World Cruise: Seven Seas Voyager - January 2008 [Archive] - Cruise Consultants Company Message Board

cruisetour

01-22-2008, 09:55 AM

The Voyager docked early in Papeete, Tahiti’s capital city. As soon as the ship was cleared, we ran to the flower market to get a beautiful tropical flower arrangement for our room. It only cost $10 and would have been $50 at home. After an early lunch, we, along with the 22 other privileged guests of the Voyager, disembarked for our transfer by ferry to Moorea and our “romantic escapade” at the Moorea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa. The ride was just 30 minutes after which we were led to a transfer vehicle for the 15 minute ride through the gorgeous countryside. This was our first time to experience an over-the-water bungalow and we were really looking forward to the experience.

The resort was very Polynesian, open air with great views of the sheltered cove beyond the infinity-edge swimming pool. We received a lei greeting by pretty Polynesian girls along with a pineapple drink and shown to our cottage beyond the bridge into the protected waters of the reef. The large room had a huge king bed that was laden with flower petals; there was a bottle of Brut Champagne in an ice bucket, and a beautiful selection of fresh fruit on the coffee table. The floor to ceiling glass doors opened onto a balcony that stepped down to an outdoor shower and from there to the crystal clear waters of Moorea. This was sure an appetizing start to our romantic get-a-way.

After a tour of the grounds, we returned to our room to enjoy the amenities. While relaxing on our balcony, Joan and Charlie, in snorkel gear, came swimming by to say hello. After a short visit with them, we relaxed until dinner when we went to a private restaurant set up just for our group, and enjoyed a delicious dinner of cucumber gazpacho, a two pound rock lobster and filet steak, and a spectacular chocolate volcano for dessert. The meal was accompanied by several wines and champagne. After several hours of fine dining and drinking, it was time to retire to our suites for the evening.

The morning started with a beautiful sunrise, and the appearance of the Voyager arriving from its overnight voyage from Tahiti. This was followed by a huge breakfast of everything you might imagine delivered to our room by outrigger canoe. After showering and getting dressed, the time for checking out came all too soon. As we settled accounts with the hotel, we were given a lei farewell and waved goodbye to our hosts as we boarded our van for the ride back to our ship.

Because it started to rain as we approached the tenders to take us out to the waiting Voyager, most of our companions opted to go right to the ship. I stayed behind to walk through the stalls of the vendors selling home made jewelry and black pearls of all sizes and prices. I finally returned to our room in time to have lunch. Heaven forbid, I might miss a meal. It was a wonderful excursion, and one I would recommend to friends who might be coming this way.

Mary Welden

01-23-2008, 02:18 AM

Jay and Mary Pat,

I LOVED the picture of the Voyager in front of the rock faced maountain with all the mountain mist in the background. A great photo for sure. You all look happy and well. Keep having fun times!
Love y'all,
Mary

cruisetour

01-25-2008, 06:52 PM

Today is the day we visit the unscheduled island that Captain Dag arranged for us. We have made a reservation on the “Faaroa River & Island Exploration Tour” where we learned that Raiatea, a/k/a Sacred Hava’i, was the Polynesian center of royalty, religion culture and history. Our group of eight boarded a 4x4 safari vehicle for a 2 hour ride trek through this lush tropical garden island with its beautiful treed mountains, waterfalls and rivers, bamboo forests, fruit trees, and countless varieties of colorful flowers. The highlight of our drive was the visit to “Marae Taputapuatea”, the sacred site from where the ancient Polynesians started their explorations to the rest of the “Polynesian Triange”; to Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. After a short break for a tropical juice beverage and some delicious pineapple and sweet grapefruit, we proceeded to the next part of our tour, a 1 ½ hour ride on a motorized outrigger canoe over Raiatea’s deep blue lagoon waters to the mouth of the Faaroa River, the only navigable river in Polynesia. During the ride, our guide told us about the history and folklore of the island, the triangle, and the people who live there. We had not gone far when all of a sudden, the skies opened up and a tropical deluge descended on us. This IS the rainy season. The boat had rain slickers for us, but we got REAL wet. Actually, it was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed the entire experience. By the time we got back to our ship, the rain had stopped. The Voyager left Raiatea at 4pm and Captain Dag took us on a tour of the beautiful passage to Bora Bora, arriving there at 6pm. Many of the guests went ashore for dinner while we had a delicious pasta dinner onboard ship.

cruisetour

01-25-2008, 06:56 PM

Although Bora Bora is a beautiful, romantic island, we had to make a choice of what to do today, and since we have visited the island several times, our decision was to spend the day on Motu tapu (sacred island) and enjoy the beautiful secluded beach. As soon as we were able, we boarded the outrigger canoe that our ship was using as a tender for the 15 minute ride to the island. It was a most beautiful day, warm but with a light breeze; and bright but not overly sunny. We found a lovely spot in partial shade near several of our friends and whiled away the rest of the morning, sipping the champagne and eating the caviar that members of the crew were carrying along the surf in small boats and serving to us. This has to be the most decadent thing we have done so far. Not much later, the barbeque buffet was set up along with several varieties of wine and more champagne. This was a happy bunch of rested travelers. We were among the last of the revelers to return to the ship. the final tender brought back the stragglers at 4pm. We lifted anchor shortly thereafter and started our journey toward Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It was a beautiful day!

cruisetour

01-28-2008, 01:35 AM

Within hours after leaving Bora Bora on January 22, Captain Dag announced that the swells would be too much to lower the tenders that would take us to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. As a result, I lost the opportunity to add another country to my list of places visited during our travels. The next six days saw the Pacific Ocean getting increasingly rougher with swells increasing day by day. Luckily I enjoy this type of weather, but many other passengers did not. I also enjoyed the additional sea days which gave me more opportunities to increase my sketching skills. The daily sketch class is proving to be one of my highlights so far on this cruise. I am digitally photographing all of my sketches so I can show my grandchildren how well I have learned to draw places we have visited. Meanwhile, Mary Pat was able to complete her raffia basket before we arrived in Bay of Islands. MARCIA MARSHALL, the arts & crafts instructor, said “that her basket was beautifully constructed, very strong, and tightly wound, just like Mary Pat”. Marcia also said that “the basket was so strong that she could turn it upside down and position a television set on top of it, whereas all of the other passengers made baskets that were very flexible and collapsible”.

During this period, we also celebrated crossing the180 degree longitude meridian which means that we crossed the International Date Line. In so doing, we completely lost January 26 as if it never happened. We went to bed on January 25 at midnight and one hour later, it was January 27, Mary Pat’s birthday. Since we also moved our watches back at 2am, it meant that Mary Pat was going to celebrate a 25 hour birthday; and in the matter of minutes, we went from being 5 hours behind the time in San Antonio, Texas to being 19 hours ahead of the time at home. It is hard to explain and even harder to understand, but that is exactly what has happened.

Now we are ready to explore New Zealand!

cruisetour

01-31-2008, 04:48 AM

We woke up to a beautiful calm, sunny, 63 degree morning that was scheduled to rise to 80 degrees during the day. We were anchored off the shore of the romantic town of Russell in the Bay of Islands. We caught an early tender to shore and strolled along the waterfront, known as “the Strand”. Our first stop was at the Dept of Conservation where I purchased a fabric sculpture of a TUI-- a native New Zealand bird, that until recently was a threatened species as a result of being hunted for food, captured as a pet, or the victim of a predator attack. With environmental assistance, they have enjoyed restoration both in the wild and throughout the settlements and suburbs of New Zealand.

During our “walkabout”, we visited “Sally’s”—a restaurant listed in the book “a 1,000 places to visit before you die”, for their famous scones. Unfortunately, the scones were sold out, but we enjoyed some delicious homemade blueberry muffins in their place. The waterfront area was absolutely beautiful and because it is summer, the area was full of swimmers, boaters, and sun worshipers. The “kiwis” are famous for their interest in water, as well it should be since they live on an island nation. We returned to the ship just before 2pm, which gave us only a few moments before the ship stopped serving lunch.

Regent had scheduled a complimentary excursion this afternoon to Waitangi to see the treaty house where the British signed a peace agreement with the native Maori. We had enjoyed this tour several years ago, and decided that this time, we would just have a relaxing afternoon on our quiet ship. The scenery was so lovely that I spent an hour walking briskly on deck for a distance of more than two miles, while also listening to my ipod, and enjoying the scenery in the Bay of Islands. Our ship lifted anchor at 5pm and headed toward Auckland where we will be tomorrow. Before returning to the room at the end of the day, I walked past all of the luggage in the hallways from the segment passengers who are disembarking tomorrow morning. I am so glad that I am not one of them.

Tomorrow, we start Segment 2 of our world cruise!

cruisetour

02-05-2008, 11:47 AM

More of Beautiful New Zealand--Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington on North Island; and Nelson, the northernmost city on South Island.

New Zealand has to be one of the most beautiful countries in the entire world, and is surely a highlight for anyone visiting this part of the world. Each port of call has its own natural beauty, its magnificent landscape, and its friendly people. I discussed our activities in Russell on my last posting; the sightseeing only got better, day by day, if that is possible.

January 30
In Auckland, we started the second segment of our world cruise. Some friends we had made since San Francisco were leaving; others that we have known for years were arriving. Still other friends were fortunate like we are, to be staying on the Voyager to keep exploring our world. Here we were, in the middle of this great city where we explored and experienced the beauty of the waterfront area. In mid afternoon, a family we had met several years ago came to visit us onboard the Voyager with their three beautiful children, all of whom would have been wonderful advertisements for Regent—their eyes absolutely shined as they experienced the wonder of this fantastic ship. We were able to visit until the call came for visitors to disembark which was too soon. We made plans to see them again when we return next year to their fair city.

January 31
Tauranga offered us a history lesson as our tour took us to the Elms Mission House, built in 1847 by Archdeacon Brown. Our guide took us through the historic Georgian style home and surrounding gardens while explaining how the city founders, a group of 19th century missionaries, left a legacy of well planned parks and gardens. This visit was followed by a fun wine tasting at the Mills Reef Winery.

Touring is very different than days at sea, and I really do not know which type of day I prefer; the shipboard activities when we are moving from place to place, or focused sightseeing when we are docked or anchored in one of the 51 ports that we are going to visit on this world cruise. I do know that very few, if any, of the places that we will visit will compare to the New Zealand experience.

February 1
Napier is an example of a city that experienced a great disaster. The city was destroyed in a 1931 earthquake that killed 162 residents. Afterwards, the leading citizens got together and rebuilt their city in an art deco and Spanish mission architectural style that set it apart from the rest of New Zealand. Although no one thought about it at the time, the unique style of the construction made Napier into a unique tourist site. Today, the beauty of the architecture draws tourists from all over New Zealand as well as many other countries to visit the town. There is an Art Deco Trust which makes sure that all new construction and existing buildings are maintained in this style. We enjoyed a walking tour of the city with a knowledgeable guide who explained the architecture to us, after which we stopped at the Hawke’s Bay Gentlemen’s Club, founded in 1863, for tea and cakes, and then drove through one of the residential suburbs to see the finest preserved art deco homes and gardens. It was an interesting and full day of exploration.

cruisetour

02-05-2008, 11:53 AM

February 2
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, has one of the most beautiful natural harbors in the world. We had been told that the tour that we selected was going to be boring, but it was anything other than that. We drove around its eastern shoreline to the pretty seaside suburb, Eastbourne. From here, we continued along an unpaved coastal road to the 1,000 acre Pencarrow Station, one of the first sheep and cattle stations in the Wellington area, where we were met by the owners and invited into their home for a delicious snack of sandwiches, tea and some delicious delicacies. I ate more than my share. We were also treated to breathtaking vistas of the ranch and the seaside on which it is located. After enjoying the “snack”, we were treated to a demonstration of their dogs’ ability to herd sheep, to the tone of a whistle. Today was our 24th wedding anniversary, and we celebrated the evening with a lovely dinner at the French restaurant on our ship with several friends. We even got presents, which was not supposed to happen. It was another lovely day in New Zealand.

