Never Would I Ever...

 "I know this isn’t scientific, but this ship’s warning me she’s gonna die and take a lot of people with her." -Thomas Andrews, Managing Director of Harland and Wolff Shipyards, Builders of the Titanic

On June 18, 2023, the experimental submersible, Titan, suffered a catastrophic implosion during its descent to view the wreckage of the Titanic on the ocean floor. Five more souls joined those who went down with that original "unsinkable" ship. The only mercy was that the implosion would have been instantaneous, with no time for panic or terror like those on the doomed ocean liner suffered. As a musician, I'm always moved by thoughts of the band members who continued to play, trying to calm those who didn't make it into a lifeboat,  while Titanic's deck slanted downward and the great ship sank. 

But the related disasters have caused lots of after-action hand-wringing. There should be more regulations, some say. Why would anyone take chances like that? Surely that sort of experience isn't worth the risk.

However, throughout history nothing has been accomplished without risk. There is a long list of inventors who were killed by their creation, among them Marie Curie who discovered radium, and Francis Stanley, who died in a crash of his steam-driven "Stanley Steamer" automobile. 

And what of those Type T explorers? Gus Grissom and Christa McAuliff reminded us that space travel might have become more routine, but it is not safe. If no one was willing to brave the North Atlantic in sailing ships in the 1600's, my family would still live in England. And all of us have realized that sitting in our easy chairs during the pandemic can be just as deadly as seemingly riskier behaviors.  

All that said, when I travel, I do tend to channel Goofy, my favorite Disney character, because he famously once said, "I'm brave, but I'm careful!"  

Not that we haven't done some adventurous things in our younger years. The DH earned his private pilot's license and we flew all over the American West, weaving our way through the mountain passes and zipping over the plains. We saw a barracuda (a really big one!) while snorkeling in the Bahamas. I got caught in a rip tide in Hawaii but managed to keep my head and swim parallel to the beach until I was out of it. I wandered Tokyo and the capitals of Europe solo, using public transit and my winning smile to get me where I wanted to be.   

But that was then. It's easy to get caught up in the spirit of adventure while traveling and take chances and make choices we wouldn't in our everyday life. So, here are a few things I will never do:

• Skydive--No need to bail on a perfectly good airplane.
• Bungee Jump--The feeling of impending doom has never called to me.
• Parasail--There are easier, and more fun, ways to get a thrill.
• Swim in the ocean--See the above mentioned barracuda and episode with the rip tide. Those happened when I was a strong swimmer in the pink of health. I'm definitely a paddling around in a sheltered cove girl now.
• Book an excursion labeled "Demanding."--It's important to know your limits, not just for yourself but for others as well. My friend once booked a hike through the rainforest, knowing she needed knee replacement surgery soon but thinking she could make it. Unfortunately, she couldn't. She was miserable, in pain, and slowed down the whole group. They weren't able to complete the entire tour itinerary due to time constraints caused by her debility. She was not voted Miss Popularity. 
• Hop willy-nilly into a cab in a foreign port--Without making sure the driver knows where I want to go, has told me what the fare will be and whether I can pay with American dollars or the local currency. Sadly, there have been lots of  scams perpetrated using credit cards.
• Try to be the last passenger back on the ship before it sails--Some feel the need to squeeze every drop of time from every port. I would not do well as a "pier runner."
• Slide down a water slide--The last time I did this on a Carnival ship, I was unable to draw breath during the twists and turns. It had never occurred to me that my weakened lungs would be unable to function at all if I threw in an extra G or so. 

And yet, it's hard for me to say "never." In fact, there is a place I'd love to see on our Queen Anne WC in Malaysia called the Batu Caves. It's a famous Hindu shrine about a half hour away from Kuala Lumpur. The only drawback is that it involves climbing 272 stairs. 

However, I have 568 days and a plan. More about that later...

So how about you? What would you never ever do? What do you wish you could try? 

All Inclusive or a la Carte?

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. ~ Buddy Hackett 

Our 2022 Viking WC was considered "all inclusive." Our airfare was covered--business class both ways. Viking paid for two large suitcases to be sent to the ship through Luggage Forward so we could travel with less stuff to embarkation. There was an included excursion in each port. Wifi was free, if not terribly reliable. Viking provided the Silver Spirits package for us so we could drink anything we wished, anytime we wished on board. (In our case, that meant plenty of sodas.) There was no fee to dine in specialty restaurants. We could use the opulent spa anytime we wanted. Gratuities were built into the fare, but we gave our cabin stewards and dining room servers extra tips each month we were on board. We were given a lavish amount of on board credit to use for additional excursions and on board purchases. Even so, we owed about $2K by the time we arrived back in the States.  

How does this deer under our apple tree relate to this topic? I'll tell you! She can either stick with the all-inclusive grass we're blessed with in the Ozarks, or she can stand on her hind legs to reach the little green apples from the a la carte menu over her head! 

