- How Much Does it Cost to Go on a World Cruise? Part 3 – Onboard Spending and Calculator
- Holland America SELLS OUT 2017 World Cruise Inside Cabins – Segments still avail for less the $5,000 per cabin!
- How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 2 – Pre and Post Cruise Expenses
- Amazing end of cruise video!
- How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 1
- PACKING FOR A WORLD CRUISE
- That’s Entertainment!
- Opening the Package! What is inside?
- Day 132, San Diego, California
- Day 131, Sailing toward San Diego, California
- Day 130, Sailing toward San Diego, California
- Day 129, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Day 128, Sailing toward Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Day 127, Huatulco, Mexico
- Subscribe to this blog! – Check box at bottom of this page
- Day 126, Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
- Day 125, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
- Day 124, Corinto, Nicaragua
- Day 123, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Day 122, Sailing toward Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Day 121, Transiting the Panama Canal
- Day 120, Cartagena, Colombia
- Day 119, Sailing towards Cartagena
- Day 118, Sailing towards Cartagena
- Day 117, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
- Day 116, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Day 115, April 29, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 114, April 28, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 113, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 112, April 26, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 111, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 110, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 109, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 108, Funchal, Portugal
- Day 107, Sailing toward Funchal, Portugal
- Day 106, Cadiz, Spain
- Day 105, Sailing toward Cadiz
- Day 104, Barcelona, Spain
- Day 103, Monte Carlo, Monaco
- Day 102, Livorno, Italy
- Menus and On Locations updated…more posts coming soon
- Day 101, Civitavecchia, Italy
- Day 100, Sailing toward Civitavecchia, Italy
- Day 99, Katakolon, Greece
- Day 98, Piraeus (Athens,) Greece
- Day 97, Sailing toward Piraeus, Greece
- Day 96, Ashdod, Israel
- Day 95, Haifa, Israel
- Day 94, Transiting the Suez Canal
- Day 93, Sailing toward the Suez Canal
- Day 92, Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 91, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 90, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 89, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 88, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 87, Salalah, Oman
- Day 86, Sailing toward Salalah, Oman
- Day 85, Muscat, Oman
- Day 84, Sailing toward Muscat
- Day 83, Dubai, UAE
- Day 82, Dubai, UAE
- Day 81, New Delhi to Dubai
- Day 80, New Delhi, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 79, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 78, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 77, Colombo, Sri Lanka to New Delhi, India
- Day 76, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Day 75, Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 74, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 73, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 72, Phuket, Thailand
- Day 71, Sailing toward Phuket, Thailand
- Day 70, Singapore
- Day 69, Singapore
- Day 68, Singapore
- Day 67, Sailing toward Singapore
- Day 66; Siem Reap to Sihanoukville – while Amsterdam is moored at Sihanoukville
- Day 65, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Ms Amsterdam sailing toward Sihanoukville
- Day 64. Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 63, Sailing toward Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 62, Da Nang, Viet Nam
- Day 61, Da Nang, Vietnam
- Day 60, Sailing toward Da Nang
- Day 59, Hong Kong
- Day 58, Hong Kong
- Day 57, Hong Kong
- Day 56, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 55, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 54, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 53, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 52, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Day 51, Semarang, Java, Indonesia
- Day 50, Sailing towards Semarang, Indonesia
- Day 49, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
- Day 48, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
- Day 47, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
- Day 46, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
- Day 45, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 44, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 43, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 42, Cairns, Australia
- Day 41, Townsville, Australia
- Day 40, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 39, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 38, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 37, Sydney, Australia
- Day 36, Sydney, Australia
- Day 35, Sailing toward Sydney Australia
- Day 34, Melbourne, Australia
- Day 33, Sailing toward Melbourne
- Day 32, Sailing toward Melbourne
- Day 31, Sailing toward Melbourne, Australia
- Day 30, Picton New Zealand
- Day 29, Sailing toward Picton, New Zealand
- Day 28, Auckland, New Zealand
- Day 27, Waitangi (Bay of Islands) New Zealand
- Day 26, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 25, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 24, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 23, Sailing toward Waitangi, New Zealand
- Day 22, Avatiu, Rarotonga
- Day 21, Sailing toward Avatiu, Rarotonga
- Day 20, Moorea, French Polynesia
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti and taking the ferry to Mo’orea
- Day 18 – Avatoru, Rangiroa
- Day 17, Sailing toward Avatoru
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 15, Sailing toward Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 13, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 12 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 11 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 10, At Sea – Enroute Nuku Hiva
- Day 9 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 8 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 7 – Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 6- Cruising the Panama Canal
- Day 5 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 4 – At Sea Enroute to Costa Rica
- Day 3 – Cruising the Carribean
- Day 2 – At Sea – Enroute Costa Rica
- Day 1- The Grand Voyage Begins! 115 Days
- Day D-1 Arriving in Fort Lauderdale
- Day D-2 Leaving Imperial Beach, California
Today was a day for some scenic cruising, although it wasn’t really advertised as such. We would be cruising thru the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily from the rest of Italy.
