[Worldtrippers home] [Crystal home]
After six weeks at home in California, we are off on another adventure. We will have four cruise contracts featuring eight itineraries aboard three different ships. Between contracts, we have decided not to return home. Instead, we will simply stay where we are, enjoying some independent adventures off-ship.
After 24-and-a-half hours aboard airplanes, we begin our adventure on March 18. In Mumbai, India, we board the Crystal Symphony for our first-ever Crystal Cruise. We sail the Indian Ocean for 10 days, visiting India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Seychelles.
We disembark the Crystal Symphony on March 28 in Mahe, Seychelles. We fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, to begin a one-week safari. Most of our time will be spent at Kapama River Lodge, with the highlight of (fingers crossed) a hot-air balloon ride over the preserve.
On April 4, we board the Viking Sky in Cape Town, South Africa. Here we pick up the final two sectors of Viking’s annual World Cruise:
We disembark the Viking Sky on May 6 in Greenwich, outside of London. We spend the next two weeks driving ourselves around the British Isles. We hope to visit various friends and historical sites all over England and Scotland.
On May 20, we fly from London to Bergen, Norway. Here we re-join the Viking Sky for two post-world-cruise itineraries:
These itineraries will take us up Norway’s coast above the Arctic Circle, before sailing west across the North Atlantic Ocean. We will visit Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Canada.
We disembark the Viking Sky for the second and last time on June 17 in New York City. We spend the next 10 days touring the New York area. We are excited that our daughter Colleen and granddaughter Avery will meet us in New York City.
On June 26-27, we fly from New York back to Europe. In Venice, we board the brand-new Viking Vesta to help launch her:
We disembark the Viking Vesta on July 28 in Reykjavik, Iceland. We will finally fly all the way back home to California.
All told, we will be away from home for four and a half months. We will travel as far east as Colombo, Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean; and as far west as New York City. We will travel as far south as Cape Town on the southern tip of Africa; and as far north as Svalbard, Norway, the northern-most city in Europe above the Arctic Circle.
This will be the most complex (i.e. craziest) adventure we have undertaken since our around-the-world trip in 2001-2002. (And we were 25 years younger then!) Because of the unique schedule, we plan to break our “no blogging” rule and write trip reports throughout these four and a half months. One way or another, this is certain to be a memorable experience!