John and Diane's Amazing Adventure - Part II

[Johnny B]

February 28 – Day 54

 

Back at sea and it is grand! Even though John’s birthday was February 23, last night was his party. We began with wine in Greg and Heo’s suite, and then we hosted everyone at our table, as well as Esther and Martha, for dinner in the Pinnacle. It was such a good evening. Unless it’s a Sommelier Dinner, I really dislike being invited to the Pinnacle and having someone else choose what I would like to eat. Because of that, we just booked the back room for the 13 of us and let everyone order off the menu.

 

Shawn, the Pinnacle chef, is a really good guy and an amazing cook. He’s funny and doesn’t take himself seriously, and he teaches, either alone or with guest chefs, the 12-person private cooking classes. Susie, Martha and I just love harassing him and he takes it very well. Anyway, last night he did an amazing job of supervising the preparation of some delicious food. I know that someone got on CC and complained that Shawn just puts way too much butter and cream in everything, but to me it sounded like a person who was grouchy because he’d been on a diet too long. One of his complaints was that the mushroom soup in the Pinnacle had too much cream, but they don’t even serve mushroom soup in the Pinnacle.

 

One of the best things they prepare in the Pinnacle is lobster bisque. The funny part is that I don’t even like lobster, but boy that bisque is to die for. The presentation is absolutely beautiful. They bring a shallow soup plate with a small lobster tail in it. On the trolley are all kinds of silver containers, from one of which the server ladles the bisque. Then she put in two teaspoons of cognac, and then finishes the presentation with a circle of crème fraiche on top. It was heavenly.

 

The Pinnacle is called a grill for a good reason: they have, according to the folks who like such things, some of the best steaks in the western world. Martha ordered a Porterhouse, and I couldn’t believe how big that thing was. It actually covered the plate, and there was no way she could finish more than half of it. I ordered the crab cake starter as a main course, knowing it had two small crab cakes, but because it was a main, they put three on the plate. I do hate to waste, but there was no way I could finish more than two. I do love crab cakes.

 

As we gave our orders, we were asked if we wanted chocolate or vanilla soufflés for dessert, because they took time to bake, Several people ordered one or the other. Then, after dinner, they brought out a dark, dense chocolate mousse cake (Shawn at his devilish best, of course) and those people who had ordered soufflés ended up with two desserts.

 

Anyway, a good time was had by all The cards were funny, the company was good, and the food was outstanding. What more could you ask?

[I&J Cruisers]

Belated Happy Birthday John. I also look forward to reading your updates every morning. That was some scare you had. In all your travels has anything like that ever happened to you before? I'm glad neither of you was hurt.

Irene

[Johnny B]

March 1 – Day 55

 

Arrrrrgh! It was Pirate Night last night, and we don’t think anyone was hurt (too badly) in celebration of it. The irony, of course, is that we’re having Pirate Night while switching course to miss the Seychelles because of the pirates.

 

Before sailing, we’re given a booklet called “What You Need to Know Before You Go” which tells all kinds of things, including the 32 “theme” nights. There’s everything from the Black and White Ball to a Gaucho BBQ to Speakeasy Night. The tricky thing about Pirate night was that it was a formal night, so we had to be creative in our attire. Here are the outfits: John wore his Armani tux (figuring that that’s what Johnny Depp would wear), an eyepatch, a hoop earring, and a scarf with dreadlocks on his head. I wore a long black gown, a skull and crossbones necklace, an eye patch, and a tricorn hat.

 

At our table, most of us were dressed appropriately (in a silly way), but I think Heo gets the award for best, since he had a paste-on mustache and eyebrows to make him look more threatening.

 

Since it was formal, it was officer night. We were told in advance that our officer was Hans, the Chief Engineer, whom we’ve had as a guest before. However, because of an emergency (I immediately thought “Poseidon”) he was unable to attend, but he did buy the wine. I think we decided that if we had to choose between the officer and the wine . . well, it all worked out for the best.

 

Today’s our last sea day before Reunion, a French overseas department. It’s supposed to be beautiful and tropical and French-speaking, so we’re looking forward to it.

[Johnny B]

March 2 – Day 56

Reunion Island – Indian Ocean

 

We have found a little bit of French heaven right here, 400 miles off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. Reunion is an overseas department of France, and visiting the capital, St. Denis, was like walking through a small town in the south of France, but with a decided tropical ambiance.

