Singapore to Celyon Ms Amsterdam World Cruise 2013

Monday 18 March 2013

Slept in until 8.45 am so I had a late brekkie in the Lido and I was feeling a bit sluggish. Must have been from all the singing last night.

I had a quiet and restful day and I only went into the terminal mall for a short walk around.

At dinner we celebrated Marilyn’s birthday with the usual singing by the Indonesian guys.

I had a great night with Susan up at the Crows Nest after dinner and we ended up leaving there about 1am.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

I slept in and made it up to brekkie after 9 am and met up with Joan. I went to the travel talk on Ceylon and then stayed on for the talk on Malaysia.

 I changed from having Bloody Marys before lunch to Vodka and cranberry which seems better in the hot humid weather. I had a delicious stir fry for lunch sitting at the Lido bar.

I decided that I would do a half day excursion in Langkawi to morrow as I have never been there before so I wend down to book it and got a ticket as a result of a cancellation.

Peter came up to my balcony for a few Bintang beers in the afternoon.  Dinner was a fun time as up as Susan and I were invited to join Russell and Linda for the meal and then up to the Crows Nest for a night cap, well many night caps. So it was another late night.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

I had to have an early brekkie as I had to be ready for the shore excursion at 8.15am. What a great tour it turned out to be as I had never been to Langkawi before.

First up we went to a rice padi and saw the traditional way of farming with the water buffalo. Then we were off to a harbour for photos and then up to the cable car.

We had to line up for nearly an hour but the ride was well worth the wait. The gondola held six people and the ride up the steep mountain was awesome with breath taking views of waterfalls tropical jungles and the clear tropical waters of the sea.

When I got back to the ship I had to change as it was a very humid tropical day before I went up to have my pre-lunch drinks and I had another beaut stir fry and Caesar salad sitting at the bar.

I went down to my cabin for a well deserved nanna nap which lasted for nearly 3 hours. I sat out on my balcony for the sail away. The Islands reminded me of the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland with their rugged tropical appearance. 

I did the pre dinner Crows Nest Happy Hour but adjourned to my cabin for room service dinner as I want to have an early night. Tomorrow we will be in Phuket, Thailand.

Thursday 21 March 2013

The port of Phuket was very interesting in so far as the ship had to reverse a couple of Klms to get into the port because the swing basin had silted up. It was a funny feeling to wake up and find the ship going backwards.

As I had been here before I didn’t bother to go on tour or go into town. I met up with some of the Filipino boys and girls and we just went to the markets set up in the port area. We had a great meal sitting on little plastic stools cooked by a street vendor.

I tried squid with its ink still in it, well I had one little piece just to say I had tasted it. Some of the boys were pouring the ink over their rice. One guy was even eating the eyes out of the grilled whole fish.  This was a bit of a culture shock for this simple guy from Cairns. We had so much fun and the kids looked after me. The temp was up in the mid 30’sC (high 90’sF) but there was a nice sea breeze.

Then I did some shopping and bought another 2 shirts one was a Thai silk shirt and the other a cotton shirt for a total cost of $16.

Back on the ship I had a small Creaser salad and then had the usual nanna nap.

We had a full table at dinner for the first time in weeks and as usual the conversation was very interesting. Susan and I went up to the Crows Nest and met up with Dianne, Russell and Linda.

   

I called it a night about 11.30 pm

Friday 22 March 2013

It dawned a beautiful calm sea day and the sunrise was brilliant so I had my brekkie out on my balcony.

I haven’t told you the story of Papa Ku as yet so as it is a sea day I may as well tell you now.

As many of you know I have gathered many names (titles) on Holland America ships over the past five years and they have included , Sir Pat, Mr Pat, Fr Pat,  Mr Steve Martin and a few cruises ago Papa Ku.

Papa Ku means my father and is a name given to some older guys as a mark of respect.  Some of the Filipino crew who knew me before started calling me Papa Ku and I call them Anna Ku (my child) and now all the Filipino crew including the girls in the office are calling me Papa Ku.

It was so funny the other day when coming back on board after a tour Fr. John the Catholic Chaplin was walking in just ahead of me and a few old dears greeted him with ‘good afternoon Father’ which was nice. When I came on I was greeted by loud chants of ‘Papa Ku, how are you’ by many of the crew.  Well I thought it was funny. Even some of the officers are also calling me Papa Ku. The Indonesian crew still call me Sir Pat and most of the officers do also so I can still keep my feet on the ground.

