As our World Cruise approaches, we have been telling friends and family about the blog we will be writing. Initially the blogs we have done on previous trips have had limited readership and were written largely to help us recall details of our own experiences at a later time as well as to help a relatively small number of people stay in touch while we travel.
This blog has grown much larger and we thought it might be helpful for us to provide a “cast of characters” so to speak since many who read this will not know many of those we write about. This page will introduce readers to those we are citing. Undoubtedly, as we board the ship and meet new people, more “characters” will be added.
So here I go….
First, Barb and I will share the writing of the blog. Most blogs tend to be written by one person, but we will pretty much alternate postings. Barb, my sister, developed the framework for the blog and started it. While we grew up in Western New York State, I taught high school US History in Hamburg, NY near Buffalo and Niagara Falls and Barb taught 5th grade in Mokena, IL, southwest of Chicago. We’ve always enjoyed travel; I have visited 49 states (Louisiana to go). Both of us traveled to Europe numerous times; in fact, Barb studied at Grenoble, France during her junior year in college.
We enjoy the UK, especially Northern Wales which is somewhat off the beaten path for most American tourists. Maybe that’s part of our attraction to that area. In 2004, we were introduced to cruising … and then it really began. Barb had always said she wasn’t going to take a cruise with her brother. But we had never been to Alaska and we heard from a friend from church here in New Lenox, Pam Floyd, that there was an adult group of mostly teachers from the local Lincoln-Way High Schools, and that their group was taking a cruise to Alaska in June 2004. Pam was an English teacher at Lincoln-Way Central High School who worked with Dale Sandoval, an Art teacher at Lincoln-Way East to organize annual student tours to Europe and adult trips every two years. Figuring this was a good way to see Alaska, we booked the cruise with the Lincoln-Way group.
Two years later, we joined the same group for a 10 day Baltic cruise that made us cruising addicts. Then we did a 12, 24, and 67 day cruise and found we loved the longer cruises. After several shorter cruises including a short 35 day adventure across the North Atlantic last summer, we were ready to take on the world. Experienced world cruisers warned us it’s addicting. I blame Dale for getting me to spend all that money! Thanks a lot!
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I want to identify others who will play a part in this blog so as you follow our world voyage, you can identify some that we will talk about. There are unnamed players that we haven’t met yet since we will meet them on the ship. No one but us knows all the players and even some of the followers of the blog we haven’t met and some we will never meet.
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Al Vence from Arizona. We were fortunate enough to meet Al and his wife, Carol, on a Mediterranean Cruise in 2008. He and Carol were seated at the same dinner table as we, so we had a chance to become well acquainted during those 24 days. We stayed in touch and almost did a cruise together last summer (our Voyage of the Vikings cruise of the North Atlantic). However, Carol became seriously ill in 2010 and passed away on a few months later on Labor Day. Al promptly cancelled the Voyage of the Vikings cruise for 2011. But in January 2011, we approached Al about joining us on the World Cruise 2012. We could be seated at the same table for dinner and do some of the activities together. Not nearly the same as doing it with his wife, but he decided he could either get on with his life or stay home. We’ve enjoyed doing a lot of planning together.
Pam Floyd from New Lenox. Pam retired from teaching at Lincoln-Way Central this past spring. She had kept saying to us that we couldn’t go to Antarctica until she retired. When we booked, we told Pam, “OK, we waited until you retired and we are going to Antarctica. So come along.” She searched and searched. Her friends said the timing wasn’t convenient or told her she was out of her mind to do such a long cruise. She dropped the notion of going for a few months. After we returned from our cruise last summer, we mentioned it again so Pam began her search for a roommate again, particularly since in the near future cruising Antarctica is expected to be more difficult and more expensive for environmental reasons. Her husband, Paul, is still working and can’t take long trips. Besides, he’s not as anxious to take what could be a rocky voyage between South America and Antarctica. Once again, Pam’s roommate search came up empty. Barb and I talked it over and invited Pam to share our large stateroom. She accepted and will join us as far as Sydney, a 50 day cruise. Pam is fortunate to have a husband willing to encourage his wife to go.
Ros and Gary from Sydney, Australia. We met Gary and Ros on the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings across the North Atlantic last summer. They told us they were doing the 2012 World Cruise from Sydney to Ft. Lauderdale. We’re looking forward to seeing them again when they board.
