LAX, USA - Mar 24, 2020

We land at about 6 am LA time, same time zone as home. So we are about 27 hours into our journey and we are in this probably one of the worst airports in the world. Let me tell you why. When we checked in in Perth, they told us that our bags will go all the way through to Vancouver, okay great. We were also told that you were able to stay in the secure zone to get to the next flight. Well both these statements were not true and there is more, remember very limited sleep. We are told that we need to not only collect our bags but will also need to go though customs, what, why, we are in Transit, this is just suppose to be a pass though. Okay, we comply get our bags, fill in the declaration for and move through customs, ah, hold it not so fast, excuse me sir you need to go to section B, section B, what is that, we go to section B. Here there is a fine young man that will now ask us to put all bags on a table, okay, we will now to open all said bags so he can run his fingers through each and every article we have in them. Not only that he can ask you questions about every article, like, “Gucci, this is a nice watch, where did you get it and how long have you owed it” or “these are nice bracelets, where did you get them, they look expensive” and things like “are you retired”, “where were you”, “what countries did you visit”, “how much cash do you have on you and let me see” and of course “let me see you wallet”. I am biting my tongue with every answer and also inform him that we want nothing to do with your country, we are passing through, “In Transit”. I ask, why us, he says “its random” I say “its randomly stupid, we should not have to do this, if we were staying here, then sure, whatever, but we are not, we are just passing through”, he shrugs and tells us that we can now put all the stuff back in all our suitcase and proceed. I say, so we are done right, no more security, we are done, great - this whole thing took about a half an hour. To boot though, as he was moving the suitcases around my glasses fall on the floor and the lens pops out, now I am livid but trying to maintain control, boy do I hate this airport. 

Well, we are not done, we put our bags in the transfer area and try to proceed to our terminal, someone told me Terminal 3, next thing I know, I am outside, like outside outside, so security is not done, great. We get to Terminal 3 only to be told that we need to go Terminal 4, we are walking by the way. We get to Terminal 4 and at the security line up I am grumbling about this airport, well my mistake there. When I get to the front they are basically yelling orders at me, “yes, my pockets are empty”, cargo pants, oops I have some cash, “get back and put it in the bin, are your pockets empty” (this really should be in all caps). I stand in the machine and thank god came out clean. But wait Jan get put aside, it turns out that the top she was wearing was metallic so her turn to be have a go at. Did I mention that I do not like this airport. We end up taking another shuttle to our way out of the way gate. Now here, we are the only two people on this shuttle and we are about 5 minutes into this ride and I am thinking, oh oh, what did I say back there are we being taken somewhere else, are we going to be detained, oh boy. We arrive at our gate to see some fellow cruisers, good we are in the right spot. We had a nice uneventful 2 and half hour flight back to Vancouver, breathing a sigh of relief as the wheels touched the tarmac. The airport was dead with the exception of a few arriving flights, eerie, really eerie. We strolled though our familiar beautiful entry area with the piped in bird sounds and made our way to our friendly customs, out within minutes. Yes, all passengers were asked how they were feeling and we were given literature about the Virus. After clearing customs we did stop and sit down to take it all in, this crazy journey home we just went through from the other side of the planet, we were supposed to be in Singapore today with the big World Cruise Party Celebration at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, hosted by the HAL President and all the Executives - a big splashy affair. Instead our 202020 World Cruise has come to a quick and abrupt end as we sit in an almost empty airport apocalyptic scene from a movie with the one restaurant open with a short line, a Tim Hortons, still serving coffee and donuts, yes we are back home in Canada…, fade to black as this epic adventure comes to an end. The last few pics of this adventure, a summary in a few days.

In Transit, Australia to Los Angeles - Mar 24, 2020

Okay we board the 13 and half our flight to Los Angeles and we are not that happy with our seat location, the guy beside Jan, although he looks alright, he is not wearing a mask, many people are but again, many are not, we voice our situation to the attendants, after a bit of shuffling, meaning there was guy sitting alone in a three seat combo with him at the aisle. The attendant asks if it be okay if he switched with me and then Jan could have the window and I the aisle with no one between us, “No problem he says”, he is still on the aisle with no-one beside him and now the guy we moved from now has an empty seat beside him, so really good for all. This was all done pretty pleasantly given the situation. My only problem was now I have door to the washroom just behind me. This is fine but the washroom does get used all flight long so there is a constant slamming and toilet flush going on, not a great sleeping seat as I am sure, Seat Guru would rate this as. So everything is going fine for the first hour and a half when a women comes out of the washroom and passes out right beside me, she went down like a bowling pin, down hard with a thud, oh boy. You must remember the climate we are flying in, everyone gets on board and immediately gets out their lysol wipes and wipes all surfaces and then some, most have masks on, some with gloves (no not matching, ha ha) and this women just collapses. My knee jerk is to get up and help get her up, my, have a word with myself reaction is, why did she fall, is she sick, should I touch her, me, along with many other passengers we call and then yell out for assistance, yes there was one younger woman who did make an attempt at assisting this collapsed women. They get her up and she has this cold look in her eyes and I’m now thinking, this is not good, not good at all. She is now conscious but refusing the oxygen they are offering her. Her husband, in their foreign tongue convinces her to take her, she indicates that it is motion sickness, we later find out that it was a low blood sugar issue. To be on the safe side, Jan and I used the washroom on the other side of the plane. I will tell you that I was not alone in looking at the map of where we were in the sky at the time, hmmm, Brisbane is the closest spot if we need to land. My next thought is, they are closing off the airports and flights, if we are deviated this will mean a huge delay, we still may get trapped in Australia. Then I am thinking, I have to put this all in the blog, this is an epic travel nightmare. That said, the rest of the flight was uneventful (thank god), but because I don’t sleep well on planes at the best of time and with all the door slamming, I think I watched some 4 moves and other shows. I really enjoyed, “Blinded by the Light” and “Western Stars” - for all you Bruce Springsteen fans. But it was one of those flights when you nod off for what you thinks is forever only to wake up and see that you still have 9 hours to go, and then again and you still have 8 hours to go and this goes on and on all flight long. We finally arrive at the dreaded LAX. No Pics, sorry… 

