Queen Elizabeth Sold Out
By Janet Go | June 5, 2009
Cunard’s new ocean liner Queen Elizabeth was placed on worldwide sale to past guests on April 1. This was no April fool because her October 2010 maiden voyage sold out in 29 minutes! This is the fastest selling voyage in Cunard’s 170-year history. It sold out faster than the QE2’s final voyage, which sold out in 36 minutes in June 2007. The Queen Elizabeth will join Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, giving Cunard three new liners plying the world’s seven seas.
The Queen Elizabeth’s first world trip in 2011 leaves New York January 13. This day will be a rare event when the trio of Cunard Queens (Mary 2, Victoria, and Elizabeth) will have a Royal Rendezvous. Then the Queen Elizabeth embarks on her circumnaviagation, beginning with a transit through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. Then she heads for Sydney, South Pacific, New Zealand, Singapore, Bali, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Dubai, Oman, Suez Canal, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Southampton. Passengers will take the Queen Mary 2 across the big pond to New York. All aboard!
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
South America Cruise
By Janet Go | April 12, 2009
I returned from a 2-1/2-month cruise around South America on March 11, 2009. I was aboard Holland America’s ship ms Prinsendam. We left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January 2 and, after a day’s visit to the company’s island of Half Moon Cay and a day at Barbados, we headed south to the Amazon River. We spent a week sailing up and down the Amazon–an amazing trip. From there we headed south again, stopping at many ports in Brazil, including Rio de Janeiro, of course. Then on to Montevideo, Uruguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Falkland Islands; South Georgia–we were the last ship of this size to be allowed to visit this island; through the ice fields of Antarctica, up the fjords and coast of Chile, Peru, Ecuador, through the Panama Canal, Colombia, and back to Florida.
I’ll write more later. Here is a photo of me in my Panama Hat and tagua nut necklace I bought from master artisans in Manta and Montecristi, Ecuador. If you’re under the impression that Panama hats are made in Panama, think again. Panama hats are hand-made by master weavers in Ecuador and have never been made anywhere else.
This misunderstanding dates back to Teddy Roosevelt. According to legend, when former President Roosevelt attended the inauguration of the Panama Canal in 1913, he was given an Ecuadorian straw het. Not knowing the hat’s origin, Roosevelt thanked the donor for the Panama hat, and the rest is history.
I welcome your comments.
Topics: South America | No Comments »