At Sea, Western Australia - Mar 19, 2020

With a 44 knot coming at us we are now barrelling our way to Perth/Fremantle running at about 20 plus knots, the concern is the closing of ports both sea and air. We had a streamed on board message from the president of the company today, Orlando Ashford. He started his message stating that his wife, son and his son’s friend are on board and their safety concerns is the same as he extend to all the guests here on the Amsterdam. His message was necessary because many, I mean many, guests are very unhappy that the ship cannot take us all the way back to Fort Lauderdale. The bottom line here, is that it is unsafe to do so. The route back will be remote along with the uncertainty of being able to refuel and get re-provisions, the Amsterdam may have to drop the hook and wait it out. Combine this uncertainty with the health requirements of those on board, they had a doctor speak to this and the medical facilities on board would not be adequate with and possible emergency evacuation impossible. So we are now rocking and rolling as we make a bee line to Perth. Orlando is asking for patience during this unprecedented time and they doing everything in their power to get us all home. The word now used is to consider this an evacuation back to our homes. So, yes we still patiently wait for our flight information even though now we are set to arrive a full day earlier than originally expected to be.

We begin to say goodbye to the friends we have met and re-met on board as our activities begin to quickly wind down. Jan’s HAL Chorale completed yesterday and today was when our water colour classes ended. Water colours was something that thought we would take this time around, what a great class. Carole, our instructor told me tonight, that I have come a long way and that I should keep pursuing this and to also try other mediums. I have included a few of my pieces in the pics so you can see how I am making out with this - please be kind if you make a comment, this is my first time after all. Great Indonesian dinner tonight and fantastic show from the Singers and Dancers - their last show together as a group as this is the last ship that will have on board singers and dancers, which is very sad. We are making the best of this lousy situation and remain positive at the outcome. A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy… BTW - the wifi is still crap as far as the blog is concerned, I have a few in the queue and at some point will be able to send…

Quote of the day - “As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.” - Thomas Edison