Sydney to Kangaroo Island We arrived in Sydney early on Feb. 13 in time to see the sunrise and the Sydney Opera House coming to life. Unfortunately, our ship had to dock in Darling Harbor, under the Harbor Bridge and around the corner from Circular Quay where the Opera House is located. However, our tour with Karen took us out of the city and into the beautiful Aussie countryside across the Hawkesbury River to the Hunter Valley wine area. We visited three wineries and tasted some interesting wines, including a sparkling Riesling which we had never before tasted. Our wine supply is growing as we did buy a couple of bottles of Shiraz and Chardonnay. That night we returned in time for a barbeque on deck and, would you believe, a bottle of Aussie beer? The ... read more

Auckland to Sydney Our visit to New Zealand was so busy I am just now finding time to write about it. First of all, we love NZ and everything about it. The country is beautiful, the people are friendly, and the wine is very good. The only downside comes with the cost of everything from bottled water to objects d’art. We docked right in the midst of downtown Auckland late one afternoon, giving us time to stroll about the city a bit before dinner. We found the place where we both had haircuts in 2008 and then walked to the transportation center – a converted building which had once been a post office, and before that, a railroad station. Just beyond that we saw the golden arches of McDonald’s, but kept walking back to the ship ... read more

Lima to Easter Island and Pitcairn Island On our first day in Lima we took a shopping tour to the Indian Market, famous for having just about anything one would want to buy in Peru and the prices are very good. Bargaining is expected, and from there it is up to us to get the best deals. The bus ride took almost an hour to get there because the traffic is bad. There is no public commuter rail, only local busses and taxis to carry the 9 million people to and from work. Peru is known as the largest silver producer in South America so there is much very beautiful silver jewelry available. I bought a pretty pendant and earrings with small stones set in silver. Alpaca wool is plentiful, and weavers produce some lovely sweaters, ... read more

Ft. Lauderdale to Manta, Ecuador We successfully boarded our ship and found our luggage in our stateroom, and all is well. The seas were a little rough between Ft. Lauderdale and Cartagena, Colombia and dinner that evening was sparsely attended although we were able to make it. There are seven people at our table – one couple who cruises all the time, and another who cruises slightly less, and the tour director for American Express customers on board. He has been all over, too. So, it is an interesting group. The staff is wonderful. They are very helpful and charming, too. Most of them are Indonesian and are looking forward to stopping there to see relatives. Our first stop in Cartagena was brief. We took a tour around the town stopping at a fortress and the ... read more

This is just a test as I re-learn how to write off line, and publish on the Blog later. Cindy... read more

Bruce and I are off to Ft. Lauderdale on January 2nd and will be joined by our daughter, Elizabeth, Husband Frank, and four year old Cameron for a couple of days before we leave port on January 5th for our World Cruise. We will be seeing some familiar ports as well as many new ones. It is about two weeks and we are getting many little details taken care of before we start to pack. Our bags will be picked up on Dec. 28 and we should be all ready by then. It is exciting to be on the Amsterdam again and see some "old" friends. I will try to write when we are at sea after a port, but sometimes it is hard to find time to write and get the test on the blog ... read more

Korcula, Croatia to Civitavecchia, Italy Our tour in Korcula (pronounced Kor-chu-la) was both good and bad. Our tour guide was wonderful: the weather; raining and “cool”. We started with a walk through the old town walls into the ancient part of the city. The town claims to be the home of Marco Polo. What they do know is that there was no family Polo in Venice at the time, but there was a Polo family in Korcula back then. We sought refuge from the rain in both the museum and cathedral where we saw a magnificent Tintarello (sp?) painting above the altar. The painting had recently been restored and the colors were brilliant. Another of his paintings hung on the side of the church and it was very dark and difficult to make out. It is ... read more

Santorini to Venice Beautiful, beautiful Santorini. I don’t think there is anyone who comes here who doesn’t fall in love with the beauty and charm of Santorini. From the first glimpse of the “snowcapped” mountains that are actually the whitewashed houses, to the final sail away as the island fades into the background, Santorini is wonderful. We tendered to the dock at the foot of Fira Town where our options of getting to the top are donkey, walking, or cable car. Given those choices, we picked the cable car. There are six cars attached together with each car holding up to six people. Once at the top, we walked to our tour bus. Twelve of us from Cruise Critics went with an excellent guide who took us all over the island, starting at the famous blue ... read more

Odessa to Athens Odessa was very cold. I think someone said it was in the low thirties. Luckily, we had decided to go to the ballet, so we were not too cold even though the building was not very warm. The ballet was really very good and we enjoyed it. The city itself is about one step up from Constanta, Romania. The Potemkin steps are quite a sight as an entrance to the city from the port. The buildings are beautiful, but need cleaning and some repair. However, it is wealthier than Constanta although both are large sea ports on the Black Sea. Odessa is larger. From there we cruised through the Dardanelles, a beautiful, narrow strait leading to the Bosporus and past Istanbul, in the daylight. We then reentered the Mediterranean Sea and headed to ... read more

Turkey to Odessa, Ukraine We left Malta and continued sailing to Kusadasi, Turkey, the port to go to Ephesus. We docked right in the downtown area and it is an easy walk to shops and restaurants, although the streets are very crowded and the merchants bombard you with merchandise all with a “special price just for you”. We had walked around Ephesus before, so we decided to take a tour to an outlying village of Sirance. Here we walked through the small village and then went to a private home for a typical Turkish lunch. We had to remove our shoes before entering the home. To the right was a living room with TV and chairs. We were directed up some wooden stairs to the next level where they had a bench on all four sides ... read more