Hitch a Ride with Bill & Mary Ann on Holland America's 2018 World Cruise - 113 days +

Report #47 Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island, Australia February 16, 2018 Friday Mostly cloudy & 66 degrees Part #1 OF 4 80 Pictures

We never would have believed that an arrival to KangarooIsland was possible yesterday. The seaswells and high winds were surely going to make tendering today an impossibility. And due to decreasing the ship’s speed overthe last couple of days, our arrival time had been delayed to 12pm, with adeparture at 6pm. Nothing was in ourfavor.

However, this morning, as we neared the coast, it was likewaking up on a different planet. That’sexactly what Captain Jonathon said at his early morning talk ship wide. Things were looking up, and it appeared thatit was “a go” for today. With that, weinquired with Christel about getting down to deck A for prioritytendering. She said it was fine, as shewas escorting a few folks around 10:30am. When we went down the stairs, this group of passengers that we know,were not there as of yet. But we did getto watch the set-up for the exit out of the tender platform. It’s a complicated process, involving a lot ofcrew and staff. Security has to set up theirstation, xray and keycard kiosk, as well as the beverage table. Then the helpers from the wait staff lined upto go over on the first tender boat. Theland station had to be set up as well. Asthere was so much stuff to go over, wewere on the next empty boat. Thisprocess took up to 45 minutes. Our groupand the start of the tour groups were loaded and on our way by 11:30am.

The ride was smooth and short. Our friend Cathy was the first one off of theboat, as she and her sister Ann were with a group that rented a car to drivethe island independently today. Nicethat we all do something different, and share our stories later on.

So, here’s a little info on Kangaroo Island. Located very close to Adelaide on the southerncoast of Australia, this island is the third largest of the country. It consists of 1750 square miles with 4500locals. The jetty where we were headed isin the seaside village of Penneshaw, with a population of 400 people. We shared the jetty with the Sealink Ferry,which comes from the mainland at Cape Jervis, a two hour drive from Adelaide.

Discovered by British Captain Flinders in 1802, the desertedisland provided food and water for the sailors. There has been evidence that aboriginal people did live here, but it wasthousands of years ago. By 1803, sealersand whalers stopped here, and eventually settlers from Europe arrived. Some may have included escaped convicts. They all farmed here in one form oranother. Farming is still done heretoday.

In 2013, we visited some of the industries here. One such place was Clifford’s Honey Farm,where we saw native bee hives made of glass, so we could see how the hivesoperate. The next stop was at Pure SheepDairy, which opened in 1992. The bestpart of that tour was sampling fried cheese there. The last place we visited was the Emu Ridge EucalyptusDistillery, where they manufactured the oil and put it into many usefulproducts. We think we read it is one ofthe few distilleries still operating.

The largest city or town is Kingscote with a population of1800 people. The sleepy hamlet of BaudinBeach is called millionaire’s row with the most desirable and expensive homes. The west end of the island has Flinders ChaseNational Park, where you can find the Remarkable Rocks, huge weather- hewnformations on a granite outcropping. Onthe south coast, you can see the Australian sea lions and long nosed furseals.

Some of the other animals that can be seen on this uniqueisland are a sub-species of the western grey kangaroos (smaller and darker),koalas, echidnas, goannas (lizards), possums, and bandicoots. Some of the other critters include six speciesof bats, and six types of frogs. A smaller type of wallaby exists here in largenumbers. They are called tammarwallabies, a smaller size, and are mostly extinct in the mainland of Australia,except for some parts of Western Australia. About all of these animals are nocturnal, so spotting some of them is aplus. More alarming would be seeing the black tiger snakes or the pygmycopperhead snakes. Neither of us likesnakes all that much, especially the extremely poisonous ones.

There were 11 tours offered here. Some of the longer oneshad to be shortened, for obvious reasons….we were getting here much later thanplanned. Most of the tours ran from acouple of hours to a 9 hour one. Priceswere adjusted accordingly, but still remained expensive.

Once we debarked the boat, we were greeted by volunteersfrom town, who handed out excellent island booklets and maps forPenneshaw. They could not have been morehelpful, especially for the folks like us, that were on our own today. One of the fellows recommended that we hikethe east end, mostly for the scenery and the chance to see dolphins andwallabies. Absolutely, that was our ideain the first place.

We turned left, following the road that took us along HogBay. The beach down below is clean sandand safe to swim. Bet the water iscold. It sure was picturesque. The guide had told us to keep an eye out forbottlenose dolphins, since they frequently come into this bay to fish. It was thrilling when we did spot thesedolphins in a couple of tight groups of four or five. Swimming slowly, they followed the coastline,fairly close to the shore. Seeing themfrom above, we could spot their behavior of tail slapping and diving. Just about the same time, we came across twolocal ladies that had hiked the direction we were headed. They explained the dolphin’s technique offishing, and continued to give us directions to the Ironstone Hill Hike. What luck that we encountered them, as theysaved us an impossible steep vertical walk from a parking lot off of the roadwe were following.

Going off road, we found the narrow graveled trail that paralleledthe coastline. It went into the brushand tree-lined hillsides, and shortly became quite challenging. Up a canyon, then down to a riverbed, we trudgedon seeing sign posts all the way. Wecame upon a shoe-cleaning station, where it was recommended that we brush ourshoes for possible foreign soil, weed seeds, and insects. Only one of us did it, since our shoes werereally clean. It was more for a photo toshow where we were on the trail.

As we proceeded on this trail, there were signs depictingthe history of this area, complete with old photos. Centuries ago, this part of the island wasused for farming potatoes and barley for cereal. It has been turned into Baudin ConservationPark these days. It was named afterCaptain Nicolas Baudin, a French explorer who anchored in Hog Bay in 1803. He also sent men ashore to hunt for freshmeat and water.

We had hoped to see more bird life here. Besides the greeting from the jetty shags, wesaw only a few more of them, some silver and herring gulls, Australian magpies, one glossy black parrot,and a hawk on the very top of the hill. The most numerous creatures were different sizes of ants, franticallyrunning underfoot over the trails. Youcould not stand too long in one place, or they would crawl right up your shoes. By the way, the remainder of this islandhouses thousands of sheep.

As we got deeper into the trees, we spotted a wallaby just acouple of dozen feet away from us. Knowing they are never alone, we began to see several more, hiding inthe grass and brush. Not a largekangaroo, these must be the tammar wallabies we read about. Obviously, they were used to seeing peopleclose up, since they did not bolt right away. To see these critters in the wild is so much better than in a zoo….worththe hike up here. That’s the beauty ofnot taking a tour sometimes. On our lastvisit here, we only saw the kangaroos that had become road kill the previousnight.

Eventually we reached the summit, which was located at theend of the Ironstone Hill Hike. According to the map, we had traveled 4 kilometers from Penneshaw. The ruins of Harry Bate’s and Martha Davidson’scottage stood up here, showing signs of deterioration over the centuries. This settler had farmed potatoes and barleygrain for cereal. A stone-threshing floor remains, as well as some farmequipment, now rusted severely. We couldsee a locked gate where this property would have been accessed from the mainroad. We came the scenic, but hard way.

While we were here reading the plaques, two of our hosts,Steve and Wendy, and one friend of theirs, were on a special geo-caching expedition. Armed with their GPS and pre-printed clues,they showed us how they arrived at the spot where the actual cache ishidden. Only it wasn’t working that easilytoday, despite their collective efforts to uncover the treasure. While we continued to take photos and explorethe farm site, they were looking under trees, around the fence line, and underthe discarded equipment. Nothing. Running into Steve and Wendy before dinner,they were so excited to tell us they did discover the cache, but it was hiddenin a place we had all passed on the way up. The clue was “SPOR”, which they finally de-coded as Small Pile Of Rocks,which oddly enough, we had tripped over leaving to go back. This find was special, since it was recentlyset up, and they were the first in the world to find it. (Konnie and Dell willappreciate this.)

