Memorial Day 2009

My Memorial Day weekend in Rehoboth Beach Delaware was great. I got in a lot of sunny beach which just hit the spot. It was great seeing family and friends and to just relax. I am now home and have lots of things to do. I have started doing a photo book about the 2009 Grand World Voyage. It is a little scary.... I am using a different publisher so I hope it comes out well. The book will be 250 pages long so I can put in lots of photos, especially from Africa. I also at the same time have to start planning what I will be doing on the upcoming 258 days of sailing I have booked. It's a lot of work.... Tough life!

On the road again????

Unbelievable..... I was home for only 5 days and I'm off again. This time it's not sailing around the world but just sitting back and enjoying the beach (and sun). I took off very early Friday morning and drove to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I have been coming here since I was a kid. Here I can relax in the sun and visit with close friends and family. Friday at the beach was great.... not too crowded as you can see from the photos. Today will be much different I suspect since it is Memorial Day weekend, the kickoff for the summer beach season. I'll be here for a few days and then I have to get back home; lots to do for the upcoming 258 days of cruising coming up...... For my U.S. friends, have a great Memorial Day weekend and for everyone else, have a fabulous weekend yourself. I hope my friends Art & Yvonne, who are still on the Rotterdam, are having a great time with sunny, warm weather.....

Day 131 New York, New York

The day has finally come.... It is time to go home. We arrived into New York around 0600 this morning, arriving in the heavy fog. It was fortunate that we escaped the rain for our debarkation. I was off the ship just after 0800 and on my way to the Newark airport at 0900. Twenty minutes later my best friend Randy met me in Newark with a Suv. We loaded up with my 9 bags and were off. It was a great voyage in many ways.... the places we visited, the crew and many new and old friends... just fabulous! After visiting family and friends in Delaware I will head home tomorrow.

Day 130 At Sea

Surprise!!!! I decided to post again while I was still on the ship. Today was such an amazing day I just had to get back on the computer. Yesterday I packed everything because the weather was just crap and wasn’t going to improve. What a surprise…. Today turned out to be just magnificent. It was hot and sunny, a major upside surprise. This was an absolute bonus day!!!!

Day 129 At Sea

Today all of a sudden became seriously overcast…. Bummer! This is not the kind of welcome I expected sailing up the east coast. I decided that it was time to get seriously involved in packing so I went in and started in earnest. I have decided to pack the big laptop so I’ll probably continue and catch up on the blog this weekend. Thanks again to HAL for a great voyage!

Day 128 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Today was a lovely day mixed with sadness… Many people who you come to know pretty well over a four month period all of a sudden aren’t there anymore. I will especially miss my friends Sandy & Grace and Charles & Patsy. The good news is that I am confident I will see many of them again in the near future. I spent the day lounging out by the pool and catching up via the phone with family & friends. I’m going to have to get serious about packing in the next couple of days….

Day 127 At Sea

Today may have been on of the hottest so far. It was just sizzling! I capped off the afternoon with a nice massage…. It helps to be really relaxed to get in the proper frame of mind to pack. I also was deeply disappointed by the photo shop today. I received a $100 gift certificate for my first place finish in the photo contest. The amazing thing is that it is only good for photos or DVDs. Since it is the end of the voyage it is kind of an interesting prize since I have no opportunities for ship’s photos to be taken. They told me this morning that I could print 333 prints of my photos for the $100 so I spent 1 ½ hours pulling photos to be printed. I went to the photo shop to have them printed and was informed that they couldn’t guarantee it would be done before New York. I told them to keep their prize. Imagine giving a prize that you can’t deliver on. No more HAL photo contests for me. It’s really a shame…. It is the only ship board activity that I participate in. I guess that will give me more time to blog. Tomorrow, Ft. Lauderdale!

