World Cruise 2010 - Seven Seas Voyager

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Dear Friends,

We are frequently asked about where we have been and where we are going. As I write this, we are getting ready for the Regent Seven Seas World Cruise that will take us to exciting and exotic places on five different continents.

Several of our friends will be traveling with us, but for those of you who have other plans during this period of time, the best way to check to check our whereabouts is to access this forum to share our adventures and enjoy our travels through our eyes.

We hope you will consider joining us on one of our future voyages, and that you will either call or email us to assist you with your travel plans.

Until then, we hope that you enjoy reading about our adventures and our travels as much as we enjoy experiencing the different cultures, history and geography of the places we are visiting.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Until then, we wish you good health and much happiness.

Sincerely,

Jay W. Silberman :)
Cruise Consultants Company

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Attending the Regent Seven Seas Cruises Council Meeting before World Cruise

Monday was the day we flew to San Diego to participate in the 2010 Regent Council Meetings. The members of the council are the top Regent producers and it is an honor to be invited to this special event. During these sessions, the top corporate executives present the current financial and operating statistics, and then set forth the marketing plan for the upcoming year. There is also a session where the members are invited to set forth their ideas and concerns.

It was one week ago today that Regent sent a representative of the shipping company to our home to pick up our luggage. We had 7 suitcases packed and ready for them. In addition, we are each checking one bag and carrying another on the flight to San Diego today. Our airline schedule, which operated on time today, left San Antonio at 9:50am. We changed flights with a short wait in Dallas Fort Worth, and then continued to our destination, arriving there at 1:30pm.

Regent had meet-and-greet staff waiting for us as we collected our checked luggage, and we quickly boarded a coach, along with other council members who were on our flight, for the half-hour ride to the Grand Del Mar resort and country club where we would be spending the next two nights in a beautiful king sized room overlooking the pool and garden area. After checking out the health club and getting our room organized, everyone met in the lobby for the ride to the San Diego Zoo where we had a cocktail reception, dinner, and an exotic animal presentation by author, television personality, and conservationist JACK HANNA.

The drinks and hors d’oeuvres were served in the garden by costumed waiters dressed like wild animals. It was a colorful and elegant party, but quite chilly and I was glad that I was wearing a jacket. After an hour’s time, we were invited to enter the dining tent where we were served a delicious dinner. The presentation, by Jack Hanna, was very interesting and included videos of his visits to Rwanda and other exotic places, plus appearances by several endangered species that are represented in the zoo including a cheetah, several other cats, a python, and a prehistoric dragon several feet in length. Afterwards, we were entertained by a Senegalese musical group who sang and danced to African rhythms as we enjoyed our dessert. All in all, it was a wonderful start to our meeting. We returned to our coaches for the drive back to the Grand Del Mar Resort and a comfortable evening’s sleep in our luxurious accommodations.

The following morning started with a delicious breakfast buffet at 7:30am, during which we sat with Terry Waite. After breakfast, everyone assembled in one of the meeting rooms where the Council meeting was called to order. After a welcome address by Randall Soy, Senior VP of Sales, we listened to a report by Mark Conroy, President of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and then received a Vessel Operations Update by Steph Armengol, Director of Hotel Operations, and Bernhard Klotz, Culinary Director. After a short break, the meeting continued with an extensive marketing update by Kari Tarnowski, Sr VP of Marketing. This completed the morning schedule and we adjourned for a Council luncheon after which we returned to the meeting room for a Regent Executive Panel and discussion. In the late afternoon, we were treated to a presentation by Terry Waite, humanitarian and author. The meeting adjourned at 4:30pm leaving just two hours to relax before getting together again for cocktails on the terrace followed by a lovely dinner in the resort’s Five Diamond Restaurant overlooking the golf course. We did not return to our rooms until after 10:30 pm.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010—was another day of meetings at the Resort. We reconvened after a 7:30am breakfast. Our luggage was picked up from our rooms while we were in the conference room listening to a Passenger Services update by Victor Gonzalez, Executive VP. The rest of the morning was spent in a give and take meeting wrap-up, and concluded just before noon.

Everyone checked out of the resort before proceeding to a buffet luncheon that had been moved from the lawn to one of the restaurants because of the cool weather that had blown in. At 2pm, we all boarded coaches for the 45 minute ride to the pier where the Seven Seas Voyager had docked this morning, and upon arrival, we boarded our ship and were escorted to our rooms by smiling and friendly ship’s staff.

We were greeted warmly by the many crew members that remembered us from our past cruises. It was like returning for a college reunion; there were so many familiar faces—not only crew and staff members but also other world cruisers that we recognized from our previous 4 world cruises, and other voyages, that we have made on Regent. Many of these friends made the reunion feel like we were returning home to members of our family.

Wednesday evening, we met for cocktails, had dinner with friends, and then went to the Constellation Theatre for the world cruise exclusive performance by Jay Leno, followed by the Beach Boys. It was a fantastic evening. Jay spoke non-stop for 45 minutes, and the Beach Boys played for more than an hour to a wild group of over-aged teen agers who filled the aisles with their singing and gyrating. After listening to the loud music for all that time, I had problems hearing anything because the intense sounds were still reverberating in my head. But I still say “It was a great show”! I don’t think that we got to sleep before midnight.

Tomorrow would be day #1 of our 115 day world cruise.

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We got up early today because we were signed up for an early morning trolley tour of the city and Del Coronado. The weather was cooler than expected but fortunately, I did bring a jacket with me. The tour was very interesting and also educational, setting out facts about the history of the city. San Diego is a beautiful city with a lot of things for tourists to do, and to explore.

We returned to our ship in time for lunch. However, it was not easy to reboard because security was very intense. This created a delay but we knew that the ship would not leave without us. After everyone was back on board, the first order of business was to execute the passenger lifeboat drill so that in the case of emergency, everyone would know what to do and where to go. What we did not know at the time was that our original departure time of 2pm had been delayed because there were so many supplies and foodstuffs that had to be loaded onto the vessel for our extended voyage.

Eventually, an announcement was made that the departure time had been delayed until 4:30pm, but even this was overly optimistic because the dock workers went home at the end of their shift leaving tons of supplies still sitting on the pier. Fortunately, the ship’s crew took over, picked up the slack and volunteered to do the job of loading everything themselves. They did this without so much as a single complaint. Thanks to them, but with no thanks to the dock workers, our crew finished the job, but it took them until 9pm to do so, and that is the time that we were finally able to pull away from the dock. This was 7 hours later than scheduled, but everyone was in a good humor, and as we pulled away, everyone in the dining room applauded in anticipation of a wonderful cruise that we were starting, and in appreciation of the work of our crew.

We were now on our way, and tomorrow would be the first of six consecutive days at sea before we would reach our first port of call on one of the Marquesas Islands.

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Today was the day that most of the passengers, including us, finally finished unpacking their suitcases and organizing their suites for the world cruise. The lecture program was scheduled to start tomorrow, but Jamie Logan, our cruise director did organize a mid-morning session where he introduced the key staff members who would be on the world cruise; he also discussed the various daily activities that would be available to us. During the presentation, it was also disclosed that there were 282 passengers aboard who would be on the ship for the full 119 days of the world cruise. The other guests traveling with us, who fill the remainder of the ship, will be on board for one or more segments of the world cruise.

This dress code tonight was “formal optional”; most passengers dressed in formal attire. The evening started with Captain Dag’s welcome reception in the Constellation Theater after which the guests spread out for dinner to the four evening restaurant locations. The after dinner show was a production show, “ballroom Bravo” that was enjoyed by everyone. It was a great start to our four month voyage.

Saturday-Wednesday, January 16-20, 2010—(Day 003-007)
Cruising Westbound
The outside temperature increased daily as we continued to cruise south westerly toward our first port of call. Meanwhile, on the Voyager, the programs for the passengers started in earnest. There was a daily morning stretch class at 8am, followed by a sketch class at 9:15am, taught by the art director, CAROL FINKAS. Next came the morning lecture program with a host of interesting speakers:
• Guest lecturer PHILIP HURST whose subject matter was “hot topics in world affairs”,
• Destination lecturer SANDRA BOWERN,
• Guest lecturer, ANDY HEATH whose subject matter was the past, present and future of the markets, economy, and investments, and
• Astronaut, GENERAL CHARLIE DUKE, who discussed the early space program—Sputnik to Apollo.

The rest of each day was filled with trivia contests and games, health and fitness, and most important of all, a variety of specialty tea times. The evenings just reinforced the extent of the entertainment options starting with the Regent Seven Seas creation, “the original shipwide block party” where the bells rang, announcing that it was time for everyone to leave their suites and go into the corridors to meet their neighbors over a glass of wine and a plate canapés while Captain Dag, General Manager Michael, and Cruise Director Jamie quickly moved through the hallways to shake hands with the men and kiss the girls. This party is the ultimate ice breaker and a lot of fun.

The evening entertainment was also very special, headlined by the celebrity musical group, “THE UNEXPECTED BOYS”, who performed a tribute to Frankie Valli and the four seasons, and the talented performances of resident guitarist and entertainer, Jerry Vasi

Two very special events during these six sea days were:
• The Tuesday afternoon “Country Fair” where all of the shipboard departments built booths where the passengers competed for prizes. There was also a contest to see which department built the best booth. In my opinion, every department did an outstanding job. They all should have received a blue ribbon.
• The Wednesday afternoon “equator crossing ceremony” where King Neptune and his consort arrived for the trial whereby all the “polywags” (those who have not previously crossed the equator by sea) were converted to “shellbacks” (those who had previously crossed the equator by sea)

Sea days are very enjoyable, and it is amazing how quickly the hours go by on those “lazy” days. With this week becoming part of history, tomorrow we will start exploring the first of the ports-of-call that make up the itinerary of this 2010 world cruise.

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It was a beautiful clear day on which, after 7 consecutive days at sea, we finally spotted our first port of call; it was Nuku Hiva, one of the main bodies of land in the Marquesas Islands . The Voyager dropped its anchor at 8am. We went to the Constellation Theater to exchange our tour tickets for tender passes, and soon thereafter, we boarded one of the tenders for the short ride to shore. As we walked ashore, we were greeted with a lei ceremony. There were several shops nearby that were selling locally made wood carvings, and although I promised Mary Pat that I would think twice before buying any more treasures, there were a couple of wood sculptures that were really appealing and I could not resist purchasing them.

Although there were air-conditioned motorized vehicles available to take us to “Piki Vehine”, the open-air museum site, where there was to be a Polynesian festival of eating, dancing, and singing, we chose to take the 15 minute walk along the shoreside to the site. It was a lovely morning, and although the temperature rose quickly during the day, it was not uncomfortable at all.

We enjoyed the folkloric program thoroughly, and took a lot of photographs of the magnificent stone sculptures and the beautiful view of the Bay of Taiohae and our ship. However, we did not partake of the local foods. It was noon when we decided to walk back to the tender landing, and return to our ship for lunch on the open deck. The Voyager lifted anchor at 4pm and sailed toward Papeete, Tahiti where, after a day of cruising, we have reservations for two nights at the St Regis island resort on Bora Bora.

This evening, there was a pre-dinner musical theater performance of the romantic musical comedy farce, “Romance-Romance”. This one hour show was derived from a 1988 Broadway Musical theater production.

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Papeete, Tahiti to Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Yesterday was a day of calm seas and pleasant weather as we covered the distance between Nuku Hiva and Papeete, Tahiti. The Voyager docked in the middle of the city at 9am while we were having a quick breakfast, after which we returned to our room for some last minute packing of our carry-on luggage for a two night visit to the St Regis Resort on a nearby island to Bora Bora. We were ready to go at 11am, the same time that the pool bar opened for lunch. Since we were not scheduled to leave the ship until 11:30am, we still had time to eat a hot dog and French fries, my favorite lunch time meal.

After downing our sandwich, we met the friends who were going with us and disembarked the ship. We found a taxi and off we went for the 10 minute ride to the Papeete airport. The fact that it was raining did little to dampen our spirits as we started our adventure.

The Air Tahiti turbo prop took off at 1:00pm, and barely made it to flying altitude before starting its descent for its landing at Moorea. After a minimal wait there, we made another short hop to Huahini, and from there, made our final flight of the day, landing on Bora Bora.

We had prearranged for a transfer by water taxi to the resort, but were very pleased to find out that our “water taxi” was, in fact, a beautiful, well equipped, yacht. It was waiting for us, and as soon as we collected our overnight bags from the carousel, we were escorted onto the vessel and cruised away to one of the most beautiful and romantic resorts we have ever visited.

The ride took just 15 minutes to get us to paradise. After a welcome lei ceremony and a quick registration, our butler took the four of us on a tour of the property. The rain that had been falling all day finally stopped and the sun came out. Afterwards, we climbed into a golf cart for the ride to our adjoining deluxe over-the-water bungalows. During the ride, she told us that there were only a handful of guests at the resort because this was the off-season.

The accommodations faced the mountain that gives Bora Bora its name. They were lovely—a living room with flat screen TV, a huge bedroom with another flat screen TV, and a huge bathroom, with a tub for two plus an open shower stall that easily accommodated two people. We also had an outdoor shower on one of our two decks over the wide water expanse, and an outside dining area where we would have a full breakfast on each of the next two mornings.

At sunset, we, along with the other six guests staying at the resort, gathered to see a very enjoyable cultural folkloric show that was organized by the resort, and before we knew it, we were soon participating in the dancing. We were such a small group that it was like having a private show; as a result, none of us were too inhibited to display our Polynesian dancing skills as the boys swayed to the beat of the drums while the girls displayed their talented hip movements. Charlie and I got a boy’s lei from the native girls. After the performance, the four of us enjoyed a welcome dinner at the resort’s deluxe Lagoon restaurant, operated by the famous French chef, Jean Georges, before being driven back to our suites for the evening.

Sunday was a day of relaxing, sketching, swimming, snorkeling, eating, and drinking. During the afternoon, I had an 80 minute hot stone massage while Mary Pat had a two hour spa session. Our friends, Charlie and Joan both had morning and afternoon spa sessions. The day was capped by dinner at the intimate 5 table exclusive sushi restaurant, but since I do not eat that kind of food, I ordered a chicken breast and steamed vegetables which my companions thought was very humorous. There was a beautiful sunset this evening that inspired us to take several magnificent photographs of the early evening sky. With such an active day, it was not difficult to fall asleep instantly in our comfortable beds that evening.

Monday came too quickly! Another delicious breakfast was followed by a walk to the beach for a swim in the warm shallow waters, and then another tub bath and shower before packing our belongings and calling for the cart to take us to the front desk to settle our account. We left by motor launch at 2pm, and 30 minutes later, we were in the bustling metropolis of Bora Bora where all the black pearls were on sale at 50% off. They were still quite expensive. After walking through the shops for a short time, we walked to the Regent tender stop, and took the boat back to the ship and rejoined the world cruise.

