Go With Me on My 2014 Grand World Voyage

[erewhon]

Thanks for the links, and taking us along with you.

[Esri]

Very cool webpage and even cooler maps.

(With your screen name I rather suspected the later ;-))

 

Thank you for doing this and sharing. I'll be following along. The times between captain Albert's contracts are so long..... And I think I just found my new favorite site.

 

While I am quite familiar with the software of which you speak, my screen name actually comes from a character on Star Trek. I've used it in online games for years. The first time I tried to name a character I tried for "Jadzia", but it was taken so I had to settle for "Esri" -- whom I never liked. I didn't realize for a few years that I had actually misspelled it! (The character was "Ezri Dax". ;)

 

Thank you for the kind words about my blog.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Esri

[TiogaCruiser]

While I am quite familiar with the software of which you speak, my screen name actually comes from a character on Star Trek. I've used it in online games for years. The first time I tried to name a character I tried for "Jadzia", but it was taken so I had to settle for "Esri" -- whom I never liked. I didn't realize for a few years that I had actually misspelled it! (The character was "Ezri Dax". ;)

 

Thank you for the kind words about my blog.

 

I've lived with Trekees since Captain Kirk boarded the Enterprise and somehow missed that. It even rubbed off on me for awhile. Will have to get details from DH when we get home.

[seagarsmoker]

I will also be reading your blog. Thanks for the invite!

[t60]

Is there a way to subscribe to your blog please Patricia?

 

Sandy in Spain

[Esri]

Is there a way to subscribe to your blog please Patricia?

 

Sandy in Spain

\

 

Yes, there is! Thanks for letting me know it got turned off in an update! Right sidebar of posts and main page there is a "Subscribe by Email" form. :)

[t60]

\

Yes, there is! Thanks for letting me know it got turned off in an update! Right sidebar of posts and main page there is a "Subscribe by Email" form. :)

 

Just subscribed to your blog. All the other blogs I follow on Wordpress, give me a delivery frequency option, to which I tick immediate as opposed to weekly or daily, but yours doesn't have an option...is that correct or is there something else missing on the update? :-)

 

Sandy in Spain

[Esri]

Just subscribed to your blog. All the other blogs I follow on Wordpress, give me a delivery frequency option, to which I tick immediate as opposed to weekly or daily, but yours doesn't have an option...is that correct or is there something else missing on the update? :-)

 

Sandy in Spain

 

Mine just notifies you when there is a new post. If you always choose "Immediate" you are good to go. :)

[alibabacruisers]

I am looking forward to following your blog! Thanks for posting the details.

[Esri]

Read on Go With Me!

 

Time is just flying by as we head into the last 2 weeks until the ms Amsterdam embarks on her 2014 Grand World Voyage with me aboard! I've finished all my major projects -- including a new website for my friend Kim (she sells custom jewelry at Treasures by Eleni) and a photo booklet for members of our roll call on Cruise Critic. Now I only have "little projects" left to do.

 

Alas, not everything is going smoothly on those little projects. This morning I was trying to put together scrapbooks for myself, my sister, and my grandson, but the cheap binders I bought wouldn't go back together after I took them apart. The posts were plastic and totally worthless. So, I ordered some D-ring binders from Amazon. They are supposed to be here on Tuesday so I'll have plenty of time to put them together. Mine doesn't really need to be put together until I get back, because I'm not taking it with me.

 

I am taking a binder with me. This afternoon I'll be organizing the binder I purchased to keep track of just about everything on the world cruise. I've got tabs in the binder for copies of my travel documents, my custom itinerary printed from Holland America, all my tours and excursions, menus, the daily bulletins, new contacts, and information from our Cruise Critic meet and greets. The binder itself will be a great keepsake of the voyage and I'll also ransack it for items to scrapbook.

