Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Monday, March 13

As the ship sailed through the night we were gently rocked to sleep and awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for our first taste of a Caribbean island. Half Moon Cay is in the Bahamas and is an island that is owned by Holland America, so we had it all to ourselves (ie. the 2,500 people on the Koningsdam!).

It was a sunny day with clear blue skies, and the most beautiful turquoise coloured water - just what the brochures and magazines show as a Caribbean island. We were tendered ashore by the shore based tenders which carry about 300 people, so there was no waiting. We travelled with Pat & Burgess and Margie & Kim, and the 6 of us found deck chairs by the edge of the water to recline in and admire the view. We went for a walk on the most talc like sand we have ever been on, and took in the sights. There were mini cabanas or brightly coloured shacks with their own facilities to be rented, as well as all sorts of water sports and tours that were on offer.

We chose to return to our deck chairs, and then go for a swim. The water wasn't cold, so it was straight in - even Noelle didn't hesitate while Alan tried his new snorkel, mask and flipper set. It was fantastic, and etched in the memory bank forever.

The ship was only visiting here for half a day so we reluctantly reboarded to continue our cruise, but we visit this island on our return to Fort Lauderdale at the end of our cruise.

The show tonight was the first performance of the singers and dancers, and it was a very high energy show, which they perform 3 times in the one night, as well as rehearse during the day. Not show how they do it but they are young and fit!!

We finished our night in the Piano Bar where the 2 pianist sing and "duel" with each other on the keyboards - they are also very talented as well as entertaining. It was a great way to end a very memorable day.

Fort Lauderdale

Sunday, March 12

We didn't get the best night's sleep due to some noise from some young guys on Spring break, a change in direction of the planes taking off from the nearby airport which meant they were coming directly over us, and the winding forward of the clocks! There was also some excitement at boarding the Koningsdam today and catching up with our American friends.

The shuttle we booked for 10:45 arrived at 11:15, and after the short drive to the Port Everglades Cruise terminal we then had to negotiate our way around this massive terminal - the Koningsdam was berthed at pier 26, and there were about 8 big cruise liners in port today! After the formalities and check in procedure we finally reached our room around 12:30.

We set off to explore this new ship and got as far as the Dining room so we detoured there for lunch. On returning to our room our luggage still hadn't arrived, so we walked up to the Lido deck and had a look around before the Safety drill started. The new procedure involved being directed to your cabin to watch the safety video, and at the appropriate alarm we were instructed to go to our muster station. These are now set up inside the ship, so no more standing on the Promenade deck near your life boat in the sun or rain or cold! We thought this was a better procedure and seemed to go smoothly.

As our luggage still hadn't arrived we went to the sail away party and caught up with Bill & Linda - it was great seeing them again. We are on the early dinner sitting so after our drinks we all went to dinner and caught up with Burgess & Pat, Ken & Jackie, and a new couple Kim & Margie (friends of Bill & Lindas). Our table of 10 had a lot of fun and plenty of catching up to do!

After dinner we took in the show - a comedian who was very funny, and then checked out the band at the B B Kings Blues Club who were excellent. Then it was time to go and unpack so we could get into bed!

Sent from my

Fort Lauderdale

Saturday, March 11

After our late night we slept till we woke up, and had a lazy afternoon around our hotel. We visited a local shopping centre called Southland, but it wasn't up to its namesake in Melbourne! We also went for a walk to check out a nearby marina, and it was certainly impressive with so many boats of all sizes, including super yachts, making the most of the waterways that inter connect around the Fort Lauderdale area. There's plenty of wealth around here, but most of the tourists at this time of year seem to be taking cruises from the nearby port.

Unfortunately this is the weekend that the clocks have to be wound forward as the US heads into Spring, but to us it means losing an hour's sleep! Oh well, we have 3 weeks of cruising coming up so I'm sure we'll catch up.

LA to Fort Lauderdale

Friday, March 10

After a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast we got the hotel shuttle bus back to LAX for our flight to Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately after checking in we were informed that our flight was delayed by at least an hour - this was going to mean sitting around the airport even longer as well as not getting into FLL until about 10:30pm!