 

We arrived at the aptly named city of Le Port this morning, took the shuttle into town with our friends Charlie and Betty and then, after a significant walk and a couple of opportunities for John to practice his French, we boarded a bus for St. Denis, the capital and largest city on Reunion. We got off the bus and knew we were in France: across the street were the Roland Garros Brasserie and Paul, our favorite place to grab a quick lunch in Paris. Roland Garros is the name of the site of the French Open in Paris – a shrine to John. It turns out RG was a WWI aviator and hero who was born on Reunion and died during the war.

 

We began our “walking tour” and it did seem to be the forecast temperature, 82, but it was only 10:00 in the morning. We saw the cathedral, the mosque, and tried to find the pagoda (with no luck), and then happened upon the pedestrian shopping street. These are really common in southern France, so we just wandered along, looking in shops and reading menus. We found the French version of Jamba Juice, so we had to have a mid-morning treat. Finally, we made our way down to the shore and discovered that it wasn’t a beach, but a rocky seafront with even bigger rocks between it and the road.

 

As we walked, it just got hotter and hotter, and we made our way back to Paul for lunch. It felt wonderful to walk into an air conditioned restaurant. There was a charming little garden in the back with mist continually sprayed over the area, but I wasn’t budging from that AC. Paul used to be just a bakery, so their breads are delicious. I had a ham, cheese, and sliced cooked egg sandwich on a baguette (it was soooo good), and John had a really nice tuna salad which, delightfully, came with a basket of bread. Of course I did have my own baguette, but I had to raid his basket for a couple of slices of olive bread.

 

After lunch, we headed back out into the furnace, and found the bus back to La Port. While on the bus, we saw John’s favorite Parisian store, Nicolas (a wine store). In La Port, we wandered around for a while and found that, while the restaurants were full, the stores were closed for the extended Mediterranean lunch. Finally we headed back to the ship and to the glory of more air conditioning.

 

Sailaway was at 4:30. While up on deck, a friend told me that the electrical sign in St. Denis said that the temperature was 42 degrees (about 102, I think). I’m just too old for that much heat. The view from the harbor reminded us of Kauai, our favorite Hawaiian island, because of the lushness of the tropical foliage. Finally they pulled up the gangplank, the band played “Anchors Aweigh,” and we are now off to Mauritius, tomorrow’s port.

[Put Me On A Boat]

Love reading about your cruise. We will be on the WC in 2011. I hope Bruce is still the CD.

Do you still receive the gifts every so often in your cabin at night. We weren't prepared for them on our Asia cruise and had to get another suitcase! If you have received any, what were they?

Please let us know if they up your Mariner stars. I have a brochure that states "Grand Voyage guests receive immediate onboard star-level upgrades." I'm sure a World cruise would be a Grand Voyage.

Enjoy the last half of your cruise. Hard to believe it's half over!

[Johnny B]

March 3 – Day 57

Port Louis, Mauritius

 

We are officially half done with our 114-day world cruise. If you want to commiserate with us, please feel free to pick up a tissue for your tears. No? Somehow, I didn’t think so.

 

As I’ve mentioned, we often have guests for dinner at our 11-person table, but some are more memorable than others. Last night was one of those nights. We hosted George Geary, the guest chef, and his friend Neil. George is, as a stereotypical chef, a big guy. He is tall, quite rotund, and has a big personality. He is also one of the funniest men I’ve ever met. He will make fun, in good way, of anyone or anything. He and Shawn, the Pinnacle chef, are always at each other and one time, during a demonstration, ended up calling each other “Pumpkin” and “Precious.” Two guys less likely to be called that were never born. We taught the guys “cork forking,” and they were both successful, Neil early on and George after about three dozen tries.

 

This morning we docked at 7:00 AM at Mauritius, another island in the Indian Ocean, also about 400 miles off the coast of Africa. It’s a larger island than Reunion, and the city of Port Louis, although not the largest city, is much larger than any city on Reunion.

We walked the two miles from the ship to the waterfront, which they have improved with a large pedestrian area, including shops, restaurants, and cinemas. Before we explored the new areas, we spent time in the market area, where there were aisles and aisles of fruits, vegetables and meats downstairs and many other products upstairs. Our friends George and Neil saw a sign over a meat section that said they sold “non-cat chicken.” Yuck! We wandered into several shops, and when we had had our fill, it was time to get out of the city.