As always, the hike back was much easier, since it wasmostly downhill all the way. Thewallabies were still foraging about, so we made some folks happy when asked fordirections, we told them which way to go. Suggesting to watch for dolphins and wallabies, they were glad to reportthey did see them.

This time, we went down the hillside to Frenchman’s Rock, asmall white-domed shelter that houses a rock with carvings from the 1800’s. Except it is not the original one. The trail to the sandy beach began from here,so we took our time beach-combing back to the pier. A convenient restroom was located here too.

One of the guides was still there at the jetty, giving directionsto the passengers. We asked her where wecould find beers and food. There wererestaurants and cafes, but since it was already 3pm, she doubted too many ofthem would still be opened. So shesuggested we go uphill, and check across the street from the PenneshawHotel. There we did locate an Italian caféthat was still opened. Pizza would notbe available until after 5pm, but they did have many Italian entrees andburgers. The closest they came to pizza,was a small loaf of bread, filled with ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Toasted and cut in half, it was great. Adding a couple of cold Heinekens was evenbetter. Sharing a dessert of chocolatebrownies with ice cream was a treat.

On the tender ride back, we learned that sometime during theafternoon, swells appeared and suspended the tendering process for a fewhours. Even worse, we heard from goodfriends, that they had pre-booked an expensive tour here, but were unable toget off of the ship. That’s always agamble when doing independent excursions. Especially in tender ports. This stophad been amended because of getting here late, and almost scrapped due to seaconditions. Sure hope they can negotiatesome of their money back.

Chinese New Year Dinner was held in the Lido tonight. We had to make a visit to see it decoratedwith lanterns and posters. The serverslooked great in their Chinese costumes, while serving traditional Chinesecuisine, most of it in paper boxes. Wetook only photos, although we searched for fortune cookies and found them. First time we got a few before they ran out.

There was no sail away, since the Captain was waiting forthe last tour group to get back after 6pm. From studying the map, we could see that Adelaide was fairly close tohere. But we knew the ship would berequired to go out to sea to do some required dumping, before returning back tothe mainland.

Our dinner had many items that were Chinese, but the diningroom was not decorated at all. Later onthis month, we will have a Pan/Asian gala evening, we hope will be like tonight’stheme. People we know love dressing inthe Oriental clothes.

So, instead of arriving to Adelaide tomorrow morning, the ship eventually docked in Adelaide by11:30pm. There was no shore leave foranyone until tomorrow. Actually it wasnice to have no movement for a night…only the glare of the dock’s bright night lights shining in our windows.

Had a great day in Kangaroo Island, but it was sure nice tocrawl between those sheets last night.

Bill & Mary Ann

Glad you made it to Kangaroo Island and had an enjoyable day walking around and seeing the animals in the wild.

Sorry to hear that some people missed their independent tours. But like you said, it is a gamble especially for tender ports.

Report # 48 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia February 17, 2018 Saturday Sunny & 82 degrees Part # 1 of 2

Although we spent the night docked in the Adelaide Cruise Terminal,the ship was not cleared until 7am. Wewere not the only ship here today. TheAstor was docked right in front of us. Amuch smaller vessel, the ship was built in 1997 and holds up to 650passengers. Normally it caters to theGerman-speaking crowd, but when re-located to this part of the world, it mayappeal to the locals. Justguessing. Asking one of the localterminal helpers, she said that the ship offers 8 day round trip cruises aroundSouthern Australia to Tasmania.

The city of Adelaide has a lot to offer. It is full of wide streets and mature treeswith buildings typical of British architecture. It has it all – museums, churches, parks, cathedrals, andgalleries. High end shopping can befound in the central business district. The city is surrounded by the rolling hills of Mt. Lofty with the mostspectacular views.

So much to see, so little time. The ship had 12 tours today. They ranged from 4 to 8 hours, and cost $86to $300. The shorter ones took in thecity of Adelaide and the highlights. Alsoof interest is a stop at a nearby wildlife park, gardens, and museums. A trip to Hanhdorf, a pretty township foundedin 1839, the oldest surviving German settlement is delightful. We have done it twice. Wine tours took up the rest of theoptions. We have also joined those inthe past, even though we do not drink wine. The tour of the winery is always interesting.

For those of us who did not take the organized shoreexcursions, there was an option of taking the train at the Out Harbor RailwayStation. Located directly across theroad from the cruise terminal, the metro ride cost $10 Aus. That would cover each person for the entireday. The ride took about 30 minutes oneway. The info on the front page of ourdaily newsletter made it perfectly clear that there was no public bus serviceto this part of town, and the ship would not be providing a free shuttle. Would have been nice if they providedcomplimentary passes for the train.

Having toured Adelaide extensively, we decided to go offlater, take a walk, and perhaps find lunch somewhere. That was around 11am. Going into the terminal, we found that atleast 100 people, guests and crew members, were using the free internet. Maybe we will try it later ourselves, ifnothing else, to download security updates.

The information locals had tons of booklets and pamphlets onAdelaide and the surrounding areas. Theywere more than helpful, even with a map of the immediate area. We took a long walk out of the harbor areaspotting some swift parrots in blooming eucalyptus trees, and spinifex pigeonseating seeds in the sandy banks along the roadside. Had we remembered about thebirds, we should have brought the good camera. A couple of miles up the street,we came upon a marina called North Haven. Some very upscale homes have been built here with access to beaches,walking trails, and easy access to Adelaide.

In the marina complex, we went to a place called Abbraccio Café, serving Italian cuisine. Never guess what we had? Of course, Margherita pizza and Cooper’s PaleAle beers. They sold extra-large homemade cookies from jars, so we bought anapricot and almond one to split. Good way to get rid of coins, naturally. Next we headed for the beach near thepier. You could walk for miles here,although the part we walked was full of a compost-like substance. It was actually spongy to walk on, and wesunk in it….like quicksand. We noticedthat a competition was going on withsome rowers off shore. And a helicopter waspatrolling the entire length of this series of beaches. Guess they could be duel-purpose watchers ofthe beach goers and also on shark watch. Don’t know if there is a problem with sharks here.

Back on the ship, we worked on photos for the rest of theafternoon while watching a good movie. We sort of needed the down time after our long and vigorous hikeyesterday. We did go back to theterminal to see if the internet was working. It was hard to get online, since the notice for the free wifi statedthat it would only allow 70 people on at a time.

We found two seats, and realized in a few minutes why we don’tusually do this. This is where you realizethat people have colds or worse when the coughing starts. Despite the slow speed, we did get somethings done.

Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill at 8pm. Since the ship was not leaving until 11pm, wefigured it would be almost empty of diners. Not so. We did get or usual table by the window, but the restaurant wasbusy. Drop ins, Tina said. They are happy to accommodate people if theyhave the space. So we both ordered thelamb chops….tasty as ever. One baked potatoand one cone of skinny French fries completed the meal. Dessert was one chocolate volcano, and oneplate of Cherry Garcia ice cream, or as one of us calls it….naked baked Alaska.No cake or meringue, just the ice cream with a dab of berry compote.

We will have two sea days on our way to Albany. We wonder what to expect with the seas andweather???

Bill & Mary Ann

Report # 49 Day atSea February 18, 2018 Sunday Partly cloudy & 79 degrees 8Pictures

If it’s Sunday, and we are at sea, then it must be SundayBrunch Day. Even though we did have alight breakfast in the dining room this morning, we made it a point to attendour first brunch today. We went more outof curiosity to see what everyone has been talking about since the last brunch.

