Hallo all of you, new readers and my previous followers. First of all a big RIP to my youngest brother Rene who past away this week. It has been a while that I have been writing on this blog. Currently we are on a 5 day Caribbean cruise. Call it a warm up for the big Cruise. We left Fort Lauderdale on December 29 and will be back there on January 3th. Yesterday we had a stop in Amber Cove Dominican Republic. This is just outside Puerto Plata. We didn’t do any excursions just went on shore walked around had something to eat and tried the local beer (Presidente). We followed this up with New Year festivities on the boat. This was the first time that we celebrated New Years on a Cruise ship. I recomment to do that ones in your lifetime. Today is a sea day followed by a stop tomorrow in Half Moon Cay Bahamas. The Beach there is spectacular I have been told. For all my Dutch readers, I missed my Oliebollen yesterday.
Currently we are back home in Nanaimo, BC, and got past our 2 week mandatory isolation with no issues. I like do a recap of our trip and share my highlights with you. The number 1 highlight for me was definitely sailing the waterways of Antarctica. The looks of the emerald green colour of the water with the pure white icebergs floating all around us and not to forget the snow covered mountains under the sunny blue skies. This all made up for a spectacular scenery. The numerous humpback whales and killer whales we have seen were also precious. Another impressive scenery was the boat trip up the Amazon River and witnessing the enormous size of this river and the amount of water it is carrying down to the Atlantic Ocean. For large cities, I liked Montevideo,Uruguay the best because of the History and old Architecture of the buildings combined by the friendliness of the people. It also has great cuisine. Compared with some of the other larger cities we visited, I felt very safe here. The best events we visited: I have to go with the Carnival parade in Rio, it’s hard to put it in words, and you actually have to experience the vibes of the Samba music for yourself. Other events worth mentioning: The boat ride on the lake outside Puerto Mont in Chile, visits to the Cities of Punta Arenas and Ushuaia looking at the snow-capped Andes. The Sunday night that we circled Cape Horn followed by a beautiful sunset. The boat ride on the small river visiting the young kids at Boca da Valeria. The beautiful Brazilian beaches of Ilhabela Island, Buzzio and Recife followed by the beaches along the Amazon river and the Rio Negro river outside Manaus. Our last stop was in Barbados, where a taxi driver who took us (Mark, Pam, Carol and myself) to his neighbourhood which he was very proud to share with us. There we ended up sharing a beer with his friends on the side of the road at a small neighbourhood store. Turn offs: The crazy traffic in Lima Peru and the pickpockets in Manaus Brazil.
Holland America Line – Volendam : Just a fantastic crew all-around from the room cleaners to the bartenders and waiters, Dining room staff, Lido buffet servers and cooks maintenance crew all the way up to the officers on the bridge, and not to forget the singers and dancers. All of them always had a big smile for us and were always available for a quick chad. And let me tell you that this isn’t always easy with the demographic of guest on board. A special thumbs up to the captain who kept us informed in what was going on board, especially in the last 2 weeks when the Corona virus became a daily topic of conversation on the ship. Not to forget the special farewell from all of the crew, when they lined the hall way at the port of Fort Lauderdale sharing a hug and tear with the passengers when they wished them a safe trip home. At that time the crew didn’t know what the future would look like for them. As I write this one month later, most of them still didn’t make it home to their families. My prayers are with them.
For the ones who wondered what happened to my eye injury, on my arrival in Vancouver, I managed to have surgery to have the retina in my right eye re-attached and currently I am recovering at home in Nanaimo, BC and my eye sight has returned to almost normal. Big thanks and kisses to my wife Carol for looking after me.
Thank you to all my followers for letting me fill up your inbox with my spam.
Today is the day that we leave the ship and start our journey home. During our 75th breakfast on the boat, we said good buy to our regular breakfast table mates and new friends Mark and Pam from Minnesota and Gerry and Colleen from Alabama. When it was our time, we made our way down the gangplank . All crew was lined up and wished us farewell. The collecting of our luggage went smoothly and the customs went also very quickly. The busses were ready to take us to the airport. We had about an 4 hour wait for our flight back to Vancouver. The flight and entering into Canada went all very smoothly. The Vancouver airport was the quietest I ever seen it. We had decided to spend the night in Vancouver.
First of all happy St Patrick’s day . The Corona virus the talk of the day around ship. Severe cleaning going on. Handrails and door handles no less than 6 times a day. Very strict control at the hand was stations. Now the next 2 stops are cancelled, we are sailing straight for Fort Lauderdale. For the missed portion of our Cruise we were offered 125% credit plus another $250 credit. I could live with that regarding the circumstances we were in. The plan was to fly to Vancouver on Friday. When I woke up this morning I noticed some light floaters in my right eye, didn’t think much of it. Business as usual through out the day. Pool side and gym. Small st Patrick’s activity at night.
The following morning my eye was much worse. Went to the onboard medical clinic. I could hardly see out of my right eye. Doctor figured something happened to my retina. I was advised to see an eye specialist asap when we were on shore. Didn’t do much else today then pondering my situation and what to do and where.
Woke up this AM , my eyes were the same as yesterday. At this point I was planning to fly to Phoenix tomorrow and find a clinic. I didn’t want to do anything thing in Lauderdale in case I couldn’t fly afterwards. It was Going to be Phoenix or in Canada. I send a note off to my eye doctor in Nanaimo. The note I got back was that I likely couldn’t see anybody while I was in the 2 week lock up period. As I was Al preparing to go to phoenix and get my eye fixed there, I learned of the Vancouver retina clinic. After contacting them, they agreed that they would see me Friday night after my scheduled landing. That was a big relief. On the afternoon of the 19th the ship organised a farewell party on the pool deck with music and free drinks. As a good boy I followed doctors orders and stuck to drinking water only. We said goodbye to the friends we made and to some of the crew. The evening we dedicated to packing our bags. On our sail back through the night we must have passed by at least 30+ anchored idle cruise ships. Some of them saluted us with their search lights when we sailed by them.