 

We found a taxi driver and told him we wanted to to go Pamplemousse (grapefruit in French), a beautiful botanical park several miles out of the city. The driver told us he would take us there, wait for us to wander through, and then drive us back to the port. The place really is fantastic. There are all kinds of trees, including kapok trees with enormous trunks and banyan trees with enough vines hanging from them to even please Tarzan. The highlight, though, are the lily ponds. There is one large area where they have beautiful lilies in a pond, but the wonder is the pond where the lily pads are anywhere from four to six feet across – really!

 

After we convinced our taxi driver that no, we didn’t want to go shopping at his brother-in-law’s shop or continue our tour to another lovely site, we went back to the waterfront area where we had lunch at a restaurant on the water. I had a chicken sandwich on a baguette, and I DID wonder about that non-cat chicken.

 

When it was time to return to the ship, we discovered, thanks to another passenger, that there was a water taxi for $2.00, which would take us directly across the harbor to the ship. What a treat. We both love being on the water, whether the ship is large or small.

We also saw about three dozen Chinese fishing vessels, complete with crew and long lines of wet laundry, hanging out to dry.

 

Sailaway was an hour later tonight, and now we look forward to four wonderful sea days before arriving at the Maldives. We’re really glad we’re going there, since the oceans are rising and the area will, eventually, be no more.

[Johnny B]

March 5 – Day 59

2nd of 4 sea days en route to Maldives

 

Aren’t we special? Last night we had dinner with the captain. Well, sort of. The captain on this voyage, Olaf van der Ward, is inviting every full world cruise passenger to dinner in the Pinnacle once during the voyage. Of course, the Pinnacle only seats about 70 diners, so with 600 RTW passengers, there is a series of dinners. The captain sits in the back room at a table for twelve, surrounded by eleven people with a whole lot more days than we have.

 

We began in the Rembrandt Lounge, or piano bar, with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. There was a reception line to meet the captain (even though we see him every day) and after we had enough time for drinking and socializing, he welcomed us and was kind enough to point out that the cruise is now half over. I really appreciated that.

 

We proceeded downstairs to the Pinnacle, where seating is assigned, and everyone is seated with people they didn’t know before as well as an officer. The more days, the higher the officer. We sat with Jody and Ken, a really nice couple from Florida as well as the Food and Beverage Manager, Bart. I’ve seen him on the ship about a million times, noticed him because he’s tall and good looking, but never had any idea what he did. Now we know. He was excellent company and we learned a lot about the care and training of an HAL officer. Most of them are Dutch, like Bart, but they usually speak at least three languages, and their English is better than some of my former students. Being officers and gentlemen, they also must be able to carry on a social conversation and charm a table full of guests. Such a job!

 

The food was great. We began with pickled lamb salad (which tastes a whole lot better than it sounds), continued with consommé, worked out way to very rare tuna loin and then got to the main course, a beef tenderloin. Even this usually non-beef eater could appreciate that one. Dessert looked really tasty, but since I’m skipping sugar for lent, I didn’t find out first hand. Each guest was given a pretty little box with a Cross pen inside as well as a copy of the menu signed by the captain and Henk, the Hotel Manager. Wine flowed freely, and dinner was over at about 9:00.

 

Then, of course, we headed to our regular table, where we sat and chatted and cork-forked until we were the last table in the dining room. The waiters were circling, so we knew it was time to go. After the show we headed up to the Crow’s Nest at about 11:00, and proceeded to have the latest night of the cruise thus far. Too many people bought us drinks (lemoncello is my favorite), and we danced until about 1:30. I knew we’d sleep late this morning, so why, oh why could I not sleep past 7:30? I quietly left to go to the gym, and when I got back at 8:30, John had just been awakened by Susie, calling to find out how to spell “Amaryllis” for her journal. (It was a formal night gift about two weeks ago).

 

We are so far successfully evading pirates, the captain told us yesterday. We are staying at least 1,400 miles away from The Horn of Africa, where the Somali pirates are centered. There are security people walking the decks 24 hours a day, spotlights are used to look for anyone or anything suspicious at night, and the “sound guns,” which look like those big old TV dishes from the 80’s, are uncovered and ready to fire. They send concentrated sound wherever they’re aimed and they cause intense pain and temporary or permanent deafness if you’re the target. So, we’re well protected and feel quite safe.

 

Today was another semi-private cooking class (12 of us) with our guest chef, George Geary. Besides learning a lot from him, he is incredibly funny and is a frequent guest at our table. We made Chinese chicken salad, cold pasta salad with blue cheese and toasted walnuts, creamy chicken sauce with penne pasta, and quadruple chocolate cookies for dessert. It was all incredibly delicious and, over lunch, George even told us Julia Child stories.