This evening was also a fun night. The four of us had been invited to dine with Captain Dag and Gudren Werner, his hostess. Charlie and I wore our Captain’s uniforms that were enhanced by a Regent name badge furnished to each of us by Michael, the general manager. As we walked into the observation lounge, Jerry Vasi, the entertainer playing there noticed our dress uniforms and played a special tune to acknowledge our rank. Several of the passengers who did not know that we were guests approached us to see who the new officers were, and those friends who did know us requested pictures with us. When Captain Dag arrived, we had our picture taken with him on the main staircase before going to the dining room for dinner. It was a lovely evening, all around. The day ended with a situation that was very funny: As I was returning to our room with Mary Pat, a woman walking behind us who we did not know, commented to her husband, “I’m telling you, this is a different Captain, and not only that, this officer is going into that woman’s room with her”. We got a real chuckle out of that one.

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Tuesday-Wednesday, January 26-27, 2010—(Day 013-014)
Mary Pat’s Birthday

The sea was smooth as glass as we left Bora Bora on Monday evening, but with the awakening of the sun on Tuesday morning, the sky darkened and the storm clouds rolled in. The sea became restless with large swells and larger breakers that pushed our ship around like a cork. Eventually, Captain Dag got on the public address system and reported that because of the storm, now the equivalent of a category one hurricane, we had fallen several hours behind schedule. This would affect the time allotted to being in Samoa on Thursday. The motion of the ship also caused many of the passengers to become uncomfortable, and the constant shudders that we experienced had dishes crashing to the floor, and people falling throughout the ship. There was also a concern for the performers on the stage in the Constellation Theater, so the entertainment schedule was cancelled in favor of a movie.

The day got worse and the winds picked up throughout the day. Passengers showing up for dinner were at a voyage low. By the time we woke up on Wednesday, Mary Pat’s birthday, Captain Dag announced that he had abandoned any ideas of going to Samoa because we were so far behind schedule, and that the Voyager had changed course to head for Fiji, which would be reached on Monday, January 31 after we had passed the International Date Line during the previous night.

Meanwhile, even Mary Pat had come down with mal d’ mer, and had stayed in our room all day Tuesday; she even missed dinner, and this is something that is not usually her choice. However, Wednesday morning she was determined to attend her birthday dinner. She was excited about her gifts, her cards from several passengers, her spray of balloons, and her many wellwishers. She got up from her sick bed, and spent the day up and about. Several of the invited guests were not able to attend her birthday dinner because the ship was still rocking and rolling, but those who felt well enough to have dinner did sing happy birthday to her, along with the waiters in the Prime 7 steakhouse.

Thursday-Friday, January 28-29, 2010—(Day 015-016)
Crossing the International Date Line

After the Voyager turned to the south, the seas did calm down. It was almost like our improved weather was dependent on our abandoning any intentions of visiting Samoa. As a result, the day that was planned for us to relax in Apia, Samoa ended up being a lovely day at sea with all of the passengers finally coming out of their suites, and smiling again. The schedule of events for this extra sea day included the morning sketch class, several hours of lectures, and lunch, followed by the typical afternoon of champagne tastings, games, trivia, specialty tea times, and bingo. Many passengers enjoyed an afternoon nap, or spent time on their balconies reading books or listening to music on their iPods.

The schedule continued on Friday, but included three special evening events, a dinner and a show featuring the vocal talents of Marilyn Maye, a return performance by “the World Famous Platters”, and the crossing of the International Date Line.

When we turned out the lights on Friday evening, the Voyager crossed the 180 degree meridian of longitude that separates two consecutive calendar days. At this exact moment in time, the ship’s clocks moved forward 24 hours so that we completely missed January 30, 2010. We had gone to bed on January 29, 2010 being 5 hours earlier than the time in San Antonio, TX; and in that same instant, it became January 31, 2010. Simultaneously, we were now 19 hours ahead of the time in San Antonio, TX. It is hard to explain this change to the passengers on the ship let along to people back home who have no idea how this could be possible. When we woke up the following morning, it was definitely

Sunday, January 31, 2010—(Day 017)

and at 9am, we docked at Lautoka, Fiji
where I had signed us up for the Eco Tour to the rainforest and waterfall in the valley of the Mountain of the Sleeping Giants. If anyone would ask why I selected this tour, I could not give them an intelligent answer. There was a written warning in the guide book that:
• this was an extremely active tour,
• that it involved travel over rough and uneven surfaces, and
• that it was recommended ONLY for guests in excellent physical condition.

Normally, this warning would have been enough for me to move onto a different page in the guide book, but for some unknown reason, it did not impact me when I agreed to this excursion.

The tour, including us, left the pier at mid-morning for the one hour drive into the heart of the Sabeto Mountains, from where we continued through a rainforest, sugarcane fields, and villages along the Queens highway en route to the Mountains of the Sleeping Giants. We left the coach at the foot of these mountains to hike to an ancestral Fijian village. I should have known that I was on the wrong tour when the guide explained that to get to the village, we would have to cross a fast flowing river, and jump from rock to rock to reach the other shore. Fortunately, there were local tribespeople there to assist the aged and the infirm, of which I was obviously one.

Once across the river, we started our trek to the village, traveling a path that only went uphill. It never went downward. After 15 minutes, and a lot of perspiration, the group reached a remote Fijian village, where in a traditional kava ceremony; permission was sought from the chief to venture onto his land. After the grant of permission, our guide led us on a rainforest trek to see an ancestral cave, to learn more about traditional herbal medicine, and to take a swim in a cool, cascading waterfall that was some distance away.

This should have been my second opportunity to say “where am I, and why am I here?” This trek took us to another branch of the river that required a crossing in even faster waters, and a climb to the top of a mountain with a 45 degree incline, from which we would descend to another valley and then climb a second mountain before reaching the waterfall.

I made it to the top of the first mountain, but thought I was going to pass out. I could not breathe, could not catch my breath, my legs and knees cramped, and I crumpled to the ground, not able to go any further. I truly felt stupid because almost everyone else kept on going, but I had gone as far as my legs would carry me. I just sat on the ground and let my breathing return to normal. Mary Pat opted to stay with me, and we just sat on a towel for more than 20 minutes.

I must say that the scenery was spectacular, and there were some funny moments also. As we sat there, two cows came along the mountain path, chomping at the grasses, but stopped a short distance away to stare at us. Mary Pat thought that they were going to attack us, but I tried to tell her that cows do not eat people. She then tried to stare one of them down until she remembered that you should not lock eyes with a wild animal, so she lowered her eyes to look at the ground. I tried to reassure her that these were not wild animals; they even had ropes around their necks, but she was uneasy until they passed by in search of greener grasses beyond us.

At this point, one of the locals came up and offered to assist us back to the village. He broke off a branch from a nearby tree and offered it to me as a walking stick to assist me. I really appreciated it! Slowly, we made our way down the mountain, across the river, and back to the village where a barbeque was being set up. After drinking a bottle of water and eating some fruit, I was feeling better. When the trekkers returned to camp, the villagers put on a Fijian dance demonstration and served the barbeque to us before we bid them goodbye and returned to our coaches over the flowing river. We got back to our ship at 4:30pm after which I returned to my room, and slept until 7pm.

It’s funny, but I really enjoyed the tour. The ride was beautiful, the guide was super, and the local tribespeople were very kind and considerate. It was a good experience and one I will remember fondly.

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PORT VILA, VANUATU

This was a new port for us—one that we have not visited previously and it proved to be a very interesting first impression. We chose to take part in the Ekasup Cultural Village tour that explored the ancient Melanesian lifestyle in Vanuatu’s rainforest in a visit to Ekasup Village. The village was awarded Vanuatu’s best tourist attraction for the past two years.

We departed from the pier in a ten passenger van. There was not a guide in the van, just a driver. It was 20 minute ride to the Erakor rainforest where villagers in traditional dress provided us with an insight into the magical and mysterious world that they survive in. Upon arrival, we were introduced to the local chieftain who led us through the forest to the center of the village while warriors watched us through the underbrush. After acknowledging to the tribe that we were welcome visitors, he took us on a guided walking tour while explaining various cultural and custom demonstrations. We learned about traditional remedies and how they are derived from herbs, roots, bark and leaves. We also were shown how the villagers trap game, preserve and prepare the foods, weave baskets and mats. While at the village, I asked about the necklace that the chief wore indicating his position in the tribe. He indicated that it was not for sale and was handed down from father to son as each generation took their place as chief of the tribe. I was able to purchase a hand carved seashell in the local market before we left.

During the tour, we heard tales of cannibalism dating from as recently as 1969. The tour ended with a musical performance by Futuna youths before we rejoined our van for the drive back to the shopping area near the pier where the Voyager was docked.

We reboarded the ship at 1pm for lunch, and spent the afternoon responding to lots of emails that had accumulated during the morning.

This evening, we celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary with Francisco & Ephraim, Charlie & Joan, Hank & Sondra, and Pat Crain joining us for dinner in Signatures. Everyone brought us a gift which was unexpected but very nice.

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NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA

This was our second consecutive maiden call of this world cruise which has allowed us to make two additions to the number of countries that we have visited on our travels, bringing our total world wide experience to 135 sovereign nations. At least, I had previously heard of New Caledonia whereas I had never heard of Vanuatu before reading the name on our world cruise itinerary.

New Caledonia was a total surprise to me in that it is absolutely beautiful. The guide on our tour told us that it is frequently called the “Paris of the South Pacific” and I can understand why, with its charming buildings, beautiful scenery, and happy people. But the real reason for its success are the deposits of Nickel and Cobalt, plus the French government subsidies, all of which are responsible for its clean, modern, and wealthy position. In fact, the country has one of the highest gross national products, and income per capita of all the islands in the Pacific. The wealth here rivals economies like Japan and New Zealand.

Mary Pat and I did not have a morning tour, and so took a leisurely stroll through the city, stopping at a jewelry store to select an anniversary present to commemorate the anniversary that we celebrated yesterday. Afterwards, we returned to our ship for lunch after which we enjoyed a charming city tour.

The tour that we had selected was the 2 hour Le Petit Train, a miniature tourist road train, or tram, open on the sides, but covered on top with comfortable seats that included commentary transmitted from the locomotive.

It was a lovely afternoon with pleasant weather and a cool breeze as we rode past the city center and on to the Notre Dame Lookout point, then to an area where we could view the French colonial architecture and the South Pacific lifestyle. We also ascended a hill that serves as a World War II memorial where we had fantastic photo opportunities of the bays, beaches, surrounding islands and coral reefs. During this stop, we were served soft drinks, bottled water, and delicious French pastries. On the return trip, we drove along their famous Anse Vata beach, and observed the residents and vacationers who were enjoying the white sand beaches, while others were fishing, parasailing, and sail boating in the crystal clear waters that surround the island. We returned to the ship terminal at 5pm. We were at dinner, enjoying a pleasant evening with friends, at 7:30pm, as the Voyager left New Caledonia and headed for Sydney, Australia where the first segment of our world cruise ends. We are disembarking 300 passengers there; 250 new people are joining the ship there, including two couples from San Antonio who are good friends.

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At Sea—Celebrating the Coober Pedy 4th annual reunion

This evening, after a leisurely day at sea, 5 couples who met on a 2006 Regent overland excursion visiting the Barossa Valley and the opal fields of Coober Pedy, plus riding the Australian Trans-Continental railroad between Adelaide and Fremantle/Perth celebrated the 4th anniversary of their meeting each other. Jim & MaryAnn Todd, Richard & Marjorie Rowe, Sam & Phyllis Pierson, Joan & Charlie Davis, and Mary Pat & I met for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, wearing matching t-shirts that were given to us by Charlie & Joan. It was a wonderful reunion as we reminisced about the tour, and the other times we have spent together over the four years.

From there, we proceeded to the dining room where Charlie had arranged for a table of 10. All of the other diners in the restaurant turned their heads to see the 10 world cruise passengers decked out in identical blue tee shirts and asked to know the story of the group. The fun continued throughout the meal, and we all decided that we should plan to celebrate our 5th reunion during the 2011 South America cruise on a specially arranged tour that I set up with between now and then. It was sure a fun evening.

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Sydney, Australia

Captain Dag had predicted that we would have rain during our stay in Sydney, and he was right. It rained constantly and continuously during our two day visit. Luckily, everyone had umbrellas and they sure came in handy.

We spent Saturday morning saying goodbye to passengers leaving the ship today until they disembarked for the airport after which we did a walk-about the town visiting two street markets where we enjoyed some Aussi treats and acquired a few gift items for friends back home. I also got a haircut which was almost as expensive as what it would have cost at the Canyon Ranch Spa onboard the Voyager.

Not wanting to miss a meal, we returned to our ship for a late lunch and then connected with friends from home who had just arrived and are sailing with us for the next three weeks. Saturday evening, we splashed through the puddles of Sydney with our umbrellas protecting our heads from the rain as we walked to the Sydney Opera House for our annual opera production, this year it was “La Traviata” by Verdi. There were several of us from the ship who attended the performance, and afterwards, everyone agreed that it had been outstanding, with magnificent sets and costumes. The cast numbered more than fifty, all of them very talented. The time flew by so quickly that none of us were even conscious of the fact that we had been sitting in the theatre for more than three hours.

The rain had reduced to a drizzle as we returned to our ship, going to the coffee corner for a cup of tea before returning to our rooms. While there, we met, and visited with, other clients who had also just joined the ship earlier in the day.

Sunday, we returned to the George Street market with our newly arrived companions, and then walked along George Street to Circular Quay for lunch at the Sydney Cove Oyster Bar. Just to clarify the weather, it was still raining enough so that we all had our umbrellas up.

This restaurant is well situated, with views of the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and our ship. We enjoyed the view and were able to see the climbers on top of the bridge. As far as the menu, it is entirely composed of seafood, which was fine for the others, but that is not my favorite meal choices, so I selected a large salad. One of the menu items was an order of Turkish toast for $6. We giggled when our waiter placed a platter on our table containing just 4 thinly sliced pieces of bread. But that was all there was. Obviously, the cost of the meal was not inexpensive, but I guess they were charging for the view as well. We returned to the ship for ice cream, because it would have cost $32 more to order dessert in the restaurant.

We remained on the ship admiring the rain from our windows and had dinner with two couples who had arrived from San Antonio yesterday. Our ship left Sydney at 10pm, but at 11pm, after an hour of cruising, Captain Dag broadcast an announcement throughout the ship that we were returning to Sydney because of a medical emergency that had just been reported. The roll of the seas bounced the ship a bit as we returned to Sydney, and as I turned out the lights.

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Brisbane, Australia

Yesterday was another bouncy sea day. It seems that we are in the midst of a quiet storm that is following us up the coast of Australia. Some local people have referred to it as a “monsoon”. It is not bad enough to cause real trouble, just enough to make some passengers a little irritable.

We were scheduled to arrive in Brisbane at 8am today, but the weather caused us to be delayed by an hour. Despite that delay, everyone was requested to report for their tours at the times requested in the original daily program, so everyone was in the Constellation Theater for that additional 60 minutes. Very few passengers complained, and most used the additional time to visit with friends and meet new acquaintances.