 

Tomorrow is physical labor day. I'm going to clean the carpet in the library where our puppy has missed the puppy pad on occasion. She's finally graduated from the puppy pads to outside. She learned to use the pads right away, but we failed miserably at transferring from pads to outside until a couple of weeks ago.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday are dedicated to celebrating Christmas with my sister and our four-legged family members. Later in the week I need to set up my laptop and accessories for the trip and organize my photography equipment. I also need to finish my packing list for what I'm taking with me on the drive to Fort Lauderdale. I'll need to finish up most of my packing before New Year's Eve, because I'll be heading out early on 2 January. I'm taking 2 days to drive to Fort Lauderdale. I planned it that way when my knee was really bothering me. I could make it in one day, but I'll stick to my plan.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me

 

 

Less than a week until Embarkation Day! Ask me if I'm getting a little antsy. I have just a few things to do on my "must complete" list. Today I'm going grocery shopping for the last time in four months. I haven't actually been that many times in the last six months either. Since I hurt my knee in July I've probably been three or four times. I've driven my sister to the store and sat in the car. After I finished my physical therapy my sister told me we could take turns, but I've only done it once since then. But I insisted on doing it this week. I can go to the commissary and there are some things we can't find anywhere else in town that she'd like to have on hand. So that's my major task for the day.

 

Tomorrow I have to finish cleaning the carpet. I got about halfway done on Friday. My back was killing me yesterday so I put finishing off until tomorrow. I WILL finish though. My last task for my sister before I leave is to connect our treadmill to the Internet. I ordered the treadmill about 30 minutes before I hurt my knee and the idiot that set it up didn't have the foggiest idea how to set up the wireless connection. It has been on my task list ever since, but I couldn't even climb up on it for several months and I've put it off for other tasks. Bad me.

 

Monday night I've having dinner with a dear friend. She's taking me to the airport in Savannah on Thursday to pick up my rental car so I can head on down to Florida. We wanted to get together one more time before I take off.

 

As for getting myself ready, I have only a couple of things left to do. The first is to get my photography gear organized. I know what cameras I'm taking, but haven't finalized what 3 lenses I'm taking for my Canon EOS 6D. I have to organize all the memory cards, batteries, and battery chargers too. Then get them all packed up. Yesterday I finished getting my laptop ready for the trip.

 

I'm hoping to get everything I'm taking into one medium-sized suitcase, a sling-style backpack, and a camera bag if I can't get everything safely stowed in the other two bags. All I really have left is my prescription meds, laptop, camera equipment, and enough clothes for 2 days. It should all fit.

[cruiznLYNN]

Thank you for taking the time to blog and for letting us cruise vicariously through you, especially during the winter! :)

 

Happy & Safe Travels!

Lynn

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Well, today's the big day. Hitting the road on my way to Fort Lauderdale to board the ms Amsterdam for the 2014 Grand World Voyage - Treasures of the World. When I decided to drive and not fly I was having problems not only with my knee, but with the arthritis in my back. So I decided to make it a two-day trip even though the entire trip is less than eight hours. Neither of those is currently a problem, but I'm still making it a two-day. Why stress myself?

 

I'm up and showered, waiting on my friend to pick me up to take me to the airport to pick up the rental car. Then I'll come back home, get the rest of my stuff (already semi-organized into piles) packed, take my sister to do her weekly grocery run (save her the taxi fare and aggravation on Saturday), pile everything into the rental car and head for Palm Coast, Florida, around noon.

 

It is still raining so my side trip to the Alligator Farm in Saint Augustine is probably a non-starter, but I have things to keep me busy at the Hilton this evening. As usual on the night before a trip, I didn't sleep well last night so I'm hoping I will sleep better this evening. Tomorrow morning it's up and out of there on the road to Fort Lauderdale. I've never been further south in Florida than Orlando, so I'm breaking new ground. I'd have to drive south of Miami to finally rack up the distinction of having driven every mile of I-95. I doubt I'll take the time to do so, but it is tempting. I've driven every mile of I-10, I-16, I-65, I-75, and I-20 already.

 

I have been torn between almost overwhelming anticipation, excitement, and dread for about a week now. 115 days is a long time to be away from home. How long before I begin to think, like Bilbo Baggins, "I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!" Nevertheless, today I am setting my foot out the door on my own great adventure and I hope I don't run into any dragons along the way.

[Mtn2Sea]

Have a great time! I'm looking forward to your updates as you see the world.

[KirkNC]

Thanks, I have added you to my world cruise bookmarks!

