My Year Away: World Cruise Edition.

First, I went on Sabbatical. Then I Retired. And, now I'm on my first Cruise Around the World!

Tag Archives: Pickleball


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And I Thought I Was Special.

A few days ago, we hit a milestone day on the World Cruise for two reasons. 1. We have spent over 100 consecutive days on our cruise, and, 2. I reached the highest loyalty status for Holland America. Five Stars! Woo Hoo.

As a previous “4 Star,” I already received many important loyalty perks, such as priority boarding as well as half off of “Sommelier Wine Packages.” (Given that the profit margins for wines are astronomical on cruise ships, this brings them closer to a normal restaurant price.) But, most important of all, when you hit 4 Star, you get unlimited FREE LAUNDRY. I can’t overstate this benefit enough. With free laundry, we send out our laundry any time we want as often as we want. We can send specific instructions for clothes care and they follow the instructions to a T. We can send out our sweaty pickleball clothes every single day, without a care in the world. Except one time, we got a special message from the laundry supervisor. (I didn’t even know there was such a position.) Anyway, he was adamant that we meet with him to discuss an important issue. I assumed we were in trouble for doing too much laundry (after all, we play a lot of pickleball on board). But, no. He wanted to discuss one of the T-shirts. A press-on letter had gotten dislodged and he wanted to apologize for ruining one of Gary’s T-Shirts. I assured the bereft manager that not only was that fine, but that all of our T-shirts were basically a hot mess because of wear and tear and not to worry. However, from that time forward, when we send out our T-shirts, I include a note reminding them not to worry about their condition!

Our laundry comes back to us in a cute basket lined in tissue.

Now that I’m a 5 Star, we get a few extra perks like free dinners in the Pinnacle Grill, the specialty restaurant on board, a free day pass to the Thermal Spa and a few other minor perks. It’s not a big deal. Except (and I know this sounds silly), I am a sucker for loyalty status. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I was crestfallen when I lost my platinum sky miles status on Delta. At least I’ve been able to hold on to my Diamond Status with Hilton!

Anyway, as a 5 Star, I’m special in my own special way (a phrase our kids used to repeat when they were little). Or I thought I was. Until I met just about everyone else on this World Cruise.

These world cruisers sail a lot. I mean, A LOT. Perhaps the first clue should have been at embarkation way back in January. “Priority Boarding” takes on a whole different meaning when just about everybody on your cruise has priority boarding.

The second clue should have been when we saw fellow passengers greeting crew members and other passengers by name as soon as they boarded. They greeted them like old friends because (as I learned shortly after) that’s what they are.

The third clue should have been when I started hearing conversations like “Did you sign up for next year yet?” “Next year,” like in a World Cruise again next year?

And to think I thought we were taking a Once-in-a-Lifetime Cruise! Not even close. Two of our closest pickleball buddies, J and D, were recently inducted into the “President’s Club.” This is how naive I was about these serious cruisers. I was under the impression that the Mariner Star loyalty program was the only loyalty program with Holland America. Turns out, there is another level of loyalty that the regular “Caribbean Cruising” crowd has never heard about. I asked D when I learned she was now in the President’s Club how many days at sea were required to reach that level.

1,400 days. For you math challenged readers out there, that’s almost four years of constant cruising. But, here’s the kicker. The requirement of 1,400 days is just the minimum. You also have to be invited to join. I’m pretty sure I’ll get my Delta status back long before I ever have the opportunity to get invited into the President’s Club.

A few days ago, Gary and I shared a tour guide in Egypt with a small group put together by fellow passenger JJ. I was surprised to discover that she has no permanent address. She simply travels from cruise to cruise with an occasional break to visit family and take care of other business stateside. And this was not even her first time to visit Egypt—nor would it be her last. She will return this November!

I thought it would be rare to meet passengers who had gone on regular World Cruises but in reality, I discovered that WE were the rare ones. Our World Cruising friends seem rather surprised that this is our first World Cruise. And they are even more surprised to learn that we don’t have plans to sign up for another one any time soon.

At the beginning of this cruise, I was positive that not only would this be our first and only World Cruise, but that it might be a very long time before we took any cruise again. One-third of a year just seemed like a humongous chunk of time that impeded other plans like land travel and continuing restoration of our house in Paducah, Kentucky.

But, now that it’s just days before the end of this epic journey, surprise, surprise. We are not ready to leave. I know we have to get back to reality sooner than later. But, until that day comes, we’re going to continue to soak up every memory this cruise has brought us. This may, indeed, be our only World Cruise. Who knows? While we contemplate our future, I’m going to continue to stuff that laundry bag every chance I get!


