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Around the World on Amtrak, KLM, and HAL


rafinmd
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I may still be home but my big bag is on the move, picked up this afternoon. It’s n it’s way to San Diego and the Amsterdam via Luggage Forward. I’ll start chasing it in the morning.

 

I’ve been doing crazy combinations of cruises (sometimes with trains and planes thrown in) since at least 2010 but up to now they’ve always included a mix of cruise lines. This time the ocean portions are all HAL.

 

The seed of this odyssey is a bit strange. At various times I have just about circled the world on various ships and cruise lines with just one gap, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and I’ve been looking to fill in that gap. The Grand Asia fits that bill precisely with a segment from San Diego to Shanghai to Hong Kong. From there I‘ve sailed Zaandam between Hong Kong and Singapore, Crystal Serenity Singapore to Cape Town, and Amsterdam Cape Town to Ft. Lauderdale. I put in a “future cruise request” on the Prinsendam in 2015 and booked the cruise as soon as it was announced.

 

I’ve heard bad things about boarding in San Diego and wanted to avoid that, booking the coastal cruise starting in Vancouver September 26 so I would be a through passenger in San Diego. The Amsterdam was diverted to a wet dock and I was diverted to the Oosterdam with an overnight in San Diego.

 

I had been very enthusiastically looking forward to a fall transatlantic on the Crystal Serenity but the ship was redeployed to Alaska for the summer. It turned out that my favorite Non-Crystal ship had a transatlantic so I had a great fall back option.

 

Here’s my final very compact itinerary:

 

September 20 leave home

September 25 board Oosterdam

October 1 board Amsterdam

November 1 disembark Amsterdam and fly to Rome, arriving 11PM

November 2 board Prinsendam

November 18 arrive Ft. Lauderdale.

 

https://solocabinchallenge.wordpress.com/itinerary/

 

My bag on the way out:

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/bag_away.jpg

 

Today the Oosterdam is in Juneau, the Amsterdam in Homer, and the Prinsendam in Hamburg.

 

Roy

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I'll be following along...you gave me good advice re: Amtrak last year.

 

We were on the Amsterdam world cruise this past year (we boarded in San Diego rather then Fort Lauderdale) and you told me there would be no problem getting the 12:30 Amtrak train in Fort Lauderdale at the end of the cruise and you were right!

 

We were at the station in plenty of time to make our train home.

 

We live in NH and took the train out to San Diego (actually LA then SD) to meet the ship. We had no problems at all in San Diego. Everything seemed well organized at the pier.

 

Have a great trip!

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Oh my, this is just a great journey and cruises.

 

Can't wait to hear all and if you don't mind, your KLM thoughts. Tossing that around with A/C for next year.

 

Safe travels to you and have an absolutely wonderful adventure and voyages.

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Wow. Another fantastic adventure coming soon to a website near us. I can't wait to read every detail, and see the pictures you always provide.

Best wishes for a great trip. And congratulations on completing the circle!

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Thank you for the comments. You might have guessed I'm a bit busy tonight and probably won't get to answering any questions. Amtrak says there is wifi on my train tomorrow but I'll believe it when I see it. I may do some comment drafting on the train and post when I get to Chicago.

 

Roy

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I had not seen your entire itinerary before tonight ,RAF, but it is so cool! :) One week from today I fly to Vancouver and board the next day on Volendam.,my first HAL cruise as you know.:) I hope we can still get together on 15th October in Yokohama. If something comes up let me know.I bought a 1 week green Japan Rail pass as the 2 week green is too costly for me(and I am only staying 11 days not 14)...but could easily take the train to meet you at one of your other Japan stops/ports if that works out better for you .Let me know.

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Hi,

I was reading this post on my smart phone and I saw the picture of the UPS driver picking up your luggage at your house but your license plate was also visible in the picture too. Just thought I would make you aware of this. I am on my desktop computer now typing this post, but didn't see the picture. Maybe you took care of it?

 

Jim

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Hey Roy,

 

I'm here - had a busy day yesterday and I am looking forward to following your journey. You spoke so highly of Zaandam, I'm taking my chance to cruise with her from her finished [??] drydock in Freeport [i hope] to Seattle in April. She so seldom ventures into east coast US waters - 23 days and a stop in San Fran.

 

I've always had good luck with WIFI on Amtrak.

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Presently sitting in Baltimore Penn Station. Picked up 7:45 by Airport Shuttle, Arrived 8:45, Train is on time for 9:30.

 

Baggage guy says all my stuff will fit in my roomette. I think so to.

 

So far so good.

 

Roy

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