[Love the beach]

Thanks for taking us along...I'm sure the 115 days will just fly by! Enjoy every minute!

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I am snuggled safely in my room at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. The most exciting thing that happened on the trip down was trying to find the Budget Rental Car office in Fort Lauderdale. For future reference, if you are returning a rental car to the Budget office at 1515 NE 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale, the office is in a shopping center called Quay Plaza. There is a parking garage at one end and a row of offices and stores on the other. Near the roof on the building opposite the parking garage it says "Budget Car Rental" -- the office is actually on the first floor just to the right of the sign (if you are facing the building). Do not believe your GPS when it tells you the office is in the shopping center with Office Depot and Best Buy -- it is not.

 

Yesterday I picked up the car at the Savannah Airport (thank you again, Belinda, for the lift). They gave me an upgrade for $5.00 a day to a luxury car -- a Lincoln MKZ. It was a nice little car with all the luxuries to which I'm accustomed. (They had me at "heated seats" -- I can't tell you the difference the heated seats in my Taurus have made in my ability to drive with the arthritis in my back and right hip.) I guess I really do need to upgrade the Sync in my Taurus because the newer version works so much better with my iPod -- it still can't find my songs all the time, but at least it always remembered the iPod was connected where my Taurus often forgets.

 

After I got home I finished packing all my remaining gear and clothes for a couple of days. Then I took my sister to the store to do her grocery shopping for the week. Afterwards, I said good-bye to my sister and the dogs. (My Siamese saw the suitcases being packed, said "Rowrr!" and turned his back on me. I didn't see him again before I left.) Then I hit the road.

 

I arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Coast a little after 4 PM. I got settled in my room and called my sister. Then I went down and had bowl of clam chowder and a "Chipotle Steak Wrap". I can't honestly recommend either one. The soup was tasty but the potatoes were hard and the clams were chewy. The wrap was okay, but it had neither the cheese nor the avocado listed on the menu and there was nothing reminiscent of chipotle.

 

After dinner I called my son and my father and then I went to bed. I was one tired puppy. I seldom sleep the night before a road trip and Wednesday night was no exception. Last night I slept a bit better - I woke up a lot, but went back to sleep each time. I got up at 7:30 AM, took a shower, read my email and Facebook, and hit the road around 10:00 AM.

 

It was COLD. It was less than 40 degrees in Palm Coast and the wind was blowing. The sun was shining so I put on my sunglasses, but that was the last time I saw the sun until I hit Palm Beach around 2:30 PM. By the time I got to Fort Lauderdale it was around 73 degrees and very pleasant.

 

I spoke to the Holland America rep at the welcome desk and she assigned me to shuttle #1 for the Amsterdam tomorrow at 11:45 AM. She told me to have my luggage ready for the bellman to pick it up at 9:00 AM and to be in the waiting area, which she pointed out to me, at 11:40 AM. I think I'll head there a little early though -- say 11:15. I am ready for my adventure to begin.

[Scrapnana]

Tomorrow is going to be such an exciting day for you. I know how long you have planned for this cruise and I hope it is everything and more than your expectations. I am one of the sailaway addicts who will be watching you sail away even though it will be late. Enjoy!

 

Kathi

 

P.S. Thanks for your help!

Edited January 4, 2014 by Scrapnana

[erewhon]

Esri,

 

Wishing you a wonderful world cruise.

[AlohaPride]

So so SO excited to follow along with your blog! Not only because we'll be on the Amsterdam in Alaska, but because the world cruise is on our bucket list (we have plans to take it in celebration of my husband retiring many moons from now LOL).

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I hardly slept at all on Friday night. I finally gave up and got up and showered at 6:30 AM even though we wouldn’t be meeting to leave for Port Everglades until 11:45. I went down and had breakfast then went up and repacked my luggage. I’d decided to let two bags be transferred and only carry on one. I had to redistribute my computer and camera equipment.

 

That done, I still had about 2 hours to wait. I took my camera downstairs and took some pictures of the marina pavilion. Nothing much to look at really, but some boats. There were a couple of cats down there, but they were in the bushes catching lizards or something. I messed around with some HDR settings on the camera and I’ll see how those turn out. (I’m importing my photos from yesterday into Lightroom while I’m typing this.)

