Gayle's World Cruise 2018 M.V. Amsterdam
Hello Everyone,
I’ve been warning all of you that I was going to be showing up in your inbox telling you
about my trip around the whole wide world with my dear friend, Joyce, on the Holland
America Ship “Amsterdam”. So here I am. Some of you actually were on the cruise and
I’d love to hear about how your experience differed from mine. Even yours’ Joyce. LOL.
I decided last spring that I wanted to join Joyce on this four month (113 day) cruise.
When she first invited me I said no, but the more I thought about it the more it became
something way too wonderful to pass up. In addition, Mike and I were in Mexico at the
time and I realized that I really enjoy traveling more than he does. We talked about it,
and he agreed, saying he’d just be fine at home with Aja. He really supported my going
and insisted that I have a good time.
Which I did. But not without some reservations.
Four months is a long time and I wasn’t feeling that well. You never know with Parkinson’s
what’s going to happen so that’s a bit unnerving. At only about a month before departure I
started on an additional medication that totally changed the way I was feeling and I could
only hope that it would continue to do so.
My kittie, Aja, had a lump that turned out to be
breast cancer so I was worried about her not being here when I got back. Then Mike had
to have hernia surgery and I was leaving in about a week. Yikes! So it was a bit tense but
everything turned out fine in the end. I still feel way better than I did last fall, Aja is
perfectly fine and Mike’s doctor did his surgery immediately so that I was home for the
first five days of his recovery. Which turned out to be a very good thing because he
needed me. Whew!
So New Year’s Eve we had our normal party and in 24 hours I was on
the red eye to Seattle to meet Joyce. Somehow we’d jumped through all the hoops and I
could leave feeling good about leaving!!
The Amsterdam was due to set sail on January 4th from Fort Lauderdale and returning to
Fort Lauderdale, after circumnavigating the globe, on April 28th. Pretty exciting stuff!
We arrived in Florida a couple days early just to be sure that we made it and to rest up a
bit. We figured we could lay around the pool and drink Mai Tai’s.....WRONG.....it was
raining and quite cold. Very nasty.
The time went by quickly and the day we sailed at least
the sun was shining but still very chilly.
Our suitcases had been FedExed a couple weeks prior and it was wonderful to have
everything show up. We were in a large room (suite) so were able to make everything
disappear with some work. We’d already met people that had done this cruise more than
once (I think there was one who had been 23 times!) I’d never known a soul who had sailed
around the world on a cruise ship and now we’re surrounded by them.
The first night they threw us a sailaway party out by the Lido Pool. Lots of really good
pupus and drinks were available and it was clear that a World Cruise was going to be
special. That first day they gave us our first present....love presents....a very nice array of
Molton Brown soaps and creams and sprays.
The next afternoon we were invited to the
V.I.P. party (suite passengers and President’s Club members only...la de da!) and met the
entire crew. Captain Jonathan Mercer is charming and distinguished with a British
accent. We somehow got to talking with the Beverage Manager who in turn introduced us
to the Cellar Master so we had our opportunity to request (beg!) to have him get Sip and
Savor going asap.
I think it was the night before that Joyce thought she spotted a friend, John, who along
with his wife had been our neighbor on the Farewell to Statendam Cruise. But she said it
appeared he was with another woman so no way could it be John! The next day we spotted
Mary and cleared things up. That was John but he was talking to a stranger...well, that’s
his story anyway!!! We were thrilled to see our Australian friends. We hadn’t had near
enough time with them previously.
The piano bar player was one we knew from the
Statendam cruise as well, Jamm. One of our room stewards was one that Joyce had a few
months before in Alaska. Nice to see familiar faces.
We had been heading south into the Caribbean Sea and hoping for some sun, but it was
still quite grey when we visited Georgetown, Cayman Islands, our first port. We spent a
few hours on shore, mostly in a little restaurant over the water. They had conch fritters
and, especially since we’d never eaten conch, we had to try it. It was good. Also had the
local beer which is something we did almost everywhere we stopped.
