World Cruise 7

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World Cruise 7



Wednesday 1st March



Sea Day 4



In last 3 days have made a crystal necklace at the Craft seminar. Very attractive, think will do some more!

There was an Australian BBQ one lunchtime…..emu sausages, croc and kangaroo steaks, sticky ribs, burgers etc all very tasty altho cric a bit chewy!

Had a port talk about Laem Chabang, Thailand, port for Bangkok. More later.

New singers in the Palladium - Andrew Geater, had been in West End as Herod in Joseph, sang songs from some shows, good voice, and Hanna Goodman, sang Adele, Tina, Etta James convincingly. Another night was a Karen Carpenter tribute by Sharon Calabro.

We sit here every night, very critical of these performers, but they really are a good standard.



9am. Nearly at the equator, it’s somehow exciting to be going over it, don’t know why!

29 degrees C W Force 5

1.44 S

121.46 E 21.3 knots. Bearing 331 degrees



Muster drill at 10am. Didn’t hear of anyone not turning up this time!



6pm .58 minutes N

125.19 E.



In the Northern Hemisphere!



Have been informed needed to do an evisa for Philippines on phones and get a QR to be inspected by immigration, arriving there on 4th. A ripple of panic ensued, some don’t even have a mobile, would be interesting with the half dozen computers in the library! About 1800 passengers. Announced eventually that that we could go on wifi and be given a refund in a few days to enable passengers to do this. Went to library to seek help in the afternoon, big Q, given a ticket, pink 76! And there were green in front of us, 1 to 10 just being called…..

So went to find a lounge to sit and try to do it myself. After about 2 hours managed mine, with help sheet that had been sent to cabins. Took that long as wifi kept dropping out, hundreds of people using it I suppose.

( Had been getting messages for a couple of days over the speakers saying Southampton was trying to fix wifi as it kept crashing!)

Tried to do Rogers then but that wouldn’t go past first page, gave up after an hour and went for supper. Tried again and managed to do it quite quickly. Think had lost wifi before.(as well as will)

Big Relief. However had to take photo of Rogers code on his phone as he has no email address and was going ashore without me at 1st port in Philippines, Puerto Princesa.



Had been due to be in Bitong on 2nd but we had an medical emergency onboard and so Captain had put his foot down and we arrived there approx 9.30 pm instead. Could have gone ashore if we wished.



Thursday 2nd March



Bitung, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia.



Indonesia consists of 17000 islands, the main ones are Sumatra, Java, Borneo, New Guinea and Sulawesi.

It became a Repblic in 1950.

Sulawesi has 4 peninsulas. The emblem is an Eagle.

The economy is agriculture, fishing, forestry.

The centre of the island is mountainous.

First Europeans to come here were the Portuguese in search of gold, but found a different gold - spices.

In 1605 the Dutch arrived, closely followed by the British.

The Dutch took it as a colony, creating the Dutch East India company.

Bitung is in the Northern Province and is the port for Manado, the province capital on the northern tip. It is a main fishing port involving 54% of the population.

There are tuna fish canneries here. The Skipjack fish we see in the smarkets are from here.

More than half the population live in Macassa, the southern peninsula.

The local spices are cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

The popular drinks are tea and coffee.

One. excursion is to Manado, which is the 2nd biggest city of 400 thousand.

There is a 50m tall statue of Christ here, Christ Blessing, with arms outstretched. On the peak of the residential district. 20 m of pedestal. It is among the 5 top ten statues of Christ in the world.



We were up early for our excursion and disembarked at the due time. Unfortunately we had done as we were told and so missed the welcome going on on the quayside! There were dancers and singers, all dressed up in traditional costumes, smiling and trying to give us all sweetmeats and refreshments. There were also gift stalls outside the terminal building. What a welcome!

When we found our bus there were no front seats left so we had to wind ourselves into the seats further back. Luckily our bus was not full and so we were able to claim a seat each, easier for Roger altho he had to sit side saddle, still not the most comfortable.

Our guide was Neil, a charming young man speaking excellent English, who told us he was prepared for anything, waving loo roll, wet wipes and drinks in our direction. He was very informative of course. As we left the town looking out of the window we could have been anywhere in Asia I think. Echoes of Sri Lanka, Lots of corrugated tin everywhere, roofs, fences, etc , mostly to some degree of rusted decay, the tropical climate of course, wet and warm.

The day was cloudy but very warm 28 degrees.

