Holland America Amsterdam

Holland America Amsterdam          March 2- April 26, 2017

Larry and I boarded the Holland America Amsterdam ship on March 2 after spending two days touring Hong Kong’s Landau Island,  seeing the Big Buddha and the fishing village of Tia O.

                                                 Comfy places to kick back around the pool

Another Holland America beauty, the Amsterdam was built in 2000…a year younger than the Volendam. We found boarding especially easy in Hong Kong, China.  Why?  ….only 140 passengers were boarding on the ship’s last leg of the 2017 World Cruise….that meant no lines or waiting around.

                                                           Love our room on the 7th floor.

We practically just showed our passports and came on board to the biggest welcome from the captain and crew. It was thrilling to get such  a warm greeting. Most of the 1340 passengers had boarded in Ft Lauderdale on January 2, 2017 traveling through the Panama Canal, up the West Coast of the US and over the Pacific to Hawaii, on to Korea, Japan, and down the China coast to Hong Kong…these world travelers had been enjoying the cruising life for two months ahead of us and were well settled into the romance of riding the sea. This fabulous ship will return us all to Ft. Lauderdale on April 26.

Where are we off to on this last leg of the World Cruise?

Nha Trang, Vietnam; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Singapore; Port Kelano, Kudo Lumpur;  Colombo, Sri Lanka; Mumbai, India; Muscat, Oman; Petra, Jordon; Suez Canal; 
Rhodes, Greece;  Athens, Greece;  Nauplion, Greece; Crete, Greece; Mykones, Greece; Valleta, Malta;  Palma de Malleca, Spain; Barcelona, Spain; Cadiz, Spain;


Casablanca, Morroco;  Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and  Fort Lauderdale, Florida….55 days of exploration of our fantastic planet!

The layout of the  ship is very much like the Volendam…… It has a great crew… delicious food…

 two pools and hot tubs…

a fabulous library…..unlimited DVD’s, a 3.5 lap- mile walking track…a workout room and sauna… a comfy movie theater… Nightly entertainment from The Neptunes, a piano, flutist, sax player, Debbie and

all the nightly stage performance surprises in the Queens Lounge. The entertainment always keeps us tapping our toes and clapping to the beat. Something new on this cruise that I have enjoyed is the water colors and drawing classes during the sea days.

 

The Crow's Nest is a favorite  spot for watching us come into port ....especially  when it is unbelievably hot outside.

               We just know that our time on the Amsterdam is gonna be a fantastic journey.

                                                     Sunset off the 8th floor deck

Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong, China     February 28, March 1, 2 , 3  2017

We de-boarded the volendam ship and caught a local bus to Hollywood Mall. From there we found the MTR (metro) and rode the red train six stops and transferred to the green train that took us to another huge shopping mall. We trotted down several escalators and took several walking sidewalks to find Pier 6. Here we board the ferry for Lantau Island.

                             The ferry ride was a good change from pulling our baggage.

The boat pulled into Mui Wo.....just steps from our condo for two nights.

We arrived at the honey moon suite of Steve Quickey....actually he called his home a man cave. Cute sign coming into the condo stated "Whathappensinthamancavestaysinthamancave." Sort a gave Larry the idea of turning into a wild man....hehehe!

Anyway it was a one bedroom, one bath top floor condo with a fabulous deck on the roof.
What did we care? We were here to see the island.

                         Bicycles were everywhere....the condos were too small to put them inside.

After exploring the area we settled in for a one channel English TV News station. No problem...It had been a journey getting to the island....about four hours of travel.

The next morning we headed on the local transportation to the BIG BUDDHA. Having been to Hong Kong two times, we never made it out this far to see this striking tourist icon. It was huge and lots of people were here to see it.

                          Gateway to the Buddhist Monastery at the foot of the mountain.

One of 12 ancient Chinese soldiers...the one on the left is the king.

SMOG, SMOG, Smog...terrible in South East Asia

So thick you can hardly see the Big Buddha

An amazing moment.....finding a huge can of Planters Virginia Peanuts in the supermarket across the street.......as well as US eggs....wonder how long they been sitting on the shelf?

A final view of the Buddha from the Monastery

Incense burning at the Monastery

                                        How about that mum tree to the left? It was gigantic!
                                     After lunch we took the local bus to the fishing village of Tia O

                                      
                                   

                                        Tia O is known for its stick villages on the water.

                      Also it is known for all the dried fish there.....bags and bags of it.

                                                          Hong Kong at Sunrise

                                                      The Peak in Hong Kong

                       The cruise terminal....converted from the old airport.....very nice area.

                                                           Infamous Night Market...easy to get lost in.

                                                  Pick your dinner....live...then they  cook it.

 These guys did....then they sat right on the street eating it.....This old way began back in the 40's. Men cam to Hong Kong to work. They actually lived in a cage....the size of a bed. They locked the cage with their belongings during the day and returned at night to sleep. With no cooking facilities, these mini restaurants sprang up on the street and are a big part of  Hong Kong's charm.

 We were lucky to get a night cruise in Hong Kong....our boat changed docks. At 11:00pm we went out to watch the brilliant lights of the city.

                  No problems with English....everyone seems to speak it....especially the youth.

                                     Spent a day just shopping in the off street markets....what fun!

                                         We will never forget our Hong Kong adventure.....

                                   and the fabulous sunset going into the South China Bay.