The sun was shining on “America’s Finest City”, as San Diego is fondly referred to, when we approached its port, as if the city was flaunting it’s own reputation for its glorious and mild year-round climate. San Diego is also ranked as the fifth best place to live in the United States, the fifth wealthiest…
Continue reading →With just 17 days until the end of our voyage, we are now on the last leg. So, it is with a lot of excitement, and a bit of melancholy, that I had been anticipating our dear friends (Tom, Charmaine, Jack, and Linda) joining the ship to cruise with us from L.A. to Miami, a…
Continue reading →Three captains will have commanded our ship as, in the Latin terminology of old Rome, “Magister Navis” or Master of the Sea, before our voyage ends. And we have had the privilege to dine at least once with each, and establish a casual acquaintance. With Oceania, their work contracts are a rotation of about two…
Continue reading →I love sea days. I love the (mostly) gentle sway of the ship, the melting of blue from sky to sea, the feeling of being at home on the ocean, the mystery of its depth, the water slapping against the hull, the misting spray, birds roosting on the jackstaff, dolphins arching in the ship’s wake….
Continue reading →When we visited Kauai many years ago, the “Garden Island”, I learned, was rich in the natural beauty of velvet chartreuse cliffs, jagged emerald green mountains, cascading waterfalls, deep, narrow valleys, and sheltered beaches, with much of it inaccessible by land. The few towns are situated on the coasts, separated by long, winding roads. We…
Continue reading →I remembered Lahaina fondly from years ago when Dean and I rented a condo on the beach in Maui for a week or so, and Lahaina then was a loose, carefree, hippie town with beer and seafood restaurants, galleries with local art, a quaint main street, and lots of t-shirt shops. It hasn’t changed too…
Continue reading →My father was an officer in WWII and trained in Hawaii. He never talked much about his military experience, but said he spent most of that time on a beach, in a pup tent, lacking any luxury, with no desire to return. My mom, on the other hand, always had Hawaii on her short, but…
Continue reading →Cruise ships are often heavily rated by the quality of their food. Great attention is paid to its excellence, availability, and visual appeal, as eating is a primary onboard pasttime. When describing this voyage to friends, they would gasp in horror at the mental calculation of just how much weight one could actually gain if…
Continue reading →“When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, You understand now why you came this way. ‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small. But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day.” ~Stephen Stills, Richard Curtis, & Michael Curtis I cannot think of the Marquesas…
Continue reading →Rangiroa, whose name means ” vast sky”, is the biggest atoll of French Polynesia, but aside from two main villages, the rest of it is almost uninhabitable and remote. It has a string of rich coral encircling a luminous turquoise and jade-green lagoon and is considered one of the world’s greatest dive destinations. Insignia anchored…
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