bcummin

Thank you for sharing so much with us on this World Cruise. I think that the 2023 Grand Africa Voyage and the Tales of the South Pacific also had maps with port information. Not sure what other cruises might have also. Really glad to see the maps + back. Barbara

Captain Seven Card

Cast. Steven Card's ship paintings are legendary. Barbara

Thankful that "poorly" has become "heaps better." You were missed. Thank you for so many grand photos of this great voyage. I still think that if you were to phone or visit the front office, they would eventually come up with written descriptions of the ship's art collection. 🙂 Barbara

"There's no record of the works of art around the ship. Some is quite spectacular!" This also surprises me. Last year on ms Zaandam I asked at the Front Desk, and they eventually provided me with several detailed pages documenting the artwork onboard. You should ask again. Barbara

I am glad to see that you received the chocolate-covered strawberries to enjoy. 🙂 Barbara

The Lemaire Channel is majestic. So glad that you get to see it. Not everyone does. Your photos and videos bring back great memories. Thank you for bringing us along. Barbara

Last year the ms Zaandam aft area of deck 2 was open and accessible. Eventually a lounge chair appeared. 🙂 I did not explore the other outer decks and stairs. You will probably be very happy. Barbara

Please give our congratulations to Jeremy & Katie on their coming wedding. She is also a big winner. Katie was a big help to me last year on my HAL tour to Luxor, Egypt. He is one lucky man. Barbara

Thank you for sharing so much with us. Please tell us about the Port Essentials Flyer. I have never seen one. Is this new? Barbara

Thrilled to hear that you are enjoying this voyage. I delight in each detail. Your Meet & Greet sounds like a success. I enjoy the Swiss Muesli. Glad that the block parties continue. Last year our 2022 Grand Africa Voyage had no speakers the first few days out of Ft. Lauderdale. Olga is wonderful. We had her speaking throughout West Africa. Glad to hear about the live music. Your volume is a welcome miracle. Remember to use your Navigator to praise the good. Enjoy this time of a lifetime. Barbara

You have made me very happy, colbe. I look forward to delighting in your exquisite adventure. Bon Voyage! Barbara

The 2023 Grand Africa Voyage sails on October 10. Since only two people have said that they are posting blogs, I am hoping that some of those those onboard might want to share tidbits about their grand voyage here for the rest of us to enjoy. Thank you so much. Bon Voyage! Barbara 2022 GAV

You have the same ship, Captain, and probably many staff and crew that we enjoyed last fall on the 2022 Grand Africa Voyage. You are in for a marvelous adventure. I am so happy for you. Barbara

It is wonderful that you get to enjoy the exquisite Banks Mansion, especially since you have such good memories there. XO Barbara

Congratulations to the young couple on their engagement. Barbara

The above photo was of the photo packages offered last year on my 71-day 2022 Grand Africa Voyage. Individual photos were in the $15 range. Do not hesitate to talk to the photo manager about your preferences. There was no information online before the voyage. I walked into the photo shop to find this information on display. Had lots of photos taken, then decided what to buy. Barbara

Amazing wildlife sightings in Glacier Bay! Thank you for sharing. One nice thing about the HAL Navigator on a cell phone is the instant communication. You could have reported the distorted sound right away. Barbara

Since you are preparing for such a marvelous voyage, I will share more. My favorite wine is not in the wine list packages, so I always make sure that they will substitute it to be in my wine package. Now, this means asking the dining steward and waiting for the Cellar Master's reply maybe the next day. Then I purchase. You could verify what wines are onboard that you like, and have them deliver all eight bottles to your room. I brought wine aboard after wine tours in Arrecife and Cape Town to enjoy in my room. Surprised that my wine bottle was confiscated by security onboard in Arrecife "to be confirmed." It was delivered to my room a few days later. No problem in Cape Town. Funchal has amazing exotic flowers, so I bought some. Wrapped them in plastic bags for protection and brought them through security to my room. Room Steward brought me a nice vase, and I enjoyed those flowers the whole voyage. Another sweet lady's flowers were confiscated by onboard security, never to be seen again. It sounds like your voyage is turning into a party boat. 🙂 Pinching pennies, my plan was for my eight-bottle wine package to last the whole voyage. I enjoyed small glasses of wine at dinner most evenings. There were times that I did not want a glass of wine. I finished the last glass on the last day of my voyage. Barbara

The Cellar Master lets you know what your choices are. Your dining steward will deliver messages to the Cellar Master, who will be very busy the first few days. Eventually he will visit your dining table. We order our wine package on board after leaving port which adds taxes. Your dining steward will be happy to make the sale. We do not pre-order, but we have traded bottles in the dining room when we had something (gift) that we did not want. On one cruise the supply of our favorite wine was running low, so the rest of our eight bottles were delivered to our room. They went into a bottom drawer with towels. The Cellar Master can help you choose what they have available that will add to the joy of your voyage. Barbara

Each ship is different, especially now. Your dining steward will try to be helpful, but the Cellar Master decides. I got to talk to the Cellar Master a day or two after the cruise started. And some new wines were available mid cruise. (My favorite changed labels.) Barbara

I think that the older ships still have the old light-up magnifying and rotating round mirrors on the desk. Last fall my ms Zaandam room had the old familiar mirror. Barbara

I love your plan for 25 small gifts for the 25 days. It reminds me of the time our older son went to his first Boy Scout camp week. I carefully hid a treat inside each clean underwear for him to find during the week. His bag came back untouched, because he had lived in the same clothes night and day. Barbara

And then there are those who have wintered over in Antarctica. Barbara