CROSSING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

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We settled in for the six day ocean crossing. Since it was also the last ten days of the world cruise, it meant busy days and nights on the Voyager. Even though the world cruise was ending on April 30 in Ft Lauderdale we were going to do another lap. We decided last summer that we would prefer to cruise home rather than fly home and Cruise Specialists was kind enough to assign us to a coast to coast cruise. On the same day of our arrival in the US, we would transfer over to the Regent Mariner for a sixteen day cruise through the Panama Canal back to San Francisco. Since we had four different destinations for our belongings, it all had to be separated accordingly. We were leaving four bags in Florida, we were shipping five bags home from Ft Lauderdale, we were sending 9 bags over to the Mariner in Bermuda and the rest we would be carrying with us from one ship to the other. So every day we would pack a few bags in between parties, shows and farewells.

There was a fabulous crew talent show and a ton of fun passenger amateur hour. Everyone was truly astounded by the depth of talent displayed by the various crew members, with everything from dancing, singing and folkloric displays. Over four months most passengers really connect with the crew and they showed their appreciation for their efforts with a long standing ovation. Ninety-eight year old Dr Tinkle was the hit of the passenger talent contest, dressed in his best sheik outfit and accompanied by his harem, he performed a piano recital on stage. How would you like to have to follow that act?

One of the most fun nights of the world cruise was when we were invited to dine in the crew mess. Everyone was encouraged to dress in their best trailer trash outfits and head down to deck three to mix it up with the crew and staff. Captain Dag and Philippe were the bartenders, while other staff acted as waiters. Jimbo’s Diner brings out the teeny-bopper in all of us. To see some of the grande dames of the ship, blouses stuffed with balloons, do a modified pole dance—now that’s really something to witness. Everyone lets it all hang out for one night.

It was a bit of a rough crossing and rather cool—so it was easier to concentrate on packing and writing and scrapbooking. Halfway across the Atlantic we passed three small Chinese fishing boats. Freddie, the navigator, said he couldn’t figure out how they got there, where they took their catch or how they got fuel. We were on the bridge and listened to the Chinese fishermen talking over the VHF. They were actually singing to each other—perhaps a way of fighting the tedium after months of sitting in the middle of an ocean. We saw one really small sailboat heading to Europe. I don’t imagine their room service was much to speak of. We also met up with the Regent Navigator, but because of the rough seas we were merely two ships passing in the day. Last year the ships stopped mid-ocean and there was waterskiing and general frolicking between the two ships.

We arrived in Hamilton, Bermuda a day ahead of schedule which allowed us more time to explore these lovely islands. We were greeted by another ship in the Regent fleet. The Mariner had her fire hoses pumping out a watery welcome to us. Soon after docking, we went over to the Mariner to see old friends and have lunch. Jarmo took the great pictures of the ships side by side and also of the Captain balancing on the bow bulb of the Voyager. According to Captain Dag, this was the first time that these two ships had ever spent the night together. Sounds romantic!!

That night was the farewell dinner and dance for the world cruise passengers and we dined with our favorite cruisers, Hilda and Jarmo and Mike and Sherry. All six of us will be on next year’s world cruise and so it was fun looking back on the 2008 cruise while planning for the next one.

We went exploring on our second day. Of course, Kevin donned his Bermuda shorts and off we went. Bermuda has an excellent bus and ferry system. The tokens are interchangeable between the varying modes of transport. The bus ride out to the Dockyards area was a sightseer’s delight. The pastel cottages, quaint shops and azure seas presented photo ops at every turn in the road. Most of the other riders were locals on their way to church. You could spot the tourists immediately—they were the ones jogging along the side of the road. The Bermudians are much too proper to indulge in such behavior—especially on a Sunday morning. This island truly is a little England but with decent weather. Also in British style, everything is closed on Sundays. So sightseeing is the best option on the weekends. Bermuda has one of the world’s largest insurance centers and is the largest electronic offshore securities market, complete with their own stock exchange. There is a reason why practically every yacht in the world flies the Bermudian flag and is registered in this territory.

We took the ferry back to Hamilton, picked up some chicken and had a picnic on the shore while watching the Mariner depart amid much whistle blowing, waving and a musical exchange between the two sister ships. We wished our luggage a pleasant journey to Ft Lauderdale. It was nice to know that we would be boarding her in three days time.

The Captain’s Farewell Party was a salute to the world cruisers and a very touching one at that. Jamie the Cruise Director asked passengers to submit something in writing that recalled a special moment or place on this world cruise. I submitted eleven excerpts from this travel blog. When all of them were read during the program I was pleasantly surprised. Kevin’s contribution was a humorous poem he wrote about the Captain, the Cruise Director and the Navigator. When it was read, everyone got a big kick out of it. There was a white elephant sale where all the proceeds are given to the crew welfare fund. It is a win-win situation in that the passengers can get rid of stuff they don’t want to pack or don’t need and the crew benefits. We exchanged email addresses and phone numbers with new found friends and had our final farewells with old friends. Then we woke up one morning and heard baggage tag colors being called over the public address system on board and we knew it time to leave the ship. We were back in Ft Lauderdale where we started this odyssey on December 21. The 2008 World Cruise had come to an end.

Our 133 day circumnavigation of the globe included stops in 52 ports in 24 countries on five continents. We crossed the major oceans of the world and many of the smaller seas. We covered over 43,000 nautical miles wave by wave. The itinerary was both exotic and familiar at the same time. Over the last four months we have experienced calm seas and ocean gales, 100 degree heat and humidity and snow showers. We visited deserts and rain forests and tropical islands. We spent time in many of the fabled cities of the world and dropped anchor in some of the most intriguing ports of call. We transited the Suez and Panama Canals on this journey. We left the United States on the winter solstice and encountered summer in New Zealand and the beginning of autumn in Australia. We found winter again in Japan and China and then arrived in Europe at the same time spring had sprung there. We crossed the equator twice and the International Dateline once. We’ve witnessed one of the most despotic regimes in the world and countries blessed with freedom and everything in between these two forms of governing .We observed countries where women are invisible in the social fabric of society and others where the female of the species is respected and involved in the day to day life. We have seen such unbelievable poverty and unimaginable riches and come to realize that life really is not fair for the majority of humankind. But we have noticed that most people seem to take joy in the everyday rituals of life no matter how impoverished or desperate their living circumstances may be. Some of the most beautiful smiles were worn by the beleaguered Burmese people we met. We have felt welcomed in every country we visited and hope to maintain contact with people we have met along the way. We celebrated Kevin’s Social Security birthday and our 35th wedding anniversary along with Christmas, New Years, Easter and even April Fools Day. Sadly, we lost several close friends while we were away. We mourned them with silent memorials at sea. This trip has been enlightening and enriching for us personally and we feel so fortunate to have been able to experience such a wonderful adventure.

One of our favorite travel writers, Pico Iyer, has a beautiful quote about why we travel. “We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again---to slow time down and be taken in---and fall in love once more.”

Thank you for allowing us to share our world travels with you.

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