Hong Kong to Athens (leaving in Singapore) 2008.

[keener]

Just happened upon this thread.....My mom is on this cruise with you. I have really loved reading your travel journal, feeling like i'm along for the ride (cruise)!

[scdreamer]

I, too, am just back from a trip ... New Orleans, so not quite as exotic as yours, but pretty wonderful just the same ... so I am catching up with you on the computer right now, Jack. Sounds as if you have been having such fun - I only wish you were on the entire cruise, as I understand the posts will be cut short this go-round.

 

Leslie Jon sang an amazing number from Fiddler on the Roof on our last night at sea in October. Actually, when I use the term "sang," I am not adequately describing what he shared with the audience. In addition to having led a quite interesting life, he is an amazing performer. I hope you have had an opportunity to see one of his performances.

 

Will miss hearing from you ... until the next cruise? I am pretty positive this will not be the last, Jack!

 

Leslie & Wayne

[seasoned]

Jack,

 

Those onboard the Nautica miss you (especially me). Several people come up to me every day to tell me how great you were as a lecturer and how much they loved your posts and reading your book. Jeff's lecture on Athens was an unexpected bonus.

 

Trivia is certainly heating up…teams are getting larger as more people join in. A couple of controversies have erupted, so yesterday Leslie had arranged for a security detail (in fun, of course).

 

Everyone: I just want to mention to anyone reading this who will be on next year's cruise or otherwise docking in Bangkok that we had two really magnificent days with Tong (tourwithtong.com). The second day, when Jack stayed on the ship to prepare for his last talk, Tong met our little group in the early morning to take us to the Floating Market and later to her incredible "secret place." We bought bags of fruit to feed the local crab-eating macaques (monkeys), who swarmed the shoreline as we tossed out bananas and watermelon from the boat. We enjoyed a fabulous meal of fresh seafood atop a house on stilts sitting above the water in a tidal inlet. It was a magical place and a feast I will never forget. You can even make arrangements for an overnight stay, in simple but clean quarters, if you are going to be in Bangkok for more than a couple of days.

 

If you go to Tong's website, be sure to read her tips for visiting the Grand Palace and temples in Bangkok. If you book her for even a day, be sure to mention "Sukey sent me," and she'll know you are a friend of mine from cruisecritic! She is THE BEST, and her rates are great, and even if she cannot guide you herself, she will provide you with an excellent English-speaking guide.

 

Best wishes to everyone.

 

-Sukey-

[lumahai]

Sukey -

 

Thanks for the info re Tong. After having to cancel due illness for the '08. we are sked for the '09 and we definitely want to use her. Any tour guide you recommend, I certainly would want to book. Am interested in who you used in Saigon and who you are going to use in Oman. Was sure sorry to miss meeting Jack. I've been following you folks on Oceania's web cam. Have a great remaining trip.

 

Betty

[JackfromWA]

A FEW REPLIES

 

TenerifeSharon: Tong was superb. She was inexpensive, funny and sensitive to the moods and desires of our tour group. I highly recommend her.

 

JoePDX: Thanks for the kind words. When you and Jeff finally make this trip I believe it will live up to your expectations. There is truly something special about this itinerary and the type of passenger it attracts.

 

Lahore: Southeast Asia is a memorable place to travel, and as much as certain things change, so much (the people especially) remains the same.

 

Keener: Sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet your mom. I am sure she is having a great time.

 

SCDreamer: You are right that the posts will be shorter. I got off the boat in Singapore so this year I was only on a third of the trip---I had obligations the last week of April so I just couldn’t take all 35-days. Despite that the time I was there was great.

 

Sukey: Everyday I wake up and visualize where Nautica is today. I miss all of you too! We’ll find other trips together where we all leave together. I hope you and Jesse are still enjoying calm seas and your luxurious room. Go trivia team!!

 

Lumhai: Feel free to post if you have any questions. There are lots of us happy to share our experience so you’ll have a better trip next year.

 

SEA DAY AND HOME

 

After an exciting day of riding elephants, a second place victory at trivia (we should have won but flubbed and easy answer), Sukey scheduled a “going-home” dinner for Jeff and me in Toscana. Dennis, Jane, Alan, Susan, Jesse and Robert, Nautica’s brilliant concierge also were invited. Prior to fine Italian dining, Sukey (who is living luxuriantly in a Penthouse Suite---the perfect stateroom for this sea-day full itinerary) arranged for canapés and drinks in her suite.

 

When I walked in her cabin, every table top was filled with delectable tidbits of mini-pizzas, shrimp, fruit, chocolate strawberries and nuts. A champagne bottle was on ice along with a variety of sodas.

