Tuesday, August 7, 2007

The Creation of a Mega Voyage





































Last year when I was on the Prinsendam cruising the Amazon River I started looking for long voyages. I was toying with doing a very long voyage on the Statendam. I was working with two travel agents since it became apparent to me when booking the Amazon Voyage that it's necessary to shop around. I'm sure that my travel agent David wasn't thrilled with that since I had been booking cruises with him for over 15 years. It was time that I did start shopping around because I knew that there were many travel agents out there that did a lot more for their clients than I was used to with David. During the exercise of trying to put together a long voyage on the Statendam it became apparent that it was just getting very difficult. At about the same time my friend Patty suggested I look at a 64 day Asia, Polynesia and Australia voyage on the ms Amsterdam leaving on 21 September 2007 from Seattle returning to San Diego. I looked at it and immediately decided that this was the voyage for me. I also concluded that if I added the following 17 day Panama cruise I would end up in Ft Lauderdale and have a shorter trip home. I booked it with Patty who is also a travel agent and continued my Amazon adventure. At some later date, I decided to go ahead and book the 2008 World Voyage just in case I really loved the 2007 World Voyage which I had not taken yet. Finally, during the 2007 World Voyage it became apparent to me that there was only 24 days between my 81 day Asia, Polynesia and Australia voyage with the Panama add on and the 2008 World Voyage. That was hardly enough time to ship things home from one voyage, get the laundry done and ship things out for the next. I had some help from some great folks in Seattle to help me get the right cabin (don't want to go through unnecessary moving) and the voyage construction was complete. The result..... a 219 day voyage, consisting of the 64 day Asia, Polynesia and Australia voyage, the 17 day Panama Canal transit voyage, a 10 day Caribbean voyage, a 14 day holiday (Caribbean) voyage and the 114 day 2008 Grand World Voyage, the Golden Anniversary Odyssey. What a Mega Voyage..... The 2008 Grand World Voyage is named the Golden Anniversary Odyssey because it is a celebration of 50 years since the first world voyage of Holland America..... impressive! I hope that those of you that joined me on my previous cruising adventures will join me on the biggest one yet (even you Whitey), Jeff's Mega World Voyage 2007-2008. The itinerary follows:

Day 1) FRI 21SEP07 Sail from Seattle, Washington 5:00p
Day 2) SAT 22SEP07 Sea Day
Day 3) SUN 23SEP07 Sea Day
Day 4) MON 24SEP07 Sea Day
Day 5) TUE 25SEP07 Sea Day
Day 6) WED 26SEP07 Sea Day
