Travel Chapter 7
Well, at sea everything can and does change. When we left last evening, Saturday January 31, we were headed for Gibraltar 100 nautical miles (115 normal miles) down the coast from Cadiz. The night was rough and things were falling off shelves as we are on the edge of a huge low pressure area just off the coast of southern Spain. We rocked and rolled but this morning we awoke to rough sees, rain and no visibility. We were in a holding pattern in the Med waiting for the weather to lift so we could get a fuel tender to come alongside and give us a load of bunker, or fuel. Around noon, the weather lifted and the sun came out but the winds were still howling. We steamed into the bay at the foot of Gibraltar and had a wonderful view of the great rock. At 5pm the fuel ship came alongside but 2 hours later it left as the seas were deemed too rough for refueling.
The whole idea of coming to Gibraltar was we need fuel to allow us to get to Dakar Senegal our next expected fueling point. Of course, the ship was in Cadiz for 4 days and surely it could have taken on fuel there. The reason we were given was that fuel in Gibraltar is cheaper.
But now we have been holding our position for almost 24 hours as we cannot anchor and I am sure any fuel savings have been consumed in just sitting here waiting. This evening it was announced that there will be another fueling attempt tomorrow if the seas quiet down but that is not expected to happen until later in the day. This means that will be arriving in Casablanca our next port at least 12 hours late and perhaps 24 hours. On a long voyage like this one can expect this kind of incident but it causes havoc with all the land arrangements the ship and the passengers have made. The original plan had been to arrive early tomorrow morning in Casa and most of the arranged trips were to leave by noon. We had booked onto a 3 night trip to Marrakesh and Essaouri. Now we are unsure what the arrangements will be but luckily that is a trip the ship organized and they will have to figure out what to do. Being on a ship, such an event is so much easier to deal with than a delay when flying. On the ship, it only means an extra day at sea, time to read, to chat, to nap and catch up with blogs all in the comfort of the great ship facilities. I would take a ship delay any time compared to sitting around an airport for hours on end with no place to relax.
This evening the ship is abuzz as there have been indications that the ship may get a signal allowing it to broadcast the super bowl. The students are all sitting around hoping to hear. Of course, as we are now 6 hours ahead of Florida, the game itself will not be played until 3 or 4 am. One kid I met at the purser’s office was seeing if he could purchase 300 minutes of internet time (at $ 250) so that he could watch it on his computer. He was fully garbed in a Pittsburg uniform which is a dead giveaway..
This evening the dean organized the second reception for the adults in the adult lounge, this time to welcome a new lecturer who lives in Morocco. The first time they held such a reception, we were not sure whether Emmett should also come but we brought him anyway as he is a full paying passenger. He loved it and spent his time chatting with various ladies in his usual suave manner. He has always been at ease with adults and being on the ship is no exception. No one minded and so he again came to the reception this evening. Up to now, he has not bonded with the college students and we hope he will eventually so that he can enjoy the student life. He does attend a 2 or 3 classes, interestingly these are science classes. Perhaps he will find his interest in the sciences later in his study life. This is one of the advantages for him to be on this trip as he can sit in on classes and get a sense of what is covered in various courses. He is also doing the reading assigned to him by his teachers back in Montreal.
Enough for today, I want to take a last look of Gibraltar all lit up at night.
We just left Casablanca. More on that later.
Cheers
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Travelogue Chapter 6 Gibraltar and Spain
Travelogue 6
Written in Cadiz Spain
We arrived in Cadiz Spain on a dark morning of January 28th. As I do as often as
possible I was out on the deck as the ship approached the pier. I always try to be on deck when the ship arrives in a port. Despite having done this so many times in my early Navy days and now later on many cruises, the sense of accomplishment of seeing land and then tying up after a voyage is wonderful. After being at sea for almost 9 days the sight of land, buildings, lights and other humans is always impressive. It is probably like returning from space. One lives in an environment where there is nothing but sea as far as the eye can see in all directions and one wonders whether this is normal or is land the normal situation of life. One sees no life, no ships and one starts to think that being on the water is actually the normal place to be given the huge expanses of water of this globe. Being on land is rather the exception but it is still nice to see that land does exist and that life is not only being on the ocean.
By 8.30 am the ship was cleared and we could collect our passports from the purser. On most ships, the passports are held by the purser’s office in order for the local authorities to do the immigration thing. As were going to be off ship for a few nights, we needed our passports. Then came leaving the ship. On most ships one is given a swipe card which is scanned when one leaves the ship and scanned again when one returns. This controls whether all passengers are on board. On this morning, the scanning system broke down and 700 people tried to disembark at the same time. The security people were reduced to handwriting each name and number and the line snaked half around the ship. Brigitte went straight to the security officer and stated that we had a plane to catch and we were whisked to the front of the line. I do not want to know how long others had to wait.
In fact, we had no plane to catch but a rental car to pick up. On this trip we had decided that we will travel with knapsacks when going ashore rather than roll-on trunks as we have in the past. We got ours from LL Bean and I got one that has wheels and a handle but which can be worn on the back. We managed to get all our things for a 3 day trip into my bag and we were good to go.
