Amazon Cruise - Nov 8 - Dec 7, 2018

Thur, Nov 8 Fly to Fort Lauderdale, FL

Fri, Nov 9 Depart Fort Lauderdale, FL

Sat, Nov 10 At sea

Sun, Nov 11 At sea

Mon, Nov 12 Philipsburg, Sint Maarten 

Tue, Nov 13 Terre-de-HautIles des Saintes, Guadeloupe 

Wed, Nov 14 Bridgetown, Barbados 

Thur, Nov 15 At sea

Fri, Nov 16 Devils Island, French Guiana 

Sat, Nov 17 Crossing the Amazon River Bar, Brazil

Sat, Nov 17 Cruising the Amazon River 

Sun, Nov 18 Macapa, Brazil 

Sun, Nov 18 Cruising the Amazon River

Mon, Nov 19 Santarem, Brazil 

Tue, Nov 20 Boca da Valeria, Brazil 

Wed, Nov 21 Manaus, Brazil 

Thur, Nov 22 Manaus, Brazil 

Fri, Nov 23 Parintins, Brazil 

Sat, Nov 24 Alter Do Chao, Brazil 

Mon, Nov 25 Cruising the Amazon River

Wed, Nov 25 Crossing the Amazon River Bar, Brazil

Thur, Nov 26 Barra Norte Sea, Brazil 

Thur, Nov 26 At sea

Fri, Nov 27 Icoaraci (Belem), Brazil 

Sat, Nov 28 At sea

Sun Nov 29 At sea

Mon, Nov 30 At sea

Tue, Dec 01 Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago 

Wed, Dec 02 Saint Georges, Grenada

Thur, Dec 03 At sea

Fri, Dec 04 Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic 

Sat, Dec 05 At sea

Sun, Dec 06 At sea

Mon, Dec 07 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 

Mon, Dec 07 Fly to Richmond, VA then home

South America not happening for me

The best laid plans ... fell apart on this trip. After problems with my right ankle that resulted in a fall in my hotel room the night before sailing, I decided it would be better to cancel and come home while I was still in the US. I felt that was better than possibily falling and breaking some part of me in a foreign country.

After seeing my doctor and having x-rays taken of various parts, the good news is that I didn't actually break any bones. The bad news is that I have bent or bruised a couple of spots, especially my tail-bone area which will take several weeks to a month before I can sit down or get up without any discomfort.

If you are curious about the trip around South America, my 2007 trip was almost the same itinerary. That trip is way down there at the beginning of this blog.

Happy trails to all.

South America 2017

November 15, 2016

My next trip is coming up soon. I did this itinerary back in 2007 on the same ship. In fact, that trip was when I began this blog, and it’s still there down in the depths of the web. As you can see from the itinerary below, I leave for Ft. Lauderdale on January 3, 2017, and we sail on January 3.

Date -- Port
T 03 Jan -- Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US
T 05 Jan -- At Sea
F 06 Jan -- Isla de Providencia, Colombia
S 07 Jan -- Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
S 08 Jan -- Enter Panama Canal Cristobal
S 08 Jan -- Cruising Panama Canal
S 08 Jan -- Exit Panama Canal Balboa
M 09 Jan -- At Sea
T 10 Jan -- Manta, Ecuador
F 11 Jan -- At Sea
S 12 Jan -- At Sea
S 13 Jan -- Callao (Lima), Peru
T 15 Jan -- Callao (Lima), Peru
T 17 Jan -- Arica, Chile
F 18 Jan -- At Sea
S 19 Jan -- Coquimbo, Chile
S 20 Jan -- Valparaiso, Chile
M 21 Jan -- At Sea
T 22 Jan -- Isla Robinson Crusoe, Chile
W 23 Jan -- At Sea
T 24 Jan -- Castro, Isla Chiloe, Chile
F 25 Jan -- Darwin Channel Chilean Fjords
S 26 Jan -- Scenic cruising Amalia or Brujo Glacier
M 28 Jan -- Scenic Cruising Cape Horn
T 29 Jan -- Ushuaia, Argentina
W 30 Jan -- At Sea (Drake’s Passage)
T 31 Jan -- The Palmer Archipelago
F 01 Feb -- The Danco Coast
S 02 Feb -- The Antarctic Sound
S 03 Feb -- At Sea
M 04 Feb -- Stanley/Falkland Is.
W 06 Feb -- Puerto Madryn, Argentina
T 07 Feb -- At Sea
F 08 Feb -- Montevideo, Uruguay
S 09 Feb -- Buenos Aires, Argentina
S 10 Feb -- Buenos Aires, Argentina
M 11 Feb -- Punta del Este, Uruguay
T 12 Feb -- At Sea
W 13 Feb -- At Sea
T 14 Feb -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
F 15 Feb -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
S 16 Feb -- At Sea
S 17 Feb -- Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
M 18 Feb -- At Sea
T 19 Feb -- Recife, Brazil
W 20 Feb -- At Sea
T 21 Feb -- Fortaleza, Brazil
F 22 Feb -- At Sea
S 23 Feb -- Icoaraci (Belem), Brazil
S 24 Feb -- Cruising the Amazon River
S 24 Feb -- Crossing the Equator
T 26 Feb -- Boca da Valeria, Brazil
W 27 Feb -- Manaus, Brazil
T 28 Feb -- Manaus, Brazil
F 01 Mar -- Parintins, Brazil
S 02 Mar -- Cruising the Amazon River
S 02 Mar -- Crossing the Equator
S 03 Mar -- At Sea
M 04 Mar -- Devils Island, French Guiana
T 05 Mar -- At Sea
W 06 Mar -- Bridgetown, Barbados
T 07 Mar -- Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
F 08 Mar -- Philipsburg, Sint Maarten
S 09 Mar -- At Sea
S 10 Mar -- At Sea
M 11Mar -- Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US

