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Join Bill & Mary Ann On A Journey Like No Other-2024 GWV On The Zuiderdam For 128 Days

WCB

By WCB,
in Holland America Line

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SilvertoGold

SilvertoGold

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Fantastic to read you will posting your blog again. A treat each day to see what you are up to, how you spend your days onboard and on shore. With critical and informative insight into the ship, the cruise, the crew and officers yours is a blog we do not want to miss. Have a safe and quick flight, enjoy your time on what may be an unusual WC.

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Greetings fellow readers,

 

Many thanks for all the wonderful comments!   Funny, at this point of time, we are wondering why we did not choose the New Zealand/Australia Grand Voyage.  Sure would have been much less complicated.  

 

We will be on deck six, portside in a Signature Suite.  Although we have sailed in a veranda on deck five aft, we found the room and veranda very comfortable and roomy.  

 

Happy New Year to all, and stay tuned.....

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS   Still waiting for that Brazilian visa......

 

 

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dchip

dchip

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Good Grief!! No visa yet!!

 

Wishing you both a wonderful New Year and a great mystery cruise. It seems like there have been a couple of those lately. Tales of the South Pacific 2022 comes to mind. 😝

 

Cheers, Denise and Howie, too

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report #2  Sunday  December 31, 2023  Happy  New Years Eve  Long Day Traveling From San Francisco To Fort Lauderdale  Sunny With Blue Skies 50-68 Degrees   Part #1 Of 1........0 Pictures

 

A long day traveling just about sums it up for New Years Eve.   Most cross-country flights that are straight through leave early in the morning, and that’s why we had to be picked up by our trusty driver at 3am.  These days, we are used to waking up at all times during the night anyway, so this early start was not a big deal.   There was very little traffic since it was a Sunday as well as part of the holiday vacation time for many.   And it is nice to see the night lights crossing the Bay Bridge as well as the festive decorations at the San Francisco airport.  

 

We arrived to SFO by 4am, checked in at the United kiosk, turned in one piece of luggage, and headed for the security check.  For the most part, we would say there were about 80 passengers milling around the United area.  The security line went quickly, and not having to take our shoes off was a good thing.  One of us had to take off a vest, and place it in a tub, which unseen by us, someone had dumped their belongings right on top of it.  After going through the xray unit, one of us waited and waited for the vest, but never saw it.  Turned out it was at the far end after the people took their things and left.  That was probably the biggest event of the day.

 

Relaxing in a quiet section of the terminal, we waited for Yankee Pier Restaurant to open at 5:45am.   The hot coffee sure tasted good as did the shared bacon/sausage egg scramble.   The restaurant filled within a half hour, but we continued to enjoy the coffee for a while.  The flight left on time, and it was fairly smooth flying as the plane dipped south and followed the southern route all the way to Ft. Lauderdale.  There were a few patches of turbulence, but not enough to distract us from the TV programs we were watching.  On our last two flights, the screens or ear pieces were not working, so with this longer flight, we were happy they did.  Our big snack was a beverage and a choice of a bag of chocolate-coated quinoa or salted pub mix.  Better than nothing we assume.   Very few folks had ordered an airline meal.

 

We landed over a half hour early shortly after 4pm, but had to wait for the terminal to open up.  The weather was in our favor since there were blue skies and temperatures in the high 60’s.  No rain and little humidity.   Hope it lasts.

 

Outside the baggage area, a lady driver approached us with a $60 deal for the 15 minute ride to the hotel.  We sure did not remember prices like that the last time we flew here.  We questioned it, and she claimed every driver was the same price.  Saying thanks, but no thanks, we found an Uber driver for half of that plus tip.  Pays to question things sometimes.

 

The lobby of the Renaissance Marina Hotel was not busy, but it sure was decorated nicely for the holidays.  While waiting in a line to check in, here came friends Martha and Bob on their way to dinner already.  We had forgotten that tonight is New Years Eve, and most restaurants might be booked solid.  We chatted briefly and promised to catch up in the next couple of days.  We learned that the hotel was booked solid as well, and they had a hard time getting us our room for a three night stay.   It turned out great with a room on the eighth floor with windows on two sides.  It will be fun watching fireworks this evening if we can stay awake that long.  Actually, they began to go off as soon as it got dark.

 

Taking our usual walk to Duffy’s at a nearby mall, we enjoyed Sunday night football on dozens of screens with dozens of fans cheering.   The burger and salad were just right.  Many people were out and about walking the street and doing the same as us.   There is a slew of eateries along this main corridor.

 

Back at the hotel, we ran into another longtime friend Karen.  We all commiserated over those darn Brazilian visas.  At least she had gotten hers….we are still waiting.  Stashing the little bit of stuff we brought with us, we did see that we did forget a few things.  We will have two days to shop for the missing items.  For now, we are tired, and hope to sleep the entire night…..straight through.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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cruzingnut

cruzingnut

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@WCB, I'll def be following you guys on this "mystery" trip.  Dave and I are not on this year.  I haven't been able to find where to subscribe to your blog.  I used to be able to but can't find where to do that; do you still have that option?  Otherwise, I'll just come here and see what you're up to.

