Live from the 2020 Grand World Voyage

[rafinmd]

8 hours ago, twodjs said:

Obviously none of the responders to our posts has ever had to create trivia questions for games - we have. It takes a lot of time and research. I'd challenge Kathi to take hours out of her day to create a 15 question trivia game from scratch. She would gain an entirely new appreciation for that work. And I'm willing to bet that she would NEVER AGAIN post q & a out of respect for the crew and guests.

RuthC - I'm picking on Kathi because she is the one posting all the questions and answers. Yes, I'm aware that others have gathered trivia q&a before. She is making it a no brainer for others to do the same. It takes all the fun out of the game when a team knows all the answers, especially when they cheated!

So in your world you would give the advantage of knowing the answers ONLY to those who have played that game before.  And you dare to talk about unfairness!  Kathi goes on the world cruise most years.  If she is doing anything wrong she is giving a chance to people who will do their first world cruise next year a chance to better compete with her.  You are perfectly free to ignore this thread and get a life.

 

Roy

[roberts2005]

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

So in your world you would give the advantage of knowing the answers ONLY to those who have played that game before.  And you dare to talk about unfairness!  Kathi goes on the world cruise most years.  If she is doing anything wrong she is giving a chance to people who will do their first world cruise next year a chance to better compete with her.  You are perfectly free to ignore this thread and get a life.

 

Roy

Well said. 

[Scrapnana]

February 8, 2020

 

At Sea

 

I started my morning with Sit and Stitch with Sherita, Judy (Lee), and Bonnie.  Judy (Margaret) came up at around 11:25 to help Judy (Lee) with her shawl.  I asked her about the yarn shopping in our port tomorrow.

 

All six of us were present for morning trivia.  We did better than yesterday with 11 out of 18.  The winners had 15.

1.What is January’s birthstone?

2.Barbie was launched in 1959 by which toy company?

3.What were Kobe Bryant’s jersey numbers?

4.Where was Chopin buried?

5.Who was the guitarist for Cream?

 

As I returned to my cabin after trivia, the captain was making his 12:30 update.  Normally this is only broadcast in public places but as I entered my cabin I realized it was coming through the cabin speaker.  As he continued, I realized why.  He was addressing the situation with coronavirus.  He explained the procedures being used to keep us all safe.  Later in the afternoon a note appeared specifying important information.  I am not sure what the news is saying at home but there have been some cruise ships quarantined as well as at least one (ms Westerdam) that had a hard time finding a port that would allow them to dock. 

 

My Linus blanket is coming along nicely and I am almost half finished.  Lunch in the Lido and then arts and crafts where we made a beaded necklace.  The necklace was made of over 200 seed beads and took us over an hour to complete. 

 

Afternoon trivia was in the Piano Bar because scenic narration was going on.  We had 11 out of 15 and the winners had 13.

1.What is the tallest mountain in North America?

2.Which city is farthest north – New York City, Rome, Istanbul, or Hong Kong?

3.What is the technical name for the sound that comes from an elephant’s trunk?

4.Which element has the highest boiling point?

5.What is the currency of Kenya?

6.Which spirit gets its name from the Gaelic for water?

 

I spent some time on the deck as we sailed through the Chilean fjords.  It was another beautiful day and the temperature is increasing nicely.  I stayed at the aft portion of deck 3 which had direct sunlight and no wind.  We passed a number of fish farms.

 

Tonight was a Gala Night in conjunction with tomorrow night’s Oscar Ceremony.  The theme was “Paparazzi” and there was a red carpet as we entered the dining room.

 

I was not planning on going to the show but Sherita stopped by the table and said how good it was.  The entertainer was Kenny Martyn and he featured music by Benny Goodman as well as a few others.  He was backed by the excellent Amsterdam band.

 

Puerto Montt tomorrow.

 

Morning trivia

1.garnet

2.Mattel

3.8 and 24

4.Paris

5.Eric Clapton

 

Afternoon trivia

1.Denali

2.Rome

3.trumpet

4.tungsten

5.shilling

6.whiskey

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[rafinmd]

Did anyone answer "McKinley" for the second number 1.  If so, was there an argument.  I'm pleased that Captain Mercer is being up front about the coronavirus, although it won't affect you for a long time.

 

Roy

[Scrapnana]

13 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I thought I had the “Judy (Lee), Judy (Bob)” terms figured out until you said Judy (Lee’s) husband is Rich.  So the Judy’s husbands aren’t Lee and Bob?