Day 126 At Sea

Today was fabulous!!!! Looks like great cruising into Ft Lauderdale. Hopefully, between now and the 16th, when I depart, the weather will remain great. Last night we had our last formal night…. Mother’s Day. It was a really nice evening. It seems strange that we will be saying goodbye to each other soon. This is especially true of my 6 tablemates…. After 4 months together it will be sad to say goodbye. It has been fun sailing with Sandy & Grace, Bill & Barbara and Joe & Roberta. Hopefully we will sail again some day. I was asked in the last couple of days “what’s next?”. I sail in July on the Voyage of the Vikings (35 days)and then less than 3 weeks later board the ms Amsterdam for a 223 day journey, including both the Grand Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific Voyage & the 2010 Grand World Voyage. It should be quite a journey. I plan on using this blog for the upcoming voyages…. Here is the itinerary
SAT 25JUL Sail from Boston, Massachusetts 5:00p
SUN 26JUL Sea Day
MON 27JUL Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec1 9:00a 6:00p
TUE 28JUL Bonne Bay, Newfoundland1 8:00a 5:00p
WED 29JUL Red Bay, Labrador, Canada 8:00a 4:00p
THU 30JUL Sea Day
FRI 31JUL Nanortalik, Greenland 8:00a 5:00p
SAT 01AUG Sea Day
SUN 02AUG Sea Day
MON 03AUG Isafjord, Iceland 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 04AUG Akureyri, Iceland 8:00a 11:00p
WED 05AUG Husavik, Iceland 8:00a 5:00p
THU 06AUG Seydisfjordur Iceland 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 07AUG Sea Day
SAT 08AUG Invergordon, Scotland 7:00a 6:00p
SUN 09AUG S Queensferry (Edinburgh), UK 7:00a 11:59p
MON 10AUG Sea Day
TUE 11AUG Rotterdam, The Netherlands 7:00a 5:00p
WED 12AUG Sea Day
THU 13AUG Dunmore East, Waterford, Ire 8:00a 6:00p
FRI 14AUG LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK 8:00a 6:00p
SAT 15AUG Greenock (Glasgow), Scotland 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 16AUG Sea Day
MON 17AUG Torshavn, Faroe Islands 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 18AUG Djupivogur, Iceland 10:00a 6:00p
WED 19AUG Reykjavik, Iceland 2:00p
THU 20AUG Reykjavik, Iceland 6:00p
FRI 21AUG Sea Day
SAT 22AUG Sea Day
SUN 23AUG Qaqortoq, Greenland 8:00a 5:00p
MON 24AUG Sea Day
TUE 25AUG St Anthony, Newfoundland 8:00a 3:00p
WED 26AUG St.Johns,Canada 8:00a 5:00p
THU 27AUG St Pierre, France 8:00a 4:00p
FRI 28AUG Sea Day
SAT 29AUG Debark Ship Boston, 7:00a
Home for 2 weeks and….
SAT 19SEP Sail from Seattle, Washington 4:00p
SUN 20SEP Sea Day
MON 21SEP Juneau, Alaska 12:00n 9:00p
TUE 22SEP Hubbard Glacier Cruising 1:00p 6:00p
WED 23SEP Sitka, Alaska2 8:00a 5:00p
THU 24SEP Ketchikan, Alaska 7:00a 1:00p
FRI 25SEP Victoria Canada 6:00p 11:59p
SAT 26SEP Sail from Seattle, Washington 5:00p
SUN 27SEP Vancouver, British Columbia 7:00a 5:00p
MON 28SEP Sea Day
TUE 29SEP Sea Day
WED 30SEP Los Angeles, California 7:00a 5:00p
THU 01OCT Sea Day
FRI 02OCT Sea Day
SAT 03OCT Sea Day
SUN 04OCT Sea Day
MON 05OCT Sea Day
TUE 06OCT Sea Day
WED 07OCT Nuku Hiva, Marquesas 8:00a 5:00p
THU 08OCT Sea Day
FRI 09OCT Papeete, Tahiti 10:00a
SAT 10OCT Papeete, Tahiti 5:00a
SAT 10OCT Moorea, French Polynesia 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 11OCT Bora Bora, French Polynesia 8:00a
MON 12OCT Bora Bora, French Polynesia 6:00p
TUE 13OCT Raiatea, French Polynesia 8:00a 5:00p
WED 14OCT Sea Day
THU 15OCT Rarotonga, Cook Islands 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 16OCT Sea Day
SAT 17OCT Pago Pago, American Samoa 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 18OCT Sea Day
MON 19OCT Cross International Dateline
TUE 20OCT Suva, Fiji 8:00a 5:00p
WED 21OCT Sea Day
THU 22OCT Port Vila (Vanuatu) 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 23OCT Sea Day
