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Published: January 24th 2010
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Voyager
"On the Road Again!" On a sunny morning, we looked across San Diego Bay and there she was, the big beautiful Seven Seas Voyager. We had spent the night in a hotel on Shelter Island because we wanted to get on board the ship early in order to get ready for a full day of events. After all, this was the kick-off for the world cruise. As soon as we got out of our car at the pier, there stood Mike and Sherry and Dr Tinkle and many other world cruisers whom we hadn’t seen since we left the ship in Civitavecchia last April. Hilda and Jarmo had boarded the Voyager in Ft Lauderdale in order to escape the cold winds of Canada. Some arrived by limousine, some by private jet, some in luggage filled vans and we even saw one couple pull up to the ship in a bicycle carriage with their luggage piled on the top—all assembling for this much anticipated journey. It is always such a joyous reunion to reconnect with our cruising family. Hugs and kisses were exchanged among the 270 full world cruisers, the majority of whom are repeaters.
Cruise Specialists organized the very first party of the whole
The Hosts
With their "Cheetah" bag. cruise. We called it a “come as you are” welcome aboard get-together and all 44 of our passengers showed up for the event. Greg Nacco, Vice President of Cruise Specialists greeted the world travelers and Regent President, Mark Conroy talked about the state of the cruise industry and Captain Dag spoke about the exciting route we would be taking on this 2010 circumnavigation. We gave out blue fleece jackets and tote bags and our best wishes for a wonderful 119 day cruise.
After our party we rushed off to Regent’s welcome aboard party where we met up with some of our favorite staff. Jamie and Dana, Elda, Gudrun, Michael Coghlan, Manuela Neuherz and Mike Smith are all part of Regent’s “A-Team” --most of whom we have cruised with for many years. Then we started running into all of the familiar waiters and stewardesses who we cherish as the best crew members afloat.
After a lovely dinner in the Compass Rose it was time to party. In the last week or so, no one has been in the news as much as Jay Leno and here he was standing on the Voyager stage delivering a one hour non-stop monologue.
He didn’t have a teleprompter or notes and he never missed a beat—his material was hilarious. The minute he finished the Beach Boys took the stage and went through their extensive repertoire of surf music. We were all dancing to the sounds of this storied group of Southern California boys. According to rumor it cost Regent a quarter of a million dollars to have Leno and the Beach Boys perform onboard. Regent chartered a jet to fly Jay from LA to San Diego after he had finished taping his television show earlier that evening. The party got the world cruise off to a great start---it was a resounding success.
We slipped our lines the next evening and cruised out of San Diego Bay while listening to Andrea Bocelli sing “Time to Say Goodbye.” The lights of San Diego faded away as the ship’s bow pointed south towards the Equator as we began our crossing of the vast Pacific Ocean heading for the warmth of the tropics and summer in Australia. Our routing this year will take us through Polynesia and then up the east coast of Australia to Indonesia and Singapore. From there we will visit the Sultanate of
Jay Leno
Doug Halleen got this picture at the party Brunei, Manila, China and Hong Kong and then head west to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and Seychelles Islands. We will spend a month circumnavigating the continent of Africa stopping in eight countries before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean and ending in Florida on May 12th.
Garrison Keillor recently took his family on a Caribbean cruise and he wrote an article about the experience. What he enjoys most about the cruising life is the luxury of time -time to read a book, to play cards and to chat with strangers. He called this the village life where one interacts with people not via computer or phones but in casual, face-to-face encounters. A ship is like a small village—650 in our particular case—filled with people from all over the world, each with a different life story and different reasons for choosing this cruise. Every passenger has unique expectations and goals and dreams of a world cruise. It can be a trip of self-discovery as well as a tour of the world. Our Cruise Director, Jamie Logan encourages us to be travelers—not tourists. A traveler is open to new ideas and cultures and interactions with the residents of countries
Mike Love
The Original Beach Boy--Photo by Doug Halleen visited. A tourist tries to replicate home in foreign settings.
When we awoke on our first morning at sea and saw the blue Pacific waters streaming past our balcony and heard Captain Dag’s “Vords of Visdom,” we knew we were back where we belonged and all's right with the world. We must have salt water in our veins!
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Mary Courim
non-member comment
Bon Voyage!
Please say hello to Dr. Tinkel and all my friends on board. Have a wonderful trip! Wish I were there!! Mary Courim