I had reserved a car from National rental on the internet while still in America. The rates on the internet can be 50% less than quoted in Europe. Our rate for 3 days worked out to be $160 plus gasoline for unlimited kilometers and a medium sized car. So we jumped into a taxi which took us way out of the city to the rental place. Cadiz is in fact a long thin spit of land so there is no room for large parking areas. We arrived at the Atesa offices and sure enough they had the car ready for us. After they filled out endless papers, we were given the keys and told the car was parked out in the street around the corner. My first attempt was not successful and I had to go back and get help to find the car which meant the lady from the office came out and trudged around until she did find the car. I then went into an office of Vodaphone and bought a Sim card for my open phone. In the rest of the world, one can purchase sim cards which are little chips that go into the phone allowing one to have a local mobile phone. This cannot be done in North America as the phone companies do not want people to have this flexibility. I have 3 such phones and I get a chip in each country just to have the security of a phone while puddling around the country side.
We then got into the car on a beautiful sunny morning and headed towards
Gibraltar which Emmett absolutely wanted to see. The Spanish roads are excellent and are very nicely laid out. The drive to Gibraltar took about 2 hours and we arrived at the boarder control at around noon. Passing through Spanish and UK immigration took all of 10 minutes and we were on the peninsula which is Gibraltar. We headed for the cable car which takes one up from sea level to the top of the rock. I had forgotten how big the rock is in fact. It is about 1 km long at the top. The view from the top on this clear morning was spectacular with a clear view of Spain, the mouth of the entrance of the Gibraltar straight and the mountains of Africa in Morocco all in one panoramic sweep. Of course, Emmett was most fascinated by the Macaque monkeys which run free at the top of the mountain as he had never been that close to one of these sweet looking robbers. They sit everywhere and wait until some tourist comes by with food which is then snatched and they are off. One can almost hear them chuckling…
You can see some pictures of Gibraltar at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/Gibraltar?authkey=IB-pudwRFeM
We spent over an hour walking around the summit taking in the wonderful views in all directions which this altitude provides. One can understand that the Spaniards would want dearly to have the rock back but there have been several referenda organized by the brits to establish whether the locals want to be Spanish and the results have been a resounding “NO”. So Gibraltar remains UK territory. But at least they do not drive on the wrong side of the road. Most people speak Spanish and the Euro is quoted everywhere. But there are British military as well as bobby policemen and British street markings so one has the sense of being in Britain,
So we jumped on the lift and headed down. On the way down we learnt that the lift will be closed in March so all the cables and equipment can be changed after 7 years of use. It was a little disconcerting to be riding a system which was nearing the end of its useful and safe life. But I am pleased t report that we made it to the bottom safely. But not before we received a lecture from the cable car driver on how the monkey’s numbers are controlled either by sending the excess numbers to zoos or by culling which he found repugnant. “They even look like us”. Well, that statement held true for him but not for most people…
So we jumped back into our nice new Citroen and headed north towards Granada. I had not made any hotel arrangements as I was not sure how far we would get in that first day. We headed along the Costa del Sol passing through huge numbers of housing developments the Spaniards had built and sold to German and British tourists over the years. I had not seen these places and frankly I was astounded at the vast numbers of theses building all along the coast. Not the kind of place I would want to spend a vacation but apparently these had been hugely successful for years and sold like hotcakes in their time. Nowadays, there are vast projects sitting half completed awaiting customers, even more so now that the recession has officially arrived in Spain. Just yesterday it was announced at the same time as one of the biggest building companies declared bankruptcy leaving banks holding about US$ 5 billion in unpaid debt. One wonders what archeologists will have to say about our society when they discover these honey combed hills with thousands of flats stuck together on the hillsides. They will probably think that our society was a very friendly one as these people all chose to live within spitting distance from each other…
The drive then turned off and we headed northeast into the Sierra Nevada Mountains towards Granada. We hit fog patches as we climbed up to over 3000 feet and then the air cleared as we approached Granada which we reached at around 4pm. I had no idea where we would spend the night but took some streets which were for pedestrians only and ended up facing what looked like a nice place near the cathedral of Granada, in the old part of the city. After negotiating with the front desk for a room for 3 at Euro 70 a night we unloaded our gear and took possession of our fairly large room on the main pedestrian street of this lovely part of Granada. I parked the car in a parking building a few blocks away as I did not want to have to drive the narrow streets of this city.
The first thing I needed to do was spend an hour on the phone with the Bank Credit Union which had blocked my visa card when I went to use it for the first time in
Spain. This took a good hour and a lot of bad thoughts on my part. Before leaving home I had sent the Credit Union a note which they acknowledged receiving in which I informed them of our travel plans naming the cities we would visit. In the first city, they blocked my card which is my main source of cash when traveling. I also carry another card just in case. After an hour with someone in Washington who excused himself for the blocking as he could see my travel notification. One wonders where they draw the line on security and start to be incompetent. I have since received many excuses from the management of the credit union but it is irritating.
That evening we walked along the busing pedestrian streets, through the many plazas of the area and found a small restaurant for an early Spanish dinner at 8.30 pm… We decided to stay 2 nights in Granada given our nice hotel and the fact that the next day we would be visiting the Alhambra. I had booked tickets on the website (http://www.alhambratickets.com/) which is needed as they control the crowds by issuing tickets which only allow one in at the assigned times. The next morning after a leisurely breakfast and some more walking we jumped one of the double decker tour busses one finds in most European cities. These allow one to jump on and off at different stops and the tickets are valid for 48 hours. We saw that one of the stops was the Alhambra so we could jump off there, do our tour and catch the next one to complete the circuit.