Amsterdam crew – this list will surely grow too.
Bruce Scudder – Cruise Director. Bruce was Cruise Director on our 2009 South Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand Grand Voyage. He’s outstanding and is an experienced world cruiser. This will be his 17th trip around the world! Bruce also was cruise director on the Maasdam last summer for the Voyage of the Vikings. We had a chance to visit with him several times last summer and were pleased to learn he would be doing the World Cruise 2012.
Barbara Haenni – Port Lecturer. Barbara held the same position on the 2009 Voyage and the 2011 Voyage of the Vikings. Barb invited Barbara to join us for dinner several times on the recent Voyage of the Vikings. This gave us the opportunity to meet her. She is a vast store of knowledge about the ports we visit and gives amazingly interesting lectures on the ports we visit.
Yohat – our dining steward. We met Yohat on our 2009 Grand Voyage as an assistant steward. Holland America dining and stateroom stewards are Indonesian and we have met several wonderful Indonesian crew on our trips. Yohat has the right combination of complete professionalism and a sparkling, friendly personality. On the 2009 cruise, Yohat actually had Barb drinking tea, something she always said she hated! Peach tea was Barb’s favorite and Yohat tried as much as he could to find it for her. We requested Yohat as our dining steward for the world cruise and it was confirmed. We look forward to seeing him again.
Herfan – not our dining steward this year, but he was our lead dining steward in 2009, working with Yohat. Herfan has been on the Amsterdam for the last several months but is being married this month in Indonesia. We assumed he would be taking some time off, but we just found out that someone requested him for the World Cruise this year, so after a month off to be married he will be back on the ship. He won’t be our dining steward but we are pleased we will see him again.
Say – Sayuto was our stateroom steward in 2009 and we met him again the Voyage of the Vikings last summer. We requested him as our steward for the 2012 World Cruise and were pleased to learn that he will be with us on this voyage too.
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We are writing this blog in part to help us recall details of our voyage that would be lost in our memories over time. But we are sharing our experiences with a variety of people who might enjoy hearing of our experiences. Some of these people may include:
Our family, mostly in Illinois but others spread throughout the country.
Local friends including friends from our church, some of Barb’s DAR friends, some of her former colleagues from Mokena, a few neighbors, maybe some friends of friends, and some faculty and even students in the Lincoln-Way High Schools where we sub frequently.
Friends in Western New York, including some former colleagues of mine from Hamburg High School near Buffalo, friends from other Western New York communities and churches, and a few friends that Barb and I grew up with there.
Some friends and families of our two travel companions, Al from Arizona and Pam from New Lenox.
Friends of ours throughout the country and beyond that we have met through our travel. Taking longer cruises has afforded us the opportunity to get to know people better than the much shorter trips and cruises we had taken. People we have become acquainted with through online travel contacts like the Cruise Critic website.
And others who may have found our blog online.
-----------
We don’t expect all parts to our blog to appeal to everyone. The nice thing is that people are free to decide which of any posts they wish to read. We know that most will not have time or inclination to read everything. We are writing this always with those at home in mind. We’re happy to share our experiences and to inform others of what we are seeing and learning. We will be sending very few personal emails, but this will be a way to keep in touch with us. And who knows? If something reminds us of you at home, we may just refer to you or speak to you through our blog. We will, however, be at the mercy of the internet at sea and far from home (and of course dependent on the functioning of the computer). We have found that internet connections are notoriously unreliable at sea and the loading of pages is sometimes excruciatingly slow. On top of that, it is exceptionally expensive. That’s why we are putting sending and reading forwards on hold during this voyage. We appreciate your understanding. But should you have any comments or questions regarding what we are doing or seeing, feel free to write them in the form of questions in the comment section of the blog.
Please note that Barb has a link along the right hand column of the blog that will allow you to submit your email address and you will receive an email notification of each post with a link to the blog itself which hopefully will include some pictures. We often don’t know who is following the blog until we return home. You can also find a link to our location in the world but unfortunately it merely gives latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. The third link at the top will allow you to identify what time it is where we are in relationship to the time back home. We frequently think of what time it is back home. So you can click on the clock link to find 25 places we will be visiting. By checking those, you can identify what time it is there and what time it is back home. In addition you can even check out our weather!