 

But . . . that late night is taking its toll, so now it’s nap time.

[BoardwalkBabe]

I am SO enjoying reading about your journey and coupled with the photos from Greg and Heo's blog, it's perfect. Can't wait for the next installment!

[Johnny B]

March 7 – Day 61

At Sea – last day before the Maldives

 

I thought I would burst last night. It was “French Night” in the Pinnacle, and, as fans of all things French, we just had to participate. The Pinnacle Grill hosts a series of country-themed dinners: Indian, South African, French, etc., and, except for the Sommelier dinners, this is the first one we’ve attended. There was a choice: just pay the $20.00 surcharge for the dinner and a glass of Champagne, or pay $49.00 for dinner and a series of wines with each course. We opted for one of each, since they just pour too much wine for me.

 

Dinner was excellent in six courses. We started with pate de foie gras, followed by vegetable veloute, one of the best soups I’ve ever eaten. The fish course was Dover sole and the main was a filet mignon. After that, it was a plate of three cheeses and then, finally, a tart tatin, a sort of apple dessert, served with vanilla ice cream that had been made in the kitchen that morning. John, who doesn’t much like vanilla ice cream, said that it was outstanding. I did skip the dessert and only had a tiny bite of each of the cheeses (we shared a plate), but I was sooooo full I couldn’t stand it. After the show, however, things had settled and I was much more comfortable.

 

Today was the day we crossed the equator, and of course, at sea, there’s always a ceremony for it. Today at 10:00 at the midship pool, there was a Poseidon ceremony for the “pollywogs,” or crew members who hadn’t been across the equator before. Bruce, the cruise director, was dressed as a bewigged judge, Steve, the assistant cruise director, was Poseidon, Joy, the hostess, was his wife, and the five top officers on the ship were the jury, to decide whether a group of crew members was “guilty” or “innocent.” The charges were such things as “Lovato polishes things so much that last week he polished the heads of three bald guys by the pool.” First, the “accused” had to “kiss the fish,” in this case a six-foot marlin, and then lie down on one of the little walls by the pool to be covered with multi-colored gunk. I heard that in the old days, it used to be leftover soup and pasta and things like that, but now I think it’s a colored egg white mixture much like meringue. After their “gunking,” the officers voted, thumbs up or down, as to whether they went “into the drink” (the pool.) Of course, with all that stuff on them, I’d kill to go into the pool, but the guilties were about half and half.

 

The entire ceremony took about a half hour, but that pool will be closed until 4:00 this afternoon so that it can be thoroughly cleaned. Well deserved! A good time seemed to be had by all. It’s very silly but a lot of fun.

 

There are two bits of good news today: we won at trivia (for the 5th time), and our cards were indeed upgraded to “Four-Star Mariner” status, since we now have over 200 days. That means that we get priority tender status, free laundry service (although we’ve already paid), 50% off wine packages and Explorations Café (fancy coffees) purchases, and 15% off on clothing sold in the onboard shop. It’s not a bad deal. Since tomorrow is Maldives, we’ll get to use that priority tender status really soon. Can’t wait!

[Johnny B]

March 8 – Day 62

Maldives

 

Well, it was one of those days. We have really been looking forward to coming here since they had to eliminate Seychelles because of security reasons. If you ever pick up an illustrated calendar that features beaches, half will be from Seychelles and half from the Maldives – with maybe one from Hawaii. This is a country made up of small islands, with no point in the country higher than eight feet and the average being about 3-1/2 feet. That may seem to be an interesting bit of information for trivia, but the importance of it is that one of these days, with rising ocean levels, Maldives will disappear.

 

The day didn’t quite work out the way we thought it would, however. We really, really wanted to go out to one of the absolutely beautiful islands. We considered the ship’s excursion for 8 hours to an island for about $100 each, but then they told everyone signed up that buying lunch would be mandatory at $89 per person. I don’t think so! When he was here a few years ago, our friend Greg paid about $60 to go to Club Med’s island, so we decided to try for that. We found out, however, that now it’s $180 per person because they have a speedboat and include lunch and beverages. Sorry.

