2026 – 13 Pacific Rim in 133 days – Part 13 Hong Kong and Taiwan

Wednesday, April 1, Hong Kong

The sail in to Hong Kong is hard to beat, but have sailed in so many times, I don’t even get up for it when it’s before 8:00am.  Dee did, though and got some great pictures.  I like this one because, even though the land has come way out into the harbour, I can still see where I lived for my first two years in Hong Kong.  On the rightmost of the two red-banded buildings, on the right, on the 14^th floor, facing towards Macau, was my 700 sq.ft. apartment.  I loved it.  It was right over the Macau Ferry, which is now only one of about 6 ferry piers, the rest going to the Outlying Islands, Lantau, Lamma, Cheung Chau, Peng Chau, Sai Kung.  You can see the piers and some ferries in the picture, if you aren’t too gobsmacked by the buildings.  Here’s Dee’s picture:\

And that’s not even the Central you usually see, just my end of it.

Joanne missed dim sum with the Lams.  She was taking care of DV business at the Kwong Wah hospital.  Thanks, Jo.  This was one of the top two events of the cruise I didn’t want to miss.  The other is tonight.

Joanne enjoyed her “shore excursion” to the hospital.  She was particularly struck by the pages that carried messages around, and swept the floors while they were at it:

When I met Dee and Anne at the desk to go to Dim Sum, with my HK family, I was on the phone with our host for the evening, seeing if we could pick Joanne up at the hospital on the way to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, ShaTin, and that will be easy. 

Dee, Anne and I walked through Ocean Terminal to the Star Ferry.  The ship is literally next door to it but they make you walk past about a hundred shops to get there.  The star Ferry just implemented a new way to pay the 40 cents that it costs.  You can tap a major credit card from anywhere in the world.  I still had a few rides on my old Octopus card, so I used that.  Yung Kee isn’t very far from the Star Ferry either, but farther than it used to be, since they added a good quarter mile of fill to the harbour, and it’s straight up from there, so we took a taxi.   There’s a handy stand between the Star Ferry and the Outlying Islands Ferry docks. 

When our group was assembled it consisted of:

Irene Lam, Mabel Lam, Dee Wescott, Chi Wai Lam, Anne Bitonti, moi and Alwin Lam.  Alwin was Elvon’s 2 I C in Hong Kong.  Irene and Chi Wai are his children, Anne is Dee’s and Mabel is one of my best girlfriends from my time there, with Helen Pakchung, whom I just met in Sydney, and Linda Chew, whom I saw in Kuala Lumpur in December.  Now, if everyone would just come to Montreal.

Alwin ordered the most delicious dim sum lunch you can imagine, and he still remembers that I am not overly fond of vegetation.  The appetizer course was roast goose and char siu.  Then we moved on to a nice assortment of dumplings, steamed, fried and baked, a noodle course and Elvon’s favorite, daan tarts. We got caught up with the next generation, who weren’t with us because they are mostly at universities abroad at this stage.  It was surprising how many coincidences Anne found.  Small, wonderful, world.

It was one of those rare afternoons in spring when there wasn’t much fog and there actually would be some kind of view from the Peak and the locals were recommending it us.  It was easy to get to from Yung Kee, a cheap taxi ride to the entrance to the Peak Tram.  We were on it, there was no line, the ride was fun and soon we were in the Peak Tram Building, where about four escalators took us to the highest spot.

Our next stop was the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club to change and freshen up for our night at the races in Shatin.  We were welcome as always and the Ladies’ Locker Room has been totally refurbished.  Very nice.  We just had time for one drink at my favorite waterfront bar in Hong Kong.  It was such a great place to come on Friday nights after work.  You can’t beat the location.  Elvon’s driver would pick him up, then me, drop both of us, and the car, at the club and go home on foot.  The whole circuit was easily walkable, but the car was nicer and we needed it to get home to Stanley.  Those were the days.

This day, we took a regular taxi to get there, which was just fine, and were picked up by David Pong and his driver, Rodell.  He has one of those new Chinese Electric SUVs, with seats like an airline’s business class.  We crossed the harbour, picked Joanne up at the hospital and settled in for the drive to Shatin, in the New Territories, about as far from Central as you can get, and still be in Hong Kong. 

We were in the voting members’ box, and I had information from Bill Benter, so it was pretty exciting.  There’s a good view of the finish line from there:

I love bringing friends to see the horses race for the first time. The Hong Kong tracks are the best in the world, and certainly the heaviest bet on. I have written about this before, so I won’t bore you. In any event, I was busy betting. I have made enough money on the horses in my time, that I always feel I am betting with their money. I allocated $US1,000 to this race meeting and took home over $1,500, so it was a good night. It would have been three times as good, if I had bet all the races evenly, as I used to do, but I let myself be discouraged by losing – and then the tierce on the last race came in. Great night, any way you look at it.

Thursday, April 2, 2026    Hong Kong

Nothing too strenuous today.  Hong Kong can wear you out if you let it.  I had to meet up with David’s driver, Rodell, so that David could cash that winning bet for me.  Even that was a bit of a feat, but the nice lady at the information desk outside Lane Crawford and Rodell himself, got me through it.  I was meeting four of my people at Jade Garden for lunch and they had all passed me while I was trying to hand off the ticket.  I made it there eventually and it did not disappoint.  We ate pretty much what we had eaten yesterday at Yung Kee, maybe a few more dumplings.  It was all delicious and well priced, in the end.  My people enjoyed it.  More should have come, it was that good, but you can’t force them. 

After lunch, I took a little walk along Canton road, looking for a few odds and ends, which I did not find.  The place has changed a lot since the ‘90s and most of the stores are in the mall, but they aren’t the cheap ones.  I walked back through the mall and at least have a lip pencil to show for it, an expensive one.  I met my Taiwanese Distinctive Voyagers in the mall on the way back, three generations of them.  Their daughter and son-in-law had come by train from Shenzhen to spend some time with their parents.  Nice.

It was a rainy sailaway, but it was Hong Kong, so I hung out on deck.  One of my Distinctive Voyagers joined me and we talked about races.  She likes the car races, more horsepower, I guess.  I need to get into that.  I have Grand Prix guests, this year, Melinda Mendelson and her daughter and son-in-law and I’m going to those races, too.  Thanks to Melinda.  Can’t wait.

Martin Beaumont was on the World Stage.  He’s probably the best comedian we’ll get. 

Friday, April 3, 2026         At Sea and Saturday, April 4, Kaoshing, Taiwan

These were just a couple of days at the office.  This cruise is the busiest DV ever, having a lot to do with all the segments it was divided in to.  The repeat world cruisers are not very happy with all the new people coming in and out and they have nothing on me.  The ones who have qualifying travel agents are causing yours truly a veritable ton of paperwork.  It should be fixed for next year.

Dinner at the table on April 3 was a real treat.  We had comedian Martim Beaumont and port lecturer Katie Chang, with her husband, Mark.  Martin and Mark are British males, who are encouraged to be witty as they are growing up.  Get them together and they are exceedingly entertaining.  We missed the show.  The one at the table was better.

Sunday, April 5, 2026        Keelung, port for Taipei

My Easter Sunday dinner consisted of a trip to Miaokou – The Keelung Night Market, with my best people to do that with.  Asian night markets take a little getting used to, but they steep you in he culture like no other experience and provide fabulous taste sensations, to boot.  Just don’t eat any cooked food that has been left sitting around.  There wasn’t much chance of that in this place:

It was packed and there were line ups at the stalls my research recommended.  We started with the thick crab soup, at stall 5 and it was to die for.  You had to be willing to sit down and eat it, on a cheap plastic stool, with no more counter real estate than could fit one 8.5X11 inch sheet of paper, at butt level with the people in line.  But, it’s to die for.  Close your eyes and enjoy. With the edge off our hunger, we went deeper into the businesses behind, looking for bargains.  Travis found them in tech, like USB to HDML, and I found hair toys and phone tethers.  We all found the experience highly interesting.  Then we grabbed a chicken roll, which was delicious and actually made of pork.  We had a sugar glazed strawberry, while waiting in line for a “one-bite” sausage, well, a bag of them to share.  We stood in another line some more for deep fried soft shelled crab

That’s them on the left.  If we weren’t so full we would have ordered some of the squid on the right, too.  I’ll bet it was super but all we wanted at that point was the chocolate ice that we saw so many people eating.  It wasn’t elegant, but it was all delicious and, while there were a lot of ship people there, three quarters of the crowd was local.  This is how the local people eat, either the way we did or taking bags of food back to the apartment to feed the family.  It’s cheap enough that most people can afford it every night.  Stuffed and happy, it was a short walk back to the ship.