February 3
Nelson was our final New Zealand stop on this world cruise, and the only one located on South Island. We participated in an exclusive excursion that Regent set up for its full world cruise passengers that took us to the “World of Wearable Art & Classic Cars Museum”. We had never experienced a museum like this. We were served excellent wines and canapés as we strolled through the museum, taking photos of the models wearing costumes made of flax and linen, rulers, tampons, plastic framing, metal pull tabs, silk, long hand ties, and packing tape. Actually some of the outfits could have been worn under normal conditions, but most were outrageous. There were mannequins wearing brassieres that had adornments like P38 propellers, chandeliers, fish heads, or chickens on them. It was very different to say the least. There was another side to the museum. This side hosted an antique classic car gallery that included almost every car that I had ever heard of, all of which were in mint condition. We returned to our ship at noon. It left soon thereafter, leaving beautiful New Zealand and heading into the Tasman Sea for a two day journey to Tasmania. I am already looking forward to returning to New Zealand to see more of this fantastic country, its alpine areas, its beautiful landscapes, and its warm and friendly people.

Mary Welden

02-08-2008, 12:30 AM

Jay and Mary Pat.

Looks like next year will really be a big party!! Congrats on 24!!!!! Sounds like New Zealand is a place for me to see!! You both look great and look like you are happy!! Have fun safe travels and keep us included on all the fun!
Love,
Mary

cruisetour

02-08-2008, 10:42 AM

These were two sea days that had a lot of rock and roll, but none of it was enough to dampen the excitement of going further “down under”. The days were full of activities, and I kept trying to improve my sketching abilities with Bard Kolltveit’s help. Each evening, we turned our watches back another hour so that we were now on local Australian time and just 17 hours ahead of U.S.A. central standard time. On February 4, which was February 3 back home, the ship displayed broadcast the superbowl in the theater while serving hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and popcorn to the full house. I bought a square in the lottery, but my numbers were not the lucky ones. It was an exciting finish, to say the least. Lunch on February 5 was my favorite—TexMex with fajitas, tacos, and enchiladas; reminded me of home.

The highlight of the two days for me was our 2d annual Coober Pedy reunion where we reminisced with the other four couples who took the tour to the Australian underground opal mines site in 2006. The entire group of ten friends met each other during that excursion, and has traveled together on world cruise in 2007 and 2008. After cocktails and snacks in one of the suites, the Rowe’s presented all of us with reunion tee shirts that we all changed into before dinner. We were definitely a hit in the dining room as everyone wanted to know the significance of the shirts. We closed the dining room because we all had so much to tell each other. What a great remembrance!

cruisetour

02-08-2008, 10:46 AM

Today’s tour is “Burnie Highlights”. It was really a funny little tour with not much to show us. The driver/guide said it all when he commented: “it is always better to drive slowly through our town because it makes the town seem larger”. He also said, “the only problem is when passengers recognize the same building over and over”. Our first stop was on top of one the many hills to see our ship, the lumber yard, and the container port. It is mostly an industrial city with lots of container storage everywhere, so it is not a very interesting photo. We then stopped at the local historical museum from where we also saw our ship, the lumber yard, and the container port. There was an interesting exhibit that displayed the layout of the city as it looked in 1905. It was not much, but it is what they have, and we were enjoying the driver’s comments along the way. From here, we drove to the Creative Paper Company. This was an interesting stop. We had a plant tour to see how paper is made, and then had time to see an example of beautiful human sculptures made by the local artisans from purely paper or paper pulp. I can not even imagine having the talent to create one of these pieces of art. It was very interesting.

cruisetour

02-10-2008, 01:46 PM

Thursday, February 7

Melbourne presented us a lovely, warm, sunny day that I started with a Swedish massage/reflexology treatment, which was the daily special. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent exploring this beautiful city on our own. I am so entranced with my sketch classes that I purchased a set of 3 paint brushes and 12 colored pencils that I thought might make me a better artist (wishful thinking!). This evening, we joined the shipwide complimentary excursion Werribee Park and River, an ancient aboriginal community location going back 40,000 years. The area was settled by Scottish immigrants in the 19th century; and subsequently used as a seminary by the Catholic Church. Our destination was the Thomas and Andrew Chirnside mansion. They arrived in Australia in 1838-1841, and built this 200 hectare, 60 room Italianate Estate over a three year period 1874-77. It remains today as Victoria’s largest and most elaborate private residence. It remained in the family until 1922 and is now a national park, and also the Sofitel Mansion & Spa. The outing provided entertainment by a classical string trio, a boy’s choral group, and aboriginal dances and demonstrations with boomerangs & didgeridoos. There was an abundance of food, wine, and desserts served by Scottish clad attendants, who also explained the significance of the different rooms in the house and the magnificent gardens. We were having such a good time that we were not ready to return back to the ship as the call came to board the coaches at 8pm. Our ship sailed at 9pm for Sydney.

Friday, February 08
This was a rough day at sea with cool weather and huge swells. MaryPat was a bit uncomfortable. For dinner, we sampled Latitudes New Zealand dinner offerings. It was fine, but I am really looking forward to the next theme. It will be more to my taste as it is an “upside down” dinner starting with dessert and working backwards to the appetizer as the final course. As we walked back to our room, I noticed all of the luggage in the hall signifying that this segment of world cruise was over for 195 passengers on the ship. There will be 194 passengers boarding tomorrow afternoon in Sydney. Just like I said at the end of the first segment, I am glad it is not me going home. I am still having a wonderful time on the ship and am looking forward to the plans that we have along the rest of the way.

cruisetour

02-10-2008, 01:50 PM

Saturday, February 9

Sydney has been experiencing rain every day of the last week, and today is no exception. It is dark, gloomy, and rainy. This is the first time in the nine times we have been here that we have ever experienced bad weather. But, rain or sun, this is still one of the most beautiful cities in the entire world. The day started with an announcement by Captain Dag that he was circling the ship in Circular Quay so that everyone could get photos of the opera house, the Sydney harbour bridge, and the Rocks area before he proceeded to Darling Harbour, where we would be docked during our two days in Sydney. breakfast with MaryPat upstairs before going on a “walkabout” in the rain to reacquaint ourselves with the sights of Sydney. The rain was coming down very steadily as we left the ship for our “walkabout”. We both had our ship-provided raincoats and umbrellas. We walked to the Sydney Opera House to collect our tickets for tonight’s opera, Puccini’s La Boheme. We thought it would be fun to walk along George Street and see the shops after which MaryPat asked and was told out that it would be easier to walk to Darling Harbour from here rather than return to the rocks and catch the shuttle back to the Voyager. What she did not know, or me either for that matter, was that Darling Harbour is a huge complex that goes on for miles. We quickly reached the harbour but we were nowhere near the place where our ship was docked. After walking for more than an hour (in the wrong direction), and now being considerably further away from our destination than we were when we started, I say “enough is enough” and hailed a taxi that $14 later, finally arrived back at the ship. After a quick nap, and an even quicker dinner, we headed for the opera house and our performance of La Boheme. It was sensational and we both enjoyed the entire performance. Act IV had me actually crying as Mimi died in the arms of Rodolfo. We caught a taxi back to the ship, and on the way to our rooms, we stopped at the coffee corner for tea and cookies.

Sunday, February 10

Sydney finally had a clear, sunny day. The weather was in the low 70’s and there was a slight breeze so that a jacket was still in order. We had lunch in the lido before meeting the 35 passenger who, along with us, had signed up for the two hour ship-exclusive harbour cruise. The boat was very comfortable, and the guide was easy to understand as she talked about the sights along the way. I met the captain of the boat and he invited me to the bridge with him, and his mate. As expected, everything was perfect, and a lot of fun. Tea and cakes were served during the cruise, which of course, I sampled.

cruisetour

02-15-2008, 01:11 PM

Both days offered the opportunity to enhance my progress with my sketching. I also had the pleasure of having dinner with BARD KOLLTVEIT, the retired curator of the Oslo Maritime Musuem, who is also a lecturer and the sketch instructor on our ship. We also had a variety of marvelous enrichment talks by the cadre of speakers retained by Regent. One of these speakers was a special treat—TERRY WAITE, the former envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been a hostage for five years to Arab terrorists in Lebanon. His talk was riveting, to say the least. Thanks to one of our friends who invited him, and us, to dinner, we will have an added opportunity to visit with him.

During the first evening, we also had the Regent Exclusive Block Party during which everyone had champagne and canapés in the corridors as we met our neighbors and discussed the events and places that we are looking forward to. This was followed by a cocktail party hosted by Captain Dag.

I worked some more on the “memory book” that I am creating as a keepsake of the world cruise. I am already on page 40, and it looks like the manuscript will be more than 150 pages before I am done. It is going to be fun having the written and pictorial memories all together, but it is work putting it together. So far, I am keeping current. The fear is that I will fall behind, and then lose focus. I hope this will not happen though.

Tuesday afternoon, Captain Dag made an announcement that he was sorry that the weather has been so bad, and that it looks like the weather will be worse when we are visiting the Whitsunday Islands on Wednesday. As a result, he cancelled the ship tour to Hardy Reef because he felt that it was not worth injuring any passengers during tender operations with projected huge swells that will make the trip there too difficult and unpleasant. The new plan is that we will anchor off the coast of Hamilton Island in sheltered waters and tender to shore from there. We will be able to spend a half day there, but will not have the opportunity to visit any of the coral reefs. Everyone is disappointed, but no one wants to be sick either.

The other thing that happened is that on Tuesday night before going to bed, the ship left instructions to change our clocks backwards one hour. This means that we are now just 16 hours ahead of the time back home in San Antonio, and that the cruise is flying by too quickly.

cruisetour

02-15-2008, 01:18 PM

THE WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS is our anchorage for today. I was on the first tender, to Hamilton Island, along with Joan & Charlie while MaryPat stayed back to exercise in the spa. I went ahead because today’s time ashore is only a couple of hours, with the last tender from town scheduled for 1:30pm. We were dressed for a hot day since the thermometer in our room showed 90 degrees. What it did not show was that rain was in the air, and soon after leaving the ship, the rain started to fall, in torrents, drenching everybody on the tender. No one had taken an umbrella from the ship. It continued to pour for ten minutes, and then, just as quickly as it started, the rain stopped. In fact by the time that we reached the island, the sun was out, as was the humidity, and the weather stayed hot and humid the rest of the day. I had been here during our Serenity world cruise in 2005, so I already knew that it was best to go left and toward the bakery where the pastries were delicious, especially the cinnamon roll that Charlie shared with me. From here we headed to Foot Art Gallery to see their magnificent coral and marble sculptures. The next activity was a 40 minute complimentary shuttle tour around the island, that used up the rest of the available time after which it was already time to return to our ship for lunch. As usual, the afternoon flew by as our ship headed for Cairns. Since tomorrow is valentine day, after dinner Mary Pat and I delivered koala bear valentine packages that we had put together for our friends.

cruisetour

02-15-2008, 01:26 PM

CAIRNS has had a very hot and dry season, very different from its Southern cousins. Today is no exception. It was very hot and REAL humid. We had a wonderful tour that was put together exclusively for Ensemble Travel going to RainForestStation (What is known as a “station” in Australia would be called a “ranch” in Texas). Upon arrival, we were greeted by Pamagirri tribe Aborigines who presented us with undecorated wood boomerangs and then escorted to tables set up with paint brushes, and ochre, yellow, and white paint sets where they gave us 45 minutes to decorate and create personal designs on the boomerangs. Afterwards, it was interesting to note that absolutely none of the 36 creations looked anything like the other 35. Everyone seemed to enjoy this start to our excursion. After collecting all of the objects d’art, and putting them in a safe location where they would dry, we walked through several shops that diverted the attention of some of our passengers. Those who got through the gauntlet of shops found themselves at an open area where we had a didgeridoo and spear throwing demonstration, followed by a lesson on the proper way of throwing a boomerang. Next on our agenda was an interesting and authentic aboriginal dance demonstration. A Australian barbeque buffet luncheon followed, which included lamingtons, the popular Australian dessert of sponge cake that has been soaked in chocolate sauce and rolled in finely shredded coconut. Our active day then continued with a 45 minute ride through the rain forest and the area lagoons on Army Ducks while our guide explained the flora and fauna of tropical rain forests and the multiple varieties of each that are endemic to this area of Australia.

Our visit to the station ended with our redemption of our painted, now-dried, boomerangs and reboarding our coach for the short ride to the town of Kuranda where we took a group photo and had a limited time to complete any unfinished shopping for Australian souvenirs. From here, we drove back to Cairns and our ship, arriving at the pier at 4pm, which did not leave much, if any, time to walk through town. That was okay with everyone. The day had been hot and muggy, but we did not get the rain that had been forecast. After cleaning up, we attended a valentine cocktail party in the suite of some friends, LYNN & FRANK GIORDANO, after which we had dinner at the French restaurant on board. By this time, we were steaming towards Papua New Guinea. I had no problem falling asleep after our busy day.

