Travelogue Chapter 2

January 8, 2009
Well, we are now a little over a week from our departure and we are like squirrels who are preparing for the winter. Piles of things are being assembled here and there around the house to be packed when the trunks come out. We both have our hordes to which we add as we think of things we want to have with us. As I will be traveling for over 3 months, I like to have as many of my toys (read electronic gadgets) as possible with me without going bancrupt paying overweight on the flights to and from the ship. My experience is that one can get most things one really needs while underway so I have cut back my must-have list over the years. At the end of this contribution, I have pasted in a useful packing list provided by our group leader. It applies to any trip and could be useful when going on longer trips.
This will be our second voyage with the Semester at Sea program as we did our first trip with them in 2004. You can see more on this program by visiting their website: http://www.semesteratsea.org/
We are both looking forward to it as our experience on longer cruises on normal cruise ships is that they are really not intellectually very stimulating. Semester at Sea, SAS, is a floating university with 650 college juniors and seniors from over 100 universities, mainly Americans but also a few from other countries as well as some 40 professors so that one lives in an enclosed university campus which is very intense. We will be attending classes and I expect I will again be recruited to participate in various functions around class work as was the case back in 2004. It is fun and it is alive and people think and talk and read and exchange ideas.

An added element on this trip will be that we will be taking our 14 year grandson, Emmett with us. He is the son of our son Nico. Emmett has always been quite a bit ahead of his age level having already jumped one class. He is interested in many things, eats books, plays music, has a memory like a sponge and wants to learn more all the time. He will be able to sit in on the various classes if there is room and will also have to keep up with his own class work to be able to write his exams on his return to his high school in Montreal in mid-may.

Will all meet up in Nassau on the 17th of January as Emmett and Nico and Milena, Nicks wife, are all coming down together. We then have 2 days in the Bahamas before shipping out on the evening of the 19th of January.
The big news today is that the ship management has decided they do not want to have to deal with pirates in the Gulf of Aden and our itinerary now does not take us into the Mediterranean (no Italy, Turkey nor Egypt). Now will go to Spain and then head down to Morroccco, Namibia, South Africa and Mauritius on our way to India where the voyage continues as planned before. Frankly, we are quite happy with the change as we both love going to Africa and it will us the chance to show a bit of Africa to Emmett. The itinerary is shown below as well as our port contacts through most of the voyage.

As you can see from the itinerary, the trip routine is 5 days at sea when classes take place and usually 5 days in harbor when everyone can go ashore an explore the countries we visit. For the students, these trips ashore are most often related to what they are studying on board the ship.

Spring 2009 Itinerary/Calendar (Revised)
Destination ArriveDepart Day Date Time
Nassau, Bahamas
Depart Monday 19 January 1700
Cadiz, Spain
ArriveDepart WednesdaySaturday 28 January31 January 08002000

Casablanca, Morocco
ArriveDepart MondayThursday 02 February05 February 08002000

Walvis Bay, Namibia
ArriveDepart SaturdayMonday 14 February16 February 08002000

Cape Town, South Africa
ArriveDepart WednesdaySunday 18 February22 February 08002000

Port Louis, Mauritius
ArriveDepart FridayFriday 27 February27 February 08002200

Chennai, India
ArriveDepart ThursdayMonday 05 March09 March 08002000

Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand
ArriveDepart SundayThursday 15 March19 March 08002000

Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
ArriveDepart SundayFriday 22 March27 March 08000600
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China
ArriveDepart SundayFriday 29 March03 April 08002000

Kobe/Yokohama, Japan
ArriveDepart MondayFriday 06 April10 April 08002100
(Cross International dateline, add one day)

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
ArriveDepart SundayMonday 19 April20 April 06002000

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala(Antigua, Guatemala City)
ArriveDepart TuesdayThursday 28 April30 April 11002000
(Transit Panama Canal - Sunday, 03 May)

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Arrive Wednesday 06 May 0800

