Cruising in Comfort ~ Out of the Comfort Zone

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore,”

Dorothy said to her little dog as she looked around at their emerald green surroundings in the 1939 movie,“The Wizard of Oz”

As we’ve been preparing for our upcoming spring adventure – a 35-day cruise - by reading travel guides, travel narratives, blogs, and other writings – we are preparing ourselves to make the same observation as Dorothy did to Toto . . . and likely more than once.

 

Our  “Far East Odyssey” as this itinerary is called will take us to places in the world that we’ve always wanted to see – places that are located in the Middle East.  By whatever name the cruise line wants to call it,  (it does start in Bangkok) the fact is, we will be traveling through a most unstable area of the world.

On the flip side, what better way to travel to such exotic places than a comfortable cruise ship?

We will be among some 23 million travelers around the world who will be cruising in 2015, according to Cruise Lines International Association. Of course, it reports that most of those cruisers will be sailing from North American ports and that the Caribbean will remain the top cruising ground.

Our itinerary provides for stops – some overnight and one of at least two nights – in:

Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma).

Mumbai and Cochin, India.

Salalah, Oman.

Aqaba, Jordan – gateway to Petra and Wadi Rum.

(We’ll transit The Suez Canal)

Safaga, Egypt – gateway to Luxor.

Haifa, Israel – gateway to Jerusalem.

In between our exotic ports of call we’ll have nearly two weeks – portioned out with a day here and there – of ‘sea days’; those long leisurely days spent  kicking back and watching the world go by from the comfort of the ship as we sail the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Andaman Sea and Arabian Sea before entering the Mediterranean.

Middle East Realities

“Have you read the headlines lately,” a friend shrieked and visibly recoiled as I listed off our ports of call.

“This makes me very nervous,” said another as I was describing our plan for one port we intend to explore on our own. In three places we’ve booked organized tours.

“Hope your cruise doesn’t stop in any African ports; if so, stay on board,” wrote another friend after news of the terrorist attack in Tunisia was reported around the world.

I had gotten to this point in writing this post when it was confirmed that some of the tourists killed and others injured in Tunis, Tunisia yesterday were cruise ship passengers – on organized cruise ship tours.

They were from ships operated by Costa and MSC cruise lines. Both cruise lines have cancelled indefinitely all future cruise stops in Tunis, including a stop by Costa’s Fortuna ship.

It was the Fortuna that took us to Tunis, Tunisia on a cruise a few years ago.

Costa Fortuna

We’d visited on a quiet morning when few others were around except for us and our taxi driver, who’d appointed himself our personal tour guide.  We’d opted not to take the ship’s organized tours and set off to see a part of the city on our own.

Our ‘tour guide’ had led us through the labyrinth of a souk, its narrow walkways a maze at best.  We concluded our half-day tour with a visit to the plaza pictured above. While it was definitely ‘no longer Kansas’ we never felt unsafe nor threatened as our little trio walked around.

Safety First

We won’t be surprised if we get word from our cruise line – Oceania – of changes to the ship’s itinerary as world events continue to develop. Alternate ports of call could be visited or additional days at sea added. Or we could stay on course with no changes to the routing.

It will be interesting where ever we go. I am certain it ‘won’t be Kansas’ – or Kirkland! 

We’ve got a few weeks before setting sail. For now, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those tourists who became victims by simply taking a cruise tour. And for those cruisers and staff on board who are dealing with the tragic loss.

As always, thanks to all of you who spent time with us today. Hope to see you back here soon – until then happy and safe travels!

Brazil to Bangkok: When Opportunity Rocked Our Boat

Last week opportunity rocked our boat ~ striking with the force of a tsunami!

I’d just tried on the mosquito net head cover given me by my friend, Jeanie. (It fits!)  The lemon eucalyptus mosquito repellent was ordered. Our noses were buried in guides and other books preparing for that Amazon cruise that would replace our traditional Christmas this year. . .

Then, like the old adage, ‘when opportunity knocks. . .’ .
Okay, so it wasn’t a knock, it was a bit more modern a version - an email from Oceania cruise lines that said:

If we wanted to volunteer to take one of five longer cruises to different destinations, they’d refund us $3,240 and transfer all of our on-board perks to the new cruise.