Mary Welden

02-17-2008, 08:51 PM

Jay and Mary Pat,

My goodness, Mary Pat sure does have beautiful alabaster skin next to the natives there in Australia!!! Were those her hand prints on those guys??

Looks like great fun. Gald the wetaher is wraming up and getting sunny. Hopefully you have seen the last of bad weather and big swells. Charles may have had a little trouble with this segment!
Kepp on blogging!
Love,
Mary

cruisetour

02-18-2008, 09:54 PM

MADANG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA is a port that we have never previously been to. PNG was a German territory prior to World War I; after the war, the island was given to Australia who governed it until World War II, when it was invaded by Japan. After WWII, the island was returned to Australia. The country got its independence peacefully in the 1950’s.

As our coach passed through the security gate on the way to BILBIL, one of the coastal villages, the scene before us was very much like an African port, with a huge market complex of merchants, selling their home made wood carvings, boxes, baskets, and jewelry. It was especially reminiscent of the old days at Mombasa, but without the giraffes. I already could not wait to return from the tour and start shopping.

As our coach continued to drive through town and the countryside, we were greeted with enthusiastic waves and big smiles. Our first stop was at a lighthouse overlooking a picturesque bay. It had been constructed in 1959 in tribute to the coast watchers who observed and reported Japanese movements to the allied forces during World War II.

Unfortunately, unemployment on PNG is running at 61% and crime is a major problem. All the homes we saw were gated, and surrounded with barb wire fences. It is hard to believe that the residents can be so pleasant living in such conditions, but they really are. Also, we observed absolutely no litter or garbage in the streets or roads as we drove through beautiful rain forest areas that again reminded me of Africa.

Our second stop was at BILBIL VILLAGE. This is a popular stop for visitors. The village is famous for its clay pots and wooden bowls. We bought one of each. The homes are constructed from sago and toddy palms, without nails. The natives obviously live here, this is not a movie set. During our visit, we were serenaded with traditional “singsing” by our hosts, who were dressed as you might expect. They were very congenial and welcoming, answering all of our questions and posing for photos with us.

We left Bilbil village to a chorus of waves and broad smiles to return trip to the pier. Our final stop was at the “Madang Visitors & Cultural Bureau” where we viewed a variety of statues, shields, spears and jewelry from the Madang area, as well as the Sepik and Trobriand Islands. I was disappointed that some of these items were not for sale, because they were magnificent.

Back on the pier, MaryPat headed for the ship while I, with Joan & Charlie Davis, headed to the gate so we could get an early look at the crafts for sale before everyone else picked the good stuff. We found several items that we could not live without, and when our arms were full, and our pockets were empty, we headed back to the ship where our purchases were coded with our room numbers and set aside for sanitation and safety procedures. We had a quick lunch in the dining room, and then, our pockets refilled with money, returned to the market again, this time with MaryPat who also found some “goodies” she could not resist.
The first thing we did after giving our purchases to the ship authorities for treatment, and getting back on board was to take showers. The weather had been 88 degrees and the humidity had been 100%. We were sopping wet and it felt great to get cleaned up.

We had been invited to an “en suite” dinner party by Chet and Charalane and ate on their balcony. It was a lovely evening with a gentle breeze as we cruised north toward an equator crossing. A good time was had by all, as we discussed our activities during the day while the butlers brought us course after course of fine wine and delicious food.

cruisetour

02-23-2008, 07:08 AM

SAIPAN; we were scheduled to arrive at this far away outpost of the U.S.A. at noon. As a result, the morning lecture schedule still took place, starting with our daily sketch class, and followed by a presentation that taught us how to use navigation charts to plot our course as we continue our voyage around the world. We got to keep the charts, as a souvenir, after the talk!

Because of being in very rough seas, we did not actually arrive at Saipan until 2:30pm. To make matters worse, the local pilots insisted that our ship leave the island no later than 6pm, which meant that the passengers had to be back on board by 5:30pm. Clearance procedures were not completed until after 3pm so everyone was a little anxious to get going, to say the least. This island was of great importance during World War II, and its control was strategic for the final assault of the Japanese mainland. A great many lives were lost here on both sides. To avoid being taken prisoner, thousands of Japanese soldiers, preferring death to dishonor, committed suicide by leaping off the cliffs. Today, the island is a memorial to the futility of war.

The island tour includes visits to see many of the battlements that are preserved so future generations can see what happened here. The scenery is spectacular. In addition, during the sixty years since the war ended, beautiful resorts have been built on the island. There are also gorgeous beaches, great snorkeling and scuba diving. It is interesting that although this island belongs to the American Commonwealth and all of the people here have American citizenship, almost all of the tourism comes from Japan and all of the signs are in Japanese. The local “joke” everyone tells is that “the United States won the war against the Japanese military machine so that Japanese tourists could come back to the island for their vacations”.

While we were here, I got a haircut because Mary Pat had been teasing me for weeks about my hair being so long. The cost was $25, which is $10 less than the beauty shop on board the Voyager. That was the good news! The bad news is that I got scalped. I won’t need another haircut until after we return home in May. Now I know that I haven’t had a lot of hair for a long time, but this haircut left me with less hair than I had as a baby.

We made it back to the ship just before the mandatory boarding time, and our ship left on schedule, with our compass set on a NW heading of 320 degrees, just like we plotted on our charts this morning.

cruisetour

02-23-2008, 07:12 AM

IWO JIMA is a spot on the map where I have never been and a place that I have been looking forward to visiting for a long time. Unfortunately, we were not able to step onto the island, but I still enjoyed being close to this piece of hallowed ground and sacred memory.

Last night the clocks were changed. We are now 17 hours ahead of the time back home. This morning at 8am, I was on a balcony, in a lined parka due to the temperature which was pretty cold, looking across at the atoll where on February 19, 1945 at 0200 hours, the battle for Iwo Jima commenced. The weather remained brisk the entire day but the day was bright and clear which allowed all of us to take fantastic photos of Iwo Jima and its famous mountain, Suribachi. After spending an hour filling a full memory stick, it was time to proceed to the bow of the Voyager, on deck six, where all the veterans on board had been invited to stand while our ship had a commemoration ceremony in honor of those who had fought here and died here on that day and the days that followed. The ceremony included a flag raising, a short presentation, and the playing of taps. Before leaving, and heading NW toward Japan, Captain Dag cruised the length of the island to give us its full view, including the remains of the landing crafts and other vessels that are still half buried off shore. It was a very touching and emotional morning, and one I will remember.

cruisetour

02-27-2008, 03:54 PM

OSAKA, a city of 3 million people in a country of 127 million is the third largest city in Japan, behind only Tokyo and Yokohama. In addition to its own popularity, it is well known for being just a one hour drive from the first two capitals of Japan, Nara and Kyoto. During our visit here, we purchased the excursion going to NARA, the first capital of Japan.

Considering yesterday’s massive storm, we were not too late arriving. Originally scheduled to be here at 7am, we reached Osaka at 9:30am. The bigger problem started after we arrived because the Japanese government has strict immigration and border control procedures, including fingerprinting all visitors. This slowed everything down, and delayed our disembarking until 11:30am. The schedule called for us to start our tour at 9:30am. After a one hour drive to Nara, a/k/a Deer Park, the popular name of the city because of the herds of tame deer that freely roam the city and thrive on rice crackers from visitors. These deer are considered holy and are treated with great affection by the Japanese.

Because we were late, our first stop was for a quick lunch at the Hotel Fujita, followed by a very short drive to the Todaiji Temple, the headquarters of Kegon Sect Buddhism, which was completed in 752 AD by the then emperor of the era. This temple is the world’s largest wooden structure to this day.

Even though I was wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, and my Antarctica jacket, I was still cold walking along the pathways. The temperature is just 40 degrees, but there is a strong wind-chill. Snow was falling and sticking to the ground for the first time in eighteen years. That was pretty “neat”. The other neat thing we saw was the deer that were everywhere. It was also interesting to watch them bow to the visitors and eat crackers out of our hands. The tour included the hall of the Great Buddha dating from 1709, and the Great Buddha itself, 531 feet high and one of the largest bronze Buddhas in the world; it is also the holiest object in the temple. Our next stop, the Horyuji Temple, was an hour away. This structure is the oldest existing temple in all of Japan. It was originally built in 607AD, and rebuilt in 1438AD. The main sights were the massive main gate; the main hall that housed valuable art objects and Buddhist images; and a five story pagoda that had been dismantled during WWII and reassembled after the war. Since this was our last stop, we were being driven back to the ship when our guide distributed bingo cards to everyone. Mary Pat was the winner of the game and won first prize, an origami ball. We arrived back at our ship just in time to see a beautiful sunset. After dinner, local officials of Osaka offered a welcome ceremony to all of us because this was the inaugural visit of the Seven Seas Voyager.

February 25th was just a short day, so we, along with Frs. Jim & Tony, just stayed in the pier area and took a ride on the giant ferris wheel that offered a beautiful overview of the entire city. We also walked through the three story mall alongside the pier but did not find any treasures that we could not live without. Back on the ship, we were at lunch as the Voyager left Osaka and headed out into the open water that, for once, was very calm and pleasant. The rest of the day was a typical sea day that ended with a magnificent operatic performance by French Soprano, Francoise Krief performing many of my favorites including Madame Butterfly, Tosca, La Traviata, and Carmen.

cruisetour

02-27-2008, 04:01 PM

This is day 52 of the world cruise. We have almost completed 50% of the voyage and yet it seems like we just boarded the ship. Since this is a short sea day, the lecture schedule is changed from its regular time, and for the first time I will miss sketch class because TERRY WAITE is speaking on “terrorism today” followed by a Q&A session. We arrived in Kagoshima, in a heavy rainstorm. Again, our world cruise jackets will come in very handy. We went on the highlights tour, which took us, by ferry, to the island of Sakurajima to see one of the 89 active volcanoes that are located in Japan. Unfortunately, with the day being cloudy, cold, and wet, we did not see any smoke from this 3,000 foot volcano. However, we did note the beautiful seascape surrounding the island. The ferry returned us to Kagoshima, after which we drove to and visited the Sengan-en Garden (Iso Garden) with its magnificent Japanese gardens and landscaping with fountains, stone bridges, and lots of cherry blossoms. We hit the season just right. From here, we drove back to the ship just in time for the Voyager to take off for China. We headed into another horrible bit of weather so that by the time we went to dinner, we were being battered about pretty bad. The weather only got worse as the evening wore on. We bounced into the theater to see a wonderful performance by political satirist, Mark Russell, before being pushed from one wall to another as we carefully tried to get back to our room without falling and breaking something. After getting into bed, we rocked, bounced, and shuddered the entire night. Before turning out the lights, the clocks were turned back to put us on Shanghai time, 14 hours ahead of the time at home.

Mary Welden

03-10-2008, 01:51 PM

Jay and Mary Pat,
I have spent the last half hour catching up on your trip. You left me off in a storm...where are you now?? I look forward to seeing some pictures of China...my personal favorite stop from last year!! We are counting the days until we leave for Ireland. Sure wish y'all were going to be there!! I will post some messages to our blog so you can experience St. Patrick's Day in Ireland! You look like you had a great time in Japan. The sunset and cherry blossoms were beautiful!! Keep on blogging!
Love,
Mary

cruisetour

03-12-2008, 12:55 PM

CHINA is such an amazing country. The more we visit this fantastic part of our world,, the more excited we get to visit even more; and no matter how much we learn about its people, places, and history, there is always more to learn. This year, we are exploring a new area than ever before—we are going to the province of Yunnan in the SW corner of China that borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

Mary Pat, with her typical efficiency and thoroughness, had checked out the temperature range in Kunming and Lijiang, the two cities that we were going to visit. After completing her research, she proudly announced that the weather in Lijiang is going to be 86 degrees. As a result, we all packed shorts and bathing suits for the anticipated summer weather; however, it was so cold in Shanghai that morning that we were all bundled up in layers and wearing heavy outer garments

Our first class seats on Shanghai airlines paid for themselves as our personal airline escort whisked through security after we checked in for our flight; he then took us to the private executive lounge until we were called to board our plane; and then took us to the tarmac where we boarded an exclusive VIP marked vehicle for the ride to the plane. The flightwent by quickly as we marveled at the Himalayan snow covered peaks outside our windowsOur plane landed in Kunming at 12:30 and we were met by our guide, Lu, and our driver, Mr. we were now in the most southwest province of China, Yunnan (translation-south of the clouds), which is located at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains, and is bordered by Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.