 

Then we found a boat that takes people out to an island with a small resort. For $50 each, we’d get round trip transportation and a few hours on the island. Sounded great. Key word: “sounded.” Sixteen of us had a really nice (but a little boring) boat ride for 45 minutes to a really beautiful little island. It had a breakwater and we could see the open-sided restaurant. The water was so clear that we could see beautifully colored and striped tropical fish swimming – without a snorkel. The problem was that the security folks on the island said that the boat people did not have permission to bring us there. We stayed while phone calls were made and people got upset and, finally, after about a half hour, the security guys decided that we could stay – for an additional $35 each. We were pretty frustrated by then and said “thanks, but no thanks.” Then, of course, our boat started to pull away. We yelled and it came back and back we went to Male`, the capital. Since one doesn’t pay until return, we paid nothing.

 

On our return to the main island, Greg,. Heo, John and I decided to walk away from the man port area to find the “Artificial Beach,” as it is labeled on maps About ten minutes later we found it – small but really beautifully blue-green inlet with rocks dividing it from the main part of the ocean. The air temperature was about 85, but the sea was 87, so swimming through the small “sea” was really wonderful. After we had our fill of swimming, we settled on our beach towels to sun ourselves. That’s when our problems started. A very nice young man and two young women came over to us and told us they were members of the police, although dressed in plainclothes. They explained that, as this was a Muslim country, my rather modest one-piece swimsuit was illegal, and I needed to cover up, including shoulders and knees. I was somewhat annoyed, but we are respectful of local rules, so I grabbed my clothes and started to dress. John picked up his tee-shirt too, but was told he was fine, as he was male. I gritted my teeth, smiled, and continued to put on my clothes.

 

The three officers then asked us to tell all the other people on the beach the same thing, but John explained that we didn’t know those people, so we would not be telling them. They continued around the cove of sand, explaining the same thing to others, even climbing up onto the rocks to make the women in the ocean come in and cover up. By the time we left the beach, about fifteen minutes later, there must have been at least a dozen of the “swimsuit police” hanging around the edges of the cove and by then there was absolutely no one in the water. The irony of the situation was that one of the policemen had on a button that said, “National Women’s Day.” Oh well. Travel really is an education.

 

We continued our walk through the island, which really isn’t very large. We saw the Presidential Office Building, the Presidential Residence, and a huge, gold-topped mosque. Male` is an incredibly densely populated island, apparently the second most in the world after Hong Kong. Finally, at about 2:00, we headed back to the ship for a lat lunch, a nap, and a wonderful sailaway at 6:00. We enjoyed Male` but next time, we’ll stay at one of the private island resorts.

[Johnny B]

March 9 – Day 63

At Sea en route to Bombay

 

One day while walking toward our cabin, we were “accosted” in the hallway by a sweet looking older man (we should talk!) who wanted to know if we had been to his lecture the day before. We mumbled something incomprehensible, because we didn’t want to admit that we hadn’t been. Then he said that that afternoon he’d be speaking about Maldives and why it was important to go there as soon as possible, since it would eventually be covered by water. He winked at us and said, “If you’d like to attend my lecture, I’ll get you some free tickets.” We laughed politely and thanked him for the offer, since the lectures are always free.

 

The awkward part of the situation was that we HAD seen him when his lecture was televised, and although he knew a great deal about his subject, he just dithered through his talk and, if I’d been in the room, I would have been sound asleep within ten minutes.

 

Exploration speakers run the gamut. Almost all are incredibly knowledgeable, but their ability as public speakers varies enormously. Ambassador Walker, former representative of the United States to three Africa countries, was an an example of an incredibly knowledgeable and lively speaker whose talks were well attended. Another speaker was our ice captain, Patrick, who had a dry sense of humor and kept us well informed about what we would see in Antarctica and the significance of it.

 

HAL has speakers who are appropriate to the area and knowledgeable in their fields. If their presentations are poorly attended, especially if numbers go way down in subsequent presentations, that speaker is probably not invited back, Since HAL has many ships, and often speakers move from one ship to another, they do not want to be uninvited on other cruises. That’s why the speaker was trying to drum up attendees for his talks. By the way, we skipped them.

[Mrs. Mac]

John & Diane I soooo look forward to reading your posts each day. Thank you so much for taking us all along with you.

 

Does someone have the link to Greg & Heo's blog? I feel like I'm missing out on something!

 

Thanks,

Kim

[2552phxcrzr]

John & Diane I soooo look forward to reading your posts each day. Thank you so much for taking us all along with you.