We were not able to disembark and start our Aboriginal Culture tour until 10am. Because we were an hour late in starting, our tour program was reduced from 4 hours to 3 hours. No one could understand the reason for this because the Voyager was scheduled to stay in Brisbane until 6pm, but that was the explanation from the guide. This adjustment was accomplished by reducing the time spent at the first two stops by 30 minutes each, which was a shame because they were interesting places that deserved more time.

Our first stop was at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens where our short jaunt through the grounds along the Aboriginal plant trail was made even shorter, so we only got a quick glimpse of how various plants grown here have played a part in Aboriginal culture and traditions.

The second stop on the tour was at the Queensland Museum South Bank where we were taken to the Dandiri Maiwar Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures Centre Exhibition. We were met there by an Aboriginal docent who explained how artifacts and remains are being repatriated to Australia from museums in other countries around the world. This was an amazing exhibition with six walk-in circles, three for Aboriginal stories and three for Torres Strait Islander stories. These circles symbolized the respect and importance of the two distinct cultures, histories and perspectives. Unfortunately, due to the time constraints, we did not have enough time to really experience the exhibition. I could have spent the entire day there. The exhibit was worth more time than was allotted.

Our final visit was at the riverlife Mirrabooka, which is located on Kangaroo Point, overlooking the Brisbane River. We were treated to a cultural presentation, and dance program, by male members of the local Yuggera Aboriginal Tribe. We returned to the pier afterwards, arriving there at 1pm. The rest of the day was spent on the ship. We were invited to a caviar and cocktail party in one of the big suites before dinner, but because I do not eat caviar, the hostess arranged for me to have a plate of giant cookies instead. Everyone had to smile about that, and even more so when other guests at the party also opted to share in the cookie platter.

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Cairns, Australia

This morning, after our ship was docked and cleared, we set off on the Skyrail and Kuranda tour. We had visited Kuranda two years ago when we hosted an Ensemble tour, but we did not have the opportunity to ride on the skyrail during that excursion. The Skyrail is an amazing 4 ½ mile journey over Australia’s World Heritage listed tropical rainforest canopy, plus going into the rainforest itself.

The ride on the cable car allowed the passengers to explore the wonders of this ancient tropical rainforest, as well as to learn about one of the most botanically fascinating and diverse areas on earth. It glided just a few feet above the canopy of the trees and gave us the ability to see, smell and become part of the rainforest environment. There were two mid-stations where we got off the cable car and strolled along the easy access walkways inside the canopy of the tree line learning more about the environment. At one of the stations, we had lookouts allowing us views of the spectacular Barron Gorge and Barron Falls.

After the completion of our Skyrail journey, we reboarded our coach for the short ride to the center of Kuranda, a delightful village nestled in the heart of the rainforest. This town had been established as a railway station in the mid 1800’s when logging and mining were large industries on the Atherton Tablelands and became known as a place to stock up on goods and also where culture and sophistication could be enjoyed at one of the local hotels. Today, this township is a haven for markets, cafes, and restaurants. We found a locally made ice cream shop and enjoyed a delicious ice cream cone before walking through the town and shopping for gifts for friends who were going to celebrate special occasions during the next few days. Our tour having been completed, we reboarded our coach for the 45 minute ride back to Cairns and our ship, during which I fell asleep and did not wake up until we were arriving at the ship terminal.

We considered walking through Cairns after lunch, but decided to rest instead and it did not take any time at all before I was asleep again. This time, I did not wake up until it was time for dinner. The Voyager did not leave Cairns until 11pm; as a result many of our friends had dinner ashore, but we had plans with friends to eat in the dining room so stayed aboard ship.

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Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The original schedule called for Saturday and Monday to be days at sea transiting the reef while Sunday would be a landing on Thursday Island. However, there was an engine problem that, although it was repaired, cost us the visit to this new place that we had not previously experienced.

However, the three days were still filled with fun and excitement. We enjoyed beautiful scenery as we transited the Great Barrier Reef, a valentine day celebration, a beautiful vocal performance by Stephanie Coghlan and Lana & Dick Breakie’s 41st anniversary celebration.

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Darwin, Australia

We docked this morning in the city named after Charles Darwin. Although he had never come here himself, his famous ship, Beagle, did arrive and his former first mate named the area after his famous friend and leader. We arrive here 15 hours, 30 minutes ahead of the time in San Antonio, Texas. It is funny that some places divide the times from Greenwich, England not by hours, but by minutes.

Today, Mary Pat and I are hosting the Ensemble tour of Darwin and the Northern Territory Wildlife Park. Our tour of the city included tales of the city’s history including the fact that it was consistently bombed by the Japanese airforce during 1942 as part of World War II. Sights that were pointed out to us including historic buildings like Government House, the former Admiralty House, and St. Mary’s Cathedral which is home to aboriginal paintings of the Black Madonna and Child. We also drove through the botanical gardens enroute to the Wildlife Park.

On arrival, we were assigned to our private ranger for our tour who gave us information about the park as we drove in a road train to the area of the underwater walkthrough aquarium to view whip rays and other colorful fish and local marine life, including the high jumping, man eating, salt water crocodiles. Part of our tour was an exclusive fish feeding demonstration by a diver who created a feeding frenzy among the fish. Afterwards, we had an Aussie barbecue at the Territory Wilflife Park Café before enjoying time for a walkabout to see and feed several wallabies, some of which had “joeys” in their pouches. We also visited the dingo habitat and the Nocturnal House which gave us a look into the lives of the many nocturnal animals that are rarely seen in the wild. After our tour, we travelled back to Darwin and our ship arriving at 1pm.

We did some shopping in the terminal before reboarding our vessel. Everyone indicated that they really enjoyed the tour, and several of those people who had opted for a cash credit instead of our tour indicated that they thought that they had made a mistake by not joining us.

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Komodo Island, Indonesia

We anchored off shore of the island at 11am, an hour ahead of schedule which was a bonus because the weather was promising to be a very hot and humid. This forecast made it more acceptable to be trekking through the jungle a little earlier than normal. We were able to get tickets on the second tender to shore getting us to shore for our one hour, 1 km, hike at 11:45am.

As we started out, I saw that we had rangers, armed with a forked stick in front, as well as in back, that accompanied our small group. There was also a guide that spoke from the middle. There have been accidents here in the past where an occasional careless tourist was killed and devoured by one of the, up to 10 feet long, dragons that inhabit the island. Also, guides are infrequently killed but it does happen. Up until last year, no ranger had never been attacked and killed by one of the dragons, but that record ended last year when one of them was in the wrong place at the wrong time and did get eaten by one of the monster dragons. That accident destroyed the image that rangers were invincible and never in danger. It also increased the training that they receive as well as the security that is maintained around the dragons when tourists are on the island.

When we reached the dragon pond, we saw several of them lying in wait for any deer or wild pig that might be unlucky enough to be thirsty and fall within the range of their poisonous saliva, sharp teeth or claws. These monsters are able to run at a speed of up to 18 mph, and are also quick swimmers.

We noticed at least 3 rangers surrounding the area armed with their forked sticks that were in additions to the rangers walking along with us. Mary Pat asked how the sticks are used to protect them, and us, and was told that the dragons have a soft spot on the top of their heads, and if they were to approach us, the stick would be used to hit them on this vulnerable spot, after which they would turn away. We were cautioned to be quiet and not to swing our cameras as we walked. Luckily, none of them approached our group and we were able to get some good photographs of them lying in wait for other prey.

The path on which we walked was well marked and we also saw and heard several beautiful birds along the way. After completing the selected route, we were free to visit a cafeteria where the natives were selling tee shirts, and from there we proceeded to a large market where Mary Pat purchased several strands of pearls while I bought two hand carved dragons made of hard wood, one for me and one for my grandson. One of the vendors asked if he could have my bottle of water. When I gave it to him, he was very grateful. I was never asked for money, just for information about where we came from. Seeing how these people live and survive makes me grateful that I was born in the United States of America.

After we completed our shopping, we walked along the beach to the waterfront where a ship’s tender was waiting for us. We got back to the Voyager just after 2pm, but the dining room was kept open longer than usual. As I ate lunch, I could not stop thinking about the man who only wanted a bottle of water.

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Lombok, Indonesia

This is one of approximately 13,700 islands that make up the Indonesian archipelago; although we have visited several of the islands that make up this country, this particular island is one that we have never previously visited. The inhabitants of Lombok number 3 million, most of which are relatively poor, but there are pockets of wealth spread around the island. Most of the population is Muslim, but there is some evidence of Christianity here.

We dropped anchor in the harbour at 8am, and were assigned to the first tender going to shore for our tour of the local markets. The Voyager was surrounded by local natives in outrigger canoes looking for anything of value that the passengers would throw to them.

After arriving on the mainland, we were treated to some Indonesian music and dancers before starting out on our tour.

It was only a short drive before we arrived at the Mandalika Market, Lombok’s largest public market offering vegetables, spices, meats and even antique furniture.

As we drove from one place to another, we were followed by a horde of vendors, all of whom were anxious to sell us their handicrafts. They hopped onto their scooters and motorcycles and were ready to continue their sales efforts as we got off of our coach at each of the scheduled stops on the tour. It got to be funny as we were greeted by them with their universal comment, “remember me, you promised to buy something from me at the last stop”.

The local Indonesians are great salespeople. They never gave up trying to convince us to purchase the products that they were selling. Also, they never lost their friendly demeanor no matter how much the tourists refused to be interested in what they were selling.

From here, we drove to the Mayura Water Palace with its large artificial lake and floating pavilion, built in 1774, as part of the Balinese Kingdom’s royal court. It has been used as a meeting place for Hindu lords. The surrounding park has other shrines and fountains. We then proceeded to the Narmada palace, built by the Raja of Mataram in 1805. A portion of this complex is still used by local Balinese for a religious ceremony called the “Pujawali ritual” where offerings that include live ducks are made to the gods.


Our last stop of the tour was a crafts market where we could not resist some of the bargains that were available. Even Mary Pat found a sarong that she had to have.

After making our purchases, we reboarded our coach and returned to the pier for the return tender ride to the Voyager. This was a very enjoyable tour and we enjoyed learning about the history of this island, as well as the culture of the Indonesian people as a whole.

We are very excited about tomorrow when we return to Bali and repeat our experience of last year when we spent an overnight at the Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaron Bay.

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Bali, Indonesia

Our ship anchored off the coast of Bali before 8am; after the announcement that tender service would be commencing shortly, we proceeded to the Constellation Theater to get our tickets for the short ride to the pier where we would face the onslaught of the local vendors trying to sell the tourists their wares. This has always been one of the toughest gauntlets of the world cruise, and today was no exception. Luckily, our driver was waiting for us on the pier where the locals are not permitted except for the folkloric music and dance performers. Also, our automobile was close by so we did not get approached by too many merchants.

It was a 90 minute ride to the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay where we had reservations for the evening along with our friends, the Breakies and the Piersons. We were greeted by name as we exited our vehicle, and were led to sofas on the open-air lobby overlooking the beautiful landscaping for a quick and efficient check-in accompanied by a serving of fresh fruit and a delicious sweet cocktail. With this completed, we, along with our luggage, were driven to our villas. These were the same ones that we had last year.

The villas are magnificent. They are totally private and have a magnificent view of the water. In addition to the sleeping area with its canopied four poster bed and windows facing the bay, there is a large dressing area with ample closets, a double sink, large tub filled with frangipani blossoms, and a huge shower stall. In the enclosed garden, we had a lovely plunge pool with a wonderful water treatment, and an open air cabana with tables laden with fruit as well as a bucket of champagne and two glasses. We sat on the couch and shared the champagne before taking off our clothes and enjoyed the warm waters of our pool.

At 3pm, we called for a cart to take us to the spa for our 3 hour massage ritual that included a footbath, full body massage, and facial. Afterwards, we met at the reception desk and tried out the body balance magnets that the spa was offering for sale. We were impressed by the test results, purchased them, and instantly felt healthier. By now, we were ready for a nap, but that was not going to happen because we had 7pm reservations for the romantic “Bed on the Beach” dinner. There were approximately 30 canopied king sized beds along the beachfront with literally hundreds of lighted luminaries spread out on the sand, while a vocalist and jazz group entertained us. Over 2 ½ hours, we were served a delicious 5 course dinner that we thought was well worth the cost of the experience.

The following morning was spent lounging in our cabana and splashing in our pool until noon when we met the others for a beachside luncheon. We then collected our luggage and called a cart to drive us to the lobby where we checked out and called for our car to drive us back to Padang Bay where our ship was waiting for us in the harbor. We caught the 3:30pm tender back to the Voyager, and sat in the coffee corner discussing our glorious overnight as the anchor was lifted and we sailed away from the little bit of paradise.

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Semarang, Java (Borobudur) Indonesia

Today, our ship docked at the Port of Semarang rather than anchoring off shore as we did in Komodo, Lombok, and Bali. We went to the Constellation Theater to exchange our vouchers for bus tickets and soon thereafter were on one of the many coaches heading for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Borobudur.

We had a previous opportunity to visit this site many years ago, but at that time we did not have an appreciation for what it was and so opted for a ridiculous city tour of Semarang that was worthless, at best. This time we knew better, and the three hour ride each way did not discourage us from seeing the site of this holy Buddhist shrine. The destination was definitely worth the ride.
Because of time constraints, we only had an hour at the site, but enjoyed every moment we were there. I was even able to climb to the top level from where I was able to take some magnificent photographs.

After an Indonesian lunch buffet, we drove back to Semarang, arriving at the harbor as the crew was dismantling the gangway. We were among the last to board the ship. Interestly, there were two crew members who did not make it back to the ship. They had to fly to Singapore to catch up with us.

It was a full, but very unforgettable day. After expending all that energy during the day, I slept well that night

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Singapore

Thursday was the final day of the second segment of the 2010 world cruise so we had spent Wednesday evening saying goodbye to the many friends who were leaving the ship the following day, including Dave & Sue Young and Dick & Lana Breakie.

We had breakfast with the Breakies and then stayed with them until they disembarked for their hotel where they will be spending the next couple of days. Dave & Sue are also going to stay at a hotel in Singapore for one night before returning home.

After our friends left the ship, we disembarked to do some shopping in the cruise terminal. Before we were done, both of us had purchased new cameras. We had spent so much time in the shops that we went directly to the tour meeting place outside the terminal rather than return to the ship. That is where we connected with the other 18 passengers who were signed up for the tour of the Orchid area at the Singapore Botanical Gardens followed by high tea at the Raffles Hotel.

We rode through the city as our guide reintroduced us to the history of Singapore and in a short time arrived at the botanical garden. We had never been there previously. The orchids were in full bloom and the gardens were spectacular.

We had visited Raffles Hotel previously but this was our first opportunity for a high tea there, and I definitely enjoyed the very tasty pastries that were served.

After returning to our ship, we took a quick nap, after which we met with Ephraim & Francisco, and Mark & Harry in the coffee corner. Ephraim & Francisco had invited us to join them at 7pm for a Chinese dinner at the Shangri La Hotel, and Ephraim had even arranged for transportation from the ship for the six of us. They refused to allow us to share in any of the costs associated with the dinner which was very generous of them, but totally unnecessary. It was a lovely evening, and they were wonderful hosts. The meal was delicious and even included Peking duck which I had never had before. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed their companionship, returning to the ship at 11pm.

