremarkable. There were rows and rows of souvenir shopping stalls selling the same stuff we would see everywhere we stopped in Thailand. The whole village now seems to exist only as a tourist attraction and with over 3000 visitors each day stopping by for lunch, they are doing a pretty good job. There was a large eating area which served a pretty good Thai lunch to all of the tourists and we spent about 30 minutes eating before we were finished and ready to head back to the mainland.

 

Retracing our steps, we were back on the Long Tail, then back to Phang Nga Bay and finally back in our 14 passenger van for the ride back to Phuket and the ship.

 

On the way back to the ship we stopped by a Buddhist Temple in a cave. This cave featured a large reclining Buddha and toward the back of the cave there was an area, open to the outside, with a couple dozen monkeys waiting for tourists to bring them bananas. Although there were numerous signs indicating that bananas and monkey feeding was prohibited, not many people were deterred.

 

Traffic was light on the way back and we arrived in the port around 4:15 with a 5:30 all aboard. We spent the next hour shopping at the various vendors next to the ship picking up a few souvenirs and finally converted our last few Bhat into soft drinks to take back on the ship.

 

Today is St Patrick’s day and the dining rooms and bars were appropriately decorated. Dinner featured some traditional Irish dishes: Irish Stew, Baked Cod with an Irish Cheese Crust and Corned Brisket of Beef were some of the featured Irish dishes. I had the Corned Brisket of Beef and it was very good. Others at our table raved about the Irish stew. The waiters were are wearing green vests and everyone at our table was appropriately dressed. We also discovered that there was a pot of gold under the rainbow at the entrance to the MDR.

 

 

Most of the people at our table bought tickets to the St Paddy’s day pub crawl which started at 9pm in the Ocean Bar. We didn’t linger over our dinner so we were done by 9pm and headed over to the Ocean Bar to join our fellow Pub Crawlers. Seventy Five people participated in the Pub Crawl. The energy was high and everyone got into the spirit. Gene said later that this was a big increase over last year’s Pub Crawl when only 2 people participated. Once all the crawlers assembled in the Ocean Bar, they passed out the special drink for this bar, and then challenged the crowd to perform a bar trick – for example, move a hardboiled egg from one shot glass to another without touching the egg.

 

After the Ocean Bar we moved to the Sports Bar/Piano Bar where we crashed Debby Bacon’s Irish song special and sing along. We all had a chance to win $100 Grand Dollars by flipping a “gold” coin into an upturned Irish cap a few feet away. One person in our group was successful. The Lido Bar was next but the special drink they made for this bar was not very good. It was a Vodka & Whiskey concoction with a lemon twist that was almost undrinkable. Fortunately they had set up a beer drinking contest where the men were pitted against the women to see who could drink a series of beers the fastest so everyone had a chance to cleanse their palate of this strange vodka drink. It was still a little warm at the Lido bar so we didn’t linger long before we moved on to the Crow’s nest for our final drink.

 

The St Paddy’s Day Party was in full swing when we arrived and the crawlers were encouraged to crawl into the Crow’s Nest although most people did a modified limbo dance under a low banner people were holding over the entrance. We received our final drink here, no bar tricks this time, and then we all flooded onto the dance floor. Everyone was having a wonderful time enjoying the festive atmosphere, special appetizers, good drinks and good company. We weren’t aware that there was going to be a “best dressed” contest, but there was and Gene liked my outfit and handed me a bottle of Champagne declaring me the winner!

 

It was now 10:30 and the show in the Queens Lounge was almost over. Judy left the crawl earlier so she could see the complete show. Joe West was the featured entertainer, playing a variety of instruments, tapped danced and sang songs. A one man variety show with a lot of talent and he put on a very entertaining show.

 

 

After the show we went back up to the Crow’s nest to continue enjoying the festive atmosphere. These parties can be a lot of fun when everyone gets into the spirit and fortunately we had a great cadre of people who all joined in and had a wonderful time.

 

More on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[The-Inside-Cabin]

You have an overnight in Colombo so kandy is the way to go. Your docking behinnd the old town. We went to the Hilton and hired one of their cars and driver for a day. It is a very good and reliable trick. It's 3 hours to get there. But you have the time. On day two the old town is now all open. There was lots of no go areas years ago. There is a nice botanical gardens. Lunch at the galle face hotel and a must is the market in the Tamil area. That would be a full day two.

 

 

Thanks for the tips

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 73, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka

 

New Acupuncturist Sun and Entertainer Joe West were the guests on Good Morning Amsterdam this morning. Sun is from South Korea and received some of her training in Los Angeles. Joe is from England but now lives in Spain with his wife where he does some voice over work when not working on cruise ships.

