I cannot tell you how excited I was to visit Indonesia. We work with so many Indonesians and think so much of them, it was wonderful to finally see their homeland and on this trip to actually meet some of their family members. Holland America allows each crew member to invite a certain number of family members on board to visit and enjoy the ship. The crew have contracts of 10 to 12 months so many have not seen their families in quite a while, depending on where they are in their contract. One of the guys got to see his newborn baby. Michael and I helped out with the check in for these families and it was heartwarming to see the reunions. We visited Jakarta, Semerang and Bali. I went on tour in Jakarta and Semerang then just wandered in Bali since we did not have a lot of time after the family check in. Jakarta is a huge city with major traffic issues but we did see the highlights – memorial monument, puppet museum, and archeological museum.

The Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

Street Markets.

Street artists.

Rent a bike, get a hat.

The famous puppets.

Joanne Gardner is Maasdam’s future cruise consultant but was on ms Amsterdam when she visited Indonesia.