We had 7:45am tour reservations for Friday morning, but did not wake up until 9am. Since we missed the tour, I used the time to bring my book to the current date until noon, and then got dressed for lunch which is where we were at 1pm when the Voyager left Singapore and started its voyage to Muara, Brunei.

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Muara, Brunei

We did not have a tour reserved for today but we had a mission. We wanted to buy a wedding gift for one of the ship’s waiters who we have grown very fond of. It is Routh, who left the ship in Singapore to return to Manila in order to prepare for his wedding, scheduled for March 23. We have made plans with him and his fiancé to take us around Manila while the ship is docked there and to spend the day with them, and also to meet his parents.

As we walked down the gangway at the pier, I noticed a tent set up that was selling souvenirs. While waiting for the shuttle to the city, I looked over their offerings and noticed that the man was just supervising while his four wives were doing the selling. One of the wives noticed that I was looking at him, and said that it is the wife’s job to do the work in Brunei which is why the men like having four wives, the permissible legal limit. I told Mary Pat about the policy here, and she just waved off my comment as we boarded the shuttle; she got on first. I do not think that she would do well here.

Along the 45 minute ride, we passed by some of the water homes on stilts, and also the royal mosque. I was able to get some practice using my new camera, but it is going to take some time before I am familiar with all of the options available on this newer version of my Sanyo. After finding an appropriate gift, we had it wrapped in wedding paper after which Mary Pat handed me the bag to carry. Looking over her shoulder, I saw the store manager waving at me and indicating that it would be very inappropriate for me to carry purchases for my wife in this Muslim society so I shook my head and put the shopping bag back in her hands. The store manager nodded his approval while Mary Pat indicated her disapproval very clearly. I just smiled to myself so that she would not see it on my face. We caught the return shuttle in time to return to the Voyager for a late lunch.

This evening, we attended the engagement party for Barry and Allyn Shulman’s son. Cocktails were served in their suite at 7pm and a fancy Prime Rib dinner followed in the Compass Rose restaurant for the 16 invitees. It was a very nice party.

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Manila, Philippines

Because of a mechanical problem that the ship was experiencing, we did not arrive in Manila until 11am, two hours after our scheduled time of arrival. The music and the dance troupe that came to entertain us started even before our ship was tied up.. As we disembarked, leis were put around our necks to welcome us to this nation of 5,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Our first stop after descending the gangway was to purchase the famous world cruise tee shirts that are manufactured here. This is the only port of call along the route of the world cruise where Seven Seas Voyager world cruise tee shirts are available, and just like they were in 2006, the cost is still just $10 each. With our new shirts stuffed into our carry-on bags, we walked through the security gate to start looking for Routh, our friend who works on the ship, but who left in Singapore to return home and get ready for his wedding, which is scheduled for March 23, 2010. He had emailed us that he rented a van for us and would be waiting in a sea of cars along with his fiancé, Stephanie, and his mother and father. His father’s name is Ben Hur. (Ben, for short) and he used to work for Costa Cruises when he was younger. After introductions all around, we climbed into the van and headed for Max’s, a Manila restaurant chain, for lunch. Routh ordered lunch for everyone, and during the meal, we had no trouble finding out about our host and his family.

After lunch, we drove to a Philippine landmark. A beautiful Catholic church that is famous for its statue of the Black Christ; and from there to the Robinson Mall for an opportunity to do some shopping. Joan & Charlie treated everyone to a drink at Starbucks while we were there. By now it was after 4:30pm and with the heavy traffic, it was decided that we should start our return drive to the pier.

We gave Routh and Stephanie the present that we had purchased for them and also gave him some money to help with his wedding costs before saying goodbye and reboarding our ship. As we sailed out of Manila, the families of the crew were lined up along the pier waving goodbye to us and their relatives. It was a touching farewell.

When we returned to our room, we found that Eversole, our stewardess, had bought us a present—a refrigerator magnet from the Philippines with a basket of flowers on it. I had taken some photos of her with her family on the pier, and sent them to her in an email. It had been another lovely day.

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Shanghai, China

We had three sea days after leaving Manila and arrived at the port of Shanghai on Friday evening, March 5, 2010 at 6:30pm. The Voyager docked on the Pu Dong (East) side of the Huang Pu River; our balcony faced the Pu Xi (West) side so we looked out at the Bund (waterfront) which is the area built during the European concession period, mostly by the British. We can also see 3 of the 5 bridges that cross the river. The city now has 23 million inhabitants just like Beijing and continues to grow rapidly despite having a much smaller size than the area that makes up the Chinese Capital city.

During these three sea days, the weather got consistently cooler at every measured time so that by the time we docked at the port that evening, the temperature had become cold and nasty. It had snowed in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon, but none of it was remaining on the ground as we looked out from our suite.

During this change in the weather, we had a similar situation on board the Voyager where there was a problem with the heating system and the entire ship was freezing. Passengers were attending lectures in everything from sweatshirts to fur coats, the dining room was icy cold, and our suite was measuring 61 degrees. That was the worst of all, so I called for engineering to fix the problem and fortunately it did not take too long before they were there to remedy the situation.

The lecture program was going full force during these days and sea with wonderful speakers, including Olympic gold medalist, Kathy Rigby; a political analyst, Dr. Sheldon Simon; intelligence & security presentations by Glenmore Trenear-Harvey; and the destination specialist, Sandra Bowern. The theater was filled for every presentation despite the temperature in the theater being very uncomfortable. The audience had learned what to wear and how to keep warm.

As soon as we tied up, the Chinese Immigration and Border Control Inspection commenced. Several of the passengers disembarked to have dinner on the Bund (waterfront), but we enjoyed the view of the city’s lights from the observation lounge after which we had an enjoyable dinner with two world cruise couples and discussed our planned activities for the next couple of days.

Saturday started with a planned excursion to Taobao City, one of the favorite haunts by passengers looking for knock-offs. However, we never got there because Mary Pat decided that she was not in a shopping mode, so she stayed onboard while I went off in the city shuttle with Sam and Phyllis. The drop off spot was at the silk market. After leaving the coach, I found that I had left my gloves on the seat. There were three coaches making the 30 minute run to the market, and fortunately for me, the Chinese representative at the destination point was able to contact all three drivers and had my gloves returned to him while the Pierson’s and I walked through a pouring rain to a restaurant in the city square for a real Chinese lunch—stir fried chicken and beef with bok choy vegetables. The chicken dish was so spicy that I had to drink several cups of tea to cool my throat. After returned to the market, we walked through the stalls, but did not purchase anything, before reboarding the shuttle for the ride back to the pier.

This evening, the ship offered an “ethnic cultural fashion show to the full world cruise passengers. As I thought back to all of the presentations that the company has put on for its world cruise passengers over the last five years, this had to be the best ever. The 60 odd models were each dressed in their colorful regional dress as they paraded along the red carpeted runway. After the completion of the fashion show, other acts took the stage; a juggler who passed out roses to the women, a karate dance presentation, and even some Chinese acrobats. It was a delightful show. During the performance, waiters walked through the crowd passing out food samples and drinks of all kinds.

When the show was over, coaches took us to the Huang Pu riverfront for one of the best fireworks displays that I have ever seen. When that was over, and we were riding back to the ship, each guest received a gift—a Chinese ethnic doll and a book of the ethnic clothing of the different Chinese minorities. We got back to the ship at 11pm, and went up to La Veranda where the ship was still serving dinner for the world cruisers before they would retire for the night.

Sunday, our last day in Shanghai during this visit, started very early because we had scheduled a 7:45am tour to see the ancient water town of Zhujiajiao, or “Pearl Stream”, an ancient town with a history dating back over 1,700 years. This town is the best preserved among the four ancient towns in the area of Shanghai. It was a 1 ½ hour drive from the ship but was well worth it with its unique old bridges over bubbling streams, small rivers shaded by willow trees and houses with attached courtyards offing a relaxed, tranquil environment.

Upon arriving, our guide took us on a walking tour of the fascinating little town. We viewed the stone and wooden structures known for their simplicity and elegance. The highlight of the tour was a boat ride through the canals of Zhujiajiao that enabled us to better appreciate its delicate bridges, old residences and its peaceful way of life on the water. After the boat ride, we continued on foot to explore a Daquingyouju (post office) built during the Qing Dynasty, and the only remnant of its kind in East China. We also visited an apothecary shop before being allowed some free time to shop among the booths offering all kinds of locally made treasures before returning to Shanghai and our ship.

We had only a short time to relax because we had also signed up for a 2:45pm tour to see a 1 ½ hour performance of the Chinese acrobats in one of the new theater complexes. It was an amazing production, and although we have seen several of these performances, each one is always different than the others. We returned to our ship at 6pm, and were enjoying dinner with friends when the Voyager pulled up its gangway and departed from Shanghai.

It had been two lovely days of exploring this marvelous city and its environs. If only the weather had been better, the visit would have been perfect, but we still enjoyed everything we did here.

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Xiamen, China

(Pronounced “Shah-man”)
This is the first time that we, and the Seven Seas Voyager, have ever visited this place. We docked at the Xiamen Cruise Terminal at 11am. This city of 2.5 million people is well manicured and very modern. It is a resort city that normally has very lovely weather except that during the summer season, it gets unbearably hot. Our tour today took us to the .7 square mile island of Gulangyu which has only 16,000 inhabitants. Twenty years ago, the only way to reach this island would be in a private boat or by swimming the 500 meters between the two land masses.

The tour started with a 5 minute ride, on a coach, from the cruise terminal to the Xiamen Ferry pier where we boarded a ferry for the less than 10 minute ride across the bay to Gulangyu with its rich historical, and cultural, past. It is also known as “the piano island”. At one time, this island was used as the region’s International Foreign Settlement. Today, the only reminders of that settlement are the charming colonial buildings that blanket the island.

Once we were on the island, we walked to the Haitian Tanggou Villa complex, where we watched a traditional puppet show. Afterwards, we walked a short distance to a beautiful building where we were served tea and cakes and then listened to a moving performance by three concert musicians, a pianist, violinist and cellist that had been trained here. Next on the agenda was a ride on an electric street train that took us to the Haoyue garden where we watched a martial arts demonstration, and then our group walked to the waterfront where we were able to see a panoramic view of Xiamen city and a 51.5 foot tall statue of General Koxinga, or Zheng Chenggong. This stone statue is given credit for keeping the island safe from damage caused by typhoons. Afterwards, we returned to the main square of the island where our guide gave us some shopping time before returning to Xiamen on the ferry. From there, it was only a short ride back to the cruise terminal. We reboarded our ship at 5pm just as it was getting ready to leave this lovely city and head for Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong, China

This was the final day of Segment 3 of the Seven Seas Voyager’s world cruise and gave the segment passengers a day in fabulous Hong Kong before having to pack their luggage and leave for home, or a hotel in this fantastic city of bargains, although the bargains are not like they used to be in years past.

Our ship actually pulled into Ocean Terminal, and docked at 11:30am. For the first time in many years, we were facing the harbor instead of the city. Also, and even more importantly, it is one of the few times that we could remember that the sun was shining. The temperature was a pleasant 55 degrees which compared very favorably with the 30 degree weather that we experienced in Shanghai. Also, we are happy that some very good friends of ours are joining the ship here, and that will allow us 35 days of fun with the Welden and the Kohl families.

We started our day in Hong Kong with a visit to the optical shop in the Peninsula Hotel where Mary Pat added to her collection of eyeglasses, and then found our way to the Tai Pan Reflexology, Beauty and Foot Spa for a one hour treatment. We had found this place to be enjoyable last year, and it is one of the places recommended by Carole Klein in her talks about places not to be missed when you visit this island. After some more shopping, but no more purchasing, we returned to our ship to get ready for our adventure that starts at 9:30 tomorrow morning when we leave the Voyager and fly to Yunnan province where we will explore more of Kunming and then proceed to Tibet where we will spend three days in Ringha before starting our return to the ship. We will catch up with her in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on March 17.

While we are gone, the Voyager will spend an additional day in Hong Kong, and then will start its transit of Viet Nam going from Halong Bay, and then to Nha Trang before arriving in Saigon the same day that we do.

At 8pm, we were perched on our balcony furiously taking pictures of the sound and light show as the Hong Kong buildings flashed lights and lasers across the water for the enjoyment of its visitors. Afterwards, we finished the last bits of packing for tomorrow’s trip and called it a day.

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Thursday, March 11, 2010—(Day 056)
Hong Kong to Kunming, China

The four of us disembarked the Voyager, with our luggage, at 9:30am, and met our English speaking Hong Kong guide at pierside for our transfer from Ocean Terminal to the Hong Kong International Airport. We had reserved a seven seater executive car for the 45 minute ride. Once we arrived at the airport, we were assisted to the Dragon Air desk and got our boarding passes for the 11:55am flight to Kunming and were directed to the 1st class lounge to await the call for departure of our flight. It was a 2 ½ hour flight during which we were served a nice lunch. We arrived on schedule at 2:25pm, met Vivian, our local guide, and she called for our driver who brought our seven seater buick van to collect our luggage and take us to our five-star hotel, the Grand Park Kunming, one of the top hotels in Kunming city,where both couples were reserved in Crystal Club Suites. Both of our rooms have a splendid view of the famous Green Lake and park.

Serving as the capital of the province of Yunnan, Kunming is historically and culturally renowned throughout the country. It is the centre of politics, economy, culture, science and technology in Yunnan. The city, at an altitude of 6,000 feet above sea level, has a population of 7 million people and a pleasant average temperature of 60 degrees. It is well known as the City of Eternal Spring without bitter cold in winter and intense heat in summer.

While driving to our hotel, Vivian gave us some information about Kunming including the fact that their Chinese sister city was Shanghai, and that their American sister city was Denver which is at a similar altitude. After checking in, the three of them took a quick nap while Vivian and I went to explore Green Lake. Even though we had done this on our previous visit 2 years ago, it was still enjoyable to see how much the people who live here use the park, also called “Lovers Park” which was evidenced by people of all ages holding hands and sitting on the many benches facing the beautiful lake. At 5pm, I met Joan, Charlie & Mary Pat at the spa. They had each signed up for a reflexology appointment. I opted to have a Hawaiian massage that was applied in the Chinese tradition and was very thorough to say the least.

Vivian picked us up at 6:30pm. She had made a reservation for us to have dinner at a special place that she thought would be interesting to us. The restaurant was formerly the home of one of the last governors during the reign of Pu Yi, the last emperor. It was an elegant estate, and we ate a delicious dinner in a private room. Photos were not allowed on the property because the estate is maintained as a museum. After dinner, we drove to the theater where we purchased presidential tickets to attend an evening performance of Dynamic Yunnan, an original song and dance program that tells the story of the Yi, one of the 56 ethnic tribes that make up the Chinese people. It was a fantastic performance that will be remembered by all of us as one of the unexpected highlight of our adventure

Friday, March 12, 2010—(Day 057)
Kunming, China

We had an early breakfast after which Vivian picked us up, at 9am, for the 1 ½ hour drive to the Stone Forest, a Chinese National Park, and also a UNESCO Heritage & Geopark site. Once we arrived, we paid an additional 200 Yuan for the privilege of touring the site in a private electric vehicle. This added to our enjoyment, but there were still certain areas where the vehicle was not allowed and we spent close to an hour hiking through these areas to be able to see as much as possible.

