Join Pete and Judy on their FIRST World Cruise on the Amsterdam

[teamflames]

Did u visit the mcg? One of the great sporting stadiums of the world. Capacity 100,000. Has great museum.

What did u think of the art? I personally love it. I used to work with a French lady who would beg me to source art for her whenever I visited oz

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Did u visit the mcg? One of the great sporting stadiums of the world. Capacity 100,000. Has great museum.

What did u think of the art? I personally love it. I used to work with a French lady who would beg me to source art for her whenever I visited oz

 

 

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No I didn't make it there. We only had a few hours -wish we had more - I will have to come back!

[teamflames]

No I didn't make it there. We only had a few hours -wish we had more - I will have to come back!

 

Im glad you enjoyed Melbourne (all my relatives are from there) and Sydney (my hometown). Sounds like Sydney has had a wet summer so far so hopes the sun is shining when you arrive ... I would imagine Sydney would be an awesome sail entry (correct terminology?). Even growing up there I still love riding the ferries. Hope the Sydneysiders treat you well:)

[alsas]

Sydney is wonderful weather has been HOT the last few days..

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 35, Sailing toward Sydney Australia

 

Today is Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras decorations are starting to sprout up throughout the ship. We are also ending our first segment so we will be saying goodbye to about 150 people and say hello to about 150 more. It will be interesting to welcome the new folks and see how they get acclimated to the ship. Can we expect another wave of the traditional welcome aboard events? Another Captains reception? We will find out soon enough. The HAL and Carnival Corp executives arrive in Sydney tomorrow and they will be hosting a variety of events between Sydney and Cairns.

 

 

They announced the winners of the first photo contest and our table mate, Susan, was one of the winners with her underwater picture of a pair of sharks. All the pictures were good and the winner was selected by a panel of 4 judges including the Captain, Hotel Director, Cruise Director and Barbara, the location guide…..This is better than having the passengers vote which has sometimes been the case.

 

Dhinawan was the guest on Good Morning Amsterdam and discussed his background and gave an overview of the painting workshop he would hold this afternoon. Barbara wrapped up the show with an overview of what we can expect in Sydney. The bow will be open at 6am as we approach Sydney and they will be serving “Opera House Rolls” which Gene conceded are very similar to Panama Rolls and which will also look a lot like Hong Kong rolls and Suez Canal Rolls.

 

There were 4 sessions scheduled for the Aboriginal art class in Club HAL starting at 3pm. We arrived at 2:30 and the class was already half full and it filled up right before the scheduled start time. Dhinawan explained the background of Aboriginal art and then passed out water based acrylic paint and paper and invited us to capture our experience on the world cruise using symbols from our experience. We didn’t get very far as our time ran out, but we took our partially completed drawings to complete later.

 

The weather was perfect today and Judy got some sun on our Verandah as the sun was at the perfect angle to shine on our deck.

 

 

While most of the ship was decorated for Mardi Gras, the Pinnacle Grill was dressed up for a special Australian Outback dinner.

 

The waiters in the MDR were wearing colorful Mardi Gras costumes and many people were wearing the Mardi Gras beads. We brought a box of beads with us from San Diego and we were passing them out as we went along. About a month before the world cruise, HAL sends out a booklet with all the special events so you can plan ahead and buy any special items. A copy of this booklet is posted on the blog under World Cruise Activities.

 

A special Mardi Gras party was held in the Crow’s Nest from 9-11pm so we wrapped up dinner at 9:15 and headed up to check out the fun. The place was jammed and everyone was having a wonderful time with Cruise Director Gene leading the way in a colorful costume. Judy and I broke out our Mardi Gras masks and joined the fun.

 

 

The Australian Tenors, 3 tenors and a piano player, performed in the Queens Lounge this evening. They put on an amazing performance of popular opera songs and local Australian favorites, the most familiar being “Waltzing Matilda.” The show concluded with a rousing standing ovation followed by 2 encores which extended the show to close to an hour. We will be in Sydney overnight and are looking forward to seeing the Barber of Seville in the Sydney Opera House. Stay tuned for the details tomorrow.

 

 

More pictures on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[teamflames]

Sorry if silly question. Is the Mardi Gras on board related to the Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras? I know that is usually in February. I have never seen it live but it has grown hugely over the years and would now be one of the biggest annual events on the calendar. The floats made are seriously impressive. Sorry if it's completely unrelated

 

 

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[teamflames]

Oh and many Aussies consider waltzing Matilda to be the unofficial national anthem. In fact it used to be played directly after the anthem at international rugby matches

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Sorry if silly question. Is the Mardi Gras on board related to the Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras? I know that is usually in February. I have never seen it live but it has grown hugely over the years and would now be one of the biggest annual events on the calendar. The floats made are seriously impressive. Sorry if it's completely unrelated

 

 

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I think so. But I don't know for sure

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Good Morning Sydney!