The visit to the Alhambra was again amazing. I had been there 3 or 4 times already and each time I find it more beautiful. It was the palace of the Arab governor of Spain and Morocco and it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. There is a sense of beauty and peace in this building that is unique in the world. It emplacement high above the valley of Granada affords it the most beautiful views in all directions. The intricate stone carvings, reflecting pools and geometric gardens with flowering trees and oranges always gives me a sense of being in a world away from the world. To visit the place really one needs a full day. We spent many hours there on that beautiful sunny afternoon and left only because some of us were starting to starve.
We hopped back on the double decker and headed back to the starting point of the tour which took about 45 minutes. B loves these buses. So much so that she and Emmett decided just to stay on the bus and do another tour. I headed off to an internet café to catch up on my email traffic which I cannot get onboard the ship.
We met that evening and had a pleasant dinner on Plaza Bid and headed back to the hotel. Emmett needed to catch up on his Facebook traffic so we went to another café where I used my Skype connection to talk to a number of people. We got back late and slept a short night before heading to Sevilla.
We arrived in Sevilla after a 2 hour drive from Granada. The countryside is beautiful even in these winter months. The road goes through huge valleys where hundreds and thousands of Olive trees are planted from the valley floor up to the tops of the lower mountains. Part of the beauty of Andalucía is its mountains, some of which were snow covered in the distance where there are ski stations at this time of year.
In Sevilla, we parked the car on the way to the center and walked down to the old part of Sevilla. The streets are so narrow here that a car is a hindrance. After a nice walk we arrived at the center and visited the Cathedral. As it Granada, the Cathedral of Sevilla is almost too overpowering. One sees the riches which had been Spain’s in the masses amounts of gold which had been plundered from North and South America. A dark period in Spanish history for most but a glorious one for Spaniards. Again, we found the tour bus and took a long drive around Sevilla. This city does not nearly have the charm of Granada as it is much more an industrial city with a Hodgepodge of architecture from all the various periods of the city. It is also basically flat so there are few breathtaking views. After a light sandwich lunch at the Starbucks in front of the Cathedral (how touristy is that???) we jumped into a taxi to reclaim our car in the parking building near the outskirts of town and hit the road to Cadiz. We made Cadiz by 7pm in time for dinner on the ship; I dropped B and Emm at the port gates and then drove the car off to the appointed parking building where I left it and dropped the papers through a slot in the door of the office.
It just started to rain when I boarded the ship and it was nice to be home. After an early dinner, we headed for our cabins for an early night as we were all tired after a long but fun trip.
Today we ship out to Gibraltar to get fuel and then head to Morocco where we will be for 4 days.
I am posting this chapter and Chapters4 and 5 sitting in the Plaza de Minas in Cadiz where the city has set up the whole square as a free wireless area. It is a beautiful day with the sun shining and the birds chirping in the trees. Spring is in the air as the weather is slowly warming and the locals are out for their Saturday walks with the kids. Although it is about 70 degrees (21), the kids are bundled up in parkas as we would do in the dead of winter. Its what you are used to. We walked around the city and B and Emm decided to head back to the ship for lunch. I have just had some great calamares while watching the scene. We have picked up provisions for munchies and other necessities for the cabin as well as newspapers and magazines.
Pictures of our stay in Spain can be seen at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/Spain2009?authkey=YmAjkcZyQh8&feat=directlink
We ship out at 8pm this evening but everybody has to be on the ship 2 hours before shipping time Otherwise, one gets dock time which means that one is delayed from disembarking at the next port for 2 to 6 hours depending on how late one is. This is the first port so there will be some who do not realize the length of the lines one has to endure as each bag is searched to make sure the students do not smuggle stuff on board like booze. As there is only one entry, this procedure can be long so I intend to get the ship before that happens.
Cadiz, January 31, 2009.
Written in Cadiz Spain
We arrived in Cadiz Spain on a dark morning of January 28th. As I do as often as
possible I was out on the deck as the ship approached the pier. I always try to be on deck when the ship arrives in a port. Despite having done this so many times in my early Navy days and now later on many cruises, the sense of accomplishment of seeing land and then tying up after a voyage is wonderful. After being at sea for almost 9 days the sight of land, buildings, lights and other humans is always impressive. It is probably like returning from space. One lives in an environment where there is nothing but sea as far as the eye can see in all directions and one wonders whether this is normal or is land the normal situation of life. One sees no life, no ships and one starts to think that being on the water is actually the normal place to be given the huge expanses of water of this globe. Being on land is rather the exception but it is still nice to see that land does exist and that life is not only being on the ocean.
By 8.30 am the ship was cleared and we could collect our passports from the purser. On most ships, the passports are held by the purser’s office in order for the local authorities to do the immigration thing. As were going to be off ship for a few nights, we needed our passports. Then came leaving the ship. On most ships one is given a swipe card which is scanned when one leaves the ship and scanned again when one returns. This controls whether all passengers are on board. On this morning, the scanning system broke down and 700 people tried to disembark at the same time. The security people were reduced to handwriting each name and number and the line snaked half around the ship. Brigitte went straight to the security officer and stated that we had a plane to catch and we were whisked to the front of the line. I do not want to know how long others had to wait.
In fact, we had no plane to catch but a rental car to pick up. On this trip we had decided that we will travel with knapsacks when going ashore rather than roll-on trunks as we have in the past. We got ours from LL Bean and I got one that has wheels and a handle but which can be worn on the back. We managed to get all our things for a 3 day trip into my bag and we were good to go.
