At Sea, World Cruise 2018

15th January

19 Comments

The Pacific remains peaceful and we crossed into southern latitudes at 10:30 yesterday morning.  We will cross it again 3 more times; on our way north from Bali, when we on our way from Sri Lanka towards Seychelles and finally, on our way from Luanda towards Gambia.  It is the latter crossing which sees us performing the ‘crossing the line’ ceremony. 

We do however have some children on board, some are guest’s children and others are Staff’s children and it was yesterday that these were subject to Neptune’s judgement before being accepted into his realm.  Mums and Dads, Grandmas and Grandpas attended, as did I.

Petr, our Executive chef carries the ‘gunge and fish into the ceremony

Family gathers

Davy Jones came from the Deep, to attend

Jeffrey, aka Neptune

Judgement and crimes are read

..and they wait in trepidation, their punishment about to be administered..they look far too happy…

….by, no less, than their parents!

Kiss the fish, kiss the fish!

You asked me for some photos from around our beautiful vessel and I’m only too happy to oblige 🙂

Blue skies, calm sea and turquoise water

Tempting desserts

One of the shops

Antiques everywhere

As are paintings

Our Dining Room

One galley, (kitchen)

The Bakery and O, the aroma!

The Pinnacle Grill restaurant

Smiling Front Office staff

A ‘Guest’ lecturer in the main lounge

Library, with books and computers

…while conveniently, next door is our Explorations Cafe, delicious coffee!

So there you have it, for you Technically minded readers, I will try to take some photos of the Technical spaces at a later date.

19 thoughts on “15th January”

  1. Wonderful pictures. I have never participated in the crossing the equator ceremony, so really enjoyed the pictures. Does everyone who has never crossed the equator get to kiss the fish? Thanks, Captain. I love seeing the cruise from your perspective.

    1. Dear Richard,
      On the World Cruise 2013 I indeed kissed the fish…not required and in my experience not a repeater (well I do not have to!) all part of the experience!
      Regards, Rosie Weiss St. Louis, MO

  2. Thanks for sharing the pictures of the “Crossing the Line” ceremony. It’s a lot more family friendly than when I crossed the line while in the Navy. Great memories!

  3. Hi Captain. Hope this note finds you and Karen well. We continue to follow your blog with interest. Tell “the powers that be” that it is a great marketing tool as we are once again considering another world cruise.

    Linda’s sister and brother in law will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2023. We would hate to do the cruise without you as Captain so the question is “What is the last year you plan to Captain the world cruise??

    We will try and plan accordingly.

    All the best,

    Gary

  4. The Amsterdam is a lovely ship and the service is excellent. It was the first ship we sailed through the Panama Canal on seceral years ago and in May/June ’17 we sailed to Alaska enjoying her again. A special thank you for the pictures reminding us of her many beautiful features.

  5. Hi Jonathan,
    Some fun photos indeed. I heard from Bill and MaryAnn’s blog a bit about the Neptune’s Judgement for the kids on board. Wow that Davey Jones was pretty scary looking. Great fun for all.

    Thanks for sharing the fun!
    Best, Rosie

  6. Great to see you back in action Jonathan.
    Enjoying every single one of your “blogs”..

  7. I had the pleasure of taking my first cruise EVER last September on the Amsterdam — September 11-25 — 14-day Great Alaska Explorer. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve booked two additional HAL cruises (the 38-day Voyage of the Vikings this summer on the Rotterdam, and the 28-day Hawaii-Tahiti-Marquesas in Mar/Apr 2019 on the Eurodam). We had some rough waters across the Gulf of Alaska, but I had no issues at all with seasickness despite being on the Deck 7 near the aft elevators. Frankly, it was fun! 🙂 Kind of like being on a slow-motion roller coaster.

    The Grand World Voyage is at the top of my “bucket list” and I’m hoping to be able to do it in 2020. I won’t be able to travel like this forever, and I got a late start, but God willing, I’ll do it.

    Thanks so much for your posts — I so enjoy a peek “behind the scenes” from your perspective. I’m hoping that our paths with cross again.

  9. That was a nice thing to do.
    I just like to mention husband and I cruised with Gene Young, enjoyed meeting him seemed like a nice guy really liked his speaking voice.

  10. I love that ship and miss not being on it but maybe next year. The pictures were fun…thank you!!

  11. Thanks for the wonderful memories of the different areas of the Amsterdam which is my favorite of all ships. Captain Mercer, you are the greatest!

  12. Awesome pics of the junior crossing the equator ceremony 🙂 I see my bud, the shorex mngr’s son 🙂 Would hate to meet that Davey Jones in a dark secluded alley at night

  13. Loved seeing the pictures from inside the ship. Please send a picture of the Promenade walking deck when you get a chance.

  14. Thank you Captain, so good to see the Amsterdam and all her lovely spaces ..it’s foggy and damp here on Vancouver Island..

  15. As we now all sign up for a cruise after seeing these great photos… do you receive a commission? LOL
    Just love it Sir.

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