RTW 2024 Carefree Travel

Today, April 13th, we're continuing to head south towards the equator and ultimately the Seychelles Islands, maintaining a comfortable 300-500 miles distance from Somalia. It's a country best known for being the location of "Black Hawk Down" (the Mogadishu War of October 1993) and for having numerous pirates sailing the offshore waters, preying on unsuspecting boats. Although it's not officially confirmed, we believe there are two former special services personnel currently on board who will stay with us until we clear the West Coast of Africa in early May.  That all set me thinking: What do we actually know about Somalia other than that it is a dangerous place? Americans (and Brits) are advised NOT to travel anywhere near the country. So here is a quick executive summary on Somalia so you can amaze your friends and win at trivia based on your knowledge of this country shaped like a "seven." One interesting fact that jumped out is that Somalia actually ...

  We're now on a long four-day sea leg from Dubai to the Seychelles. On the first day and a half, we cleared the Gulf of Oman and entered the Arabian Sea, heading almost due south towards the Seychelles Islands. We're currently 200 miles off the coast of Oman, and if you went about 300 miles due east, you'd end up in Yemen.  All these places share the massive Arabian Peninsula, which encompasses Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait, with a bit of Jordan and Iraq thrown in for good measure. It's basically 1.2 million square miles, which is the same size as India! A good chunk of that is inhospitable desert and many harsh environments. The area has rich historical importance, as it's the birthplace of Islam and the site of many of the world's oldest civilizations. With the Red Sea on the east and the Persian Gulf on the western side, it's been a center of trade (at least on the coasts) for thousands of years. Ancient cities like Mecca...

So today is Valentine's Day - February 14th. On Thursday 15th, we visit Pago Pago in American Samoa. The next day, Saturday 17th, we're in Samoa. Wait! What happened to Friday 16th February? Well - it disappeared and fell victim to the International Date Line (IDL). As we're steadily traveling westwards, every few days, we set our clocks back an hour. We're currently 6 hours behind the US-East coast. It's like stealing from Father Time if you keep sneaking in 25-hour days. At some point, you have to pay it back, and that's the purpose of the IDL. The IDL was internationally accepted at the Meridian Conference in Washington DC in 1884 as an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole at 180 degrees, opposite the 0-degree longitude line through Greenwich, London, UK. The agreement allows individual nations, and even islands, to decide which side of the line they want to be on. If you look at the IDL, it zig-zags between Russia and Alaska, the fi...

  A few days ago, we learnt, to no one's surprise, that the section of our trip that took us through the Red Sea and Suez Canal would be canceled. We "lost" the Israel part of the itinerary a few months ago -  so we were fully expecting that the Mediterranean section would be the next to fall. Our new itinerary takes us to Abu Dhabi, UAE, on April 8th, after visiting Oman and Dubai for the preceding two days. Then, we head south for five days and get an overnight stay in the Seychelles Islands. It's then brand new territory for the next month as we go around the Cape Of Good Hope. We're excited to swap Africa for the Med.  Once we leave Seychelles, we hit Madagascar, Mayotte Comoros (a small French island off Madagascar), Mozambique, followed by Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town in South Africa. We then head up the West Coast of Africa and visit Namibia, Angola, Sao Tome, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. That's followed by an island hopping to Cape ...

  After complaining yesterday that the Mariner did nothing to celebrate the Crossing Of The Equator. Overnight, we received an official certificate from the captain, and this morning, King Neptune visited the boat. This was our formal transition from polywog to shellback - meaning we are now experienced sailors. All we had to do was get doused with ice water and kiss a particularly ugly fish. In the olden days, sailors were shaved, forced to crawl through the lower reaches of the hull, and drink some of the bilge water. I had a Banana Daiquiri instead - far more civilized.

Traditionally, when a ship crosses the equator, King Neptune exercises his authority to come on board and summon all sailors who have never crossed before to come in front of him and be judged. The first recorded descriptions are from around 400 years ago, and their origins remain hazy. There are some suggestions that it formed an important test to ensure the men you were sailing with, and thus dependent upon, were able seafarers. A different interpretation is much more steeped in superstition – appeasing Neptune, the god of the sea, before ‘crossing the line.’ On many ships, but NOT cruise ships, there is generally full immersion in  seawater, either in the sea or a container on the ship – hence the term ‘sea baptism’. A variety of names for the novice sea-goer exist, including tadpoles, griffins, and pollywogs.  A wide variety of characters can also be included in the festivities: 19th and 20th-century versions often include a barber, with initiates having the...

  Time zones are an interesting concept - especially to a science geek like me. Think about it - it should be easy - a circle (the globe) is 360 degrees, and there are 24 hours in a day, so just like a slice of an orange, each time zone should, in theory, be 15 degrees of longitude wide. Except, it's not that easy.  First, you tangle with geometry.  A degree of longitude is about 70 miles at the equator but diminishes to 25 miles at the Artic Circle - and technically 0 at the poles. Secondly, many countries, like the US or Russia (which has 11), straddle time zones and make decisions based on geographic or political boundaries. Finally, some countries just pick a timezone because they can - either for simplification (like India), trade (like Samoa) or sheer bloody-mindedness (like Nepal or Kiribati). We've now traveled through five time zones, from Miami (US/east) to Hawaii (HST). I've come to appreciate the allure of 25-hour days and getting more sleep. However, that now...

