PIANO BAR "FOR GOOD" Australian vocalist and harpist, Alana Conway, was a guest entertainer on the ms Amsterdam during our recent world cruise in March 2020. She was an amazing performer and we enjoyed her shows very much. Much to our delight, we happened by the Piano...
Home Sweet Home We arrived in Sydney late Sunday evening, March 22nd. Our flight back to the USA wasn’t until the 25th. This gave us two full days to hang out around the Sydney Airport until our United Airlines Flight left on the 25th. Sydney Day 1 Even though we...
Day 78, The Long Road Home PACKOUT We finished packing early this morning. We will be leaving 7 suitcases and 3 boxes in our room that will be FEDEXED back to Imperial Beach once the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale. We left our luggage in our cabin We will be...
Emilio Valle, the lead guitar for the Holland America Orchestra, was featured in a special spotlight show the evening of 21 March while we were in Fremantle, Western Australia. Here are the highlights https://youtu.be/LxfIl43t-fo Here is the set list 1- Scuttle...
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...
Capt Mercer came over the public address system and gave us a preview of what we can expect in near future. He said everything will be in a letter delivered to our rooms, but wanted to give us what he knew ASAP so we could start planning. Here are the highlights...
2020 Grand World Voyage will end in Fremantle (Perth) At noon today, 13 March 2020, Captain Mercer confirmed that our wonderful World Cruise will be ending in Fremantle on 24 March 2020, 10 days from now. After the announcement, Henk held an informal town hall by...
Day 63, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia March 7th Our cabin overlooks the pilot ladder. Before every port, I usually hear a powerboat engine close by early in the morning. More often than not, when I step out onto our verandah, I will spot the Pilot Boat running...
Day 62, STRAIGHT FLUSH ON THE FLOP! March 6th CASINO UPDATE I have been playing Texas Hold'em every sea day this cruise. Today I experienced something for the first time EVER. I flopped a STRAIGHT FLUSH. The odds of this happening are about 10,000 to 1. For the...
Day 61, Captains Gala Dinner, March 5th I will be picking up my blog where I left off, back on March 5th. My last regular post was over a month ago on March 4th with a report of our visit to The Bay of Islands. After I finish the missing days, between March 5th and...