I had reserved a car from National rental on the internet while still in America. The rates on the internet can be 50% less than quoted in Europe. Our rate for 3 days worked out to be $160 plus gasoline for unlimited kilometers and a medium sized car. So we jumped into a taxi which took us way out of the city to the rental place. Cadiz is in fact a long thin spit of land so there is no room for large parking areas. We arrived at the Atesa offices and sure enough they had the car ready for us. After they filled out endless papers, we were given the keys and told the car was parked out in the street around the corner. My first attempt was not successful and I had to go back and get help to find the car which meant the lady from the office came out and trudged around until she did find the car. I then went into an office of Vodaphone and bought a Sim card for my open phone. In the rest of the world, one can purchase sim cards which are little chips that go into the phone allowing one to have a local mobile phone. This cannot be done in North America as the phone companies do not want people to have this flexibility. I have 3 such phones and I get a chip in each country just to have the security of a phone while puddling around the country side.
We then got into the car on a beautiful sunny morning and headed towards
Gibraltar which Emmett absolutely wanted to see. The Spanish roads are excellent and are very nicely laid out. The drive to Gibraltar took about 2 hours and we arrived at the boarder control at around noon. Passing through Spanish and UK immigration took all of 10 minutes and we were on the peninsula which is Gibraltar. We headed for the cable car which takes one up from sea level to the top of the rock. I had forgotten how big the rock is in fact. It is about 1 km long at the top. The view from the top on this clear morning was spectacular with a clear view of Spain, the mouth of the entrance of the Gibraltar straight and the mountains of Africa in Morocco all in one panoramic sweep. Of course, Emmett was most fascinated by the Macaque monkeys which run free at the top of the mountain as he had never been that close to one of these sweet looking robbers. They sit everywhere and wait until some tourist comes by with food which is then snatched and they are off. One can almost hear them chuckling…
You can see some pictures of Gibraltar at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/Gibraltar?authkey=IB-pudwRFeM
We spent over an hour walking around the summit taking in the wonderful views in all directions which this altitude provides. One can understand that the Spaniards would want dearly to have the rock back but there have been several referenda organized by the brits to establish whether the locals want to be Spanish and the results have been a resounding “NO”. So Gibraltar remains UK territory. But at least they do not drive on the wrong side of the road. Most people speak Spanish and the Euro is quoted everywhere. But there are British military as well as bobby policemen and British street markings so one has the sense of being in Britain,
So we jumped on the lift and headed down. On the way down we learnt that the lift will be closed in March so all the cables and equipment can be changed after 7 years of use. It was a little disconcerting to be riding a system which was nearing the end of its useful and safe life. But I am pleased t report that we made it to the bottom safely. But not before we received a lecture from the cable car driver on how the monkey’s numbers are controlled either by sending the excess numbers to zoos or by culling which he found repugnant. “They even look like us”. Well, that statement held true for him but not for most people…
So we jumped back into our nice new Citroen and headed north towards Granada. I had not made any hotel arrangements as I was not sure how far we would get in that first day. We headed along the Costa del Sol passing through huge numbers of housing developments the Spaniards had built and sold to German and British tourists over the years. I had not seen these places and frankly I was astounded at the vast numbers of theses building all along the coast. Not the kind of place I would want to spend a vacation but apparently these had been hugely successful for years and sold like hotcakes in their time. Nowadays, there are vast projects sitting half completed awaiting customers, even more so now that the recession has officially arrived in Spain. Just yesterday it was announced at the same time as one of the biggest building companies declared bankruptcy leaving banks holding about US$ 5 billion in unpaid debt. One wonders what archeologists will have to say about our society when they discover these honey combed hills with thousands of flats stuck together on the hillsides. They will probably think that our society was a very friendly one as these people all chose to live within spitting distance from each other…
The drive then turned off and we headed northeast into the Sierra Nevada Mountains towards Granada. We hit fog patches as we climbed up to over 3000 feet and then the air cleared as we approached Granada which we reached at around 4pm. I had no idea where we would spend the night but took some streets which were for pedestrians only and ended up facing what looked like a nice place near the cathedral of Granada, in the old part of the city. After negotiating with the front desk for a room for 3 at Euro 70 a night we unloaded our gear and took possession of our fairly large room on the main pedestrian street of this lovely part of Granada. I parked the car in a parking building a few blocks away as I did not want to have to drive the narrow streets of this city.
The first thing I needed to do was spend an hour on the phone with the Bank Credit Union which had blocked my visa card when I went to use it for the first time in
Spain. This took a good hour and a lot of bad thoughts on my part. Before leaving home I had sent the Credit Union a note which they acknowledged receiving in which I informed them of our travel plans naming the cities we would visit. In the first city, they blocked my card which is my main source of cash when traveling. I also carry another card just in case. After an hour with someone in Washington who excused himself for the blocking as he could see my travel notification. One wonders where they draw the line on security and start to be incompetent. I have since received many excuses from the management of the credit union but it is irritating.
That evening we walked along the busing pedestrian streets, through the many plazas of the area and found a small restaurant for an early Spanish dinner at 8.30 pm… We decided to stay 2 nights in Granada given our nice hotel and the fact that the next day we would be visiting the Alhambra. I had booked tickets on the website (http://www.alhambratickets.com/) which is needed as they control the crowds by issuing tickets which only allow one in at the assigned times. The next morning after a leisurely breakfast and some more walking we jumped one of the double decker tour busses one finds in most European cities. These allow one to jump on and off at different stops and the tickets are valid for 48 hours. We saw that one of the stops was the Alhambra so we could jump off there, do our tour and catch the next one to complete the circuit.
