9/28/10 – Day 4 – Fog and Choppy Water

     Well, the captain was correct in predicting that the weather might prevent us from sightseeing.  It has been foggy and drizzling ever since I woke up this morning.  However, we did see land about 7:00 a.m. as we crossed into the Bearing Sea.  And, I saw another boat (a fishing vessel) about 8:30 this morning.  So, there is other life out there.  Also, the birds flying and the seaweed floating in the water were much more plentiful.  My folks even saw a couple of whales this morning while eating breakfast. 

     The seas have once again gotten much rougher as we the day as progressed.  As we go along the boat goes up and then crashes down on the water.  Many of the crew are even commenting on the magnitude of the motion, as the ship has been sailing the inside passage of Alaska for the past few months and hasn’t seen seas like this.  However, our captain does, once again, assure us that the seas will be calming as we sleep this evening and tomorrow will be much better.  I actually don’t mind the high seas much, but for the sake of the older guests I am happy that things will be calming.  To me, God’s vastness and power has been brilliantly displayed as we travel the ocean.

     A new lady joined us for dinner tonight, Sophie, originally from Russia, but been living in Winnipeg, Canada for 30+ years.  She was very enjoyable to chat with, and a nice addition to our table.  She’s been assigned to our table all along, but prefers to eat in the Lido buffet style restaurant. I hope she joins us more often.  The entertainment acts on the ship has been good.  Tonight we have a comedian and then I’ll go to the nightly movie, as has been my habit.

9/27/10 – Day 3 – Sailing, Sailing…

     So, I know that over half of the earth is covered by water, but I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see land again…not really, but all I’ve seen out of windows or off the decks for the past few days is water meeting sky.  I hope our captain knows where he’s going.  It’s actually quite beautiful.  We’ve been heading west through the large bay located south of the state of Alaska.  The captain says that we should be seeing land as we cut through the Aleutian Islands about 6 a.m. tomorrow just to the north of Unalaska. Weather permitting, we might even get to do some scenic cruising along the coast of the islands.  However, he also mentioned that it’s not looking too good at the moment.  Although the seas have calmed, he says they are going to kick up again as we head into the Bearing Sea.

     Today was a nice lazy, “I’m on vacation”, kind of day.  I did some reading and finally made it up to the gym this afternoon to workout.  My dad hasn’t missed a workout day yet, but personally I’d rather be snuggled in my bed at 6:30 in the morning.  I really do enjoy looking out at God’s creation, and that’s just what I did for 30 minutes from the bike and the elliptical machines.  It brings a nice sense of motivation to try to get up to the gym each sea day.

     My dad inquired at the front desk today and found out that I am not the youngest guest on the ship.  Supposedly, there is a 17 year-old as well as 3 in their 20’s, and a handful more in their 30’s.  The lady at the desk said that there are a grand total of 10 guests under 40.  However, I have yet to meet any of them.  Maybe I’ll suggest to the cruise director that we have an under 50 gathering sometime soon so we can find each other. 

9/26/10 – Day 2 – The Calming of the Seas

     We began this Sunday morning with an interdenominational worship service.  It was nice to fellowship with other believers, as well as share in communion together.  We will be studying the book of Luke with our chaplain, Rev. Bryce Little, during the daily devotional times and Sunday worship services as we sail.  The seas are much calmer today, which is a welcome change.  This allowed me to finally be able to completely unpack, which I found to be quite difficult yesterday with the boat rocking as much as it was.  We gained another hour while we slept last night, which puts us 5 hours behind Florida’s Eastern Time zone.

     I have officially come to the conclusion that I am probably the youngest of the 1,100 guests on this cruise, which isn’t overly different than I had imagined, but I will definitely miss the same-age peer interaction over the next couple of months.  I guess for my younger adult interactions, I’ll have to focus on getting to know the crew and interacting with the locals while in port.  And, in the mean time, with my fellow passengers, enjoy the wisdom and experience of my elders (It’s a good thing I like old people).  As an added bonus, due to the lack of children and youth on the cruise, I have found a nice quiet personal refuge in the “teen only” sections of the boat, including a couple of hammocks on a top deck that I’m pretty sure have yet to be discovered by any other passengers on the ship. 

     Tonight was our first formal night.  We had a reception before dinner where we had the opportunity to meet our captain and the heads of each department on the ship.  Dinner was amazing…I had salmon with a kiwi-mango salsa that was delicious. (Kenneth, we thought of you as Escargot was one of the appetizers).

9/25/10 – Day 1 – The Motion of the Ocean

     Last night, while we slept, we continued north along the west coast of Canada’s Victoria Island.  The motion of the ocean was undeniable as we’re in some pretty high seas.  Not only is the Pacific Ocean noted for much more active seas than that of the Atlantic, but it’s my understanding that we are running into higher seas due to some weather out there somewhere.  Our captain assures us that he is and will continue to do his best to choose a route that assures the calmest seas possible (which as present isn’t very calm at all).  About 1:30 a.m. last night, it felt and sounded like we hit an iceberg, whale, or other large object.  There was a loud bump, which turned over our flower vase, as well as the various drinking glasses in our room.  I went out on our balcony…I didn’t see any object that we would have hit, other than the ginormous waves crashing on all sides of the ship.  Thankfully, neither I nor my parents are effected much by motion of the ship…other than it makes walking a bit more exciting than usual. We ended the day with a more westward course of the vessel off the coast near Ketchikan, Alaska.

