The International Date Line is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth from the north to the south pole and demarcates the change of one calendar day to the next. It runs roughly along the 180th longitude in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, occasionally zig-zagging to avoid splitting apart countries into two…
Continue reading →Real time, May 15, 11:00 a.m. We are are on the northern edge of the Tasman Sea, arriving in Sydney, Australia tomorrow morning. Rough mounting seas, 14 to 16 foot waves with heavy gales to 47 knots. The view from our veranda on deck 6, overlooking the bow.
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(borrowed, with a nod to Jaina)
For those who know Dean and me, it would be no surprise to learn that we have befriended the charming onboard head sommelier. He is Oleksandr from Ukraine, but better known as Sasha to all. Among the many onboard activities offered to amuse us, for varying fees we can partake in occasional wine tastings that…
Continue reading →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 →Our Captain, Jurica Brajcic, hails from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and has had salt water in his family’s blood for at least several generations. He is a tall man, imposing, with gray hair and moustache. He has been with Oceania for many years and was the first captain to sail our Insignia when she was purchased from…
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 →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 →This giant “once-in-a-lifetime” cruise we were planning has so far taken me through every emotion, and I have yet to board the ship. And when we got the news that the trip was to be “abbreviated”, it felt like a balloon, blown up to that anxious tautness just before bursting, that suddenly flew away in…
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…
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