The visit to the Alhambra was again amazing. I had been there 3 or 4 times already and each time I find it more beautiful. It was the palace of the Arab governor of Spain and Morocco and it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. There is a sense of beauty and peace in this building that is unique in the world. It emplacement high above the valley of Granada affords it the most beautiful views in all directions. The intricate stone carvings, reflecting pools and geometric gardens with flowering trees and oranges always gives me a sense of being in a world away from the world. To visit the place really one needs a full day. We spent many hours there on that beautiful sunny afternoon and left only because some of us were starting to starve.
We hopped back on the double decker and headed back to the starting point of the tour which took about 45 minutes. B loves these buses. So much so that she and Emmett decided just to stay on the bus and do another tour. I headed off to an internet café to catch up on my email traffic which I cannot get onboard the ship.
We met that evening and had a pleasant dinner on Plaza Bid and headed back to the hotel. Emmett needed to catch up on his Facebook traffic so we went to another café where I used my Skype connection to talk to a number of people. We got back late and slept a short night before heading to Sevilla.
We arrived in Sevilla after a 2 hour drive from Granada. The countryside is beautiful even in these winter months. The road goes through huge valleys where hundreds and thousands of Olive trees are planted from the valley floor up to the tops of the lower mountains. Part of the beauty of Andalucía is its mountains, some of which were snow covered in the distance where there are ski stations at this time of year.
In Sevilla, we parked the car on the way to the center and walked down to the old part of Sevilla. The streets are so narrow here that a car is a hindrance. After a nice walk we arrived at the center and visited the Cathedral. As it Granada, the Cathedral of Sevilla is almost too overpowering. One sees the riches which had been Spain’s in the masses amounts of gold which had been plundered from North and South America. A dark period in Spanish history for most but a glorious one for Spaniards. Again, we found the tour bus and took a long drive around Sevilla. This city does not nearly have the charm of Granada as it is much more an industrial city with a Hodgepodge of architecture from all the various periods of the city. It is also basically flat so there are few breathtaking views. After a light sandwich lunch at the Starbucks in front of the Cathedral (how touristy is that???) we jumped into a taxi to reclaim our car in the parking building near the outskirts of town and hit the road to Cadiz. We made Cadiz by 7pm in time for dinner on the ship; I dropped B and Emm at the port gates and then drove the car off to the appointed parking building where I left it and dropped the papers through a slot in the door of the office.
It just started to rain when I boarded the ship and it was nice to be home. After an early dinner, we headed for our cabins for an early night as we were all tired after a long but fun trip.
Today we ship out to Gibraltar to get fuel and then head to Morocco where we will be for 4 days.
I am posting this chapter and Chapters4 and 5 sitting in the Plaza de Minas in Cadiz where the city has set up the whole square as a free wireless area. It is a beautiful day with the sun shining and the birds chirping in the trees. Spring is in the air as the weather is slowly warming and the locals are out for their Saturday walks with the kids. Although it is about 70 degrees (21), the kids are bundled up in parkas as we would do in the dead of winter. Its what you are used to. We walked around the city and B and Emm decided to head back to the ship for lunch. I have just had some great calamares while watching the scene. We have picked up provisions for munchies and other necessities for the cabin as well as newspapers and magazines.
Pictures of our stay in Spain can be seen at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/Spain2009?authkey=YmAjkcZyQh8&feat=directlink
We ship out at 8pm this evening but everybody has to be on the ship 2 hours before shipping time Otherwise, one gets dock time which means that one is delayed from disembarking at the next port for 2 to 6 hours depending on how late one is. This is the first port so there will be some who do not realize the length of the lines one has to endure as each bag is searched to make sure the students do not smuggle stuff on board like booze. As there is only one entry, this procedure can be long so I intend to get the ship before that happens.
Cadiz, January 31, 2009.
Travelogue Chapter 5
It is now Thursday January 23, 2009, I am told. Being on a ship in the middle of an ocean, one looses the sense of the days of the week as there aree no points of reference like a newspaper, TV news or some other medium. The only reference one has is a one page news sheet called the Deans Memo which lays out the activities of the day. Otherwise, one day does look like the other and one has difficulty trying to remember what one did on any day. This is why I write this travelogue to fix in my memory the happenings of such a long voyage.
Shipboard life is broken between A and B days and courses are taught on one or the other. As there are not enough classes to accommodate all the courses, professors share the 10 room available. In the first two or three days the student have the possibility to listen in on the courses they chose to see if they want to persue the subjects and profs chosen. If they do not like one or the other they have the option of dropping courses and choosing others. However, the classes are kept small (35 as a rule) and students are not guaranteed if they drop one course that they will get into another. For us the passengers, we have the right to sit in on any course if there is room as the students get priorty. So far I have been able to sit in on the courses which interest me. Of course, as this is my Chinese period I am in on two chinese litterature and history courses as well as one on linguistics. I shall see if I stick with that. Brigitte and Emmett are also out sniffing courses which could interest them.
Emmett is in a strange situation. He is the first young person ever to be admitted into the special group maid up of adults on this programme. There are others his age on the ship but they are dependents of Profs and staff and have limited rights. Emmett, so far, has been accepted by the other adults as he quite at ease with adults. He also sits in the one room class set up for dependents. Here he works on his own studies assigned by his teaches back home in Montreal. He will have to learn to balance his position as he will not be able to attend all adult functions. But he has been given permssion to use the adult lounge on deck 7 where no students are allowed. As long as he does abuse of this he will probably be able to move from the students to the adults while doing his own work and attending classes that interest him.
