March 8-9, 2024 The sail into Sydney Harbor “is not to be missed”. You sail along cliffs, turn the corner and see the Opera House and the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge in all their glory. We spent the morning at anchor in the harbor, tendering in to the steps of …
March 4-5, 2024 1.64 NZ$ = 1 US$ (it’s easiest to think 2 US$= 3 NZ $) Two days is not nearly enough time to spend in one of my favorite countries in the world. I realize this was my fourth visit, but Auckland does not get “old”, and I’m …
February 25-26, 2024 Several days at sea lets me get caught up – which does not mean I actually did catch up on things. (I still have cold weather socks in the drawer and sweaters in the closet). I continue to play guitar with whoever shows up at the pub …
February 19-20, 2024 John and I visited Hawaii for our honeymoon in 1998. We did the luau, the beaches, but not The Arizona – that felt too “deep” for a honeymoon. So this time, we visited the National Monument. We didn’t go online at the right time – the Arizona …
February 17-18, 2024 Getting on the scale in Los Angeles, I was concerned – I was up 1 ½ pounds. Luckily, when we docked again in Hilo, my weight was back to my baseline – I guess I had a “bad bloat” day. After a few lovely days at sea …
Approx. 17 pesos/ US dollar Feb. 6-11, 2024 I found a wall on the 12th floor displaying plaques from each new port the Serenade visits. Feb. 6th was an enjoyable day at sea as we celebrated Liam’s Birthday at the Chef’s Table – the “ultimate” of the specialty restaurants on board, …
February 3-5, 2024 Originally, the itinerary called for a visit Manta in Ecuador, but with the recent unrest, we bypassed the country and continued on to Puntarenas, Costa Rica. En route, I took advantage of the sea day and participated in a wine tasting on board celebrating women in the …
Jan 28-30, 2024 At 6:15 AM, we went through a quick immigration line to get our passports stamped for Peru, grabbed breakfast and back to the Tropical Theater to assemble into our tour groups by 7:15. We arrived at the Pisco airport by 9. The airport appeared brand new and …
January 24-26, 2024 John and I (and Liam, Alan, Guy and Karen) all made the same decision concerning La Serena – to just “wander about”. First of all – we docked in the town of Coquimbo, about 15km/10 miles away from La Serena. Good news for me- Coquimbo has a …
$1 US = 970 Chilean pesos After enjoying the fjords, our first port of call in Chile was the city of Valparaiso. Leaving the ship an hour before the tour, we (John, Alan, Liam and myself, along with Flat Stanley) yenned when we should have yanged in finding the beginning …