It is our intent to sign our posts with the initials of the writers in case it hasn’t become evident as the blog is written. But for the most part we will try to alternate our posts.
We know this is an experience we will never forget and are happy to share it with you.
CT
This blog has grown much larger and we thought it might be helpful for us to provide a “cast of characters” so to speak since many who read this will not know many of those we write about. This page will introduce readers to those we are citing. Undoubtedly, as we board the ship and meet new people, more “characters” will be added.
So here I go….
First, Barb and I will share the writing of the blog. Most blogs tend to be written by one person, but we will pretty much alternate postings. Barb, my sister, developed the framework for the blog and started it. While we grew up in Western New York State, I taught high school US History in Hamburg, NY near Buffalo and Niagara Falls and Barb taught 5th grade in Mokena, IL, southwest of Chicago. We’ve always enjoyed travel; I have visited 49 states (Louisiana to go). Both of us traveled to Europe numerous times; in fact, Barb studied at Grenoble, France during her junior year in college.
We enjoy the UK, especially Northern Wales which is somewhat off the beaten path for most American tourists. Maybe that’s part of our attraction to that area. In 2004, we were introduced to cruising … and then it really began. Barb had always said she wasn’t going to take a cruise with her brother. But we had never been to Alaska and we heard from a friend from church here in New Lenox, Pam Floyd, that there was an adult group of mostly teachers from the local Lincoln-Way High Schools, and that their group was taking a cruise to Alaska in June 2004. Pam was an English teacher at Lincoln-Way Central High School who worked with Dale Sandoval, an Art teacher at Lincoln-Way East to organize annual student tours to Europe and adult trips every two years. Figuring this was a good way to see Alaska, we booked the cruise with the Lincoln-Way group.
Two years later, we joined the same group for a 10 day Baltic cruise that made us cruising addicts. Then we did a 12, 24, and 67 day cruise and found we loved the longer cruises. After several shorter cruises including a short 35 day adventure across the North Atlantic last summer, we were ready to take on the world. Experienced world cruisers warned us it’s addicting. I blame Dale for getting me to spend all that money! Thanks a lot!
-----------
I want to identify others who will play a part in this blog so as you follow our world voyage, you can identify some that we will talk about. There are unnamed players that we haven’t met yet since we will meet them on the ship. No one but us knows all the players and even some of the followers of the blog we haven’t met and some we will never meet.
Our Travel Agent
Marcia Marsett with the Joliet AAA Travel has been a friend for several years. Barb met her first through church before I moved to Illinois. They had been in the choir together before Marcia and her husband moved to eastern Indiana for a few years. After moving back to this area, Marcia had an independent travel agency briefly but later got a job with AAA Travel. We have worked with Maria for over a decade now and she has arranged many details for us on our cruises. She has solved more complicated travel issues for us than we care to remember. She’s the best in her field! We appreciate her efforts.
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Our fellow cruisers – it’s a short list now but sure to grow.
Pam Floyd from New Lenox. Pam retired from teaching at Lincoln-Way Central this past spring. She had kept saying to us that we couldn’t go to Antarctica until she retired. When we booked, we told Pam, “OK, we waited until you retired and we are going to Antarctica. So come along.” She searched and searched. Her friends said the timing wasn’t convenient or told her she was out of her mind to do such a long cruise. She dropped the notion of going for a few months. After we returned from our cruise last summer, we mentioned it again so Pam began her search for a roommate again, particularly since in the near future cruising Antarctica is expected to be more difficult and more expensive for environmental reasons. Her husband, Paul, is still working and can’t take long trips. Besides, he’s not as anxious to take what could be a rocky voyage between South America and Antarctica. Once again, Pam’s roommate search came up empty. Barb and I talked it over and invited Pam to share our large stateroom. She accepted and will join us as far as Sydney, a 50 day cruise. Pam is fortunate to have a husband willing to encourage his wife to go.
Ros and Gary from Sydney, Australia. We met Gary and Ros on the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings across the North Atlantic last summer. They told us they were doing the 2012 World Cruise from Sydney to Ft. Lauderdale. We’re looking forward to seeing them again when they board.
Amsterdam crew – this list will surely grow too.