An extremely rare geological phenomenon dating back to 270 million years ago, Stone Forest is 80 hectares of Karst limestone pillars in fantastic shapes that resemble a forest viewed from a distance some 85 kilometres southeast of Kunming. The Stone Forest is also home to the Sani tribe, a branch of diverse and scattered Yi minority renowned for their diligence, embroidery and dancing.

We left this impressive area slightly after noon with beautiful photographs that will help us to fondly recall this visit. We did not have lunch until after we returned to Kunming where Vivian took us to a 5 star restaurant. After filling up on another Chinese menu, we drove back to our hotel in time for our 4pm massage appointments. This time, Mary Pat and I signed up for a “romantic massage”. Actually, the only difference between this treatment and the Hawaiian massage that I had enjoyed so thoroughly yesterday was that the oil used today was rose oil. The Chinese think that rose oil is more romantic, and the cost is higher as a result of the marketing which was okay. We did enjoy the treatment.

This evening, Vivian recommended that we have dinner at a restaurant called Jiang Brothers. The house specialty was rice-noodle soup, a special Kunming dish. I decided that I would be better off eating a vegetarian dish, and I think that I made the right decision. My three companions were eating all kinds of foods that included honey bees that had been boiled, had their stingers removed, and then deep fried. It looked disgusting to me, but they were having a good time, but I was having a better time just watching their faces as they swallowed these disguting looking bugs. The bees were presented with full bodies, wings, and eyes. They looked gross as Mary Pat, Charlie, and finally even Joan gently dropped the honeybees into their mouths. I did not see any of them going back for second helpings. I did get some interesting photos of their experience.

We returned to the hotel just before 9pm and returned to the spa where we all signed up for a reflexology treatment in four adjoining chairs before returning to our rooms for the evening. Our plan is to experience as much massage time as possible during our tour.

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Saturday, March 13, 2010—(Day 058)

This was an early morning, with breakfast at 6am, and a pickup at 7am for the ride to the airport. Our flight to Shangri-la was scheduled to depart at 8:30am. We waited in the 1st class lounge and when our flight was called, we were escorted to the plane, on the tarmac, in a private car. We boarded, and were seated, before any of the other passengers arrived.

One hour later, our plane set down at the small Di Qing airport that serves Shangri La at 9:30am. The elevation of this airport located in the Himalayan heights of Tibet was 10,500 feet above sea level, and the temperature at the airport was 0 degrees centigrade (32 degrees Fahrenheit). I was glad that we had our heavy winter lined jackets to keep us warm. After retrieving our luggage and taking photos of ourselves in front of the Shangri La signage, we climbed into our Banyan Tree vehicles for the ride to the Banyan Tree Ringha resort. During the drive, we noticed the spectacular Tibetan scenery, houses, and animals, including the heavy coated Yak, one of their basic sources of protein.

Banyan Tree Ringha is found in China's Yunnan province, a mountainous area that has been designated as the official Shangri-La by the Chinese government and is part of Greater Tibet, both historically and culturally. At 3,200 meters above sea level, the setting is spectacular with day-trips and overnight excursions taking you to divine mountain peaks touched by the clouds, awe-inspiring ridges, deep canyons, torrential rivers, mystical plateaus, endless valleys, crystal-clear streams and the most tranquil of lakes.

The resort architecture reflects the local Tibetan culture. The accommodations are composed of thirty-two, two story, Tibetan farmhouses that had been moved and reassembled on the property. These villas have intricate woodcarvings, smoky fireplaces and large wooden balconies that have valley and river views. Impressive pine pillars add enormous character to both the interior and exterior of the building. They were modified to include indoor plumbing on the first floor of the buildings because the nomad Tibetans do not use indoor facilities, their toilet facilities are behind their homes in the open fields; they do not even have outhouse facilities. This makes it very cold for more than half the year and even more so when they go into the field behind the house during the middle of the night. When occupied by the Tibetan farmers, the first floor of their homes is used to provide protection for their animals. The heat from their animal’s bodies rises to warm the second story of the home.

Because we wanted to see as much as possible during our three days here, we got started with our first tour right away. We left the resort and drove to the old town of Shangri-la. After walking past some of the shops, we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch and then got back into our car and drove ten miles west of town where we arrived at the Gaden Songzanlin Lamasery (monastery). This is the largest Tibetan Buddhist lamasery in Yunnan Province and also one of the 13 famous monasteries in Tibetan Kham. The lamasery was built in 1674 under the Emperor Kangxi’s authorization after the Fifth Dalai Lama sent a report to him. The Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty bestowed a Chinese name called Guihua Lamasery. With an area of about 33.3 hectares, the lamasery was built in the pattern of the Potala Palace in Lhasa and is abundant in previous cultural relics. The Lamasery was destroyed during Mao’s cultural revolution, and just recently the Chinese government has started to reconstruct it again. At the present time, two-thirds of the Lamasery has been recreated and the entire construction should be completed within the next 12 months.

From here, we drove back toward Ringha. Along the way, we stopped for photos and at one point, got out of our cars and Mary Pat was able to climb onto a yak for a quick ride before arriving at our resort just in time for all of us to go to the spa for our 5pm two hour full body massage appointments.


Sunday, March 14, 2010—(Day 059)
We were up bright and early, and met for breakfast in the dining room. After eating our fill, we met our guide for the 5 hour Shangri-la culture tour. Much of today would be on horseback, riding Tibetan ponies. We were ready to go by 8:30am. Joan was uneasy about getting on a horse but she did.

The tour today showed the warmth and hospitality of the Tibetan people whose traditions include welcoming strangers to their homes with a cup of fragrant Yak butter tea. It also taught us about Tibetan architecture and the different aspects of a traditional wooden village house, and how to tell whether a young woman is married or searching for a husband by looking at the costume she wears.

In addition to the above, the tour also provided fascinating insights into Tibetan life and its many unique traditions and customs as they rode their Tibetan ponies through six picturesque villages and undulating pastures. The village ladies showcased their elaborate techniques used for spinning fur into long threads, and weaving treasured rugs and warm clothes for the winter.

The tour also included visits to different farmhouses where there was sampling of home made yak butter tea and cheese, observations of local women tending the fields and coming face-to-face with yaks, horses, sheep and pigs roaming freely on the meadows.

After a hearty lunch in one of the Tibetan homes, the tour continued through an ancient pine forest, that claimed a 3,500 year old tree, to the 800 year old Ringha Da Boa Si Monastery, a small but historically significant working temple on top of a hill. Draped in fluttering prayer flags that have sutra mantras printed on them, the winding path emanated an otherwordly presence and was a true testament to the deep spirituality of Greater Tibet.

the final stop of the day was at a home where we all appreciated the decorations at a home of a local family. It was here that I presented an American flag pin to the 3 year old daughter of the household. Because I wanted the little girls mother to know that this was something that should not go into her daughter’s mouth, I gave the pin to her mother, which is when I distinctly heard the little one say, “what is that”, in perfect english. We were all surprised that a three year old Tibetan child was able to speak this English phrase. In questioning the mother, we found that the children are learning English very young here.

Also, while we were her, Joan asked about going to the washroom. Upon hearing this, the female members of the family started to giggle. This is when we learned about the bathroom habits of the Tibetans. The women escorted Joan to the field in back of the house, and just stood there while she did what she had to do. I guess that there is no shyness about bodily functions in Tibet.


Monday, March 15, 2010—(Day 060)
We had scheduled an all day tour of the Ronga Valley for today starting at 8:30am, so after breakfast, we climbed into our automobile to explore as much as we could. The Rongpa Valley is located North west of Shangri-la about half the distance to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. In all, we travelled almost 100 miles along the Yunnan Tibet road passing through the Napa Flood Plains and beyond. Along the way, we stopped at a black pottery village and continued from there to a lovely village with the flat roof architecture of Northern Tibet. Here the famous Tibetan wooden Tea-cups, Barley Bowls and Carved Tables are crafted. Along the way we also were able to admire the confluence of the Yangtse and Gonjo River. From here, we drove further north through a very dry terrain, along the Yangtse River, to the town of Punzera where we had a hot lunch at a local restaurant.

Everywhere we went, the roads were under construction, and on the return trip to Shangri-la, we encountered so many delays that we were forced to cancel our evening spa appointments. In fact, we did not return to Shangri-la until after 7pm. We had expected to be back at our villas no later than 4pm. As a result, we also eliminated dinner that night, but we did spend the end of the day at the old town, purchasing last minute souvenirs of our visit to Tibet. We bought many of our treasures at a local shop that supported the local orphanage, and we hope that we were able to help the community by purchasing the gifts that we are bringing back home.

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Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand

We docked in Laem Chabang at 7am, and had a quick breakfast before finishing our packing for the overnight in Bangkok, after which we went to the Constellation Theater to get our tickets for the 1 ½ hour transfer by bus. We left the ship and boarded the 2d of many buses leaving for Bangkok, and left the pier at 10am. It was an easy ride; the only notable thing that we saw along the way were the throngs of “red shirt” dissidents who were marching along the streets and over the bridges toward the public buildings, but they were very peaceful; they waved to any of the passengers who were wearing a red shirt because in their minds, it displayed that we were showing our solidarity with their cause.

After arriving in Bangkok, at the Shangri-la hotel, we were directed to where the Regent guests were registering. We were assigned to a room in the new wing of the hotel, which is where the full world cruise guests were being housed. The segment guests were being accommodated in the main building. The only glitch with our reservation was that the room we were given was registered to Robert & Ann Silberman. Before going to that suite, we checked with the shore excursion manager from the ship to find out if there were other passengers, with our name, on the excursion. We were assured that we were the only couple with our surname, but for the next two days, we were Robert & Ann Silberman. We still have no idea how that mistake happened, and neither did anyone with the hotel or the ship. It did not affect our enjoyment in any way; our suite was large and beautiful. It had a bed that was made up of two king size beds; it was so huge that I could not find Mary Pat all night. In fact, I could barely see her on the other side of the pillows. In addition, the room had a balcony overlooking the swimming pool and gardens, as well as the Chao Praya River that allowed us to easily see all of the traffic flowing past the hotel.

At noon, we chose to have a lovely buffet lunch in the International restaurant; we had a choice of several restaurants to choose from and selected that one. After lunch, we boarded a boat for the tour visiting the Royal Barge museum and the Temple of Heaven (Wat Arun). It was an excellent tour, made even more so because the weather was perfect, not too hot or humid like it has been in past years. The tour returned us to the hotel at 5pm, after which we went to the restaurant for complimentary tea and cakes. Shortly thereafter, we returned to the river for a full world cruiser exclusive tour for a sunset cruise along the river. This had to be one of the best world cruise excursions that Regent has ever operated for its world cruise guests. Light hors d’oeuvres and drinks were served throughout the cruise, and everyone had a marvelous time. Also, the photo opportunities were fantastic. We returned to the hotel dock at 8pm, but before disembarking, were treated to a fantastic fireworks display. Afterwards, we were ushered into our choice of several different restaurants for a special world cruise banquet that was also very well planned. From here, everyone was ready to enjoy the comforts of their super-sized beds.

The following morning, we had breakfast in the hotel dining room dining room, and then went to the spa where we had reserved a 2 ½ hour couples massage, starting at 9am. It was a wonderful massage that neither of us could believe was over when the therapists told us that they were finished. I actually looked at my watch to make sure that we had been given the full time allotment. We dressed quickly and returned to the room, got our luggage, and just made the 12pm checkout time. After leaving our overnight bags with the bell captain, we walked through the stores at the hotel and stopped at the beauty shop for a haircut that I sorely needed. Mary Pat had some other thing done that she said was needed also. Afterwards, we returned to the lobby restaurant for lunch before boarding the 3pm coach for the ride back to the Voyager.

I slept all the way back to Laem Chabang. Mary Pat woke me up at 4:30pm to say that we arrived at the pier. One of the ship’s porters took my suitcase back to our room, and Mary Pat boarded the ship while I went to see what was being sold at the booths along the pier before I also reboarded our ship.

We were at dinner, at 7pm, when the Seven Seas Voyager pulled away from Bangkok and started its journey toward Kuala Lumpur. We will have two sea days before we get there however.

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Penang, Malaysia

We arrived at 8am, right on schedule and went to the theater to pick up our bus passes for the 4 hour tour we selected for today’s excursion. We then boarded our coach for the ride to the seaside district of Telok Bahang where the butterfly farm and spice garden was located. On previous visits to Penang, we have remained in the city, and the only touring that we did was to go to various electronics malls and to ride a trishaw. We never wandered into the countryside. This tour gave us an opportunity to see the city, and get a better appreciation of the beauty that makes up this island. It was a much nice experience.


The butterfly farm featured over 120 species of exotic butterflies in a tropical setting that enabled us to observe a live exhibition of scorpions, tarantulas and other rare insect species from the tropical jungle thriving in their natural environment.

We spent an hour in the butterfly park, and then drove to the spice garden, an eight acre estate, showcasing a collection of more than 500 species of local and introduced flora, with an emphasis on the conservation of tropical herbs and spices in a lush microcosm of tropical eco-systems. The garden involved a lot of climbing that left some of our group stranded, but I was not bothered. I am giving credit to the “power balance’ necklace that I purchased at the spa in Bali for improving my ability to be balanced when I am climbing or descending the many staircases and hills that I have experienced during this voyage.

On previous visits to Penang, we have stayed in the city and gone to various electronics malls. We never wandered into the countryside. This tour gave us a better feeling about the island, was much more enjoyable, and anicer experience. We returned to the ship in time for lunch, and this evening, we hosted an Ensemble cocktail party in the card room. The bar staff set the room up very nicely, and made it look like a real party. In addition to the ensemble guests, a goodly number of the ship’s staff made an appearance, including Captain Dag; Michael, the general manager; Jamie, the cruise director; and Gudren, the onboard cruise consultant. There were many others, and they too appeared to have a good time at the party.

I am glad that we are going to have three full days at sea before reaching the Maldive Islands, our next port of call.

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Mali, Maldives

We anchored offshore at 8am and got our tender tickets for the short ride to shore where we were taking the walking tour of the city of Male. We had a very nice guide who took our little group of 12 people in tow and headed for the first highlight of the day, the three story Islamic center, Male’s most renowned architectural landmark. The Grand Friday Mosque is the largest in the Maldives, and accommodates more than 5,000 worshippers. It was built from coral stone in 1656AD. Soon thereafter, we also saw Medhu Ziyaarath (a shrine dedicated to a Muslim leader), and the presidential Palace. We also visited the National Museum that used to be part of the Sultan’s palace. The museum has a display of artifacts, sculptures, clothing, coins, arms, armor, and other antiquities.

Our tour concluded with a visit to the local fish, vegetable and fruit markets, after which we visited several souvenir shops where Mary Pat, Terri, and Joan all purchased beautiful coral necklaces.