SAT 24OCT Sea Day
SUN 25OCT Cairns, Australia 5:00p
MON 26OCT Cairns, Australia 5:00p
TUE 27OCT Sea Day
WED 28OCT Sea Day
THU 29OCT Brisbane, Australia 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 30OCT Sea Day
SAT 31OCT Sydney, Australia 7:00a
SUN 01NOV Sydney, Australia
MON 02NOV Sydney, Australia 5:00p
TUE 03NOV Sea Day
WED 04NOV Melbourne, Australia 7:00a 6:00p
THU 05NOV Sea Day
FRI 06NOV Hobart, Tasmania 7:00a 6:00p
SAT 07NOV Sea Day
SUN 08NOV Sea Day
MON 09NOV Milford Sound, New Zealand 7:00a 8:00a
TUE 10NOV Dunedin, New Zealand 7:00a 6:00p
WED 11NOV Christchurch, New Zealand 7:00a 10:00p
THU 12NOV Wellington, New Zealand 8:00a 6:00p
FRI 13NOV Napier, New Zealand 7:00a 2:00p
SAT 14NOV Tauranga (Rotorua) New Zealand 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 15NOV Auckland, New Zealand 7:00a 8:00p
MON 16NOV Bay of Islands, New Zealand 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 17NOV Sea Day
WED 18NOV Sea Day
THU 19NOV Nuku' Alofa, Tonga 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 20NOV Sea Day
FRI 20NOV Apia, Western Samoa 7:00a 4:00p
FRI 20NOV Cross International Dateline
SAT 21NOV Sea Day
SUN 22NOV Crossing the Equator
MON 23NOV Sea Day
TUE 24NOV Sea Day
WED 25NOV Kona, Hawaii 10:00a 6:00p
THU 26NOV Honolulu, Oahu, United States 7:00a 6:00p
FRI 27NOV Hilo, Hawaii 7:00a 4:00p
SAT 28NOV Sea Day
SUN 29NOV Sea Day
MON 30NOV Sea Day
TUE 01DEC Sea Day
WED 02DEC Los Angeles, 7:00a 5:00p
THU 03DEC Avalon, Catalina Island 8:00a 3:00p
FRI 04DEC Sea Day
SAT 05DEC Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 06DEC Sea Day
MON 07DEC Acapulco, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 08DEC Huatulco, Mexico 7:00a 5:00p
WED 09DEC Puerto Chiapas, Mexico 7:00a 5:00p
THU 10DEC Sea Day
FRI 11DEC Sea Day
SAT 12DEC Enter Panama Canal Balboa 5:00a
SAT 12DEC Gatun Lake, Panama 2:00p
SUN 13DEC Gatun Lake, Panama 9:00a
SUN 13DEC Exit Panama Canal Balboa 7:00p
MON 14DEC Sea Day
TUE 15DEC Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica 7:00a 5:00p
WED 16DEC Corinto, Nicaragua 9:00a 6:00p
THU 17DEC Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala 8:00a 6:00p
FRI 18DEC Sea Day
SAT 19DEC Sea Day
SUN 20DEC Mazatlan, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
MON 21DEC Sea Day
TUE 22DEC Sea Day
WED 23DEC Sail from Los Angeles, 7:00a 5:00p
THU 24DEC Sea Day
FRI 25DEC Sea Day
SAT 26DEC Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 27DEC Sea Day
MON 28DEC Huatulco, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 29DEC Puerto Chiapas, Mexico 8:00a 8:00p
WED 30DEC Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala 6:00a 4:00p
THU 31DEC Sea Day
FRI 01JAN Fuerte Amador, Panama City 6:00p
SAT 02JAN Fuerte Amador, Panama City 4:00a
SAT 02JAN Enter Panama Canal Balboa 5:00a
SAT 02JAN Exit Panama Canal Cristobal 7:00p
SUN 03JAN Cartagena, Colombia 11:00a 5:00p
MON 04JAN Sea Day
TUE 05JAN Sea Day
WED 06JAN Fort Lauderdale, 7:00a 5:00p
THU 07JAN Sea Day
FRI 08JAN Sea Day
SAT 09JAN Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 10JAN Enter Panama Canal Cristobal 5:00a
SUN 10JAN Fuerte Amador, Panama City 8:00p
SUN 10JAN Exit Panama Canal Balboa1 7:00p
MON 11JAN Fuerte Amador, Panama City 4:00p
TUE 12JAN Sea Day
WED 13JAN Manta, Ecuador 5:00a 11:00p
THU 14JAN Sea Day
FRI 15JAN Sea Day
SAT 16JAN Callao (Lima) Peru 8:00a
SUN 17JAN Callao (Lima) Peru 6:00p
MON 18JAN Sea Day
TUE 19JAN Arica, Chile 7:00a 5:00p
WED 20JAN Sea Day
THU 21JAN Coquimbo (La Serena) Chile 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 22JAN Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile 7:00a 5:00p
SAT 23JAN Isla Robinson Crusoe, Chile 12:00n 6:00p
SUN 24JAN Sea Day
