Explore the world with Pete & Judy on the 2018 Holland America Grand World Voyage

[JR42]

Enjoying your reports. I was looking for the sample cruises for 2020 to print but I couldn’t find them. I checked the blog and all previous post. I’m beginning to think I imagined them. Would you please let me know where they are.

Thanks and keep the reports coming

 

Janet

[Happily@Sea]

Enjoying your reports. I was looking for the sample cruises for 2020 to print but I couldn’t find them. I checked the blog and all previous post. I’m beginning to think I imagined them. Would you please let me know where they are.

Thanks and keep the reports coming

 

Janet

 

 

Look around Feb 18, that is the day I copied them.

[JR42]

Look around Feb 18, that is the day I copied them.

Carole

 

Thanks but still can’t find them. Pete had a copy of the one he liked so it should be easy to find. I wonder if it was deleted. I’m think I’m going crazy

 

Janet

[gigianne]

Edited February 26, 2018 by gigianne
delete

[gigianne]

Pete started another thread - “2020 World Cruise Survey....”

[JR42]

Pete started another thread - “2020 World Cruise Survey....”

Thanks found the thread but says the info on the blog, still can’t find it. Feeling really stupid

 

Gigianne thanks see you on the EE in May

[carolyn22]

I found it on his blog between day 39 and 40.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[JR42]

Got it Thank you Thank you

 

Janet

[MMDown Under]

No time for honey. We went to a place in Napier, Is Kangaroo Island Honey special?

 

Yes. "KI has the only pure strain of Ligurian bee left in the world introduced from Italy in 1881. KI is the oldest bee sanctuary in the world." Emu Ridge, KI.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Menus and when are wheres are now caught up on the blog....just leaving Bali - Really fast wifi in terminal

 

More posts coming

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 47 - Albany, Western Australia - 20 Feb

 

Albany sits on the south eastern coast of Australia about 250 miles south, south east from Perth. This is as far south of the equator as San Luis Obispo or North Carolina are north of the equator, so the temperatures here today are what you would expect to find in those spots in late August.

The ship was cleared around 8 AM but we weren’t in any hurry to get ashore as we had no specific plans. During my pre-cruise research for this port, there wasn’t anything that caught my eye, so we would just be taking it easy and spend our time ashore exploring Albany on foot.

 

Getting Oriented

 

Here is a map that shows where we were moored along with the locations for the following points of interest:

• Free shuttle bus stop
  
• Public Library with free Wi-Fi
  
• Coles Grocery store
  
• ANZAC Museum
  

 

 

The cruise terminal is nothing more than an empty warehouse which leads out to an area that was coned off with lanes for taxis and marking paths for the shuttle and tour buses. There didn’t appear to be any restriction to walking out of the port if you were so inclined.

Walkabout

 

We left the ship around 11:30 AM and found the shuttle bus about ready to leave for the 5 minute ride to the center of town. Helpful volunteers met our bus and were available to answer questions. A shuttle bus that would take you to the ANZAC museum for $15 AUS round trip was parked right around the corner. A taxi to the museum would probably cost about $12 each way so that would be the better value for more than 2 people.

After we got oriented, we headed north toward the center of Albany and the Coles’ grocery store.

 

Haircut

 

Along the way I spotted a barber shop with an open chair, so I decided to stop in and get my first haircut of the cruise. Jenny was my barber and she was very nice and chatty, giving us some insight to life in Albany. She grew up in Perth but moved to Albany years ago for the cooler weather and more laid-back lifestyle. The haircut cost $25 AUS ($20 USD) as compared to about $29 USD (including tip) on the ship.

 

Shopping

 

Coles was across street and a very close walk. We spent about 1 hour there browsing around and stocking up on some Tim Tams, batteries for my flash and a few other items that we couldn’t live without. A liquor store called LiquorLand is adjacent to Coles and we found a few bottles of wine that were difficult to get in the USA. Later we discussed the pricing of wines at LiquorLand with some other guests who went on many wine tours and we learned that the prices charged by LiquorLand were always less than when you bought the same wine from the winery directly.

 

After Coles we headed back toward the shuttle bus stop but we would take a detour to see a local landmark called “Dog Rock” which, as the name implies, is a rock that looks like the head of a dog. Virtually every business near “Dog Rock” seemed to use “Dog Rock” in their name.

 

Talking with a shop keeper

 

We always look for opportunities to interact with locals and when I spotted the Firearm and Archery store on York Street, I stopped in to see if they were willing to discuss firearm issues in Australia. The store was empty, and the proprietor was friendly, and we spent about 20 minutes discussing the various Australian laws that govern the sale and use of guns and ammunition in Australia along with other issues. Once another customer arrived we thanked him for a great conversation and continued on our way. I won’t comment further on the specifics of our conversation to avoid getting sidetracked, but I offer this as an illustration of a method to explore a town beside visiting the normal tourist stops.

 

Library

 

On the way back toward the library we stopped by a store called Icky Finks, which was a smaller version of a Michaels that you would find in the USA. The store is hidden behind the shops on east side of York Street and is accessible from Serpentine Road. They had some acrylic and polyester yarn, plus a small selection of knitting needles and other accessories. Near the front door, they had some security camera photographs of people who were banned from the store – probably for shoplifting, but there wasn’t any reason given.

 

We brought our laptops with us to get them synchronized with various databases and get some updates. Doing some of this aboard ship is almost impossible regardless of how long you are willing to wait. The library offered up to 2 hours of free Wi-Fi and while the download speed was fine – the upload speed was about the same as the ship and worthless for my needs today. If you only want to browse the web or sent a few emails, the library is close to the shuttle bus and would be a fine choice for that purpose.

 

McDonalds

 

We heard that McDonalds had faster Wi-Fi, so we walked back up York Street to McDonalds where we bought some lunch and used their free Wi-Fi until it was time to go back to the ship.

 

All aboard was 4:30 and we didn’t want to leave early to walk back to the shuttle bus stop, so I called the local taxi company and booked a cab to pick us up at 4PM to take us back to the ship. The ride was about 10 minutes and cost $11.00 AUS.