Cheers
“South America ” “Cruise ” “Farewell park”
St Patty’s dayCarol with Garry and Colleen from Alabama
Today’s stop at Bridge Town Barbedos is a go. By 8:30 we were all cleared to go on land. There are currently no cases of the virus on the island. There were 3 cruise ships already anchored in port and 1 anchored off shore. Apparently the German government was sending 3 charter planes to pick up stranded cruise passengers from that country. Some German and other nationalities were also leaving from our ship earlier than planned to fly home. We and our Minnesota friends decided to the rent a taxi for 3 hours and explore the island. We went all over, churches, old neighborhoods and also showed us the house where Rihanna grew up in. He then took us to the neighborhood he lived in, we sat outside a small store and had some rum with the locals. After some more cross country driving we ended up back at the ship. All and all a great day. It helped a lot that the locals spoke English. Not so sure about driving on the left side of the road.
This morning at breakfast I talked to some ladies from Vancouver and they told me about a direct flight from Lauderdale to Vancouver with Air Transat. I managed to book 2 seats. This will get us back to Canada quicker. I didn’t cancel my Phoenix flights yet, just in case. After we got back on the ship this afternoon, the captain came on the intercom and informed us that he made the decision to cancel tomorrow’s stop in the granadines and we were also denied entry into the Dominican Republic. Apparently there were cases of the virus on both islands . Now we were heading straight for Fort Lauderdale, 2 days earlier than planned. This means changing flight reservations again. I was lucky because Transat was also scheduled to fly on Friday, the day we arrive in Lauderdale. Still didn’t cancel my Phoenix flights in case. Apparently our European passengers were not to land back in the USA after the 18th, this caused a problem for them as we planned to land on the 20th. The cruise line managed to get special permission for them till the 20th. Basically they managed to get that permission because they had been away from Europe for over 14 days. Let’s hope we can stick to this schedule.
Because we cancelled our Devils Island stop we now have 3 seaday’s in a row. On the first seaday we celebrated the fact that we crossed the equator. A tradition on the longer cruises is the King Neptune Ceremony. This is a celebration of a sailers first crossing of the equator. Groups of the crew on board are led in front of a judge (the captain) and a few officers. The crew are being brought up as prisoners and are being sentenced. They first are to kiss the 6ft long fish which is the displayed on a table and then they are covered in soap. They either are sentenced to be thrown in the pool or sit in the sun. Most people on the ship turned out for this event. We spent a lot of time around the pool these seaday’s and playing a domino game called Mexican train. Still enjoying the cruise.
We were denied entry by the government for our stop on Devils Island due to the risk of the Corona virus. This is the number one thing on the ship people talk about lately. Currently we are all healthy on the ship. I decided to move my flight reservations from Tuesday to Sunday to fly to Phoenix, basically canceling my extra 2 days stay in Fort Lauderdale. So far tomorrow’s stop in Barbedos is still on. Keep our fingers crossed.
Today a river cruising day. Also a day to catch up on the blogs. At 2:30 this afternoon we crossed the equator for the last time this trip. No magic line crossing the river, but there is a buoy in the river positioned on top of the equator. Not much more for excitement to report for the afternoon. Tonight there is another Orange Party. Most passengers dress up in some orange clothing and dance to the music from the ships band. This is to celebrate the history of the Holland America Line and the Netherlands. During the night Dutch drinks and appetizers are offered to the participants.
Today’s stop Alter do Chao. This is a small village on the Rio Tapajos. This river is a tributary of the Amazon River. Compared to the Amazon’s murky water, the water in this river is very clear. This village is known as the Caribbean in Brazil because of its beautiful beaches and crystal clear water. It’s also known as the weekend getaway for the residents of Santarem. Our main reason for this short stop (4hr) was to visit the beach. This was a tender port, and they landed right on the beach. Compared to the last port, the waters were very calm. Local vendors had set up their tables full of local souvenirs. We headed straight for the beach and claimed a table and umbrella right at the waters edge. We had some cold drinks and enjoyed the river water for cooling down. The cold beers were offered to us for 1 dollar each. After hanging out there for a few hours or so, we returned back to the ship for lunch. This was definitely a nice little village to stop in, and could’ve stayed longer. It was also our last stop on the Amazon river. We have to sail approximately 11/2 day to get back to the Atlantic Ocean.
Today we stop at the small town of Parintins. The town is situated half way between Santarem and Manaus on Tumpinambarana Island. It has 100,000 residents. The main attraction for this town is the famous Boi Bumba festival. It is held every year in June. For today they put on 2 shows exclusive for Holland America. The festival in June is more or less a carnaval parade full of colorfull human and animal characters. Before we got to the show we explored the town a little bit. During exploring the town, we got hit with one of the typical tropical down pours, and decided to stop for lunch and let the rain pass by. After lunch we headed for our show. We were greeted with Caipirinha (Brazilian Rum Drink). The show was just fantastic, and went on for over an hour. After the show back to the ship. Today we used tenders supplied by the town. The currents in the river were to strong for the ships tenders to operate in. The rest of the afternoon we spent near the pool.
We are continually updated about the corona virus. They intensified the measures on board. More hand disinfection stations. All the stations are manned to make sure they are used. It is mandatory to use them when you enter the buffet eating area and dining rooms. No self serve of any food in the buffet area. Staff will put it on your plate. There is also a continuous reminder to wash your hands often. I noticed, that there are very few people coughing or sneezing compared to earlier on the cruise. Let’s hope that we keep it that way.
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