MON 25JAN Puerto Montt, Chile 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 26JAN DARWIN CHANNEL CHILEAN FJORDS1
WED 27JAN AMALIA GLACIER CANAL SARMIENTO
THU 28JAN Punta Arenas, Chile 7:00a 8:00p
THU 28JAN STRAIT OF MAGELLAN
THU 28JAN COCKBURN AND BEAGLE CHANNELS
FRI 29JAN Ushuaia, Argentina 1:00p 7:00p
FRI 29JAN ROMANCHE, ALEMANIA GLACIERS
SAT 30JAN CAPE HORN AND DRAKE PASSAGE
SUN 31JAN WILHELM ARCHIPELAGO 8:00a
MON 01FEB SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS
TUE 02FEB THE ANTARCTIC SOUND 10:00p
WED 03FEB Sea Day
THU 04FEB Pt. Stanley, Falkland Islands, 7:00a 3:00p
FRI 05FEB Sea Day
SAT 06FEB Sea Day
SUN 07FEB Buenos Aires, Argentina 6:00a
MON 08FEB Buenos Aires, Argentina 5:00p
TUE 09FEB Montevideo, Uruguay 8:00a 5:00p
WED 10FEB Sea Day
THU 11FEB Sea Day
FRI 12FEB Sea Day
THU 18FEB Walvis Bay, Namibia 8:00a 5:00p
FRI 19FEB Luderitz, Namibia 8:00a 5:00p
SAT 20FEB Sea Day
SUN 21FEB Cape Town, South Africa 8:00a
MON 22FEB Cape Town, South Africa 11:00p
TUE 23FEB Sea Day
WED 24FEB Port Elizabeth, South Africa 6:00a 11:00p
THU 25FEB Sea Day
FRI 26FEB Durban, South Africa 6:00a 11:00p
SAT 27FEB Sea Day
SUN 28FEB Sea Day
MON 01MAR Sea Day
TUE 02MAR La Possession, Reunion 8:00a 5:00p
WED 03MAR Port Louis, Mauritius 7:00a 6:00p
THU 04MAR Sea Day
FRI 05MAR Sea Day
SAT 06MAR The Seychelles 7:00a
SUN 07MAR The Seychelles 12:00n
MON 08MAR Sea Day
TUE 09MAR Sea Day
WED 10MAR Sea Day
THU 11MAR Mumbai (Bombay), India 8:00a
FRI 12MAR Mumbai (Bombay), India 6:00p
SAT 13MAR Marmagao (Goa), India 8:00a 5:00p
SUN 14MAR Sea Day
MON 15MAR Sea Day
TUE 16MAR Sea Day
WED 17MAR Sea Day
THU 18MAR Port Kelang, Malaysia 8:00a 6:00p
FRI 19MAR Singapore3 7:00a
SAT 20MAR Singapore 5:00p
SUN 21MAR Sea Day
MON 22MAR Sihanoukville, Cambodia 7:00a 6:00p
TUE 23MAR Sea Day
WED 24MAR Phu My, Vietnam 6:00a 8:00p
THU 25MAR Sea Day
FRI 26MAR Halong Bay, Vietnam 10:00a 6:00p
SAT 27MAR Sea Day
SUN 28MAR Hong Kong, China 7:00a
MON 29MAR Hong Kong, China 6:00p
TUE 30MAR Sea Day
WED 31MAR Sea Day
THU 01APR Shanghai, China 8:00a
FRI 02APR Shanghai, China 5:00p
SAT 03APR Sea Day
SUN 04APR Sea Day
MON 05APR Xingang (Beijing), China 8:00a
TUE 06APR Xingang (Beijing), China 5:00p
WED 07APR Sea Day
THU 08APR Cheju City,South Korea 7:00a 2:00p
FRI 09APR Kagoshima, Japan 8:00a 5:00p
SAT 10APR Kobe, Japa3 3:00p
SUN 11APR Kobe, Japan 5:00p
MON 12APR Yokohama, Japan 2:00p
TUE 13APR Yokohama, Japan 6:00p
WED 14APR Sea Day
THU 15APR Hakodate, Japan 7:00a 6:00p
FRI 16APR Sea Day
SAT 17APR Sea Day
SUN 18APR Petropavlovsk, Russia 7:00a 5:00p
MON 19APR Sea Day
MON 19APR Cross International Dateline
TUE 20APR Sea Day
WED 21APR Sea Day
THU 22APR Sea Day
FRI 23APR Sea Day
SAT 24APR Sea Day
SUN 25APR Vancouver, British Columbia 8:00a 5:00p
MON 26APR Seattle, Washington 8:00a 5:00p
TUE 27APR Sea Day
WED 28APR Sea Day
THU 29APR Debark Ship Los Angeles, 7:00a

Day 125 Gustavia, St Barts

Happy Mother’s Day!!!! Today was a return visit to St Barts for me. I got on the first tender ashore and explored around Gustavia. I got to see some sights I hadn’t seen before which was nice. I also went to the nearest beach, Shell Beach which was lovely. I even climbed up the huge hill at one end to catch some nice views from above. The downside was that it was Sunday and most places were closed… bummer! All in all though it was a lovely day. This was, for me, the last port to visit on this Grand World Voyage. On Wednesday we pull into Ft Lauderdale but I’ll stay close to the ship. Tonight is our last formal night and…. our big headliner for the last “big” show. Tonight Chita Rivera will be performing. It should be a fun evening.

Photo Contest

The results for the 2009 Grand World Photo contest are in….. I got first place in the landscape category and second place in both the people and wildlife category.