World cruise 48

April 28

Sorry I don't seem to have any photos to share as we cross the Atlantic. I suppose I could take a picture of our room strewn about with piles of stuff and suitcases, but that's rather depressing and unattractive.

The good news is that, for today, we have sunshine and pretty calm seas. So I guess I'll try to get some packing done today since the Captain is predicting rain tomorrow.

We had a lovely dinner last night at Canaletto (the Italian restaurant on board) with friends Judith and Carol. The food there is fantastic, but far too large portions. The chef had made lasagna specially for us (yum), but I could only eat half of my portion.

Then this afternoon we went to a lovely brunch for people who are returning passengers, i.e. members of Holland America's "Mariner Society." There was a lot of talk about the plate they gave us which had the correct date for this cruise but showed the itinerary for last year's cruise. No big deal as far as I am concerned, but a lot of people are quite upset. When we got back to our cabin, there was a letter apologizing for the incorrect plate and saying that the Royal Goedewaggen factory in the Netherlands will make new, corrected plates and ship them to everybody's home address within the month. Amazing what some people will get all worked up about!

April 29

Gack, I hate packing to go home! Every semi-flat surface is covered over in suitcases and piles of stuff! And it's a good thing that they gave us another suitcase as we're each going to need it! It has definitely interrupted the routine for sea days that we've had for a whole third of a year! Pfui!

So this is the end of our World Cruise blog. Unless, of course, Margaret chooses to write up some of her later adventures, in which case I will add them hhere at the end of my tale. Hope you've enjoyed our trip. Bye.

World cruise 47

April 26

Yesterday evening Margaret got seriously into packing. Oh my. It's a good thing that one of our "ship gifts" was another duffle bag with wheels at one end.

"Ship gifts" is sort of a misnomer since I am completely certain that I paid for them as part of my fare. Some are useful and some not so much. There is the aforementioned duffle bag, a nice satchel/tote, a bluetooth speaker, a travel journal, a passport case, a set of 3 Seattle Chocolates bars at Easter, a combo solar flashlight and phone recharger, a fancy umbrella, a big ceramic travel mug, a china plate, a luggage scale, a lovely Tiffany pewter box and a Steiff bear in its own little dufflebag backpack. I think that's it. Of course it's fun to occasionally find a present on your bed when you get back from dinner. And of course they do this gifting thing on their Grand Voyages to encourage people to come back again on the long, expensive cruises. It's a Holland America Grand Voyage thing. It's okay. I'll take 'em.

Another Holland America thing is flowers. Real flowers in amazing arrangements in almost every public space. Plus we've had a little vase of live flowers in our room that changes at least once a week. I talked about the flowers and the florists back in post number 43. I do not remember seeing this kind of floral display, much less the complete artistry of it, on any other cruise line. Hmmm ... nor do I know if they do it on all or just some of their ships/cruises.