During the morning I introduced Dianne to  the comedy series ‘Mrs Browns Boys’ so now I have to give her a copy as she enjoyed it so much.

I met up with Dick for the usual pre dinner drinks and then had another enjoyable stir fry  lunch at the Lido bar.

My nanna nap was interrupted by a phone call from the front office asking about my debarkation in Cape Town. I woke up very quickly as I explained I was going all the way to Ft Lauderdale. When I booked nearly 2 years ago I had to book the trip in 2 segments. Well as I’m now awake I thought I would update this blog.

Sat 23 March 2113

I went up for brekkie with Judi and then met up with Dianne to download on her computer ‘Mrs Browns Boys’ and Bellykissangel’ . Well Dianne has an Apple pc and it was all foreign to me  so some old dear gave this young bloke a few tips on how to do it. However with both the series successfully downloaded Mr Apple would not play them in the format they were in so Di will have to wait to get someone with much more knowledge on Apple to download some kind of player that will play them.

With the morning now over I joined Dick for our usual pre lunch drinks and one of the young Indonesian lads served me a beaut stir fry at the bar.

Pete came over to my cabin for our now regular sea days drinks on the balcony.

 In the mid afternoon I darkened the cabin and went to bed for my nanna nap. I thought I was dreaming when I kept hearing Papa Ko, Papa Ko, Daddy Ko may I come in. Anyway I wasn’t dreaming as it was Manny delivering me a complementary bottle of red wine from the executive chef.

I had slept to long and missed early happy hour which ment I had plenty of time to get ready for the pre dinner happy hour.

I had dinner with Pete’s table which included the Protestant Minister and his wife and another Aussie. We had a great meal and some beaut conversation.

As I was my friend Linda’s birthday I joined her and Russell and my friend Susan in the Ocean Bar and the Crows Nest to celebrate. We were the last group to leave the Crows Nest aat about 12.30 am. It was a beaut night.

Sun 24 March 2013

It dawned a beautiful calm sea day and the sunrise was brilliant so I had my brekkie out on my balcony.

I haven’t told you the story of Papa Ku as yet so as it is a sea day I may as well tell you now.

As many of you know I have gathered many names (titles) on Holland America ships over the past five years and they have included , Sir Pat, Mr Pat, Fr Pat,  Mr Steve Martin and a few cruises ago Papa Ku.

Papa Ku means my father and is a name given to some older guys as a mark of respect.  Some of the Filipino crew who knew me before started calling me Papa Ku and I call them Anna Ku (my child) and now all the Filipino crew including the girls in the office are calling me Papa Ku.

It was so funny the other day when coming back on board after a tour Fr. John the Catholic Chaplin was walking in just ahead of me and a few old dears greeted him with ‘good afternoon Father’ which was nice. When I came on I was greeted by loud chants of ‘Papa Ku how are you’ by many of the crew.  Well I thought it was funny. Even some of the officers are also calling me Papa Ku. The Indonesian crew still call me Sir Pat and most of the officers do also so I can still keep my feet on the ground.

During the morning I introduced Dianne to the comedy series ‘Mrs Browns Boys’ so now I have to give her a copy as she enjoyed it so much.

I met up with Dick for the usual pre dinner drinks and then had another enjoyable stir fry  lunch at the Lido bar.

My nanna nap was interrupted by a phone call from the front office asking about my debarkation in Cape Town. I woke up very quickly as I explained I was going all the way to Ft Lauderdale. When I booked nearly 2 years ago I had to book the trip in 2 segments. Well as I was wide awake I thought I would update this blog.

The evening dinner was formal with a prom. The decorations were fantastic.

Pete came over to my cabin for our now regular sea days drinks on the balcony. In the mid afternoon I darkened the cabin and went to bed for my nanna nap. I thought I was dreaming when I kept hearing Papa Ko, Papa Ko, Daddy Ko may I come in. Anyway I wasn’t dreaming as it was Manny delivering me a complementary bottle of red wine from the executive chef.

I had slept to long and missed early happy hour which ment I had plenty of time to get ready for the pre dinner happy hour.

I had dinner with Pete’s table which included the Protestant Minister and his wife and another Aussie. We had a great meal and some beaut conversation.

As I was my friend Linda’s birthday I joined her and Russell and my friend Susan in the Ocean Bar and the Crows Nest to celebrate. We were the last group to leave the Crows Nest at about 12.30 am. It was a beaut night.

