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WriterOnDeck

By WriterOnDeck,
in Holland America Line

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WriterOnDeck "Live from...." Rare

WriterOnDeck

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I'm off tomorrow on the 2023 Grand World Voyage and will be blogging along the way at www.WriterOnDeck.com. The first blog is here. It won't be a recitation of what I did each day of the daily activities and menus (lots of others are doing that well so it would be redundant). I try to dig deeper into some themes and tips and talk about why I've sold everything to cruise.

 

As I'm less than confident of the onboard Internet, I won't be updating this thread with every blog post or pictures. The best way to follow along is to subscribe by email at the blog link above.

 

But here's my first post for the cruise, which mainly catches followers up from the end of my 51-day Westerdam cruise a few weeks ago:

 

A New Adventure is About to Begin

Day -2, Grand World Voyage

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

 

The reunions have begun! I planted myself in the Fort Lauderdale hotel lobby early this morning and — as I suspected — started seeing familiar faces. Some had just flown to Florida on red-eye flights. Others were trickling down to breakfast.

 

When I’m asked what I’m looking forward to most on this world cruise, most people mean which country or port. I have been looking forward most to reuniting with friends from previous long cruises on Holland America.

 

I read recently that first-timers on a world cruise initially feel like someone at his or her spouse’s class reunion. It seems like everyone else knows everyone. It makes sense, but it’s a welcoming crowd that makes new friends quickly. We were all first-timers once.

 

When last I left you about six weeks ago, I promised a wrap-up post from my 51-day South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand cruise on the MS Westerdam. That didn’t happen. To summarize: I stayed a night in Sydney and tried to watch the ship sail away from the Overseas Passenger Terminal but its departure was delayed.

 

My 15-hour flight from Sydney to Los Angeles left late, and American Airlines texted me that as a result I would miss my final leg, from Dallas to Northwest Arkansas. The airline promised to do its best to get me within 300 miles of my final destination. That wasn’t good enough for me.

 

Fortunately, my Twitter direct message to the airline worked great. I suggested that I would just spend the night in Dallas and take the early flight the next day to Fort Smith, my original destination. I had a fairly good Thanksgiving dinner at the DFW airport hotel.

 

Over the next six weeks I caught up on various chores and prepared for this cruise. The biggest time suck was medical related – nine appointments with various doctors over three days in Dallas (and the all-important appointment with my hair stylist) – and ordering enough medications to last through July. I became good friends with the pharmacy technician who navigated the vacation overrides.

 

I could write a book on packing for long cruises. I work off a packing list I have edited for years. I shipped one bag off in mid-December and next will see it in my ship stateroom. At the last minute I bought a new suitcase because my remaining items didn’t fit in two mid-size bags. Consequently, I added just a few things that I could have gotten along without. My tendency to pack lightly battles with the knowledge that this will be my home for seven months.

 

These days my goal is to minimize travel stress, so my two sisters and I had decided to go fly to Florida three days early to accommodate possible bad weather and flight delays. Elaine had booked a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston, but given its “meltdown” last week, she decided not to risk it and rebooked using miles on American. Our early-morning toast wasn’t too alcoholic, but was heartfelt.

 

My travel agency is putting its 230 world cruise clients up the night before embarkation and will host a pre-cruise dinner. That’s why I knew I would see people I know in the lobby this morning. In addition to reuniting with fellow travelers, we’re just relaxing.

 

 

We are meeting area friends for lunch, and last night we cheered on TCU in the Fiesta Bowl from a nearby sports bar (“all glory too the Hypnotoad!”). We managed to stay up to ring in the New Year — by that I mean to see Sydney, Australia, ring in the New Year. Set the bar low, I say.

 

Happy New Year!

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Hobie

Hobie

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1 hour ago, WriterOnDeck said:

I'm off tomorrow on the 2023 Grand World Voyage and will be blogging along the way at www.WriterOnDeck.com. The first blog is here. It won't be a recitation of what I did each day of the daily activities and menus (lots of others are doing that well so it would be redundant). I try to dig deeper into some themes and tips and talk about why I've sold everything to cruise.

 

As I'm less than confident of the onboard Internet, I won't be updating this thread with every blog post or pictures. The best way to follow along is to subscribe by email at the blog link above.

 

But here's my first post for the cruise, which mainly catches followers up from the end of my 51-day Westerdam cruise a few weeks ago:

 

A New Adventure is About to Begin

Day -2, Grand World Voyage

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

 

The reunions have begun! I planted myself in the Fort Lauderdale hotel lobby early this morning and — as I suspected — started seeing familiar faces. Some had just flown to Florida on red-eye flights. Others were trickling down to breakfast.

 

When I’m asked what I’m looking forward to most on this world cruise, most people mean which country or port. I have been looking forward most to reuniting with friends from previous long cruises on Holland America.

 

I read recently that first-timers on a world cruise initially feel like someone at his or her spouse’s class reunion. It seems like everyone else knows everyone. It makes sense, but it’s a welcoming crowd that makes new friends quickly. We were all first-timers once.