When we did finally board our plane and take off the pilot informed us that arrival time was going to be about 10:25pm, so we settled in as we couldn't do anything about it! We finally arrived, collected our luggage and then waited for our shuttle bus. It eventually arrived and we finally checked in to our hotel about midnight. As we arrived so late the restaurant and room service were closed, so we ordered Italian and were told it would be about a 45 minute wait - this turned into an hour and a half and we were starving! The food was good and we finally got to bed about 2:30am, but in West Coast timing it was only 11:30pm, so not too late a night.

Travelling certainly teaches you patience and to relax and go with the flow, but days like today seem like a waste - however sometimes you have to have days like this to get from one place to another. At least we arrived safely and it is a long way from Melbourne to Florida!!

Melbourne to LA

Thursday , March 9

As we were flying Business class we were able to access the Air NZ lounges, which came in handy in  both Melbourne and in particular Auckland, where we had a 5 hour layover. The soft leather seats were nice and big, and the food delicious, along with excellent service. The leg from Auckland to LA fitted in well with our body clocks, as by the time we had our dinner and watched a movie it was time to sleep. The crew converted our seats into beds, complete with mattress and lightweight doona, and we had a very comfortable 6 hour sleep. We had time for a light breakfast before we arrived in LA, nicely rested but spoiled for any future flights in Economy!!

We reached our hotel and got sorted, then had an enjoyable meal and drink before having an early night ahead of our trip across the US tomorrow.

Singapore to Melbourne

Sunday, October 2

Our final travel day, and given our checkout time and flight departure time today was always going to be a quiet day! After checking out at midday, we sat around in the lobby for 2 hours reading and relaxing, before getting a cab to Changi Airport. The Malaysian Grand Prix was starting at 3 pm so we found a sports bar with it on, and sat and watched it while enjoying a beer. It was a great result too as Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the GP, so we were glad we were able to see it live.

Changi is a huge airport so there were lots of shops to look out and do some last minute shopping - we also clocked up a lot of steps walking around, while also keeping an eye out for somewhere to eat! We had a light meal then headed to our gate, ready for our departure at 9:15pm. Everything went well and we departed on time. Unfortunately our plane wasn't an A380, but a Boeing 777, and we found the seats quite a bit smaller than we enjoyed on the A380 in the upper deck.

The flight is normally 7 hours but we picked up some time and landed in Melbourne at 7am local time on Monday October 3, which was 4am Singapore time to our bodies - and we only got a couple of hours sleep on the plane! It was also freezing in Melbourne as it was going through a cold snap that was forecast to last until the middle of the week! Our amazing 16 week trip has come to an end, but we could have happily kept on travelling. However it's always good to get home, but I think it will take us a little while to settle in - especially while planning for next year's trip!

Singapore - Day 2

Saturday, October 1

As we've been to Singapore many times before we have taken the opportunity to have a breather after our long trip and just relax while we're here! Having said that there are always new shopping malls to check out, especially in the Marina Bay Area where we are staying this time! The other reasons for not getting out and walking around like we have done in Europe is that it's very humid here, and also the city is more spread out than the old towns in Europe.

Today was also the Grand Final match of the Aussie Rules season, and we were barracking for the underdogs who hadn't won the premiership flag for 62 years! So we watched the match on TV, and the  Bulldogs completed the fairytale and won, so we were happy for them (especially given neither of our two sides even got into the Grand Final)!

After the match we went for a walk, taking in the Singapore Flyer (the big wheel), the Esplanade Theatre on the Bay, and the Merlion which is the symbol of Singapore. We also checked out a couple of the nearby shopping complexes before having dinner. They love lighting up their buildings here and the view from our room at night is pretty stunning.

Singapore is a very modern city, and we like visiting here on our way home from Europe, but it doesn't have the charm of many of the European cities we have visited over the years or on this trip. You can really see the contrast between "old" Europe and modern Asia, and both have their pros and cons, but we prefer to soak up the ambience in Europe.