The Green Lake Hotel was magnificent as were our two-room executive suites. We had beautiful views of the city, comfortable furniture and even an aquarium with goldfish that added to the ambiance. Our afternoon tour started with a walk through the charming old town where we could not resist starting our souvenir purchases. we came to the town square where everyone we saw had dogs and puppies on a leach or in boxes. Lu explained that “this was where people came to sell or trade their dogs, but that these dogs were for pets, and not for eating”. After our walkabout, Mr. Wu drove us to the provincial Museumto explore the history of the DIAN KINGDOM that built and ruled Yunnan in 400BC from its Capital in Dali, located half way between Kunming and Lijiang. The highlight of our day was the tea ceremony featuring the locally grown Puer Tea; we sampled the taste of tea that had been aging for just a few years, another that was ten years old, and a magnificent tasting brew that had been aging for more than twenty years and was selling for more than US$100 per pound. We went to bed early because we wanted to be totally refreshed for our journey to, and visit of, Lijiang, the entire city that is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The next morning when our plane landed in Lijiang, we were ready for the summer weather that Mary Pat had promised, we found out that we were really lucky to have our winter clothing because the temperature was not 86 degrees as promised, it was 36 degrees, and windy as well. It is not easy for someone who is a perfectionist and always prides herself on always being right to have to admit that they made a mistake and worse yet, having to apologize for it. Our shorts and other summer clothing went to the bottom of our suitcases and stayed there.

Our guide, Wu, and driver, Mr. Pu, were ready to lead us on a high-speed three-day adventure that easily exceeded every expectation that we had anticipated for this excursion. We had reservations at the elegant Banyan Tree Lijiang Resort and Spa, but since it was too early to check in there, Wu suggested that we should use this time to have a leisurely lunch after which we could visit the old town of Lijiang The walk through the old town of Lijiang was exciting to say the least. The shops were interesting and our purchases started in earnest. My first acquisition was from a bakery where I got a package of almond cookies which was shared by all. .

During the drive to our hotel, Wu heard us discussing the spa appointment that we had scheduled for ourselves. He suggested that we try a “real” Chinese massage in a local parlor in the old town that he was familiar with. He focused on how much less expensive it would be, just US$42 per person for a two hour treatment, and how it would be so much more authentic. We all thought that would be great fun and agreed to the plan, so he made a reservation for us for that evening. We only had 30 minutes to check in and see our luxurious villa accommodations with its private heated pool, facing the magnificent Jade Dragon Snow mountain, with its Himalayan snow capped peak, before we had to leave to go back to town for our spa reservation. Upon arriving at the massage parlor, we noticed a fully clothed man getting a massage from one of the male therapists. We thought we were supposed to undress before having a massage, so we asked about what we had seen and were told that in Lijiang, customers are expected to wear underwear. The girls then asked about the male therapists, and were told that they were blind and also slightly mentally impaired. With that information, they both instantly decided that they wanted female therapists. We started with a foot massage and reflexology treatment, after which we were getting a traditional Chinese massage. it was a unique experience AND it was really inexpensive; just 300 Yuan (US$42.50) per person. Mr. Pu was waiting to drive us back to our resort. We were too tired to have dinner, and so went right to bed. Our heated sheets kept us warm and cozy; there was no heat in the villa.

The next two days were like a whirlwind. We never had any available time to sit and enjoy our pool, the villa, or the scenery because the combination of the sightseeing and our spa appointments at the resort filled our days completely. We loved our three hour spa session so much Sunday afternoon with its footbath, reflexology, steam, two showers, exfoliation, cleansing, and hot rocks massage that we made arrangements for a 90 minute appointment for Monday evening before we left the spa.

As far as our tour program was concerned, we were on the road each morning by 9am During the two days we had there, we visited the Museum of Naxi (pronounced na-she) Culture where we learned about their religion, and its priests, the Dongba. This ethnic group is the most dominant of the 23 cultures that inhabit this area (China is composed of 84 ethnic groups of which the Han comprises 85%)

Other places that we visited included Mufu (the residence and gardens of the ruling family up to 1723 AD); Dragon Pool (an area of bubbling springs); the Buddhist Yufeng Monastery, Baisha Village (a sleepy village that was the old capital of the Naxi kingdom until the invasion of Kublai Khan); Dragon Spring Village where we had our included lunch on Sunday. (The lunch was in an outdoor restaurant that was on the edge of a river that reminded us very much of San Antonio’s riverwalk with all of its shops and restaurants on both banks of the river); and Stone Drum where we had lunch on Monday. We were lucky to arrive there on their monthly market day and were able to see the local people in their ethnic garb as they shopped for whatever they needed, including false teeth that did not look too professionally made. The highlight of our sightseeing adventures was the visit to Tiger Leaping Gorge, less than 200 miles from the Tibetan border, and in the Himalayas. To see the gorge, we had to make a four mile trek along one of those mountains that took us to the site of the first bend of the Yangtze River, a breathtaking view to say the least.

We skipped dinner on Sunday because we went to the Naxi orchestra performance by 30 musicians who ranged in age from maybe 25 years old to 88 years old. It was a very interesting 90 minute show of Chinese music on instruments that I have never seen the like of, many of which were home made.

Our China adventure was over on the morning of March 4. After packing quickly and having breakfast together, the four of us checked out and left Banyan Tree, vowing to return for another visit and more spa treatments next year at their Shangri La property. We had two flights today, a China Eastern 50 minute flight to Kunming, and from there, a 2 hour flight to Hong Kong. We were scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong at 4pm, but that airline is known to always be late and today was no exception. Today, it was only one hour late, which gave us just one hour to get to the Seven Seas Voyager before the gangway was removed. Even though we were driving in rush hour, we made it to the pier before 6pm, and boarded our ship. We went to our new suite, #727, to find everything in place. The Voyager left Hong Kong, on schedule, at 7pm. It was several hours later, as our ship was gently rocking along in the Formosa Strait that we headed to dinner. Afterwards, I downloaded the 50 messages that had accumulated during our absence. Actually, that was not as bad as I had thought it would be. It was easy to sleep that night, and dream about coming back to China for even more discoveries.

cruisetour

03-12-2008, 04:56 PM

Vietnam has really changed since establishing the confederation of its two parts in 1975, but according to our guides in the two cities that we visited, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), this is still a third world country with a lot of problems yet to be addressed. The one thing that is working well is the tourism area which has brought a lot of money to Vietnam.

We had never visited Nha Trang previously. It is in Central Vietnam, and is one of the newest ports to gain acceptance by visitors, and is growing quickly because of its beautiful beaches and local government attitude of developing a infrastructure that will support tourism. Our 3 ½ hour Ancient Civilization tour started with a visit to the 19th century Long Son Pagoda that is currently home to less than ten Buddhist Monks. From the pagoda, we could climb 152 step to see a giant white Buddha seated on a lotus blossom overlooking, and offering magnificent views, of the entire city. From here, we drove just a few minutes to the Ha Ra Bridge where our guide suggested we disembark and walk across it to see the colorfully painted blue and red fishing boats moored in the harbor delivering their catch of fish to the local shops. We continued our stroll to the Po Nagar Cham Towers built in the 10th century by the Cham civilization on a site still used today for Hindu worship. While there, we watched and listened to a group of Cham people, from the countryside, dancing and playing their ancient instruments. Our next stop was ata local market where all of the shopkeepers were glad to accept US dollars. It seems that US currency is accepted everywhere in Vietnam. Our next stop was at a pretty beachfront café for a snack of coconut milk served in a coconut where there were even more vendors selling tee shirts, postcards, and knock off polo shirts. Our final stop before retuning to our ship was at the government embroidery workshop where we watched the workers creating beautiful embroidered clothing and wall hangings. After returning to the ship, we ate quickly because Regent was conducting a ship-wide party on the grounds of the summer palace of the last king of the Vietnamese Nguyen dynasty. He had been deposed in 1954 by France, and thereafter spent the rest of his life in a villa somewhere in France. The event included an assortment of foods and a variety of wines, as well as entertainment provided by costumed Vietnamese singers and dancers. The show was held on the property’s private beach overlooking the South China Sea. It was a lovely event and would have been perfect except that as the performance started, the sun disappeared, the clouds came in, and the rain started to pour. It was a shame because that ended the party as everyone headed for the coaches to get out of the rain and take them back to the ship. The Voyager left at 5pm for an overnight cruise to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

We docked at Tan Thuan 2 harbor on Friday, at noon, for our two day visit in this capital city. We have planned two tours here visiting the Cu Chi underground tunnels today, and the Mekong River Delta tomorrow.

The Cu Chi Underground Tunnels were lived in, and fought from; by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (They call it the American War). It was a 44 mile, 2 hour drive to Cu Chi from the port. After arriving, we watched a propaganda video made during the war. It traced the origins, construction, and design of the more than 120 miles of underground tunnels that were capable of withstanding the weight of tanks or the impact of 50-pound bombs. Afterwards, a guide walked us around the area and showed us some of the tools and weapons used by the guerrillas. We had the opportunity to go to a shooting range where we could fire guns used during the war for $1.25 per bullet. None of our group opted to do that, but we could hear scattered gunfire throughout our visit which made the conflict more real for us. Some of our group entered an unlit passage that had been enlarged for the comfort of visitors, but even so, they still had to crawl to another exit on their hands and knees. The fighters at the time of the war were all less than 125 pounds, and none of us were that size. That sure explains how they were able to get through the passages so easily. During the trip, Mary Pat had a coughing attack that continued the entire day and made the other people on our tour afraid to be anywhere near her. Once we were back on our ship, she decided that she would not go on tomorrow’s 7 ½ hour tour to the Mekong River Delta and went directly to bed. I attended an excellent Vietnamese folkloric show and took lots of video of the performance.

The Mekong River is the 10th longest river in the world. During the ride from the pier, we learned that the river originates in Tibet, and flows through six countries: China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. When it gets to Vietnam, it divides into nine tributaries that form a huge fertile delta that is utilized for raising rice, fish, soybeans, corn, peanuts, tobacco, and melons. We made a stop during the 1 ½ hour ride at My Tho, the first city, and the largest Buddhist center, in the Mekong Delta. It is famous for its coconut palms and fruit orchards, as well as being the site of the ancient Vinh Trang Pagoda. After our visit there, our group boarded a boat for a cruise on the Mekong River where we could observe witness the everyday lives of the river dwellers as we rode through the maze of small canals. We learned that the boats we were seeing on the river had an eye painted on their bows to frighten off evil underwater spirits. After thirty minutes, we disembarked on one of the islands, where we visited several traditional homes of fruit farmers and fishermen, and sampled local candies and tea. The highlight for me was when we boarded a four person sampan for a ride on a small canal back to town. After a nice lunch, in a pretty outdoor restaurant, we drove quickly back to the pier. It was a full day, a hot day, and a very interesting day.

Mary Welden

03-14-2008, 03:51 AM

Jay and Mary Pat,

Your photography is really good! The pictures of those children in Vietnam is wonderful and the ladies in the boats through the trees. Very nice. Makes me wish even more I was there. Mary Pat, sorry about the weather mistake! Good thing you had jackets! Sounds like y'all are going to be able to write a cofffee table book about massage all over the world! Packing up for Ireland! Don't forget to wear green on Monday!
Love,
Mary

jherring

03-20-2008, 04:27 PM

Jay,

I ate at Fuddruckers the other day and missed your company. Hope you and Mary Pat are well. Careful with the massages. See you soon.

James Herring

cruisetour

03-21-2008, 10:20 AM

Kuala Lumpur is one of Malaysia’s capital cities and is a model of prosperity for the Muslim world to look up to, with its magnificent architecture, beautiful parks, and well dressed residents.

We were up and out very early for our three hour Kuala Lumpur Highlights tour of the city’s mosques, museums, memorials, and the King’s Palace. The 470 feet tall minarets of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque (Blue Mosque) are the tallest in the world; the Thean Hou Temple is one of the largest Chinese temples in Southeast Asia; and the National monument built in 1966 is awe inspiring. Our last stop was at independence square, where its 328 foot flagpole marks the spot where the Malaysian flag was hoisted on August 31, 1957 to commemorate the country’s independence from Britain.

This afternoon, we got together with Joan & Charlie and placed a telephone call to the Banyan Tree Spa in Phuket, where our ship will be tomorrow. This property has been voted “the World’s Best Spa Resort” by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure Magazine to be the world’s best Spa Resort. We really want to have a massage package there, if possible.