 

When last I left you about six weeks ago, I promised a wrap-up post from my 51-day South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand cruise on the MS Westerdam. That didn’t happen. To summarize: I stayed a night in Sydney and tried to watch the ship sail away from the Overseas Passenger Terminal but its departure was delayed.

 

My 15-hour flight from Sydney to Los Angeles left late, and American Airlines texted me that as a result I would miss my final leg, from Dallas to Northwest Arkansas. The airline promised to do its best to get me within 300 miles of my final destination. That wasn’t good enough for me.

 

Fortunately, my Twitter direct message to the airline worked great. I suggested that I would just spend the night in Dallas and take the early flight the next day to Fort Smith, my original destination. I had a fairly good Thanksgiving dinner at the DFW airport hotel.

 

Over the next six weeks I caught up on various chores and prepared for this cruise. The biggest time suck was medical related – nine appointments with various doctors over three days in Dallas (and the all-important appointment with my hair stylist) – and ordering enough medications to last through July. I became good friends with the pharmacy technician who navigated the vacation overrides.

 

I could write a book on packing for long cruises. I work off a packing list I have edited for years. I shipped one bag off in mid-December and next will see it in my ship stateroom. At the last minute I bought a new suitcase because my remaining items didn’t fit in two mid-size bags. Consequently, I added just a few things that I could have gotten along without. My tendency to pack lightly battles with the knowledge that this will be my home for seven months.

 

These days my goal is to minimize travel stress, so my two sisters and I had decided to go fly to Florida three days early to accommodate possible bad weather and flight delays. Elaine had booked a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston, but given its “meltdown” last week, she decided not to risk it and rebooked using miles on American. Our early-morning toast wasn’t too alcoholic, but was heartfelt.

 

My travel agency is putting its 230 world cruise clients up the night before embarkation and will host a pre-cruise dinner. That’s why I knew I would see people I know in the lobby this morning. In addition to reuniting with fellow travelers, we’re just relaxing.

 

 

We are meeting area friends for lunch, and last night we cheered on TCU in the Fiesta Bowl from a nearby sports bar (“all glory too the Hypnotoad!”). We managed to stay up to ring in the New Year — by that I mean to see Sydney, Australia, ring in the New Year. Set the bar low, I say.

 

Happy New Year!

I will be on the Volendam, S American cruise that leaves the same day.  
we are invited to tonight’s Bon Voyage party so perhaps I’ll see you tonight. 
you probably don’t remember me but we shared Kobe steak dinner in Kobe Japan on the last grand Asia cruise. 

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WriterOnDeck "Live from...." Rare

WriterOnDeck

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As you might have noticed, I'm not posting every blog entry here, and especially not the photos. It's all I can do to keep up with posting them on my blog. But I thought I would pop in every now and then to update. If you want to follow along, the best way is to go to my blog and subscribe by email. You'll get each post in your mail. I basically post at every port and occasionally on sea days. I long ago gave up trying to post every day.

 

Three Sisters at the Three Sisters

 

Day 37, Grand World Voyage

Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023; Sydney, Australia.

 

On this, my sixth stop in Sydney, I “got outta Dodge,” as they say. My sisters and I took the popular day trip to the Blue Mountains, an area about a 90-minute drive west of the city. The tour includes three highlights: a wildlife park, an overlook to see the Three Sisters rock formation, and some extreme rides.

We were due to sail into Sydney harbor before the sunrise, so I set my alarm. The ship was even earlier, but fortunately I woke up before the alarm and looked out to see that we were quickly approaching the famous Sydney Opera House. I didn’t have time to dress and go to a public viewing site on the front of the ship, but instead stood barefoot in my nightgown on my balcony to watch. It gave me the opportunity to see the darkened Opera House against the nighttime lights of the city. Sailing into Sydney is special because it’s never the same twice.

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By 9 a.m. we were off the ship, through face-to-face immigration inspection and ready for our tour. We started at the Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park, which gave us a chance to see native Australian kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies, dozens of birds and even snakes if you want (I didn’t). We never found the Tasmanian Devils, but our hour-long visit simply wasn’t enough to do the park justice.

Many of these animals are nocturnal, so mid-morning wasn’t prime time. The koalas were all sleeping in tree tops, with the exception of a few who posed for photos with visitors like my friend Laurie. You could pet, but no cuddling with them and their long sharp claws.

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The wallobies even performed for us. Sparring like any kids.

Next it was off to the town of Katoomba. By the time we got to the top of the mountain, we were in a cloud. Our guide lamented our bad luck as we walked in low visibility to Echo Point Lookout to see the famous Three Sisters. Our friends Sharon and Al insisted on taking our picture in the cloud, saying any three sisters would do.

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But just a few moments after we got to the overlook, the cloud started to break up, and before you know it there was the rock feature, just in time for a photo of the three sisters with the Three Sisters.

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After a nice lunch with great views of the mountains, we were off to Scenic World, a commercial enterprise that features three breathtaking rides and lots of boardwalk paths through the rain forest on the side of the mountain.

We started with the world’s steepest railway and a short trip down a 52-degree incline. It was all I could do to hold on so I wouldn’t go tumbling down on my sisters in front of me. The steep railway was built in the 19th century to serve the Katoomba coal mine.