Good Morning Amsterdam didn’t have a guest due to some miscommunication so Gene and Donna discussed our recent ports and their activities during the Greek ports and what they have planned for Italy.
We didn’t do much today and barely left the cabin, using our verandah to check on our progress through the Strait of Messina. It was quite windy on deck and the Captain noted during his noon update that the Amsterdam was experiencing winds in excess of 50 knots for parts of the day.
As we passed the northern tip of Sicily I noticed this interesting tower that turned out to be an old Electric Pylon that was in service from 1955 and supported a 220 Kilovolt Electrical Line until it was replaced by a submarine cable in 1994. It’s now been designated an historical monument and can’t be torn down. I bet that when they constructed it back in the 50’s people hated it, but now they have to keep it. Go Figure. It is possible to climb to the top as long as you are up for the 1250 steps.
Electric Pylon of Messina
No luck for me at the Hold-em table, but Judy was a winner at crafts and made a bulletin board by gluing wine corks to a wooden ruler.
There was another Grand Dollar Redemption today. There will be one more before the cruise ends. We each received 200 Grand Dollars for attending the Murder Mystery show and I received some donations from others who aren’t collecting them so I now have close to 1,400 Grand Dollars.
The big highlight of the day was the completion of Judy’s “Solitary Confinement Shawl”. The pattern is called Lotus Shawl and is one of the more complex shawls she has knit. She supersized it has well and it ended up being 80” wide by 42” deep with over 500 stiches in the final row. She called it the “Solitary Confinement Shawl” because she stayed in our room to concentrate on the stitch pattern which was charted in an unusual way and she couldn’t talk to anyone when she was knitting it.
Judy’s shawl being blocked
Judy’s Shawl on display on the Verandah
She is glad she is finished and has moved on to two scarves. One is a rayon/linen blend that is straight stockinette and the other is a superwash merino wool that is garter stitch.
The completed shawl is shown as the featured photo on the blog
We got our passports back today – The trip used 7 pages and we don’t expect to get any more stamps this cruise.
I went thru my passport and here are the countries who stamped our passports along with how much space they used.
- Australia – entry stamp squeezed onto page already full
- Cambodia – Entry and Exit Stamp – ½ page
- Indonesia – ½ page used by sticker visa with entry and exit stamps around the sticker
- Thailand – 1/3 page used by entry and exit stamp
- Sri Lanka – 1/3 page used by entry and exit stamp
- Nuku Hiva – 1/6 page used by stamp
- UAE – ½ page with 4 stamps
- Singapore – 1/6 page for one stamp
- India – 1/3 page for 2 stamps in addition to full page for sticker visa obtained in advance
- Vietnam – 1 page for sticker visa and 1/2 page for 2 big stamps
- Greece – one stamp but used a third of a page by stamping it in the center of a page
- Oman – ½ page for Muscat and 1/3 page for Salalah
- Jordan – ½ page for 2 big stamps
On the menu, this evening was a delicious Mediterranean Seafood Stew by guest chef Paulette Mitchell along with Chicken Pho and a Seafood Tower for a starter. Another amazing dinner in a long list of amazing dinners.
Tonight’s show was Ruben Vilagrand, who performed a fantastic show combining mime, magic, and comedy. He was very entertaining and we enjoyed his show very much. He did a trick where he pretended to swallow 9 fish hooks – very realistic and a little gross, but it was pretty amazing and he executed the trick very well.
Ruben Vilagrand put on an amazing show
Ruben doing a magic trick
We will be in Civitavecchia, Italy tomorrow and have a chance to visit the newest ship in the HAL fleet, the Koningsdam.
In an earlier post, did you show the 2018 World Cruise itinerary and the next Grand Asia itinerary? I can’t seem to find it again.
Look under the world cruise reference items link on the front page. You will see a link there
Found it!!!
Thank you so much for taking us with you on your world cruise.
Can you post the itinerary for the 2017 Grand Asia?
Posted now in same location
Many thanks for posting the itinerary. Looks like a great cruise.
What a fabulous shawl. I can see why you had to stay in your room to make it.
Thanks! Judy is happy to be finished and is now working on a simpler project for a break
Very interesting about the passport stamps. Were you warned to make sure you had that many free pages in advance?
The shawl is beautiful!
Yes, we were told to have at least 7 blank pages