Today was rather bouncy again. We've altered course somewhat to the south to try to avoid another depression moving eastward across the Atlantic. At his mid-day report, the Captain referred to the ocean swells as "confused" in direction. I would certainly agree with him.

Tonight was the last formal night. Now we can begin to think about packing in earnest.

April 27

Still rocky although a little bit better. The Captain is predicting a good deal calmer by late tonight. It's not too terrible except when you try to stand up and walk somewhere. I'd show you a photo of the scenery, but it would just be all grey.

I'm finally just about finished with the last afghan for Project Linus. This activity on board has been shepherded by a volunteer. Malvina's a delightful lady from Canada who kept track of all the donated yarn and completed blankets (well over 100 so far). Unfortunately she was called home several weeks ago as her daughter was dying of brain cancer. We all miss her and are grateful to Jean who stepped into her duties to complete the project.

That's another reality of a long cruise ... injuries, sickness and death ... among either the passengers, the crew or their families. The 1,200 to 1,500 people on board are very much like a village. Things happen, good or bad. News gets passed around. Others step up to help in various ways. More news gets passed, as does pure gossip.

I admit that I am a little more ready to get off the ship and be home than on other, shorter cruises. I miss my friends at home and my own bed, chair, routine, etc. I know, however, that as soon as I'm home, I will be missing the ship, the new friends, the other people, the ship's routine, etc.

World cruise 46

April 22

The ship was practicing for "Dancing with the Stars" all night. Toward morning she shifted into some mix of salsa and paso doble with a bunch of wicked can-can kick steps thrown in for (good/bad) measure. It was a definite relief to get inside the breakwater and docked at Porta Delgada.

Right after we got tied up, the Regal Princess arrived. As big as she is, she had to turn around out in the rough water then back into her dock space. I swear she slid along not 3 feet from the dock. These ships with the rotating azipod motors and side thrusters can put themselves almost anywhere in almost any direction without a tugboat's help.

I was not feeling up to a bus tour winding up twisty roads to a village in a volcanic crater in the rain, so opted to skip that one today. Of course, right after all the tours left, I was feeling fine and the sun was out. For the rest of the day, the weather cycled between cloudy and sunny, but always with a strong, chilly wind so I don't feel too bad about skipping my last bus tour of the trip.

It's a pretty port. Friends who have been here before as recently as 1.5 years ago say that the port area has been completely redone.

It appears to have a massive public swimming area with fresh water pools not filled yet and a sectioned off ocean swimming area plus a bunch of shops, little cafes, etc. We watched a number of people come down these steps and swim around for a while. Either they are extremely hardy souls, or there might be a hot spring or even a magma chamber below the area to warm the water. We did learn that the ocean water temperature was around 59F ... Brrrr!

There were certainly plenty of waves breaking on up the shore ... and this was at low tide.

Margaret went on a tour of parks, hot springs and a tea plantation. Want to bet whether she came back with more tea? No bet ... she did.

Usually when a ship is just ready to cast off and sail away, it blows a blast or two on its nice deep-throated steam whistle. When the Regal Princess sailed this afternoon, she played the theme from "Love Boat." I don't know if she has multiple tuned steam whistles like a calliope, or just a recording played through huge amps and speakers. At any rate it was the silliest thing I've heard in ages!

April 23

Margaret went off on a 4x4 excursion "off the beaten track" this morning while I had a quiet morning on board.

The afternoon was quiet also until we sailed. As soon as we got outside the breakwater we started to bounce every whichaway. This certainly confirms the Captain's decision to skip Horta and stay in Porta Delgada even though we never got more than one or two short rain showers while there.

I was literally bouncing off the walls just trying to cross the cabin. For the safety of myself and any others on whom I might land, I decided that I had no business getting out and about for dinner. So it was room service dinner for me.

Fortunately, I have virtually no tendency toward motion sickness. All that moving around just makes me sleepy.

April 24

Well, yesterday the Captain said things ought to get smoother by late morning today. It's 11:00 a.m., and we're still bouncing alomg, although I guess it's some better than before. Anyway, I'm still in our cabin. I figure I'm sparing everyone the sight of me trying to get up off the floor. Margaret has been out for breakfast and has gone to a lecture, but even she is hanging onto the handrails out there.