 

Dinner

 

Popular Choices for dinner included: Tri-Tip Asada, with cilantro, lime crisps and a chipotle demi glaze or the Caribbean `Jerk' Whole Roasted Chicken with Jamaican peas and rice served with grilled pineapple spears.

 

Evening Show

 

DivaLicious was in the Queen’s lounge for their second show. This performance featured more Opera Airas rather than the popular show tunes of their first show. They have amazing voices and their show is very entertaining – don’t miss them if they are performing at a venue near you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Albany sounds like a very easy port to get around.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth

 

We didn’t arrive in Fremantle until 4 PM so we had full day of our normal sea day activities beforehand.

 

Morning at Sea

 

Judy and I started the day with Coffee Chat with Ben Sack, the Amsterdam’s Artist in Residence. Ben draws incredibly detailed pictures of various ports around the world and is currently working on a large 4-foot by 7-foot drawing that will depict all the various ports of this world cruise. He has a video on YouTube that shows how one of these large drawings came to life. You can watch it

 

At 10:30 today, they opened up the Galley’s for a “Behind the scenes Kitchen Tour”. Closed toed shoes were required and you had to complete a health questionnaire before being allowed back in the food preparation areas.

 

Afternoon

 

I played one game of Texas Hold’em today and lost.

 

Judy went to drawing class where they continue to work on shapes and how their shadows show the contour of the shape.

Today at crafts Judy made a pair of Cloisonné Ear Rings.

 

Fremantle

 

As we entered Fremantle harbor we spotted the Ocean Drover, which is the world’s largest purpose-built livestock carrier which can carry 75,000 live sheep or 18,000 live cattle to major markets around the globe.

 

 

 

The Amsterdam moored around 4 PM, port side, to the wharf adjacent to the Fremantle Cruise Terminal with the gangway located on deck 3 by the Atrium.

 

We headed off the ship around 4:40 and enjoyed some lively tunes by an Irish Band called “Southern Cross” as we passed thru the terminal.

 

We wanted to go to the Yarn Shop “Yarns on Collie” which was about a mile away but closed at 5:00 PM. Uber was readily available, so I ordered one up and it arrived at the cruise terminal in 2 minutes. Five minutes and $7 AUS later we arrived at the yarn shop with about 5 minutes to spare.

 

Tomorrow we would explore five Perth area yarn shops on our Yarn Crawl but we wanted to check out the closest shop today in case we started to run short of time and were unable make it to this shop tomorrow, as it was scheduled to be our last stop.

 

Fish and Chips

 

As we left the Yarn Shop we ran into our table-mate Susan. We didn’t have much for lunch, so we decided to get an early dinner. We headed down to the Fremantle waterfront to have some Fish and Chips at one of the many restaurants located on the Harbor. While wandering around the waterfront we came across this sculpture called “Coast Guard” by Greg James which was the signature work of the “Pawn Project” which “considers the value and status of the pawns beyond the chessboard. More information HERE.

 

After reviewing the potential restaurants on TripAdvisor we selected “Joe’s Fish Shack”. The place almost empty, but it was still pretty early and it would start to fill up later as we were leaving.

 

We all ordered the Fish and Chips which was offered as an Entrée for $26 AUS or as a Main for $22 AUS with the difference being the Entrée has 2 fillets instead of 1 with the Main. The fish was very good, and the single fillet was plenty enough for one person.

 

Sunset

 

The sun was about ready to set as we left “Joe’s Fish Shack” and we paused to watch and see if we could spot a green flash as we do quite often when we are home in San Diego. We weren’t disappointed as we spotted a small flash of green right as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

 

The evening weather was quite pleasant, and we were no longer in any particular hurry so we strolled back to the center of Fremantle and walked down South Terrace Street known as the “Cappuccino Strip” which is lined with restaurants, cafes and bars filled with tourists and locals.

 

There is a large Coles Grocery Store (with the adjacent LiquorLand) near the ship and we stopped in to pick up some snacks before heading back. Coles is open 7 days a week until 9 PM.

 

Back on the ship we stopped by the Lido where they were decorated for an Aussie Outback Cook-In where they were serving Kangaroo and Crocodile!

 

Since we had dinner early, we stopped by Table 303 to join the rest of our table-mates for conversation and desert.

 

No live show tonight since we were in port so they showed the movie “Suburbicon” in the Queen’s Lounge.

 

More pictures on the blog along with all the menus and daily programs. There is a reference section with easy access to copies of various memos and gifts we have received.

Edited February 28, 2018 by The-Inside-Cabin

[Krazy Kruizers]

With a short time in port today, at least you got to one yarn shop.

With all the travels we have done in many different countries, I have never seen a sheep/cattle ferry like that.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 49, 22 Feb – Perth Yarn Crawl

 

Today was the high-water mark of our World Knitting Cruise as we visited 5 yarn shops in less than 8 hours.

 

We contacted some local knitters via Ravelry before we began this cruise and they were helpful in identifying the best local shops. I plotted out their location and with the assistance of google maps I put together our schedule that would include driving time and lunch.

 

“Happy Go Lucky Tours” was my choice for a charter company who offered all day charters in a 13 passenger bus for $660 AUS. I made all the arrangements via email with Tanya, from their office, who very responsive and even offered to help coordinate our lunch reservations. If you ever find yourself in the Perth area, I would highly recommend “Happy Go Lucky Tours” to help you with any private tours. More information HERE

 

Yarn Crawl

 

Here was our schedule:

Depart Ship at 8 AM

• 8:00 – 8:15 Depart Fremantle Passenger Terminal
  
• 9:00 – 9:30 Bell Tower + Elizabeth Quay
  
• 9:45 – 10:00 Kings Park Botanical Gardens (quick photo stop)
  
• 10:15 – 10:45 Teddy Tree (226 Scarborough Beach Rd, Mount Hawthorn)
  
• 11:00 – 11:30 Crossways Wool and Fabrics (15/180 Rokeby Road, Subiaco)
  
• 11:45 – 1:00 Lunch at Indiana Tea House (99 Marine Parade, Cottesloe)
  
• 1:15 – 1:45 Calico and Ivy (1 Glyde St, Mosman Park)
  
• 2:00 – 2:30 Bilby Yarns (2/6 Harrison St, Willagee)
  
• 2:45 – 3:15 Yarns on Collie (19 Collie St, Fremantle)
  
• 3:30pm Return to Fremantle Passenger Terminal, Victoria Quay
  

The Yarn shops didn’t open until 10 AM so we were able to schedule a few tourist stops at Elizabeth Quay and the Kings Park Botanical Gardens before arriving at our first yarn shop, “Teddy Tree”, in Mount Hawthorn. When planning my excursions, I always go to the furthest point as soon as possible and then spend the rest of day heading back toward the ship. This way if you have any issues far from the ship you have more time to resolve them. As the day progresses you are getting closer and closer to the ship which makes it easier to deal with any issues that may arise later.