This evening, the ship, with the help of several passengers who volunteered to assist them, put on a Passover Seder. Most of the work was done by Allyn Schulman who did a marvelous job creating the haggadah that was used and also wrote the words to several songs that we sang during the service. It was actually better organized than previous Passover Seders that had been planned by rabbis on the ship.

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Port Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles

It was a three day journey to get to the Seychelles from the Maldives. We arrived on schedule Thursday evening at 4:30pm. Some of the passengers left the ship and had dinner in town, or at various resorts around the island, but we chose to participate in the re-enactment of “Jimbo’s Truck Stop Diner” which was called for 7pm. We were one of the first couples to arrive at the party and were therefore able to get one of the two tables for eight. We wore our finest truck stop clothing, but neither we, nor anyone else, could compare with what Joan & Charlie showed up wearing. The party was a good one. After dinner, there was dancing that everyone participated in. The dancing ended at 9pm and we returned to our rooms and went right to bed because the morning would come early and we had an eight hour tour that we were hosting for the Ensemble guests.

Friday morning, we met the Ensemble passengers in the Voyager Lounge at 8:15. Our 30 passenger coach was already waiting for us, with 2 guides. Our tour was designed to show us the very best of the island’s history, culture and art. The guests were all on time so we disembarked and started our exploration of Mahe.

We headed south along the East coast of the island to an arts & crafts center known as the Craft Village (Domaine de Valpres). Unfortunately, today was Good Friday and the shops were all closed because of the holiday. However, we were able to go through the cluster of colonial style houses in the village.

It was only a short ride to our next stop, a Seychelles spice garden (jardin du Roi) owned by the same family for more than 100 years. In addition to the gardens, there was also a magnificent Creole-style house built many generations ago. We met the current owner of the property. She was a 5th generation descendant of the original family who had built the home and planted all of the vegetation. As we walked through the gardens, we could only appreciate the spectacular scenery. There were gorgeous beaches and stretches of open water between mountain peaks in addition to the many varieties of herbs, and beautiful flowering shrubs and trees. The spice plants included cinnamon, vanilla, patchouli, cardamom, clove and nutmeg. After exploring the property, we stopped in the house for light refreshments before saying goodbye to our hostess.

Next, we drove to the sculpture studio of Mr. Tom Bowers. Born in London, and a successful commercial photographer, he moved to the Seychelles in 1986 with his wife and daughter, where he returned to his original love of sculpting. The resulting works in bronze are among the most collectible artworks available in the countries that are located in the Indian Ocean.

By now, it was time to eat; we drove to a 65 acre estate on the Cap Lazare Nature reserve—an exclusive hideaway deep in the South of Mahe. The traditional thatched-roof, open-air, restaurant was elegantly set for us. We sat down to a delicious Creole lunch facing beautiful blue waters of a gorgeous bay. The luncheon was ample, and included several varieties of locally caught fish, plus sausage and chicken in addition to soups, salads, and desserts. We also had our choice of wine, beer, or soft drinks, plus bottled water.

After satisfying ourselves, the tour continued to a mountaintop place known as Mission Lodge, formerly the location of a school for the children of freed slaves. Today, only the ruins of that school remain. This park like location also faced extraordinary views of Mahe’s West Coast. We spent 30 minutes there taking in the breathtaking view of the verdant mountainsides and the vast azure ocean before returning to our coach and making our way back to Victoria, the capital city of Mahe.

The highlights of the city tour were the Unity Monument depicting the island four main industries; the national library which also doubles up as the national assembly; the Bicentennial Monument commemorating origins; the old law court with its colonial architecture, and the clock tower which is a replica of the Big Ben in London. From town, it was only a short ride back to the pier, and our ship, arriving at 4:30pm. It was a tired group of explorers who climbed the Voyager’s gangway and returned to their rooms to relax.

We fell into bed, and took a quick nap because we had made plans to meet friends for dinner in a couple of hours at the Hilton Seychelles. We drove to the hotel in a taxi with Mary & Charles Welden. The hotel was 30 minutes away at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, we were not able to see the view because it was already late in the evening when we arrived. After cocktails in an elegant lounge, we had a fancy dinner in a private room at one of the restaurants there. We did not get back to our ship until 11pm after which we did not waste any time falling asleep because we had an early beach outing scheduled for tomorrow morning.

The Voyager left Mahe at 4am to make the short transit to Praslin Island, another of the Seychelles granite islands.

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Praslin Island, Seychelles

We dropped anchor off the coast of Praslin Island at 8am, and soon thereafter the ship’s tender took us to shore where we boarded a shuttle for the short drive to the island’s Cote d’Or beach. It was truly a beautiful stretch of land with an even more beautiful beach. We swam in the warm waters and visited with friends who were also smart enough to select this little piece of paradise until 11:30 when we redressed, caught the shuttle back to the pier, and our tender back to the ship. After changing, we had lunch, and were joined by Captain Dag. We had a pleasant conversation and then returned to our room where we spent the rest of the day doing nothing.

At 6:30pm, as the anchor chains were being raised, Captain Dag got on the loudspeaker and announced that he had been in communication with Security Headquarters for the Horn of Africa. He stated that during the conversation, the commander of the unit asked about our future itinerary, and that he told the commander that the ship was sailing for Mombasa and thereafter, to Zanzibar, whereupon the commander asked, “are you crazy?”

The remainder of the announcement has been censored. Information concerning the announcement and the actions taken as a result of that announcement will be reported in my world cruise book to be published at a later date.

With that announcement having been made, we continued our world cruise.

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Mauritius

This morning, we docked at Port Louis, on an island that we had not visited previously. Tomorrow, when we arrive at Reunion Island, it will be another new port-of-call for us, so this detour was not all bad. As we looked over our balcony, we could see that this is a cosmopolitan city with a beautiful skyline and very interesting architecture.

We were scheduled to have an all day tour today visiting the southern part of the island where the scenery is supposed to be spectacular. However, this morning, we wanted to assist with the final arrangements for the Welden family’s excursion to the Serengeti. As a result, we did not leave the ship until 1:30pm. Since we had missed our tour, we took the shuttle to downtown Port Louis, the capital of the island where we spent several hours visiting their historical museum, and then walking through a very fancy shopping center.



Mauritius is an island nation 560 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, along with Reunion Island where we will be visiting tomorrow. Mauritius was uninhabited until the 17th century when it was found by the Dutch, then taken over by the French, and then yielded to the British during the Napoleonic Wars. It became independent in 1968. It was also renowned for having been the only known home of the now extinct dodo bird. Almost every vendor in the marketplace has a section of their store dedicated to selling replicas of the dodo. The shops are very elegant & expensive featuring luxury products like Prada, Chanel, and Ferragamo.

Maritius is generally regarded as a developed country similar to Turkey, Serbia and Croatia and has a very sophisticated look about it.

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Reunion Island

The Voyager docked at Port Reunion at 7am. Today, we were ready for our ship tour. We had been given a choice of any of three 10 hour tours or two 5 hour tours. The problem was that all of these excursions had warnings attached for anyone who had suffered from altitude sickness because Reunion Island is a basalt volcanic island rising to over 10,000 feet above sea level. With the problem I encountered during our trip to Tibet, I chose to observe some caution and I am glad that I did. I chose a beautiful five hour scenic tour of the South shore that only rose 7,000 feet from sea level but offered spectacular views of the coastline.

We only had 13 passengers on our Peugeot coach. It would have accommodated more than 50, so there was plenty of room. The problem was that the roads were not built for this size vehicle, so as we climbed the volcano on the single lane road, there were frequent hairpin turns that the bus had trouble maneuvering. Our driver had to make several attempts at each turn to allow us to proceed. A number of the passengers were concerned, but the driver was excellent. Also, we would not have been able to make the entire trip without the assistance of our guide who chopped down several large branches of huge trees along the route. That action is what allowed us to reach the summit.

At some point, I could feel my ears pop, and later on, became short of breath. When we reached the peak, the weather was much cooler than it was at the water line. We saw many trekkers wearing jackets. The scenery lived up to its billing, and was exceptional. We spent 30 minutes on top of the mountain before descending to the halfway point where we visited a distillery that sells essential oils that it makes to famous perfume manufacturing areas in France, including Grasse. There was also a store that sold the oils to visitors. Geranium was one of their local specialties. I started feeling much better after we descended below the 3,500 foot mark. It is interesting how quickly the altitude difference took an effect, both ways.

Back at sea level, we walked through a local market before returning to our ship at 1:30pm. Lunch was the first thing on our agenda, followed by a nap. This evening, we had reservations for “dinner & a show”. The show was called “forbidden Broadway” and was a parody of several Broadway shows. The audience really enjoyed the performance, and we all felt that it was among the best entertainment that we had seen on world cruise so far. Before calling it a night, we also went to the Constellation Theater to see the regular evening performance, a comedic juggler. It was a full day. I am ready for the upcoming three sea days before we reach Richard’s Bay, South Africa next Sunday.

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Richard’s Bay, South Africa

The first two of the three days sea days were filled with calm seas and and pleasant weather. There was also food and entertainment befitting the presence of Mark Conroy, the President of Regent, and his beautiful wife, Marilyn. In addition, a new lecturer, Daniel Silke, a South African Political Analyst, gave us a thorough insight into the history and workings of his country each morning.

However, the third day roared in like a lion throwing our ship from side to side with dishes breaking and personal possessions falling onto the floors of the suites. Many of the passengers climbed into their beds and held on to the sides as if they were riding a Brahma bull in a rodeo. The storm raged on throughout the day and well into the night making it difficult to sleep. Eventually we did.

We woke up to a cool but sunny and calm Sunday morning. Despite yesterday’s storm, we arrived in Richard’s Bay on time, at 7am. At 8:15am, we proceeded to the Constellation Theater to pick up our ticket for the tour that would take us on our 7 hour excursion to Shakaland. There were just 16 people on this tour so everyone on the coach had a seat by themselves. During the 1 hour ride to our destination, our guide told the story of Shaka, the king of the Zulus.

We drove through Empangeni enroute to the location where the motion picture, Shaka Zulu, was filmed. On arrival, we were met by a Zulu guide and were served a fruit punch drink by the Zulu women before starting our walking tour through the village. It is now a resort hotel property in addition to being a historic sight.

During our tour of the village, we saw a variety of displays that included Zulu women creating beadwork, weaving sleeping mats, sculpting pottery, and brewing Zulu beer. The men showed us how to make a spear and shield, and also how to use them. We were also invited into the “grandma’s boma” where we were entertained by Zulu dancers performing rhythmic drum dances; also, tribal members recreated a ritual performed by a traditional healer, or sangoma. The tour also included a 13 minute audio-visual presentation of the life of King Shaka.

At mid-day, we also enjoyed a traditional Zulu buffet luncheon at a restaurant overlooking beautiful Umhlatuze Lake.

Although it is customary for unmarried Zulu women to go topless, some past visitors had become upset at the nakedness so the natives were instructed to wear bras and other undergarments so as not to offend the tourists, which is really silly.

After returning from the tour, I did some shopping at the line of booths that ran along the length of the ship on the pier. Even though we have most of the items that were being sold, I could not resist a couple of the offerings.

That evening, for just the 3rd time on this voyage, we ate at a table for two in the dining room before retiring for the night.

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Durban, South Africa

The tour that we had pre-selected for today was similar to what we had done in Richard’s Bay yesterday, so we went to the tour desk and changed it for the safari tour that was being offered to the Tala game reserve. We requested the morning departure but it was already sold out. Fortunately, the afternoon tour to the same place was still available. That was a good thing because now, we could sleep late and still enjoy a safari experience.

The afternoon tour also gave me the opportunity to visit the marketplace in the ship terminal where I could purchase some local currency as well as shop for locally made artifacts. I did not get a good exchange rate, but thought that it would be better to have some local currency before arriving in Cape Town where we will be spending three days.

Mary Pat and I had a quick lunch on deck before going to the Voyager lounge to pick up the tickets for our 5 hour tour to the valley of the thousand hills where the Tala game reserve was located.

It took 75 minutes to get to the 7,410 acre private game park nestled in the Kwazulu-natal hills. The park is home to indigenous acacia trees, open grassland and sensitive wetlands that provide an environment to observe more than 300 bird species plus buffalo, white rhino, kudu, hippos, giraffes and the rare sable antelope.

On arrival, we boarded an open vehicle for a 2 hour guided game drive. The weather was perfect with a light breeze. We had excellent photo opportunities and the animals were close by as opposed to being way in the distance because there were no predators in the park that would make them fearful of us.

After the game drive, we went to the gift shop, where I purchased a simulated beaded wildebeest head that can be hung on a wall, before being driven back to the pier. We arrived just as the crew was dismantling the gangway and so did not have any time for additional shopping in the terminal. We would spend tomorrow and most of Wednesday cruising the Cape of Good Hope before arriving in Cape Town on Wednesday evening. Hopefully, the weather will not be as rough as it might be in this area.

About an hour after leaving Durban, we received a call from the executive concierge, Manuella, that one of our Ensemble passengers, who was also a good friend, was in critical condition and had to be evacuated by helicopter back to Durban. We quickly went to the infirmary with the executive staff of the ship and assisted as much as possible. After the evacuation, we visited with the husband who was not able to accompany his wife on the helicopter because of its size and helped him formulate plans to pack and fly back to Durban as soon as we reached Cape Town two days hence.

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We arrive at Victoria Harbor in Cape Town

Our first sighting of the cape came after 2pm as we crossed the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans merge into one body of water. From that point, the open decks got filled with passengers wanting to see the first signs of the city of Cape Town.

I was 4pm when we got within sight of Table Mountain, the magnificent landmark of Cape Town. The weather that had been so hot and sticky as we went through the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Reunion Island had disappeared. This was no longer summer. We had arrived on a windy and chilly fall afternoon. However, the day was clear and sunny so we did get beautiful photographs as we tied up in front of the Victoria & Alfred mall.

We had an invitation from Malcolm Ainscough to meet him for cocktails at the Cape Grace Hotel across the waterway from where we were docked. We had a nice time getting reacquainted after which we walked along the Victoria Mall where we found a nice place to eat, the Sevruga Restaurant. I think we were the only patrons over the age of 30 years that night. It was a hopping place. We sat at a table on the verandah. It was very nice except that South African young people are all smokers, and smoking is allowed in the restaurants without limitation so everything had a smell of cigarette smoke. Otherwise it was very nice.

This was the last night of segment 4 of this year’s world cruise and the evening saw lots of luggage in the hallways. The staff did not seem to mind however since the incoming passengers would outnumber those going home by more than 50 additional guests joining the ship. There was one imminent problem however, and that was the exploding volcano in Iceland had spread lots of sulphur ash across the Atlantic into Europe that was interfering with flights to and from major European cities. Tomorrow would represent a major problem because there was a question of whether flights would be able to land in much of Europe.

Also, this was the last night that Captain Dag was in charge of the bridge. Tomorrow, he will be gone and the new caption, Gianmario Sanguineti, will take over. He is Italian from a village near Portofino, but lives with his wife in South America.