Our 2018 Pacific Princess WC was a la carte. We managed to catch a "last minute" (read: within 7 months of departure) sale because I'd been watching fares on Vacationstogo.com * and when it dropped precipitously, we pounced. It was an incredible deal. Our TA kicked in enough to pay gratuities (though we gave our room steward and servers extra as usual) along with two free specialty dining opportunities. We bought our airfare through Princess and I have to say, we got a spectacular price on first class both ways. I'd never heard of shipping luggage ahead, but we could check 2 big bags apiece without fees in first class. We are not drinkers, so buying a drinks package makes zero sense. In the seven months leading up to our embarkation, I booked our excursions through the very user-friendly Princess website a few at a time so we could spread out the expenditures. By the time we boarded in San Pedro, we had some activity for almost every port planned out already. We pre-purchased some internet minutes at a discount pre-cruise price and then once on board, we received additional minutes gratis because of our loyalty level for each of the cruise's segments. (That perk has sadly gone away now.) Our onboard account was zero at the end of the voyage. 

There are pros and cons to both styles of cruising. Viking treated us like we were made of spun gold and protected us in the time of Covid with almost nanny-ish fierceness. Princess was more our traveling partner, affirming our choices and offering a full slate of things we could take or leave. 

While an all-inclusive experience is lovely, we paid for things we didn't use, like all the alcohol and repetitive "city highlights" or Old Town walking tours. But because they were part of the fare, we also had to pay for insurance on them. (For purposes of comparison, our travel insurance for the Viking WC was double what we paid for our coming Cunard voyage because all those extras aren't included.)

And I really like choosing my own excursions instead of feeling I need to take the included one since I have already paid for it. It's important to me to have different experiences in each place, so picking and choosing what we'll do reflects our personal tastes and interests. And because we'll no longer need to travel in a Covid "bubble"--please, God!--we should be able to do some independent exploration next time, especially since our Cunard itinerary has so many overnights.

You can argue that by the time all the extras are paid for, the difference between all-inclusive and a la carte cruising is negligible. If we were drinkers that might be true, because that's a big ticket item for lots of folks. We can be more creative with our excursions and choose less spendy alternatives. (For example, our Viking 13-hour excursion to Luxor was $700 a piece! A comparable tour through ShoreExcusionsGroup.com is $251.) Our all-in expenses for the 2025 voyage on Queen Anne will be considerably less than an all-inclusive fare. Especially since the entry level fare for Viking's 2025 WC has now risen beyond our financial reach. We'll have an elegant adventure on Cunard and not break the bank. 

We are who we are, and I am my father's daughter. He's most charitably described as..."thrifty." 

I can live with that. 

Queen Anne continues to take shape in the Fincantieri shipyard. She will have a woman as her first captain, Inger Klein Thorhauge. I hope Captain Thorhauge will still be in command by the time we board, but on both of our previous extended voyages, we saw the captain's seat cycle to a new person as each mariner's contract with the line concluded mid-cruise. Ditto for cruise directors. 

*We have used VacationsToGo to book shorter cruises in the past, but now I typically use it to track fares and discover cruise deals. Then we call Teresa Skeim at CruiseSpecialists.com when we've found something we want to book. She deals with extended voyages regularly and has always been very helpful and responsive.  

First Things First--Travel Insurance

 Good luck doesn't last forever. Good insurance does. ~ Plucked from a meme on Pinterest

When we were much younger and believed ourselves quasi-immortal, as all young people do, we never bothered with travel insurance. I always considered it betting against myself. 

I've given that ridiculous notion another think. 

Especially on our longer cruises, we've seen disasters happen to our fellow cruisers and despaired for them. The first was on our 30 day South Pacific cruise on HAL. A lady had a health emergency that required her to be put off the ship in Rarotonga, even though the seas were judged too rough for the rest of us to tender in to that port of call. From there, she was airlifted to Australia (about 3000 miles away!)

Our prayers went with her, and part of that prayer was that she had adequate travel insurance. The cost of emergency medical transport on the high seas can easily wipe out someone's life's savings.

Even the most healthy of travelers can have an accident. Lots of places we visit feature cobbled streets and uneven ground. One moment of inattention, taking a photo while still walking, and it's easy to go tail over tea-kettle. On our Viking WC, one of our fellow travelers lost her footing at the pyramids and fell, breaking her hip. She had to have hip replacement surgery. 

In Egypt.    

Medicare does not follow us beyond the US borders. Ditto for our supplemental insurance. If we are hospitalized outside the US, it's on our dime unless we have adequate travel medical insurance. 

And if you have a pre-existing condition, like I do with my NSIP (the least virulent of all the fibrotic lung diseases), a clock is ticking for complications from it to be covered by travel insurance. This waiver period is usually 14 to 21 days from the date of your first deposit on a cruise. In our case this time, because we had bought insurance for the Oceania voyage we later cancelled, we were able to transfer that coverage to our 2025 Cunard WC. I just had to call our carrier, give them the new details of our planned travel and policy was changed to cover us on Queen Anne & Queen Mary included travel to and from the embarkation/debarkation port. We are good to go.  