That night we had dinner with five others, four of them being two couples that we became
good friends with. In fact Richard and Ann from Toronto and Robin and Cynthia from
Australia are receiving this email along with the rest of you. How do I know that was the
night we first met? I cheated and checked my journal!! In order for me to tell my story about this cruise I must introduce you to certain people that are now friends. Traveling to
39 ports around the globe was amazing but no less amazing were the friendships formed
along the way. We had a really fun time that night and I remember talking mostly to Ann
and hoping to see more of her. It took a while but we managed. In the meantime the two
couples became very good friends and were spending a great deal of time together having
a ball.
Our second port was Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, where we had booked a tour. We took a
bus to a train and then to a boat and back by bus. I had never seen a sloth before and
there were many sloths literally hanging around. We must have seen a dozen. The river
cruise has one photo that is hard to see. It’s included because it’s something you don’t
often see. Look closely and there is a very green lizard among the greenery. I’m probably
not getting it right but it’s a Jesus Christ Lizard (??) because it can walk on water!! No
kidding. The crocodile was charming but I liked the sloths the most. I did get a picture
of a Howler Monkey but it’s pretty lousy. Fun to see them though.
For the third time I
was not impressed by Costa Rica. It’s crummy and drab and garbage all over....not what I’d
always envisioned. Too bad. The tour was fun though.
We were back to the ship by lunch and ran into John and Mary so ate together. They
spent a lot of time out by the Lido Pool along the windows and out of the sun. We could
always find them up there. They have traveled on a great many cruises. They know stuff
we don’t!!
They pointed out the lady who has sailed more cruise days than anyone on the
planet. Dolly claims that the Amsterdam is “her ship” and don’t you forget it! More about
her later.
Panama Canal Transit Day. What an amazing thing, truly. It’s just that I was there in
November with Mike so wasn’t into killing myself taking a zillion photos. Joyce and I went
to lunch in the dining room and were seated with two gentlemen that we hit it off with
right away. Marshall from San Jose and Don from Wisconsin who were taking their first
cruise “together” though they had met at the very beginning of another world cruise a
year (or was it two?) before. We made plans to go to their cabin and have Godiva
chocolates and champagne before joining them at their table for dinner soon.
The first of
many enjoyable hours spent together was at Sip and Savor which was happening for the first time today so off to the wine bar we went.
Trouble is, they only had little stand up tables and not a great venue for sipping wine.
Every other cruise any of us had been on there was comfortable seating and friendships
were formed and we all loved it. This stand up thing might be an issue. There are a few
chairs around. Gotta get here early I guess. Can’t imagine skipping Sip and Savor for any
reason.
The Savor portion was done by a guest chef that was on board from Panama.
Apparently there were plans for several guest chefs and they would all be doing Sip and Savor, American’s Test Kitchen guest chef and Pinnacle Grill Mystery Celebrity Chef
Dinners. Fun stuff.
We anchored off Fuerte Amador, Panama and enjoyed seeing the lights of Panama City
from our balcony. It’s a way bigger city than I thought. The next day we went to shore
and had lunch and hung out for a bit. I used my phone to call Mike, especially since we
were leaving that evening for the South Pacific and it was going to be a couple weeks
before I was anywhere we could talk easily.
Had another Sip and Savor at 5 and scored
two of the three stools at the tiny bar. Not the greatest but beats standing. The
competition is going to be rough though.....these are serious wine drinkers!!
Later in the
evening we were at the piano bar and chatted a bit with a gal named Candee. We’d seen
her there before but had never really talked. She became one of our regulars at Sip and
Savor and much more. Quite the character.
We’re on an eight day trek to the Marquesas Island of Nuka Hiva so lots going on in the
ship. We were each starting to get into our own little routine. Joyce always went to the
America’s Test Kitchen presentations. I’d been to a couple with Mike in November and
we’d had the same chef, Abby, who is great. But I tended to go to the lectures and we
had some very interesting and some pretty boring lecturers. One person who was great is
Barbara who does the shore talks. She’s retiring this year and we feel lucky to have had
her for our cruise. A bit crabby at times but her presentations were funny and thorough
though she did try to scare us at times. We did go to some dicey places.