 

At 10 am Barbara presented a very interesting overview of our next two ports in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, where we will be visiting Hambantota for the day and then Colombo for an overnight.

 

Barbara emphasized that Hambantota is still recovering from Civil War and the 2004 Tsunami and is working on rebuilding basic infrastructure before they build more traditional tourist infrastructure like hotels, restaurants and cruise terminals. Our exact mooring location was not known, but will be inside a working port, where we may be close enough to walk to the gate or they will provide a shuttle bus, but to the gate only. It is several miles to the town from the gate and the ship is not allowed to charter shuttle buses to help create more business for the local taxis and Tuk Tuks. Barbara mentioned that one of her goals for this cruise is to entice a local Tuk Tuk operator to let her drive. Taxis and Tuk Tuks do not have meters and all prices should be negotiated in advance.

 

Shopping for gemstones is popular in Sri Lanka, but Barbara warned the audience that unless you have the ability to personally verify the quality of the stones, the risk of buying fakes is simply too high and we should avoid buying gemstones from anyone, anywhere in Sri Lanka. HAL cannot recommend any retail outlets as worthy of our business. She basically said, buy the stone, but assume it is fake and if you get a good price and like it anyway fine, but don’t assume you are getting a good deal on a genuine stone unless you really know what you are doing. Certificates of authenticity are easily forged and are worthless.

 

The Rotterdam was in Hambantota recently and Barbara mentioned that people from that ship who only visited the town were disappointed and that the best recommendation from the Rotterdam would be to venture out to the National Parks.

 

After Hambantota the Amsterdam will be in Colombo for two days. We will be leaving on the second day for our independent overland adventure to New Dehli and the Taj Mahal. We will be rejoining the ship in Dubai.

 

Barbara went on to explain that Colombo is much larger than Hambantota and was not devastated by the Tsunami, and there is more going on near the ship than there will be in Hambantota. We will be moored at the Queen Elizabeth Pier.

 

I stayed in the Queens Lounge to hear Kate Ross’ discuss the Taj Mahal, who built it along with some of the history of events in India around the time it was built.

 

Weather remains hot and humid, but the air-conditioning is holding up fine in our part of the ship. I didn’t venture outside at all.

 

The Texas Hold’em game is more popular than ever. Playing requires you to sign up in advance and you would usually have an empty seat until around noon. Lately the game has been filling up by 9:30 and today we played a second game right after the first. I finished in money in the first game and out of the money in the second, so it was almost a break even day.

 

Judy went to Arts & Crafts today. The project was an origami corner-of-the-page bookmark - easy and useful.

 

After crafts Judy remains in solitary confinement working on her Shawl. Only 40 rows left, but each row has over 400 stitches. I have been informed that 400 stitches in a row is a lot.

 

Tonight was Gala night – there wasn’t any special theme, but the menu included Lobster Tails and a Beef Tenderloin which most of us combined to make a very nice Surf and Turf. As always, check out http://www.theinsidecabin.com for a copy of every menu and every "On Location: guide.

 

Tonight’s entertainment was provided by a group called Graffiti Classics. The group consists of 2 men and 2 women playing 2 Violins, 1 Viola and 1 Cello. Since each instrument has 4 strings, they bill themselves has having 16 strings, 8 dancing feet and 4 voices. They were very good and produced an exciting, high energy show. They play modern pop and classical songs with interesting arrangements that showcase their amazing talent. One of the more interesting songs was a country hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels.

 

[jig]

Didn't realize you were leaving the ship on day 2. There is a whole are of the market for jewelry. Remember it being mostly gold. Sometimes I wonder why the ships stop in some places. Will be interested in what you think of that first stop.

[jig]

I don't know your date in Agra but it is full moon March 23. You can go to the taj at night on full moon, 2 days before and 2 days after. You should do it. You need to pay again but it is a unique experience. When we went on our 3 month trip to India we planed I'd backwards and forwards from full moon date in Agra.

Also dinner at the Oberoi hotel in Agra is wonderful. No idea where your staying in Agra but if you in the clarks the restaurant there is very good.

[jig]

I don't know your date in Agra but it is full moon March 23. You can go to the taj at night on full moon, 2 days before and 2 days after. You should do it. You need to pay again but it is a unique experience. When we went on our 3 month trip to India we planed I'd backwards and forwards from full moon date in Agra.

Also dinner at the Oberoi hotel in Agra is wonderful. No idea where your staying in Agra but if you in the clarks the restaurant there is very good.