Monday, April 6, 2026       At Sea

Joanne and I got Newsletter 13 out.  No sooner did we have it delivered than the Group Event manager, came to tell us that we now had a cocktail party, in recognition of the problems the Auckland shore excursion had caused.  It would be on April 9.  That meant I immediately set about writing Newsletter 14, for delivery on the 7^th. 

Had dinner in the Pinnacle – Bob Eckert’s treat for Linda’s Birthday.  Her Bridge partner, Kathleen, wrote her a poem and I wrapped up a gift.  She wouldn’t take it until I promised her it cost less than $5.  It’s one of those little plastic cats that waves money in for you.  She charged it’s solar panel up in her window and finds it very cheerful.  It was a fun evening. We missed the show again.

Thursday, March 19, 2026    Komodo Island, Indonesia

I didn’t get off on Komodo because it would have been about the fourth time and how many Komodo dragons can you see?  They all look alike.

Except maybe for the one’s Dee saw making little dragons.  You find that on her Facebook page. DeesDragonPorn

Joanne picked the village tour and saw some very different things – the village itself:

And the children, enjoying the pens some cruisers are clever enough to carry for them.

I spent the rest of the day logging and blogging and working on Bali tours.  We have a DV tour tomorrow, but Dee and Anne will be going to Made’s house for a cooking lesson and a look at how a real Indonesian family lives.  Made was once a Dining Room steward of ours non the Amsterdam.

Our table in the Dining Room was very busy tonight as the news of Dee’s dragon porn spread and everyone and his steward stopped by to see.  Dee is a great wildlife photographer and monumentally lucky.  She took the slow lane on the dragon tour, following the crowd by just enough to see the effect all the visitors had on the dragons, foreplay and all. The Grand Voyage Band, 3 Canadians and a Chilean, gave us an excellent Pink Floyd tribute.

Friday, March 20, 2026    Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

I love our Distinctive Voyages excursion days, but sometimes I wish they wouldn’t land on ports where I already have something wonderful to do.  Dee and I had been waiting years to go to Made’s house for a cooking lesson, a great lunch, and to see how real Indonesians, that we happened to know, lived.  Dee and Ann decided to skip the DV Excursion and do exactly that, as who knew when we would have an overnight on Bali again.  Made lives a couple of hours from the port, and you wouldn’t want to miss the ship.  Instead of Joanne and Helen, they took George and Jan Sranko.  George is a naturalist and gives very good talks on board.  They were delighted and had a stunning day, by all accounts.

Joanne and I went out, with a friend of Made’s, for a short tour in the morning with Ben Sack, the artist on board, and his mom, Kathy.  When we had to return to the ship to take the DV tour out around noon, they kept that car, went to see the monkeys, had dinner, etc., etc.

Our DV tour turned out to be one of the best ever.  We, too, got into a family compound to see how Balinese families live.  Our guide explained it in the bus along the way.  Most Indonesians are Muslim, but the island of Bali is about 90% Hindu, which explains all the altars, and the style of them.  We stopped in the stone carvers’ town to see how they made the carvings and ran into an offering procession.  These lovely ladies were even willing to pose with some of us.  Here they are alone:

Balinese people live in small houses in big compounds.  When a girl marries, she moves out of her family compound and into her husband’s family compound.  With any luck, she and her husband acquire a little house therein, so she doesn’t have to live under the same roof as her mother-in-law, but that happens, too.  Within the compound, there is commerce, like dyeing, weaving, carving, carpentry, etc. There is also a central temple area, where we were first received:

Then we were walked around, seeing many private homes, tasting the liquor one family made, etc.  Eventually, we found ourselves walked through the family’s rice paddy to a purpose-built event space, because tourism is now a family business.  We met the family oxen and could have worked the paddy a bit, but no one was ready for that.  We were happy to eat and drink and watch the very excellent cultural show they put on, complete with monkey dance and fire eater. We mostly slept on the bus back to the ship, arriving about 9:30PM.  We go a lot of compliments on this excursion and we caught the tail end of the cultural show on stage.

Joanne did a much better job of Bali than I did.  If you want to see it go to her Facebook page: JoanneonBali

Saturday, March 21, 2026   Bali, Indonesia

I don’t think it was the Indonesian food, because everyone else was fine, but I had a bad night after all that fun, and spent most of the second Bali day resting.  It’s a good thing they had a pop-up market opposite the terminal, because that was about as far as I could manage to go. I did get three dresses, a pair of pants and a couple of tops.  I’ll be donating one of the dresses, which looks terrible on me, and the pair of pants, which shrank, but two dresses and two tops are big hits, and the most expensive item was $15, so I am fine.

I was well enough for dinner and the show on the World Stage.  It was Liam Cooper, who plays the piano and sings Billy Joel and Elton John stuff, and he was pretty good. 

Sunday, March 22, 2026    At Sea

A number of our Distinctive Voyagers stopped by the desk to thank us for the great excursion in Bali.

It was a formal night.   We had Gloria, the Purser again, with her husband, Pops, the Provisioner.  Captain Rens is leaving us in Singapore and his wife had just boarded in Bali.  You have to hand it to them, they danced every dance.

Monday, March 23, 2026  At Sea

The Indonesian crew show always gets me.  They performed their version of the Kecak, or Monkey dance:

We had people getting off in Singapore, so they got a farewell letter, and I had a newsletter to prepare to be delivered on the second day in Singapore.  Jocelyn Ng, the modern violinist was on stage and I like her a lot.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026   Singapore

I stayed on board and worked most of the day.  I have been here so often and as recently as December.  I worked on lots of things: regular travel agent follow-ups, newsletters, birthday cards, electronic ones for friends, and and paper ones for Distinctive Voyagers on board.  There’s always plenty to do.  Joanne was out and about in Singapore.  She went all over the place like:

Which I get, but what I didn’t believe she did was go to the airport. I had to admit, it was pretty cool:

Singapore is a city made right.  If only the rest of the world would learn.  JoanneinSingapore has more pictures of Joanne’s mad tear around Singapore.

Our captain for the rest of the voyage is Frank Van der Hoven.  I have sailed with him before.  He is excellent, but not nearly as much fun as Rens.  Few are.  I went out around 5pm and took the ship’s shuttle to Marina Centre, which is right near The Mandarin Hotel.  All I wanted was to do a little shopping for necessaria and eat some good local food.  If I had spoken to the Eckerts first, I could have been eating with them at The Mandarin, where they were staying. But I’m not that smart, so I just ate in the Mall.  I had some good stuff, though, from a dumpling shop and a pancake place.  The servers were delightful in both outlets.  They weren’t busy. 

Dee and Anne glamped out at the new Zoo, co-located with the bird park.  They had a wonderful experience, in part because it wasn’t busy either.  There were only six people doing the overnight, so they got to tour the zoo at night in a golf cart, rather than a train, and they actually had breakfast with the animals the next morning.  It’ll fill up. 

Wednesday, March 25, 2026       Singapore

I didn’t go out at all the second day in Singapore.  How blasé can I be getting.  There was planning work to do for Hong Kong and I’m still trying to catch up with my logging and blogging. I did get a Newsletter out, which follows.  Sunny Chen was on stage with one of the best magic shows I have even seen.

Thursday, March 26, 2026    At Sea

A few people came by the desk for some HK handouts.  The disadvantaged segments problem is starting to resolve and the people are seeing their DV excursions on their phones in the Navigator App.  That’s great.  It’s not finished but we are getting there.  I got a bunch of work done, we had dinner and saw another good production show.

