Random thoughts from the sea
Day 19, Grand World Voyage Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023; Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. Papeete is just as I remember from three years ago – a bustling city harbor with ferries and unusual luxury yachts, crazy traffic, buskers with ukuleles on street corners and fragrant flowers everywhere. Three years ago, Elaine
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Day 16, Grand World Voyage Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023; Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia. After eight days at sea with nary a sight of land, the mountains of Nuku Hiva rose in the darkness from the vastness of the ocean. At least that’s how I imagined it. By the time
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Day 14, Grand World Voyage Monday, Jan. 16, 2023; South Pacific Ocean. Formal night is back! And boy did the Zuiderdam passengers dress for the occasion. But first, we are in the middle of nowhere, it seems. Above is the map my iPhone app gives me when its GSP works,
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Day 13, Grand World Voyage Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023; South Pacific Ocean. Today is Sunday. I know that because the elevator carpet says so. Otherwise, it’s just another beautiful day in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Two days ago I saw dolphins and yesterday tiny flying fish from my
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Day 7, Grand World Voyage Monday, Jan. 9, 2023; Fuerte Amador, Panama. It’s not easy planning for 61 ports, especially when I’m not familiar with most of them. The planning can be hit or miss – and sometimes I miss. Fuerte Amador, by Panama City, may have been one of
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Day 6, Grand World Voyage Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023; Panama Canal. For all my cruising, I’ve never sailed through the Panama Canal. So today’s transit is one of the highlights of this voyage. After passing the pre-dawn lights of Colón, we started into the first of three chambers of the
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Day 5, Grand World Voyage Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023; Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. I never tire of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets I see while at sea. I woke up to a sky on fire this morning. Today we were off to “Meet the Sloths.” Our tour headed south of
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Day 3, Grand World Voyage Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023; Falmouth, Jamaica Back in my corporate days, one boss sponsored a group lunch each month with the theme of a different country. She suggested we share photos of any vacations or trips. My travel at that time had generally been within
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Day 2, Grand World Voyage Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023; Caribbean Sea. Welcome Home! That’s how Holland America greets cruisers on its grand voyages, and it is nice to see it hasn’t changed. Embarkation day is always hectic, and this one was no exception. But even so, boarding the Zuiderdam did
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Day -2, Grand World Voyage Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The reunions have begun! I planted myself in the Fort Lauderdale hotel lobby early this morning and — as I suspected — started seeing familiar faces. Some had just flown to Florida on red-eye flights. Others were
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