A clean slate to redo my South Pacific Cruise

This is the chart that shows how many nautical miles we traveled on this cruise.

Wow, re the nautical miles...


CI, you will remember the hats you ordered for the 2004 SF meet, which the ladies didn't wear - without consulting with other ladies. Well, I saved mine, sentimentalist that I am, and dug it out today because it's better than the car visor, or works with the car visor, to screen the new mexico sun while driving, winter or summer.

osso, I had completely forgotten about those hats. LOL

Tak,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Dad worked for Fish&Wildlife Service and visited most of these islands; nice to see pictures of what he used to describe to us.
Violet

Ive never really liked cruises. Now my wife's uncle has been given strong reccomendations by his primary care physician to curtail cruising due to the potential health risks on folks with compromised immune systems
His doc said that much reserch has been coming out that classifies cruise ships as huge "petri dishes"

Mrs F's uncle is 85 and we almost lost him before Christmas . Hed just returned froma 15 day cruise to the Galapogos and he (and his girlfriend) were struck down with severe colitis -like symptoms. He was bed ridden for almost 2 months and Mrs F was trying to get him up to do some exercise to keep him from getting pneumonia and pressure sores. It worked pretty much an hes almost back.
He takes at least 3 cruises a year and I think he will rethink the whole thing.
As far as cruise lines, I feel they are ignoring there responsibilities in environmental controls (especially where they have these huge atria ships that look like floating greenhouses.
If you go to sea, Get the sea air, not some hernmetically delivered atmosphere that 's loaded with bacteria, fungi, an archaea

I certainly agree. There has been a lot about how much electricity they use when in harbour.
How much they pollute when on the ocean.
How they destroy cities like Venice
How little the harbour cities earn as the passangers eat on board.
How much food that is trown into the ocean.
The list is endless.
Small ships are not as bad as these enourmous with thousands of passengers.
I have travelled a lot by ship. Almost the only way to get to and from Scandinavia also within before they buildt so many bridges.

People who go by train, car, coach or plane to see a place also use hotels and restaurants, stay longer and are a plus for turism. Plus they often see more of the country side than the ones on a cruise ship.

my dad , mom and I took an ocean liner to Europe many years ago when I was a kid. That was a neat memory. It was all a business that catered to our comfort with deck activities rather than incessant eating and wallowing about under glass. I remember siiting outside our rather capacious cabin and an attendant was there with extra blankets because it was a bit chilly even in May. The captain had a "training session" for passenger kids on one morning, and I recall being amazed at the radar and other navigation gizmos that are incredibly ancient by todays standards

I have been on ocean liners to and from USA too. I really liked it.
An ocean liner docks in a harbour made for these ships.
The trips I remember as something special.

yep, you feel that there is an actual purpose for the trip.
I went on one cruise with Mrs F and we both hated it because it was like EASY RIDER without any interesting characters

The new trend with "all inclusive" in hotels I do not like very much either.. This means food all day long in the hotel has destroyed many small business in and around the turist areas. People stay in the hotels instead of going to small restaurants and cafes. They can shop within the hotelarea so the little shops have to close.
Just a few years ago travelling was an adventure. You had to cross a border,
change money, learn a few words in a foreign language , eat foreign food.
To day you go by charter flights, no need to learn a few words, no need to change money and no need to try foreign food. There are buffets all day long.
When I travelled from Sweden to Italy I had to have five different currencies and figure out what they were worth. Ha I still need four if I go via Switzerland and three via Austria.

I'm like you. I've been on several cruises, and enjoyed all of them. The last one from Lisbon to NYC, because it was a good bargain, was also a memorable one. I met Vic Lee, a San Francisco tv personality/news anchor. During the cruise, the ship held a 5pm pre dinner cocktail hour in the theater that I attended almost every day. As a single traveler, I would approach couples and ask if I could join them. I met so many people during the cruise, the only person I met other than Vic Lee that I remember was a gentleman from our city. He told me he frequented a bar, The Office, in downtown, so I went there a few times to see if he was there, but never did see him.
My wife doesn't like cruising, because she gets seasick.

So sorry, but I think you have misunderstood my idea about cruises.
I like ships/boats/ferries that take you from point A to point B. A practical way of travelling.
But a cruise - no never.

You said you really liked the to and from the US trips. I guess I misunderstood you.

Yes I did - but that I used a ship as a form of transportation and not as a form of vacation. Guess there is the difference.

Many years ago a Swede sailed on the Swedish Norwegian Ameria Line to New York. Being drunk he in an argument almost killed someone else or killed (don´t rmember which). He was put in the cell unitl N:Y:C where he had to spend some time in prison. Was sent back to Sweden again - again on the Swedish Norwegian America Line and again in the cell.
Guess that is a very unusual way of traveliing.

A British holidaymaker has been rescued from the Atlantic after apparently trying to swim to her cruise liner when it left port without her.

Susan Brown, 65, was pulled from the ice-cold waters in the early hours of Sunday with severe hypothermia after more than four hours swimming a third of a mile out to sea in the hope of making it to her ship, the Marco Polo.

She is thought to have jumped into the water from beside Madeira Airport after believing her husband Michael - with whom she had argued - had got back on board when she lost sight of him.

The pair had cut short a 32 day tour from West Indies on day 28 - with cruise operator Cruise & Maritime Voyages offering them flights out of the Portuguese island to fly back to Bristol on Saturday evening.

I have sailed on the Marco Polo a couple of times. Both were for holiday.