 

 

 

When we all met on the 2018 GWV and realized we had three Judys in our group, they each came up with a way to distinguish themself.  Judy (Margaret) is married to Pete (who does the excellent blog -  theinsidecabin.com), Judy (Lee) is married to Rich, and Judy (Bob) is married to Bob.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad that the captain took time and sent out letters explaining the situation about the virus.  Thankfully the Amsterdam is no where near where all the sickness is.  We do have a possible case in PA.

 

I find it amazing how quickly you are making those Linus blankets.

 

Saving the trivia questions until later today.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just got caught up with your pictures.

 

The necklace from yesterday and the ear rings from 2 days ago are lovely.  Such delicate work.

 

Great scenic pictures.

[cat shepard]

9 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Did anyone answer "McKinley" for the second number 1.  If so, was there an argument.  I'm pleased that Captain Mercer is being up front about the coronavirus, although it won't affect you for a long time.

 

Roy

I knew it was Denali, but also knew until fairly recently - during President Obama’s term, I think - it was called McKinley. 

[*Miss G*]

23 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

I knew it was Denali, but also knew until fairly recently - during President Obama’s term, I think - it was called McKinley. 

 

Oh my goodness, is that true?  Because that was my answer and when I saw Denali I was surprised!

Edited February 9, 2020 by *Miss G*

[*Miss G*]

Well the things you don’t know!  Mt McKinley Renamed Denali

 

That means I got 8 out of 11.  My best score yet!

[DeeniEncinitas]

Yippee 🥳!! 9 right for me!!!! Wow I’m getting better!

so enjoyed your pictures Kathi and the jewelry is stunning! 
I am glad the Captain is keeping you all informed. Your safe.

Have a wonderful day!

Denise😊

[Scrapnana]

February 9, 2020

 

Puerto Montt, Chile

 

Before I went to bed this morning (1:30 am), I decided I needed to make a decision about Easter Island.  I had booked an independent tour in the summer of 2018 and made a deposit never knowing how troublesome it can be to actually get on the island – it is a tender port.  Sherita had booked the same tour and had decided to forfeit the deposit and book a HAL tour.  A few days ago the port presentation on Easter Island was made and I began to worry.  It was discussed that tendering is often difficult (sometimes not being able to be done at all) and can be slow.  Sometimes the passengers who are not on the ship tours never get a chance to get off (ship tours have tender priority).  I thought and thought and finally decided that I really want to get ashore so, just after 1 am, I booked one of the tours still available.  While I was at it, I also booked my excursion for Komodo Island.

 

Puerto Montt is the first South American port of this cruise that I had not been to before.  In the port talk, Glenn-Michael said there was a handicraft market less than half a mile from the tender dock, so I decided to walk around. He had also mentioned there was yarn to be found in the market stalls.

 

I had already decided that I would wait to go ashore after tender tickets were no longer needed so I did not leave the ship until 10:30. The tender ride took about 15 minutes and I was looking at the craft stalls within 15 minutes of landing.  All kinds of items were for sale (including many that were not local).  There was lots of wool some even in the small stalls set up in the terminal.  Most of it was on the scratchy side although I did see some alpaca in the store Judy (Margaret) had told me about yesterday.  None of it “spoke” to me so I ended up not buying any.  In fact, my only purchase of the day was a $2 magnet.

 

I walked to the end of the road where the fish market was.  There were many families walking around, enjoying the beautiful weather, and having a snack or meal for Sunday lunch.  As I walked back, I looked at the yarn again but was not really tempted.

 

I was back on the ship by a little after one.  I changed clothes then had lunch in the Lido.  I was then able to swim for the first time in a couple of weeks.  The air and water temperature were perfect and I had the pool to myself for my entire hour swim.  I planned on sitting in the sun after my swim for about 20 minutes but I ended up snoozing and it was more like 40 minutes.  I then went to get dressed for trivia.

 

Since there has been a bit of a discussion on Cruise Critic about the origin of the questions, I decided to talk with one of the assistant cruise directors about this.  He said that most of the questions he uses come from lists given to him by other cruise directors, a data base of questions, as well as one list that came from a passenger who collected trivia questions.  He was nice enough to show me some of the lists he pulls questions from.

 

Only Diana and I were present so three people from another team (who also were missing teammates) joined us.  Since tonight is Oscar night, there were a few Academy Award related questions.  We ended up with 11.5 out of 19 and the winning team had 16.

 

1.Which Biblical place has a name that means “pleasure”?