Traffic was heavy as we headed into Perth from Fremantle, but we had scheduled plenty of time, and we were able to remain on schedule.

Elizabeth Quay

 

Elizabeth Quay is a very modern harbor area that was recently redeveloped to attract visitors. A wide variety of shops, restaurants and cafes are here along with outdoor sculptures and other attractions. Visiting the Bell Tower here was on my list of things to do, but I didn’t notice during my planning that it did not open until 10 AM and we would miss being able to go inside.

I was surprised that the free Wi-Fi offered here to anyone on the street was as fast as my own Wi-Fi back in the USA. I figured it was probably designed to handle large evening crowds, so the sparse morning crowd enjoyed the entire bandwidth.

 

A Perth resident, Helen, joined us here and would stay with us for the remainder of our yarn crawl. We started chatting with her thru Ravelry and she offered to join us today to help provide some local knowledge and insight about the various yarn shops.

 

Kings Park

 

Mount Eliza, in Kings Park, was our next stop which is near a War Memorial and a gift shop. Many people on a HAL tour were here at the same time. We spent about 15 minutes enjoying the view with enough time for a quick spin through the gift shop.

There were 8 knitters on the yarn crawl and I went along to keep everyone on track and take pictures. I allocated 30 minutes for each shop, which was tight, but manageable. We would discover throughout the day that many of the yarn shops – or wool shops as they are referred to here, also carried fabric.

 

Teddy Tree

 

Our first yarn shop was Teddy Tree (226 Scarborough Beach Rd, Mount Hawthorn.) As one might expect by the name of this shop, we were greeted by Teddy Bears everywhere. There was a small selection of yarn and one room filled with quilt fabrics. Judy bought some Cotton Cashmere fingering yarn by Concept and a shawl kit in a coral gradient colorway by Katia. The shop had a well behaved dog watching over the shoppers with different colored eyes, which we later learned was a Dingo.

 

Crossways Wool and Fabrics

 

Crossways Wool and Fabrics (15/180 Rokeby Road, Subiaco) was our next stop and is located in a mall with only street parking so having a driver able to drop us off was a plus. This shop has a large selection of yarn with many brands familiar to American knitters such as Noro, Sublime and Malabrigo. Judy found an interesting gradient yarn from Japan which is so attractively presented that she’s thinking about framing it in a shadow box. Peggy and Judy both had their eyes on one of the last remaining color way combinations and almost got into a tussle over who would be the lucky buyer.

 

The Indiana Tea House

 

The Indiana Tea House (99 Marine Parade, Cottesloe) was our choice for lunch. Located directly on Cottesloe Beach, Tanya from Happy Go Lucky Tours coordinated our orders with the restaurant in advance so once we arrived we quickly confirmed our selections with the waitress and our food was on the way. Our table faced the Indian Ocean giving us a spectacular panoramic view out to sea and both north and south down the coast. Fish and Chips was the more popular choice followed by Pizza and a Cheeseburger. Service was prompt and the food delicious. They handled our group size easily and separate checks were no problem.

 

Calico and Ivy

 

Calico and Ivy (1 Glyde St, Mosman Park) was only a few minutes from our lunch stop and is one of the newer yarn shops we visited. Bright and cheery, more than half the space is devoted to quilt fabrics. The sign outside declared that it was ‘Linen Time’ and they featured Quince & Co.’s line of linen yarn. Judy was drawn to the yarns offered by the local Indy (Independent) Dyer, Dingo Dog. There wasn’t quite enough to knit a sweater so I offered that there was probably enough for a shrug. I wasn’t sure exactly what a shrug was, but I had recently seen that word on another pattern and figured it was a good time to use it in a sentence.

 

Bilby Yarns

 

Bilby Yarns (2/6 Harrison St, Willagee) was about 20 minutes away and we had to backtrack a little to get there. This is the place to go for spinners. Half of the shop’s offerings were rovings. Judy found six cakes of locally hand spun Corriedale wool and silk yarn. June Lynn, the proprietor, explained to Judy that the yarn was spun by Wendy Hancock, 82, who lives in the area and also raised the sheep.

 

Yarns on Collie

 

Our last stop, Yarns on Collie (19 Collie St, Fremantle) was the closest to the ship. Most of the yarns are a DK weight and heavier. Judy is more interested in the lighter weight yarns and asked if there were any linen blends. She was happy to find a 100% linen fingering yarn from Katia and she bought all the black yarn they had. I found a kit to knit a koala and added it to her purchases.

 

On the way back to the ship Tina, our guide from Happy Go Lucky Tours, suggested we make a quick stop at the end of High Street and walk up the steps to the Round House so we could see the street art called the Arcs d'Éllipses which is six large yellow ellipses that appear flat against the three-dimensional landscape and rise over the street. Read more about the art HERE.

As we left the harbor I noticed the Australian Navy diesel submarine, HMAS Ovens, on display next to the Western Australia Maritime Museum. She was built in Scotland in 1967 and was decommissioned in 1995.

 

Note: To walk to Coles and the rest of Fremantle from the Cruise Terminal, there is a footbridge available to make it easier to cross the busy road and train tracks nearby.

