Musings while we are sailing amongst the seaweed in the Sargasso Sea...where 4 currents keep a circulation of this seaweed that provides shelter and nutrients for various sea animals.
Tomorrow is our last port of call, San Juan, PR. We are looking forward to a short visit there...hoping to see not much change in Old San Juan after the hurricane.
This afternoon is the "Crew Show" where assorted crew members put on a music and dancing show that showcases their homeland's songs and dances. It's always a full house and a big hit, so we'll go an hour early. Several of our Lido dining staff are in it, so we will go to applaud them.
I've been sitting here thinking about all the questions I had about this cruise (or anyone who took a World Cruise) before we came on, and what I've now found my answers are.
The passengers (1200 or so) ranged from a 1-year-old (staff daughter who was on for almost half the cruise...learned to walk, had about 1200 grandparents to help her and keep her amused) and a 10-year-old boy who was on for the whole cruise with his grandparents (who, yes, provided home schooling for him) to at least one 100-year-old that we know of (might be another one or two). Most were like us, in our mid-70's, retired, and love to cruise. A few were people who were still working and had been able to take some time off...but most were retired. Many are Canadians ("Snowbirds at Sea") and from northern US areas using this as their winter retirement home. Many have done world cruises before (most on HAL) and many have signed up for 2019 and 2020 already, both excellent itineraries. There were several very disabled people on board, confined to wheelchairs, but with attentive spouses who made the voyage possible. I have no idea how they managed, but they seemed to all do fine.
Do you have to be wealthy to do it? It seems that yes, you do have to be able to spend $50-60,000 on a vacation (per couple), but many people have downsized their living to apartments and condos (and even full-time RVers) so that traveling is now their big expense that is budgeted for. Our onboard expenses have run about $3,000 which includes 1400 minutes of internet, several hundred dollars in the medical clinic, and some excursions we had not lined up before. We are not heavy drinkers, so that included an 8-bottle wine package and assorted drinks now and then. Our laundry was free since we are 5* Mariners, and our tips were pre-paid by our travel agency, as was our luggage delivery service. We had lined up a number of private tours in ports ahead of time and prepaid some others. Our greatest expenses were our two overland tours to Angkor Wat (4 days) and the safari in the Kruger (4 nights.) Those had been signed up for and paid a long time ago, so went in "last year's budget." (But they were worth it!)
Did we get bored? Never. I never heard of anyone who was bored, nor did we ever feel that at all...in fact there are too many things going on, so you have to be selective as to what is important to you...classes, lectures, fitness, hobbies, reading, etc. There have been several amazing classes that I wish we had started ...drawing and painting...two separate classes, but amazing what people have learned in them! Beginner Bridge, Mah Jong, Chess...book clubs, knitting groups, chorale, fitness classes for all abilities, swimming, cooking, computers,...never ending! The library has been busy every day...(have read lots of books that have been available) this is one ship that still has a well-stocked library, and since it's a World Cruise, they provided a librarian who was excellent.
Food has been varied and excellent (in the Lido...not as much in the Main Dining Room)...our servers have been outstanding, too.. We've all become part of their family for these 4 months and vice versa. They know us and our preferences and choices. "Mam Jan" and "Mr. Chris." Breakfasts are my favorite with difficult choices...steel cut oatmeal, eggs, omelettes, with raisin toast, sticky buns, or "Ensemadas" (Filipino sweet rolls). Lunch was usually a salad or sandwich (egg salad, chicken salad, or tuna salad for me)...or sometimes Chinese food or pizza. Dinner was usually a meat, veggie, and starch (potato or rice) which sticks to our home cooking. They had very good lobster tails, and roast beef...desserts were usually not very good (whew!) Chris had ice cream for the most part.
Evening entertainment was hit and miss...some were good, some very poor. We did not often attend since we had other things we preferred to do...work on videos and photos and read.
The ports were varied...some we loved, but some were lessons in world poverty. Many were ports I would not bother to return to for assorted reasons, others were ones we didn't see enough of. We took private tours, our travel agency tours, and Holland America tours...for the most part, they were all very good...only a few were bummers. In large cities (i.e. Manilla) it was good to have a HAL tour since there was a police escort to get us through the massive traffic jams. Some friends did well just getting local cabbies (after getting recommendations for who to use from the shuttle bus driver.)
Favorite ports? Australia and New Zealand hands down. Worst? West Africa countries.
The Polynesian islands were more crowded than we expected, so less interesting for us. Favorite sights? Angkor Wat in Cambodia...well-worth our visit, though very hot and lots of walking. The safari was also a favorite...we found that 4 days (6 game drives) worked out fine...saw The Big 5 and lots of animal interactions one doesn't get to see in a zoo.
The ship was very comfortable (we've sailed on her before) and we are happy that we upgraded our cabin to a verandah (which we used quite a bit)...which also included more space in the cabin itself. We found our little "hang out areas" for different times of day...Crow's Nest and Library were our favorites, but there were a few nooks here and there I found to read or knit in.
Yes, I had to go to the infirmary a few times...assorted reasons, but the medical service was adequate for what I needed. (Minor problems.) They did have several people along the way have to leave for medical reasons, and we heard there were a few deaths, but that's to be expected on a trip like this. Most people say it is a reminder to always carry medical evacuation insurance when sailing in areas like this...I would not have wanted to have to leave the ship to go to a hospital in Angola or some of the outer islands in the Pacific.
Would we go again? Possibly...4 months is a long time to be away from family and friends as we found out. I think we'd prefer to do the little bit shorter trips of 2 months or so. But, we've learned to never say never....after all we said only a few years ago "We'll never do a World Cruise."
I shall try to post this today and perhaps upload some photos tomorrow in San Juan...otherwise they'll have to wait until we are home this coming weekend.
Thanks for traveling along!
Jan
Sent from my iPad
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