 

 

 

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

What a Beautiful Morning

 

 

Our very first cruise ship. Dawn Princess Alaska 1998

 

 

Sydney Rolls

 

 

 

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Edited February 9, 2016 by The-Inside-Cabin

[The-Inside-Cabin]

 

The Opera House at Dawn

 

 

 

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Starting to spin now and back into our berth at White Bay

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Almost there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[pxn748]

I lived in Australia in '77 and '78 ( my God that's is along time ago) west of Cairns on the Atherton Tableland. It is very beautiful and has great waterfalls, jungles, and believe it or not extinct volcanoes. If y'all haven't got anything planned you should rent a car and go see it. The road up has many, many hairpin turns, and the view to the coast is spectacular.

I was in NZ for a couple of weeks then too and took the ferry back and forth to Picton

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I lived in Australia in '77 and '78 ( my God that's is along time ago) west of Cairns on the Atherton Tableland. It is very beautiful and has great waterfalls, jungles, and believe it or not extinct volcanoes. If y'all haven't got anything planned you should rent a car and go see it. The road up has many, many hairpin turns, and the view to the coast is spectacular.

 

I was in NZ for a couple of weeks then too and took the ferry back and forth to Picton

 

 

We have been here a few times and have seen the Blue Mountains Today we are going to ferry to Manly, Watson Bay and the go to the Opera tonight

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Here is today's plan

 

[ozcruizer]

Sorry if silly question. Is the Mardi Gras on board related to the Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras? I know that is usually in February. I have never seen it live but it has grown hugely over the years and would now be one of the biggest annual events on the calendar. The floats made are seriously impressive. Sorry if it's completely unrelated

 

I think the Mardi Gras on the Amsterdam is more likely modelled on the Mardi Gras in Rio. When you think of it, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is also similarly celebrated - it's just that it has another aspect to it.

 

Ozcruizer

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Sorry if silly question. Is the Mardi Gras on board related to the Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras? I know that is usually in February. I have never seen it live but it has grown hugely over the years and would now be one of the biggest annual events on the calendar. The floats made are seriously impressive. Sorry if it's completely unrelated

 

 

 

I think the Mardi Gras on the Amsterdam is more likely modelled on the Mardi Gras in Rio. When you think of it, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is also similarly celebrated - it's just that it has another aspect to it.

 

 

 

Ozcruizer

 

 

This one is modeled after the one in New Orleans

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Left the ship. HAL gets demerits for poor shuttle service to circular Quay. When I saw people sitting everywhere in the terminal I assumed it was a wifi hotspot.

 

Nope. It was people waiting for the shuttle bus. First take a number. Then wait for a while - some said 20-30 minutes - we didn't hang around to find out. Then ride for 20-30 more. No priority apparently for suites or Mariners as we shared cab with suite people.

 

We shared a cab and will spilt $25 AUS fare

 

 

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Edited February 9, 2016 by The-Inside-Cabin

[IllinoisGirl1978]

[quote=The-InsiWhat are Sydney Rolls? they look good :p

[The-Inside-Cabin]

 

 

A very doughy roll - almost like a jelly doughnut - there are stuffed with sweets

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Left the ship. HAL gets demerits for poor shuttle service to circular Quay. When I saw people sitting everywhere in the terminal I assumed it was a wifi hotspot.

 

Nope. It was people waiting for the shuttle bus. First take a number. Then wait for a while - some said 20-30 minutes - we didn't hang around to find out. Then ride for 20-30 more. No priority apparently for suites or Mariners as we shared cab with suite people.

 

We shared a cab and will spilt $25 AUS fare

 

 

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Should have went with Uber. Taxi was confused about where the Rocks were. Went way out of way. Driver doesn't speak English well. $25 fare turned into $40. Sigh

 

 

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[ellieanne]

Sorry if silly question. Is the Mardi Gras on board related to the Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras? I know that is usually in February. I have never seen it live but it has grown hugely over the years and would now be one of the biggest annual events on the calendar. The floats made are seriously impressive. Sorry if it's completely unrelated

 

 

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Yes and No.

 

More No than Yes, though. Mardi Gras on the ship, like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival in Rio is based on Catholic tradition -- it's a last blow-out party of excess before the sacrifices of Lent, the 40 day period leading up to Easter.

 

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is a celebration with parades and costumes, but as far as I can tell currently has little or nothing at all to do with the religious roots of the Mardi Gras celebrations on Fat Tuesday (known in other places as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday).

 

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras this year is in March, which is a problem for authenticity because (1) it's not on a Tuesday -- Mardi Gras literally translates to Fat Tuesday, and (2) this year it falls DURING Lent, which is a period of sacrifice and denial. It's very hard to have a celebration of farewell to the flesh/fats/excess when the season of denial has already been going on for several weeks. But that's just me being stubbornly semantic and thinking that words should mean what they actually mean.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

On FAST ferry to Manly. 28 mph. $8.60 AUS one way

 

 

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Manly Wharf

 

 

Beautiful day !

 

 

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