 

Does someone have the link to Greg & Heo's blog? I feel like I'm missing out on something!

 

Thanks,

Kim

 

http://cruisedownunder.blogspot.com/

[Mrs. Mac]

Thank you so much for the link. It's nice to have faces to put with the names, and they have some fantastic pictures on their blog.

 

Kim

[DFD1]

h2so4, Thanks for the link. There are some great photographs on the Greg & Heo blog. They have gone a wonderful job with their blog.

[Johnny B]

March 11 – Day 65

Bombay – or Mumbai, as you please

 

Do you remember the “E” rides at Disneyland? (If you don’t, ask your folks.) Well, a taxi ride in Bombay is probably an “F” or “G” ride. The streets are absolutely chock-full of little cars, motorbikes, trucks, taxis, and the odd ox cart. Lane lines are merely decorations, and, strangely enough, everyone seems to know the rules.

 

We began our 95-degree day with a 20-minute walk from the ship to the Gate of India. If we had a dollar for every time we were offered a taxi, we could have bought the darn thing. We continued walking, dodging cars, people, and motorbikes. We didn’t know if their brakes worked, but their horns sure did! The funny part was the sign on the side of the road which read, “Silent Zone.” Oh, sure.

 

We arrived at the Gate of India, across from the Taj Hotel, site of last year’s terrible terrorist attack. Our target was the Elephanta Caves, on an island an hour’s boat ride away. Talk about a “slow boat to China,” this boat was so slow it was almost at stop. At least there was a breeze, which helped with the temperature. When we (finally!) arrived at the island, there was about a quarter-mile hike to the ticket area, and then about 300 yards up steps to the caves. On both sides of the stairs are vendors, but they weren’t quite as aggressive as the ones in town.

 

At the top, we began with Cave number 1. Because I’m claustrophobic, I was a bit hesitant about anything called a cave, but they were really just big open areas carved into the mountain. The carving was incredible. At the entry, each side had a different large carving of Shiva, to whom the island is dedicated. Inside there were huge statues, the largest one of Mahesh Murti (no, I hadn’t heard of him either). There were entire separate rooms carved in the cave as well as carvings of deities on every wall. It was incredible. We continued around to caves 2 and 3, but basically, they were just pillars on the outside and empty rooms inside, so we headed on back..

 

The stalls had some beautiful Indian coral necklaces, but I thought they were a bit too expensive for me. Finally, at the last one before the boat, I expressed interest in one, and even tried it on. That was it! The vendor followed me and even came onto the boat, all the time negotiating a price. Finally we agreed, and the long, three-strand necklace is now mine.

 

After our return to the Gate, we walked across the street to the Taj hotel, where the security is extremely tight, so I could make an appointment for a pedicure tomorrow. (I refuse to pay the outrageous prices charged on the ship).. Walking in there is like entering an oasis. It is quiet and peaceful, not to mention incredibly beautiful. I finally found the salon, make my appointment for tomorrow (which will cost $14.00 – eat your hearts out, ladies), and at long last, we were ready for our 3:00 lunch.

 

A former student of Indian descent who is currently a member of IndiaCorps (remember Peace Corps?) had recommended that we try Leopold Café, near to the Taj Hotel. After a bit of a walk, we found it. It’s an open-front European-style café, but with bag checks at the two front doors. The large middle glass door, no longer in use, still has bullet holes in it from the attack, as does one of the windows between the downstairs and upstairs dining rooms. It’s really scary knowing that the terrorists came this far from the Taj and began shooting up the place. But now everything is back to normal and they make a killer chicken tikka masala along with some wonderful garlic naan. Yuuuuum!

 

At about 4:00 we finally got back to the ship and were never so appreciative of air conditioning. We were just about rolling onto the ship with an overabundance of Indian food, and then we had to get ready to go out to dinner with some of our friends. We went to Khyber, a highly recommended restaurant not too far from the Gate of India. It is absolutely gorgeous inside and out and, if you like Indian food, that is definitely the place to go. Bruce, our cruise director, told us that it’s his favorite restaurant in the entire world, and that’s really saying something. We did something really smart at dinner: we ordered four starters and ate those before ordering main courses. We had originally intended to order 5 main courses to share, but by the time we finished the starters, the number had been reduced to 3. Even so, everyone was stuffed by the time we waddled out onto the street.

 

We have one more day in Bombay tomorrow, so we’ll have to discover some more adventures.