Our stages of reaction began with chuckling as The Scout read the email aloud, then we moved  to speculating ‘why’:  perhaps our cruise was overbooked, perhaps they needed to fill the five other cruises they’d offered. 

 

Then we began pondering . . . there was one cruise that had caught our eye. It was not only going to places we’ve talked about – it was over-nighting in a number of them!  But really. . .

. . .it sounded too good to be true. (After all, a longer cruise for less money on a luxury cruise line?!). . .
. . .there must be some catch. . .
. . .some small print somewhere. . .

We called the cruise line.
We called our travel agent.
Both assured us:

No joke.
No catch.
All true.

And then you might say, we jumped ship – in a manner of speaking!

We often say our travel lifestyle is one that requires flexibility. In this case it was an exhilarating acrobatic flip – letting go of the trapeze called Brazil and spinning forward in time and place to Bangkok.

We’ll hop aboard the Nautica ship for our Far East Odyssey, as this 35-day sailing adventure from Bangkok, Thailand to Istanbul, Turkey is called. We will sail through the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Laccadive Sea, the Arabian Sea, The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea AND transit the Suez Canal before entering the Aegean Sea!

Don’t Leap without Looking

While we are fantastically excited about the new cruise, let me caution that no matter how flexible your lifestyle, switching plans for a major trip isn’t something to do on a whim. There are a number of details to consider. For example:

Airline changes: Cancelling those flights booked to and from Seattle and Miami. Luckily we used airline miles one way – and booked the higher level of miles so they could be refunded. We’ll deal with Expedia to change the other.

Booking flights to Bangkok and back from Istanbul are going to cost substantially more but that refund will balance out the cost increases.  The Scout has begun scouting.

Passports/visas:  Yes, we’ll need to send our precious passports off into the unknown again to secure visas for three countries on the itinerary – a step that can’t be done until until 90 days prior to the trip.  (The cost of these visas is not insignificant with estimates as high as about $800 for the both of us – this time they weren’t included as a benefit.)

Give and Take: While being at home or gone at Christmas isn't a big consideration for us, our spring travel compass had been pointing back to Greece. . .celebrating Easter in tiny Loutro, on Crete’s southern coast has become a near tradition for us. We’d hoped to take in the 2nd Annual Jazz Festival in Kardamyli in May. Neither of those will happen.

But as I said of the Amazon River cruise, sometimes we need to s-t-r-e-t-c-h our comfort zone.  This spring’s cruise – perhaps even more than the Amazon -- will do just that!

We always welcome recommendations and suggestions for things to do in new places – and we will have a bunch of those on the new cruise . Do you have any thoughts about the places shown on our route map above? 

Again, thanks for the time you spend with us – we read each and every comment and appreciate them all. Every ‘like’ and ‘share’ on Facebook is so appreciated! Welcome to our new followers both here and on Facebook~

Happy Travels to you ~ come back soon!

Linking up this week:
Tuesday Travel 
Travel Photo Thursday – Budget Traveler’s Sandbox  
Travel Inspiration – Reflections En Route  
Mosaic Monday – Lavender Cottage Gardening

Ukraine: When Travel brings Headlines Home

Travel not only makes the world feel smaller, it also brings the headlines home.  And with this week’s headlines, we are taking a brief break from our Hawaiian tales, to take you with us on a trip down our travel memory lane:

Back to Sevastopol, Ukraine.

It has been three years since a Black Sea cruise introduced us to  Sevastopol, the city established in 1783 by Catherine II after Russia gained control of the region.

We spent but a few hours in this port city that figured prominently in the Crimean War (1854-55) and the Bolshvik Revolution.

Those few hours were far long enough, we had thought back then. 

It was autumn. An incessant rain fell from a leaden sky. The sky and sea the same gun metal gray as the military ships docked not far from our pleasure craft.

But have you ever found in your travels, there are a few places you visit - if even ever so briefly- that leave a  hauntingly vivid memory ~ the kind that keeps details alive in your brain and your soul? Sevastopol was such a stop for us.

As most of you know by now, we prefer to set off on our own to explore our cruise ports of call and this stop was no different.  We saw the usual ubiquitous influences of the Western World. . .

They were ‘lovin’ it’ at McDonald’s and this hotel, (pictured below) the Best Western Hotel Sevastopol, was housed in a stunning building.

We didn’t walk very far from the well-groomed flower beds of the park to find ourselves on  real neighborhood streets.