Friday, March 27, 2027      Phu My, Vietnam

I did a little work in the morning, then Lenora Walkes, who had got on in Singapore, and I took the shuttle from Phuoc An Port into Phu My itself, while everyone else went into Saigon, which I usually do.  I’ll be doing it again next time, too, because Phu My was a bust.  It was monumentally sad.  COVID wreaked havoc all over the world and really hit this little place hard.  The shuttle took us to the King Mall.  It looked like it had been built maybe a few years before COVID, emptied out during the pandemic, and never really came back.  The ground floor supermarket, with a clothing section for locals, had a few things we needed, and the prices were sure right.  Then we ventured into the neighboring streets to find smaller shops, but most of those were closed, too.  Lenora was looking for a hat and ended up with three of them because she didn’t have change for $5US, and that was the price – 3 hats for $5.  They were pretty nice hats, too, cotton, with good wide brims.  Lenora won’t get sunburned now.

Matthew Croake was on the World Stage.

Saturday, March 28, 2026           At Sea

One of my people came by the desk for a suggestion on what to do in HK on day one, with a wife who can’t walk very far.  I suggested Cheung Chau, because it’s just two ferries to take.  There’s plenty of walking to get from the ship to the Star Ferry, mind you, but it’s a great ride and the ferries to the outlying islands are the closest thing, when you get to the HK side.  Cheung Chau is wonderful because there are no cars on it, so it’s relatively unspoiled and you can get super fresh seafood from the seaside restaurants, right near the ferry.

I logged and blogged the day away, until it was time for Wells Wescott’s 89^th birthday party.  It was a more subdued event this year because Wells was not on board.  In past years, it has been dinner for 14 in the Pinnacle, often with the Captain.  This year it was our table in the Dining Room, with Josh, the Port Lecturer, and Anne Maree, the Art Teacher..  Anne and Dee had been in touch with Wells and he’s hanging in there and glad we were celebrating his 89^th.  Panjang Amurnia.  Flanking Dee and Anne, are our wonderful Dining Room Stewards, Alice and Amin.

Emer Barry was on the World stage and she held her own against “A World of Music” going on simultaneously in every bar on the ship. 

Sunday, March 29, 2026             DaNang, port for Hue, Vietnam

I treated myself to Eggs Benedict in the Lido, yum.  Then I made for the shuttle bus but got turned around by reports that there was a long walk and a very busy street to cross to get to the market.  It turned out it was a good thing I chickened out, because I had left my dong and credit cards back on the ship, in my safe. So I had a lovely day working from a deck chair on the shady side of Deck 3.  I had a dragonfly for company for an hour or so but could never get a picture.  By the time I’d have the phone ready to shoot, someone would walk by and scare him away.

 It was a very nice sailaway and it was Jan Sranko’s birthday at Table 43.  Wells’ birthday flowers got to bloom for Jan, too. It was another lovely, lively night.  Matthew Croake was on stage again, and we missed him again, what with all the celebration going on at the table.

Monday, March 30, 2026            Halong Bay, Vietnam

I don’t report everything we do.  Some of it isn’t fun and is confidential.  Today was one of those days.  It ended on a nice note, though.  We had Emer Barry for dinner, which made Dee and Helen particularly happy.  We love her and have been following her career.

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

One of our people is going to the races and I am delighted.  I love helping this one.  She takes serious notes. She is really going to do it.  This will be the first time in 15 years of my recommending it.

Emer Barry was on stage and we were mesmerized.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026        Townsville, Australia

My clients are safe and sound home in Napa.  They are pretty tired and it feels like the mother of all jet lags.  I think it’s the almost unbearable amount of stress they carried for the last ten days, the war news reports, the obscene escalation in price to re-route, the last minute flight delays…OMG.  We are all happy it’s over for them. We still have the whole world to worry about, though and we are in Townsville, Australia.

I made the decision to stay in and work again, and it turned out to be a bad one.  Everyone came back telling me what a charming little town it was.  Many of them found unique things to buy, etc., bummer.  But I did get my taxes paid, both 2025 tax owing estimates and 2026 installments.  I am now considerably poorer but still enjoying life on a pretty high level, so I am not complaining.

I spent the most of the day working on my Hong Kong talk, admired Dee’s purchase, that she wore at dinner, and went to the show.  I had to sit through John Milligan to get to Angie Narayan, and she was worth it.

Thursday, March 12, 2026      Cairns, Australia

It’s always a bad day when you lose a good friend.  Today I received the sad news that one of my boat crew, Theresa Benedek, was gone.  She was over 90 years old, and had had a good run, but still. You can find her obituary and some pictures and words that I added at Theresa-Gayle-Benedek Click on ‘see more’ and then scroll all the way down for my comments, because I was first in.  It’s a fun scroll, many happy memories.

Nick Nicolas was on stage with his magic show.

Friday, March 13, 2026   At Sea

It was a busy day of DV work and I just deleted most of my report, which was written for my head office, not you guys.  It was a night at the Kentucky Derby on board, so no show on the World Stage.

Saturday, March 14, 2026   Sea Day   Scenic Cruising the Torres Strait

It was yet another work day at sea.  There was client work to do and Newsletter 10 to write.  Robert Bannon was on stage with a show called “The Evolution of Rock”.  I thought that was the music of my age, but I only recognized two songs.

Sunday, March 15, 2026    At Sea

Joanne and I were assembling and signing Newsletter 10 at our desk, when Captain Rens stopped by to ask if my “people on the train” had got home.  He remembered our conversation from the speakers’ dinner, when I had been so worried.  I was happy to report they were safe and sound in Napa and I am sure they are delighted to read that the captain of the Volendam cared about them.

Robert Bannon was at our table tonight.  He’s Irish and was a lot of fun.  So was the show on the World Stage – “Celtic Spirit”  Full of Irish song and Dance.  Not sure what Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was doing in there.  Last I knew, he was a Jewish boy from Montreal.  I love the song, though.

Monday, March 16, 2026    Darwin, Australia

Last year I had a fabulous lunch on a shore excursion, at a place called “Wharf One”, which I remembered as having been within walking distance of the ship.  I rounded up the Linda and Bob Eckert, who got Kathy and Don Sachs, and off we went like a burly herd of turtles.  It was the right restaurant, but the crocodile ceviche and fresh barramundi had been specials for our DV shore excursion last year.  No matter, we enjoyed an excellent array of bar snacks that included calamari, fried brie, hummus and dips, a couple of burgers and fish ‘n chips.  Sharing is good.  Drinking is better.  There was much lamenting about the fact that we couldn’t drink like we used to, but we tried. We did.  We did.

We needed a nap after that and I did enjoy it.  I woke up for sail away, which was a good thing or this blog wouldn’t even have one picture but Joanne wanted this one and I am grateful

I am grateful for a lot of things, among which this fabulous voyage, with its glorious sunsets, the health to enjoy it, and Joanne, herself, who makes it all so easy for me.

Since the sun was setting, I left sailaway for dinner and a show.  The show was Nyree Huyser, doing a tribute to Céline Dion.  It was good, but it wasn’t Céline.  I was happy to read this week that the real thing will be performing again this summer, starting in Paris.  I have to wonder why not Montréal?  I have some suspicions, mind you.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026    At Sea  –  Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Joanne took the desk, as I was rehearsing for my talk on Hong Kong in the afternoon.  It was a quiet day.  About 35 people came to my talk and 17 DV people came to dinner after.  Joanne led a few out on the St Patrick’s day Bar Crawl and Robert Bannon sang a bunch of Irish songs on the world stage.  I don’t know where the man gets his material.  I only recognized two of those, too.  

Wednesday, March 18, 2026    At Sea

Nyree Huyser was back onstage this time with Hollywood based songs.