So we asked our waiter to hold our table for three, knowingBarb would come. Since we dined in thePinnacle last night, we did not see Barb yesterday, or we would have known shewas coming with Susie and Woody today. The brunch hours were from 11am to 1pm. Going at noontime was just right. The three of them arrived shortly after trivia (Barb’s team wontoday). So we moved to a larger table.

Anyway, the menu was labeled Sunday Brunch Sampler,indicating that the 3 course meal would be small servings. As soon as we sat down in the formal-coveredchairs, freshly-squeezed orange juice was served in little old-fashioned milkbottles with straws. If we preferred, wecould have ordered mimosas, two for the price of one plus $2. The bread bowl was filled with small pastries such as cinnamon rolls,mini muffins, and apple turnovers.

The first course was a platter with a shot glass full ofmuesli and berries, focaccia with cherry tomatoes and cheese, egg salad with atouch of smoked salmon on the top, and one shrimp/crab sushi, with a littlepipette containing soy sauce. Never sawanything like this before. There was atiny serving of caviar with chopped onion, which all of us donated to Barb, whoadores it. Foie gras on a puff pastry and a tapa completed the cold sampler.

The main course was served on a similar rectangularplate. The egg benedict was one poachedegg with a toast corner in a shooter glass. One sweet and sour tempura breaded shrimp was next, but the best was thelittle chicken cordon blue ball. The Englishbreakfast cup held baked beans and a piece of banger (sausage). A slice of rolled roast beef had a smidgen ofhorseradish in the middle. Everyoneliked the corned beef with spinach and potato quiche, about 2 inches indiameter. Finally there was a piece ofwaffle in a glass of berry compote.

The sweet ending sampler included chocolate cheesecake, thesize of a 50 cent piece. Tropical fruitpavlova and no-sugar-added strawberry shortcake finished the meal. We all shared bits and pieces with each other,and that was the fun of it. Obviously abig hit, because the lower dining room was filled with customers.

The usual activities took place today. They included Barbara H’s talk on Albany, andAmerica’s Test Kitchen with salad for dinner demos. Guests speakers Alan Wright and Kate Meadtalked about contact with other worlds and Western Australia. We chose to watch a room movie, which wasgood. The name was Collateral Beauty, withtwists and turns that we did not expect in the end.

We found out yesterday that the visa has been raised forMozambique to $75. Since we have thesevisas already, they have taken us off of their list. A new visa has been required for Sri Lanka,and it will be charged to our account in the amount of $25 per person.

The Indonesian landing cards were fully filled out, exceptfor signatures for all of us. These neededto be turned into the front desk today.

Finally, a survey for the 2020 Grand World Voyage was postedonline. This can be accessed foreveryone on their mobile devices or computers. Or you could use the ships computers by going to their free site. For those who do not have these phones orcomputers, we heard that they can request the info at the front desk. It was nice to have these possible itinerariesprinted out for us. Although we did getthe link up this afternoon, by late afternoon, many folks still could not findit. We do have until February 28thto fill out the forms.

Barb and our tablemate Ken attended the Sunday SINGO at 7pm,the trivia-like game where you guess the lines of songs. Jamm, the new Piano Bar artist seems to bewinning over this world cruise crowd. Thesefolks were followers of Debby Bacon, so it is nice to hear the new fellow hasfilled the void, and doing it well, we heard.

We had a cocktail party with our travel agency and threehosts in the Explorer’s Lounge. Visitingwith the new beverage manager, he said this crowd is a very unique andchallenging one for him. Soon we werejoined by the dance instructors Kirsten and Alex, who we know more from thepool deck. Today was the first day inweeks that we could have gone back to the pool and spent some time in the sun. Perhaps the sun will remain with us as wesail across the Great Australian Bight on the way towards Albany.

Dinnertime found all of us present. It seems as the days go by, we are havingmore fun every night, as the new guests are getting to know everyone better. We both ordered the English roast beef withYorkshire pudding. Most all of usordered the same entrée, and agreed that the side of horseradish was powerfulenough to clear the sinuses, ears, and noses.

No need for us to attend the performance of Divalicious inthe show lounge. The performers were twoladies from Adelaide that got on the ship the same time we did yesterday. Wehappened to be sitting in the atrium, deck five, when they wererehearsing. With the side doors of theQueen’s Lounge open, we could hear the entire practice of tonight’s show. Loud and clear. We do not know what the comic twist to theirshow will be, but Ken promised to tell us tomorrow after he attends theperformance.

One more hour back on the clock tonight made everyone happy.

Bill & Mary Ann

Caught up with both reports.

Great!!

Thanks for your reports.

The Sunday Brunch Sampler sounds very tasty.

Wow that Sunday brunch! Is that only on the world cruise?

Report # 50 Day atSea February 19, 2018 Monday Partly cloudy & 72 degrees

Hoping to spend some time at the aft pool today, our hopeswere dashed when we woke up early to see really cloudy skies. Guess that is not going to happen. If our memory serves us right, the weather inthis part of the world is cool and drizzly this time of year. In no time, we will start to whine about theheat and humidity as we travel north towards the Equator again.

Besides the required fire drill with the crew this morning,Barbara H was giving a talk about what to see and do in Fremantle and Perth, ourfinal port in Australia. It has beenwonderful spending so much time in this fabulous and diverse country. We hate leaving.

The guest speaker, Kate Mead, spoke about beautiful Bali,giving us a look into what we can expect to see in a short time now. What a complete change of culture we areheading for….a world apart from the British feel of New Zealand and Australia.

Around 11am, we took a walk to deck eight and the SeaviewPool, only to find that the rain had started, and the only ones outside werethe dedicated smokers. A good time toshare travel agency info with Howard, another President’s Club friend ofours. History has repeated itself asmore agents from our current travel agency have re-located to other companies. This is a common occurrence in this business, butit can be disturbing when your longtime trusted agent has gone to greenerpastures. Especially when you are in themiddle of a trip they helped you book. Thingscan get sticky, legally, and it is always good to know what your rightsare. Not as simple as one might think.

The rain changed our plans, so we met Barb for lunch in thedining room after 12pm. Turned out thatSusie and Woody decided to go early, and sit across from us. Susie writes a blog with photos, but keeps itamong family and friends only. Her storiescan be hysterically funny, such as the one she told about bringing bottles ofwine or alcohol onboard. The company’spolicy has been strictly enforced on this grand voyage this year. This subject came up at dinner last night,when Brenda told us about bringing her one complimentary bottle back from herHAL tour in Adelaide. Upon going throughthe ship’s security check, she was directed to the collection table. The beverage gal looked her name up on themanifest to verify that she took the wine tour. Or else, she could not have brought the bottle on without the $18corkage fee. We feel that isdiscrimination, forcing folks to book tours to get the wine onboard. We may be wrong, but seem to recall that wewere allowed one bottle each in every port, while on a grand cruise last year. Now we are allowed one bottle each for theentire cruise, beginning in Ft. Lauderdale for us. Not that we drink wine, the rules are suredifferent.

Susie and Woody’s story was better, as they planned ondifferent scenarios to bring their wine on. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. But they have so much fun in the planning.All of us remember when it wasn’t unusual for some folks to bring on 14 casesof wine when they boarded. You know, afew years ago we took a re-positioning cruise back from Florida to Californiaon a different cruise line. It is a verypopular line that appeals to families with little kids – all of whom like towear the mouse ears. Anyway, when welined up on the pier to board, we saw dozens of couples packing large totesfull of beer cans. We said that won’twork, as their policy said no alcohol at all was allowed. Well guess what? They went right through security and nothingwas said. Nothing was confiscated. Go figure? Now we are being treated like America’s Most Wanted. If this policy is industry wide, we wouldsure like to know if all cruise lines enforce it.

