So here is the itinerary, which has been amended more than once due to unrest in some of the areas we will visit.
Jan 4 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Jan 7 Santa Marta, Colombia
Jan 9 Cruising the Panama Canal
Jan 11 Puntarenas, Costa Rica,
Jan 12 Corinto, Nicaragua
Jan 13 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Jan 16 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Jan 19 San Diego, California
Jan 25 Hilo, Hawaii
Jan 26 – 27 Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 31 Cross the International Dateline
Feb 2 Majuro, Marshall Islands
Feb 7 Guam, US Territory
Feb 8 Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Feb 12 – 13 Osaka, Japan
Feb 15 Kagoshima, Japan
Feb 16 Nagasaki, Japan
Feb 18 Incheon (Seoul), Korea
Feb 20 Jeju, South Korea
Feb 22 – 23 Beijing, China
Feb 26 – 27 Shanghai, China
Mar 2 – 3 Hong Kong, China
Mar 6 Nha Trang, Vietnam
Mar 7 Phu My, Vietnam
Mar 9 – 10 Singapore
Mar 11 Port Kelang, Malaysia
Mar 15 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Mar 18 – 19 Mumbai, India
Mar 22 Muscat, Oman
Mar 28 – 29 Aqaba, Jordan
Mar 31 Transit the Suez Canal
Apr 2 Rhodes, Greece
Apr 3 – 4 Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Apr 5 Nauplion, Greece
Apr 6 Iraklion, Crete
Apr 7 Mykonos, Greece
Apr 9 Valletta, Malta
Apr 11 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Apr 12 -13 Barcelona, Spain
Apr 15 Cadiz, Spain
Apr 16 Casablanca, Morocco
Apr 18 Funchal, Madeira
Apr 26 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
End of the world cruise - the Panama Canal cruise continues…….
Apr 29 Cartagena, Colombia
Apr 30 Transit the Panama Canal
May 2 Puntarenas, Costa Rica
May 3 Corinto, Nicaragua
May 4 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
May 5 Huatulco, Mexico
May 8 Cabo San Lucas
May 11 San Francisco, California
Of course, this is subject to change. We were supposed to have a two day stop in Istanbul, but that was changed about a month or more ago. Personally, we are happy for the deletion, since we will be stopping in some new ports instead. Two other uncertain stops in our opinion, are in Jordan and Morocco. Recent warnings have been announced for the areas in and around Petra, the major highlight in Jordan. And finally Casablanca, a place we were scheduled to see on two different cruises, but were turned away at the last minute. One thing for sure……..the company (HAL) will not put their crew, passengers, and ships in harm's way. We thank them for that, no matter what the inconvenience.
Hopefully, we will be spending some warm days, emphasis on "warm" in Florida before the cruise begins. Our travel agency gives us one night in a hotel, along with a cocktail reception and dinner on January 3rd. Our four duffels were picked up on December 15th, so all we will take are two suitcases and hand carrys. If all goes well, the bags will be delivered to our stateroom….the same one we always get. Seems like we just left there. Actually, we did just six weeks ago, when we finished the Tales of the South Pacific last fall. On that cruise, the weather was unusually hot and humid. This upcoming world cruise will be different. The ship will not cross the Equator this time, as we will be heading north to chilly Japan, Korea, and northern China during their winter time. Packing had to include some serious warm clothing and down jackets….the ones we used in Antarctica.
And while we are in the area, we plan to leave the ship in Beijing for an eight day land tour. We shall be flying to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, the giant pandas in Chengdu, and Guilin and the Li River, coming back to Hong Kong. Should be an interesting side trip…….quite different from the big animal safaris we have come to love doing.
A nice reminder of the fact we are HAL's President's Club members arrived today on our doorstep. We were gifted two sets of Waterford crystal votive candle holders…….a welcomed addition to our growing collection of special presents.
We shall be "Trekking the Globe with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2017 World Cruise". So, stay tuned, and the adventure will begin in a few days!
Bill & Mary Ann
And away the four duffells go to Florida
Four Waterford votive candles –holiday gifts from HAL
Very nice