[Kween Karen]

These reports are just wonderful! A world cruise is on my agenda for SOME day......and this is a teaser for me!! Thanks so much!

[Johnny B]

March 12 – Day 66

Mumbai

 

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday it was hot, humid, sweaty, and we were outside all day. Today was just as hot, maybe a little less humid, but it was ever so much easier to get through. This morning at 10:00 we joined Susie, Barbie and Sky in the air conditioned van-style taxi that they had all day yesterday and had reserved again for today. What a treat! They paid $10 per hour to be picked up at the ship, driven around town, dropped off one place, picked up later, dropped off somewhere else, etc., etc. It was really quite lovely.

 

We began at the Taj Hotel, where Susie and I had appointments for pedicures, but when I found out I could get in early, I decided to add a haircut to the list. The foot and leg massage for the pedicure went on and on – I could have happily stayed there for days. After my haircut, I was told, “You look like such a cute little Dutch boy.” I didn’t consider that one a compliment, but I do like the haircut.

 

After that, John, Sky and I headed over to a “department store” to look for Indian clothes. Boy, in that heat, the clothes the traditional Indians wear make perfect sense. They are made of thin fabric and are very loose, allowing any air possible to get in. We’ve got Indian night coming up in a couple of days, and although I have one of Susie’s saris to wear, John needed something. It was amazing how inexpensively one can dress up in an Indian outfit.

 

After shopping (and finding something for our granddaughter), we headed to lunch. We do love Indian food (had you figured that out?), so we ate . . . Chinese! It wasn’t our choice, but it was a lovely restaurant, and we always feel better when we’re the only westerners in the restaurant. The meal was good and afterwards, we were all tired enough to head back to the ship.

 

Something that is very troubling here and elsewhere in India is the begging. India is far from the only place where begging is common, but it is striking. The most common type of beggar by far is a young woman in a sari with a tiny child in one arm and the other hand out. The second most common is a small group of young girls, some as young as our own granddaughter (3-1/2) with their hands out. It really tugs at the heartstrings to see these girls and young women, but we know that if we give money to them, not only will it simply encourage more beggars to go after us, but that the money is going to a man who sends out these groups. At least that is what some tour guides and guest speakers have told us. The strange part is that, even though we’ve been out in the city for two full days, I’ve never seen a male beggar. I know they must be somewhere, but here it’s the women and girls who go after the tourists. It’s sad, but a fact of life.

 

Friends of ours participated in an eco-tour of the slums where Slumdog Millionaire was set. They toured the recycling facilities and schools for almost three hours and said that they never once saw a beggar, but only people who were trying to improve their lives.

They told us that the tour was very rewarding.

 

All aboard is 5:30 today, and then 6:00 is sailaway, so we’ll no doubt be up on deck and taking part in the festivities, remembering how very fortunate we really are, just because of an accident of birth. We are looking forward to Goa tomorrow.

[Johnny B]

March 13 – Day 67

Goa, India

 

If you ever want to move somewhere tropical and beautiful, surrounded by water, with an incredibly low living expense, consider Goa. There are some beautiful beaches, and Goa was extremely popular during the late 60’s and early 70’s when “Hippies” came here by the hundreds. It continues to be a very popular vacation spot for backpackers and people from other parts of India, who make up 70% of the visitors. I thought it was an island, but it turns out to be a peninsula in southern India formerly owned by Portugal. It’s an important Indian port, exporting a great deal of iron ore, and the port area looks like it. Most ports are fairly unattractive, excepting a few, like Sydney and Hong Kong, and this one is no exception. The other drawback is that the port is rather a distance from anything resembling “downtown,” so we decided to sign on for a tour run by our cruise agents.

 

We forgot to bring the shore excursion book along, so we really weren’t sure about much of this tour, except that the title included something about churches. We thought it would be about three hours, but when we got on the bus, we found out that it was quite an overview of the area and that it was 6-1/2 hours, including lunch.

 

Our first stop was at a small Hindu village, where we walked up the main street (feeling like intruders) and looked at small (really small) shops and a temple. Everyone was dressed colorfully and the kids were just too adorable. A group of small boys was involved in a cricket match, India’s favorite sport. The people were friendly and were pleased to let us take their pictures. Our best was a photo of two cute little girls.

