Join Bill & Mary Ann On A Journey Like No Other-2024 GWV On The Zuiderdam For 128 Days
Well, the time of year has come when we are ready to embark on another long adventure around the world on HAL's Zuiderdam. The original plan for this cruise was a trek up the Amazon River, back through the Caribbean, then transiting the Panama Canal. But wait, we learned that the water level in both the Amazon and the Panama Canal were at record lows. A few other cruise ships cancelled their transits to both areas. In hindsight, perhaps we would not have found us between a rock and a hard spot trying to get Brazilian visas, which were sprung upon us USA, Canadian, and Australian citizens at the last minute. Good grief…..it has turned out to be a most stressful time for all waiting to see a final approval check waiting for us on the computer every morning . As for us? We are still waiting. The way we read HAL's communication, if we do not get approved before we get there, we will have to stay onboard the ship. There still is a possibility that Brazil could be taken off of the itinerary. Oh boy, are we off to a good start or what?
With one stop in Costa Rica and one in Mexico, we will head towards Hawaii with three ports there. Then it is off to Guam, Saipan, and several visits to Japan cities. We are looking forward to this part of the cruise, since it has been many years since we have been in this area.
Then we get to China. Or do we get to China? Political and health situations there have made these stops in China iffy at best. Then there was a question about visas and whether the ten year ones we have were going to be valid. Even though HAL did some tricky moves there to make it possible for the folks to get off of the ship on their shore excursions. So we are unsure if we will really go there. Hey, our buddies Greg and Heo said this is going to be a "mystery" cruise. They are so right.
There doesn't seem to be any problems with Hong Kong, Vietnam or Singapore as far as we know. Ever since we skipped Singapore in 2020, we have been hoping to go back as it is one of our favorite cities.
Colombo, Sri Lanka is a one day stop, so getting transit visas there was so easy. And they were free on top of it. After putting in our applications yesterday, we had confirmation within minutes. Now they know how to welcome the tourists, unlike Brazil, who has royally screwed up in our humble opinion.
Mumbai, India is an over-nighter and those without proper visas can stay onboard the ship. We do have a ten year visa that is still good, so no problem there. Then it is off to the United Arab Emirates, a wonderful and exotic place to visit, but also in a delicate area…the Persian Gulf. Close to Iran, it could be another hot spot. Traveling to Oman should be OK, but Jordan had some changes made a few months ago.
But wait…..there's more. Also a few months ago, the ports in Israel were cancelled due to the ongoing troubles there. Then more conflict has brought unrest to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Will we be able to transit the canal to Europe? We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will keep this itinerary or it will be a long ride around the Cape of Africa to get back to the USA. If that is the case, we could miss stops in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the Azores. Hopefully…..not. Yep, this is going to be a "Journey Like No Other".
Our luggage was shipped to a warehouse in Pompano Beach, Florida on December 14, and arrived a few days later. With one duffel and hand carrys, we fly out early tomorrow from SFO with a straight through flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Then we have a three night stay at the Marina Renaissance Hotel, with a dinner compliments of our travel agency, and transfers to the ship on January 3rd.
Let the fun and games begin……….. stay tuned.
Bill & Mary Ann