Day 7) THU 27SEP07 Cross International Dateline 7:00a 8:00a
Day 8) SAT 29SEP07 Petropavlovsk, Russia 8:00a 6:00p
Day 9) SUN 30SEP07 Sea Day
Day 10) MON 01OCT07 Sea Day
Day 11) TUE 02OCT07 AOMORI, JAPAN 8:00a 6:00p
Day 12) WED 03OCT07 Sea Day
Day 13) THU 04OCT07 Yokohama, Japan 8:00a
Day 14) FRI 05OCT07 Yokohama, Japan 1:00a
Day 15) SAT 06OCT07 Kobe, Japan 7:00a 11:00p
Day 16) SUN 07OCT07 Sea Day
Day 17) MON 08OCT07 Kagoshima, Japan 7:00a 4:00p
Day 18) TUE 09OCT07 Cheju City, South Korea 8:00a 2:00p
Day 19) WED 10OCT07 Sea Day
Day 20) THU 11OCT07 Dalian, People's Republic of China 8:00a 7:00p
Day 21) FRI 12OCT07 Xingang (Beijing), China 8:00a
Day 22) SAT 13OCT07 Xingang (Beijing), China 7:00p
Day 23) SUN 14OCT07 Sea Day
Day 24) MON 15OCT07 Shanghai, China 10:00a
Day 25) TUE 16OCT07 Shanghai, China 7:00p
Day 26) WED 17OCT07 Sea Day
Day 27) THU 18OCT07 Sea Day
Day 28) FRI 19OCT07 Hong Kong, China 7:00a
Day 29) SAT 20OCT07 Hong Kong, China 11:59p
Day 30) SUN 21OCT07 Sea Day
Day 31) MON 22OCT07 Sea Day
Day 32) TUE 23OCT07 Sea Day
Day 33) WED 24OCT07 Singapore 8:00a 6:00p
Day 34) THU 25OCT07 Crossing the Equator 7:00a 8:00a
Day 35) FRI 26OCT07 Semarang, Indonesia 7:00a 6:00p
Day 36) SAT 27OCT07 Padang Bai, Bali, Indonesia 4:00p
Day 37) SUN 28OCT07 Padang Bai, Bali, Indonesia 11:00p
Day 38) MON 29OCT07 Sea Day
Day 39) TUE 30OCT07 Sea Day
Day 40) WED 31OCT07 Darwin, Australia 8:00a 11:00p
Day 41) THU 01NOV07 Sea Day
Day 42) FRI 02NOV07 Sea Day
Day 43) SAT 03NOV07 Sea Day
Day 44) SUN 04NOV07 Cairns, Australia 8:00a 6:00p
Day 45) MON 05NOV07 Sea Day
Day 46) TUE 06NOV07 Sea Day
Day 47) WED 07NOV07 Sydney, Australia 7:00a 6:00p
Day 48) THU 08NOV07 Sea Day
Day 49) FRI 09NOV07 Sea Day
Day 50) SAT 10NOV07 Noumea, New Caledonia 8:00a 5:00p
Day 51) SUN 11NOV07 Sea Day
Day 52) MON 12NOV07 Suva, Fiji 8:00a 6:00p
Day 53) TUE 13NOV07 Sea Day, Cross International Dateline 6:00a 7:00a
Day 54) TUE 13NOV07 Apia, Western Samoa 8:00a 4:00p
Day 55) WED 14NOV07 Sea Day
Day 56) THU 15NOV07 Sea Day
Day 57) FRI 16NOV07 Sea Day
Day 58) SAT 17NOV07 Sea Day
Day 59) SUN 18NOV07 Kona, Hawaii 8:00a 6:00p
Day 60) MON 19NOV07 Honolulu, Oahu, United States 7:00a 5:00p
Day 61) TUE 20NOV07 Sea Day
Day 62) WED 21NOV07 Sea Day
Day 63) THU 22NOV07 Sea Day
Day 64) FRI 23NOV07 Sea Day
Day 65) SAT 24NOV07 San Diego, Ca 7:00a 5:00p
Day 66) SUN 25NOV Sea Day
Day 67) MON 26NOV Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 8:00a 4:00p
Day 68) TUE 27NOV Sea Day
Day 69) WED 28NOV Zihuatanejo, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
Day 70) THU 29NOV Acapulco, Mexico 7:00a 6:00p
Day 71) FRI 30NOV Huatulco, Mexico 8:00a 5:00p
Day 72) SAT 01DEC Puerto Quetzal, Guatamala 10:00a 8:00p
Day 73) SUN 02DEC Sea Day
Day 74) MON 03DEC Puntarenas, Costa Rica 7:00a 8:00p
