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Without a cruise director, who would make a morning PA announcement telling you what is clearly printed in the daily schedule? Who would announce that there is a raffle at the Tanzanite sale? Who would tell you that the first five people to say 'ciao' to the Italian photographer would win a free photo of the ship? Who would take over the microphone after the captain's noon announcement to reiterate what is printed in the daily schedule.? How would people know to applaud the main stage performer without a cruise director to tell them to do so?

It is wonderful to hear reports from another competitive diner.

I read about the photo problem in the fact based media a couple of months ago: "Thinking about an iPhone 15? There is a hidden cost to that new camera" "Apple’s new iPhone takes photos that are about 65 percent larger than older iPhones. You could end up spending more to store them in iCloud." The article is probably behind a paywall: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/26/iphone-15-camera-photo-icloud-storage/ Thanks for another great blog, LAFFNVEGAS.

Will you blogging from your cruise, exiledowl? I would love to follow along on a Phoenix Reisen cruise.

Thanks for the report, RICHARD@SEA. It is torture trying to sleep in noisy environments. Shame you caught a bug, too. You had a worse cruise than I ever did.

Holland America cruisers Bill and Mary will blog again in 2024: https://cruisingwithbillandmaryann.blogspot.com/

This blog has almost all the main dining room menus for the Holland America 2023 world cruise: https://www.theinsidecabin.com/2023-world-cruise-itinerary/ With the caveat that it is prepared in large quantities and basically banquet quality, study each menu and decide, rapister, if you could enjoy or even just survive for four months, what with your discerning palate and all.

A travel agent website lists Port Stanley and New Island, Falkland Islands. Might be accurate. New Island was a Zodiac landing in February, 2020 and a highlight of our cruise.

We did a back to back cruise Boston - Montreal - Boston in 2022. No special procedures in Montreal (previous three ports were in Canada as were the next three). We left the ship when we wanted, returned when we wanted, could have stayed aboard. I would expect your cruise to be the same, cruisinlibrarian, although there is a chance your keycard won't work or there will be some bookkeeping problem.

Oops, as others have pointed out, there are more options. Celebrity Solstice sails Honolulu to Vancouver on April 25, 2025, Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas on April 29, Celebrity Edge on May 7.

There are no required vaccinations on that Ovation itinerary. I would check with my doctor to see that all my standard vaccinations are up to date (I have aged into a couple of new ones). I would also carry proof of COVID vaccination in case some island or other suddenly decides that visitors must do so.

Holland America sails 22 days between Buenos Aires and San Antonio, Chile. The Antarctica route is weather dependent, I know their South America circumnavigation cruise this November sailed into the Lemaire Channel. HAL has no Zodiacs or landings in Antarctica.

If you want the cruise to begin or end in Hawaii, Oceania's Regatta is the only ship I see doing so in 2025. Regatta's Hawaiian sailings are to and from Tahiti.

It seems incredibly wasteful to apply oil to a frying pan with an aerosol can. Consider poached egg whites.

That is not as bad as finding that your spoonful of chocolate chip ice cream is actually rum raisin.

The captain said there were 416 passengers on our January, 2019 Antarctica cruise. I thought that with a number of solo cruisers, the cabins were fully booked.

You are just scratching the surface of the "Status" problem, Blackduck59. Toss in suites and Club Orange. Does a 4* Mariner Suite guest top a 5* guest in a standard suite? Where does a President's Club member in an inside cabin fit in? A 3* cruiser in a penthouse suite? Who gets to look down their nose at whom?

I think I have never read a more thorough review. Thank you, Catlover54.

There are a couple of docks. One is a couple of blocks from the sights and very handy, the other is a couple of miles east. We have been stuck at the far dock both times we visited Punta Arenas, vexed me to see a competitor's cruise ship docked at the good spot.

With two ports in Israel on the itinerary, I would expect some anomalies. Personally, I think it would be false advertising to publish an itinerary with stops in Israel, better off with nothing or at least a disclaimer.

I was perfectly happy to find our four star mariner pins in our mail slot on debarkation day, never thought there should be anything more, all I had done was buy cruises. Now I am sad that the captain did not pin it on me in front of the whole ship and kiss me on both cheeks.

There are no guarantees as far as Antarctica is concerned. Bad weather has kept ships from crossing the Drake Passage. High seas delayed us, we skipped a stop and never saw sunshine in Antarctica, still an amazing experience. We are considering a return trip. I would encourage you to comparison shop, see if you can physically and financially handle a ship with landings in Antarctica.

It is up to you. I am ignorant of cancellation insurance, figure that if I have the money to buy a cruise, I can afford to lose a bunch of it by debarking early. (I would never cruise without evacuation and medical insurance.) What will you do, if there is a family emergency? Can your adult children handle their own challenges? Is attendance at an aged aunt's funeral mandatory? We did not leave our Cape Horn cruise when our college aged daughter needed a tonsillectomy, would your family dynamics require your attendance? The cost of the cruise would be the last thing on my mind imagining the magnitude of a family emergency that would require our return home.

Seabourn Sojourn is scheduled to visit Kiribati, American Samoa, Samoa, and Tonga (as well as a number of Hawaii and New Zealand ports) on her January 11, 2024 39 day sailing from San Pedro to Sydney.

When a stranger at our table said, "Let us pray," I said, "Sure, go ahead."