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

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The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

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We took an Uber XL (big SUV) from Embassy Suites to terminal 26 in late October. $14 and the guy was there about 5 minutes after I requested the ride on the app. Worked out great.

 

Sent from my Pixel using Forums mobile app

 

 

 

Thanks for the tip! We will probably go that way as well....if there is a big cab waiting when we want to leave we may jump in that, but with all our bags we will need a big vehicle.

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whogo

whogo

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The boxes fold flat for easy storage in the cabin. But it all depends on how much other stuff you are taking. Plus if you don't buy a bunch of stuff you can simply leave the boxes behind.

 

Some people have reported that boxes are more susceptible to being misplaced since they may be mistaken for ship supplies...

I watched a behind the scenes cruise program where the crew got rid of all the corrugated boxes before arriving in Brazil. Don't know if they cared about boxes in cabins or those not used for food stuffs.

 

 

The officers claimed that it was more difficult to prepare for entry to Brazil than the USA, although the Brazilians just fine you, the USA may keep you from sailing.

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Lady Chew

Lady Chew

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Thanks for the tip! We will probably go that way as well....if there is a big cab waiting when we want to leave we may jump in that, but with all our bags we will need a big vehicle.

 

Earlier you posted a picture of yourself with the bags that you shipped in advance ... how many bags did you have with you when you flew?

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The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

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Did the Hilton know you wanted an early check-in time? Just wondering how they came to sending you the offer. I think that's great!

 

 

 

On their website their was an option asking if I wanted to see upgrade options. I said yes and a bunch of options popped up - early checkin being one of them.....

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The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

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January 3, 2018

 

Fort Lauderdale – Day 2

 

There is a very nice breakfast in the lobby of the Embassy Suites. We always prefer a room service breakfast but that is not an option here. Most hotels where we stay around the country have some sort of buffet style breakfast in the lobby in lieu of a delivered room service breakfast. We have started carrying a cafeteria style tray with us, so I can go to the lobby and load up the tray with plates and drinks and bring them back to the room. I will be bringing it with me on the cruise to help with some self-service room service from the Lido Deck.

 

After breakfast we spent the morning looking thru some of our bags and reviewing what we packed and trying to remember if we missed anything of major importance. We didn’t discover anything significant missing. Good news!

 

Weather Improves

Poor weather continued this morning with high winds and rain showers making the prospect of going outside very uninviting. The weather improved shortly after noon when the clouds cleared, the sun came out and it stopped raining. It was still very atypical Florida weather: blustery (23 mph wind) with temperature in the 50’s. But we expect no sympathy from the folks who are going thru a real cold spell with subzero temperatures in much of the USA.

 

One of the good things about this location is that we are right across the street from the Southport Shopping Center. We didn’t need to specifically get anything, but we wanted to look around and see if there was anything we may spot that we just couldn’t live without for 4 months.

 

There are quite a few shops within a half mile of the hotel and we went thru 4 of them in about 90 minutes before we headed back to the room. Even though the sun was out, the high winds did not encourage you to spend too much time strolling around.

 

Cookies!

 

We did find a couple items that we just couldn’t live without – Two boxes of Knotts Berry Farm shortbread cookies – I mean running out of snacks on a cruise ship?? I guess it could happen!

 

Cookies.jpg

 

While taking this picture we noticed our nice view and spotted the ms Koningsdam at Terminal 4 over at Port Everglades – off further in the distance was the Prinsendam and the Veendam, but we couldn’t make them out very well from this distance.

 

We enjoyed dinner this evening at a local seafood restaurant: Kelly’s Landing. Joining us were 3 other folks who are joining us on this knitting cruise. It was nice to share experiences and enjoy some good New England style seafood. Service was prompt, the food outstanding with modest prices – an excellent value.

 

The adventure begins tomorrow

 

Our great adventure starts tomorrow, and we are looking forward to a wonder cruise. We will be back in Fort Lauderdale on April 28th and spend a couple of days here before we board the Crystal Symphony to ride back to the West Coast. We had originally planned to stay aboard the ms Amsterdam as we did in 2016, but she will be in the shipyard for about 12 days and once we saw the timing of the Crystal Symphony we decided to give her a try and see what its like on a Crystal ship.

 

A few notes about the blog. You will find under the Menus labeled Cruise Blogs – links to my previous cruises as well as a map view with links to the current posts for this cruise. If you are interested in finding what happened in any particular port, you can go to the map index and select the marker for the particular port of interest.