 

Back on the Ship

 

Dinner this evening featured Galumpkis (cabbage, rice, ground meat and tomato sauce), Chicken Cordon Bleu and Spaghetti with Meatless Meatballs. We all had a chuckle as we tried to square the Meatless Meatball circle. I ordered the Galumpkis as they remind me of some of my Grandmothers favorite dishes. But while Holland America’s Galumpkis were OK, they can’t compare to my Grandmothers.

 

Andy Bunger was in the Queen’s Lounge and put on a very entertaining show where he performed many popular tunes with a wide variety of instruments including drums, saxophone, a Pan Flute and a Hawaiian Steel Guitar. During the show, he played an amazing “drum duet” with Grahame, the Amsterdam Orchestra’s drummer.

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 50, Feb 23, At Sea

 

Today was the first of 3 sea days as we head almost due north toward Bali, our next port of call.

 

Coffee Chat

 

Hamish’s guest for Coffee Chat this morning was Andy Bunger, who performed last evening in the Queen’s Lounge. He was born into an European artist family with a long tradition of performing. He first appeared at the age of 5 when he played the bagpipes and juggled in his parent’s musical show. In addition to performing he is also an arranger, transcriber, musical director, freelance orchestra musician, studio musician and producer.

 

Excursion Talk

 

I stopped by the Queen’s Lounge at 10 AM to hear Barbara and Nyron’s talk about the excursions available during the upcoming ports. Nyron opened his talk with a plea for all guests to carefully consider their own limitations when scheduling ship tours and pay close attention to the activity level required as shown by the icons on each tour’s descriptions that depict from 1 to 3 walking people which indicate and activity level from easy to strenuous. One of the major complaints he receives is from passengers who stated that their tour was negatively impacted because the group had to wait for some folks who were on an excursion that exceeded their abilities.

 

Afternoon on the ship

 

I played 3 Texas Hold’em tournaments today, winning one, finishing second in the other and losing the other.

Judy attended Ben’s drawing class where they have started to concentrate on tones. Today’s lesson was creating value studies with anywhere from 4 to 9 steps of gray scale tones.

 

During crafts Judy learned wireworking and made a Trendy Chain Mail Bracelet. Both a Men’s and Women’s version was available. The difference was the Men’s bracelet had some dark rubber links while the Women’s was all silver tone.

 

Evening

 

Tonight’s dinner featured a Greek theme with Greek Moussaka and the Greek Soup with Chicken, Orzo and Lemon being offered. We are big fans of Avgolemono soup which has Chicken, orzo and lemons as major ingredients, but the presentation of this soup varies widely from restaurant to restaurant across the USA. This soup wasn’t advertised as Avgolemono, but we had hopes that it might be something we would enjoy. It was just OK and we will probably give it a pass in the future.

 

Patrick Murray with Jamaica’s Number 1 comedienne, Matilida, was the headliner in the Queen’s lounge this evening. Patrick is an amazing ventriloquist and he brings Matilda to life with incredible skill and wit. His show would be fabulous as a straight comedian, but his ability to play straight man to Matilda is hilarious and he was easily the best comedian we have seen on this cruise so far. Patrick is an amazing talent and his show is worth seeing again and again. Don’t miss it!

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am really enjoying your reports. It is sad when people chose excursions knowing that they can't really handle them.

[happicruzer]

Brought back memories of our Amsterdam walking tour. As we started our walk, the gentleman beside us said - “not again. He explained about his previous walking tour experiences. And, yes, for the third time the same lady got to the end of the ship and asked - where’s the bus. What do you mean there is no bus, I can’t walk that far.”

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 51 – At Sea - 24 Feb

 

As we close in on Bali, the temperature outside is getting warmer and warmer. Fortunately, the air conditioning on our Deck, 6, has been fabulous all cruise. We haven’t had any issues in our cabin or in the Deck 5 dining room.

 

Coffee Chat

 

Everyone’s favorite Asst. Dining Room Manager, Presty Sumitra, along with Assistant Housekeeper Made Sumayasa and Controller Jusuf Nouvy were the guests for Coffee Chat this morning. They were all very engaging and answered questions about their background, their families and what their plans were for the upcoming visit to Indonesia. Presty only lives 15 minutes from the ship and he plans to bring on 22 guests. We learned later that Presty will be moving to the Koningsdam later this year and then to the Nieuw Statendam for her inaugural season in 2019. He will not be on the 2019 World Cruise.

 

Presty, in response to a question about crewmember training, explained that there is Holland America Training Facility in Indonesia where new employees go through about 2 months of training before being sent to their first ship. The first month focuses on teaching them what Presty called “Premium English” where they learn the correct syntax and phrasing for working in the service industry that caters to English speaking customers. The second month is about the specifics of their future duties such as cleaning cabins or working as a food or beverage waiter.

 

Uchi, a waitress in the Pinnacle Grill, performed a traditional Welcome Dance. She did a wonderful job and would prove to be the equal of many we would see performing the dance later.

 

Knitting

 

My knitting has been on hiatus for a few weeks, but I returned to the Crow’s Nest today to catch up and knock off a few rows. I picked up a small bit of inspiration while on the yarn crawl. I even had Judy buy me a Koala project that will be the first to join my UFO (Unfinished Object) shelf, but Judy sighed and said I had to start the project before I could relegate it to an UFO shelf. We’ll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

 

Afternoon

 

I played 3 Texas Hold’em tournaments and finished in 3rd place each time.

 

Today in drawing, Judy continued working on tonal values and shadows. Ben used an egg for an example and passed it around, so everyone could note the contours and shadows. Judy was feeling a little impish and sketched a likeness of Ben on the egg before passing it back.

 

The craft project this afternoon was to hand stitch the final sections together to turn a flat square piece of fabric into an Indonesian Fabric Flower Jewelry Pouch.

 

Six of us from Table 303 are now established as regulars at Evening Trivia which is held at 5 PM in the Piano Bar. The room is comfortably full with each team established in their own area. So far there haven’t been any turf battles. The game takes about 20- 30 minutes and has proven to be a lot of fun. We take the questions and answers to dinner and quiz our tablemates while we are waiting between courses.

