Quick note!  Prior to our arrival in Naples we were in ports where the temperatures were in the 90s with high humidity.  Starting with Naples we’re now in the 50s and 60s and wearing jackets. In a couple of weeks we’ll be in Oslo where they just experienced subzero temperatures! We arrived in Barcelona around 7:00 am…

We had a nice view of Mt. Vesuvius from the ship.  On the way to Herculaneum, we passed a cafe with the same name. Both Pompeii and Herculaneum (Ercolano) are near Mt. Vesuvius, but while Pompeii was covered with ash, Herculaneum was covered with a hot mud like flow that turned to rock (a pyroclastic flow)….

Once we left Aqaba, there were four sea days before reaching Naples. On the 2nd sea day we transited the Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean Sea.  There have been several attempts at building a canal but all ended in failure until the French attempt led by Ferdinand de Lesseps.  Until recently there was only one-way traffic…

After fending off pirates in the Red Sea (just kidding), we arrived at the port city of Aqaba in Jordan.  Sailing into port, we could see four different countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan.  Jordan has only one seaport and that is Aqaba.  We have been looking forward to this port because we have an overnight excursion…

We have five days of sea travel to get from Muscat, Oman to Al’Aqabah, Jordan.  Our time on these days is divided among lectures, cooking demonstrations, watercolor classes, movies, reading, stage shows, and of course, eating.  We are currently in the Red Sea and will be out of the high-risk waters by this evening when we get…

Since leaving Mumbai the ship has been on pirate watch.  This will continue until we get into the Red Sea in 7 days.  At night all of the ship’s outside lights are turned off and all the curtains are drawn.  We’ll also be traveling at a high rate of speed until then.  In 2017 they put razor wire on…

Our four hour tour today is called “Mumbai’s Religious Beats” aka “The Temple Tour”. India is a very religious country and today’s tour gave us a quick glimpse of three places of Hindu worship. The first temple we visited was the Babulnath Temple dedicated to the god Shiva.    He is one of the three major…

Mumbai sits on a large natural bay and is India’s largest and most important import/export harbor.  It is a huge city with over 18 million inhabitants which is over 4 times the population of Los Angeles while being half the size so the population density is very high. Our four hour tour today is called “Marvels…

During each Grand World Voyage, money is raised for a charitable organization at one of the ports of call.  This year Vision Rescue in Mumbai was chosen.  These people work with children in the slum communities bringing them nutritious meals and teaching preschool and school in a converted bus/classroom. Schoolrooms are also established in the communities. The…