Monday, March 2, 2026    Auckland, New Zealand

After two months at sea, I was in dire need of a place to shop and Auckland was going to be it. I headed off to Chemists Warehouse, where I managed to spend $NZ300 on miscellaneous essentials, like Rogaine, Collagen, etc.  Old bods require a lot of upkeep. I met Travis Kienholz near the checkout and we hooked up for my next stop, which was The Occidental, where I was leading a group for dinner at night.  When Travis heard they had oysters, he knew that was where he was having lunch.  We ambled over there and firmed up the evening’s two tables to one big one that the Internet had not let me book.  Then we sat outside and ordered oysters on the half shell.  Oh, yes:

They were perfect and so were the fries that went with them.  I keep coming back to this place because it never disappoints.  Travis was in thrall.  He restrained himself nicely because we were coming back.  I went back to the ship and Travis went off in search of a second hand book store he had heard of.  He likes buying lots of books and leaving the good ones in the on board library.  Works for me.  I like reading from the on board library.  At five o’clock our little DV group met at our desk on Deck 3 and we made off for Occidental again.  It didn’t hurt that green lipped mussels were on sale on Mondays, because that’s what we wanted.  They came steamed and grilled, with various sauces and they were wonderful.  We were one very happy little group.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026    Auckland, New Zealand – DV Shore Excursion day

 We had a Distinctive Voyages Shore Excursion to the Auckland Museum today.  The cultural performance is excellent and moving.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026         Waitangi, New Zealand

I stayed on board and worked.  I have seen all Waitangi has to offer.  Don’t miss it, if you go, but I needed to work.

I’m having, at my own expense, a dinner in the Pinnacle for my Distinctive Speakers, tomorrow night.  I was bold enough to invite the Captain and today, I got this:

Please be advised that the captain will be joining the dinner with your group.

Very cool. 

Thursday, March 5, 2026

At 10:30 am, there was a meeting at our desk for everyone who is going to Madama Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House.  They picked up the hard copies of their tickets from me and exchanged coordinates.  They can figure out where to meet, or not before the show, and I am suggesting the cloakroom bear the exit afterwards to share taxis back to the ship, go find a bar or restaurant, whatever.

In the evening, I hosted the “Speakers’ Dinner” in the Pinnacle.  This usually happens more towards the end of the cruise, but we know who all the speakers are and Skip Pratt is getting off in Sydney, so he and Jan would miss it if we waited.  Captain Rens Van Eeerten came and he is totally delightful.  All of the speakers, Skip, Dee Wescott, Larry Suttton, Paula and Norm Radder were delighted with the event.  It went right through the entertainment and the Captain stayed right with us. I invited Travis Kienholz for the technical support he had given us and Pat Gustafson invited herself.   There was no way she was going to be left alone at our table while this was going on.

And…she got her prize picture with the captain:

Friday, March 6, 2026       at Sea

Through all of this period, I have been WhatsApp chatting, and actually talking, to my clients on the Maharajahs Express, in India.  The war in Iran casting a pall over their trip of a life time.  They are trying to enjoy a very enjoyable trip, while wondering how they will get home.  Emirates is not cancelling flights through Dubai.  They are doing all they can to make that experience better, but they aren’t cancelling it.  I research alternate routes, like through Singapore, which would be fun, but prohibitively expensive.  My clients are hanging it, figuring Emirates aren’t going to put them in real danger. It’s still scary. Four days to flight time.

I finalized arrangements with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for day 2 in Sydney and packed to get off with Pat for our adventure in Sydney. 

Saturday, March 7, 2026             Sydney, Australia

Pat’s son Mark had come up with the brilliant idea that we should stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Sydney.  The people we were meeting for dinner, Helen Pakchung and Nick Hamilton-Kane seconded that, because it was a short walk from the restaurant we had all settled on, Mr Wong.  So, we got off the ship as soon as we could, which was around nine, hopped into a taxi and were checking in before 10.  You can never get your room that early, but it didn’t matter to us, we had plans.  We were taking a ferry ride to the Zoo.  Easy to do and promised to be fun. 

The ferry was even closer to the hotel than we had dared hope and in its path was the Copenhagen Gelato place, of which I had fond memories.  That, for sure on the way back. We boarded the ferry without incident and got this picture that proves how good the Four Seasons idea was.  It’s the brown sandstone shorter high rise right in the middle of the picture.  I may never stay anywhere else in Sydney.

When we got off at Toronga, there was a bus to take, up to the entrance of the park.  We were meant to walk down, visiting various animals on the way.  That was a little more challenge than we were up for, but these Australians are clever and they located the food courts smack in the middle of the zoo, just when we thought we couldn’t take another step.  A fish and chips lunch, with a couple of Cokes did wonders for us.  There weren’t a whole lot of animals, but all the Aussie favorites were represented.  This is my prize:

We made our way back to the ferry, and to the Copenhagen gelato, which was as good as I remembered it.  Then it was back to the hotel to relax and freshen up for dinner.  After a little nap, I had occasion to toss something in the trash and found out we had this view, from our waste paper basket:

It doesn’t get better than that in Sydney, unless you are on a cruise ship docked at The Rocks.  We were happy campers. 

Helen and Nick are friends from my Hong Kong days and I always enjoy their company when I am in Sydney.  I was starved for Chinese food, after two months on board, so we chose Mr Wong, a trendy Chinese place.  Sure enough, I have a picture of the food, that I took myself but none of our cameras seem to contain the picture the waiter took of our group.  He must not have pressed hard enough.

That is luscious looking food, though.  It’s hard to talk in restaurants these days, though, so we tried to continue in the hotel bar.  We hated the music there and they wouldn’t do anything about it, even though we were just about the only people in the place.  We went across the street, where it wasn’t quite as bad and it was a lovely night.

Sunday, March 8

Whenever there’s a good yacht club in town, and it fits the schedule, I invite my DV people there for a meal. I was also really anxious to meet “Mini-Me” Dee Wescott’s daughter.  Ten of us went to CYCA for brunch.  CYCA stands for Cruising yacht Club of Australia and it is the home of the famous, in sailing circles, Sydney to Hobart race.  You’d think I would have a picture, and I should do but the Uber came too fast and all I have is the set-up.

It proves we were there, but that’s all it does. The Uber dropped Dee and Anne back at their hotel, Pat at the Four Seasons, and me back at the ship.  Pat didn’t fly out until 9:30pm, but the hotel let her spend time by its pool, and between that and the lounge at the airport, she was all set. We got welcome letters out for Anne Bitonti and Lou Ann Powell.  I had a little rest and got back into the rhythm of the ship, dinner in the Dining Room, with Anne replacing Pat at the table, and the World Stage, where John Milligan sang and played the piano.

Monday, March 9, 2026     At Sea

In my copious free time, I am working on my Hong Kong talk.  I created it 14 years ago, and it needs updating every time I give it.  Restaurants and bars close, the harbour gets filled in and the technology changes everything.  I lived there 35 years ago.  It seems like yesterday.  One of my people offered to help me with a digital map that wouldn’t require your phone to have the internet out there on the street, but it was just too complicated for me and my technology.  I’ll just send everybody to the HKTB for a paper map, while they are buying their Octopus card.  Dinner at the table was fun, Angie Narayan was on the World Stage and I liked her a lot.  I was delighted to meet the artist in residence, Ben Sack, after the show.  He had just boarded, with his mum, this time.  We go back all the way to 2012.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

This is the day my clients fly from Mumbai to San Francisco, with a stop in Dubai.  Tripit keeps me posted on flight delays and I got five messages from them, reporting delays of ten minutes here, twenty minutes there.  Finally the plane took off and everyone could breathe.

Ben Sack and his mother, Kathy, came to dinner with us and we went to a Production Show on the World Stage.  I love those.

Saturday, February 21, 2026       Papeete, French Polynesia

We had our DV Shore Excursion, Tahiti Culture, in Papeete today. I think we skipped Paul Gaugin’s home.  That was a drive by, but our tour guide, Ganu, was indigenous and he was excellent, not to mention gorgeous. He brought the stories to life. I got my best picture at Vaipahi Tropical Gardens.

The bar scene at the end was chaotic at first but sorted itself out and everyone ended up with the drink they wanted, and some people two of them.  The “sunset” was still a couple of hours away, though, and the awnings were down in the venue because the light and heat would have been unbearable, had they been left up. A re-think might be in order, but our lovely group didn’t complain, and seemed to be enjoying each others’ company.

We got back to the ship in plenty of time to enjoy the sunset there, and about ten of us headed out for the food trucks.  It wasn’t the party scene it once was but we enjoyed feeding the local pussycat and the dessert crepe was really yummy.  We got back in time for the cultural show on board, which was excellent and eye candy for old broads.