 

You will also find a table that lists the complete itinerary, with a link to each day’s menu, the daily “When and Where” program and the name of the entertainers in the Queens Lounge. That page also has a link that shows the route of this entire world cruise along with markers that list the name of the port along with the date of our visit.

 

More pictures on the blog

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The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

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Safely aboard the Amsterdam. We arrived 12:22 at terminal 26. check in complete at 12:54.

 

1:05 in our cabin.

 

Everything is wonderful. Life boat drill complete.

 

Cost of UberXL SUV from Embassy suites to terminal. $12.68 before tip. Waiting time at hotel. 3 minutes.

 

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com

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The-Inside-Cabin

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Day 0 - Fort Lauderdale

 

A little before noon we were down in the lobby ready to check out of the Embassy Suites and call an UBER for the short driver over to Terminal 26. The lobby was empty and there was no line to check out. I pulled up my UBER app and requested an UBER XL which is guaranteed to be capable of carrying 6 people or lots of luggage. We fell into the ‘lots of luggage’ category. Three minutes after I pressed “Confirm” a large SUV arrived. After our bags were loaded, we were on our way arriving at Terminal 26 eight minutes later.

 

First-View-of-AMS.jpg

 

The area outside the terminal was empty of any other arriving guests and we were greeted by several porters who took charge of our bags. A few minutes later we were in the terminal and cleared security without difficulty.

 

Once past security we headed over to some tall tables, that were being used by about 20 people filling out the standard health questionnaire and an expanded questionnaire that required self-certification that our required Yellow Fever shot was in order and write in the expiration date. We wrote in INDEF for the expiration date. Based on the wording of the questions it seemed that you wouldn’t be refused boarding if your Yellow Fever situation was not quite right, but you may be refused entry into the affected countries. No one inspected our yellow fever booklets in our presence during the check in process, but they were retained by the ship along with our passports.

 

The form also asked if we had already obtained any VISAs that weren’t in our passports so we wouldn’t be charged for them twice. We got the Australian ETA on our own so we circled that block and indicated we already had the Australian ETA.

 

After we had filled out these two forms we headed over to the 4 star and above line, which seemed to be about the same length as the 3 star and below line. However, the 4-star line had about 7 people processing guests and the 3 star line had maybe 5 people so our line did move a little faster.

 

We got into line at 12:22 and were at the counter at 12:50 – and on the ship and in our cabin at 1:05.

 

Along the way we stopped for our traditional sail away photo – always fun.

 

We are in a Vista Suite on Deck 6, starboard side. The room was ready on arrival and we met our Cabin Steward, Darma, shortly after we arrived. There was a note from the Hotel Director asking everyone to give the crew until 6 January before inquiring about the many special gifts and packages that were ordered because processing so many orders would take some time.

 

Our bags from the FEDEX shipment were first to arrive and we started to get unpacked. After we got most of the FEDEX shipment opened, we went out to get a snack at the LIDO and visit a few friends we had met on our 2016 GWV. Five of the 7 people from Table 52 are back and we are now at table 303 along with 5 other wonderful folks who we will share many dinners with in the days to come.

 

During the routine muster drill at 4:15 we ran into several folks from the 2016 cruise along with our favorite entertainers - Terry, Anne and Kat from Abba Fab and the Piano Man. They will be aboard thru Panama City and we are looking forward to their wonderful shows.

I took a quick spin thru the casino and was pleased to observe that the Amsterdam still has live dealers for Texas Hold’Em and is scheduling 2 $30 tournaments a day vice the $60 tournaments on other ships. This lower buy in should get more people involved. We were pleased to learn later that many of the old regulars from 2016 were back and ready for more Hold’Em action.

 

The sail-a way party, complete with a live 3 piece band, started at 7:30 by the Lido pool – It was very lively and fun to walk around and bump into more people we had met from previous cruises. We couldn’t stay long as we had to get to dinner at 8pm.

 

The first dinner was fabulous – we had the prime rib and our 10 top was filled with engaging conversations. We were pleasantly surprised to see Presty, the assistant dining room manager, swing by our table for some quick hellos and to pass out roses to all the ladies. Presty is an outstanding manager and brings energy and enthusiasm to the dining room and makes sure everything run smoothly.

 

The menus will be posted on the blog along with the When and Wheres every day – internet permitting.

 

There wasn’t a show tonight, so we headed back to our cabin to finish unpacking.