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When Passengers on a World Cruise don’t Go Around the World

I probably should have known this earlier, but when you go on a World Cruise, only some of the people on board are traveling around the whole world with you. Others are onboard for just one or two legs of the voyage. It helps explain why, in the early days of the journey, the common question we heard all over the ship was “How long are you on for?” If the response was anything other than “the whole time,” a long discussion would ensue about travel plans. It seemed to me that the rarest answer was “the whole time.” In other words, a bunch of passengers ended their trip in Sydney while a bunch of passengers began their trip there. The same thing will happen in Singapore in a few days, then Cape Town, and, finally, Athens. While it’s difficult to get accurate numbers, the most common response I have heard from the crew is that about 1,400 passengers are taking some leg of the journey at some time and 600 of those are on “for the whole time.”

And it’s not just the passengers who come and go. For example, about 100 new crew joined the ship in Sydney, which meant about that many left as well. Entertainers also come and go at each stop.

None of this is a big deal, except it is. As I wrote in a post earlier, when we began this cruise on January 4, it seemed like everyone was trying to get organized, figuring out what 124 days on board would look like. It took awhile, but eventually a nice rhythm took hold and everyone seemed to find their place, their community. There was the pickleball community (of course!), the art group, the dance group, the bridge group, the Tai Chi group, the knitting group, you name it. Many entered these communities as newbies and 6 weeks later, emerged as dedicated dancers, knitters, or card players.

But once we arrived in Sydney, all that changed. And to make it even more complicated, with two days in Sydney, life on the ship was already different, but no one really noticed since we were all off the ship galavanting around the beautiful city. Sure, this “coming and going” is a “problem” that isn’t even a real problem, but it’s interesting (and a bit perplexing) nonetheless. For example, I heard one of our dinner friends explain with dismay (well good humored dismay if that’s a thing) that “the Aussies had invaded” a corner in one of the bars where he met friends before dinner. We sympathized because our favorite breakfast table was snatched by a couple who boarded in Sydney. Of course, this is not “the Aussies” fault. How would they even know? Obviously they have as much right to have a drink at the cozy corner or sit where they want to in the Lido as someone who embarked in Fort Lauderdale.

In a few days, we’ll reach Singapore and the whole process will begin again. Three of our favorite pickleball friends will disembark. Even more distressing, one of our dinner stewards is leaving! (Oh the horror!) A lot of people who embarked in Sydney will experience for the first time what it’s like to have everything topsy turvy for a few days. But then things will sort themselves out and a new rhythm will emerge. It probably won’t be better or worse. Just different.

Fortunately, our wonderful room steward, Hendra, is onboard for the whole journey!

We’ll meet new people, we’ll ask how long they’re on board, we’ll help the new pickleball players understand our paddle line up process, and we’ll even be nice to our new dining steward.

Such is the rhythm of a world cruise when it’s not even a world cruise for some!


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What Happens During Sea Days on a World Cruise?

We left Easter Island a few days ago, which is really, really, really far away from absolutely anything. We are over 2,000 nautical miles from the mainland. Now, we head toward French Polynesia, which is also miles and miles away from anything.

The reality is, if you go on a World Cruise, you have a lot of sea days. If you don’t love being out in the middle of nowhere, think twice before you sign up for a World Cruise! So, what in the world does a person do on a typical day at sea when you’re traveling around the world?

First, there are all the “official” activities. Using a recent day as an example, you can get up early and do yoga, or Tai Chi. You can play pickleball (which we, of course, do!). You can take a watercolor class, or a Bridge lesson, go to a wine tasting, listen to a lecture about the importance of the year 1969 or Chaos Theory (different lectures!). You can go to a creative writing class, or participate in an Egg Walk Challenge. (I have no idea what that is, but it’s a thing.) You can attend an English Afternoon Tea, or go to the Casino Royale Game Night. And these are just a snippet of the official activities offered on a typical sea day. Phew.

But, of course, there are all sorts of “unofficial” things to do on a sea day as well. I’ve seen lots of people knitting and crocheting. (Some are really fast. We’ve been on the cruise for just a few weeks and I’ve seen at least two fairly large blanket things emerging from knitting bags.) I’ve seen a couple sit at the same table every day out by the pool, coloring in those fancy adult coloring books. They have the whole set up, including a big box of colored pencils and lights that sit on the table.

I’ve seen lots of people reading as well as some sleeping hard by the pool with open books on their bellies. I’ve seen a random woman teaching a group of other random women water aerobics every morning (and sometimes multiple times a day.) Apparently there is even a passenger offering ukulele lessons. (Thankfully, I have not heard any evidence of this yet!)