It was the emptiness of the streets and the people,or the small numbers of them, we encountered that created the most vivid memories.  The rain perhaps kept people inside, but it was those few people we encountered that we we won’t forget.

As we approached one trio I commented to The Scout that they had been staring at us – the hard penetrating kind, not the curiosity gaze - from the moment we came into view.  As we neared them, I smiled and they raised their eyes, focusing on some far distant spot over our shoulders; as if we’d ceased to exist.

Another trio stood talking on the sidewalk outside this church – until I paused to take photos of the façade. They quickly disbanded. (I took this photo to capture the bullet holes that you see in the upper right hand corner.)

In watching the news this week, I think back to the somewhat Pollyanna-like observation I made to The Scout as we walked back to the ship, “Gee, these people aren’t very friendly. They don’t even make eye contact or smile at us.”

To which he replied, “Think of their past.” 

Today, I wonder if it perhaps it wasn’t the past, but their present and future that caused their behavior?

The last photo I took of our stop in Sevastopol was of the submarine off our side as we set sail.

Have any of your travels brought headlines home? Or did some place send you home with hauntingly detailed memories of it?

We’ll be back soon with more tropical tales for you. We appreciate your time and interest and would love to hear from you. And please come back again soon! 

Linking up:
Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox

WAWeekend: Seattle’s Summertime Blues

Flying in and out of Seatac International Airport this week provided us a cloudless (finally!) sky-high show of Seattle.  And because I so often sing the blues about the area’s clouds and rain,  it seemed only fair to show you some of the other Seattle blues – its sky and water - as well. 

Seattle grew up on Elliott Bay pictured above.  In fact, much of its southern area – now home to major league sports stadiums (that portion in the mid right hand side of the photo) was once tidal flats that stretched even further south to the mouth of the Duwamish River.  The area was populated by the Duwamish people until the early settlers arrived in the 1850’s. (The lake to the top left is Lake Union and body of water stretching across the top of the photo is Lake Washington.)

Those of us living on ‘the east side’ of Washington State’s King County must cross Lake Washington to get to Seattle (or take long looping routes around the north or south ends of the lake).  The photo above shows Interstate 90 as it passes a tip of Bellevue to the lower left, crosses Mercer Island  and continues across the lake into Seattle.

Seattle has become a gateway for Alaska-bound cruises ships that ply the waters from spring until fall with weekly trips north.  So prolific is the cruise industry’s presence  -- Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Crystal among them -- that a new cruise terminal, Pier 91, in the area known as Magnolia, was opened a few years ago.  (It, and a nearby grain elevator are pictured above.)

While some of the ships dock at Pier 91 others continue to sail from  the more centrally located Bell Street (Pier 66) terminal, pictured below.
Cruise enthusiasts who want to read more about the cruise industry in Seattle  should check out this Port Authority’s link – which even provides a list of ships and their sailing dates: http://www.portseattle.org/cruise/Pages/default.aspx


One of Seattle’s favorite waterways – and a popular tourist attraction -- is the Hiram M. Chittenden Government Locks, aka ‘the Ballard locks’ (pictured below) the latter being the name of the area in which they are located. 

The Ballard Locks are the link between Seattle’s fresh water Lake Union (and Lake Washington via what is called the Montlake Cut) and the salt-waters of Puget Sound. Ships traveling through the locks are raised or lowered to match the water level they are entering.

So popular are these locks there is even a Facebook page that updates regularly with news and activities about the place:  https://www.facebook.com/ChittendenLocks

That wraps up this WAWeekend – we are heading out to enjoy some of those blue skies!  Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you get a chance to explore some close-to-home destination where ever you are in the world and we’ll see you back here on Travel Tuesday!

Peru and Chile Beckon

Fellow cruise enthusiasts from Camano Island, WA have booked a 23-day combination cruise/land trip to Peru and Chile this coming November.

They'll spend three days in Santiago, three in Rio de Janiero, cruise Cape Horn, Chilean fjords and Straights of Magellan, head to the Falkland Islands and into Uruguay.

The trip is being done in part with Grand Circle Tours (http://www.gct.com/) and Holland America cruise line (http://www.hollandamerica.com/). The price (including airfare from Seattle to Santiago and a return flight from Rio to Seattle) is just $129 per person, per day. They head out Nov. 15th. We will watch for trip reports from them.