 

Next we drove to the Basilica of Goa, a church built about 1600, called either Bom Jesus or the church of St. Francis Xavier. It is huge and beautiful, with an altarpiece completely covered in gold leaf. Wow! To the right of the altar is the chapel dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, and it is topped by his glass coffin. Yes, he’s quite visible through the glass. The ship’s information on the basilica included the fact that there have been instances of disappearance of his body parts over the years. One woman is said to have bitten off a toe and carried it back to Portugal in her mouth. TMI, right?

 

After visiting the Church of St. Cajetan, we headed to the indoor market in Panjim. It had a plethora of fruit, vegetable and flower stalls and the most interesting thing to me was that most of the shop keepers sat on top of their tables, behind the merchandise. It resulted in some great photos.

 

Lunch was at the beachside Marriott Hotel with a buffet of Indian and western dishes. While looking for the rice to top with my curry, I noticed a huge pan of mashed potatoes. Western, indeed. The hotel sits above a beautiful but unusable beach (because of pollution), but it has a really lovely pool complex, complete with waterfall. After a short stop at a rather expensive tourist shop (with air conditioning!) we headed back to the ship, arriving only an hour before “all aboard.”

 

We now have four blissful sea days en route to Kuala Lumpur, and I plan to take full advantage of them to watch movies, read, and nap. There are a couple of parties, too, so our evenings should be busy. We’re looking forward to all four of those days.

[jghllnd1]

I am really enjoying going along with you on your adventure. Just want to say thank you for taking the time to do these posts.

[sailtheoceanblue]

Appreciate your reports .. feels like we are right there with you! Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us .. I look forward to reading the next installment!

[BoardwalkBabe]

Your reports are wonderful! :) Can't wait to see where we go next.

[Johnny B]

March 15 – Day 69

At Sea en route to Kuala Lumpur

 

Two years ago, every cabin was full on this cruise. There were about 1250 passengers. In fact, at the end of the weekend HAL opened the books for the 2008 cruise, every room with a verandah was booked. We felt very fortunate to be able to book one. This year, there is an average of under 1000 passengers, with the ship completely full only between Singapore and Hong Kong. There are several reasons for this, the most important probably being the economy. However, many people said they weren’t booking because of the cruise’s direction. Yep, west to east is NOT popular.

 

When we first found out what this year’s itinerary would be (while sailing in 2008), we said that we wouldn’t sail eastbound. Well, here we are. Why do people object? Today was a good example. At 2:00 this afternoon, it became 3:00 because we crossed into another time zone. In 2008, we got an extra hour’s sleep about every four days, which was just blissful. However, this time it’s just the opposite. We lose an hour about every four days, but when we’re at sea it is occasionally two or even three days in a row. Fortunately, instead of doing this overnight, giving everyone an hour’s less sleep, they do it at 2:00 in the afternoon, making it 3:00.

 

The people who are most affected, of course, are the staff members. Our two cabin stewards, for example, are usually off in the afternoon between 2:00 and 5:30. When clocks go ahead, they lose an hour of their free time. It doesn’t seem fair.

 

The most interesting time change took place as we approached India, which, for all its size, has only one time zone. The strange thing is that it’s on the HALF hour. The day before we arrived in Bombay, we had to set our clocks ahead a half hour. The day after leaving Goa, we set them ahead another half hour. It is a unique situation.

 

OK, if it’s so unpopular with passengers, why do they do it? We were told that it’s because of Japan and China. If HAL wants to call there, it would be mid-winter if the ship sails westbound from the US. However, if it’s near the end of the cruise, it’s spring and cherry blossom time in Japan and a little warmer in China. So there you are. John and I have never been to Japan, and the only places we’ve been in China are Hong Kong and Macao, so we’re really looking forward to it.

 

I guess the bottom line is that we booked for the ports and overlooked the direction. I still don’t like it, but I’m really looking forward to seeing those ports.

 

* * * *

 

The excitement tonight is the show. Our entertainer is Larry Hagman, with a program called “Confessions.” It’s described as “a funny and candid self-portrait featuring a multi-media presentation.” Should be interesting. I’m sure the Queen’s Lounge will be filled for this one. Reviews will be presented tomorrow!

[irwinler]

But, when you cross the International Date Line, you'll gain a whole day!

How do they deal with that? (Shades of "Groundhog's Day" - will you repeat everything you did the day before? LOL)

Nancy

[Pete Jackson]

The time zones can really get to you on those eastbound transatlantic cruises. At 50 degrees north latitude, the time zones are only about two-thirds as wide as they are at the equator and you can easily get four successive 23 hour days!

 

Oh, the suffering we do to cruise...:p