Cooler temperatures greeted us this morning (Mid 60’s) with a high overcast, but good visibility, as we continue to sail west toward Melbourne. The Amsterdam continues its steady rise and fall, with an occasional pause and roll when the ship’s bow reaches its upper...
Day 31, Sailing toward Melbourne, Australia The sea state has increased significantly and the ship motions is constant with occasional roll as the stabilizers reach their control limits. It’s hard to tell, but I suspect many guests have taken to their cabins as the...
The approach to Picton looks very similar to cruising the inside passage on an Alaska Cruise. Plenty of green on low hills, with sharp well defined ridgelines. The sky was fairly bright as the sun had risen, but was still hiding behind the hills and would not...
Stabilizers do a wonderful job of controlling the ship’s roll, but they are ineffective against the inevitable pitching caused by the swells of the Southern Ocean. Looking forward toward the navigation bridge you get a better sense of just how much the ship is...
Our little village, the Ms Amsterdam, sailed into Auckland, New Zealand this morning ready for another day of adventure and discovery. With just over 1000 passengers, the Amsterdam is like a small town moving across the globe sharing new experiences along the way. For...
The glowing pink sky of the predawn morning outlined the numerous islands as we started our approach to our anchorage in Waitangi (Bay of Islands). Rain was forecast, but fortunately it appears to be wrong and the dawn light begins to illuminate a partly cloudy...
Today is our last of 4 consecutive sea days prior to arriving in Waitangi, Bay of Islands, New Zealand and marks the end of long stretches at Sea until we leave Indonesia almost a month from now and head to Hong Kong – The next 30 days will be some of the most...
I started yesterday’s post with the comment that I rarely ever see another ship while cruising the vast Pacific. Early this afternoon I open the curtain to my room and look outside and see the container ship ANL BINDAREE of Monrovia which just goes to show, that while...
Oceans are vast, open spaces and sailing across the Pacific day after day is a constant reminder. Since we left Panama I have not seen another ship, of any size, except when very near our ports of call. Now I don’t spend that much time scanning the horizon, but...
Swells continue to keep the ship in constant motion as we push southwest toward Waitangi, New Zealand. I haven’t noticed anyone complaining of seasickness, as it is pretty mild as far as ship motion goes, but you can definitely tell you are no longer on land. We...