A New Year And Another Adventure With Bill And Mary Ann On The Volendam For 137 Days.......Holland America's 2026 Grand World Voyage.....1/1/26 - 5/18/26
Well, here we are again…getting ready for another long voyage on the high seas. It will be a different experience for us, since the itinerary does not take us around the world this time. It is possible that with the Suez Canal being closed to cruise ships, the options to be in that part of the world would have to include Africa and back to the Mediterranean. That was 2025's GWV, so the company decided to head down the east coast of South America to Antarctica. Then around the fjords to Chile. From there, we will head to Easter Island, French Polynesia, and down to New Zealand. Several ports in Australia will be enjoyed, then we head to Bali, Komodo, and Singapore. That is as far west as we go. Hong Kong is next with stops in Vietnam and Taiwan. Japan has many ports, followed by an easterly trek to Alaska with a few stops there. Seattle and San Diego follow before we head south to Mexico. Continuing down the coast, we stop in a couple of Central America ports, and finally through the Panama Canal. The trip will end where we began…in Ft. Lauderdale.
Packing was challenging for this trip since we will have warm weather, then freezing temperatures in Antarctica. It will warm up again on our way to Easter Island and all the way to Singapore. Japan will be cool and Alaska will be really cool. By the time we reach San Diego, we expect nicer warm weather all the way to Florida. What we do not need in the way of clothes, will be stored in the duffels under the bed. We do have a Vista suite, which has a veranda, but they are nowhere near the size of the Signature suites on the Zuiderdam. Bringing less has never worked well with either of us. Thank goodness for magnetic hooks and dowels which we use to hang many shirts and blouses. A true Picadilly Circus and we love it.
Today was supposed to be easy with the majority of our luggage already delivered to Ft. Lauderdale. We only have one duffel we are bringing with us for our three- day stay in the hotel which is close to Port Everglades. It took all day to wrap up loose ends, but all is done and we need to get some rest before the alarm goes off at 2:30am.
We shall be in touch soon after we are settled. In the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!
Stay tuned……
Bill & Mary Ann