The Port of Colombo Sri Lanka provided a colourful welcome with an elephant and dancers on the wharf. We were docked at a commercial port and they had set up the usual stalls for a market amongst the containers and cranes.

After brekkie Susan and I went out into the heat of this sunny humid day and negotiated a price for a cab to show us around for 90 minutes.  OMG what a place of contrasts Colombo is. The traffic seems to go where ever it likes and the tut tuts were everywhere. The buildings ranged from ready for demolition to very modern. 

 It reminded me of some of the 3^rd world South American cities. The tour was beaut and our young driver did a fantastic job in giving us a commentary on the places of interest.

When we returned to the dock we did some shopping at the little market stalls that were set up before boarding the ship.

I went up to the Lido for a drink to cool of before having lunch. Susan and I then went out to the Sea View Bar aft on the ship (The blunt end or the rear end of the ship for you non mariners.) for the sail away party.

I did dinner with my table mates and then we went up to the Crows Nest for a night cap. I called it a night about 11.30.

Monday 25 March 2013

I slept in and as it is a sea day I had brekkie delivered to the cabin, It is another clear calm day as he cruise across the Indian Ocean.

Today we received a letter from the Captain outlining what we are to do in the unlikely event that we are attacked by pirates so that got the old farts talking. The additional security has been installed on the lower Promenade deck such as water canons, razor wire, long range acoustic devices as well as addition 24 hour security guards.  The Ms Amsterdam is in direct contact and is being tracked by the nearby coalition warships during our transit of these waters. Anyhow I feel very safe.

At 9.30 am the Captain called a mandatory ‘pirate drill’ for all crew and guests. So I spent the next 20 minutes sitting in the hallway on the floor chatting to some of my neighbours I hadn’t met before. I’m so pleased the ‘Old Man’ called the drill as I hope it will ease the confusion being circulated by some of these dense old farts.

 It also gave the security officers the chance to test the water canons and other equipment.

 I forgot to take my camera to get a photo of us all sitting on the floor. No doubt the exercise will be the talk of the ship for days to come.

At the Lido pre lunch drinks Dick and I exchanged songs we had downloaded and I have started teaching the crew Slim Dusty’s  “G’Day G’Day” so that will drive the prim and proper old farts crazy.

I went to dinner with Hank and Rosemary last night a few tables away from my regular table, however at our table there would have only been Susan and Judi so Hank invited them over to also join us.

After dinner I went up to the Crows Nest for a night cap. We had to put our time back an hour before going to bed so we are now 6 hours behind Queensland time.

Tuesday  26 March 2013

I had a great 8 hours sleep and went up and met Judi for brekkie. I did some more teaching of Slim’s “G’Day G’Day” song to the brekkie guys.

 I will give the band the music for it later today so it should be very popular before the cruise is over.

I met up with Susan, Linda and Russell to plan my costume for the White Formal night tonight. It was decided I would go as the Pope.

Linda lent me a pair of her white long pants and a big ring, The dining room lent me t table cloths for the robe and the cloak and I used the white slippers for my shoes.

OMG, what a night we had. I went up to the pre dinner Happy Hour dressed as the Pope and I knew I was the star of the night. So many wanted to have their photos taken with me as many thought I looked very much like the late Pope John Paul 2.

Alan then drove me to the Dining room in my Pope mobile (A wheel chair) and I got into the role and was blessing everyone as I passed by them and we had to make many photo stops.

 Our table was visited by Cecil a young engineer for the formal dinner. He also had a ball and said it was the best fun table he had ever visited. He then escorted the Pope up to the Crows Nest after dinner where there was a standing ovation.

 Everyone having had a few drinks by this time wanted photos with the Pope.

The Pope also went up on stage and sang ‘Waltzing Matilda’ with the band during the night.

It was a fantastic night and then the Papal driver drove the Pope home in the Pope mobile to his cabin.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Well I was very tired after the formal night and let me tell you it was hard work being Pope for about 6 hours. I slept in and went up for a late brekkie before returning to bed for the rest of the morning.

I met up with Dick about mid day for our pre lunch drinks The Lido kids automatically  serve me stir fry and a small Caesar salad at the bar.

I went down for the usual nanna nap and yes you guessed it met up with Dick for early happy hour.

I live sea days as it is a great chance to recharge the batteries.

After dinner I called it an early night and went to bed before 10pm. Tomorrow we will be in Victoria Seychelles.