 

It started to rain so I headed back upstairs to my room. I finished a book I started about six months ago (The Last Child by John Hart). I can’t remember why I stopped reading it, because it was really pretty good. At 11:00, I checked out of the room and headed down to the area where we were to meet to catch the bus to Port Everglades.

 

Pretty much right on time at 11:45 the HAL rep rounded us up and we went out and boarded the bus. It took about 15 minutes to get everyone on and stow the luggage for those who didn’t have the “let the bellman pick your luggage up” option. Then we headed through the beautiful industrial areas of Fort Lauderdale to Port Everglades.

 

As we pulled into the port area, the first thing we saw was the “Oasis of the Seas” which looks like an apartment building. We passed a few more Royal Caribbean ships and then we saw the Westerdam, which was heading off on a Caribbean cruise, I believe. Finally, nestled in beside the Liberty of the Seas, we came to the beautiful Amsterdam. There were several folks heading to the Westerdam and as those of us heading for the world cruise got off the bus a woman told me to enjoy my cruise. I told her to enjoy hers and she laughed and said “Mine is nothing like yours is going to be!”

 

Embarkation was pretty easy and went quickly. The longest line was about 5 minutes. We did have to wait a bit for boarding (at least those of us not in suites or having 4 or 5 Star Mariner status), but it was only about fifteen minutes before they called number 14 and I headed for the ship.

 

By 12:45 I was in my little interior cabin. Alas, only one of my suitcases got there before me. I unpacked it and decided to call my sister. No reception inside so I went out on the wrap-around deck and called her. She was cooking a Boston Butt and getting ready for the Saints game. I talked to her for about fifteen minutes and then went to lunch in the Lido. I don’t like the Lido, but I was hungry. I had some dry roast beef and French fries.

 

By the time I got back to my cabin another suitcase had arrived. I unpacked it and it was almost time for the emergency drill. I headed out to Lifeboat Station 12 and waited for the drill. I know they tell you not go out there until it is time, but I was tired and didn’t feel like trying to get out there at the same time as everyone else. I wasn’t the only one. The drill went pretty well. We did have to wait about fifteen minutes for stragglers – I think some of them weren’t actually on-board yet. The Captain said this morning that we left Fort Lauderdale late because he was waiting for passengers delayed by the weather.

 

After the drill I went back to my stateroom and read for a while until time for dinner. I’d arranged with several fellow Cruise Critic members to share a table, but all did not go as planned there. One couple who had dropped out was still in our group even though we had all “disengaged” from their group. Their company was quite enjoyable, so I’ll hate them go this evening. They had us at a table for eight instead of six and later the staff brought another couple to join us. Not a problem except that two of the ladies we’d arranged to sit with had a cousin join them at the last moment, so we didn’t have room for all three of them.

 

Dinner was really good and everybody was talking. I had the Carpaccio of Beef Medallion as a starter, something I’ve never had before. It was delicious and I’ll have it again if it is offered. Then I had a Caesar Salad from the “Available Every Day” menu and the prime rib. The prime rib was very good, but a little more to the rare than the medium rare side. For dessert, I had the Crème Brulee – again from the “Available Every Day” menu. It was good, but I have to say my sister’s is better. We were having such a good time that they had to chase us out so they could get ready for the 8:00 seating!

 

After dinner I was so tired that I went back to my room, read for about an hour, and then went to bed. All my luggage had arrived, but I left the rest of the unpacking for today. Thus ended the first day of my great adventure.

 

PS - Thanks for all the good words and well wishes!

Edited January 6, 2014 by Esri

[AlohaPride]

Bon Voyage!!!

[Candiaccruiser]

Looking forward to travelling the world with you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Last night after I finished my Embarkation Day post, I logged on to Facebook. That’s how I found out that my father passed away sometime Saturday night. He went to sleep after watching his Saints win a play-off game and never woke up. His death was not unexpected. He was in a hospice. None of us thought he was going to die on Saturday night or next Saturday night or even the one after that. I knew it was a possibility he would die while I was on this cruise. I certainly didn’t expect it to be Embarkation Day.