Every street was busy, lots and lots of mopeds, cars, people. Building were 3/4 storey in various stages of completion or dereliction, with the ground floor often having some kind of business.



We were in a convoy! Think we were about 8 buses all heading for Manado with police in front with the blue lights. We sailed through red lights, wrong way around roundabouts heading out of the city to the motorway. This wasn’t very busy, maybe the locals couldn’t afford the toll? We travelled very sedately, about 40 mph, taking about 45 minutes to reach Manado.

Information from Neil

The Colour of skin of the Indonesians gets darker as go further East

Bahasa is the local language - very easy as has no grammar

Salam pasig = good morning

The islands originally colonised by the Dutch and in some places people still speak Dutch as well as look Dutch (what’s that I wonder, very tall? Eat a lot of cheese?)

The main spices the came for are nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

Neils name is Neil Bucanoa = Neil Open Heart.

He said his heart is very open and happy to see us visiting his island.

The coconut is a multifunctional tree as all parts are used ( see Hawaii!)



The first stop in Manado was the Christian Roman Catholic church. The choir was singing, for the visitors.

I waited in the coach. The stop only lasted about 25 minutes and they were soon back on the coach heading for next a Chinese Buddhist temple. First impressions of Monaco were that it was very similar to Bitung. There were deep channels along the side of the road, for rain run off I assume, grass, uneven paving, generally quite scruffy. Big puddles and water everywhere ( there had been some heavy rain)

When we arrived at the temple I decided to get out, although I couldn’t actually get further than the gateway as there were so many steps and uneven ground. The rest of the bus passengers crowded into the garden and entrance to see the welcoming committee, a performance by some really little children, a dragon, drums, singers, the whole works. R managed some good pictures, lucky he’s so tall. There were 3 floors to explore after the performance and some refreshments inside. While I waited outside I did manage some photos of the little dancers as they were corralled by their mums to leave. Their mums were so pleased for them to have their photos taken. They were lovely. Also the dragon and drummers also had another practice.

Back on the coach after about 45 mins and headed for lunch via a brief stop at the souvenir shop. Took longer to cross the road ham it did for them in the ship, There were local traffic police as well as the escort.. As one seemed to have control more mopeds crept by behind him!! Some folks came back with bags so it must have been worth it for the shopkeeper.

The hotel was a Novotel set in luscious gardens on the outskirts of the city. There was an enormous buffet set out for us, but we were the last bus and it looked like the locusts had been through, very little remaining. They did bring more out and we had sufficient, it was very tasty, a pity we didn’t get the whole choice. I did have some excellent tuna with some chimmichurri sauce and the prawn crackers were good too. Not so greasy as Our Chinese takeaways.

There were tables on the open air terrace as well as the open fronted dining room. We found a table outside with a space but about half way though lunch the heavens opened. Our shade was waterproof but I’d forgotten about my bag on the back of the chair and the wheelchair parked nearby. We did eventually retreat as the rain did not stop, to find how soggy things were. No problem really, had waterproofs in coach could sit on back at the quayside. My handbag I had thought was waterproof as it’s plastic nut it was porous, so soggy belongings in there.

After the meal we were all waiting for the coaches in the foyer and one of the the other passengers who we have had supper with several times offered me her raincoat to sit on while we waited as they were taking a long time. This proved nor to be waterproof as when I stood up I realised the whole of my back was very wet indeed.

We also had to wait for a wedding party to leave too.,what gorgeous costumes, and beautiful people. As the foyer cleared a bit I noticed a young woman in a very ornate dress still waiting. I went to ask for a photo of the dress, but before I knew where I was her father had taken my phone and I was in the middle of mum and daughter being snapped. In the family album for eternity!! I also did take some photos of the dress and it’s beautiful owner, Tricia, you’ll love it!

Next and last stop was the statues of Christ Blessing, one of top 5 Christ statues in worlds, 50 m high, 20 of them the base ( did I say this before?.!!). Photo op of course, Roger got some good pictures.

A damp ride back to the port, still with police escort. Transpired that the other excursions had also had escorts all day too.

