Advertisement
Published: October 2nd 2010
Edit Blog Post
Time to get on the Ship!
For those of you who do not know, we have ended up n Vancouver so we could get on board the Holland America Line ship Volendam. We are taking a 30 day cruise that will end up in Auckland, NZ. It is hard for Dianne and I to get our heads around this. We have not cruised more than 7 days in the past, so have no idea what we are in for.
I have read the cruise described in different ways. One of them being the floating nursing home. It would seem that only the older retired age group would have the time to take such a cruise.
We really thought we were doing something special until we starting meeting people on board. Some of these people are extremely well traveled. One couple we met had been on something like 12 or 13 cruises the longest of which was 72 days. This is really a way of life for some.
One women we met was going all the way to Sydney Australia on the cruise. Traveling up to the north of Australia to backpack for 11 days and then eventually
heading back to Vancouver. All by herself at the age of 65 - 70. You go girl!
Life on board ship is incredibly relaxing. We feed three or four times a day (food is awesome). Work out in the gym. Swim in the pool and hit the hot tub. The only thing to really deal with is the rocking of the boat. Dianne and I were fine, but with 12 - 18 foot waves the first 4 days, I think a lot of people were under the weather.
When the sun came out the fifth day, I couldn’t believe how many people were on the ship. The cruise was full (1,400 passengers and 600 crew). We had to head back towards the coast the first day out to sea. A passenger had fallen and had a heart attack. The Captain had to turn around to get closer to shore so the Coast Guard could send a helicopter out to take him off. This delayed our arrival to Hawaii by one day.
Getting used to the rocking of the boat has a taken a couple of days. We are managing to sleep pretty good, now even with the
Just off our room
Our (almost) private deck looking straight out the back of the ship constant rocking. Everyone on board looks like a bunch of drunks as they walk around bouncing of everything. Its pretty comical. The passengers are pretty tame at this point. No wild partying. I think everyone is in bed by 9:30 or 10 o’clock. Part of it is they keep setting the clock back as we travel west. It is about 10:30 am on Monday right now, which is 4:30 eastern time. We are about 500 miles from Nawiliwili, Hawaii (about 2,400 miles from Vancouver).
The ship has been doing about 22 miles per hour. So it is taking a few days. On the TV they show our travels along with the ocean depth (about 16,000 feet at the deepest). This company really caters to its passengers. The staff are very friendly and helpful. There are four different restaurants to choose from. The extras get a little expensive like alcohol. But I know if I owned it, once I had you on the ship it would be the same. There is still plenty to do, like shows, bingo, cooking classes, lectures on the Islands.
We will be going to the following places:
Hawaii 3 islands
American Somoa
Fiji
2 islands
New Caledonia 2 islands
Vanautu
and two stops in New Zealand before landing in Auckland on October 22. How cool is that. We did some research on the different places and really want to see the beaches. We will also try to do some things on our own as the excursions from the ship are pretty pricey.
Thats enough for now as it is almost lunch and time to feed again. I just want to say that we are very lucky to be doing what we are doing. We hope that everyone else will someday find the time and inclination to do something big in life. somehow we are all conditioned to go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, and by a house. I really believe that it is ingrained in us from the time we are able to talk. There are other versions out there, you just have to have an open mind to the possibilities. It is not easy, but it can be done.
So we really hope everyone is well and miss you all. Sorry if we have not been able to respond since communication is very limited until
the end of October. But until then, enjoy life and we will talk to you soon.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.066s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 14; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0366s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
eileen vergoz
non-member comment
again awesome
can't wait for the next installment. Mum.