9/24/10 – Day 0 – Bon Voyage

     After sleeping in and having a nice complimentary breakfast at our hotel in Seattle, we took a bus to a grocery store for some American snacks and amenities that we thought would be nice to have over the next two months.  We then took a shuttle to the port in Seattle, checked in, and boarded the vessel that will be “home” for the next 68 days, Holland America’s M.S. Amsterdam.  The ship is not huge as far as cruise ships go, but it is plenty large enough for our voyage.

     Realizing exactly how much luggage we brought (14 pieces) by seeing it all piled onto our beds and couches in the stateroom left us the daunting task of unpacking. Even though we were so kindly upgrade to a Veranda Suite two days ago, our stateroom is still quite small to have 3 of us trying to move about organizing our belongings all at the same time.  I finally gave up and decided I will be fine unpacking another day.  Our upgrade really didn’t give us much more room inside the stateroom, but it did give us our own private balcony which we are sure to enjoy throughout our trip.

      We had a beautiful, clear view of Mount Rainer around 5 p.m. as we headed west out of Seattle through the Straight of Juan de Fuca.  Travel has been nice, as well as our fellow guests.  Antong is our head waiter and Widi is our assistant, both hailing from Indonesia (which we will visit later in our trip).  I will be eating dinner at a table with my folks, along with an Marsha and Michael, a brother and sister traveling together who winter in Kissimmee, FL and summer in the mountains of Pennsylvania where they grew up.  They are seemingly very kind and I’m sure will prove to be nice company with whom to enjoy our dinner mealtimes.

     Concerning time difference from home, we started our voyage in Seattle’s Pacific Time zone, 3 hours behind Florida’s Eastern Time zone.  As we travel west, we will continue to fall behind an hour at a time until crossing the International dateline, when we will be skipping an entire day and jumping ahead of you by almost 20 hours.  I’ll try to keep you updated on our time difference as I go. Obviously, my posts will correlate with my days and times and not necessarily yours.

Holland America's MS Amsterdam...home sweet home for the next two months.

Tomorrow's the day!

     We are on our way.  We flew out of Tampa earlier this afternoon, had a two-hour layover in Chicago before heading on to Seattle.  We arrived late this evening and will take a shuttle to the cruise ship port about noon tomorrow.  So far things have gone smoothly.  However, I really did not feel like a savoy traveler today with the abundance of luggage we were hauling around.  We each have our two checked bags maxed out to the 50 allotted pounds and sported our two carry-ons each as well.  The good news is, once we get to the ship, we don't have change hotel rooms.  So, no more bag lugging for a couple months.
     There is a definite chill in the air, here in Seattle, this evening.  It's quite nice.  I think our first two countries (Russia and Japan) will be on cooler side, and the we'll have fairly moderate temperatures for the rest of the trip.  The boat pulls out at 5 p.m. tomorrow (local time) and then it's a week of sea days before arriving at our first port, Petropavlovsk, Russia.  That ought to be plenty of time to get settled in, become familiar with the ship, and establish a routine of normalcy.  I'm excited to meet some of the ship's staff and fellow guests as we get to know those with whom we'll be traveling with for the next couple of months.

Introduction

     A little over two years ago, my folks booked a 68-day Asia and Australia Grand Voyage cruise.  Shortly after doing so, my dad asked me if there was any possibility of me being able to go with them.  With my rather spontaneous, take life as it comes, personality, a commitment that was over two years out wasn't something that I was willing to do at the time.  A few months later, my dad mentioned it again, and used the words "Karen, I'd really like for you to go with us."  So, as a decent, respectful daughter, what was I to do, but agree to go along.  I have often been asked what one needs to do to apply for the "daughter" position within my family.  Sorry to inform everyone, but the position has already been filled and my folks are not taking any more applications at this time.
     We are now 2 days out from embarking on what could be seen as a "trip of a lifetime".  We set sail from Seattle, Washington at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept 23 and will not step foot on U.S. soil again until we arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii on the day after Thanksgiving.  And, we won't return home until a week later on December 3rd.  When it's all said and done, we will have spent a little over two months on a cruise ship, visiting 25 ports and a grand total of 13 countries (none of which I have ever before visited, besides the U.S.).  Needless to say, I am quite excited.  The plethora of unique cultures and people that we will see is what I look the most forward to, along with spending some quality time with my folks.  Your prayers are coveted as we embark on this adventure, specifically that our eyes and hearts are open to experience the people and places that the Lord brings across our path.  Thank you!