KEEP SMILING

Today is the final night of our abbreviated Grand World Voyage.  As you recall, my first post had the headline “Happy Days are Here Again!”.  This post is labeled “Keep Smiling”.  Although we are disappointed that we didn’t complete the cruise, HAL has been very generous with their FCC and we will be able to go on the 2022 World Cruise with little additional cash outlay. 

For the most part,  everyone is still smiling. There are always some who never seem to be happy, but that is their problem if they want to look for the bad side of every situation, always seeking to assign blame and tell everyone how they are doing it wrong.  We even heard that someone complained that the spa people were smiling too much and were too happy considering the circumstances.  Well – to them I say “Keep Smiling!”

STRESS

Much of the stress among some passengers is a byproduct of the cruise experience.  Cruising allows travelers who aren’t experienced in navigating strange airports, dealing with taxi drivers, switching terminals,  reading funny menus, etc. to see the world in the comfort of the Holland America bubble.  They can see the world without flying and come ‘home’ to familiar food and the same bed every night.  Shore excursions are planned and the only travel skill required is to know how to find the main stage meeting point for a tour excursion.  When the HAL bubble burst, through no fault of HAL, some people who never made an airline reservation on their own, never rode in a taxi, don’t have cell phones, don’t know how to navigate internet were in maximum stress.  HAL would eventually sort everything out, but their stress was understandable.

THE BLOG CONTINUES

I will complete the rest of the cruise blog port posts as I get time over the next week.  I try to write my blog with an eye toward future cruisers to use as a port reference in addition to a daily chronicle.

JESSE AND COLLEEN KAZEMEK

Here in Fremantle, we were berthed between Seabourn and Princess.  While we were in the Crow’s Nest,  Jesse and Colleen Kazemek,  guest entertainers from the Beatles Show, emailed us from the Pacific Princess.  We ran out to the forward observation deck and they went out to their aft dining area and we waved and took pictures of each other.

They got on the Pacific Princess on 29 Feb and will remain onboard until April 14th or so.  They are doing new shows with all the other guest entertainers who are stuck on the Pacific Princess.

SPOTLIGHT SHOW

Emilio Valle, the extremely talented lead guitar for the HAL orchestra, performed a spotlight show at 7 PM tonight and was wonderful. He played for 45 minutes and was backed up by the HAL orchestra.

He played a mix of Beatles songs and Santana with a little Chuck Berry and surf music thrown in. The audience leapt to their feet in a rousing standing ovation when he finished.

RUMORS

We heard a rumor, unconfirmed, that a select few passengers from Seabourn and the Amsterdam may be sailing back to LA on the Pacific Princess.  It may be guest entertainers or crew or passengers, but it made for interesting speculation.

HEADING HOME

We are heading back home on the 22nd at 3:20 PM Perth Time.  We have arranged for a driver service to take us to the airport ($100 AUD).  Once we land in Sydney, we will stay at the airport hotel until 1 PM on the 25th when we take a United Flight to SFO and then on to SAN.  We should be back home by 2 PM on the 25th.  Our driver in San Diego has been taking us to the airport since 2008 so we know him quite well.  He hasn’t had a job in 5 days and has nothing scheduled for 3 weeks.  We plan to have him take us to the grocery on the way home as our cupboard is bare.  

Our debarkation window is supposed to be between 8 and 11 AM tomorrow, but we will be ready for changes as passengers who left the ship today waited several hours past their original debarkation time.