RTW 2024 Carefree Travel

  We’re back. After 46,000 miles, 25 new countries, and untold islands, it was great to see the Manhattan skyline and Lady Liberty. We had a final day on the boat, so we decided to get into town and see the 9-11 Memorial. Before that, we woke up early to watch the sail-in. A little too early as we were still 20 miles off the NJ coast while eating breakfast! Eventually, we saw Sandy Hook on the port side and the Verrazanno Narrow Bridge ahead of us. For many folks on the boat, it was either their first time to NYC or at least the first time they'd arrived by sea - so it was nice to act as a "tour guide" and show them the sights. Although Coney Island and the Belt Parkway might be stretching it a bit as "sights." Eventually, The Statue Of Liberty, the famous Staten Island Ferry, and the Financial District of downtown Manhattan came into view as we sailed up the Hudson towards Pier 90. No matter how often you experience it, the sights and the skyline are still magn...

Today, we pulled into Hamilton, Bermuda. Downtown. Quite literally. We moored off Front Street, with a great view into some waterside office buildings, shops, and condos. At this point in the world cruise, we're thinking more about packing (a daunting task) and going home. So we elected to spend the short day doing some shopping and lunching at a neat restaurant we visited as a family about 20 years ago. It was still there - and the food was just as good. Bermuda is a small archipelago of 181 islands situated about 650 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Its total land area is 21 square miles (54 km2), although most of the largest islands are connected by bridges, so it seems as if it's one large island for the 72,000 inhabitants. Bermuda is well known for four reasons—either as the home of Bermuda Shorts, as a tax haven, the pink beaches, or as the apparent target of almost every hurricane forming in the North Atlantic.  Its name comes from the Spanish explorer Juan de Berm...