When we got back to the port the car park was heaving with people, children, adults, all smiling and waving, laughing and milling around. We got ff the coach into this mass f people, could hardly see where we were going, vaguely heading towards the terminal building. It appears that it was big news, a ship in, the first for 4 years since Covid. I was using the wheelchair as a walker to support me, Roger was behind. I seemed to get swept along, assed from hand to hand, alarming at first but benevolently. There was suddenly a small wall with a gap to have to cross over - the wheelchair was lifted up, I was helped up onto these planks which I had to make several steps on and guided over, to be reunited with the wheelchair on the other side. Everyone was so pleased to see us, there were groups in costumes, bands, dancers, etc, everyone wanted to have photos of us and with us. The atmosphere was incredible.

Roger eventually caught up with me and we made our way quayside, down the steps on the red carpet, which had been put down this morning amidst more photos and smiling people.

We went back onboard and onto the balcony to watch the sail away. He quayside was crowded ( normally security was so tight no one was allowed through the building unless getting on the ship!) the balconies on the terminal building were crowded, there was music, singing, waving of mobile lights, shining through the dusk as the distance from shore increased.

Never to be forgotten!!





Friday 3rd March



Sea Day

9 am. 5.N. 28 degrees C

123 E. Bearing 325 degrees. NW F6

19.7 knots

This morning had to go through Philippine immigration with our E visas and our Green shore cards which had to be signed. Went to sit out by Neptune pool but as wind coming from N and we were heading N was very strong and not enjoyable, despite the sunshine.

Decided to go in to the Glasshouse for a tapas lunch, R went off for a siesta and I went to investigate the craft session. I had already made the necklaces they weee doing so I went off to sit for a while by the pool and read, still windy but ok for reading I. The sunshine.

Annabelle, the Headliners soprano singer was doing a stint in the piano bar, this eve, so managed to catch some of her 1st session, before going to theatre to sweep Andrew again doing a pretty good show singing swing etc, before heading back to catch the end of Annabelle’s second session. She was well appreciated and very enjoyable.



Saturday 4th March



Puerto Princess, island of Palowan, Philippines

Roger going on underground river excursion



Docked on starboard side (our side ), could see the welcoming committee on the quayside. Singers, dancers, band, banner, all very excited for us to be here.

We could also see the fleets of minibuses waiting on the dockside to take the excursions, looked like hundreds of them, certainly a lot!

Roger went off early to meet up with the group, said there seemed to be a large number. However he was lucky to find himself in a minibus with only 4 others, think they looked at his height and took pity, so he could have a double seat to himself, even then he had to do sidesaddle but better than trying to fold himself up into half a seat.

Their group of minibuses set off through the centre of Puerto Princess. Traffic very busy especially notable the number of tricycles - on one Roger counted 7 - Dad driving, Mum pillion sideways, youngest on fuel tank in front of dad, 4 kids inside, smallest there on knee of biggest!

Eventually they made it out of the city and the start of an RAC rally - over 2 mountain passes,, right, left, right, left forever on the quite good concrete roads, although they were quite narrow, for what must have been 1 and half hours. They arrived eventually at a fishing village with an enormous quay where all the minibuses parked.

They had to wait about half an hour before it was their turn to board one of the canoes with an outrigger on each side, Hawaiian style, clambering through the waves, where they sat 2 abreast. The 2 crew had bamboo poles which the used to pole their way out to deeper water where they could start the engine..

The outriggers held the boat steady for the 45 minute journey, more or less parallel with the shore, up and down the waves. They eventually came to a bay where there were some big rocks and surfed up the beach a bit and then waded ashore.

There they collected some safety helmets before setting off on a walk through the jungle, having been told to keep everything secure to avoid the monkeys grabbing anything loose! They eventually came to a river entrance where they queued up to get into another smaller and narrower canoe, again with outriggers. This slime sitting in line. They were also given a headset for radio commentary.

It was really quite difficult getting in but with a bit of help Roger managed it finally, with his knees under his chin just about, as the canoe was rocking a lot. Instructions - no talking, be quiet, ask questions later, no torches, although can take photos, no flash.

The paddler had a light to show them the interesting formations, but didn’t want to upset the bats that inhabited the caves. Also , keep your mouth closed, especially if you looked up, there were thousands of bats in the caves. They could hear the bats clicking as they entered the river system which extended for 23 km although they were only doing 2 km before turning round. it is a World National Heritage site.

One of the highlights was a section called the Cathedral, a cavern 65 m high, lots of really enormous stalactites and one stalagmite that must have been more than a metre in diameter and about 4 m tall called the candelabra. The canoeist lit up other features, most of which had been given religious names.