We met some of our new neighbors at the shipwide block party, after which we attended the Ensemble cocktail party and had dinner with friends Before going to bed tonight, we changed our clocks again; this time, one hour back to return us to a twelve hour difference between home and the ship.

cruisetour

03-21-2008, 10:26 AM

Phuket when translated into English means “mountain” or “hill”. As this is what the island appears like from a distance.

We arrived here at 11am, after a leisurely morning of cruising over calm waters. Regent was offering its passengers a five hour, complimentary, excursion this afternoon to Phang Nga Bay, by speedboat, to see the colossal monoliths rising from the sea in grotesque shapes formed by centuries of erosion, after which they would be able to have some time on the white sand beach of Little Rang Island. The excursion even included local entertainment, and a Thai lunch. The tour sounded wonderful, and under normal circumstances, we would have loved to join in. But today, we, along with Joan & Charley, our travel buddies, are too excited about our three hour package of spa treatments. We agreed on a round trip fare to the resort with a van driver, and as soon as the ship was cleared by local authorities, we left for Banyan Tree spa, the most famous spa facility in the world. The 45 minute ride got us there at 12:45pm. Because we had arrived an hour before our arrangements were to start, the girls immediately changed the reservations so that each of them would now have a fourth hour of pampering. Their program, in addition to an added facial included a footbath; lemongrass & cucumber scrub; Thai acupressure massage; herbal pouch massage; and a therapeutic herbal bath. Charlie and I, with our measly three hour program were going to receive a footbath; Pineapple & coconut scrub; lomi lomi massage; and a facial.

I don’t really know what went on in the girls’ rooms, but my experience was very interesting—I was given over to two young girls, TANN was my assigned massage therapist, and PREA was my facial therapist. Tann took me to my three room private suite that was very inviting. She suggested that I sit on the sofa, enjoy some tea, and remove my shoes and socks for the footbath. She rolled up my trousers, had me put my feet in the container of water, put in a special perfumed liquid, washed my feet and then massaged my legs while she was drying them. After this procedure was finished, she led me to the changing area and requested that I take off my clothes, including my underwear! I turned to face her. That is all I did, but something she saw in my gaze caused her to look into my eyes and repeat “including your underwear; you have to be completed naked. After I had removed all of my clothes, she wrapped a pareo around my waist and asked if I would like steam before the massage. I really dislike steam because it is hard for me to breathe with all that heat, but I acted worldly as if I do this all the time and said that would be fine. She had previously turned on the steam cabinet assuming that I would agree to use it, so by the time she closed the door behind me, the heat was suffocating. I could feel my nasal passages and my throat burning every time I took a breath. I probably lasted no more than three minutes before I had enough of that, and quickly exited the steam to walk into the treatment room where she was patiently waiting for me.
After also finding out how much pressure I would be comfortable with, she indicated that I should lay face down on the massage table, after which she placed a towel over my backside. She was very thorough, and starting at my feet gave me a wonderful reflexology treatment. Then she started moving up my body. Before too much time went by, I found that the covering sheet was covering less and less of me, and even more so after she had me turn face up. Obviously, modesty is not relevant to the art of massage. The time flew by as she stroked and rubbed almost every part of my body. After what seemed like minutes but was actually 1½ hours, she said that she was done, but that PREA was now going to do my facial. I never had a facial before, and did not know what to expect. What I discovered is that I will definitely choose to have another facial if and when the opportunity presents itself again. Facials, at least to PREA, meant rubbing my head, neck and shoulders as well as applying a mask to my face. Also, between breaks in the facial procedure, Prea would climb onto the massage table and repeat some of the features of the full body massage. All too soon, I heard a set of chimes ring three times, the signal that the treatment was over. That was too bad; I would definitely have enjoyed another hour of rubbing and stroking. At that point, Prea sat me up, offered me a cup of tea, and climbed on the massage table to rub my back before allowing me to get my clothes. After I was dressed, she served me iced tea, fruit and fresh cut vegetables. I sure do understand why this health resort is considered the top one in the world. After I indicated that I had enough tea, fruit and fresh vegetables (which was the only food I had today), she escorted me back to the reception desk to meet Mary Pat and our friends. We climbed into our waiting van for the ride back to the ship, and shared our stories of what we had experienced. We all agreed that this day could not have been better, and that we made the right choice by having the massage treatments instead of going on the ship excursion, even though that would also have been very nice. We arrived back at the port at 7pm, and had some time to walk through the market that had been set up on the pier before reboarding the ship. We had a quick dinner, and then returned to our rooms for a great night’s sleep. What a Great Day!

cruisetour

03-21-2008, 12:25 PM

Monday, March 17 was a normal morning at sea onboard the Voyager, with all the usual activities since we were not scheduled to arrive in Myanmar until 1:30pm. We had a private lunch with Joan & Charlie on the balcony of their suite, as the ship traveled down the filthy river loaded with silt toward the place where we would be docked for the next 48 hours. This port is an hour away from Yangon, and Regent has arranged to have shuttles take any passengers who are not on tour to the city where they can go some shopping in one of the major markets, like the Scott Market. There was a group of well dressed pretty girls in festive costumes on the pier waiting to greet us, and well as government officials in uniform who presented Captain Dag with a plaque commemorating this call to their country. Since we have a full day excursion tomorrow, we did not leave the ship. However, a shop of local items for sale was set up in the lobby MaryPat bought a couple of things there.

Tuesday morning, I joined the passengers eligible for the ensemble excursion in the Voyager Lounge. As we left the ship, we had a nice greeting from our guide, dressed in native costume. On the way to the ancient city of Syriam, our first stop, our guide, explained that Yangon is more than 2,000 years old, and although it had been the capital of Myanmar for many years, the Junta chairman, in 2006, changed the capital of the country to a new location 200 miles North of the city so that he could say that the military that has been running the country since the 1980’s has its own capital, and will not use the one glorified by the former governments of Myanmar (Burma). However, most of the foreign embassies and government buildings are still based in Yangon. The government says that Syriam is a microcosm of Burmese charm. Everything inside the gate is perfect. The grass is green, the buildings are well maintained, and the people look healthy and happy. It is the perfect public relations spot, but reminds me of the Garden of Eden that Adolf Hitler presented to the world when he showed them his model concentration camp outside of Prague, Terezin. It was only after the war that the world discovered the atrocities that had been performed there. I am not saying any atrocities are being committed in Syriam. It is just that everything there is like a movie set, and just too perfect with its well dressed residents, licking ice cream cones in the outdoor café; the beautiful pond with its swan shaped boats floating on calm reflective waters. It is just too perfect. It made the contrast that one notices as they leave the town and drive through rural or urban Myanmar even stronger than it might otherwise be; no grass, no gardens, no trees, no shoes on the people, and very few smiles. It is the face that the Myanmar government wants the world to believe, but they can’t carry it off. Interestingly enough, Myanmar does have some real things to show visitors: a folkloric history that is very interesting; the 2,500 year old Schwedagon Pagoda with its amazing history and magnificent stupas; and the local people, who really are friendly, mild mannered individuals. During the drive from Syriam to central Yangon, we passed an area packed wall to wall with people. According to our guide, this was the place where everyone was arranging visas for their vacations to China, Thailand, and Laos. We heard later that, in actuality, these people were trying to get a passport to leave the country. After a very nice lunch at the Governors residence, an imposing teak mansion dating from the 1920’s within the elegant embassy quarter, that now provides hotel accommodations for dignitaries and other important visitors, we drove to the Bogyoke Aung San Market, also known as the Scott Market. This is the largest market in Yangon where vendors sell everything from spices to bicycles. Before returning to our ship, we visited the famous Buddhist Schwedagon Pagoda. As I said, it is a sight that has to be seen. We returned to the ship, tired and hot, but having had a very nice tour of this part of Myanmar.

Mary Welden

03-26-2008, 04:17 PM

The world of massage not only opened it's doors this cruise, the flood gates have been burst! We are counting the days until our reunion!
Love,
Mary

cruisetour

04-02-2008, 11:34 AM

By 7:30am, our ship had already docked in Cochin, and everybody was reporting to Indian immigration and retrieving their passports. We disembarked at 10:15 to find our driver and guide waiting on the pier to transfer us to the airport. After a one hour drive, our guide assisted us with the check-in for our 2 hour Jet Airways flight to Mumbai.

After landing in Mumbai, we noticed one of the flight attendants pointing us out to a gentleman who obviously was looking for us. He approached, bowed low, and said that Jet Airways had requested him to provide special arrangements for us. He reached for our hand luggage and led us through customs bypassing all the normal procedures as he whispered something to the government officials. As a result, it was merely minutes and we were already through security and seated in an “extra special” VIP lounge, whereupon our escort again bowed low, and quietly asked me, “What is your designation”. I had no idea what he was talking about, so he repeated the question and added that he would like to know who he was escorting so he could inform the lounge attendants who we were. I kept shaking my head and said that I do not have a designation, at which point, he put his finger to his lips and said “I understand”. He then bowed again, and went to the front of the room where I saw him whispering to the personnel behind the reception desk while pointing at me. They also obviously thought I was someone special because they were looking my way and nodding in agreement to whatever he was saying.

Since we had a four hour wait before our flight to Jaipur, I decided to utilize the time by working on two half finished sketches that I had brought with me. It was not too long after I had started applying ink to the drawing of Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda on my sketch pad that I had a group of admirers around me. Several members of my audience even recognized the site in the picture. My amateur sketch had found an audience that made me feel like they thought I was Michelangelo.

Before we realized it, it was time to be escorted to our flight, landing in Jaipur at 9:15pm. It was a thirty minute ride to our hotel, the Rambagh Palace, former home of the Maharajah of Rajasthan.. We were given a royal greeting and immediately escorted to our suite of rooms for a private check-in procedure. Even though we have traveled extensively, I do not think that we have ever been to a property that is this elegant and special.

That evening, we saw a palm reader in front of one of the restaurants. Mary Pat thought it would be fun to have our palms read. I was hesitant because I always thought that this type of thing is very hokey, but this is India, where the people believe in things like this, so I agreed. After all, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, and this phrase is even more apropos in India. He requested that we write our names and dates of birth on a piece of paper for him. He performed some computations, then took our palm in his and proceeded to tell each of us about ourselves, our past, and our future. I was shocked that he was so correct in his analyses of both of us. It is really scary how accurate he was. He really hit the bull’s-eye on our personalities. We both walked back to our suite wondering how he was able to pick out our faults and our strong suits so well without our saying a single word about who, or what, we are.

Monday was a very full day, starting with a complete breakfast, served by turbaned attendants who made us feel like WE were the maharajah and maharani. Our guide arrived and our tour started with a drive through Jaipur. We discovered immediately why this is called “the pink city”. We made several photo stops along the way, each one being more beautiful and exotic than the one before. Our first stop was the 17th century magnificent Amber Fort, surrounded by its fortified battlements. Our tour included a visit to the temple of the Hindu goddess of war; we had to be totally barefoot. I was also instructed to remove my leather belt, because it is made from the skin of a holy animal. Following the lead of our guide, , we rang a bell suspended from the ceiling to call the goddess and request her intervention on our behalf; afterwards, we were blessed by the priest with holy water that believers drink; but our guide told us that it would be acceptable if we just rubbed the water into our hair. From here, we drove back to Jaipur to visit the outdoor Jantar Mantar (astronomical observatory) built by the Maharaja of Jaipur (Sawai Jai Singh) in 1726. Despite the fact that these amazing instruments are almost 300 years old, they still make accurate predictions even to this day.

Because we had spa appointments back at Rambagh Palace at 3pm, there was only a short time to visit the City Palace. There was so much to see that we did not take time for lunch, and also had to shop for anything we wanted on the run.

We had only ten minutes to change our clothes and get to the spa. MaryPat wanted to take some steam before her massage. I really have a problem breathing in a steam room, and since I was wearing my bathing suit under my clothes, I asked if I could take a swim in one of the huge (everything is huge here) swimming pools before I had my massage. I had a “servant” assigned to me who was to assist me in every way until I entered the massage villa, and he nodded affirmatively to my request, and led me to an inside swimming pool, but the water was too cold. He then suggested that I try the hot tub, but that water was too hot. He then walked with me to an outdoor swimming pool that was surrounded by a magnificent garden with flowers of every color in bloom. That water was just right, so I jumped right in when, suddenly, my attendant said it was time to go, because our therapists were waiting for us.