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From there we took a leisurely stroll through the rainforest. If we had more time, we could have explored the extensive network of boardwalks. But more rides awaited us, so we queued for the Scenic Cableway, the steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere. Again, it provided great views of the rainforest below as it gently ascended back up the mountain.

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Closing time was fast approaching, so we hustled over to the Scenic Skyway, this one the largest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere. It slowly glided over the Jamison Valley, past the Katoomba Falls on one side and the Three Sisters on the other. An electro-glass cabin floor let you see the rainforest below.

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I can’t bring myself to take some escalators in open atriums, but none of these rides induced that sense of paralysis – perhaps because we always were in fully enclosed cars.

After a long day, our guide told us more about her life in Australia as a transplant from Ukraine, as we used the trip to sort through pictures and catch up on social media. As we returned to the ship, we passed crowds of passengers off to see Don Giovanni at the Sydney Opera House, with more than a few in tuxedos and formal wear. That would have been fun, but I need to save something for my seventh visit!

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WriterOnDeck "Live from...." Rare

WriterOnDeck

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Today we had a wonderful ceremony to remember the pandemic-interrupted 2020 World Cruise, and especially the 21 crew members aboard that cruise who are aboard our 2023 World Cruise. I wrote about it in my blog (with some links to the blog of 2020):

 

Reflecting on the Crew We Left Behind

Day 48, Grand World Voyage

Monday, Feb. 20, 2023; At Sea, Great Australian Bight.

 

Leaving the ms Amsterdam suddenly almost three years ago was traumatic for the 1,000-plus passengers. We knew little about this mysterious virus coming from Asia. No one on our ship was sick, but reports from a few other cruise ships were not good. So just as travel was about to shut down, we left the ship in Freemantle, Australia, and began the long journey home.

 

I wrote about those last days on the ship, as well as my return home and even the final return seven months later of the suitcase I had left aboard:

 

And Just Like That, Our Cruise is Ending, March 14, 2020

We Face Reality, and We Are Sad, March 17, 2020

Getting Us All Home is a Challenge, March 21, 2020

Going Home, One Step at a Time, March 22, 2020

There’s No Place Like Home, March 25, 2020

Oh, The Places My Luggage Will Go! July 25, 2020

Suddenly Saying Goodbye to the Amsterdam, July 26, 2020

If This Suitcase Could Talk …, October 30, 2020

 

Today, crew members from that last voyage shared their pandemic stories in a special Amsterdam 2020 Grand World Voyage Reflection Get-Together.

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The 483 passengers from that cruise who currently are on the 2023 Grand World Voyage were invited to join together in the World Stage are we approach our return to Freemantle tomorrow.

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The event started with a slide show highlighting the Amsterdam’s last days with Holland America, as the left-behind luggage was finally off the ship.

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After brief remarks by Captain Friso Kramer gezegd Freher, our current Cruise and Travel Director Ian Page interviewed Hotel General Manager Henk Mensink about his last few days on the Amsterdam, his experience at home during the pandemic shutdown of cruising and his return to the sea.

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Once the company announced this cruise would be on the Zuiderdam, Henk requested to be assigned here, as he knew based on his 19 world cruises that another ship would need some time to be ready for our 128-day world voyage, and he would need time to get the special crew into place.

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The most touching part of the ceremony was the video-taped interviews of the 20 team members on board now who also were on the Amsterdam. Many of them, such as Josephine (dining room hostess), Tina (Pinnacle Grill manager), Twinkle (assistant beverage manager), and Spencer (sports director) are familiar to all of us. Others, who work in the laundry, housekeeping and below decks, we didn’t know as well. But they are all part of the Amsterdam family, and they all shared their thoughts of leaving the ship amid uncertainty, their experiences supporting their families during the shutdown and their return to Holland America’s ships.

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Tomorrow we will dock in Freemantle at the very pier where we left almost three years ago. On Thursday, after we have left Australia for the eight-day crossing of the Indian Ocean, a group of us will hold a passenger-organized reunion party.

 

We had our long vacation interrupted, but it was good today to be reminded that almost 1,000 crew members lost – at least for a while — their livelihoods and the family of their fellow team members.

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Kc52

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We were on the ill fated 2020 Amsterdam Grand World Cruise, and just recently resumed cruising with HAL. After 3 flights to get home we became more aware of the significance and sadness the pandemic caused. Of particular worry at the time was the spreading virus, although we did not have a thorough idea of its extent, and the declining world economy (particularly the stock market). We were very thankful that Perth, Australia accepted our ship into port, after sailing from Cairns without porting. We recall that the staff were very helpful, up to our disembarkation, and gave us a rousing farewell as we walked down the gangplank. Some great memories, mixed with some sadmess as well. 

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WriterOnDeck "Live from...." Rare

WriterOnDeck

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I'm still on board -- and it wasn't a given! After a trip and fall in the Canary Islands, I thought I might have to leave the ship for treatment. Doesn't look like it.

 

I am still blogging -- you can find my latest report here:

https://www.writerondeck.com/2023/04/08/a-view-of-morocco-from-an-ambulance-window/

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