They returned through a slightly different channel about 10 boats altogether,the bats still clicking all the time. They could see them all as they neared the cave exit, hanging from the roof of the cavern. They hadn’t escaped unscathed from the bats they found! Roge we managed to extricate himself from the canoe with a bit of help, and then they all headed off back through the jungle where they saw half a dozen or so monkeys, including a mother and baby, to the beach.

There were about 10 to 15 boats in the bay and to call theirs they all had to turn round to face the beach so the crew could see the number 35 on the backs of their life jackets!! Come in number 35!!

They had to wade out into the sea a bit to clamber back into the canoe for another exciting ride back to the fishing village. There must have been about 15 boats queueing to get back to the quay which only took one boat at a time , and suddenly the guide with them in the canoe decided she had felt really ill and just had to get ashore immediately, rather than wait about 30 mins it was likely to take. So the crew took a short cut and surfed to canoe up the beach, Hawaii-5-0 style where she improved instantly!!

All got back in the minibuses for a 10 minute journey along the road to a restaurant in the jungle where they had a delicious lunch including rice, fish, lots of different meats including local dishes, and a local fruit cocktail to drink. There was a whole fish as one dish which Roger said was really delicious. There was a big Bamboo Adventure Playground at the back of the restaurant for grownups, including in the trees if you felt like being Tarzan.

Back to the minibus for the return rally drive to the ship. Along the way there had curiously been some parts where the road was narrowed to one Lane, with what looked like coffee beans drying on the road where it had been cordoned off, raped around the edges to prevent the beans rolling away! About 400 to 500 metres at one point!

One of the best days ever was the verdict, making up to some extent missing out on the Americas Cup sail in Auckland.

I had spent the day onboard, reading and catching up with some blog writing.

In the evening Sharon Callabro was once again singing in The Palladian, very good vocals from the 60s and 70s.



Sunday 5th March



Sea Day



Heading for Manila.

Roger went to the Church service in the morning and I went to do some catch-up in the craft session with another crystal necklace. . Very pleased with it.

Headliners performed Magic Moments again , this time a poignant tribute to Burt Bacharach, who has died since their last performance. Still enjoyable, second time round.



Monday 6th March



Manila. Philippines



25 degrees C. 14.N. 120 W



The Republic of the Philippines is situated in the western Pacific and is on The Rig of Fire, prone to earthquakes and typhoons. There are 7107 islands with a land area of 300thousand sq km. and a coastline of 36,289km, 5th largest in the world. There are 3 main areas - Luzon in the N, Visaaya and Mindanaei in the S. It has a population of 92 million, 12 th in the world.

Palawan, where R did his underground river trip, is a wedge of island in the S China Sea, 450 km long and 45 km wide. It has 87 different cultural groups and one of the best islands in the world.

It has the green sea turtle, stingrays, tall limestone cliffs, waterfalls, white sandy beaches. There are prehistoric settlements. The 70 cultures live in harmony.

Puerto Princesa was named after the daughter of Queen Isabella of Spain. There is agriculture and fishing, and one third of the population live in the city.



Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is called the Pearl of the Orient or City of our Affection. It is in Luzon at the mouth of the Pasive River and covers 38 sq. km. it has a food processing industry and tourism, approx 1 million visitors annually. Manila, the capital name Mai Nila from Malay there is dye, the dye coming from the flower. In the area. The name of the country came from the King of Spain, at the time Philip, hence Philippines .

There is Freedom of worship and Christians, Buddhists, Jewish,Hindu, Sikh and Moslems are all represented.

Islam spread to the lands in the 1500s.

The Portuguese came to the islands from the west, the Spaniards from the East. There was an agreement about sharing new territories, Spain had to be careful in the Portuguese areas. Magellan had set off from Spain with 7 ships, westwards ( if you were paying attention! ) in the 1500s some of which he’d lost be the time he got to these, the Spice islands.

There was a misunderstanding between the natives and the sailors and they ended up having a battle on the beach. Unfortunately he lost his life here so he didn’t actually get to circumnavigate the world altho one ship, the Victoria, did make it back to Spain. ( How many men?)

The Spanish ruled for 333years from the 1700s and built the Intramuros where they lived within the walls ( the literal translation of Intra muros) . It was a medieval fortress, originally as defence, and is the oldest part of the city.

San Augustine Church 1581 started,1607 finished, is the 3 rd to stand on the site, after 7 major earthquakes over the years. It has an ornate interior and is the oldest in the city.