Day 75) TUE 04DEC Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica 9:00a 12:00n
Day 76) WED 05DEC Amador, Panama 8:00a Thur 4:00a
Day 77) THU 06DEC Transit Panama Canal 7:00a 7:00p
Day 78) FRI 07DEC Sea Day
Day 79) SAT 08DEC Aruba 8:00a 6:00p
Day 80) SUN 09DEC Sea Day
Day 81) MON 10DEC Sea Day
Day 82) TUE 11DEC Ft Lauderdale 7:00a 5:00p
Day 83) WED 12DEC Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00a 3:00p
Day 84) THU 13DEC Sea Day
Day 85) FRI 14DEC St Thomas 8:00a 5:00p
Day 86) SAT 15DEC Point-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe 8:00a 5:00p
Day 87) SUN 16DEC Grenada 8:00a 6:00p
Day 88) MON 17DEC Barbados 8:00a 6:00p
Day 89) TUE 18DEC St Lucia 8:00a 3:00p
Day 90) WED 19DEC Sea Day
Day 91) THU 20DEC Sea Day
Day 92) FRI 21DEC Fort Lauderdale 7:00a 5:00p
Day 93) SAT 22DEC Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00a 4:00p
Day 94) SUN 23DEC Sea Day
Day 95) MON 24DEC Aruba 1:00p 8:00p
Day 96) TUE 25DEC Bonaire 7:00a 3:00p
Day 97) WED 26DEC Curacao 7:00a 6:00p
Day 98) THU 27DEC Sea Day
Day 99) FRI 28DEC Panama Canal Partial transit Gatun Lake; Colon, Panama 5:00a 7:00p
Day 100) SAT 29DEC Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 6:00a 5:00p
Day 101) SUN 30DEC Sea Day
Day 102) MON 31DEC Grand Cayman 7:00a 4:00p
Day 103) TUE 01JAN Roatan, Honduras 9:00a 6:00p
Day 104) WED 02JAN Cozumel, Mexico 8:00a 8:00p
Day 105) THU 03JAN Sea Day
Day 106) FRI 04JAN FT Lauderdale 7:00a 5:00p
Day 107) SAT 05JAN Sea Day
Day 108) SUN 06JAN Grand Cayman 8:00a 5:00p
Day 109) MON 07JAN Sea Day
Day 110) TUE 08JAN Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 7:00a 5:00p
Day 111) WED 09JAN Panama Canal 5:00a 7:00p; Amador, Panama 8:00p
Day 112) THU 10JAN Amador, Panama 5:00p
Day 113) FRI 11JAN Sea Day
Day 114) SAT 12JAN Sea Day
Day 115) SUN 13JAN Sea Day
Day 116) MON 14JAN Sea Day
Day 117) TUE 15JAN Sea Day
Day 118) WED 16JAN Sea Day
Day 119) THU 17JAN Sea Day
Day 120) FRI 18JAN Sea Day
Day 121) SAT 19JAN Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands 8:00a 6:00p
Day 122) SUN 20JAN Sea Day
Day 123) MON 21JAN Papeete, Tahiti 12:00n 0400a (Tuesday)
Day 124) TUE 22JAN Moorea 8:00a 5:00p
Day 125) WED 23JAN Bora Bora 8:00a 6:00p
Day 126) THU 24JAN Sea Day
Day 127) FRI 25JAN Sea Day
Day 128) SAT 26JAN Apia, Samoa 8:00a 6:00p
Day 129) SUN 27JAN Sea Day
Day 130) MON 28JAN Cross International Dateline
Day 131) TUE 29JAN Nuku' Alofa, Tonga 8:00a 6:00p
Day 132) WED 30JAN Sea Day
Day 133) THU 31JAN Sea Day
Day 134) FRI 01FEB Auckland, New Zealand 7:00a 6:00p
Day 135) SAT 02FEB Sea Day
Day 136) SUN 03FEB Wellington, New Zealand 7:00a 6:00p
Day 137) MON 04FEB Christchurch, New Zealand 7:00a 7:00p
Day 138) TUE 05FEB Dunedin, New Zealand 8:00a 6:00p
Day 139) WED 06FEB Cruising Milford Sound 5:00p 6:00p
Day 140) THU 07FEB Sea Day
Day 141) FRI 08FEB Sea Day