One of the things I am still dealing with on this ship is the sense of déjà vu and the impression of time stopped. Here I am, 5 years after our first voyage in 2004 and when I look around the kids are the same age as 5 years ago. They even look like the students who were with us 5 years ago. It is almost as if time stopped for 5 years and these kids just stayed the same age, 18 to 20. I struggle not to ask some of them how they managed to stay so young in the last 5 years… I suppose for professors who teach have the same experience each September but for me, it has been 5 years since I was on a ship with 720 students of this age.
Life on board is settling down as people start to get their routines fixed and assignments have to be done. But the level of activity on the ship is actually what makes this kind of traveling fun. There is always something going on but as a Life Long Learner, as we older farts are called can do as we please and do not need to write exams, term paper or even take part in quizzes.
There are some 20 professors on ship teaching some 60 classes so the choice of subjects ranges over litterature, business, sciences, philosoph, sociology and law. Some classes are definetly underattended with only 5 or 10 students while other are up to the limit.. So during the day, at the break of classes, students pour into the passage ways on their way to their next classes or their cabins. There is a fairly well equipped computer lab with about 25 machines available to students. In addition, the ship has been wired for wireless connections in most part of the vessel and many of the students have their own laptops. Like any camputs, students can be found sitting around at all hours of the night studying, writing, listening to music or just chatting.
That’s it for today from the mid Atantic.
Shipboard life is broken between A and B days and courses are taught on one or the other. As there are not enough classes to accommodate all the courses, professors share the 10 room available. In the first two or three days the student have the possibility to listen in on the courses they chose to see if they want to persue the subjects and profs chosen. If they do not like one or the other they have the option of dropping courses and choosing others. However, the classes are kept small (35 as a rule) and students are not guaranteed if they drop one course that they will get into another. For us the passengers, we have the right to sit in on any course if there is room as the students get priorty. So far I have been able to sit in on the courses which interest me. Of course, as this is my Chinese period I am in on two chinese litterature and history courses as well as one on linguistics. I shall see if I stick with that. Brigitte and Emmett are also out sniffing courses which could interest them.
Emmett is in a strange situation. He is the first young person ever to be admitted into the special group maid up of adults on this programme. There are others his age on the ship but they are dependents of Profs and staff and have limited rights. Emmett, so far, has been accepted by the other adults as he quite at ease with adults. He also sits in the one room class set up for dependents. Here he works on his own studies assigned by his teaches back home in Montreal. He will have to learn to balance his position as he will not be able to attend all adult functions. But he has been given permssion to use the adult lounge on deck 7 where no students are allowed. As long as he does abuse of this he will probably be able to move from the students to the adults while doing his own work and attending classes that interest him.
One of the things I am still dealing with on this ship is the sense of déjà vu and the impression of time stopped. Here I am, 5 years after our first voyage in 2004 and when I look around the kids are the same age as 5 years ago. They even look like the students who were with us 5 years ago. It is almost as if time stopped for 5 years and these kids just stayed the same age, 18 to 20. I struggle not to ask some of them how they managed to stay so young in the last 5 years… I suppose for professors who teach have the same experience each September but for me, it has been 5 years since I was on a ship with 720 students of this age.
Life on board is settling down as people start to get their routines fixed and assignments have to be done. But the level of activity on the ship is actually what makes this kind of traveling fun. There is always something going on but as a Life Long Learner, as we older farts are called can do as we please and do not need to write exams, term paper or even take part in quizzes.
There are some 20 professors on ship teaching some 60 classes so the choice of subjects ranges over litterature, business, sciences, philosoph, sociology and law. Some classes are definetly underattended with only 5 or 10 students while other are up to the limit.. So during the day, at the break of classes, students pour into the passage ways on their way to their next classes or their cabins. There is a fairly well equipped computer lab with about 25 machines available to students. In addition, the ship has been wired for wireless connections in most part of the vessel and many of the students have their own laptops. Like any camputs, students can be found sitting around at all hours of the night studying, writing, listening to music or just chatting.
That’s it for today from the mid Atantic.
Travelogue Chapter 4
January 27 2009
We are now less than 200 miles from the coast of Spain as we approach Cadiz. After steaming for 8 days we will be arriving in Cadiz tomorrow morning around 6 am. The immigration people have to do what they do and we will be allowed to go ashore.
After eight days at sea during which time classes happened each day without a break and we lost an hour a day on six of the eight nights everybody is feeling tired and ready to do some land time. One of the professors described it as “Death by a thousand hours”… For both students and staff, it has been hard as it was the first leg of the trip and people had not yet settled into their normal routine. By now, classes happen smoothly although the courses I attend have regularly had a number of students who do not appear. Roll call happens in most classes so attendance is being monitored. But even those students who show up for classes often spend the hour either sleeping or doing email. As the ship is wired for wireless and many students bring their laptops to class, one can see what anyone of them is doing with their computers when one sits in the back of class as I do.
I have attended several classes to find out which subjects were interesting and which Profs were good. We can audit classes as long as there is space and the professor agrees. This means we can attend the classes but we do not need to sit for exams. I have decided to go with 3 classes, languages of the world, Chinese literature and medieval travelers.
In addition, at 0920 each morning there is a course called Global Studies which everybody is required to attend. It is a very diversified course looking at the countries we are visiting, and a range of subjects of general interest. Only one of my courses is at 0800 which means rising before the sun is up. One course at that hour is enough. Some of the classrooms are very full, while others a not well attended. I went to a class in Chinese poetry and found that there were only 2 students in the class. It really was not a very interesting course and I could see why it had so few classes. I will not being going back to that one.