Did we mention that the Grand World Voyage Survey is out forvoting online only? Although it was notavailable as written, we did bring it up yesterday on the free Navigator homepage. Four different itineraries were presented,all of which were westbound. Oneappealed to us that went down the east coast of South America and included scenic cruising in Antarctica. That was last done in 2012. Whether or not this will be the winner, timewill tell. Listening to most opinions weheard from the seasoned passengers, they think the 2020 itinerary has alreadybeen determined. But what do we allknow?

After stretching or legs for a long walk on the promenadedeck, we went to our favorite spot on deck five in the atrium, where we like tolisten to the music in the Ocean Bar. Wehave been watching the dancers as well, and pretty much have figured out mostof the classic dance steps. It is also agreat spot to chat with folks passing by. One of those guests happened to be a single gal Geri, who has taken thedance classes for many years now. She ismost happy that the dance hosts have been continued on these grand voyages,because she said it makes her ever so happy to dance.

We had time for a room movie before dinner. So we watched Marshall, a true story, webelieve, about Thurgood Marshall’s early career as a lawyer and eventually a SupremeCourt Judge. We did not recognize anyhigh profile actors, but perhaps that made the movie even better.

The Pinnacle Grill had been transformed into the Tamarindthis evening. Specially labeled dinnerware and silverware held the new logo. Metal chopsticks were placed by each setting, but knowing most folkswould not use them, the longest-handled forks, knives, and spoons were alsoincluded. A tray of three Asian saucesappeared with a basket of shrimp crackers. No bread or butter. Then we hadthe cute little white tablet that expanded with hot water to become our wetnapkin.

Tea was poured in a small shot glass, and since we do notdrink wine, so our water glasses were keep full throughout the dinner service. Our meal consisted of crispy veggie egg rolls,a steak salad, two wasabi-crusted filets with a stack of tempura onionrings. They were the best. Sides were a bowl of Hainan rice and aserving of mixed sauted vegetables.

The dessert was great. One of us had the Thai donuts, although the stack was shorter than whatwe had on the Eurodam. One of us orderedthe large chocolate-stuffed fortune cookie with a side of vanilla icecream. The cookie was crisp and fresh,and so worth the calories.

The Captain and his wife, Karen, had been dining rightacross from us. Leaving ahead of us,they stopped for a chat. They had alsomade it a point to come here this evening, since this menu will only berepeated once a month. Like us, they areprobably booked for the rest of those dates.

For the fourth time since we landed in Australia, the clockswent back one more hour. With 25 hourdays, eventually you begin to drag towards the late afternoon. When you think about it, 9pm for instance,was really midnight a week or so ago. Itis still difficult to adjust in a matter of days.

Tomorrow we shall be in Albany, a small city in WesternAustralia. And it probably is going torain.

Bill & Mary Ann

Wonderful report.

We love the Tamarind on the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam and eat there quite a bit. We love the Jewels of the Sea soup, filets, tempura shrimp, those Thai donuts and fortune cookie as well.

Report #51 Albany,Western Australia, Australia February20, 2018 Tuesday Cloudy & 65 degrees Part #1 Of 4 80 Pictures

The Amsterdam arrived to Hanover Bay in the larger PrincessRoyal Harbour around 6am this morning. We were safely docked by 8am, and cleared by the local authorities by8:10am. The city of Albany is located inWestern Australia, and has the distinction of being the oldest continuoussettlement in this part of the country.

Arriving by ship in 1826, Major Edmund Lockyer arrived withhis crew, several convicts, and their lock, stock, and barrels. That consisted of 50 men with sheep andpigs. It took six weeks for them toarrive from Sydney to Albany. The veryfirst Europeans to sight this area happened as early as 1627, but it was not until1791, that George Vancouver claimed Western Australia as a Britishpossession. At that time, the originalinhabitants were the Minang Noongar Aboriginal people. It has been documented that these nativeslived here for 50,000 years. When theEuropeans arrived in 1826, the natives cooperated (more or less) with theinvasion, teaching them fishing techniques and how to live off of the land.

Eventually, Freemantle was developed and became the largestdeep water port in Western Australia, keeping Albany a more ruralcommunity. The weather is cool and wetwith summer temperatures mostly in the 70’s. Albany gets about 37 inches of rain a year. Much of its history involves the whaling industry,but it also is famous for World War One history, as over 41,000 Australians andNew Zealanders left Albany bound for the Great War in 1914. The National Anzac Center tells the historyof the conflicts at Gallipoli, the Middle East, and the Western Front, as wellas post-war info.

Five tours were available today for 3 ½ hours to 8 hours,costing $90 to $200. Most all of themwere out of town. Since whaling was abig factor here, a trip to the Whaling Station, now a museum, showcased arestored whale-chaser vessel named Cheynes IV. This station was built in the 1950’s and operated unto the 1970’s. It was the last of these stations to close inAustralia.

The Torndirrup National Park is a place to see dramatic landformations called the Gap, with drops to the ocean 78 feet below. The Natural Bridge are gigantic rocks thatspan the torrents the see the awesome power of the sea below. A new viewing platform allows brave touriststo walk above these torrents. We havebeen on this tour, as well as the whale station tour which took all of it in.

Another excursion we did a few years ago was a trip to seered tinglewood trees that measured 17 yards in circumference. It was called a walk through the giants. This time, there was a buffet lunch included,which our tablemate Ken said was great. Good food, and all you can eat. Worked for him.

The other tour went to wineries, and a chance to see giantwind turbines and a war memorial. Brenda took this excursion, and enjoyed mostof it. The best part – the wineries ofcourse.

Today we chose to stay in town, and do some walking. Once at the terminal, we were handed a localmap and guide, while listening to the lone bagpiper playing for the guests. Normally, we don’t take the shuttle here, butsince there was one waiting outside the terminal, we got in the line, and gotthe last of the seats. It was only a fiveminute ride across the railroad tracks and up the hill to the Town Hall. Many volunteer guides were available to givedirections and more maps to all that asked. They were all so friendly, it was heart-warming.

We knew our way around town, and headed uphill towards theshopping area. Believe it or not, aKmart is up here, and other big stores. We needed some pharmacy items, and we found just what we needed at theReject Store. Yeah, we know, a funnyname, but this store is the same as our Dollar Stores at home. Only a bit more extensive and more expensive.

One of our buddies, Sue, was searching for a place to get a haircut. We would expect those services to be expenseas well in Australia. One of us got ahaircut on the ship yesterday, and it only cost $25 (plus 15% gratuity). This is quite reasonable we think, and thehair dresser did a fine job in less than 20 minutes.

We ran into friends Eddie and Lee, who were sitting in themall, searching for free internet. Nosuch luck. Back by the library we hadtalked to other friends who were having a hard time getting online there. So we suggested they find a café, and getonline there. We would do the same lateron. Suddenly, Eddie (who is in his 90’s),asked to take our picture, because he noticed we were wearing long jeans, andnot shorts. First time this cruise, thathe saw that. Funny……

With our one job done, we walked back downhill, stopping totake photos of every historical landmark. We were also looking for a place we had a pretty good pizza the lasttime we were here. But we found theraised patio was gone, and the café was now a small boutique. We’d have to search for a new venue, or waituntil we went back to the ship for lunch. Darn…..

It was still early, so we continued to the Anzac Peace Park,down near the water’s edge. There is anexpanse of park greens here, and it obviously a perfect place to walkdogs. We chatted with a local couplewith their dog, who had just chased a flock of gulls, so proud of the work hedid. They inquired where we were from,telling us they were from Scotland originally. When we told them we were from the SanFrancisco area, they laughed and said we had come a long way to get the sametype of weather we have at home. Ofcourse, they admitted that today would have been a hot day in their homecountry. Don’t think we have ever beenhere that it was not overcast and drizzly. The locals are so friendly, reminding us that we had a similar experiencethe last time we were here. Many folksobviously know we are visitors, and go out of their way to welcome us. Nice.