At this point, my “servant”, who was still with me, escorted me to the changing room where he tried to help me out of my bathing suit. I made it clear that I could do that myself. He stepped back, but insisted on helping me into my robe. I yielded to this request, but told him that I would tie the belt around my waist by myself. After leading me to where I met Mary Pat, we were joined by our two therapists, and he finally left. I am really getting used to this maharajah stuff, and also these long massage treatments, but this one was different than I had experienced before. Each country has its own way of doing things, and India is no exception. We were led to two elegant throne type chairs after which our attendants fell to their knees to tell us how honored they were to have been selected to care for us. They then washed our feet and led us in meditation before allowing each of us to select our own personal chakra stone. MaryPat’s was placed on her forehead to relieve stress; mine was placed on my throat to relieve congestion—both stones were well selected. The two hour massage followed, and ended with our being served cups of ginger tea as we relaxed in a king size hammock in the open air veranda of our tented massage villa. We returned to our suite at 5:30pm, had a health food bar for dinner, and dressed quickly to meet our guide for our evening visits to the finest jewelry store, and the finest textile and carpet sales shop, in all of Jaipur.

cruisetour

04-02-2008, 12:03 PM

Tuesday, our adventure continued with an early breakfast, followed by Charlie & Joan’s arrival from Mumbai, after which we drove for 4 ½ hours through the Rajasthan countryside to the Oberei Vanyavilas luxury tented Resort in Ranthambore.

The resort was absolutely beautiful; not as elegant as the Rambagh Palace, but surrounded by magnificent gardens, lagoons, waterfalls, and flowering plants and bushes. After lunch, we went on an afternoon game drive where we spotted several varieties of monkeys, baboons, spotted & summer deer, blue bull antelopes, crocodiles, and multiple beautiful bird species; everything except a tiger. We were a little disappointed as we returned to the resort that evening, but it gave us something to look forward to tomorrow. This evening we had a three hour Indian massage, followed by a late dinner in the outdoor restaurant, serenaded with Indian music.

Wednesday morning started with a 6:15am early morning safari during which we again encountered many varieties of wild animals. This time we did find our tiger. We followed her for more than 30 minutes, taking some fantastic photos along the way. Afterwards, it was a happy and excited group that returned to the Resort for breakfast, during which we discussed the rest of our day. Our original plan was to have an afternoon safari drive that would get us back to the resort at 6:30pm, and then drive the
4-5 hours, after dark, to Jaipur, arriving at our hotel close to midnight. Since we had found a tiger this morning, we decided to give up the afternoon safari in favor of leaving for Jaipur at 12:30pm. This way, we would be there before dark, and in time for dinner. We could then have a leisurely evening. The ride back to Jaipur was full of exotic photo opportunities, and was very enjoyable until, within a half hour of being back at the palace, our driver almost got involved in a serious accident when a truck pulled right in front of us, causing him to slam on the brakes quickly. The quick stop caught all of us unaware, but most of all Mary Pat who was thrown out of her seat onto the floor of the van. I was able to stop her from hitting her head on the dashboard, but in her fall, her back scraped against a piece of metal that instantly created a huge black and blue spot. Nothing appeared to be broken but she was definitely hurting. The almost-accident ended what had been a lovely day, and a lovely trip as well. Luckily, the situation did not cause more damage than it did, but sure showed us how fast things can change, and why we should enjoy and appreciate every moment that we have.

Since Joan and Charlie did not see the property previously, the four of us explored the grounds. They decided to have their palms read like we had done several days ago. Their reaction was exactly the same as ours. The palmist had perfectly analyzed both of them, just like he did for us. We had dinner together, after which we were all so tired that it did not take long to fall asleep.

Thursday, we flew back to Mumbai, to rejoin our ship and to reflect on the wonderful trip we had just experienced.

Mary Welden

04-03-2008, 01:06 PM

Hey J,
Its kathleen [i no your name is spelled Jay but i like it better when you spell it J]. I hope you had a great time on your massage adventure! I wish my family would let me do something fun l9ike that but all we get to do is go on 12 hour excoursins! See ya in Greece, Kathleen

cruisetour

04-03-2008, 08:52 PM

We can hardly wait for you to get to the ship. I hear you have some beautiful new clothes for the trip. See you soon

J

cruisetour

04-03-2008, 09:16 PM

DUBAI was not a port that I was particularly interesting in seeing again, but I have to confess that I did have a good time during the two days we were there. During this visit, we decided to tour independently by taxi or the ship arranged shuttle, rather than to take the organized shore excursions, most of which would have been a repeat of what we have done on previous visits. We spent most of the time with Joan & Charlie, our constant companions. Our initial destination for Sunday was the gold souk, always an interesting place for people watching as well as for shopping.

After our first purchase of a pashmina scarf, we took a taxi from the gold souk to the ultra fancy Mercato Shopping Center where there was a Starbucks. This shopping center also had a food court, just like home, with a McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut. After lunch, we were off again, this time to the Al Karama Shopping Complex, an area known for its individually owned shops specializing in locally made handicrafts, textiles, fabrics, and souvenirs of all kinds. The shopkeepers were very pleasant and helpful, but never pushy. We really enjoyed going through the shops, and we met some interesting people, both tourists and locals. Joan bought Charlie and me a white sheikh outfit, and bought herself and Mary Pat one of the black garments and head scarves that the Arab women wear when they are away from their homes that everyone admired when we wore them to dinner later that night. When we made our end of day pashmina purchases, the shopkeeper insisted that both girls pick out an additional pashmina of their choice as his gift to them. Maybe his gesture was an indication that we paid too much for the scarves that we purchased, but I think he was just being hospitable.

We had such good time at Al Karama that we took a taxi there the next morning to look around some more. This time, we moved quicker because our ship was leaving at 1pm. . We barely got back to the ship on time. As the Voyager pulled away from our pier, Captain Dag announced that he was going to salute the new ship, Queen Victoria, who was tied up alongside us. She is a “huge” ship carrying close to 4,000 passengers on her inaugural world cruise. Our ship looked like a lifeboat next to this giant of the seas. I sure am happier sailing around the world on our 700 passenger ship. Captain Dag also made a special point of announcing that the Queen Victoria itinerary did not include a single overnight visit to any port of call.

peggynathan

04-04-2008, 07:44 PM

I'm really enjoying your blog!

Peggy

cruisetour

04-04-2008, 09:06 PM

Our ship docked in Muscat, at Port Sultan Qaboos, at 8:30am. Here too, we have already taken all of the available tours during past visits, so we enjoyed an easy day taking the ship’s complimentary shuttle to Mutrah Souk to see what treasures we could find. They always have interesting things to buy. This is the place where we first found the “mosque alarm clock” that sounds the call to prayer five times each day. We purchased several of these in the past as gifts for our friends. Today, I bought an oil lamp, just like the one that Aladdin used to call his Genie. The shopkeeper told me not to waste my time rubbing the lamp because the genies were on strike. Mary Pat is still looking for pashminas, and tried on a pretty black sequined pashmina one, but her negotiating technique so irritated the shopkeeper that he started yelling that she did not appreciate his fine merchandise. I bought the scarf for a more agreeable price that calmed him down.

We continued to walk through the shops, comparing our purchases with those of the other world cruisers, until the souk closed, at 1pm, for their long lunch break. They were scheduled to reopen at 4pm, but all passengers were told to be onboard no later than 5:30pm. As a result, we just remained on the ship during the afternoon enjoying tea time and looking forward to our “silk road” cabaret dinner where we wore our Arabian outfits. We drew a lot of attention both during cocktails and at dinner. There were a lot of jealous people who wished that they had outfits like ours. It was a fun evening with entertainment provided by the talented members of the crew.

We will now have five full days at sea, during which we will spend several days cruising through the Red Sea, before we reach our next port of call, Aqaba, on Monday, April 7th, from where we will have an overland overnight excursion to see the wonders of Petra in the Jordanian desert.

cruisetour

04-09-2008, 10:19 PM

Aqaba is located in the most southern part of the desert country making up the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, and is across the Red Sea from the Israeli port city of Eilat that you can see on a clear day. We were docked by 8am, and took the earliest shuttle to town to do some looking around before lunch. We had to move quickly because our overnight tour of Petra was scheduled to leave from the pier at 1pm. During the morning, I lost Mary Pat, but she found me when she was ready to go to Queen Noor Foundation Shop. We walked back to the ship in time to have a quick lunch before the two hour drive to the Movenpick Resort Petra where we were spending the night. Upon arrival, we freshened up and put on jackets for the cool weather, met our guide, Ibraham, and followed him to the Petra visitor’s center where we got our entry tickets for the UNESCO site. The site has also been designated as “one of the seven wonders of the modern world”. Although there were carriages and horses for people who did not want to walk the 1 ½ miles to the entrance of this ancient city, we decided to hike there. It was an easy downhill walk with a lot to see as we went along. After a half-mile, we arrived at the entrance to the Siq, the narrow passage that acted as protection, from invaders, for the ancient Nabataeans’ who controlled the area from approximately 400BC until 100AD.

During our walk, we also learned that Petra was built over a 900 year period (from 800BC to 100AD); that it covers an area of 39 square miles; and has over 800 monuments. When shipping displaced caravan routes, the city’s importance dwindled and fell into disuse. As a result, the location was lost to the world until 1812 when it was rediscovered by a Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Petra is Jordan’s top tourist attraction, and is known as the rose-red city. The site was featured in the movie “Indiana Jones and the last Crusade”.

We spent two hours, which was not long enough, touring the historical site, and then started the 1 ½ mile uphill climb to return to our hotel. Uphill is a lot different from downhill, and there were moments when I was using energy that I did not know I had. Huffing and puffing, we finally got back to our hotel at 7pm. It was getting very cold outside, so everyone was happy to be back at the hotel. Thirty minutes later, in heavier winter jackets, we were bussed to Little Petra for a delightful dinner under the stars. The only problem was the weather. Even with my heavy jacket, my teeth were chattering, and if not for an additional outer garment that Mary Pat had, I think I would have frozen. After dinner, the belly dancers performed, and I still do not understand how they could do that in the skimpy little outfits that they were wearing. We left before dessert to enjoy the warmth of the coach, arriving back at the hotel before 10pm and enjoying a good night’s sleep.

We had two day passes, and so could have returned to the UNESCO site, which was a real plus, but my legs and back were still hurting the next morning, so we did not take advantage of this opportunity. We had breakfast at 7:30 AM, after which we walked through one of the shops in front of the hotel before returning to our room to get our luggage and check out. Our coach left Petra at 9am for the pleasant, and scenic, two hour drive back to Aqaba, during which we showed off our photos to our companions. We boarded our ship in time for lunch, and the Voyager left Aqaba, as we were eating, to head for the Suez Canal.

cruisetour

04-12-2008, 12:53 AM

Egypt is celebrating 7,000 years of civilization, and during the early part of its existence was the home of two of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. It also is the site of one of the world’s great waterways, The 101 mile long Suez Canal where we were anchored, near the city of Suez at 5am while we were still asleep. This stop was made to disembark all the guests who were traveling overland, some of which were going on a 14 hour tour to Cairo and Giza, or the others going on a Cairo overnight excursion. Once this was done, we joined the convoy leaving Suez at 8am for the transit to Port Said, 93 miles north. The convoy was composed of 41 vessels, all of which were paying the Egyptian government US$200,000 for the right to transit from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea; we were number 30. At 2pm, we crossed the two southbound convoys. There is not much scenery along the route. A good part of the trip is pure sand on both sides of the canal.
When not standing on our balcony taking photos of the sand, I was working on my computer projects. Mary Pat took the opportunity to have a massage.

We had an early dinner because our ship was due to dock at Port Said, Egypt for several hours this evening so that we could reboard the 14 hour overland tour passengers. The ship docked earlier than scheduled and although we were told that we would have several hours to purchase Egyptian souvenirs pierside, the schedule was changed, by Egyptian authorities, so that we only had 15 minutes to run through the shops and negotiate for our treasures. We only purchased 10 bookmarks for US$1 before reboarding the Voyager and watching the merchants wave goodbye as we headed North into the Mediterranean Sea towards Alexandria where we arrived at 8am.

We had a disturbing email overnight that informed us that my favorite uncle had suffered a stroke, and had passed away during the day. His passing is quite a loss to me. He was someone who was very responsible for the molding of my personality, and he had a great influence on my life. Not a day goes by that I do not thank him for the gifts that he gave to me in personality traits, self assurance, and positive thinking.