 

Room Number Roulette

 

Our tablemates assembled in the Casino this evening before dinner to play “Room Number” roulette. Each of us started with $30 and would play for about one hour and then person with the highest dollar amount at 8 PM would be declared the winner – complete with all bragging rights and little else. Since the Casino only has 8 different colors of table chips, 2 of us played with $1 chips and had to pay attention to where our money was after each spin. The minimum bet is $1 for any single number or small group of numbers. There was a $5 minimum for any bet with that paid out 3-1 or lower.

 

Everyone started out playing their room numbers which for us would be a dollar on 6,2 and 11 or we could put money on 6,2 and number 1 twice. Peggy was the first big winner when she hit her room number twice in a row! After our room number bets, people starting betting however they chose for the rest of the hour. When the spinning stopped, I lost my entire $30, Judy ended up with $32 (winning $2) and 2 of our tablemates won over $150 each. Collectively, the ten of us ended up about $30 ahead. I think that our table put more money across the Roulette table this evening than the rest of the cruise combined.

 

As we were leaving the Casino on the way to dinner, Rick and I pointed out our standings in the Blackjack Tournament after the second round.

 

Gala Night

 

Tonight was a Gala Night with a Pan Asian Theme. All the staff in the dining room were dressed in traditional garb, including our wine steward, Kaye, who normally never wears the theme clothing like the waiters. Many of the guests wore items with an Asian theme, while most of the rest were decked out in traditional tuxedos and women’s more formal wear.

 

Sue, the ms Amsterdam nurse was our host for dinner. Sue is from England and we had a wonderful time discussing her duties and background

 

Choices for dinner included:

• PANSIT BIHON (Traditional Filipino Noodle Dish)
  
• CHICKEN, PAPAYA AND AVOCADO SALAD
  
• FILIPINO STYLE BARRAMUNDl lN BANANA LEAVES
  
• LAND AND SEA (Filet and Shrimp)
  
• INDONESIAN CURRY LAMB CHOP
  
• BALINESE-STYLE ROAST DUCK
  

Queen’s Lounge

 

Katei, was the featured entertainer this evening and was billed as a Rock Violinist. Contrary to recent practice, Katei was clearly advertised in the When and Where as a violinist. He opened with the Led Zepplin composition “Kashmir” and played other rock classics including Viva la Vida by Coldplay and Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars. The Amsterdam Orchestra was featured in many numbers and provided a beautiful accompaniment to his violin.

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 52 – 25 February 2018

 

Coffee Chat

 

My day started with the Coffee Chat with Hamish. Today’s special guest was Patrick Murray and Matilda. Coffee Chat takes place in the Explorer’s lounge and for most of the Coffee Chats the room is about 75% full including the extra seats that set up along the adjacent passageway. Today the Explorers Lounge was overflowing with standing room only and very little of that. This was by far the largest Coffee Chat crowd of the cruise to date.

 

Patrick discussed how he started working as a ventriloquist with Regency Cruise Lines in the Caribbean for several years and got to know many Jamaican women, a few of whom inspired him to create his current character Matilda. Over time he gradually began to phase out the other characters and his show is now performed exclusively with Matilda. Throughout the interview, both Patrick and Matilda took turns answering questions and bantering with each other and Hamish. Patrick remarked that he was able to work in about 30% of his second show into the interview since he was leaving in Bali and wouldn’t have a chance to do a second show. Patrick is a wonderful ventriloquist and comedian and his show is one you shouldn’t miss.

 

Knitting

 

Rick made a surprise appearance with a knitting project that claimed he was working on in secret for weeks. It looked a lot like the blue scarf Kathi (Scrapnana) is knitting.

 

Casino

 

I managed to qualify for the finals of the Blackjack tournament which was held today at 3PM. The tournament pits 7 players against each other and the winner is whoever has the most tournament chips after 7 hands after starting with $1500 in tournament chips. There are 3 qualifying periods over 3 days, which costs $20 per attempt or 3 for $40. The 7 people with the highest chip totals after the 3 rounds assemble after the 3rd round for the finals.

 

I ended up in second place after winning my first bet where I bet my entire stack. This allowed me to bet small for the remaining 6 hands and put in position to win the tournament if my single remaining opponent lost while I won the final hand. It didn’t work out that way as we both won and I couldn’t make up any ground.

 

I played two Texas Hold’em tournaments, winning one and losing the other.

 

Room Service Lunch

 

For lunch I ordered room service. I chose the Chicken Quesadillas and the Cobb Salad. Pictures of both are on the blog.

 

Dinner

 

Conor, keyboard player from the Amsterdam Orchestra, joined us for dinner. We remember Conor from the 2016 World Cruise. He told us that this is his fourth consecutive World Cruise. He was a great dinner guest and we always enjoy his performances with the Orchestra in the Queen’s Lounge.

 

Kangaroo was on the menu and several of us decided to give it a try. As expected it tastes more like beef than chicken , with a very similar texture.

 

Our assistant waiter, Billy, will be leaving the ship in Bali. We will miss him, but we are glad he will get to spend some time with his family. We also learned that he was recommended for a promotion for his next contract. Well deserved!

 

Queen’s Lounge

 

Llia and Olesja, billed as a “Spectacular Duo Acrobatique” put on an amazing acrobatic show this evening. After their show wrapped up, Olesja called Hamish to the stage and asked him to remove his jacket and Hamish joined the show with an impressive demonstration of “planking”.

 

 

More pictures on the blog along with menus and daily programs

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great reports.

I have also been following your blog -- great pictures.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 53 – 26 Feb Benoa, Indonesia

Benoa, Bali

 

We slid into Benoa Harbor before 7 AM, gliding past fisherman in motorized outriggers and buoys marking the channel. Nice and cool at the moment, but you could feel the humidity and once the sun rose in the sky the temperatures would turn this pleasant morning into a sauna.

 

Our plan for today is for seven of us to take a private van we chartered thru Bali Safest Driver (More HERE) and go to Tegallalang Rice Terrace, the Monkey Forest Preserve in Ubud and spend a few hours exploring UBUD with a stop for lunch along the way. The price for a 13 passenger Toyata Hiace was about $70 for the day including a driver and an English-speaking guide. This is an incredible value and you should always consider this option for your day in Bali.