From here, we headed towards the Brig Amity Replica, a copyof the exact ship that sailed from Sydney to Albany in 1826. Locals built this boat in 1975, andincorporated it with a Heritage Trail with 17 sites to visit in a walk abouttown. Even Captain Jonathon wasexploring the site, especially the ship, taking as many photos as we did. Many times in ports, he will put on a regularjacket and a baseball cap, and no one knows it is him. Must be difficult to get a few minutes ofsolitude with his job.

Right near the ship is the Residency, built in the 1850’s asthe commissariat and stores for the convicts hiring depot. Eventually, it became the governmentresidency, but by 1953, the residents complained that it was cold, damp, anduncomfortable. So it opened as the siteof the Western Australian Museum. Wewent inside, and found some neat displays showing the natural and socialhistory of the region. By the way, theyhad nice restrooms there.

It was close to noontime, and we were ready for lunch. Walking back towards the new AlbanyEntertainment Center. For such atraditional settlement, this building is extremely modern. It is a venue for conferences, shows, andfood. Nearby was another big restaurant/bar,where you ordered your food at a counter, then it was brought to you. The name was Due South. They did have many styles of pizza, as wellas beef, chicken, and a few fish entrees. We ordered a cheese and tomato pizza, a side of fries, and two localdraught beers. All was good. This place was filling with locals, which isa sign that the food was good. It isalso located in the small marina, where many boats were moored.

Some of the larger catamarans were chartered whale-watchingtour boats. The season for the whales isbetween late May and early October. TheKing George Sound provides a natural and safe harbor for several species ofwhales such as humpbacks, southern rights, minke, orcas, and an occasional bluewhale. The price for a three hour touris $95, and includes hot and savory food, home-made scones, jam, and cream, andtea or coffee. Not a bad deal, we think.

Recently, our Kindle had the game apps stop, needing to beupdated and renewed. Going online in therestaurant was easy and fast. Withinminutes, all of the games updated. Perhaps while we are in the next port, we will do the same with thecomputer. It seems to work way better todownload the security measures off of the ship, since sometimes the speed istoo slow. Another job done.

Walking slowly back to the ship, we were back by 2pm. Well before the required all onboard time of4:30pm. Worked on photos until it wastime for sail away on the aft deck. Only, it appeared that it had been partially moved to the Crow’s Nest. Gone were the little flags, and the barset-up. The bar staff did promote thedrink of the day, but there were no hot treats passed around the guests. Of course, the wind was blowing steady andstrong, so there was not a huge crowd out here. Sadly, we learned from a couple of our new Canadian friends, that theywill be leaving the ship due to health reasons. Certainly a huge disappointment,they know it will be for the best. Sorryto see them leave, we wished her well.

At his sail away talk, the Captain said that we would see apile of white sand, which was silica, exported to Toyota for making windows andwindshields for their cars. The hugesilo complex where dozens of big rig trucks were loading, were for wheatstorage. The last huge piles were woodchips, also exported, but to Japan, where it is turned into paper. All good info.

The Amsterdam sailed out of the bay between a narrow gap,entering some rougher seas once again. Captain Mercer mentioned that we could expect 6 foot swells, but as thenight progressed, these swells doubled. Or at least it felt like it. Onegood thing, is that when we arrive to our next port of Freemantle, thetemperature should be close to 80 degrees with sunny skies.

Dinner was fun as we all had stories of the day toshare. Everyone had done somethingdifferent, so we got to hear of a variety of activities, more than anyone of uscould have done in a day. The only thingmissing, was a guest we were expecting – the hotel director, Henk M. Phillip, our dining room manager, had told ushe was going to join us this evening, so we waited to order. Fifteen minutes went by, and no Henk. Turned out, he dined early with anothercouple with the names Bill & Mary. Only Phillip sort of forgot to tell us he had the wrong table. Not a big deal, we asked him to send Henk Manother time, if he wishes.

The show this evening was the return of the Divaliciousdivas, Fiona and Penny, who would be competing to hit the high notes. High c’s on the high seas, they promised. Brenda told us that the previous night’sshowing of the Frozen Planet Live with music by the orchestra was great. Only the music over-powered the video for herand many other folks sensitive to loud music. That is one thing we truly enjoyed while sailing on the Eurodam thislast fall. We loved the BBC nature series we watched on the large screen TV inour room. So much so, that we did not mindwatching them at least twice.

Tomorrow we shall be arriving to Freemantle and docked by4pm, spending the night with a full day to follow on the 22nd. Looking forward to it.

Bill & Mary Ann

Just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your reports.

Keith

What -- no Margarita Pizza?

Love your reports.

Report # 52 Fremantle, Australia February21, 2018 Wednesday Sunny & 78 degrees 74 Pictures – Sail in

Today was really a half and half day. The first part was a day at sea. Then, later in the afternoon, we sailed intothe harbor of Freemantle.

So our day at sea began with sunny skies, and the promise ofa good day. After breakfast, we took ournormal walk outside to find that it was still chilly. The seas were choppy, and the wind wasblowing strongly. We did not mind, sincejust seeing sun was uplifting.

Last night we got two invitations. One was a tour of the ship’s laundryfacilities with our hosts Steve and Wendy. The date will be determined by the number of folks they get to signup. Then we got another invite fromCaptain Mercer and Henk M to do a heart of the house tour on decks A andB. This will be followed by anIndonesian Lunch, probably in the dining room. This will occur on Friday, the 23rd. So needless to say, we shall do the one andonly tour that will take all of it in. When it rains, it pours.

It was a lazy day for us, but we did have a chance to catchup on computer work. Lunchtime found usin the dining room, meeting Barb. Susieand Woody were already seated across from us, and starting their firstcourse. It has been fun spending so muchtime with them and Barb too. Sure bringsback many fond memories. After lunch,Barb was thinking ahead and invited them to dinner at our table tonight. They said yes.

It was an afternoon movie for us, Red 2, we think. Probably saw it before, but like with mostmovies, we forgot half of it. Around2pm, we went up to deck nine to watch the ship sail into the port ofFreemantle. The closer we got, theskyline revealed the nearby city of Perth, with her few skyscrapers. Actually, this stop is a duel port, with twovery different cities to explore.

The winds were still pretty strong on deck nine, making itdifficult to hold the camera. But we didget some good shots passing by Rottnest Island and the many other landmarks onthe way. Barbara H, the port lecturer,came outside and joined us in the sail in. Nice, because she pointed out all of the landmarks she spoke aboutrecently. We have all done this morethan a few times.

Entering the harbor by the Maritime Museum, we noticed thatan animal carrier vessel was docked across the harbor. This is an unusual ship that transportslivestock from one area to another. On previoustrips, we have seen this ship full of cattle or sheep. Before you see it, you could smell it.

The ship was docked well before 4pm. It sure was interesting watching the dockworkers ready their portable gangway. Using a huge crane, they positioned the gangway that looked like a traincar. It tied over to deck three, thelower promenade deck. Most times we missthis action, because it is happening while we are still asleep.

We had toyed with the idea of doing internet work in theterminal. But once a lot of folks leftthe ship to do the same thing, we found the speed picked up in our room on theship’s wifi. Job done, we stayedonboard. We’ll have a day tomorrow to explore the city.

The Ocean Bar was about empty of dancers this evening. One couple had the floor almost tothemselves. We could see many guestsleaving with small rolled suitcases, then coming back on a bit later. Wonder if they were shopping at Coles acrossthe street from the terminal building? Weplan to stop there ourselves tomorrow.

At dinnertime, we had our guests Susie and Woody join us onceagain. Two were missing, having goneeither ashore or to the Lido Aussie Outback Cook-In. In the “old days”, these cookouts were reallyoutside BBQ’s, with the Seaview pool deck transformed into a real buffettreat. Not allowed anymore for manyreasons, we miss those fun affairs.