Sunday, February 22, 2026         Moorea

Joanne curated this day off the Internet and it was a pretty good one.  There was a free shuttle to a little restaurant on an Island.  It was called Coco Beach Restaurant.  The shuttle was a van and an outrigger. It was a nice sporty ride to the island and a bit of a surprise when we had to get out in the water and wade to shore.  My beach shoes weren’t quite a match for the sharp rocks, but I had help and all was well.  The setting was idyllic and the food was very good.  Dee had poisson cru marinated in coconut milk, I had tuna tartare with avocado and shared some with Pat because her salad wasn’t the best choice, and Joanne enjoyed a fishburger.

Joanne went in the water a bit.  I tried but there were just too many sharp rocks and I was too big of a wuss.  This getting old is nasty. But, we do what we can and this was one pretty good day. On the boat ride back, we passed what used to my dream accommodation.  More than half of them are boarded up now.  Tahitian tourism has either fallen off a lot or these just weren’t sustainable.

We got back, tired and happy, cleaned up, went to the Sea View Bar for sailaway, had dinner and saw the comedian on the World Stage, Simon Palomares.  I did find him funny.

Monday, February 23, 2026         Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bloody Mary’s is closed for renovations and the hotels aren’t doing nice lunches with beach time anymore, there was a newsletter due, and I had a talk to prepare for Hong Kong, so I just stayed on board and worked. I didn’t even go to the show.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026        At Sea

Web got Newsletter Number 8 out today.  It was full of good stuff.  Akos Laki, a Hungarian saxophonist, whom Dee and I know well, was at the table and there was another good production show on stage.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026    At Sea

I put in more work on the disadvantaged segment people case, worked on my HK talk and at 3:30pm, toddled off to the Wajang Theatre where Skip was getting set up for his talk at four o’clock on the SR-71, the fastest operational airplane the U.S. Air Force ever had. A good 50 people attended and 18 of our DV people came to dinner.  Daniel Thompson was on stage with a Johnny Cash tribute and he was excellent.

Thursday, February 26. 2026       At Sea – Crossing the Date Line

Crossing the Dateline means there will be no tomorrow.  There will however be a next day, so don’t panic.  I worked on all the stuff I work on, including Newsletter No 9, which was coming out November 28 and that was now tomorrow. Simon Palomares, the comedian, was good again.

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Akos Laki and his sax were on stage and he was very, very good.

Sunday, March 1, 2026               At Sea

It will be Auckland tomorrow and Sydney in 5 more days.  We’ll have farewell letters, welcome letters and a newsletter to get out and I am planning an overnight with Pat in Sydney before she flies back to California and I sail the rest of the way around the Pacific. People are signing up for our evening at the Occidental Pub in Auckland.  I am sure Elvon is smiling on his cloud because he started this one and it’s become a real favorite. Pat and I played Bridge as usual and Daniel Thompson was on stage again, with more “Country Gentlemen”.  I liked him better when he was all Johnny Cash.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026    At Sea

This is the first of four sea days, during which I used to accomplish a lot of logging and blogging, but I can’t seem to find time to do any of that between office hours and Bridge and just running the DV. 

We put together and delivered Newsletter 11.  There was a block party at 4 o’clock and I managed a half-hour of it.  It’s always fun.  It was quiet at the table and Mike Lynche was the vocalist on the world stage, pretty good, nothing special.

Thursday, February 12, 2026  At Sea

We sailed from Santiago, Chile, with new passengers. 

We had Linda and Bob Eckert to dinner at the table.  David and Dawn were on the World Stage and it was a most interesting act.  He plays what appears to be an electronic xylophone but it does a lot more.  He calls it a Xylosynth and it was captivating.  Google “David Meyer – xy” and that will bring him up.  It’s classical music, mixed with rock and funk and very high energy.  While he was blowing me away with his act, his looks and mannerisms were for all the world those of John Sidorchuk, my cousin, and Joanne’s husband. That just made it more fun.  Joanne wasn’t there but Dee stayed and invited David and Dawn to dinner, which pleased me enormously. Do not miss them if you are ever on a ship with them.  They are fascinating.

Friday, February 13, 2026     At Sea 

Our Distinguished Speakers today were a couple who had circumvented the earth in a 35-foot sailboat, named “Real Time”.  They lived on it from 1988-1997.  The dinghy was “Online”.  Can you tell they were both programmers?  They set off from San Francisco and barely made Australia in what became their first talk.  The audiences loved it and wanted more.  There were more than 50 people in the room.  At least 25 of them were DV people, 19 of whom came to dinner afterwards in the dining room. The entertainment were called Supernova Duo and what they did was a Fleetwood Mac tribute.

Saturday, February 14, 2026     At Sea 

It was an ordinary work and Bridge day, but David and Dawn came to our table for dinner and were positively delightful. 

We missed Pablo Bendersky on the stage, we were having so much fun.  He’s good too, though.

Sunday, February 15, 2026     Easter Island

It was a gorgeous day on Easter Island and Joanne and I went on a good HAL shore excursion to see the moai up close and personal. I’ll let the pictures tell this one:

It doesn’t get better on Easter Island.  This is at least my fourth time there, but we couldn’t dock, twice, and I just walked around the third time.  This is a place where it really pays to take the excursion.  Pablo Bendersky came to dinner at the table and was a most charming and interesting guest.

Monday, February 16. 2026

I have clients enjoying the Maharajahs’ Express in India at the moment and flying home March 10, on Emirates through Dubai.  They contacted me to start looking at alternatives. Irina Guskova entertained us with her violin.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026        At Sea on Mardi Gras

Here it is Mardi Gras, and the first day of the Chinese New Year, all at the same time.  Kung Hei Fat Choy and Happy New Year of the Horse.  Just in time to feed on pancakes and sober up for lent.  It happens.  It was another pretty ordinary work day, with Bridge in the afternoon, like all sea days.  I know I am over a month late.  It’s all I can do to keep up with the stuff that needs to be done and pronto.  I do let myself relax every night.  My happy hours in the Crows’ Nest have been mostly solitary rest time for me. 

Our dinner guest was Willie Ames, one of the enrichment speakers.  He was the most entertaining dinner guest yet.  The man is an old Cruise Director for Regent and Oceania, a Hollywood stuntman, saw stardom and infamy, got shot out of cannons, etc.  You name it, this guy has done it and can he ever tell a story.  Now he makes a career of going around on ships, talking about whatever he thinks will interest the group.   If he doesn’t know anything about it, he just googles himself up a presentation.  Amazing, and a lot of fun.  Big Mike Lynche was on the World Stage again and I enjoyed him.

Wednesday, February 18, 2026             Scenic Cruising Pitcairn Island

And you had to wonder what that meant.  We can’t get off on Pitcairn Island, but it comes to us.  A large contingent of residents pulls their long boat alongside and boards us.  Some of them lecture aboard and they sell a goods to us from stalls set up around the swimming pool.   In 2016, I bought a cheeseboard, in the shape of a whale, by Brad Christian, age 13.  I went looking for him, or another relative.  That would pretty much include the whole island, as they are pretty much all descended from Fletcher Christian, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame.  Sure enough, I found one Andrew Christian, who is a cousin.  He told me Brad was 23 now, living in New Zealand, and had a girlfriend.  They both looked swell in the picture Andrew had on his phone.  I bought a nut bowl, made by Andrew, of mirowood.  It’s very smooth and slick but ‘mirowood’ doesn’t google well.  I wouldn’t say it came from a tree native to Pitcairn Island.  I didn’t buy any T-shirts, either.  The ship pays the islanders to entertain us, and they certainly make money selling T-shirts and trinkets.  They take back a lot of it in kind.  Their longboat goes back laden with food and drink, especially drink.

David and Dawn were back on stage and this time we made sure Joanne saw them.   She saw some resemblance to her husband , but was not as struck by it as I was.  I get it.  She knows him better.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

We had an appointment with one of our people at the desk.  He had volunteered to be a Distinctive Speaker and we wanted to hear what he would have to say.  We were sorry, but we were afraid we couldn’t take this one.  Afraid was the right word. He wasn’t selling anything.  He was merely planning to discuss financial planning and some of the options.  He said he could explain Bitcoin, which I have never understood.  He said it was a scary thing but he believed there was one brand of it you could trust.  We weren’t going to risk someone losing millions of dollars and suing DV because they heard it from one of our Distinctive Speakers.  We respectfully, but firmly, declined his kind offer.

