Belgium The getting there aspect from Koblenz, Germany: Two train changes carrying luggage, and since the reserved seat markers had a glitch, sometimes we’d find a seat and then soon discover it was reserved, so then we need to get up and find new seats. Luckily, John and I got seats …
Germany Luckily, no issues going through Customs since we had filled out the proper documentation and were fully vaccinated. The PCR results were in by Tuesday morning, but they did not check the results, just our vaccination cards and the locator form. After a few bad stops and starts with …
Galveston: preparing to leave Traveling to Europe has always been fun and exciting for me, with occasional language barriers, but there have always been friendly locals helping me along. When we booked our tickets to Europe in the early summer, Europe had opened to all Americans, with some countries requiring …
There was Love in the Time of Cholera – now we have travel (or attempting to) in the time of COVID-19. Watching this coronavirus wreak havoc on the world from a cruise ship has been a surreal experience. In January, the news came out of China about the virus, and …
A quick note about traveling in the time of COVID-19: It’s OK, for the most part. I’m glad I didn’t have to buy toilet paper in Australia (there was a run, and all the shelves were empty). The other issue is that we are now on the Magical Mystery Tour …
Days 124-125, Feb. 20th-21st: I almost forgot about Wellington! We had a sea day as we sailed along the coast to Wellington, New Zealand. The coast remained off our starboard side and we watched hundreds of gannets and other seabirds during yet another lifeboat drill. This one we gathered in …
Day 117, Feb. 13th: Bula from Fiji! Bula is the local greeting, and the locals are a friendly bunch. We were very nervous arriving in Fiji, since as we approached the docks there was an announcement that the Ministry of Health required all passengers and crew to fill out a …
Some enchanted evening…. Day 108, Feb. 2nd: No “health report” from the bridge today concerning the intestinal infection going around– hopefully that means things are getting better. Fingers crossed they reopen the gym and casino soon – I’m going into withdrawals without the gym (and the coffee station, Viktoria our …
Day 99, Jan. 24th: Panama canal. I awoke when my body realized the boat had stopped at 6AM. We were getting ready to enter the first lock. I dressed and met a few hundred other passengers on the top deck at sunrise anticipating the passage. It took about 90 minutes …
Day 90, Jan. 15th: It’s a great morning when you get to both sleep in and be up early at the same time. The ship changed the clocks back an hour, so even though we woke at what would have been 8:30, it was now only 7:30. I saw among …