 

I hope you will allow me to indulge myself and skip the write-up of what I did yesterday and tell you a bit about my father. He was my hero. One of my earliest memories is of him and me going fishing at a reservoir in Virginia. I made our lunch – peanut butter sandwiches and Oreo cookies. We sat on the reservoir and fished – I caught my first bass, but what I remember was how special I felt to be there with him – just us two.

 

I learned to love baseball and football because my Dad loved them. I’d sit and watch the games with him. I remember fetching his beer and even acting as the television antenna – moving the rabbit ears whichever way he said. Getting up to change the channel when he asked. So, not only was I the antenna, I was also the remote control. Not always, I have four little sisters and a little brother.

 

He was a Marine. He went to Viet Nam when I was eleven years old. I was just becoming aware of the world around me. I knew that “the hippies out in San Francisco” didn’t think much of the American servicemen who went to Viet Nam and did what their country asked of them. When I got a little older I developed some “leftist” sympathies. I began to see that not everything our country did was perfect, but even then it was hard to understand how people could spit on men like my father and his friends.

 

When I was seventeen I decided to join the Army after I graduated from high school. My father and mother both had to sign off on that because I wasn’t eighteen. My father refused to sign those papers. On the day I was supposed to go to the recruiting station to be sworn into the Delayed Entry Program (I couldn’t actually go on active duty until I was eighteen) my mother told me to give her the papers and she’d forge his signature. I got them down from the refrigerator and he had already signed them.

 

So I joined the Army. I got married and had two sons. Then I got divorced and met Paul. Well, technically I met Paul before I was divorced, but I was separated from my first husband. Paul was just the nicest guy I ever met. He adopted my sons and raised them as his own. My parents loved him like a son. My mother always said she thanked God I found him.

 

In 1990 Paul deployed with the 24th Infantry Division in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. I was terrified he wouldn’t come home. I was afraid he was just too good for me. One night my Dad took me out to his favorite bar and he told me how much he and Mom loved Paul. I told him I was afraid he wouldn’t come home. He told me he would. He did come home and we had almost 20 more years together.

 

When my mother died in 2003 my Dad was lost. That’s the only way to describe it. Then in 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck and he had a mission again – getting his house rebuilt and taking care of his daughters’ families while they rebuilt. After the rebuilding was done he told me he was trying to get in contact with his high school sweetheart, Nancy. They got together and spent much of the next eight years together. I’m glad he had Nancy in his life.

 

Dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. He was doing well on chemo, but then he got a staph infection in October. He spent the next two and a half months in the hospital. I went home in December to see him and it was clear that although his infection was gone, he wasn’t strong enough to go home.

 

My sister, Brenda, and I did the hard sell that he needed to go to a rehab facility. It was a hard sell. I felt like he hated me. He did go to a rehab facility, but then he developed bronchitis and couldn’t do his physical therapy. He hadn’t had chemo in three months. He felt like he was going one step forward and two steps back. He was tired.

 

I talked to him last Thursday night and he told me that he and Brenda had a meeting with his oncologist. Then he told me he wanted me to have a great time on my world cruise. I knew he didn’t want any more chemo, so it wasn’t a huge shock when my sister, Roberta, told me on Friday night that he was being transferred to a hospice. She said he didn’t have his cell phone and she didn’t have the info for the hospice yet. So I didn’t talk to him on Friday or Saturday.

 

According to Brenda Dad had a good day on Saturday. They stayed with him most of the day and through the Saints game. Dad was happy because the Saints won. They got ready to leave and said they’d see him tomorrow. He said “I’ll be here.” But he wasn’t. Brenda got the call Sunday morning that he died in his sleep.

 

Dad as much as told me to stay on the cruise if he died. All my family tells me the same. So I will be continuing the cruise and the blog. He had a good life, but he was still my Daddy. So I’m sure there will be times when I miss him more than I can say.

 

We will miss you, Daddy. Give Mama our love.

[Cruzin Terri]

My deepest condolences. I am enjoying your blog so much. This must be so hard for you. I will keep you in my prayers.

Terri