Yesterday we had a tour of the ship’s bridge. It is a large area stretching all across the ship. It is manned only by the officer of the watch and a lookout while the ship is at sea. Given the high level of technology on ships today, the number of crew needed has dropped dramatically. There is no longer a helmsman as the ship is on automatic pilot, no radio operator as the ships communications are monitored by computer all the time. In fact, we have been on the same course since we left the Bahamas some 4000 miles ago. There is now a system which automatically sends out a signal to all other ships in the area which names the ship and its vital information including final destination. This is similar to what Air Traffic control does for planes but for the ships it is automated. In fact, it is really useful only in heavy traffic areas. Since we left the Bahamas, we have only sighted 3 or 4 ships. It is an indication of the size of the oceans I expect that during the night traffic will increase as we approach Cadiz and the straight of Gibraltar which handles all traffic in and out of the Mediterranean.
For the last 3 days, Global studies have been delivered by a Professor Gies of UVA. He teaches Spanish at UVA and has a deep knowledge and deeper love of Spain. In his lectures, he has convinced the students how great Spain is He has lectured on Spanish cities, paining, food and history. This is the beauty of Semester at Sea that prepares the students for the countries we visit so that they get the most out of the days in port. When we arrive in most ports we stay 4 to 5 days which gives students and adults time to travel within the country and to see many of the sites discussed in the preparatory lectures.
We are off tomorrow in a car I had already rented. Our plan is to leave Cadiz as soon as the ship is cleared by immigration, get the car and head south to Gibraltar. Emmett wants to see the big rock. We will then head north to Granada to over night there. I have not made hotel reservations as I am not sure we will get to Granada and may stop somewhere before. This should not be a problem as January is not high tourist season and hotels should be available.
For Granada, I have booked our tickets for the Alhambra which is wonderful palace built by the Arabs during their 700 year reign of Spain. We will overnight in Granada as the visit to the Alhambra takes several hours to really appreciate it. On Friday, we will head out to Sevilla and depending on how we feel we may overnight there or in Jerez de la Frontera or continue on to Cadiz after seeing Sevilla. .
Weather is expected to be cool with showers which are normal at this time of year. So we will dress warmly or at least make sure we have enough in case it does get cold. This trip we have decided to travel on land only with knapsacks which brought on board rather than with trunks. As most of visits are only for 2 to 3 days, one can live from such a bag. Or at least, that is the theory. More on that when we get back. I do not expect to be writing much while on land as we will use Internet cafes and memory sticks rather than carry around our laptops. I will also be carrying my new telephone system called Magic Jack which will allow me phone wherever I get a high speed internet connection. It is a little contraption the size of a small box of matches which plugs into the computer and allows phoning anywhere in the world. Given the high cost of Internet on the ship
(US$ 0.25) it is not worth using on the ship. Internet cafes are not expensive so we will do our bill paying and other chores like loading up pictures (of which I have few so far) while on land.
So much for now.
We are now less than 200 miles from the coast of Spain as we approach Cadiz. After steaming for 8 days we will be arriving in Cadiz tomorrow morning around 6 am. The immigration people have to do what they do and we will be allowed to go ashore.
After eight days at sea during which time classes happened each day without a break and we lost an hour a day on six of the eight nights everybody is feeling tired and ready to do some land time. One of the professors described it as “Death by a thousand hours”… For both students and staff, it has been hard as it was the first leg of the trip and people had not yet settled into their normal routine. By now, classes happen smoothly although the courses I attend have regularly had a number of students who do not appear. Roll call happens in most classes so attendance is being monitored. But even those students who show up for classes often spend the hour either sleeping or doing email. As the ship is wired for wireless and many students bring their laptops to class, one can see what anyone of them is doing with their computers when one sits in the back of class as I do.
I have attended several classes to find out which subjects were interesting and which Profs were good. We can audit classes as long as there is space and the professor agrees. This means we can attend the classes but we do not need to sit for exams. I have decided to go with 3 classes, languages of the world, Chinese literature and medieval travelers.
In addition, at 0920 each morning there is a course called Global Studies which everybody is required to attend. It is a very diversified course looking at the countries we are visiting, and a range of subjects of general interest. Only one of my courses is at 0800 which means rising before the sun is up. One course at that hour is enough. Some of the classrooms are very full, while others a not well attended. I went to a class in Chinese poetry and found that there were only 2 students in the class. It really was not a very interesting course and I could see why it had so few classes. I will not being going back to that one.
Yesterday we had a tour of the ship’s bridge. It is a large area stretching all across the ship. It is manned only by the officer of the watch and a lookout while the ship is at sea. Given the high level of technology on ships today, the number of crew needed has dropped dramatically. There is no longer a helmsman as the ship is on automatic pilot, no radio operator as the ships communications are monitored by computer all the time. In fact, we have been on the same course since we left the Bahamas some 4000 miles ago. There is now a system which automatically sends out a signal to all other ships in the area which names the ship and its vital information including final destination. This is similar to what Air Traffic control does for planes but for the ships it is automated. In fact, it is really useful only in heavy traffic areas. Since we left the Bahamas, we have only sighted 3 or 4 ships. It is an indication of the size of the oceans I expect that during the night traffic will increase as we approach Cadiz and the straight of Gibraltar which handles all traffic in and out of the Mediterranean.