In Transit, Australia - Mar 24, 2020

We get to the gate and give the familiar nods and smiles to our fellow travellers from the ship as we all look around at the aliens beyond our safe ship, hmm, does he have it or does she have it, hey, why is this person coughing, as we listen for something unusual in the cough. Because we were there earlier than most we see as the gate waiting area begins to fill and become more and more concerned. Remember, we were all feeling pretty safe in our clean, controlled environment of the ship, we now feel exposed. While waiting the news is playing in the screen, airports are closing down, airline are stopping travel, flights cancelled, hmm are we going to be okay. A women behind me starts laughing, what now, she is in hysterics, WTF I’m thinking, one of our fellows guest say to the laughing woman, “Haven’t you ever seen a walking condom before”, this gets about a dozen people more laughing so no I’m thinking okay take a look around. Sure enough, there is a women with a clear head to toe plastic bag on, with hood, swimming googles and gloves on standing in line waiting to board. wow, I’m thinking, that is one scared women. We board the plane and she is sitting right beside us, really of all the places and seats on the plane she is in this one. The guys beside her says, you must be hot, she replies, yes but thats okay. Flight attendants look over and give a look of, oh my, what a sad thing… No, I am not a mind reader but this look was pretty obvious. She sits forward, hands on her lap for the entire 3 hour flight with the drawstrings of her hood, tight so only her nose is sticking out - yes, I’m thinking, she must be hot. Great flight we get in Melbourne on time at about 6:30 am (Mar 24th) Melbourne time, we change gates to get ready for the long haul flight, the one we really dread. Two reasons, well its a long flight and it is going to LAX. Only a few pics of this experience… Hope you enjoy. 

Perth, Western Australia - Mar 23, 2020

Up at about 6:45 this morning, no alarm required as it was one of those on again off again sleeps and we begin getting set for our departure. We clear out the safe and check the drawers about 3 times to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything - don’t know why we check them some 3 times as if something magically shows back up, may be just nerves. We have a small window of an hour to depart the vessel, 8:00 comes and goes while we wait for our tag number to be called. Hmm, 8:20 and no announcement, I call guest services, they inform me that all colours and tags can disembark - oh okay, so no Lime number 1 then, “no sir”. We close our suitcases and carry ons, take a last look at, what was our home for two plus months, and say goodbye to stateroom, 1956. As we are walking down the hall to the gangway, bing, bong, bing is heard, “all passengers with all numbered tags and colours, please disembark the ship”, aha, so I wasn’t the only waiting for an announcement - perhaps, I inspired it. lol. We leave the ship with massive fanfare, I think all the remaining crew showed up. Captain Mercer was first at the exit, wow, now this was tough as I felt a tear well up in my eye, all I could do is look him in his welled up eye and say thank you quietly. I wanted to say was that it was a pleasure and honour to sail with him on his last voyage as Captain on the MS Amsterdam, but just could not find the words without a meltdown. As we exited and scanned our cards for the last time the song, Red, Red Wine was playing and I caught Henk’s eye (thinking about the two bottles from last night), thinking now that’s timing. Some quick pics and goodbyes to the many crew. We thank you all for seeing us off, this memory will stick in my mind for a lifetime. 