We had some
entertainers from Honolulu on board and there was a hula presentation up by the Lido Pool
so John and Mary were there and had saved us spots to sit. Another couple that we
recognized was there and turned out to be Eli and Michelle, another couple that was on
the Farewell to Statendam Cruise.
We had our first of many dinners with Don and
Marshall and started lining up plans for dinners in the Pinnacle Grill for special dinners and
with different friends. John and Mary had us over and we did dinner together. We had
them over. Getting to be little social butterflies.
We had a wine tasting event at 11a.m. one day that week and a funny thing happened. Not
really...lol. I take all kinds of stupid pills for this and that to do with P.D. I usually need a
sleeping pill and keep one by my glass of water on the night table. I also keep the morning
P.D. pill that I need to get into me before getting up. So....I woke up at 8 or so and take a
pill and realize it’s the sleeping pill I didn’t take last night. Shit.....now what? And a wine
tasting to boot. Well, I went to sleep for a couple hours, got up and drank wine, and went
back to bed until the darn thing wore off. Really dumb. I wrote in my journal....”Of
course, now that drugged up me is up and moving I’d better have a couple of glasses of
wine in the morning...haha”. Actually we had lunch before my nap with the same people we’d
been tasting wine with....they were fun.
After my nap we were scheduled to go to the
Sommelier Wine Dinner in the Pinnacle. We sat with interesting couples, one of which
both worked for the CIA. Her name was Kathy and she likes cats so gave me some kitty treats to share with cats along the way. Nice of her. But what a day to take a sleeping pill
in the morning.
We crossed the Equator for the first time this trip on a Sunday morning and it wasn’t
even that warm. A predicted high of 77. On Sunday’s at sea they served a brunch that
has about 30 items on the menu. Except it’s not a menu of the normal sense. They bring
you everything on the list in tiny portions. We met John and Mary and it was quite good.
Too much food but what else is new? They had these teeny tiny turkey basters with soy
sauce inside for the sushi rolls. They were quite difficult to operate because they had
rice stuck in them and when it cleared the sauce came out high speed. Poor Mary was in
John’s line of fire. She’s a good sport. She has a story about a bottle of champagne
soaking her and a waiter who didn’t do the right thing. She’s a really good sport. We love
those two. I could listen to John, with that Aussie accent, talk all day.
We were having a cocktail one evening before dinner and a lady comes up to me and
introduces herself, Bonnie married to Don. Yet another couple from the Farewell to
Statendam Cruise! There’s eight of us now. How funny is that? Bonnie remembered that
I’m from Kauai and that we had a camper. I’m like, whoa, how can you remember all that?
I didn’t even remember her at all, truth be known. They have a time share down near
Poipu and a motorhome so what I’d told her about me stuck. Kinda cool. In fact just a few
days ago she and Don came over and visited with us for a couple hours. They were visiting
their condo and have gone home to Calgary. We visited several times on this cruise and all
eight of us did have dinner together one evening.
Lots of shows and lectures and eating and hanging out with our friends. By now we’re
playing a dice game called Zilch with Don and Marshall. By now Marshall and Don know John
and Mary. We keep having Dolly sightings. One evening we got seated for dinner with
Marilyn and Rodney from Perth (became friends) and another couple. I usually spent at
least some time after dinner at the piano bar. I’d usually see Don and Marshall there
before we all go to the late show. We’d met a friend named Kathy at Sip and Savor by this
time and she and Candee and I always sat up front for the shows. Why not take the good
seats? So many sit in back so they can sneak out. Don and Marshall do that and I sat with
them a couple of times and even got them to sit down in front with me once. Dolly has a
special seat in the showroom but usually she’s not there when we are. Candee is showing
up at Sip and Savor. And we’re finally to Nuka Hiva.
More soon,
Gayle
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