Thursday, April 15, 2010—(Day 091)
Cape Town

Editor’s note: Today is the first day of the final segment of our world cruise. There are just 28 days left until we reach Fort Lauderdale. The time has just flown by which is a strange feeling because in some ways, it seems that we just boarded the Voyager, and in other ways it seems like we have been away from home forever. In any event, it has been a marvelous adventure and one that I feel honored to have been able to participate in. There have been several passengers who have suffered health problems and, as a result, will not be able to complete the journey. That is a shame; I am glad that I have come so far and hopefully will still have time left to share my memories with family and friends when I return to San Antonio.

Today, Regent Seven Seas Cruises invited all of the full world cruisers to their exclusive world cruise event, “Vintage Fair at Blaauwklippen Estate”. We had a leisurely morning, had lunch on deck, and then departed by coach for a one hour drive through the scenic mountain roads of the Stellenbosch wine region to the estate where we were greeted by a string quartet.

The gardens, and the view, were spectacular. As we walked through the property, we sampled personally produced wine from local growers who manned booths all around the venue. We were also served traditional Cape cuisine treats that I cannot pronounce, but which were very tasty. The names of the various dishes included Bobotie, Breyani, Koeksusters, and mild Malay curry’s and meat stews. These are Afrikaan words and foods.

Blaauwklippen is one of the oldest working wine farms in South Africa. The estate, at one time, was owned by Cecil John Rhodes, the founder of Rhodesia and an important person in the development of all of Southern Africa. The estate mantra is “inspired by the past, passionate about their future”, and the owners believe it. The vineyards there are tended with care by people with an intimate knowledge of local conditions—some of the workers are from families who have been on the estate for three generations.

All of the buildings were original and beautifully restored including the carriage museum with its collection of antique carriages, which we visited. The vineyards that make up the scenery roll over the foothills of the Stellenbosch Mountains and up the steep mountain slopes. The majestic mountains exude a blue-ish hue which gives the name, Blaauwklippen, to the estate. In Afrikaan, this word translates into English as “blue rocks”.
During our visit, in addition to sampling the wines and the foods, we roamed around the estate experiencing a country fair of African art, and purchased some as well. All too soon, it was time to return to Cape Town and this transportation was arranged in vintage cars that lined the property waiting for us. There were old Cadillac’s, Bentleys, Jaguars, all kinds and brands of automobiles. We returned in a 1956 Ford Roadster. Along the route, people in other cars were waving and drivers were hitting their horns to let us know that they saw us. It was a fun event, and a fun day.

Friday, April 16, 2010—(Day 092)
Cape Town

We had an early tour this morning that took us to South Africa’s West Coast including the West Coast Ostrich Show Ranch and the Durbanville Wine Region. Along the way, we stopped at Bloubergstrand to capture the breathtaking views of Table Mountain and the city across Table Bay.

After arriving at the Ostrich Ranch, we had a guided walking tour to learn about the habits, breeding and characteristics of this unique bird. Our guide also discussed the different types of ostriches, like the West Coast which ostrich, the dwarf ostrich, black-neck ostrich, emus, rheas, and other cousins. The highlight of the visit was the opportunity to be photographed riding one of the big birds.

From here, we proceeded to a wine estate located on the slopes of the Tygerberg in the Durbanville Wine Region. That is where the cool ocean breezes and misty nights make Durbanville one of the coolest wine producing regions in the Western Cape. The name “Tygerberg” is derived from Tiger, the Dutch word for leopard. The Cape’s early settlers thought that the striated effect of the hills covered with indigenous shrubs resembled the skin of the leopard. We had a guided tour of the cellar after which we participated in a formal winetasting of eight different varieties of wines that are produced and bottled on the estate.

There were no cheese or crackers served with the wines, so that by the time we had finished the tasting, Mary Pat was already drowsy, and as soon as we got back to the ship, she had to take a nap. Since we only had a short time before departing this magnificent city, I could not resist spending a little more time walking along the boardwalk and taking in some of the local color. With all of its problems and challenges, Cape Town is a spectacular world-class city.

Back on the ship, we pulled away and headed for Walvis Bay, Namibia where we will spend 1 ½ days after a short time at sea to recuperate from our adventures in South Africa.

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Walvis Bay, Namibia

Our ship arrived at Walvis Bay, at noon, while we were having lunch. The day was cloudy & dark, and the desert winds were blowing. As a result, many of the passengers opted not to take their scheduled tours this afternoon. I had intended to take the shuttle to Swakopmund, the beautiful Bavarian village that is 22 miles inland where I could revisit the Karakulia Weavery where we had previously purchased several beautiful wall hangings. However, I discovered that our shuttle this year was only going to take us to the town of Walvis Bay, where nothing of interest, and no heritage of any sort, is available.

As a result, I stayed on the ship until late afternoon when everyone disembarked for our “dinner under the stars”, an exclusive world cruise event for all of the passengers. It was unfortunate that the event was planned for the evening instead of late afternoon because the sun had already set when we left the ship. As a result, no one could enjoy the contrasting landscapes or the famous dunes of the Namib Desert. Also, there would be no camel rides like we had enjoyed during our previous visit here, nor would the guests get to see the faces of the singers and dancers that Regent hired to perform for us because there were no lights shining on them while they were performing.

The buffet dinner, in the specially erected tents, was tasty and ample and the stars in the darkened sky were spectacular. When we returned to the ship, the entire crew was on hand to greet us as we reboarded. That was a very nice touch.

We had to sleep quickly because our tour for Monday morning was a 4 hour dolphin and seal cruise on the Walvis Bay lagoon in a 12 person fishing sloop. This lagoon is a RAMSAR Natural Heritage site and one of the most important wetlands along Southern Africa’s West Coast. It is renowned for its native bird species, and a vast array of intra African and Palaearctic migrants. The waters are known to be very calm, abounding with bird and marine life, and we were not disappointed with what we saw during the tour.

Pelicans performed on demand for us, and harbor seals swam up to the boat and boarded it for something to eat. We visited Pelican Point, where we saw large seal colonies, and schools of seals and dolphins swam alongside the boat performing for us. There was also a solid wall of cormorants flying in formations so thick that the sky was black with them. During the ride, Nick, our Afrikaans captain, laid out a luncheon on the deck of sparkling wine, fresh oysters, a selection of open sandwiches, vegetable spring rolls, and soft drinks.
After a wonderful 2 ½ hours on the water, we returned to the pier where we were able to look through a line-up of blankets loaded with African works of art before returning to the Voyager.

During the afternoon, several of us took the shuttle to town, but finding nothing there, we returned to the entrance to the pier where we found even more beautiful works of art, one of which I could not resist despite the fact that there was not as much negotiation as I would have liked.

The gangway was raised at 5:30pm. Shortly thereafter, we sailed away from Namibia for four restful days at Sea. Our next stop along the West African coast would be at Cotonou, Benin, another port of call that we had never visited previously.

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Cotonou, Benin

Our schedule called for us to arrive in Cotonou at 8am, but an announcement was made that we were not going to dock on time because the local pilot had not arrived yet and also because there was a cargo ship in the slip that we were to occupy and their engines were not operating properly so they could not vacate the pier. As a result, we had to remain in open waters to await the arrival of our local pilot. Jamie, in his announcement noted that “we were not in Kansas anymore” and were at the mercy of the local authorities. At some point, the pilot did call the ship and notified the Captain that he would set out for us after they got the cargo ship out of our docking area. After a wait that exceeded several more hours, we finally got word that the pilot would arrive around 11am. True to their word, the boat carrying the pilot arrived exactly when he said that he would; unfortunately a tropical storm arrived simultaneously with the pilot boat and because the winds were churning at 45 mph, we were not allowed to approach the mainland. In fact, we were advised that we had to stay in open waters until the winds decreased to no more than 20 mph, the maximum wind speed allowed for tying up in the harbor. Since we were not allowed to dock, a decision was made to open the restaurants for lunch while we waited for the storm to pass.

There was a point in time when the winds decreased to 25mph and we thought that we would get the opportunity to proceed to a landing, but a second storm, with stronger winds, raised its head, and that was enough for Captain Mario. He announced that we were giving up on our visit to Cotonou, Benin. Our chance to add another country to our list of places visited in Africa went down the drain as the local pilot left the bridge and returned to his boat, and we sailed away toward Togo. However, before we left the territorial waters of Benin, we did get some missing passengers back on board the Voyager. These passengers had been refused visas in Namibia and were sent back to Cape Town where they got visas for Benin and then flew to Cotonou to wait for us to appear and claim them. It was fortunate for them that the local authorities allowed them to transfer to the ship and rejoin us.

Later on toward mid afternoon as we approached Togo, we got permission to dock in Lome, its capital city. We would dock this evening at 7pm. Jamie suggested that we would all be better served if we ate on the ship tonight rather than have dinner in a local eatery in Togo. Togo is not part of Kansas either!

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Lome, Togo

Our last visit to Togo was in 2000, and we were looking forward to seeing any changes that had taken place here during the last 10 years. At first glance. everything looked pretty much the same, which is so different from the changes that have occurred during this same time period in China, Vietnam, and other parts of the world where progress was evident in every part of the economy, the people and the culture. In Togo, it seems that time has stood still, and that maybe things have just gotten worse.

We had selected a 3 hour voodoo tour today because we really enjoyed experiencing that ceremony and the local culture during our last visit. But, we should have known from the start that this tour, and this visit, would not come up to our expectations because from the moment we opened the drapes, and looked out on the waterfront, we noticed that there were no vendors on the pier. Last time, the pier was overflowing with sellers of wonderful African art. In fact, one of our favorite acquisitions was purchased in Togo when we were here in 2000. It was a covered “gold pot” that gets a lot of attention in our home. Today, the pier was barren except for some port workers.

Our tour started with an hour drive through the countryside while our guide told us how lucky we were to be here and that we were going to be amazed by the magic that we were going to experience at the “authentic” voodoo ceremony. We were even going to see the priest bury a live chicken and later recover it—and return it to life. This guide told us nothing of the Togolese people or their country. He was like a circus barker trying to impress us with an upcoming magic show.

Our drive took us to the village of Sanguera, the same place where, in 2000, we walked through a fetish market before seeing a real voodoo ceremony. This year, there was no fetish market, and no witch doctor to greet us, only an old man dressed in a white sheet who poured some liquid onto the sand while our circus barker told us that this was the traditional greeting ceremony. I never knew that the traditional Togo greeting ceremony involved pouring shots from a newly opened vodka bottle into a metal bowl and from there onto the ground, followed by the “chief” personally downing a couple of full shots.

Once we had been so properly greeted, we were led to a circular seating arena. We were told that this was the “ceremonial circle”. Some distance from this circle, a half dozen men beat on “authentic” drums while 6 or 7 women, dressed in prettily colored dresses jumped up and down and waved their arms. None of these “actors” wore African clothing, and none of the women were bare breasted as might have been expected. Also, none of these performers ever moved forward to dance in the “ceremonial circle” where we could watch them. They just stayed in their own area away from where the tourists were sitting.

Back in the circle, a tall black man dressed in a fancy African purple-striped costume stepped forward and spoke to the assembled group through a microphone. He had arrived there ahead of the coaches in his new Nisson automobile. At some point, this master of ceremonies addressed the audience and said that we should point our attention to the drummers where one of them was now in a trance; on cue, in true circus style, the drummer rose and ran to the circle where he bent down and put some sand onto his face and hair and started acting like he was on drugs. This was his portrayal of being in a trance. Another native then led him behind one of the huts. When he reappeared, he was wearing a grass skirt over his trousers. He jumped up and down waving his arms, supposedly under the influence. This was the most ridiculous part of the ceremony to date, and obviously fake! It only got worse when the old man in the white sheet reappeared to bury, and then unbury, his live chicken and parade around the circle waving the poor bird over his head. This act was only exceeded when another chicken was placed upside-down on the head of a young boy who kneeled in the middle of the circle while a “warrior” danced around the chicken with large knives in each hand. Eventually, I think the chicken died of boredom because it was never touched, and again the dead chicken was paraded around the circle. The highlight of the performance was when one of the natives finished cooking some kind of meal using his hands as utensils in the pot and then served the concoction to the seated guests around the circle. I could not believe that anyone took samples from the pot with their hands, but they did.

Soon thereafter, it was time to return to the coaches, and the ship. This tour was a horrible example of how the Togolese culture has deteriorated into a circus stunt. It showed nothing of the history or culture of a noble people and made them look like clowns. If I had not been here a decade ago, I would take no memories and nothing of value from this ceremony, or this country. And, if we had been charged anything for this excursion, it would have been excessive.

We returned to the ship and just shook our heads in disbelief. This was a stop that we should have avoided, instead of the one in Benin yesterday. We learned nothing of value, and we were happy to be on our way and on the way to Ghana where I was sure things would be better. Nothing could be as worthless as this stop. It is a shame because I think that Togo has a lot to offer, but whoever is running its tourist programs surely missed the point of what we came to experience. They also missed a golden opportunity to increase their annual income by selling a lot of African art and sculptures to tourists that were prepared to purchase anything and everything.

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Takoradi, Ghana

We docked at the port of Takoradi on schedule at 8am. This port had lots of vendors set up on the pier ready to sell all kinds of African art but we had to delay our shopping because our nature conservation tour headed out as soon as our ship was cleared. This tour took us to the various wetlands and “green banks” of Takoradi where we would see how Ghana is protecting the environment for future generations.

Our first stop was at Monkey Hill where the government has set up a preserve to protect the forest where local monkeys maintain their habitat. We hoped to see some of them during our visit, but unfortunately, they make themselves seen only in the early morning and at sunset. They were already back in the deep forest, and not visible.

Feeling a little disappointed, we reboarded our coach and drove to the twin city wetlands which is home to many species of native birds and animals. As we were disembarking the coach to walk toward the wetland area, our driver had an altercation with the local police because we were holding up traffic. The policeman started to shove the driver, and I thought we were going to be in the middle of a fight, but cooler heads prevailed quickly. With the threat of violence over, I did get some good photographs while walking through this conservation area.

Next, we drove through the townships (the ghetto areas) of Sekondi and Takoradi, the twin cities and saw how the average local people live. To me, it looked like the people were surviving after a bomb destroyed their homes. It appeared that they were barely surviving, but interestingly enough, everyone we passed waved to us and smiled broadly. Everyone, without exception, was very welcoming. After leaving the township, we drove through the central market area, the new part of Takoradi, and the commercial enclave of the city before retuning to the pier and the market that had grown since we left for our tour several hours before.

We spent more than an hour going through the stalls and visiting with the vendors, all of whom were very friendly and none of which were overly aggressive. The prices were so modest that I did not want to negotiate the prices, and in most cases simply paid what they were asking for the products. In one instance, I was looking at a hand carved walking stick and Mary Pat called out that it was too large to fit in our suitcase whereupon the merchant smiled and showed me that it could be dismantled into several pieces making it very easy to carry home. Obviously, that was something that I purchased.