 

Linda R.

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report #3  Monday   January 1, 2024   New Years Day  Fort Lauderdale, Florida  Sunny With A Few Clouds  52-73 Degrees   A Walk To The Beach And Beyond  Part #1 Of 1........83 Pictures

 

Well, today was another long one.  Not a lazy first day of January 2024.  The festivities of the New Year’s fireworks definitely stole a good night’s sleep from us last evening.  The fireworks in all parts of the town began shortly after sunset, increased as you might expect, closer to midnight, then continued for an hour.  One most disturbing thing occurred around 10:30pm, when it sounded like a car blew up in front of this hotel.  One other guest made a comment to us about it this morning as we all waited for the elusive elevator.  Did we mention there was a problem with one of the elevators?  It had broken down a few days ago, and it had not been repaired.  We were allowed to use the service elevator which was located near the lobby.   If repairs are not completed before January 3rd, there may be a problem checking out of this hotel.  For those who may have mobility problems and difficulty getting luggage down from the upper floors,  hotel help would be provided.  Hope the elevator is repaired…..

 

So off we went to Joe’s Café, a short walk to the Harbor Shops up the road a piece.  This small cozy café is opened early, but closed at 3pm, much like Country Waffles is where we live.  It’s one of those rare places where everyone knows everyone.   And the food, coffee and service are excellent.  The hotel does have a breakfast buffet, but we are not fond of them, even on the ship.  And besides, the walk did us good.  As the day developed, we ended up getting more than we expected with the walking.  By the way, this mini mall has Publix, Total Wine, TJMAXX, Ace Hardware, banks, and Duffy’s Bar & Grill.   We have a little shopping to do, but we decided to save it for Tuesday. 

 

Before noontime after catching up on news and weather on TV, we headed out again and walked over the 17th Street Bridge, where we watched the bridge open up for vessel traffic below.  Always fun to witness.  Maybe not for the cars that have to stop for 5 to 10 minutes.  Our destination was the Ft. Lauderdale Beach and the Las Olas area.  The weather here was next to perfect with blue skies, few clouds, and temps in the low 70’s.  No rain, humidity, or wind.  For us it was perfect walking weather.  Taking our time, we made it to the strip of hotels and restaurants that face the white sandy beach dotted with many palm trees. 

 

One of us did make a mistake, and forgot to bring a bottle of water.  It doesn’t have to be hot to get dehydrated.   So there were several small shops that sold water and sodas along the way.  We made it almost to Sunrise Blvd, then decided to turn back and find a place for lunch.   By 1pm, this whole area became quite busy with late-risers who were crowding every food eatery.  We kept to the original plan, and went back to Bubba Gumps for sodas and beer with a shared appetizer of fried chicken and pickle slices.   The pickle slices were a real treat.  Relaxing for an hour was even better. 

 

We guess that about every single person that passed us along the way, said Happy New Year.  They are most friendly here, even the kids.  Crossing the E. Shaw Jr. Bridge again, we stayed and watched two sessions with the raising and lowering of the highway.  We never saw so many pleasure boats out and about today, but then it was a holiday.

 

Finally, one of us got some photos and spent some time sizing and sorting in the room before heading out to dinner.   The sun had set with a beautiful orange display on the western horizon.  Pictures would not have been good, since the windows in our room were rather soiled.  Certainly, we will capture many more sunsets in the days to come. 

 

By 6pm, we headed off for a light dinner, but this time went to Carrabba’s Italian Grill & Bar.   Our first time there, we had checked out their website, and decided they had fresh pizza as well as a variety of Italian dishes.   Salad and pizza sounded good.  But it was not exactly to be.   The place was about full of seated guests, and even  more folks lined up for “take-away”.   We were seated within ten minutes, placed our order, and got some sliced bread with a tapenade with mixed olive oil.  Caesar salads (dinner size) were brought within minutes and they were ice cold and delicious.  For our main entrée, we decided to share meatballs and spaghetti, which we thought would be following the salads.  Well, they had not anticipated the amount of take-away orders, so the folks in the restaurant were put on hold while bag after bag of container food was taken out the door.  It was almost an hour waiting, when we told the waitress, we could not wait much longer.  One of us was falling asleep.  By magic, the heaping bowl of spaghetti with three meatballs arrived to the table.   We were glad we had waited because it was excellent and more than enough for both of us.  And besides that, our waitress had brought three rounds of sliced bread while we waited.    Totally full, we left the restaurant by 8pm, and headed right back to our nearby hotel.    Expect to sleep well tonight.

