The blog has been moving in slow motion lately because of the painfully sluggish internet service onboard. As a result, I am at least nine days and several ports behind. As soon as we get a string of days at sea, I’ll try to catch up. We did take a little time to celebrate our…
Continue reading →Cruise ships always seem to have an emphasis on food and as the ships are provisioned at ports around the world, local cuisine can be featured with all the natural and fresh ingredients available. In Asia, where their spices were once the currency that inspired world exploration, the resources are vast and exotic. Recently I…
Continue reading →We just received our final travel documents…again. We still have the documents from the original six-month version of our trip that were already in the mail at the time it was cancelled. This new official document is actually more of a book, about 120 pages spiral bound. It is the bible for our cruise, tailored…
Continue reading →I’ve been having this subliminal fear that our trip could be thwarted again, that the ship would not be repaired on schedule or have enough time to make the long, slow journey from San Juan to Singapore. Do the math. 11,900 miles at about 16 or 17 knots per hour. That’s about 28 days without…
Continue reading →In the spirit of our upcoming voyage, here we are dressed for an 80s-themed costume party last Halloween as your Cruise Director Julie McCoy and Captain Merrill Stubing. Pretty scary.
Continue reading →Anyone who has been stranded overnight in an airport, missed their train, encountered a sudden highway closure due to blinding weather, or had their hotel reservation cancelled, knows that travel is guaranteed to challenge the traveler to be flexible, willing, and open to change. You may not like it, but hopefully in the end, you…
Continue reading →The day before Christmas Eve, we received a phone call from our travel agent informing us that Oceania had sent the following announcement by email to travel agents and passengers of our Around the World Cruise: Dear Insignia Guest and Travel Partners, We finished our initial repair assessment for Insignia and expect the ship will…
Continue reading →We have news that Insignia is now headed to San Juan where she is expected to arrive on December 22 and will go into dry dock for repairs. She appears to be sailing under her own power with a “restricted manoeuverability” status at a speed of about 7 knots. Oceania has informed us that we…
Continue reading →I received the terrible news that a blaze broke out in the engine room aboard the Insignia while the ship was docked in St. Lucia on Thursday, December 11. A crew member and two contractors died, and two other crew members were treated for injuries. The fire was contained to the engine room and extinguished….
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