Entertainment this evening was a big screen movie:Suburbicon, starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore. Must be a good movie, since we watched peoplefiling into the show lounge one hour before the start of the film. Or maybe they were there for the bag of popcorn?

Bill & Mary Ann

I look forward to reading your thread daily. So nice to read something drama free daily.

I also enjoy your daily reports.

I don’t believe it’s discrimination to allow people on wine tours be allowed to bring back one bottle. The reason wineries ar open to the public is to sell wine. If you can’t bring at least one back then they will not open for HAL guests. Other wise you can pay the $18. As 4*+ get 50% off the wine packages it’s like shopping in your home wine shop.

I believe that Disney allows liquor and wine onboard. Their buy in price is so high that they don’t need to make that much more per room.

I think the idea that they give you a choice about cruises has always been a scam. You can go to Sydney ports and you can see HAL reservations into 2021 for HAL ships. When I had dinner with the captain he said the cruises are planned 3 years in advance.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Report #53 Fremantle, Australia February22, 2018 Thursday Sunny & 78 degrees Part # 1 of 4 80 Pictures

The settlement of Freemantle was founded in 1829, whenCaptain Charles Freemantle claimed this west coast of Australia for the British.The first European settlers arrived in June of the same year. By the 1850’s. it was a convict colony, builtby convicts, eventually reaching the numbers of 10,000 male prisoners. The feel of this city is most Victorian, withso many of the classic buildings that have been preserved since those days. As the town grew, so did the migrants thatcame here, looking for a new and better life. They found work in the fishing and whaling industries, which wasestablished by 1831.

There are so many cafes, restaurants, and pubs here youcannot count them all these days. Togetherwith all of the museums, churches, and shops, Freemantle is a wonderful city todiscover. And as far as tours go, whereelse can you find a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes a visit to theseprisons, as well as seeing the underground series of tunnels. We understand that convict miners worked inthese tunnels, going down as deep as 65 feet. There are rivers down there, where the convicts punted in flat boats toget around.

As recent as 2015, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel award wentto Fremantle. They rated the city # 7 ofthe 2016 top 10 cities to visit. Wehappen to agree, because we chose to stay here today, and walk the town.

A mere 12 miles inland, is the city of Perth, the actualdestination city. Built on the SwanRiver, this metropolis is modern by comparison. Here you can find exclusive neighborhoods, a yacht club, a 1000 acrebotanic garden, and the Old Swan Brewery. Shopping malls and high end stores in also in Perth. In fact, Perth hasbeen given the distinction of being in the world’s top ten of most desired andlivable cities in the world.

Continuing out of Perth, you will find fertile growingregions, and some mighty fine wineries. You might recognize the names of Houghton and Sandalford’s CavershamEstate, both fine wineries to visit. With their Mediterranean climate, the vineyards in the Swan Valley have putthis place on the map.

Caversham also has a wildlife park with the typicalAustralian animals roaming freely. Youcan reach Perth by bus, tram, or a river ferry. All of these areas could be toured today on the ship’s eightexcursions. To see Fremantle, 3 ½ toursspent time there, while 4 ½ tours went out of town to Perth and beyond. The hours were from 3 ½ to 6, and cost from$70 to $230. And we have done them all,a few of the tours, more than once.

We got a later start today, since we had a very unrestfulnight. All through the evening, we couldhear screech, groan, tap-tap-tap, and more loud noises. What in the world was causing that? All we had to do was look out our window, andsee the culprit. It was that darnedgangway that had been attached to deck three. It moved with the ship ever so slightly, but enough to make thoseungodly noises all night. Even earplugs did not drown out all of the noise. So by the time we finally fell asleep, it was time to get up. Oh well, we can rest later, right?

Since we had been cleared by the authorities yesterday, we couldleave anytime. That turned out to beshortly after 9:30am. Before the startof a coast guard drill onboard. The ship’swhistles are so ear-piercing, we found it best to be off of the ship. Picking up a few maps and a booklet, we setoff for town. Now we could have jumpedon the local complimentary shuttle, but the center of Fremantle was a 10 minutewalk. Up and over the train tracks andthe highway, we followed the streets that took us to the downtown area at King’sSquare.

On the way, we passed by the first of many Victoriansandstone buildings. This was a schoolin the Princess May Park, that happened to have many mature trees on thegrounds. They were also full of small parrotscalled rainbow lorikeets. Larger than a parakeet, these multi-coloredbirds are in the moluccanus variety, one of 21 types of lorikeets. Really difficult to find, these little screeching,chattering birds were eating fruit, insects, pollen, and nectar of theflowering eucalyptus trees. Masters of disguise,their noises gave them away. We readthat in the forested regions, these birds are actually pollinators of thecoconut flowers.

Time to move on, as the day was already heating up. As windy as it was yesterday while sailinginto the harbor, it was well-protected within the confines of the town. As we headed up a side street, we did pass bya sewing shop, where we could purchase some elastic to fix two sweatshirts. Needing to spend loose change today, this wasa convenient way to do it. With one more$2 coin left, we bought a small zippered Australian souvenir pouch, suitablefor packing the Kindle.

Passing a few historic churches such as St. Patrick’sBasilica and St. John’s Anglican Church (1843), we arrived to Town Hall (1885). This square was really empty of tourists thisearly, since most of the shops were still closed. A few years ago, we think our visit happenedon a weekend, and there was a huge open-air street craft market here. Today there was one food stall in the square.

The tourist info center was located within the TownHall. We had just run into friendGinger, who was helping us with wifi sites. Even though we had a great little map, we had not looked at it yet. So Ginger showed us how to follow the symbolswhere good and free internet was available. Just happened, we were headed that way anyway.

We must have been close to a beach, because an outdoor café hadyoung local customers sipping coffee, one gal with little on in the way ofclothing. Like a hint of a bikini. It was more fun for us watching theexpressions of shock with the many cruisers that were also having a morningcoffee and pastry.

And we did find the beach, called Bathers Beach. It was located through an old whaling tunnelwhere the famous Round House is built. This former prison (gaol or jail) is Western Australia’s oldest publicbuilding dating back to 1831. Funnything…it is not round, but a 12 sided dedocahedron. Volunteers from the community give a guidedtour of this monument almost every day of the year. We did not climb the stairs, because wealready have photos of this structure.

Going through the dark tunnel was eerie, because they haveadded a sound track with noises of whales, wind, and convict workings. It may be part of the convicts of Freemantletour. This tunnel also served as aportal where the whales were processed back in the 1800’s.

We had a pleasant surprise waiting for us when we strolledaround Bathers Beach. This small stretchof a sandy cove near the marina is a great place for swimming andsunbathing. It was also the place to seedolphins coming very close to the shoreline as they fished in the calm watersof the bay. At least four of them gentlysurfaced, working the boulders of the harbor’s bulkhead. Watching for the longest time, theydisappeared from sight. Still was alucky sighting. This entire beach areais well documented with plaques describing the colorful history here…..anoutdoor museum, and the kind we like.

This entire area around the marina is the Fishing BoatHarbor, where local fishermen bring into their fresh catches of the day. The waterfront is lined with really coolrestaurants and cafes serving the finest seafood, among other items. One of the signs at a fast food type placewarned about leaving your food unattended. The sneaky gulls are known to take off with an easy meal. We had read that this entire marina had beenexpanded for the 1986 America’s Cup, the famous boat and yacht race.

Little Creatures Brewery is located here. One part of thecomplex houses the brewery, while the other is a full restaurant/café/bar. Since it was close to noon, we figured itwould be a great time to try for the wifi. Ordering a couple of Little Creatures pale ales and an order of fries,we happily can report our mission was accomplished. So that was lunch # 1. More would follow. As more and more folks wandered into thebrewery, we knew the speed would drop significantly. Time to go.