C A L E N D A R A N D COMMUNICA T I O N - SPRING 2009 VOY AGE

Communications Port agents
Telephone/Fax: Dial the following toll-free number: 877-266-0986 (if calling outside the U.S.: 872-335-3265). You will be asked to provide a credit card number and charged approximately $3.95 USD per minute. A shipboard operator will answer the call and
connect you directly to the phone in the participant’s cabin (note: charges initiate as soon as the shipboard operator receives the call). To send a fax, call 954-538-6163 (regular toll call). The recipient will be charged $5.00 USD per page.
Airmail: The U.S. Post Office recommends sending international airmail at least two weeks in advance, or earlier, as mail service varies in each country. Do not send currency. Sending packages is not recommended because of customs restrictions and/or duty charges (as a result, packages are not always received by the intended recipient onboard). The port agent in each country makes every possible effort to deliver mail to the ship or forward delayed mail to a future port, but cannot assume responsibility for undelivered or lost mail.

Address mail to participants as follows:
Name of Recipient
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrival Date
Port Agent Address (from list below)
PORT ARRIVE DEPART ADDRESS OF PORT AGENT SUGGESTED AIRMAIL DATE

Cadiz, SPAIN Jan 28 Feb 01 Perez Y CIA S.L. Jan 14
Phone: 34 956 276 112 0800 2000 C/ Ecuador, 2
Fax: 34 956 276 766 11007 Cadiz, SPAIN


Casablanca, MOROCCO Feb 02-05 Phone: 212 61 29 8894 Fax: 212 22 48 4793 January 18
LASRY MAROC S.A. 30 Avenue des Far 20000 Casablanca, MAROC



Walvis Bay, NAMIBIA Feb 14-16 Phone: 264 64 201 2200 January 31
OCEAN LINER SERVICES The Maritime Building2 Third Steet / PO Box 4 Walvis Bay, REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA


Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA Feb 18-22 Phone: 27 21 419 8660 Fax: 27 21 413 0290 February 4th
JOHN T. RENNIE & SONS19th FLOOR No.1 Thibault Square 8001 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA


Port Louis, MAURITIUS Feb 27th Phone: 230 202 70 40 Fax: 230 208 58 14z February 13
IRELAND BLYTH LIMITED Shipping Operations DepartmentNo 6 Dr Ferriere StreetPort Louis, MAURITIUS


Chennai, INDIA March 05 March 09 J. M. Baxi & Co. Feb 19
Phone: 91 44 252 12032 0800 2000 3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
Fax: 91 44 252 43813 4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai
Chennai 600 001, INDIA

Bangkok, THAILAND March 15 March 19 OIA GLOBAL LOGISTICS (THAILAND) Ltd Feb 27
Phone: 66 2 285 6880 0800 2000 1168 / 20 - 4th Floor
Fax: 66 2 285 6686 Lumpini Tower Rama 4 Road
Thungmahamek, Sathorn
BANGKOK 10120, THAILAND

Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM March 22 March 27 General Forwarding Agency March 6
Phone: 84 8 825 7996 0800 0600 5th Floor Osic Building
Fax: 84 8 824 2996 8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM

HONG KONG March 29 March 30 Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd. March 13
Phone: 852 2786 1155 0800 2000 Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
Fax: 852 2744 3240 N° 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG – CHINA

Shanghai, CHINA April 02 April 03 Penavico Shanghai March 19
Phone: 86 21 6323 1350 0800 2000 3/F 13 Zhong Shan Road (E 1)
Fax: 86 21 6329 1519 Shanghai 200002, P.R. CHINA

Kobe, JAPAN April 06 April 07 Inchcape Shipping Services (Japan) Ltd. March 23
Phone: 81 78 391 3046 0800 2000 Kenryu Bldg, Room 502
Fax: 81 78 391 3105 6, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku
Kobe-shi, Hygo-ken 650-0024, JAPAN