 

“Our butler is going to do something special,” Sukey said to the group. “I saw this when Jesse and I took the South American cruise last year. He is going to use a saber to open our champagne bottle.”

 

I had never heard of such a thing. Just then there was a knock at the door and the butler arrived with a butler-in-training to watch the sabrage.

 

“Are you really going to open that bottle with a saber?” I asked.

 

“I hope so,” the butler said. “The champagne has to be cool enough and the seam on the bottle must be correct.” He examined the bottle closely. “This appears cold enough. Now everyone please stand back. Don’t try this at home,” he said with a wink.

 

He stood at attention, a 12 inch sterling silver blade secure in his right hand and the cold champagne bottle in his left. Dressed in his black tuxedo he looked as if he might be starting to perform a very intricate magic trick---perhaps cutting a young lady in half---he looked like he belonged on a stage; not in a cabin. He raised the blade up above his head and with a powerful blow struck the bottle near the neck. CRASH! The cork and glass top flew off and remaining in his hand was a neck less bottle with champagne just starting to flow over his hand.

 

“Bravo! Bravo!” we called out. Applause swept the cabin as the butler bowed, and presented the bottle and severed cork and neck for our inspection.

 

“Ladies and gentleman, please enjoy your champagne.” He poured flutes for everyone and we toasted our cruise, our time together and enjoying the company of fine friends at sea.

 

Dinner was exquisite. Toscana remains my favorite restaurant on Nautica. From the 3-foot diameter parmesan wheel greeting me as a I enter, to the chocolate lasagna that bids me farewell this is a fine dining experience. Even though there were 9 of us at dinner, the conversation flowed naturally and the service was impeccable.

 

“Your lecture about Greece is tomorrow isn’t it Jeff,” Robert asked.

 

“Yes, I am on tomorrow at 10:00 a.m,” he replied.

 

The next day Jeff woke up early and exercised. He has worked out everyday onboard. I brought my exercise clothes but unfortunately they gathered more dust than sweat. When we arrived in the lounge it was quite full---at least 200 people. Apparently Jeff’s topic “Athens: Looking back, looking forward” appealed to the crowd.

 

Leslie, the cruise director, explained that he would introduce me and I could introduce Jeff. As he started to speak the room instantly quieted down.

 

“Ladies and gentleman we have a special treat for you today. Jack Hovenier, author of ‘Cruising with Mom and Dad’ is joined on this trip by his brother, Jeff, who lives in Athens, and is going to share some experiences of being an American diplomat living in Greece. Immediately after this lecture Jack will have a book signing right outside the Grand Dining Room. Here is Jack Hovenier.”

 

I introduced Jeff, gave a little of his impressive resume (he is head of the Political Section of the US Embassy in Athens and has had quite a stellar career in Vienna, Washington D.C, Paraguay, Zagreb and Panama) and turned over the stage to him.

 

“Hi, I’m Jack’s brother Jeff. There are at least two permanent truth in my life. The first is Jack is a hard act to follow. The second is that Jack never does something himself if he can get his younger brother to do it.” A good laugh went around the room. Jeff proceeded to give a succinct, compelling and brilliant lecture on Athens past and the current political state. It is a testament to his preparation and style that I didn’t see anyone of the several hundred people in the Nautica lounge leave. Afterwards he was bombarded with questions for at least a half hour.

 

We slowly made our way to the bar outside the Grand Dining Room, trailed by passengers with question for Jeff, so I could sign books. As I got the opportunity to meet so many of my fellow passengers reading my book, all of them living their dream this year the same way my mom, dad and I were living our dream last year, I got a little emotional.

 

Think about it.

 

Last year I sat in cabin 4024 and typed words that I posted online to share my experience with all of you. I had no expectation other than that some of you might appreciate the experiences we were having, and maybe hearing about what we did would help you make the most of you own journeys with people you love in the future.

 

Then, as most of you know, the thread grew quite popular and instead of being a burden the writing become a source of joy---I was sharing it with people who enjoyed reading it. Nothing is better for a writer than knowing people are moved by your words. I never expected the words to leap from the Internet to the page, but Sukey (a world-class professional copy editor) offered to proof and correct it, we found a printer to make copies for all our fellow cruise critic members, and within a few months there was a real book.