 

Our planned stops for today[/caption][caption id=attachment_8498" align="alignnone" width="750]close up[/caption]

Welcome to Bali

 

The ship was cleared quickly, and our group was off the ship a little before 9 AM to meet our driver. A small group of costumed dancers with a Balinese band greeted us on the wharf and happily posed for pictures.

 

Once inside the terminal we had to have our bags/purses X-Rayed, apparently looking for contraband of some sort. We didn’t receive the warnings about bio security or removing food from the ship, so I assume that it is OK, but I didn’t ask.

Bali Safest Driver

 

A relatively small parking lot outside the cruise terminal is fenced off from a small tourist market and a larger parking lot with access to the city. In this first parking lot you will find all the HAL tour buses and a handful of people selling taxi rides and tours. If you arranged a private tour in advance, as we did, your van will be in the larger parking lot, maybe 50 yards away, outside the immediate cruise ship area. As you enter this larger area, you will be solicited by a small crowd of drivers trying to sell tours, but you will spot a dozen or so people holding up signs with passenger’s names. Asking anyone to help locate your driver is futile as they don’t know, and they will only try to sell you their tour once they have your attention. Keep moving and you will eventually find your name on a sign.

stopped to chat with this Bali Policemen on the way to our van[/caption]

 

We quickly located our guide, Sri, who was holding a sign with my name, and she led us to a Toyota Hiace with our driver Bali. They drive on the left side of the road here, but after being in New Zeland and Australia for the past month, it no longer seems unusual.

 

More about Sri HERE

Batik Factory

 

While only 25 miles away, north of the harbor, it takes about 90 minutes to get to the Tegallalang Rice Terraces. On the way to Tegallalang our guide asked if we wanted to stop at a local Batik factory – AKA shopping stop – and we said OK, knowing full well that we would find a small demonstration area adjacent to a large gift shop. We didn’t mind since we agreed to the stop and were interested in perusing the various souvenir offerings and getting a feel for the pricing in a location where the prices were more fixed than you would find elsewhere. We arrived here about 10:15 and left at 11:00 AM.

 

Tegallalang Rice Terrace

 

The Tegallalang Rice Terrace is one of many similar rice terraces you will find throughout Bali. We arrived here about noon. There isn’t any place for our driver to park so he dropped us off near the entrance and would come back later when we were ready to leave. The terraces were created as a result of an irrigation technique called ‘subak’ which creates a stepped landscape. Each of the small terraced plots is privately owned and no single person owns the entire terrace.

 

 

NOTE: Bali is organized into hundreds of small villages, with about 500 to 1000 people in each village. The villages aren’t political bodies but more akin to a HOA in the USA. The villages establish local cultural norms and can collectively organizes certain activities and manage certain activities – like these rice terraces. Everyone is born into a particular village and while you may move to a different village and live there, you will always be a member and maintain some allegiance to your home village. This information was provided to me by our guide and I may have missed some of the details of nuance of this organization.

 

 

We didn’t see a formal ticket booth for the terraces, but our guide directed me to a man wearing a yellow vest who collected our 10,000 IDR per person admission. We didn’t ask if they accepted US Dollars, but I would have local money available for this and other small purchases.

 

NOTE: We changed about $100 into IDR and used local money for all our cash purchases. Most establishments you will visit in the tourist areas will accept credit cards and would probably accept USD or Australian Dollars as well. We did stop in one fabric shop that did not cater to tourists and they would not accept USD or credit cards. They were willing to see a $50 USD purchase walk out the door rather than accept anything other than IDR. If you are going to visit any area not on the normal tourist path, be prepared with IDR for any purchases.

 

 

Some of the activities here include walking around the terraces, posing for pictures holding traditional rice baskets or riding on a giant swing. There was a nice café at the top of the terrace with an amazing view and we spent some time here rather than more time walking down the terraces and then back up. You can see everything most people will want to see without going more than 100 feet from the entrance to the rice terrace.

 

We left after 30 minutes which was plenty of time unless you wanted to spend more time hiking around, in which case you could easily stay here an hour or longer.

Balinese Lunch

 

Our original plan was to go the Monkey Forest first and then get dropped off in the center of Ubud for lunch. Sri suggested we go to lunch first, then shop in Ubud and visit the Monkey Forest on the way back to Benoa. Even though the Monkey Forest is only about 1 mile south (toward Benoa) of Ubud it still takes about 20 minutes to drive there and since it was open until 6 PM we would avoid backtracking.

 

We asked Sri to select a lunch spot with authentic Balinese food and she selected a place called Warung Makan “Bu Rus” which was within easy walking distance of central Ubud. The driver had to stay with the van and would eat on his own, but we insisted that Sri join us for lunch. After staring at the menu for a bit, we asked Sri to order everything for the group and we would all share. Local beer and Coca Cola were available in addition to some fruit juices.

 

h Stop - Warung Makan “Bu Rus”[/caption]

 

There were 8 of us and Sri ordered 8 different dishes which arrived promptly. Here are some of the dishes we enjoyed:

• Nasi Campur (Fried Rice)
  
• Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles)
  
• Bihun Goreng (Fried Corn Noodles)
  
• Chicken Satay (Chicken Stick BBQ)
  
• Pork Satay (Pork Stick BBQ)
  
• Babi Kecap (Sweet Pork Chop)
  

Throughout lunch, Sri discussed more about life in Bali and answered our numerous questions. The total for our entire meal, including beverages, was 475,000 IDR or about $35 USD or $5 per person.

Ubud Walkabout

 

We finished lunch around 2:15 PM and walked a couple of short blocks to the center of Ubud where we split up and agreed to meet at a nearby café named Kopi Bali Express at 4 PM. Ubud is located in the uplands of Bali and is known as its cultural capital where you will find art galleries, museums, and temples. You could easily spend several days here exploring. It pays to research your options in advance. Judy and I walked down one street and back up the other and enjoyed seeing all the different items available for sale.