Yokohama, JAPAN April 09 April 10 INCHCAPE SHIPPING SERVICES March 26
Phone: 81 45.201 6991 0800 2000 2F Asahi Seimei Yokohama Honcho Bldg
Fax: 81 45.212 1614 36, 4-Chome Honcho, Naka-ku
Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken 231-0005, JAPAN
Honolulu, HAWAII April 19 April 20 Inchcape Shipping Services April 3
Phone: 1 808 599 8604 0600 2000 521 Ala Moana Blvd.
Fax: 1 808 599 1950 Suite 256
Honolulu, HI 96813

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala April 28 April 30 Transoceanicas S.A. April 14
Phone: 502 7881 2325 1100 2000 Modulo #208
Fax: 502 7881 1319 Nuevo Edificio de Servicios Auxiliares II
Puerto Quetzal, Escuintla, GUATEMALA, C.A.
Arrival/departure times are listed above in local times. Based on Eastern Standard Time, the time on-ship is behind by the number of hours listed below:
Spain: +6 hours Italy: 7 hours India: +10.5 hours Thailand: +11 hours
Vietnam: +11 hours Hong Kong: +12 hours China: +12 hours Japan: +13 hours Hawaii: -6 hours Guatemala: -2 hours

Suggested Packing list
Address book
Advil/aspirin
Aftershave
Alarm clock-portable
Backpacks X2
Extra backpack(s) (to bring home purchased items)
Baggies—sm. and lg.
Bandaids
Batteries
Birthday cards
Beach towel
Binoculars
Booze/wine
Business cards
Calendar
Cameras
Sewing kit
CD’s and DVD’s
DVD player
Clothespins
Coffee mugs w/tops
Credit/ATM cards
Contacts/cleaners
Cotton balls
Deet
Dental floss
Deodorant
Dirty clothes bag
Dominos
Ear plugs
Extension cord
Cell phone/charger
Fanny packs
Flashlight
Foot spray
Gel
Gifts (small give-aways for foreign children)
Gifts (small treats for your on-board “family members”)
Reading glasses
Hairbrushes
Handwash-anticeptic-water free
Heating pad
Laptop
Lotions
Make-up/bag
Magnets
Markers
Money
Nail clippers/file/polish/remover
Neosporin
Nightlight
Notebooks/paper
Nuts/munchies
Paperbacks
Passports and copies
Pencils/pens
Photos from home
Pills/vitamins
Playing cards
Printer/color cartridges
Power bars
Q-tips
Razor blades/razors
Room deodorize
Seasick patches/pills
Shampoo
Shaving cream
Shower gel
Sleeping bags (if planning to camp)
Snack foods
Stationery
Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Superglue
Swiss army knife
Tape
Special teas/coffees
Thank you cards
Tooth brushes/paste
Towelettes-moist
Travel books/maps
Umbrellas/rain gear
Watches
Water bottles

CLOTHES:
Underwear
Socks
Sweatshirts (2)
Turtlenecks (2)
Scarves
Sweaters/jackets for indoors (2)
Jeans (2)
Sweats (2)
Sneakers (1 pr)
Dress boots/flats (1 pr)
Flip-flops (2-3)
Slippers
Rain coat/jacket w/liner
Cocktail dress/shawl …forAmbassador’s Ball
“Business casual” outfits (2)
…for Captain’s dinner, etc.
(ie. skirt/nice pant outfit)
Pants (2)
Shorts (2)
Blouses (2)
Capris (2)
T-shirts (4)
…short and long sleeved
Bathing suit
PJ’s (2)
Jewelry (not much!)
…earrings/watch/necklaces
Caps
Gloves

Joe’s List
(Scratch the blouses/ capris/
skirts/scarves, etc. J and add…

Sport coat/tie/dress shirt (Ambassador’s Ball)
Dress shoes
Dockers/nicer pants/
shirt/sweater (2)
…for Captain’s dinner, etc.