2.Which 1992 film was only the third Western to win an Oscar and also got Clint Eastwood his first Best Director award?

3.Where are the world’s longest fjords?

4.What amphibian do you raise if you run a ranarium?

5.Besides the “The Godfather Part II”, what is the only other sequel to win an Oscar?

6.Who was the first man to swim the English Channel?

 

I stayed out on deck 9 as we sailed away from Puerto Montt.  The day was perfect and I think probably many of the people missing from trivia were at the sail-away party drinking $8.25 Pisco Sours.

 

I had so many pictures I decided I needed to put four together into the size of one.  A fellow blogger had told me how to do it but I could not make it work, so I spent about an hour and a half trying to find something that would work.  I have come up with a way but it is not very professional looking.  It anyone knows a good way to do this on a PC (that does not require purchasing expensive software), please let me know. 

 

Tonight’s was the first meal that I did not think was all that great.  I had the acai berry cold soup which was awful (or I just don’t like acai berries which I had never had before) and then I had a turkey tenderloin for the main course which was dry and had a strange sauce on it.  At least the pineapple crisp for dessert was good.

 

The Oscars were being shown on the Mainstage.  I walked down to see if any decorating had been done but there had not.  There were very few people there but only the red carpet pre-show was on.  This was at 9:30 so I doubt many others went to see it (it didn’t start until 10).  I heard many people say they would watch in their cabin.

 

Sea day tomorrow.

 

Trivia

1.Eden

2.Unforgiven

3.Greenland

4.frogs

5.Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King

6.Matthew Webb

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

 

P.S.  Thanks to everyone for the kind words!

[DeeniEncinitas]

Kathi we love you and an out pouring of support came out in force for you!!!!!

Our dear friends years ago were at Komodo Island on a tour and lived it! I remember there photos taken. Enjoy your tour!

Denise😊

[rafinmd]

Kathi, I'm not sure if I'm the other blogger you were referring to and the very simple way I put 4 photos together.  I have your email address on the laptop I don't have with me, but I have a way of doing those panels that is entirely within built in windows software.  If you still have my address (or can get it from Sherita) I can send you more details.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad that you decided to book HAL tours for Easter Island and Komodo.

 

Sorry that the yarns were not good -- I don't like anything that is scratchy.

 

Saving the trivia questions for this afternoon.

 

I love the Puerto Montt pictures -- larger pictures are easy on my old eyes.  Will check in a couple of days for more pictures.

[cat shepard]

What colorful pictures! Thank you for even trying to share.

[Scrapnana]

February 10, 2020

 

At Sea

 

Although my morning started out in my usual routine, the afternoon and evening were different.

 

We had all three Judys, Bonnie, Sherry, Sherita, and I at Sit & Stitch.  I left about 11:15 to pick up some more yarn for the Linus blanket I am working on.  I realized I had left my glasses in the Crow’s Nest, so after taking my bags back to my cabin, I went to get them before going to trivia.

 

Rodney was a little under the weather so he did not join us for trivia.  We had 11 out of 15 and the winners had 13.

 

1.What is in the “Red Data List”?

2.St. Augustine, Florida is the home to which sport’s Hall of Fame?

3.Halloumi is a semi-hard cheese from which Mediterranean island country?

4.What is the two-word term for the speed a rocket needs to be traveling to break free from the Earth’s gravity?

5.What is the largest of the Canary Islands?

 

I went straight to lunch in the Lido and it reminded me why I like to wait until 1 pm to eat.  The place was packed and there were lines for everything.  I found a place to sit out by the Lido Pool (that’s the mid-ship one).  I had to eat early because my time had come to be invited to the complimentary wine tasting that is a perk for four-star and above Mariners.  All the wines from the three wine packages sold onboard were available and you were free to try as many as you wanted as often as you wanted.  I tried a number that were recommended by some of my friends who were also there but decided the only one I actually liked was the Muscato that I always drink.

 

Judy (Lee) and her husband Rich saved us spaces for arts and crafts.  Janet also joined us.  It was her first time to try arts and crafts.  We made little pouches for money, cards, etc.

 

I then went back to my cabin to upload the remainder of the pictures from yesterday.  I also worked on my Linus blanket as the pictures were loading.  I got ready for the evening before trivia since I was eating at 5:30.

 

Bruce joined Diana, Marilyn, and me for afternoon trivia.  We had 13 out of 20 and five teams tied with 16.

1.What was the first Asian city to host the Summer Olympics?

2.What barnyard animals’ fat was used as the main ingredient in explosives through WWII?