For the last 3 days, Global studies have been delivered by a Professor Gies of UVA. He teaches Spanish at UVA and has a deep knowledge and deeper love of Spain. In his lectures, he has convinced the students how great Spain is He has lectured on Spanish cities, paining, food and history. This is the beauty of Semester at Sea that prepares the students for the countries we visit so that they get the most out of the days in port. When we arrive in most ports we stay 4 to 5 days which gives students and adults time to travel within the country and to see many of the sites discussed in the preparatory lectures.
We are off tomorrow in a car I had already rented. Our plan is to leave Cadiz as soon as the ship is cleared by immigration, get the car and head south to Gibraltar. Emmett wants to see the big rock. We will then head north to Granada to over night there. I have not made hotel reservations as I am not sure we will get to Granada and may stop somewhere before. This should not be a problem as January is not high tourist season and hotels should be available.
For Granada, I have booked our tickets for the Alhambra which is wonderful palace built by the Arabs during their 700 year reign of Spain. We will overnight in Granada as the visit to the Alhambra takes several hours to really appreciate it. On Friday, we will head out to Sevilla and depending on how we feel we may overnight there or in Jerez de la Frontera or continue on to Cadiz after seeing Sevilla. .
Weather is expected to be cool with showers which are normal at this time of year. So we will dress warmly or at least make sure we have enough in case it does get cold. This trip we have decided to travel on land only with knapsacks which brought on board rather than with trunks. As most of visits are only for 2 to 3 days, one can live from such a bag. Or at least, that is the theory. More on that when we get back. I do not expect to be writing much while on land as we will use Internet cafes and memory sticks rather than carry around our laptops. I will also be carrying my new telephone system called Magic Jack which will allow me phone wherever I get a high speed internet connection. It is a little contraption the size of a small box of matches which plugs into the computer and allows phoning anywhere in the world. Given the high cost of Internet on the ship
(US$ 0.25) it is not worth using on the ship. Internet cafes are not expensive so we will do our bill paying and other chores like loading up pictures (of which I have few so far) while on land.
So much for now.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Travelogue Chapter 3
From now on I will be posting to this blog via email. As I now have a free email on board the ship, I will be able to post more regularly than last time when I was dependent on shore based internet café. As for internet, the Semester at Sea programme allows free access to some 20 websites useful in research and gives 2 hours of free internet access to other sites. After that, one pays a hefty fee while on the ship. My email on board is:ankeyserlingk@semesteratsea.net
But let me start at the beginning.
On January 16th we moved into the Dulles Marriot hotel to spend the night before our departure near the airport. We do this as it permits us to leave our home in leisure and also to be near the airport in case of snow. It beats trying to finish packing, clean the house and close the house on the morning of the flight. On two trips, this has saved us from missing ships because of heavy January snow storms. It is a cheap insurance to be sure to make the flight. Ships don’t wait and you would need to fly to the next port if you miss the ship.
We arrived in Nassau as did our 4 bags and we headed to our hotel, the Nassau Palm. It is a somewhat rundown hotel built in the ‘60’s but is very convenient to downtown and to the port. Nick, our son, his wife Milena and son Emmett arrived late that night. The meeting in Nassau was the hand over of Emmett from his parents to us for the long voyage.
The next morning I checked out of the hotel and found that the meaning of “It is better in the Bahamas” actually refers to paying taxes. In the Bahamas, one pays some 40% in various and sundry taxes above the quoted room rate. I was quite upset by this as I would imagine most visitors are as there is no mention of this punitive tax in the quotes and literature. If you like taxes, “It is better in the Bahamas”…
On the morning of Saturday, we the Life Long Learners (LLL’s) who are non staff adults were allowed to board the ship. On this trip we are only 1 LLL’s including grandson Emmett. This is a great improvement because when the 750 students board, it can take 3 hours of standing in line. This is what we went through in 2004, the first time we sailed with Semester at Sea.
Once on board, we were shown to our cabin. It always shocks me on boarding a ship to find the small size of the cabins. This time our cabin is 10 feet by 15 feet plus the toilets and closets. It takes a while to settle that this is going to be home for 3.5 months but in fact after storing the gear, hanging the family calendar and the world atlas on the walls the place looked like ours. Also there are huge mirrors which give an added sense of space. At any rate, one does not normally spend a lot of time in the cabin as one attends classes, reads on the outside decks or in the various lounges throughout the ship.
On Monday, we finished up doing a few purchases for the trip and after lunch with Milena and Nick, we boarded the ship for a 5pm departure. It was a beautiful sunny day. The ship rails were shoulder to shoulder with students waiving to about 500 parents who had accompanied their kids to Nassau. The next time most kids will see their parents will be in Miami on our return. The captain backed off the pier, turned the ship in an elegant manner and headed us out to sea.
So we are now on the first leg of this around the world trip. B and I have been to all the ports we will visit but the fun thing will be that will be able to show our grandson Emmett around the world.. It will be a unique experience for all of us and a voyage of discovery.
From 1000 miles off shore heading 080 degrees, I sign off. More later.
Travelogue Chpater 2a
Travelogue 3-Travelogue by email
This is my first posting using a tool which allows me to post to the travelogue via email. As I now have a shipboard email address, this will allow me to post even while at sea, if it works....
This will be a short post as I am not sure how this works. I am writing this on our 3rd day at sea about 1/3 rd of the way between the Bahmas and Cadiz in Spain.
Alexander NIcolas Graf Keyserlingk,
Aboard the good ship Explorer
Somewhere going around the world in 104 days.
Time of my email Greenwich Mean Time
Thursday, January 8, 2009
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.
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.
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