Directly across the street from the marina, was EsplanadeReserve with a huge ferris wheel ride for the tourists. Also in and under the huge Norfolk Islandpines were a flock of large white parrots, but not the Sulphur-crestedcockatoos. These were in the galahparrot family. They were so engrossedwith foraging through the leaf litter, they barely moved when we got very closeto them. Also in this park, there arevery old Moreton bay fig trees, huge ones, full of the messy figs that litterthat lawns and streets.

Near here are the historic Freemantle Markets, built in1897. At least 150 stalls stockingeverything you can imagine “Australian” exists here. From produce to food, fashion, antiques andjewelry can be found here. There wasonly one problem…..it was closed today. You would have to be here on Fridays and weekends.

We think the Cappuccino begins here…..an area chock full ofcafes, restaurants, and bars with balconies both indoors and outdoors. Great place to kick back, pull up a stool, andwatch the world go by.

Well, it was time for pizza, and we remembered a restaurantwe dined at a few years ago. Only it wasgone….the building was empty. So we wentnext door to Portorosa Restaurant wherewe enjoyed yet another Margherita pizza with two Heinekens.

One last stop at Cole’s supermarket was in order. Many of our friends were shopping in therefor the best deals on chips and sodas. The brands that we are familiar with can be purchased in Australia. But once we leave this country, the productsmight say the same ingredients, but they might not taste the same. In particular, the sodas. Different types of sweeteners are artificialsweeteners are used, and can change the taste significantly.

We were looking for jars of black bean dip, but all we couldfind was salsa. So our only purchase wasthree bunches of flowers for a total of $22.50 Australian. Comparing the amount of flowers we got, theywould have cost at least $100 USD on the ship. We were overdue for our President’s Club arrangement, so we supplied ourown.

Finally back in the cruise terminal, we wondered if theflowers would be confiscated. It wasnever mentioned that we were free to purchase fresh flowers after leaving theSouth Pacific. At the security check,the bouquets were taken around the screening, checked, and returned. Not a problem. Little did we know we were being watched byother guests. They figured they wouldhave been taken away from us. Now, wecan’t say the same for the alcohol collection. A table was set up for the bottles “illegally” brought back on the ship. Or at least, the bottles that will requirethe $18 corkage fee.

It was 3pm by the time we got back to our room, where werelaxed with picture down-loading. At4:30pm, we went to deck nine and eventually down to deck eight to in in thesail away activities. Even though it hadbeen 80 degrees or more in town, we knew that once the ship cleared the InnerHarbor, the winds would pick up and be chilly once again.

The ropes were dropped after 5pm, and we sailed slowly pastthat private sailing yacht docked near us. The captain mentioned that the name of this magnificent ship was Eos,and it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 million dollars. Just 50 million less than the Amsterdam costback in 2000. As we got nearer to theMaritime Museum, we noticed another tall ship by the name of STS Leeuwin II, an1850’s style barquentine ship. Theirdecks were full of passengers ready to sail out into the ocean for a thrillingride. Eventually we did see two of themassive sails unfurled, but the distance increased too fast between our shipsfor us to see more of it.

Before we left between the two lighthouses, we passed by thecattle/sheep carrier vessel. Big rig truckswere lined up with thousands of sheep crammed in like sardines. You could smell the animals well beforeseeing them. Captain Mercer mentionedthat the livestock ship was the largest one of its kind in the world, and thesesheep were on their way to the Middle East. Wow, that is one long haul from here.

As expected, the wind picked up, and the decks cleared. We stayed with hopes of seeing more dolphins,but it never happened. All we saw wasthe Rottnest Ferry continuing towards the island off of the coast. That disappeared on the horizon as well, aswe sailed further north towards our next destination of Indonesia.

Dinner was delightful, as we were guests of friends, Susieand Woody. They have a table for four,but just for the two of them most nights. Two hours flew by while we shared notonly food, but memories of the many years we have known each other.

It was such a full day, we missed the show starring AndyBunger, a marimba, panpipes?, steel guitar, drums, sax, and trumpet player. Wonder what panpipes are?

Really looking forward to three days at sea.

Bill & Mary Ann

Very much enjoying your thorough reports.

I wouldn't have been happy with those noises as I am a very light sleeper.

Report #54 Day atSea February 23, 2018 Friday Partly cloudy & 81 degrees 78 Pictures

A boring day at sea? Never. Definitely warmer outsidewith choppy seas, but oddly, smooth sailing, it looks like our journey northwill be a good one. For some reason, fewfolks were on the outside decks this morning. Perhaps their day spent in Freemantle and Perth had done them in. Or….they were busy attending lectures aboutwhat to see and do from Bali to Singapore. Alan Wright is still doing his talks on shadows in the sky, but we seethere is a new guest chef by the name of Isabella Jakubiak. She will be conducting classes in America’sTest Kitchen. Later in the afternoon,the second lecturer, Kate Mead, spoke about artistic Indonesia. Speaking of Indonesia, we had a questionregarding the current volcanic eruptions happening there. Many of the crew are from Indonesia, so weasked some of them if this might impact our visit there. Every one of them said it was too far awayfrom Bali, and there were no changes in the plans to stop there for two days. Better not be changes now, or there may be amutiny.

A select group of passengers were invited to a Heart of theHouse Tour, taking us down to decks A and B at 11am. Turned out that 170 guests were invited, andthey included the suites and the President’s Club members. Going down the crew stairs from mid deck one,we toured in small groups seeing the store rooms, refrigerator, freezer, andthawing room. But first, we were offered sparkling wine or orange juice. Then we continued down to B deck to see thelaundry facilities. Although we haveseen these areas of the ship before, it still struck us how intolerably hot itwas there. We will all appreciate thework the fellows do in this laundry facility even more now. Barb should be really glad, since sheaccidently leaned against a wall, and came up with a black grease stain in hervery white jeans. Hopefully they will beable to clean them for her.

An Indonesian lunch followed the tour. The waiters were dressed in their nativeprints, and the ladies wore beautiful Indonesian dress clothes. We had teamed up for the tour with Barb,Susie and Woody, and continued to stay together so we could get a table in theupper dining room. Don McD joined us, making our table for six complete. Thistraditional meal was excellent, and ample to say the least. Red and white wine was served, except forthose of us that preferred the soda. Soupand salad were the starters, followed by fried rice, beef Sumatra, curriedprawns, sweet soy pork, chicken sate, and pickled vegetables. Woody took care of the shrimp crackers. Dessert was a glass full of banana in coconutmilk, palm sugar, and vanilla ice cream.

We stayed until most all of the other guests had left theroom. Crew guys were setting up tablesfor bridge, which would be starting next. So that was our clue to leave. And besides, Woody was saying he was losingimportant nap time. But before we left,we decided to take a look around the dining room on deck four for a possiblechange of table for next year. A roundtable for six would work out perfectly. Thereis no better way to find out how something will work until you try it. So it was decided that tonight, we would goto table 169, and dine there. AlthoughDon has his permanent table upstairs, he agreed to be the sixth person for thisevening. So that’s what we did, and itseemed to work just fine.

We have been invited to another gathering with our travelagent hosts next Wednesday in the King’s Room. Not sure if we will accept, since the dinner is at 6pm, and we do notlike to dine that early. Oh well, wehave time to think about it.

Our buddies Leta and Bill were back walking on deck threelate this afternoon. Because of back andknee problems, they have not been exercising as much. It was fun catching up on recent news withthem…..we must have talked about an hour. We will have to make another dinner date with them when we are all freewithout other obligations.