Then we printed and delivered another Newsletter. Pablo Bendersky was on the world stage with a piano concert.  I like him a lot and I love a piano.

Friday, February 20, 2026

I found out where the ship would be docked in Hong Kong, so I could start preparing my talk.  The Supernova Duo were on stage and they were good again.

Sunday, February 1, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

The Captain woke us up to muster for an up close and personal encounter with an iceberg.  I rolled over.  The picture is Joanne’s.

When I did get up, I decided this was the day I was going off my intermittent fasting for Eggs Benedict and were they ever good.  I ate with Joanne, and Peter and Sue Ann from the next table at dinner.  Then Joanne and I went to the bow for a better view and hot chocolate.  All good.  I spent the rest of the day with Pat in the Crow’s Nest.  The view was too good to play Bridge.  In a strange twist, we received a photo from Palmer Station: 

Monday, February 2, 2026 – At Sea

We are having a wonderful time in the Crow’s Nest.  I am getting to work on my Logs and Blogs, while socializing and catching the odd commentary on passing icebergs, ice floes full of penguins and the like.  I realize these missives are unlike those of many travelers, who actually take the learning experience seriously and try to pass the knowledge on.  I just sail along and live my life, running my business, serving my clients and my passengers aboard, playing Bridge, having lovely meals that I don’t have to cook, and taking in the live entertainment, almost every night.  It’s a great life and I am falling behind, trying to record that which is probably not of that much interest.  So I am going to start paring this down, if I can.  I am over 20 days behind as I type this.

Tuesday, February 3, – Drake passage and Cape Horn

Of course the log part for DV continues. It got sad today.  One of my people came to tell me that her mother, who’s 95, can’t walk at all anymore.  They would be getting off the ship in Ushuia for medical evaluation and might be shipped home.  The lady is otherwise healthy, and the ship has loaned her a wheelchair.

The show was good a variety splash of the last four headliners.

Wednesday, February 4, Ushuaia, Argentina, Beagle Channel, Glacier Alley

We were only in Ushuia from 7:00am until 2:00pm.  I got off, walked around but everything was closed until about noon.  I had a beer and a couple of very good empanadas and then met ten of my DV people in the line for the tender back to the ship. 

I used the afternoon to write Farewell Letters, with comment cards, to five people in three cabins and welcome letters for the two cabins who would be boarding in San Antonio.  Sebastian Fucci was on the main stage and he’s very good.

Thursday, February 5, Punta Arenas, Chile, Strait of Magellan

Pat and I walked out in Punta Arenas, just looking for a local bar or something.  We met Toya, on her way back, who recommended Sara Braun House, which is a museum.  We walked through the main square, which was lovely and where a busker had attracted a small crowd. There was a dearth of bars in the vicinity but Sara Braun house had one, and it was lovely.

We had a nice empanada lunch there and caught a cab to take us around for an hour or so.  Our driver was young and very sweet.   He didn’t have much English but that was OK.  The last place he took us was the cemetery, which we think we would have enjoyed if it hadn’t been for them doing a cremation just as we arrived.  The thick, foul smelling smoke chased us right back to the car. In all fairness, it was 5PM.

Back on board, Newsletter 5 got delivered and the pianist, Sebastian Fucci came to dinner. I just loved him.  He doesn’t eat his vegetables either.  He has read studies that say they have very little nutritional value.  We can survive nicely on meat and potatoes.  Yes!!!  We just got to the show in time for 15 minutes of Mariana Mazu.

Friday, February 6, Scenic Cruising, Amalia or Brujo Gia

Our 95 year old who can’t walk will be disembarking and going home.  The doc on board will start the claim on their HAL CPP Platinum.  I spent an hour with them going over the insurance claim(s) they will be making

Then I went to the Front Desk to order flowers for Dee’s 45^th Wedding Anniversary, from Wells and me, and made up cards to go with them.  I have a few nice pictures from past cruises.

The Chinese on Board decided to celebrate Chinese New Year early because some of them were disembarking in Santiago and the Hsiaos invited Joanne and me.  It was a blast, with good Chinese food and karaoke, and an appearance by the captain:

Saturday, February 7, 2026   At Sea

It was another work day for me, DV work, client work.   Skip Pratt gave his Distinctive Speakers talk on the U2 Spyplane at 4:00pm.  Over 60 people showed up, 22 of them ours, and our 22 came to dinner in the Dining Room.   It’s a nice way to build camaraderie. A lot of us went to the early show, which was Mariana Mazu and Sebastian Fucci.  I do like him a lot.

Sunday, February 8, 2026  Puerto Montt, Chile

Puerto Montt is a tender Port and I didn’t even bother going out.  I don’t think I missed much.  There are 3 cabins disembarking on February 10, so I wrote and distributed Farewell letters.  It was Super Bowl night on board.

Monday, February 9, 2026

My computer looked like it might have a virus, so I shut it down, uninstalled Chrome and Adobe which were referenced in the virus.  Reinstalling Adobe was a large pain because I had to take the free trial, which I will cancel before they start charging me in 7 days.  Chrome, I am living without for a while.  It makes you mad but I can’t be too careful out here at sea. The Grand World Voyage Band did a Santana tribute and it was excellent.

Tuesday, February 10, 2026        Santiago or San Antonio, Chile  

It’s wine country so our intrepid Napa Valley girls went wine tasting, with our wine-loving friends from a cruise about ten years ago.  We had a lovely time, bought some wine and thoroughly enjoyed the lunch and folk dancing:   

It was also a turn-around day and we acquired 2 new cabins.  Our mother and daughter were Medically Debarked and we hoped to see them back at night.  That didn’t happen, but their cabin was not released.  We have a hope of getting them back.

To top it all off, it was Dee’s 45^th wedding anniversary, so we invited Toya and Bob to come join us at the table to celebrate.  There were some nice table pictures taken but none of them landed on my camera so you’ll have to be content with the centerpiece I got for Dee.  The ship does do a good job  with flowers.  This pretty centerpiece, in the care of our stewards, Alice and Amin, lasted a good 10 days.

Saturday, January 24, 2024 – Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo is one of my favorite ports, but I just couldn’t go out again.  I was tired and there was plenty of office work to catch up on. The World Stage entertainment was outstanding:  May Roman & Williams Malpezzi, a couple of dancers, their training rooted in ballet, but creative modern dance, their specialty.  They took us through a lot of genres and were just wonderful to watch.

Sunday, January 25, 2026 – At Sea

No one came to the desk.  I started catching up

On logging and blogging and Pat and I played Bridge and cane 2^nd N-S again.  Lifford Shillingford was on the World Stage singing jazz and blues, and I like that.

Monday, January 26, 2026 – At Sea

Toya stopped by the desk while I was transferring photos with my USB cable and was happy to learn how to do that.  It was quite a busy day at the desk. We went to the preview Antarctica presentation on the World stage and met the HAL presenters, Ian and Vonda. We also got the captain’s take on the weather we would face in Antarctica and Joanne was a tad rattled by his predictions.

Dee was at a President’s Club Dinner and so Joanne got to eat in the Lido with her younger friends and Pat and I went to the Lido for a delicious stir-fry and a chicken pot pie.  We just chatted away right through the entertainment.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 – Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

It was a bright, sunshiny day in the Falkland Island, unlike the rest of the times I have been here.  A lot of people went off on penguin viewing tours and were mostly disappointed.  Dee, with her experience, chose wisely and was on one of the last Bluff Point, penguin tours.  It’s a private operation and the owners are getting too old to want to keep it going.   Me, I just went into town to be able to say I had set foot in the Falklands.  I met up with Barbara Zion and Toya and we offed in search of a good British Pub lunch.  The place is pretty bleak, as to architecture, and the signage such that’s even hard to tell the pubs.  We ended up in the Victory Bar, which didn’t have much identification, but this sign gave us a bit of a clue:

Husbands, shmusbands, this is our kind of place.  We three girls went in and had the best fish and chips ever.  I guess they have no trouble getting fresh fish.  The local beer was good, too.  I counted seven DV people in the place.  I also made the acquaintance of a bubbly fellow passenger, who is giving away fairy threads as blessings.  I’ll be her next blessed recipient.