Day 142) SAT 09FEB Sydney, Australia,4 8:00a
Day 143) SUN 10FEB Sydney, Australia 11:00p
Day 144) MON 11FEB Sea Day
Day 145) TUE 12FEB Melbourne, Australia 8:00a 6:00p
Day 146) THU 14FEB Sea Day
Day 147) FRI 15FEB Sea Day
Day 148) SAT 16FEB Perth, Australia 8:00a 11:00p
Day 149) SUN 17FEB Sea Day
Day 150) MON 18FEB Sea Day
Day 151) TUE 19FEB Sea Day
Day 152) WED 20FEB Bali, Indonesia 8:00a 6:00p
Day 153) THU 21FEB Sea Day
Day 154) FRI 22FEB Sea Day
Day 155) SAT 23FEB Sea Day
Day 156) SUN 24FEB Brunei 8:00a 5:00p
Day 157) MON 25FEB Sea Day
Day 158) TUE 26FEB Manila Philippines 8:00a 6:00p
Day 159) WED 27FEB Sea Day
Day 160) THU 28FEB Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China 8:00a
Day 161) FRI 29FEB Hong Kong 11:00p
Day 162) SAT 01MAR Sea Day
Day 163) SUN 02MAR Halong Bay, Vietnam 8:00a 3:00p
Day 164) MON 03MAR Da Nang, Vietnam 8:00a 6:00p
Day 165) TUE 04MAR Sea Day
Day 166) WED 05MAR Phu My, Vietnam 6:00a 7:00p
Day 167) THU 06MAR Sea Day
Day 168) FRI 07MAR Singapore 8:00a
Day 169) SAT 08MAR Singapore 8:00p
Day 170) SUN 09MAR Sea Day
Day 171) MON 10MAR Sea Day
Day 172) TUE 11MAR Sea Day
Day 173) WED 12MAR Chennai, India 8:00a 6:00p
Day 174) THU 13MAR Sea Day
Day 175) FRI 14MAR Sea Day
Day 176) SAT 15MAR Sea Day
Day 177) SUN 16MAR Mumbai, India (Bombay) 8:00a
Day 178) MON 17MAR Mumbai, India (Bombay) 11:00p
Day 179) TUE 18MAR Sea Day
Day 180) WED 19MAR Sea Day
Day 181) THU 20MAR Salalah, Oman 7:00a 5:00p
Day 182) FRI 21MAR Sea Day
Day 183) SAT 22MAR Sea Day
Day 184) SUN 23MAR Sea Day
Day 185) MON 24MAR Safaga, Egypt 7:00a 11:59p
Day 186) TUE 25MAR Sea Day
Day 187) WED 26MAR Sea Day
Day 188) THU 27MAR Alexandria, Egypt 6:00a 10:00p
Day 189) FRI 28MAR Sea Day
Day 190) SAT 29MAR Istanbul, Turkey 12:00n
Day 191) SUN 30MAR Istanbul, Turkey 11:00p
Day 192) MON 31MAR Sea Day
Day 193) TUE 01APR Sochi, Russia 7:00a 6:00p
Day 194) WED 02APR Sevastopol, Ukraine 10:00a 6:00p
Day 195) THU 03APR Sea Day
Day 196) FRI 04APR Santorini, Greece 8:00a 4:00p
Day 197) SAT 05APR Sea Day
Day 198) SUN 06APR Venice, Italy 12:00n
Day 199) MON 07APR Venice, Italy 5:00p
Day 200) TUE 08APR Split, Croatia 8:00a 2:00p
Day 201) WED 09APR Sea Day
Day 202) THU 10APR Tripoli, Libya 8:00a 7:00p
Day 203) FRI 11APR Sea Day
Day 204) SAT 12APR Sea Day
Day 205) SUN 13APR Gibraltar 7:00a 2:00p
Day 206) MON 14APR Lisbon, Portugal 8:00a 6:00p
Day 207) TUE 15APR Sea Day
Day 208) WED 16APR Madeira 7:00a 5:00p
Day 209) THU 17APR Sea Day
Day 210) FRI 18APR Sea Day
Day 211) SAT 19APR Sea Day
Day 212) SUN 20APR Sea Day
Day 213) MON 21APR Sea Day
Day 214) TUE 22APR Kings Wharf, Bermuda 8:00a 4:00p
Day 215) WED 23APR Sea Day
Day 216) THU 24APR New York City, New York 7:00a 4:45p
Day 217) FRI 25APR Sea Day
Day 218) SAT 26APR Sea Day
Day 219) SUN 27APR Debark Ship Ft Lauderdale, Florida 7:00a