 

Monkey Forest

 

Our group assembled at 4 PM and headed off to the Monkey Forest where the admission was 100,000 IDR (About $7.50) per person. Once inside, you will find that the Macaque monkeys are everywhere and despite the signs warning you that they may steal anything not tied down, they will leave you alone unless you have a banana or a visible water bottle. Bunches of bananas were available for sale for 50,000 IDR (About $3.75) per bunch which had about 7-8 bananas.

 

Once you had your banana, you would stand still and hold the banana up over your head and wait until a Monkey scampered up your side and sat on your shoulder or head and munched on your banana. We had a great time with our bananas and we got some great pictures and the monkeys didn’t take anything except the bananas. Even if you are not interested in having a monkey climb on you, its fun to watch the monkeys scamper around and jump on the other tourists. We spent about 30 minutes here which was plenty of time before heading back toward Benoa around 5 PM.

for the Monkey Forest[/caption]

Luwak Coffee

 

We stopped at a tourist coffee place called Teba Sari which sells the very expensive Luwak Coffee (about $90 a pound for beans). This is a very popular stop and most tours will end up stopping here at one point or another. If you are interested in tasting the Luwak Coffee you can try a cup for about $4 USD. Judy enjoys their Lemon Grass tea and bought 2 kilos to take back home. She hasn’t been able to find it anywhere else.

 

Cantika Busana

After 15 minutes we headed off to a local fabric shop called Cantika Busana which sold beautiful lace fabric for the traditional woman’s lace tops. Judy bought some gold lace to make a Kebaya when she gets home. This is the shop that I mentioned earlier that didn’t take USD or credit cards – local currency only.

 

After a long day we returned to Benoa Harbor about 7 PM and said our goodbyes to our excellent guide and driver, Sri and Bali.

Back on the ship

 

Dinner tonight continued with an Indonesian theme and I chose the Beef and Chicken Satay and Indonesian Style Laksa Soup for starters followed by the Beef Sumatra for the main.

Balinese Dance Show

 

There was only one show this evening at 9:30 PM. Barbara was standing in for Hamish and she introduced a local Balinese Dance Group which featured several traditional dances: the welcome dance, the warrior dance, the Balinese Oleg Tamulilingan and the bird dance of Cendrawasih. The costumes were gorgeous and the dancing superb. A perfect way to end the perfect day in Bali.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report.

Your pictures were great.

[mame42]

Has anyone heard any scuttlebutt concerning a 2020 Grand South America?

[bettty45]

Day 53 – 26 Feb Benoa, Indonesia

 

Benoa, Bali

 

 

 

We slid into Benoa Harbor before 7 AM, gliding past fisherman in motorized outriggers and buoys marking the channel. Nice and cool at the moment, but you could feel the humidity and once the sun rose in the sky the temperatures would turn this pleasant morning into a sauna.

 

 

 

Our plan for today is for seven of us to take a private van we chartered thru Bali Safest Driver (More HERE) and go to Tegallalang Rice Terrace, the Monkey Forest Preserve in Ubud and spend a few hours exploring UBUD with a stop for lunch along the way. The price for a 13 passenger Toyata Hiace was about $70 for the day including a driver and an English-speaking guide. This is an incredible value and you should always consider this option for your day in Bali.

 

 

 

Our planned stops for today[/caption][caption id=attachment_8498" align="alignnone" width="750]close up[/caption]

 

Welcome to Bali

 

 

 

The ship was cleared quickly, and our group was off the ship a little before 9 AM to meet our driver. A small group of costumed dancers with a Balinese band greeted us on the wharf and happily posed for pictures.

 

 

 

Once inside the terminal we had to have our bags/purses X-Rayed, apparently looking for contraband of some sort. We didn’t receive the warnings about bio security or removing food from the ship, so I assume that it is OK, but I didn’t ask.

 

Bali Safest Driver

 

 

 

A relatively small parking lot outside the cruise terminal is fenced off from a small tourist market and a larger parking lot with access to the city. In this first parking lot you will find all the HAL tour buses and a handful of people selling taxi rides and tours. If you arranged a private tour in advance, as we did, your van will be in the larger parking lot, maybe 50 yards away, outside the immediate cruise ship area. As you enter this larger area, you will be solicited by a small crowd of drivers trying to sell tours, but you will spot a dozen or so people holding up signs with passenger’s names. Asking anyone to help locate your driver is futile as they don’t know, and they will only try to sell you their tour once they have your attention. Keep moving and you will eventually find your name on a sign.

 

stopped to chat with this Bali Policemen on the way to our van[/caption]

 

 

 

We quickly located our guide, Sri, who was holding a sign with my name, and she led us to a Toyota Hiace with our driver Bali. They drive on the left side of the road here, but after being in New Zeland and Australia for the past month, it no longer seems unusual.

 

 

 

More about Sri HERE

 

Batik Factory

 

 

 

While only 25 miles away, north of the harbor, it takes about 90 minutes to get to the Tegallalang Rice Terraces. On the way to Tegallalang our guide asked if we wanted to stop at a local Batik factory – AKA shopping stop – and we said OK, knowing full well that we would find a small demonstration area adjacent to a large gift shop. We didn’t mind since we agreed to the stop and were interested in perusing the various souvenir offerings and getting a feel for the pricing in a location where the prices were more fixed than you would find elsewhere. We arrived here about 10:15 and left at 11:00 AM.

 

 

 

Tegallalang Rice Terrace

 

 

 

The Tegallalang Rice Terrace is one of many similar rice terraces you will find throughout Bali. We arrived here about noon. There isn’t any place for our driver to park so he dropped us off near the entrance and would come back later when we were ready to leave. The terraces were created as a result of an irrigation technique called ‘subak’ which creates a stepped landscape. Each of the small terraced plots is privately owned and no single person owns the entire terrace.

