Manila, Philippines

We had to cancel the stop of Kolor, Palau, an island country which extended our stay in Manila, Philippines to two days. This was a very welcomed change as many of our crew members are from there. As long as it was arranged in advance, people got to invite family and friends on board the ship to see where they work and live. We had over 1400 visitors in these two days! It was a madhouse but such a great thing for the crew.



The “jitney” parked in front of our ship during our stay was owned by our Executive Chef who is Filipino. These are very common public transportation vehicles all around the country.




I was able to take a tour here to learn more about my co-workers lives. We drove out of the city that took us through horrendous traffic jams. To keep on schedule we had two police on motorcycles “guide” us through all the traffic. At first it was a bit scary as we weaved in and out of it and sometimes were driving on the wrong side of the road, almost playing chicken with oncoming vehicles. We soon gained confidence in their skills and had a great day visiting some local artists homes. These guys truly enjoy their jobs but said they didn’t tell their wives what they do.

Crossing the Equator

According to Greek mythology, King Neptune oversees the Equator, where the weather is always hot. Ships across the globe celebrate such a crossing in merriment and indoctrination for “pollywogs” which are those crossing for the first time. In my travels at sea, I have crossed the equator about 6 times.

Papau New Guinea

This primitive island shows life back as far as 12,000 years ago. As recent as WWII, this island practiced cannibalism. They have traditional Madang (the capital city) costumes which include bamboo frames decorated with cockatoo and parrot feathers. A tour here took us to a cultural center and then to a small village where the local tribe performed for us.

Cairns Australia

Pronounced CANS (no R). This is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef the largest natural reef in the world. When visiting here, be sure to take in Karunda National Park where you see the lifestyles of the aborigines and hear them play the didjeridoo which by the way is said to be the only real known cure for snoring.

Sydney Australia

Sydney harbor is one of the most beautiful in the world and is the largest natural one in the world.. We sail around many islands transiting in, then dock between the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge. There’s so much to see and do in this city including browsing around Darling Harbour, visiting the Blue Mountains, seeing the site of the Sydney Olympics, Bondi Beach and of course touring the Opera House.







On our next sea days, our Lido deck was turned into a “Taste of Australia”. A vineyard was built in our pool, there were wine casks everywhere, our Cruise Director stomped grapes for 3 hours! It’s like we were transported into another place. I wore an “Aussie” hat which is a brimmed hat with corks hung around to bridge to chase away the flies.

Tasmania

Tasmania is an island state of Australia and is located south of Australia on the eastern side. We visited Port Arthur, a former convict settlement with an open air museum of the convict area. They had strict security measures but they were pioneers in the concept rehabilitating the prisoners with teaching and training trades.

New Zealand

Auckland New ZealandThe City of Sails was a 2-day visit for us which was very welcomed after many days at sea. The first evening I enjoyed dinner at a harbor restaurant. This big yellow duck was docked there and they say they are going to take it around the world. Super Bowl Monday (which was Sunday in the US) was our second day in Auckland. We found a pub/sports bar with the game on and even found some cheeseheads to cheer with.


Christchurch New ZealandLittle did we know when we visited this charming city that 11 days later they would experience an earthquake that destroyed 1/3 of the city. While there I visited a private residence within the city that had 100s of species of trees from around the world, some quite odd then visited a farm with a sheep-sheering demonstration. New Zealand is home to many sports enthusiasts. There’s lots of hiking trails around the city and countryside. Their term for the hikers is “trampers”.

Since the quake, our company has donated $5000 to the city of Christchurch on behalf of our ship, the Amsterdam, and we have also collected over $10,000 in donations from our caring passengers whose most recent visit will not be forgotten.


Dunedin, New ZealandThe home of Cadbury Chocolate! I toured the factory which was nothing like (Willie Wonka’s) and of course had to buy some of their goodies.

Oban, New ZealandMost of the time we only hear about New Zealand’s two islands – the North Island and the South Island. We had the chance to visit their third island – Steward Island, the port of Oban. It is a small fishing area that is, as you can see, quite windy.