During sea days, I don’t worry about keeping busy!

So what do we do on a typical sea day? We play pickleball, of course! It’s crazy how much fun this has been. First, the court is way up on the top deck so the views of the ocean are phenomenal. Second, we are playing with a really great group of about 20 “regulars.” Some are highly skilled, and all are super nice. While we wait for our turn to play, we share our life stories, talk pickleball, and laugh. A lot. Third, Dario is our pickleball instructor/coach on board and he is amazing. We are all learning so much from him. He is equally helpful to new players as well as highly skilled players. Dario is up there on the courts with us for every sea day. We really appreciate the opportunity to work on our game in such a beautiful environment.

No filter here!

This is what the ocean looks like from our balcony.

If I’m not playing pickleball, I’m reading, solving Wordle (or other puzzles), working on my Italian, writing, or just plain relaxing.

The days are leisurely, but they also seem to fly by. A World Cruise is certainly not for everybody, but for us, right now, it’s pretty great. You’ll have to excuse me now, for my balcony and the ocean is calling!


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Getting Organized On a Cruise

It’s obvious that going on a World Cruise takes preparation. Deciding which clothes to bring, for example, is obvious. But figuring out how to stuff everything into available suitcases is more of a challenge. Sure, you can bring everything, but where would you put it? A cruise ship cabin is notoriously small so organization is key.

Here’s our cabin. It’s small, but everything fits!

But for all the organizing we did before we left for the cruise, getting organized on the cruise is a whole different situation. So, here is a partial list of some of the organizing we’ve done since we boarded the Zuiderdam one week ago.

Food Organization.

You can basically eat throughout the day on a cruise, but if you plan to do anything else (now or in the future!), I don’t recommend it. So, where to eat, when to eat, and how to eat takes organization. We try to get to the Lido (the main buffet area) by 8 a.m. for breakfast. Fewer crowds; maximum time until lunch; letting the food settle before activities (ie Pickleball). We try to eat lunch on the short side of noon. Fewer crowds (although not yesterday for some reason); maximum time until dinner; and we’re hungry after playing Pickleball. We have “fixed dining” at 5 p.m. in the dining room (known as the MDR). We want to make sure we have an appetite by then so the challenge is eating enough for lunch, but not too much even if we’re hungry.

Activity Organization.

This is still a work in progress but we have over 100 days left to get the rhythm right! Playing Pickleball is the clear priority, which means finding the right time to play with the right people. With the wind, the rocking ship, and the high temperatures, we can’t play as long as we do with our Pickleball friends in Paducah, but we’re starting to figure it out. So far, playing in the morning after breakfast but before Pickleball instruction begins seems like it might work. But afternoon Pickleball has been fun, too. We’re meeting some nice people who happen to also play pretty good Pickleball. We haven’t yet figured out the pool or whirlpools, but we will (or we won’t and who cares, really?). Meanwhile, we are only using the stairs so we do get a bit of exercise besides time on the court.

Crew Organization.

Most interesting to me is realizing that we’re not the only ones who are trying to get organized during this cruise. We’ve been on quite a few cruises in the past but the majority have been in the Caribbean and the longest has been 42 days. This World Cruise seems a lot different, particularly from what is happening on the ship. The other day, for example, we turned over our passports (Why not at embarkation? Who knows?). Supposedly we’ll get them back on February 8. The library opened several days after we set sail. I guess someone had to get the books organized. (We discovered the Sports Director putting books away the other night. Interesting.) There must have been over 100 people at the “grand opening.” It’s good to know we’re among fellow readers. We also keep hearing phrases from the crew like “we don’t know; we’ll figure it out.”

Things might still need a tad organization, but I love that the crew has found time to set fresh flowers around the ship….even at poolside like this arrangement!

And, also interesting and seemingly unique to a World Cruise, the kitchen staff comes out into the dining room at dinner while we’re finishing dessert, and spreads out among the lingering guests to chat and ask what we think. I’m not totally sure what we are supposed to say (make more zucchini soup?), but I think it’s interesting that they drop by and ask. A few nights ago, we met one of the bakers and the guy “in charge” of the fish. We mentioned to the baker, Mike, that we haven’t seen any almond croissants in the Lido at breakfast. He made a note. Say what? Almond croissants showed up at breakfast this morning! We’re one week into our cruise and it seems like we are falling into a rhythm even while we are still getting organized. We have our library books. We’re playing pickleball. We go to church on Sundays. (Yes, they have church services with a retired chaplain Over 100 people attended this morning.) We’re meeting people (but not too many!). We’re sleeping well. We’re staying out of cold weather. Things could be a whole lot worse, that is for sure!