There are lots of different travel insurance companies out there and your travel agent can help you find a quote. There are plenty of options available, but here are the things we always look for:

• Trip cancellation (of course, we want our money back if we can't go for some reason)
• Trip interruption (in case of ...oh, something like a pandemic)
• $100K in primary emergency medical care (some insurance specifies that it provides secondary coverage. Remember, our US insurance will likely not work anywhere else, unless we happen to be visiting a US territory, so there is no existing primary when we're on the move. Our travel medical must be primary.) 
• $1,000,000 in medical evacuation and repatriation

But that doesn't keep me from wanting to wander!

There are usually a few extra bits and bobs included like flight delays, lost luggage compensation or coverage for car rentals, but we're mostly interested in not losing our travel investment, and being medically covered in case of accident or illness. And more than anything else, we want a way to get home if we need to. 

Even if that means coming home in a box. 

Morbid, I suppose, but it's a relief to know we wouldn't be burdening each other with that detail should the worst come to pass.

So...we've checked off the first box in planning for our 2025 Cunard WC. Our trip is insured and we can travel knowing we will be cared for if things don't go completely to plan. Our policy will be among our printed-out travel documents in case we need to make a claim. To date, we've never had to use any of the travel policies we've bought. Please God may that continue. 

But unlike my younger self thought, I'm not betting against myself. I'm gifting myself with peace of mind. 

The Next Big Thing!

No man ever steps into the same river twice. ~ Heraclitus

I think I understand what the esteemed Heraclitus is saying. Even if it was the same river, people grow and change. You are different each time. And even if somehow you could be the same, the river is always in a state of...well, flux. More or less water, more or less flotsam. You get the drift.

I guess Heraclitus is saying it's impossible to repeat an experience, even a good one, so that it is exactly the same. Our previous extended voyages on Princess and Viking have each been wonderfully exciting in their own way, and both very different. There are things I like better about each of them. Yet if we chose one of them for our world cruise in 2025, I'd be awfully tempted to compare our new experience to the first go around.

So it seems sensible to choose something that will be completely different than either of those voyages, yet meets all our "must-have's."  

After much searching and comparing, the hand's down winner for our next extended adventure is Cunard's Queen Anne!

Shortly after we booked our 2025 adventure, we received this "royal mail" welcoming us to both Queen Anne & Queen Mary 2! It's our first brush with the "Downton-esque" vibe of this voyage.

Cunard fits the bill perfectly for our first circumnavigation. We'll board in NYC and spend 98 nights on the Queen Anne. This is her maiden World Cruise so I'm sure Cunard will pull out all the stops for us. Then once we reach Southampton, we'll transfer to the Queen Mary 2 for a leisurely transatlantic back to the Big Apple--105 days afloat in all!

We do have 21 days on Cunard and know we appreciate its traditional style, so we aren't going into this blind, as we did on the Viking WC. But there are some distinct differences between this voyage and our previous ones. For one, both the Pacific Princess and the Viking Star were the oldest ships in their respective fleets. The Queen Anne is a brand new ship. In fact, she's not yet completely built! 

Her maiden cruise will be a week long sailing out of Southampton in May of 2024. Then she'll go on to a full season in the Med and Northern Europe. Plenty of time for them to work out all the bugs by the time we board on January 18, 2025. And I'm sure that Cunard will go the extra nautical mile to make Queen Anne's Maiden World Voyage something really special! 

Not all the port stops are marked on this map. I'll post the full itinerary soon, but we'll see 9 new-to-us countries and lots of new ports, along with some old friends we'll be happy to see again, like Luxor and Singapore and Sydney. 

You may notice from this map that the journey seems to start in Europe. That's because it does. The World Cruise officially begins in Hamburg, Germany, stops in Southampton to pick up more cruisers and we'll join the party in NYC. That's also why we're jumping ship in Southampton at the end of April and sailing home on the QM2. Queen Anne will continue back to Hamburg. 

What this means is that we, as Americans, will likely be a minority contingent on the ship. Even though Cunard is technically under the Carnival umbrella of cruise lines, it's thoroughly British in flavor and there will be more Brits than any other nationality aboard. It's going to be like visiting the world while traveling in a floating version of the UK. English will be the main language spoken on board, but in addition to Germans, there will be a lot more other European passengers as well. A more cosmopolitan experience than we've had before. 

The DH & me with Caspar on the Star

Part of the aesthetic of travel is the feeling of "other-ness" you get when you visit another culture. We won't have to wait for a port day to experience that feeling. When I am in the role of "other," I am forced to see with different eyes and try to understand things from another's point of view. Maybe that's why they say travel is "broadening." It's certainly a stretch sometimes.

Anyway, even though we are still nearly 600 days out, we've already started planning and preparing for our next big thing! We're so grateful for the opportunity to explore more of this beautiful world. And I'll be sharing every step of the way, so if you'd like to hop in my pocket and go with us, please consider signing up to receive these posts in your email! 

And as always, I love to hear from YOU!