New Zealand - this is a stunning part of the world...a mix of urban European growth and the indigenous Maori people. All are Kiwi's in this wonderful melting pot.
For the next few days, we'll be embracing this culture before sailing on to Sydney and beyond, along the southern coast of Australia, instead of the “sun coast” as originally planned. To best protect the health of guests and crew, Regent has changed our itinerary, eliminating a cluster of asian ports. Fremantle will replace Singapore as the final stop of the next segment. Although I'll miss the fabulous shopping in Singapore and Bali, I am very grateful that our well-being is the highest priority on this ship.
In the theater, Captain Aivo stood before a room of concerned guests who had a myriad of issues and questions. He addressed everyone with grace, care and sincerity, promising that all questions would be answered as promptly as possible. The logistics involved with the change of itinerary are enormous, both from the perspective of Regent and the guests. However, there is a calm control on the ship and many of us acknowledge that in this lap of luxury, we are being looked after well beyond the usual daily pampering on the Mariner.
I've been painting and drawing every day at sea, so when we learned that we will be crossing the Indian Ocean for seven (7) days from Fremantle to Columbo, Sri Lanka, I cheered! That equates to a lot more art, all of which I am gifting to people on this ship. Captain Aivo has his portrait framed and ready for hanging upon his return to the ship in Barcelona. His spot in Coffee Connection is reserved.
We are “making lemonade out of lemons” and life is very sweet!
Auckland, and a near empty ship, has afforded me an opportunity to post my own “melting pot” of photographs:
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| Suva...not the romantic vision of Fiji I had in my head. |
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| Meet Angel |
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| Fiji Cultural Center |
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| It's really bottled here! |
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| Claire |
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| Dee |
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| Sunset |
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A serene sea...the sky and sea, almost indistinguishable from the other.
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Oh Marcia, your photographs are as beautiful as your paintings! TKS for sharing them w/ us.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Regent departing from the original schedule due to health concerns, am sure Captain Aivo likes your attitude of “making lemonade out of lemons and life is very sweet", indeed! Passengers are being looked after 24/7 surrounded with breathtaking beauty, excellent food, w/ not a care in the world. Squeeze the juice out of those lemons to the last drop--enjoy Sydney---and a visit to the opera house if you can manage that too. You never know what fascinating cultures, people, ocean views and shopping awaits you all--embrace it!
cj
I am really enjoying you reports and photos. They are bring back wonderful memories of the Navigator 2018 World Cruise. I saw that the ports have been changed from Asia to a trip around Southern/Western Australia. This is the path we followed and it was wonderful. I thought you might be interested in the Regent excursions we did and the "do it yourself things" we did.
ReplyDeleteOur Blog "Navigating the World" at 2018worldcruise@blogspot.com is the story of our 2018 trip. The Southern Australia part is found on Day 45 to 53, Feb 15 though 28.
We were in Australia on 2 more earlier trips and spent time in many of the places you will visit including Kangaroo Island, a really neat place. If you want to read about what we did there those times, go to our profile section on the Navigator blog and look at 2015 Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary, a Trip Around the World and Around the World in 132 days. These two trips were made up of segments of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2's (2015) and the Island Princess and Seaboun's (2009) world cruises combined with land segments to connect the cruises.
Main thing is enjoy your adventure. And a world cruise is an adventure!! In 2018 we lost total power due to bad fuel in the middle of the Pacific and then ran aground leaving Bali and lost several days and ports waiting for divers to clear us as safe to sail!