Since we have already described our dinner arrangementstonight, we’ll talk a bit about the entrée we had. It was Salisbury steak, which is reallyground beef, but here it was more like meatloaf. In the shape of a mini-football. With gravy. Tasty, but not exactly as we remember it. Don and Barb had the clam chowder, saying itwas too spicy. Seems that the chefs aredoing some creative things in the kitchen this year. We did have one important suggestion to thechefs, and that was concerning salt. That is, using way too much of it. Believe us, swollen feet and ankles do not look good on anybody.

The show tonight was a familiar one….Patrick Murray with hissidekick, Jamaican Matilda. A comedy act,he usually has people rolling with laughter in the aisles. No exception tonight. He is good.

Bill & Mary Ann

Thanks for your updates.

The Lorikeet photos were wonderful!!! Thanks :D

Cheers, Denise and Howie too

Hope Barb's jeans survive. Wonder if she brought her peroxide?

Report # 55 Day atSea February 24, 2018 Saturday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees

We can say that today had to be one of the warmest days sofar, since we left the South Pacific. The closer we get to Indonesia, the more humid and warmer it hasbecome. Remember when we complained howcold it was in Hobart a few weeks ago, well the time has come that everyone is “cooking”now.

The promenade deck had far less folks out on the lounges thismorning. One side happened to be fairlycomfortable, since the sun was on the opposite side. The hot side had no guests on thelounges. There were lots of activitieshappening inside the ship, so the passengers could stay cooler.

We have not mentioned the early morning schedule. Exercise classes begin as early as 7am withstretching, followed by abs class, sit and be fit, qi gong internal health, andmorning tai chi. Aqua aerobics takesplace in the Lido pool at 9am. Someother exercise programs have a charge, like yoga $12, indoor cycling $12, or ifyou are sore from all of this, $1 a minute deck massage under the Lido dome.

Religious events include Bible exploring or Torah study. All that happens before the Coffee withHamish and his guests at 9:30am. Hamishinterviewed controller Jusuf, Made, the assistant head housekeeper, and Presty,the assistant dining room manager.

Still appears that one of the favorite activities on theship has to be Happy Hour, still happening at 4pm and 6:30pm in the Crow’s Nestand Ocean Bar.

For the first time in weeks, we went to the Seaview Pool fora few hours today. Our tans have suffered,as most of the folks we know up there also said. Usually, the purpose of a little tanning isso you do not burn too easily along the way. You set up a base. Yeah, we knowit is dangerous, but then so is crossing a busy street in any big city. Everything in moderation, right? And loads of sunscreen. So far, we have only read two books, a recordlow number for as many weeks that we have been sailing. Don’t know if we havementioned this yet, but the library onboard is not gone. It is just as full of reading material as it everwas. We had heard from one of the formerlibrarians that the position was going to be eliminated. Didn’t happen, as we have Courtney doing thatjob. Everyone we know loves her. And they have kept the Sudoku and the dailyquestion and answer papers going. Thesehave two functions, as once you complete the questions and puzzle, they doubleas scratch paper on the blank backs. Seewe are going green, a little.

We are still having issues with the sandwich bar, whichcontinues after 2pm. Every time we havegone there, they are out of some of our favorite sandwich makings. And there is no attempt to find these itemsanywhere else. Today is was ciabattarolls and pickles. They ran out ofpickles? Or they were not willing to getmore. The slices of cheese looked as if they had been sitting there forhours. Assorted pizza slices were piledin a stack. Pretty unappealing. Henk M, the hotel director, happened to befinishing his lunch nearby, and certainly heard the exchange with the sandwichmaker. Perhaps we need to address thiswith the Lido manager directly. Honestly,we have not been complaining about the little changes we have noticed sofar. Last year, we were urged to keep alist of noticeable things that have been amended or added. Henk M was most gracious and willing toaddress each and every statement we had, working with us (and our friends) tomake things good for everyone. Somestuff could not be changed, but much of it was either returned or madebetter. We always say – nothing gained,nothing lost. If you never ask, you willnever know what the outcome could have been.

Running into Barb outside the Ocean Bar, she asked if we gotthat note about President’s Club Events. No, we had not. In the evening,we do not get any mail or even the newsletter until we get back to our room afterdinner. Anyway, this note was inresponse to some of the President’s Club members questioning the frequency ofevents held for just our group only. Sofar, there have been none. We do notpersonally know who has been complaining, but they are correct. This note gave several reasons why they havenot happened, mostly due to public health requirements or the lack of venueavailability. Bottom line, we readbetween the lines, and see that crew members are not able to set these eventsup. That tells us there are fewer crewmembers this year, or their labor is being diverted to other places. The final answer to this was that at least 4other fun events for only the President’s Club members will take place beforethe end of this world cruise. The staffrealizes that most of us know each other well, and prefer to mingle with ourgroup exclusively. Not mixed with 100 ormore suite guests. A remark was made tous by an officer while we were on an Alaskan cruise this summer on theAmsterdam, that in the past, the President’s Club members had beenover-indulged. The powers-to-be decidedthe time had come to pare back on the special perks. Another bottom line: too many folks are getting into this club,and now it is costing HAL lots of money.

During the time we spent listening to the music in our “livingroom”, deck five in the atrium, one of us became a real photographer. We were asked by two groups of friends totake some photos of them. Happy tooblige, the cell phone pictures came out rather well. And we only charge $20. Just kidding. Kirsten, the dance instructor, said let’s use the photographer’sbackdrop before they show up. So we did.

We had company for dinner, as it was a gala night with aPan-Asian theme. They combined culinaryfoods from Indonesia and the Philippines. Mark, the event planner, and all-around handyman for the cruisedirector, was our host. During thecourse of the meal, he was peppered with many questions about his job, but also about the upcoming dry-docking ofthis ship. We learned from him that theshow lounge will have work done on the deck four level. Seating will be re-arranged to make showviewing better. He also added that someof those lanai rooms will happen, where the sliding doors will open directly totheir private lounges. Mark said that hecan’t wait to see what kind of fights will happen after they do that. We have read about confrontations on theships where these rooms had been added. Not a pretty picture, we understand.

Since this ship is still having plumbing challenges, thepiping will be replaced where needed. Weare still seeing buckets in the lower dining room entrance. As well as minor flooding every evening onthe promenade deck, somewhere in the area of the kitchen on deck four directlyabove this deck. And that is only whatwe can see in the public areas. Wear-and-tear happens to every hotel, and basically, that is what wehave here…..a hotel that floats.

Mark also added that there will be some upgrades in all ofthe staterooms, although he did not know exactly what will be improved. He admitted that he has been fighting for theinteractive TV, like the other larger ships have. However, he has not been successful. Bottom line once again……..it will cost toomuch. In our humble opinion, we see aday when this size of a ship will be obsolete. It costs the company too much to operate with such a low amount of passengers,we have been told. Raising the cost maybackfire, since with certain categories, people may consider doing this worldcruise on another line that may offer close to all-inclusive amenities for asimilar price to what they pay for a deck seven suite.

Because the area we are now sailing has heated up so much,the air-conditioning on the ship has been stressed. For that reason, the lower dining room wasreally hot tonight. Figures, thishappens when most people have dressed up with formal clothes, suits, and tuxesfor the fellows. We were happy to cooldown with sodas, instead of wine, and call it a night by 9:30pm. “Rocket-dog”, a nickname Barb has acquired overthe years, excused herself shortly after 9pm. The name refers to the fact that she is most speedy when leaving…gone in60 seconds. Usually she is headed forthe music and dancing in the Crow’s Nest. Sometimes it is a walk outside, meeting friends at the Seaview Bar aswell.

There was a new act in the Queen’s Lounge tonight. An Asian fellow by the name of Kateiperformed rock violin music, even though he is classically trained. His show was promised to have even Beethovenrocking in his grave. Really? Wonder how the folks will like that?

Bill & Mary Ann

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Your reports are do detailed that I am enjoying reading them.