Luckily, we had not signed up for any tours today. During previous visits, we had toured the city, the catacombs, and its magnificent library. As a result, we spent the morning responding to emails from the family, and had lunch on board. Afterwards, we took the complimentary shuttle to the center of town where we walked around for a while, and then took a horse and buggy ride around the city. Our driver guide, Ibrahaim, took us on several side tours, the first was to visit the main mosque and the second was to visit the waterfront castle that serves as an underwater museum. We were out for several hours. After our tour Ibrahaim took us back to the pier instead of going to city center. We walked into the terminal, to a waterfront open market at the pier where MaryPat bought a pretty cotton dress and blouse before we boarded the Voyager at 3:45pm. We had tea together and then relaxed until time for dinner. We dined tonight with the ship’s food & beverage manager before returning our room and getting ready for six more ports in the next six days. This is a very busy part of our cruise.

cruisetour

04-17-2008, 11:12 PM

On this final day of segment six, we had a wonderful visit to Kusadasi. During other visits, we toured Ephesus, the home of the Virgin Mary, and other archeological sites from Roman times. This visit was totally different. For more than a month, Charlie has been telling me about the wonderful shaves and haircut’s that he gets here, and that he wanted me to have the same experience. Well, today was the day. After the ship docked early this morning, the four of us had breakfast together and immediately thereafter left the ship for our adventure with his barber. We immediately headed for the Bayfendy barber Saloon and the barber that he has used several times, Ahmet. I went first! The full treatment included being lathered up several times for a series of shaves with a straight razor in different directions. Next came an exfoliation treatment, the removal of all unwanted hair with a flame, a shampoo, a haircut, and thereafter a head, neck and back massage. The procedure took an hour, and Charlie was right—it was great! After Charlie was given the same treatment, we left our barber and were going toward a shop, Full Leather, where Mary Pat and I have spent time and money during several past visits, but we never got there.

As the four of us were passing Narsis Jewellery, one of the many jewelry shops in Kusadasi, we saw a couple of friends inside, and walked into the store to see what they were buying. This was either one of our bigger mistakes or the best decision we have made in a long time. I will only know the answer to that question after we get home and appraise what we eventually purchased. Our friends told us that this was the sixth consecutive year that they had bought something at this same shop and that they were always happy with their purchases. We found out later that the present owners of the shop were brother and sister, and that they were the second generation of their family to own this store. Since we were there, they showed us some items that interested us, but it was getting close to lunchtime, so we said we were going to go back to our ship, have lunch, and would then bring back a necklace that we hoped they might have earrings to match it, whereupon they told us that they knew of a wonderful local restaurant that served typical Turkish food and that their driver would take us there if we wanted. We thought that would be fun. The shopkeeper then suggested that after our meal, his driver would take us back to our ship where we could collect the necklace and then bring us back to the shop.

The restaurant turned out to be the Secret Garden, one of the most highly recommended restaurants in the city. The lunch was absolutely delicious, and the setting was beautiful. It was like eating in a garden. When it came time for the bill, we were told that the charges were taken care of by the owners of the jewelry shop. We expressed our gratitude, left an appropriate tip, and returned to our waiting vehicle and driver, who drove us to the pier. After retrieving Mary Pat’s necklace, the four of us were guided back to the shop where we also thanked our hosts for the delicious lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon sipping apple tea together while selecting the appropriate gems for the earrings while Joan and Charlie were selecting something else for themselves. We all agreed on a reasonable price for our purchases and happily concluded the transaction.

The deal done, the owner poured a glass of champagne for everyone and we all sat around and talked about our families. At some point, he asked if there was anything else that I would like to have, and I, kiddingly, said I would like a piece of baklava. A few moments later, two huge boxes of that famous dessert were being delivered to the shop, one box for us, and the other for Joan & Charlie. We all sampled the “goodies” (three pieces each) and they were delicious; not the thing to have when we are trying to keep our weight in check, but definitely heavenly. It was getting close to the time we had to be on the ship so we agreed that we should start back to the pier. We hugged and kissed our new friends goodbye, and promised to stay in touch. We were the last passengers to reboard the ship before the gangway was dismantled at 6:30pm. Our ship left Kusadasi thirty minutes later.

As we returned to our room to get ready for dinner, we could already see the luggage in the hallways. This is the last night of segment 6, and there are more than 200 passengers leaving the ship tomorrow in Athens. Again, we are glad that it is not us, but we know that in just 18 days, we will be the ones packing and disembarking the Voyager. The girls wore their new treasures to dinner that evening and got compliments from everyone. After dinner, we went to the observation lounge to listen to the entertainment and talk about our day before returning to our rooms for the evening.

This was a very interesting segment that left us with a lot of wonderful memories. We are looking forward to tomorrow because several friends from last year are joining the ship and we are looking forward to visiting with them as we cruise through the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic Ocean back to the U.S.A.

cruisetour

04-17-2008, 11:23 PM

ATHENS represents the first day of the final segment of this year’s world cruise. It arrived quicker than I thought it would. On the other hand, today is also our 99th day on the Voyager.

Joan and Charlie called to see if we wanted the Sunday champagne & caviar breakfast that was being served in the dining room. Mary Pat jumped out of bed, was dressed, and ready to go in less time than I can ever remember. After breakfast, we were joined by other friends and took the first shuttle of the day to the Athens old town area (plaka). Our program said that the ride would take an hour but because it was Sunday, traffic was non existent and we arrived at our destination in just 26 minutes. We strolled through the streets, looked at the shops, watched the people, and took pictures of the town for several hours, and then decided to have lunch at one of the open-air cafes.

I knew that the Welden family was arriving this morning after an overnight flight from the USA, and I was looking forward to seeing them this afternoon, but was pleasantly surprised when out of nowhere, their children, Nicky & Kathleen jumped in front of us to say hello. They and their parents were sitting at the next table in the same restaurant. We kissed and hugged our greetings, and were catching up on news from home when our lunch arrived at the table. After lunch, we headed back to the ship where we accompanied the Weldens as they boarded the Voyager, and then joined them at a welcome aboard party in their honor.

Before I knew it, it was time for dinner. I still had my untouched box of baklava, so I took it to dinner so we could share the goodies with our tablemates. Unfortunately, I ate two of them myself, and considering that I am having a hard time buttoning my jacket, I should have had none. After dinner, we met several more friends from previous world cruises who had joined the ship today and spent time getting reacquainted before returning to our room for the evening.

Monday, April 14, 2008—Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

Today is the day we went on the complimentary tour to Olympia, a UNESCO world heritage site, to see the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Statue of Zeus. This would be the fourth site of the seven possible ones that we have visited during the last week. We disembarked the ship, together with several of our friends so that we could be on the same bus, for the one hour ride. Unfortunately, we only had one hour to explore the site but it was well worth the ride. Our guide showed us where the Olympic flame is lit every four years for the trip around the world; took us to the field where the ancient Olympic events were conducted starting in 776 B.C. to honor Zeus (she also told us that the modern Olympic games were first held in 1896). We also learned that the games were only open to male Greek citizens, and never to women or foreigners. Most important, we saw where the temple of Zeus stood, inside of which was the massive 75 foot statue of Zeus. Not a trace of that statue remains today. We were also supposed to see a demonstration of several of the Olympic events, but because some of our passengers were unable to climb the necessary steps, it was decided to have that part of the event take place on the pool deck on our ship (except for the javelin throw which could have been a problem). We returned to our coaches for the ride back to Katakolon. Back at the pier, instead of going to the pool deck, we walked through the lovely and charming Greek village with its well maintained and fully stocked shops, and its friendly people. We stayed as long as possible, and got back to the ship just as the whistle sounded announcing that we were about to depart from this area of the Peloponnese Peninsula. We ended our 2008 visit to Greece with a delicious Greek luncheon buffet topped off with baklava and other luscious desserts as our ship pulled out into the Mediterranean Sea and headed for our next port of call. The afternoon was spent enjoying the views from the ship until 4:30pm when the ship held its daily trivia competition. I did not win the prize, but I did win the conflict of whether or not to have any pastries with my cup of tea.

This evening is the welcome aboard cockcktail party for the newly boarded passengers, but everyone attended, even the multiple segment and world cruise passengers because, Mark Conroy, the president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, was now aboard the ship and everyone knew that he would make some welcoming remarks, which he did.

After the cocktail party, we had dinner with three couples after which we all went to the Voyager Lounge to listen to the entertainment, and to visit some more. The evening stretched on much longer than I had intended and it was a sleepy couple who dragged back to their room that evening.

cruisetour

04-17-2008, 11:31 PM

The Voyager docked at Valletta, Malta at 9am, and thirty minutes later, we were on a ten passenger minivan for the ship’s Malta Temples excursion. Although we have been here several times, this was a tour we had not done previously. Our first stop was at the hypogeum, an ancient underground monument 40 feet below street level that was discovered in 1902. It consists of a system of caves, passages and cubicles cut into the rock similar to the interior of a megalithic temple. Our visit started with an introductory movie after which we walked into and through the three different levels that were utilized during different time periods as a burial tomb for more than 7,000 souls. The structure dates back to at least 4000 BC. Not much is known about other reasons for the construction of the monument, and there is no indication that it was utilized by a certain class, or profession, of people. UNESCO listed the hypogeum as a world heritage monument in 1980. Visitor numbers are strictly controlled, and are limited to no more than 10 persons at a time, and no more than 80 people are allowed to enter the monument in a day.

From here, we drove to the three temples of Tarxien, built in different centuries, but dated from about 2400-1800 B.C. During excavation, a major find was the large base of a monumental statue of mother earth. Our next stop was St Paul’s Catacombs that date back to the early Christian era. During that time, creation was an acceptable burial procedure whereas it is not allowed in Malta today. Malta also has Jewish burial catacombs at a site known as St. Agatha’s Crypt-Catacombs, but we did not have time to visit that location. The Jewish catacombs are organized by profession, whereas the Christian catacombs do not seem to be arranged in any order.

At this point, we were given some free time to browse through the nearby shops. We spent our time in a coffee shop, with Joan and Charlie, enjoying a selection of pastries before reboarding our van for the short ride back to our ship, and lunch.

This was a busy day because immediately following lunch, we had another excursion that was offered only to full world cruisers. It was a private tour of the Manoel Theater, that has served as the country’s main theatrical venue for the last 275 years, and as its opera house ever since the destruction during World War II of the Royal Opera House in Valletta. After a glass of champagne and a choice of hot canapés and tarts, we were treated to a 50 performance by a string group consisting of 9 violinists, 2 cellists, and a harpsichord musician.

It was a short ride back to our ship, followed by a beautiful sail-a-way. I was looking forward to tomorrow when we would be in Tunisia. For a lot of passengers, this would be their first visit to this North African country that has so much history.

Shortly after we left Malta, Captain Dag announced on the loudspeaker that the ship just heard from the fuel supplier that Regent had contracted with, and was told that there is no fuel available. The supplier had sold his entire supply to another company who offered them a much better price. This was a problem because we need another load of fuel for the transatlantic crossing. He had contacted several other suppliers who also said that there was no fuel available because everything had been bought up. He finally found a supplier in Gibraltar who had fuel available, and as a result we have to go directly there to get it while it is still available. As a result, we have to bypass Tunisia and expect to be there on Thursday evening, spend the night, and leave early Friday morning for Malaga to get back on schedule.

This situation is really a shame because everyone I know was looking forward to visiting Tunisia, the home of the Phoenician civilization, and their children, the Carthaginians, as well. It would have been a great learning experience; and further, I have yet to hear of anyone who has an interest in visiting Gibraltar at dinnertime.

The rest of the day saw passengers shaking their heads in disgust over the change in plans, but it was more of a disappointment than an angry response. No one really understands how this is possible, but nothing more was offered by the company in the way of further explanation. But I do not think that anyone is going to let this incident ruin their enjoyment of the world cruise.

cruisetour

04-20-2008, 11:43 PM

This was supposed to be a lazy day at sea while we worked our way to Gibraltar to have the Voyager refueled for the transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale. However, this was not meant to be. Very early this morning, Captain Dag was again on the loudspeaker, beaming his voice into the suites to advise the passengers that during the night, one of the passengers had sustained an injury (a broken neck) as a result of which we had to quickly find a port of call with adequate medical facilities to handle the situation. As a result, the call to Gibraltar had to be delayed while we turned north to take the ship to Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia. According to his announcement, we were well on the way, and would arrive there at 1pm. In addition, once there we might as well stay for the afternoon, and so will leave Sardinia at 7pm. As a further result of that change, Regent officials decided that this alteration in itinerary made it necessary for us to go to Malaga on Friday, and after our visit there, to proceed to Gibraltar afterwards while on the way to Funchal, Madeira.