 

Tomorrow will be an evening hosted by our travel agency with the CEO and his wife, three top agents (including ours), and 4 hosts.   Should be fun.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report #4  Tuesday  January 2, 2024  Fort Lauderdale, Florida    Shopping And Some Pool Time As Well As Attending A Bon Voyage Dinner And Party   Partly Cloudy With Sun  52-73 Degrees  Part #1 Of 1........23 Pictures

 

Another nice day in Ft. Lauderdale, we spent it enjoying French toast and an omelet at our favorite little café at Harbor Shops.  A nice touch is that their coffee is free from 6:30 to 9am weekdays, and we had our fill of it.  We followed up with some grocery store shopping at Publix, finding a few room snacks as well as a couple of items we forgot.  We searched for a pocket-sized hand sanitizer, but all of it was sold out.  We do have at least 10 of them at home, but we forgot all but one.  We would search for that item later in the afternoon.

 

Today was the meeting day with our travel agency folks and our most wonderful travel agent.  Some tables had been set up outside one of the ballrooms where excess luggage could be stored.   Chatting with the head honcho and his three top agents, we also greeted our hosts, Luisa and Gene.  They have hosted the world voyage for several years now, and have gotten to know us all quite well.   Medium-sized back packs were handed out complete with logo windbreakers inside.  Personalized diaries were available to take along with some flyers from the agency.  We were pleased to see our photo from last year in one of them along with some of the other longtime customers.  Printed directions for tomorrow were included, so we are all on the same page.  We will need to bring our one piece of luggage down to the ballroom, and it will be brought over to the ship.  The next time we see the duffel, it will be in our room.   Two buses will take us and our hand carrys to the cruise terminal with an arrival time of 11am.  Easy peasy…..

 

Today the weather was mostly cloudy, but by the afternoon, the sun did come out.  Lunch was light and at Duffy’s.  From there we did take another walk to the Dollar Tree, finding several cruisers we knew shopping there.  We searched for the hand sanitizer and came up zero, but did find a few bargains with thank you notes, a spiral binder, a notepad, and a pen holder.  Our friend Ginni was shopping for Valentine’s and St. Patrick’s Day dinner table gifts.  Never thought of that, but being a seasoned cruiser, she and friend Leslie (wish you and dh were both here) have become professional worldwide shoppers.  

 

Back at the hotel, other guests were gathering to leave to join the Disney ship.  There may have been another cruise ship in port, because we saw it leaving out of Port Everglades when we left for lunch.   Checking out the pool area from our window, we saw several lounges empty.  So we went down for some relaxation in the warm sun, which was shared with one very young green iguana.  Spending an hour there, we realized the clouds had returned as did some wind, and it actually got chilly.   Oh well, time to get ready for dinner.

 

Our group met in the lobby at 5:15pm sharp, then we were led to the nearby Boatyard Restaurant, built right on the waterway.  Known for their seafood, there were more choices tonight.  We went directly to the back room where tables for six were set for our group only.  Somehow we always seem to come in towards the end of the line, so we took chairs at Tom and Deann’s table…same as last year.  A nice couple from South Carolina joined us.  Perfect.  What we liked most about this format was that we bypassed the usual cocktail and canapy table and waiting at a bar to get drinks.  Seated at the tables, we were served a platter of crispy fried calamari and zucchini slices.  Those who love calamari loved it, but there was also a platter with sweet tomatoes and mozzarella salad with sourdough bread croutons drizzled with a balsamic dressing.  While we were getting started with the food, Tom invited all of us to order a cocktail, wine or soda.  A double Jack and a diet Coke were our choices. 

 

The second course was a chilled Caesar salad, followed by our choice of oak grilled flat iron steak, Greek roasted chicken, or pan roasted Scottish salmon – all served with veggies, potatoes or rice.  We chose the steak cooked medium and it was delicious.  We did save room for a slice of their famous creamy Key Lime pie with berries on the side, or an apple crostada with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.  Full to the brim, we all left the restaurant by 7:30pm, thanking our hosts on the way out.  Great job guys.

 

Expecting a busy day tomorrow, we headed to bed earlier than usual.  We still are not accustomed to Eastern time, which will take a few more days.   And perhaps the mystery of going to Brazil or not, will be solved tomorrow.  The drama continues……

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

 

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ellbelle

ellbelle

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@WCB Looking forward to your mystery trip, are you having issues with your blog site? Nothing has posted there and I do enjoy looking at your photos. Thanks and have a wonderful time!

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zoomerica

zoomerica

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4 hours ago, nancynana9950 said:

I’m having trouble getting the blog. The link just shows the last post in November on the previous sailing. 


They have not yet begun posting there from what I understand. Best to keep checking but remain here for updates. These guys are a fun read!

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oakridger

oakridger

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2 hours ago, zoomerica said:


They have not yet begun posting there from what I understand. Best to keep checking but remain here for updates. These guys are a fun read!

 

@zoomerica @nancynana9950 @ellebele

 

The new blog is up now!  "Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann (cruisingwithbillandmaryann.blogspot.com)

 

I have it bookmarked in "Favorites"!

 

Thanks @WCB!!

 

~Nancy

Edited by oakridger
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