LIVE from the 2018 HAL Grand World Voyage!

[Scrapnana]

What was the on the Mariner brunch menu?

We gave up going to them -- to much of a mob scene with people fighting for tables.

Love the trivia questions.

There was a choice of a cold soup or seafood salad, pasta, filet mignon, or fish for the main course, and key lime pie for dessert. It was the best of the four luncheons I have been to.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you.

That does sound better than any we have had years ago.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you have 1 suitcase packed. I hate packing.

Sure does sound like things are winding down.

That is nice to have the Mariner's award ceremony in the afternoon before dinner. And new awardees and others as well could get their pictures taken with the captain.

[Happily@Sea]

Kathi,

 

Are you from Ashland? I watch live streaming from there all the time (not on the ship, of course, internet not strong enough).

 

Carole

[Scrapnana]

Kathi,

 

Are you from Ashland? I watch live streaming from there all the time (not on the ship, of course, internet not strong enough).

 

Carole

 

Live streaming from Ashland???

[Happily@Sea]

Live streaming from Ashland???

 

 

Virtual Railfan. - one camera looking north, one looking south, and a 360 moveable camera mounted at the old train depot - now museum. Also on YouTube - all for watching trains.

[Scrapnana]

Virtual Railfan. - one camera looking north, one looking south, and a 360 moveable camera mounted at the old train depot - now museum. Also on YouTube - all for watching trains.

 

Who knew! I will have to check it out when I get home.

[bay guy]

Kathi, I imagine you probably have mixed emotions right now. I’m sure you’re anxious to get home for a while but I’m sure,you’ll miss the wonderful Amsterdam crew and the friends you’ve made among the passengers.

I’ve really enjoyed “taking” the rest of this GWV through your reports. I look forward to your final reports plus your final thoughts after you get home and have had a chance to get into your new daily routine.

We miss all of you guys and our friends on the crew. Tell The Bridesmaids that we said hello.

Jeanette is doing better but still not at 100%. I think there are some additional medical tests in her future when we see her PCP in a couple of weeks.

[Scrapnana]

At Sea – April 24, 2018

 

After packing most of my second suitcase last night, I realized I was going to need more space. I continued to worry about this and woke up about 8 and decided I would buy one of the boxes being offered. Purchased a box ($6) at the front office. After 9, I went to Sarah Coles who is in charge of the FedEx shipments and paid for sending the box home ($90 which is less than a suitcase).

 

With that settled I went for breakfast. I tried one of the sticky rolls but did not like it so I got a roll instead. Off to Sit and Stitch. Peggy lent me a pair of longer circular needles since my short ones were so full it was hard to knit.

 

Morning trivia was hard and we only had 8 correct. The winners had 14.

1)What does a coleopterist study?

2)What card game is featured in the movie Casino Royale?

3)What is the present on the fifth day of Christmas?

4)What animal has the highest blood pressure?

5)The movie Gladiator is dedicated to whom?

 

When I returned to my cabin my box had arrived but there was no tape to put it together.

 

Arts and Crafts started early so we could all get to the show at 3. We made a rainbow necklace.

 

Today we had the Indonesian crew show. As always the enthusiasm of the cabin and dining room stewards is amazing. I have heard them practicing at midnight.

 

When the show was over it was voucher redemption time. I had collected about 165 vouchers but they had to be redeemed in groups of 50 (50 vouchers = $5 Amazon gift card). I gave my extras to Bev.

 

Had a few minutes for my afternoon ice cream and a short read by the pool before afternoon trivia.

 

The other day Amanda asked each team for one question. Today’s quiz was all the questions worth two points each. We did very poorly with only 13. The winners had 24.

1)What is the largest feline in the northern hemisphere?

2)Where was Alexander Hamilton born?

3)Penotheraphobia is a fear of ___.

4)What was the name of the B-29 bomber that dropped a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki?

5)What was considered for the Canadian national anthem before “O Canada” was chosen?

 

Before dinner there was a rousing game of Call My Bluff where Kass, Hamish, and Mark gave outlandish stories about three words that nobody had ever heard of. It was hilarious.

 

Kass joined us for dinner again. There were a number of Indonesian dishes on the menu. I had fruit, Calypso shrimp salad, Nasi Goreng, and a butterscotch sundae for dessert.

 

I did not go to the show.

 

Our last port, San Juan, is tomorrow.

 

 

Morning trivia…

1)beetles

2)baccarat (sp?)

3)5 golden rings

4)giraffe

5)Oliver Reed

 

Afternoon trivia…

1)Siberian tiger

2)St. Croix

3)mothers-in-law

4)Bocks Car

5)Maple Leaf Forever

[Scrapnana]

Kathi, I imagine you probably have mixed emotions right now. I’m sure you’re anxious to get home for a while but I’m sure,you’ll miss the wonderful Amsterdam crew and the friends you’ve made among the passengers.

I’ve really enjoyed “taking” the rest of this GWV through your reports. I look forward to your final reports plus your final thoughts after you get home and have had a chance to get into your new daily routine.

We miss all of you guys and our friends on the crew. Tell The Bridesmaids that we said hello.

Jeanette is doing better but still not at 100%. I think there are some additional medical tests in her future when we see her PCP in a couple of weeks.

 

Tell Jeanette we are all thinking about her.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Always enjoy your reviews and trivia questions. Will miss them when this cruise is over.

Hope you got your tape for the box.

Great pictures especially of the crew show.

[Vict0riann]

Hi, Kathi, It's sad to see your world cruise winding down. We've enjoyed travelling along (in spirit) with you. Do you see Copper occasionally? If so, please give him our regards and tell him we will be waiting for him on the dock when he is here!:)

[kazu]

Kathi, you are doing very well at the packing.