Today is our final sea day en route to Nawiliwil, Kauai. It's been a fairly rough passage with heavy seas and strong winds. Strong enough to close the top Deck (#12), which is where the exercise track and most outdoor games are located. That doesn't leave too many options for me to get some exercise as I am most definitely not a gym rat - I like to walk. If you walk a full circuit of the exercise track, including a detour by the pickleball and bocce courts at the back of the ship, it's about 300 yards. Rough calculations and engineering approximations mean 6 full laps to a mile. Even when it is not blowing half a gale, there is still an upwind and a downwind leg that makes balance entertaining.  The back of deck 12 (the stern) contains a full-sized paddle tennis/pickleball court. In addition to having random winds blowing from any direction, there are sporadic blasts from an air conditioning vent across one side of the court. It's very challenging to play. Serving is ha...

  We're continuing to head just south of west into mainly choppy seas. Last night was probably the bounciest night so far - with 10ft (3m) swells and winds up to 45 mph. For all you nautical types, that translates into a Force 8 full gale. As we're in the front end of the boat and on a higher deck, the pitching and rolling are amplified. So far, it hasn't caused us any problems and is a nice way to be rocked to sleep. Rather like a hammock. The really good news is that stepping out onto the pool deck this morning in search of coffee, the air is noticeably warmer. One problem you never have on a cruise ship is starvation. Back on Day 15, I gave an overview of the breakfast options. Today we'll look at lunch. Lunch is served from 11:30 am until people stop getting hungry and they have to set up for dinner. In addition to in-room service, we have 3 options.  The first is the main dining room, Compass Rose. Even for lunch, they retain the white tablecloths and full waiter/w...

I woke up around 5 am this morning and decided to tour the ship when everyone else was asleep. Except, of course, there were about a dozen early birds just like me. Nothing opens on the boat until 6:30 am, although you can always get a hot drink and a cookie from one of the various machines scattered around the boat.  So today, we’ll look at the options for breakfast. It turns out there are FIVE, proving that no one ever starves on a cruise ship. 1. Room Service . Order what you want, and they’ll deliver it. You can complete a form, hang it on your door, and wham! Breakfast appears at whatever time you choose. 2. Compass Rose . The main dining room on Deck 5. The traditional white tablecloths. Order from a fairly standard menu with waiter service. About 80% of the menu is standard day-to-day, with 20% changing. The main drawback – is it’s slow. Like, really slow. 3. Coffee Connections . My favourite. Opening at 6:30 am, although usually a bit earlier, you can get a barista-ma...

  If you know me, or really anyone in the Care family, then you'll know that we have a gentle(!) competitive spirit. So it turns out that Regent has multiple competitions every day and awards "Regent Rewards Points" to the winners. See photo. You can cash these points in at the end of any trip segment for prizes ranging from key rings and bookmarks to rain jackets and some nice UV shirts.  The events vary from the intellectual (Mensa quizzes and Trivia) to the gently athletic (ring toss and indoor golf putting) to the more physical ping-pong and eventually pickleball (Yes! They have a court at the back of deck 12). Some are individual competitions, and others, like Trivia, use a team of 6. Although, as mentioned, we're not competitive, our team has been #1 and #2 in Trivia; John is an indoor obstacle-putting champion but has no ring toss skills whatsoever. As well as being a neat way to meet folks, it also keeps you busy on a sea day if you can't hang out by the p...

  One is a band, and one has sharp teeth. Our voyage got started last night with a Gala Dinner and then a performance from The Commodores (Next Generation). We got to hear Nightshift, Three Times A Lady, easy, and a finale of Brick House. They were pretty good, although the lead singer was a bit out on both rhythm and pitch. (And if I notice bum singing, well then ..)  It was, nevertheless, a nice start to the voyage. This morning (Sunday Jan 7th), I took a tour of the Florida Everglades by airboat. The weather was a little dodgy, so Allison (wisely) decided to stay on board the Mariner. There are apparently over 250,000 gators in the Everglades, and we got to see maybe 25 of them. Not too bad at all.  Also listened to a Gator lecture and learned some interesting facts. The top speed for a gator is about 16mph in both water and on land. That's faster than most of us can run and certainly swim. BUT .. if you survive the first 4-5 seconds without being caught, they give up....

  What To Pack? Allison has been worrying about this for months. There is no easy answer. If you look at the countries and climates for the trip, bearing in mind we spend a lot of time in the Southern Hemisphere, followed by India, Africa, and the Mediterranean - the answer is the typical "dress in layers." The coldest place we'll visit will likely be San Francisco in about 2 weeks (I hope). However, we've still packed a blend of shorts and sundresses, many t-shirts with a collection of light sweaters, and a couple of heavier hoodies. Plus, of course, the obligatory raingear. It's further complicated for Allison as when we visit the Middle East, she'll need to be covered up from wrist to neck when we visit some of the historical/religious sites.  It all seemed like a great excuse to go shopping! Fortunately, we didn't have to lug all the suitcases and clothes from Philadelphia to Miami. Regent arranges a pickup service and will collect four (4) suitcases a...