 

Frank Del Rio invited me to come back as Oceania’s guest and share the book and my experiences, and here I am, sitting in the Nautica Lounge, signing books for fellow passengers and a year ago I didn’t even know I was going to write a book! Life is fantastic sometimes and when I live my dreams, and do what I have always wanted to do, I never know where it will take me. The book is now in its 3rd printing, orders trickle in from word-of-mouth and cruise critic weekly, and I regularly get notes and emails of how much people enjoy reading it.

 

It’s impossible not to feel humble and grateful.

 

After the book signing I had lunch and spent the rest of the day enjoying the ship, playing trivia and saying goodbye to old and new friends. One advantage of leaving a cruise before everyone else does is that the goodbyes are easier and you don’t have to put your suitcase out in the hall the night before.

 

Too soon it was Saturday, and while most of the ship was off for a pleasant (it wasn’t raining) day in Singapore, I made my final preparations to leave the ship. I finished packing and then Jeff and I went for a 3-hour tour of Singapore with our new friends Harry and Paco. We went to Chinatown, took some photos and ended up at the Long Bar in Raffles.

 

“I think if we stayed here long enough we’d see most of the shop,” I said to Jeff. At least a third of the bar patrons were fellow Nautica passengers.

 

We got back to the ship, ate one last burger at Waves Grill, and then headed to the airport. Leaving a cruise is always bittersweet, but even 12-days is a nice time at sea, and both of us have pressing obligations at home. As nice as it would be to stay, we needed to leave and save the full 35-days for another time.

 

My flight home was worse than my flight out. I was supposed to fly from Singapore to Hong Kong, wait two hours in the airport and then fly directly to Vancouver. Two hours into our three hour flight to Hong Kong, the pilot announced the Hong Kong airport was closing due to a typhoon warning and we were rerouted to Bangkok.

 

We spent three hours on the ground in Bangkok and then, when the weather improved, headed back to Hong Kong. My flight was originally supposed to land in Hong Kong at 9:30 p.m. We arrived at 3:00 a.m. My flight to Vancouver was delayed, but it left at 2:40 a.m. so I missed it by 20 minutes. Thirteen hours and lots of time sitting-in-the-airport-looking-at-the-walls later, I finally left for Vancouver. Total time from Singapore to Vancouver was 42 hours---a new personal record for longest transit time from point a to point b. Despite the arduous trip home, it was worth ever minute. I had a great time on Nautica and touring in Southeast Asia.

 

To all of you aboard enjoy the rest of your journey; the best is yet to come. For those of us on land (secretly wishing we were there with you) thanks for reading and I hope to meet you traveling some day.

 

Thanks for reading.

[meow!]

Last year I sat in cabin 4024 and typed words that I posted online to share my experience with all of you.

Thank you kindly for such interesting reading. Just curious, which category of cabins do they usually give to speakers?

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Hey Jack,

What an ordeal just getting home:eek: . Thanks for the live report!

 

Jan

[lumahai]

Jack -

 

Thanks so much for your writings of this year and last. You certainly made the trip enjoyable for all of us.

 

Betty

[JackfromWA]

Thank you kindly for such interesting reading. Just curious, which category of cabins do they usually give to speakers?

 

Meow,

 

I had 1,200 sf suite hidden between the Penthouse Suites on Deck 8. Three bedrooms, a hot tub and a full size shower!

 

Just kidding. Standard outside guest cabin on deck 6 obstructed by life boats. It was 145 sf which makes them 20 sf smaller than the standard cabin. I was happy to have it, this isn't a complaint, but it was small.

 

Jack

[meow!]

Thank you kindly for such precious interesting information!

[patw]

Jack, thank you for sharing your experience again. It is my hope that FDR will invite you back for the 2009 HKG - ATH cruise so that we can meet in person and enjoy your lectures. You are an enjoyable writer. One can feel like we are traveling with you.

 

Your trip back to Vancouver and Washington sounds like a traveler's nightmare.

 

Warmest Regards,

Pat

[cathi]

Jack - we are finally off the Nautica and sitting in JFK waiting for our plane back to Vancouver. You were right - the best was yet to come!! We had a great time, made lots of new friends, and saw so much of the world!!! By the way, the CC Gorgeous Leg contest finally went off on one of our days in the Red Sea. Surprise! Surprise! even though Dave tried to rig the rules- I WON!!!!

Sorry to hear your flight home was worse than our outbound flight. It seemed the bad weather was just behind us.

So when's the next outing? I know what a hit you were on board. You even managed to get Cruise Critic more exposure. Although we had Ronnie Sampson for the rest of the cruise, we all missed your company and your wonderful talks!

 

Cathi/Legs

[Aussie Gal]

Jack,

 

We arrived home yesterday after spending time in Athens and Dubai. We are finally experiencing cool weather after so many hot days.