The shuttle to the day hotel (Novotel) was waiting for us we jumped on and some 40 minutes later we had checked into our day room, 811. The was a bit of a dramatic issue as we checked in as there was no promised shuttle to take us to the airport, okay really, is this how this journey is going to begin, we are all stressed and nerved right up. I send an email to Seattle as well as post on FB, ending my post with, “HAL if are you listening”. Now, I am not sure if this was simply a miscommunication at reception or something else or maybe my messages but within an hour our phone rang and the promised shuttle is now back in play, okay great. The rest of the day was spent either on line or watching TV as we did not feel it to be okay to wander outside. These people in Perth were kind enough to let us in and seek shelter and we thought it just wouldn’t look right to have these “cruise people” wander their streets. We now fall under the umbrella of, the group of people that helped spread this thing, although our ship was clean considering where we travelled from. So room service it was, shower up, shuttle at 7pm, airport and check in by about 7:45 and our journey home begins. Time line for those of you playing at home, we left the ship at 8:30am Perth Time on the 23rd (Vancouver time this would have been 5:30 pm on the 22nd), so you could let the travel clock kick in there or because we were able to have a hotel rest, I would call our travel clock to begin after checkin or 5 am PDT on March 23rd. A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…

Quote of the day: “Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Fremantle, Western Australia - Mar 22, 2020

We continue to wind down and take a deep breathe, which is hard sometimes. We chill and finish our packing as we still think this is some kind of a dream that we will soon wake up from. Nope, this is really happening, finish packing. We spend the rest of the day enjoying all the amenities the ship has to offer, a great breakfast, lunch in the dining room and bonus as I was taking pics of some of the ship tonight and I see Henk, the Hotel Director in the Crow’s nest, he offers me a drink and then accepts my invitation to dinner, great. A great meal, great conversation and I believe some 2 bottles of wine and here I am writing this - a very nice wrap of the day. 24 hours before our flight I go to check in on line and after entering all the passport details it asks me one of two questions, where am I staying in the US (like the US is important or something) or going on with a further international flight, well, yeah, we are going to Canada. But because our flights with Qantas end in the USA they do not recognize a further destination, I get kicked out of the system and now have to see an agent at the airport, great, so no check in or seat assignment. Thanks for nothing, I am in the same place I was if I even tried to check in, all because of the this USA thing, yes really - we really wish we were not going the US. Thanks to Henk I have gathered a number of of phone contacts for HAL in Seattle just is case this all goes flat in Los Angelas, boy do I hate LAX.

A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy another great sunset as the sunsets truly sets in this adventure… 

Quote of the day: - “If you worry about who is going to get the credit, you don’t get much work done.” - Dorothy Height

Fremantle, Western Australia, Mar 21, 2020

We are docked, okay great step one, done. Then its all about the wait, “The entire disembarkation process is strictly by the Australian Customs Authority…” What was supposed to be an 11:00am-12:00am disembarkation window for the guests leaving today, for flights today turned into more like 4pm to 6pm window. Of course this carried its own bit of drama. At about 2pm, the announcement comes on that the local authorities will no longer allow guests to stay in hotel prior to your flight. If you have a flight before 1am today, you will need to disembark during the first window, if you have a flight between 1am and 1pm tomorrow you will need to disembark the vessel between 10-10:30pm tonight. And the crowd goes wild… . Picture an eighty plus year old in a wheel chair forced off the vessel tonight and not flying until tomorrow at noon with no hotel to stay at (because they if you try to book a hotel, you could be fined up to $50,000 Australian). Oh where is the humanity. The Captain did go on to say that the higher ups are having a heated discussion with government officials in Canberra. About an hour later an announcement was made that they had a change of heart and that they would allow and honour the hotel arrangements. I guess when you tell these politicians that this is not some frat cruise, I don’t think it would look very good if all these people had some medical situation at the airport at 4 in the morning where a possible death is at stake, yeah, just wouldn’t look good. Hey, I know this situation is serious, duh, but we have been at sea for almost the entire quarantine period and we have a clean ship to boot. I think it may be riskier that they contract this virus from one of your people, just saying. We do feel a bit fortunate that we are not included in this first few waves as it looks like they need to work out some of the bugs, pun intended. With this all said and with three ships in (the other two are much smaller than ours), we feel confident that since these ships have been at sea for as long if not longer than us that all people traveling are non virus carrying folks. I believe even our longer second will contain the same types of folks, we will need to be much more vigilant when arriving in LA.

So today we decided to retreat ourselves out of some of this madness by using a free day at the Thermal Spa (as a 5 star you get one of these), surprising is no one else thought about doing this so we had the entire spa to ourselves, awesome. This includes the warm ceramic lounge chairs, a mineral spa, steam and sauna along with a eucalyptus infused mist shower - a great retreat - we spent about 3 hours in there, reading, relaxing and of course napping. Yes, we also know that the days ahead are going to rough, real rough, so we are trying to bank some rest.

We were also able to use our second Pinnacle Dinner freebee, for actual dinner rather than lunch as we did yesterday. Again, great and a way too good dinner, sleep may be hard tonight. Thank you Tina for such a great table. Also tonight we were treated to a great show with the Amsterdam Band, featuring the lead guitarist, Emilio Valle, a great performance as Emilio bounced between his electric and acoustic guitars, the way he can bend those strings is amazing. A class act that we were very fortunate to watch, well done. Also pictured today are one of the incredible dance couples, Yurii and Sarah as well as our amazing duo of Stateroom Stewards, Gatut and Roso - they figured out our schedule very early on and kept our cabin in awesome shape, thank you guys.

A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…

Quote of the day - “We will surely get to our destination if we join hands.” - Aung San Suu Kyi