 

As always - more pictures on the blog - along with the daily Where/When and the Menus

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harrodsfan

harrodsfan

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Day 0 - Fort Lauderdale

 

A little before noon we were down in the lobby ready to check out of the Embassy Suites and call an UBER for the short driver over to Terminal 26. The lobby was empty and there was no line to check out. I pulled up my UBER app and requested an UBER XL which is guaranteed to be capable of carrying 6 people or lots of luggage. We fell into the ‘lots of luggage’ category. Three minutes after I pressed “Confirm” a large SUV arrived. After our bags were loaded, we were on our way arriving at Terminal 26 eight minutes later.

 

First-View-of-AMS.jpg

 

The area outside the terminal was empty of any other arriving guests and we were greeted by several porters who took charge of our bags. A few minutes later we were in the terminal and cleared security without difficulty.

 

Once past security we headed over to some tall tables, that were being used by about 20 people filling out the standard health questionnaire and an expanded questionnaire that required self-certification that our required Yellow Fever shot was in order and write in the expiration date. We wrote in INDEF for the expiration date. Based on the wording of the questions it seemed that you wouldn’t be refused boarding if your Yellow Fever situation was not quite right, but you may be refused entry into the affected countries. No one inspected our yellow fever booklets in our presence during the check in process, but they were retained by the ship along with our passports.

 

The form also asked if we had already obtained any VISAs that weren’t in our passports so we wouldn’t be charged for them twice. We got the Australian ETA on our own so we circled that block and indicated we already had the Australian ETA.

 

After we had filled out these two forms we headed over to the 4 star and above line, which seemed to be about the same length as the 3 star and below line. However, the 4-star line had about 7 people processing guests and the 3 star line had maybe 5 people so our line did move a little faster.

 

We got into line at 12:22 and were at the counter at 12:50 – and on the ship and in our cabin at 1:05.

 

Along the way we stopped for our traditional sail away photo – always fun.

 

We are in a Vista Suite on Deck 6, starboard side. The room was ready on arrival and we met our Cabin Steward, Darma, shortly after we arrived. There was a note from the Hotel Director asking everyone to give the crew until 6 January before inquiring about the many special gifts and packages that were ordered because processing so many orders would take some time.

 

Our bags from the FEDEX shipment were first to arrive and we started to get unpacked. After we got most of the FEDEX shipment opened, we went out to get a snack at the LIDO and visit a few friends we had met on our 2016 GWV. Five of the 7 people from Table 52 are back and we are now at table 303 along with 5 other wonderful folks who we will share many dinners with in the days to come.

 

During the routine muster drill at 4:15 we ran into several folks from the 2016 cruise along with our favorite entertainers - Terry, Anne and Kat from Abba Fab and the Piano Man. They will be aboard thru Panama City and we are looking forward to their wonderful shows.

I took a quick spin thru the casino and was pleased to observe that the Amsterdam still has live dealers for Texas Hold’Em and is scheduling 2 $30 tournaments a day vice the $60 tournaments on other ships. This lower buy in should get more people involved. We were pleased to learn later that many of the old regulars from 2016 were back and ready for more Hold’Em action.

 

The sail-a way party, complete with a live 3 piece band, started at 7:30 by the Lido pool – It was very lively and fun to walk around and bump into more people we had met from previous cruises. We couldn’t stay long as we had to get to dinner at 8pm.

 

The first dinner was fabulous – we had the prime rib and our 10 top was filled with engaging conversations. We were pleasantly surprised to see Presty, the assistant dining room manager, swing by our table for some quick hellos and to pass out roses to all the ladies. Presty is an outstanding manager and brings energy and enthusiasm to the dining room and makes sure everything run smoothly.

 

The menus will be posted on the blog along with the When and Wheres every day – internet permitting.

 

There wasn’t a show tonight, so we headed back to our cabin to finish unpacking.

 

As always - more pictures on the blog - along with the daily Where/When and the Menus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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The-Inside-Cabin Great Review Rare

The-Inside-Cabin

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Following your blog is so much fun! Where on the blog do I find the menus and daily programs?

 

 

 

Look st the drop down menus at the top of the page, or if on a phone select the menu option. Then pick Cruise Blogs - then pick 2018, the pick the option for Itinerary etc...

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com/itinerary-menus-on-location-and-entertainers-2018-world-cruise/

 

d4a23616ee07174f970585c76e38bf50.jpg

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The-Inside-Cabin

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OP - you mentioned Abba Fab, who were on the 2017 Grand Asia. If you think of it, would you ask if they will be on the 2018 Grand Asia, as well? Thanks.

 

 

 

We will ask.....they have a blog or Facebook with their schedule. Not sure how far out it goes....

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