By Melvin L. Swanson
2013 Postcards from Paradise
Holland America ms Amsterdam
This is a pre-cruise report for my 2013 World Cruise. I will be leaving Wichita for Fort Lauderdale at 07:30AM on 1/04/2013. I will change planes in Houston. The cruise leaves on Jan 5th but I am going early to attend the gala bon voyage party in Fort Lauderdale put on by Cruise Specialists, my tour agent. The Holland America ship that is being used for the World Cruise is the ms Amsterdam. This is the eighth World Cruise for the ms Amsterdam. This will be my third World Cruise with Holland America and the second on the ms Amsterdam. The ms Amsterdam holds 1380 guests but on this cruise about 1000 guests will be aboard as many single people will have a cabin by themselves.
The voyage will explore lands
that lie largely below the equator, including the Panama Canal, South America,
the South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia and South
Africa. It will visit five continents,
eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites and eight overnights.
Three times I plan to leave
the cruise for overland tours. My first
overland tour leaves Callao (Lima), Peru for 3 days/2 nights to visit Machu
Picchu. The tour returns to the ship at
General San Martin (Pisco), Peru. My
second overland tour leaves Nha Trang, Vietnam for 3 days/2 nights to visit
Angkor Wat. This tour returns to the
ship at Singapore. My third overland
tour leaves Durban, South Africa for 4 days/3 nights to visit Victoria Falls
and Royal Livingstone. The tour returns
to the ship at Cape Town, South Africa.
Below is a day-by-day
itinerary for the 2013 World Cruise.
Date
|
Port/City
|
Arrival Time/Departing
Time
|
|
5-Jan
|
Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
US
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
6-Jan
|
At Sea (Caribbean Sea)
|
||
7-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
8-Jan
|
Cartagena, Colombia
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
1:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
9-Jan
|
Enter Panama Canal
Cristobal
|
5:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 AM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
9-Jan
|
Cruising Panama Canal
|
||
9-Jan
|
Exit Panama Canal Balboa
|
7:00 PM
|
Ship Arrives
|
7:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
10-Jan
|
Crossing the Equator
|
||
11-Jan
|
Manta, Ecuador
|
5:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
12-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
13-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
14-Jan
|
Callao (Lima), Peru
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
15-Jan
|
Callao (Lima), Peru
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
16-Jan
|
General San Martin, Peru
|
6:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
17-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
18-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
19-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
20-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
21-Jan
|
Easter Island, Chile
|
9:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
22-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
23-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
24-Jan
|
Cruising Pitcairn Island
|
||
25-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
26-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
27-Jan
|
Papeete, French Polynesia
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
28-Jan
|
Bahia d' Opunoha, Moorea
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
29-Jan
|
Bora Bora, French
Polynesia
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
30-Jan
|
At Sea
|
||
31-Jan
|
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
1-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
2-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
3-Feb
|
Cross International
Dateline
|
||
Date
|
Port/City
|
Arrival Time/Departing
Time
|
|
4-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
5-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
6-Feb
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
7-Feb
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
8-Feb
|
Tauranga (Rotorua) New
Zealand
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
9-Feb
|
Napier, New Zealand
|
10:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
10-Feb
|
Wellington, New Zealand
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
11:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
11-Feb
|
Picton, New Zealand
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
12-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
13-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
14-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
15-Feb
|
Sydney, Australia
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
16-Feb
|
Sydney, Australia
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
17-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
18-Feb
|
Hobart, Australia
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
4:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
19-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
20-Feb
|
Adelaide, Australia
|
10:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
11:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
21-Feb
|
Kangaroo Island,
Australia
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
22-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
23-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
24-Feb
|
Albany, Australia
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
25-Feb
|
Perth (Fremantle),
Australia
|
4:00 PM
|
Ship Arrives
|
26-Feb
|
Perth (Fremantle),
Australia
|
4:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
27-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
28-Feb
|
At Sea
|
||
1-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
2-Mar
|
Tanah Ampo, Bali,
Indonesia
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
11:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
3-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
4-Mar
|
Ujung Padang, Indonesia
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
5-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
6-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
Date
|
Port/City
|
Arrival Time/Departing
Time
|
|
7-Mar
|
Puerto Princesa,
Philippines
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
8-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
9-Mar
|
Manila, Philippines
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
10-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
11-Mar
|
Hong Kong, China
|
9:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
12-Mar
|
Hong Kong, China
|
||
13-Mar
|
Hong Kong, China
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
14-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
15-Mar
|
Nha Trang, Vietnam
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
16-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
17-Mar
|
Singapore
|
2:00 PM
|
Ship Arrives
|
18-Mar
|
Singapore
|
11:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
19-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
20-Mar
|
Porto Malai, Malaysia
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
21-Mar
|
Phuket, Thailand
|
6:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
3:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
22-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
23-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
24-Mar
|
Colombo, Sri Lanka
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
3:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
25-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
26-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
27-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
28-Mar
|
Victoria, Seychelles
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
29-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
30-Mar
|
Nosy Be, Madagascar
|
9:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
4:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
31-Mar
|
At Sea
|
||
1-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
2-Apr
|
Maputo, Mozambique
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
3-Apr
|
Richard's Bay, South
Africa
|
9:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
7:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
Date
|
Port/City
|
Arrival Time/Departing
Time
|
|
4-Apr
|
Durban, South Africa
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
11:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
5-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
6-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
7-Apr
|
Cape Town, South Africa
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
8-Apr
|
Cape Town, South Africa
|
||
9-Apr
|
Cape Town, South Africa
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
10-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
11-Apr
|
Walvis Bay, Namibia
|
10:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
12-Apr
|
Walvis Bay, Namibia
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
13-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
14-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
15-Apr
|
Jamestown, Saint Helena
|
11:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
16-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
17-Apr
|
Georgetown, Ascension
Island
|
10:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
18-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
19-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
20-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
21-Apr
|
Fortaleza, Brazil
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
3:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
22-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
23-Apr
|
Belem, Brazil
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
5:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
24-Apr
|
Crossing the Equator
|
||
25-Apr
|
Devil's Island, French
Guiana
|
8:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
3:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
26-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
27-Apr
|
Castries, St. Lucia
|
10:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
6:00 PM
|
Ship Departs
|
||
28-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
29-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
30-Apr
|
At Sea
|
||
1-May
|
Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
US
|
7:00 AM
|
Ship Arrives
|
