Around The World In 150 Days- A Journey of a Lifetime: 01/04/14

After a long hot day in Cartagena, Colombia, the last thing we wanted to do was get dressed-up for the New Year's Eve celebrations. We were back on board at 5:30 pm. Our dinner schedule was usually at 5:45 pm.

It was amazing to get back on board and see that the flower arrangements in the atrium had been changed. The dining room was fully decorated for New Year's Eve, as was as the Queen's Lounge ( 2 deck Theatre), Ocean Bar, Crows Nest Bar and Piano Bar. Three decks of the Atrium were fully decorated and huge rows of tables were set up for the 11 o'clock appetizers There were fresh floral arrangement,s and fruit carvings of interesting shapes and colours. Holland America really did an excellent job, making everybody on board feel special ushering in the New Year.

We were very late for our sit down dinner so we ended up eating at the Lido buffet restaurant. We were both tired from our tour in Cartagena. We watched part of the evening show and then headed back to our room.

January 1^st is the birthday of our friend Yaser, and we were thinking of him as the clock ticked closer to midnight. We watched TV and waited until the ball was dropped in New York before, we finally said adieu to 2013, and welcomed 2014.

Kulsana wentatiyib, Yaser!

Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Saturday, January 4, 2014

Today is the day we finished our 17 day Christmas Holiday and Panama Canal Cruise but it is also the day we start our 113 day World Cruise. We've logged a total of 5,143 nautical miles from San Francisco California to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
We said goodbye to some new found friends, our dinner table mates Capt. Holme and Mrs. Joy Holme, Ted and Jan Hebebrand. We also said goodbye to the passengers with families and kids, the statuesque Barbie doll like women from Eastern Europe with sets of Hollywood racks that stopped men and women in their tracks; legally blond women with collagen -plumped up lips and mouth so wide, it could put a barracuda to shame. One in particular could swallow rye crackers topped with Brie cheese, in horizontal position, without crumbling the edge and with just a half open mouth. Mind you, her favourite attire was a pink micro miniskirt and a pink bikini both of which made her look very user- friendly

Enrico

. At last, we said bye to several women who obviously had their breast and lips enhanced and God knows what else was reconstructed, they could rival Heidi Montag.

We also said goodbye to the prom queen and prom king who were always running around the Lido restaurant as if they were being chased by Carrie before she released her telekinetic powers. Goodbye also to the tiny tots who sat at Mrs. Santa's lap, who were so well behaved they didn't ask for "milk" from Santa. We waved goodbye at the finalists for Mr. Dunkin Donuts 2014 who had had food a plenty, as well as the those who qualified for the Biggest Losers elimination. Mind you, there were also health nuts who at ages 80 -plus were constantly watching their diets! Most of all, we said adios to "The Grinch" who had a double dose of nasty pills mixed with his breakfast cereal and tried to ruin everybody else's mood last Christmas Eve.

Captain Fred Eversen left for his annual vacation and we welcomed Captain Jonathan Mercer together with Hotel Director Henk Mensink and other precious staff and crew.

Since we were in transit, we took the time to go out and download all our email and made some important calls to family and friends

Gene Young and Jodie

. It was very endearing to hear my grandson Dylan sing a Christmas Song for me as he got on the phone. It broke my heart to know that my other grandson, Darell, felt left out last Christmas. But overall, I was happy to be able to talk to my daughter Charelle a day before her birthday. We missed calling our good friends Jim and Nina, and other special friends too, but we hope they know that we are thinking of them and missed them as well. Bert also managed to talk to his daughter Heather for quite awhile, and able to make other important calls.

We came back to the ship at half past eight and it felt quiet on the ship. The sail -away party started at 9:30 pm. Immediately we warmed up with some people and the fun and adventure continued once again. Complimentary champagne, wine, and cocktails were served. Several kinds of appetizers were enjoyed. Live music was played in the background and a few took to the music and started dancing.

There were familiar faces from the staff and crew. Gene Moi Moi Young and his fiancée Jodie were there at the party and of course there were other passengers we've met from the past that were also there. We chatted with the ever- feisty Dolly, the ninety plus -year-old Queen of the "Dam" Ship. She has been on the ship now for over 10 years!

We've Only Just Begun

! (Yes Years!!) We finally met up with Karen and Morris and also a few other people we know.

We dearly missed Fred and Georgette Wagner, Henri and Carol Ann, and Gene's mom, Suli. We also missed some of our other cruise mates from last year. We look forward to meeting new friends on board, and hopefully have lots of laughter and adventure with them!

And so today, just as soon as we said goodbye to those who disembarked after the Christmas Holiday and Panama Canal Cruise, we said hello to a new set of passengers. There are 989 of us from 25 different countries. The United States topped the list with 663 of them followed by 161 Canadians and 41 from the UK. The rest are broken down into different nationalities from Australia, Morocco, Costa Rica, Mexico, Japan and other European countries. We said hello to several men who looked like they found their wives in the nursery and waited until they grew up. There were so many ("retreads") who have obviously been married more than once. It shows in their body language. We said hello and welcomed everybody whether they were from Canada, North America, Europe, South America and from any part of this world.

"I swear I saw this stack of seven suitcases being rolled in last night, and it was just for one person," a friend exclaimed

Dolly Queen of the dam ship

.

"Where will she keep all of that?" I asked with eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, the room is small to begin with!" a fellow friend chided. And we all laughed.

Thus, started our laughter and fun for this cruise.

Overall, it was a different and more interesting group of people that came on board for the World Cruise. This was a night to remember as we set sail on our first World Cruise!

Stay tuned for more updates because we've only just begun.

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