Random thoughts from the sea
Day 6, Grand Asia 2018 Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, At Sea: I woke up this morning to the rocking and rolling of the ship. Capt. Fred Eversen warned us of 10-foot-plus seas. By early afternoon yesterday my wine tasting in the Crows Nest (high in the front of the ship)
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Day 4, Grand Asia 2018 Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, At Sea: There is a danger in taking the same cruise for the second time. It is tempting to compare everything to last year. The first time I had no concrete expectations. Everything was fresh and new – “golden,” as Ponyboy
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Day 1, Grand Asia 2018 Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, Los Angeles: Returning to Holland America’s Grand Asia cruise feels strangely different than embarking on the same cruise last year. Not better, not worse, just different. In 2017 the ship banner that said “Welcome Home” seemed a bit out of place,
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Day -2, Grand Asia 2018 Friday, Sept. 28, 2018, Chicago: Today is my last day in Chicago until Christmas. Tomorrow I fly to Los Angeles before boarding the MS Amsterdam on Sunday for the Grand Asia 2018 cruise. Being “homeless” since selling my house has really meant that I have
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Day -4, Grand Asia 2018 Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018 – Chicago: Packing for a long cruise should be easier the second time, especially because I have my experience and detailed packing list from last year. As usual, I am torn between being reasonable about what I will need and taking
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Day -9, Grand Asia 2018 Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 – Chicago I mentioned in my last blog post that I had accepted a paid upgrade offer from Holland America. This raises some questions on upgrades – who gets offers and what the offers are. My short answer to these questions
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Day -11, Grand Asia 2018 Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018 – Chicago: I just got a second cabin upgrade offer today. I remember that last year a number of people on this cruise upgraded to balcony cabins in the week or so before the cruise, as Holland America made offers at
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Day -31, Grand Asia 2018 Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018 — Chicago: How do you plan visits to 33 ports in 15 countries spread across the Pacific Ring of Fire? It can be as easy or as complex as you want. The easy route is to sign up for the
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Day -68, Grand Asia 2018 Tuesday, July 24, 2018 — Chicago: Perhaps I have lost my mind, but I’ve just signed up for Holland America’s 2018 Grand Asia cruise that leaves this fall. As readers may remember, I sailed on this cruise last year and blogged daily. The cruise has
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May 11, 2018, Dallas: The romance of the rails drew me to traveling through the American West on Amtrak. I saw the country as I imagined the pioneers saw it – miles upon miles of grasslands, great river crossings, mountain ranges and canyons. I traveled in style, sleeping in my
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