What excitement!

We have made our second payment for the cruise and now have only one more payment in the fall. Time is rushing and the sail date keeps getting closer and our excitement grows. We are excited about being on the QE2. Rumor has it that she will not be sailing much longer for Cunard. She is an older ship and still grand, but Cunard has brought out both the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria which appear to be giving the grand old dame much competition. My less than expert opinion is based on the status of a search for Cunard World Cruise on Vacations To Go. The Victoria is pretty much sold out and the QE2 is not. So with that evidence, I quickly buy into the rumors about the QE2 not sailing indefinitely. The rumors make it that much more exciting to be on board a legend while she is still sailing.

We are also excited about the itinerary since neither of us has been to most of the places we will visit. Not only the ports are exciting on the itinerary though. We are also excited about the days at sea. We have been only 5 consecutive days at sea so far on transatlantic crossings, and that was not too many, in fact, it was not enough. The longest stretch of sea days will be the 6 days from Osaka to Honolulu which we expect to enjoy as usual just sitting in a comfortable chair and watching the ocean pass by. For those of you who do not sail, it is not boring. It is delightfully relaxing, like nothing else I have ever done.

Six sea days is the longest uninterrupted stretch, but most of February will be 2 and 3 days at sea interrupted by a day in a port. Overall the cruise is very well planned to provide a variety of sea days and port experiences.

And finally, I am excited by the prospect of 85 sunsets and the possibility of once again seeing the green flash. As you will see if you read of the scientific information, the green flash is a real phenomenon with explanations relating to optics and physics that are over my head. But, it is not necessary to understand it to be excited to see it. I have twice seen a green flash. Once was when we were sailing past Cuba and another time on board a ship somewhere in the Caribbean. Both times that I saw it, the green flash looked something like it does in this photo and this photo.