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Bali is organized into hundreds of small villages, with about 500 to 1000 people in each village. The villages aren’t political bodies but more akin to a HOA in the USA. The villages establish local cultural norms and can collectively organizes certain activities and manage certain activities – like these rice terraces. Everyone is born into a particular village and while you may move to a different village and live there, you will always be a member and maintain some allegiance to your home village. This information was provided to me by our guide and I may have missed some of the details of nuance of this organization.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t see a formal ticket booth for the terraces, but our guide directed me to a man wearing a yellow vest who collected our 10,000 IDR per person admission. We didn’t ask if they accepted US Dollars, but I would have local money available for this and other small purchases.

 

 

 

NOTE: We changed about $100 into IDR and used local money for all our cash purchases. Most establishments you will visit in the tourist areas will accept credit cards and would probably accept USD or Australian Dollars as well. We did stop in one fabric shop that did not cater to tourists and they would not accept USD or credit cards. They were willing to see a $50 USD purchase walk out the door rather than accept anything other than IDR. If you are going to visit any area not on the normal tourist path, be prepared with IDR for any purchases.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the activities here include walking around the terraces, posing for pictures holding traditional rice baskets or riding on a giant swing. There was a nice café at the top of the terrace with an amazing view and we spent some time here rather than more time walking down the terraces and then back up. You can see everything most people will want to see without going more than 100 feet from the entrance to the rice terrace.

 

 

 

We left after 30 minutes which was plenty of time unless you wanted to spend more time hiking around, in which case you could easily stay here an hour or longer.

 

Balinese Lunch

 

 

 

Our original plan was to go the Monkey Forest first and then get dropped off in the center of Ubud for lunch. Sri suggested we go to lunch first, then shop in Ubud and visit the Monkey Forest on the way back to Benoa. Even though the Monkey Forest is only about 1 mile south (toward Benoa) of Ubud it still takes about 20 minutes to drive there and since it was open until 6 PM we would avoid backtracking.

 

 

 

We asked Sri to select a lunch spot with authentic Balinese food and she selected a place called Warung Makan “Bu Rus” which was within easy walking distance of central Ubud. The driver had to stay with the van and would eat on his own, but we insisted that Sri join us for lunch. After staring at the menu for a bit, we asked Sri to order everything for the group and we would all share. Local beer and Coca Cola were available in addition to some fruit juices.

 

 

 

h Stop - Warung Makan “Bu Rus”[/caption]

 

 

 

There were 8 of us and Sri ordered 8 different dishes which arrived promptly. Here are some of the dishes we enjoyed:

 

• 
   
  
• Nasi Campur (Fried Rice)
   
  
• Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles)
   
  
• Bihun Goreng (Fried Corn Noodles)
   
  
• Chicken Satay (Chicken Stick BBQ)
   
  
• Pork Satay (Pork Stick BBQ)
   
  
• Babi Kecap (Sweet Pork Chop)
   
  

Throughout lunch, Sri discussed more about life in Bali and answered our numerous questions. The total for our entire meal, including beverages, was 475,000 IDR or about $35 USD or $5 per person.

 

Ubud Walkabout

 

 

 

We finished lunch around 2:15 PM and walked a couple of short blocks to the center of Ubud where we split up and agreed to meet at a nearby café named Kopi Bali Express at 4 PM. Ubud is located in the uplands of Bali and is known as its cultural capital where you will find art galleries, museums, and temples. You could easily spend several days here exploring. It pays to research your options in advance. Judy and I walked down one street and back up the other and enjoyed seeing all the different items available for sale.

 

 

 

Monkey Forest

 

 

 

Our group assembled at 4 PM and headed off to the Monkey Forest where the admission was 100,000 IDR (About $7.50) per person. Once inside, you will find that the Macaque monkeys are everywhere and despite the signs warning you that they may steal anything not tied down, they will leave you alone unless you have a banana or a visible water bottle. Bunches of bananas were available for sale for 50,000 IDR (About $3.75) per bunch which had about 7-8 bananas.

 

 

 

Once you had your banana, you would stand still and hold the banana up over your head and wait until a Monkey scampered up your side and sat on your shoulder or head and munched on your banana. We had a great time with our bananas and we got some great pictures and the monkeys didn’t take anything except the bananas. Even if you are not interested in having a monkey climb on you, its fun to watch the monkeys scamper around and jump on the other tourists. We spent about 30 minutes here which was plenty of time before heading back toward Benoa around 5 PM.

 

for the Monkey Forest[/caption]

 

Luwak Coffee

 

 

 

We stopped at a tourist coffee place called Teba Sari which sells the very expensive Luwak Coffee (about $90 a pound for beans). This is a very popular stop and most tours will end up stopping here at one point or another. If you are interested in tasting the Luwak Coffee you can try a cup for about $4 USD. Judy enjoys their Lemon Grass tea and bought 2 kilos to take back home. She hasn’t been able to find it anywhere else.

 

 

 

Cantika Busana

 

After 15 minutes we headed off to a local fabric shop called Cantika Busana which sold beautiful lace fabric for the traditional woman’s lace tops. Judy bought some gold lace to make a Kebaya when she gets home. This is the shop that I mentioned earlier that didn’t take USD or credit cards – local currency only.

 

 

 

After a long day we returned to Benoa Harbor about 7 PM and said our goodbyes to our excellent guide and driver, Sri and Bali.

 

Back on the ship

 

 

 

Dinner tonight continued with an Indonesian theme and I chose the Beef and Chicken Satay and Indonesian Style Laksa Soup for starters followed by the Beef Sumatra for the main.

 

Balinese Dance Show

 

 

 

There was only one show this evening at 9:30 PM. Barbara was standing in for Hamish and she introduced a local Balinese Dance Group which featured several traditional dances: the welcome dance, the warrior dance, the Balinese Oleg Tamulilingan and the bird dance of Cendrawasih. The costumes were gorgeous and the dancing superb. A perfect way to end the perfect day in Bali.

 

 

 

 

My good friend and lecturer Kate Ross will soon be joining you. Please enjoy her lectures and give her a hug for me, Beth Davis. We so enjoyed her on the Grand Asia. Also if you see Alice in the Lido Deck she was such a jewel. Also say hello to her for us Beth and Dan Davis. Love your stories and photos.

 

 

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