Bruce Scudder – Cruise Director. Bruce was Cruise Director on our 2009 South Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand Grand Voyage. He’s outstanding and is an experienced world cruiser. This will be his 17th trip around the world! Bruce also was cruise director on the Maasdam last summer for the Voyage of the Vikings. We had a chance to visit with him several times last summer and were pleased to learn he would be doing the World Cruise 2012.
Barbara Haenni – Port Lecturer. Barbara held the same position on the 2009 Voyage and the 2011 Voyage of the Vikings. Barb invited Barbara to join us for dinner several times on the recent Voyage of the Vikings. This gave us the opportunity to meet her. She is a vast store of knowledge about the ports we visit and gives amazingly interesting lectures on the ports we visit.
Yohat – our dining steward. We met Yohat on our 2009 Grand Voyage as an assistant steward. Holland America dining and stateroom stewards are Indonesian and we have met several wonderful Indonesian crew on our trips. Yohat has the right combination of complete professionalism and a sparkling, friendly personality. On the 2009 cruise, Yohat actually had Barb drinking tea, something she always said she hated! Peach tea was Barb’s favorite and Yohat tried as much as he could to find it for her. We requested Yohat as our dining steward for the world cruise and it was confirmed. We look forward to seeing him again.
Herfan – not our dining steward this year, but he was our lead dining steward in 2009, working with Yohat. Herfan has been on the Amsterdam for the last several months but is being married this month in Indonesia. We assumed he would be taking some time off, but we just found out that someone requested him for the World Cruise this year, so after a month off to be married he will be back on the ship. He won’t be our dining steward but we are pleased we will see him again.
Say – Sayuto was our stateroom steward in 2009 and we met him again the Voyage of the Vikings last summer. We requested him as our steward for the 2012 World Cruise and were pleased to learn that he will be with us on this voyage too.
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Some who may be following our blog
We are writing this blog in part to help us recall details of our voyage that would be lost in our memories over time. But we are sharing our experiences with a variety of people who might enjoy hearing of our experiences. Some of these people may include:
Our family, mostly in Illinois but others spread throughout the country.
Local friends including friends from our church, some of Barb’s DAR friends, some of her former colleagues from Mokena, a few neighbors, maybe some friends of friends, and some faculty and even students in the Lincoln-Way High Schools where we sub frequently.
Friends in Western New York, including some former colleagues of mine from Hamburg High School near Buffalo, friends from other Western New York communities and churches, and a few friends that Barb and I grew up with there.
Some friends and families of our two travel companions, Al from Arizona and Pam from New Lenox.
Friends of ours throughout the country and beyond that we have met through our travel. Taking longer cruises has afforded us the opportunity to get to know people better than the much shorter trips and cruises we had taken. People we have become acquainted with through online travel contacts like the Cruise Critic website.
And others who may have found our blog online.
-----------
We don’t expect all parts to our blog to appeal to everyone. The nice thing is that people are free to decide which of any posts they wish to read. We know that most will not have time or inclination to read everything. We are writing this always with those at home in mind. We’re happy to share our experiences and to inform others of what we are seeing and learning. We will be sending very few personal emails, but this will be a way to keep in touch with us. And who knows? If something reminds us of you at home, we may just refer to you or speak to you through our blog. We will, however, be at the mercy of the internet at sea and far from home (and of course dependent on the functioning of the computer). We have found that internet connections are notoriously unreliable at sea and the loading of pages is sometimes excruciatingly slow. On top of that, it is exceptionally expensive. That’s why we are putting sending and reading forwards on hold during this voyage. We appreciate your understanding. But should you have any comments or questions regarding what we are doing or seeing, feel free to write them in the form of questions in the comment section of the blog.
Please note that Barb has a link along the right hand column of the blog that will allow you to submit your email address and you will receive an email notification of each post with a link to the blog itself which hopefully will include some pictures. We often don’t know who is following the blog until we return home. You can also find a link to our location in the world but unfortunately it merely gives latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. The third link at the top will allow you to identify what time it is where we are in relationship to the time back home. We frequently think of what time it is back home. So you can click on the clock link to find 25 places we will be visiting. By checking those, you can identify what time it is there and what time it is back home. In addition you can even check out our weather!
It is our intent to sign our posts with the initials of the writers in case it hasn’t become evident as the blog is written. But for the most part we will try to alternate our posts.
We know this is an experience we will never forget and are happy to share it with you.
CT