Manila Cathedral was destroyed by earthquakes and the present one is the 6th on the site, 1951, with its Romanesque facade,134 stained glass windows and 4500 piped organ.

The Casa Manila was built in the 19th century in the Spanish colonial period, lived in by Imelda Marcos and her shoes!

The City Hall has a hexagonal clock tower, with 3 red faced clocks on 3 alternate sides.

The American Cemetery and Memorial covers 152 acres and is the largest in the Pacific. A memorial to the Americans killed in the 2nd WW, many of whom died in New Guinea.

The Americans had a treaty with the Philippines in 1898, including Puerto Rico and Guam, and were here 44 years. MacArthur came here in 1936 and too over the penthouse suite of





We took an excursion to Tagartay, about 55 km S from Manila, probably 2 - 3 hrs, depending on traffic, up in the higher lands, about 2 300 feet.

This to see the Tarl volcano, the smallest in the world. In fact it is a volcano in a lake in a volcano cone. The central volcano has erupted 17 times since 1872, the latest being last year and is still smoking at times. In 1911 there was a big eruption which covered the town.

Our destination is the Tarl Vista Hotel for lunch and a view.

Our guide introduced himself as Eric, altho they’d give him a label saying Fred! He also said his family called him Tiny, despite him being the tallest in his family( he was shorter than me!) . He had an infectious laugh and was very jolly. I don’t think he stopped talking all the way to Tagatay, ( and most of the way back! )

He gave us a detailed history of the Philippines including the violent and horrific occupation by the Japanese in WW2.

We drove through Intromuros on our way out of the city. It had cobbled streets and had kept its character of a old Spanish town, narrow streets, little plazas etc. Then back into the chaos of modern Manila to find our way out to the motorway again with a police escort. The roads were crazy, heavy traffic, mopeds, motorbikes, all kinds of tricycles, tuk-tuk, etc. We eventually began to clear the city, could see across from our elevated motorway to the high rise apartment blocks and financial district of downtown Manila.

After about 40 mins or so the convoy pulled off to a service station for a comfort break, the tour guide issuing toilet paper to those who wanted it…. Just in case! Continued on our way, eventually leaving motorway climbing higher , and for some reason stopped again briefly at the roadside for people to look at flower and fruit/ vegetable stalls, a bit of a useless stop as no one had local currency and the stall holders hardly took dollars??.( altho Roger did acquire some oranges for me for 2 dollars!)

It wasn’t far from here to the hotel for lunch where we had a 1 and half hour stop. It was very swish and modern, cool, light and airy, with tables set out for lunch on the open air covered terrace, and an excellent Filipino buffet waiting for us.

All 6 or 7 buses had arrived at the same time so there was the usual queue but it was a really excellent lunch when we eventually got it. We had plenty of time to enjoy the view across the valley.

We were at about 2250 feet above sea level and the valley below us showed a small volcano in the middle of a large lake which appeared to be in the cone of a much bigger volcano. (See info above). The garden was landscaped and stretched a little way down the hill and several people went for a walk but I was very pleasant sitting on the terrace enjoying the view.

On the return journey I noticed there were lots of roadside stalls selling everything from wooden furniture, vegetables, fruit, pineapples. Coconuts, garden implements, to broomsticks. Fascinating. Back along the motorway including a comfort stop, and then as we got back to a Manila a stop for a photo op at a memorial park where the statues were guarded, apparently all the time. I missed the info here, will have to check it out.

Soon back on board, and left the quay to the sounds of more singing and dancing, I think the fact that it was National Day of Celebration gave an extra boost to the festivities on the quayside.





Tuesday 7th to Thursday 9th March



Sea Days



Port talks on Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, some craft sessions Card-making, ( me ) joined in some quizzes, talks from a Prison Governor and an Aborigine Olympic athlete. ( Roger). Reading and writing my notes up alternately in the sun and the shade. It was lovely weather and depending n the direction of the wind more comfortable in the sun with some light airs to cool us, ( but not the gales we had had in the Pacific.where it had been rougher ) or the shade, no wind!



We had a new Classical guitarist onboard who played more accessible music on his guitar, not so high brow as the flamenco chap, and in the Palladium some tap dancing singers and an instrumentalist who played about 8 different instruments brilliantly.



We were making our way through The South China Sea to the Gulf. of Thailand to Laem Chabang, the port for Bangkok in Thailand.



Time is flying now, more than half way through our amazing adventure.







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