Sure enough, things did get better in the afternoon. We've still got a bit of rock 'n' roll, but not nearly as much. So we went to the Indonesian Crew Show this afternoon. It is always a packed house and an enthusiastic audience, but this year the show was even better than usual. We had gotten there early enough to get seats in the first row of the balcony ... A good spot to see the action, but only a few photos came out. The girl in the first photo is Ani, one of our favorite people at the Lido.

Now that we're actually out in the Atlantic headed home, everybody is talking about packing. Thank heavens for free FedEx shipping! FedEx agents came aboard in Ponta Delgada and brought lots of pre-printed labels for both of us (although everything is going to my place so the name doesn't matter too much). It's also a good thing that the ship gave us each a rolling duffle bag and that my suitcases unzip for extra space. Not that I bought much myself, you understand, but someone did have a good time in the shops so I may have to consolidate my stuff and lend her a suitcase.

April 25

It was a fairly smooth day, but grey and rainy. We went to a fancy lunch in the Pinnacle Grill. The theme was "Show and Tail" meaning bring your favorite party animal and tell where you got it. Several versions of elephants and camels showed up, and one woman brought a photo of her kissing a penguin at Ski Dubai. I brought Snavely, my Thai lizard (I guess he's a paperweight as he seems to be filled with sand.)

Right after that we went early to get good seats for the Filipino Crew Show. It was also much fancier in its production values than I've seen in the past, but still had many of the same elements as usual.

By late afternoon the wind had picked up, so things were a tad rocky again, at least back here in the aft end of the ship.

World cruise 45

April 19

Cadiz, Spain is an interesting and very clean city. Its streets, beaches and public areas are constantly being cleaned. In the past 20 years numerous civic projects have been undertaken to improve the lives of the citizens and restore the sites reelating to the city's history. Our guide, Carmen, detailed all of this and attributed it to the Mayor they've had for those 20 years ... a woman. Anyway, it's a lovely city to be constantly lost in, especially the old town area with its narrow, twisting streets and traffic circles of every shape and design ... sometimes even including round.

Margaret's and my tour was only a half day "panoramic" one which designation pretty much means just riding around with a very few stops. But we went all around the city viewing fortifications, beaches, parks, statues and historic buildings.

Then the tour went to the nearby town of Jerez de la Frontera widely known as the sherry capital of the world. In fact, the town's Moorish name, Sheris, gave the drink its name. Again we drove around this town which still shows some Moorish influence. Then we stopped at one of the wineries that makes several well-known brands of sherry including Harvey's Bristol Creme. We toured the place and learned how sherry is produced.

Then there was a tasting session in a wonderful courtyard (now enclosed with a glass roof) that was originally a part of a convent built on that site in the 12th or 13th century . One wall was covered in various colors of bougainvillea that are constantly in bloom.

Others tasted liquids from a variety of bottles. (You can ask Margaret about the raisin wine.) There was a store where other unopened bottles could be purchased. I passed on both activities and went outside to enjoy the winery's lovely gardens.

After lunch on the ship, Margaret went walkabout in town, exploring some of the little streets and squares (which were often not at all square) of the old town that we had seen in the morning. An example is this two-toned cathedral which we only had a glimpse of in the morning, but which Margaret got this photo of in the afternoon. It's two-toned because the original builders ran out of money and could no longer afford the darker stone. They had to switch to limestone which is softer and presents problems for today's restoration efforts.

It was, overall, a very pleasant tour of a very pleasant place on a beautiful day. Of the places I've seen in Spain (admittedly only a few and those around the edges), I think Cadiz would be the one I would enjoy visiting for more than just a day.

April 20

At sea en route to the Azores. We are out in the Atlantic and feeling some of the swells of a big ocean. We're also headed into some less than wonderful weather. For today it was only partly cloudy, but the swells were getting up pretty good by dinnertime.

April 21

Still at sea with mostly sunny skies, a brisk wind and significant swells coming at us from the low pressure depression ahead of us. So we have one last itinerary change ... or at least I hope it's the last.

Our last stop before striking out across the Atlantic was supposed to be Horta, Portugal in the Azores. The approaching bad weather makes getting passengers ashore safely from anchorage using tenders at Horta nigh impossible. So. We are still headed for Porte Delgada, Portugal in the Azores which we should reach tomorrow morning a few hours after the weather reaches us. There we will dock and remain for a whole extra day before setting off again. Thus we hope to wait out the worst of the weather at dock. I think we must now be dealing with Plan L or M ... at any rate well beyond dealing with Plan B.