After a quick lunch, I took the shuttle back to town, and the huge central market circle, with Joan & Charlie who were looking for the expensive Kinta cloth that is made in Ghana. She did find some of the authentic cotton fabric and when she agreed to the price and got out some American money, all of the women in the area got up and danced around her and the woman who made the sale. It was a happy site. It seems that because of the price, not many local people can afford this cloth, and it is only worn on very special occasions. Joan was happy also.

While in the market, I met a very old woman who said that she wanted me to take her to America with me when I left. She wanted to see America before she died. I sat with her and told her that I could not do that, but I could give her a gift that I brought with me from America. I then reached into one of my pockets and gave her a lapel pin with the flag of the United States of America. As I attached the pin on her dress, she looked at it, gave me a big toothless smile, and thanked me profusely. It was a very touching moment.

I also gave lapel pins to some of the cute young children we met before returning to the shuttle stop and boarding our coach for the return ride to the pier and our ship. This was a very nice day and very different from our day in Togo. We were able to visit with the local people and let them know that we want to learn about their culture, and how they live their lives.

Our ship left Ghana at 6pm. We are going to have three days at sea before arriving at our last African mainland country, the Gambia, where we are going to host a tour for the Ensemble guests onboard the ship.

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Banjul, The Gambia

Our original schedule called for us to dock at 8am, but several days ago, we were informed that the port of Gambia would not be ready to receive us until 10am. This morning, the Voyager was waiting patiently outside the port area at 10am when Captain Mario announced throughout the ship that although we had arrived when we were told to be here, the pilot had not arrived as he had promised. I guess it was to encourage him to start his engines and motor out to us that our Captain moved our ship closer to the pier than expected. This was probably a signal to the authorities that we were ready to land the passengers with or without their assistance. As a result, it was not much longer until the local pilot made an appearance and guided us the rest of the way to the pier. We finally tied up to at 10:30am.

We had arranged for our group of 15 (out of 31 possible Ensemble guests) to meet in the Voyager lounge, after which I disembarked, located our coach, met Farma Njie, our Discovery Tours company representative, and Sheriff, one of our two guides, I then called Mary Pat on my walkie-talkie and requested that she send our guests down the gangway.
When our clients reached the pier, I guided them to where Farma had arranged some entertainment especially for our group by two local musicians, one of which was playing a “Kora” that he had personally built. Other guests, not on our tour, also enjoyed the music and took photos of our entertainers. From there, I led our group to our coach and we started the one hour transit through the city of Banjul and Serrekunda, one of the largest and busiest administrative districts in Gambia and home to the most popular market. While driving through this area, we were able to observe the hustle & bustle in the daily lives of local Gambians. From here, we started our drive through the Gambian countryside to the town of Batokunku where the “Mama Africa” gallery and gardens are located.

“Mama Africa” is a non-profit association operating the women’s museum and art centre. It is a unique place where we enjoyed seeing both traditional & contemporary art, both inside and outdoors in the garden. The gallery is owned by Isha Fofana, a renowned Gambian artist who has had a successful international career. She is considered a national treasure and anyone of importance who is entertained by the government of the Gambia is always presented one of her masterpieces as a gift in the name of the people of Gambia.

Women’s museums are still a rarity in countries around the world, and Mrs. Fofana hopes that the message of this gender-specific museum will be different from normal museums. Her wish is that these differences will generate interesting exchanges as more visitors from West Africa and beyond begin to drop by, and that her museum will turn into a lively cultural center.

Upon arrival at her gallery, we were welcomed by soft Kora music and served welcome drinks of local fruit juices after which we had a guided tour of the premises by the artist herself, detailing her works and experience, both locally and internationally.

After spending some time in the gallery, and also spending some money purchasing some of her extraordinary pieces of art, the 15 of us returned to the gardens for a cooking demonstration of Gambian dishes, including a display of local utensils and the ingredients used. All of the women at the property were dressed in traditional attire. Gambian dresses, and shirts for the men, were also provided for us so that we could better enjoy the experience. I liked my outfit so well that I purchased it along with a large painting that we really thought was perfect for our home, or office. The lunch that we had helped to prepare was enjoyed at tables that were set up in the garden. The weather was perfect for an outdoor meal and the selections were delicious, which was something that I had been needlessly worried about.

When we had finishing eating, a wonderful storyteller narrated historical events of Gambian culture, and of former heroic warriors, while playing his 5 foot, 25 string kora, a guitar-like instrument. After his performance, a troupe of local women dancers entertained us. Several of our group, mostly the women, joined the dancers and pounded the sand flooring while waving their arms in the air, just like the local women. It was quite a show, and great exercise too.

After the dancing, it was time to say goodbye to our hostess and her husband, and to reboard our coach for the 20 minute ride to the “Kim Kombo” fruit distillery & Farm where we would learn how local fruits are processed and made into liqueurs. But before we left the gallery, everyone waited an additional 5 minutes for me because our painting had not yet been packed in a tube for its safety. After apologizing to everyone for the delay, we headed directly to the distillery where, after a short tour of the facility, we were invited to participate in an extended liqueur tasting, We had an interesting and “tasty” tasting of several varieties of the dessert liqueurs; my favorite was the chocolate and mint. After we left, Allyn & Barry Shulman presented Mary Pat and me with a bottle of this delicious tasting beverage with their thanks for planning such a lovely day.

It took 40 minutes to get back to the pier which had grown to a full African market in our absence. I could not resist walking through the stalls, and once there, could not resist adding a few more treasures to my already bulging collection of purchases. I also could not resist one of the babies being carried on her mother’s back and asked how old the child was. Upon learning that he was 2 years old, I reached into my wallet and handed the mother $2, plus another to grow on for her little one.

We stayed on the pier until after dark, talking to the vendors and purchasing a few trinkets before we finally reboarded the Voyager. We did not want to get dressed for dinner, and so went to the La Veranda casual restaurant, before returning to the room and falling right asleep. Our ship left the Gambia at 10pm.

Luckily, tomorrow will be a sea day, after which we will make our last stop in African waters. That stop will be a new port for us that we can add to our list of countries visited. It is Mindelo, St. Vincent, one of the ten islands making up the Cape Verde Isles.

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Mindelo, St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands

This morning, we docked at St. Vincent Island in the middle of its capital city, Mindelo. As I previously wrote, this is a new port of call for us and we are looking forward to seeing how different this port will be from the other stops that we made during our transit of West Africa. I am expecting a lot of differences because it is a primarily Catholic country rather than Muslim like Gambia, or Animist like the people of Togo; and its architecture is very Portuguese. Also, the Cape Verde Islands have been removed from the list of developing countries and recategorized as a developed country.

Our tour on St. Vincent gave us a taste of the city of Mindelo as well as the island itself, and its magnificent panoramic views. It started with a visit to the historical museum that was a problem because everything was explained in Portuguese. However, from that point, the tour improved and as it progressed, we explored the city’s local lifestyle and culture and had the opportunity to enjoy the views from the summit of the island’s highest volcano. The tour concluded with a visit to Catfish Bay Beach where we were served local appetizers along with Portuguese wine, soft drinks, beer, and bottled water while being entertained by a carnival exhibition that included a “Capoeira” dance show and local traditional music. We returned to the ship at 1pm, and relaxed the rest of the day.

We were playing trivia, with the Welden family, at 4:30pm as our ship departed from the island to start its four day transit across the Atlantic Ocean heading for the Caribbean where our first port of call will be in Bridgetown, Barbados. During the four sea days, there will be many special activities conducted by the cruise staff that will be lots of fun.

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Bridgetown, Barbados

At 10am, we tied up to the dock in Barbados. As I looked out from our balcony, it was difficult to mentally comprehend that we were no longer in the exotic parts of the world that we had been just four days ago. Our four month voyage had come to an end and that we were now in the Caribbean West Indies of our own hemisphere. We would not be seeing markets full of African sculptures, nor would I be tempted to buy anything here because the offerings would not have the fascination of acquisitions from faraway places.

However, the scenery was still pretty with its beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise waters, but, for some unknown reason, seemed less special. I still do not understand my feelings. I almost feel that it would have been better if we had gone directly to Fort Lauderdale and ended the cruise on a high note. On the other hand, maybe this re-entry into our own world is easier to absorb than being thrown into western civilization without a transition.

We had lunch on board the ship, and at 12:30pm disembarked for our tour—the Concord experience museum and the 300 year old Sunbury plantation house that was originally the manor house of a sugar plantation.

The concord, during the years that it flew across the Atlantic, had a twice weekly scheduled flight between London and Bridgetown, Barbados. I had never seen it before, and found it to be very small with tight seating compared to today’s wide bodied aircraft. I enjoyed visiting the plane in its museum, but do not think that I would have enjoyed travelling on it, other than for the speed at which it travelled. The flight on the concord took only 3.5 hours to cross the Atlantic.

The plantation house was set on beautiful grounds with manicured gardens. Today, it is used as a venue for weddings and other large parties. The house itself was quite modern with a lot of memorabilia of its past life. After our tour, we were treated to a glass of champagne, or fruit punch, with salmon canapés in the garden.

We returned to the ship after driving through Bridgetown, arriving at the pier at 4:30pm. We had dinner with Leon Hadley, an Ensemble guest who, along with his companion, had been evacuated for medical reasons earlier in the cruise. She was not able to return with him and is still undergoing treatments, but someone had to return to the ship and pack their personal belongings.

This world cruise has seen more than 40 passengers leave the ship during the voyage for medical reasons. Never before had I known of a voyage that lost so many of its passengers, and it was nice to visit with one of them who seemed on the way to recovery.

We had a pleasant evening cruising the Caribbean Sea. Tomorrow, we will dock in Antigua after lunch so will have a leisurely morning in which to focus on some packing for our journey home.

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St. John’s, Antigua

We spent the morning cruising the beautiful turquoise blue Caribbean Sea, and arrived at Antigua, the island of 365 beautiful white sand beaches, at 1pm. After tying up at the St. John terminal, we disembarked the Voyager and started our tour of spectacular Antigua that included visits to the Antigua National Park, the Blockhouse Ruins, Shirley Heights, and Nelson’s Dockyard Village.

The panoramic views from Antigua National Park were fantastic, and included looking down on English Harbor and Nelson’s Dockyard. The latter sight was named after Horatio Nelson who served here at Antigua in the 1700’s. Because it was such a clear day, we could also see the island of Montserrat 27 miles away. While visiting the National Park, we were able to attend the Dow Hill Visitor Center where we viewed a cultural audio/visual show depicting Antigua’s past and present.

At Nelson’s Dockyard, our last stop on the tour, we visited the museum, and saw a lot of fabulous yachts tied to the old stone quayside. After the tour, refreshments were served to us at an 18th century inn before we returned to the pier.

This evening, we attended the wedding reception and dinner of Amy Shepeard and Michael Clough. They had celebrated their wedding earlier in the day at a resort on the island. Our hosts were Amy’s mother, Patty Bloom, and her sweetheart, Sir Jack Hayward. It was a wonderful party that started with drinks on the Horizon Lounge patio, followed by entertainment in the lounge where J.R. performed and sang beautifully for the group of 71 guests. The wedding couple and their parents also took their inaugural wedding dance to the applause of the guests. The dinner was in the French Signatures restaurant where everyone agreed that it was a delicious meal. The best part of the dinner from my point of view was the four tiered, butter cream, wedding cake with lemon filling.

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Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

The Voyager had docked at 8am and we immediately departed for our tour to the baths at Spring Bay, on the island of Virgin Gorda. It was a 40 minute cruise along the Sir Francis Drake Channel from Tortola to Spanish Town (Virgin Gorda) from where we boarded an open air safari bus for the brief drive to the unique enclave, the baths, where mammoth boulders, palms, sand and sea caves mark the spot. The waters were crystal clear.

We spent the next two hours enjoying the warm waters and the pure white sand beach before having to get onboard our van for the drive back to the Little Dix Bay marina. From here, we reboarded the boat to take us back to our ship in Tortola. The Voyager left the British Virgin Isles at 1pm, and headed for our final port of call, Grand Turk in the Turks & Caicos Islands, where we will spend the afternoon tomorrow.

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Monday, May 10, 2010—(Day 116)
Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands

We spent the morning doing some packing and then attending an interesting lecture on how terrorists and other criminals are interrogated before enjoying our final World Cruise port of call on the island of Grand Turk, part of the Turks & Caicos Island chain.

We did not do any shopping here. We had already finished that part of our cruise, and so we decided to spend our time ashore enjoying one of the nearby white sand beaches. This one, although quite pretty, did not offer the privacy that the beach at Virgin Gorda provided. However, it was still very nice and clean. The highlight for me here was being parked alongside the Carnival Miracle, a 3,000+ passenger ship. All of the Regent passengers noticed, as did I, that there was a solid line of people waiting to reboard the Carnival vessel that stretched the entire length of the pier. It looked like there were more than 3,000 people standing in the heat of the day waiting to get onboard the ship, and they waited a long time whereas we were able to get on and off of the Voyager at will. It would be a wonderful advertisement for Regent to insert a photograph of the Carnival passengers waiting to board their ship. That is but one of the many reasons why we prefer to travel with Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

We spent several hours on the quiet beach, which was even more so after the Carnival passengers left, then leisurely walked back to our ship ignoring the call of the duty free shops lining our path. Back on the ship, we finished our packing and lined the corridor with our 14 pieces of luggage before getting ready for our last night of the world cruise. Tomorrow, a day of cruising the Caribbean and our final day of the world cruise, will be a day of mixed emotions. I am definitely ready to return home, but am sad that this adventure has come to an end. Luckily, we have another wonderful cruise coming up soon, and we will hopefully be back on Regent for a 72 night cruise around South America in January, 2011.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010—(Day 117)
Cruising the Caribbean Sea

It was a beautiful day on which to end our world cruise. The seas were smooth as glass as we spent our last 24 hours on board the Seven Seas Voyager saying our goodbyes to the companions that we have shared this cruise with and promising to stay in touch by telephone and email until we meet again.

The crew and the cruise staff put on a goodbye show for the passengers that brought tears to many, but the wonderful memories that we have made will last us the rest of our lives. I have to keep in mind the saying that I learned years ago, and that is that “we should not cry because it is over; just smile because it happened!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010—(Day 118)
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
The end of the 2010 world cruise

We said our final goodbyes to the crew of the Seven Seas Voyager as we left the ship for the final time that ended this year’s World Cruise. The mixed emotions kept on coming for the next several days as we flew back to San Antonio and reacquainted ourselves with our real lives, returning to work, hugging and kissing our children and grandchildren, and unpacking our suitcases. Our 14 pieces of luggage arrived on the following Monday, and the following week was spent looking at the various memories that we had purchased over our four month voyage. A few items were broken in shipment but I was able to put them back together without too much trouble.

It was great fun to have been able to enjoy this wonderful voyage, but it is even more fun to return home to our family. The grandchildren are the best at listening to our stories as they gather around and still sit on our laps as we recount our adventures.

My immediate project is to finish my book, and I am going to do that next. I hope you enjoyed reading about our voyage as much as I enjoyed being there.

Goodbye for now!

Hope that you will join us for a future cruise,

Jay W. Silberman