3.What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4.What is the most commonly used word in written English?

5.What creature’s tongue weighs as much as a full grown elephant?

6.What does the SOS stand for in SOS pads?

 

I had a few minutes before dinner so I went to my cabin and did another row on my Linus blanket.

 

My travel agency had a dinner in the Canaletto for us.  It was one of nine they were having on this cruise because there are about 275 of us onboard that use them.  Sherita and I sat with Nancy who is also on Cruise Critic.  It was a great meal and we were done by a little after 7 pm.  I decided not to go to the show because I have an all-day excursion tomorrow which meets at 9:15 (meaning I need an early bedtime).

 

San Antonio, Chile tomorrow

 

 

 

Morning trivia

1.list of threatened species

2.golf

3.Cyprus

4.escape velocity

5.Tenerife

 

Afternoon trivia

1.Tokyo

2.pig

3.asparagus and rhubarb

4.the

5.blue whale

6.Save our Saucepans

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Your wine tasting sounds much better than the ones we used to go to -- free for 4 and 5 star Mariners.  In fact they got so bad we stopped going to them.

 

Saving trivia for this afternoon.

[kazu]

Your wine tasting sounds different and fun, Kathi 😄 

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your dinner 🙂 

[DeeniEncinitas]

Kathi. Have a great time in San Antonio!!

The wine tasting in the past for us the wines were ok. Nice that you got to enjoy as much of the packages they were offering to all. That is one thing I also try to avoid the Lido at rush hour! It is like cattle roundup with everyone!!

Have a great day

Denise😊

[CrabbyPatti]

I am enjoying your blog.  Keep up the trivia questions.  I am always on the lookout for "different/interesting" trivia/facts to share with my clients.  Many of them have various disabilities and can no longer get out and travel, but they love sharing, and these questions often trigger memories which they share with others.  Even on the days I have more dementia clients its interesting to see trivia facts that trigger memories. Thank you for posting them.

[Scrapnana]

February 11, 2020

 

San Antonio, Chile

 

San Antonio is the port city for visits to Santiago and Valparaiso.  I visited Santiago last year so it was Valparaiso’s turn this year.

 

I signed up for HAL’s “Best of Valparaiso” 7-hour tour.  San Antonio is one of the ports that you must take a shuttle bus from the ship to the terminal (takes longer to get on or off the bus than the ride itself) so my tour was called a few minutes before the “meeting time” of 9:15. As it was, we did not leave the port until 9:50.  It was a small bus that seats 28 but there were only 20 of us.  (There was another section of the same itinerary that left 30 minutes before us.)

 

Cesar, our guide, told us some information about the city as we made the 90-minute drive.  Valparaiso was once one of the most important seaports but that diminished with the opening of the Panama Canal.  It is the home of the oldest stock exchange in Latin America, the first volunteer fire department in South America, the oldest newspaper in Chile and Chile’s first public library.  Today the historic district is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Valparaiso is noted for being a very colorful city.  The buildings are painted various colors and street art and graffiti are everywhere.

Our first stop was at Pablo Neruda’s home, La Sebastiana.  He was a Chilean poet awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.  We were able to tour through the five stories of the house. 

 

We then headed to one of the 15 public funiculars.  They were started in 1883 to help people climb the steep hills of the city.   At one time there were many more.  We took one up to the restaurant where we had lunch.  It had terrific views of the city.  After lunch we went down in the funicular to drive through some of the famous places in the city including Plaza Sotomayor and Paseo21 de Mayo.

 

We were the last group to return to the ship.  All aboard was at 4:30 and we got back just after 5 (so I missed trivia).  One of the reasons to take a ship tour is that the ship will wait if you are late.  We finally dropped lines at about 5:20.

 

I spent the time before dinner sorting out my pictures.  My friend, Roy, had e-mailed me directions for putting four pictures together that was so much better than the way I had pieced together.  Thanks, Roy!

 

The usual four were at dinner.  The show was Jesse Kazemek with a tribute to the Beatles.  It was a great show.

 

We gain an hour tonight!

 

Four sea days ahead.

Smooth sailing until next time!

[puppycanducruise]

I love reading about your cruise.

Thanks for all the information.

[Wehwalt]

People take trivia too seriously?

 

(I enjoy Kathi's questions too)

Edited February 12, 2020 by Wehwalt

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report.  Your pictures are great.

 

That is why when we visit a new port we take the ship's tour.  And we have gotten back to the ship late a couple of times as well.