Since I was already awake, I decided that I might as well get dressed and attend the morning presentations. The first was “the History of Spain”; and the second, by a British Intelligence Analyst was entitled: “a close look at the British Security & Intelligence Service”. Both lectures were extremely interesting and the intelligence gathering lecture even more so as actual espionage situations with recognizable names were discussed.

I found it especially interesting when the presenter showed us photos of top secret facilities that can be easily found by anyone with an inexpensive computer on the Google Earth website. He also related the story of a recent news item concerning the capture of four British agents by Russian forces, after which Putin commented that he would not expel the British diplomats for fear that England might replace them with more competent intelligence officers who might actually find some secrets that these bumbling idiots would never find. Even though the speaker dislikes Putin, he had to give him credit for being really funny about this incident!

After lunch, docking the ship, and offloading the patient (and another medical situation as well) onto ambulances, the ship was cleared. We disembarked, took the shuttle to the edge of the port area, and crossed the street to find ourselves in the middle of lovely downtown Cagliari. We had never been to Sardinia before, and all we knew about it was that the island, like Sicily, was a territory of Italy. It has tried on several occasions to break away from Italian control, but at the moment it is still governed by Italy.

The city is built on a series of hills. After walking uphill for a long block, we came across a lot of our fellow passengers boarding an open air, double decker, sightseeing coach. We joined them, paid for our 10 Euro per person ticket and took off for a one hour tour of the city. Everyone received a headset so they could hear the English commentary. The tour was very interesting and the scenery was beautiful; pretty beaches, beautiful buildings, good looking people, and manicured parks. All in all, it was an excellent tour and a good way to spend an hour.
The day was quite cool but everyone was wearing their jackets. This entire world cruise has been so cool, in many cases so cold, that I don’t think any of us still believe that there is a global warming problem to be concerned about; we have frozen our way about the globe for more than 100 days now.

After our tour, Joan and Charlie offered to pay off a bet that they lost to me by taking us to a huge gelato shop for a taste of that delicious Italian ice cream. It was a fantastic shop with more flavors than I can count. I only had two! Afterwards, we walked up and down the hilly streets of the city just to see what the stores are selling. We did not buy anything. We returned to the ship at 6:30pm and had dinner with friends after which we returned to our room where I stayed on my computer until 3am catching up on my compulsive projects. I am definitely looking forward to ending this project and do not think that I will ever start a book again.

cruisetour

04-20-2008, 11:51 PM

I was up and about before our ship docked at the Port of Malaga at 10am, and called Charlie to wish him a happy birthday and Hank & Sondra to wish them a happy 10th anniversary. We had sent each of them a balloon greeting and will be joining Charlie tonight for a birthday celebration dinner. MaryPat was not feeling well but did go with me to lunch before returning to bed while I put on my sweater and heavy jacket so I would be comfortable in the 58 degree weather, and went off to see what I could find.

Unfortunately I missed the shuttle. It would be 40 minutes until the next one arrived, but a nice couple from California took pity on me and invited me to join their taxi to el corte ingle’s department store in downtown Malaga. I accepted their offer and off we went. During the short drive, I took some photos of this magnificent city. My companions would not allow me to even participate in the cost of the taxi. Once we arrived, I walked through the store, but focused on the huge area devoted to artist supplies where I spent most of my time. After my tour of El Corte Ingle’s, I explored some other downtown stores, but did not see much that was appealing from a tourist standpoint, so I took a taxi back to the pier. I arrived just as the shuttle arrived, so I hopped on for the quick ride to the pedestrian mall just outside the port area where I walked from one end to the other. Despite the cool weather, it was really a lovely day. We had been told to expect rain, but it never came. I spotted a gelato store with a crowd inside and decided they must have delicious ice cream, so I went inside and found out that they truly had an excellent assortment of flavors. I bought a single dip of some flavor that was loaded with large cherries as well as cherry syrup mixed through the scoop. Since I love everything pink, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I surely enjoyed my cone. When I returned to the room, I checked the emails and was sending off the responses when the engines started up and we left Malaga and headed for Gibraltar for “bunkering” (loading with fuel) so that we will have enough fuel to get us home. We celebrated Charlies birthday at dinner after which we returned to our room where we could see the tanker loading us up. No one was allowed off the ship while the fuel was being pumped into the Voyager, but Gibraltar is lit up at night so many passengers were taking photos of the rock during the evening. We were supposed to have finished taking on the fuel by midnight but were still there at 2am when I finally gave up and went to bed.

cruisetour

04-20-2008, 11:55 PM

We did not leave Gibraltar until 5:30am, which was 5 hours longer than Captain Dag had planned. As a result, he must have overslept because there was no 9am announcement from the bridge today. I went to a 10am presentation by the three BBC Antiques Roadshow hosts. Mary Pat was feeling horrible and stayed in bed. Besides having a cold, she felt even worse as a result of today’s terrible weather which is throwing the ship from one side to the other with massive swells and high powered winds. This storm is compounding the delay from Gibraltar, making it even more difficult to get to Madeira in time for the planned Ensemble tour. I skipped the 11am lecture on “Portugal and its golden age of maritime discovery” in order to check with different department heads in an attempt to confirm an ETA for the tomorrow’s arrival at Funchal, but no one I spoke with knew the answer to the question. The cruise director did tell me that he is planning a full day of on board activities for tomorrow, which does not bode well for the scheduled 8:30am arrival.

I returned to our room at noon to find MaryPat almost ready for lunch, but very unsteady on her feet as the ship continued surging through the rough swells and high winds. After starting for the door, she immediately changed her mind and decided to skip lunch so I ate with the Welden family after which we went to the 2pm presentation by the Sky News Editor and Intelligence Analyst whose presentation today was about “Russian Intelligence, the Livinenko assassination, the Siloviki (Russian power brokers), and the return to the cold war”. I really like his presentations. Afterwards, back in our room, I received a telephone call from the tour desk recommending that we cancel tomorrow’s Ensemble excursion because we definitely will not be in Madeira before 3pm. Mary Pat immediately called London and Funchal to cancel the arrangements, and then sent an informational email to New York to explain the problem.

I left our room to play trivia, followed by bingo, where I heard Captain Dag’s announcement confirming that we would not arrive at Madeira until 8pm tomorrow evening, 11½ hours after our scheduled arrival. He also announced that Regent was sending a notice to all the world cruise passengers advising them that a shipboard credit would be issued to them as a result of the various ports of call that had been cancelled from the original schedule.

I returned to the room at 6pm to get ready for tonight’s Passover “seder”. The rabbi had created a hagaddah especially for this occasion, and invited the two Catholic priests to participate in the program, which they did. Our dinner was held in one of the specialty restaurants and every chair was taken. A number of non-Jewish guests also attended the celebration, and everyone was very pleased with the ceremony. After dinner, MaryPat returned to the room. I was still wide awake and so went to the theater to see the Disney movie, “Enchanted” before returning to our room and changing the clocks back another hour. Every time we do this, it marks the fact that we are that much closer to the end of this voyage. As of tonight, we are now just 6 hours ahead of the time in San Antonio.

cruisetour

04-26-2008, 05:57 AM

This was the morning of the world cruise white elephant auction for the benefit of the crew welfare fund. I bid on several different items, but only purchased one of them because I refused to let anyone else outbid me and end up with Captain Dag’s dress uniform with its four bold stripes designating his rank and his name tag. The material is beautiful and the uniform, made in Italy, is magnificent. MaryPat thought I had lost my mind because Captain Dag is 6’6” tall, broad shouldered, small waisted, and has a face right out of central casting. None of these features are attributable to me. She asked “whatever was I going to do with it”, and went on to say that “I could never fit into an outfit of those proportions”. To make a long story short, I still bought it; after all, it was for a good cause. After the auction, I tried on the jacket which somehow fit me across the middle, but not in the length which came down to my knees; the arms extended beyond the tips of my fingers. Captain Dag came over and posed for a photo with me, after which he said that he wanted his personal tailor, PHIL, alter the uniform to fit me. I waited while he went to get him. When they returned, Phil looked to see what alterations would be needed, and then asked if we could meet in my room, after lunch, where he would take the necessary measurements to adjust everything.

I had a quick lunch, and then met him in our room right on schedule. Phil suggested that the sleeves be shortened, that the stripes be moved, and that he also move the buttons on the jacket; in addition, he would let out the trousers as much as possible and shorten the length of the legs, by a whole bunch. He estimated that the alterations would take several days, but I reminded him that tonight was costume night, and asked if there was any possibility that I could have the uniform back to me before 7pm so I could wear it tonight. He gasped; thinking of the work involved, but nodded affirmatively and ran off to get the project done.

Shortly before 7pm, Phil returned to our room with “my” uniform. The trousers were still too tight in the waist. They would have fit before the cruise started, but the 10 pounds I have gained made it impossible to wear them tonight. However the length was perfect. The jacket fit, and looked great. I left our room wearing a pair of my slacks with a shirt and tie, and Captain Dag’s altered jacket. Immediately, I created quite a stir with my uniform. All of the guests, officers, and crew who knew me giggled and addressed me as Captain, asking who was on the bridge, or steering the ship. I used my best Norwegian accent to respond to them and told everyone how much I hoped they were enjoying the cruise. Just like the Captain, I also hugged all of the women and told them how beautiful they looked. That was very enjoyable. Those passengers who did not recognize me apparently thought that I was, truly, one of the senior officers, and greeted me accordingly.

Before dinner, MaryPat and I walked into the Voyager lounge where several of our friends could not resist taking photos with the newest officer on the block; from there we went to the dining room where the dining staff all teased, bowed and scraped. I cannot believe the number of people who commented about how well the uniform fit, and how they thought that this was the best purchase of the entire auction. I was definitely a popular figure that night. I moved from table to table greeting everyone, and acknowledging their salutations. After dinner, I walked the room and visited with more of the passengers, and also the dining staff, many of whom expressed their gratitude to me for contributing as much as I did to the welfare fund.

Afterwards, we went to the Constellation Theater for the evening entertainment. The parade of compliments and comments continued to come my way. All in all, it was really a fun evening, and I definitely got my moneys worth, wearing my uniform tonight. The late night entertainment was the liar’s club show. After returning to our room, MaryPat packed her suitcase for the transfer to the Mariner, when we are in Bermuda. We also moved our clocks back an additional hour. There are now only 2 hours between ship’s time and the time at home.

cruisetour

04-30-2008, 02:47 AM

We have just completed a 116 day voyage around the world on one of the finest six-star ships sailing the waters of our planet. I wrote this book to share that adventure with my family and friends in the best way that I could; by sharing my experiences and feelings during the almost four month period.

CRUISING IS MY PASSION and this cruise, and the things we learned along the way, have deepened my love for being on the sea, and helped me to realize how grateful I should be:
• to live in this time period,
• to have the ability to travel like I do,
• to appreciate our life style, when compared to other peoples around the world.

My grandparents arrived in the United States a 100 years ago, on a crowded ship in immigration class. Today, I am traveling in luxury that they could never have imagined. We have seen places that they probably never heard of, and have learned more about the people who live in these places than they could have read about in books at that time.

Luckily, we have been healthy enough to:

• hike along on of the mountains of the Himalayas,
• climb the many steep steps to temples and pagodas,
• ride on elephants and camels,
• appreciate the culture, customs, and lifestyles of native peoples living in their homes of clay and mud,
• and revel in the artistry of ancient civilizations who carved cities out of rock and built the wonders of the ancient world.

There were a number of people on our ship who were not healthy enough to enjoy all of these wonderful activities, and I am glad that we were doing this while we had only a few limitations. Seeing others who are not as healthy makes one realize how quickly life goes by, how important it is to travel while having the ability to walk unaided, to breathe easily, and to have an active mind in a healthy body.

Despite the fact that the weather was less than perfect for much of our voyage, and that we missed several of the ports on the original itinerary, this was a wonderful voyage, and we are returning home with memories that will last a lifetime. It is hard to leave our friends, and the community of people we traveled with, but as we learned several years ago from a friend, Paul McFarland, our feelings are

“DON’T’ CRY BECAUSE IT’S OVER, SMILE BECAUSE IT HAPPENED!”