Heavy rained greeted us today as we closed in on our pier in Jakarta. The familiar cranes, intermodal containers, forklifts and longshoreman were numerous while the welcoming party was small, but enthusiastic. The ship’s location team had successfully convinced most...
There is often a small band or local musical group welcoming us when we arrive at various ports. Our welcoming party today was the most elaborate of any commercial cruise I have experienced and rivaled those usually reserved for the most formal arrival ceremonies...
Early this morning we continued our transit northwest thru the Bali Sea, enroute to the Java Sea before turning west toward Semarang. With partly cloudy skies, land was visible just a few miles off our port side when we woke up this morning. As is typical for us...
The Amsterdam paused outside Benoa Harbor around 7am this morning to pick up the pilot for our final approach to our berth alongside the Benoa Cruise Terminal where we would moor around 8 am. Rain was in the forecast, along with heat and humidity, but it was...
I was surprised to see a small island a few miles off our port side early this morning. After reviewing our location, it appears to be the Indonesian Island called Pulau Dana. The island is uninhabited except for one annual pilgrimage by the Raijua elders each year....
This morning was surprising cooler than expected and overcast. Based on the heat we experienced in Darwin, I assumed that as we moved closer to the equator, the heat and humidity would get worse, so it was a pleasant surprise when the anticipated heat never...
The muffled roar of an accelerating boat engine got my attention early this morning. Looking outside from my cabin I saw the pilot boat speeding back toward Darwin after delivering the harbor pilot to the Amsterdam. We would be arriving in Darwin about 10am and...
We passed thru a rain shower early this morning and the promenade deck and railings were still wet and misty as I stepped outside to start my walk around deck 3. Isolated thunderstorms could be seen in the distance along with an occasional bolt of lightning followed...
Early this morning, around sunrise, we passed the tip of the Cape York Peninsula and headed west towards Darwin thru the Torres Strait. The numerous islands of the Great Barrier Reef became more sparse and finally disappeared altogether, replaced by the ocean’s...
Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula was off our port side today as we cruised north thru the Great Barrier Reef which is made up of 900 islands and over 2,900 individual reefs. While you can’t see the underwater reefs from the ship, the numerous islands of the Great...