 

I'm surprised they didn't put the box together for you but I suppose they have such a volume of requests that it can't be done.

[Wehwalt]

Just to keep the record straight, the Alexander Hamilton question, Amanda most kindly checked the internet after there were complaints. The correct answer is Nevis.

[Scrapnana]

Hi, Kathi, It's sad to see your world cruise winding down. We've enjoyed travelling along (in spirit) with you. Do you see Copper occasionally? If so, please give him our regards and tell him we will be waiting for him on the dock when he is here!:)

I have only seen him twice and that was shortly after he got onboard. If I do see him again I will pass on your message.

[bcnvcanada]

Thank you for your wonderful blog. Will miss our daily

trivia. Wishing you safe travels home. Thanks

[MMDown Under]

Nice to know your cruise is not over. Enjoy your visit to San Juan.

 

Going through immigration on our ship was a complete shambles for this entry port to the US. I hope your experience is better.

 

I hope the cruise lines are helping with the recovery from the hurricane damage. This was one of my favourite ports in the Caribbean.

[Scrapnana]

San Juan, Puerto Rico – April 25, 2018

 

Since this is our first US port after foreign ports, we had to go through immigration this morning (Customs will be in Fort Lauderdale). Everyone was assigned a letter or a number except for those of us who were on excursions. The process went very quickly and I only had to wait in line for a couple of minutes. The officer scanned my passport and I was off to my tour group.

 

I was here in 2012 but did not do a tour just took the free trolley. Today I was on the “San Juan Highlights” tour and learned a lot (he told us a lot about Maria and her aftermath) and saw some areas I don’t think were on the trolley route.

 

The tour was over about noon and I decided to walk along the waterfront and look at the vendors and get some cash from an ATM. Lynn (from Australia) and I walked together to the Walgreens and then did our own shopping. It was a very busy day in San Juan because Carnival Magic and Harmony of the Seas (second largest cruise ship) were also in port with a combined 9,000-10,000 passengers.

 

I returned to the ship about 1 and went to the Lido for lunch and then swam in the Sea View Pool. The water temperature was perfect and it was a beautiful day. I stayed until just after 4 and watching the Carnival ship sail away.

 

When I returned to my cabin I saw a crane that had not been outside my cabin this morning so I went out on my deck to investigate. It looks like we were loading some of the items for the drydock. After trivia I checked again and the crates were being strapped down.

 

Only about 7 teams present for trivia and we were missing two members. We had a couple play with us from another team that had not shown. We had 13 and the winning team had 15.

1)Which artist painted a mustache and a goatee on the Mona Lisa?

2)The term “Siamese Twins” started with the birth of which conjoined twins?

3)What is the largest freshwater lake in the world?

4)From what city was the Titanic launched?

5)From what language did the word “ketchup” come?

 

My evening plans took a decided downturn as I was getting ready for dinner. I nicked one of my varicose veins while shaving and could not stop the bleeding. After 20 minutes of pressure on it I decided I needed to call for help. After dripping blood getting to the phone, I unlocked my door and waited for help. Wayan, my cabin steward came and then one of the nurses. The bleeding still did not stop so I had to go to the medical center. I stayed there almost an hour and eventually the bleeding stopped. I was given an ice pack and told to elevate my leg this evening and put ice on for 20 minutes and then 20 off so I could not go to the dining room. Room service again (glad I really like that chocolate cake 😊).

 

 

Trivia…

1)Marcel Duchamp

2)Chang and Ang

3)Lake Superior

4)Belfast

5)Chinese

[erewhon]

Catching up with your reports.

Hope your leg is now OK.

[scluvsrain]

Oh Kathi, so sorry to hear about the vein! Yikes. I guess the good news is that you’ve got two sea days to take it easy, other than pack and all that.

 

I’ve so enjoyed your blog. Especially after I disembarked in Hong Kong. Makes me feel like I never got off the ship!

 

I look forward to seeing you in January on the Prinsendam. I hope you don’t want to cancel it because of the 2020

WC itinerary. Because once is NOT enough to see Antarctica. Believe me!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scrapnana]

Oh Kathi, so sorry to hear about the vein! Yikes. I guess the good news is that you’ve got two sea days to take it easy, other than pack and all that.

 

I’ve so enjoyed your blog. Especially after I disembarked in Hong Kong. Makes me feel like I never got off the ship!

 

I look forward to seeing you in January on the Prinsendam. I hope you don’t want to cancel it because of the 2020

WC itinerary. Because once is NOT enough to see Antarctica. Believe me!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No chance I want to cancel. I have only had one person tell me that one time to Antarctica is enough and dozens tell me they would love to go again. I am also looking forward to the time we will spend on the Amazon.

[scluvsrain]

Good!!! We should huddle regarding tours. Especially a great private one in Manaus that includes the pink dolphins.

 

I am seriously considering also doing the 2020 WC. I put a hold deposit on it when I was still on board the Amsterdam.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kazu]

Oh dear Kathi - so sorry to hear about your leg and the vein.

 

Glad you got medical help. Hope it is much better today (yn).

[Krazy Kruizers]

So sorry that you nicked your vein and had a very bleed out.

Hope your leg is better today. Keep your leg up and bandage it. Hope it heals quickly.

[Scrapnana]

Good!!! We should huddle regarding tours. Especially a great private one in Manaus that includes the pink dolphins.

 

I am seriously considering also doing the 2020 WC. I put a hold deposit on it when I was still on board the Amsterdam.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope you do the 2020. Maybe we could drag you back into trivia!:D