Booked and excited

The brochure from Cunard arrived in the mail in January 2007 at precisely the right moment because when Jerry and I saw the itinerary, both of us agreed this is a cruise for us. It is the cruise of a lifetime for us, that is for sure. It arrived just after we had a conversation about where else in the world we would like to travel and I said I would like to see Australia without flying. And here it is - 6 ports in Australia and no plane flight.

It is still 9 months off but I think about it often. I wonder what it will be like to travel for nearly 3 months. I wonder what it will be like to be 6 days at sea between Osaka and Honolulu. I wonder what the seas around the Horn will be (remember Master and Commander? those were real seas.) I wonder what I will wear! Of course I wonder what I will wear; I always concern myself with clothes way too much.

I have been following Brittany's interesting blog of the QE2 2007 World Cruise. This year has been a true circumnavigation, a different itinerary from 2008. Brittany and her husband have been so diligent and thorough in describing all of the ports they have seen and some of the life onboard the ship. Thank you, Brittany and Malcolm, for your hard work and sharing of information.

I don't expect to be posting much this soon ahead of the cruise. However, we are going on the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas for the transatlantic crossing leaving next week, so I plan to practice posting on that. We were excited when we booked that 12 day cruise, but I have to confess that the thought of the World Cruise has put a damper on our enthusiasm for this next cruise.

A look at the map and itinerary will explain our feelings.




January 2008
16 Wed Fort Lauderdale, Florida 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
17 Thu Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
18 Fri Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
19 Sat Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
20 Sun Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
21 Mon Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
22 Tue Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
23 Wed Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
24 Thu Salvador da Bahia, Brazil 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
25 Fri Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
26 Sat Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7:00 am - 11:00 pm
27 Sun Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
28 Mon Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
29 Tue Montevideo, Uruguay Arrive 8:00 am
30 Wed Montevideo, Uruguay Depart 2:00 pm
31 Thu Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
February 2008
1 Fri Port Stanley, Falkland Islands 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
2 Sat Cruising Cape Horn
3 Sun Punta Arenas, Chile 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
4 Mon Cruising the Pacific Ocean
5 Tue Cruising the Pacific Ocean
6 Wed Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
7 Thu Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
8 Fri Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
9 Sat Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
10 Sun Easter Island, Chile 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
11 Mon Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
12 Tue Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
13 Wed Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
14 Thu Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
15 Fri Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
16 Sat Cross International Dateline - Lost Day
17 Sun Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
18 Mon Nuku'alofa, Tonga 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
19 Tue Cruising the Pacific Ocean
20 Wed Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
21 Thu Auckland, New Zealand 8:00 am - 10:00 pm
22 Fri Cruising the South Pacific Ocean
23 Sat Cruising the Tasman Sea
24 Sun Sydney, Australia Arrive 7:00 am
25 Mon Sydney, Australia Depart 6:00 pm
26 Tue Cruising the Tasman Sea
27 Wed Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
28 Thu Cruising the Bass Strait
29 Fri Melbourne, Australia 7:00 am - 11:59 pm
March 2008
1 Sat Cruising the Great Australian Bight
2 Sun Adelaide, Australia 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
3 Mon Cruising the Great Australian Bight
4 Tue Albany, Australia 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
5 Wed Fremantle (Perth), Australia 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
6 Thu Cruising the Indian Ocean
7 Fri Cruising the Indian Ocean
8 Sat Cruising the Indian Ocean
9 Sun Cruising the Java Sea
10 Mon Singapore 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
11 Tue Cruising the South China Sea
12 Wed Ho Chi Minh City (Vung Tau), Vietnam 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
13 Thu Cruising the South China Sea
14 Fri Hong Kong 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
15 Sat Cruising the South China Sea
16 Sun Cruising the East China Sea
17 Mon Shanghai, China 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
18 Tue Cruising the Pacific Ocean
19 Wed Osaka (for Kyoto), Japan 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
20 Thu Cruising the Pacific Ocean
21 Fri Cruising the Pacific Ocean
22 Sat Cross International Dateline - Gain Day
22 Sat Cruising the Pacific Ocean
23 Sun Cruising the Pacific Ocean
24 Mon Cruising the Pacific Ocean
25 Tue Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Arrive 8:00 am
26 Wed Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Depart 1:00 am
26 Wed Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
27 Thu Cruising the Pacific Ocean
28 Fri Cruising the Pacific Ocean
29 Sat Cruising the Pacific Ocean
30 Sun Los Angeles, California 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
31 Mon Cruising the Pacific Ocean
April 2008
1 Tue Cruising the Pacific Ocean
2 Wed Acapulco, Mexico 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
3 Thu Cruising the Pacific Ocean
4 Fri Cruising the Pacific Ocean
5 Sat Cristobal, Panama 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
5 Sat Transit the Panama Canal
6 Sun Puerto Moin, Costa Rica 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
7 Mon Cruising the Caribbean Sea
8 Tue Montego Bay, Jamaica 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
9 Wed Cruising the Straits of Florida
10 Thu Fort Lauderdale, Florida 7:00 am - 5:00 pm