 

We did enjoy meeting you and Jeff and listening to your lectures - mostly on the TV in our room as we were busy learning to play Bridge - thanks to your comments about it last year.

 

We loved the cruise, the itinenary is the best and we are sorry to have it behind us. We had a great group of friends from our Roll Call and we did have so much fun. Team Trivia was the funniest and Peter and I looked forward to playing it each afternoon. Leslie Jon was a great host.

 

If there was one complaint and it is a very small one, is that the 3 days before we go through the Suez are so hectic. Visiting Luxor for 2 days and then straight on to Petra is hard work but we wouldn't have missed any of it for the world. I also wonder why the ship doesn't berth at Alexandria which is so much closer to Cairo. We arrived into Port Said at 6pm the night before our visit to Cairo, so we would have had time to make Alexandria and then perhaps we could have had more time in Cairo as it is closer to Athens and then perhaps could have sailed later.

 

That 3 and a bit hour trip from Port Said is so long and has so much traffic. It really does cut down the time spent in Cairo and one can only manage to do two things whilst there. We would have liked to have gone to the Museum but unfortunately we also wanted to see the Step Pyramid as well as the Giza Pyramids. Time just ran out especially as Cairo traffic is the worst we have ever encountered.

 

I am not sure if your Captain took you into the Caldera of Santorini on your way to Athens on the last day. Ours did and it was a beautiful sight with the sun shining on the white houses. Of course, we had sun every day and calm seas. Leslie Jon said that he has never had 35 days of such perfect weather. How lucky we were.

 

All the best for the future Jack. I am so glad that we met you and perhaps one day we will meet again.

 

Jennie

[Lightpackers]

Hi Jennie,

 

It was terrific hearing from you so soon after our cruise ended. We both feel as you and Peter do - the cruise was fantastic.

We read your note on the Nautica roll call board, but we decided to write to you on this message board because of your comments about Cairo.

We were on the Insignia "Archaeology and Mythology" cruise last November. Another fantastic cruise. We went to Cairo from Alexandria. You should know that we docked in Alexandria overnight so that we didn't have to sail the same day we went to Cairo, thus we left for Cairo about 8:30AM. However, the trip is just as long as from Port Said. Also, since we left Cairo so much later, we arrived at the Step Pyramid (last year we took the tour you took) in late morning and then were taken to lunch. After lunch we went to the Pyramids and the Sphinx - the shadows were lengthening and by the time we got to the Sphinx, our guide gave us ten minutes to see it - consequently, we didn't have time to get close to it and the picures I took had half the Sphinx in shadow. When you take the tour which incorporates the Archaeological Museum, you go to the Pyramids and the Sphinx first, and the colors are different.

This time, we took the tour which incorporated the museum (you just cannot do the Step Pyramid, the 3 Pyramids, the Sphinx and the museum, all in one day. While no one likes to get up in the middle of the night to go on a tour, it really had its advantages. We arrived at the Pyramids mid-morning and it was still pleasantly cool. We had a lot of time to view them and then loads of time to get up close to the Sphinx and take lots of great pictures. We went to the museum in the afternoon and it was quite pleasant (temperature-wise) for most of the visit.

At first we couldn't understand why we had to get up so early, until we realized that we were sailing the same day from Port Said, while last year we could arrive back at the ship at virtually anytime since we had the next morning in Alexandria.

Hope this makes you feel better in regard to the schedules we encountered.

Perhaps our paths will cross in the future - particularly if Oceania creates some new itineraries.

Please send our best regards to Peter,

Helen and Bruce

[Aussie Gal]

Helen and Bruce,

 

Thanks for the explanation about not stopping in Alexandria. I was thinking more of the long drive to Cairo, not the the time we had to get up. We were unlucky in that we had a bad driver who drove like he was in a grand prix at 140km an hour. We had hired an Oceania van for 6 of us and he wanted to prove he was the "top gun". He was a lot worse on the trip home without any convoy.

 

We are now back in sunny Melbourne, though the weather is cold. This morning it was 0C which is 32F. A frost but a sunny day to follow. We have left the hot weather behind us for a few months.

 

Great to meet you both and perhaps one day our paths will cross again.

 

Jennie

[seasoned]

Hi, everyone,

 

My website has finally been updated with HKG-ATH 2008 photos, commentary and guide recommendations. Lots of photos of Jack and my other friends, as well as some of the onboard activities and port-by-port sights along the itinerary.

 

Go to:

http://www.planetsukey.com

 

-Sukey-