Back on board, there was a production show, called “Songbirds” a tribute to the female songwriters of our time.  Good, as usual.

 Wednesday, January 28, At Sea

This is our last regular sea day before the Antarctic Experience, and it’s rough weather.  Joanne spent the day in bed, with green apples and peanut butter, as the ship made headway through the waves.  We rolled for a few hours and then the captain was proud to announce that that was over, but we would be pitching for another five hours or so.  Joanne was not much comforted. Pat, Dee and I had no trouble at all.  Pat and I continue to do well at Bridge.  We are consistently coming second-N-S.  Sometimes it’s a 2-3 tie.  I don’t think we’ll ever catch the two guys who come first.  They are about 20 percentage points in front of us.

The World Stage entertainer, Doc Dixon, had to compete with “A night of Music” and the music won.  We loved the ad for it at the entrance to the dining room: 

When we started out at 9:30pm, all the venues were done, except the Ocean Bar.  Tells you a bit about the ship’s population, that. There wasn’t a seat in the Ocean Bar, so I gave up and went to bed. Tells you a bit about me, too, I guess.

Thursday, January 29, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

Everyone got into position for some Antarctic wildlife viewing, even though it was raining and still pretty rough. Joanne stayed in bed, I manned the desk and no one came. Then I went to meet Gina in the Crow’s Nest and got my fairy threads, while watching for anything.  Gina is a very sweet, interesting person, a sailor, at one point, but she prefers power boats.  She is spreading joy in her part of the world, which happens to be this ship for now.  I, for one, am very joyful. 

The weather kept improving as to wind and water, but you still couldn’t see anything. I spent most of the day in the Crow’s Nest, working on my logs and blogs and ready to view.  There was no view.  The captain got on the blower to tell us there were penguins swimming off the starboard side but it was so foggy you could barely see them – or anything else.  That lasted all day.  I got a lot of work done.

Linda McMillan and Bob Eckert joined me for Happy Hour and had dinner at the table with us.  They are good company.  We need to plan some adventures.  Lifford Shillingford was on the World Stage again but we didn’t get up from the table in time.

Friday, January 30, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

And this is the big wildlife viewing day, and I am writing this from the Crow’s Nest, all caught up.  And what a day it is.  The weather is bright and sunny and the wildlife is out playing.  We are seeing spritzes from whales and penguins, a tail of a whale and a sea lion lolling on an ice floe.  At least I am told we are seeing all that stuff.

Cougarville Island – finally saw penguins, lots and lots of them.  I couldn’t believe how close to shore this big ship got. It doubtless has to do with the fact that it’s a perfectly calm day, so the underwater cameras can keep us safe.  We got so close you could see the penguins with the naked eye. Our onboard naturalist says they come back here every year looking for their mates, they call and call and if that doesn’t work after a few days, they just waddle off and find another mate.  Sort of like us.  The Dance Duo of May Roman and Williams Malpezzi were on the World Stage and they are true eye candy in many genres.  We are trying to figure out if they are an actual couple.  They keep the mystery.

Saturday, January 31, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

Nobody came to the desk.  I haven’t figured out whether these days are Sea Days or not, as they are titled “Antarctic Experience” and everyone is going around in toques and puffer jackets.  Pat and I played Bridge and didn’t do as well.

We had a wonderful time at dinner with May and Roman.  We have new friends now and we still don’t know if they will ever get married, but they sure are having fun.  We learned a lot more about the training regimen of professional dancers and I have new found respect for my late lovely friend, Pat Finot.

Thursday, January 15, 2026 – Recife, Brazil

I decided to skip Recife and try to get caught up.  I have been there at least three times before.  I really need some new clothes, but they will have to wait a bit.  Dee went to the prison market, where I scored last year and she came back with at least one nice dress. 

I worked on my own client stuff, including our tour of Iguazu Falls, coming up, and went to sailaway from Recife around 4:30PM.  It was a beautiful sailaway and we took some lovely pictures.  Then I went to dinner and enjoyed Isabel Commandeur on the World Stage again.

Friday, January 16 – at sea

We were back at the desk and a few people came.  Two of them were old computer programmers, like me, but smarter.  They taught me how to use a cable to transfer photos to my phone, since that game had changed on me.  A German Canadian stopped to chat.  He finds the other Canadians he meets to be standoffish.  I disagreed but his theory is that’s because I’m from Quebec.  I wonder.

Oi Brazil had a huge pool party this night, which I hear was a great success. 

Saturday, January 17  At Sea

Larry Sutton gave his talk and book reading.  He had given us the story of how he became a deep sea diver for the Navy, at a Distinctive Speakers talk on the 2023 World.  That reinforced what his teachers had told him 60 years ago, and he wrote a book.  Larry is a very funny storyteller and amused us with a chapter called “The Condom Conundrum”, just before our venue was to host Saturday evening mass.  Fourteen people came to dinner afterward.  There was a production show on the World Stage and we made the early show for once.

Sunday, January 18 – Rio de Janiero

I didn’t go out in Rio as I had some client work to do, before we left on our trip to Iguazu Falls.  It was a bucket list item and would be fun to compare with Niagara Falls, which I had had occasion to visit last June.  I worked and I packed, had dinner and went to Oi Brazil’s fabulous show on the World Stage.  Pure eye candy.

Monday, January 19 – Rio de Janiero

I left Joanne to mind the store on the ship.  It’s wonderful to have a competent co-host, so I could go play with my friends at Iguazu Falls. 

The trouble with all overland trips is the air travel.  We weren’t flying out until 1:35 pm, but that meant meeting up around 10 am on board.  Our group consisted of two little groups, who had bought our tours from SITA, an Indian Tour company that I had used and liked before in South America.  Go figger.  We processed through the terminal and found ourselves a couple of taxis, one for Dee, Pat and Helen and one for Toya and Bob. Three out of five of us had booked wheelchairs, which was enough that the other two, Toya and Helen, got to enjoy the perks, like quick security processing and early boarding.  We also got to huff and puff a very long run through a couple of terminals. It’s still hurry up and wait, because the plane goes when it goes.  We got airport food to eat, which, in Brazil, were pasteles.  They are empanadas in Argentina.  No difference. Not great quality.

The plane was on time.  It was a three-hour flight and Roberto was at the airport to meet us with a van. We stayed at the Doubletree in Foz do Iguazu, a very nice hotel, with a beautiful pool, and good food. Roberto picked us up at 7:45 for a dinner and Dance show at Rafrain.  This we could have done without.  It was a buffet for about a thousand people, with a dance show.  The food was decent, but buffets for a thousand aren’t my cup or tea, or anything else.  After Oi! Brazil, the dance show wasn’t much either.  It was a disappointing evening but at least Roberto got us out of there before people started running for the twenty tour buses. 

   Tuesday, January 20 – Iguassu Falls – Argentinian side

We gave ourselves a late start.  There were two hikes out to the falls to do, at over a kilometer each way.  We figured we wouldn’t do more than one of them, anyway.  Toya and Bob met Meri around 8:00am.  Dee, Pat and Helen set out at the crack of 9:30 am.  There was a long line at the border crossing into Argentina, so we probably didn’t actually start our trek to the falls until about 11:30am.  I never looked at my watch until hours later.  It was an interesting walk because much of it was over water on aluminum bridges.  About a third of the way in, we met Bob coming out.  Toya was still at the falls, mesmerized.  It was a very long walk, and took all we had, but it was worth it. 

We then had a buffet lunch by weight in the park cafeteria and it was back across the border and home to the Doubletree.  The five of us met for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, not wanting to take another step.

I was also delighted to have Joanne back on the ship.  When I got an email that told me we had two new cabins,  I just forwarded it to her and asked her to do the necessary to try to get them on to the shore excursion, which was now in just a couple of days.  Hopefully HAL was already on side.

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 – Iguazu Falls – Brazil side

We had a plane to catch this afternoon and the Brazil side of the falls to see first, so we mustered for 8:00am.  The Brazil side was a lot easier on our old bods.  We could use our van, a little choo choo train, a Jeep, an elevator and a golf cart to get us from one viewing platform to the next and lunch.  All good.  The pictures were good, some are Robertos, some are Dee’s. 

Dee took one look at the zodiacs and decided she didn’t want any part of them.  She didn’t want to get soaked.  She just wanted to take pictures.  So, she and Roberto took the “dry boat”, which, he promised, would deliver and it did.  Pat and Helen went for the adventure, suitably clad in the HAL provided poncho.  It looked very professional:

And it let in buckets of water.  The water came straight at us, taking our breath away and running down our chins and necks, straight through the valley between our titties to pool under our butts.  It was nice warm water on an even warmer day, so no great discomfort, just a bit of terror.  Everyone on the boat screamed at the top of their lungs, when the boat banked sharply and the rail went into the water.  Everyone but Pat, that is.  She was laughing her head off.  Sometimes I think Pat’s laugh is like a cat’s purr – all purpose.  She sure sounded like she was having fun, though. 

We came out of that soaked to the skin, and we had a plane to catch after lunch. So we ate outside at the weigh-it cafeteria in this park, and kept presenting our wettest part to the sun.  Miraculously, by the time it was time to set out for the airport, we were dry enough. 

The border was easier in the afternoon, and we made it with plenty of time.  Dinner was another empanada affair, and this one wasn’t as good as Rio’s.  Oh well.  Another bucket list item checked off.

By the time we checked in to the Alvear Palace Hotel, it was past our bed time but we had lovely, luxurious beds to get into. 

Thursday, January 22, 2026 – Buenos Aires

While I caught up with my emails, Pat and Dee had the $65 breakfast in the Orangerie of the Alvear Palace.  I was informed it looked better than it tasted but the surroundings were worth the price of admission.  The Orangerie is a natural atrium and the morning sun was pouring into it.  I collected them there at 9:45 am to meet Soledad at 10.  Solé had been our tour guide in 2018. She’s a friend if Eilat’s, and now, of mine.  Dee passed on the tour in favor of a massage at the hotel.

Solé’s sister Inez was our driver and we were just going for a very relaxed tour.  Pat and Toya were all destroyed from yesterday’s boat ride, aching in every joint.  I am trying to figure out why it didn’t happen to me, too, and I am crediting Miranda Esmond-White’s Essentrics exercise program.  We drove around a bunch, poked around an antiques market, and had a typical Argentine pastry and a submarino in a café.  That’s a bar of chocolate that you melt in a cup of hot milk, DIY hot chocolate.

When we got back to the hotel around two, Pat went to rest her achy body.  Dee and I went to Rambla, a bar about a block from the hotel, tucked away on a side street.  We ate on the street, because the weather was perfect.  The food was good and generous and the large beer I ordered, sure was.

I am used to a small beer being a 10 oz glass, and a large beer being a pint.  This puppy was a litre.  I thought I’d never finish it, but Dee and I got talking and by and by, the beer was gone.  When I got back to the room, Pat had gone off exploring.  I lay down for a few minutes and woke up an hour and a half later.  Pat was beginning to worry about me.  I don’t usually do that sort of thing.  Then I told her about the beer.

We had a wonderful dinner with Eilat at Elena, the grill in the Four Seasons Hotel.  Toya and Bob got there early and had the best time in the Pony Bar, where the waiters wear livery and everything has a horsey theme.  The food was excellent and the price wasn’t over the top.  I would highly recommend it to you, if you are looking for a place to eat in Buenos Aires.  Eilat is good company, too.  It’s always great to see her.

Friday, January 23, 2026 – Buenos Aires

We were up at the crack of dawn, because we had a bus to meet, not to mention a ship, later.  The bus was for our DV Shore Excursion, and we really could not miss it.  It had become two buses, with the addition of the four new people, and that was very fine with me and all the participants.  They love the luxury of spreading out in a bus.

It was a nice, though unexceptional city tour.  Only the last two stops in la Boca, were actually worth stopping at.  A walk through a park to see an unexceptional rose garden doesn’t cut it.  We all have roses in our gardens at home.  I didn’t make that up.  I heard it from a guest.  The Opera House stop was boring, too.  It would have been great if we could have got in.  Evita’s grave would have been nice, too.  People are still talking about that.  Lunch was good but there were serious logistics problems.  There weren’t enough waiters and they didn’t speak English.  Neither did the menu.  The tour guides acted as interpreters, but when you have 43 people arriving at once and the menu is in Spanish only, you have a serious bottleneck.  A few people figured out how to do it with Google translate on their phones, and I was glad of the lesson for the future, but I would have preferred our tour to go more smoothly.  The last stop in La Boca, was the best:

 It was interesting to walk around and had a nice shop, where we felt safe. We got back to the terminal, went through customs & immigration and were glad to be back home aboard the Volendam.

Sunday, January 11, 2026 At Sea – Crossing the Equator

The day you cross the equator for the first time is an experience and this was Joanne’s first time.  The ship used the comedian, Paul Adams, as King Neptune and he was a hoot.  They made the usual mess of the crew first timers, dubbed “polliwogs” and then pronounced them “shellbacks”.  They left the passengers alone, which pleased Joanne.  She took this picture:

At Office hour, we got a nice offer from a couple, who had sailed around the world on a Cal 35 from 1988 to 1997, and had a bunch of pictures and stories to tell.  We’ll do it.

We dealt with a HAL problem and took a few sign ups, got the tipping list for our Cocktail Party,  made up the envelopes and gave them to the sommelier, who was delighted.  I had put them in Chinese red and gold LaiSee packets and they looked swell.

Pat and I played Bridge again and this time we came in the top 3 N-S and earned a third of a master point. Imagine that.

A couple of  our people came to our table for dinner, and we saw Isabel Commandeur on the world stage.  We waited, after the show, and invited her and her boyfriend to dinner, shamelessly dropping Nancy Gustafson’s name as our Opera Singer connection. 

Monday, January 12,        Icoaraci (Belem), Brazil

I was getting behind in my correspondence, paperwork, logging and blogging , so I took the morning to work. Around 12:30pm, Dee and I went out in Icoaraci.  I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this old boat, still in the water:

We didn’t think we’d have time to go to Belem, but the onshore shorex staff were sure we could do it and seemed to really want us to go.  Maybe it wasn’t safe to walk around Icoaraci.

We drove past the saddest real estate I had ever seen, and I have seen a lot of third world countries.  This was really bad.  But when we got to Belem, they had a few nice modern buildings to browse, and some entertainment.  As usual, I just wanted some good local food and thoroughly enjoyed the Pasteles with Guarana, a soft drink found only in Brazil and a favorite of Dee’s.:

There was a local market to go to, but we didn’t have time and it turned out to be a good thing.  When we got back, Pat told us she had seen a lady in front of her pushed to the ground, and her HAL tote bag ripped from her.  Pat turned right around and went back to the bus. So much for that shopping day.

Joanne went on a shore excursion up the Amazon and had a wonderful day.  This is the real estate she saw:

And sailaway was very nice.  Paul Adams was on the World Stage after dinner, and we all enjoyed him.

Tuesday, January 13, 2026   At Sea

We met with our contact from Shorex to give her an updated count and discuss how Pat, Dee and I were going to rejoin our tour in Buenos Aires, after Iguassu Falls.  We weren’t going to be able to board a ship that docks at 8:00am for an 8:00am meeting.  Ships let all the tours off the ship before they let anyone come on.  We will have full coordinates for our bus so we will be on board before our group even leaves the ship. 

Pat and I managed to squeeze another game of Duplicate Bridge in and won another quarter of a master point. We had dinner on the balcony of Dee’s Neptune Suite, to discuss our tour to Iguassu Falls, just the four of us.  We felt very special and Joanne talked us through the whole thing so we know what we are doing. It looks great.

Wednesday, January 14 – At Sea

I did some work for one of my DV people, greeted a few more at the Desk, and did some work for a travel client. Pat and I played Bridge again and did not finish with any master points.  Oh dear.  I had a cruise to sell to keep me busy until dinnertime, and what a dinner.

We had such a wonderful dinner with Isabel Commandeur and her boyfriend, Ralph, that we talked right through the show.  They are Dutch and I’m now Facebook friends with Isabel.  If she’s in Amsterdam, when I go in the fall of 2027, we’ll get together. That’ll be a Rhine River Cruise.  Watch for it to appear in my signature.